We have a new addition at our house! A 40lb English Bulldog named Angus. We are in love!!!

Socks by ME!!

I took the challenge issued by the SKA group on Ravelry to design my own socks. I designed socks around a DIAMOND theme - and named them Cut, Color & Clarity. I am working on getting the pattern converted into a PDF and will offer it when I get that accomplished - this is also the first time doing that too!
OK I think I have the pdf thing figured out - try this link

pattern link

Older pics of me

These are some pics of me from when I was younger for The High Fiber Diet Podcast
The top L pic is my junior school pic - BIG hair, the one beside that is my Senior pic; then on the bottom row is a pic from when I was 6 (1979) when I had my orphan Annie hair thanks to my mother, and a side view of me - LOOK AT THOSE BANGS!! (my Mom and Aunt are in the pic too) WOW

Productive Knitting month

So March has been a productive knitting month for me. Not only have I finished 4 pairs of socks (3 of which were started in March), I have taught my BFF, Jaimie, how to knit socks too! I have brought her to the dark side and she will never go back, mwhahahahahaha! *insert evil grin to go with laugh*






I have also gotten some spinning finished. I finished spinning up the wool that I dyed, and made my first 3 ply (that wasnt navajo plied) sock yarn. I am currently knitting, what else but socks with it.


In other news, my back is hurting again - UGH. Kaitlyn went to the dermatologist and got diagnosed with psoriasis (at least now we know what it is). Jacob got his braces off! YAY! He has been chewing gum almost constantly since he got them off - except for school hours.

I CUT MY KNITTING - ON PURPOSE!!

It is called Steeking, and it is scary! Meghan from the Stitch It! Podcast is hosting a steeking contest, so I decided to try it. I had a swatch from my Green Susie sweater just laying around, and it is wool, so I decided to go for it! So I followed the crocheted steek instructions from Euny Jang here that Meghan shared with us, and did it!! I got Kaitlyn to help me take pictures of the actual cutting process. And it worked!! Here is the photo progression!

More spinning

I have been spinning and knitting like crazy! I have 10 holiday gifts COMPLETED!! The Holiday KAL-CAL, hosted by Sydney and Marley (see sidebar button), has really gotten me motivated! I have 3 more projects I want to make for holiday gifts for sure... But anyway, spinning! I have gotten my very own wheel - an Ashford Traditional. I have done quite a bit lately so here is some eye candy for you....

SPINNING WHEEL!

My MILs friend let me borrow her spinning wheel for a couple of weeks, and some fiber to practice with. I have had so much fun with this wheel. I made a 280yd skein of yarn, 2-ply worsted weight

spinning

I just wanted to post a picture of some spindles that I have made. These have all be made with suppies from the craft store / hardware store, and they work PERFECTLY well. No more than $5.00 in any of them and probably more like 2 or 3. I *heart* spinning!

The one on the left is made from a wooden decoration that you could add to molding to make it more decorative that Kevin helped me drill a hole through and then insert the dowel rod with cup hook in it. I stained it with some honey stain that I found in the garage, and Voila! The middle one is a craft wooden circle found at Michaels for 25 cents painted green and a wooden daisy, also from Michaels for 25 cents, painted by me. Both were drilled with a hole in the "center" (by me) and a dowel with cup hook inserted. The one on the right, is another craft circle, but this one is by itself and I painted one of my favorite things on it - a dragonfly.
All were easy to make and are EASY to spin with!

Finished Ravelympics

When Ravelympics came up, I decided that I would sign up and that it would be a good chance to get the kids' school sweaters done for this year. I also thought, "I can do some socks too," so I signed up for 2 pairs of socks knit from hand-dyed sock blanks. THEN I thought, "I should spin too." And so the overcommited 17 days began... BUT I FINISHED IT ALL!!!! WOO HOO. YEAH ME! Not only did I knit 2 sweaters and 4 socks (aka 2 pairs), but I spun, on a drop spindle, 345 yards of yarn (that's a 2-ply yarn - so I reall spun almost 700 yards of fiber that I plyed together to make the 345 yards of yarn) It is a lovely merino wool and bamboo blend that I got from Butterfly Girl Designs Etsy shop, called Blueberry-Lime Surprise. YUM! So, I am quite pleased with my accomplishments during the Olympics/Ravelympics.

Also, I technically could have signed up for one more event, because I finished another project before closing ceremonies. Kaitlyn's rainbow socks didn't use up all of the sock blank, and with the yellow polka-dotted end, she wanted fingerless gloves. So once I finished the last stiches on the last pair of socks, I immediately cast on for her gloves. And I finished them the next day - which was the last day of the olympics (Sunday).

All in all it has been a VERY productive knitting 2 weeks. Not much else has gotten done, but I can't do too much else because of my injured back. So who needs a better excuse to knit than that? NOT ME!! :-)

Finished Kaitlyn's sweater!!

