Knitting Illegally in Georgia

And the Winners are!!!

2010-10-31T19:41:00.001-07:00

I promised them this evening, and here we have:

The winners of the four prizes are:

The Scarf: Paletpc
The Handspun: Sheila L.
The Lotus Yarn: Cathie J.
The Wollmeise: Melissa S.

Thanks you guys for your donations! You put me over $100 for ALS and I know that money will be greatly appreciated by the ALS Association.

I'll be contacting you shortly for a mailing address!!!

NEW PRIZE!!!

2010-10-26T08:38:00.001-07:00

An incredibly generous person has been wonderful enough to donate one skein of Wollmeise for my raffle! (the picture is of two, but the prize is one)

There are now 4 prizes, and so far, we have 25 entries, so everyone has a great chance of winning a wonderful prize! Remember, each $5 donation gets you an entry, and all donations are tax deductible. You will receive a postcard in the mail from the ALS Association with a tax receipt on it.

Also-unless you say otherwise, everyone is entered for everything, so if you do not knit, please let me know and you will be in the running for the scarf only.

RAFFLE Part Deux

2010-09-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

My hibiscus is flowering!

We had some random heavy rain for the last two days and I was unable to photograph the other two prizes. Luckily, the sun has come out today and made for some great picture-taking weather. Its also just plain AWESOME weather. I'm so excited I was able to wear a sweater! Yay!

Fall is definitely my favorite season.

But on to the prizes.

The first is a skein of Love Cats graciously donated by Lotus Yarns. It is the Chakra base, 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon and 10% Cashmere. It is just plain beautiful and I will be sad to send it out. But it will be mailed out at the beginning of November to the winner of the raffle! So go ahead and donate and your name will be included!

The third prize is the completed project. This is a lace scarf (Annis, from Knitty) made out of laceweight cotton and using silver beads. Its a perfect little mini shawl or scarf. It is a great weight for summer as well as other seasons, because it is very light and airy. I purchased the beads at a beadshow in Atlanta and the yarn in Guatemala. I'm very sorry to part with it but it will be going to a good cause!

RAFFLE

2010-09-23T20:20:00.001-07:00

I've been busy working this week and knitting up a little project for the raffle.

So the first prize will be this:

It is 182 yards (approximately 4 ounces) of Merino/Silk blend 2 ply, with a third ply of purple thread strung with silver beads. I will try and get a closer picture, but it is very shiny and reflects a lot of light. I was trying to get a fine yarn but sometimes you have to do what the yarn wants, rather than what you want. And this wanted to be a DK/Worsted weight yarn. It was thinner, but then it fluffed up when I washed it. But it is REALLY beautiful and would make an amazing hat, scarf or shawlette. I hate to part with this, but it is for a good cause and I think someone will really enjoy it!

The other two prizes will be revealed next week, after I get some photographs taken, but I will tell you that the commercial yarn I have as part of the raffle was graciously donated by Melanie of Lotus Yarns. It is really beautiful, as all of Melanie's yarn is, but it is a BRAND NEW colorway and has not been offered for sale on her site. So someone is going to win some beautiful yarn!

The last prize will also be photographed this weekend after blocking, but it is the knitted item. No spoilers yet though!

the Bar, Guatemala, ALS Walk and a RAFFLE!

2010-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy couple of months. Briefly, I took the bar exam, went to Guatemala for two weeks with DH for a Spanish immersion school, and registered for the ALS walk in November.

There's not much to say about the bar. It sucked. Big time. But *fingers crossed* its over and I won't have to take it again. I don't get results until the end of October, but I feel pretty good about it.

Guatemala was amazing. It was life-changing. It know that sounds cliche, but it was. Our school was full of amazing people, the family we stayed with was amazing and the city of Quetzaltenango, also called Xela, was absolutely amazing. We loved it. I mean, there are hazards to traveling, especially to a country like Guatemala. Both DH and I were sick briefly, both food-borne. We both tried really hard to only eat the things Americans are *supposed* to eat, but we got sick anyways. Luckily we did not get any infections or amoebas (parasites) and came home unscathed. Our Spanish improved immensely, and although I wish we could have stayed two more weeks, we were ready to come home when we did. I highly recommend the school we attended. They are incredibly professional, and while the school costs a little bit more than other schools in the area, they have an amazing staff and the school itself does a lot of good in the community.

But how did it change our lives? We came home knowing how absolutely blessed we are to live here, in the United States, and to have the families we have, the opportunities we have and to have the amazing friends that we have. Guatemalans were by far the most friendly and generous of people I have ever met. However, while the country is full of intelligent and hard-working people, various historical reasons have led to the country being not far beyond a third-world country. Unfortunately the United States has played a large part in the subjugation of native Guatemalans (the indigenous people) who make up a large portion of the population. Although, in thinking about that now, its not very different from the indigenous population here.

My life isn't perfect. I am still not permanently employed and this stresses me out beyond belief. And unfortunately, the line of work I want to pursue will never be highly compensated. But I have an amazingly supportive family and have had opportunities greater than probably everyone I met in Guatemala. I own more THINGS than probably anyone I met in Guatemala. The family we stayed with was middle class and had cell phones, television and a nice home and furniture. But we have so much MORE things at our home. And I'm not sure why we have so many more things. Its put me on a anti-clutter path lately. I have a lot of yarn, a lot of clothes, a lot of books and a lot of random other things. Now, I'm trying very hard to find new homes for the things I own, the ones I can do without. I have given away a lot of stuff and haven't yet felt deprived. After visiting Guatemala and seeing how little even middle-class people are HAPPY with, I don't think I could give enough away to match that. But I'm trying.

The pictures are available on my flickr site, which is in the sidebar of this blog. The bottom line is that I loved it and I wish that everyone I know could experience what we did. I loved it and I'm making tentative plans to return. I will have to wait until I am permanently employed, but I will be going back. And not just to work on my Spanish.

So in an attempt to give back, because I realize more than ever before how amazingly blessed my life is, I joined my good friend in her pledge to walk in the ALS Walk in November. ALS is a degenerative disease with little treatment and few options for those stricken with it. It is usually fatal within a few years of diagnosis, although Stephen Hawking has actually lived with ALS for 40 years. He is an outlier and it is very important that we support the ALS Association's work towards finding treatment and a cure.

I've already received some very generous donations, but $.91 of every $1 goes to research with this organization. For that reason, I want to try to increase the donations I am able to generate. I have opted out of the rewards program, so I will not receive anything for increasing my donations. However, I will be receiving a t-shirt :)

Here's the deal: For every $5 you donate to ALS via my page, you will be entered in a raffle for some yarny prizes. Don't knit? No problem. I will also have a completed knitted item to be raffled off. I am planning on three prizes. One will be commercial yarn, one will be handspun and one will be a knitted item. I may increase the prizes if I am able to get donations. I will post more information (including photographs) in a few days.

The raffle will be up until the end of October, as the walk is November 6. I receive an email when you make a donation so just let me know via comments if you want your donation to be considered part of the raffle. On October 31st I'll do a random number generator selection and notify the winners!

Thanks for considering a donation!

My ALS Page

Completed items:

An Owl for my best friend's Birthday. (Rav link)

A Citron for a friend!

A shawl I donated to Eastern European Russian Orphanages Project. This will actually go to a Gypsy woman in Romania.

Graduated and unemployed-so why am I so busy?

2010-06-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

The title would be the explanation for my absence. I have indeed been toying with the idea of a video cast, even tested out the lighting in my office (terrible) and even have an Evernote list of topics. So why haven't I done it yet? Because I am inexplicably more busy than I was when I was a full-time student.

Bar prep class is going along full-steam ahead and I am constantly playing catch up. I also have a part time job at the law library where I am working in the cataloguing department. That is only minimum wage but its pretty interesting. Well. That's not entirely true. It is only minimum wage but its not that interesting. Its actually very dirty. I keep thinking I should submit that job for Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs, but by the time I get a response I won't be there anymore (and hopefully the collection will be complete). I am actually entering a huge collection of law reporters from India that are mostly pre-Independence. A few go into the 60's, and apparently there are a few that the law library actually receives the new editions for, but those were already in the system. I am literally putting the books into the electronic system. They were catalogued years ago, with a "fake" cataloguing number, so that there was a record somewhere of them, but they never received a barcode or true Library of Congress call number. My job is to find the collections of dusty, musty, moldy and salty (from ocean travel apparently) and cart them to my office corner, barcode, write the call number in, and enter them into the computer system. My favorite part of the job is sticking the spine labels on them. That shows how fascinating it is.

But the people who work in that department (a department I had no knowledge existed until last month) are all fascinating, engaging and very nice people. Everyone has been very kind to me, take an interest in my life, job search, etc. and all are funny and smart people. I have to say, I won't miss fitting a few hours in between life and bar prep, but I will miss seeing these ladies every other day. Of course, I'm not really going anywhere, but I won't be able to chat about hiking the AT with the woman whose office I am invading, or discuss the differences between Castillian Spanish and Latin American Spanish with another member of the department.

So, that is what I am up to. Bar prep is not worth really talking about. Its miserably boring and I keep falling asleep during the videos. But I'm watching them, trying to pay attention and cram information into my skull. Suffice to say, I get a lot of knitting done while I watch them. (It helps me focus-otherwise my mind wanders off of Conditions, the Rule Against Perpetuities, and the Dormant Commerce Clause, for example)

As far as spinning goes... I did spin up 4 oz of organic merino that I dyed but I haven't photographed it. I actually haven't taken the second half off the wheel. I'd like to participate in the Tour de Fleece, which begins next week and conveniently ends before the bar, but I'm not sure I have enough fiber. Well, that's not true. I have about 8 oz of mill ends that I dyed a few weeks ago to spin as well as one pound of cormo purchased at SAFF that needs one more bath (so much lanolin!) and flick carding. I should spin that up to go with the other pound my friend gave me last fall-I would have enough for a sweater, I think.

Knitting:
- Completed one Christmas present (No pictures, sorry)
I know, Christmas, crazy right? Well it was part of a KAL (Knit A-Long) that I have joined on Ravelry and I figured I could get a present knocked out
- I am ALMOST finished with Haruni (Ravelry link) out of Malabrigo Sock. This is not bar prep knitting due to its charts. I actually think I only have one more wrong side row left then the fancy bind off. Tonight I watched a documentary (not worth mentioning) with a friend and I got the last few rows done. Then a couple Dirty Jobs on Netflix streaming and I'm in the final stretch. This yarn was purchased with a graduation gift certificate from a very good family friend. I love this yarn! I've used it before and I consider it in the higher price range ($20 per skein) but I really think it is worth it. I don't know how it wears as socks, as both projects are scarves, but I like it for them.
- Halfway done with another Christmas present (No pictures, sorry). This is out of Patons Kroy Sock and I have to say, for a Patons product sold in Michaels, I'm really liking it. I foresee using it in the future.

