One Crazy Fiber Lady

And so starts another year.  We spent a quiet night at home with sparkling cider and appetizers while watching various tv shows. I actually made it to midnight, which isn’t the guarantee that it used to be.

Yesterday was a mix of old and new. We spent the morning alternating between marathons of The Honeymooners and The Odd Couple.  I took the twins to the 1pm showing of Star Wars. We liked it. Might not have been overly original but it was good. It was worlds better than any of the three prequels. It was like visiting with old friends. Looking forward to seeing episode 8 to confirm my suspicions.

My current knitting projects are finally reduced to two active ones. I have a pair of socks that I work on while out and about. Used to be the train knitting but now that I hitch a ride to and from work, they are now car knitting as long as it is light enough to see :). The home project is Minetta in yummy MadTosh.

I’ve got two more repeats of the decrease section left. While the cables don’t exactly pop I don’t think that they are completely lost in the colors.

I’ve also been spinning.

This pretty stuff is on the Pegasus. I’ve forgotten how very fast that wheel is.

This is using the largest whorl. Just looked up the ratios, 12:1, 18:1, 24:1. Guess I won’t be getting a worsted weight yarn off this thing with less than a billionty plies 🙂

I’m going to sit with my coffee and the Soap marathon on IFC and work on Minetta while I wait for the rest of the family to awaken. My 6:45 AM weekday departure time means that I get up early over the weekends too. I call it my me time.

Happy New Year

Craft on!

With the ankle being what it is, I’ve had more sitting around time than I’m normally used to.  It is getting better and I managed to commute into the office this morning without too much of a problem.  I am sore though and halfway from the ferry thought it had been a bad idea to even try it.  Sitting down now, it is much happier.  It will be even better when the ibuprofen, which I meant to take before I left the house but didn’t, kicks in. 

Anyway!  I finally finished that pair of socks.  It is safe to say, that was my last pair of two-at-a-time-afterthought-heel socks.  I didn’t like the afterthought business, nor was I very happy with the two at a time.  Might be why it took me so darned long to finish them. 

The yarn, as it almost always is, is from itw.  The Rav project details are here.

Along the finishing line, I also *finally* wove in the ends on the last pair of socks.  These go back a long ways.  Didn’t realize they were sitting around waiting for that. 

These babies are for Miss Kat.  And yes, as soon as I was done with my socks, I took care of hers. This meant that it was time for new socks!

I haven’t knit with my own handspun in a while, it was time.  I recently posted this yarn as I spun it.. The fiber was spun and plied on my Hansen.  I did it a true 3-ply.

For the curious, this is the fiber info:

All wound up and sock started:

Why yes, one at a time 🙂  Here it is this morning on the train:

Love it!  As of getting off the ferry this morning, I am ready to start the heel.  Which I didn’t do this evening.  Tomorrow is another day.

I also finished up another project that has been hanging about.  The knitting has been done a while, I wove in the ends. All that remains is a good soak.  Qualifies as finished in my book 🙂

This was my second Emergency Landing, and probably not my last. It’s a nifty little sweater and I’m quite pleased with how it came out.

Not to be done there, I also plied more yarn.  This final batch is 4oz braid of ITW in Inara, Polwarth/Mulberry silk.  I spun it on the Pegasus and n-plied on the Hansen.  It shall become socks.  Maybe.

And on that note, I’m tired and sore.  Going to enjoy watching pre-season baseball and call it an early night.

Sometimes there are serious challenges to being able to complete a project. You can run out of yarn. You can run out of time. You might not have the right needles. I have a new reason to not finishing the current project. Serendipity.

She sees me knitting something sweater sized and immediately nestles in my lap underneath it.
Now this cat never sits in my lap, unless I’m knitting.

– Craft on!

Way back in the olden days, I used to post very regularly.  When I can stay on top of things, it is easier to stay up to date, the backlog/deficit doesn’t continue to grow and discourage me from posting.  So, now that I caught up, mostly, yesterday, I’m going to give regular posting a try again.  If anything it will serve as a distraction from work 😉

So yes, I have more cruise pictures.  This trip it was just the monkeys and me.  No grandparents along, just me spending more time with my kids than I have in a very long time.  It was pretty awesome (with some minor wrinkles).  We did things on the ship that we’ve not done in the past.  Yes, it was the same ship (Explorer of the Seas) that we’ve been taking year in and year out.  Its just to easy to drive the short distance to Bayonne, NJ and get on whatever ship is docked there.  In the past, and until November, it is the Explorer. Sooo…. we went ICE SKATING!  At sea.  Yes.  I haven’t been ice skating in over a decade and I know for sure, the rink wasn’t rocking gently either.  Woo boy.  The kids enjoyed it though 🙂

And yes, I really was on board.  Tough getting into the picture when you’re the one holding the camera most of the time.

We had a super awesome bonus of beautiful weather our last day at sea.  A day that is usually cold and has us hiding inside and mopey cause we’re going home, was warm with a wind directly behind us. That allowed us to go somewhere we’ve never been while underway – this is the edge of the helipad right up at the bow.   Notice how tall boy is getting.

