May already??

Where does the time go?? When I was a kid I would hear someone say that and wonder what the heck are they talking about...now I get it! Wasn't it just Christmas?
The weather here is finally starting to feel a bit like spring. Now that means all the yard work begins. I can hardly move tonight after doing some weeding yesterday and again this afternoon! I got quite a bit cleaned up but there's still so much more to do. KK got the pond running so I'll get some fish soon. I think the nights are a bit too cold yet for them.
This past weekend we had the first Yarn Shop Hop! It was really fun spending two days with friends and running around to the shops! The ending was a party with lots of food and giveaways! I didn't win but one of the women with me won the grand prize! It was a mammoth basket packed with yarny goodness! In it was the felted Poinsettia felted wreath kit which she gave to me! So in around about way I won too! Got more info on spinning and wheels. I think that's the next step for me!
Would have liked to make the Sheep and Wool festival in Maryland but maybe next year! From what I hear I'd better start saving now!
Saw some new summer yarns that were nice. Did get some summer weight sock yarn of course!
Let's see, what else is new?? hmmm, knitting the Kyler's Cardigan a Cottage Creation pattern. It's an all garter stitch sweater so it's pretty easy knitting. A couple new techniques but so far so good! I'd like to have it finished before the weather gets much warmer since it's all wool. It's a top down so there's a lot of sweater in your lap!

I'm pleased with the FLS and I think I may do it again. I've gotten a lot of compliments when I wear it.

I did do the Pinwheel blanket that we started at one of the Guild workshops. Hopefully you're looking at a photo of it! It's a good tv/movie watching project once you get it off the dpn's and on the circulars. I would like to do it again in a nicer yarn..this yarn seemed almost too soft for it.
I finally did a felted bag that I've been wanting for myself. I used up odd bits of Lamb's Pride that I've had leftover from other projects. I had it lined then decided it needed to be felted more so now I have to redo the lining. I'll get a photo once it's finished.
Not much else happening...we took a couple day trips to combat the cabin fever we were getting but now with the nicer weather there's plenty to do!
I'm going to try to get back to blogging ...I don't know where my time goes!
Off to bed

What knitting??

We had a wonderful few days away but I think I left my knitting mojo there! Since we've been back I just can't get back into the mood. I'm very restless..could it be spring fever?? Already?
I hope not because if the recent temp.'s are any indication we have some time to go before spring hits! One nice thing though as cold as it's been the roads are clear. The other day we were out on one of the main roads and I thought it was snowing up ahead but it was powder from the road salt being scattered about from the traffic! The days have been sunny and clear but oh so cold! If there is even a slight breeze it goes right through to the bones! Good scarf weather for sure!
I digress, back on the subject of knitting.....there's none to write about! At least not much. I have made progress on the Berroco Sox sweater. The back is almost done and there's a couple inches on one sleeve. I do enjoy it because it's that easy mindless watch tv knitting. With working on that I don't feel like I've accomplished anything else. While away I started a sock on dpn's! Shocking , I know but I must admit I'm liking them. I picked up a really short pair of dpn's and they make all the difference. Since we've been home I'm at a loss what to knit. I want to knit everything and nothing ....I hate this mood!
I started an entrelac bag but I do believe there is a problem in the pattern and I can't find any errata for it. So that's shoved in a bag and tossed aside for now!
I keep walking into "my room" looking and fondling but walk out without any ideas!
I think I'll opt for something really simple and quick until I can get my thoughts together. How about a dishcloth and tribble?? Sound good?? Does to me...and kitchen cotton is one thing there's plenty of!
This is Guild week so maybe being around all those knitting gals will rub off on me...one can only hope.
Off to stash dive

