Canines, Cowls and Celebrations

After reading Nova's Birthday post yesterday, and realizing our birthdays were only one day apart, I just knew it was fate and I had to cast on for my first cowl. It's well known around the blogsphere that cowls are the new scarf. Megan did it, Lolly did it, Elinor did it, Whitney did it, Ashley, Kirsten and Christy too. So, what was I to do? Cast on, of course.

The yarn is a super squishy soft wool/cashmere/angora blend. I'm really liking how it knit up. I didn't finish it on my birthday, but I got a good third done. I have a feeling this cowl thing will be a great stashbusting opportunity for all those single balls of yarn I have!

Speaking of my birthday, I want to thank everyone who emailed me and messaged me through Ravelry! It took me a while to figure out how everyone knew! I had a really great day - all thanks to everyone out there!

I spent a nice, relaxing evening with the boys. We had gone for a nice long walk and a very exuberant off leash jaunt, so they were pretty exhausted when we got back. Ace has had a buddy sleeping over for the past few nights - Fios (named for the speedy Verizon internet service). He is a 5 month old Border Collie and is on the go constantly! He's been a good match for Ace.

We are off to a 3 day agility trial this weekend, so lots of sun, dogs and hopefully qualifying runs! I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend!

Good Intentions

I was all excited to photograph the really neat corrugated ribbing for the mittens. It's all done. It looks really nice. Not bad for a first attempt at two color ribbing. Picture? Yeah, a picture would have been great, but I left the mitten at my parents house this weekend. Lucky for me, my dad is coming to stay with us tomorrow for a conference he's speaking at, so the mittens and I will be reunited then. Then I can take pictures.

So, to fill the picture-less mitten void, I snapped a shot of my very slowly growing Phyllo pullover.

Granny Smith apples are my absolute favorite. I grabbed about four pounds of organic ones the last time I was at Whole Foods. After taking this picture, I realized I may have found my next color combination. I really like the earthyness of both colors and the contrast of the bright green and rich brown.

With leaving the mittens at my parents, I have been forced to work on the Phyllo. The back is done, and this is the beginnings of the front - 14" of stockinette (not as bad as the 16" I did for the back). But, once that is over, the real fun begins. The yoke. The centerpiece of the whole sweater. The sleeves are done, so really, once I trudge through this front, I should be home free. Just in time for summer.

To close, a few puppy shots of Otis doing his favorite "roll in the grass" activity to round out the post.

He does need to learn to shake off after he rolls though. Often times he comes wandering back into the house through the dog door covered in grass and dirt. Then proceeds to lay on the couch. Good dog.

And the Winner Is.......

Mostly Mittens Pattern 25!! (the one on the top right) Pattern 29 (lower left) came in a close second....I really like both patterns, and I'm glad I didn't have to decide!

I managed to cast on yesterday after a horrific experience trying to wind the yarn. I'm not sure if the yarn gods were just not wanting me to knit or what, but in winding the skein of Cherry Tree Hill, the whole thing got tangled coming off the swift onto the ball winder. I got through it and then in re-winding the ball (I always re-wind to make sure the ball isn't too tight) it became a huge tangled mess. Huge. Tangled. Mess. I worked on it for a bit, then hubby came in after hearing me get all exasperated and took over for another hour or so. The yarn is now in three pieces. One small ball, one that is about half the skein in a ball (it took me three hours yesterday to untangle it) and the rest of the skein is going to my sister this weekend to untangle. She is really good at it and actually enjoys it....

So, after a day of untangling yarn (I won't go into the story of how the middle of the hank of Tess gray yarn also was a tangled mess before I even started winding it) I finally cast on last night. I like the colors together so far, even with only about four rounds of the corrugated ribbing done.

One Down, One to Go

Well, I finally made a decision about the yarn combination I'll use for my next project. Both Kelly and Lolly suggested maybe a more subtle color combination with a "gentler" contrast. I sat down and looked at the yarns again. Usually, I often go for the brightest, most severe contrast. This time, I looked at the yarns with a new eye. This is what I ended up with.

