The Final Cut

I think I've been spinning yarn colors for my Rams and Yowes blanket for at least 3 or 4 months now.   In total, I spun 15 (I think) colors and needed 9.   Here are the final 9 colors.  The original yarn called for was Jamieson and Smith Shetland Supreme.  The Fat Cat Knits colors I chose are listed followed by the Jamieson and Smith colors in parentheses.  Again, all yarn spun is Fat Cat Knits Semi-Solid Handpainted in Falkland fiber. 

Bottom row: Smoke (mooskit), Toasted Almond (sholmit), Specter (katmollet), Natural (white)

Middle row: Gandalf (yuglet), Dove (shaela), Black Walnut (black)

Top row: Columbian Roast (moorit), Light Taupe (gaulmogot)

Here are all of the browns I spun:


Top to Bottom:

Light Taupe

Ash Beige

Taupe

Toasted Almond

Sienna

Chestnut

Columbian Roast

Walnut

Black Walnut

Here are all the greys/browns and natural I spun:

Top to Bottom:

Natural

Specter

Dove

Smoke

Gandalf

Charcoal

The original design, by Kate Davies, is only 3 feet x 3 feet.  I want it much bigger, so I'm making it 6 feet x 6 feet, basically 4 times the size in the pattern.   I have no idea how many yards I'm going to need, so I will be keeping a tally as I go.  I don't have enough experience in spinning to know I will need X-amount.  So, this is a learn-as-I go experience, that's for sure.  I enjoy the fact that I can take my time with this.  Also, Ginny has been phenomenal.  I had originally chosen Taupe as one of the final colors but it just didn't quite fit in.  If only I could have had it lighter.... so I asked and she delivered .... and it is perfect!!

Next up is the Rams and Yowes swatch.  I'm going to wind off the yarn and see how many yards I have in each 2 oz skein.  Stay tuned!!

Of Butts and Tails

Once in a while the cats do some cute things.  Well, Meems always does cute stuff but the instant I get the camera out, she runs away.  I'm not kidding either.  So, sometimes it takes Poppy (aka Pinhead) to get her to come out of her shell and I get some good shots when they're playing.

While I prefer the other end of cat butt, this one was kinda cute.  Meems would be horrified if she knew that her back-side was now on the internet.

A Total Pick-Me-Up

There are very few things that can turn a crappy day into a happy day!  Here are a few of them!

Old Rose in Polwarth

The other end of Old Rose

Toasted Almond in Falkland

Brawny (top), Toasted Almond, and Black Walnut, all in Falkland

Black Walnut, Baby, Toasted Almond, Brawny - all in Falkland

Baby (oh Baby) - in Falkland.  Love this pink!

The Black Walnut, Toasted Almond, Brawn, and Baby in Falkland are the last of the colors for me to spin and will be amongst my pile to make a final decision in the colors I use for my Rams and Yowes Blanket.  The Old Rose was well, just because.  This girl can never get enough of pink!

Oh.  P.S.   I successfully picked up all 865 stitches on The Princess.  Now the rows are incredibly l-o-o-o-n-g!

Four Sons

While I may not agree with our politicians and the decisions they make, I am still proud to be an American.  I am thankful for all of our service men and women who have served our country.  My special thank you goes to the families whose loved ones didn't come home.

My grandparents had all four sons in the service at the same time.  Thankfully, they all came home.  I post this every year (click on the link below).  Marlowe was my father and I miss him so.

Memorial Day Post.

Eighty Five Princess Points

I feel I deserve way more than 85 points for these eighty five points.  If I have a chance to wear this, I better feel much more regal than a Princess, that's for sure.

I finished the eighty fifth point last night.  The ribs will take approximately 3 hours and what better time than to start picking up the stitches.  All eight hundred sixty five of them.  Yeah.  865.  I did this one point at a time. so I'll do it picking up 50 stitches at a time. 

I was curious how long this was.  Here she is, unstretched.  I laid this out being careful not to stretch it.  As anyone knows (who has knit lace) when you block it, it pretty much doubles in size.  Unblocked, unstretched, it measured 12 feet 2 inches.  Holy cow.

I was out in the back yard this morning and I decided my next yard project will be cleaning up and painting this little miniature bench.  I want to paint the metal black, and think the wood is best served by painting versus staining.  

I love the cats playing instruments in the back of the bench.  One is playing cymbals (or tamborine?), another is playing a drum, another a cello, and the one on the far right a violin.   So cute!

