I’ve been thinking about the blog lately – not posting, but just thinking about it.  My first post was on March 11, 2006, and I’ve had 497 posts, and, so far, 6,860 comments.  I was more active on posting for the first three years, but this year I’ve been dwindling a bit.  I’ve met so many amazing people through my blog – and when I started thinking about stopping, I kept on thinking about all the people that I’ve come in contact through it, and how I get so inspired from reading their blogs or comments.  And so I’d post one more post, and keep this going for a little bit more.

But now, about 3.5 years after I started, I think it’s time to say good-bye.  Life is different now than when I started this, and I seem to have lost the voice and urge that I had to blog.  I also haven’t been knitting as much, and I have lost the obsessed crazy need to knit and buy yarn and all that.  I still knit – but its become a quiet, stay at home, personal kind of thing.  I can’t explain it – I still love it – but the obsession is gone.    I definitely have lost the obsession to hoard yarn, and have been destashing a bit – I’d like to get it down to a reasonable level – and actually use it!  As I go through it, I’m just struck with how much nice yarn I have that I totally forgot I had.  We are converting Cieara’s room to a guest room and I’m going to put in a bookcase with cubbies to store my yarn so I can actually see it – and I’m looking forward to using it!  But less knitting, less yarn-ing, less obsession makes for a pretty boring blog – and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

It is hard, in a lot of ways, to let go of blogging.  I’ve been doing this for so long, and it’s recorded some major events in not only my knitting life, but my family life.  As I have been looking through the posts over the last few years, I realized that this has become a family snapshot of a very transitional period – kids graduating, moving out, hitting milestones.    I don’t want to lose all that and I’m looking into archiving it into a book (using Blurb or something like that).  But it is hard to think that this journaling of our lives will stop – so who knows  - maybe I’ll be back at another time, on another blog!  I also look at the statistics for my blog – 497 posts – 3 more and I’d hit 500 – maybe I should keep it going!  But then I’d start looking at the other statistics – maybe I should stay until 7000 comments, or 550 posts – and then I realize – it doesn’t matter.  Blogging to me was never about numbers – it was about putting myself out there and seeing if anyone would get it.  And I’ve done that, but I can’t do it any longer.

So I wanted to post to say good-bye, and thank all of your for reading my blog over the years.  I really have enjoyed getting to know you through your comments, links, and blog posts.  You’ve always been so nice and supportive – and such bad enablers!  I wish you all the best in your knitting (and non knitting!) lives…

You can always find me on Ravelry as JeanneL or on Facebook as Jeanne Landes – and I’ll probably still read the blogs I ready because I do like seeing what people do…but for now….

Adieu, adios, bye-bye, cheerio, ciao,  so long, toodle-oo…good bye!

So my last post was on August 15, and I show you pictures of the handspun I did – remember?

I think I mentioned in the post how happy I was with the yarn, and that I really couldn’t wait to use it – and so I made a shawl!

I finished this last week, and finally blocked it yesterday and got out bright and early this morning to take some pictures.

Pattern:  Traveling Woman Shawl
Yarn:   Gale’s Art BFL Handspun
Started:  August 16, 2010
Finished:  September 1, 2010

I really like the shawl, and of course, using hand-spun was great.  I don’t normally use highly variegated yarns for shawls, but I think this pattern worked with it – the pattern doesn’t get lost in the stripes.   It really looks sort of Noro-ish doesn’t it?    It isn’t super soft, but it’s wearable – I tried it this morning, and didn’t have an issue with it around my neck (I really cropped the picture because I hadn’t showered!).

This was a great project to take on vacation – the pattern is very easy, and I was able to put it down and pick it up quickly depending on what we were doing without any trouble.  We had a very long ride down to Virginia, and this kept me entertained for a long time.  Even the boring bits of the pattern weren’t too bad because I was enjoying the color changes in the yarn (as well as the feel of it!).

