What's that, you say? Why, that would be my HSKS2 Package from Beth. The bag is a quilted drawstring bag with two outside flap pockets. I'm trying so hard to figure out the construction of it, cause it's just so nifty! But anyway - included was an addi turbo (I do :heart: the addis!) a cute little pen, two different Fibertrends Patterns, some Exploding BonBons, and Yarn. Pagewood Farm hand dyed. I've never heard of the dyer, but I'm glad that's remedied. The dye job is an amazing semi-solid green (it's got tones and shades and greengreengreen) and it's nice and light. I'm thinking lace, maybe some Horcrux socks. Or Pomotomaus, or Hederas.....
What didn't make it into the picture? The weekly planner notepad was immediately snapped onto the fridge and put to use, and the small black sheep tape measure (never have enough!) was spirited away by LittleMissV, and is presumably in her room, being played with even now. (I suffer no illusions - she is the reason I'm always having to get more.....)

Labels: HSKS2, swapping

I've picked up an old project. I've even taken a better photo of it.
(Did I mention that I love my new camera??)

However, in picking up an old one, I started (and finished a new one.)

Toddler socks go so quickly. And toddlers are pleased with anything that is made for them.

Labels: chevron scarf, FO, wip

Scary:













Pretty:













In progress:

Labels: stash, wip

I read the book. I'm happy with it. The in-laws came and went. I'm happy with it. I've been trying to photograph my stash for Ravelry. That's actually going well.
I made a hedgehog! Isn't he cute?
I finally took a picture of what I got from Hilltop yarn in Seattle. From left to right: two different colors of Rowan Summer Tweed (pale pink and pale green), Handmaiden Sea Silk (!!!), and two skeins (for one pair of socks) of ShiBuiKnits Sock in a mulberry-esque semi-solid. None of these have true color names printed on the labels, sorry.
I'm actually taking a break from organizing my computer/sewing/everything else area. What do you think? I think it's coming along well. The area is *huge*, so it will make for a nice sewing area. Combined with the closet:I think I'm going to be happy in the new setup. The closet is (obviously) not full yet. I've apparently got enough fabric alone to more than fill this thing top to bottom. So I'm going to work through what I've got first before I start unpacking too much more of the fabric. I have a *LOT* of quilting fabrics. However - I learned a long time ago that I don't like quilting. Sewing, yes. Quilting, no. So unless I can come up with something to make out of the quilting fabrics, I will probably destash those. If you (or anyone you know) like quilting - let me know and I'll photograph what I've got to go and let you take a look.
I also got myself a new camera - I LOVE it!!!! Of course I had to research before I got it, but I already had a Fuji, so the idea of being able to use my same memory cards made me happy, and the only really bad things were said by pro photographers who thought that an entry level camera should be the same quality as a pro camera. So I got it. Yay me! And thank you to the in-laws for giving me the gift certificate that paid for almost all of this thing!
Well, I'm off to deal with organizing the huge pile'o'yarn that is sitting here next to me. But how happy making is it to see a pile of this? (The boxes are DVDs waiting to be unpacked - yarn takes precedence, and I got the boxes from a liquor store before we were moving.)

Labels: FO, stash

This blog silence brought to you by Harry Potter and the InLaws. See you soon.

ETA - I'll fix the formatting later, it's time for our walk to the park!
Disaster struck. I knew that I had wound the MS3 yarn into too tight of a ball, but I soldiered on anyways. Well, last night I tried to tug a bit more out to knit with, and got more than I bargained for. At the time, I simply set it aside and went to sleep, then today I brought it downstairs to try to work on between laundry loads. I thought about taking a picture of the carnage, as well as my tools for dealing with it (Dr Pepper, an iPod and a big bag of Dove chocolates) but I didn't want to document the Misery. (Note the capitalization.) I did however, take a picture of the aftermath:That's a huge chunk of yarn that I just didn't feel like trying to untangle. Spit-splicing is your friend!
I also took pictures of the "good" part of the stash. I came across some yarn I got from an unnamed* vendor. 10/2 tencel. I ask you, do these pictures look alike?
















