Oh boy, I am so excited!

I booked my room for SPA. Yaaay!

(SPA is the annual Spa, Knit and Spin get-together from the New England Textile Arts group, for those folks who haven’t heard of it. It is taking place is Portland, ME on Saturday and Sunday, February 17th and 18th.)

I wasn’t able to arrange my room before now because we are going on the annual vacation with Casey’s mom and his sisters and they just made our reservations for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (oh sunshine! I cannot wait to see you! with sunscreen and a big hat.)

I am super relieved that I am able to go to SPA because I think it is going to be really fun, especially after hearing about it from so many other New England bloggers, like Kate. The messages from the NETA people on the message board are all very positive and welcoming and the group has that reputation among knitbloggers as well.

I am mostly excited to meet some more spinners since I don’t really have any spinning friends near me. (Look, I got my first wheel! I am enthusiastic and no one cares! gah, I am such a dork.)

My Vicky and I have been getting along pretty well. I spun some angora (um hard!) and some silk (see both below) and I am doing okay so far, I think, but it will be really nice to get some feedback from real spinners. The information I have learned so far has been from the spinning books that I talked about in my last spinning post.

I was lucky enough to get to see a few great spinners and knitters at a knitting get- together at Jackie’s house on Saturday… they were all super nice about my first yarn and what I have on my bobbins so far, thanks ladies.

I had no idea there were so many great bloggers in Boston. Well, I guess I did but haven’t really hung out with them before… very fun. Maya and I were talking on the way home about how we spent over 7 hours at Jackie’s without realizing it. Good thing her hubby is such a good sport!

On the left is some bright pink merino from handpaintedyarn.com (Malabrigo people) and the other two, left: angora and right: silk, are from Amy Boogie of Spunky Eclectic.

Ack! I have run out of bobbins! That is all of them up there… darn.

Over the holidays, I finally finished my other mermaid fingerless glove. I have been wearing them pretty much non-stop since I finished them… especially with this ridiculously mild winter we have been having here in Boston.

Have been very busy spinning- I finished the merino/ silk blend that Casey bought for me for Christmas, from Mind’s Eye. It took me a little to get used to it but I think I did okay for my first yarn.

I think there was about 4 oz in each bundle and he gave me two.

So this beautiful stuff…

became two bobbins of singles…

which became YARN.

It is not as shiny and luscious as it was in fiber form- little disappointed about that. I think it being a two ply made it a little shinier though… Now what can I make with it now? I don’t really know how much it is- I am guessing it is about 400 yards…

I have been using a few books to help me get even this far with spinning. I particularly like this one, Spinning Designer Yarns by Diane Varney. It tells you some basics but assumes that you know the basics about spinning.

I also have been using the second, Hands on Spinning, by Lee Raven. That one is particularly good for people just starting out. Has lots of information starting from the beginning- using drop spindles, etc. to getting your own wheel.

The third, Color in Spinning by Deb Menz, I just got in the mail yesterday. It looks like it will be very helpful when I start thinking more about plying different colors together and… eek! dyeing my own fiber. (You knew it was coming, didn’t you…) It is a huge book- I was surprised how detailed it is and it seems to have great pictures and diagrams.

Hope these recommendations come in handy to someone starting to learn to spin. I had to pick though a bunch on amazon before I found those three. I am sure there are others that are wonderful- I just like those in particular.

I cannot believe it is Friday already… the week has just flown by! I can’t seem to get anything done this week- no attention span at all.

Had a little scare this week with my mother- she was in the hospital since Tuesday but is feeling much better now. It is amazing what a night’s sleep back in your own bed can do, huh? So relieved that she is no the way to recovery. Scares you when your very foundation gets kicked out under you- a wake-up call that I guess I needed. We all have to appreciate our loved ones every day- you just never know what can happen!

Anyway, back to Christmas.

The past couple weeks have been such a blur- down to New Jersey to see my parents, shopping with mom, Casey and my brother flying in, pretend Christmas day on Saturday with my family since we headed up to New Hampshire to spend the actual day with Casey’s family (his year this year).

Bob celebrated the season in style, man. See his Christmas flair?!! He knows he is hot stuff. haha

I opened up my big present from Casey at my parents house, my beautiful wheel. (Louet Victoria) We just couldn’t wait to give each other our presents. It also made it a little less sad to have Christmas early with my family that way.

Here she is in my living room. Ooooh aaaaaah…

Bob did a little shopping of his own and got Casey a very special present. A Boston Terrier mug. We’ll be singing that Terrier song from Best in Show in no time now. haha (Okay, enough movie references for one post.)