I think I’m going to keep this  rather than giving it away as I planned when I started it – I think it will add a  little something to a plain white shirt in the fall and be a nice warm scarf to wear in the winter.  I will also like it because it made it start to finish (well, almost start to finish since someone else dyed the roving!), and it was so nice to use handspun that I think  it will motivate me to finish whatever I’m currently spinning.

I’ve been really busy since my last post, and I’ll post some pictures next time from my vacation.  I didn’t get to one yarn store on vacation – I think that’s a first but we didn’t have the time for anything like that.  I did start a new project, and hopefully I’ll have pictures of that soon.

We are working on going through the house and getting rid of things we don’t use.  We are planning on a yard sale in early October, and today we did the basement.  I really can’t believe how much stuff we had down there.  Boxes that we hadn’t opened since we moved in 7 years ago, toys, games, empty cans of paint.  We had a huge pile of things to sell – and an equally huge pile of things to throw out.  But it felt good to get through it all.  Except for the HUGE spiders we kept on encountering (I am not a fan).   Next weekend we are tackling the attic and I think I’m also going to go through my project and yarn stash too.  I have a couple of projects that I haven’t worked on in a while that I need to either frog or finish (I’m leaning towards frogging).   And I want to go through the stash and make sure I only have yarn that I know I’ll use – no point in keeping things that I don’t like.   All of this organizing and decluttering really feels good!  And it makes me never want to buy anything again!

OK, I’m off to play with the dogs – it’s a beautiful day here and I want to get out for a bit.  Have a good weekend!

Now it’s this

I took advantage of a rainy Sunday afternoon to spin a little, and I not only finished the singles for this, but I plied it all up.  I’m very happy with it, and I am really looking forward to using it.

Roving:  4 oz. Gale’s Art, 100% blue faced leicester, colorway Crayon Box
Weight:  Fingering
Yardage:  362 yards

I have to say I’m pretty pleased with how even the yarn is – I only had a few small sections where it wasn’t consistently the same and a bit blurpy – and usually that happened when I first sat down to spin each session while I was getting back into, but overall it’s pretty consistent and I’m happy that I’m doing better.  Now I need to spin some 2 ply  laceweight!

I initially thought of using this for socks – I love  socks made from handspun  - there is something so comforting to me about them.  But this isn’t superwash, and I’ve learned that non-superwash socks and me just don’t go together  - I just  threw out a bunch of socks that had felted or shrunk from either going in the wash by mistake or not being hand washed  correctly.  I don’t want to waste this yarn then by making socks that I know will end up getting messed up.  So I decided on a shawl.   I did spend a little time on Ravelry this afternoon looking at patterns, and I think I may do another Traveling Woman shawl with it.  I think it will be beautiful and very cheery colors for the winter.   It’s the perfect yardage and I think the pattern will be able to handle the variegated yarn.  Any other ideas?

I still have to soak the yarn and dry it – its mostly balanced; just a little off so I think a little weight on it while drying will fix that.  I am going to do it in a little bit  - but it’s so rainy and humid here I think it will take a while to dry.  I’m hoping that it will be dry and ready by tomorrow night though; I’m leaving for a business trip on Tuesday to Tampa, and I thought I’d take it along with me.  I  have other things to work on but I just can’t resist the lure of this yarn!  I don’t know if I’ll have a lot of knitting time, but I know I’ll at least have flying/airport/hotel time, so it will be a good distraction.    And I did finish one old project this week, so I think it’s ok to start a new.

I’m not looking forward to this week – in addition to traveling, I need to get a million things done because I’ll be off work the following week.  I love taking vacations but sometimes it’s hard because of all the work before – and the stuff that I know I’ll be coming back to.  But I am looking forward to being off for a bit – and getting away from everything.  We have scheduled most of our time in Williamsburg (I’m most  happy when I have a schedule) and I’m looking forward to everything we are going to do.  Just have to get through this week!  I think I will have a post later this week to show you the project I finished – it took so long that I’m embarrassed to list the stats.

OK, I’m going to go –  a little knitting time, and maybe looking through the roving stash for the next project.  Have a great week!

