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These are some new yarns that went to Colorful Yarns here in Denver as of about an hour ago. Enjoy!
50% Merino/50% Tencel- 400 yards. 4 oz.
Artichoke
Iris Sings
En Fuego
30 Feet Under
Down South
Blood Orange
Bunny Jump
And, there is a new yarn base that I have just gotten in that I dyed 4 sample skeins. They are stunning! I'll tell you all about that at a later date. It's some scrumptious yarnage, I tell ya.
That's it. That's all she wrote. KNIT ON my knittah's!
I have been an animal lover all my life. When I was a kid we had zoo full of animals at our house. So much so, that my mom's personal license plate was "Pegyzoo" (Her name is Peggy Sue). To recap we had three show horses, two milk cows, four dogs, tons of "barn kitties" only a few of whom were allowed in the house, a bird named "Buddy," two finches, and whatever else my sister, mom and I, could collect.
Some years we had some baby birds that fell out of their nests that we nursed back to health and then released. One time I found a completely bald baby sparrow, and about a week later I (thought) I found another one. I put them both in a cage, hand fed them and noticed that one of them had freakishly LONG legs and a huge mouth. Within a week it was twice the size of the other baby, and we figured out it was a "Mocking Bird." And, they do just that. Mock. He told me I was too skinny, and I needed a hair cut. Just kidding, but he did make fun of his baby brother, "You're soooo small, grow up, why dontcha!" The worst thing that ever happened with these baby birls is that they would poop on your shoulder, or your hand. Easy, put a towel on you shoulder and your safe.
Did you know that when a baby bird sees it's mother, it flaps it's wings very quickly, it flutters really, and opens it's mouth and chirps really loudly? It does this even full grown. Even after these two grew up full grown, when they would see me, they would do that fluttering wing thing and try to sit on my shoulder and get really close to my mouth. We released these two and up to about a month later, they both would fly down to sit on my shoulder and flutter. After that, I would go out and see if I could call them back, but they were back into their wild state. I always had that "empty nest" feeling.
Remember those two cows I told you about up there? They were "Clover" and "Daisy" or according to my loving father, "MissTake" and "MissTake #2" Get it? Miss Steak? We girls didn't think that was so funny. For 4-H we chose to work with dairy cows. We picked up those two from the dairy farm down the street at an hour old. We brought home the mother's colostrum and fed that to them, and then they had formula after that. We put the little babies in the posh custom made van my dad had and prayed that they would NOT poop on the way home, (he would just die.) Cow poo is NOT nice poo like horse poo. Trust me. My dad made them a little heated nest in the barn and we fed them every three hours or so. I don't know how many of you have seen calves feed, but they push REALLY hard on the mother's udder so the milk lets down. Get this, when they see you, YOU are the mother, so they push on you, or the HUGE milk bottle, complete with the hugest n1pple you've ever seen, to get the milk out. And, when they are two years old, 1,800 lbs, and HUGE, they still think you are mom, and they STILL push hard on you to get you to give them some milk.
Here is the embarrassing part of the story. I grew up on a neighborhood of boys. And, these boys were always over at my house checking out my dad's motorcycle, asking to go horse back riding, or whatever cool thing he had going on at the time. I can't remember why, but a few of them were over, (I think we were going to go on a trial ride or something) and for some reason, I had to go into the cow pen. Clover and Daisy had made quite a mire of mess in one corner of the corral about 6 ft. by 6 ft. if you know what I mean, and, I had my back to Daisy who decided she wanted some LOVIN', and NOW. She put that big wet nose in my back, and pushed - HARD. I went face first right into that mire of muck and landed belly down with my long hair on one side smashed full of COW-PIE-O-RAMA. I seriously did not even have a second to react. One minute I was standing there, the next I was down. In the guck. Yes, the boys were there, David Day, and David Burns, and Kelly Wash His Hands (you know? I never knew his last name, we had always just called him Kelly Wash His Hands). Oooo I was burned up and dang embarrassed. My mom wouldn't let me come in the house and hosed me off outside. I think we even threw those clothes away, or burned them. Heh.
I guess the moral of the story here is, if you are going to become "Mother" to an wild animal, choose something small. It's much less painful in the end.
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Speaking of wild animals, we've got it going on over here in my part of Denver! Guess what's in my back yard (really in the park one block away)?
