Where did those chickens go?

We spent Labor Day weekend with Reese. She's really talking now and what she talks about a lot is chickens. Obsessively. She and her mommy saw some Guinea hens wandering around town one day and now all Reese wants to do is find the chickens. "Where they go?" So I decided to knit her one.




She seemed to like it. And every time she saw me knitting she asked if it was a chicken.





But it was a little shrug and hat for a new baby I know.

Kool Aid, it's not just for drinking

I bought this pound of undyed superwash merino to practice my spinning. (If you spin, you might want to check this place out.) I found out that I don't like to spin worsted weight so I ended up with this bit of yarn. It's about 100 yards or so and it's not bad but it's just not what I want to spin, I think I like it thinner. So I decided to have a little experiment.





I bought a bunch of this.




And put the yarn in the crockpot.




And I got this. I was aiming for a kettle dyed look. Not too bad. Kind of a salmon pink. All Mr. Truck had to say was, " Now you're cooking yarn?"


If you're looking for instructions, I found them here.

Q is for Quiet

When I was little, since I was an only child for a very long time, I spent a lot of time by myself. I was always busy but I was quiet, my games didn't involve a lot of noise. I still enjoy the quiet sometimes. I never turn on the radio or TV or even listen to my ipod in the morning. I enjoy hearing the birds and bugs and the far off traffic, the occasional hum of the fridge and my neighbors leaving for work. A few weeks ago we were walking the dogs along the bay and we gradually made our way past all the other people on the beach. It was so quiet, just the crunch of our footsteps in the sand, the little laps of the waves, and the dogs sniffing. The little sandpipers up ahead of us made more noise than anything else.

Coincidences

My sister-in-law, Mr. Truck's big sister (we'll call her Mimi), has been doing all the work with Mother-in-law, and sometimes she feels a bit overwhelmed. We can't do as much as we'd like, we're so far away, but we serve as cheerleaders and pseudo-psychologists and just good listeners. Now Mimi has been very fascinated by the whole spinning thing and has lots of questions so as little present I got this to spin for her. She's a crocheter and makes some really pretty things and potholders for me.





It's called Surelyto the Sea and is made by Brianna . These are the perfect colors for Mimi.





So I spun it up as pretty fine singles, at least the finest I had spun so far. And then I three plyed it to make maybe a light worsted weight. And last night Evan and Olivia helped me wind it into a cake. I wish I could have taken pictures but I only have two hands and they were occupied by keeping the yarn and Evan and Olivia from becoming one big knot.




Oh and the coincidence? Brianna is from Palm Coast, Florida and so is Mimi. In fact they live really close to each other. So the yarn is going back home.

Mystery Socks

Have you ever done a mystery knit along? I found out that I really look at the pictures in the patterns a lot. Just to see if my project matches. In a mystery KAL, you just never know and it's a bit worrisome. These socks were for the Outlander group on Ravelry and they were really a lot of fun. We started with the toe at the end of June.




Next came the foot with a pattern and some little cables.




Next we turned the heel. And finally some posted pictures so I could see that mine were just like the others.




Then onto the cuff with some more cables. I really liked how the gusset stitches led right into the cables.





I was knitting on the beach last weekend with my many pages of pattern covered with all my scribbles.





Finally, some beads in the shape of a heart. Then the cuff and binding off. I did eliminate a garter stitch part because they were long enough as it was.





The yarn is Malabrigo sock yarn in Lettuce, so soft and nice. And the beads just matched perfectly. My first time knitting with beads, much easier than I had expected.



My only problem was that these tied up all my size one DPN's for a very long time so I had to go out and buy another set. Which meant a trip to the LYS where there is just too much temptation.

P is for Pirates

Olivia, Evan, Mr. Truck and I were pirates for a few hours on a Pirate Cruise. Great fun if you don't mind getting soaked and having your mustache wash off.

Not for the faint of heart

Eunice by Cookie A., not the easiest sock I've ever knit. Not impossible or I wouldn't be posting about them, but not easy. Definitely a challenge. Socks that require a lot of attention. And that break bamboo size 0 needles. And now that they're done I realize that they're not mine. I really thought they were. The yarn is really nice, although the colorway is called Koi in a Blender and that creeps me out a bit. The pattern is amazing, I especially like how the cable goes down into the heel. But they're a bit short and they don't really go with any of my clothes so they're telling me they aren't mine.






I think I know whose they are though. Someone who always wants to see my socks and loves every pair. I think she'll like them. But I have to wash them first because I had to try them on just to make sure. I really hope the next pair are mine.

O is for Orange

O is for orange, that's really obvious but it's not a color that I would ever say I like. I just don't think about it much. But when I started looking around, I actually have a lot of orange things. Some of my Fiestaware is orange, there's a cutting board, the sweater I was wearing, some socks and a sweater I knit, my purse, and some summer tops. Who knew?




But this is my favorite orange of all.

Summer Sweater

Not the best pictures, I have the same problem as Sara, it's the photographer. Mr. Truck just doesn't get what I want in a picture but he tries.


This is the Printed Silk Cardigan from IK. I made it in Plymouth Yarn Wildflower D.K. and although the yarn was really really splitty I like the end result.

I followed the pattern exactly except I knit it all in one piece to the armholes which meant I had to take out the selvage stitches except I left one in at each side and purled those to make a faux seam. And I made a hem so it wouldn't roll. Oh, and I lengthened the bodice so the empire waist would be where it should be on me. But other than, I swear it's just like the pattern, except I did shorten the sleeves a bit.

It's very comfortable and it's one that I've gotten quite a few compliments on.

N is for Niddy Noddy

When I started this spinning thing I read lots of books and they all said you need a niddy noddy but I think, not me I can just wind the yarn on a chair back or a lampshade or something. Then I try winding the yarn on a chair back and I realize I really need a niddy noddy. So I show Mr. Truck a picture and say "I need this, can you make one?" And he says, "I'll put it on the list." So I go back to the chair. But Mr. Truck must have felt sorry for me because the next day I come home to this.



And it works much better than the chair.


It's an old broomstick and a dowel and it works just fine.