This, That, and The Other

I have finally finished one birthday present sweater, the Tantric Puzzle Sweater. I can't show you what it looks like on because, fortunately for me, there is 3 days before her birthday. And even better, 5 days before she will be down. That gives me five days to get the other two sweaters finished.
Okay finished might be an exaggeration. One is cast on and I have a few inches knit. The other was cast on and one skein knit but I had to rip the whole thing out because I changed needles and thus changed gauge. The one cast on is going to be the most amazingly beautiful sweater I have ever made. A shawl collared cardigan. I am doing it in purple on purple with the second purple mohair and silk. Double threaded it is easy enough to work on but it makes the whole thing so softly squooshy and dreamy.
And - the boys got their hairs cut. All of them. So they don't look like Casey anymore. The big one is Fritz (as befitting a big german name) and the little one is Alf.

What's knitting? . . . and spinning

First, a gratuitous pic of my cutest sidekick . . . just because I haven't posted enough of her already.










Then, this is the Sahara Sweater pattern by Wendy Bernard of Stitch Diva Studios that I'm making for myself in the Brooks Farm Riata Yarn I bought at SAFF last fall. I love this yarn - it's so soft and so smushy and so lovely - it's wool, mohair and silk so it's bouncy, soft and shiny all at once!

The Toasty Twist socks in Regia Galaxy are more than halfway done. Not sure if I'm going to get to keep them tho, one of those short, strange creatures that I keep running into everywhere I go seems to have taken a shine to them.

And I cast on and am almost halfway thru with the shawl I'm making out of the handspun alpaca. The pattern is a Judy Pascale pattern that I've had for several years and have made before called Eyelet and Garter Shapely Shawlette.

It is very easy and quicker than most shawls because of the simple pattern.

Last, the spinning. I spun another 4 ounces of the chocolate brown alpaca/merino blend from North Star Alpacas. I cannot begin to express how much I love this fiber! It's just so nice and soft and easy to spin and wonderful when spun. And I started spinning the 2 ounces of the white/gray/brown 100% alpaca roving that Maple sent with my last order. I have decided that I love it too, so I ordered more from her. It's a swirl of fiber seconds from three of her alpacas - Pollux, Gunny and Luke. I'm spinning it as fine as I can and then I think I'm going to be brave and navaho ply it.

Presents in the Mail!

Can't show all of the presents because my photographers got distracted by the sunshine! That's what happens when you let them out of the closet they are usually locked up in! And I could only take a side shot of one of the mugs because I think the message on it is secret for my eyes only but the second one says "World Renowned Fiber Fanatic" and I really like that! (Like the other one too!)

There were also Knit Kits for all three knitters (and crocheters) in the house which is a wonderful, fabulous, generous gift. And lots of candy that I think I will let the staff take care of in favor of my waistline!

Thank you very much for the special Easter Presents!!!

I love them and I love you!

Eggs, Hunts & Goodies

This is Easter Morning at the beach. Well, not so much morning as around lunchtime, but you get the idea. First there are the eggs in the yard to be gathered.

Then the stuff in the baskets to be examined. Never forget that the one with the shortest legs also gets new toys! (The duck comes close to an easter theme, dunno about the cow!)

Lots of goodies - some welcomed with more enthusiasm than others . . .

Wanna Play?

A Day at the Beach

Since we go to the beach pretty often, I'm sure that you have been wondering just what, exactly, it is that we do all day every day when we are there. Well, my little buddy Casey decided to help me document how tough a day at the beach can be.

First, you greet the sand. You run on it. You bite it. You dig, dig, dig and then you snuffle and sniffle. Sometimes you can smell crab and when you do, you dig and dig and dig as fast as you can to try to catch that little bugger!


Then, you have to get a tennis ball out and find someone to throw it. They have to throw it over and over and you have to run get it and run as fast as you can to bring it back. Then you throw it back at whoever threw it for you and bark until they throw it again. This is one of the most important things to do on the beach and a lot of time must be devoted to it. Sometimes you have to run thru the water, even if it's a hundred yards out of the way back from getting the ball, just because it's there.

You mustn't forget that the children need help with their castles in the sand.
And Mom needs help looking at all that beach debris for good things - this dead crab smelled really cool. And then she needed help finding this sharks tooth - can you find it?

It's very important to keep an eye on the children when they decide to go swimming. Small dogs don't mind getting wet, but those big waves sometimes scare dogs. That could be because just one wave can toss a small dog quite a ways.

The beach is always best when there is a tide pool and sandbar - the girls like to play in the tide pools and there are no waves, so a little dog can join them. Swimming is fun when there aren't waves trying to drown you!

And you have to maintain a keen lookout for anyone who needs to throw toys - someone MUST want to throw this toy!

Then you head back to the house. Someone always insists on rinsing little dogs off with the hose (COLD water, let me tell you) then wrapping them up in a towel and cuddling them in the backyard until they get dry. Sometimes there are other critters sleeping in the backyard too . . . .

Easter Critters

I made a bunch of Easter critters, Cadbury Bunny, Cadbury Chick and Cadbury Duck.

Mom put a bunny and a duck in the gift basket for her Red Hat Easter gift exchange and the rest are for my sons for Easter.

They were fairly easy to make and quickly done. The pattern called for worsted weight but I had pastels in DK weight so I used that. There was no pattern for the duck, but mom suggested making the chick in white and changing the beak to orange and rearranging it slightly. So when I did that, it made a very nice duckling.

They each have a Cadbury egg inside for stuffing. The first chick and rabbit were on the table and I had put them in my knitting bag when a bunch of little ones were here for me to babysit. The fuzzy white dog got into my knitting bag and ate the Cadbury egg out of the chick. So now I keep them out of the reach of kids and dogs.

Black Cat

Here is a picture of mother's black cat, Ubu. Actually his name is Ubu 2. This is also a picture of Andrew's black cat, Midnight.

Midnight is on the wood brace for the bridge and Ubu is hiding behind the weed. Why he won't pull up the weed and haul it off is anyone's guess.

Now THAT might have been a mistake . . .

I finished spinning the second 4 ounces of the lovely Midnight Corriedale Roving from Northern Lights Fiber. It was so nice to spin that I spun the entire second 4 ounces in one sitting last night. Then I set out to ply it this morning and after a good soaking, it's now hanging to dry. I promise better pics tomorrow. I haven't done anything with the scraps yet.



And the extra 4 ounces of chocolate brown alpaca/merino blend that I bought from North Star Alpacas came today. I had mentioned to her that I was considering buying some brown/white/gray alpaca that she had in her shop and she said she'd tuck a sample in for me to try - well, her sample was a full 2 ounces! She is the nicest lady to deal with ever. And, since the alpaca is so easy to spin, and so lovely to knit with, I have lots of good reasons to buy more. Not the least of which is . . .

The new spinner in my house! She kept watching me and asking questions and finally got up the courage to ask if she could try it. She's been trying it for two days and is getting pretty good. So far, she's just been practicing on the wensleydale - which I bought for practicing/learning on (for me to learn on anyway). She's getting pretty good and she sure likes it a lot! Good thing there are a couple of wheels and a couple of spindles in the house!

Letting her learn to spin on a wheel might have been a mistake . . . good thing I have more than one wheel . . .

Needlefelting and the Farm

I have decided to needlefelt myself a Farm! So far I've got a cow, a milking stool, a chicken, and an egg (the chicken came first!!)




Moooo!!!!


Here's the chicken. Aint it just darn cute?

Here's the chicken that came before the egg.

Look at that lovely Ladybug Mommy made!

Here's the Bluebird of Happiness!

Posted by RSF, not TRH.