What do I have pictures of? Good question:

Off Kilter mitts (Ravelry link) made with Rowan by Amy Butler belle organic aran that my thoughtful future brother-in-law brought me from Paris. Just enough yarn in one ball to complete three cables down the arm. I don't know why I am holding my arm so awkwardly in the picture, as if it was a wrist brace. (I was having issues with my wonderful Nikon D50 that I got as a self-graduation from college present. I'm thinking I might have to replace it.)

Tawashi knot (Ravelry link) made out of random acrylic I found in my bin marked "Assorted Acrylic." I knew there was a reason I kept that. Its a paid pattern ($1.50) although its not much more than a long strip folded. The pattern has you switch from knit to purl at regular intervals in the strip, however, which makes the stripes look right when you fold it. Its quite ingenious and although you can make this without buying the pattern, its not too much to pay to avoid the arduous task of figuring out exactly how to fold it. Maybe it would just be arduous for me in the midst of watching COPS on a forced bar prep break. Also, this is still sitting on the table. I can't bring myself to use it for its intended purpose of scrubbing dishes. I guess I need to make more. That purple yarn isn't going to be used for anything else.

This was a test knit that I did for with some Spud and Chloe Fine that I had. Its a shiny and pretty yarn, being superwash wool and silk, but I didn't really like knitting with it. The pattern is fabulous though. Its written for both top down and toe up and the chart is well written. I didn't have much to contribute to her pattern once I was finished. That being said, I might rip it out. I love the pattern but I REALLY don't want to knit another sock with the yarn. Its so expensive, I think it might make a nice scarf-something lacey on bigger needles (Its a splitty yarn). The pattern is Hanging Diamonds by Sharon Bird.

Last but not least, this is my charity project for the months of April and May. It is the Road Scarf which is a free Lion Brand pattern. I made mine out of Lion Brand's Fisherman Wool, an appropriate choice, and had most of a full skein to use. I did three repeats and its quite a wide scarf, so it will keep someone warm this winter. The project was for Children's Emergency Relief International, which seems like a great organization even if they do mission trips. The knitwear we create goes to Eastern Europe, which although the people probably need more than scarves, at least one person will be a little warmer.

And that is the end of this massive post. I am waiting for DH to get home from work so I hate to go to sleep, I'll leave you with a quote I just read. The book is the Know-it-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs. I'm enjoying it immensely. The author is an editor for Esquire and a contributor for the New York Times, and spends a year reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. I think I like it so much because secretly I want to do this. But at any rate, I'm learning quite a bit and he's very funny, so its an enjoyable read. But I found something very meaningful in it (as the author did).

From Robert Ardrey under the category of philosophy:

"But we were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses."

IT IS DONE!

2010-05-18T15:14:00.001-07:00

Three years seem like they have just flown by!

Its official, I have a J.D. I'm not a lawyer yet though; I still have to take the bar. But I can officially put J.D. after my name, or Esquire. I haven't really had a reason/opportunity to do so though, but I'm sure I will eventually!

I will be blogging more and I'm toying with the idea of a video cast. I think that it would be easy, with my mac and iLife and it would be a fun way to share some knitting as well as talk about whatever else is going on.

I'll give it some more thought. But for now, knitting:

First, some Superwash BFL from Into the Whirled in the colorway Voila!

And for a friend who had to get rid of her pet turtle, a new Mr. T! The pattern is on Knitty.com and is free!

Snow Day 2010!

2010-02-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

I know its been a while since I've posted. The holidays were great and now school is back for my final semester. I promise to be better from now on!

And here's a little something to say I'm sorry... snow pictures!

Christmas!

2009-12-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it is nearly Christmas and I am getting tired of Christmas preparations! The fall semester is over and I have one grade already. I'm pleased with the one that is back, so that is a good start to the break. The last few days have been a flurry of cleaning, organizing, shopping and sewing. My holiday knitting is done, but I decided to sew a few projects. On Sunday I completed my tree skirt, which I think looks nice. The remaining project is a quilt that I have nearly completed. A few more blocks need to be put together, then the quilt needs to be bound and quilted. I'm kind of getting tired of sewing though-I will probably take a little bit of a break from it after I finish this last project.

Its been so long since I posted on here; I guess that will be a New Year's resolution for me! I'll leave you with a few pictures of what has been going on here:

A quilt for my FIL's birthday:

A visit to Harvest Moon Garden:

Max watching the squirrel eating our pumpkin:

A very cold rainforest

2009-10-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Oh man, its chilly out. I went to the farmer's market and had seriously underdressed. I'm still feeling chilled, 45 minutes later. At least we have our heat on now-its awesome! I love how it comes out along the baseboards, and you'll walk past one and get a shot of warm air on your feet!

This was a pretty busy week for me. School's been going, we had the knitters over on Thursday, and Friday a couple classmates and I volunteered at the local food bank. Now generally, I enjoy volunteering. But law school has kept me so busy that I haven't had much time for that. (I've done a few Saturdays trying to adopt dogs for the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter) But we were given an opportunity to get extra credit for 6 hours of community service so we spent 3 hours yesterday putting a selection of canned and dry food into boxes. We got two pallets (85) boxes nearly full and would have finished both but we ran out of canned food to put in it. It was a nice afternoon but my back and legs were hurting afterwards! We all realized how lucky we are to be in law school and becoming lawyers, not working in an assembly line. Or doing actual community service.

Knitting wise, I've been finishing some things. I've completed some stuff for Warm Woolies, a great charity. I also completed and blocked this beautiful Ishbel (Ravelry link). This is knit out of merino/cashmere that I purchased from my friend Melanie at Lotus Yarns. The colorway is called Veronica and it is so soft and warm, I'm wearing it around my neck right now.

Apparently we now live in a rain forest

2009-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up today at 11:30. I woke up first at 8:20 when DH was leaving for work, took the dog out (or, dumped him off the side of the carport onto leaves so he would go out in the rain--don't worry, its only a foot drop), and promptly went back to sleep. It was so grey out and raining and the sound of rain on the roof was so comforting. I woke up 3 hours later with my right arm asleep and Rascal meowing in my face. Luckily I don't have class until 3:30. I did have plans for today though.

Seriously though, Weather, what is the deal? We have drought conditions for a couple of years, so bad that there's talk of rationing water, and then this year we have unprecedented rain and flooding in areas of Atlanta that no one even knew could flood. My new yard is very flat so the rain sort of pools in it, but the house is slightly above the front yard and four steps above the back, so we don't have to worry about flooding. I suppose the crawlspace under the house might be damp, but we don't have anything under there.

I am so mad at myself for not buying a new umbrella. In fact, I might leave early for class to go to Target. I kept telling myself a couple of weeks ago (during our week of rain) that I was going to buy a new one. I actually have two. One I purchased during my first fall here at UGA in 2004 and has two broken spokes so it dumps water on you on that side. The other was given to me a few months ago and is great, except its ridiculously small. It only keeps my head dry and even without a backpack, everything below my shoulders gets wet. Looking at the forecast, I might have to go buy another one. (I had a great, perfect one I bought when I worked at FP but someone stole it last year during exams- while I was studying downtown at a cafe).

Knitting wise- I finally finished the Featherweight Cardigan (ravelry link) which I made out of some Alpaca with a Twist Fino, an alpaca and silk laceweight yarn. I was excited to manage to only use 1 skein, but I had bought another just in case. I'll actually probably make it again, but make a smaller one. Its a little looser than I would have liked, even though it is only the medium. But its a bargain for a sweater and its a great weight for Georgia. (I'll get a photo later, it only dried on Friday)

I'm pretty proud of this one. This is the Ishbel Beret (ravelry link) by Ysolda Teague, an awesome designer from Scotland. I purchased her pattern book and have made two out of the nine patterns, with plans for more. This was a gift for my friend Viki who a) lives in a colder climate than me and b) styles her hair, hence the looser hat style. There is an Ishbel scarf/shawl that I also made, but that is still drying. I made the scarf size for me out of my friend Melanie's Chakra yarn, a handdyed superwash merino and cashmere blend. It is absolutely beautiful and SO SOFT. I can't wait to wear it out.

I've also been sewing a lot. I've made three curtains for our new house, one for the bathroom and two for the dining room. They're basic, tab-topped curtains but I really like the fabric. The one in the picture is the bathroom and it is Amy Butler fabric. The dining rooms are black with red flowers and are from Joann's.

I also made a laptop case out of some Amy Butler fabric. (I got a birthday coupon and got a little carried away). I used a free tutorial I found online and it worked out pretty good. It works great in my new book bag that Ellen gave me for my birthday:

Camping in Helen

2009-10-04T18:05:00.001-07:00

As I write this, DH and I are watching "My Monkey Baby" on TLC. It is absolutely ridiculous. I have serious problems with people owning monkeys as pets. But that is for animal welfare and animal rights reasons. I have problems with people owning monkeys as pets and treating them like babies for personal reasons. I guess its a personal reason. The actual reason is I think its seriously messed up.

A real quote "when people say she's a monkey, I get mad. She's my daughter."

And, without further ado, videos from our camping trip:

We went to Andrew's Cove, a campground inside the Chattahoochee National Forest about four miles north of Helen, Ga. It was just a dry run so we didn't plan on being gone for very long. Neither of us had planned a camping trip ourselves, but had gone with other people, so we gave it a try. It was pretty successful, except we forgot some tinder to start the fire with and also utensils. It worked out though. (I drove to Helen and bought firestarter and some BBQ with utensils)

Ugh. This show is like a train wreck. I can't pull myself away, and I can't keep watching. These people have an unhealthy obsession with these monkeys. Also, a couple decided to get a monkey instead of having children and then went to the breeder's house and even saw the disgusting kennel she had. It was sad. Although I can't complain that these people are choosing not to have children. I'm afraid for the state of Arkansas with all those Duggars running around.

