Knitting and spinning. The fun never stops.

It must be true because my friend Geane says so!

For here are yesterday’s gifts, from Geane:

Is this a great t-shirt or what?

And these:

Cute slipper sox with little sheep on them! And just right for when Kate’s Fuzzy Feet are a bit too warm. Now I have absolutely no excuse for walking around with bare feet and whining that my feet are cold.

Not that I ever do that . . .

Thank you Geane! For those of you who don’t know her, Geane is one of my knitting friends I actually know in person. Okay, she’s pretty much my only knitting friend I actually know in person. I wish she lived closer to me! Follow the link above to visit her website and admire her wonderful knitting. Here’s a photo of some of her FOs:

Her two adorable sons wearing their Dale of Norway Jubileum sweaters.

And if that weren’t enough . . .

Lookie what I got in the afternoon!

This handspun angora was spun by Caroline, whose blog Fiber Arts and Furry Critters is one of my daily reads. This yarn is to die for! I’ve been fondling it since receiving it and can barely stand to put it down!

Geane and Caroline . . . thank you!!

Hey Teresa! Lookie what came in the mail today!

Still on the Oregon Trail

I really am almost done with the ribbing. Honest. Izzy can’t believe how long it’s taking me.

Interweave Knits

I finally got my copy of the spring issue of Interweave Knits yesterday, so I was able to see the article on knitbloggers in print. Finally! I did see the article before it was submitted, but it was fun seeing it there in black and white. Page 6 at the bottom of the page, in case you haven’t seen it . . .

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Today is my older brother’s birthday. He is *cough, cough* years old. Here’s a photo of us taken a couple of years ago.

FYI, in the photo I am wearing Inishmaan (I think the only time I’ve ever worn it) and Dave is wearing the blue shaker stitch sweater I knitted for him out of Plymouth Encore worsted.

Now tell me, ain’t we the cutest thangs you ever done seen?

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In case you didn’t notice, my blog has a new home. I’m now at wendyknits.net — as opposed to wendyknits.com. A minor difference, but an important one, as this new site is being hosted by a new provider, far away from the Demon Host of Satan where wendyknits.com was located.

So, if you’ve got me bookmarked or linked, please do update same. I promise to try to stay put and not to make a habit of flitting around the ‘net.

Let’s give a big hand to . . .

Marta, of Martaschmarta! For yesterday morning I received this surprise from her:

A wonderful handcare kit from Bliss! There’s gel to put on your hands and gloves to wear whilst the gel is soaking in. Along with some moisturizer and a lemon scrub for all-purpose use. And a set of fun postcards! Thank you so much, Marta! And my poor winter-dry hands thank you too.

Virgin Sweater

Thanks for all your kind words and comments! I promise I’ll have better photos after the weekend. I’ve found that knitwear photographs much better in natural daylight than indoors, even with my beloved Ott Light.

Oregon Cardi

Here it is! Woo-hoo! Don’t I have a huge amount done?

This is knitted in the original yarn called for, Jamieson & Smith shetland jumperweight. I’m using a size 3 (3.25mm) needle. My 32″ ebony circular to be exact. I can’t wait til I get past the ribbing and into the good stuff! Ooh!

Here’s how I keep the colors separated:

It’s a canvas box that’s supposed to be used for storing socks. But it’s perfect of skeins of shetland wool. I bought it online last summer. Don’t ask me where I got it because I don’t remember.

Yesterday the temperature actually rose above freezing! Izzy emerged from beneath the quilt!

She’s being pensive.

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As promised, to go along with yesterday’s “before” picture, here are the “after” pictures of my Fuzzyfeet, which were knitted for me by Kate.

I felted them bad boys down to perfection! It took maybe half an hour in the washer. I mooshed them onto my feet while damp, took them off, and let them dry in the proper shape. And they are wonderful. Thanks Kate! And thanks Theresa for the great pattern!

Guess what I finished?

Ta-da!

Yep. Second sleeve goes really really fast when one is determined to finish it. I’ll do the official page on my website for it this weekend, when I’ll get a photo of me wearing it.

