Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Wonders of Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the fact that I live in an area that has all four season, although I'm not totally on board with the hot summers. I just love the changing colors, but there is one big draw back with fall. Marching band. My oldest daughter is a senior in her marching band and she just loves it, so as good parents we have volunteered to help out. So for the past few months we have been going crazy with all the football games and competitions. I am happy to say that my daughters band won second place in their division. Which is a huge thing as they didn't have a colorgaurd this year. So at the competition they started out with minus 50 points. They only lost to first place by 10 points so they are really happy with the results.
Because I have been so busy with marching band I just haven't had the time to blog. Now that band is over I have a bit more time on my hands. So I thought I would update you on some of the things I have been working on. I have been knitting and spinning, even at games and while I wait for the band to play at a competition. I am usually seen with some type of project with me.
To start off I have been slowly working on my spindle yarn. In the last post I talked about how I am working on some lace weight for a shawl from some fiber from Wooly Wonka. Its a merino,silk angora blend. Its spinning up really nicely and I do love the way its going even if its slow. I do plan to start on some red wool that I bought on a shopping day last week. A few of my girl friends and I went to see some of the fiber and yarn stores in the area. I have been looking for the perfect red fiber to spin and knit a scarf for a friend of mine. She is one to always stop and admire my knitting. So I thought it would be fun to spin and knit her something for Christmas. At first I didn't think it would be so hard to find the right read. I wanted a real rich blue red. So I was finally able to get just what I wanted and I can't wait to get started. I haven't totally found the perfect pattern yet but I do have a few in mind. I will keep you updated on my progress.




There have been a few things come off the needles in the past few weeks. I have made some socks from the Greensleeves pattern called Foggy Mountain socks. If you ever get the chance to take the spinning for socks class from Elizabeth Dailey then do. I love the pattern and it works up really fast as its a 3 ply sport weight yarn.




I have also knit a baby surprise sweater for a class I taught on it. This next weekend I will show how to add a collar on it but I am really happy with how the hand spun work up. When I was spinning this 2ply I didn't pay attention to color placement so I think its really cool how the colors worked out.






I have also been working on one of my favorite shawl patterns. Its from Knitter fall 2000 its called Pi with sleeves. I have knit this before and just love the looks of it and it wears really nicely too.



I am at the point of the bind off lace edging, then I will add the sleeves. This is also going to be a gift this year. As matter of fact this is the first year I have started on Christmas so early. So here's hoping I will get everything done in time.


Another really fun little project that I made for my youngest daughter what a Amigurumi cheese burger. If you have not try to make one of these little toys I say you should. It was so much fun. I decided to use Sugar and Cream cotton yarn as I had all the colors that where needed. I didn't have a solid yellow so my daughter chose a yellow with little specks of color in it so its pepper jack cheese. Don't you just love the lettuce and the tomatoes?



Well I will stop for now and be looking for more updates to come. I have done some really fun dying that I will share with you.