Yup...9 Days

I have been so busy with work that the last 9 days have just slipped by without me being able to post anything. Knitting has slowed down considerably as well due to work. Its been pretty stressful. Though there have been some fun things going on as well. Swimming, yarn playing nights at Deluxe yarns, outings with others...so its not all work...but ALL busy.



Had a weekend when I was able to hang out with my cool friend K, we played yarn, went to see the 5th Harry Potter movie and went out to dinner over a three day period. She lives far out and sometimes it gets a bit difficult to get together. Actually going to see her tonight for a belated bday dinner (her bday). All you can eat crab legs! YUM!


Earlier this week J and I were invited to the lovely Knitty Otter's for a DELICIOUS dinner! For those of you who read her blog you know that she posts original recipies every once in a while ... however...you may not know that she is a GOURMET cook. I have been fortunate enough to sample some of her tasty creations and have not had one thing that I did not like. The other thing is her food always looks pretty. lol...Dinner at her house was no exception. It was a lot of fun to visit with her and her honey. THANK YOU! Got to give their kitty, TKK, rubbies. She is so sweet.



Summer of Socks 2007: River Rapid Socks: I am in the middle of my second sock. These will be a part of my Summer of Socks. I really wanted to make some more socks this summer...thought I would be able too. Summer has gotten away from me. (geez I start my last semester at the University in just a few weeks...but it is my last ....YEAH...diploma will be in hand right around Christmas...YAHOO! There WILL be a party!)


Mystery Stole 3 by Pink Lemon Twist: Slowly but surely working on them. This one has been really slow because I have to really pay attention lol. We are on clue 4 as a group but I have still not knitted past clue 1. Yeah I know.


Summer CAL - KAL : Purse Round up: I picked up the beads I want to put on the one bag I made up myself (that pattern will be written up and shared for whom ever might be interested). I found some fantastic beads made of glass in the shape and colors of fall leaves. Which go with the colors of the bag perfectly. I have 3 other bags that still need to be felted (big purple thing, Lucy bag, Lotrop II bag). I also found a really nice handle (finally!) for the entrelac bag ...just need to pick it up from Deluxe Yarns (whom by the way was over with J and I for dinner the other night. We laughed so much! That always happens for some reason.)


Yarn-In-A-Teacup Swap: I finally got all the things I want to send together and will be wrapping up all the little items on Sunday and mailing them off on Monday to Elan in Canada. :-D

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: OH and how could I forget! I went to the local Border's release for the book last Friday night. By the time I got home with my book it was close to 2 am. So I slept so I could be alert and began reading on Saturday at noon and finished at about 2 pm Sunday. Though I still have questions and like many others thought the Epilogue was kind of sappy...I LOVE IT! JK Rowling, imho, is a creative genius! What a fun book. I need to re-read it again more slowly. I didn't want to accidently come across a spoiler so I stayed off the internet and didn't even check email until I was done. Though my sister called me to see where I was and so did K's hubby (whom I hung up on because he was teasing me too much...brat!). It was fun after I was done to go over the book with my sister and then with K's hubby. K was working on fixing her truck so she didn't get to it until this week. She is now finished and I am looking forward towards dinner tonight and I KNOW we will be going over the whole book! Can't wait!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie: Best one out of all the movies. Contained the best acting so for, best depicted action and though they changed HOW some of the story and important information was told it was done in such a way that it added to the story and so that it didn't take away from the story.

Other stuff: One of the OTHER reasons knitting has been a bit slow is because I stopped the above projects to get some secret knitting done. I do not want to say what because I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will be able to share after the 5th though. Also, finished writing and testing a pattern for a crocheted fish shaped wash cloth. Will clean it all up and post it soon (hopefully!).


Yarn: I have recieved some belated bday gifts as well. One from Knitty Otter lady and one from my friend K. BOTH gifted me with SCOUT YARN! Yeah me! I have some Scout yarn. Yippy! I have also purchased some more CherryTree Hill sock yarn. I love that yarn so much!

Books: The night I purchased the last (sniff sniff) Harry Potter book I also picked up "Knit it! Felt it!" Really nice..it has unique pieces in it that can be used as the base for projects that you can make entirely your own. It has patterns in it but it can also be used as book of ideas as a stepping stone to your own ideas.

