I'm a wannabe..

Spinner that is and before you go and get your mind in the gutter I'm talking about spinning yarn. I got a brand new Ladybug spinning wheel for Christmas and I've yet to spin anything on it. I've been trying and I'm becoming seriously discouraged. I know it's going to be like knitting and sooner or later I'm going to get my lightbulb moment and figure it out. But this period of inability is annoying me to no end.

On to happier things! I've decided that my next tattoo is going to be knitting related. So far this is what I've come up with. I still can't decide on what colors to use so until that's done I'm going to wait to go see an artist.

It's a little blurry here but you get the idea. I'm so in love with this design! I just want to make sure it's perfect so I guess that's why I can't choose a color.

Knitting, finally!

So I actually have a FO! I made a pair of the cutest baby booties for my SIL's baby. I used the One Hour Baby Booties from Stitch N' Bitch's Knitting Nation. They came out great! They look a little like eggs but I guess that's just what I think of them, they are however harder then heck to get a pic of. So I gave up and here's a fuzzy one!

I started a baby blanket to go with the booties, my SIL lives in Phoenix so I knit it out of cotton instead of wool. It's the Wave Blanket from Loop Knits. I only have 2 rows of colors so far and I'm using thinner bands of them. But I'm love how ti's going so far!

I'm working on a few other projects as well, A cute little summer tank top for Bella. It's out of Sugar n' Cream worsted cotton and it's coming along well. I messed up a bit on were I started the color change for the strap but I'm not sure how to fix it and I figure she'll be grown out of it soon so it doesn't need to be perfect. Also, I'm lazy. =) I'm so glad she isn't talking yet, so she can't say if she likes what I'm knitting for her or not. Mathias on the other hand is very vocal and would like a green ninja hat, now, please.

Last but not least my messenger bag from Pints n' Purls. I'm really loving the color of the cascade 220 so far and I can't wait to felt the bag. Red is one of my fave colors and this is just the perfect version. I have a hope that this will be my new knitting bag and I think it's going to fit the bill well.  I've found the pattern to be super easy to follow (it's rated 3 beers in the book) and overall it's a fun simple knit. Just how I like 'em.

Tomorrow I get to go to my knitting group in Santa Fe and I can't tell you how excited I am to see my girls there! It's been to long and I have so much to talk to them about! Life has just been in the way lately and I'm glad I'm taking the time to go do something I love with people who love it too.

Knitting and Motorcycles

I started a post a few days ago on Ravlery about knitters who ride bikes. There are a ton who responded! There is even a group called Leather and Lace that is specifically for biker knitters. Hee, how cool is that?

In all my dorky glory here's a biker knitter. =)

In other news my sweet Bella is walking! It only took her 14 months, but she's got it! She walks more often then crawling and I can't tell you how excited I am. She seems to be on a much more mellow growth pattern then her brother and it's pretty neat. I love going through this all again, seeing your baby do something so new and exciting is beyond wonderful. I'm so proud of you my little Bellaboo.  ( This is after a long road trip to Phoenix, she's looking for her new outfit in this pic!)

Snow Day!

We went up into the Sandia mountains near Placitas for a a snow day. The kids haven't really had a chance to play in the snow and now that we live in Rio Rancho we don't get much snow at all. Levi had a great time, I froze my butt off, Bella slept through it all and Mathias made yellow snow. Yes, I took a pic, no I won't show you! =P

I did get a really neat picture of funky blue bird. I'm not really sure what species it is. My best guess is some sort of Jay? Hmm, not even google really had an idea, oh well he was pretty!

My SIL Olivia and her H Casey went with us too, they had a great time having a snowball fight with Mathias. I just stayed out of the way and took pics, snow in the face is not my idea of a good time.

Miss Bella was super tired and just slept away in the jeep we were close by and after a bit I joined her.

We didn't stay too long it really was cold up there but it was fun! I'm glad winter only comes once a year!

