New poll

Check out the new poll and give me your thoughts! Thanks, KC

We Have a Winner!

Yesterday I put all of the names of kind folks who had commented on the blog or via email on paper and did a drawing at my knitting group. I had brought my camera, even, but

Murphy was with me and I needed to charge my battery.

I am excited to announce that "Delighted Hands" won the hand dyed, hand spun yarn!

This was so much fun, that I am going to do a drawing a month for a while. It might be handspun, it might be roving, or it might be something from my stash. So keep those comments coming!

Last Day to Post a Comment

It has been a busy week, but I haven't forgotten those of you who have posted comments and will be put in the drawing for some of my hand spun yarn! I will be doing the drawing tomorrow at my knitting group. So far these kind ladies have posted:

Cate K: magicneedles.blogspot.com

Delighted Hands.blogspot.com

Vicky aka LDS Venus

Marmee

and

Linda aka Zing

Friends who have emailed me with comments include:

Nancy

Candy

Sandy

Paul

Marie

So please, if you are interested, post a comment before 8 am tomorrow and I will put you in the drawing! Happy Thoughts to all, Kc

Thanks for your comments!

Everyone has been so kind on their comments. I really appreciate it. It is easier for other bloggers to post comments and my non blogger friends seem to be having problems. So if any of you bloggers can give me a hint or two to pass on, I would love it. I think I am finally ready to explore and learn more about blogging so any site recomendations would be great too.

I know I owe you a pic of my hand spun for the drawing next Friday, but I am wanting to spin up some more choices before I pick the one I will give away. So, today I spin.

Also, I have added myself to the purling puppies blog ring. So look for more pictures of me and my four delightful doggies! I wake up with so many thoughts of things I would like to share with you and I want to get more adept at adding links and my favorite podcasts, like Cast On with Brenda Dayne and Sticks and Strings with David from Australia. But for now, let me leave you with a pic of my best boy, Lucky, heart of my heart. Ta.

First Pattern to share!

Some of you saw me knitting this scarf and asked for the specifics, so I decided to add them to the blog. I hope you like the pattern and give it a go!

The yarn is Tonalita by Trendsetter Yarns. It is a lovely wool (52%) and acrylic (48%) blend. It self stripes with soft, blended transitions that keep you waiting with baited breath for the next change. I purchased two balls in Pintetop, AZ this last weekend at Yarns and more. I also found it online at http://www.thevillagesheep.com/. And I would check Kiwi if you are in Tucson. The new Tucson Yarn Co. doesn't carry it.

With size 10 1/2 needles, I cast on 25 stitches and knit the first row.

I then began the seed stitch pattern, slipping the first stitch as if to knit, knitting the next stitch, purling the next, etc... ending with a purl stitch. Then the next row, I did the same thing again. As you repeat the row with an odd number of stitches, you automatically are purling the knits and knitting the purls, and by slipping the first stitch knit wise and purling the last stitch on every row, you get a great smooth chain edge. So, to write in pattern-ese, it should go like this:

Tonalita scarf in seed stitch on size 10 1/2 needles.

CO 25 stitches

row one: knit

row two and all following: Sl first stitch knitwise, *k1, p1* repeat to end of row, ending with a purl stitch.

Knit in this fashion for two hundred yards of yarn, or two balls of Tonalita for a scarf that is 6 1/2 inches wide by 47 inches long. This size is great for under the coat, as it only comes to your waist, if you are short. For a longer scarf out of two balls, try narrowing it down to 15 stitches, or buy 3 balls.

Cast off gently, so as not to pull in edge. Tuck in trailing yarn with your favorite darning needle and wrap up!

If you put a comment on my blog with your first name and email address, I am going to put them all in a hat next Friday, Sept. 28th, and do a drawing. The winner will get 100 yards of my handspun yarn. I will post a picture of it tomorrow.! So post those comments! KC

Weekend in Pinetop

We had a wonderful time this last weekend up in Pinetop. Our dear friend, Minda, married a wonderful man, Kevin. Their wedding ceremony was a very spiritual experience, created around an outdoor fire ceremony. Afterward, many of us drummed and conversed around the fire while everyone ate and drank with sparkle lights in the trees. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car in the parking area, too far off to retrieve. If I get pics from another source, I will share them.

On Sunday, I went with Ann to Pinetop Lakes Country Club. We paid the riders fee for me and she golfed with two nice men from Albuquerque. I listened to my ipod and read up on Geocaching. All the while, knitting last minute gifts for Kevin and Minda! The weather was beautiful, with a slightly chilly breeze of 70 or so. I enjoyed myself more than I thought possible. Ann played well and it was fun to see her in action.

As we left the golf course, it began to rain, so we put off going hunting for caches and went to see our old neighbor, Carol, instead. We found her in weakend health due to a massive heart attack last year. So we stayed for a good visit and encouraged them to visit us in Tucson this winter.

That evening, we went out to eat with Marilyn, Barbara, Minda and Kevin, to our favorite place, Mountain Thai. Yummy food and great friends. We left the next morning from Marilyn's great new house on the hill, feeling like we had had a perfect visit home. I even got Ann to go to the local yarn shop, Yarns & more, and she bought yarn from me to knit her two scarves and a pair of socks! The first scarf is going great and I will post the pattern and pictures later in the week.

Enjoy a few pics of Ann and the gang. Also, what I knit Minda and Kevin: Wristers for their early morning walks and evening time around the fire.

Slippers done!

Here are the post-felted slipper clogs. They keep getting softer and yummier to wear everyday. I have already started a pair for Ann!

I played bunko last night with a group of gals and had a blast. They said the "newbies" get to host right away, so next mont, Bunko at our place! It is fun having something fast to play. It is a good change from knitting and spinning!

Lest you think I have forgotten my "cache" part of things, I am going to attempt to find a cache or two this weekend when we are in the Pinetop/ShowLow area for Minda's wedding. Ann will be playing golf on Sunday, so that is when I hope to get out in the woods! I will keep you posted. Oh man, please disregard the skinny ankles! KC

Felted Clogs

Well, Sharayah and I finished our purple clogs. We made them out of Ultra Alpaca from Berocco using the FiberTrends pattern. We both made the medium size and it took about 20 minutes in the washer to felt them, checking them 3 or 4 times. I finally got smart and rather than tying a knot in the pillow case, I folded it over and pinned it down with 6 safety pins. Then to check the clogs as they felted, I just had to unpin one or two! Duhh!

Here is the before felted picture, showing Sharayah's leg, not mine! Will take pics of the after, today and post later.

Summer fun updates

Here is a pic of Shad and Sharayah in the pool, as well as our friend and her dog!
Shad went back home and Sharayah has stayed on for a few more weeks. We had a wet felting day and a knitting day where the weather was bad and we listed to Harry Potter on CD all day while we knit! We have been having bunches of fun doing all our fiberlicoius activities. We plan to do some more felting of some knitted items, as well as dyeing some roving. As she leaves to go back to Bellingham, WA next Saturday, we had better get more done.