Speechless. . .

My best friend, Sarah, has been working on what she called the "Big Secret Knitting Project" for almost 9 months now.

On Saturday at a BBQ that we held to celebrate the final stage in the adoption of our son she handed me a small yellow gift bag.

Inside that gift bag is one of the most beautiful pieces of knitting I have ever seen.

It is Snowflakes in Cedarwoods Shawl, in honor of my little Alaska Baby.

On Sunday the Lion Baby was wrapped in it as the Duke gave him his baby blessing.

Then I wrapped myself in it as I spoke in church (our church has only lay clergy and members of the congregation are asked to give the sermons.)

I didn't know that a shawl could not only keep you warm, but also let you feel loved.

One day I hope the Lion Baby's bride will wear it on their wedding day.

And I hope that Sarah is right there with me as we both bawl our eyes out just like we did in church on Sunday.

Thank you, Sarah.  It is stunning, and you are the best friend a girl (especially a knitter girl) could ever ask for, and the best auntie a Lion Baby could ever want!

My Sister LOVES Me

Today I went to my mailbox and pulled out a package from Vancouver. I wasn't expecting anything from Vancouver, but it was addressed to me, so I ripped it open.

THESE are what was inside! *silly happy noises*



So I spent part of the day wondering WHO my secret admirer was???

Not the Duke, not Sarah. . . .

it's Princess P. who loves me so!

For you knitters out there there is a pattern you can purchase for $5 HERE. Although, I think you would better off just knitting a mitten (with or without the 2010 on it) and then cut a maple leaf from white fleece or felt and embroider it on (you may also want to embroider the Vancouver 2010- if you have an embroidery sewing machine, or know someone who does, this would be easy as pie.)

THANK PRINCESS!
I HEART YOU SO!

Distractions

Thank you all again for your comments, emails, phone calls. I really do appreciate it. The Duke and I did make our decision, after one of the worst nights yet, we decided to try the second, more dangerous, drug. Again, it did nothing. Now we wait for Wed. and another Dr.'s appointment.

In the meantime, some of you have asked if there is anything you can do. . . well, the only thing that helps right now is being distracted. So distract me!!! Post to your blogs, they are a great distraction for me.

Here are a few things around here that I have employed in the distraction arena.


My new computer desk (housing my computer of course!)


Chocolate in adorable packaging. A Chinese friend of mine once gave me a package of these mushroom shaped candies, and not only was I hooked on the candy (so yummy!) the packaging makes me smile every time.


The candies really are shaped just like they are depicted (cartoon style) on the package, like little mushrooms.


Cute baby things are always good for a little distraction, and our bedding arrived in the mail a few days ago. The Afircanesk stuffed animals the Princess and I bought go so well with it! I'll show the entire nursery when we get it put together.

Knitting and Spinning have always been a happy distraction for me, but as one of the symptoms of Chorea is weak and or painful hands, that has been difficult. I have been able to do a little knitting.

It's funny, Shazmina asked in her latest blog entry what we tend to cast on for when our knitting desire has stalled. I knit what I call my "therapy sweater." It's a simple bottom up raglan, all stst, in worsted weight yarn. It usually takes me about a week to knit it. I happen to be knitting one now (it's great for all knitting, no thinking which is all I can handle right now.) This is a little over three weeks worth of progress. Oh well, progress is progress I suppose, even when it's so slow.


Spinning is usually good for a little distraction as well, but I had been struggling with it hurting my hands. This is what I had been spinning, and while I love the colors, I realized a few days ago that the reason that it was causing my hands to hurt was that because this particular roving was a tad felted. It was very difficult to draft, no wonder my hands hurt!

So I pulled it off of my wheel and rooted around for something else to spin. I found some dark silver merino/silk I had purchased and promised to spin for Tzarina for her birthday way back in March (Bad friend BAD!)

The singles spun up with such ease it was like the fiber was spinning itself (much better for me hands.) The also turned out so beautifully that Tzarina decided that she wanted them left as singles. I can't wait to see what she knits out of it.

Next I found a combined (not blended, the fibers were still distinct from one another) batt that I purchased several months ago from The Artful Ewe. It was (if I remember right) BFL, alpaca, silk, and mohair. I had been wanting to work on my worsted spinning (long backward draw) and thought this was the perfect fiber for it.

The singles


2 plied


The "waste"- I love it when this is all that is left on the bobbin with more fiber, so satisfying to person obsessed with efficiency.


The finished "fluffy" and supper soft yarn.


And a close-up. It was fun to let some of the mohair locks and other fluffy parts of the batt remain sticking out. I love how it turned out- about 140 yds of a light worsted weight.


