Food and Fiascos

From Urban Dictionary:

Bubble brain:  A person with a brain as empty as a bubble. Both girls and guys can be bubble brains, but it often refers to a girl. A bubble brain may not remember what you say minutes after you have spoken. If she is thinking at all she is thinking about herself Senior moment:  A lapse of memory, logic or mental function which is atypical or unusual. The individual suffering the event, may not necessarily be advanced in age, although senior citizens are more likely to experience an occurrence. Sheila at Journey Wheel sent me an email declaring herself a bubble brain and Blogless Sandy and I can really relate.  Now at our age, though, I believe this is actually called a senior moment.  I kind of like bubble brain better as it connotes youth and this aging thing is for the birds.   1.  Concentrating on patterns and following instructions.  Case in point. Crochet African Flower Hexagon.  Ravelry has a couple tutorials, Heidi Bears and Barbara Langer. (one makes a hexagon and the other makes a square.  Craft passion has a cute little purse made out of them here.  Making these motifs is quite fun and addicting and making use of my Plymouth Jeannee stash.   Hello!  I made row 4 a different color when is should be the same as row 3.  Now what.  Do I continue along or change make them "correctly". 2.  Calendar fiascos:  not checking the calendar, not putting events on the calendar, not getting the date or day of the week correctly.  Concentrating really hard helps these things...well usually it does.  I missed my first quilting meeting yesterday :( Well enough about that.   I'm very sad to say my lichen dyeing experiment was a flop.  I ended up with smelly yarn the color of a dirty sheep.  If I can get the smell out, I'll over-dye with some other type of dye.  I did learn some things with my acid dye attempt.   I started with some Rambouillet Natural Roving from Certified Cute Etsy Store. I used acid dyes Oxblood, purple and alpine blue that Blogless Melody had left me from her silk scarf dyeing class.  I picked colors I liked and and envisioned them blending together.  Didn't happen.  Next time, I will dilute the colors more.  Also, just because I like certain colors, doesn't mean they will make a yarn I can knit something wearable with.  Perhaps I can make socks with this yarn.  Or perhaps I can over-dye it a bit.  Dunno yet.  I'm just happy the fiber did not felt in the process and it was a joy to spin.  Sistah Rita was in town and we had yummy ramen at Lucky Belly, the new trendy ramen place in Chnatown. The menu is small.  We had a lovely beet salad.  Instead of just piling the beets on the micro greens with the goat cheese, they layered the beets with the goat cheese and cut the layers into rectangles and sprinkled candied pumpkin and sesame seeds on top.  These were the bomb!  The staff was very friendly and attentive, too.  The ramen is quite nicely presented and very tasty.  No mabo tofu ramen on the menu for the Landcaster, though. We stopped at Daijingo Shrine, left a donation,  and picked up a traffic omamori.   Her son rolled his car and walked out with just a some stitches on his head.  He had one of these in his car.  With the traffic what it is here in Honolulu, only no. 2 behind LA, it can't hurt.  Every little bit helps a bubble brain. Blogless DiveDoctor had a birthday, so we took her to 3660 On the Rise.   The meal servings are huge, and we just had enough room to taste desert.  I hate when that happens.

Just Hats

Since subscribing to  some premium channels, getting a DVR, and being appalled my by cable bill every month, there are still days when 1555 fails me and there are no NCIS reruns to knit by.  So, I fall prey to some some of those reality shows...the vintage clothing LA one, oddities, project runway just to name a few.  I do learn a few things some days.  The other night I watched Vamps.  It is rated 4.9 on IMDb and 50% fresh or rotten by Rotten Tomatoes.  These ratings are a little high to fall into the so bad it's good category but,  but I found it pleasantly silly and stayed up and watched it all the way through. Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame is in it with his sparkley eyes and Alicia Silverstone plays cute, so well. 



