Meet Smudge

Last Sunday I went off the deep end...in love with a kitten, who I couldn't leave behind at the alpaca farm. Could you have?

Here's another pic...



And another...

My dog is not cooperating. She wants to eat Smudge. We may not be able to make this work. If not Smudge will go back to living at the farm where we'll visit her every week. And we'll be very sad. But I can't have my dog in an atmosphere that impacts her mental health. She's crazy enough already. Think positive thoughts.

In the meantime, I'm making good progress on the Snowdrop Shawl; I'm 2/3's of the way done, and I can't WAIT to finish. I'm so in love with it I'm going to wear it every day. It's the colour. I'm really loving the colours I'm working with lately: the deep sensuous red of the Snowdrop, the intense teal of the baby llama for the Juliaca, and the vivid forest green of the corriedale I'm spinning.

I also continue to add measurable distance on my Fabel sock. And on the Juliaca sweater. And my spinning is coming along too. It seems like the green corriedale is never-ending (sigh), but I am making some headway there. I seem to be keeping up with the spin, although my single is not perfectly consistent yet, but I'm sure that'll come. I'm having a problem with string breakage, dang it all. Not sure what'll cure that, except more practice. I want to get through the corriedale before I attempt the Harley fleece, and the Harley fleece is calling me. Not sure how much longer I can ignore it. And I should be receiving Harley's cria fleece (his first shearing) soon. No pressure. Really.

Ghosties in the Needles and Cosmos Shifts

I've been working on the Snowdrop Shawl and it's coming along nicely. I'm managing to overpower the mohair most of the time. Right now I've got about five snowdrops on each side of the center column. In this last pattern set of rows, something odd's been occurring...I do the pattern row which increases the stitch count by 2 stitches. Then I count the stitches to be sure I have an odd number of stitches. When I'm satisfied the count is correct, I work the mostly purl row where there are no increases or decreases. But when I count again...I've got an EVEN number of stitches!!! [cue Psycho shower scene music] This happened about 4 times in a row yesterday. What the... How do you go from an odd number to an even number without increasing?!?!? Of course, all this uncertainty leads to OCD stitch counting....just to make sure I haven't counted wrong...the last 40 times I counted this row...



I'm pleased to say though, that each time, I took a deep breath and investigated the cause of the off-numbered rows. And each time, I was able to correct it without too much stitch OR hair pulling. After those 4 errant rows, things have gone better. Not sure if the ghosties are in the needles, the wool, my fingers, or my head, but I seem to have run 'em off.

I completed the first of the Fabel socks. Now I'm just starting the second. Socks are my travel knitting, so these puppies haven't seen a lot of action lately.



My family was recently hit by a nasty flu and we're all just rolling out of our death beds, shocked and glad to still be on this side of the daisies, pinching ourselves to be sure. Yesterday, in our infirmity, my daughter and I watched an Alfred Hitchcock marathon. It was great to relax and enjoy time with her again. She's 15 and Mom really doesn't rate most of the time. And...there must have been a shift in the Cosmos somewhere...a mighty shift...she wanted to knit too. What a gift.

Knitterly Confidence

Ever wonder if you should have any? I'm wondering lately. I've been knitting for almost 40 years, and steadily like a crack addict for the last five, but I've had a few patterns lately that have me absolutely stymied. And I'm starting to wonder if it's me...

I frogged a sock recently that I had knit to the mid-heel level. I don't want to mention the designer or where I got the pattern, but it was a full-scale battle throughout. Each new phase of the pattern was a new area I had to plow through, learning new techniques (which is always good) but having to also learn how in hell I'm supposed to accomplish it. After five such wars, I gave up. But I didn't give up easily. I hung in there longer than most knitters would have. There was a trail of blue curses behind each row it seemed. Finally, somewhat in shame, I gave up. I didn't want to give up...I wanted to win the battles...

Then I started a cotton baby sweater for our little Chase. The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and is called "Sweater with Ribbed Yoke." You can look at it in Ravelry. It calls for straight needles but since the sweater is stocking stitch to the arm holes, I thought I'd do it on a circular. The going was a bit rough as I started with the ribbing, and it continued to get rougher the further along I went. I finally decided, since I was experiencing my first mobius (without actually meaning to, sigh...) the circular needle was probably too long, so I ripped it out too.