And last, but no where near least, good friends and family have been doing their best to distract me. Tzarina came over on Friday and brought these adorable knit pants for the alien. I can't wait (for more than one reason) to see him in them! The Queen,the Princess, and Sarah (who is hopefully having a baby this weekend!) too, have been doing their best to keep me distracted with near daily phone calls and emails. It's so wonderful to have good friends and family. I love you guys!

Hurry Hurry Hurry!

That is how I feel this week. . . hurry towards next week when we have final presentations, family arriving, ultrasound, graduation, graduation party. Then (because I don't have enough to worry about) I begin to wonder, then what?

What am I going to do for the next 4.5 months until the baby is born? I will be traveling for some of that time, but no job, no school, no plans. I'm a little afraid! The Duke says I will nest. I think he is over estimating my nesting tolerance. Yes, I do have a nursery to arrange, which is going to be no small feat, but I don't think it will take 4 months. Well, I supposed this little alien will, at the very least, have a whole lotta hand knits.

Anyway, changing topics, this has also been a week of surprises, and pleasant ones at that.


Here is baby's first photo album, a gift from friends R., J., and baby E. Very sweet!


Then a package arrived for me at Hilltop, which of course caused some confusion, but one of the women I used to work with is also my neighbor, and she was sweet enough to bring it home. It was a package from my secret pal from Knitty's Secret Pal 8. Amy, I know your real name now, but just couldn't bring myself to go through all those hundreds of posts to try to figure out what your Coffeeshop name is. Please, do tell.
Thank you so much for the wonderful package. Some of you may remember, it would have also been Amy who sent the beautiful Malabrigo yarn.
This package was no less spectacular, as you can see. A sweet button hole bag, a couple of balls of Misty Alpaca's Merino (I LOVE this yarn,) a hank of Araucania's Naure Wool Chunky in a beautiful orange, chocolate (yum yum yum,) a new Chibby- (I've wanted one of the new ones in the cool new colors, but never bought myself one,) and a plethora of wonderful smelling soaps, lotions, creams, lip gloss, and a candle. Amy, you must have been reading my 100th post, or was is just a good guess that I love good smelling soaps in particular? One of them is even for my dogs. I think they will be getting a bath tomorrow! Thank you so much Amy, you were so generous!




I also got a package from my grandmother who we refer to as the Queen Mother here in Yarnnation. She has recently returned from Panama and sweetly brought home a beautifully embroidered bag for me. I love it. The colors and the work are stunning. It is hand driven machine embroidery with multiple layers of embroidery, much like a painting. It is an interesting craft I admired while living in the Philippines, and this is a beautiful example of it.
There was also a present for the alien. A darling blanket and burp cloth combo which she has crocheted around the edges. I love the combo of the the print with the stripes. THANKS GRANDMA (and yes, of course I remember, and will always be your Valentine.)


I also got my copy of Spin-Off. I loved the article written by Kathryn Tewson about the Faroe Island shawls she spun the yarn for and then knit for a friend that needed to know that someone loved her and was there for her. The article not only made me want to learn more about Faroe Island shawls, but also made me wish that we could all be a friend like Kathryn was, and made me want to be a better friend.

I have been considering joining the Spun Stiches KAL for a couple of days now, but didn't really know if I would be able to give my full commitment. It appears that the spinning motion no longer makes me sick, as I have been able to spin for a few days now without problem, and the article in Spin-Off pushed me off the fence. I've sent off my email request to join.

Last but not least, I have made my visit to random.org and it has chosen the recipient of the fiber happiness that always accompanies a Yarn of Yarnnation. Wouldn't you know it, it chose The Yarn Queen, my mom! She is flying up here in a few days for the Duke's graduation, so I will give it to her then and even take a picture of her with it!

Also, the yarn is GGH Goa. Katie is right, Yarndex does list this as a heavy worsted. I wrote about it as a bulky simply because knit at 4 sts to the inch, it has a stiff and heavy fabric that I dislike. I think it served the yarn better to knit it at 3-3.5 sts to the inch and let it have a little freedom, but I do realize that doesn't really make it a true bulky. Melissa and Kathleen both wondered about a picture of the FO. Sarah, you are right, it is the same capelette/poncho I was wearing the first time we met.

I knit this back in 2005 before I was blogging and I don't have a great picture of it, but here is a picture of me wearing it (alongside my favorite Duke) on vacation at the Sun Mountain Lodge.