1. Knitting.  No matter where we go on vacation, I bring my knitting.  Usually a couple of projects or three or four.  Like socks, shawls, sweaters – just in case I get a burst of knitting energy and finish 3 projects.    This year I think I’ll just bring one…well, maybe two.
2. Golf clubs. Since I started golfing a couple of years ago, we always bring our clubs and try to get one or two games in.   This year we already have tee times booked, and I’m looking forward to it!
3. Books.  I always bring one book with me because I don’t read as much as I’d like to normally, and vacation gives me a little more time for it.
4. Clothes.  As in too many.  I always overpack.  I hate the thought of not having enough clothes, and enough options so I typically have way more than I need.
5. Shoes.  See #4.  Same thing.  Always have to have options.
6. Money.  We like to eat out and shop on vacation, so I always bring a little extra.
7. Names and addresses of local yarn stores.  I know, but I can’t help it.  I always find out what is around and plan a small side trip.  See #6.
8. Snacks.  I also like to bring snacks from home for at night, the drive or just whenever.  Not too much – and generally something that isn’t heatlhy.
9. Alcohol.  Speaking of unhealthy – we usually bring a little wine or martini fixin’s.  This year we will bring both!
10. iPhone.  This probably doesn’t count because I always have it with me, but I can’t imagine going on vacation without it.  I keep in touch, look up things and keep in touch with the kids.

When I was thinking about what I bring on vacation, I also thought about what I’m not bringing on vacation this year…the kids!  Larry and I are going on vacation alone this year – I wasn’t sure initially, but it just worked out that way.  It is the first time haven’t  had a family vacation, but although I’ll miss them, I’m ok with it.  We are going to Williamsburg, Virginia, and I’m looking forward to having some down time with Larry.  We are golfing and I can’t wait to go to Colonial Williamsburg – I’ve always wanted to go.  We are going in three weeks, and I am counting the days already.

I’ve been knitting a bit this week – I went back to a pair of socks that I had started months ago.  I had finished the first one, and had started the second but just stopped knitting them.  Its been so long since I made socks that I forgot about the heel – so I just kept on knitting and knitting – and now they are too long  and I think I’m going to have to frog them back a bit so that they match the first one.  Sigh. I’m already unmotivated about them because I don’t like the pooling that is happening, and now this – I feel like ditching them and starting something new.  We’ll see – I hate to not finish a pair and they are for my sister but….

I got a package in the mail today that I thought I’d share…

Isn’t that pretty?   Wandering Cats Slinky Cat which is a merino/silk blend.  The colorway is Peacock and I just couldn’t resist.  This is 870 yards of fingering weight, and it will be perfect for a shawl.  I’m not sure what pattern yet – but I can’t wait to start it!

OK, I guess I’ll go frog my socks – have a great week!

but I like it!  It felt so good to get this off the bobbins  - I had started this over a year ago – and bought the roving two years ago!

The roving is 100% superwash merino from The Dyeing Arts and the colorway is Goth Chick Duo.  The roving was  2 oz’s of two different colorways – one with black tones, and one red/pink.   I spun the red/pink first, and the black was a bit of a chore – sort of boring which is why I think I stopped spinning it.  But once I started spinning again a couple of weeks ago, I was so happy to get back to it that it just flew, and I was so excited to get to plying that I finished it in one sitting.  Not the most even yarn – definitely thick and thin but it’s about 250 yards of sport weight, so I think I have enough to do something – maybe a cowl for the winter.  The colors are pretty, and its very soft and I’m looking forward to using it (there is something so satisfying about knitting with  handspun!)

Once I finished this yarn, I went back to another project that has been on the bobbins for a long long time.  This is a merino/tencel blend and I finally finished the single last week.

I haven’t plied this yet because I want to Navajo ply it to maintain the color stripes – and I have only done Navajo plying once and I think I need to gear up for it (for those of you that don’t spin, Navajo plying is when you take a single yarn and ply it to get a three ply/cable ply).   Kim sent me a great video so I think I’m going to sit down this weekend and give it a try.  I love the colors in this yarn and the sheen is amazing so I think it’s going to be a beautiful yarn when it’s done.

