Purling Sprite

Testing...are we still here?

Saturday was a full day for me. It all started at around 1 am when I finally decided to sit my bum down and write down the instructions for my knitting board class. Of course, I first sat down around 10pm with full intentions of starting the whole thing, but I started reading blogs and started looking at all my Yahoo groups and next thing I knew, it was 1am. So, procrastination won once again, but, I've been told that I do superb under pressure. By 2:30, I had the entire Knitting Board, Part I completed.

As I got to the yarn shop, my butterflies were gone and I felt confident (yeah, right!) did you actually believe that line? Anyways, butterflies and all, I went into the classroom and to my surprise, I had 4 wonderful students, all eager to learn from little old me.

A mom and daugther team ready to take on a whole new hobby. Kelly, coming back to learn a few more stitches on the knitting board--and of course, I wasn't going to dissapoint her so, we started off with a whole new cast on method--the Stockinette Cast on. We also visited the stockinette stitch on the knitting board. As well as the double rib stitch.

2 hours of non-stop knitting board knitting. By the middle of the class, I felt really comfortable with myself. And next week, I get 2 new students to join the class--yippee! 6 students in total...the pressure is on now for sure :).

After class, Kelly and Tina took some time and taught me how to use my baby Gwyn. It was amazing seing Kelly just make it go, it was second nature to her. I picked up a few pointers--give the wheel a go with your hand to make it go in the right direction. Gosh--how come I didn't figure that one out by myself! Seems so obvious, but yet, it never occurred to me.

The little issue with the bobbin not grabbing the yarn, well, Kelly fixed that up right away with a piece of tape--so simple, and then after that, she sat and started spinning. My Gwyn looked soooo beautiful doing what she was meant to do all her life.

So today, after doing my Sunday activities, I got home and amidst the chaos that little kids then to create, I filled 2, yep, 2 bobbins! Laticia, Tina, Kelly...are you gals proud of me :). This dog can be taught, slowly, but I can be taught. Granted, they don't look anything near perfect, as someone near me pointed out, "isn't supposed to be all even? or is it supposed to look thin and thick?" But, I am very pleased. My left hand hurts from pinching the yarn, but it is all worth it. I guess I will feel more relaxed as I get more experienced.

Maybe no more bloggy...ouch

Needless to say Typepad has been up to its nonsense for the past few weeks--accepting posts then rejecting them at the last minute. Loading pictures and then never appearing, messing up my 3 different blog banners and telling me that is my freaking fault because I just don't know how to make a different template for each one, although each one has its own template with its own silly name and of course when I load one up the other 2 get updated too with the same banner. So here I go again, trying to fix the whole 3 of them and then guess what...it is still my fault that it didn't work!

Well, as it appears, our Typepad service is getting an upgrade *coughdowncoughgradcoughEDcough*. Yeah, even received a very nice an apologetic email for the biggo CEO about the crap changes that are about to happen tomorrow. Lots of changes due to the great an unexpected growth of the company, so we must move from our garage out to a real place that can hold all your precious knitting files and photos. Of course as I kept on reading the email a red light kept going on in my head and the little voice kept saying, shoot, I am going to lose all my crap for the past 5 months. My bloggin' life will be over. Granted nothing espectacular has happened in the past 5 months, but I would still like to keep my junk that I have blogged about....important stuff you know...like my first cable, or my first sock attempt. Well, I am waving good bye to everything right now just in case the $%^& hits the fan and they send me another apologetic email telling me that I have a free month of service because in trying to move the files from the one server to the other the wires got fried and well my blog just happened to be in one of those servers.

Oh yeah, in all of this, if you don't hear from me in a few days, weeks, months is because they are still trying to upgrade my service tee hee, hee...so please hold on to your thoughts and drop me a note to my email addy: get my freaking blog working properly at impayingforthis dot com

Tee hee, hee. Ok, so I should sugar coat this a bit more, but the truth is that we all know that this upgrade will come with a lot of headaches to us the end users. And we also know that it won't be "seamless" as they so nicely put it. That even if they gave us a free month of service for the inconveniences of not having a working blog for a week, it won't make it up to us if they do happen to lose all our archives (although they may seem unimportant, it is a piece of us--even a silly piece, but a piece nonetheless). I really looked for a good service when I was looking for where to plant my bloggy roots and this one seem the best of the other 3 I tried and now it just seems that everything may be lost...speaking about LOST, what's up with that show, giving it re-runs for two weeks straight, man! They are killing me with this suspence, I want to know what is happening to my boy Sawyer. I wonder if they are just trying to see how many viewers are staying to watch Invasion just because LOST is first or because they like Invasion? Hmmm, interesting.