Cascade 220

I got a total kick out of the fact that you all decided to guess which yarn was writing to you. That wasn't what I was expecting, but I loved it.
Just so you all know, the "piece of Yarnnation" that goes to the randomly selected commenter, will not always be in the form of the story yarn, in fact probably most of the time it won't be. (Like last time, the Yarn was Rowan's Chunky Print, but Bells got some hand dyed sock yarn, which she is knitting the most beautiful socks with.) This is mostly because the yarn doesn't tell me it's entire story until after I have knit with it, so I most likely will no longer have it in the stash.
In this case, however, I always have a little Cascade 220 in the stash. Right now it happens to be in colorway 9408- Cordovan, which is a slightly heathered reddish brown.
I have employed a handy-dandy random number generator, and the winning number is ............ 5! And this means nothing to y'all because you aren't looking at the comments, but Sarah (aka: Gry- Sarah what does your handle mean?) was the 5th commenter.
So Sarah, your choice, I have 2 hanks of C220-9408 for you, or (for your spinning pleasure) 8oz of some unspun superwash merino in one (or a mix) of three colors: a slightly variegated tangerine, a lovely lightish grass green, or a rich moss green.
Let me know what you want, you have my e-mail.

Distract Me

Pregnancy Update: Will someone please put me out of my misery? The super pill held less magic than hoped for. The nausea/vomiting continues. Six more days before I throw myself at the mercy of my doctor.

Anyway, this is a post about distractions. So far distraction, when possible, is the best medicine.

First up, upon arriving home from a walk yesterday, what do I find on my door step?



Oh yes, my Tote Exchange Package- GO HERE to read all about how wonderful my partner Teresa was to me and to find out where you can get that amazing sock yarn.

Fresh air seems to distract me for a time, and mother nature was decked out in full regalia.

(roll over the the individual picture to see the entire photo.)

Sunday's walk in the arboretum provided a very pleasant distraction, along with very happy and muddy dogs. We took them on their retractable leashes, such a great invention. They run forward and back, forward and back, covering 2-3 times the ground that the Duke and I do. Logan was so tired after a good long romp, that when the Duke put him in the tub to bathe him (something that usually results in hysterics) he just sat down in the tub and submitted. We even had a hard time getting them dry because they didn't want to run around the house for near as long, which is their usual method of drying themselves off. Instead, the Duke and I submitted to damp doggies on our laps and ran our hands through their fur to decrease drying time. As always, nothing make me happier than good tired pups!

I have been able to spin and bit and knit a bit less. Onesie painting requires so much less of my body and brain, so I whipped out a few more.







I may not find this as charming or hysterical in a few months, but for now, in my ignorance, I laugh each time I see it.



UPDATE:
hmmm, I don't know how the commenting got turned off. I did have a little technical dificulty with this post, but I wasn't messing around with the comments. Anyway, there you go, it's back on.

Thanks!

Thank you to all of you that commented on my last post. "The Yarn of Yarnnation" will become a regular feature here at Yarnnation. I was inspired by Erin over at Dress A Day and her "Secret Life of Dresses." If you haven't read them, go on over, they really are entertaining.

And to celebrate the first episode, naturally, I must share some yarnish love. As Bells was the first to comment, I thought she should get a skein of some Yarnnation hand dyed sock yarn. Send me your address Bells- yarnnation at gmail dot com.



Each time I post a Yarn of Yarnnation I will (from here on out) randomly choose a person from the comments to share a little bit of Yarnnation with.

Now, what else has been going on around here? Spinning? Yes, and Maggie was trying to her best to impede.



This is some slightly variegated orange supperwash Merino, 2 ply. I wanted some orange socks, and orange socks I will have. It came out at a perfect 16 wpi, and it hasn't dried all the way yet, but it doesn't look like it's going to bloom too much. It came out at 245 yds. I have plenty of this left over, but I'm not sure yet if I will spin more to get enough for a pair of socks, or (as I am sick to death of it right now) I will knit the toes, heel, and cuffs in something else. We'll see. They aren't even the next socks in the cue.



Also, because I have so much of this stuff, and because I'm lazy and my scale is on a different floor in my house, I didn't weigh or measure the fiber for each bobbin in any way, I just filled up the second bobbin until it looked like it about matched the first- this is what I had left over- can you believe it? Crazy lucky!



What else? Dyeing? Of course, and when else, but in the middle of the night.

This is my new favorite Yarnnation dyed sock yarn: Raspberry Ice Cream (I can't eat it, but I can wear it!)



The Yarn Queen also sent me some very nice Targee/Lincoln mixed roving. I kettle dyed it in two different batches. They both came out stunning, but I couldn't get very good photos, you'll just have to wait for the spinning to see the colors. . . which won't be long :)





And last but not least. . . I over dyed some worsted weight wool that was this kind of unpleasant dingy orange and yellow variegated. Isn't it stunning? I have enough for a sweater, my internal Creative Project Manager is working overtime.



Hope everyone has a great week. . . It's the Duke's last week of a his second to last rotation.

As he says

THE END IS NEAR!