The Crafty Lizzard

...after a brief hiatus. To my fives of readers I greatly apologize for the lack of blogging that has occurred the past month. I have no excuse but I will say that between going through a major anti-social phase, spring yard work, and being busy working and playing, the blog fell way to the back of the line. So.....now prepare for a very picture loaded post.


1. The Yard...

After a long wait for the schedule to line up, Cat and I finally made it to the Yarn Market. This is wonderful place where knitter's can go to be in heaven. I am actually being serious. The Yarn Market is an online yarn store whose warehouse just happens to be located on the south end of town. Heaven exists because they encourage people to come into their warehouse and browse and shop. There is also a wonderful staff who will let you fondle any yarn that is there (and point you to "cloud 9" when you're standing in "cloud 7"). I went strictly looking for sock yarn and on a budget so the haul looks small.

However, that haul equals 5 pairs of socks, armwarmers, and a hat!
(Yes, there's already a project attached to all of it!)

For some reason today as I was fondling all the beautiful yarns, I kept being drawn toward the silks. I've never really knit with silk before but the softness and slinkiness of it was really pulling me in. Maybe it's because it's getting warmer outside so I want to move away from the heavy pure wools....I don't know. I do have one hat that was made out of recycled sari silk and maybe that was another inspiration. I do know that the at was the inspiration for the hat project -- I love that hat so I decided to make another.
This yarn is made from the bits leftover from textile factories in India and the colors are amazing! There is no name for the color -- well, actually there is -- it's called random. It's a mixture of every color and is silky, soft and twisty! I love it. I'm itching to see what it knits up like!

With all this beautiful yarn the colors get a bit overwhelming...especially when you're faced with bins and bins of Noro. I know that this yarn is not the softest or squishiest but I CANNOT resist these colors. Since I was in the mood today (and I've used the Kureyon before) I opted for the Silk Garden Sock yarn. There was a reddish one that was gorgeous but because red will always grab me so I went for the beautiful blue/black/green one. Something different.

The yarn that I fell in love with today was Lorna's Laces.
I've fondled this yarn before but today it grabbed me and would not let me go! Every combination they had (wool, wool/silk, angora, etc.) was soft, squishy and beautiful. It's just too bad they don't have a silk blend in a sock weight -- While the colors are not as shocking and bold as the Noro, they are gorgeous in their own classy way. This one reminds me of a flower (and not just because that's the name of the color) -- brown for dirt, green for stem, red for flower!

I also picked up 3 balls of the Tofutsie yarn to make myself and my 2 nieces socks out of. I've been curious about the cotton/soy/chitin combo would work and I am anxious to see how the colors turn out. The 2 black balls are for another pair of armwarmers for me -- for when I have to be the 'woman in black' and I'm sitting in a freezing pit. (Yes, the inspiration for those hit me last night during Sound of Music.)
And don't you worry all you knit kniter's reading this.....there will be much yarn to pass around next week. You will all have a chance to fondle the goodies!

Once we finished eyeing, fondling and purchasing of the yarn, Cat and headed to the Bucket or our favorite "shrimp and beer" for lunch. And to top it all off (and to introduce Cat to it), we finished with dessert at Jeni's ice cream. Can I just say "yum"! I think I could live on their Black Coffee ice cream! Such a good end to a wonderful morning!

Ok, so I finished the blanket for Jeff and Marie's Little One. I knew that I had to soon because her baby shower was this past Saturday. Little did I know that I would finish it because he decided to grace us with his presence on that very day (and at the very time no less!). Simon McKinley Hurt was born around 2 o'clock on Saturday. He weighed in at 5 lbs 15 ozs. and was 18" long. Everyone is healthy and happy! (Plus, all are a little relieved that the new dad won't have to leave the wedding that's in a week and a half!) According to Jeff, he is still getting used to the world and they are already getting used to the different sounds that he is making.
So here are the final pics of the blanket:
First a full view:
The final dimensions are roughly 32" X 30". I love the textures that happened with this stitch pattern: a border of garter, a stripe of stockinette, a cable on a background of seed.
And now for a close up of said texture:


Now to finish up some of the other projects that I have going on (of course, this is going to happen while again being SO busy I crash almost as soon as I get home - read: when I finally get home.) Let's see: another Solo & Ensemble, another musical, a wedding, a Good Friday gig, another Solo & Ensemble -- yep, I'm Busy! This weekend I do have some free time -- Yay! Hopefully, I'll actually get some time to socialize with my friends!

...or as normal as I can be!

The mania of playing a musical is over. There isn't a solo & ensemble contest for a few weeks. And Spring is on its way -- I saw the first Robin of the year this week! It feels like it's been forever since I've had the chance to sit for a relaxing hour or so at the computer to get caught up. Consequently, I have pictures:

First:

The Jaywalker socks I finished. Since I made them out of the "Seven Dwarfs" colorway, I named them Heigh-Ho. The colors are beautiful and created a very cool "traveling" stripe! I loved knitting this pattern -- it went so fast! Always a bonus in my mind. Plus, the snug fit works well for me.