Anyway….I think i finally have the perfect portable wheel.  I brought the Wee Robin with us in a 24″ hard sided suitcase.  I bought the wheel right before the trip and it arrived oh so timely.  I spun almost 8oz of fiber over the course of the cruise and had no issues with this wheel at all.  So much so that when we got back I sold the Cooper Sabrina.  She was a pretty little wheel, but I preferred the quicker setup/breakdown and the two treadles of the Wee.

The wheel lived on the coffee table tucked next to the TV at the end of the bed when she wasn’t in use.

And finally, I have yet another sweater on the needles.  This is my handspun yarn, that was done on the full sized Golding.  Fiber is Into the Whirled.  Natch.  I’m past the armpits and cruising along on the body.

Craft on!

I must confess, I added yet another spinning wheel to the fold.  I’m still sort of on the quest for the perfect spinning wheel for serious travel when I won’t be a short walk to the car to get whatever I don’t feel like schlepping right then.  I have some grand ideas of taking a wheel onto a cruise ship and spinning.  A girl can dream. 

Anyway I’ve gone through a number of small wheels that fold/break down but don’t pass muster for one reason or another.  The Sidekick went because assembly was just too many steps.  Some others (Victoria) didn’t keep the position because while they went together quick, they just weren’t enjoyable to spin on. I *might* have the solution this time.   I spotted this wheel for sale on Ravelry – the usual source—and decided to take a chance.  I had an exchange with the craftsman who fashioned it wherein he described the breakdown/setup process.  I couldn’t get any idea of real size of the thing but the images I could find online gave me an idea that it was small.   I wasn’t prepared for how small.  This is what came out of the box two nights ago (iPhone included for scale):

Fully assembled and sitting next to the Matchless:

How cute is she??  She’s also got the niftiest of flyer designs:

And yes. She can spin.  This 4oz ball of fiber looks huge:

She’s a Carson Cooper Sabrina wheel in a mixture of woods, primarily cherry with a 12" metal drive wheel and metal flyer.  I thinks I love her

Oh yes, I still knit.  I started a test knit project.  Not sure how much I can divulge, but I feel this picture is safe:

It’s a pullover in Cascade 220 Fingering, held double throughout.  What you see is the folded hem with the dark on the inside. 

Craft on!

Because I haven’t started something new in a while, it was time to cast on a new project. I had this yarn for a while, as well as pattern, so it was time to work on this cute little tee shirt pattern that I bought on Amazon:  Miley Tee. Seeing as it is a summer sweater there was no better time than now.

Casted on the Lavold Hempathy on US4 needless. So far so good.

Craft on!

I finally have my first real finished knitted item.  I finished my first sweater of 2013!

The pattern is Caramel, which I found on Ravelry.  The yarn is Wyndham Worsted from Into the Whirled, the solid was Stark and the multi is Queen of France.  I opted for a shorter sleeve as I push the darned things up anyway.  I also carried the unused yarn on the inside between stripes so I had minimal ends to bury.   We know how much I love finishing work!  This will get a nice blocking over the weekend and hopefully a beauty shot.  Now to maybe finish off that sock.

On the exercise front, I took a break from running this morning.  Last night I dug my bike out from where dad had hidden it in the garage.  After tightening the handlebars and filling the tires with air, I was ready to add riding to the morning exercise regime.  So this morning at 6:15 I headed out for my first real ride (not counting pedaling through the park 2 years ago with the little ones who were new to 2 wheelers and no training wheels).

Not great, but not too shabby.  I’m restarting the C25k but outside tomorrow and will alternate that with bike rides.    This getting healthy and active thing is addictive!

Craft on!

It shouldn’t come as news, particularly to those who know me well, that I’m usually in motion!  These days, I’m up early and go go go.  This morning was no different.  I was up and on the treadmill early.  I did my first 5k!

The early slow bits was my warm up walk.  In the future, I’ll do the warm up walk, then start up my Nike+ SportWatch to track the running.  I’m quite pleased with my performance this morning!  Not too shabby for someone who couldn’t run a block to catch a train or who got shin splints if walking “too fast”. 

Color me surprised too! 

Since I had so much activity this morning, I decided the afternoon was for knitting.  I finished knitting the body of Caramel. 

I tried it on and decided that I’m not going to do long sleeves on this, but just above the elbows. I might soon have my second finished object of 2013!

Craft on!

I mentioned the new running thing.   Since I’ve been running inside on the treadmill for the winter, I figured it was time to move outside.  We won’t mention that I bought myself a Nike+ SportWatch with GPS and needed to be out side to calibrate the shoe pod correctly.  I tested it initially on the treadmill and the readings were so far off that outside was the only fix.  So000 Thursday at lunchtime, I hit the mall near the office.  Nice new Adidas store with helpful nice employees.  First they showed me a new sneaker.  I know I just bought some Asics on Zappos, but they put me in a pair of Boost that had my feet singing.  I sent the Asics back to Zappos this morning.  Another plus is that the Boost has that foot pod compartment in the sole so I don’t have to worry about attaching it to the laces somehow.  After the sneaks, I bought some outdoor clothes, maybe not the choicest ones, but they’ll get use. 

