Finished Project Photos!

    In the last 24 hours, I have finished two projects! First up was the Beast of a shawl, aka the great garter stitch monster. I finished that last night. I have yet to block it, and weave the ends in.

    After that was done, I started working on finishing the beautiful grey baby blanket. I only had the last side to do. I finished that today during Miss Malia's nap time. I also had time to weave in the ends. Now I just have to wash and dry it, then I can deliver it to my daughter.

    Now I just have to decide what I want to knit next. I had sort of decided to do the shawl that the Yarn Harlot recently did. Now I'm not so sure. I may make the Beast again, in a lighter weight yarn. Maybe I will try my hand at a baby sweater. Then again, maybe not. I am just not sure. I guess I will worry about it after my son moves out this weekend....
   

Peacefully Knitting!

   Today I am peacefully knitting, working on my sweater.  I was supposed to have most of the day to myself, as Hubs was going to get up at 4:30 a.m. to go hunting. He turned off the alarm when it buzzed rather loudly, and mumbled that he would go out later.

   I wanted to wait until he was gone to knit, because I was at the three row sequence that involves the decreasing, as well as short rows on the edges. It's not complicated, I just like to do all three rows without being interrupted.

   Hubs finally got up, and after drinking lots of coffee, and complaining that he doesn't feel well and can't get warm, he finally took his shower and got dressed for hunting. I don't know how long he will last, and neither did he. But now I'm through my three rows, so it doesn't matter for five more rows.

   It's just so nice to be able to sit here, knitting peacefully, without worrying about laundry, dishes, or anything else. I did some dishes earlier, and laundry will get done later.

   Yesterday at Sheep and Wool, I got an autographed copy of At Knits End, a book by The Yarn Harlot. I've been reading it this morning, and have already found my favorite, and it's so very true, and typical of me!!

   "My knitting is in a constant state of competition with the household chores. After years and years of painful juggling, I have almost completely decided to give up on the housework. The way I see it, I can always clean up the house when I am old, but I'll never get this knitting time back." - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

   Here is a photo of the cover of the book the quote is from:

 
   Here is my progress on my awesome sweater, after the pocket inserts were added!

   Now I think it's time to get back to my knitting, I don't know how much longer I have to myself!

My Rhinebeck Sheep And Wool Report

   Now that I am safely ensconced at home, in my comfy house clothes, I can look back at my experience at the Sheep and Wool Festival. It was awesome! I took lots of pictures, got to see famous knitters from afar, and saw lots of cute sheep and beautiful yarns.

   I knew The Yarn Harlot was going to be there, signing books, but I didn't know that Clara Parkes would be there too! Both are lovely ladies, even if I didn't get to converse with them myself. The lines were just too long, and I can't stand upright and still for that long.

   There were five of us in our group, Kim H., @AtKnitsEndYarns; Laura, @Betweenthelens; Deb, @ObliviousKnits; her fiance, James, @WetDentist; and myself, Kim S., @BicraftualMe... I think we all had a good time! I know I did!

   It was a great honor to meet a twitter and facebook friend, ObliviousKnits! She was so much fun to hang around with, and it was neat to see familiar things through her eyes. Deb is fearless! She's the one who got our books signed by Ms. Harlot.

   I loved looking at all the walls of color that were the displays of yarns and fibers! It was also interesting to see all the people walking around in hand knitted clothing. I've never seen so many shawls, sweaters, ponchos and hats! There were even a few tunics, and skirts! LOVE IT!

   Soon after we got there, I realized I should have brought my sweater to wear, as it was pretty chilly. I did wear a shawl, my gray pentagram one. I doubted anyone would even notice that it was a pentagram. And I don't think they did! As I walked around the show, I kept repeating, "Go big, or go home!" as my shawl is pretty big.  I am tall, and the shawl was dragging on the ground by the time we left.

   Here are some photos of the walls of color:

   And these two were my favorite sheep! I really loved the dark one with the horns!

   This one, I loved his long curly coat!

   Now I'm stiffening up, and I need to go get into my hot tub. My feet are starting to cramp up! If you got to go, I hope you enjoyed the Sheep and Wool Festival!!

Kim out!