Then there is Malcolm McDowell as Vlad Tepish the Impaler.  He has taken up knitting and impaling balls of yarn instead of people. A movie with knitting can't be all that bad, lol.    Sigorney Weaver is great as the blood-crazed maker, who is always on the search for love.  The movie ends up on Times Square.  Every since going to NYC, I have become very aware of how many movies and TV shows are filmed there, and what a really interesting place it is.  Perhaps I will have to go back to visit one of these days. 

I have been in a hat knitting mode.  I knit another Lenina with Noro Aya.  I had just one ball left and kept dreaming about it. 

The funny thing is how the two sides are so different.  That's Noro for you.  That glaring pink came out of nowhere. 

Another destash using my last ball of the wonderful and wooly Beaverslide in Cat Heather.

Pattern:  Beshert Chapeau, by Jill Horwich

from Yarnover Chicago Downloads

Crochet Hook:  G

I really liked the look of this stitch.  It is very dense, and less stretchy then a knitted hat.  I will have to be on the look out for someone in the frigid north who looks like their head is cold.  Perhaps a shepherd. 

One can not watch too many sheep shearing videos.  I find them so entertaining.  It's a wonder to me how placid the sheep is during the whole process. 

It looks like strenuous work and hard on the back.

Sharing Mason-Dixon's online idea in Memory Kathreen Ricketson

Mason-Dixon Knitting has posted an online idea to celebrate the lives of Kathreen Ricketson and her partner.  I enjoyed visiting her online world, Whip Up over the years.  I found much inspiration there and a very happy place. 

Check it out.

A Wonderful Surprise, Small FOs

Wow!  I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today.  This handspun is so fluffy.  I love it!  Thanks for making my day KnottyNaomi! 
Yarn:  Twisters Handspun, "terrestrial". Naomi is a fine spinner of incredible art yarn.  Every Tour de Fleece, I try something arty (you know, lumpy yarn spun on purpose!)  I aspire to spinning something this fluffy and worsted weight too. 

A couple of small projects....Nanipolu

Pattern:  Cadhla Shawl, by Paula Pereira, from Da Fazenda. 
The author generously provided this pattern for free!
Yarn:  Queensland Prima Fresca.  This is such a nice soft yarn.  There two skeins had some issues matching, though.  I still love it.  I used  most the two skeins. 
Needle:  size 10 for C0 and BO, and size 8 for knitting. 
Comments:  A fast knit, easy to follow instructions.  A small shawl. 

Mini Strawberry Purse

Pattern:  Girl's Strawberry Purse, by Jacqueline Y Young from Jacqueline's Patterns
Yarn:  Cascade 220 and maybe that green is Red Heart
Needles:  size 7
Mods:  I did not hold the yarn double.  I wanted a small bag.  This one is about the size of my hand.  I also wanted a draw string, so modified the leaves so I could knit them in one piece, knit them on , then added some eyelets for the drawstring.  The twisted drawstring, I made with my new Bosworth Maxi:)  I wanted a short handle, as I'm always worried small people will somehow strangle on a longer one.  I have observed this intended  recipient chew a rubber ring like gum instead of leaving it on her finger as intended.  The horror!  The horror!

Black Hat

Pattern:  A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend, by Stephanie Nicole, from Stephanie Likes to Knit
Yarn:  Vanna's Choice
Needle:  Size 8
The recipient tried the hat on for size.  Instead of waiting for me to sew in the ends, he cut them off some unraveled.  Yikes!  At least the CO edge did not and I was able to tie on some tails and finish them up.  Lucky yarn choice for me.

A cute mushroom, I believe a yellow houseplant mushroom, sprouted in my papyrus plant.  It lasted 3 days and I missed the morning of the first day when the olive shape had a little bulbous top.  I love the way the brown top cracked, like bread in the oven.  