Ok now one of the monkey owners is calling her pet psychic to find out if "Slick Willy" ate one of her thyroid pills that went missing. Seriously. That woman is nutsy, but that "psychic" is kind of messed up for chancing that kind of thing. I mean, if that monkey had eaten the pill, even the psychic (who is obviously just taking advantage of pet owners) would feel bad if it died.

Oh dear. I'll have to have more knitting content in a day or so. I'm unable to tear myself away from this show and its just full of craziness. I really hope this isn't a series.

3L year

2009-09-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

So... classes have started. I really am liking my classes, although they can be boring. Legal Profession and Pension and Employee Benefit Law, for example. They just sound boring when you read them.

DH and I are in the midst of battling an epic flea battle in our new house. That is new house as in new RENTAL house. I posted on Facebook that we were going to go work in our new house and everyone freaked out. Remind me not to post anything slightly vague or someone might think I'm pregnant. (I'm not!)

So we found this awesome 3 bedroom 1 bath house with adorable hardwood floors and trim, a ridiculously dated kitchen and a fenced in back yard. Its behind the hospital (ARMC) and is within walking distance for DH. Oh, and its in our budget.

But it has fleas! So bad!!! I have never had a flea infestation in my house and now we do. Luckily we overlapped the lease for this place with our current lease so we havent officially moved in yet, but we are anxiously awaiting moving in. We painted all of the rooms (except my office and bathroom) and then I painted all of the trim so it is fresh and clean. After 2 flea bombs and 2 professional exterminator visits, we may have finally solved the problem. I certainly hope so, but I am not sure since the exterminator just left this evening.

I hate using such strong chemicals but poor Max is very allergic to flea bites. When he gets just one he scratches and scratches. With just a few bites last weekend I had to get him some steroids to avoid him losing too much fur (and possibly getting an infection from scratching himself raw). I'm looking into some more natural solutions to keep fighting these fleas (b/c I've read they take a while to really get rid of) and have some options.

But this weekend is my best friend's wedding and I will be busy with wedding stuff, being the matron of honor and all that. Next weekend, my birthday weekend, we'll be renting a truck and moving everything. We've got a lot moved, but have more to go.

My most recent obsession is this book: Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. I found it while walking through my local library in the New section and absolutely loved it. DH loved it too. Its all about this woman (only 2 years older than me) attempting to homestead while working a regular corporate job, and having no history of farming. DH pointed out that a lot of the stuff she didn't know about homesteading was stuff he knew, but he grew up in the country. Most of what she learned and describes in the book was stuff I didn't know either. In fact, the only things I knew that she didn't was the stuff about the fiddle. I played the viola in school and while taking lessons when we lived in Raleigh, I learned the basics of fiddling (from a real blue grass fiddler).

Knitting wise: been cranking out crap for sure. Not so many pictures though.

Winning with the Kalashnikov

2009-07-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

The title to this entry is the title of a book a homeless man was reading downtown today. I should say that I don't know for sure if he was homeless, since he was reading and not panhandling as our local homeless usually do. He could have had a home, and just dressed like a homeless person.

At any rate, that was the book title. Surprisingly, that title is listed on Amazon.com, but there are no summaries. A further googling informed me it is actually a book about chess moves. Much less dramatic but equally interesting. He's not a homeless man who is homicidal, he is a homeless man who is really into chess. I guess you have to spend your time somehow in Tent City.

On the knitting front, I have what the Yarn Harlot has called "Cast-On-Itis." Or at least I think it was her. She is the "Oprah" of the knitting world (Thank you Nate!). To be fair, I did finish one project today. But then I committed myself to making five preemie bereavement outfits for a hospital in the Virgin Islands. They do go fast, but they are knit with acrylic and make my hands hurt. There is no set charity, that I know of, but they go directly to the hospital.

Well, I'm done for now. Signing off.

Just finished project on Tuesday:

The end of July already!

2009-07-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, DH and I were figuring out a camping trip and realized it is nearly August. Where did my summer go? Its nearly time for classes again... and I am excited. I'm not nearly as excited to graduate as I might have been if the economy was better, but I'm pretty highly ranked at a good school and have some skills... if I do say so myself.

This month, when I wasn't travelling to Chicago (or Chi-town as the obnoxious guy on the plane in front of us insisted on referring to it as), I was participating in the Tour de Fleece. This consisted of spinning yarn every day that the Tour de France raced. It was a lot easier than the real Tour, but I definitely didn't burn as much calories.

Instead, I produced this:

I'm pretty proud. There's some mill ends I dyed from The Sheep Shed Studio (purple in the back), blue-faced leicester from Susannah I carded myself (green in back left), a few ounces of alpaca spun to laceweight in the center (naturally colored), yellow and red (in the front) organic merino batts from Spinspanspun, and 2 ounces of cormo (also from Susannah) still on the bobbin.

And in other news... my car is broken (sob). Only 4 months after the warranty expired, my car's alternator and battery died and left us stranded at DH's parents' house. We were able to jump it and drive it home, but that was a stressful (and hot-with no air conditioning) hour. Today I got the diagnosis and I am very upset. This is ridiculous, for a 3 year old car to need a new altnerator.

We'll see what happens next. Maybe the dealer will come through for me.

Tour de Fleece

2009-07-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Tour de France started yesterday, and while I am not a particularly big fan of cycling (not that its showing at any decent time), I am participating in the Tour de Fleece, mainly on Ravelry.com. This is a challenge for spinners to spin every day, resting on the rest days of the tour, and challenging myself on the challenging (read: mountain) days. Yesterday and today I have kept up, spinning two 1.8 ounce organic merino batts from Spinspanspun.etsy.com that I couldn't resist.

Other than that, my class is about to end. I have my final mediation on Thursday, and after that I will be able to register as a court-annexed mediator. I'm contemplating some business cards, since there is no requirement that you be an attorney to be a mediator. If I had some made now, I could keep them after I graduate, provided my email and phone number don't change.

Tonight I posted some handspun on athens.locallycrafted.net. It is like our Locally Grown website, except the only items available are crafts like soap, yarn and well... anything. Its pretty neat. I don't know that I will sell any yarn, but I figure I could find a home for some and use that money to buy more roving... or pay bills. You know, the important things in life.

Aside from being addicted to New Moon by Stephanie Meyers for the last 48 hours (I finally finished it today), that's about it. Feeding the neighbors dogs, spinning, reading and trying to get the motivation to start a job hunt.

I'm setting a goal for myself: this week I make an appointment with the career services people to talk about my plan. I will do that, I think.

Today I sewed a dress but it needs to be pressed and also I need to find a slip or something. The fabric is shirting material, so its not really suited to the dress. I might put a lining on it, or possibly find a slip.

Here's some photos of today and yesterday's spinning. I've started a couple of cool projects that I'll share when I finish them.

I don't like beer, but...

2009-06-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Most Interesting Man in the World: I don't like beer, but these are some of the cleverest commercials I've seen in a long time. "He can disarm you with his mind. Or his hands."

So its hot. Today was the hottest yet, although tomorrow we're looking at 100. Ugh. Tomorrow I have to go to class, so I have to walk a ways from my parking downtown. That means I get hot and sweaty before I go into class for THREE hours. Spring is definitely my favorite season.

I also am suffering from some serious mosquito bites I received while washing my car on Sunday with DH. He wore pants (smart) and I had already gotten a bunch of bites before I thought about putting on repellant. Then I decided it was already too late so I didn't put any on. I am regretting that decision. Today I slathered it on for our walk.

I've been knitting, but nothing major to show right now. I'm working on a pair of socks by my friend Melanie of Lotus Yarns. I'll post some pictures soon.

Here's a funny picture of Max trying to get a tennis ball out of the tennis ball holder. He loves tennis balls.

Summer has arrived

2009-06-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm blogging instead of walking to the bus stop. I started to do that, and then got to the end of the driveway and realized I will be in no shape to spend nearly 2 hours with 12 other people if I do that. So I'll drive and now I have an extra 45 minutes.

I've been knitting a lot. Coursework is minimal since its a certification based course for mediation, so we don't have cases to read. We have some reading, but its not hard. Participation and giving the role playing a try counts towards our grades, so I just have to really *be there* during class.

Yesterday I spend the afternoon helping Melanie of Lotus Yarns dye yarn for the Sock Summit in August. We had a great time, got a bunch of skeins dyed up, and chatted about crafting, cooking and whatever. Be sure to check out her website, she's got a few for sale and can always take custom orders :)

On Saturday, Ellen, Mom and I went to ICE Atlanta, the Indie Craft Experience held at Centennial Olympic Park. It was great, although I was disappointed in the lack of fiber crafts. Some of my favorite booths were:

Ex Libris Anonymous: This company takes unwanted hardback books with cool vintage and retro covers and makes a journal out of the cover and back and the first few pages. It makes a really great product and I really want one! I was out of money by the time I got to the booth, however, but I'm sure I'll pick one up soon.

Just Add Honey: This company produces teas and had awesome iced tea for sale at the fair. With temperatures creeping towards 90, we were ready for a drink but this was a great and delicious alternative to soda and bottled water. It inspired me to go home and make some iced passion tea I had in the cabinet and am now enjoying.

Sublime Stitching: This company produces kits and transferable patterns of quirky and cool embroidery for decorating crafts. I picked up one with crafting as a theme, and one using Black Apple's designs. (Check out her stuff, she's great too!) I"ll be sure to post whatever I end up embroidering with these designs.

Whipstitch Fabrics: This is a fabric store in Atlanta that carries awesome lines of fabric for the modern sewer. I got some delightful fabric pieces that coordinate and I can't wait to figure out what I'll make with them.

All of these booths, and more, got me really energized about crafting. I've picked up a few charity projects I was working on and am now working towards Six for Six for Warm Woolies.

This project is geared towards size 6 children's garments and after finishing a pair of socks for the Ten for Ten campaign, I cast on a vest using assorted bulky weight wool I had lying around. My goal is to both make the requisite projects for these campaigns and use up the yarn I have lying around. Reducing my stash is definitely a goal.

This morning I felt like sewing and decided I needed a circular needle holder that I could display the needles on. Here's the result:

The needles don't quite lay flat yet, but I'm hoping that they'll loosen up and I won't have the problems with needles twisting when I knit with them.

My goal for the summer is to post each week. Let's see how that goes :)

Bears, graduations and mountains

2009-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's a bear. DH and I went to Gatlinburg last weekend and after spending two days hiking in the mountains and seeing only deer and squirrels, we try to take a detour around some traffic in Gatlinburg proper and drive up on this bear. It walked down the street towards us, turned towards this condo, checked that the trash can was chained shut and then went back into the woods. I thought it was pretty big. DH said it was only a couple hundred pounds, so not very large for a black bear. I still think a couple hundred pounds is large enough for a black bear. We were probably only 20 feet away when I took this shot from the car window.