Skaneateles

This post is for me....a reminder of this surprise from KK! This morning he said to me "see if the dogs can stay at the kennel for a couple days". I'm thinking, huh?? why?? He says just wait and see! I call but the gal that watches Sophie and Maddie wasn't there so I left our number and asked her to call when she got in. About an hour later she called back and said it was fine to bring the dogs over! So after some frantic packing for us and the dogs we got on our way.
Two hours later we were here! I'm blogging sitting next to the fireplace in our room at the Sherwood Inn. This place is awesome. The building is 200 years old with wonderful atmosphere!
A mixture of wood burning fire and something cooking greeted us when we signed in. Heavenly!
We were able to browse through many of the rooms as many of the guests weren't checked in yet. Our room has a mammoth high bed....when I sit on the edge my feet don't even reach the floor! Of course the fireplace is the perfect touch. My only wish is that we would get snowed in and have to stay longer!
When I stand next to the spa tub it's higher than my knees...perfect for soaking with the jets on! The wall is curved with a handpainted mural. Lovely!
Perfect sunny day for the drive and after we checked in we took a walk through the village. Peeked in a couple shops and then stopped for a piece of pizza at the deli. Came back here and had coffee by the fireplace. With all the wing back chairs and comfy sofas I said to KK I could just picture all the women from knitting sitting here. The funny thing is after dinner in the lounge we came out and two woman were sitting there knitting! One said she was starting a bag and the other was doing a felted flower. I was tempted to run up to the room and grab the yarn I brought and join them! The spa tub won out tho!
I didn't have any socks otn so I brought a skein of Regia Kaffe Fasset with me. I've been wanting to try this yarn since it doesn't stripe it sort of pools....exactly what I've been looking for!
I was disappointed that the lys here went out of business. I was looking forward to checking it out. The good news is that while we were in the deli the mail person came in and she told me where there is another yarn shop and it's very close to here! The Yarn Bin....we're going to check out the area tomorrow and we'll stop there.
We drove through Auburn,NY where Carrie of Socks in The City podcast fame lives! Wouldn't it be interesting to run into her at the lys!
Better get to bed since we want to get up early!
Off to sleep

Resolutions????

I made only two resolutions for the new year and I've already broken the first one! I was going to try to blog on a regular basis. Here we are into the second month of the year and this is my first post! I'm not sure why I don't take the time to blog, I used to and I was busier then. Now I have more time at home and I seem to get less accomplished.
So much for good intentions!
My second resolution seems to be off to a good start. I'm going to try to knit at least one pair of socks a month for the year. For January I used the yarn I dyed and knitted up a pair of Fluted Bannisters. I'm quite pleased with the fit on this pair so now I'm motivated to get on to #2. I've got a pair of Tidal Waves in the works.
I did get take a photo but the camera cord isn't right here and I'm way too lazy right now to hunt it up. I'll try to get them uploaded tomorrow.
I started the February Lady Sweater based on an EZ baby pattern. I absolutely love this sweater!! I wasn't confident in my ability to knit this one so I didn't want to invest $$ into only to be disappointed so I stash dived! Amazing what you forget that you have when it's tucked away!
I don't have much in enough quantity for sweaters tho...I totally forgot a couple years ago when Cotton Ease was discontinued I swapped for 10 skeins of Blueberry. This seemed perfect for a summer cardi thinking it would probably take me until the warm weather hits before I would complete it. This sweater is done top down and I have the body completed and I'm ready for the sleeves! It would have been further long but I'm striving for perfection! Having never done button holes that was an obstacle to overcome. I went on you tube and watched a tutorial till my head ached! Unfortunately, they aren't perfect but I'm ok with them after redoing a couple times.
You have to do some figuring on your own to get a good fit..so it meant trying it on as you go. Not my favorite part running a thread through all those live stitches but it's worth it in the end.
I finished the yoke,lace gull body and the garter border and then decided I wanted it longer! Out came the border and I added two more sets of the lace then redid the border.
I want to do the sleeves in the round rather than dpn's which meant picking up a short pair of circulars. You'd think with all the needles I have I wouldn't ever need to buy anymore!
I finally got to the lys on Sunday and picked up a pair so now I'm set. While I was there I found buttons that will work, so no excuses not to finish it!
One of the lys' has a Super Bowl sale every year and since it was a nice day Sunday we took a drive out there. I can't believe I didn't see much that caught my eye! I did get Opal Harry Potter to make socks for dd. I think in the back of my mind I was thinking about Monday night Knit Nite. One of the lys's closed a few years ago and the owner is friends with the woman whose house we meet at so she agreed to come over and bring goodies. She brought two huge suitcases stuffed with yarn....all at half price!! I snagged quite a bit of Cascade 220 for $3 a skein!!! Eureka!!! I'm planning next years Xmas gifts! We asked her if she'd come back in a few weeks.
A few weeks before the holidays dd asked me if I would make her a hat. Of course I said I would but probably not for Xmas as I already had those projects lined up and the supplies on hand. She didn't care, she would buy the yarn and whenever I felt like it was fine. I totally forgot about it until I went stash diving for the sweater. So now that's otn, too. Knitting on circulars, started the decreases and ready to switch to dpn's(hate that part) We're going over for dinner this weekend so I can take it to her then. At least she'll get some use out of it this season. I'm sure our cold weather is far from over.
Kk and I spent a couple hours at B&N this afternoon( I love that place) I've been stalking the knitting section and finally they got in Socks a la Carte! I swear they are only getting one new book at a time and you have to be lucky enough to get in there at the right time. Today I wasn't even looking for it and there it was!! I got 20% off being a member so I was happy to bring it home!
I've been having some horrible headaches lately. They come on all of a sudden at any time of day. I'm wondering if the ever changing weather has anything to do with it. It shouldn't be my eyes as my glasses are only a few months old. Maybe it's all the knitting and reading. I finished the last three books of the Twilight series in less than a week. Once I started the second one I was sucked right in!
Well, I guess that's enough rambling for tonight so
Off to bed