Subtle, classic, refined. Love it. Now, after pouring through my mitten books, I narrowed it down to four patterns. Some criteria had to be met to make my short list. The pattern had to be from a book that I have not made anything from yet. It had to be graphic/linear in quality and not so "flowery". The pattern needed to be different from things I have made in the past (this eliminated a couple that had patterns very similar to the Turkish Stockings - I just can't get enough of the scrolls!). Without further ado, the nominees are:

Top Row: Magnificent Mittens Chapter 4, pattern 15 and Pattern 25 from Mostly Mittens. Bottom Row: Pattern 29 from Mostly Mittens, and Magnificent Mittens Chapter 6, pattern 3.

Funny how all four patterns came from two of my most prized (and probably valuable!) knitting books. I flip through both of these books on a regular basis looking for inspiration. They are full of patterns and charts you can use on anything - socks, sweaters, hats and of course mittens. They also contain a lot of tips and techniques. Truly indispensable references.

This will be a hard decision - they are all great! What do you guys think?

Riot of Color

I'm never good at making decisions. Ask my husband. Where to go to eat, what color shirt to buy, where to go on vacation. Making a choice means excluding something else. I hate exclusion. It's no different with knitting. When I'm faced with picking a new project to start, I have a hard time picking the yarn, and an even harder time picking a pattern! Sometimes, but very rarely, it all just comes together magically without me even thinking much about it. Usually though, it's a painful process of decision. Especially when there are lots of choices.

I laid out bunches of color combinations last night to see what I liked for a new colorwork project. Granted, I'm not sure what said project will be as of yet, but rest assured it will be either mittens or socks. Anyone who has read my blog or seen my knitting before knows I love bright, high contrast colors. This was the first combination that I put together. Love it. But then I did this and this and I didn't know when to stop. I started to like the more subtle combinations - not necessarily bright. What is happening to me?? So, I sit and stare at all the wonderful, amazing color combinations not sure what to do with them and not sure which one to pick. I trip through both Ravelry (where you can now search your queue! Yay!) and many pattern books to see what strikes me. Hands or feet?

Maybe I'll just leave them in a big pile to admire....

Another Amazing Maryland Weekend

Where do I begin? It was a fabulous, amazing, fun, tiring, beautiful weekend. I got to hang out with friends and family, and the weather turned out to be just perfect!

It began on Thursday bright and early. Sarah and I had a great, leisurely drive down. We didn't really hit any traffic (except in Connecticut where you ALWAYS hit traffic!) and managed a stop at Chick-Fil-A when we crossed into Maryland for some nourishment after a bit of navigating.

After relaxing with my cousins on Thursday night, the work began on Friday morning. Jody so graciously picked me up and we headed to meet Jolene and Sarah at Cloverhill to pack everything up to bring to the Festival. That was some hard work. By about 11am, we had three SUV's packed full to the brim with yarn. Lucky for us, Jody's husband brought a pickup truck. It held all the displays and tables we needed for setup. We got to the grounds and it was strange to see vehicles everywhere - in the buildings and up and down the "main alley". After unpacking the vehicles we set to work setting up the booth. Looking at all the beautiful yarn made the job much more fun. By the end of the day Friday, the booth looked great.

I also managed to get a shot of the Fold booth and all their Socks That Rock before the onslaught started.

By Saturday, the lines were as long as the T-Shirt lines (we were smart and got them on Friday when it was vendors only!) and the booth was pretty empty by the end of the day. I really just can't figure out why people wait in line for it. You can order it on line, and their shipping is very reasonable. Any insight?

Saturday dawned a bit foggy and cold. Even with that, the crowds grew as the day went on and the weather got better.

We saw lots and lots of sheep (expected at at Sheep festival!)

We also saw sheep with some really weird hair...

I also managed to see lots of great people!

