I love the office

I am making the Gisela sweater from Cocoknits. The yarn is rad! It is Habu Textiles Cotton Gima. I live in the south, and I will not be hot in my cardi, which is great. I am excited to see how this turns out. Any advice?






I love "The Office"! Yesterday was another rerun and what is the deal with that?! I want Michael and Holly to be together. I am intrigued by the idea of Michael making an ass of himself when he is happy. It could be awesome. I mean he was screwy with Jan, but she was screwy too. So put him with someone semi-normal.. awesome!

And now that Angela isn't with Dwight or Andy.. what happens? Are she and Dwight still married? Is Angela gonna chase Dwight now? ooo.. intrigue..

Dyeing for sparkle

So I spent the weekend, and will spend the week, dyeing tons of yarn and drum carding. I was feeling springy as the picture to the left tells us. It is so pretty and wonderful to just be engulfed in the creation of so much color. It is freeing and relaxing.



I tried out a new dye. I think it was for screen printing, but my theory was to dilute enough that it wouldn't be stiff and that would add a little bit of sparkle to my yarns. It sort of worked. It is just that it had to be diluted sooo much, is there sparkle? I am not sure. I wish I could infuse the yarn with some sort of glitter. Can you spin that in? I know there is firestar and all that, but can you do something different? I am dedicated to finding out the answer to that question.

My First Book Review "Intertwined"

To say that I like knitting books is the understatement of the century. I have so many, much to my husband's chagrin, that stacks and piles cover our bedroom since I long ago moved beyond our one bookshelf. He trips on them and tries not to swear at me under his breath. Yes, I am also not great at organization, which doesn't help the clutter between my book stash and yarn stash I really do have to respect the man's patience. And perhaps justifying that kind of clutter is part of the reason I will be reviewing both books from my collection and new releases that I have had my grubby little knitter fingers on. The first review will be "Intertwined" by Lexi Boeger.

When I first began spinning, it was ecstasy. I loved it. It was so fun and a new revelation in knitting. It was another level of understanding that I uncovered as I spun each new fiber. It was so personal and fascinating that the same collection of materials could yield such different results. Now my daughter puts her feet on top of mine and her fingers follow the same motion as mine. Her eyes glitter as she watches the wheel turn. Already, she get it. So does Lexi Boeger. The author has a passion and creativity that she spins into her yarns that is rare and special. As a reader, you feel like you are being passed a secret with each tidbit. The book is filled with new experiences for even intermediate spinners. Even if some techniques do not yield results you may desire, you will spin better if you give each new technique thought. Spinning is another form of artistic expression, and the book does properly pay tribute to this fact.

The patterns for handspun yarns are surprisingly wearable for the most part. I liked that there were several designs for children. I think children's patterns have the right amount of whimsy for children, and as a mother I know that kids LOVE it when you make them stuff. I would have like more patterns for the handspuns, but was pleased with the selection.

If you like spinning, this book is a must. It is written under the assumption that you already know how to spin, yet if you could only get one spinning book this is the one. Other spinning books contain information you could find easily online, this book contains substantially more.

Getting to know my projects

So, this is my 3rd pair of socks. The second pair were fair isle and need to be redone (I only did part of one, I need to frog, but don't know how to fix them). They were too tight.

These socks are Cookie A. Django's done it my own color way Candy Rainbow. I love the pastels, so the color is a dream for me. The colors steal the show from the fancy pattern a bit, but I don't care. They are pretty and all the more unique for it. I am excited! Photography is not my strong point, but I am trying.

Day One

So, this is weird. I guess I should introduce myself. I am 31 and I have been knitting for about 5 years. I have also just started a business selling my handpainted yarns. I have always loved art and have dabbled in various artistic endevours for my entire life, but with knitting, I finally found "the one". Now with hand-painting my own yarns, all the art classes and books I have devoted myself to for all these years finally apply to something. I would also like to design some knitting patterns, but I am a little intimidated. I currently knit, crochet, dye, spin, and card. I have 3 children, and my husband and I are currently writing a children's book (he's writing, I am illustrating). So that's me. This is all new to me. Comments are appreciated. Nice to meet anyone who's actually reading.


Above is a handspun I did. It is Milk Protein/Seacell/wool plied with metallic so soft with gorgeous sheen.