Here I am, again!

Just looked at my blog and the last entry was from September!! How can that be?? What have I been doing? Nothing exciting comes to mind.

I did take a sock dying class through knitting guild. That was yesterday.
I don't usually like taking classes. I always feel pressured to move along quickly so not to hold everyone up but it didn't matter for this. You worked at your own pace which was good as I was the last one done! I used two methods and found that painting the dye on gave you much more control over the results. Once you do it you have more appreciation for those that do it well!
I'm sure it's like anything the more you practice the better you become. Here's a photo of the first two skeins. I think I just might invest in some more supplies and try this again! I'm really anxious to knit one of these up to see what happens!







Here's the same two skeins on a white floor so you can see the color better.


Over on Plurk we had a swap and this is the package I received. Very nice goodies! With sock yarn that's very soft and squishy! Even the pups got a treat!

Like many of you I'm knitting as fast as I can to get Xmas gifts finished on time. DD requested socks so of course they are top priority! I think d-i-l is going to get a scarf since she doesn't wear socks that much, at least not warm ones. Son's girlfriend is going to get her first pair this year ,too.
For knitting guild this month we had an ornament exchange. At the last minute I decided to do a mini sock which took me all afternoon! Why is it when you're in a hurry it seems like you're all thumbs? I even managed to snap a Bryson dpn in half! I was very annoyed and almost said the hell with it but I was 3/4 done at that point! I got a lovely wool embroidered heart...makes me think of how the wool penny rugs are done.
Most of our Xmas decorations are done. If we could just get these boxes cleaned up I'd be happy.
The outside doesn't have as much as we usually do but it's so cold now that I told KK it's fine as is.
I think later in the week we'll do some shopping. I haven't been to the stores at all yet. No black Friday shopping for me! Just looking at the parking lots is enough to keep me away!
As for knitting not much has been accomplished. I started a sweater and actually had everything but the sleeves done when I finally admitted I didn't like it......so after setting it aside for a week I frogged the whole thing! I really like the yarn so I'll have to find another pattern more suitable.
It's getting late so I'm
Off to sleep

Old Forge!