Seen Yesterday, April 29, 2008
That's right, we've got three bull-elks just a-hangin' around chewing their cud, and a-growin' their antlers. Those antlers grow fast y'all. Get this - they can grow 1 to 1 1/2 inches per day, and in 90-120 days the bulls can grow a full set of antlers.
I'll never forget seeing my first elk with it's full set of antlers. I drove into my new neighborhood here in Colorado, and there he was about 5 feet away from my car. HUGE. As big, or bigger than an average horse. Seriously this one looked to be about 17+ hands high at the withers. With those antlers attached to his head, he just looked massive and mean. I guess they aren't mean until rutting season, but I didn't know that.
Also seen yesterday were a herd of deer:
...and going up my driveway we saw this little lady, (that's our house way up there, you just can't recognize it because there is NO snow...)
And the last wild animal to be seen at our house yesterday was an unusually happy, bounding, excited Missy. Look at the air the old girl got. That's at least 4-5 inches under her front paws. Very impressive. She was excited to see her mama. I love that dog. She's a real love.
Stay tuned for some knitting content. It's going along. Of course I've added some more new things.... WHY oh why can't I be monogamous? In EVERY other aspect of my life, I can be. Knitting? NOPE. I'm so disappointed in myself. Sigh...
I just couldn't wait. I know I just posted about 10 minutes ago (read below).
Here is my second Barn Raising Quilt square. It's Red Rocks Fiber Works Aspen Sock, color "Boylyn Girl."
Hope you like it!
I remember my childhood pretty clearly. In fact I remember things that my mom says that would be impossible for me to remember. Mostly I remember my *embarrassing moments, and for those of you who know me well, there are many.
One in particular stands out in my mind. Back in the day I thought I was pretty hot. And, speaking of hot, we had one HOT UPS delivery guy who came to our house quite regularly. On this particular day I had just gotten back home from a tennis lesson and I had to use the facilities. While in there I hear the door bell ring, so I rush to get out of the bathroom. I tuck my Izod shirt (yes, I'm dating myself, it's pre-"Polo" days) in my high white tennis shorts, zip them up and run to the front door to answer it. What'daya know? It's the hot UPS guy. Mind you, I'm hot too, so we stand and chat for awhile, him holding the package for my mom, and me posing and flipping my long feathered hair and giggling. So, it's time for him to leave, I take the package, trill a goodbye, and walk back in the house. For some reason I look down and notice that most of the bottom of my shirt is sticking out of a large space in a gap of the front of my shorts. Sort of like a flagpole standing at attention and straight as an arrow. Seriously, about 3 to 4 inches straight out. I was in agony, how in the world could I have NOT noticed that while posing and flipping my long feathered hair?
Oh yes, folks. I was hot. And, really humiliated in that adolescent way. Hot.
*Stay tuned in for more stories of my life, embarrassing or not. I think I'm going to make it a regular part of my postings.
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Above are the new "spring" Red Rocks Fiber Works yarns in at Colorful Yarns as of yesterday. Get 'em while they're hot. I saw a lot of them walking out the door right after they were put out on the floor. I only did 56 of these so you better hurry! And, if you want some and you don't live here, call her. She WILL ship them right to your door.
By the way..... The Tuesday night "Knit Night" at Colorful Yarns is getting HUGE! Last night there were barely enough seats for everyone. I thought it was great.... It's almost as big as Knitting In La Jolla gets. (But, that's hard to top) Everyone sitting in the walkways, on the floor, and NOBODY caring! They all just want to be together. Time for some more chairs Tiffany. Your store ROCKS!
I got another square done, and I'll show that to you later in another post. It's real purty.
Knit on!
And, that's all she wrote...
Well, it's not all that exciting to see one square is it. But just think of how it'll look when I have the required 40 + squares that make up the Barn Raising Blanket. Friday night Jenni helped me learn how to do the "Magic Loop" method, and I cast on for my first square using (gasp) not my own sock yarn. I didn't have any with me and a new shipment came in from Shibui (is that right?) and so I bought a skein, and cast on. There are 7 of us who are knitting 7 squares, and we are then exchanging them to put in our own personal blankie. I've been cheesily calling it our "Friendship Blanket" and I've been teased. But, you know what? I don't care. I'll keep it forever. And, these girls have become very TRUE friends, and I will remember each of them in this gorgeous blanket we are all making.
That's all she wrote.
So, KNIT on!
P.S, These Squares are addicting. It's like trying to eat just one chip. Impossible.
