New PodCast

No -- it isn't by me. (I can barely keep up with this blog, you think I'm going to take on a podcast??? Please, I'm still being thwarted by the KNITTING TABLE OF DOOOOOMMMMMMMM )

etsy Friday - YarnCon Edition

Last Saturday, thanks to the amazing Sherpa skills of Blooangl, I was able to attend YarnCon.  (I'm such a total suburbanite, that my travels to downtown Chicago usually consist of a train and then "Taxi!")

I purchased a few items and interestingly from vendors who are also on etsy.  All except one --

Pattern Tamers

These are neat ribbon covered magnets that are used to keep your place in your pattern, your book open, despite the efforts of small children and animals to knock your ruler off the page, rip off your post-it note and dragging the pattern onto the floor.    I've used the largest one to keep track of the my working row on the mystery shawl.  I've been very impressed that it hasn't moved.  I wish there was an easy way to move up or down a row, but that could be part of my lack of co-ordination and would probably render the pattern tamer as useless as post-its.  I also like the weight of them as they keep the paper from floating away.  I wish she had a web site or etsy shop, but only an email account.  If you're interested, leave me a comment or email me at errs at yahoo dot com. 

I got to meet Shannon Okey of knitGrrl fame...as well as purchase some of her lovely hand-dyed lace yarn: 

You can get some too at StitchCleveland, her wonderful etsy shop.

At My Small Wonders, I  found some sock yarn in lovely "water" colors.  I was thrilled to find that the designer & I were thinking the same way:

Lagoon

Sunlit Waves

I think they are going to be either a Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (Ravelry link) or a Jaywalker Scarf (Ravelry link).

The best part was getting to meet Jen of Piddleloop! (Hey look, I'm famous!)  I think she got the bulk of my money as I picked up another project bag set,

and a small notions pouch, since my iPod lives in the other one I had..

and a larger pouch for all the stuff I seem to need no matter what I'm knitting...

I looked by the only skull designs I could find where with the scissors, not the knitting needles, and you've got to love the cool green/blue color...

But then Jen surprised me -- there was 1 more skull knitting project bag!!! Hurray!!!

Did I mention that they match my Pattern Tamers?

 

Blogging without Obligation

I hate to say it, but I'm totally overwhelmed.  I've got so much going on with the dogs, organizations and relationships because of the dogs, all the projects on my needles, projects at work, and stuff to do on the house.  Not to mention wanting to keep up with this blog. 

Since I don't want this to turn into a words only post, I looked around to find a graphical representation of chaos that is my life.  I present to you, dear readers, THE KNITTING TABLE OF DOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

 

Underneath all of the stuff is my dining room table.  You can see my briefcase, magazines I want to read, the lining of my jacket, my blocking board, some recent stash enhancements.  A Piddleloop bag with a knitting project, the towels I use for blotting, and the drink I couldn't find two days ago. 

Faced with all this chaos, I did what any sane person would do.  I surfed the net and found my salvation.

I stumbled upon this post, which nicely summed up the way I'm feeling.  So, I have a new philosophy:

Ahh -- one thing back under my control.

etsy Friday

I don't have any new purchases to share with you. I'm saving my money for YarnCon tomorrow. But that isn't keeping me from looking at etsy stuff. :D

I forgot where I read about this, but there's a new Fiber Friday Promotion on etsy. You can either search for items tagged or look for the promotion thread in the etsy Forums.

I don't spin, but the items in Castle Fiber's shop have me seriously considering taking up spinning. Just look at this sampler pack - how can anybody resist.

There Will Be a Slight Delay

I'm still working on the pictures I took at the USEC Meeting -- both of dogs and of my travel knitting. I'll have a full synposis in a few days because I'm a little distracted right now. The Husband found himself in the dog house again and instead of flowers, I got this in green. Here's a picture to tide you over.

Travelling Knitting Decided

After much deliberation, I have picked the projects for this trip. 

Project 1:  Irish Hiking Scarf (Ravelry) using Black Water Abbey 2-Ply Worsted (Ravelry) in Pippen.

Project 2:  Knit/Purl Scarf (Ravelry) using yarn from the Illinois Green Pastures Collection (Esther's Place) (Ravelry) in Maroon.  This yarn is 80/20 alpaca/wool.

However, after The Husband wound this yarn into cakes... I was doubting that it was really a sport/DK but closer to a DK/Worsted.  I decided to cast on for the Knit/Purl Scarf and while I liked the density of the fabric I was getting, it was much too wide.

This morning I commenced a quick search on Ravelry seeing if I could find a better pattern more suited to the large size of the yarn.  I found the Mozart Scarf from the Morehouse Farm Merino Knits Book (Ravelry link) - the book is at home, so I'm not sure if it is "the" substitute.  Also found the One Row Handspun Scarf (R) from the Yarn Harlot.  I think that if the Mozart Scarf doesn't work out, I'll go with this one.  A simple stitch to memorize

Things will be quiet here for the next few days as I fly off for my meeting in MA.  I'll be back Sunday, but don't expect me to post anything until Monday. ;)  Have a great weekend!

Knitting & Traveling

Next Friday, I'm traveling to MA for the USEC meeting.  Actually, I'm flying from Chicago to Detroit to Providence and then driving to MA.  I don't mind flying -- but I do hate layovers.  Unfortunately, all the travel web sites sensed that I was searching for cheap tickets and immediately raised the prices of direct flights.  I even attempted to confuse the sites by searching for tickets to go to NJ for Thanksgiving.  All to no avail.  So to stay reasonably priced,  I had to pick a flight with one stop-over.  

These days, when I know I have to wait, I usually have a book and/or my knitting with me.  I want to take knitting with me.  I'm thinking that a flight would be a great time to work on the Mystery Shawl however I'm using Susan Bates Silverado needles.  I don't know if I'm going to be able to get them through security.  It isn't that I'm worried about loosing the needles, but I can just see getting to Detroit for the layover, going out to check the weather, and then trying to go back through security and having them confiscate my needles and then having NOTHING TO DO!!!!!

There are TSA regulations covering knitting paraphernalia, but I don't know how much individual agents have to pay attention to them. 

Any suggestions for what small project with small needles I can take with me?  I'm thinking maybe a making some mittens or a hat from the Brooks Farm Solana ( Ravelry) that I have left over from the Mini Clap (Ravelry).  I can make those with wooden dpns.