Archives for May 2005

Have you seen these? Screw baby sweaters, I’m making THESE now for the preggers moms in my life. So cute I can’t stand it. I like Bronty the best.

Lala is funny today. She’s funny everyday, ackshally. Today I am not funny, mostly because I’m Tired. Not little t-tired, but Big T-Tired. Cats who keep their gals awake during the day when it’s time to sleep should at least be able to do dishes. Instead, Digit’s great talent is to throw up in dark corners where it won’t be seen until I tread in it going to the bathroom for the fifteenth time since lying down.

Yawn.

There. Did you? That’s a sign you’re probably not schizophrenic by the way. In case you were wondering.

But the good thing is is that I’m going to pick up Lala from work now, since apparently she’s NEVER getting her car out of the shop and I get to steal a couple of hours with her before I go to work. Worth being tired for, I tell you. Maybe I’ll get more coffee out of the deal, too.

That, dear readers, is the front of a cardigan that I’m making for myself out of handspun, hand-dyed yarn that I made myself.

Woot! (Maybe I like that word so much because it typo-es as wool.)

I used kool-aid to dye it, black cherry, hoping for a deep red, but I’ve been too impatient to let the wool cool in the hot water, and I realize my microwave’s power is puny compared to most. So I’m getting a (mostly) consistent watermeloney pink that I love. I don’t want it too consistent; I want to be able to say "I made this!" and for the listener to say "I can tell." I think that would be keen. The white/pink ball really is rather a mistake — forgot to turn the yarn while cooking it, but I like it so much I might use it for some kind of striping somewhere.

There’s just something so playful about using kool-aid, isn’t there? Even though you still shouldn’t breathe it in, and it stains everything it comes in contact with (how DO mothers use it for kid drinks?), it still seems so light-hearted. Perhaps I should buy gloves, though. My hands have been pink under the nails for days.

And I realized after I did a gauge swatch and cast on for the front that I had NO idea what I was making, really. I think I just wanted such a basic sweater that I forgot to think about a pattern. I’m doing raglan sleeves and a zipper, that’s all I know. Maybe a rolled neck. We’ll see. I hope it turns out. I remember once when I was a kid, I was lying in bed imagining a dog. I could see all sides of this dog, and it was so cute, and I just knew that when I got out of bed, I’d be able to draw it. I got up, put pencil to paper, and drew a stick figure that looked more like a building. I could see so clearly the lines I wanted to draw, but I couldn’t make them come out of the pencil. I’ve done that in knitting before and it’s one of those terribly disappointing moments. I’d rather not have another of those, thanks.

But this is terribly fun. Innit?

No time or energy to blog much today, so I’ll use Em’s 10 minute method.

New socks! Aren’t the best color? And know what the best part is? I didn’t make them! Lala did. And my feet love them. Happy, happy feet dance….

Treats! From Nurse Knitty Wendy, knitting pencils, GORGEOUS stitch markers, and best of all, CCEggs! I can’t thank you enough. I may make it to next Easter now.

Okay. My tired ass needs more coffee in prep for the week starting tonight. Where do weekends GO, anyway? Coffee, coffee, coffee…. (and chocolate!)

What with all this fiber, you know.

So begins the fiber confession. I have to admit that when I bought the bin at Target and loaded it up, I was slightly horrified.

It’s ginormous. And as we travelled home and it sat on the floor for a day while I worked too much to open it (isn’t that the saddest thing you ever heard?), it grew in my mind, bigger and bigger, until I thought I had the biggest stash in the world (I don’t, by the way. That would be Amy). I was terrified to open it. You know, the whole exploding thing.

Wednesday afternoon, I opened it. And honestly, it’s not that bad. Comparatively. (Let me have this dream,
please.)

See? Could be worse, right? (Adah shown for scale.)

Want a close up of some of the colors? Not like I remember what kind of fiber they are (most should have tags/receipts, but I wasn’t religious about it), but I just LOVED this colorway, actually went back for it and bought it at 5:02pm on Sunday:

And this, I believe, is merino with a bit of mohair, but who knows?

I got enough different batts to make four sweaters, and a few smaller amounts of fiber just to play with, some of that luscious Cormo, and a mohair ball or two, along with some Targhee (is that right?) in crazy colors.

And of course, the prized object was my Joy (sleeping Adah in the background):

Yes, she’s that purdy. I love her. The thing is, with a double treadle you can stop the wheel with your feet, allowing you to be able to sit back on the couch. No hard high-backed chair for me now. Now I can semi-cuddle while spinning. Very important, that. Also, when I got her out of the bag yesterday, a Milky Way Dark jumped out at me from the second pocket. I think she likes me, too.

Happy weekend, all!

Or "Rachael eats the other bloggers."

Proof that y’all usually only see the good pictures, since my camera is the only one that takes decent pictures of me. But this unflattering one that Lala took? Too good to pass up. This is how I got out of the festival with all that fiber for myself. Don’t tell, but I knocked over several of the smaller bloggers and ran off with their fiber, too…. Doesn’t Carrie look scared?