YES! I did it! I finished Kaitlyn's sweater. I started it on Aug 17th, after finishing Jacob's, and finished weaving in the ends this morning! Acutally finished knitting last night!! It is soft and nice! She loves it. Here are some pics - I am off to try to finish spinning my batt -- almost done!! WOO HOO!



Here's a pic of Jacob in his sweater!

Sweater DONE!!

I signed up for the Sweater Sprint in Ravelympics for 2 sweaters. One for Jacob and one for Kaitlyn - school sweaters. I finished Jacob's yesterday around 12:30pm, and shortly after, cast-on for Kaitlyn's. I got almost 2 balls knit up for hers; which worked out to almost 10 inches -- IN ONE AFTERNOON!! I might finish hers after all!!

Here are some pics:

Ravelympics!

Ravelympics is an event on Ravelry where you knit items in "sporting" events that correlate with the Olympics. The catch is that you have to cast on during the opening ceremony or after and finish BEFORE the closing ceremonies. For Ravelympics, I have signed up in several events. One item is already finished. Kaitlyn and I dyed sock blanks and I made her socks from this dyed blank. The first pic is the blank that we dyed, and the next pics are the socks. The yellow dotted end is not knit up yet - she wants fingerless gloves from that part, but that will have to wait until after Ravelympics



I started these on Friday 8/8/08 (opening ceremony day) and finished them on Monday morning (8/11/08). On Sunday night, as I was getting towards the end of Kaitlyn's socks, I went ahead and cast on for my second project - a school sweater for Jacob. So I cast on 8/10/08, and as I am typing, I am on the last 3 rows - so I will finish TODAY; 8/17/08 - one week for a sweater - Not too bad! HOWEVER, I have also signed up to do a sweater for Kaitlyn too -- not sure if that will get done or not. Also, another pair of socks (for me) are signed up for - these probably will NOT get done.

I am spinning too for Ravelympics. I am spinning a merino wool/bamboo/angelina blend batt and it is GORGEOUS. Here is a picture of this WIP.

The batt was titled Blueberry-Lime surprise. And it is divine. The angelina are little sparkly fibers thrown in for some SHINE!!

When I get a pic of the sweater I have done for Jacob, I will post it. And I will let you know how the other projects come out!

Some finished knitting

I have been finishing up several projects as of late...first I finally finished the socks that I had started before father's day for Kevin - whoo hoo - boy were they tedious. Dark navy on size 0 needles - TINY stitches take FOREVER!! But they are done, he has worn them, and approves.
here they are in all of their boredom! ;-)
Next, I finished Jacob's toe socks that had been hibernating for MONTHS. I had done the first one of the pair around christmas/new year's and just couldnt get motivated to cast on for the second one. Then the Knaked Knits Podcast was having a Stocking/sock KAL (knit-a-long) so I thought that this would be a good project to cast on for this KAL. So, I cast the sock on and in only THREE DAYS, I finished the sucker. The toes were a little tedious, but now I am SO glad to have them done; and Jacob LOVES them. Even with it being 100 degrees out, he is wearing them around the house. (too cute)

Sydney, of Knaked Knits, also hosted a preemie hat knit up contest where if you send her 2 preemie hats, you are entered into a drawing for a skein of Lorna's Laces yarn. Of course, I sent her 2 hats

I also finished a sweater for me!! This is called Drawstring Raglan from Interweave Knits Summer 2008. I used Knit picks lace yarn and used the lace sampler I had already ordered without knowing for sure what I would use the yarn for - Win WIN!! I love how it turned out, and have already worn it to a class at work!

I have cast on a pair of socks for me too using a new Knit Picks yarn called Imagination. It is a superwash wool/alpaca/nylon blend and is just DIVINE! I am using the colorway "Frog Prince" and am about 2/3 of the way finished with them. This is a pic just after I started them

So I have been a busy knitter. With my back being hurt, that is about all I can do....which you dont hear me complaining! ;-)

Spinning!!

Well, I have started a new thing -- spindle spinning. I am in LOVE! I got the bug from listening to a podcast (knit picks') and that got me interested. So I finally got a learn to spin kit that had a beautiful roving and spindle and watched a few YouTube videos and taught myself to do it. After my first session, my wrists and fingers were SO sore. But, once I loosened up a bit and got the hang of it, off I went. I have made YARN!!

I have since spun all of the first roving I bought and have bought 3 more. I am having fun!

Here's some eye candy for you!





and my newest:

Yummy!!