Lenina FO

Pattern:  Lenina by Wooly Wormhead, from the book , Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere
Yarn:  Plymouth Linen Isle
Needles: size 7
I found out after the fact the the book has an error for this pattern.  However I cannot blame the book for my first attempt. I was totally distracted and couldn't for the life of me count the w&ts.  I missed some vital instructions when piecing and finally gave up.    
On my second try I decided to go with a seamless modification. Instead of knitting each wedge from a provisional CO, I CO with a loop method, knit the first wedge, and bound off the stitches until I had one stitch on the needle.  Along the way I picked up the wraps, knit, then passed the previous stitch over.  I then turned and counted the stitch left as the first stitch of the next row.  There were purl bumps made by the CO row, and I just picked these up and either knit or purled them according to the pattern.  The very last bump was small  and the first few were double bumps from the wrapped stitches.  When the last wedge was done, I did a 3 needle bind-off, wrong sides facing each other and picking up the loop from the CO row.  I think it came out similar to the original:).  The yarn does not have a lot of stretch but the a single row of single crochet, a swim, and a tumble in the dry helped some.  

I started spinning my Purple Majesty.  I'm enjoying my maple/cherry Baines spinning chair from Halcyon.   It has a nice okole shape to fit my bottom.  The roving is all blue on one end, and pretty much red on the other, with purple, blue and red in the midde.  I'm going for a 3 ply and hope it all blends.  

I spent a couple hours on the azalea revitalization project.  I read that lichens mean the plant is not happy and I'm not surprised after years of neglect on my part.  First step was weeding.  Ugh.  I hate weeding.  I spread some dirt/compost around today, and gave them a spinkle.  I spoke to them nicely, trying hard not to show them the worry part.  I'm hoping it will rain some tonight.  Keep your fingers crossed!

There were enough lichen to try out another experiment.  My friend commented today, "Why bother?"  She is so practical.  

I have no idea what variety of lichen they are.  There were two types, a fructiose green one and and orange one that looked like coral.  I boiled them up, poured the liquid in a spaghetti jar, added some ammonia and plan to shake it everyday for a while.  It started off brown and is this reddish-brown color now.   It doesn't look very concentrated.  I wonder if heat is really needed in the dye process.  

It's definitely summer here.  The jacaranda trees are nearly done leaving a lavender dust along the roads.  The popcorn orchids popped. The litchi are turning red. The PV system is producing enough electricity to pay my electric bill.  I have no sock mojo.  I'm still contemplating whether to keep working or tender my resignation. Not sure why I keep hanging on!

Happy creating! 

 

Who ain't busy living is dyeing

Well I guess that's not really what Bob Dylan was singing about, but at little ear worm popped into my head.  Then of course there was the banana song.



These minion are the creation of Illumination Entertainment and stole the show in Despicable Me.  My weld-dyed yarn screamed Minion to me. 

Pattern:  Minion
Needles:  size 8
Yarn:  yellow, hand spun merino/seacell.  Weld natural dye.  Overalls, hand spun Romney and hand dyed and grown by Sheep and Threads on Etsy.  Many bits and bobs-mystery black wool, baby alpaca eyes.  Number two son said google eyes.
Comments:  The goggles are the challenge.  I may still put wire in them and add some eyelids to help hold them in place.  I crochet the rims, just winging them as I went along.  He still needs a pocket and emblem.  I'm still trying to imagine how I will make them. 

My other dyeing project involved a braid of Rambouillet from Certified Cute on Etsy.  A friend who dyes scarves with acid dyes gave me some her premixed dyes to use.  I had no idea what I was doing.  My thought was that the oxblood and alpine blue would mix to form purple and I threw in some purple in the middle just in case.  I soaked and spun dry the braid which puffed up quite a bit in the process.  The dye was quite thick and didn't flow, but I was afraid to felt if by massaging too much.  I steamed it for 45 minutes, but the water never ran clear.  After rinsing it was quite dark. So here it is, Purple Majesty.

I will try to spin this up to blend the colors perhaps a 3-ply for socks. 

Have a Happy Mother's Day weekend all!

A Little Stashbusting, A Lot of Shop Therapy

Number 2 son frequently comments on the additions to my various stashes and reminds me to get rid of something for every new purchase.  I just realized that he is also stashing things, and I've just had a lot longer to collect things!  So there!

Bead stash damage from the trade show.  Pink coral (suspect dyed), green moonstone, and some other green stone I've already forgotten the name of.  I have a thing going on with round beads.