Work wise: Its been an interesting summer program this year. I have come across some unique situations that I have not had before. As an example this was the first year that as a teacher I HAD to pull out and use "THE LAW" to help out some students. For those who are teachers, counselors or doctors/nurses they know what "THE LAW" is...for the rest here is a brief explanation:

"THE LAW": If a child/student is may cause harm to themselves or others, is being harmed or in jeapordy of being harmed, is involved in drugs, alcohol or criminal activity the property authorities and/or parents/gaurdians must be informed. The professional must take action to ensure the safety of the child/student immediately.

That is it ...simplified and in a nut shell but describes it well enough I think. I have always believed that WHEN it came time for me to pull out and use THE LAW that I would be able to do so with a feeling of knowing that it was for the benefit of my kids. Well intellectually that was the case...and I did what I had to do and what I believed to be the right thing personally but it was emotionally difficult to do and extremely stressful. Which took me by surprise. It was a learning experience to say the least.

School: On the 27th of August I will begin my final year for my license! Woohoo hoo! Its been a long long road. I have had many personal up-hevels that have made the road extremely difficult at times. But I am standing at the end in the light. YEAH! I have to say that the finish will also be well done...without tooting my own horn too loud lol...I will be ending with a flourish...with a high (high!) GPA...a great student teaching opp. lined up (paid at that) and many more grand things that will in the end make the entire trip over the long, windy and bumpy road worth it. Whew! Deep breath.

Ok super long post ...but I guess that is what happens when you don't post for almost 10 days. OOPS.

World's Biggest Stash?

I do not have time for a long post but just wanted to share a link for an out of control stash that Celtic Memory Yarns posted about. If your stash doesn't look like this then you can take a sigh of relief. I honestly thought I was really overboard with my stash. But this makes me feel better...I am NO WHERE near being this bad. WOW.

Yarny Adventure

For some reason I keep forgetting to write up the post about my little trip up to North Star. On June 30th about 12 of us from my area (including my friend K, Monkeysocks, Freddie and Knitty Otter).

We began the day by having a really nice lunch at the River Ranch Lodge, which sits on the Truckee River. And I do mean it sits right on the river. They have an outdoor patio and bbq grill which juts out over the river (just a little). The service was really nice and the food was great! Gourmet hamburgers and fries.

After lunch we went up to The Village at North Star (a popular ski area) and visited "Loopy at Tahoe" yarn shop. The shop used to be located in North Lake Tahoe (under the name "Three Dog Knit") but has recently moved to North Star. The owner (Judy) of the shop was featured last year on an episode of Knitty Gritty with her kids in which Ski patterns were featured. It is a small shop but very nice welcoming atmosphere in a lovely spot. Judy couldn't have been any nicer and didn't hesitate when I asked if I could take her picture for my blog. Thank you Judy! I didn't buy much but what I got I really like. Going to make a felted bag with the yarn. The booklet was a great find, had not seen it before and it has given me some really great ideas. Not only for bags but for some other things. Love when that happens. :-)

After the yarn shop we strolled down the path and found a great bead shop. Nice service and beautiful beads. Though the shop was in a high price area I found the prices to be comparable to other bead shops in less afluent areas. The service was great (which seemed to be the way it was on saturday...every where we went we were treated really well). The shop is called Farrah Rale. Not only do they sell beads but if you are not a jewelry crafter and you find some beads and trinkets you like they will put it together for you right there. I found a really nice large bead that will serve well as a closure for a bag, plus some interesting beads that will make nice stitch markers. Now I need more beads like I need more yarn and more books (my bead stash is 3rd in size only to my book stash and my yarn stash). lol

It was a really nice day with some really nice people. My friend K was able to come as well and she got to meet some of the people I talk to her about. She lives sort of far out town and doesn't get to participate in some of the yarny things because of distance. I love going to my LYS (Deluxe Yarns) and playing yarn there but every once in while its nice to see what else is going on. :-)

Indie Fiber

I love the fact that there as so many out there doing their own thing when it comes to fiber and then that they are dyeing and spinning enough to share with the rest of us. :-) I thought I would put together a little list of some of the ones that many art talking about.