So I spent last evening winding thousands of balls of Jamieson & Smith shetland wool into centerpull balls in preparation for starting the Oregon Cardigan. And cast on and did a couple of rows in corrugated ribbing. The horror! Two-color corrugated ribbing is not my favorite thing, but it beats two-color garter stitch in the round.

So there you have it. Photos when there’s anything worth photographing.

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And I’m not going to work! Yay!

The bad news is the reason I’m not going to work is because I have a dentist appointment, but it’s no big deal — just a check-up.

In wonderful giftie news . . .

Friday’s Gift!

These from Mary, of Knitting Notes. (If you’ve never visited Mary’s blog, I encourage you to do so — she always has such great photos!)

Mary was kind enough to send me a pair of Shaun the Sheep socks (which I happen to collect) and a set of pillowcases with little Norwegian sweaters, caps, and mittens on them. They are totally adorable! And of course so appropriate for me!

Saturday’s Gift!

On Saturday, I got:

and

These wonderful gifts are from Laura, or as you may know her “Laurable,” a frequent poster to my blog. A cute jigsaw puzzle picturing kittens in cowboy boots, and a lovely little ornament. The photo of the ornament isn’t the bast, but you might be able to tell that Laura put a photo of Izzy in it! That was so sweet and Izzy and I both appreciate it very much.

Sunday’s Gift!

This is the “before” photo — a pair of “fuzzy feet” slippers for me to felt. These were knitted by Kate, who we all know and love. The pattern is from the latest issue of Knitty — Theresa’s design called “Fuzzy Feet.” I’m gonna felt ‘em today, so watch for the “after” photo in tomorrow’s blog entry.

Mary, Laura, and Kate . . . thank you so much to each one of you! You all have made my weekend wonderful.

Virgin sweater update

I couldn’t close this blog entry without even mentioning the virgin sweater, could I? I’m plugging along on the second sleeve. Barring any unfoprtunate incidents, it’ll be done sometime this week. Yay!

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And because Katherine took this quiz and posted her results, I had to as well.

What’s your Inner European?
brought to you by Quizilla

It does make sense. There were no Scandinavian questions on the quiz at all. I guess they don’t understand that’s part of Europe as well.

Knitting News From the Office

The other day one of my coworkers wandered into my office and asked, “Do you ever knit for money?”

I immediately felt the icy fingers of panic touch my heart. I so hate it when people ask me that question, because usually they are expecting me to knit them, say, a fair isle sweater for a fee of about fifty bucks. Then they get upset when I laugh hysterically.

So I responded, quite cleverly, “Uh . . . why?”

He told me that his mother, now deceased, had knitted Christmas stockings for everyone in the family. There’s a new baby in the family who was born after her death. He was putting away Christmas decorations and discovered an unopened kit for a knitted Christmas stocking.

So I told him to bring it in and I’d have a look.

If it’s not too heinous, I’ll do it. Heck, he’s given me enough advance notice. I don’t think I’d charge him, though. Unless the stocking is eight feet long and knitted at a gauge of 8 st/inch.

More Knitting News From the Office

I was talking to another coworker yesterday and she was eyeing Luskentyre in a covetous manner. We have previously discussed the possibility of me teaching her to knit (as you may recall, I asked for opinions on easy sweater patterns a coupla weeks back) and now I think this has clinched the deal. Cool! I’ll be bringing in the size 8 needles and smooth worsted yarn soon.

We are currently recruiting for someone to work in my division and are getting ready to interview candidates. Would it be wrong of me to ask in the interview, “Do you know how to knit and if not, are you willing to learn?”

Guess what?

That’s right, I finished the Demon Sleeve From Hell. I know you are all relieved. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I started the second sleeve, so you’ll have to listen to my incessant whinging about that. “The pattern is sooooo boring!” “I hate knitting back and forth on the sleeve cap!”

Here’s the first sleeve.

And here’s the wrong side of the sleeve cap.

It’s still wa-a-ay cold here. Izzy’s chilly!

I’m wearing Bodega Bay which, as you recall, won a Sweater Oscar yesterday in the category of “Best Performance by an Alice Starmore Aran.”

As I mentioned in my tag-board yesterday, I was a Bad Girl. I ordered the Roscalie Cardigan kit from Virtualyarns. Teresa, this is all your fault.

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