The one on the left is what the vendor had on etsy. The one on the right is what I received. I understand, and accept that one is reskeined and one isn't, I also accept lighting differences (mine has no true green, only a teal that looks slightly green in a photo) but neither accounts for the fact that what I got is nowhere near what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty, just not the green with small random bits of blue and purple. After I took my pictures, I balled it up to see if it could look better. Still looked like a rainbow mix. I've also heard lots about this vendor's yarns bleeding out very badly, so I decided to soak it to see what I would get. This:
Can you see the yarn in there? No? Let's try another view, shall we?
(Note the lovely ballband dishcloth. That was from my Winterwonderland Swap pal.) The water was so black it stained my hands, even. I was actually hoping for this, hoping that the darker colors would bleed into the lighter ones and make a more even color. All they did was fade and make the yellow look dingy. Don't get me wrong, the yarn is still beautiful, but not what I wanted. Oh, yeah, and while I was winding into a ball, I lost a good twenty yards to a HUGE knot. I'm swearing off the laceweight for today, I don't want to have to rip the MS3!!!
*mostly because the vendor has a tendency to google themselves and badmouth anyone who talks about their bad experience. Email me if you want to be warned.

Labels: MS3, stash

I walk to the park every evening after dinner and let MathMan and KMV play while I knit. I ran into someone a few nights ago who I thought I could be friends with. She was there again tonight, and she asked (in a roundaout way) for me to teach her. I found a knitter!!!! She doesn't know it yet, but she is!! So tomorrow night, I'm going to tuck a small ball of purple yarn (her favorite color) and some needles and show her the knit stitch, and if she catches on quickly enough, the purl too. I'm excited, can you tell?
Plus? There's a knitting guild in my area, and they're having their annual picnic next weekend. I'm so there!

Labels: Life

1. Stew
2. Sandwiches
3. Hunger
4. Cocktail Onion
5. False
6. That he spend the Christmas and Easter holidays at Hogwarts
7. Irish International Slide
8. Cherry Syrup and Soda
9. 37 Galleons, 15 Sickles, and 3 Knuts
10. 11 Sickles

Fountain from the Ministry of Magic
Quidditch World Cup Campsite
Diagon Alley
The Knight Bus
Flourish and Blotts

Labels: HSKS2

I finally have my camera, the cable, and batteries!!! So here are some of the pictures I've been promising. So, without ado, here's my HSKS package from Meg!

That's a great little tote bag (which I'm already taking everywhere) that she sewed up. Not one, not two, but three great sock patterns, and the beaded one? I just had in my cart at TLE the day before and decided to wait! Knitter's ESP! A beaded row counter (helping me keep track of MS3) and stitch markers, SOAK that I can't wait to try, two bars of soap - one for LMV and one for me (I think I'm going to toss the one for me into a stash bag and scent the yarn with it....cinnamon = yum!) A pear scented votive that I can't stop smelling...I want to just bite into it it smells so good! Two tubes of a gaw-geous black seed bead with an "oil-slick" shine, and a package of Bertie Botts. The coup-de-gras? The WoolGirl sock yarn. Sooooo pretty! I managed to forget the new Addi Turbo circ and the Orange Creamsicle (!!) limp balm, but that's because it was already in my pocket being used! I take the tote bag to the park with me every evening with my current "easy" knitting and work while MathMan and LMV play.
I'm currently in design-a-holic mode again. I know, I know. I *need* to actually write up the designs that I've already done. Well, at least the ones that worked. The "different construction" one? didn't work so well. Pooey.
I'm off to try to finish (or more realistically get close to finishing) the second clue of MS3 before the new one comes out!
ETA - oh, yeah, I've got the Seattle pictures. Loads of them, mostly taken out the window of a moving car. Rather than make this a massively picture heavy post, here's a link to the flickr set.

