I haven't been working much on my sock... part of it due to illness (does it seem like everyone is sick lately??), but part of it due to extreme cabin fever- whenever there is partially nice weather outside, I am trying to squeeze as much sun out as I can. On Saturday weather was sunny... and warm (if you are in the northeast and consider upper 40s as warm), so we took the kids to Camden to go walk along the water. Now Camden during the summer is extreme tourist stop... Camden during the other seasons is really nice, quiet, and relaxing.

On our way down to the water we found a couple of friends:


They brought other friends... who brought other friends. By the time we hit the water front, we were in the company of about 10 duck pairs.

Here is the view looking up the waterfall from the park:


Sebastian and Alana looking for shells:


Walking up the path:


Granted, we have nothing green and alive this time of year (it's the beginning of mud season... joy of all joys), but it was really nice down by the water and the kids had a great time finding shells and talking to the ducks. Once we left Camden we drove to Moody's diner for lunch. I didn't bring my camera in to the diner, but let me just gush for a moment about the piece of pie I had for desert... 4-berry pie- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries served warm with real homemade whipped cream. Yum! While we were waiting for our food Seth and I were reading the placemats and came across an ad for Village Farm Alpacas. It was right up the street and open, so I stopped in to the farm store and came out with this:





The guy that owns it with his wife was super nice, and the store is really cute. Both the roving and the yarn come from their alpacas, and they had all kinds of different colors. I was tempted to buy yarn in every color. Seth just kept touching the roving because it is so soft... I think he is going to be disappointed when I spin it!


Back before SPA I joined the NETA yahoo group and have kept up with it since. They do contests every so often just for fun, and the winner gets to pick a prize that's been donated to the "Treasure Chest." A couple of weeks ago, they had a contest requesting captions for the photo they had on the front homepage. I entered and was randomly selected as the winner! I admit that I had a hard time choosing my prize because there were a couple of things that really caught my eye. The prize I didn't end up taking that I was thinking about was a yarn cake of Zephyr wool- silk laceweight. That stuff is just so pretty. But this is what I decided on instead:





This yarn is beautiful. I'm thinking of making a small version of the Kiri shawl if I can get the yarn to stretch enough... I figure I have 975yrds, so I should be able to squeak out something close. Until then, I'll just keep petting it when I walk by it.

My last post was on St. Patrick's Day, and it is probably good that I didn't post again that evening... not because I was drunk (I wasn't, although I did have a Guinness bright and early at 10am), but because I probably would have come in and bitched about the weather. We got a fresh new coat of snow (12" worth), and the guy that nicely plows the front of our driveway left a huge snowbank in front of our front walkway. That wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't started to sleet and then eventually rain on top of the snow. We had a swell coat of thick ice over everything which made me kind of cranky... and the city still hasn't gone up our street with the sidewalk groomer machine to get rid of my snowbank. I was ready to put a sign on it last night saying:

SPRING SALES EVENT!
FREE Snowbank!
You Haul!

It's supposed to be in the upper 40s by the weekend... now if only Dunkin Donuts would give out free iced coffee all week long!

Being stuck inside did give me an opportunity to work on my socks and I finished one and cast on for the second (not going to give enough time for second sock syndrome to set in!).





They are basic toe-up socks... plain ol' stockinette, with a short row heel and one inch of 2x2 ribbing at the top of the cuff. But I like them and they fit like a dream. I was happy with how nice the short row heel fits, too.

The best fiber news, though, was this sweet box that came in the mail yesterday:


Oh my stars, yes... it is a box of Amy Boogie yarn. A joygasm in a box!

First, we have some chunky big ball sweater yarn in Purple Haze for her zip up sweater:


It didn't come out as purple as the color really is... there are more light purple streaks in it than the pictures show.

Second, some more chunky big ball sweater yarn in Pink Elephant for a second zip up sweater (I couldn't decide between the two, so I'll just make two sweaters. Makes perfect sense to me!):


I love the way that the greys and the pinks swirl together.

Third, some worsted big ball sweater yarn in Moonlit Kiss. I have no idea what I am going to use it for, but it was just too pretty to pass up!