I have few projects going on the knitting department. A scarf for my sweet aunt in law and a some hand warmers for my friend Chris. I'm going to cast on for the Raspberry Wheat Ale Messenger bag from Pints & Purls.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/raspberry-wheat-ale-messenger-bag

I'll have more pictures tomorrow, I have to find my camera....it somewhere between my motorcycle, car and office.

Taos and Fiber

This past weekend we took our family up to Taos to go visit a few yarns stores. We went through Chimayo' and Truchas, it was a great drive!

The first yarn stop was in Chimayo, Los Vigils but it was closed again. Someday I'll catch them while they're open! Then up the mountain to Taos.

We went and checked out Weaving Southwest, wow! They had yarn in every color and the tapestries were amazing. I only got to take a quick pic of the yarns hanging outside. Don't they look yummy? The ladies there were so nice and I was happy huffing the wool fumes for a while. They had weaving, spinning and dying tools as well as books on all that and knitting too! Great place to stop by if you ever get the chance.

After that we walked a few blocks down to La Lana Wools, talk about fiber lust! They had everything, roving, mohair, a ton of different sheeps wool. Oh it was beautiful! The staff was very kind and didn't even mind that I had my kids with me. As a matter of fact they boasted that they were very kid friendly and that Mat could go ahead and touch because "wool bounces". So cool. They have a neat virtual tour on their site, don't drool too much.

After that we walked back to the jeep, on the way we stopped to see some sunflowers. Mat doesn't look all that happy but that's because a bee was buzzing him.

Next stop on our little fiber tour of the state, Edgewood!

Seaming is the Debil

So I'm sick( as you can tell from my muffled title), I'm sick and I'm stalled. Like dead in the water, no juice in the battery stalled. I just can't figure out how to to do the seaming on Mat's birthday sweater. It's all that's stopping me from working on it right now. See I don't knit in the regular english/continental style. I use the combined knitting method. I know, some people are going to say it's wrong others aren't going to know what I'm talking about. Either way, because of said combined method my side stitches of my knitted fabric are a bit wonky and don't move or sit the way "normal" stitches do. *sigh* I'll figure it out, I always do but with this cold I've been fighting off it's a little more then I can handle right now. So far I've got both the front and the back done, that just leaves picking up the stitches for the hood and sleeves. Oh I forgot to point out the funky homemade buttons!

In better news my sweet husband went to my LYS and bought me mohair to make me feel better. (He is a knitters dream, I know. ) One in a funky, sparkly avacado/lime green and the other in a bright pink, fluffy blob. I loves him and my yarns. They're from the Universal Yarn, they make the neatest assortment of funky yarns. I'm not sure what I'll make with these yarns yet, I've just been treating them like fuzzy little buddies and petting them anytime I see them. (This is common in the knitting world, skein pets.....isn't it?)

Other then Mat's jacket I have a few, a couple, lots of other projects on the needles to keep me occupied. There's the big purple prayer shawl it's a black hole of knitting. The purple blue prayer shawl which splits like crazy, my dad's basket weave scarf (which I have yet to start...shhh) Levi's scarf and finally my neon pink intarsia skull scarf. And with that I think I'm going to go work on Levi's scarf, it's simple and the yarn is soft, yummy alpaca.

Knitting Horror Stories

In the beginning everything starts out looking so sweet and innocent. You find that perfect pattern or yarn and you fall head over heels in love with it. It makes so many promises, taunting you with it’s beauty and of the many good things to come….
Then things start to feel off. At first it’s just a feeling, maybe it’s the needle you’re using, maybe it’s the light you’re working in. Something just doesn’t feel right but you keep on knitting, ignoring that little nagging voice in the back of your head.
Then comes the time where you’ve finished the knitting, blocked it and try it on….
The sleeves are too long, the button band is crooked and there is weird sagging around the tush area. You scream but it’s too late.
Unless you’re one of those mystical “perfect knitters” I’ve heard about you’ve had a least one knitting horror story. If you’re like me then you’ve had, well a lot more then one!
I think it would be a great idea to collect knitting horror stories from knitters around the globe. So on a dark and gloomy night, a knitting group can read them aloud and scare the socks off their needles.
Let me know if you’ve ever had a knitting horror story!