Where I Post About Other Things Besides Knitting and Spinning

This year I decided to take Jewel's gardening down a more aesthetically pleasing path.  I have lots of annuals growing and I'm having a lot of fun.  I do still have strawberries and I planted some baby beans from seeds and they have been doing quite well.  I noticed that something has been munching on the leaves and a few of them are missing the leaves entirely.   Little did I know what I would find outside in the garden:

The poor thing.  I had sprayed poison to kill the bugs and it ate some of the leaves after I sprayed.  I'm glad Kyle has graciously volunteered to dispose of it.  While we have 3 cats, you can't count on them for anything.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of some of the pretty colorful annuals.  I am also proud to announce I am the proud Mom of 4 baby pumpkins, two of which are shown here.   Just letting y'all know I do more things than spin and knit.  But not much.  :-)

Of Rams and Yowes

I know I have knitters and non-knitters alike reading my blog so the non-knitters may not relate to much all of this, but you just never know! 

As a knitter when I see something like this, it screams to me, "Drop everything you're doing and make me!"  When I saw the Rams and Yowes, I knew this had to be mine.  However, being a spinner I furthered the challenge within myself and decided to spin the yarn for this.  Of course, Fat Cat Knits was the only way to go with this.  I selected Falkland fiber base because of its texture and is perfect for this.  Then I realized, "Self... if you're going to make this.... go big or go home!"  I mean seriously - the original pattern is for only a 3' x 3' size and I mean really.... it would fit my right foot and maybe a cat.  So, I'm going to quadruple this and make it 6' x 6', or thereabout. 

Let's recap here.   I'm making Rams and Yowes, spinning the yarn, and making it 4 times the original size.  I'm also still plugging along on my Princess and I'm thrilled to state that I am on point #70 of 85.  15 to go! 

If I haven't hit certifiable insanity before, I'm there now.

Here are some photos of what I've spun so far.  Again, these are all in Falkland base and are each 2 ounces.  I am expecting four additional colors and that should round out all of the possibilities of colors I may want to use. 





Bottom row: Carbon, Specter, Gandalf, Dove, Natural.
Middle row: Chestnut, Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige.
Top row: Smoke, Cameo, Columbian Roast





Sometimes Specter looked like natural in some of the photos, so here they are side by side for comparison: natural on the left, Specter on the right. Specter: For those times when a girl wants a bit of ghostly color. Sorry. :-)


Bottom row:  Specter, Gandalf, Dove
Top Row:  Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige



Bottom row:  Taupe, Ash Beige

Top Row:  Cameo, Columbian Roast

Bottom row:  Carbon  Gandalf, Gandalf Dove, Natural, Specter

Top row: Taupe, Ash Beige.

Cameo is peeking out on top of Taupe.
Sorry for the error in the colors above.

So there you have my progress as of today.  I need 9 colors total.  I know which ones I will be using for sure, but I need to fill in the spectrum.  I have on order 4 more colors from FCK and I will post for all my knitting/spinning buddies.

Meanwhile.... the Princess awaits.  This is going to be a gorgeous shawl, destined for something very special some day. 

Being a Princess

I finally decided to take the plunge and knit Sharon Miller's Princess Shawl.   There are 85 points to knit along the bottom edge and then over 800 stitches are picked up and the shawl is then knit upwards.  I'm currently on point number 14.   This is definitely a test of my patience and I ran out of it before I could finish the first point.  sigh.

I hope to have this done in 12 to 18 months, but we shall see.   Here she is with 3 points being done.

Well, Hello There!

Yessiree.  It's been since May that I've posted anything.  Life has kept me busy!

I've been tackling the Knitting Room, or wanting to, for quite some time and today I made a huge step in the right direction.  Last Christmas I was given a gift card from a very generous friend and I finally spent it on something to help organize my tons of circular needles. 

So, today I put on my big girl panties and just sat down and did it.  It took all afternoon too.

Big Bag O'Needles



I started cataloging them in Ravelry and of course, I had a lot of help from a very helpful cat.  How would I ever have managed without him?

"What?"

I got out the labeler and finally finished it.  Not bad, eh?

Three little Namastes, all in a row!

What's next?  My pile of DPNs.  I have to turn them from a pile of sticks into something much more organized.  

Happy New Year everyone!  2012 is going to be a fab year for me!!