Since I’ve been back to spinning, I had to also get back to buying a little stash enhancement!

Pretty, eh? The one on the left is from Gale’s Art – it’s a combo of dyed light and dark BFL (blue faced leicester) and it’s just really amazing.  I’m spinning it now, and I’m really enjoying the colors  -  the dark BFL really adds a good depth and mix to it.     The roving on the right is Perchance to Knit and its 100% Polworth – I’ve never spun this type of sheep fiber, and it’s so soft and I’ve read good things about it –  I  think the colors are beautiful and I’m definitely looking forward to it.  It is so much fun to get new things to spin up – and so hard to resist starting it.

So there you go – now you know what I’ve been up to fiber-wise!  I haven’t knit in days – wow!  I just realized its been almost a week  - I can’t believe how long its been!  It has been very very busy at work, and I haven’t had a lot of downtime.  I’m really missing it though – I have so many things I want to get to!  I just found out today that a co-worker is having twins – it’s a high risk pregnancy so I’ve been hesitant to knit for her, but she had some tests recently and it looks like things are going better so I think I’ll start knitting her up some presents.  Definitely booties – maybe some blankets.  I was thinking about trying some of the new Loopy Ewe yarn because of the pretty colors.  Any other thoughts on nice baby yarn?

OK I think I’m going to go read some blogs and sneak some knitting in – just a couple of rows would make me so happy!  Have a great week!

Isn’t that gorgeous?  It’s my new quilt, and my sister made it for me!  She started quilting a couple of years ago, and offered to make me one.  I picked out the materials in January – it was so hard!  I finally understood why people who don’t knit have such a hard time envisioning projects and yarn choices – she took me to her quilt store and I was completely overwhelmed by all the pattern and fabric choices.  But someone who worked there helped us, and I picked out all the material.   My sister started it a few months ago, and kept on telling me how nice it was – and today I saw it for myself when I picked it up.  Its beautiful – I can’t get a good picture of the whole thing – its huge!  But it looks beautiful on the bed, and is perfect for the room – we picked shades of green for the walls, and all of the colors in the quilt just stand out.

I can’t decide on what my favorite block is – but this one is in the top two – I love the black and pink combo.  In fact, I think all of the black in the quilt just add a little bit of something different.  It really is amazing – I’m not a quilter (I can’t sew period) so it’s just amazing to me that she took all of this fabric and created something like this.  She’s very creative and is so passionate about quilting that its fun to listen to her.  And of course, its great to get the end product!    Thanks, sis!

I haven’t been knitting a lot this week – I’ve been having some medical issues that just made me really tired and just not up to it.  But when I could, I did work on the Aeslight shawl a little and I’m up to the lace border.   I’m really enjoying it, and I hope that the meds that I’m taking get me back to normal quickly – I really want to finish this section and get to the edging!

I also want to finish the shawl because I have the yarn for my next project….

Isn’t that pretty?  It’s from Wandering Cat and I just couldn’t resist the colorway!  I am not sure what I’m going to make with it – it’s 400 yards of fingering, but I am sure I’ll find something for it.  Definitely a shawl though – and I can’t wait to start using it!

I’ve been spinning a lot this weekend, and I’m just about done with the roving I’m spinning.  I’m trying to decide if I should Navajo ply it, or if I should just ply it like I always do.  I’ve only done Navajo plying once when I was learning – and my teacher was there.  I’ve watched some videos of it online, and it looks fairly easy – but then again, I can also see me really messing up the yarn, so I may take the easy way out and just two ply it.   I’m really loving the spinning though – it feels so good to get back into it!   I should have some new yarn to show next time – and some new roving that I just had to get.

OK, I’m off to get some knitting in – have a great week!