Here I am in Old Forge,NY blogging! KK and I have had this weekend get away planned to coincide with the craft fair in Remson,NY. We learned of the fair a couple years ago when we took the train ride from Utica to here. We liked Old Forge but didn't have enough time to really explore and we decided we needed to come back and spend a few days here. They told us the last weekend in Sept. is the best to see the fall foliage and they were so right! We definitely weren't disappointed! Even with the overcast skies the views are stunning! We took so many pictures but I'll have to wait until we're back home to download them.
Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate yesterday morning for the fair...it poured almost the whole time we were there! Thank goodness we had our umbrellas so we were fine. By early afternoon it started to clear up and it got quite warm.
A couple of booths were really nice but some we just passed by. I stopped at one that had some really nice homespun yarn but she only had one skein of each color and there wasn't enough yardage to do much with. She did have awesome thrummed mittens but I couldn't bring myself to spend $69 on them. A garter stitch sweater caught my eye and I must have the pattern! She didn't have it with her but I'm going to call during the week and she's going to send it to me. Her shop is only open a few evenings a week so I won't be able to go there. The sweater she had on display was done in Cashvero....I've never heard of it before so I'm going to have to check into it.
I did get a pair of fleece mittens that feel really soft and hopefully warm. I'm already having problems with the RS and it isn't even that cold yet!
Once we got to Old Forge and checked into our room we went off to look through the shops. Of course I had to go to the Hardware store and check out the yarn area! Nothing caught my eye this time. I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the shops and picked up a few things. Tomorrow before we leave I'm going to get a blanket. They have these really thick soft throws that will be perfect for winter TV watching in our family room.
This morning we got up early and when we walked out of our room there were 5 deer right outside our room. A few people were out taking pictures and they said the deer stay right near here all the time. They actually walk right up to you if you stand still. I fed a button buck and a couple of the does...the baby was more timid and stayed out of reach. When we came back into town this evening there they were right on Main St. in the front yard of one of the shops! The locals watch out for them as they casually stroll back and forth across the street!
Today we took a drive to Lake Placid. It wasn't what I expected...it didn't have the old comfy feel of Old Forge. The shops were more what you'd expect to find in most cities which didn't interest me. I did go into Adirondack Yarns which had a nice variety of yarns and friendly staff. Lots of sock yarn many I'm able to get locally but they had Peace Fleece which I've never seen so of course I couldn't leave without some. Another colorway caught my eye but no matter how much I try I can't remember whose it is and I left it in the car..but I got a skein of it too. So now I have my souvenir yarn!
We ate an early dinner and decided to come back to the room to relax. I knew KK was tired after all that driving even though he wouldn't admit it. I grabbed a coffee and had the pastry we got at the bakery earlier. KK drifted off and I've been knitting!
I wasn't sure if it was worth the bother to pack up the knitting bag but I'm glad I did. I'm working on the Modular Vest that's on the front of Creative Knitting. I started it the beginning of the week and right before we left finished the first block only to discover it was totally wrong! My miter was going in the wrong direction! How annoying! I think right at the beginning I marked the right side row on the wrong side which of course threw the whole thing off. One of the ladies I knit with said don't rip it we'll make it work but I couldn't stand the thought of having to fudge it, so out it came! I started it over making sure it was marked correctly this time. I'm almost done with the second block of the first piece and it's looking good!
Also otn's is a pair of annetrelac socks that are almost finished. They're another story! I had the first sock almost finished when I realized there wasn't enough yarn! No way was I taking out all that work. I ripped it back to the cuff and Kk and I went on a hunt for something that I could do the heel and toes in. The second shop had Koigu in a nice shaded brown that went well with the variegated colorway so a sock disaster avoided! Redid the heels in the brown and I'm just about to the toes on the first one and about half way down the foot on the second. Keeping my fingers crossed there's enough yarn to get to both toes!!
Another project otn is the wrap vest in Love of Knitting. It's going to be a slow knit with almost 200 sts. on 7's. It's worked in a seeded rib so it's not difficult just slow.
Almost forgot to mention last weekend was the Hemlock Fiberfest. Had a great day from the weather through the shopping! That's were I got the yarn for the wrap vest. It's a hand dyed shaded dark blue with a touch of deep purple. It's definitely a step out of the usual for me!
Right as we were leaving I took the plunge and purchased enough hand spun/dyed yarn for a cardigan! It's beautiful,and again I stepped out of my normal and picked what I'd call jewel tones. I'd like to complete a couple smaller projects before I tackle the cardigan.
I've looked at the Lantern Moon dpn's for socks but never bought any but when I saw them at the fest I decided to treat myself!! They are so smooth and so tiny....maybe I'll have to cast on using the new yarn I got today!
I'm probably forgetting something but it's getting late and I want to finish the second mitered block so
Off to knit

September already???

