Another boom

It appears there is another little baby boom amongst my circle  - this time it's the cousins edition.

My littlest cousin Hailea and her boyfriend Chris are expecting a little boy in October.

and my cousin Sean and his sweet girlfriend, Katie (who oddly enough went to college with me - she was already dating Sean and we ended up in the same class!)

have just announced they are expecting as well. Their baby is due in January.

Fortunately - I have quite a bit of "baby" yarn in the stash already, so I think these two babies are going to go a long way to helping me surmount the stash!

I have big ambitions, but we'll see how it all pans out. I'd like to do a whole layette for each - blanket and outfit, but that might be too ambitious. Oh, and Katie's a Star Wars fan, so you know there's totally going to be another Yodagurumi!

In the meantime, I'm trying to knit monogamously on my slinky vest - but it still doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere. I am - I've got about six inches done from the underarm, I just feel like I should be a lot further.

I've started taking it to work. Since my coworker has departed, I'm without a lunch buddy. So now I'm eating at my desk and using my lunch hour to enjoy the sun and get a few rows done. I was really hoping to have it done by the end of the month to include in my otherwise meager stashdown tally, but I don't think it's going to happen.  With any luck it shouldn't be too far into June by the time I get it finished, but we'll see... if I can stay monogamous... but I've been poking around in the stash for Colour Affection combos.....

Fibreiffic!

Mom and I did end up going to the local Fibrefest today. When I was working for the newspaper here, I covered the very first Grimsby Fibrefest - it hasn't grown much in the last 7 years, but that's actually kind of nice.

Naturally there were lots of sheep...

and lambs galore!

And alpacas...

who are either just shy, or really snobbish! Not one wanted a pet.

We also got to watch them shear an alpaca...

 

There's a lot of fibre in that back and they aren't even half done!

They had herding demonstrations too. It was fun to watch the dogs work, but I especially loved this guy...

Just sitting, waiting patiently for his turn to herd! You'd never get Ladydog to sit like that if there was was something to chase!

There was a  small marketplace, so Mom and I indulged in some homemade ice cream  - in a handmade waffle cone! And you know were weren't coming home without wool!

Mom snagged some lovely bamboo, alpaca, and some BFL.  But I was feeling a little more conservative...

Just a natural alpaca scarf kit and a bottle of locally-grown-and-made tart cherry juice! Delicious!

We are thinking of vending there next year - I'll keep you posted if we go for it!

Loop-de-loop

I've had this project done for a few weeks now, but the coworker for whom it was made occasionally reads this blog, so I wanted to keep it a surprise.

Said coworker marked a birthday and her final day at work this week (she's leaving for a much cooler job - so jealous!). We celebrated with lots of food, ice cream cake, a movie (Dark Shadows) and of course - handknits.

The pattern is A Grey Loop. I modified it to use just one skein of Twinkle Cat DK - colour is Aster. (notes are on my pattern page)

It's a really quick, easy pattern - I had it done in an evening and an afternoon. Nice mindless knitting- I can see more of these made as Christmas presents!

The Twinkle Cat is soooo nice to knit with  - absolutely love it. I love it so much, I've designed a pattern for it, which I'll release soon.

Now I'm off to the dye studio - and there's talk of visiting the local fibrefest this weekend if it doesn't rain. I'll keep you posted!

Blog friends rock!

One of the things I love about blogging is the wonderful people I've met.

A few weeks back, Smoking Hot Needles posted a pic of a crocheted project bag she made with her handspun. I admired it (because it was totally awesome). Today, it was in my mailbox...

...along with a super awesome Skineeez cat toy for the kids. I don't know how she knew, but Skineez are one of their favourite toys.  See...

"MINE!!!"

"Nom, nom, nom..."

"I wanna play too! Giiiiiimmeeeeeeeeeeee"

"Oh man... why'd you give it to Tux first??? Now it's all slobbery....."

Peno however... she knew the bag was the real treat!

"Is anyone looking... no? Good."

"Those stoopid boys will never find me in here."

As soon as I extricate Peno from it - it's the new home for my socks-in-progress. Thanks so much Smoking Hot Needles!

The little project that couldn't

Have you ever had one of those projects that just doesn't seem to grow - no matter how much you work on it?

I've got one of them right now. You may remember me mentioning a vest I'm making in Slinky Cat. The last picture I took of it was in April, and looked like this:

It got set aside for Octopi, and socks, and other projects. But I have added a row or two here and there. And Monday, I worked on it ALL afternoon and ALL evening with just a few small breaks to make dinner, do some laundry, and make a Dairy Queen run (it was hot - we needed Blizzards!)

You'd think after all that knitting, I'd be miles ahead. But it looks like this.

That's not very much growth - barely two inches!!!

Is there there some sort of knitting gnome that was stealing my rows while I was at Dairy Queen?

Victoria Winner!

We have a winner.....

.... congratulations to Gayle! And thanks to all who entered! Keep your eye out for new designs and more contests, coming soon!

Octopi abound

There hasn't been a tonne of knitting this weekend so far. Yesterday, the weather was way too nice, so I took Stella out for a spin, then spent the afternoon on Mom's back porch, learning how to crochet - and boy do I suck at it!

But, one thing I am good at is finishing Octopi. I mentioned before that a friend saw Octavius Bob, and wanted one just like him.

Well meet Octavius Bill. They aren't identical twins - I couldn't find my left over ball of Orange Tabby Cat, so Bill here got some random handpainted yarn for his belly - it's a mixture of pink, peach and gold - but I think it does the trick.

And since my friend has young daughter who will likely try to claim Bill for herself...

I made Octavia! Octavia is made from left over Big Cat. Octavia was actually made last month, but was awaiting my new shipment of eyes. She finally got sewed up Friday evening. 

Now I really should be doing some housework.... but my needles are calling me.... and then there's that crochet to practice....