Presents and a Visit

News Flash!
The pictures from the birthday party are posted. They were taken by photographer Zabi Towfique. I am going to have a lovely book printed of them, but I have to spend some time figuring out exactly what I want!

I got a box in the mail last week, from my mom! She sent these slippers, modeled by Jaya. They are a little large for me, but they fit him perfectly. I asked him what he thought of them, and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "Very gay." Apparently that's not a bad thing, because he likes wearing them! The yarn is by Regia, colorway is Crazy Electra. It's wool, but very stretchy stuff. I bought some to make some Short Toed Socklets for a friend of mine. I won't say who in case she's reading!
The other knitted item mom sent was a mystery at first. Then we figured out it was an ice cream cozy, made to fit perfectly on a quart of Hagen Daaz (the only ice cream Jaya will eat!) Here are Jaya, Marilyn and Dean in their usual positions, enjoying the evening.

The weekend of October 21st, I went up to Penn Valley to visit my friend Earin, her husband Dick, and their menagerie of dog (Omar) and cats (Otis, Ollie and Opie....oh, I forget if that's right. Forgive me, Earin if I messed up your pet's names!) Earin already wrote about our visit in her blog, I'm a bit behind!

When I arrived, Earin was not at the house. I drove over to the park to meet her where she was walking Omar. What a cute couple they make!

Here's Earin with hubby, Dick. Another cute couple! Dick took us all out for Thai food that evening. What a nice treat.
Here's me with Earin. We've known each other since college days. That means about thirty years. The friendship has weathered a few minor rainy patches, but we still have fun together. We spend lots of time knitting on this visit. Then we went to a YARN store!

Here's Earin, looking over the book selection at Fibers, in Grass Valley. I found a book of shawl patterns that I bought. I have to do something with all that Sari Silk!

After shopping, we went to tea in Nevada City at Shaw's Antiques and Top Floor Tea Room. It was delightful. I had a lovely salad, Golden Hunann Tea, and rasberry tart for dessert!

On the needles

Here's the Irish Hiking Scarf. This is just over one skein's worth, about 2 feet. I'm using size 8 needles. It's hard to see the cables in this photo, but it has a wonderful texture. This is a dense scarf, knitted with Manos handspun handpainted yarn in a gorgeous colorway. I may make it short, like 4 feet, and use my last skein for a hat or ear-band.

This 'necklace' was knitted with 'squiggle' yarn by Crystal Palace... on the drive down to San Diego! We went to Encinitas for Bob Hudson's wedding. Bob is Jaya's jujitsu sensei. What happened was.... I had begun to make a scarf from this yarn, and I wanted to wear it before it was finished. So I just pinned up the open stitches on a safety pin, and tucked the extra yarn into my bra, and wore the scarf with this outfit. Well, that was in January, and I wanted to finish it before I wore it again. So, in the car, on the way down, I tried to pick up the stitches I had pinned. Maybe because it was in the car, or maybe because it was squiggle yarn.. which is really just THREAD with squiggly fat bits hanging from it... I couldn't do it. So instead, I knitted from the other end, and made a loop about ten stitches wide on size 15 needles. I made it long enough to wear, and knitted the ends together, so it really is a necklace. Then I frogged the rest of the squiggle, and I will put it together with something else when I use it.. that will be a LOT easier to manage!

Look! The Caesar's Check mosaic sock from Sensational Knitted Socks is done! Well, one of them is done. And I have started the second one. And look! it fits! this pattern has been so much fun to knit. I like this heel, too.


And last but not least....

The shrug still isn't done. I look like I'm zoned out here, knitting away. I just have a little more to do. Then I'm going to try it on, and if I determine I JUST DON'T LIKE IT, as I'm afraid I will, it will go into my frog pond, and wait for new inspiration.

Oh, there's one other thing... I'm making a cabled hat from the zig zag pattern on Knitty.com. It's coming out quite well, but I don't have a picture yet.

I'm off to Penn Valley tomorrow to visit my friend Earin. I'm taking ALL my knitting, and plan to visit several yarn stores!

Party Pictures

Here are some of the photos from the party. I am having a wonderful book made, and I don't want to post them all here. But here's a teaser for you.

This is my daughter, Magda. My son Andrew is behind her. He managed to not be in any of the other photos!


Here I am playing my fiddle.

And here are Janet and I, singing 'Dimming of the Day'.


It really was an excellent party. I'll post more photos later.

More Stash

Here's more of the stash. I guess my oldest unfinished textile project is this blanket. I started it before Nora, my niece, was born. That was quite a while ago. At least six years. I've lost count. It's crocheted in broomstick lace. That's a size 50 knitting needle that you crochet around, and it leaves the lacy loops. Well. It is hopelessly uneven. The yarn is acrylic, but it's soft and nice. It would make a sweet little sweater. If I ever manage to MAKE a sweater.

The squiggle scarf up there isn't quite finished, either. But I wanted to wear it when I was in Florida, so I pinned up the stitches and stuffed the extra yarn into my bra. It worked just fine, but I never did finish it. How many projects are worn BEFORE they are finished?

I want to think of a good progect for the red wool/cotton/linen yarn. I have about 900 yards. What can I make with that? I'm thinking maybe a tank top. That apricot colored spool of yarn was in a bargain bin for $4. It's fine, laceweight, I guess. But it wasn't marked, so I'm not sure what it is. It was with some nice yarn, though. There is a lot of it, I could make a shawl with it.

I've started the Irish Cable scarf as you can see. Actually, I started it again on larger needles. I can't decide which to knit it on. I have it on 8s and on 10.5s. They both look good. I guess I'll knit up a few more inches on each before I decide.

FLASH!!! Party pictures are here. I have them. There are some gems. I will post soon.

Stash Organizing

Here is my progress on the mosaic sock, from Sensational Knitted Socks. I am just starting to make the heel flap. This is an interesting technique. I've had a few stumbles, but mostly I'm figuring it out alright. I did find a mistake in the book, and when I went online I found the publisher had already posted a correction! Very nice.



I can't post all the pictures of my stash, but here is part of it. I'm just too tired tonight. I'll get it done later in the week. I couldn't take one photo of the whole thing, it's just too much!

I want to do something with all this lovely red yarn. I think I have about 900 yards. I wonder if that's enough for some kind of tank top or t shirt top? I don't think it will make a long sleeved sweater.

After I laid out everything... it took up most of the living room floor... I packed everything up into ziplock bags and tucked it away in the bins under the table in the living room. It is prettier when you can see the yarn, but it tends to get very messy on me. This will keep it protected and contained, I hope!

I go to the photographers on Tuesday to look at proofs of the birthday party pictures. I will probably bring some home to post here this week. Yay!