Some of the most Popular:
1. Cabin Cove by Dave Daniels (have some of this WANT/NEED more)
2. Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber (gifted a lovely skein for my bday...soooo yummy NEED MORE)
3. Scout's Swag by Scout (i do believe i am DESPERATE for her stuff, everything i have seen (and able to molest for a few minutes) is absolutely gorgeous)

Some of the newer (well newer to me since I have just recently be hearing about them), I have not had any face time with these yarns but I see alot of noise on blogs about them and see them knitted up beautifully:
1. Posh Yarns by Dee GB
2. Pirate Yarns by Georgia
3. Hello Yarns by Adrian Bizilia
4. Lotus Yarns by Lotus Knits

The Stash

I have spent the weekend working on my stash, knitting books, tools etc....organizing, sorting, listing and photographing. All I can say is I am WAAAAYYY OUT OF HAND. LOL...Well I have been stashing yarn for at least 20+ years...so what does that tell you. But before I get into that...



Last month on my bday I mentioned that I had won some yarn. It arrived over a week ago and I do apologize to Yarnivorous for not posting sooner about. I have showed it off though! :-) She not only sent me 100grs of handspun, she specially spun it for me from soft lovely handpainted Australian wool...AND then she also sent me 100 gr. of Australian wool roving! Now I just have to get my hands on a spindle and get someone to show me how to spin it.


Now lets talk stash...I spent all of today photographing, sorting and listing my stash so that I can organize it in my Ravelry. I only got to 3/4s of my stash! I am so out of hand.


1. This is a shot of SOME of my wool and natural fibers collection on the floor. It was the easiest way I could find to sort the stuff. I collected all the wool that I had around and put it into one pile. I then sorted it by brand, photographed and then bagged it as it was sorted.


2. While I was sorting and hand my back turned my little guy pushed his way through and made himself all comfy in the yarn. I snapped a picture really quick because he was so darn cute...and the shooed him away because I don't let the furballs hang out on my yarn. Another reason why I am taking the time and spending the money on bagging it all. I love my fur children but I don't want their fur in my yarn or my projects.


3. These two shots are of my yarn that did not get sorted....didn't even get looked at actually LOL. This is all Acrylic (yuky Red heart and Caron's Simple soft for the most part) and crochet thread/cotton. This is yarn that I will eventually sort and catalogue but I am in no hurry. I rarely get into this yarn and really am not too worried about it. Much of it will be donated, or used for teaching yarn arts to kids (something I will be doing next winter...project that is in the works).


4. Finally this is what I worked on today. Every skein, cake or ball was sorted and photographed. From left to right: A. All cotton, B. Lace weights, ribbon yarn and novelty yarns (I don't have much of that), C. Wool and Natural fibers (ie the stuff that will felt), D. Sock yarn. Can you tell what kind of yarn I like the most? LOL...I have been mostly concerned about organizing this yarn. This is the stuff I used the most and replenish the most. I need to be able to find out what I have or need when I am putting things together for a project. Years and years ago I had done this but it was all on paper which was not really convient. Ravelry is making it way easy to organize this stuff. Now I can easily see what I have or what I need for a project and easily put it together with a project. The photographs will show me what colors I have and the way its organized in Ravelry I will know how much I have on hand as far as yardage for a project. I am also able to organize the yarn that I have dyed which is really cool.


So I still have to organize and list my needles, hooks, notions. I have already organized my WIP's and FOs. Including crochet projects that I had done years and years ago. Did the projects first because I really needed to see what I had going on. LOL. I have some work to do on the pics I took of the yarn but the hard part is done! yeah! This is going to be so nice to have it all in one place.

Ok well start working with my kids tomorrow. Looking forward to that. Have a good week everyone!

RAVELRY!

Ok...FIRST: OMF-ingG! Ravelry has to be one of the most fantastic ideas to come to the internet that I have come across in a long long time. If you have not heard about it or come across it somewhere in blogland...THEN WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? LOL....

It is fantastic, they are still in beta testing because they are adding things and improving things and just opened up in May 2007. But I have to tell you I have been a beta tester for many geeky type things over the years...and if this site is still in beta test I cannot imagine what it will be like when its full fledged!