After Green Dreams came along, I acquired a couple more spindles, a diz and a puller.

1.  Green Dreams by Rooster Rick
2.  Bosworth Maxi, Cherry and Maple
3.  Gregory V Pencheff, Maple and Shedua
4.  Gregory V Pencheff, Maple Diz and puller

I'm spinning some wool from Karen's churro named Pippi on the Navajo spindle and having much more luck with this supported spindle then the others I've tried.  The Bosworth is lovely and spins wonderfully!  The Pencheff is very pretty, quite heavy and large.  When I get enough cotton spun I'll try it for plying.

I finished two shawls using the Summer Flies pattern (for sale on Ravelry), by Donna Griffin, Summer Chocolate and Summer Ice.

Needles:  Size 10.5.  Yarn:  Brown Queensland Collection Pima Fresca, Blue STASH Plymouth Linen Isle.  The Linen Isle was gifted to me and had a hard time deciding what it wanted to be.  The pattern is well written and a fast knit up to the mercifully short ruffle.  I used a crochet hook to make the picot bind off.  The Pima Fresca did not need any blocking, but I may block the Linen Isle one since the yarn had been frogged a number of times and was sitting around in the elements for a while.  The label says "machine washable"!

Another stash buster is Stash Market bag.

Pattern:  Shifting Shells Shopping Bagby Claudia Schwan.  A free pattern on Ravelry.
Yarn:  Mystery stuff, looks like cotton linen for the bottom and handles and Reynolds Garden Tween.
Hook size:  I
Mods:  the mystery yarn was a smaller gauge, so I added a couple rows on top before starting the handles.  It is also machine washable.  After washing the tweed portion had a funny smell, so I washed it again.  It is less, but still there.  As my crochet skills are just so so, one handle is little longer.  Oh well.

So far the work a the other clinic has been going okay.  The drive home sucks big time and I know now why Honolulu ranks #2 in the country as worst commute home.  The people I'm working with are all very nice and that counts for a lot! And,  there is a lovely head of red hair I'm trying not to stalk.  Wonder why sheep don't come in that color?

I have one more dye class to go. 

The T-shirt is weld with indigo, the yarn (hand spun SW merino with seacell from Pat at Dyeing for Color  on Etsy. The green is weld on crepe de chine, with a quick indigo dip.  The lac behind the green scarf a little disappointing.  Turns out cotton and vegetable fibers are more challenging to dye.  I don't like to sew silk, so I'm going to dye mostly cotton anyway.  I wish I had more SW wool to dye.  I have some Romney locks, but since I'm sharing dye pots and I don't have any good way to contain the wool or prevent felting I'll save that for another time. 

Blogless Megan is going to knit with Ysolda Teague in Iceland.  Jealous!!!

Stuff is Happening!

I found this fun, fast way to use up beads and can't stop making these. At one time I avoided memory wire like the plague, but now...

I used chalcedony, ruby zosite, Swarovski crystals, labadorite and red coral.  These fit all sizes, are relatively inexpensive to make and fast fast fast!  Thank you Bella Beads for the idea!



 I watched Sarah Anderson's video over and over to learn Navajo Plying. She looks so relaxed doing it! The final result after a bit of practice wasn't too bad. I found out that the singles need to rest for over a week so I don't get little curly "art" yarn sections.


The final project was a pair of socks.
Verdant Socks
Fiber: Rambouillet fiber. Split in half the long way, from Widdershin Wookworks
Pattern: Amy Swenson's toe-Up sock generator
Needles: size 2 DPN Mods: I knit to 1.5 inches of my foot length before doing the heel turn.                Comments: My fabric was pretty tight so it was a strenuous knit. I must have reversed one the balls when I wound them, thus the "fraternal twins".

