Just Keep Knitting...

That's what I keep telling myself. I have a bunch of bags to do for the gallery. Awesome opportunity! The problem? I believe that I am trying to knit all fifteen at once. That will not work I do not have enough hands or needles. That's what I tend to do when I have a big project that needs doing, I try and do it all at once. Not such a good plan. So I am trying to focus a little better and - just keep knitting... I imagine Dori from Finding Nemo when I think or say that. Just keep swimming. Either way it works.

As I promised Tracey I am posting here more often. See the post entitled It's All Tracey's Fault. (sorry Tracey, but I have to blame someone) So here are some pics of what I've been up to and other cool stuff that has happened to me lately.
A bunch of bags in various stages of completion. In a month they will be all done and worthy of a spot in an art gallery. I hope.
This is all Tracey's fault too. She sent it all to me as a rescue effort. I needed more feltable yarn. Ask and you shall receive... She sent a bunch of yarn, some goodies for me and my kids all (mostly all) tucked into the cool black bag you see back there. There is too much stuff to fit it all in there, but she tried. She decided that I needed a knitting bag. I didn't have one, even though I make bags. Go figure.

You should go on over and read Tracey's blog today by the way. She's in her element helping people who need it. She does this brilliantly and today is the last day to get in on the helping with a shot at really amazing knitter-y prizes.

I actually ditched knitting bags a little bit yesterday. I plied yarn instead. That's 75% Lincoln wool/ 25% mohair in it's natural gray color. Go tit at the Estes Park Wool Market from the Red Barn Fiber Processing booth. Stop in there every year. I think by now I probably own a sheep there or something. Oh and as crazy as this sounds, that is my first ever attempt at plying handspun. Keep that in mind as you giggle at my handiwork.

Here's the yarn all plied up and with the twist set and all dry. As you can see I have more of that fiber to spin up. I think another eight ounces or so. Then I have no idea what it will become. I rarely spin with a project in mind for the finished product. I just spin to spin. Love.

Chloe was curious about that gray stuff that does not smell like a kitty, so she managed to stick her nose into the picture. That's just the way she is. The queen.

It's All Traceys Fault

It really is. Tracey is a rather awesome person I met on Ravelry. She is wonderful and also a bit persuasive. She has told me I must post on my blog in order for anyone to read it. I am now blogging Tracey! So I have some yarn to show you, some socks, and I think that's all.

A whole bunch of the most wonderful yarn came this week from Bellamoden.
From left to right: Nori 1/16 fingering, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sport, Chocolate artists proof sport, Possession sport. Rebecca makes the most wonderful yarn and has also made me decide that sportweight yarn is good.

Numma Numma in Whiny Butt and,
Numma Numma Blackberry Jam. Both from The Loopy Ewe naturally. The Blackberry Jam will be something for my mom, I think.
This is the work of three Ravelry friends. We have a little Loopy book club going- it's named The Loopy Nerd Heard. We read The Historian for June and July and it was decided that being knitters we needed a kit to go with it. So Tracey made the pretty dragon project bags, Sandy who has no blog made two stitchmarkers, and Rebecca dyed some of her Bellamoden yarn in a super special Historian colorway. Didn't they put together a great kit?
The yarn made me want to knit with it immediately. So I knit up a pair of Philosophers House Socks. I made them longer because the pattern is for short socks, plus I have that following directions problem... My first sportweight socks and my first pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways sock book. I like 'em. Sportweight socks knit up way fast too!
Wollmeise. 'Nuff said. Rittersporn, Rhabarber, am kalten Polar. Probably spelled them all wrong. Love this yarn. I have the problem of choosing the perfect thing to knit with it. So it may be all skeined up forever. Also, it may not all live at my house forever, I might want to share it.

Got a phone call yesterday from a gallery owner in Colorado. She wants me to be a featured artist in their Art To Wear show. Yay! I'm so flattered. I am also a bit panicked. I need to get ten to fifteen bags to the gallery by September 2nd. That's a lot of knitting and felting. Also because Sheri does not at the moment carry any yarn I can felt with at The Loopy Ewe I have a minor yarn emergency. Like I need feltable worsted or bulky yarn fast!

Well, the awesome girls of Ravelry strike again. Tracey, Sandy and Rebecca dug into their stashes to find yarn I could use and are sending it to me. Honestly, I could not ask for a better bunch of friends than the ones I have made on the F5 thread on Ravelry. They are the most encouraging and generous people. Knitters are amazingly kind and giving.

So, even though I have maybe a dozen projects on needles I will be stopping everything to knit bags, bags, and more bags. And then I'll knit some more bags. I started one last night. Gotta get the fingers moving and the needles flying.

It's Been a While...

Since I've had time to post. I've been knitting like mad and my husband has decided to hold the computer hostage from me all day long most days. The good news is his back is feeling better!

I did a little craft show here in town on Saturday and didn't do too bad. I did better at it last year, but the weather was crappy this year. Either way I still did better in six hours than I did in two days in Colorado.

Today I listed a bunch of new stuff in my Etsy shop. New gloves and about six new bags. Hope it's not too late for Christmas shopping! I really like the way most of my new bags came out. You just never know what you're going to get when you make it up as you go along...

I started on my Christmas knitting on Sunday. A pair of Snapdragon socks in Scarlet Fleece Antique Watermelon (the pattern and yarn can both be found at the fabulously addicting and wonderful Loopy Ewe) for my mom. I have two other gifts to knit as well, but I'm pretty sure that I'll make it in time. I'm already done with the foot and gusset of the first sock (knit from the toe up- yuck!) and I really haven't been working on it that much.

