Cabin Fever

Well we finally had some snow here!  I know, I know, if you are living in one of the colder ares of the country you probably are sick and tired of the snow that has been inundating most of the country.  The forecasters have been promising snow for weeks now and Monday they predicted a blizzard.  Growing up in Maine when the forecasters call for a blizzard we knew to get prepared.  Here in Virginia preparation is still good, but not quite to the extreme that is called for elsewhere.  Are you ready to see the massive amount of snow that we got?

Yup, that's grass sticking up through the snow there.  If you look carefully you can see the nearly bare street in front of our house.  I took this picture early in the morning and by lunchtime most of the snow had melted. 

It has been pretty cold here over the past couple of weeks.  I'm taking full advantage of being inside for most of the day by working on some projects.  There is a really great tutorial from Martha Stewart on how to make Felted Knitting Baskets from old wool sweaters.  I had saved a sweater that had shrunk when I washed it to use for craft projects and decided to give this a go.  I tossed it in the washer with hot water and a little Dawn.  After it dried, I followed Martha's directions and voila!

That's Best Worsted from Indieway Yarns in Howlin' Wolf on the left, I'll be Home for Christmas in the center, Black Currant in the very back and a skein of Gnome Acres fingering in Aquaman peeking out on the right (that was from Andy for Christmas because I had a crush on Aquaman when I was a kid).

The basket was so easy and fun to make that I headed over to Goodwill to see if they had any wool sweaters that could work for another one.  I wound up finding two in the men's section for $3.75 each!  I felted both of them and have already turned one into a basket.

I put them on the shelf in the living room for now.  Eventually when the yarn/craft room/office is organized they will go in there. 

I have a couple of new designs that will be coming out very soon.  Margi just finished test knitting Scrowl and it will be released next Friday (1/31).  It's knit up in Shalimar Yarns Edie Aran and only takes two skeins.  It's a very versatile accessory and can be worn as a cowl, wrap, and a scarf!

I finally figured out a name for the socks in Peppino!  I'm calling it: Frostwork.  Margi and Andi are test knitting it and the release date is February 21.

 The other upcoming release will be Spark.  It's knit up in Shalimar Yarns Enzo Worsted and will be part of the ShaliMarch celebration.  Beth is test knitting it and it will be released in late February. Spark takes about 200 yards of the main color and 70 yards of each contrasting color.

I finished up the handspun sweater and I am so happy with it!  After shopping around at a couple craft stores, I wound up finding the ribbon for the button band at JoAnn's.  I know it's a little glitzy as an accent for natural yarn, but I couldn't resist it.

I'm really pleased with the way it fits.  It's also super warm and very soft.  There is really nothing that compares to wool.  I love the way it feels, the natural warmth of it and the weight of it too.  I have an entralac throw that I knitted a few years ago from two Jacob fleeces. It's my go to wrap in the evenings when it's cold out.

To finish up, here are a couple of skeins that I recently spun.  The fiber is from Rivers Edge Fiber Arts.

The one on the left is Wild Berry Pie in Out of Oz. And the one on the right is Wine Festival in The Monkeys Uncle.

Can you tell I have had a little too much time on my hands and maybe a little too much time by myself?  At least I have put it to good use! 

I am a Clean Freak or 100 Ways to Drive Your Husband Crazy

Kristi called me the other day and asked what I was doing.  The conversation went something like this:

L: I'm cleaning
K: That's all you ever do
L: No, I organize too

I think it's no secret that I'm a little compulsive when it comes to cleaning and organizing.  I never seem to be able to get it quite right.  It seems like either I could have done a better job with how things fit where I placed them, there is too much stuff, or the storage solutions that I have come up with just don't work.  The only area I am completely satisfied with in the house are the kitchen cabinets.  It's really only been since September that the kitchen cabinets were finished.  While we were working on them we took everything out of the kitchen.  This gave us a chance to go through what we had and sort it into what we were keeping and what needed to be taken to Goodwill.  Everything is nice and neat and has a place.  I think Martha Stewart would be proud! 

We added sliding racks for the lower cabinets.  It makes getting pots and pans out much easier.  Before it was easy to forget what we had in the back of the cabinet.  Now we know and we aren't wasting time looking for the sauce pan or trying to lift the enamel cast iron dutch oven out of the back. 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been re-organizing the craft room (gack, I think this is the fourth time now...).  It would be a lot easier if there was just one type of craft that I enjoyed, but since there are a few it takes up a bit more space.  Aside from knitting and spinning I also like to sew, do a bit of jewelry making, dabble in rug hooking and have a very small rigid heddle loom.  Oh and yarn.  I have a lot of yarn and perhaps more than a few project bags and handbags.  What can I say?  I like yarn and bags. 

On the left in a smaller book case are all my knitting patterns, knitting books, a basket full of hexipuffs and hanging above is my little rigid heddle loom.  The mini LL Bean bag on the loom has all the tools that go with the loom.  The middle case from the bottom up: jewelry supplies and yarn, handspun yarn, the next two shelves are indi yarns, knitting needles and tools, at the top are hat boxes with sewing trims/nicer spinning fibers/things I couldn't part with, shuttles and a basket o'hexipuffs.  On the right from the bottom up: orange bag with spinning bobbins and flyers, picnic basket (empty!!), office organizer and foam for needle felting, third shelf has a rug in progress and supplies, fourth is all needle felting, top shelf is a basket of buttons, lazy kate and miscellaneous all topped off by knitting magazines.  I still think it looks messy but aside from covering it with a big curtain, I'm not sure what else I can do.  If you have a suggestion, please post a comment. 

I coerced Andy into helping me in the basement this weekend.  Shannon had given us a solid wood table style desk when she was moving.  We thought it would be perfect to put the drum carder on.  Andy built the brown shelves on top of the table when he was in middle school.  He was horrified when I asked him to trim the bottom of them a bit so they would fit on the table!  Being the good sport that he is he trimmed them and then helped me put everything on them.

It's not especially attractive, but it's organized and in a workroom in the basement.  The table is nice and sturdy and I can't wait to try the carder on it.  I had it clamped onto a old sewing machine table for a while, but it just didn't work well.  This is a huge improvement. 

Yesterday it was finally not 1,000 degrees in the shade or pouring rain.  Andy and I headed out to work on the start of the new patio.  Andy was able to lay the foundation for the new walkway that will go from the basement door to the patio.  The rail road ties are extremely heavy and need to be moved with a hand truck.  The grass in the path will be coming out and will be replaced with stone.  It will be less work to take care of and less chance of me getting bitten by bugs when walking back there.  Since I'm allergic to nearly everything that bites and my blood is crack for mosquito's we are doing everything we can to reduce the chance of bites.

My thumb finally seems to be working properly and I'm knitting again at full capacity!  It just sort of happened over the weekend while I was working on Mariposa for the Shalimar Beat The Heat KAL. I cast on on Saturday and I'm 1/4" away from binding off for the arm holes.  It's in Shalimar Enzo Worsted, Billies Blues colorway. 

With my thumb back in shape,  I've been able to work on my new sock design.  It's gotten some great comments from guys as well as girls so if you are looking for something to knit for a friend or your husband for Christmas this would be a great choice.  I'll be putting it out for test knitting sometime next week and hopefully be publishing it at the beginning of September.  The yarn is Maple Creek Farm Sherman in Chocolate Mint Truffle.

Wandering Wildflower is specially priced at $3.50 until August 1.  After that, the price will be going up to $5.00.