Thursday, November 16, 2006

Overwhelmed

In my posting flurry yesterday, I completely forgot to tell you/show you this. I think the reason I forgot is that I am so overwhelmed by what Chaun did. She took this roving, Copper Moose Maple Sugar and made it into just about enough yarn for a sweater. And she did it in like 10 hours! I knew when she got her spinning wheel, I would be the recipient of trial and error yarns. And I thought that at some point, I would buy myself some roving and beg and plead for her to spin it for me. Well! Not only did she encourage me to buy the roving, she took my pound of fiber and spun it first and so quick!




Wednesday, November 15, 2006

A Realization

A year ago today, my mom was alive and well. Technically, she was sick; she had cancer at that point. But we didn’t know about it. And less than one year later, our lives are drastically different. It’s a very hard pill to swallow right now.

What's that girl, Tracy, been up to...

Well... :) Not a lot, I must say. I am stressing on the holidays right now. My dad and brother will be down here with me for Thanksgiving. We are spending it with my mom's family in LA. I am actually looking forward to it even though I know it's going to be a hard weekend to get through. We are also going up to Three Rivers to spend some time with my mom's friend Gail. We are spreading my mom's ashes at her place. That will probably be the toughest part to get through. I am very much looking forward to having my dad and brother here at my home. :) Believe it or not, they have never visited me here!! 'Bout damn time!
I am going through a bit of a knitting slump. I want to knit but I don't want to knit. I finished up two sweaters last week and now I am kind of floundering as to what to work on. I want to work on my shawl, if not to just knock down some of those 40 hours I calculated out. :) But I don't have the concentration to work on it. And I found out that I don't have that concentration the hard way. I have been working slowly on the Michael Kors sweater. I was on row 12 (I know, only row 12 but let me tell you somethin': this is not an easy, quick knit!) and I thought I was working the bobble section in the center wrong. And it was really bothering me so I ripped out the 12 rows. Turns out? Yeah, I wasn't doing it wrong in the first place. Which is why you see very little knitting and a big pile of curly yarn in the picture. So, instead I am working a new Clapotis. I am not really thrilled about doing another Clapotis but I am really thrilled to be working this yarn. It's Lorna Laces Lion & Lamb (I don't know the colorway) from Summers. I am literally clapping my hands in happiness at this very moment (I can be such the dork sometimes). She opened up her stash to Chaun and I. I can't tell you how thrilled I was that she did this. I am paying her for the yarn, of course! I will tell you this, Chaun and I almost came to blows over some of this yarn (okay, not really but wouldn't that have been funny if we had!!) This pattern was originally made with this yarn. It is ... wonderful. It's so soft and silky (without smelling of silk), I just can't put it down. And that's basically it. Just some basic knitting. Following this are some pictures of what I knit over the weekend.
THE Clapotis :)) It's a happy Clapotis! Or I am just happy working with it... whatever.

The second sweater I finished over the weekend. Oh Fine!!! It's not finished. I still need to sew up the pits and one side seam. But it's cute just like this, dontcha think???
This is going to be the cutest pair of slippers Ever. Made of Noro Kureyon. They will be felted this weekend.


I completely forgot to talk about this. It's the beginning of a glovelette that I knit for Julie and Knit & Pearl. It's made from Cash Soft. Shoot, I think that's the yarn. It turned out to be a quick knit, I think maybe 3-4 hours total? You should go and check it out. It's on display in her store. :))

This is the rest of the yarn I got from Summers. On the left is a dark purple Peace Fleece, middle is ohmygosh Crack merino yarn in purple, and then two more ohmygosh Crack yarns from hpy in wool.

It's the Michael Kors I ripped out for no reason. Chaun made a brillant observation on this sweater. Why do the back in pattern? Just do it in stockinette and call it quits.
So there you go. That's just about everything I've been up to. :)

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Thoughtful gifts

I spent the Saturday I found out about mom's passing over at Chauntel and George's house. When I came into the house, I was inundated with hugs and gifts from Trevor, Sadie, and Tyler. :) Trevor drew me a great picture of Banjo Kazooie, Trevor and I. Sadie drew me a big heart and an "I Love You". Tyler? Tyler gave me a Lego toy. Now, I didn't really believe that he wanted me to actually take it home with me, I figured I was "borrowing" it for the day. So, I left it behind when I came home that night. I was informed yesterday when I arrived that I "forgot" to take it with me. So, here it sits, at my desk.

I give you...Tyler's thoughtful gift:


I just love these kids!!!

Can I get a Hell Yeah!

I present the Starsky:

What, you want details?? Well, I believe I started this waaay back in February and promptly got bored with it (I don't remember why really). I picked it back up in September and worked on it every great once in awhile. Finish work (weaving in all ends) was completed by Chauntel, my BFF. It's made out of Cervinia Sorrento yarn from Smiley's yarns. I don't remember how many skeins I started out with but I can tell you I knit it on size 10's. :) I love Love this sweater. Someday I may make another...