The changes are not supposed to occur til tomorrow, but in case I don't make it the deadline for another post, this may be the last airing of the Loony Loomy Toon.

If I were rich...

If I were extremelly rich, I would buy Tilli Tomas . Mariels Crystals . Rasberry Rose to make a One Skein wonder, which in this case, I would need 2 skeins, making the skein wonder a horrifickly expensive garment. Has anyone seen this yarn in person? If you have, please leave a comment and tell me how it is, because the picture in this screen is as close as I am ever going to get to it.

But maybe, if I really try very hard not to think about the price and the small size of the one skein wonder, maybe, just maybe, I can try and get Tilli Tomas . Disco Lights . Orchid. What shall a girl do? And maybe if I get up and move my butt arms a bit, I can lose some poundage and get only 1 skein. Who am I kiddin'. I am a knitting couch potato...if I could knit and exercise at the same time, that would be another story.

I have to say KPixie has become one of my favorite yarn shops and they keep on getting more beautiful yarns in all the time....waiting for the Vesper Sock yarn to come in right now.

In knitting news....no news, no knitting has gotten done. I am just looming a small something right now. I don't know what is going to become, maybe a small scarf/neck warmer thingy. Photos later :). I am a bit shaken today, tomorrow, I have to teach a Knitting Board class at my LYS and well...I got the butterflies in my tummy.

Mission Completion!

They are completed! A few days before the end of October!! My Shrek Socktoberfest socks are finished. They are a lovely minty green with specks of blue and yellow. Granted, they are not your everyday socks, but they are screaming wear me, wear me.

The stitches also look pretty uniform--not too shabby :).

Did I mention that I really like the feel of No No Kitty yarn. It is soft to the touch and not itchy at all. I believe it is Kona Superwash. I wonder if the Vesper sock yarn is anything like it.

The sock pattern is from the Knit Socks! book, it is a simple stockinette sock, nothing fancy, but very comfortable.

Oh, must mention something about the yarn. I used 1 skein for my pair. I had a little bit left..enough for a few more rounds. I wear a size 6.5 shoe and I made the length of the leg 7". So if you get this yarn to make a pair of socks and plan on a long leg length get two skeins, but if you are planning on making a shorter leg length, one skein should be enough.

I am so excited...I will be showing off my shrek socks tomorrow at Nite in Knots.

As we were in the car today driving home from work, I was knitting away at my shrek socks, I was telling Sam about my socks and then I had a flashback to one of my favorite pair of socks--it was striped with black, minty green, white, and orange. I told him that I absolutely loved that pair of socks and if I remembered correctly, I finally had to throw them out because they had holes. Of course, he proceeded to say that it wasn't such a good idea to admit loving such a funky pair of socks. But I really liked them, they were sooooo me, very witchy like, I wonder if I can make me a pair--a long length, maybe up to my knees...ay! they would look fab with my church outfit, LOL...definitely will strike conversations.

Me Shrek Socks

Typepad is up to its nonsense again and it is not letting me upload pictures....hmm, let's try again...(2 hours later, the picture mode is working!)

Anyways, one of the green socks is finished and I am about 30% done with the 2nd one. Although these are knitted on size 3 needles, the sock feels wonderfully comfortable...I think it has to do with the No No Kitty yarn--wonderfully soft, superwash 100% Merino...very nice...mamma is happy :).

Oy! I think I may be done with this pair before the end of October--just in time for Soctoberfest. My blue Feather & Fan is still waiting to be picked and finished...and it is going to have to wait a bit longer as I have a deadline to meet for my Knitting Board class. I have an outline to write and a scarf to finish before Saturday. Not to mention, the idea in my head for socks on my loom...so many projects, so little free time.

And finally, some good news for those non-drivers...it appears that you can see your Driver's License online....oy--DAman needs to take his picture over.

You spin me 'round, 'round, baby round, round

'Round, 'round, 'round, that is the way by bobbin went. Round, round, round and no yarn on my pretty bobbin. I tried tightening the tension just like suggested on The Joy of Spinning, tried threadling faster, slower, but no joy was received by this sad looking spinner. The leader yarn spun around the bobbin but as soon as the roving came in, it got stuck and nothing happened, the leader just kept on spinning round and round on the bobbin.

Sad spinner I am, sad spinner because I have a pretty Gwyn sitting right next to me and I can't use it. I will call on the reinforcements tomorrow morning and see if I can schedule an appointment for this sad wanna-be-spinner to take some lessons. Maybe I was hallucinating thinking that I could just get it home and start threadling and I could have yarn made in a couple of hours. Maybe I got too high on the wax from the looms at the shop and I am starting to be high all the time and thinking too "high" of myself. How dare that bobbin just spin around? How dare just ignore my pleas of spinning my roving? I am spoiling it rotten and it still won't work for me--drats! It has a superb finish by the DAman, I got it a really nice Single Drive Poly Band in my favorite color, lavander blue. And it has already been kissed and touched by my kids a million times over! What else does it need...snif, snif, snif. It just doesn't like me.