Isn’t that gorgeous?  I know – it sounds so conceited of me to talk about my knitting like that – but this yarn is so pretty that I just can’t help myself.  How about some project details…

Pattern:  Artemis
Yarn: Fluffy Cat, Blue Topaz colorway, by Wandering Cat Yarns
Started:  June 5, 2010
Finished:  July 4, 2010

Ignore the left side of the shawl – I didn’t realize that it was like that until after I uploaded the pictures (and the shawl isn’t here so I can’t take more) – in reality the left side of the shawl was as nice as the right side.    This was a very nice shawl pattern – the body of it was done in a ribbing type style – I really blocked it out and love how it came out.  The pattern was interesting, but a fast knit – my favorite kind!  I was afraid that I was going to run out of yarn;  I checked with Valerie (the designer) and she had enough when she made hers, but I was chicken and didn’t think I had enough yarn so I skipped the last chart – looking at the ball I had left I probably did have enough though – and should have just gone for it.  Next time!

I can’t say enough good things about this yarn – it’s an alpaca/silk/cashmere blend, and it is so nice to work with.  After blocking the shawl was so light and airy – and so silky and had wonderful drape.  The colorway is beautiful too – this just seemed like the best color to knit in the summer – it reminds me of our pool.  I really love this yarn, and I’m so glad that I have another skein in my stash (similar colorway but it has some green in it).

All in all, a very successful project.    Half way through it I decided to give this to my niece – she loves blue and I thought she’d like it.   I gave it to her last weekend – she did love it, but she’s moving to Ft. Lauderdale at the end of the summer, so I’m not sure how much use she’ll get out of it.    But it is such a cute shawl that I just may have to make another one for me!

I started another project last weekend – and I”ll show pictures next time.  It won’t be a surprise to hear that it’s a shawl – and one with a knitted on edging.  I’ve never done that before, and it took me a little bit to get my mind around how to do it.   I finally found pictures online that helped me figure it out – I really don’t know how I’d learn things without the internet – how did knitters do it in the old days?   Anyway, I’m not to that point, but I’m looking forward to getting to it.

I’ve also been spinning a bit this weekend – I don’t know why, but I think it’s all the blog posts of spinning for the Tour de Fleece finally got me back to my wheel – I hadn’t spun in over a year!   But this weekend, I’ve been sitting and spinning and listening to audio books – it is really relaxing, and I finished up some yarn that I had on the bobbins for the longest time.  It was a great feeling to wind it off – I should have pictures of it next time – I can’t say its the best yarn I’ve ever done, but its done.   Its enough for a cowl or hat, and I think I’ll start something with it soon.  I love knitting with hand-spun – there is something so satisfying about the whole end to end process!

OK, I think I’ll go spin a little more.  Have a great week!

When I was growing up, I always had mittens and hats made by my mother. I would occasionally get a sweater, and I remember one Christmas where she made my father and I fair isle sweaters from Icelandic Wool (I still have my father’s – and that’s a story for another post). As I got older, though, she didn’t knit for me as much – frankly, before I was a knitter I don’t think I really appreciated what she made as much as I should have. But I did get the occasional scarf, mittens or sweater.  Since I started knitting, however, my Mom hasn’t made me anything. She figured that since I knit I could just make things myself. So she’d send scarves, mittens, sweaters, socks to my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews and occasionally, Dan, Andrew and Cieara. But never me. And I understood it – but sort of wished that I’d get something too.

My Mom is 90 and is starting to lose her eyesight due to macular degineration. She still knits but she can’t knit with anything fine or small needles. And she has a hard time with patterns and remembering where she is. She keeps on telling me that she thinks she is going to have to stop knitting – but you can tell she just doesn’t want to. She loves going to yarn stores, reading patterns and trying new things. Its really hard for her to give it up – and I think she also thinks she’s giving up that connection to me. She was so excited when I started knitting and she loves to talk about it with me.

Anyway, when I was visiting her in February, she was making my sister a scarf. I was joking around that I never got scarves – and she told me she’d make me one. And when she finished my sisters (my mother is a one project knitter), she started mine. I heard about the yarn, the pattern, and how she was struggling to find the right pattern.

