TurtleLover Knits ….

Yep, you guessed it, the spring semester started today. Yippee. The bright side is this semester should be much easier then last one because I am only taking one class. This is not by choice mind you, the other classes I need to take are not offered at times I am willing to take them at. No way I am working 12 hours then going to a 2 1/2 hour Calc class- not even I am that nuts! The other class options were at the exact same time as my Chem class. Yep, that’s right , more Chem. Did I say yippee? At least I have the same instructor as last semester so I am well acquainted with her teaching style. I even have the same seat as last semester. Of course, I had to give the kid that took my seat some serious puppy-dog eyes to get it back, as did the girl that wanted her seat back which I was now occupying, but I am not adverse to begging to have my seat back. ( I’m not at all resistant to change, nope, not me)

Consequently, I may not be posting as much as I have been recently, but I will try to post at least once a week…. I promise… well… I promise I will try.

Oh! I am so looking forward to Spring Break. Besides the obvious reasons, Hubby and I are planning a road trip to Phoenix to see our nephew (when I say Hubby and I, what I really mean is Hubby; I’m just along for the ride). Not that Phoenix is that exciting, but my nephew is and strangely enough Hubby and I both enjoy road trips. The really cool part is he’s planning some tourist-ie things for us: going to the Sand Dunes, the Grand Canyon and a few other monument/park things that I have never seen. It should be fun. The super cool thing is: Hubby is looking for LYS along the way, he’s even looking to see if he can find any mills! How cool is that? You gotta love a man that supports your addictions!

Speaking of yarn, as a parting gift today, I would like to share with you what happens when you leave cats home alone with mohair yarn somewhat accessible:

Lil Bastards! I love that Neko appears to be sticking his tongue out at me! I can hear them now:

“Silly Human. Did you think a bag was enough to keep us from your yarn? Hmpf! Shows what you know. Now, feed us some Kittie treats or the Alpaca yarn is next!”

  When I first started knitting, I was perfectly content with making small things: scarves, mittens, hats, dishcloths, and eventually socks. I had no intention of ever making anything even close to a sweater. In fact, I remember reading a posting on Knitlist in which the writer stated, despite claims otherwise, every knitter will eventually knit a sweater. Bullocks to that! I said. Why on Earth would I ever want to knit a sweater? The yarn alone would cost way more then a store bought sweater would, not to mention the time it takes to actually knit the damn thing. (Somehow, I did not apply that same logic to sock knitting and I continued to spend $20 a pair and many hours happily knitting socks.) Then there was the issue of putting the damn thing together. I only know one person who actually enjoys seaming. No, I was not, nor would I ever be, a sweater knitter. Leave that to all the other knitters, I am content to make small, portable things.

     Well, Dear Reader, that was then and this is now. Last week I cast-on my very first sweater. The pattern is the Cozy V-Neck Pullover from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel. I think it’s the perfect first sweater. It’s knit top down and in the round (very few seams!) The pattern is easy to follow, sometimes even a little boring, but perfect for knitting at Stitch and Bitch. Because the yarn is bulky, it is a fairly quick knit as well. I used some of the Brown Sheep I recently purchased in Nebraska.

     What happened that changed my mind? I believe it is a combination of things. The sweater seed was planted when I read somewhere the number of stitches in a pair of socks and a sweater are roughly equivalent. Hmmm.

     So, IF I were to knit a sweater it would take me about the same amount of time knitting a pair of socks would. As a bonus, I would escape the “are you nuts?” looks from people when I knit socks. After all, no one has every questioned a knit sweater the way they do knit socks. You sock knitters know what I am talking about. How many people have looked at you like you were crazy for knitting socks? How many times have you heard “Wouldn’t it be easier to buy a pair of socks?” But, we sock knitters know nothing compares to knit socks, nothing, nada, zilch. Socks are as much about the process of knitting as they are about the FO. Hmm, maybe knitting a sweater is the same.

     I think I also needed something bigger and better to knit. I guess the person from Knit-list  was correct in a way. The longer you knit the more you want to challenge yourself. So why not knit a sweater? Try something new, learn about shaping, and in the end have a hand-knit sweater to show for it. Plus, it allows me to delay serious color work a little longer.

     Now the only thing holding me back was cost. If I was going to invest the time to knit a sweater, I was not going to use crappy yarn!  Then I heard about the Brown Sheep Mill, and received a Visa gift card from work for Christmas. Just like that, the cost issue was resolved. I bought the yarn at Brown Sheep, saved a ton and was ready to venture into my first sweater.

    I would be remiss if I did not add another motive for sweater making came from the gals and guy at my Stitch and Bitch: the ones that show up in their hand knit sweaters, the ones that work on their sweaters, and perhaps most importantly the ones that bring their knitting books and mags to oh and ah over. I must give a special shout out to Linds who first showed me the Fitted Knits book. This is THE BOOK that changed my mind about sweater making. (Beautiful, modern, sexy, fitted sweaters knit in the round.) Thanks to Linds and all at the Denver Downtown SNB for the constant inspiration!  