I went through my sock yarn (doesn't count as stash) yesterday. I have discovered that I have enough sock yarn to knit well over 30 pairs of socks. Oh I have such a sock yarn addiction! Good thing I love knitting socks and have no less than four pairs on needles as I type!

I better go feed little boys lunch. Sorry no pictures of FO's this time, but soon.

HSKS 3 Questions

I got my first email from the person who has me for the swap, and have emailed back and forth with my person as well. The person who got me had a list of questions for me, and then these questions got posted on the blog. I'll just answer both!

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?



Gryffindor


2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?



Brittany, Takumi bamboo, Comfort Zone- all dpns. I generally use the 6 or 7 inch ones and knit with size 1 or 2, although I have needed to go up to 3 before.


3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?



Sure, I'm sure there are lots I've never tried or heard of!


4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?



Just ignore that one since I'm Gryffindor!





5. Do you have any allergies?



Not to pets or fiber, but I break out from a lot of lotions, soaps, candles, and other things that smell.



6. If you are swapping scarves - what is your desired length for the pattern? This will help your partner find the pattern that is just right for you and buy yarn accordingly.



Socks for me!


I think everyone in on the swap is really excited about it judging by the blog posts, so this should be lots of fun. Gryffindor has won the House Cup the last two "years" so all of us first year Gryffindors have a lot to live up to! I hope I'm good at Quidditch...


Other than swaps what am I up to? I have the toe to finish on the first Burrow sock, I've done the cuff and a bit of the leg on the Hermione socks and I have the first Ginny sock nearly done too. Right now I have sock knitting ADD, so many new yarns and pattern ideas. I'm going to have to finish a few pairs because I'm using all my dpns now! I really should get to working on more bags for the show I have in October. I think I got a bit burned out on them trying to get all those gallery bags done. Which reminds me I need to be sure they made it there alright!

Bring on the FO's!

I am finally totally finished with all of the gallery bags! I took photos of all but two of them since I promised I would post them before I sent all of the bags off. The bags are getting priced, tagged, and shipped today! Here they are:

That black one has needle felted swirls on it and some fun handles, the gray one has lots of cables and bobbles, and the green one has all those flowers, leaves and vines attatched to it after felting- they go all the way around the bag. My fingers suffered greatly due to the needle felting, I may be too clumsy to realy be allowed to use them!

The brown bag up there has a wet and needle felted covered button attatched that I made. The red one has a black needle felted star on one side.

Some of these guys you have seen before, the purple one with the flowers and the navy one with the white embroidered stars. That big purple on with the fabric covered button was knit out of yarn that I spun myself! The flower on the stripey bag is held on with a pin back and can be removed and worn.

I spent the weekend finishing those guys up. Almost all of them have inside pockets, and the ones that needed it have magnetic snap closures. Now to get them ready to go... If anyone is interested they will be at:

Madison and Main Gallery

927 16th Street (right by UNC)

Greeley, CO

The Art to Wear show starts on September 4th and runs through October 26th.

Other knitting news- the Hufflepuff socks are finished! I can't show photos because that would ruin my pals surprise. I'm still waiting on some things for her package to get here- from Australia. I hope she likes everything.

I restarted knitting The Burrow socks now that the others are finished. I didn't get very far due to a trip to the ER with my son. The one who never gets hurt split his forehead open on his twin brothers head. It was quite the crash. Usually it's the other one who gets hurt- staples in his head three times. So the one who got hurt last night got three sutures after having to have anesthesia to calm him down enough to let anyone touch him. He HATES the doctor! I do so love going to work on my night off!

Socks and socks

After talking about Lime & Violet yesterday, I thought I would post a photo of a completed Jaywalker done in Lime & Violet yarn. So here you go:


I won't show much so I don't spoil the surprise entirely, but here is a small peek at the finished sock for my Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 partner:

To top it all off- I have finished knitting the gallery bags!!! Some still need to be felted/fulled, some just need finishing touches, and five are totally ready to go. Pictures to come when they are all complete.

What I'm up to

No pictures or anything so probably a boring post. Been knitting bags like mad for a gallery show, I have four completely finished, five in various stages of progress, so three more still to start and finish up. I need to have tweleve shipped and to the gallery by September first. My hands are hurting and I should probably take a break but if I do I'll never finish in time.

My Hufflepuff socks for the Hogwarts Sock Swap Two ran into a minor snag- at the hands of a four year old- but I do have the leg totally finished on the first one now. If no one decides to help me unknit them again they should be done in plenty of time.

Hmmm... I have another show in the middle of October that my bags tend to do well at, so I have more to knit when I finish the gallery ones. Then a show at the begining of December, and I'm hoping my etsy shop will pick up again in the fall. Christmas shoppers should be about soon. Which reminds me of all the knitting I should do for Christmas- aack!

Random Knitting Stuff

I've been trying to do loads of things at once. I have at least five projects on needles at the moment. He's a bit of what I'm doing and a bit of what I've done.

The sock you see up there is for my Hogwarts sock swap 2 partner. Since you can't really tell what's happening with the pattern I decided it was safe to post pics without totally ruining the surprise! I'm making up my own pattern for these so I really hope they end up great.

That starry bag is one I'm doing for the gallery show. It's Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Bulky with some embroidery done in alpaca lace weight yarn. I think I'm done with it now. What do you all think, does it need something?

Must go be mom now and then get to work on more bags...