Home again! Well, as it turned out, I didn't get a chance to blog from the road. There was just way too much going on, and not a whole lot blog-worthy. We spent a week in Idaho, visiting Kellen's family and enjoying some much needed time off. And of course, shopping for yarn! We only got a chance to go to three shops, which was actually fine for me. They were so amazing, anything more would have been sensory overload. First up there was Ewephoria, where I got some adorable knitting fabric. I'll post pictures of it as an FO as soon as I sew it up. Talk about a friendly, inviting yarn shop! They had a great selection, too.

Then we went to Puffy Mondaes, which I was really excited about because the owner is from Arcata! Again, an amazing, inviting shop. And I scored the sock yarn you see above! Yes, that's the highly sought after Regia nation yarn that The Harlot blogged about. I scored their last two balls! And, as it turns out, the socks will match my new garden clogs (purchased at Fred Meyer along the way) perfectly. And no, container gardening doesn't really warrant garden clogs, but living in soggy Humboldt County does, and besides, they're adorable.

Then it was on to Boise

Fuzz was our final store, and it was awesome too. I wanted to squeeze everything, but settled on the gorgeous manos and this yummy roving.

How amazing are those colors? I can't wait to spin this up.

And because you can't buy too many shoes on vacation, and because it's Self Portrait Tuesday, here's one final indulgence:


So, now I'm officially on a yarn diet until I get some things off the needles. Stay tuned for The Cobblestone, The Clap, and the Blue Fuzzy Thing.

Labels: self portrait, vacation, yarn

  ¶ 1:13 PM 1 Comments

  Birthday Edition.
Today is my 21st birthday. I snapped this picture shortly after I finished my 8 AM final, although This is a more accurate example of my appearance today. It's been a mellow birthday, I took the aforementioned exam, came home, and knit on this for awhile:

Just a plain vanilla hat in my handspun. It was going to be an Urchin, but I just wasn't feeling it. . .plus I thought I *might* run out of yarn. So I went for this instead. Then I spent a ridiculous amount of money getting a much-needed hair cut and a very painful eyebrow wax, and now I'm home again, and (suprise!) getting ready to take another exam. Oy.

But this too shall pass. And in a few days, I'll be blogging from the road on our way to Idaho. I have a ton of LYS's to visit. I can't wait.

Labels: self portrait, WIP

  ¶ 2:04 PM 0 Comments

  Bzz, Me, Fuzzy, and WIP! Since it's Tuesday, let's start off with my Self Portrait of the week, As I was rooting around in our drawer of hats for something to wear today, I realized I never really blogged my Bzz Hat! So here's to two birds with one stone.

Remember back in June(!), when I said I'd post more details as soon as we were all finished. Well, ask Karla what happened. Anyway, here's mine. It's gotten lots of wear this past winter. Pattern: Bzzz Hat for Queen Bees from SNBN. Yarn: Wool Ease by Lion Brand. Needles: US 5 Susan Bates circ and dpns. I actually knit this twice, once on 7s, then frogged and reknit with 5's in an attempt to reduce the gappy-ness of all the purling on dpns. It didn't really work, but the hat is still cute. As the daughter of a beekeeper, I'm pretty much in love with anything bee related, and very much concerned about the future of our honeybee. So the hat makes a great conversation piece. Plus, it's pretty damn cute!

Now for something else old:

Pattern: Fuzzy Feet from Knitty.com. Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Mulberry. Needles: Brittany DPNs, US 10.5. These, believe it or not, were Christmas gifts, and they are sitting on my counter as I type. I actually knit them on time, but I handfelted, which I realize now works great for toys and bags, but not so much for slippers, which sort of need to be the same size. So, they sat in a drawer for awhile, until I remembered to toss them in with a load of laundry. I didn't even worry about checking on them, since they were so wonky to begin with, so I just ran them through the whole cycle and viola! Perfectly felted, just the right size. This still isn't my favorite slipper pattern, but with one skein of LP you can't complain. They're off to their recipient this weekend. Nothing like Xmas in April, right?

And now to the present:

A top secret pair of socks (Okay, you can probably already tell they're the Embossed Leaves pattern, but I'm not telling who they're for!) and Fetchings for me. The Fetchings were totally spur of the moment. I took a midterm at 8 AM this morning and my hands were freezing, so I decided I needed some handwarmers that would allow me to write. So, this afternoon I came home and cast on.

I think that's just about it from me, how are you?

Labels: Christmas, FO, self portrait, WIP

  ¶ 4:19 PM 2 Comments

  It's Tuesday, again? I have a (big!) FO to post soon, but since I don't have any decent shots of it yet, here's what I'm working on right now:
It's the Wicked Sweater from Zephyr Style, in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, Claret Heather. Isn't that color gorgeous? My SP sent me two skeins and I loved it so much I bought more for this sweater. It was a gamble, and they're different dye lots but they match perfectly. Completely seamless transition. Karla and I are having a long distance knit along on this one.

And, because it's Tuesday: Here's my self portrait for the week. I just bought this shirt yesterday. The bottom part says, "Eat Tofu." I think having been a vegetarian for over half my life means I deserve a tshirt, right?

Labels: self portrait, WIP

  ¶ 4:53 PM 0 Comments

  slouchy tuesday As part of my 101 goals I decided I wanted to participate in Self Portrait Tuesday for a year (but on my own terms, not paying attention to their themes or guidelines unless I wanted to). And then there were the camera issues. Well, I finally got a new camera, so here's what I looked like today: Actually, I kind of cheated. Kellen took this picture. But I wanted to get my whole dorky outfit in. Why yes, Pippi Longstocking just happens to be my hero. How'd you know? And yes, I do own and wear Crocs. I don't believe in shame, so there.

But you're here for the knitting, right? See what's on my head? Pattern: Le Slouch by Wendy Bernard (pdf). Yarn: TLC Heathers. Needles: US 7, Susan Bates. Mods: Cast on about 10 extra stitches to account for big noggin' and smaller needles, only worked St st for about 4.75 inches before decreasing. I had this yarn in the stash from when I made Knitty's Wine Cozy for my aunt in 2005, and although it's a very squeaky acrylic, I love the pretty heathered color, and it was just sitting on the shelf...now I have a pretty cute hat, and it only took a few days to knit. I think I'll be making more of these in different colors. Very handy for my awkward, growing-it-out hair.

Labels: FO, self portrait

  ¶ 4:51 PM 5 Comments