Today and tomorrow are my last days of freedom before spring semester begins. L While I am not necessarily looking forward to another semester of Chemistry, I must admit I am looking forward to returning to class. I  had so much free time; I didn’t know what to do with it all. I am running out of things to organize! So far I have re-alphabetized my spice cabinet, organized my pantry and my closet, and spent untold hours organizing my stash (which I still have not completed).  I have also spent a lot of time knitting, so much so my carpal tunnel is really acting up. What I have not done is steam-clean my carpets and deep-clean my house… Wait! I did steam-clean most of the house and I did deep-clean before Christmas. So, I really have accomplished a lot over the break. Hurray for me!

What I am going to miss is the time I was able to spend with my friends. I have been busy going to lunch, going to parties (even throwing a party), and taking road trips. I feel so fortunate to have so many people I call friends. I am going to miss seeing everybody so often. And I feel a little guilty; even with all my extra time, I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to.

Moving on: I promised pictures of my organized stash. So here you go:

Those hanging sweater and shoe organizers are The. Best. Thing. Ever.  As you can tell, I can see all my yarn at a glance. Seeing all the different colors and fibers is so inspiring! Not to mention, it is much easier to see if I have something in my stash that will work for a new project. So much better then putting it all in a plastic bin and having to rummage throught it. The downside is they take up a substantial amount of closet space. Currently the other half of the closet has gift-wrapping supplies in it, but I may have to commander the entire closet by the time I am finished. I still have a rather large bin of miscellaneous yarn and a rather large bag of acrylic stuff to organize.

I’m going to take pictures of the acrylic stuff (for my stash on Ravelry) and then put it all in the plastic tub. I am not a fan of working with acrylic, but I hate to get rid of it. I actually tried to once, that’s why it is in the bag. A lady in my stitch and bitch was collecting yarn to teach middle-school children to knit. I gathered it all up to give to her, but somehow at group I missed her. It has been in my car ever since (we’re talking last winter folks!). I finally got sick of listening to Hubby complain, so I took it out and it has re-entered my stash. It does come in handy for knitting toys for the niece and nephew and I’ve always wanted to crochet amigurumi for myself, so I might hang on to it a little longer.

Speaking of Hubby of stash organizing….. When I organize anything, I pull everything out of its home and methodically put it back in its new home. Organizing my stash was no exception: I pulled all my yarn out, photographed it, and placed it back in it’s new home. On the first day of my organizing fit, I apparently lost my mind. I was standing in my craft room, surrounded by yarn, completely over-whelmed at the process I had started when I lost all reasonable thought. I actually walked out of the room and said to Hubby:

“I am only going to say this once, so pay attention. I think I may have a yarn problem”

Hubby: “Huh?!”

Me: “There is a slight chance I may have a yarn problem”

Hubby, amused: “Really? How big of a problem are we talking about?”

Me, alarmed: “Um… well not that big, but, um… I have ….um….acquired…..a…um… fair amount of yarn”

Hubby less amused: “Oh, really?”

At which point hubby followed me into my craft room and I actually allowed him!

What was I thinking? Hubby looked around the yarn strewn room and exclaimed, not at all amused I might add:

“You think you have a problem?”

Which lead me to say: “Get out! Get out! You are no longer allowed in my room! It’s not that much! Get out! I got most of it on sale you know! You can leave now! Hey, I quit smoking! Really, get out! You have a PS3! It’s my money too! Get! Out!” (I think this is the knitter’s equivalent of justifying an addiction)

Well, hubby left, rolling his eyes and laughing hysterically and he proceeded to happily play his PS3.

I learned 3 lessons from this.

 Lesson 1: when organizing stash, organize a bag at a time. It is much simpler and far less overwhelming that way.

Lesson 2: when organizing one’s stash makes you crazed and overwhelmed, step outside, eat a cookie, have a drink, whatever it takes, but don’t invite the Hubby into the yarn lair!

Lesson 3: Playstation is an excellent way to distract Hubby

My friend and HBIC of the notorious Denver Downtown SNB, Lindsey posted this on Ravelry. I thought it would be nice to post my answers here for those that don’t know me or those that already know and love me and consequently are dying to know more about me.

Four things about me that you may or may not have known, in no particular order.

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:   This is a little boring. I have held 3 jobs in my life, 2 of which are in the same field. I worked a Jack in the Box in Phoenix, and I have worked as a Respiratory Therapist since I was 19 at 2 local hospitals. I am going to college, so maybe one day I will total 4 jobs.