I gave Casey, among other things, a knitted mini stocking ornament. We have an ornament tradition (like Miss Carrie) and we always exchange ornaments every year. Isn’t it cute? I was so happy with how it turned out. (The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts- I used some cotton blend that I had in my stash…)

On Christmas eve, I drove the 5 hours to New Hampshire squirming in my seat- I had caught that awful stomach flu that has been going around. Casey had ripped a contact and didn’t have a spare or glasses with him so he couldn’t drive. SO. FUN. Casey felt so bad but we made it safe and sound.

Here we are for the traditional Christmas Stair PictureTM in our fabulous Christmas pajamas. Aww yeah. Casey’s sister’s boyfriend couldn’t make it so he was added in. haha

Can you spot all the doggies? (there’s 3) Micah, the fat yellow lab, was pushing me off the stair in her excitement to be in the Christmas Stair PictureTM. Or maybe she was just pissed she didn’t have the pajamas?

Well, that is it for Christmas cheer. I have been writing this post for hours and hours now. I have spinning questions for people out there but it will have to wait until tomorrow….

So sad.

I went to an awesome concert on friday with Maya (Ani DiFranco was awesome!) but sometime that night it must have dropped it out of my purse.

Stupidly, I was carrying it with me so I could compare it to the second one I was knitting… wish I could go back and leave it at home.

I have called every place we went and no one has it. I don’t know if I have enough koigu to make a 3rd one- I would certainly need to make it a lot shorter.

Rest in peace, little friend.

In other news, I am finally recovering from the coughing, snotty plague of hell which I have been enjoying for over a week now. The coughing has almost subsided but I still have no energy. Start taking extra vitamin C and echinacea if you haven’t gotten it already… seriously people.

Watching Sleepy Hollow, great Halloween-eve movie. Yay for Johnny and Christina action. I totally forgot that Christopher Walken played the headless horseman. Awesome.

I finished my first Pomatomus fingerless glove finally! I made them a bit longer than I had envisioned but a skein of Koigu goes farther than I thought.

As I said before I was copying the idea but I ended up doing my own thing to add in the thumb gusset. I put a couple markers in and increased, using yarnovers every row in pattern. I think it looks better than having regular thumb gusset increases breaking up the pattern. (You can click to make the pictures bigger- I tried to get good detail for people interested in modifying the sock pattern as I did.)

UPDATE: Just joined Bev and Scout’s happy swap… Anybody else want to exchange the goods to make mittens? You just have to knit a bag to put your gift in. That is the kind of swap even a space cadet like me can get behind. Great idea, guys.

I went down to the NY Sheep and Wool festival this past weekend with Maya. It was fun to have a road trip- especially with all the pretty foliage and a fabulous driving partner.

The day was beautiful on Saturday- just a little crispy and lots of sun. There definitely seemed to be more of a crowd this year than last year- waay more families with kids. We barely got through the food line in time… they were huge for most of the day.

Met up with Carrie at the blogger meetup- it was so nice to see you again, Carrie! Look at that fabulous Brooks Farm scarf.

We also reunited there with some our fabulous fiber festival clan- OneStitchShort Sarah, Carrieoke, Anne Marie, and Snargle Sarah. We had such a nice time together- it never ceases to amaze me how fun and comfortable it all is…. you guys are great. My stomach is still hurting from the laughing.

We shopped til we dropped and then it was time to go refuel. We went to the restaurant next to our hotel and they had some super yummy cocktails and they also had the LARGEST portions that I have seen in a long time. Seriously huge.
Here is Anne Marie avoiding her sticky martini glass- too cute- and Carrie launching into her ribs. Big enough for ya? hehe She really did give it a good try but I think the ribs won.

Later on, we had a chance to try out one of my birthday presents from Casey. The fabulous Mama Bear swift and ball winder. (My swift is their cherry one- you can order it together with a ballwinder here.)

It is *really* nice to use- it has practically no drag and runs so smoothly. I got the hang of it after only a couple minutes- wee! Carrie loved the experience, as you can tell.

Didn’t go totally overboard this year with the yarn… two skeins of Morehouse Merino laceweight for the Melody shawl/ scarf.

Maya, myself and Allison all got the same red colorway to make that shawl… we were laughing about having a copycat knitalong.
As a side note- Allison and Joanna are the cutest pregnant ladies ever.

Some Brooks Farm in a beautiful green colorway and some Merino/ silk and Coriedale roving for my drop spindle.

Bob is super good helper. He really wanted to be in on the photo shoot. I think he thinks the camera is just one of his toys. He is so used to me taking his picture that he just stood there next to the yarn the entire time. hehe

Had a really nice pre- birthday visit with my parents this weekend. It was so great to have an apartment that can fit us all rather comfortably… so we could hang out and visit together without always going out. Casey and I also got the guest room mostly set up for them so they actually had a room of their own- a big deal for us.

