One Crazy Fiber Lady

Apologies.  Sorry, no better picture of Soleil’s yarn is possible.  The damn stuff just doesn’t want to photograph well.  Maybe its the camera as it does have issues with extreme closeups.  I must find out what Cate is using for her wool porn as mine just isn’t cutting it.   Maybe its the color.  White is tough to photograph, especially at night as the flash just kills it and no flash leaves it pretty yellow.  Sorry, cruddy lighting in my house.  I could probably use an Ott light like Cassie, but that isn’t high on the list (yeah, rather have a new camera.  I’d love one like Nancy’s but that’s really not in the budget for a while, especially if I keep buying yarn

Anyway, no good new pictures.  Without giving away the ship, I can tell you that while it isn’t cotton, it is a natural fiber.  No, I’m not crazy enough of a fiber lady to be making a summer tank out of angora so don’t go digging in my archives back to a posted photo of white angora/silk I got at Rhinebeck.  I did notice that the yarn I am using wasn’t entirely well documented and the post never classified as SEX.  That must have been during a period when I was sorta trying to stay on a yarn diet and not succeeding very well.  It hasn’t sat in stash for too terribly long and no, I didn’t spin it.

Here’s a crappy picture of the yarn, along with an equally crappy picture of the stitch markers.  I quit.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  It was hot and humid here all weekend, temps well into the 90′s both days.  The monkeys and I spent a goodly amount of time here:

While not a picture I took (as I couldn’t remember to put my camera in the bag either day) it does give you a vague impression of the pool.  My googling skills are being challenged today as I can’t seem to find any specifications on this pool.  It is a rather large, sand bottom pool located near one of the town’s middle schools and borders on the Passaic River.  The baby area is a small slice that is fenced in and came to just about my knees at the very deepest part of it.  It was a perfect depth for the twins.  I could even sit with the level below my shoulders and one of the monkeys could sit in my lap.  I brought sand toys and they alternated between sitting on the curb of the pool and playing in the sand and wading around in the water.  We all got some good fresh air, plenty of sunshine and a little bit of color.  It was a beautiful weekend. 

Best part of the weekend?  MOTHER’S HELPER!  What a fabulous concept that is.  J is a great girl.  She just graduated 8th grade last week and has spent the last year or so working at their daycare center after school so the twins know her pretty well.  J’s mom is their 8-3 teacher at the center and has been since they started at 12 weeks of age.  They live pretty much around the corner from me and mom will drop off J when I ask.  I’m having J babysit on Friday (the daycare center is closed this week for vacation) to cover a half day for me rather than take a full vacation day.  Which reminds me, I need to check if my sister is going to be around so that I can leave her number as an emergency.  Having J with me at the pool was just invaluable.  Kat got a bit upset yesterday and being able to sit with her on the blanket in the shade while J was in the pool with Alex was just priceless.  Love the idea. 

Now for the knitting content.  First up?  BIRCH.  I was into the second repeat of the pattern and while I could read the lace, I just couldn’t see it.  I know with lace there is that leap of faith thing where it looks like nothing more than a glob of yarn.  I’ve just seen so many pictures of Birch in progress on other blogs that actually looked like something that I was sure that I was doing something wrong.  I had been using the 7US Addi turbos and really knitting loosely.  A necessity when knitting lace with those things as the tips just suck for lace.  As a result, the lace was very very loose.  I pulled out my Lantern Moon US6 straights that I bought at the yarn store closing last month and tried those.  The tips were far pointier and now two rows short of a pattern repeat it is really starting to look like I would expect it to.  Only problem is, straights stink for commuting knitting.  I just ordered a set of Addi Naturas online and hope to have them SOON.  I’m sure I can suffer through the straights until the circs arrive. 

Speaking of ordering, thanks to Denise and her link to the Kid Seta, I have some of that on order.  I ordered enough to knit another Birch.  The Kid Seta looks like it would be a good alternative to the Kidsilk Haze.  I ordered a very unusual color for me.  See, I’m embracing my Autumn Colors palette.  Green was never a color I’d select, but with the hazel eyes and the red highlights to my hair, this should be good.  Right?  Regardless, it should make a pretty Birch in a good leafy color. 

Fessing up to one last yarn purchase before a new era of austerity (and using up something in stash) is Shine from Knitpicks, in Apricot.  I’m going to use this for the Eyelet Cardi.  I realized this morning that I need a nice light cardi in a non-dark color and this just fits the bill.  I love that color and when it arrives, this moves to the top of the queue.  I ordered a little extra as I plan on full length sleeves.  I’m not a huge fan of the 3/4 length jobbies. 

Well my last new project doesn’t seem to have confused many of you as to what the pattern is.  Just about everyone guessed Soleil.  Katy was the first so she’s the winner of the angora fuzz.  We don’t have a winner for the yarn yet as it isn’t All Seasons Cotton.  I’ll leave the yarn piece of this "contest" open until Noon on Wednesday when I’ll announce what it is.  I did make a collection of stitch markers just in case someone does get it.   I also made myself a row counter bead bracelet.  Not one of the nicest beaded things I’ve ever seen, but should be handy for the shaping instructions I skimmed in Soleil.  I did finish the lace piece of Soleil on the train home Friday night and she’s sat untouched since then.  I was distracted by both Birch and my secret project, which I would rather finish sooner rather than later. 

One last piece of knitting business is that goofy sock, the PGR Dream Sock in Retro Red Kroy.  I’m halfway through the foot of the first sock.  Still.  I just can’t seem to get up the energy to work on it.  Its a perfectly functional sock.  I tried it on this morning on the train (got a odd look from my seatmate) and it fits fine.  I’m just not moved by it.  I’m further concerned that if I’m this less than enthusiastic about the first of the pair, how sad will the second be, not to mention how darn long is it going to take me to make that one!  I could rip it, but then that would be the second ripping of this damn sock.  I do like the Cable & Rib socks in the new IK, but don’t have the pattern with me.  I didn’t take my big bag with me this morning as I had a nasty headache and went with the lightest load possible.  I had Birch (on the straight needles) and the sock.  When I got stuck on the inside of a 3 seater on the train and straight needles became untenable, I unhappily switched to The Sock.  I tried to read my ebook on the Path train rather than continue on The Sock but found that Alexander futzed up my Palm Pilot when he got into my bag yesterday.  It wouldn’t turn on and I had to reset it just now.  I’m going to rip the sock.  I just hope the now splitty Kroy holds out for one more go ’round.  I think I’m just going to do my standard, vanilla plain sock with the good old heel flap and be done with it already.. unless of course I can find a pattern hiding on my desktop.

Craft on!