Yarngirls Unite

Never Felt so Good

Nothing much to speak of right now...the felting was a great experience. The guys I work with said it was like a science experiment to them, because they never would have believed that the wool would shrink and thicken up so much. I told them to never doubt me again.

I'm heading off to Kimberly's wedding in the morning. My L.A.-acclimated self will be chilly willy in the Boston area. I'll forgive her as long as I get some yummy clam chowder or lobster while I'm there. Gosh, I wonder if I'll have time to shop for yarn?

I'm dying to buy some ASC for that cute tank Pia in Rowan 35. Why, oh why? I already have 4 or 5 projects on my plate. I don't need another!

After

Before

late night felting

How exciting will your Monday night be? Mine will be spent hanging out in a dark laundry room felting a French Market Bag...sounds like the perfect setting for a suspense thriller or a dark, steamy romance. Pix soon.

Finally

My Cascade 220 arrived in the mail last night, so I started the French Market Bag this morning. I was a few inches in when I realized that I was increasing every row instead of every other row, so I frogged it and started over. The body of the bag will be light teal blue. More to come soon...

Mission: accomplished

I've been doing a little spring cleaning around the blog, and I made a new button! Also there are a few new links and buttons in the "Good Reading" column. Check out Zibibbo is Good where Wendy is hosting the French Market Bag knitalong. Fun stuff all around.

I am proud of myself...I finished the front of Paul's sweater last night. Whew! Now on to the sleeves...and there will be no lollygagging around on these. Too many other things to make. Maybe a summer stash bash will be in order.

My lucky day

I'm a little under the weather today, so I am pretty much staying in bed. Still flipping through Rowan 35 and reading the NY Times magazine article about Uglydolls.

On Thursday night, Paul told me that his mom's friend had a bunch of yarn she wanted to give me -- clearing out her stash. I had no idea what to expect. On Saturday night I was surprised with this! Filled with tons of very nice expensive yarn. No Red Heart in sight, ladies and gentlemen. Lots of wool and silk blends, and some of it is in sets of 8 or 10 -- definitely enough to do big projects. I am so overwhelmed. I was proud to only have a tiny little stash, trying not to be too wasteful and frivolous, but free yarn? Come on down. My stash probably quadrupled itself.

A.M. shot

Here she is! We were out of eggs, so I posed her on something else. I've got to figure out what to eat for breakfast now...

Update

Egg cozy sweater is done! How adorable...I will take a picture in the morning to show you all.

Cozy up

Just for a quick diversion, I'm making on of those adorable egg cozy sweaters from "Weekend Knitting." How fun and cute! Maybe at my next knitting group I will have a few made up as place cards. (That might be a little ambitious).

All is well with the men's Phildar raglan. I'm enjoying working on it this week. Maybe the front will be done after this weekend. Then on to the sleeves! I hate setting these mini goals and then not even coming close to meeting them...so we'll see.

Work has been good this week. Lots of fun, exciting, dramatic television this month. I'm also taking a class on Thursday nights. Learning to read classical Hebrew. It has been great, but toward the end of the week after a long day, all of the dots and dashes start to blur together. I end up mixing up my "ooooohs" and my "ohs."

I might be working on Sunday, which sounds like an opportunity to get paid double time while I knit. Whoopee! Have a great weekend.

Group stuff

Four of us ladies got together yesterday afternoon for a knitting group -- and it was great! I taught someone how to cast on and knit, another friend needed a refresher, then it all came rushing back to her, and my other friend was wearing a pullover she made herself! Three others couldn't make it this time, but are dying to make it next time. So all in all, there may be a pool of about 7 or 8 of us that will get together and meet once every few weeks on a Sunday afternoon. Oh goody!

Oh, and I was going to take some photos during the group, but I was so into it, that I forgot to pull out my camera!

OK

You are Dishcloth Cotton.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are Dishcloth Cotton. You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.

I don't know whether to be bummed or stand proud, but nevertheless...I suppose Kay and Ann have been on to something all along. Is it time for me to visit Wal-Mart and spring for a few balls of Peaches and Creme?

Oui!

When the new knitty came out recently, I didn't pay much attention to the French Market Bag...but on second glance (today), it was completely irresistible! I will tote my yarn everywhere in this quaint little bag. So...I ordered Cascade 220 in teal & burgandy and quickly joined the French Market knit-along! On second thought, perhaps I will carry around baguettes & fromage.

Knit Along

Spring is in the air (or it will be soon), and what better way to welcome the wildflowers and chirping birds than by knitting a bright, colorful cardi? Fireballhead Kimberly and I will be hosting a cardi-raye-along beginning March 14.

For those of you interested and looking for the yarn, you could try Breiweb or possibly Knitntyme. I haven't heard of any other Phildar yarn sources on the web. Email me with questions or if you're interested in joining in the fun! I know Alison and Leigh have agreed to partake in the madness. Weeeeeeeee!

Let there be music

We found a great 20s-style Django Reinhart-like band for our wedding. I am so thrilled! And, it's one of the (very) few things that has been cheaper than expected rather than astronomically more! Ooh la la. I feel like dancin'.

165 days

My wedding checklist on "the knot" reminds me that I have 159 items on my to-do list. Should I be panicking? I am. But, I know it will all work out. I heard about a friend of a friend whose mother's health took an immediate turn for the worse, forcing her to plan a full-blown wedding in 5 days. Ha! I have 165 days! I will continue at my leisurely pace. I'll knit instead.

Sharpening my pencils

I merrily searched through my stash last night, looking for nothing in particular. I found 2 skeins of self-striping sock yarn that I sent to my mom, a terminal sock-a-holic. After properly assessing my stash and relishing in the notion that it's not too bloated or unmanageable, I went through all of my needles, writing down a full inventory of sizes, including the lengths of all the circulars/straights/double-pointeds. Then I scavenged through my stitch markers, point protectors, cable needles, yarn needles, and other tidbits, organizing them into cute little plastic boxes. Basically, I did everything but knit. It's like I was really ramping up for a killer night of knitting, but it just never happened. Much like a kid preparing to do homework and well...you know the rest. It's not as though I was really dreading knitting, but I suppose I just needed a night to sort of be part of my accessories.

Totally tubular!

I couldn't help myself...Last night I started a bit on the Phildar cardi raye, just to get a taste of those bright delicious colors. I cast on for a sleeve using the tubular method. This was my first-ever attempt at this technique. Perhaps it was the size 2s paired with the stubborness of cotton yarn that just killed my hands. I nearly cried four times. But it was so worth the agony. Here's a photo. Click for a close up. I'm so proud.

I especially love two of the new Rowan books. Cotton Braid and Linen Print have some very chic items that have piqued my interest.