My mom was a good sport when we went to Wrentham to go outlet shopping- she is not a big shopping fan. I got the cutest jacket ever and wore it to dinner and I felt pretty. I will take a picture the next time I wear it…

Went apple picking up in North Andover, which was fun. Bob liked finding all the rotten apples on the ground and meeting all the kids. We still haven’t found a great farm/ orchard to go to- we may have to go up to New Hampshire to find one. The orchards down here in Mass are all crazy crowded and seem more like an amusement park than a farm.

On Sunday, the whole family went over to Oleana in Cambridge for our special birthday dinner extravaganza. I tried pretty much everything everybody ordered and it all was really, really good. (I have a terrible habit of mooching off other people… just want a little taste!) I think we are going to have to go back there for the Baked Alaska alone. SO GOOD.

Mom also got to ride with Casey on our Vespa- how cute is that? Um and my husband is HOT.

She also came with me on my daily trip to the dog park with Bob. There is a dog park of sorts at the end of our street, where everyone in the neighborhood takes their dogs after work. It is nice to meet some local Charlestown people and their dogs.


Bob is on the right, with his harness, and the other two are other neighborhood Boston Terriers.

Bob is driving me a bit crazy at the park these days because he has a super crush on black pug named Sammy… He will not stop humping the poor guy! Sammy runs away but Bob is right at his heels… I have to keep correcting him so he doesn’t totally exhaust him- his little curly tongue is usually an inch out of his mouth by the end of it, panting for all he is worth.

Bob’s got an appointment for the big snip- snip tomorrow. Say a prayer for my baby, okay? I know it is a pretty straightforward procedure but they still have to put him under and it makes me nervous.

Going to work on my fingerless gloves and relax for a bit now. I am knitting the Pomatomus socks as fingerless gloves, following Craftoholic Steph’s example. I am calling them my HipHopopotamus gloves. hehe

I have knit my dog a sweater.

Please know that I am as appalled as you by this turn of events… but the poor guy is shivering in air conditioning, for goodness sakes.

Okay, he does look pretty darn cute in it.

greenie and kong munching action shots:

Being this cute is exhausting…

I modified the Penny pattern from Knitty- did it in the round instead and made the armholes much longer. I used one skein of Manos with size 5 needles.

… We swam in the pool, lazed about and drank champagne from 12 to 9pm.

… I got a sunburn while sitting in the shade.

… I sat on a chair with a hornets nest in it and got stung on my ass.

… my mother-in-law asked to look at my butt, which I showed her without hesitation. I am not sure what that says about me but there it is.

… I finished my stripey aqua-melon socks (yes, finally Maya! hah!) Vesper sock yarn, in case you likey. I got it right before it became harder to get than a non-humid summer day in Boston.

ahh.. They feel so good in 88% humidity. (speaking of)

… I started some Jaywalkers. Really is something to that darn pattern. Freaking addictive. Dammit.

… I was told by a really drunk guy, “Keep up with that f*cking sock thing… that sock thing is f*cking awesome!” Thanks, Super Drunk Guy!

Ah… nothing like 4th of July weekend.

I have been gone for a long time! Last week kinda sucked- was working on a paper for my evolution class. Finally finished it and then I didn’t want to be on my computer ANY MORE. I was away longer than I wanted to be though! Do you ever get like that- just wanting to go away from the computer for a while?

I have also been knitting the crap out of a new project. I finished 3 out of the 6 projects that I wanted to get out of my WIP basket so I figured I deserved a little pampering.

Maya, Casey and I went over to Jamaica Plain on Saturday and went to the last minute sale at Circles. We were wandering around, trying to figure out what we were looking for when I thought about Carrie’s Somewhat Cowl. Around the same time, Maya found this really cool soy yarn (South West Trading Company’s Soy Silk Oasis). We put them together and had it!

Maya chose blue, I, obviously, chose pink (Color 502, Perfect Pink). Then we were so excited we had to go back to our place (Casey and mine, I mean) and cast on immediately.

Tonight, I (finally!) made it to the part where you put the sleeves on scrap yarn.

I knit a few rows and then tried it on. It looks like the arms are too big so I have to rip back and join about an inch earlier. Yuck, I hate re-doing work! Better to find it out now than later… I actually knew I had to try it on because that is the only thing that I don’t like about my NSS Cardigan- I wish the armholes started a bit smaller.

This yarn is so wonderful though- I love knitting with it. It has a bit of a sheen to it, but not too much. It feels like it will be buttery soft after I wear it a little bit and seems like the perfect fit for this pattern. Very classy looking.

One thing that is a little funny… I tried to get one more skein from Circles after I got home and it doesn’t seem like this yarn has a dyelot. Has anyone had any experience with this yarn and combining dyelots?