Renaissance

Nothing like the Renaissance Festival for a rousing good time. Needless the say the jousting was the boys favorite and just like a woman, the daughter thought the shopping was her favorite.

I got to meet Queen Elizabeth the First, my hero. One boy is doing the child slingshot. Too much fun...

We now return to our regularly scheduled knitting posts next time.

Loot from Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival was wonderful. The shopping was much better then I expected. The top photo shows a cute little sock project bag that my mom bought me from Briar Rose. Briar Rose had the best booth I think. Beautiful deep rich hand dyeds and very reasonable prices.

The second photo down is what I bought, the big cake in back is from Briar Rose. They sell in these huge hanks to help with dye lots and pooling since most people don't want to have to worry about dye lots. I plan on making some mittens and hat with it. The Hazel knits in that grouping is from Christine and was forgotten for the other photo.

The third photo is yarn and gifts from my mom. Yarn to make a Kitty Pie, as she just got a cute new siamese kitten and made him one. Hi, Toby cat. Then two sock yarns. and a wooly sheep bag that had a cow sticth marker inside of it. She gave a set to Christine as well. The sheep bag is for us to remember the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival and the cow stitch marker is for us to remember Wisconsin. Me being from Michigan and Christine is from Minnesota.

The bottom is a mix of gifts from Christine and destash that I bought from her. She gave me a beautiful skien of Madelintosh sock in grasshoper and HK in Europhia. The other yarns I bought. She also gave me The Joy of Sox book. Wonderful patterns for sock knitting. She gave me a Vera Bradley bag for a sock project bag. Everything was wrapped in tissue paper. I wish I was that classy to think of that.

It was a truly wonderful weekend with my mom and new friends. perhaps we can even do it again next year.

We took two Cat Bordhi classes. I thought I was a pretty good knitter, but I learned bunches and had my sock thinking completely enlarged. She really gave a us a new way to look at sock construction. I learned a new cast on, bind off and how to conceal wraps and a better way to pick up stitches. She signed my book, but best of all, she said I was an excellent knitter and should consider test knitting for someone. Now don't go taking a pin to my ego just yet, let me bask in the glow a little longer. She touch Christine's toe and Christine said she wasn't ever going to wash it again. LOL

All in all a magical time of knitting.

Stuff

I love my yarn from the August Hazel Knits sock club. My second Yarn fairy helped with it. The purple is called Lavender Batik and the variegated is called Autumn Bounty. The variegated is much prettier in person. The coloring isn't right in the photo for the variegated.

I finished my first sock for me. They are actually called Socks for Christy. My wonderful friend Linda designed them for me. I love the yarn I am using for it. It is Woolen Rabbit in Dandelion. I am hoping to finish the other sock before the 31st, but I will have to be the bionic knitter for that. The pattern is available to all and Linda also sells these wonderful little bags to keep your yarn in when you are knitting. I use mine all of the time. Very handy.....and she sells them.

Quiet

Sorry to have been so quiet. Life has been busy. Kidney stones make things hard. Anyway i have completed a few this. No, I didn't complete the "man", DD was just having fun taking pictures of us on the front porch. Since is cuter then me I thought his picture would be better, although in mine I am knitting.

I Love Cat Bordhi's patterns. They are always such fun and keep me entertained without being tedious. The middle socks are Philosopher's House Socks from her book New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

I knit them out Dream In Color, classy in Ruby River. The yarn was so soft and vibrant. Dream in Color has some wonderful yarns.

Since I am taking two classes with Cat this September at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival I figured I should bone up on her work. I am so excited to be taking these classes. My mom and Ravelry friend Christine are taking them together. Christine is better known as Mapleweave on Ravelry. I am entirely too excited.

I made the baby booties for another Ravelry friend Amiee, who is having a baby this month. They are called Magic Slippers and you make them out of sock yarn. The pattern is free and fast.

Late WIP Wednesday

I finally finished my Blue Beaded Band Socks. I think the color blue is my sock knitting Kryponite. It was hard to finish them. They were challenging for several reasons. First they were blue, second I knit them two at a time ML from the top down. That was a first for me. Lastly it was my first time knitting with beads. My mom showed me an easy way to put the beads on using a crochet hook. You don't string them on the yarn first you pull the stitch through right where you want the bead. The yarn is from The Painted Tiger in her base called Cub. The yarn was lovely.

The first WIP is from Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Socks Knitters, the philosopher socks. They are knit on size five needles with worsted weight yarn. The yarn is DIC classy in Ruby River. A very fun pattern.

The tiny baby socks is for a friend who is having a baby boy. I need to make one more magic slipper for her little boy. Another friend gifted me with her leftover Hazelknits sock yarn in Olympic Rainforest so that is what I am knitting the slippers in. I believe Hazelknits is my new knitting crack. Great colors with a tight twist and slightly thick yarn.

Changes and some Hazel Knits

My daughter was having a spa day and my son agreed to be "spa'd". He'll do anything for baby soft skin.

The other boy was trying to make me jealous by rolling in the yarn.

That is my first skein of Hazel Knits yarn, in cabbage rose. Lovely tight twist and very soft and the color is shaded. I believe a new obession has been born.

My yarn needed more light and more exposure, so I changed around the front part of my bedroom and cleaned off a book shelf to show it off. Can anyone guess what my favorite color is?

Yes, my walls are orange. If you see yarn boy further up it is one of the colors in my antique quilt.

Fun Stuff

The Loopy Ewe has done it again and given us a wonderful sock club package. Wendy's pattern looks so good and the yarn is Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, 70% wool, 20% CASHMERE, and 10% nylon. It is soft you just want to roll around in it. The little Namaste buddy case is velvety. I love the color theme of the rust. It brought a very big smile to my face after a hard weekend at work.

The blue socks are a challenge for me that I am doing for both Solidsocks and SKA over at ravelry. They are my first beaded socks, my first top down two at a time socks, and I am using blue which is one of my least favorite colors. So far so good. I even asked Melissa Morgan-Oakes to join SKA so that that would qualify for the sockdown.

In bad news, I had to frog my Embonpoint as I didn't pay attention to the pattern. It was totally my fault and I even ripped the finished sock. I hope to start over again on them sometime soon, but for now I am in a time out from them.