Pegged

Because we all needed to know:
I present the Duke in car form, and boy did they 'peg' him.

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

A Yarn to Remember

I just found this wonderful blog

http://www.dressaday.com/dressaday.html

She searches the web for dresses, sews her own dresses, admires other people's dresses, ect. I have really been enjoying it.

I thought to myself: "self, you do this with yarn all the time anyway, you should share with the readers of Yarnnation,"
Then I said to myself: "self, you're right, I should!"

So I decided to share my current obsession every so often and also make a list of websites that carry handpainted, handspun, or otherwise delightful yarns and fibers. Please feel free to contribute your current love.

This is a lovely yarn worthy of obessions, by one of my favorite companies, Handmaiden. It is called Sea Silk and here is what they have to say about it.

Sea silk is a new silk blend hand dyed for you by Hand Maiden Fine Yarn.
70% Silk combined with 30% SeaCell ® in a lace weight yarn (32sts/4 ”on 2.5 mm
needles) It is wonderfully soft and shiny.
But what is seacell ?
Seacell
is a cellulose based fibre made from seaweed. That’s right – seaweed! It is
highly breathable and very soft. When worn, your skin’s natural moisture will
release magnesium, calcium and vitamin E contained within the seaweed. It has
anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to protect the skin. Amazing.
We hope that you enjoy the gentle, rich colours of this intriguing yarn.

I just purchased it (from Hilltop) in what I think is the Paris colorway, but I'm not entirely sure, as it is much more muted than it appears on their website, very lovely. It is destined for a lace shawl of some sort.

On the Road Again, I Just Can't Wait to Be On the Road Again

Really I COULD wait, but I don't have a choice. Luckily this week it will be fore vacation, and the drive is only 3.5 hours. Much more sane. So here's the last trip in pictures and knitting.



I thought dish cloths would be a great traveling project, small, no counting or charts, short rows so the Duke doesn't have to wait long for me to finish a row. This was also perfect because a few of my very old dish cloths (like 10 years, these things last forever) had started to get ratty.
In and 18 hour trip I thought I could get 10 done, no problem. I got off to a good start.


Then the Duke got tired and so I had to drive. . . Three hours cut out of my knitting time, so #2 gets finished nearly half way there.

Shasta Lake was beautiful
And #3 appears shortly after. Then I need a nap, the short night's sleep, the bouncing around in the big truck, ect. ect. Then tragedy. . . The Duke needs me to drive again. We switch at a little town called Willows, CA. (I think) I get stuck driving through some crazy windy canyon where the trees grow at an angle because of the wind- keeping a 26' truck on the road required everything I had. Then my torture test continues as I make my way through Sacramento traffic, and then Bay Area traffic during Rush Hour. Several hours after I took the wheel I can no longer hold the wheel, as my arms ache so badly from gripping the wheel so tight.

The beautiful sunset made me feel better (along with my darling Duke taking over the truck for the last hour.) However, no more knitting progress was made due to aching hands and arms.

The next day I find that I still can't knit, my arms start to burn 10 sts in and by the end of a row I am in serious pain. Sigh, my muscles are inflamed. The remedy, ES Tylenol, no knitting, and rest. NO KNITTING!!! So I made a trip to my local fiber store and purchased a goodly amount of roving. If I can't knit, by golly, I will spin!

Pictures tomorrow

If I were a car. . . Heaven help us.

I am not a car person, but after spending nearly 18 hours on the freeway this weekend, I have at least seen a lot more cars. A lot of this freeway time was logged in California, a truly automobile obsessed culture. The Duke commented that he had never driven down the freeway and seen more BMW and Porsche's than Corollas. So, if I were a car, what would I be? I couldn't tell you myself, but someone tried to figure it out.
So how did they do?
I don't really consider myself competitive, but I suppose I am with myself. I would also never be so audacious as to call myself elite, I hope I don't act that way either. Other than that, flattering. . . I'll take it. The funny thing is that this is my best friend from HS's favorite car. K., what do you think?

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Isn't this cool.
So my friend Kat got me reading masonddixonknitting.com
I couldn't resist trying it, isn't it pretty, it's my blog in graph form.
Click here to try your own blog or website.

