KMKS and other goodies!

Hello all! I'm back home again and it feels great. I had an awesome time on my business trip (really, it was fun - it's good to get out in the field from time to time!). But it's always nice to sleep in your own bed, with the kitties (oh yeah, and husband too), and have all of your yarn :).

I'm still playing catch-up, so you'll have to forgive me - I don't have photos of the fabulous yarn swap up yet... hopefully tomorrow. For now, some long-ago promised pictures.

First, off - part 2 of my crafty Christmas (yes, I do know that it was more than a month ago - please bear with me!) are the lovely gifts I received. My mom gave me some sock yarn, notions, pattern books (including Knitting With Wire, a Knitting Journal and a Handspinning Journal), and her very first knitted FO - a beautiful scarf. Thanks mom!

My sister took an idea from something that I had on my wist and made me some pillows out of ribbon!

Yes, I'm a little blurry, but hopefully you get the picture

She took the wires out of the wired craft ribbon, wove them together, fused the backs together with interfacing, and then sewed on the backing. Don't they look good on our (new) loveseat?

Lovely pillows! Lovely loveseat!

Thanks Jenna, I love them!
Speaking of Jenna, she and her hubby came up to visit us for a day and we saw a play! "Noises Off" was a movie that Jenna and I watched a LOT as kids (so maybe we had it memorized)... and when I saw that it was playing here I bought us tickets as an early graduation present. It was hysterically funny, very well done, and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last day of its run at the Arena Stage here in DC, but if you get a chance to see a production near you I highy recommend it! Or watch the movie - Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, etc., etc.

What else...

Oh, yes. My Knit Mitt Kit arrived right before I left.

Beautiful handmade bag!

Norweigan mittens!

The Spinning Dervish totally spoiled me with a Norweigan mitten kit from her region of the world - Minnesota. Plus the Kacha-Kacha and Chibi! (My first!) There were tons of other goodies in the box, too - note cards, post-its, candy, etc. that just didn't make it into the photos.

And last but not least (if you're still with me), some photos of my recent crafty endeavors... not knitting but dyeing! The results of the unofficial poll that was part of the Delurking (thanks everyone for commenting) were clear - almost everyone's favorite color combo at the moment involves brown. Well, I read you loud and clear and I got on board.

Super prep - super prep. It's super preppy!

This, my friends, is self-striping sock yarn in peach, green, and brown. Two shades of brown as a matter of fact - one stripe should turn out darker than the other. There were a few other skeins involving brown, but it turns out none of them have been photographed yet. But here's some roving:

nice braids!

This was done before the Brown Referendum, but I really like the blue. The pink has actually grown on me quite a bit - I thought it was a complete failure when I first finished it, probably because it wasn't at all what I was going for (I wanted something red and blue). But now I think I like it, and I think I'm going to like it even more after it's spun up.

OK, that will have to do for now... more tomorrow I hope!

Still here

Hi Guys... I'm still alive, just not home right now. I'm stuck on a sometimes internet connection in between 12-hour work days... all in the name of emergency travel. But I promise to post when I get home (hopefully tomorrow late, maybe Thursday). After all, I have great things to talk about - my Knit Mitt Kit Package, the DC/MD/VA yarn swap, and more...

Delurk!

Hey, it's National Delurking Week! Do you think they make a Hallmark card for that?
Anyway, that means that you (yes, you) should leave me a comment. I'll return the favor!

And to help, I'll ask you a question (stolen shamelessly from The Big Lug):
What color combos are you most fond of at the moment?

OK, this question is a bit self-serving, as I'm planning to dye some yarn this weekend and I don't want to do the same things that I always do, so I'm looking for inspiration from you!

And this weekend when I have time to upload and process pictures, I'll finally show those pillow pictures, but they have to wait until Saturday... AND you'll see what I've been working on this week after work. As a hint, it involves power tools...

The Will but not the Time...

I don't understand how most folks blog all the time. With photos and all - some of them even taken in natural light! I am trying to be a better blogger in 2007, but it's already been 4 days. Where does the time go? I have all of these great posts in my head, with photos and everything, but no time to actually make them happen. Maybe this weekend...

But here are a few pictures to tide you over... I'm spinning!

Spinning!

Close-up

This is 50g of Fleece Artist roving that I bought at Stitches East. It's 50% merino 50% tussah silk - hence the halo, shine and the buttery softness. I tried not to spin it too much to keep it soft and fuzzy, and I think I did OK. It's 2 ply. I plied from the inside and outside of a center-pull ball, which was a complete nightmare. Tons of tangles, fuzzies, and general chaos. But it was finally done.

Also, here is Linus with the back of the Ballet Wrap Cardigan:

Hello, human.

Doesn't he look pleased? However, BWC is now on hold. I did some math (ew!) and realized that I will most definitely run out of yarn. Plus, I'm not too in love with the fabric from knitting on size 10.5's. I think I'm going to try again with at least 11's - provided that I can find more of the yarn. Otherwise, it's off to find a new pattern.

OK, and one more, just so I'm not leaving anyone out:

Sacked. Out.

Cleo managed to make a little hammock with the blankie and the couch cushions, and then sacked out. She was even snoring. So cute!

That wasn't much of a post I know, but stick around - coming soon to a blog near you (OK, this blog):

- The crafty gifts from Christmas 2006

- The knitting from stash plans for 2007

- Yarn dyeing! Lots of yarn dyeing! (hopefully this weekend). Roving dyeing, too!