What is it? Well it is a database, organizing tool and network for fiber artists, designers and hobbiests. It is the best pattern, yarn and project organizer I have ever seen. I would challenge you to find something better. Seriously! It is simple to use, verstile...and get this...FREE! You have got to see it for yourself. There is a tour of it here. The tour does not come close to showing you all that the site has to offer.

Since they are still beta testing, joining is by invite for now. But all you have to do to get an invite is put your name on the list and you will get an invite. It takes awhile to get because of the HUGE response they got. They are doing things right...doing it little by little so the site doesn't crash and so it will work as advertise. They are two young people who had an idea and the talent to put it together. They aren't charging for it and want it to be as great as they invision it. Here you can find a detailed letter that explains how and why they are doing things the way they are.

So go put your name on the list! When you do my id on there is Yarnatic...come play yarn with me!

The Bag Issues

Finally some knitting...I know amazing!

Even though I haven't posted in over a week I have been knitting. I had to knit...needed it for stress relief from all the work I had to do for the intensive 3 credit class that I took in just 3 weeks. Wow was it a dozy...I have only taken one summer class once before but it was over an 8 week period. This was a new experince for me. I have to say though that it was well worth it. The Professor, Dr. Jennifer Ring, was enthusiastic, extremely intelligent and passionate about her topic. The course was called Race and Gender in the U.S. It was under the heading for the Political Science Department and the Women's Studies Department. Excellent, course! Challenging with the amount of reading that I had to do in the last 3 weeks and with having to write a term paper (10 pages AFTER cutting it back from over 20!)

Anyway, on to the knitting. As you can see from the opening picture I have made three bags. I finished two last night. They are scheduled for "shrinking" (a.k.a felting/fulling lol). Thought before I subject them to the process of size reduction I would post about them. I have wanted to do some bags for awhile but have been in "The Sock Zone" for a while. So while taking a break I did these. They went really fast. I have a fourth one on the needles still and hope to finish it by early next week and will then process all 4 together. I have made 3 other bags prior to this but they have been on hold due to issues I have with them which I will discuss below.



First, "The great purple bag" (as I am calling it). I pulled together several patterns to come up with this one. It is basically a typical messenger type bag. I have been wanting my own funky knitting bag. There are many cool knitting bags out there for purchase but they are a bit pricey for my budget so I figured that I could come up with my own and then it would be unique. Pre-shrinking this bag is huge and though I know it will be smaller I hope it won't shrink too much. Here are the specs:

Yarn: Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride. I used 4 colors, black and 3 purples; about a skein and 1/2 of each color.

Needles: Addi turbos, U.S. 9, 36" circulars.

Pattern: Part from "Knitting for Peace" (a book that I want badly!) messenger bag and from 2 other sources plus my own ideas. I have written all down and came up with my own pattern by combing things I liked from the other patterns and my own ideas. It was done all in one piece, from bottom to handles.

Size:
Bottom: 16 1/2" x 5"
Body: About 20" in length (5" per color) and approximately 60" in circum.
Handle: About 4" x 61" (about)
Flap: 19 1/2" x 18 1/2"

Notes: Really easy to do. We shall see how much it shrinks, will be interesting. I know that Brown Sheep felts to a nice texture. It really is a lovely yarn to work with (as I have mentioned before).




This was a REALLY quick bag to do. Super easy and cute. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Knitting Daily's "Amanda's Squatty Sidekick Bag".

Yarn: Paton's SWS, in variegated pink. Really nice and soft to work with. I read somewhere that it felts fuzzy, but if I don't like the fuzziness I can use one of those clothing shavers to smooth it out and then it lays nicely. I am not really big into fuzzy so will see. I bought the yarn a long time ago to see how it felts. It is part Bamboo and was meant for felting projects. Everyone who has seen this bag so far, pre-felting, thinks I should leave it as is. However, the problem with doing that is that it would need to be lined so that it would be sturdy. I DO NOT sew and DO NOT care too...I have never liked sewing. I could pay to have someone line it for me ...but geez who can afford that! lol...so it WILL be shrunk. (SO THERE ;-p~~~ ) Oh btw, it was done in one piece and I only used about 200 yds, which was about 2 balls. Not too bad.