I've tried a few other ideas found on the web.
 Hemming a tablecloth

 I found this fabric that is 60 inches wide for $3.99/yd but really dreaded the hemming part (actually the ironing of the hem).Here's a link to the idead, but basically you sew a 1/2 inch from the edge all around, then fold on the sewn line and over one more time. Then from the right side, sew 3/8 inch from the folded edge all around. No measuring, very little pinning and no ironing! I like it!

Spindle storage
or spindle noodle Not sure of the link for this one, so will come back later and post it.
Blogless Sandy seems to have an endless supply of this cookie cans. Wood and tin, don't sound safe together, so the foam noodle was the perfect solution. I made a little hat for the spindle so the top is also buffered.

Now this idea, the Ohitsu Yarn Bowl, I thought of. Okay well, I was inspired by many of the beautiful wood yarn bowls out there. My Ohitsu is not an old wooden one, but one of the newer plastic ones. Since I have a rice cooker that also has a warmer, I rarely use it for serving rice. It a nice yarn bowl. (update, Knitting Paradise had a discussion about using the ohitsu for a yarn bowl)

 

The Lauhala class went out to gather Lauhala, to experience the beginning step. It involves gathering, cleaning, thorn removal, rolling and flattening, and storage. This part was hard work! I bought a kit, lol.

My second hat is on hold while I take the Natural Vat Dyeing Class.



My first attempt at reds with cochineal and madder were a bust. I just got shades of pink. They are pleasant enough. I did a little indigo shibori on top for fun. Next week will be yellows.

On the work scene, in a moment of weakness in which I forgot to say "let me think about it. I'll get back to you", I agreed to work at a different location for 6 weeks. My same two day a week schedule. Last time I worked there it was horrible. I'm happy to say things have improved greatly so I survived the first week, no problem except for the usual computer glitch. In this case my auto correct macros went berserk and started making up words. I had to turn that sucker off and now I have to type long phrases that I used to be able to type short cuts for. I hope by Monday the darn thing fixes itself.

Get ready for eye candy:) Green Dreams. Navajo Spindle by Rooster" Rick Jackofsky on Etsy. I have some churro batts in the mail to try and teach myself this. 

 
And here's Edward, my Bosworth Midi, spinning cotton grown in Ewa Beach, Hawaii!

And the Winner is....

kbrow! Thanks to everyone who left a comment and stopping by the ole blog

I started blogging 4/01/2005.  It was movies, rants and whines.  After I retired and got divorced I had much less to rant and whine about, so now it crafts, musings and food.  I find myself spending more time on Ravelry, Facebook and Flickr these days, and many of the blogs I followed in the past have gone quiet. I post most of my fibery stuff to Ravelry, my food to FB and travels to Flickr. 

It's sure a phenomenal place, this World Wide Web! 

Here's my first post ever:

"I admire the knitting blogs I have visited and decided to try my hand at it. I also feel the need to see my thoughts on the Internet just to see how it feels.

I just realized it's April Fool's Day."

Chatty as every, lol.  As a tool for self-therapy, the blog has be great for me.  It is cheaper then seeing a therapist.  The answers lie within, it seems...master of my fate and captain of my soul.

March Already

The Thing Hats have officially been renamed the Thinking Hats by the recipients and their folks! These boys have shirts that say Thing 1 and Thing 1. No number 2 in this family! It warms this knitter's heart to see these hats go to a good home. I love knitting with wool, but have to face up to the fact that Hawaii just isn't the frigid north. I CO on 100 stitches for the larger hat and 95 for the smaller one.

I spun up the Jacob from kbrow. She got this at SAFF from the Perfect Spot Farm . I split the colors out and spun a two ply. The result is Jake the Cat!
 

Pattern: Lion Brand Purrfect Kitty Sock Critter Needles: size 4 Mods: none. More of this pattern could be knit in the round. This cat was so clearly male:) My R2D2 bag is finally out of hibernation and finished. This was one of my Fair Isle practice pieces. I learned that it is important to have matching yarns. The white yars is much finer, softer and fuzzier and it made R2D2 pull in. I really loved the Koigu for the Star Wars letters! The lining was a pain but there are Jayhawks inside. Rock chalk Jayhawk!
 