But before Gatlinburg, my life was busy. Finishing exams, I went to Atlanta for my sister's college graduation and to house sit for a friend of the family. We are all so proud of my sister, who graduated with an awesome GPA. She can do anything she puts her mind to, and is going to do great things! Go Megan!

After I arrived home, class started, and I had a couple of those before we left town. Friday we drove to Gatlinburg and spent the next couple of days hiking and viewing spectacular sites.

This is off Clingman's Dome, the obligatory self-taken photo. Despite not having worn proper footwear and having aching legs, we climbed 330 feet in .5 miles to reach the highest point in the Smoky Mountains. This is off of the side of the mountain, but was still pretty darn high.

This is a beautiful picture from Cades' Cove, a historic settlement that is now a living museum in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

This is Laurel Falls. It is an easy 1.3 mile paved path off of the main road leading to Cades' Cove in the park. It is named for the mountain laurel that was flowering while we were there. Some nice man took a picture of DH and I at the falls, but I was wearing unfortunate shorts that day and appear about 30 pounds heavier than I actually am. I'll be cropping those pictures.

Knitting wise, I kept things pretty simple. I bought some new yarn at the spinning shop in town and cast them on. After several false starts, I know have 30% of a pair of Trilobite Socks from Wendy Johnson's new book, Socks from the Toe Up.

This is how far I was once we reached Georgia and were only an hour from my parents house.

On Con Law, counter butter and fibery goodness

2009-05-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

This is my new counter butter dish. I'm not sure what it is really called, but it keeps the butter at room temperature, so its wonderfully spreadable. The butter goes in the small container attached to the lid, which is inverted into the larger cube that has cool water on the bottom to keep air out. Reading online, I discovered that butter will go rancid eventually at room temperature, but it takes a while. Also, until it goes rancid, it won't hurt you, but when it is rancid, it would be bad to eat. But when it goes rancid, its pretty noticeable and so DH keeps smelling it closely when I put it on bread. I have faith I'll notice rancid butter before I eat it. I put one stick in there, so hopefully that won't go bad. If it does, we'll use half a stick. The best part? $5 at TJ Maxx.

This is just a taste of the dyeing I did this week. I dyed 8 ounces of Correidale that I purchased at the Spinning Loft.

I got the dye from Indie Dyer at Stitches South. I got several other beautiful colors and dyed up around a pound of fiber. Now to get to spinning!

Speaking of spinning. The above yarn is my handspun from Lisa Souza's fiber I purchased at Stitches. Its Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and spun up wonderfully! If I hadn't dyed up my own... I would probably order some more!

And the Con Law part (constitutional law)... that's what I've been really doing. I outlined, and now I'm studying for that exam, my last. I'm also finishing up some written work for two other classes. Overall, I should be done soon, and boy, I can't wait!

Ok, now off to study.

Stitches South

2009-04-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

Mom and I went to Stitches South yesterday and had a good time. I took a (much needed) break from studying, although it was hard to get back to work today and not cast-on or start spinning! (Exams start tomorrow) No photographs from the event, unfortunately, since the company that hosts it won't allow them. But it was nice, nonetheless.

The loot:

I think I really made my dollar stretch, although I do have to admit there were some cash infusions throughout the event. While Stitches was fun... I have to say I think SAFF is better.

I may be biased. Firstly, I'm a spinner. There wasn't much roving at Stitches. There was some great stuff, see Ashland bay (yellow) and Lisa Souza BFL above, plus the unpurchased but much ogled the Knit Witch, Gale's Art Fibers, and SpinKnit Amia.

But the spinning wasn't the focus; mass-produced yarns I can buy at my great local yarn shop was the focus. I was very surprised by this. I mean, Stitches was held in Atlanta. But if you're in Atlanta, you can go to the great Atlanta and North Georgia area yarn shops and buy everything there! (That's not true-you can only buy most of the yarn there!) In fact, some of the biggest booths were local yarn shops. (Of course, Webs, Yarn Universe and Discount Yarn Sale were there too; see Sockotta above)

I'm all for supporting local yarn shops-heck, I do it all the time (to the detriment of my checking balance). But I was hoping for more indie dyers like SAFF. There were some awesome ones, but I was spoiled by SAFF and the amazing variety and number of small indie dyers.

I scored some dyes from Indie Dyer which was great because I got to see the colors in a sample skein and saved on shipping. I have at least two pounds of undyed roving waiting to be colored with some beautiful shades!

Overall verdict: Fun couple of hours but no SAFF. I'll be in attendance next year, but I'm booking a hotel for SAFF too!

The Whirlwind

2009-04-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

The whirlwind is the last few weeks of a semester in which you realize you have two papers to write, two outlines to do, a journal, a case plan, a learning appraisal, forty more internship hours, club elections and oh yeah, just a little bit more reading for class.

I am swept up in the whirlwind at the moment.

I was momentarily stunned last week when I realized my wrists hurt. Like oh my GOD hurt. They ache in the middle but over time the pain radiates into my hands. After two visits to the health center, a blood test, and a trip to Care Medical, I officially have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. Although pain is not a common symptom, when doing the other carpal tests, I do have the numbness associated with carpal tunnel. So the pain=carpal tunnel syndrome.

So what is a 2L to do? Pop ibuprofin, wear wrist splints at night and after class, and continue typing (and knitting). Really, what am I supposed to do? I'm sorry, but not type is not an option. Clearly I am typing now, and yes, it hurts. But I have TWO PAPERS AND TWO OUTLINES TO WRITE. Not to mention the myriad of assorted nonsense that is the other assignments. In real life (i.e. not high school or undergrad), some times you have to suck it up. This is not a pregnancy, or appendicitis or other assorted maladies that often plague law students who are a) in the prime of their young adulthood and b) so overwhelmed with stress that their body rebels in weird ways. This is just some wrist pain.

So typing away I go. I've written 25 pages in the last three weeks, mostly in the last three days, for one paper. I've written 0 pages for the other. (That is this weekend's project). There will be more typing, and then there will be rest.

Knitting also hurts my wrists. And my knitting usually comes at the end of the day (i.e. when I've already typed all day and my wrists already hurt). But knitting is a requirement in my life. It's stress relief. If I didn't have my projects to focus on I would stress about law school and life in general. Its a trade off: slightly more wrist pain but calm mind. Yoga would help too but I don't have the time for that during the whirlwind.

I complain, but I am very lucky. Carpal tunnel syndrome is no broken leg, or real serious injury that many people suffer from. Its a little painful, but I'll deal. And hey, the wrist brace is kind of hot. (In a really weird way-but its the little things)

On the knitting side: I have finished my third pair of socks this year (2009). My goal was to use up three more skeins, the sum total of the sock yarn I owned at the start of 2009. One skein may be out of the running as I have determined it requires a size 0 needle. There are two problems to that requirement: 1) I do not own a size 0 needle which would require at least $14 of investment money I do not have and 2) the particular pattern I liked required that I get gauge for the cables. (Absinthe from Knitty) A third problem (which I thought I solved with the pattern choice) was that the color of this yarn is a solid sage green. Solid. I don't like to knit with solid-its too boring. It took me hours to find the pattern-only to discover my gauge was much too wrong.

Oh well; here are the socks I did finish. Fruit Loops, also from an earlier edition of Knitty, in yarn purchased at Main Street.

Oops-its almost April

2009-03-31T17:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe its already April! (Almost) This month has flown by! First there was the snowstorm (in last post), then I went to Michigan with my mother and sister and it was raining. Then we came back and it was raining and DH and I went to Yellow River Game Ranch

DH feeding a TAME SQUIRREL! I can't believe it! It almost climbed up his arm. Although that might have been a little scary actually.

DH feeding a TAME DEER! These were so cute and soft. They let you pet them too!

Then I had a monster flu/virus thing that literally knocked me off my feet for three or four days. Then it was the weekend and last week was school busy and now we are almost to April.

This is my Mystery Sweater by LISMI. This pattern is now available on Ravelry and is part of my year long campaign of 10 sweaters for Warm Woolies.

The yarn is Fisherman's Wool by Lion Brand in natural that I dyed with black walnut hulls last fall. I'm working on a second using some Knit Picks someone on Ravelry was kind enough to share with me for the price of shipping and will have photos up soon!

I am also working on Rusted Root, a cute t-shirt that should be done tonight! Photos soon on that too!

This morning just after dawn

2009-03-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

More Snow around 3:30

2009-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

Snow Day: Photos at 1:15 pm

2009-03-01T10:51:00.001-08:00

V-Day!

2009-02-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

Obviously, Valentine's Day has passed. But part of my gift arrived today! Ta-da!

I love it! Its so soft. Its 3.7 oz of BFL from The Vildish Twist. Price was great too!

I started the 2009 Sock Marathon inspired by the 2008 Sock Marathon with Lime and Violet, and have already finished one pair of socks. These are made from Misti Alpaca Handpainted Lace that was given to my for my birth

day by my friend V:

These are Jaywalkers by Grumperina (free on Ravelry).

I am also knitting for charity like crazy. I finally put together the wool squares I had been working on and will be sending that out to Macuwita Sni (group on Yahoo and Ravelry).

Last but not least, the SHOP is up! Plenty of hand dyed sock weight and lace weight yarns by myself and Alison, that are inspired by law school! Fun stuff!

The New Year

2009-02-02T19:13:00.001-08:00

I've been putting off posting, thinking I'll have a great one to cover my winter break. Instead, I find myself in February and no post. So I'll quickly sum-up.

Exams blew, Christmas was great, New Years was great and then classes started too quickly!

There was much crafting in between holidays, and exams, and ultimately it all worked out well grade-wise. (Suprisingly well)

Since classes started though I've been busy. I am trying to fit 10 hours in a week with my externship so I spend all day everyday in a combination of classes and externship. Its not hard work, really, but I don't get the long breaks that I've come to associate with college. Now its more like a real job, which is fine, but I'm missing those nice naptime breaks, or when I could get homework done in the middle of the day.

Now I try and do homework during the day but sometimes end up not finishing it until the evening. I don't like this, and it stresses me out, because I'm afraid sometimes I'll forget. But something's got to stress me out, right? Mostly it works out ok though, so no big deal.