Anyway, Friday afternoon I took the act outside.  It was cold, overcast sort of day.  I had bundled up, compression capris, long pants, t-shirt, pullover, jacket.  I sadly forgot a hat and gloves.  I did my warm up walk and then got to business.  I needed a half mile to get the watch GPS/foot pod thing sorted out.  I was hoping to go farther, but it wasn’t to be.  Evidently I ran faster outside than I normally do on the treadmill.  My C25K training had been at 4mph for the run (jog) but out on the street, my watch paced me at 6mph.  Which is what I’m aiming for for the triathlon!  Go me.  I fizzled out at .52 miles though as my lungs were burning and my hands/ears were freezing.  All in all, an excellent first effort.

Saturday, I hit up a few more stores and picked up better winter wear.  Timely shopping as the stores are packing away or putting on clearance the winter gear since the calendar is reading almost spring.  We’ll ignore that the forecast has snow this afternoon.  Sigh.  With stops at Sports Authority, Lady Foot Locker and Old Navy, I’ve enough gear for the remainder of the winter and into spring.  I went back outside in some new Nike Dri Fit stuff, a lands end hat and running gloves.  I decided that instead of a straight out run, I’d do outside 5K training with the routine from RunMeter.  It was pretty awesome. 

I had the biggest surprise Saturday morning when I woke up with a headache.  My first thought was to wonder if a run would get rid of the headache.  I was totally amazed.  I guess that means I’m a runner now!  How fast was that transition?!  Anyway, I’m not thrilled with the Lands End hat and since I’d read somewhere that a wool hat was best, I figured I could do something about that.  The knitter would take care of the runner!  I dipped into the stash after surfing through the patterns in my Ravelry library and got busy knitting up my first Turn a Square.

I know the solid pink is some Cascade 220.  Not sure about the multi stuff.  I could be that or maybe some Lornas.  I started this Saturday night and finished it last night.  Next outside run will be the tester, though with the weather early this week, it probably won’t be for a few days.  I don’t know how I’ve avoided knitting this hat before.  Its a nifty little pattern!  I’ll have to make more of them 🙂

This hat is also my first completed knit object for this year.  I can’t remember the last time that it took until mid—March to finish something!  Oy.  Someday this pair of socks will be done.

I took the above while my computer rebooted this morning at the office.  Stupid thing wasn’t ready to come back from the weekend.  I wasn’t so much either, but since I didn’t have a choice, neither did it!  I can’t imagine why the cuff is striping differently than the foot unless my gauge is different (not usual) or my stitch count changed after the short row heel (probably).  Curious.  I just counted.  Its the gauge that changed.  Very weird.  Though, I did knit the bulk of the foot while in warmer climates on a cruise ship and not while waiting for computer things to happen!

Craft on!

or rather the new normal…

Coming back from vacation is usually a challenge.  Honestly I can’t believe that it is over and that the next cruise is going to be July 2014.  My parents will be celebrating their 50th anniversary and taking all us kids and grandkids on a cruise!   We booked it while aboard the ship this time, much like this year’s cruise was booked aboard last year.  It is a wonderful vacation and other than one day when the sea was a bit rough due to a cold front, I managed fine with no nausea and a set of pressure point bracelets.  No patch for me this year, I didn’t enjoy the withdrawal symptoms last year.  They were awful!

Anyway…while I no longer have the train commute to knit, I also no longer have 2+ hours of commuting either.  My round trip is under an hour.  I know.  Still makes me giddy.  I have an additional hour at home now!  Last night I used that hour in a very familiar way:

Yes, that’s a Kindle Paperwhite under that there sock in progress.  I have to say that while I wasn’t overly impressed with the Kindle Touch, I do very much like the Paperwhite.  I don’t have any of the issues with it that I did with either the Touch or the dopey Nook version.

The sock is more Into the Whirled monthly yarn club yarn, this time in Sterrennacht, the Jan 2013 color.   I might not be cranking them out as quickly as I used to.   This sock has been around as I had it on the ship too, and it goes back and forth to work should I get stuck in a traffic jam or something.  Most of my knitting time recently has been on this:

The project is Caramel, and the yarn is also Into the Whirled, but her worsted weight stuff.  Colors are Stark (grey) and Queen of France (multi).  Love love love this.

In other news that hasn’t been posted here, in January, I bought a treadmill

and started the Couch-to-5k.  I even ran on the ship while we were on vacation.  I have to say, it was beautiful early one morning, running on the treadmill, while the ship pulled in an moored in Dominican Republic off Samana.  I graduated from the program this week and am now doing interval training to pick up my speed and endurance.  I’ve lost 7lbs and 2” and am watching what I eat.  I’m signed up to do a triathlon sprint distance with my sister in July where I’ll run the 5k.

Since I started running, I’ve been sleeping better and overall feeling better.  Even my craptastic ankles are doing better!  Whodathunk that!  I’m even getting up earlier than normal and hitting the treadmill before work!  I’m honestly gobsmacked.  I hated with a capital H running prior to starting this.

So that should bring us closer to being up to date.  I’ve got to get back to coding stuff.  More shortly. 

Craft on!