Size:
Bottom: 9 1/2" x 4"
Body: About 8 1/2" in length and approximately 27 " in circum.
Closure Tab: 4" x 3 1/2" at the base and 1 3/4" at the tip
Handle: 3 1/2" x 21 1/2"
Needles: Addi turbos, U.S. 9, 24" circulars



This was the fastest of the three for some reason. LOL. I was sent the yarn as a gift for my bday and it went perfect for a bag that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. The person who sent it to me (who asked me not to say who they are though I have no clue WHY! Silly woman! but I love her so its cool), said that when she saw it that it screamed to her "VIKKIE!!!" She was right of course...she said that it the lady in the craft store said it was perfect for "shrinking", lol, I am sure the lady told her that it felted but that is what she told. When I asked her "shrinking? or felting" She said "Whatever, if I put my cashemer sweater in the wash it will shrink...so what the hell is the difference. It shrinks and I knew you would love it because of the colors and I don't know one damn thing about yarn so shut up!" LMAO LOL! So here are the specs:

Yarn: Poems (I could not find a link for this yarn, a search only gave me links to actual poems about yarn and knitting...sheesh) in two colorways....and umm I was so excited to get the yarn that I ripped off the labels...which my dog promptly grabbed and shredded so umm yeah. I could google it but I am lazy today so...no. It has a mat sort of finish (unlike SWS and Lamb's Pride which has a sheen). It isn't that soft but the color patterning is nice and even. Transitions from one color to the next nicely. I used about 3 balls of the colorway with the purple and one ball of the graduated blues. (Edit 09/07/07: Wisdom Yarns Poems; 4 Stitches to the inch on US 7s, 109 per ball, and I used colorways 550 and 558. I just found it online)

Pattern: "The Lucy Bag". I was gifted with the pattern. Even though everyone around here (in my area that is) is making this bag, and I don't usually like to make the same projects everyone else is making, I love the way the bag works and looks and have wanted to make it for a long time. It worked up really fast. I had started in Lamb's Pride in blues but when I got the poems I ripped it out and started over. I basically made it in about 3 days. It was also made in one piece from bottom to the handles. I chose to do the smaller version.

Size:
Bottom: The bag is constructed in the round. You cast on the bottom and join into a small circle and increase to a certain number of stitches. At the end of the increases it is 7" diameter.
Body: 16" in length and about 24" in circumfrence.
Handles: The longer one is 3" x 25", the shorther one is 3" x 16 1/2"
Needles: U.S. 7, bamboo, 24" circulars



The first bag is made from Sari Silk remenants and was completed back in the fall. The 2nd bag is an Entrelac bag that I did a few months ago (with Noro) and then felted. The last one is a Booga bag (in Berroco Hip Hop and Cascade Pastaza). I am not going to post details on these at this time because of the issue that I will discuss below. I loved making the bags but the lack of being able to totally complete them as me disappointed. When and if I can work out the issues then I will post details about them.

Issues:
Ok so here are some issues I have been having with all the bags.

Closures: I am having difficulty selecting closures for my bags. I do not want the same (typical) closures everyone else uses. Like buttons or beads. I want things that are different and unique. But, what? Does anyone out there have ideas? I want original, unique and different....NOT typical. But exactly what that is I have not figured out yet! LOL...so I am open to ideas.

To line or not to line?: The entrelac bag and the Sari Silk bag definetly need to be lined because they just aren't sturdy enough for use. But as I said I do not sew. Do not know how too (well barely)...so not sure what do.

Handles: As with the closures...I want different and unique and not something that everyone else is doing. I made handles for the entrelac and Booga bag but they are what everyone else has done and they really do not call to me nor do they do anything for the bags. I really love the entrelac bag and I want something classy and special for it...as well for the Booga Bag. Any ideas?

Well I have more to post about...but not about bags. I will save it for the weekend so I will have another subject to post about. Plus this has ended up being a long post and if you are still with me at this point you probably are saying "Enough already!" LOL...plus I want to go knit and play yarn! Woohoo.