And now for something completely different:

Max with my sock yarn stash. I am competing? in the Sock Yarn Marathon for 2009, inspired by (and sanctioned by?) Lime and Violet's Sock Yarn Marathon of 2007. (or was it 2008?) I have a goal of knitting all of it, and I'm already fast at work, since it started yesterday. I am actually finding myself attracted to the below Waves of Grain scarf.

There is some Misti Alpaca in there (the greys), some Socks that Rock (the skein of purple), some handdyed by me (black), Plymouth yarns (purple/blues) and some Chinese sock yarn (green and pink). The teal blue is a second from a friend, but I think its pretty.

This is Hey Teach by Helene Rush. I used Red Heart Recycled Cotton that I picked up at Michaels with a gift card so it is really my parents-in-law's gift to me. Also a really fast knit. I think I made it in like five days.

This is a vintage Caryn handspun from some of my very first yarn. This might actually be the first, I'm not sure. Its definitely the Ashford roving that they sell at Main Street, and I don't know what pattern I used. It is pre-Ravelry, so there's no telling.

This is the scarf I was talking about. I am being so attracted to lace-weight yarn right now. But since I don't wear shawls (for obvious reasons), I am embarking on a voyage of scarves. (I have four more skeins of lace-weight waiting in the wings) This is Waves of Grain by Rosemary Hill. Its getting really easy after the beginning bit with the beads, and it is my first beaded project too. I used Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace, which is 100% alpaca and it is just amazingly soft.

This has not been knit, but has been dyed this light green color by putting it into the dyepot after I overdyed something for a friend. This is two skeins of alpaca handspun that I spun off of a batt, so its approximately 4 oz. I had never spun alpaca, or off a batt, so it is a little more bumpy than I would have liked. But I really didn't like the white, so I threw it in the pot and it turned out this lovely mint green color.

Lastly, the blanket all of these are shown on is my quilt that I made. I used Angry Chicken's book, Bend the Rules Sewing and it was so easy and made such a beautiful quilt, I know I'll make more. I have also made a wallet, although I don't have a picture of that. I highly recommend the book, even if you know the basics of sewing, if you need some inspiration for some easy but pretty projects.

OMG

2008-12-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

"Chunks of blubber, and gallons of blood have exploded from the sperm whale."

This actually happened four years ago in Taiwan, but DH and I are watching a special about it on National Geographic Channel.

Witness: "Its just like a horror movie."

DH is laughing so hard he's scaring the dog. Max is trying to lick his face to make him feel better.

How did I miss this in the news?

Witness: "What is this a terrorist bomb? ... A weapon of whale mass-destruction" (that one made me laugh)

Then they used bobcats to pick up the remains scattered around the streets. The scientist that was going to do the biopsy used a chain saw.

...

Yeah I should get back to studying... 2.5 days to go!

And more law

2008-12-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

Pretty much my life right now. Today has definitely a low point though. After struggling through the Commerce Clause, Substantive Due Process and what exactly the Supreme Court feels is a fundamental right, (and its not always clear) I came home utterly exhausted.

But a nice dinner, a few hours of knitting and one episode of the Office courtesy Netflix's new Mac plugin made me feel a little better.

Knitting has been moving along apace however, since every evening I am sure to stop studying or reading and pick up some knitting, watch some tv and just veg out.

I have also been reading quite a bit, at least an hour or so each night. Last night I started Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire. Last night I finished Flash for Freedom by George MacDonald Frasier.

My Xmas knitting is coming along nicely having finished something for my FIL tonight. I'm finishing up knitting for friends next, then on to a few more relatives. Looks like I'll get it all done! I didn't choose anything big, but made quite a few of these: Birthday Cowls. (rav link)

Finished Projects: Diamond Lace Scarf in Simply Soft

Some sort of feather and fan scarf out of Simply Soft.

Macuwita Sni Shawl: This is for a charity that has a yahoo group here. The group collects hand knit items for the children of the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota. This is knit with 100% wool that I picked up at Wal-mart. Apparently they're only carrying cotton and 100% acrylic at the local Wal-marts so this was half off. I knew there'd be a good reason to buy it! I used the Simple but Effective Shawl by Laura Chau of CosmicPlutoKnits.

Last but not least, these were driving me a little crazy! They are the Hedera pattern by Cookie A, although this is a free pattern from Knitty. Its not quite as elaborate as some of her patterns, but in Crystal Palace Maizy, they turned out quite beautiful. Viki gave me the yarn for my birthday, and I was skeptical of the colorway, but they really are lovely. Also I like the stretch in the yarn and how it wears.

Oh, you know, just law

2008-11-30T12:29:00.001-08:00

My best friend called today to ask how my holiday was. Holiday? I forgot we had one. You mean that day that I didn't study and instead ate food, played Wii and fixed my computer so I could take an exam on it? Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Since then its been a never-ending blur of outlining, writing a paper, eating and having nightmares about outlining. And that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon.

I am not nearly done outlining. Gasp. Not really. I'm not terribly worried. My schedule for studying involves 3 full days per course, and since I only have 4 exam courses, that works out so I don't have to "start" until Monday. That is a misnomer of course, since I have to complete the outlines preferably before I "start," which will not be done.

Where I'm at:

Natural Resources: done-need to review it

Criminal Procedure: done

Con Law: 1/2 done

Trusts and Estates: 1/4 done

I am over halfway done with all of them, but they aren't really all equal. For example, Natural Resources is only 20 pages total, while Constitutional Law is 32 pages at 1/2 complete. Clearly I did the easier ones first.

Today I slept in a little and started working on a paper for my non-exam class, the one I did my externship through. That got really boring so I dozed off and laid in bed for a nap. I had a nightmare about waking up from my nap and realizing it was 7:30 pm so I panicked and woke up. I had been asleep for 45 minutes and it wasn't quite noon.

DH says, "You know maybe law school wasn't the best choice for you. It seems to stress you out too much."

My response, "Too late to change horses midstream."

Because that's where we are at. As soon as I take these pesky finals, I am midway through law school. Honestly, I never thought it would happen. But lookit, we're very very close to being halfway done, its kind of crazy.

In other news, I have been knitting. (It keeps me sane and makes sure I don't have those pesky nightmares every time I close my eyes)

Ok, this one I technically made last week. The Birthday Cowl made with beautiful silk handspun from my friend Susannah at Harvest Moon Garden.

This one is a sideways Tudora from Knitty. This is made with some Alpaca and Silk by Blue Sky Alpaca that was given to me by Courtney who said she didn't need it anymore and had too much yarn. Wow, I never have too much alpaca and silk, just too much acrylic.

Well, there is more, including my first ever sockweight handspun, but its been dreary outside and rainy so no pictures yet! I'll put those up soon. If I ever finish this outlining!

Criminal Procedure and stress

2008-11-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

This has been my life this weekend:

I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I am in law school. But I spent so much time on my computer at my desk today that my wrists hurt. Sitting in the lounge chair, however, my wrists aren't pressing on the uncomfortable (but trendy looking) edge of my macbook.

Yeah, so I never thought I'd want one of those mushy wrist things. But I totally do. Luckily my mother thinks she needs to buy me one, so I might have one soon!

But whenever I am really busy with law school, I have to knit. Knitting is my stress relief. Lord knows I've been under stress lately. So what have I done? Spun 4 oz of superwash merino from Knit Fit Knitting.

I'm not sure they sell roving on the site, but I picked this up at SAFF in a cute little plastic take-out style box. By the time I really stopped at her booth I was low on funds, so I wasn't able to pick up one of her cute bags, but I really want one!

No picture right now b/c Blogger is doing something crazy to my photos. But later!

I've also been spending some time at Chore Wars (Knit Wars). This is a website along the lines of a role-playing game. Lime and Violet started a team and I think it now includes 2,000 people. For each knitting or spinning related thing you do you get experience points, you can go on adventures and various other fun things. Yeah, so that's been a drain on my spare time :) That's ok, its really fun!

Also, I spun up 2 oz of an alpaca batt I picked up at SAFF. I don't know if its the alpaca or the fact its a batt, but I couldn't quite get my tension right. Its overspun in parts, underspun in others and overall quite bumpy. I've got another 2 oz so I'll try again. But its still really, really soft!

This hat is the One-Skein Noro hat. Its really simple but is really cute. I have one problem though. DH gave me this yarn a few years ago when he gave me a book called Holiday Knits (I think) and I was supposed to make ornaments. Well, I didn't, and I'm making up Christmas presents so I figured I'd use this skein of Noro Silk Garden lite. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure that I found all of the unfinished ornaments. So hopefully I'll make it to the end!

If not, I suppose I can frog it and try again.

Ups and Downs

2008-11-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was great and I'm thrilled for Barack Obama. I think he will take this country in the right direction and really be a good president. But enough politics-this is a knitting blog!

Sunday DH and I went to donate the money we raised at the ALPO bake sale to the shelter. I also took the money I made from SAFF that I had pledged to donate to them. There was this beautiful little dog running around inside the lobby area. She was some sort of mutt, maybe some beagle, maybe some rat terrier, and was just about Max's size. She was younger though, having been adopted a few months ago from the shelter as a puppy. Apparently they adopted her and when they were moving, brought her back.

That makes me so angry! A dog or cat or bird is a lifetime commitment. Not for your life, but for theirs! I understand if the owner passes away, or is suddenly incapacitated, but because you are moving? Unless you are moving into prison, you can take your animal with you.

But I would not want the option to not be available. I love to do the offsite adoptions, and I'm hoping to do one today, but I don't want to force animals on people. I don't want them to be spur of the moment decisions (unless you are a responsible pet owner no matter what). I suppose it is better that Tiny comes back to MOAS than get left outside on her own when the moving truck leaves.

I wish I could bring her home. I wish I could bring them all home. But I know that our home is as full of fur as it can be. There's a delicate balance right now between Max and the cats, and the bird of course, and our budget is strained as it is with food, litter and vet visits for the animals we do have. I would not want to bring another animal into our home and have our current animals suffer for it. Also, I think another dog would antagonize the cats too much and make them miserable. Max deserves to be an only dog for a while at least (until we have a bigger house and fenced in yard and lose a couple cats).

I cry myself to sleep sometimes thinking about them. I wish every dog and cat at the shelter had a chance at a happy home. I know the shelter does a great job, but it is no substitute for the love and affection that a family can give an animal. Thinking about the animals gets me thinking about children in foster homes and wow, I really can't go that route right now.

