It's a long one....ignore the typos I'm tired

**I am so tired of messing with the stupids pictures. They are just going to have to stay the way they are. I miss being able to use Hello to load my pictures. Stupid Blogger. If you click on the picks it takes you to my flickr page. You can click on "All Sizes", which is above the picture, and you can see the larger sizes then for more detail. If you want to of course.**


I tried. I really tried. To blog more often that is. The kids are home on summer break, a new kitten who wants Mommy's attention all the time, and a husband who ripped a muscle in his lower back and is pretty much useless because of it, hehe. Oh yeah...and a dentist visit five years in the making. Just so you know, if you eat a lot of sugar, you are going to get cavities no matter how much you brush. Not only do I need a crown for an old root canal, I also have stage 1 gum disease and need a debrinement? or something like that (a special cleaning). But the worst part...8 cavities, all of my back molars!!! I was so embarrassed. I'm using it as an example for my kids though and they seem to brushing more often since then. I have so much work to be done that I actually have 5 appointments set up starting in Aug. and going through Nov. I'm not going to even mention how much it's going to cost me. Wish I could find a dentist who would take me as a charity case. I'm hoping to have the money by August 2, otherwise I'll have to reschedule everything. (there's a 3 month wait too, so that pushes me back the end of November and some of these cavities are real bad and before long I'm going to loose a few teeth) This sucks. Period. I need to find out if I can take a xanax before dental work, I am going to need it.

But enough about that...That's not what you come here for.

Up until last week, I have done minimal knitting. I just couldn't find the motivation. But now I need it...I still have sockapalooza 4 socks and some test knitting socks that need to get done asap. I signed up to do the Mystery Stole 3 kal, and wouldn't you know it, I sat down the first day we got the first clue and started knitting. I finished it Sunday night. And since then, I've had the urge to knit. Finally!

I decided to start my sockapalooza 4 socks first. I have an awesome skein of yarn from DoodleBird Creations that I need to knit up for an example, and I really want to get started on them. Unfortunately, my sock pal has to come first thanks to the deadline. (If you're reading this Beth, I promise to start on them as soon as I finish the sock pal socks!) So here's my sock pal socks. I'm using Dream in color smooshy sock yarn, color is some summer sky. And the pattern is Cookie A. Twisted Flower. I LOVE this yarn! It's so squishy when I knit with it, and the colors are just amazing. My only minor complaint is the tangled skein that took for ever to fix. Do you like my skull needle holders? I found them on Etsy and they are great.



After those two pairs of socks are done I will be making these:


It's a brand new, exclusive Cookie A. pattern called Marilinda. It was part of the June installment for Scout's Swag. I almost didn't make it into this round but when someone didn't pay, my name was next to come up. SO freakin happy about that! These socks are going to kick ass. The yarn is really hard to take a picture of without it looking like crap. If you look closely at the pattern picture, that's the yarn that came with it. And Cookie even designed the colorway too. Sweet!



Up next is something you wouldn't expect of me. Last year I got spindle kit from my secret pal. i tried it and hated it. I just couldn't get the fiber to draft. After that, I didn't think I would ever think of spinning again. "I don't want to make it. I just want to knit it." Of course, things have changed. In my not wanting to knit slump I needed something to do. So I pulled out my spindle but it was still crap. So I ordered a 2.2 oz schacht hi-lo spindle (bottom), along with two how to spin books and tried it again. It was a little better this time, but still rough. I decided to order a lighter spindle, so I bought this 1.5 oz Grafton fiber spindle (top). But still I couldn't quite get it right.


I stewed on it for awhile. I figured the only way I was going to get it is if I have someone show me in person. I called up the ever sweet Kathy, from Holly Spring Homespun and made an appointment for some lessons. Kathy was awesome, as usual, and after a short time, I finally got it. She gave me some white, local grown merino and I was on my way. Here's what it looked like a week later, plied washed and skeined. One is navajo plied, the other is regular ol' two ply. Not too shabby I guess.



One problem I am still having...I can't make thicker yarn. I suppose that's a good thing since I mostly want to spin sock yarn. But it's still frustrating. Anyhow....While I was there Kathy and I got to talking. We get along so well because the two of us can just keep going and going. I thought I would be there maybe two hours, and ended up being there for four hours! We just kept talking about everything you could imagine. It was really nice being able to talk to another woman, knitter, spinner in person. My husband thinks I have lost my mind because this is something else I came home with that day.... (yes, I just realized that is a backwards picture. I'm too lazy to redo it so imagine it's turned around the other way)




The story goes something like this: I asked Kathy if she would mind showing me a little wheel spinning, just to see what it's like. (I have never even looked at a wheel up close before, let alone watch someone spin) She got out her shop wheel, an old Ashford Traditional in gorgeous condition. I was glad to see that, and told Kathy that's the exact wheel I have been pricing. For future reference mind you. I didn't expect her to tell me she would sell it to me for $200. Um, hello?! How could I pass that up. First I had to try it out, and I loved it! Just loved it! So I did what any sensible crazy knitter would do...I bought it. Clearly, I have lost my mind. But who could pass up that deal? It's single treadle (which turns out is a little bothersome because of my bum right knee) single drive. I did order a new flyer for the extra speeds and a turbo belt which makes treadling a little easier for me. And maybe a few more bobbins (it came with three and I bought three more). My fiber stash has grown immensely, to the point it is rivaling my yarn stash. That's bad! I haven't had a chance to spin anything yet, and now with those socks, it might be awhile before I really get to play with it.
Here are some singles I spun the day I brought it home, just to try it out. What do you think? Good, bad?


Before I start spinning up everything, I want to spin this green corriedale on the three different speeds. I figure that will help me get a better feel for each, and help me decide which speed to use for what.

Oh yeah, just in case you haven't seen the 4,000 pictures already out there of this, here's my MS3 shawl at the end of clue one.


I'm using Zephyr Vanilla and clear rainbowy beads. (The same colors that the designer used. Yes I'm boring.) Surprisingly I zipped right through this and axiously await the next clue. I love how it looks so far.


I'll leave you with some Stanley pictures. This little guy is such a joy! And a momma's boy. He follows me every where. Cries if I'm behind a closed door. Sits on my lap when I go potty. He *still* sucks on my shirt. It drives me crazy because he soaks me shirt and makes this loud annoying slurping sound. But it's soo cute! If I am at my desk, he has to sleep in my lap. All day and night, every time. You can see that in the top two pictures. He curls up in wee balls and sometimes stretches out to tomorrow. The top left one, yes that "pillow" is my boob. They're soft and squishy, what can I say :) He's getting SO big! The bottom two pictures are my favorites. On the right, Leo and Stanley are sleeping together. If you look closely, you can see Leo's tail works quite good as a pillow. And the picture with me....that's me knitting my MS3 while the peanut naps on my lap. He doesn't mind my knitting, sleeps right through it. And no, he doesn't even bother with the yarn. It's shocking considering he bothers everything else in the entire house. But I won't complain.



Phew! I think I covered everything for now! I'm hoping that since I am knitting again, I'll be posting more. It helps to have progress photos and stories, you know? Also....I'm on ravelry so if you're over there add me. My name is ibmomof2 (big surprise) I actually got into Ravelry when it was only around 100 people, I just haven't had the time to add much to it. I'm working on it though.