Monday, August 31, 2015

A Finished Object Gets an Airing

That's the first LivedIn I finished, made with no ease. (Photo taken while staring into sun. Ouch)

I also finished a Simply Riveting in the Ocean Waves hand dye.  I bound it off yesterday and got it blocking this morning.
I finally decided on a hat pattern for my Bonfire hand dye, I Was a Teenage Mutant is working up beautifully.  My cat graciously shared her sun beam for the photo.

I keep trying to finish more projects from my unfinished objects pile (that is starting to eat the end of the couch), but more than five minutes time at a go is not enough to put a dent in it at this point.  It will happen...just not right now.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Is it Halloween yet?

For most people, Halloween is ages away.  The local craft stores have their Halloween holiday stuff out though, giving a trip for pillow stuffing a slightly gothic turn.
As it's vaguely Halloween all year around our house, I figured it wouldn't be too out of place to start decorating.
The package says some of the bits should glow in the dark.  We'll see how well this evening.
Once I get some tacks I will be able to put up the first stringer of lights I got.  Sadly, the blood shot candy eyes will have to wait till the holiday baking begins.
My excuse for buying more Halloween decorations is that most of ours are old and beginning to fall apart.  The actual reason?  I love Halloween!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

There is almost an embarrassing amount of yarn here

Please note, I did say almost.  While cleaning out the downstairs coat closet, I discovered five boxes, shoved out of sight and forgotten after our last move.  One of those boxes was full of yarn (two others held finished objects and fabric).   I re-discovered six sweaters worth of yarn. Six!  There were three sweaters in progress!  One was ripped out, one set aside to finish later, and one was completed twenty-four hours after being exhumed from the bottom of the box.
The ends aren't woven in, the knitting is finished, and it fits.  Definitely a win.
I am also still working on the Bovary socks by General Hogbuffer.  The yarn is KnitPicks Chroma in Lupine, not my usual choice of colors.  Loving them totally!

Quite a bit of my available time is being spent knitting up samples out of a friend's hand-dye for a trunk show at the local yarn shop in October, (I don't have official dates so no links yet). 
I've finished hats in both Blue Jay and Robin using the Barley pattern from TinCan Knits.
Tequila Sunrise is being used to the Elijah pattern from Ysolda Teague.

Ocean waves is wound up in anticipation of being cast on for a shawl, I think.
Bonfire, (which is what I have been mentally calling it) was my special request.  It waits for me to figure out which hat and mitts I will be making for myself out of it.
And because I am a terrible glutton on multiple levels who cannot resist certain temptations, there may be four shawl knit alongs worth of yarn (and their required beads) winging their way towards me.  I know I said I would be buying no more yarn, but that was before a Vanessa Ives and Voodoo knit alongs went live.  Then there was the Hogwarts themed one I found, so of course I needed to show my Ravenclaw colors!
There is at least one other skein I will be showing off once it arrives, bought in a moment of fangirl need.
Really, that needs to be it because there are six projects to be finished the first week of October and then twenty others (an accurate number, I made a list) that I endeavor to have done by November.  Why yes, I do believe I may be a bit insane? Why do you ask?

Monday, August 3, 2015

I finished another one...

Being short waisted(as well as not overly tall) and making this LivedIn with short sleeves probably helped.  I used Shine Worsted in Butter Pecan (discontinued ages ago) and Cream.  It doesn't look as lovely flat as it does on, but I haven't woven in ends or washed it yet so it's not ready for wearing.  When I did try it (as soon as it came off the needles) the loose gauge and very soft yarn gave it the look and feel of the perfect summer tee shirt.
I am almost to the point of separating for the sleeves on the third one on the needles and I pulled out a third Date Night that I had cast on and left to languish.  Darling Son creatively described my hoard of unfinished objects as an "armada of ufos"... I can't really argue.

Due to the high temperatures and high winds lately, my garden has been less productive than it was at the start of the season.  This was the average every few days:

Not a gob of produce, but it was consistent enough to forestall a run to the grocery store for about a week.   Now, with minimal blooms, there is minimal fruit and there is no "shopping the garden" for dinner.  I'm hoping once it cools off a bit they will start producing again.  I am missing fresh, sweet tomatoes warm from the vines tossed with cucumbers with actual flavor...till then, store bought it is.

Started a new blog

  Oooh Shiny! is now on WordPress.  There isn't much there yet, but I will work on that.