(B)Four movies I would watch over and over (or have watched over and over): Shawshank Redemption, Love Actually (makes me feel better when I am down on the world), Dirty Dancing (I know, I am a little ashamed, but it is the perfect sick day movie), Garden State

C) Four places I have lived: I’ll give the 4 most exciting ones: Connecticut (not too exciting except it is where I entered this world at), Scotland, Germany, and Hawaii. I’m going to include a 5^th cause I’m a rebel: Colorado. It is where I live know and I think my life is pretty exciting.

D) Four TV Shows that I watch: Lost, Pushing Daisies, Criminal Minds, Medium

E) Four places I have been: England, Grand Cayman, New Orleans, and Germany

F) People who e-mail me (regularly): Knitting Daily, Yahoo Groups, Chemistry Instructor, Lenore.

G) Four of my favorite foods: Brownies, Meatloaf, Chinese, Japanese. Yeas, Chinese and Japanese qualify as a food to me; you didn’t expect me to narrow it down further did you?

H) Four places I would rather be right now… anywhere with an ocean, Italy, Croatia, sleeping

I) Four Things I am looking forward to this year 2008: finishing my Chemistry prerequisite, being that much closer to my degree, our ballroom competition, seeing what the next year has in store for me (good and bad)

On Friday my friend Lenore and I finally made our long-anticipated trek to Brown Sheep in Nebraska. Woo-who!!!!! Before I get into the particulars I would like to give a shout out to Lenore for driving, keeping me company, enabling my yarn addiction, and generally making the trip super-awesome. Thanks Lenore: you are the best!

This being my first ever trip to the state of Nebraska, I absolutely had to take a picture of the sign. “Home of Arbor Day”? Is Nebraska the only state to celebrate Arbor Day? Or maybe just the first? I really should Google that, but I’m not going to because I have more important things to talk about.

Well, I’ll tell you about it after a couple of obligatory scenic pictures of Scottsbluff, Nebraska

TADA! The legendary Brown Sheep Yarn Company Headquarters. Yes, it does exist and yes it is as awesome as you have heard.

It took us a little over 3 hours to make the trip form North Denver. Of course, the closer we got, the longer the trip seem to take. When we finally arrived, we were a little worried. As you can tell the outside of the building holds no clue to the gems contained within. Not to mention I almost fell on the ice like 3 times!

The actual store is larger then I had imagined and they had a pretty large selection. It really is like a LYS (a LYS that only sells Brown Sheep of course). After all the anticipation Lenore and I could hardly contain ourselves. She just started grabbing armloads of yarn. I did my normal walk around the store fondling everything at least twice before deciding. At one point I looked over at Lenore and I could barely see her through the yarn! That’s when the euphoria kicked in; we started laughing hysterically, prompting the very kind lady who was running the store (whom I will call Bev, because I forgot her name and she kinda looked like a Bev to me) to question our sanity. Although I think “Bev” quickly realized that we where ALL ABOUT THE YARN and offered to give us a tour of the factory.

The sign outside said no photos, but she was kind enough to allow me to take a few pixs because the factory workers were all gone home. I told you “Bev” was awesome!

This roving has been dyed and is waiting to be spun like in the picture below:

Sorry it’s so blurry! The roving is spun by this machine, turning it into single ply yarn. According to our guide, the machine holds 11,000 lbs and a “good” sheep will produce 8 ½ lbs per year! That’s a lot of sheep! Of course at the mention of “good” sheep my mind pictured this: a group of fluffy white sheep brushing their fleece while standing obediently in line to be sheared. And what of the “bad” sheep you may ask? Oh, they are lurking outside of spinning shops of course. They are half-bald from offering patches of their fleece to spinners at “bargain prices” or maybe in return for a pack of smokes and some tequila.

Above is already died yarn blended with shiny white mohair waiting to be spun. The picture does it no justice: it was the most beautiful thing! Below is Lenore wishing she could just jump in and sleep with the yarn candy:

Here is a shot of all the “test batches”. I assure you, it took all the self control we had not to keep some for ourselves!

And finally…………………… the combined yarn acquisition of two crazed knitters:

Oh yeah, that’s right, a trunk full of yarn. We were singing “Praise the Sheep” all the way through Nebraska! Not to mention, praise the aforementioned “Bev” who because she is awesome and because we bought so much, gave us all the yarn for $12 A POUND!!! Yep, even the hand-dyed yarn that was marked at $25/lb! Oh yeah, told you she was awesome!

Here is my newly acquired stash:

In all truthfulness the pound of sock yarn in front was $25, but come on, a pound of “experimental” hand-dyed yarn for $25 combined with 6 skeins of handyed yarn that total about $18? Pinch me! (Oh, I already owned the cat)

 All in all an awesome trip! Although, for some reason, I didn’t get very much worsted weight……. guess we’ll just have to make another trip

or is it Stitches and Sticks?? I can never remember….. at any rate……

Last night myself and 8 of my fellow knitters (well, 6 fellow knitters, one husband, and one sister) attended the second annual (?) Sticks and Stitches put on by the great folks at Interweave.