I suppose my best bet is to continue to try and raise money for them. I tell myself that every dollar I raise gives each animal a few more days to stay at the shelter, and a few more days equals a better chance to be adopted. The shelter there is really great anyway. They aren't a "no-kill" shelter, but if the animal is adoptable (i.e. not wild or feral) they really will keep them until they are adopted. I suppose there are probably exceptions, but I've seen animals stay for months while waiting to be adopted. I've seen animals fill up their quarantine areas because the rest of the shelter is full.

Ah, but it makes me sad to think about it. If you read this, and are touched like I am, go to MOAS's website and donate. You can select an animal that has not been fixed yet and for $35 they will fix it, which makes it that much more adoptable. Of course you could always just donate to the shelter and they will use it as they see fit. If you live in the Athens area, or near an animal shelter, do what I do. I found out that they really use a lot of canned dog and cat food when an animal is post-op or won't eat for some reason. So when I'm at the grocery store I pick up a can or two (about$1 or $2 worth) and cut out coupons to use on them as well. Max and the cats don't eat it, so I give it to them. Every couple of months I bag up the bottom of the pantry (where I keep it) and drop it off. I end up giving a lot while not spoiling my budget.

And remember, 10% of the purchase price at BlueMutt Designs goes to MOAS. I've posted about 20 new sets of stitch markers and can't wait to bring more money to them!

Saff continued

2008-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Loot

625 yards of laceweight

4 oz of Blue Faced Liecester

2 oz of llama

Superwash merino and 30% alpaca-total of 6 oz!

4 oz of Wensleydale roving

4 oz each of superwash merino

Small trash bag full of unwashed alpaca-natural colored

3.5 oz of alpaca batt

I did very well, budgeting myself to get a lot of fiber for my dollar.

We had a great time! Friday was rainy, but we got there so late we only spent about an hour in the sales arena with Susannah and looking around. Mom picked up a new drop spindle and some alpaca and spent the evening spinning. I worked on my handspun scarf I am making for my MIL. It's purty. Pictures later.

Saturday we woke up really early and rushed over. We waited patiently for Target to open so we could get some Starbucks. Then we rushed over and realized we were early. I thought the other vendors might not be happy with us wandering around before they got there, so we waited in the car until 8:40. Then we saw most of them were getting ready so we headed over to Susannah's booth. We started unpacking for her and then helped her get set up when she arrived.

Then it was on. It was mostly a blur, but somewhere in there I acquired all the fiber pictured above and my new spinning wheel! Its an Ashford Kiwi, and I love it! We got an amazing deal (b/c we bought two) and I love the style. I've been wanting an upright wheel and this one has a little more contemporary look that I love from Louet and Lendrums without the price. I'm so happy! I've been spinning on it the last two days.

Sunday I spun up 3 oz of the superwash merino/alpaca in brown and last night 1 oz of llama.

On another note, I've been reading Three Cups of Tea. It is the amazing true story of a man who is trying to help educate the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan in an attempt to stomp out hatred. We all know that there are few options for people in those countries, and ignorance leads to hatred of other groups. (just look at the Germans post WWI) He builds schools (55 now) in those two countries in the most remote regions, the ones that have historically been the most susceptible to influence by fundamentalist Saudi muslims who promote hatred of America. There he has educated thousands of children and have given them a chance at a productive life without attending the madrassas that the Saudi fundamentalist Muslims build.

Its an amazing story; full of his real life adventures (and misadventures) but overall, a great read. Everyone should check it out!

On SAFF and candy corn

2008-10-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Crisp Fall Air

2008-10-20T11:01:00.001-07:00

Last night, for the first time this fall, I was cold when we walked Max. There had been a few times when we were chilled when we left the house, but walking warmed us up. Last night, even with my fleece jacket, I was still cold. I'm so excited. I love fall. I wish we had a longer fall season. I know that winters aren't very cold here, but it seems like the leaves change while its still hot out, so that when it finally is cold, its gray and drab outside. We don't get much time to enjoy the cool air and beautiful colors.

Its perfect sweater/mittens/scarf/hat weather, which is ideal for a knitter. Today I wore a knit sweater to work, although I didn't make it. Its my Eddie Bauer cabled cowl (?) neck sweater. Its in a nice tan and even though its a cotton and synthetic blend, I still love it!

I'm not totally a yarn snob. I use acrylic for my donations, especially baby knits, and even for baby gifts. I just can't see a baby in a cashmere blend sweater. I don't even have a baby and I know that's impractical. I am so excited because Wal-Mart (I know I know) is selling Simply Soft Eco. Simply Soft is the best acrylic, in my opinion, because it is very soft and has great colors. But Simply Soft Eco is made from recycled plastic bottles! This is awesome. The package says 100% from recycled plastic bottles. I am excited because if you've read The World Without Us you know that plastic is the bane of the earth and is going to overwhelm us one day with all of our trash. Recycling it is great, but there aren't a ton of uses for recycled plastic. Now us knitters / crocheters have away to give back!

Speaking of babies.... they're everywhere. Two weekends ago we went to a baby's baptism reception where the guest of honor was adorable in a long christening gown. Her mother asked me to change her into her real clothes (ok, I volunteered), and I learned why baby clothes area always snap or button up. This poor baby was swaddled in two layers of cotton with only a neck hole and a small slit with a couple of buttons. It took DH and I at least five minutes to get it off. She kept squirming and I was afraid I'd rip an arm off if I pulled too hard. Luckily, no limbs were rended and I deposited her in her mother's arms with her cute little jean outfit in about five minutes.

This morning, while walking the Blue Mutt, I came upon another baby. He wasn't alone though, his mother was holding him and their new puppy Seargent, a Welsh Corgi. Seargent really wanted to play with the Blue Mutt, and they are about the same size, so we let them scrabble for a few minutes. But they kept getting tangled and I had to go to work, so I said goodbye. But she seemed very nice, and I liked her baby and dog too.

This past weekend, DH and I spent running around. Saturday, the animal rights group I am co-president of had a bake sale. I had come up with the idea so I was sort of the mastermind. I also baked (with much help) 6 batches of cookies (18 dozen cookies). We didn't have too many cookies left and made a few hundred bucks. I'm so excited to give this money to the charities we chose, which are the Athens Area Humane Society and the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.

Knitting wise, I've mostly been doing some Preemie hats for charity. I usually send them to Stitches from the Heart in California, but next month, Main Street Yarns and Fibers is collecting them for a local charity. They're doing a night where you can come and knit them and get food and possibly win something, I think. But I figured I could just drop by all the ones I've done and save on postage (with my budget being what it is).

Stitches from the Heart does send them across the country, but I like the idea of helping out local charities as well.

My stitch markers are coming along! I think I'm going to have close to 100 for SAFF this weekend. Sunday DH and I came up with something to hold them, using all of our carpentry skills. I think it's perfect and will allow them to be seen well and accessed easily, without being a mess of little baggies. All that's left is to finish the last few I can make with the supplies I have, make the tags and put them on the stand.

I'm so excited about SAFF that I can hardly stand to get through this week. But I do love my schedule this semester with only four days of classwork!

I don't think I ever put pictures of my dying experiments on here, so here are some:

The first is Osage Orange from my friend Susannah's yard. This is bark shavings, I believe. With an alum mordant, it gives a beautiful buttery yellow, much less garish than the Marigolds.

The second is black walnuts. I let them steep, in the green/black hulls for a few days, and then dunked the pre-soaked fiber in with no mordant. I've done it twice now, and both times I get this light taupe color. Its an ok color I guess, but I was hoping for a darker brown.

Never Underestimate a Cat

2008-10-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm giggling as I write this. Shadow, the boy cat, has Max, the dog, trapped in the office. How does a cat have a dog trapped in an office, you ask? By sitting in the way.

This is the third time tonight this has happened. I didn't realize what was going on until I heard a weird growl/yip in the office. I poked my head in, and apparently that gave Max the courage to jump over him. The cats don't even have front claws (Ouchie, I know, they were like that when we got them!) and he's terrified of them. Terrified, yet loves to taunt them, like an avid horror movie fan.

I'm wavering on my Warm Woolies commitment. Before I started this blog, I said I was going to complete 25 projects for them, and submit them for the Lion's Brand competition. (25 items by November 30th gets $75 worth of Lions Brand products donated by Lion's Brand)

I initially said I was, then I said I wasn't, and I think I'm going to after all. I think I have about 12 done. Wow, now that I wrote that, I'm not sure I can do it! But then I did knit a vest in the last two days, plus did several repeats on my Monkey sock.

This was my sister-in-law's birthday gift, My So-Called Scarf.

Yesterday I followed the recipe on Smitten Kitchen for Challah Bread.

I don't know how to pronounce the word but the bread is amazing! I can't wait to try more of her recipes.

Reality TV

2008-10-02T19:21:00.001-07:00

I used to think that I hated reality tv. And I do hate some of it. I hate when they over-dramatize a situation, like on Survivor. But I really do like the trashy reality tv. Like I Love New York or Charm School on Vh1. Those shows are like watching a train wreck. You can't tear your eyes away but they're more and more trashy in every episode.

That being said, DH and I are thoroughly enjoying our cable and especially TruTV (formerly CourtTV). I don't remember Court TV being this good though. They show COPS, Speeders and Bait Car. There's also some show about really horrible things, like train wrecks and car crashes, that are caught on film. I don't like that one as much, but DH enjoys it.

Right now Bait Car is on in the background. Its an interesting idea: police plant a car in a crime plagued area and the police monitor it to see how many times it gets stolen. There is a hidden camera in it to record their faces and what they say. I'm no expert in Criminal Law, but this seems a bit like entrapment to me. I guess its probably a close call, or it wouldn't be on television. The best part though is when they shut the car down while the thief is driving so they can't get away.

Rant about Reality TV aside, another reality television show is on tonight, the VicePresidential Debate. I did watch the Presidential debate last week at a friend's house (Lotus Yarns). But tonight I'm not in the mood to watch the ... discourse. Palin's accent is too funny and I have trouble concentrating on what she says after seeing Tina Fey's portrayal on SNL.

I did however see something I LOVE on the Yarn Harlot's blog. She knit Hey Teach and I think I'm going to have to do that next. Its in cotton, which is good, both because we live in Georgia where it never really gets that cold, and because I know some reasonably priced sources for nice cotton.

Knitting wise...

