UFOs and FOs (no, really!)

No, really, I do occasionally have finished (or almost finished, or at least in progress) items! I've been making batts like crazy, mostly from this Coopworth roving that I bought ages ago from an ebay seller. I liked it, the colors were nice, and it was good yarn for felting and things like bags and such, but the roving quality wasn't the best. It's a small farm and they process their own fibers, so the roving wasn't blended well (more like strips of different colors just next to each other) and there were parts where one of the colors dropped out completely. So I decided to run them through the carder, and voila! Gorgeous!



And what's this? Why, it's a sock! (yes, it's blurry, sorry!)


And what's THIS?!! Why, it's the other one sock (as my daughter says)


Wow! It really is! A PAIR of socks! Finished within a couple of weeks of each other! No, REALLY! These are Wyvern from Marnie Maclean, a GREAT pattern!


I also finally finished all the bands for Kepler. Here are the sleeve bands blocking on my mattress a la Harlot. Yes, I realize they aren't even, I fixed it after I took the pic.


Here's the first 2 inches or so of sleeve 1. Moving right along! I LOVE THIS YARN! Kathmandu Aran tweed in a great olive-y green color.


And check out how those cables pop!



There are more, but I've used all my Flickr for this month, and Blogger's being a bit of a poop.

In a pathetic attempt to put off taking pics of FOs

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

This is why I love the interwebs! Thanks to Dana KBS (via Knotty Gnome), who commented on my last post, I now know that Pam's sweater is from Anthropologie, that bastion of overpriced, boho cool that I will NEVER be able to afford (or wear, for that matter, being bigger than a toothpick!). It's cashmere, it's $268, but all that matters is I now have pics! I can either find something close, or make this my first attempt to design something myself. Unfortunately, it's only saving the pic of the back of the sweater as a .gif, which I can't seem to convert. C'est la vie - the cables at the front travel up the middle of the back with a 3 stitch knit column and then what looks like a 6-stitch cable. Absolute gorgeousness! Thanks, Dana!

Video from the Office with Pam's Sweater

Ok, so here's a video that has some good shots of Pam's sweater. I'm obsessed with this - there's got to be a pattern out there somewhere, right? Right?!

Shameless Etsy Plug

How freakin' cool is this video? I love how at the end the chick who made the yarn earrings has all this stuff around her house from Etsy. It's so true. I spend more on Etsy than I make, that's for sure!
Etsy

The Office

So I just finished watching tonight's episode of The Office, and Pam has a sweater that her mom knit for her. There's got to be some kind of pattern out there somewhere, right? Anyone else see it?

Meme-y

I'm not a big meme-r, but I saw this one here and couldn't resist. I like pithiness.

one.word.only.

1. Yourself: trapped
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): loving
3. Your hair: short
4. Your mother: foody
5. Your father: funny
6. Your favorite item: wheel
7. Your dream last night: gripping
8. Your favorite drink: margarita
9. Your dream car: volvo
10. The room you are in: messy
11. Your ex: young
12. Your fear: anonymity
13. What you want to be in 10 years? rich
14. Who you hung out with last night? hubby
15. What You're Not? stupid
16. Muffins: chocolate
17. One of your wish list items: house
18. Time: limited
19. The last thing you did: drink
20. What you are wearing: black
21. Your favorite weather: fall
22. Your favorite book: Handmaid
23. The last thing you ate: pasta
24. Your life: boring
25. Your mood: stressed
26. Your best friend: nonexistent
27. What are you thinking about right now? carding
28. Your car: green
29. What are you doing at the moment? tv
30. Your summer: busy
31. Your relationship status: married
32. What is on your TV? Colbert
33. What is the weather like? rainy
34. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday

Tomorrow, pics of batts off the wall.

Make just one someone happy...

My yarns are all boxed and ready to go to Craftland! I'm SO nervous! I hope they are liked and people buy them and they make a funky scarf, or a warm hat, or a cool pair of wristwarmers for someone. Eeek!

Here is the obligatory yarn pile:


And here they are nestled safely in their big-ass box!


And here are a few sample skeins, aka fiber p*rn!

"Mint Neapolitan" hand-dyed (by moi) Falklands.


"Land of Confusion" hand-dyed domestic wool mixed with a batt from Natasha.


"Geyser" merino hand-dyed by the Yarn Wench.

And since it's, cough, my birthday, cough cough, I figured I'd share some of the birthday haul with y'all!

That's "200 Aran Stitches", "Yarns to Dye For", "Spinning Designer Yarns", and the Knitpicks Options needle set! And see that baggie of fiber in the bottom left-hand corner? That's some roving from Nistock Farm that's going to be spun up on this:



Why, what's that? Well, it's my very first (and hopefully not last!) Golding spindle!! It's "Midnight Sky", handcarved cherry whorl, walnut shaft, and WHITE GOLD leafed moon and stars! I've been drooling over this spindle since I started spinning over a year ago, and my dear sweet darling hubby got it for me as a total surprise!!! I can't wait to get some fiber on it! It's amazing how it feels, just holding it and touching the wood (sounds icky, huh?!?) I have a bunch of spindles, but they're mostly cheaper - not bad, just not such high quality. I'm so excited - more that my hubby remembered how much I liked it and went through all the trouble (for him, a non-fibery type) to find it for me! I lurve him!

Ta!

Whoa

I'm floored.

And here's fibery stuff cuz I promised:

Samples on their way to San Francisco Craft Mafia's Mafia Made Trunk Show. These little babies will be in goodie bags they give out at the show. Hopefully they'll drum up some more business for Black Cat! Thanks for the opportunity to join, Barbe!

Here is Wyvern, three repeats in. I think the yarn is probably a little too busy for the pattern, but I'm loving both right now too much to stop! And I LOVE the toe-up sock! The toe is WAY more comfortable than the top down sock I knit. Yay toe up!

Santorum Concedes

Well, it couldn't happen to a nicer bigoted prick.*

*I promise, there will be a return to fibery goodness tomorrow - FOs, almost-FOs, yarn piles, etc.!

Nekkid for a Good Cause

I was going to just leave the VOTE post up front and center today, but I came across this in my almost-daily slog through the blogs I check in on when I get the chance.

This is important. This is incredible. More people should do things like this.

Getting Naked for Cancer

Go. Read up. Buy a calendar. Help someone out. Just cuz.

Cinderella says

VOTE!

Figured I'd kill 2 birds with one stone, update with a belated Halloween pic and urge ya'll to exercise your right - preferably Democrat, preferably to vote the incumbent bastards out, but no matter what, it's your RIGHT.

I left my husband for a drumcarder

Well, not really, but I may think about it! This is almost the best time I've had with an inanimate object.


white wool/mohair blend roving with llama locks and enchanted forest angelina.


merino roving with lincoln locks.


Corriedale locks from spincycle yarns, pre-carding.


Corriedale locks all carded up (the batt kinda got away from me when I took it off the carder!)


Cotswold lamb's locks from Frene Creek Farm pre-carding - amazing staple length!


Cotswold batt.


The fruit of my labors (from bottom - llama locks, white wool/mohair with llama locks and angelina, merino with lincoln locks, same merino alone, white wool/mohair with blue angelina, cotswold locks, white wool/mohair with black angelina, Groucho - wanted to get him in, hence the weird angle!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Even though it's 9 days early* - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!


Strauch 205 Fine Tooth drumcarder from Mom and Dad!

*my bday is Nov. 12 for anyone who's interested (just kidding!)