Can it really be September already??? It doesn't seem possible that summer is over or just about anyways. Yet I guess it's true as we had my b'day get together over the weekend. That for me is the sign that another summer is done.

KK and I didn't do as much as we thought we would which I'll blame a lot on the weather. Seemed every time we had something planned it rained or looked like it was going to. We did take a day trip to Ithaca,NY which was fun. We managed to shop at The Commons, go to the brewery, hike the Buttermilk Falls gorge, and stop at a few wineries! It was a great day and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Of course an outing that includes a yarn shop is just what one could hope for!

On said trip I did snag some Happy Feet and Mt. Colors. As you can see a new bag just happened to catch my eye....no surprise there for those who know me! No trip to the wineries is complete without bringing some home for later! (DD and I managed to illiminate 2 bottles at b'day gathering)

Oh, I almost forgot that very light color is some Crystal Palace chenille. Very nice and soft! I've never see it in person and once I did I had to bring some home. Only wish I could have gotten more. There is a washcloth in Weekend Knitter that I'd like to do.(waiting for book from library)

KK and I managed the hike up the gorge and as exhausting as it was it was worth it! It was beautiful at the top...well, the top as far as we were concerned anyway!

These are some of the views as we were hiking up.Of course pictures don't do it justice.

This was amazing to see how the water had etched out this pool. On the way up there were three of these and with the sun shinning through the trees the water literally glowed emerald.

As you can see after that hike the temptation was too great not to cool off! I couldn't resist! They told us the water was 55 but it felt wonderful! Right behind me in the photo was another one of the natural pools. Teenagers were sliding down the rocks right next to the falls into the pool....that looked like so much fun! I resisted tho.......

Not to bore you with anymore nature photos here's the socks from the Sockotta my girls gifted me with from when they took this same outing!

Ater finishing these I wished that I would have knitted something with a slight pattern. I never would have picked this colorway myself but it really knitted up nicely.

I hate to say it but we've had the nicest five days in a row weather wise then I think we've had all summer. With the storms all over the country who would think it would be so nice here. Weird!

I'm looking forward to Guild starting this week. First project is some charity slippers and they are providing the pattern and yarn. We'll have until next meeting to do as many pairs as we can.

I've got a couple project ideas floating around in my mind to start. Not quite sure which I want to tackle first. Should probably think about holiday gifts but I can't think that far ahead!

Off to make dinner

Bad Blogger

ok, I admit it I'm hooked on Plurk! I jump on and off all day long......if I stay away too long I'm afraid I might miss something! Crazy!
I do have some knitting news! Yeah, I know you're shocked, right? I'm working on #2 sock of the Regia pair. They really are a nice colorway. I am having trouble with my heels and heel decreases for some unknown reason. The last pair I did I wasn't happy with either. I'm doing them the same way as usual so I don' t understand what I'm doing wrong. I'm getting those holes at the join and my decrease don't seem right to me. I do socks magic loop on #1's......when I get past the heel turn I have all the heel and picked up sts. on one needle and the top of foot on the other. I like this for doing the decreases...this way you dec. and each end of one needle. As I'm looking at it I k1,ssk, knit across to last 3 k2tog,k1 then knit across the next needle. Sound right?
I can finally say my room is really done!! KK finished painting the new molding and he put it up today! I painted the light switch plate white then used the wall color watered down to antique it. Tomorrow I'll spray a coat of clear to protect it and then on it goes! I have a couple odds and ends to put away but it wouldn't seem like my room if everything was put away!
Did you see my new pet?? That annoying noise you hear is her eating! After I did her I saw there is a Llama ~~kewl!!
I saw/heard something the other day that left me with a nice feeling ...maybe you'll feel the same. KK and I stopped at McDonald's and it was quite busy with lunches. We wound up getting a seat pretty close to the ordering line. Standing in line was a middle aged man in a army uniform. I didn't even notice him until I heard a woman say" May I shake your hand? I just want to thank you for everything you do for our country". At first he seemed a little uncomfortable but I noticed after the woman walked away he had a smile on his face. Maybe that raok brightened his day......I hope so .....it did mine.
I've decided No....More.....Yarn ...... at least not until fiberfest next month! I think I should be able to hold out until then!
Sorry, this post is so lame but I tried~~lol
It's getting late and I want to read a few minutes before bed so
Off to read

