Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Lovely Month of May

Today is another chilly, overcast day here in NJ. There have only been a few 'shorts' days since I returned home from Florida. Blech - I want shorts and flip-flop weather.
In my absence from blogland, while dealing with quite a few personal issues that kept me busy, I did keep up with fibery things.

There has been spinning, plying, and whacking away at the lovely superwash merino roving from The Sheep Shed Studio. My little HitchHiker - Marvin - is getting quite a workout.

SheepShedStudios Roving

The Sheep Shed Studios superwash merino


I really like the way the colors are blending as I ply it. I'm still a rookie spinster, so the yarn isn't all that even, and I think I over-plied a bit, but I'm still very happy with it and looking forward to knitting something. I had originally planned on a vest, but I'll probably have enough yarn for a cardi.
I have 4 big skeins so far - big skeins is my technical term for 'I haven't gotten around to measuring wpi or yardage yet'. I think I have spun up about half of the 1.5 pounds that I ordered.


In other news -
I finished Susan's socks. This was my first experience with bamboo sock yarn. It is very soft and a bit shiny. The yarn is RubySapphire Panda sock yarn.
Susan's Socks

Then there is the lovely Ice Queen, also for Susan, which is still in progress.
Ice Queen
Ice Queen

This sad state of affairs is due to my silly idea that I could leave it at home while I traveled to Florida for a few weeks and remember exactly where I had left off when I returned home. Maybe if I stare at it long enough I'll have an epiphany. I'm ignoring the fact that I could have frogged and started from scratch and be finished by now.

Next up, a pair of socks for P's dear mom, who will be arriving from Florida in June for her summer long visit to NJ. I'm almost finished with those.
Irene's Socks


My last pair of BBS is awaiting cast-on. I have some olive drab yarn pre-ordered and am looking forward to knitting SFS that are not black. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but a dozen pairs of those babies, and I'm ready for a new color. I received an email from a soldier in Baghdad who received a pair of my socks, so that was quite a thrill. It made me want to knit even faster.
I have two pairs of men's size 12 finished and awaiting a wash and dry, then I'll ship those to Kim along with the pair I'm starting now, and whatever goodies I can fit in the package for the soldiers, and off it will go.
BBS

Bye-Bye BigBlackSocks. Hello OliveDrabSocks.

I have been getting a lot of knitting done while sitting with Mom while she has her blood drained each week. She was recently diagnosed with hemochromatosis, which is treated by removing blood to bring down iron levels. So every Friday, we make the trip to the hematology/oncology office. I get her all comfy in her recliner with an afghan and a magazine. I then get myself comfortable in the chair next to her with my knitting and my tea, and we settle in for a couple hours. All of the ladies that work there are exceptionally nice and cheerful, which is probably a requirement for the oncology part of the office. The ladies check on my Socks for Soldiers each week, so that is a good incentive to keep going.

My break is now over, and I'll go back to sorting through things to offer on Freecycle. This has really helped me in my humongous downsizing effort. I was always reluctant to throw away anything that was in good shape, even though I no longer had any use for it. Now, my loss is someone's gain, and we are both happy.

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