The dog chewed the ends off of the needles I was using for my sister-in-law's scarf for her birthday. Luckily I have more and he didn't get too much yarn. One more skein and I'll be done!

This is clearly from earlier in the week, since its only about a foot and a half long!

I acquired some yarn from Lotus Y arns directly from the source. I laughed when I realized that what I thought were spices in her kitchen were actually her dyes! This is Speakeasy. Its so soft and I can't wait to knit a pair of socks!

I'm completing a pair of Monkey Socks with Trekking. I love the subtle variegations of the colorway, dark purples and mauves. Is mauve a term people use anymore? It seems to me like a very '80's color, like in the way that people would wear big mauve and grey blocks of color on an oversized sweater. The '80s were all a blur of vibrant colors, oversized clothes and big hair. I don't really remember much about fashion except that my mom wore a lot of oversized sweatshirts with puffy paint designs on them. She was so skinny that she was probably really in style, but looking back.... I just hope we don't look back at today's fashion like that.

For a friend's new beautiful baby Genevieve, I made these beautiful bibs from Mason-Dixon Knitting with some Lion's Brand Organic Cotton yarn. They have such an amazing effect but are literally just squares done in garter stitch.

And finally, I sent off my dear friend V's birthday present today. Her birthday is actually Sunday, but I think she'll get it on Saturday. She sent me some awesome gifts that I'll be using to make some more socks! I'm a little sock crazy! These are Fetching in some blue color of Malabrigo. I love them!

OMG

2008-09-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

I meant that in an ironic way.

But seriously folks... OMG Super-Stress time!

I signed up to participate in the Mock Trial competition. For those of you not fully fluent in legalese, its what it says it is. We pretend to have a trial and play the lawyer for one side. Or in our case, we play the team of lawyers for one side.

I really had no idea how much work it would be. I guess I should have realized I had no idea how to conduct a trial, but I didn't. So this weekend was the start of my sleep bruxism (tooth-grinding).

DH woke me up on Saturday night to tell me I was grinding my teeth and it sounded awful (and I should stop). Sunday I woke up, not very well rested, and my jaw ached. My entire head ached, as well. Monday I happened to have a dentist appointment and he confirmed that I was grinding my teeth, although I had not yet done any damage.

I've tried the little night-guard things you can buy at the drug-store with minimal success. Apparently the way to go for those are to get one custom made, but that will run about $400, and this semester's loan money is already dwindling. Funny thing is that last night I apparently took the night guard out of my mouth and into its case, while asleep. I woke up thinking it had fallen out-nope-on the nightstand in its case.

I'm trying to reduce my stress. Today has been a super-busy day, but I made time to go to lunch with my knitting group and I even brought my knitting to school. I got in a few rows on a birthday gift after I ate. Even now, when I should be working on my closing argument, its tempting me.

So I'll keep trying not to be stressed-which stresses me out more-and hope that one day soon I can wake up without my jaw hurting.

Night of the Ninja Cats

2008-09-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

And by Ninja I mean Insane

This morning I staggered out into my living room before the sun had risen to see some vaguely familiar dark objects on the floor. Knowing that DH is not fully trained in the art of taking the dog out before bed time, I switched on the light, fully expecting to be breaking out the carpet cleaner. To my complete surprise I found that my new Money magazine was shredded. Walking around the coffee table, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw my Monkey sock lying on the floor. Pieces of paper and fabric were scattered around the table, and when I picked up the knitting I discovered (thankfully) the knitting had been left alone. But then I noticed half of my Addi Turbo knitting needle was missing. Half of the stitches were flying free. My sock project bag had bottom chewed out of it. The remotes were scattered around. But oddly, the plastic bag with chocolate chip cookies were untouched.

I am still not sure exactly what happened last night. DH immediately blamed the dog, but I doubt it was him. For one, he would have eaten the cookies, despite the bag, and he has a bad habit of chewing on yarn balls. The yarn and cookies were untouched. I'm pretty sure it was the cats... but not sure why.

They had food, their litter was clean,and they had water. The cat nip toy was on the television and hadn't been on the floor in a few days, so catnip doesn't seem to have been a factor. This is the second crazy event in their life with us, the first being their "accidents" on the bed after we got the dog.

I picked up the pieces of paper and fabric, tore the first fifteen pages off of the magazine and put the knitting on the top of my shelf. I'll have to buy another needle (I was magic-looping the socks) before I can finish them. Unfortunately, I am not 100% sure of the size (1 or 2) and so I don't think I'll pop over to Main Street after class. I'd hate to buy the wrong size and have two of one size and none of the other.

In other news, this weekend was my birthday and my darling brother and sister gave me a yarn ball winder. I know that I can wind my own center-pull ball, but they look so pretty when you do it with the winder. I spend most of Saturday and Sunday winding all of my wool into balls. DH and I also finally figured out how to get a substantial shelf up on our extremely crappy duplex walls (studs every 24 inches). I think it was probably the most expensive shelf, for what it is made out of, that I'll ever own. Next time I'm just buying another bookshelf. But now I have a lovely shelf with yarn, just yarn, on it. My plan is to organize the shelf more, but I haven't gotten there yet.

Olive at the Party:

Max at the Party:

Flowers at the party:

Sunday I went to the Augusta Spinner's Guild with my friend from Harvest Moon Garden. It was quite the drive, but I did have a really good time. I learned how to comb wool and managed to comb some and spin it up. I need to get some wool combs, but they're quite expensive. They also are really slow, so I might just wash up the wool I have and get Susannah to use her carding machine for me. I'd willingly pay her to do that. I was given some beautiful eggs from someone who keeps several different breeds of chickens. I don't know how they taste, but they made good chocolate chip cookies. They're also really pretty...

I purchased some Peace Fleece from a fellow raveler, and I'm quite pleased with it. Its a little rough, but its really pretty. For those of you who don't know about Peace Fleece, its a really great idea. There is a village comprised of Palestinians and Israelis somewhere in the Middle East where they are trying a social experiment to see if peace works. The yarn comes from fleece from their sheep. Sorry for the short description, but there's a better one on their website for more details.

I love this way of trading among ravelers. I suppose I might get burned eventually, but it seems like a great way to get some yarn at a discounted price since people are just trying to get rid of orphan skeins or stuff they are never going to use.

The socks that the cats attacked are a lovely pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie A, made with Trekking yarn. I had never seen this yarn knit up, but had heard about it on Live and Violet, so I purchased a skein when I was in Michigan. this summer. But when I went to the knit club that my law school friend invited me to, someone had knit up a similar skein. It was just beautiful! Its like self-striping but not so stripey. And the variations are so subtle that while its not just plain solid, its also easy to see the stitch pattern. I was thoroughly enjoying knitting these, but it looks like I'll have to take a break for a few days.

Second in a pair of Warm Woolies Socks:

Flying

2008-09-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have to say that this month is already flying by. Unfortunately I think it usually tends to do that. Today is the 8th and my birthday is coming up. In fact, the way my weeks are going, by the time the dust from the week settles, it will be my birthday. And at this point, I don't think I'm supposed to be excited about birthdays. I'm supposed to start being sad, since I'm getting older.

But I have set myself a goal for this week. (I am nothing if not a multi-tasker). Organize my office. Somehow the stuff that was in the living room in the old apartment exploded when we moved in here and is now taking over the entire room. It doesn't help that there are two additional musical instruments and a bow, arrows and a target. I started to list the other things that are taking up my office, but I realized that the room is full of random, weird things.

That's it. I'm taking a cue from Grumperina and organizing this week. I'll post pics when I'm done.

September!

2008-09-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

September is my favorite month. It has my birthday in it, it is approximately the start of school (and I do love school... and school supplies) and it is supposed to be the beginning of fall. The places I have lived have never gotten the memo about fall starting in September, however, but it is a little cooler. The sun goes down earlier, so at least the scorching sun-heat is less than it was a month ago.

The long weekend was nice, but of course, very busy. I felt like I didn't get a big break, since DH, the Max and I were racing across the state to visit family. We had a nice time with everyone, though, so it was worth it.

I did manage to make it over to the famer's market, however, and was given some beautiful Blue Faced Leister (spelling?) that I quickly spun up. It was not as clean as commercial roving, but was a million times nicer than the stuff I've been making with my pathetic hand cards. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are people out there who turn out beautiful, clean and easy to spin roving with hand cards (or would they be called rolags), but I am not one of them. Mine look like oddly shaped cotton balls and are full of vegetable matter, lanolin and small cuts of hair that make bumps in my singles. This had some lanolin and only one or two twigs (and a dead ladybug) but was still really nice to work with. And the person who gave it to me was so gracious! I loved it. I've already spun and plied it, but I forgot to take a photo, so you'll have to look at the unfinished roving:

I also purchased some handspun silk with beads. Its so beautiful and soft! I think this is the first time I've ever bought silk, and I'm excited to figure out something lovely to make from it! It has also inspired me to try and add some beads to some of my handspun. I'm thinking Fetching?

This is some more of that Lorna's Laces roving that I've been spinning up. Its so pretty!

And I'm about to post a big update on my Etsy shop: BlueMuttDesigns.

These are a few of what I've been creating:

(I think they look nice in my thrift store china!)

Now that my externship has begun, I'm a bit busier during the week. But I'm still going to find time for knitting :) Always.

Disappointing Fay

2008-08-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I think we were all a little disappointed this weekend in the poor show that Hurricane Fay put on in the North Georgia area. She seemed to pummel Florida with the first hurricane they've seen in a few years, and made landfall more than enough times, but we ended up with an overcast weekend with slight sprinkles. Mostly it was super-humid. A bad hair weekend.

School began this last week, and it was mostly satisfying. I've realized how little I care to be at the law school. I enjoy my classes, but much like undergrad, I like to get home, do my work in my own space and use my free time to knit and do fiber-things (and see DH, and play with the dog, and all sorts of other-non school related things). Also, one of my best friends has relocated to the same town I live in, and I'm super-excited to have her around. Its like undergrad again! (Except much harder, more expensive and more time consuming)

Today I embarked on my second natural dying experiment. The first was the eucalyptus wool, a later batch now for sale at my etsy shop BlueMuttDesigns. The second is marigolds. I mentioned to my mother a few months ago that I read that marigolds made good dyestuffs (and were readily identifiable in the list I read on Ravelry), so she bought a six pack or two and planted them. Well, yesterday I saw them and realized they had gotten gigantic. So I filled up a grocery bag with the heads and here is what happened next:

I pulled the petals off. It might have actually been easier later on if I had left them on the green parts, since removing all of the marigold petals from the dye bath without a proper colander turned out to be impossible.

