Sunday, October 22, 2006

Many Red Scarves will be mailed in January

I've been working hard on scarves for the Red Scarf project. On Thursday I finished a crocheted scarf. It's the Windy City Chicago scarf from the little box of scarves.

Then I went to the Michaels yarn sale on Saturday afternoon and bought some Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed and Patons Classic Wool. While watching two movies and about 4 hours of Tivo I managed to get 3 scarves started.

And I have more red yarn to make more Red Scarves, one of which will be the Irish Hiking scarf using Patons Decor. I almost forgot, there's the Touch of Whimsy scarf which I work on at lunch time.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Scarf is practically in the Mail


I'm mailing the scarf off to my secret pal tomorrow morning. The chill is already in the air where she lives and I wanted to get the scarf in the mail so it can keep her nice and toasty. I don't want the scarf to be lonely during the long trip (outside of the continental United States) so I picked up some other goodies.

At a local Sheep and Wool Festival I found tiny sheep figurines and some llama roving from a local artisan group. My secret pal not only knits she spins yarn. From reading her blog, she's tried many different fibers but I don't remember seeing llama.

Since I live in Michigan and my pal doesn't, I decided to include some Michigan items. So I picked up a 2007 calendar with picturesque scenes of Michigan, Cherry vinaigrette salad dressing (Michigan is known for cherries), foil wrapped milk chocolate cars (she has children and I live in the auto capital of the U.S.), chocolate covered Michigan cherries (who doesn't love chocolate), and fancy chocolate covered chunky pretzels (sweet and salty) from a local Michigan shop.

And while picking up the tissue paper (a blue, green, and yellow print) which coordinates well with the color of the scarf, I found some stretch gloves in green with cream trim and a matching pair in solid cream. Then in the next aisle, actually a few aisles away, I found some butterfly shaped post-it notes in green and blue. I didn't know if I could fit the scarf in the box with everything else. I couldn't so I had to get a bigger box. And soon it will be on its way to ------. Can't tell, it's still a secret.

I almost forgot. Here are the scarf details:
  • Pattern: Farrow Rib Scarf from the little box of Scarves
  • Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro in colorway 9432, 100% Peruvian highland wool
  • size 9 needles (I think)
  • 4 skeins including the fringe, which I included in the package as an option
  • Measurements: approx 7.5" x 102" (she did request LOOOONG)

My respirator has been unplugged


I have lost the battle in Sock Wars. I was taken out by assassin Mlle Udah who used a pair of pink and yellow socks to deal the fatal blow.

Monday, October 16, 2006

SABLE

I found some post-its at the CGOA convention which had SABLE written on them. SABLE stands for Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy. It is my goal and I think I'm on the road to achieving it. There are 8 shelving units in my basement for my yarn stash. Each has 5 shelves which are 36" wide. I began seriously organizing it a few weekends ago and was amazed at what was down there. Being the anal retentive person I am, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of it.

And since I know you want to know what I've got, I published it on Google Spreadsheets. There are tabs at the bottom for "Current" projects, items I have "Started & Stopped", projects for which I have all the "Materials Gathered", and the beginning of my "Stash". I put the link over in the sidebar to the right and I'll add it here for the sake of completeness.

My Own Little Yarn Store

Sunday, October 15, 2006

CGOA ready to go


I am ready to mail off the 2 binders containing my swatches and my answers to a bunch of questions. I can't believe I'm finally ready to mail them off. Yesterday while reviewing my work, I realized I did one of the swatches incorrectly. Then I realized I didn't answer all of the parts to one of the questions. Boy am I glad I went over everything one last time. It will go in the mail tomorrow and arrive at CGOA with only a few days to spare.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Finally....the last swatch is done

I just finished the last swatch I need to do for CGOA. It's pinned to my ironing board to cold water block it a bit. The CGOA gives you a year to finish the requirements for the Basic Stitches coures. I procrastinated for a long time doing other projects and not really starting it. Now I have until October 27th to finish everything and send it in. This is the last of the swatches, yeah ! ! ! !

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Socks of Doom - Part Deux


I received the unfinished socks from my target's target's target Robin, early last week. Early this morning, I finished the Socks of Doom. I was a few yards short of yarn to finish the toes so I searched my stash and came up with the yellow sock yarn I used for the toes. The socks are destined for Australia tomorrow morning on the way to work. I also picked up a Michigan magnet to include in the package. Now I just have to write a quick note and wrap it all up.

Monday, October 02, 2006

ISE3 scarf for my pal

Here's a picture of the scarf so far. It's about 64" long. I want it to be at least 72" long not including the fringe.

Round 2

Round 2 of Sock Wars has begun for me. I received the socks in the mail from Robin. She's my target's target's target. Robin hadn't gotten very far on her socks but I was easily able to pick up and continue knitting. Hopefully, I'll have a few days to work on them before a pair of deadly socks lands in my mailbox.