With the help of Byron we dyed 56 skeins this morning.
Gotta run, time to make dinner!
Enjoy the beauty of the Spring Yarns. Info as to where they are going, coming soon!
Tuesday was a beautiful 80+ degrees.
Wednesday at noon it started snowing.
We got about 6in. of snow....
Spring..... Come back!!!!!!!
It is extremely cool to have "cyber-fiber" friends. Some fiber friends of mine sent me a VERY cool surprise package in the mail.
In my "Poor is Me" post down below, I said a very short Send Dark Chocolate line at the end of my post. (Poor me)
Look what I got in the mail!
Chocolate...................................................Check
Chocolate and Vanilla Suckers....................Check
Puzzles.......................................................Check
Comic Book................................................Check
Readers Digest............................................Check
Read it, puzzled it, licked it, ate it. (I think that sounds bad, but you know what I mean)
What more can you ask for in a "Poor is Me" care package?
Thank you so much Linda from k2togwonderfullymade, and her daughter Kaity Knits...a Lot . You guys really made my day. This duo can REALLY knit, and we have made some sort of a cool connection in the last few years. Few and far between, but it's there.
Can this serve as my Thank You note?
Knit on, my sista's ====>
And, that's all she wrote!
Dang it! I started something new. Can you even believe it? It's Doris, using Noro's new Taiyo yarn. This yarn rocks, but does come with the requisite "vegetable matter" or "sticks and twigs" that Noro is so famous for. Huge yardage (about 220? I don't have the ball band here) and Aran weight. You can really feel the silk in here. So, I think the mix is this.... 40% Cotton, %30 Silk, 15% Wool, and 15% Nylon. I think it may have become my very favorite Noro yarn, pushing aside the very popular Silk Garden.
This picture was taken about 2 hours ago, and after dinner I added another 3 in. Get this.... you cast on 365 stitches, then you decrease like mad to get the cool ruffle. It looks so cool, if I do say so myself.
I'd show you a picture of my growing Rusted Root, but I really just looks like the last one I posted, but a bit longer. Boring. I'm loving it, though. Especially that yarn. Rowan All Seasons Cotton is also one of my new finds, and I LOVE IT! It's been around a long time, I know, I just happen to have discovered cotton, having been a yarn snob, only using wool. Bah, I'm loving the cotton!
I'm DONE casting on. (for today) That's enough! It's time for some finishing!!!! I want to wear some knits. I"m sure I find something else I need to cast on tomorrow, but I doubt it. The mesmerizing color changes in plain stockinette stitch in the Taiyo yarn, has gotten my all excited.
Goodnight friends. I just took two Tylenol PM's. I'll be out in 5 minutes. Helps my foot feel better, AND, I can sleep.
I love that.
Sleep is good....
And, thasss allllll sheeee wr
o
t
e........
Well, the colors are WAY off, but you get the idea. With the help of some friends in the re-skeining department (Tiffany, and Stacey) these yarns from before my second surgery, got all finished up. Most of these went off to Knit Knack in Arvada, CO. Some will be going to Tiffany's store, Colorful Yarns, in Centenial, CO, and some will be going to A Knitted Peace in Old Town Littleton, CO. Yes, you read that right, the owner of Colorful Yarns re-skeined yarn CLEARLY KNOWING that they would be going to other stores. How's that for a friend. She rocks.
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I want to knit this...
in some All Seasons Cotton that I just received in a trade for some of my hand-dyed yarn. Now, if only I could knit it in that size up there. Hee. From Simple Knits.
I also want to knit this someday, but not now. I like it a lot, and it's very flattering.
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DO NOT do this to your potato in the Microwave!
Let me explain. I'm home alone... I'm hungry. I see potatoes on the counter and I decide to make one in the microwave. The potato on the right is about 50% smaller than the potato on the left was originally. It was about the size of your fist closed. I press ten minutes for the cooking time. I walk away. (Did you catch that? Actually I rolled away, ha! ) When I came back, being called by the beep, I open the microwave and pull out this lightweight, extremely thick skinned shriveled up potato. It actually sounded like there were little seeds rolling around in there. I thought I'd try to cut it open, but I couldn't! The knife would NOT go into the skin. And, I was using my really good knife! Now, ten minutes in San Diego for a fist sized potato is right. Ten minutes here means a slow and sure death for that poor potato.
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Enough rambling. You know the drill. Knit on Sista's!!!
And, that's all she wrote!