Labels: design, HSKS

I have pictures of the swap bag from Meg, I have my camera. I even have a finished *pair* of socks, that fit no less!!! I do not, however have the cable to transfer said pictures. So I placate you with this: my podcast review. I've been listening to a lot lately, partly due to MathMan getting me a set up so I can drop my iPod into a player in the kitchen, or the dock upstairs, and partly due to MathMan being asleep and me not wanting to wake him up by turning on the tv. Anyway, on to what's on the iPod.
I'm going to say, even though it will probably get me flamed, or beat up, or whatever, but I don't like Brenda Dayne. There, that's out in the open. Her podcast seems to be loved by all, but it's so monotonous, and contrived, and just plain boring to me. The music is (mostly) horrid, the essays could be interesting if not read so blandly, and it seems the "themes" she uses really rub me wrong. In all, I tried, for quite a while, to like CastOn, but I don't. So there.
However, I'm really digging Sticks and String. He's an Aussie, so the nifty accent works great, and he keeps the show nice and neutral, no political affiliations, no negativity (except for that one show where he was more warning about lack of truth in advertising) and the essays actually have heart and life. There's music, but not much, and it's not *too* bad. I'm finding his older episodes are great subconscious mind diversion while knitting on this mystery stole. I stick that on, and start tuning it out, and while I'm listening I don't have to tink or frog anything. I guess my brain just has too many monkeys running around, but a little something to listen to soothes them right down.
Lime and Violet? Love 'em. Like being at the SnB that I can't go to (toddler + busy restaraunt + loads of people = no thanks) but I'm starting to get behind on the episodes (HORROR!!!) because I actually want to *listen* to them, and no space them out. This mystery stole is taking a lot of time and attention...
Knitters Uncensored. Another in the ranks of Lime and Violet. And Elemm is hi-larious, but in a good, Sideshow Bob sort of way, not Krusty-ish. Hmm, that didn't come out as nicely as I wanted it to. Maybe it's something about listening to men who enjoy knitting. I don't know, am I looking for some sort of hook to get MathMan to pick up sticks, maybe? Regardless, I love listening to these three gab.
Stash and Burn is nice, again with the more than one person, but this one is a bit more structured, and it's not interspersed with music. That's a pet peeve - if I wanted music, I would listen to music. I want a podcast about knitting, not what music they like.
I have the Knitpicks podcast in the lineup, and it's ok, I guess. I still haven't formed a complete opinion about it yet, but it's good distractionary stuff. Her voice is soothing, there's no music, and it's fairly long, which all make for something to distract the monkeys.
That's really it for what I listen to so far. There are several more out there, but either they moved too slowly, or I didn't like the format, or something, so they're not on my list. There are some new ones that I ought to give a listen to, but I'm a bit lazy in the looking for them. I'll get around to it sometime. I guess this just shows that I want to listen to the less "professional" podcasts, and the more "I just stuck a mic in the middle of my friends and started recording" type.
ETA - Durr, I forgot one! I also listen to Dharmafey's Socks in the City, but there were none on the iPod, so I completely forgot about it! I love that all she talks about is socks, there's no music (other than background) and she dyes some yummy yarn! How could I not love someone that dyed a whole line of sock yarn based on my very favorite movie!!!???

Labels: podcast

Trivia:
1.Harry and Ron
2. Fred
3. Dedalus Diggle
4. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
5. Ronan
6. Ravenclaw
7. Emerald Green
8. Scarlet
9. 11
10. Grindylow


Harry's Aunt
Whomping Willow
Cornelius Fudge
Buckbeak
Emma Watson

Labels: HSKS2

Still unpacking, still stressing, but add in a night of no sleep spent at the ER with my little girl, and you get me now. She's fine now, but I'm working on catching up with myself.
I have been knitting. Got through about ten rows of the second chart of the MS3. I'm not too sure I like how open the needle size is making everything, but I'm NOT about to start again.
I've had to set it aside for a bit - I'm making a swap bag for my HSKS2 pal. All I will say is that I'm doing something I've never done before. How's that for cryptic?

Labels: HSKS2, MS3