Felted Cabled Bag

I finally finished knitting the Felted Cable Bag from the Nashua Handknits Designer Bags! Calling it the "Felted Cabled Bag" is a bit of a misnomer at this point because I haven't felted it yet. It's made out of Green Mountain Double Twist. My big guy cat Hans is next to it eyeing it up. Green Mountain Double Twist is Hans' favorite yarn. He loves to lay on it, roll on it and sleep on it. I haven't had the heart to tell him that it's not made any more. The other Green Mountain yarn just doesn't quite meet his criteria - whatever that is. I hoping this bag shrinks a lot in the felting process because it is huge! I've put a ruler at the bottom for reference.

I've Become a Podcast Junkie

I love to knit and spin while watching television. This summer, there's only been one program I watch regularly and a couple others I try to remember to watch - not enough to get much knitting or spinning done. Then, I discovered podcasts. I am downloading to my iPod right now. I started out with one, the KnitPicks podcast. An acquaintance of mine was interviewed earlier this year and when I found out about it earlier this summer, I thought it would be fun to hear her podcast. I was hooked. In addition to the KnitPicks podcast, I subscribe to 11 other knitting and spinning-related podcasts! Fortunately, a couple seem to be taking a few weeks off right now. But this week alone, the download consists of nine different podcasts! And the crazy part is - I keep adding because at least one of the podcasters mentions another one she just discovered! At least this is a constructive addiction - because I am getting a lot of knitting and spinning done!

For some solid information on knitting and yarn, my favorite is the KnitPicks podcast. When I have a little more time and want a good laugh with some information thrown in, I really enjoy limonviolet's podcast. Then there are a few by some very busy moms: Brown-Eyed Mom, Knaked Knits, knittingatnight and She-Knits. I doubt any of these women sleep, because not only do they have time for their children, work or school and knitting, but they podcast regularly too! Pretty impressive! That's my short list of podcasts. I listen regularly to more and frankly, if they weren't good, I wouldn't listen!

I Dyed!

Here's my first attempt at space dyeing (as opposed to dying in space). I used chemical dyes and the cold pour method. I am still very surprised at how vibrant the colors turned out. There's yellow into orange, into vermillion, into teal. The next time I'm thinking either omit the teal or the yellow - but who knows, maybe once I knit this up, I won't feel that way!

Small Felted Purse

This is the Small Felted Purse designed by JoAnne Turcotte and made out of one skein of Plymouth Boku yarn. This was a free pattern if you purchased one skein of the yarn. There is a slight shift in yarn - it's a single ply, slightly overspun yarn - so it's no surprise. I love the colorways and the purse is a great size for essentials and slips into my computer bag or briefcase.

Easter Egg Socks

We travelled to San Francisco a couple weeks ago for a few days. I decided to take one of my sock blanks along and knit up a pair of socks. I used the toe-up two-at-a-time pattern on KnitPicks.com website and just about completed the socks during the trip - of course, getting our flight cancelled in Denver helped provide the extra time to do that! I guess there's a silver lining in every cloud! I'm calling these my Easter Egg socks because they really look like the colors on Easter Eggs - maybe that's what I get for using food color and vinegar to dye the sock blank!

Sock Blanks

I recently purchased two sock blanks from Knit Picks. I also purchased dye, but I knew at least one of my cats would likely participate (there's just no shutting these guys out), so I used food coloring adapting Julie Theaker's "cold pour method" described in her Knitting: Spring 07 article "Color to dye for." The photographs show the "wrong" side, but I thought that side photographed the best. The top photograph features my helper, Greta. I also relied on the McCormick Neon colors - the purple in the bottom photograph and the lime green in the top one are particularly striking. I wonder if any of the colors glow in the dark? Now to see how these knit up into socks!

Needled to Death, by Maggie Sefton - A Book Review

I just finished the second in this series, Needled To Death. I liked this one, even better than the first. The characters are now getting more dimensional - particularly Jennifer, one of Kelly's friends. This entry in to this series is a page-turner and even though I guessed the outcome correctly early on, there were enough clues to make me unsure of my guess. For those of you who haven't delved into this series, I'm glad to report the heroine, Kelly, is making progress in her knitting!