Finally a blog entry...

I have been so engulfed with felting, beading, work stuff, and cooking for Thanksgiving, etc etc etc.... There aren't enough hours in the day, a feeling we all can share these days. I have a ton of knitting that I have to get done for the holidays- hum- stressed. Thank god, I finished a pair of these on Sunday. I can't say for who, in case she reads my blog, but they worked up pretty quickly and I know she'll wear them all the time- I wear mine. I knitted them out of Lorna's worsted in Aslan and plan on knitting her a suri cowl in Whipped Cream to match. That is the only gift that I've knit so far, is that pathetic or what? I'm knitting the Blue Sky worsted knee socks for my mother- YUM. Have you seen these? They are scrumptious (and did I mention, knit on a us 6 dpn?) That's what I'm talking about. As far as the other 20 gifts that I have to knit, who knows who is getting what. The one thing I do not do around the holidays is shop. We go to Fao Schwartz this Sunday, a sort of tradition in the making, buy her a few things and that is it! No other shopping for me. It's hand made and cooked from scratch for everyone else.

Otherwise, this week, I have been felting balls and making necklaces, thanks to Joanne. I absolutely love this ( I'm obsessed), I think about different color combos all day. I try to to felt the balls so that they look marbly and textured- it's so much fun. I string it with Swarovski crystals, and the reflections from the crystals are so grooooovy!!! This is the one I did last night, the picture doesn't do it justice, but that's okay... My goal is to felt another one tonight, maybe I'll get a second wind after the bugaboo goes to sleep and I eat a bunch of chocolate.... Chocolate and felted balls, what more does a girl need?

This was my morning commute? What is today's date? I don't think Scarlett's princess snow boots can wait until Christmas, she is going to need them today when she gets home to build a snowman with her dad. So bizarre...

I wish I could say that my felted beads are strung and looking fabulous as a necklace, but they aren't, I couldn't not kink the wire. It was totally frustrating, and now I am determined to make it right. However, after huffing and puffing, I set that project aside and decided to finish one of my chevron mitts thanks to KO .

I knit it with the koigu left overs from my chevron scarf. I love the warm colors, we all need a little warmth in the snowy tundra we're living in. I downloaded the Juliet pattern from Zephyr on Saturday. Unfortunately, the pattern will not be available for wholesale until after the holidays, so go ahead and download it, it's too cute. A few of the gals have knit it already with Blue Sky worsted, I'm not sure yet- still deciding. Maybe the worsted or the Rowan cocoon.... I was also looking at this pattern.. I love this!!! I'm a huge fan of the cap sleeve. All the better when you don't have to knit a sweater with long sleeves. All of these patterns are begging me to knit them, when what I really should be doing is knitting gifts - ugh!!

color everywhere!!

It's a cloudy crummy day outside. Inside, it's full of the most beautiful colors in the whole wide world. The Manos silk blend just arrived, the colors are deeply saturated into the silk, and the yarn itself is so soft. It's a dk weight, I think combined with a strand of Kidsilk haze would be amazing. We also got a shipment of Point Five- delish!! You can't go wrong with Colinette, their hand dyes are to die for, and soooooo soft. Tis the season for bulky hand dyes!!

Joanne came in yesterday with the most GGGGGGGGorgeous needle felted necklace ever!!. I love this necklace and I started my felted balls this morning with Robyn, and I know I will felting ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!! There has been very little sleep this week, and now I am overloaded with new yarn and felting needs. Such stress! I am going to finish with dinner tonight, give her bath, and brew the world's largest pot of coffee. I am up for the long haul tonight!!

So worth the wait!

Fleece Artist and Cocoon have finally arrived, and the yarn is absolutely gorgeous. The colors sent from Fleece artist are so beautiful, and the kits are a blast!! One of the gals already started casting on for the Thrum Mitts kit on Saturday. The best part of these mitts, is how the roving gets stuck on the inside of the mitt, and gathers together to create a thick wall of warmth against your hand. I love that!! A mitten that works for you. The Lady of the Lake and Gauntlet kits are divine, I can't wait to see the rest of the shipment, coming in a week or so.