 Free charts by Sarah Bradberry The cmeknit1's hat has been in my queue forever.

I had a great week off from work President's Day week. Now I'm back and my "assistant" is not a good match. It seems the things that are in his job description are below him. They still need to be done so I either have to micromanage constantly or do it myself. I'm asking myself everyday if it's time to resign and really be retired. I'll go to his supervisor one more time. It's just exhausting and aggravating. The paycheck is nice since it has been a year of big expenses and the timing belt is next. My contract is up in September.

Here is my Lauhala hat. This was a challenge for me. I missed some weavers at the beginning of the brim, but it was too close to the finish and too beat up to take out so my most patient teacher, Mike Nahoopii, helped me finesse the closing of the brim. Don't look to closely, lol. It is nice from a distance and made much nicer looking with the peacock feather headband that my mom loaned me. It deserves a much better hat. I have joined the club and do plan to try one more.

Weaving lauhala is much like knitting. I learned that checking my work as I go along and correcting errors early saves a lot of grief later. Not unlike Tilly here (from A Fine Fleece). I got a big head about memorizing the cables and did two repeats crossing the middle cables over instead of under. I decided to knit on as the error is in the middle of the scarf and the color is so dark it's not noticeable. .
But of course I will point it out to everyone, heh.  I'm enjoying the Rowanspun DK that I've had in my stash a long long time.

 

The Landcaster had been acquiring power tools and rebuilt the firewood box. We became quite concerned about the 3 carpenter bees who kept returning looking for their old home. He built them a home and now two have moved back in. I guess they are pollinators of flowers just like honey bees. I hope they stay in the woodpile and don't drill holes in my eaves.

I almost forgot about my shopping sprees!  I purchased some findings and one of Calvin Orr's jellyfish kits.  I stopped by the Bead Gallery booth (sparkly leather and crystals) and Bella Beads (cool leather with magnetic clasp) for make and takes. 

I also added some spinning books to my library.  A couple more are on the way.  I can't decide what to spin next.

Hats and Cats

Whew!  January has gone by in a flash.  It was a crazy month.  Mom and dad need more of my attention but seem to back at baseline now.  My sister, the Sky Goddess, made a couple of trips home and that really perks them up as she has much energy to shop daily, and cook up some really special treats.  Like the steamed clams.  I wish we could get the live black mussels here, but they are only available frozen and a strange texture.  So, manila clams it is...wine, scallions, garlic and a bit of butter, yum!  She always picks up the family favorites...oxtail soup, haupia, Liliha bakery treats, and this time of year, jai.

On top of that, my garage became a snack for some nasty ground termites so I had to have the ground treated.  The house, being much older then the garage is surrounded by those chemicals that have been banned, so I think they don't like it much.  In addition, I had signed up for a PV system last year, but due to the end of the year rush I had to wait for this year.  So I decided to have the house tented as well.  All that bagging and cleaning is not fun at all, but it did encourage me to throw away a lot of outdated stuff.

The PV system took 3 instead of 2 days to install.  The first gang got rained out the second day and the next crew had a whole different idea of out to get the wiring from the electric box to the panels.  The attic is old and unfinished, and proved quite a challenge.  They did a terrific job and I can't wait to see my electric bill!  I was warned though, that this is the cloudy time of year so not to be disappointed.

I tried some colorwork out for Valentine's Day using the hand dyed maui yarn.  It's a sock weight so I held it double to go with my hand spun.  The roving was hand dyed by Christina Potter on Etsy.  
I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.  The pattern is mine is except for the top which I found on Ravelry, Gramma K's Fair Isle Tam, by Kathleen Taylor.
 

I signed up to take a Lauhala hat weaving class.  It is every Saturday for 5 hours and I will need every bit!  We started with "pico" or top of the hat.  The project is now on a hat block and I hope to reach the start of the brim soon.

I finished Lady Edith.
Pattern: 

The Lady Edith

by Karrie Steinmetz

The pattern was a RAK from FranceA on Ravelry in memory of Karrie Steinmetz who passed away unexpectedly.  