And last, some worsted big ball sweater yarn in Rocky Mountain High. This is also one I don't have a definite project for, but I had to get this yarn for two reasons- first because it is freaking gorgeous, but second because I will proudly admit to being a huge John Denver fan. Yeah, yeah, laugh if you will. But I saw the name, the song started running through my head, and I had to have it. I'm considering buying some more of this to make my mom (who started me down the path of John Denver fandom) a hat and mittens.



There was another ball of yarn in the box, but since it is a birthday present for my best friend Cass who has never experienced the joy that is Amy Boogie yarn, I wanted to keep that one a secret in case she peeks in here. I was so ready to put all of the yarn down on the floor and roll around in it with a goofy grin on my face but was afraid that my husband would be ready to have me committed. And we all know that they probably won't allow knitting needles in a mental institution.

I hope you all have a wonderful day full of knitting, sunshine and good beer. Here it is kind of rainy and we have a new 12" of snow on the ground, but I still have knitting and Guinness to look forward to!

Slainte!

I finished my Amy Boogie yarn skull cap over the weekend... hooray for rather mindless knitting that I can do while I am drinking a beer and watching Most Haunted on the travel channel!


It's basically the SnB Hothead hat, although I didn't plan for it to be- I just wanted a k2, p2 hat to go with my k2, p2 handwarmers and realized that once I was done, I had made a Hothead. Mine is probably longer, though.

Here is the whole shebang:

I want to do a neck roll thing eventually, but haven't decided exactly what I want to do yet.

Right after SPA, one of the NETA members in the area, Linda, offered to help me learn how to do toe up socks. I am fine with short rows and the wrapping on the knit side... but the wrapping on the purl side just didn't click in my brain. We met this past Thursday evening and had a great time... we're going to make it a bi-weekly event. Here is my sock so far:


I'm knitting it with the sock yarn that I kool-aid dyed ages ago. I have had a small obsession as of late with orange and green sock yarns... I don't generally wear those colors, but for some reason I cannot get enough sock yarn with it. I think it's my sign of the coming spring!

I just wanted to take a moment away from knitting to bring you the best knitblog post of the morning... (although if you don't like sexual undertones, you should probably not click)

click here

Thank you Dave... you've totally made my day!

Some days are just destined for knitting... last Friday during the snow storm was one of them. I had been staring at my Amy Boogie chunky sweater big ball yarn that I bought at SPA but hadn't decided what to use it for- when I went to put on my handwarmers I realized how badly I needed to knit a new pair. I cast on Friday, worked on them on and off all day and finished them Saturday. They are getting a few pills, but that is totally due to the fact that I've been wearing them non-stop since I finished them and they keep getting caught in the velcro on my snowboard jacket sleeves.



I'm in the process of making a simple ribbed skullcap to go with them... and think that I might have enough yarn to pop out a neckwarmer, too. I love this yarn... it is super warm and super soft, and I am waiting for some to be delivered so I can make a sweater. And as always with Amy Boogie yarn, the colors are super cool!

I also received this in the mail the other day:


It's Nightlights yarn from Ray at Knitivity. Let me just stop and say how completely awesome Ray was to work with... super nice and accommodating. I look forward to ordering from Knitivity again!
The yarn itself is going to be used for a very specific project, but until I finish it it will remain secret. And if you've never seen the yarn before, this is that neat glow-in-the-dark yarn... and it really does glow. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't cooperate at getting a picture.

In the spinning realm... I posted pictures a couple of entries back of my practice yarn after plying it. It's all balled up and ready for inspiration to strike. On Friday (when I wasn't knitting the handwarmers or outside sledding) I decided to try spinning some of the Amy Boogie roving I got at SPA. (Have I mentioned how much I love Amy Boogie stuff? No?) This time I decided against plying it because I just love how the yarn looks right now as a single:




I'm not sure what I am going to make with it... I had thought a new hat, but not sure that it will look quite right. The other idea would be to do something similar to Maryse's white and rainbow happy scarf if she doesn't mind me yanking her design. I'm open to suggestions, though!

It's blasted cold outside... and unfortunately, this old house doesn't keep out all the temperature. I'd like to wrap myself in big sheets of wool!

WHY does it cost so much to have a 47" Addi Turbo needle shipped to me? Seriously, I just cannot justify spending $5.00 for shipping just because the LYS doesn't carry that length. *growls*