The day went way too fast. I watched some sheep herding, ate some great ribbon fries and had some BBQ lamb. Yum. I also managed to get some yarn (the real reason we are all there!)

Left to Right:
Tess, Woolarina, Wullenstudio, CEYEBER, Unique Sheep, Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Tess, Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Wullenstudio
Unfortunately, only four of them are for me. The rest go to a friend who was trusting enough to give me money and free reign to get her some sock yarn! (Hope you like them Kristi!) Hers are the middle five skeins. Mine are the 2 at either end. The grey Tess yarn I think will be perfect combined with a bright color for some socks or mittens. The yellowish mustard Spirit trail I'd like to put with some purple or turquoise yarn to really make it pop. I have to admit, two of my skeins came from the early pickings available at the Cloverhill booth before everyone got to it!

Being surrounded by knitting and beautiful yarn really made me want to knit again. New yarn also seems to light the knitting fire. The mustard color Spirit Trail may be first in the colorwork line up. Socks? Mittens? Hat? Not quite sure, but I know I'll be bringing design books with me to the dog show this weekend!

PS - Deuce won another Best in Show yesterday in Maine! She is on a tear!

Three, Two, ONE!

Three days and counting until the fiber event of the year! Sarah and I are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning on our road trip down to Baltimore. We both have family to visit, so the extra day will let us catch up with relatives before the fiber obsession kicks in.

My list for the festival this year is pretty short. Basically, I'm really wanting to just kick start my knitting engine again. After the tight deadline on the sample socks (which have been received by the designer to rave reviews!), it seems like all the desire is gone. I think I needed some time to re-fuel, but now I'm anxious to get back into it. The festival, and being surrounded by all my Maryland knit buddies should be a sure cure for the no-knitting blues. I do have a small list of things I'd like to look for.

Orange sock yarn for one. Me, lover of orange, and I don't have one pair of orange socks! I have knit one pair, but those reside with my cousin in Baltimore. I'd also love to find a nice, light, almost dusty blue sock yarn. This one I'm going to be picky about. I have the color in my head, and I will know when I see it. Spirit Trail Fiberworks is also on my list. I want to hit them earlier this year as last year when I got to the booth, there was only a few skeins of sock yarn left. Lucky for me, they had a beautiful skein of yarn that I ended up using for my Single Sock Swap pal. The yarn was really nice to knit with, and I'd like to get some more. Gypsy Girl Yarns is another vendor I'd like to re-visit. Unfortunately, they were housed with the Socks That Rock last year and it was a battle trying to get in to see it. I may just wait for the end of the day when the STR is gone, then go shop there. I used her yarns to make the heart crook socks, and they have worn wonderfully and are still nice and bright. Her colors are amazing!

The only other thing I may be hunting for is some sweater yarn. Not for me, but for hubby. Recently the Interweave Knits Summer 2008 preview was posted, and the Brick Pullover in this issue really appealed to me.

I sent the link along to hubby to see what he thought. His response? "How long before I can have it?". I'd say he liked it too. The gauge is a bit teeny (24 sts/4"), but we will see if the festival has any good offerings for yarn for this project. I'll need a bunch - around 2300 yds - so it has to be not the priciest stuff on earth. I have plenty of sweater yarn for me thanks to WEBS and my little trip there a few months back.

Mainly, I want to go to visit friends and family and re-discover my knitting. The weather right now isn't looking too promising - it's going to be hard to find anyone with hoods and umbrellas! I have hope though. The fiber gods wouldn't let it rain all weekend! I was thinking about wearing my wrap sweater, but with temps in the 70's, I think it will be a bit warm. Odds are, I'll be wearing my Cheese, Please! t-shirt so I will at least stand out a little and people can spot me. (and, give me cheese of course, if they so desire!) I also have a bright yellow jacket with a HUGE white paw print on the back. That will be my drizzle weather cover up. Please, if you see me, say hi!!!

Safe travels to everyone heading down to Maryland, and I'll have a big round up on Monday!