Long story short (its already been long I know!) – my mother has been working on this scarf for months – and has struggled through it. She told me its much harder to knit for me than it is for anyone else because I would “see the mistakes” She’s frogged it three times completely because she thought it just wasn’t good enough. I kept on telling her that I didn’t care – that everyone has mistakes in their knitting but she just couldn’t do it.  She wanted to send me something that I would love because its perfect.

Last week I finally got the scarf, and I had to share it because I think that it represents the best thing about knitting – the memory, the love and the meaning behind some of the projects we do.

I don’t think that every project represents something – I churn out scarves and socks and things simply because I want to make them.  But sometimes projects have a bigger significance to me – the shawl I make for someone carries with it my love and thoughts about the person.  The baby booties I made carry with them my good thoughts for my nephew and his wife.  And this scarf that my mother struggled to make for me for months carries with it the connection we share as knitters, the love she has for me, and the memories that I have of her.   I see the scarf, and although I see some areas that aren’t as perfect as she would have liked, I see the hours, the struggle and love she put into it.  And I don’t think that I could ever love something more.  When I wear this, I’ll think about her, and will love the scarf, not because its perfect or imperfect, but because she put so much into it. And I’ll cherish it a little bit more because it may be the last thing she makes for me because of her eyesight.  I think its a pretty amazing scarf, don’t you?  It holds so much meaning, and yet its just a couple of balls of yarn (really nice yarn, but still just yarn).

Thanks for all the nice comments about the cashmere scarf.  My mother loved it – in fact, she loved it so much she forgot that I was making it for her friend and thought it was hers.  When I reminded her, she asked me if I thought it would be terrible if she kept it -= that it was too nice to give away.  I really had to laugh – but it was really nice so I completely understood it as well.  I told her that I would make something else for her friend.  But I guess that I should make sure its not too nice!

I finished Artemis and just blocked it so next time I’ll have pictures of that.  And I may have started a new project – it took me an entire day to decide but I’m really enjoying it.  And its not blue!

Have a good week!

I finished something last weekend – finally!

Isn’t that nice?  Can’t you just see how soft and fluffy it is?

Pattern:  Party Lace Scarf
Yarn:  Filatura Di Crosa Golden Line Superior
Started:  April 4, 2010
Finished: June 20, 2010

Cashmere and silk…how can you go wrong?  This was amazing yarn  - it was so soft, and I enjoyed every bit of knitting with it.  It was a little fluffy – sort of like Kidsilk Haze so I don’t think it would be good for something that requires a huge amount of stitch definition, but it was great for this type of pattern.   My mother asked me to knit a scarf for her friend  - the friend had knit my Mom a scarf, and Mom wanted to give her something special back.  My Mom can’t knit lace anymore due to vision limitations, so I was happy to help.   We went to her LYS when I visited her in February and she picked out the yarn – the minute we felt it we knew it was the perfect yarn for a special gift!

I blocked the scarf after I finished it, and it really blocked well.  It completely made the scarf, I think – it looked so much nicer when it was blocked out and the yarn handled it well.  It became very airy and light – and the cashmere/silk blend is so soft .

I really liked the pattern – very very easy to knit, and was great commute knitting.  I think you could use any type of yarn for this – the cashmere was laceweight, but I think fingering weight would work as well.  But I do think a solid/semi-solid colorway would be best – its not an obvious pattern so having varigation in the yarn would completely hide it.   This is a great scarf for a single skein of special yarn (like cashmere/silk!) – it only calls for 227 yards but since its a scarf, you could make it however long you want. I didn’t think my mother’s friend would  want a super long scarf so didn’t use all of the 330 yards that were in the ball that I was using (and to be honest, I was ready to be done with this project so I kept on trying it on and the minute I thought it was long enough it was done!).

