Saturday, April 25, 2009

I'm addicted!

Nothing real exciting going on here... I haven't been feeling good the past couple of days. I went to the Dr. yesterday & he said that I'm either getting a Spring cold or I'm having "tick" symptoms. UGH! I've been running a low fever off & on, feeling achey in all of my joints, & generally run down. I'm on antibiotics, vitamin B12 (which I learned will help with healing, & help my thumb heal faster), vitamin D, & a multi-vitamin. He thinks I really need the vitamins, make sure I take them this time (I'm not good at taking my vitamins LOL)

Anyhoo... while vegging on the sofa I got a few more bracelets done. I'm so addicted to this quick little project! After not being able to pick up a hook or needle for several weeks, it's nice to have so many finished projects so quickly. :) If you want more info about them you can check out my Ravelry projects page.

These were all done with the Beaded Flamboyance crochet pattern by Lisa Gentry.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Actual Projects! Woohoo!

How was everyone's weekend? We had a nice weekend, full of warm sunny weather. The hubby was turned loose in the yard with a chain saw, luckily he survived with everything still attached. A lot of the bushes, pampas grass & weed trees weren't so lucky though. :) My sinuses weren't so lucky either. Although it was nice to open the windows, air out the house for a while & get out in the sun. It was worth the stopped up nose & itchy eyes for a few days.

And I got the front porch all washed off (lots of pollen), some pretty impatiens planted in the pots, house plants relocated out on the porch, etc... It'll be a nice place to knit or spin in the evenings until the spring breezes die down & the mosquito's show up enforce.

I did wake up with one of those dang deer ticks on my back this morning, that was pretty icky. Especially since I'm terrified of insects of any kind... not a good way to wake up on a Monday morning...

Okay, on to the projects....
Here is my finished Merino/Angora yarn. I'm very pleased with this, I ended up with 290 yards of 2ply yarn. I'll have to try out my WIP tool & see just what I have as far as weight...

And here are 2 actual finished projects!! This is the crocheted Beaded Flamboyance bracelet by Lisa Gentry. The pattern can be lengthened to an anklet or a necklace. It was super quick & super easy! Just the right little project to get me back in the swing of things. I did both of them this weekend. I don't want to overdo with the thumb just yet, it's still a little sore. But I was dying to knit or crochet something!I hope everyone has a great week, and I hope everyone gets a little warm sunshine....

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Been a while...

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. Nothing real exciting going on. Tourist season has officially begun here. We had one heck of an Easter Weekend at work. I'm glad to see so many people coming to the beach this year... but boy am I tired! I think it's gonna take a little while to get back into the swing of the busy season again. :)
What's been going on besides a lot of work?

I got a package from Robin, I won a prize on her blogiversary contest. Yay! I like surprises. She sent some wonderful handmade soap, and a flip flop stitch marker that she made, 2 cute sheepies, a note pad, a nature CD, and the Knitting for Good book. Thanks so much Robin! Your package made my day. :)
And look at my super thin singles!! I've still been spinning away since the thumb is still not up to par for knitting/crochet. This is my Merino/Angora that I've had for a while & was waiting until I learned how to spin better before I attempted it. This is some nice stuff, really soft & it has a nice soft fuzz to it. I'm in the process of plying it now. I'll post finished photos hopefully this weekend! This is my thinnest yarn yet! I'm very pleased even though I still need to work on my consistency. My goal is to be able to spin an entire skein of yarn with very little difference in thickness.

Here we have my Gypsyknits (from Kathy) BFL roving ready to go next. I want to try navajo plying with this. I've been practicing & I think I've got it down now. My other Robin friend showed me how to do the navajo plying last fall & I've been wanting to give it a try. :)Hope everyone has had a good week, one day left before I get a WHOLE weekend off! Yay!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

More fibery goodness

Remember this? I purchased this French Angora rabbit fur last year at a fiber festival. I happened to think about it when a few people on one of my groups started talking about angora fiber. I asked them what I needed to do with this in order to spin it, I had so little of it, only 1 oz.

Anyhoo... One of the ladies in the group, Roo with Moonwood Farms, volunteered to blend it for me with her new drum carder. And she turned it into these lovely batts. What we have here are 3 batts of 50% alpaca, 33% angora (my bunny fur), 17% milk, and just a tiny bit of gold glitz in there. And I can't tell you just how soft these are!!She also sent along these little samples. The one in the bag is some of the milk fiber. I had no idea what milk fiber was. I know now that it's extremely soft. I also learned that milk fiber is a green product, it's PH is 6.8 which is the same to human skin. Milk fiber contains seventeen amino-acids and natural anti-bacterial rate is above eighty percent. So milk fiber has sanitarian function. That's just so cool. Thank you so much Roo for blending my angora for me & turning it into such lovely spinning batts! And for the samples, it's all wonderful & I can hardly wait to get it on my spinning wheel. :)

And the spinning marathon continues... I finished up my green yarn. This is my 100% wool from The Flying Ewe. I plied them together & like the result. I think the lighter green keeps the other one from being too dark.I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! It went by way too fast for me.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Finished & WIP

I just had to take another photo of this huge, gorgeous skein of handspun yarn!! It's soft & squishy, I love it!! I should have put my hand or something in the photo so you can see just how large this skein is, amazing. LOL Thanks again Chan, it's been the Christmas present that just keeps on givin! Now I just have to pick out some kind of pattern for it.

So the thumb is still sore & tingly.... and I'm spinning yarn like crazy. I feel lost in the evenings without being able to knit or crochet. Needless to say I'm gonna have tons of yarn to knit with if the darn thumb ever quits hurting. However I'm probably going to be out of fiber. he he

I had 2 oz. of each of these greens. It's 100% wool from The Flying Ewe. I'm in the process of plying these 2 together. I'll get better photos without the flash after I get it all finished up.

Hope everyone has had a good week. I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to the weekend!