Back in the Land of the Living

And it feels good. Yes. It. Does.

------------------------

Thank you all so much for your kind wishes, both about Andy and my long hours working. I wanted to add that, although Andy was the son of my husband's classmate and friend, I was never lucky enough to meet him personally. And, well...it just shouldn't be this way. So much has been lost in Iraq. I will forward your kind wishes on to his family.

------------------------

Well, all my book materials are in! Wooooooohoooooooooooooo! Although the day I blogged about was a particularly long one, that's about what happens when you try to squish the workload from a book into an already busy life! And like Junie said, that's why I've disappeared.

So, I'm on to the most important past of my post: my kind, patient and wonderful Secret Pal, SpinningJenny, who spoiled me rotten, picked amazingly wonderful gifts, and is a complete sweetheart. Even when I got completely overwhelmed and dropped off the face of the Earth. Thank you Jenny!

And now since I have had the time to fix the camera software finally, here are some pics of a hank of absolutely amazingly gorgeous laceweight she sent me from Cherry Tree Hill.

Mmmmmm.

I might have gone a little overboard to make up for lost time here. :)

And then she sent me a package with my very favorite candy that I completely forgot to mention in the questionnaire (duh) but that she ferreted out of me in an email exchange: Ritter Sport marzipan bars. She sent me two. The second one didn't make it to the photo session. Heh. Or I should say "urp."

And the hank of yarn? Her handspun. Yes!

Is it not delectable? I wish I could do it justice! It has these gorgeous strands of shiny stuff spun in and it is so soft and lofty. I need to come up with the perfect pattern.

Thank you so much Jenny!!! I so enjoyed meeting you!

Next, we have my only holiday knitting: for my little ones. I used Cascade's Eco Wool + (my favorite yarn now for almost three years running!) with the Fiber Trends kids' felted clogs pattern. Here they are before felting.

And after.

I am always amazed at the magic of felting, no matter how many times I do it!

And believe me, I've been doing a LOT of it!

Here is the requisite modeled shot.

And last of all, I wanted to thank everyone who has written me kind notes about Ice Queen (queue it here on Ravelry)! I am so glad you all like it - and you absolutely make my day when I get those notes. It's been a huge (much needed!) energy boost. Thank you thank you!

And now, I have a lot of catching up to do in my life! Have a great weekend y'all!

Aargh!

The camera software is bunged up and I don't have any time to de-bugify it. So you are all going to have to imagine the gorgeous surprise that my Secret Pal sent me. It is hand dyed in a plummy purple, it is mohair and it is laceweight. What could possibly be better?! I've been fondling it. It is hanging by my work space beckoning to me to cast on with it. It is my reward. Yes, my reward.

And while you are imagining that, imagine me crocheting, and hand & needle felting for hours at a time. Did you know that hand felting is great exercise for your triceps? Neither did I!

Hopefully I can convince hubby to fix said camera software by Friday so I don't have to take time away from my stealth felting activities. 'Cause dayamn, this blog is boring without pics! (And no! You may not tell me it's boring with pics too! That's TMI for my tiny brain!) ;)

Am I Lucky or What?!

I mean, really, I got the perfect Secret Pal gift: green laceweight alpaca. And once I got past drooling over the alpaca, I found all the other really cool stuff in the box, too!
Like a nifty little neckwarmer (I couldn't get a good picture of it, so I'm gonna have to wait for the hubby to do his photo magic), cool little stacking boxes to hold my beads (because you can never have too many places to put beads, don'tcha know!), fun little pens, lavender bath gel (I love lavender!), candy, tea...it was too much fun to open it.

It was definitely the highlight of my day!

Oh, and I might have already broken into the laceweight to do a beaded Muir swatch! Here's a little photo teaser.

I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to see the beads on it. I'll have a full beaded chart up this weekend, but for now, have fun with the swatch chart! :)

And in other news...AgnesB finished her Muir! Isn't it lovely!?

Wow!

Thank you all so much for the kind words about Muir! You guys rock. Big time! :) I hope everyone enjoys knitting it!

I've gotten a few questions about Tsuki by Artfibers, the yarn I used. So here's the scoop! Artfibers is a store in San Francisco that dyes their own yarns, and those yarns are not available elsewhere, as far as I know. That being said, there are many other yarns that can be substituted and that you can fondle at your local yarn store. Here is a picture of some possibilities:

From left to right are Habu silk/mohair (A-32), Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Madil Kid Seta, Colinette Parisienne and for comparison, Artfibers Tsuki. These are all silk/mohair blends, but Tsuki and the Habu have a higher silk content than Kidsilk Haze, Parisienne and Kid Seta. The picture doesn't show it very well, but Tsuki is a little less fuzzy than the others with higher mohair content. Kid Seta comes in a color that is very close to the Tsuki that I used: color 470. It is an olivey green. The Tsuki, however, has color gradations, because of the method used to dye the yarn. The silk and the mohair take the dye differently and the resulting yarn is almost, but not quite, solid. It's a cool effect. The Kid Seta is perfectly solid, but with the sheen of silk.