So when you are me, and I hope no one else is me, your summer vacation lasts about a week and a half. I go back to school on Thursday. Naturally, I had to share what I did on my summer vacation,

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Isn't it pretty. It is my first real garden and I am loving it. I even added compost to the soil first, and let me tell you, that stuff STINKS! Please, don't tell me why it stinks, I know what it is made of, I read the bag. What I really want to know is why bat poop gets is own special name.

As for the epiphany mentioned below. . . well it is just under half finished. I think this one might be Knitty bound if I can get it done in time. Isn't the suspense killing you???

The (somewhat premature) finish line. . .

Here's the finished baby blanket and even an extra little happiness thrown in for good measure. For those of you interested, the blanket and the hat only took 4 skeins of Blue Sky's Dyed Cotton, with enough left over for another hat and some booties.
I think I'll call it the 'suprise' baby blanket. There's no suprise in the blanket (other than it only takes 4 skiens) but it's for when the baby is going to be a suprise- darn those non-knitting women, don't they KNOW!



Here is the Calmer shrug. The original pattern was Second Nature Designs "All Eyes on You Poncho." I loved the lace pattern, but a poncho, um no, thus the shrug was born. The original idea was to just have buttons on one side and button up the sleeves, but the calmer doesn't hold the buttons well. It's too stretchy, so I am going to sew it up I think. I mean, don't want to get too comitted, really!



So the only think left on the needles is the Shelby sweater, which I don't have to have done until the first of July. So seeing as I only have the button band and weaving in ends, and I have been so good in my finishing spree, I officially rule (I am the Duchess of Yarnnation, after all) a photo finish and the winner is. . . ME!
Cast on here I come. I had an epiphany last night, I'm in stealth mode for a few days as I work out the details. Enjoy your weekend.

A Serious Distraction

My first semi-successful attempt at spinning, it isn't good spinning, but it looks pretty cool.



So, I had some pencil roving, I tried to knit and felt it, but it doesn't knit well, so what better to do with it, SPIN IT! Now, this didn't feel like real spinning, because there is not drafting involved, but it gave me some good practice. Oh yes, and Tsarina too, she spun some of it. I was so surprised, and pleased with the tweedy type of yarn it produced.

Now ask me how much knitting I diligently contributed to my finishing goal. . . Ask! Ask! Ask! You're right, you don't have to ask- of course NONE! I am so distractable- but ooooh, what a way to be distracted.


On a different note, it was a sad day in doggy land today, this is the pink monster, Maggie's favorite toy. He went to doggy toy heaven (aka the garbage can) today because Maggie has been sick and little pink monster bits have been showing up in her lawn 'presents.'

And on a bit of a somber note, Princess P (my little sister) lost her baby kitty of 5 years to renal failure. They placed her under a new Cedar tree in their yard. Keep her in your prayers.

Finishing Spree

So I have decided that I won't cast on anything else until I finish or frog all of my current projects. I'm doing good, but I tell ya' it's pretty hard. I almost caved and got out the Yarn for the Duke's next sweater, fortunatly, the needle I needed was being used by the Organic Cotton Baby Blanket.

The green wrap is "Rhapsody in Lace and Ruffles" my design, a Decidedly Hilltop Pattern, in Misti Alpaca Silk- the close up picture is the more accurate color

The hat is Rowan's Aura in Karabella's Vintage Cotton. It is for Princess P. (Aren't you impressed that I took this picture myself.)

Stay tuned for more finished products, Shelby's Sweater is done, it just needs ends woven in and possibly a zipper put in (not by me!) The organic cotton baby blanket is coming along quickly as well, I have about 3-4 inches left. . .
I know I can, I know I can, I know I can

Finals Week

I'm a little quiet as of late, you say? It's finals week. The Duke finished his yesterday- HIS LAST FINAL EVER!!! Lucky man. He still has eight months of rotations to finish, but he is done with classes. I on the other hand still have Managerial Accounting on Friday night, (who gives a final on Friday night!!!) Not to mention 18 more months of classes. . . I needed a little break from studying, so here I am. Here's a "take away" (that's management talk for the only thing you heard in the last 10 weeks.)

Leadership vs. Management
When Noah heard the weather forecast he ordered the building of the ark.--- that was Leadership
Then he looked around and said, "Make sure the elephants don't see what the rabbits are up to."--- that was Management