The pattern calls for beads on the ends of the scarf – just a single row as an accent.  I like that, and thought it added a little something.  But I wish I hadn’t used the beads I did – I just used a clear bead because its what I had around the house.  If I made this again, I’d probably buy beads that blend in a little better  - the clear just sort of were fake plastic looking.  I think a darker blue would have been nice.  But I’m trying to use what I have and not buy stuff for every project, so I was happy to at least have done that.

So there you go – another successful knit.  I love the yarn and I’m so glad my mother bought me a second  ball to pay me for knitting this for her to give her friend.    I have to recommend the pattern as well – simple and easy, but I think it really comes out well and is a great pattern to use for a small skein of special yarn.

I hate to say this because my last three posts have said this – but I’m almost done with Artemis – I just have 6 rows to go.  I had to modify the pattern a little – I am running out of yarn and couldn’t do the last bit of the second chart so I’m going  just do the final chart (with a little tweaking to make it work).  I contacted Valerie, the designer, to see if she had run out of yarn – she didn’t and had yarn left over so I think I must be knitting it at a different gauge or something.  I never do gauge swatches for shawls – but perhaps I should really consider that!    I hate the feeling of running out of yarn – I stop at the end of every row and look at the ball of yarn and try to figure out if I have enough.  Valerie did offer to dye me some more of this colorway so we’ll see – if I can’t get the 6 rows done I may consider that.  Anyway – I can’t wait to show you the shawl because its very pretty – and the yarn – so nice!

Its been a busy week here – and yet I can’t really say why – don’t you hate weeks like that?  I’m very glad its the weekend – no major plans other than walking the dogs, maybe a movie.  Its been so hot here and muggy that I’m not too motivated to spend a lot of time outside – but maybe tomorrow I’ll hang out by the pool and knit in the shade!

Have a great weekend!

Not too far from blue, but judging on my two recent yarn purchases, I’d say purple is the next “stuck in a rut” color!

This is Wandering Cat Alley Cat yarn in the Grapes of Wrath colorway.  Alley Cat is a Merino/Nylon blend and its fingering weight.  I think it’s going to be very pretty knit up – I just need to come up with the best patter for it.

I placed a Loopy Ewe order a couple of weeks ago for the yarn for the Peaks hood – and couldn’t resist throwing in a little Malabrigo.

This is Malabrigo lace weight in the Cuarzo colorway.  I saw it online, and just loved it – and then when I got it and also saw the Wandering Cat yarn, I just had to laugh.  I guess I’m shading away from blue to purple!

So hard to decide which one to start something with – so they both have been sitting out where I see them all the time.   I’m trying to finish up two of my current projects – I have about 30 rows to go on the Artemis shawl and its knitting up quickly.  I’m a little worried that I’m going to run out of yarn because the ball seems a little small, but I suppose worse case I’ll improvise something.    My cashmere scarf is now long enough so I just had to do the beaded row and cast off.  I think I may do that today – assuming I can find where I put the beads!  The scarf is beautiful – so soft.  I’m going to block it so that the lace pops but I think this will be done today.    Once these two are done, I need to get a commute knitting project going – so socks or scarf?  What do you think?

We are having a very quiet weekend.  We did a little shopping yesterday (food, clothes, dog toys) and then went out to dinner.  We went to a local restaurant, sat outside and it was just so nice.   I know that in the blink of an eye it will be cold again, so its nice to be able to spend as much time outdoors as we can.  Today we are having a lazy day – Cieara is coming over for lunch, and Dan for dinner to see Larry for Father’s Day.    I’m going to be attempting to make a home-made banana cream pie  (it was so tempting to do a cheater pie with a store-bought graham cracker crust and some jello pudding mix!).  I haven’t made home-made pudding in a long long time so I hope it works out.     Other than that, its going to be really hot here so I’m planning on just hanging out by the pool, knitting and relaxing.

Our hydrangea are blooming – a little weird this year – normally they are all blue, but this year they are light blue with a white center.  I have no idea why, but it’s very pretty!

OK, I’m off – happy Sunday (and Father’s Day if you celebrate!)