For those of you who like a little fuzziness, but not as much as you get with mohair, I recommend laceweight baby alpaca. It has some halo and is wonderfully soft, but it is much much easier to rip.

I've also been asked about needle size. I used US 6 needles, and I knit lace very loosely. I suggest swatching if you are concerned. :)

Here is a tutorial for one way to do a provisional cast-on. It is my favorite method.

And I know there have been problems printing out the chart. There's a pdf here that should work!

Ravelry users can queue Muir here.

Now...who is da bomb? My Secret Pal, that's who!!! Look what she sent me!


Eeeeeeeeeeee! Thank you Secret Pal! I heart this book. I've been drooling in my spare time. :)

Now it's back to work with me, and another apology for dropping off the face of the Earth and not coming around visiting lately. Have a great week!

Goodies!

It's all eye candy, all the time: Monday edition!

Look at what I got from my Secret Pal by way of Adagio Teas!

I love black tea, the stronger the better. And I love Adagio's packaging and marketing concept. Very cool! I've already broken into the Keemun. Yummy! Thank you Secret Pal! :)

And this also came in the mail.

It is an adorable little booklet from Crafty Eliza. Is it not the cutest thing?! She made it by hand and it has a little sock pattern in it.

I love it! Thank you, Eliza!

And this is to drool over. Yummy fuzzy stuff from Lisa Souza.

Mmmmmmmmmmmohair in Ruby.

This concludes the eye candy portion of today's episode. :)

Here are a few SP 11 extra questions and answers:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
Hmmmmmmm. Only one?! I guess my stitch/row and needle gauge measure.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
Vacation? What's that?

If I take car or social knitting, it's simple - usually stockinette in the round on US 7 or 8 needles. I don't have to look at it. :)

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
Venice.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I think it's a tie between Aran Knitting and Stillwater, neither of which do I own. Way too expensive!

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
No, I don't usually, but I've listened to some select interviews. It's a cool medium!

Happy Monday and have a great week!

Secret Pal 11

Can you believe I've never done one of these before? But it looks like so much fun every time I see one on some one's blog, that I just had to join in! So here goes on the questionnaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love Kidsilk haze and other laceweight silk mohair blends. I am a mo-ho. Love love love the fuzzy stuff. I don't like acrylic, and I don't like variegated yarns unless they are tone on tone and blend really really well.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A flat plastic bin.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting off and on for 30ish years. My mother taught me how to cast on, knit and purl and I went from there! I consider myself to be an advanced knitter. If I don't know how to do it, I'll work on it until I can. :)

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I don't like fake scents. IOW, I like lavender, but only real lavender. I don't like the soap. I love the smell of tea tree oil. I love the smell of grapefruit and California Bay Laurel.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes, unfortunately. I love Godiva "open oyster" truffles.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I bead and make jewelry. I don't spin, and I don't want to get sucked into that vortex! (Nothing against spinning. I just have the feeling that if I learned, you wouldn't be hearing from me for a long long time).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like jazz, pop rock (particularly 80s music :g:) and baroque. Yes, my computer can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love acid green, golden orange and plummy purple. I don't like pastels, particularly pink; pastels look terrible on me!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm married and have two boys, a rabbit, a cat and fish.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Not really.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Lace! I love it. :) Next favorite: mindless sweaters. :)

13. What are you knitting right now?
A bunch of jewelry and a shawl.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes - I love it that some one would spend time making something just for me.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circular: Addis and Inox.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes, both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Hmmmmmmm. About 2 years I think.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Knitting books, yarn and beads. Other than that, not really. I'm not much of a collector.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Hmmmmmmmmm. I'd like to see Joan McGowan Michael's book Knitting Lingerie and Annie Modesitt's Romantic Knits (is that the right title?) I love the new blackcurrant color of KSH and it will be mine, all mine! And one of these days I'm going to splurge and buy some of Sundara's laceweight silk yarn in Plum or Green Tea. I let all of my subscriptions lapse, but I used to have IK, Vogue and Knitter's.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I've never cut a steek, so I think I'll have to do that one of these days soon!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
True confessions time: I hate knitting socks. Perhaps this is because I have only knit them for my husband, who wears size 13, likes densely knit socks, doesn't like patterning of any kind, and likes full ribbing on the leg.

My foot:
length: 9.25 inches
width: 3.5 inches

23. When is your birthday?
December 3.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes! Romi.

So there you go. More than you ever wanted to know! ;)