Sew buttons on your underwear

Why is blogger underlining everything? (oh, ok seems to be fixed now...)
So.
Sew buttons on your underwear.
Did anyone else say this as a kid/pre-teen?

I've been taking some classes at Hayes Sewing- the BEST place for classes evah'. I have NO sewing background and have always just sewn by the seat of my pants (and not well). So to have something like this:

just thrills me to no end. Plus it fits (bonus). Its the KWIK START Learn to sew pattern 3302 and I used a cotton fabric. I only had to stay after once to rip and re-sew (RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, duh)

Next I took the Carol's Zoo class and made this poka-dot puppy:
The boy picked the pattern AND fabric. Dottie came out pretty well, I must say. He is very soft and cuddly and has spent every night in bed with the boy. I think he is a success. In fact I was asked if I was "working on the next project for him". huh?


I did some crochet recently too... this is a Snuggle Bug. Mom needed a gift for a co-worker and I did NOT feel like another pair of booties.

Its really different- I wish I had one when the boy was a baby.

Can you guess what this is?

more evidence in my defense when I murderlize puppy boy.... it WAS a 3 ply handspun light fingering weight yarn for socks. I cannot turn my back for a SECOND. You can imagine what it looked like before I untangled..... sigh. He is going to be the death of me. Anyone want a dog?

Boo!

Warning- picture heavy post ahead. Mostly due to my inablity to post as I go . Sorry


I was reading email with The Mayor nearby and he saw the pattern for Boo!
Of course he had to have one and what kind of knitter would I be to deny a hand knit request? Knit in Lamb's Pride on US 7's. Safety eyes and poly stuffing. Batty (so named and not by me) has been having a good time I did a hat for myself recently- Alpaca yarn purchases at AC Moore with a coupon. I did a longer top with a tassle and its the warmest hat (next to my Noro hat) that I own. The only problem is that I forgot how much the alpaca will stretch and drape. But still, I think it looks cute.
Deets on my Ravelry page (hopefully)

I finally finsihed the headscarf project I've been toting around for the last few months- the leftover Forest Floor yarn from my Rivendell socks. The scarf is great and worked perfectly for "green day" at preschool! lol The pattern is the Bad Hair Day scarf and I used US 4's. Sorry, it was tough enough getting a pic of me modeling the hat- the ones of the scarf did not work out

I never even posted about my lastest (and prolly last EVER) acquisition.... a Ladybug spinning wheel. I have been kicking myself ever since Maryland Sheep & Wool for not picking one up. Finally I caved and ordered it from The Woolery. I loves it with the heat of a thousand suns. Its just such an awesome wheel, what else can I say?

So far I've spun: 3.4 oz 50% superwash merino, 50% bamboo "Rose Garden" from Butterfly Girl Designs on Etsy (her fibers rock) The yarn came out to be a DK weight and 193 yards.

4oz 100% Alpaca "The New Black" from Spunky Eclectic. I was purposefully going to somehthing thicker and got a heavy worsted yarn, 66 yards. So soft and yummy.

Oh and I finished up the Hemlock Ring blanket expansion- 5 feet was just not enough to wrap around my shoulders. Now its about 6 feet and perfect! Looks the same, just bigger.

OTN, a new muffler for the Mayor, Oma Blu's Christmas socks, a swirl shawl, and about eleventy million other little things- HELP I have startisitus bad!

Potty Mouth

I would have finished Mr Wonderful's Gentleman socks yesterday except for this: That disturbance in the Force was my scream of anguish and frustration. 7 pattern repeats (4 rows each) and toe decreases left and I run out of sock yarn!!!!! WTF? Its Trekking XXL- I thought those balls just went on forever? Its not even like I can rip out the first toe and just do in a different color.... there still would not be enough. I've seen this sock done on Ravelry and not one mention of needing extra yarn. Its only a Men's size 9 with a 8 inch cuff... nothing crazy. And my tails are not excessive either... So I repeat WTF?

Balls!

I've found the colorway on line and ordered a second ball... I figure there should be enough to make him another pair of socks (in a different pattern) or a couple of pairs of socks for The Mayor.

I'm sooooo P.O'd I really like this pattern! I just can't imagine that it took all that extra yarn.

aarruugghh.

In spinning news..... here is my "Grinch" yarn. 243 yards of3 ply DK weight Falkland wool.

I have no idea what I'll make with this, but it sure was fun spinning!

From the Wheel

I hadn't realized until now that the finer you spin, the LONGER it takes. Duh. Like I knew, but I guess it really came home to me this week as I was spinning and plying these:

4oz of BFL from Warm Threads, color "Wine Country"

I really wanted to keep the color pattern so I Navaho plied.The whole she-bang ended up as 13-14 wpi/DK weight about 220 yards! I think that's a pretty nice skein.

Here is another biggie: 4oz of superwash "Mostly Blue" This is one of the batches of stuff I went in halvsies with Amanda some time last year? dunno. 2 ply 20 wip/fingering weight, 515 yards. Yup even I was shocked! That's a lotta yarn.No plans for either skein right now, but I'm sure something will come up!

The wheel is going home Friday, so I have to hurry! I have 4 oz of super soft baby alpaca I'm trying to spin fine & ply. If I can get that done then I'll have tried a good varity of rovings and be pleased with my wheel time.

I have been knitting too... I just finished a Spa Set for Mom to gift a friend and totally forgot to take pics. Oh well, there will be plenty more of those being knit soon enough.

Talk Later

Spinning News

First try at the wheel.... a ball of mystery wool!
"Pond Scum" 5-7 wpi. A thick & thin style bulky yarn, 2 ply, 91 yards. For sale or tradsies!
Next try- Merino wool batt from Star Gazing Farm
"Sidewalk Slush" 10 wpi (worsted) fairly consistent spinning with the occasional slub. 76 yds + 23 yds. Sale or Tradsies.
Lookit this! Roving I bought from Amanda at Black Cat Handspun Etsy shop. 4oz Falklands Roving she dyed and called "Faded Garden"
I spun it to 12 wip-DK weight, 2 ply 280 yards!!!! I changed the name to "Lemon Rose Sorbet"
Its a bit underplyed in spots, and has the occasional slub (aka I still can't figure this out) but its really nice and so very soft!
I traded this skein to Kristy for handmade soap!

Lastley, another batt from Amanda's Etsy shop (link above) a mix of Coopworth and Chow (chiengora) (yes, dog hair. totally cool)

"Sea Hag"-6 wip, 75 yards bulky 2 ply. This one came out neat. I was going for overspin on my ply and it came out ropy- like crazy Sea Hag hair. The ply is the best so far and I'm not totally sure what I did. Oh well, more practice I suppose!I'm expecting the wheel to go home soon, unless I can bribe Amanda to let me have it a bit longer... I have some bea-you-ti-ful BFL from Warm Threads called Wine Country that I may try to Navaho ply to keep the color pattern. We will see...

I have some other FO's too that I'll try to post tomorrow.

ps. the boy is good but the dog had his first trip to the emergency vet 3am Sunday morning. Possibly something he ate and after careful watch, no food 24 hrs and lots of love he is back to himself today. Now its a bland diet, a little at a time and work our way back to the regular diet. Fun times. Its never dull around here!