Yarn:  Handmaiden, Mini Maiden.  A real pleasure to work with. 

Downtown Abbey has been a great series this year, again!  So much drama, and great characters.  Lady Edith herself, can be quite a b*tch.

I named the strange cat Jayne Cobb, the Cunning Cat.
Pattern: The Parlor Cat, by Sara Elizabeth Kellner from Rabbit Hole Knits
Yarn.  Mostly handspun, Candy Corn hand dyed by the Moonlight Baker.
The face is always a challenge.  I tried out the crochet cat eyes from Heart in Flight, using sock yarn.  They are a little bulge y.  I may redo them one of these days. My son says, "That is a very odd cat."

Owen the Owl.
Pattern Big Snowy Owl, by Purl Soho from Purl Bee
Yarn:  My own handspun
This was in my queue for quite a while.  He is much smaller then the pattern due to the smaller needles and yarn gauge.

Thing Hat
Pattern:  Scott Pilgrim Hat (The Original Costume Pattern), by Lulu Bee, from lugirl Ravelry downloads
Yarn:  some very scrumptious Ravelry Red Malabrigo Rios and white Cascade 220 Superwash.
I hope the red does not bleed!

I took my car in for a bargain service, noise and recall and boy what a surprise.  I also found out my care was way overdue for a new timing belt!  I don't know much about timing belts, but after consulting various people, I need a new one!  Dragon Year is not so good for this metal rabbit, but things will look up in the summer.  I'll try to keep a low profile until then. I waxed and oiled Serenity, my Majacraft Rose, and will try to finished up the odds and ends I have before diving in to the new stuff.

I got a great surprise package from the Knitted Brow!   This really made my day.  That is some lovely Jacob in shades of brown to play with as well as some very special gifts for Totoro!  I can't decide how to spin it...try my supported spindel?  On the wheel?  Do I separate the colors?  Fun, fun, fun!

Don't forget the drawing April 1 for knitting related giveaway.  Just leave a comment on January's post. 

Have a great February!

Looking back at the year that was 2012

January *I can't seem to remember much. *I knit some, spun some and practiced free motion quilting with my new Janome Horizon sewing machine doing a Valentine Day table topper.  
February *CME on Kauai with blogless Kathy. There were some fun and inspiring moments...a great sunset at spouting horn, Waimea Canyon and Glass Beach. *Treated myself to some hand-dyed yarn at the only yarn store on Kauai, (it also sells ukuleles). *Finished shibori quilt. *Knit a pair of socks with my handspun. The yarn was an experiment in over-dyeing a yarn, and making a cable yarn with handspun and commercial yarn  
March *My accountant and I had a big shocker, when we discovered I forgot to pay estimated taxes for 2011 and got hit with a huge bill!. Once that mess was cleared up, I just knit more projects trying to use up stash. * Shoulder Cozy x3, pattern by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. *I also discovered the pleasure of working with Noro yarns that have more cotton, the softness and convenience of Cascade SW and fell in love with Madelinetosh Pashmina. *Love the sideways shawls like Paris Mill! *Finished up Baby Nora's quilt and got that sent off. I stuck to straight line machine quilting.  
April *Finished a very old WIP, a Taro motif Hawaiian quilted pillow all done by hand. After staring at it for so long, it wasn't my favorite, but my mom has it on her couch and every time I see it now, I think it looks great!  
May *NYC!What a interesting city! So much history, so many neat old buildings and so much to do. I met some Internet friends in person and they were so much fun. I also went to New Jersey and had a wonderful meet up with my college roommate and her dog Razzie. New Jersey was in bloom with great pink dogwood flowers. I was surprised at how beautiful it was. But then it is the Garden State.  
June *Made some silver bangles with puka shells. All the rage here right now.  
July *This year I tried to keep up with the stages of the Tour De Fleece. Spun up nearly all the roving I had in stash. Tried a little art yarn, without much luck. *Knit up my Wolles' color changing cotton. I lusted after this yarn on Etsy and got some at SAFF 2011.  
August *My BIL retired so I went up to Tacoma to help the family celebrate.
September *Knit a bunch of hats. I love knitting hats. But, what does one do with all the hats? My favorites were Ripley, Norie, Scot Pilgrim Hat, Fish hat, Mobcap and of course the Noro snail hat. My nephew has a lot of these hats, but how many can one guy wear. Heaven forbid he should stop wearing hats or move to the tropics.  
October *While on Camano Island for a great GF trip, it struck me that if I lived in a condo I would have to pay condo fees as well as a mortgage, and for the condo fee I would have yard service! I decided to pay myself a condo fee and find someone to help me with the yard detailing. The Harvest Festival, Butchart Gardens, and the Chihuly Glass Museum were the high points. *After returning home I went on a frogging spree. * Finished breaker, a cardigan for my sister and 3 pairs of watermelon socks. The self-striping yarn by Abi Grasso is so much fun. *Knit more hats.  
November *Finished up socks with my Tourmaline Socks that Rock, medium weight. Fun yarn and project. It's a sport's weight yarn and I had a hard time deciding on a pattern for this yarn. *Pieced the Island Batik Strip Tease Pack I got in Clinton, NJ and sent it out for quilting. It makes me feel like I cheated. It’s mostly purple. I will keep it for myself.  
December *. Not the best season for me.  I just try to keep up and stay afloat and not eat to many cookies. 