We chatted, knit, and watched the Colorado Avalanche’s overtime win over the New York Islanders. (No, I am absolutely not going to provide a link to the enemy’s website, if you wanna know,  tough. You’ll just have to look it up yourself)

In truth some of us knit and chat more then watched hockey, but rest assured a good time was had by all. For me personally, it was the perfect combination of my favorite things: awesome friends, knitting and hockey. Oh, and of course: tasty adult beverages.

Oh, did I mention there were free goodies?

By the time we got there, the gals at the goodie desk said something akin to “Help yourselves to whatever” Are they nuts? Help yourself?? When there is free yarn on the table, what kind of nut says “Help yourself” to a group of knitters??  All told I have 3 balls of Bernat Satin, 4 balls Katia Mohair, and 3 mags.

In short:

friends + food +  drink + knitting + hockey + freebies = good, no, awesome times!

As a little New Years gift, the Universe gave me a little cold. Yeah, great way to start 2008! I was planning on posting on New Years, but my little mind was fuzzy so I waited until today, when I was fortunate enough to be able to take the day off work and when I was not so hopped up on cold medicine. Although, if you will allow me a little whining here: I hate the way cold medicine makes me feel and I only take it when I need to. It comes down to the lesser of 2 evils: sick or spacey. The bad thing about  not needing to take cold medicine to function, is now I feel all the little aches and pains. Like, for instance, my sore throat.

Nothing makes me whinier then a sore throat, only one thing worse in my opinion (vomiting if you must know).  I generally consider myself a tough gal. I mean, aren’t we all? How many of us have endured mind-numbing cramps along with equally mind-numbing co-workers? Not to mention the frantic, last minute, all night, ” I needed to finish this an hour ago” gift knitting. Haven’t we all toughed it out and “knit through the pain”? Or in my case, last week at a social dance, when hubby and I were dancing (a rumba, I believe) and he stepped on my toe just the right way…. did I stop dancing? Hell, no! Even though my toe was bleeding? HELL, NO!

I am strong,

I am invincible,

I am woman! (Thanks  Helen Reddy)

Ah, but a little sore throat and I cry like a baby! Now the bright side to the illness is I have got a lot of sleep, and a fair amount of knitting done. I started a pair of gloves for hubby. Nothing too fancy, just plain old gloves. What makes these gloves special, besides the fact of me making them, is the yarn. I am using Misti Alpaca Suri Silk. Very nice! They are working up so soft and with just a little sheen, not too much for a manly man. They should be the perfect pair of plain, fancy gloves.

Not to be left out, I am making Fetching for myself. As suggested, by the pattern and Lenore, I am using Cashmerino for them. I am not at all disappointed in this yarn. I t is a dream to work with, and is knitting up quit nicely. So far, I have one done, but I am going to start the other one today.

I also manged to start and finish a bow-tie neck-warmer for myself. One of the drawbacks of knitting is the constant supply of scarves I keep pumping out. I can’t help it, I love scarfs. Once the weather turned cold, I realized that not only are scarves fashionable they are quit functional. Who knew? As it turns out, my little neck gets chilly without something, preferably hand-knit, wrapped around it.

One of the awesome girls at my stitch and bitch (Jen), made one of these for herself. I was pleasantly surprised at how cute it was. Being the copy-cat that I am, I had to have one. I have had this ball of brushed Alpaca for ages, I bought it because it was simply too soft to put down. Perfect for a neck-warmer!

In all honesty, I am not completely in love with it: in real life the color looks almost dingy, the neck part is a little wide, and the increases are different for each end. The beginning bow-tie has the YO 1 stitch in, while the end one has them 2 stitches in. A fact that I wish I had noticed at the beginning- I tried doing the YO 1 stitch in at the end, but with the dec. it looked weird. It’s not really that noticeable though, only if you are anal like me. However, being the optimist that I am, (hey! stop snickering, I can be optimistic sometimes!) I am thinking with the right color shirt, the color will pop. If not, it will be nice for shoveling snow!!

The astute among you will notice that the first 2 pictures have things in them that do not belong. These are a couple of my Christmas presents. My father in law gave my More Sensational Knitted Socks (yeah, Dad I get the hint….. you want more socks!) and my dear hubby gave me the iPod. I LOVE MY IPOD TOUCH!!!! Holy shit, it is the coolest thing. Now, along with my knitting addiction, I have developed iPod accessory and iTunes addictions as well. (I know I am late with the whole iPod thing, but better late then never)

Finally, speaking of my knitting addiction: I am currently organizing stash. Pictures and stories too come………