Quick Post

I can't seem to find the time to blog but I've been plurking like mad! I can't figure out how to link to my page tho~it doesn't seem to want to work but I'm going to try to stick it here and see what happens~~
http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_uid=454595&check=-310655448&s=1 well there it is but who knows if it'll work?? I 'll try it when I'm done here. If it does work when you click on it it will sign you up as one of my friends~~come on ~~you know you want to be my friend, right??

My craft room is truly me now!! As you may know I took over DD's bedroom after she moved out a few years ago. For her 16th birthday we redid her room. She picked out the wallpaper which at the time was nice~~surprisingly enough she picked out a very country print that went with our house. The walls were papered from floor to ceiling and had a border. I was beginning to have nightmares about that paper!! I've been wanting to strip it for the last couple of years but it seemed just too overwhelming. Well, last week was it! My sons girlfriend was over and she has offered many times to help me redo the room~~so we started. We decided to do a small section behind the dresser in case we couldn't get it off we could hide it! The problem was originally when we moved in we didn't know the walls needed to be sealed/primed before we papered the first time. Unfortunately I papered right on the whitewash the builder used so the first layer of paper stuck~~really good! I was able to get the vinyl top layer off but the backing was on for good! I rented a steamer and it started to dissolve the wallboard! So dh sealed and primed the walls and then we papered for dd. All went well~~but now when we took this paper off we had to be very careful that we didn't dig into the original backing. We didn't want to have to re drywall the whole room. Fortunately the paper came off pretty good~~we started the job at 8:30p.m. and kept going till almost 3a.m.!! We had the entire room done except for a small area over the window. That was Sat. night~ Sun. dh spackled all the holes which took forever! Every time we turned around there was another hole! Monday he sanded and then primed and I picked out paint!! By Tuesday evening three walls were a sage green and the fourth was a bit darker!!
I was so thrilled that we could paint!! I thought we'd always have to paper because of that backing but not a seam shows!!! I added more shelves on the one wall and rearranged a bit so now for the most part the room is back together!! I love it!! I keep walking in there just to look around!! I know you're saying "what a dork" lol~~ but I really hated that paper!!
Found white shears with a design on them that I like so they're up and tomorrow dh is going to pick up new molding for around the door.

No knitting going on but I did go to my friends the other night and we did some beading. I've been wanting to do that for awhile so it was fun to go over and do it with her! It was like going shopping at the bead shop! I took beads for a necklace that I had but needed something to spruce it up and she had just the right thing! We did a bracelet too~~so I came home with a new necklace and bracelet without even stepping foot in a store!! We gotta do it again!!

Tomorrow DD and I are going out for awhile. She's on vacation this week so we're going to "do lunch" and browse a couple new stores.

It's starting to rain, again so I've got to get the windows shut so~
Off to beat the rain

Photo Post!

Don't they look innocent??

awwwww!! Maddie wants to go for a ride!

an unwanted guest!

Sophie checking the plants!

awesome cactus!

Not the way you want to end a ride in the country!

ten day old male

ok, had enough?? This little guy was at a fiber fest I went to last weekend. It was the first year for it and it wasn't very good. What was there was good but there were only 5/6 booths related to spinning/knitting. I did see something interesting tho~~a Turkish spindle! It's a bottom whorl spindle that has these four arm thingies that as you spin the yarn wraps around these to form a center ball pull! After you load the spindle you somehow remove the arms and slip the ball off~~kewl!! They didn't have any there for sale which I guess is a good thing because I know I would have come home with one! I'll look in the fall at Hemlock. Not that I really need anything else to do!!

I did manage to finish the first Regia sock today and cast on for the second so it was a good day!

It was so humid today that anything that required moving was too much effort!!

Off for a midnight snack