From Foreign Lands

I was so excited to find the camera, you know. I got a few great shots from Friday Night Live. Yesterday, I tried to take some pictures of FOs and ... the battery had died. Phooey. A quick trip to the store later and I have at least two posts for this week!

I may have busted the yarn died last week. My justification was twofold. One, I was almost done with my socks, which meant stash reduction, so a new skein would cancel it out. Two, I was in the paper and my fame entitled me! I only feel mildly guilty and I'll be a good girl now, I promise.

One of my super-sweet friends over at my LYS is also super-creative. She comes up with great displays for each holiday and season that incorporate yarn. For example, right now she has the "ocean table". Can you already tell I'm sunk? But really, how was I supposed to go home without this?



It's Colinette Jitterbug in the colorway Aegean. I've wanted Jitterbug since I worked at the yarn store, but couldn't really justify it since I didn't knit socks. Well, all I have to do on these socks is make a heel, so I bought some! Colinette is a Welsh yarn company, and I had the great fortune to go to Wales my sophomore year of college. (I fit in the doorway of the smallest house in Great Britain. True story.)

I might have been able to resist even then, but the Aegean Sea is on the coast of Greece, and I went to Greece my senior year of high school. So you see, I had no choice but to buy it.

That was my impulse buy. Last week the Crazy Zauberball came in, and after seeing socks made out of Zauberball at Friday Night Live, there was no way I was letting that get past me. (The website isn't quite working right now, otherwise I'd link it.) I almost bought the blue (I'm in a Blue Phase again, apparently), but bright colors prevailed and I went home with the rainbow (colorway 1702). Since this was the first time I'd taken pictures since we'd moved in, I had to learn where all the good light and backgrounds were. I was putting the yarn on the windowsill when my littlest helper decided to investigate.



My husband wants to print that and frame it. So that's not stash, that's art!

IWTMT: My Sweet Cogette Lace Cuffs

As my husband and I were driving home yesterday after going out to breakfast, we noticed some of our neighbors were having a yard sale. Of course we checked it out! I admired a faux-leather coat that was a little too big for me, but when the lady said it was $2, I sent hubs running to the house to get together spare change. The coat is a little bit pirate, a little bit highway robber, and a little bit steampunk. If nothing else, it'll make a great Halloween costume accessory.

In honor of my new-found obsession with all things steampunk, IWTM My Sweet Cogette Lace Cuffs (Rav link). The pattern costs $5.50. I just love the thought of wandering around like a female Captain Jack Sparrow, waving my hands erratically with these cuffs flapping around. Maybe I'm just weird. Who cares? These cuffs are awesome.

Friday Night Knit

Well, it was knitting and spinning. No one brought their crochet hooks, though I thought about it. It poured at six o'clock, but we were still on! I didn't actually count, but I think we had between eight and ten crafters at all times. Not too shabby.

Most of us were knitting, but our guild president was the big draw. Everybody wanted to know "how do you do that?" Me too! (Thanks for letting me put you on the blog!)



I ended up bringing my sock. I got a lot of work done! On that note, it's hard to take a flattering picture from this angle.



In fact ... I was even in the paper. Picture 11 is the flattering one. That's what I get for knowing/heckling the photographer, I guess! Kids, don't sit like that while someone's taking your picture. You look dumb. I'd know.

Being in the paper (and the subsequent recognition from everyone I know - I didn't realize that many people still read the paper) shamed me into finishing that sock! Rather than suffer from second sock syndrome, I cast on for the second sock this morning. I figure I'll knit them both and then do the afterthought heels. If I get lazy, they can be tube socks.

IWTMT: French Market Bag

I'm really beginning to think renaming (and re-URLing) the blog has broken it. Not a single hit this past week. Ouch. That's okay, I can be persistent.

It might have something to do with the seven loads of laundry I did this past week, but I've been on a felting kick. I washed the afghan of unknown origin and am pleased to report that it is acrylic. I was pretty sure, but the fringe had "felted" together over the years so I wasn't completely positive. I think it's more likely they melted together a little in the dryer. (I, of course, put it in on low heat.)

I haven't felted anything yet. Nowhere near to making something I can felt. But I keep finding projects I adore, and of course I want to share them with you. This week I want to run out and get some Cascade 220 and make the French Market Bag (Ravelry link) from the winter 2003 Knitty. It's so classy, and would be perfect to bring to my local farmers market. How cute would it be to have one in each color of the rainbow?

I found the camera!

Guess what I found? Finding the camera is good news, since it means I can post pictures again. In the past two months, I've finished three items. I've blocked two of them, and they're just waiting for their photoshoots. Plus, I can bring the camera to Friday Night Live tomorrow for our knit-in and hopefully take some pictures.

Friday Night Live is a summer event in Rutland, VT. I don't know exactly how to describe it. There are music, food, vendors and community groups. They close down a street in the middle of downtown. It's a lot of fun, and some of us crafters are staging a fiber-fest. Quite sneaky, since we don't actually have a booth. I'm curious to see how many show up.

Of course, a problem with this is deciding what to bring. I could bring my drop spindle, but I'm still not very good at it. I could bring my super-secret project that could use the attention, but it's super-secret and I'm paranoid. I could bring the Binary Scarf, but I have no idea where the code I wrote down is. Okay, that's a cop-out. I could bring the Binary Scarf, but it's the Binary Scarf. It's like the car my dad's been fixing up for me ... for the past two years.

I could start something new, but that's not so good. I want to try to finish things.

I'll probably bring the socks I never finished, but of course in the move I can't find the pattern and I don't have a working printer.

It's just like picking out an outfit for the first day of school. Speaking of, what am I going to wear??

IWTMT: Shoulderette

This week's IWTMT might seem a little funny, considering last week we were busy having a heat wave, but I don't claim to make sense. In fact, I'm just thankful I started writing this before 11 PM on a Sunday.

I'm one of those people that's always just a little bit cold (except in heat waves). I have tons of sweatshirts, but I'm also vain and don't like messing up my hair. Only one is zip-up, and that's the very grown-up Mickey Mouse print I got at Epcot. Consequently, I look like I'm five. A lot. (I'm not five.)

Last October, when my cousin got married, I considered making a shrug. This normally would have been a great idea, except I considered it about two days before she tied the knot. I am not a fast knitter.

Shoulderette (Rav link) seems like one of those things you can take your time with. Sure, the instructions are a little vague, but sometimes it's good to have a challenge. I love the little lace details. This would be fun to have for a special occasion or just going to the movies. Maybe they'd stop asking for my ID!

IWTMT: Warm Up America

This week's IWTMT will be a little bit different. My original intent was to find an American flag afghan in honor of the holiday. As I sat here in my shorts and a tank top, looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow (94 degrees), I decided maybe an afghan wasn't the best project to express an interest in right now.

Instead, I'm going to highlight the Warm Up America Foundation. Maybe making a whole blanket is a little warm for the summer, but I know you can handle a little rectangle! Warm Up America is a group I didn't know that much about until today. While it's a national group, great emphasis is put on doing things locally: joining together afghan squares with a group as well as distributing finished blankets to churches/hospitals/shelters in your neighborhood. If you can't find any local support, Warm Up America also accepts individual afghan blocks knitted or crocheted to be 7" by 9". They even offer patterns in case you need a little inspiration.

Lately I've been using up my scrap yarn in charity hats, but I love this idea as well. I'll let you poke around their website, but here's the direct link on how you can help. It may be 94 degrees tomorrow, but I'd love to Warm Up America!