I don't like starting new projects while others linger waiting to be completed, but last weekend I just needed a fresh start on something. Needed a band-aid for the confidence blows I was suffering. I've had some Fabel by GarnStudio laying around calling my name, so I heeded its call and started a plain-jane pair of socks for myself. Those are going fine. I put a short row garter stitch heel in the first one and this sock appears to be the best fitted sock I've ever made myself.


Nice fit, eh?



Last night I started my first shawl. I've had some Estelle Watercolour in a sensual deep red that has also been screaming for me.



I'm knitting it into Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Snowdrop shawl. This yarn has a good halo (50% mohair) and a pretty sheen that catches the light beautifully. Unfortunately, the mohair halo makes ripping stitches highly unpleasant so I'll have to just knit on it when I'm at my knitting best, not at night when my brain and fingers have had enough for the day.

I'm also teaching myself to crochet. It's going pretty good. I have a good grasp of single crochet.



So, my to-do list is growing daily: four or five projects on the go, spinning practice, crochet practice, day job, kids, husband, house, dog (NEVER in that order).

I'm feeling much better about my flagging confidence. Nothing like getting it off your chest, AND the joy of new knitting to make you forget...

Catch Up

Whew!! Another week or two blew by! My intention when I started this blog was to blog daily. I guess it's true...the road to hell IS paved with good intentions. Life has a way of getting in the way of things, and there's always the knitting...

Anyway, I've been doing a bit of knitting and a bit of spinning... Below is the finished Kilcar sweater. That's the Donegal Tweed that I bought in Donegal last spring. Just showing the back because it's the only shot so far that I can live with.

Ok, here's one from the front...



You don't need to embiggen...I've embiggened myself enough already! Honestly, I'm thrilled that I gave up the smokes, but this weight gain is AWFUL!!! I hate that I can't get a handle on it. I guess I need to get off my own case about it. It's not forever or the most important thing in life.

Next...



This is a plain stockinette stitch sock. The yarn is Fabel by Garnstudio. A knitting group friend showed it to us about a month ago and I fell in love. This is handpainted 70% superwash wool and 25% nylon. And the colours just line up like that. Looks like I did some fancy schmancy stitch-work, but I didn't. THIS is why I love knitting! After froggin some really frustrating projects, this is just what I needed. Easy-peasy and looks phenomenal. And, the price is really reasonable.

Also...



I've done a bit more work on the Juliaca. This is going to be a slow one. Sweaters take soooo long, and the miles of rib are a little daunting, but this is such gorgeous yarn. Satisfies the senses: sight - the colour is amazing- in the light you see blues and teals and greens; touch: this is baby llama-the softest yarn I've felt yet (Harley's may give this a run in the softness dept.). And the drape!

Harley's getting more used to me every time I see him. He's actually letting me hug him without moving away. I'm beginning to see why he's the favourite around there...

And finally...



This is 100 gm of Shetland wool that I spun. Not sure if it's supposed to twist like that, but I hope it's because it's a highly twisted single...kind of like me...highly twisted. It's hanging on an antique highchair that my mom sat in when she was a baby, and then my brothers and I sat in it as babies, and our kids sat in it as babies. I don't have a lot of heirlooms, so I really treasure the ones I have. You should've seen the battle I had with hubby when I decided it had to come home with me rather than get sold at a garage sale. He didn't realize the sentimental value at the time. It was one of those "Oh, NO it's NOT!" "Oh, YES it IS!" battles that ends nose to nose in a deadlock, and then with me loading the chair in the car...

Anyway, I've also been spinning this:



This is corriedale in a deep green. And it's on my new Forrester spindle. That spindle jumped me from producing lumpy bumpy chunky weight to semi-smooth lace weight. And I've almost got the spinning figured out. I can spin for a short while without parking... I plan to ply the two yarns and make some thick warm socks... pics later. Maybe way later...this corriedale goes on forever!

My daughter was in a play last week. She flexed her acting muscles, and sang some solo parts, and my heart burst wide open...



That's her on the left. She played a 12-yr old boy whose life's broken by abuse, addiction, and pain. In this scene he's hiding in a closet with his little sister so their alcoholic mother's abusive boyfriend won't hurt them. These kids did an amazing job.

And my little dog...



She cracks me up on a daily basis. Yesterday I let her in from outside where it was raining pretty good. She stopped as soon as she got in the door and looked up at me with a "well woman, ...are you gonna wipe my feet, or what?" look on her face...

I've Been Memed!

