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Showing posts from April, 2021

First Pair Completed!

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TGIF on yet another blustery day!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. I finally blocked the second of the first set of CSM socks:  I continue to knit away on stuff, but still not much to show for it.  I've got some other blocking work to do, so perhaps there will be new pics soon! I learned earlier this week that the only thing keeping me from GRADUATING this May (with an M.P.H.) are all the check boxes for my practicum requirement.  I've done all the work, but the faculty advisor needs to check the boxes.  Fingers crossed! My new job is going well and I really enjoy working with the people I interact with the most.  It's a great mix of alone-work and informative meetings, all of which I do from right here (or just to the left of right here which is where that monitor currently sits). We've had a bit of rain lately so not much to report in terms of wildlife.  But things are greening up so I expect there will be fauna to accompany all that flora!

CSM Socks!!

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Hello on this snowy and blustery Thursday morning!  I hope you're safe and well; we're good here. Yes - it looks like February outside at the moment, with snow on the ground and a wave of heavy lake effect snow hitting us.  It shouldn't last long, but for the moment it is a winter wonderland out there (or maybe a winter WTFland is more like it??). I finally completed the deep heel experimental CSM shortie socks, here is their pic: These are actually a gift for my mom, just in time for Mother's Day!  I think they look super cute, and although I think there is more hand knitting on there than machine knitting, they were a great experiment and really fun to make. I still haven't dyed the minis for the "full size" version of these - which will be pink for this particular yarn (toes and heels anyway - not sure about the cuff yet).  I did, however, get one of LW's sock tubes cranked out yesterday.  The pile of yarn bundles continues to grow!  (Neuro - I'

Neuro's Yarn Pack!!

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Hello on this strangely blustery Tuesday!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. I'm very happy to be on Day Two of my second vaccine dose.  I'm a little sleepy, and the injection site is red and itchy.  I must be one hell of an antibody factory!!!! I've been working a bit here and there on the yarn packs for our upcoming Dye Weekend.  I did Neuro's fist because they need to be mailed to her.  They wanted to pose for you: Each full skein is CSM-knitted into a tube and has an additional 20g skein for accent color or whatever.  The yellow yarn you see is the "waste" yarn that guards the live stitches on both ends.  It's pretty good about not unraveling, so I just make it long enough so that even accidents won't unravel the good stuff! Other projects continue to progress slowly.  It's not a race, so I'm really trying to intentionally enjoy the process! In wildlife news - not much going on these days.  But we're supposed to

Yarn Flinging!!

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Hello on this cloudy Saturday!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. I've been working away on many things socks this past week, including some finishing work on the shorties with a wide heel.  I'll have some pics soon. I still need to dye the yarn for the heels and toes for the remainder of that tube, and I hope to get that done today so that knitting can commence! In the meantime, I'm preparing some materials for the upcoming Third Annual Yarn Dyeing Weekend with Neuro and LW: (You can also see the super cute and functional cover I scored for my CSM.  The maker does these custom, and with just my simple request for a purple print selected the most beautiful print ever!  The photo's a bit dark, but hopefully you can sort of get the idea.) Each of these cakes will become a tube (in advance of being dyed and then knit into socks or cowls or whatever); later today there will be four more minis for accent dyeing (or whatever strikes our fancy!).  Neuro

Late Night Shopping Spree

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Guess what day it is????  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. So I found myself unable to sleep one night last week, and ended up watching yet another pair of Emotional Support Canadian knitters on YouTube.  They were talking about electronic spinners, and suddenly I found myself ordering a Nano.  It's laser printed, purple, and absolutely adorable!  It arrived today and I can't wait to try it.  Pics to follow. Speaking of pics, I've made some progress on the Cats and Dogz shawl: Yes, I took this on the deck today.  Our spring weather has been absolutely glorious so far!  I know we'll pay for it later - either in terms of cold mud, or perhaps another super-hot summer.  But It's just amazing right now. Each of these colors is laceweight doubled.  I wasn't too sure the greens would be that different, but they really are.  I like the combo of them all very much! We heard a commotion outside yesterday around dinner time, turns out it was The Fa

NNWA Knitting Done!

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Happy Easter Sunday!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. This evening we'll be dining on spiral ham (leftovers from the last one) and roasted potatoes - very exciting!  (OK, there's a salad in there as well.)  I also scored another spiral ham on sale last week, so that is in the freezer awaiting an opportunity for yumminess! I finished the knitting on the NNWA last night: I think the top one shows the pattern better,, but the bottom one is closer to the actual colors (the top one looks way greener than it really is - bad lighting on my part, I'm sure!) I still have a kazillion ends to weave in, and I also need to wash/block it, so the fun part is done, LOL. Of course I turned around and started yet another Casapinka design - The Secret Life of Cats (and dogz) .  I'm using mostly laceweight (doubled to make fingering weight), so this should put a big dent in the lace part of the stash!  Pics coming soon!

Winding Yarn

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Hello on a sunny-quickly-turning-cloudy Saturday!  I hope this finds you safe and well; we're good here. Realizing I needed to get a couple of steps ahead on my sock machine projects, I readied some yarn for dyeing:  Yeah, so a couple of things. The cone on the floor is a shit-ton of Wool2Dye4's Platinum Sock base - 75% SW merino, 25% nylon.  I got it and a bunch of BFL hanks at the same time I purchased the sock machine.  They have a lot of lovely yarns and I believe mostly cater to indie dyers and amateurs like me :) But I only needed enough for heels and toes for two pairs of socks - so, 20g each, or about 80 yards.  One will be dyed pink, the other purple. That little white gadget you see is a yarn measure.  You put the yarn in the slot, pull the lever that holds it in, and wind it up!  I was winding on to my niddy-noddy because I wanted hanks for dyeing, and I wasn't quite sure how to crank the Umbrella Swift to accomplish the same thing.  Needless to say, I've ha