Rowan's new Cocoon is heaven- so worth the wait and frustration. The loss of "Polar" is no long so sad, when you feel how wonderful this yarn is. It is knit on a 10.5 -11, and is absolute luxury. The mohair gives is shine and drape, and I can hardly wait to free up some needles to cast on. I am working on a cute little jacket out of Big Wool, hoping to finish it tonight so that I can wear it tomorrow. We'll see!! I love that the Cocoon only comes in beautiful earth tones, very excited!!!

Finally!

I have Scarlett and the "Sonny Bono Vest" together in one place. I can't believe I am referring to this vest as the Sonny Bono Vest, but the name kind of stuck, so there you have it. This is the Mac & Me pattern "Fur Trimmed Vest", which calls for Blue Sky Alpacas bulky hand dyes, however, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't use something other than what was recommended. I knit the 4T size, and used 2 balls of Rowan big wool, trimmed it with some big wool, and a whole lot of Ozark Hand Spun. Everybody needs a hippy vest!!

The felting get togethers have been great!! This week, a few of us worked on wet felted bracelets, here are the few that I have left. I sold 5 yesterday, eek!!! Now I have to get crackin'!!There are bunch of new yarns coming in this week, finally Rowan is sending me Cocoon in EVERY COLOR!!!!!!! The were under stocked apparently, and I didn't want to be lame and introduce it with only a couple of colors. I am so super excited to receive the new Manos. When I first ordered it, I was told after Thanksgiving, but I have a feeling, maybe Monday, we will be graced with the new Merino/Silk blend!! Yeah!!!!! Last, but not least, Fleece Artist, should be walking through the door any minute, it's like waiting for your prom date to show up, I am all antsy!! And what is all of this talk about possible snow this Friday night? I hope you will be completely engrossed in your knitting and keeping cozy and warm.

I was able to cast on for my chevron mitts last night, so exciting. I finished Scarlett's malabrigo scarf, and of course when I asked her put it on today so that I could photograph her wearing it- "me no want that". Well, how about modeling your new vest? "Me no want to". So being three entitles you to completely override anything and everything your mother says, with one 2 letter word- no. That's okay, the cuddling makes up for it. Malabrigo chunky worked up so nicely, it might be the softest yarn in the world, and when I showed it to her this morning, I know loved it (hopefully she'll wear it). Next to the start of my mitts, is one of the Knit Tubes from Namaste. They are the coolest. You can stash yarn and a project on one end, while the other end has needle slots and compartments for all of your supplies. I don't think I've seen anything like this before, and I think people are going to dig it. I love the fabric on the inside, as my MIL would say, "That's neat".I wanted to post this picture of one of my youngest students. She came in last night for class, with heart shaped pins that she made for all of us, that said I love Pottery. Too cute. Her pieces are really coming along, and she has totally grasped the concept of throwing. I am really proud of how hard she works, and how much effort she puts into each and every one of her pieces. We are smile when she comes through the door... Here's to you kiddo!

found it!!

Well, i found the camera- thank god. The good thing about that is that I get to blog, and take the pictures I need to, for my onine store (in the making). The bad thing about that, is that I will probably hold off on buying a new camera. That idea was starting to really set in with me, I like this camera A LOT!!! But Santa is coming soon, so maybe then. I scrolled through some of photos that were only the camera, pretty good I must say for a 3 years old. Notice she is taking pics of our dog at her eye level. Funny huh?
By the time I found the camera, it was too late to take a picture of Scarlett in her frizzy trimmed vest. I think it was referred to as "The Sonny Bono" vest yesterday in the shop. But one of the gals came by today, with her Gumby bag...
She used a combination of Manos and Malabrigo. It is so great, it's the perfect bag to throw your towels in and head to pool, or stash your yarn in to hide it from your husband. She had a shoe maker sew the handles on, which were once a belt, he did a really good job. However, she measured it against Ina's here at the shop, and decided she wanted to felt it a bit more. I kid you not, 15 minutes later, my phone rings, it had already been felted again and was totally perfecto.
Do I have to add this onto my list? I am trying to finish my bee stripe Lorna's socks- so cute so far...But now that my chevron scarf is finished and I wear it all the time, I want to cast on for these to match... Love those, and I need them badly for the morning commute...