Round the Rink

Another new LO from today. These are pictures of Jacob at Alex R's bday party at Kate's skating rink. This was his first time skating. The sketch is from Becky Higgins 4x6 photo sketches. Both pages also fit the challenge. page one has ribbon, buttons, staples, chipboard, and paint (on the chipboard). page two has chipboard, paint buttons, journal box, ribbon and staples. I used my CR to cut this retro title - skating makes me think of retro *grin* TFL
Ann

Another one

These photos were taken Friday night. Kaitlyn had a friend spend the night, Aimee, and they made each other over. This meets the challenge - page one has ribbon, fiber, brads, flowers and staples. page two has staples, flowers (ribbon slides), eyelets, ribbon and journal box. The sketch is one out of my folder, and it says "ditzy scrap" on it, although I dont remember exactly where I downloaded it from.

New LO - Jacob

This is a LO for the final challenge for the April May contest! I used a sketch from my sketch notebook that says in the copyright area "Little book of sketches by Caroline Little" I modified the second page to be just one big horizontal photo instead of several smaller photos.
Both pages have at least five of the elements required, so both count as challenge pages. Page one has brads, journaling box, paint, fiber, ribbon and staples. Page two has paint, fiber ribbon staples and chipboard. You probably cannot see the staples in the picture - they are around the edges of the strips of paper - used as stitching from the sketch.
These are picture of Jacob this past october.

more

Here are 3 others for the current challenge. Arcade Fun, and Embrace Life. The quote on the arcade page says "the time to be happy is now. the place to be happy is here" And on the two other pages they are " embrace life", and "you make my life a beautiful thing" The arrow on the arcade page is bling, and there is a strip of bling on the Left embrace life page and 4 stones on each corner of the photo on the Right page.
TFL
Ann

New LOs

Got some scrapbooking done today! These are the kids school pictures from fall 2008 - 4th and 2nd grades. This meets the current challenge of Bling, Double-Matted photo, and quote. Kaitlyn's quote is from Katie Lusk - "Education means inspiring someone's mind, not just filling their head." And Jacob's is from Thoreau, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." I used the sticky numbers from Stampin' Up! for the numbers representing their grades and coordinating glitter to add more bling! All supplies are Stampin' Up! Thanks for looking!
Ann

Yarn swift

What is a yarn swift you ask? Why, it is a wonderful invention that holds your skein of yarn while it is being wound into a ball. And this afternoon, my dear hubby, Kevin, made me one following the instructions I came across on Ravelry at this website: Crafty Diversions Thanks Anne for great instructions. And thanks Kevin for a great swift - all from stuff we already had - nothing bought!! Woo Hoo! That is better than 70.00 ANY day of the week and twice on Sunday!!
Here are pictures of the finished product. One still, and one in motion. It spins like a dream! Isn't he wonderful?



In other knitting news, I am finishing up a pair of green striped socks, and started a shawl. No pictures of those right now, but I will get some up soon!

Another for the challenge. I got these pp's a couple of years ago but just hadn't found the right photos for them. Now I have! I love the retro feel of these papers and pages. The are double sided PPs - more bang for my buck! The black strips are actually black grograin ribbons. TFL!
Ann

Fixed this one

I fixed this one so that it REALLY fits for the challenge :-) oops that is what happens when you scrapbook with little sleep - harder to follow directions! Thanks Jackie! HUGS
Ann

This meets the new challenge of 3 PPs, ribbon and buttons.
Fun to do! Thanks again Jackie!

New Los

6 more LOs for the TKD album. These are a continuation of the yellow belt testing.

Yellow belt testing

Another for Jackie's challenge. This is DH, DD and DS doing their forms for the testing. I have had this yellow stitched paper for AGES (probably 5 years) and am glad to finally find a use for it. The words Yellow belt are stamped and embossed, and the word testing is using up old alpha stickers.
TFL
Ann

Needed a break

I needed a break from white background, so I pulled out some different pictures to work on. These were from DS's 6th bday party where everyone had their turn at sucking helium and talking funny. My MIL especially thought it was too funny. Fun times!

another TKD LO

This meets the challenge and highlights the forms, one-steps and sparring that are part of testing.

more TKD pages

These are of Jacob breaking his first board. This follows Jackie's challenge.

And these are the companion pages for Kaitlyn and Kevin breaking their boards - also for the challenge.

Title page

I made the title page for my TKD album - and of course, it meets the challenge requirements. I made the title from a file I was sent by some sweet person (Katie or Jeanne??) when I first got my CR - thanks!


PS - I also forgot to mention with the yellow belt testing page, I used a sketch that I had gotten from Janelle - thanks Janelle!

another one

This is another for the challenge. I am happy to finally be working on my TKD album. The idea that Jackie gave, of using a white background, was SO liberating for these pictures! I was so hung up on what paper to use for the album, I was too intimidated to start. Doing that first LO, using the white background, got me started. Now here is the second set of LOs that will be in this album. THANK YOU JACKIE!!

This meets the challenge with using a white background, fiber (the yellow ribbon lines the stamped stars on either edge) photo corners (tied ribbon knots on the 4 corners of the photo on the L page) stickers (the black stars) and eyelets (4 black ones in a square shape).