Next, simmered on the stove until the water turned yellowish-red. Next to it the wool was mordanting with approximately 1-2 tsp of alum, 1/2-ish tsp of cream of tartar. I wasn't really careful with the amounts but used an approximate, since the amounts I had listed were for 1 lb of wool. This was probably around 4 oz of wool, but were two different types and I have no real idea the weight.

This is the result while still wet. Initially the color was ridiculously garish. But the yellow wouldn't rinse out. Several minutes under a cold tap and two Brown Sheep Wash baths still dripped a urine-like color. I think the problem was actually the remaining marigold petals. Once I managed to get most out, the dripping water was almost totally clear.

DH says the color is pretty. I think its still a bit garish for my tastes. We'll see. What is actually there is two skeins of probably 150 yds worsted weight (2 ply) from some undyed I bought at Earth Guild. The third skein is smaller and is a single. I think its the undyed that DH got me from Main Street Yarns and Fibers. Apparently for our anniversary he bought "all they had." They were low, so it was only about 4 oz. But it turned out nice anyway! I think that the eucalyptus wool I have on etsy is from the same batch. If that's right then its from a local sheep farm. I can't remember the name of that farm for the life of me right now.

Oh, that reminds me. Yesterday DH and I went to the local farmers market and I was so excited when we turned the corner and there was dyed handspun hanging from the tent!!! DH says I "visibly perked up" when we saw it. It was two lovely shades of purple, both from Cushings dye, she said, from her own sheep! Next weekend she's going to bring some of her roving and I'm so excited! I just love getting local stuff, from food to crafts and a source of inexpensive undyed roving would be awesome!

Speaking of Main Street, I picked this lovely Lorna's Laces roving up this week. The route that this roving took to get to me was a bit circuitous but I love it! Its about 10 oz total that I bought, and this was only one bobbin full. I don't think it will go up on etsy since I had some issues with not putting enough twist in some of it so that it pulled apart when I Navajo plied it.

I love it anyway! (pottery is from a flea market benefiting the State Botanical Garden that I bought for $.10 because its handles broke off)

Research on a few websites leads me to believe that this color is called Envy, but I think I'll call it Grasshopper. Its not the vibrant green I would think of as "envy."

And ahhh, I love Mmmmalabrigo.... These are the mittens that I am making for my grandmother. (The pattern is awesomely amazing and is by Katherine E. Fagan). I can't say enough how much I love Malabrigo! Its so soft and so great to knit with. Even the Max couldn't keep his paws off of it! (Shhh...Don't tell DH I just ordered another skein from a fellow Raveler-he doesn't understand the yarn obsession)

Last but not least... I found this at my mother's LYS, Cast-On Cottage. I used to hate this shop, but they changed owners and its really been reborn into a great little shop with really helpful employees and owner and an amazing selection. (They sell Malabrigo).

I like to try new sock yarns. I currently have a skein of Trekking XXL (color 147) from a shop in Michigan ready to go, but I felt that one skein of sock yarn wasn't quite enough (since Lime and Violet are my heroes!) So I found Happy Feet by Plymouth Yarn. The price was great-$6 a skein (2 needed)-and while I am very appreciative of hand-dyed, indie dyers, my law school budget does not appreciate it. (And they say you shouldn't use loan money for anything you don't want to be paying for for 10 years-or so-but whether yarn is worth it is certainly debatable). This yarn is 90% superwash and 10% nylon and unfortunately is called No. 11. I agree with Lime and Violet that yarns are more exciting when they have cool names... but apparently Plymouth Yarns doesn't agree. Oh well. No idea what I'll do with it though... time will tell.

Getting Ready and Winding Down

2008-08-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, its official. The school year is about to begin. Tomorrow morning I must once again begin the cycle of classes, reading, and briefing. This year, however, I've chosen my courses. I am very excited about them. I am also doing an externship, which should cut into my free time considerably but will be (I hope) very beneficial to my legal education and growth.

I also have news: I opened my ETSY store this week!

BlueMutt Designs is where I am selling stitch markers, some hand spun and hand dyed yarn, and project bags that I've made.

I've opened it not so much to make a lot of money, but to spread the proceeds of my inherent craftiness. I love to make, but myself and those that I love can only use so much of my made items. So hopefully this will be a way for me to fund my *makingness and also donate to charity.

I've decided that 10% of the purchase price of everything will go to the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter where the BlueMutt (Max) came from. They're a great bunch of big-hearted people, but they need financ

ial support to keep saving the lives of the poor dogs and cats that are neglected in our area. I give time, when I can, and money, when I can, but with this Etsy store, I'm hoping to give more!

In spinning and knitting news...

Knitting:

Monday we visited Main Street Yarns & Fibers and I picked up five skeins of Riverstone, one in cream (can't find the ball band) and four in French Blue. I'm making the Hexacomb Cardigan from Interweave Knits. Its a really easy repeat and I love the colors!

On Friday, while driving through Lawrenceville, I saw the sign for Yarn Garden Knit Shop. I was literally driving by and spotted it. Needless to say my passenger thought I was a little crazy. But I was driving so we stopped and I picked up my first and possibly the most beautiful yarn in the world skein of Malabrigo in Dusty Olive. I've heard of this... but until I saw it, I didn't understand:

It is destined to be a pair of mittens for my grandmother. I've chosen the Plait Cable Mittens. I think a little cable won't detract from the colors.

Spinning-wise... DH and I watched In the Shadow of the Moon on Saturday night and while we did, I spun some undyed roving I bought back in May at Earth Guild. It is really soft, and was really inexpensive. The movie, by the way, was fascinating. Its a documentary about the NASA moon missions and the background behind them. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little, so it was really interesting to me.

While the summer (at least activities-wise) is winding down, I have a lot to look forward to in the coming months!

The Race begins

2008-08-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Olympics began tonight...but we decided instead to watch the Tin Man episode 3. I am half-heartedly boycotting the games, and DH doesn't want to watch what they put on the television. Instead he is currently watching women's sharp-shooting live.

Why am I (half-heartedly) boycotting the games? Because, like many people, I am concerned with the laundry list of human rights violations that China has racked up (esp. Tibet). I was also disturbed by the comments made by the PRC in response to Pres. Bush's comments on how freedom of religion and speech are ultimately good for the county. Its (half-hearted) because I'm not usually that interested in the Olympics anyway. I can't claim to be giving up much.

The race I am referring to is the proverbial rat-race.

Next week begins on-campus interviews and I am so proud to have a few! I remember just last year... hoping against hope that I would be one of the ones dressed up with a place to go in one of the many small interview rooms on campus. While not everything has worked out as I'd hoped, it appears I will be quite busy this year.

This week brought heavy winds to our fair city, but unfortunately, our corner received no rain.

The lack of rain (big surprise there) has led to the garden being very wilted... more so than earlier in the summer, since DH has decided he is tired of watering it early in the morning, during our allotted times (and no rain in our puny rain barrel!) We are also really running out of places to put all of the tomatoes. We planted six plants: one Lemon Boy, one Golden Jubilee, two Mountain Fresh, one Roma and one Mr. Stripey. The only one that didn't get huge was the Mr. Stripey, planted last in the shade of the other plants. We learned our lesson: don't plant six tomato plants! Also, don't plant them so close-they're like a forest of tomato leaves-I can hardly see the plants. (For those interested we also planted bush beans-mine, yellow crooked-neck squash, Hungarian peppers-mine, Japanese white eggplant, red, yellow, green and purple bell peppers, corn, okra and asparagus came up on its own-oh and lettuce back in the early spring)

This is from some time in July-today we had at least four times that amount of tomatoes.

On to fiber! I have been knitting and spinning quite a bit lately. I finished the BFL from the Spinning Loft.

I also completed my Frontier Blues Jacket by Wend y Bernard, but I left the whole thing at my parent's house! I've decided to add some toggle buttons held on by i-cords, since I am a cardigan-buttoned-up type person. I have to go to the city next friday for an interview, so I'll stop by and pick that up. (And the dog's harness, and the assorted other things I left scattered around the house).

Somehow I forgot to take pictures of the French Lilac roving spun up, but will next time.

However, I purchased approximately 4 oz. of Louet roving called Grape Jelly, and spun that it into about 300 yards of worsted weight yarn. I'm so proud of myself for spinning it so finely! That I did while watching the first two episodes of the Tin Man. And some episodes of The Riches.

I am also working on a vest for Warm Woolies

The pattern is called Good Day Cables, is very easy, and is listed on their website.

Last but not least-tonight I picked up the Easy-Peasy Eye Pillow, from Shut Up, I'm Counting. Her blog is hilarious and the pattern is super easy. Lots of great Christmas presents coming right along!

Tomorrow I'm off to try and get some dogs adopted in the morning. There's one in particular I want to go to a good home. I wish I could adopt them all... but our house is a zoo as it is!

The first post

2008-08-01T07:49:00.001-07:00

I want to clarify that title. Being that I am in Georgia, and so many odd things are illegal here, I thought this would be a good title for a law student. I've checked the O.C.G.A. however, and knitting, in fact, does appear to be legal.

This blog is going to be my attempt to share my knitting and spinning experiences with others. I've learned a lot, and been quite entertained, by other knitting and spinning bloggers. Maybe someone may learn the wrong way to do something from my experiences... or be inspired on their own.

We'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to a fun ride.

What's on my needles:

the Frontier Blues Jacket by Wendy Bernard using Cascade 220 in a greenish-blueish color

the Menehune Cobblestone Socks by Adrienne Fong using Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk Print in a greenish-blueish color

Surprisingly, that's all I'm knitting right now. The socks I modified to knit from the toe up, two at a time, and I've developed TFK, or Tired-of-Fiddly-Knitting Syndrome. Similar to SSS, or Second-Sock-Syndrome, TFK is characterized by annoyedness at fiddly, two-at-a-time socks and leads me to believe that I really only want socks that are anklets so I can be done. (Which is a lie-I hate those types of socks).

Spinning-wise, I just completed 4oz of beautiful roving from the Spinning Loft called French Lilacs. It spun up nicely on my Ashford Traditional into a barber-pole type effect.

Also I'm hard at work at 4oz of Blue-Faced Leicester that I'm doing on an Ann Grout drop spindle. Approximately 120 yards down, a bunch to go!