Second:

An updated picture of Little Boy Hurt's blanket. I'm almost done -- hoping to finish it completely this week. This would be a good thing since he could gracing us with his presence at any time! Hopefully, I'll make it before he comes!

Third:

Berry Eyelet socks! I had to start these when I was a little tired of working on the blanket. This is my first foray into the "More Sensational Socks" book. I love the customization of the book (as I was told I would!). These socks too are flying off the needles -- or could it be that little thing called practice? I think the time to do a pair of socks goes down a little with each pair that I do.

Now I have a list of socks to do -- mom and 2 nieces (plus some more for me!). These are added to the list of other WIPs that I need to get done before the new project ADD hits me again! Wednesday this week has been designated sit-in-front-of-the-tv-and-knit day. It's the first day in a long while that there is nothing on my calendar except what I want to do -- oh, and bread to bake for Thurs (but that's fun). Let's see how much I can get done!

...sort of. While over most of my cold (except a lingering nasty cough) I had a long 6 hour rehearsal on Sat. During which I was again reminded why you should never let musicians get bored. If you've never been around a bunch of bored musicians let me try to explain -- nobody, and I mean nobody, is safe from becoming the butt of a joke. Yourself, others, the people in charge, the composers -- everyone is up for grabs. And the quality of the jokes is directly proportional to how bored you are -- the more boring the worse the jokes. While usually a very fun adventure, it can also get you in trouble from people who don't quite understand it.

After that I sat on my couch and knit, knit, knit (oh, and watched some TV too). I made it almost to inch number 25 of the baby blanket and zoomed through most of the 2nd Jaywalker. (Pictures will be forthcoming.) I had to go back to working on the Jaywalker because I needed a break from the cabling monotony of the baby blanket. I forgot (yes, it's been that long since the first one) just how fast that sock knits!! Before I knew it I was ready to turn the heel and now I'm almost ready to do the toe. I might be pushing it a bit but I would love to have those done tonight!

As far as the baby blanket, I am loving the way it's turning out. The Cotlin is so soft and will only get softer after a couple of washes. Plus, I really like the fact that I included so many different textures -- 4 of them actually -- stockinette, cable, seed stitch, and garter. I would like it to be about 30-36 inches long and I have until March 14th (or thereabout) to get it done. That boils down to roughly 5 inches per week -- perfectly doable.

I also realized that I'm running low on sock yarn -- oh, no! Since the Knit Picks catalog was entirely filled with socks I decided to do another order. This time I went for one of the socks sampler kits -- the Sangria Cocktail Kit. I just couldn't resist all those beautiful reds!

Ok, so now why I said sort of at the top. Because I spent the rest of the weekend knitting I got absolutely nothing else done! No laundry, no grocery store, no cleaning, nothing! eh...even though it'll make me busier for the next week I think I needed to go to couch.

Yes, I'm still here...I feel like I have dropped off the face of the earth for the past week. After another busy week (both physically and mentally) and a weekend of sickness, I feel like I'm back to being human. Although, being sick does afford you more knitting time -- that's if you can stay awake!
So the baby blanket shown here:
(now infamous for its mysterious disappearing cable needle) is about 3 times as long. This is a very good thing seeing as it needs to be finished by the 14th of March. I hit inch 16 today so it's about half way there! I'm hoping to have it close to 20 inches by Thurs so I can work on something else at Knit Knite and not worry about losing my needle again. Although, Cat is working on a plan to help with that -- Thanks Cat!
I'm so ready to be doing other projects too....blast it. I have socks and 2 shawls that I need to finish yet I'm itching to start another pair of socks, a hat and a sweater. Plus, I just saw Knit Picks new catalog and the socks are TOO tempting...and the sneak peek of the new summer yarns -- Yummy! I guess that just means more time knitting!

I guess I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing. I haven't posted for a week and I feel like it's been an eon! I know I need to do a knitting post but I'm not that caught up yet...

Anyway, the crazy week is over -- Solo & Ensemble! Yay! Every year I play for a number (this year = 22) of kids when they do their solo. I end up running around most of the day but it's worth it. Usually, it's worth it just because of the kids. It's so much fun to see kids grow and I love playing piano with some other instrument. This year, however, I got a shock when I went running (literally) to get to a trumpet solo in time and noticed that the name of the judge was my high school band director! I have a friend who teaches with him and have always conveyed messages but I have not sesen this man in over 10 years! What little we were able to talk was awesome! Looking just a bit older but not really acting any older -- definitely the same old Mr. Kibler!

Now that solo & ensemble is over I'm back to practicing my own stuff. I hope soon to be able to put sound files up here. I know that many of you don't really care but at least that way I'm being held accountable for me resolutions. I just hope that I can figure out a way to get recordings on here. (without too much frustration, that is...)