My friend Deb-Va memed me (not sure if "meme" is a verb, but what the hell), so I'm going to play the game:

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago? Working part time at a Roger's Video store in Calgary, and operating a sewing company where I made lovely coats for dogs. Also riding herd on my 9-yr-old son and 5-yr-old daughter.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Sit and knit group meeting, check out LYS Wool Revival, spin, spin, and spin.

3) Snacks I enjoy: chips, chocolates, cake, ice cream.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Share it out with family and friends, donate to women's charities, travel.

5) Places I have lived: Cochin, Saskatchewan; St. Albert, Edmonton, Elk Point, Fort Kent, and Calgary, Alberta; Fort Erie, Ontario.

6) Jobs I have had: secretary; video store clerk, technical writer, instructional designer, editor, writer, tech editor.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:

Kare
Denise
Maureen
Deb
Barb

Harley

Last weekend I REEEEEALY fell down the rabbit hole, and bought an alpaca. His name is Harley, and he's a magnificent specimen.



Why'd I buy an alpaca, you ask? Well, I'll get five pounds of beautiful alpaca fibre off him every year, he's an intact male just coming into breeding age so I can make some money with his stud services, and he's really cheap to keep. His board is $45.00 a month, and that covers food, shots, worming, and feet care. And if those reasons weren't enough, he's freakin adorable!

When I say I fell down the rabbit hole, I should really clarify...I was pushed...by my husband...He was almost more excited about the deal than I was. He wanted to buy two so we could start producing baby alpacas right away. Once I convinced him we should slow down a tad, he stepped back and let me pick my alpaca. There was no picking involved. I lost my heart (my head's been gone for years) as soon as I saw Harley. He was the first one I saw up close where I could touch and pet him. And when Carolyne, the ranch owner, said those magic words "he's for sale" I was gone, man, gone.

So, Sunday afternoons will be devoted to Harley visits. I can't wait to see him today. Tomorrow my knitting group is taking a road trip out to meet him too. That's gonna be so much fun ladies!

So, I've got to step up the learning curve on the spinning. I've been prepping my second bag of Shetland roving. Lord, there's a lot of veg matter in this stuff. Veg matter is straw, sticks, dirt, and we-don't-want-to-know-what-else in the fibre that you want to remove or it'll make the yarn really scratchy. Yesterday afternoon was spent pulling straw out of this roving. Today, I'll actually get to draft and spin it up. I think I may have discovered a clue as to the drafting. I'm pretty sure I was over-pre-drafting before. Now I'm not pre-drafting as much so I have some room to draft as I spin.

I want to hurry up and finish the Shetland roving so I can start spinning the blue and green roving I bought a few weeks ago. And I'll be receiving Harley's first shearing soon. I'm told though, by my fibre Goddess friends, that I'll have to really get the hang of spinning wool before I try spinning alpaca fibre. Alpaca lacks the barbs that wool fibres have, so it has a slippery factor that makes spinning a whole new experience. This lack of barbs, as well as the lack of lanolin, makes alpaca fibre non-allergenic. That's really good news for my friend Anne, who will no doubt be one of my early victims...I mean recipients of something made from Harley's fleece.

I've also been working on sewing up the Kilcar sweater. I have the shoulder, side seams, and collar sewn up. I'm trying to have it done to wear to a baby shower tomorrow night. I should have final pictures ready in a day or two.

I'm also working on the Juliaca sweater. This baby llama wool (Mirasol Miski) is so dreamy and soft, I could knit with it all day long. It's knitting up fairly fast and easy, although I have miles and miles of 2x2 rib to do.



"Hurry up and finish" seems to be the story of my life lately, at least as far as knitting goes. I have soooo many projects waiting. Gorgeous projects that demand all my powers of control not to jump into right now. Can you say "startitis"??? sigh...

Shepherd's Pie

I've had some interest in the shepherd's pie recipe. I found it in All Recipes.com. Note that this version serves 12. There is a drop down menu where you can change the number of servings. We usually use the 12 serving version because (a) it's sooo good you won't be able to stop at one serving, and (b) we're feeding 2 teenagers. If you use the 12 serving one, you'll need two baking dishes to bake it in. I've never put 4 onions in mine; usually I use 1 or 2 onions. I use ground beef rather than ground sirloin, although the sirloin would be yummy too. Anyway, try this out. We usually have it on St. Patrick's Day, which is the anniversary of the day my husband and I met.