Maybe someone will teach this poor spinner how to spin this wonderful thrum sent to me by my spinning mentor Laticia in NY. It is a really special thrum, it comes from Spinderella's and it has some little sparklies--my favorite. Laticia was super to me and she sent me a bit of of everything in her house I think--the box is pretty big and it has more splendid thrums and roving. I tried getting a picture of the sparklies on another thrum but I don't think the camera and inside lighting does it justice.

Wanna-be-spinner signing off, I will go and lick my wounds and dream about the fushia thrum and the magnificent lace scarf that it could become....one day....

Another project!?!

I wonder if it happens to all of us-sudden strike of boredom with a project! As I am knitting something, all of a sudden, I get bored with the project, even if it is fun or different. Today, actually, 5 minutes ago I was asked by the DAman why do I start something without finishing what I was working on the day before...I really didn't know what to answer, my only excuse was "I get bored, and I want to move on." Don't get me wrong, I don't have a closet full of UFOs, I finish them all within a week or two. But why does the boredom come? Is it that I get bored with the pattern? Am I so impatient that I can't finish a whole project in a couple of days? Or do I have to stick to small projects that can be finished in one day? Is it the yarn? As I searched for answers, I came down to the most obvious answer--I just want to try another yarn! Simple, yarn addiction is to blame for all my UFOs.

So, since I am an impatient person and want to try different yarns fast, I do the normal thing: cast on for another pair of socks. The latest one is going very fast, very fast indeed, I am using size 3 needles and some gorgeous handpainted yarn from No No Kitty. I also tried the Grumperina's Pretty Way of picking up the stitches. I have a tiny little hole, but I am hoping it will dissappear in the wash.

I will continue with the Feather & Fan sock (blue socks above) after I finish this one sock. I guess the number 1 needles are dragging me down and making it go reaaaalllly slow.

Question for those expert knitters out there: what do you do when a pattern calls for a size 1 needle and it makes a women's medium size sock and your foot is more a small size type foot--meaning skinny. Do you go down to a size 0 needle? Do you try thinner yarn--although it already calls for sock yarn weight? Do you alter the pattern? If you do alter the pattern-how do you do it when it is a lace pattern? Eeek, so many questions...

A Loom Knitters Map-Where are we?

This is just super duper cool, it is a map for our knitters without needles, aka loom knitters. Check it out and fill out your name and see the balloons in the map grow and grow.

I am thinking this would be awesome to do for all our other fun groups, like Socktoberfest, Warm Hands, SP6...SP7, etc, etc.

Happy looming everyone

Could you pass 8th Grade Math?

Yikes, as I was taking this, I was really nervous, how about if I didn't pass, would I have to go back and retake every class in college...eeewww!

Luckily, they weren't that hard. Can you pass 8th Grade Math? C'mon, let me see, no cheating, just use paper and pencil.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Brought to you by Blogthings

Who has my Gryffindor yarn?

I stayed up last night waiting for Dani's Gryffindor yarn to be posted on her site. 1 am rolled around and no yarn, so I get blissfully to bed. When I woke at 7am, I ran to the computer to check if Dani had posted the yarn, nope, no yarn. Saddened, I continued with my day, I went to Grandma's to drop the kids off before heading to work, stayed a few hours picking apples. As soon as I got into the shop, I went to Dani's site and alas! someone else had bought all the Gryffindor yarn. Now, I have no Gryffindor yarn to make my Gryffindor socks, no Gryffindor socks for the grand premiere of GoF. I know it is still a month before it is released, but I knit so darn slow that I need to start knitting them now so that I can actually finish them an hour before the movie starts! Soooo, who in blogland has my Gryffindor yarn? Is it you...sooo meanie, couldn't you leave 1 single skein for me...snif, snif, snif. Even DAman was amazed at how fast that yarn sold. I guess the demand is there and very little supply...hmmm.

Having been deprived of my Gryffindor sock yarn--oh, can you feel my pain, my anguish, thank you for your condolences. Digressing into deep pity here, sorry readers. As I was deprived of the Gryffindor yarn, I had to go and lick my wounds with some delish knitting on my latest project. It is a little something for a friend of mine, she already knows I am making them, but I will let her see them before they get to her. I will be felting them tomorrow and then they will ship to their new home. Maybe I will add a bit of needle felting to "Little Companion".

Lastly, a picture of the Mufcakes my son picked out for my birthday. I couldn't have asked for a better cake--really :)