Somewhere in there I went to the Big Island for a day for visit my friend Keokilani. She is an amazing, capable, women who goes about life with so much grace, beauty and gentleness. One of my heroes.

So what's up for 2013? Take it one day at a time. I've committed to a Lauhala Hat making class starting this month, and A Natural dye class in April. I'm signing up for the Senior Citizen quilting class. I'm attacking the various termites living in the house and yard, and getting a photovoltaic system installed. I'm sure there will be knitting, and more TV. Downtown Abbey Lady Edith KAL is coming up very soon! I'll continue to work for now unless they don't need me anymore. I'll have to re certify my ACLS soon. I was going to Madrona, but I was not able to get any classes at all, so decided not to go. Lucky for me because the Lauhala class came up!

I’m also trying to learn to use a supported spindle. The immediate gratification me thinks this is too slow. The spindles are beautiful so perhaps I’m going to be a spindle collector.

 I’m watching more TV and seeing fewer movies in the theater. Homeland, Castle, Dexter, True Blood, The Good Wife, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS, CSI, Bones, Downtown Abbey, Dr. Who. Thor was a cutie and the Avengers was fun. I still have to see the Hobbit Part 1. TV is probably why I knit so much.

Somewhere in there I'm supposed develop great enthusiasm for exercise.

 If you make it through this post and leave a comment before April 1, there will be a drawing for a prize (something for a knitter or crocheter). Please state whether you would like to be included in the drawing.

Happy New Year!

Season's Greetings!

Totoro is knit using Brella (Ravelry's) Chu Totoro pattern. He is going to join some buddies at the Paul Brown Studio where the wonderful Misa works and styles my hair. I'm in dire need of a trim, as I try and grow my hair out a little. It's the last knitting project with a deadline. Enjoy the season's blessings with your family and friends. See you next year!

Knitting Mosaic

For lack of a more clever post, here's a mosaic of some knits. I love the simple cat pattern and slightly fiddlier horse pattern by Linda Dawkins from Mamma4earth. The cats knit up sweetly in left over varigated yarns. I stuffed them with wool.

The hats are the Scott Pilgrim hats. The pattern is similar to the Noro hat. I finally watched the movie and it was quite entertaining and silly. Michael Cera is a great Scott Pilgrim. The watermelon socks with contrast are for my niece. She never reads my blog so it's safe to say. I thought I had blogged about the turquoise hat before. I frogged a cowl and knit another Urban Trekker (from the book Just Hats) since the first one was adopted out.

These catbus pillows were a bright spot in an otherwise maddening retail world. I still haven't recovered from how early the radio started up with the Christmas songs.