Monday, August 28, 2006

long time, no post

posted by sssssssssss



we here at weheartyarn have become a bit...what's the word? oh, yeah - apathetic - about this here e-community. and none moreso than this one right here. (the only one who has really been posting with any regularity is wg, and she was out of the freaking country for, like, 2 weeks!) sure, blogger has thwarted a few of my lame-ass attempts, but that's what blogger does. what is uncharacteristic is that i just kind of gave up when blogger started f-ing with me. which brings us to right here, right now, and yet another attempt to upload some old-ass photos.

i will begin today with the obsession that threatens to unseat socks, the amurugami or whatever. the cute, big-headed japanese crocheted wierd funky animals.

what was once this:


is now this:


i also had a brief sojourn into the wonderful world of baby sock knitting:


the finished pair are leftover fire on the mountain socks that rock, from a pair i made for my sister last year (coincidentally, my very first pair of toe-up socks ever - i even remember the date i began them. october 12, 2005. yeah, i'm a total knitting dork, who cares?) and the others are the wee toes of baby tiger socks.

this could be a great thing, these baby socks, especially because i am entering that time of life where, like, everyone i know is having babies. 3 or 4 born to college friends this year alone; one just born and one about ready to pop in my family.

there has been other knitting, too. i did a teensy-weensy bit more on fab classic; i finally finished the dutch canyon str socks i had been working on since june; i made a pair of str heavyweight in the red rock canyon colorway for the old father-in-law, but photos have not yet been snapped of these.

soon, dear reader, soon. we will all be back soon.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

by wg

OK, so a little bragging going on. Today was my 12th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband Kevin, and he suprised me by not only taking me out to dinner for spaghetti (which is my favorit food by far), but also by buying me yarn! Yes, you heard it correctly....YARN! And not only yarn, but sock yarn! Yes, you heard that one correctly also....SOCK YARN!!!!
What have I created? A wonderful man, that's what! He's finally taken that leap into the wonderful world of yarn and knitting. There's nothing better than having your husband buy you yarn, that they picked out themselves, that they personally chose the colors of. I actually can't stop beaming!!!!

Here are the skeins:





















































In addition to all of this, he suprised me with a dozen orange roses after we got home. How sweet is this man? :)

wg

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Nothin but knittin on my mind....

post by wg

(picture below is of the Slain Castle, about one hour north of Dublin)














It's hard to believe I have already been back from Ireland for a little over a week. What happened to the time? This trip we had been preparing for, anticipating for months, dreaming about....this trip is now over, and we are back to our daily routines, busy at work, busy at home, busy with our lives. Why does every day at work seem like such an eternity and yet, 2 1/2 weeks of vacation seem to fly by in the wink of an eye? Such is life, I guess. I just wish that every day could be as luxurious as waking up when we darn well feel like it, eating lunch at a little quaint pub just a hop and a skip down the street from the bed and breakfast we're staying in, and staying up till all odd hours of the night with friends, singing Irish folksongs and laughing the night away. I wish that every day could be spent driving along little country roads, where you might just have to stop here and there to let the sheep cross the road, where the locals have lived there for centuries, and where each person says "top the mornin to ya!" when you're out for your morning walk. I wish that more days were spent at a slow pace, where living life didn't mean stressing about how quickly we could get something done to get on to the next thing that needs to be done. In Ireland the banks open at 10 and close at 4, so that everyone can relax and enjoy their evenings with friends. In Ireland life is a constant celebration, it seems~where when one pub closes and the one down the street opens, where friends are made instantly, and where the air is as fresh as the ocean, 365 days of the year. As you can probably tell, we enjoyed ourselves there!















(picture above is of the street a few blocks from where we were staying on our second trip to Dublin)

So, as I return to my life in Portland, I also return to knitting! While in Ireland, I found the knitting scene was scarce and knitting stores were few and far between. Knitting has really taken on a slow and still life in Ireland, which I know, is very difficult to believe, but it's the sad truth. I had severe yarn store withdrawals while in Irleand, and so, the morning I returned, after spending the previous 24 hours either on a flight or in an airport, and awake nonetheless, I just had to travel to one of my local yarn stores here to see what I'd missed while I'd been away. Oh how we take for granted the wonderful knitting stores we have here in Portland. It seems there are so many great places to knit amongst friends, to purchase very much needed needles, and to fondle yarn to your hearts content. This I cannot find in Ireland, and so, I determine that I am, after all, better off here, at home, amongst other knitters. Even the pub action in Ireland cannot compare to this!

NK had a very special suprise for me when I returned to work - some lovely Blue Suede Shoes Sock Hop yarn. This stuff is lovely! Thanks very very very much NK!















I mean, isn't this stuff just amazing??????















I also returned to some wonderful birthday gifts from my We Heart Yarn pals. It was such a wonderful suprise, and completely unexpected! Thank you girls! I luv all of you and appreciate this gorgeous yarn so much!!!!!!

Some gorgeous Kaalund Yarns 100% silk in the Pacific colorway:















A wonderful skein of SweetGeorgia Speed Demon sock yarn in the Honey Fig colorway. This sock yarn is butter to the skin, literally!!















The colors are just so detailed, bright and fantastic...
















THANK YOU AGAIN WE HEART YARN GALS!!!!!!!

I've mainly been working on a test knit sweater for Sundara yarn, which is coming along beautifully. It's absolutely gorgeous yarn, some of the most beautiful I've seen actually, which makes knitting it even all the more wonderful. I've included a few shots of what the yarn knits up like....It's fabulous!!!!!!!


































In other knitting updates, I have been slowly working on a pair of Wild Thing Sock Hop socks, and have just turned the heel on both. The toes and heels are both done with STR lightweight yarn (thank you S for your contribution to this!). More details on the specifics when these are complete, but here are a few progress photos...























I'm working on the 2nd Calla Lilly sock from the Sundara Petals Collection Sock Club - here's a photo of the first:




















I'm slowly puttering away on a pair of heavy weight STR socks for my very special hubby, in the Petrified Wood colorway:
















I also just started the toes on the newest STR sock club socks - but not enough to post about yet.

I am an obsessed woman lately....knitting this & knitting that....just enjoying knitting with so many different colors and fibers - being away from the knitting scene for almost 3 weeks really threw me into a knitting frenzy, of sorts, and I can't seem to get enough of it lately. Such is life, I guess, right? I could have worse addictions. :)

I leave you with a photo of beautiful Ireland....what a wonderful country you are!















(photo above: countryside at Newcastle, Ireland)

Sunday, August 13, 2006

sock wars and more amigurumi

posted by: sssssssssss

the NK just forwarded me the link to...

SOCK WARS!!!

this may be just what this knitter needs to expunge some of the general malaise that's been my not-so-welcome companion lately. not so much a knit-along, and not really a contest, more like a sprint. it's really a great idea - i can imagine myself as one of those sexy, sexy james bond gals, or even james bond himself. i can role-play spy-shit, or pretend to be an assasin (mr and mrs smith, anyone?); it could be kind of like playing the best video game ever, killing the aliens, (knitting the socks). gotta come up with a sweet name, gotta be clandestine, gotta win the war. sign-ups end on september 8.

on the home front, crocheting has been quite a fun little obsession. there was the blue duckie, quickly followed by a green frog and a red-and-blue bear. there are so many of these little "amigurumi" floating through my head, and they sure do make a crafter happy...

not to mention a crafter's hubby:



the bears e and i became friends:



oh, and, no photo yet, but i am working on the smallest pair of socks ever, for the new little baby in my family, cameron.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Tally-Ho!!!

Posted by Neuroknitter

Helloooo!!! It has been way too long since I've posted! My apologies! Work has been outrageously busy...but the good news is that I've received a Pilot Research Award from the National MS Society!! Yay and Thank you NMSS!!!!

Happy Birthday to Dear Hubby, Pete!! Those are my folks on the left and Pete's mom on the right, that would be me next to Pete! In answer to your question....Chocolate cake with cinnamon butter cream frosting!! Yum!

On to knitting...There are finished objects to share, and a modest amount of acquisitions to show...





Yarn: Sweet Georgia "Fondant"
Pattern: My own, Toe-up, short row heel, Picot cast off
Needles: Magic loop Size 1 Addi Turbos
Stitch Count: 60


Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk "Capri"
Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl (Sivia Harding)
In progress



Acquisition from the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR (June 24-26).
That would be STR, Sock hop roving from Crown Mountain, and a lovely new hand spindle!!


And a couple of skeins from Savvyminx' Etsy shop!!! Gorgeous stuff!!! I believe they are "Periwinkle" and "Iris". Yum!!!





The Sundara "Calla Lily" socks are done!! Love them!
Yarn: Sundara "Calla Lily"
Pattern: Petals Collection sock club June entry
Needles: Addi 1 (2 socks 1 needle magic loop)
Mods: 8-row picot edge (I heart picot edges!);
short row heel; carried the lace pattern down the heel

Well, I have a few more projects to be tallied and posted....Sweetgeorgia "River" and "Garden Party" socks--both are constructed toe up with my own pattern, including beads on the cuffs!!! :) I finished spinning and plying the sock hop roving....And my BMFA July socks are in progress...love the Peaseblossom colorway!!! A few more acquisition pictures are in the queue, too (Thanks Jen!!!!)--Baudelaire here we come!! Pictures soon, or sooner if blogger lets me load them :(

Happy Knitting!!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

So cute I could puke

by Emily

I'd like to announce an addition to our household.

That's right. Our very own big-headed crocheted duck.

He even goes with the decor.

And, in the last few hours, he's really become part of the family.

Of course, some of us are more welcoming than others...

God help us when we have children.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

a small, blue, goofy-looking interlude



the talented and wonderful m agreed to meet e and me at a coffee shop the other night to teach us how to read japanese crochet patterns, so we, too, could make our very own cute, little, big-headed, crazy-looking japanese animals. m is a master teacher, and, even though my forays into crochet do not extend beyond an ugly blanket i made for s our second year together, suprisingly it just came flying back to me. (okay, a bump or two along the way, but what is learning, anyway, besides bumps and u-turns, maybe a full-on crash or two along the way, huh?) e and i kind of decided to work on the same project, just in case either of us had problems or questions, we could consult one another. but, m is really good at explaining the how-to's, and guess what? crocheting ain't all that hard, and neither is reading japanese patterns. whodathunkit?



a face only a mother could love, sure, but you should have heard s giggling when i finished attaching this lil guy's feet. he immediately asked if he could have it, so i would definitely rate this project a success. watch out - i see a new obsession on the horizon.

knitting news: finished sock hops on the trip to columbus; started str sock club socks in columbus, and did not touch my fab classic. will get to that soon.