Scout's Little Secret

Psst!!! Did you hear???? Scout's writing a book!!!! This couldn't be happening to a better person. She's incredibly sweet and just a wonderful teacher. I had a wonderful time at her dyeing class and I can't wait to buy her book. You can hear about it firsthand on the Y Knit podcast.

But until then, I had to support her business in a different way...



Snowbunny



Power Couples



Hunker Down

And best of all...



A Namaste Newport bag. I've been carrying it non-stop! I love it! (And not just because Scout herself has the same one.)



These pictures don't do it justice at all. It's so stylin'. Plus, it doesn't look like a knitting bag. Not that that's bad, just sometimes you want something more professional, you know? This bag absolutely fits the bill.

Dyeing with Scout

I was lucky enough to take an introductory yarn dyeing class this weekend at Knit One One. The teacher? Oh, just a little indie dyer from Albequrque. You might have heard of her... Scout!!!



There she is! Scout's a great teacher and really made us feel like we could take on this dyeing thing and the results wouldn't be total crap.



Here she's showing us how to use a warping board to make self striping skeins. (Just don't take the yarn off prematurely!)



This is the venerable Tapmouse at work!



Of course, Scout brought us some of her goodies!!! But more on that later.

So here's how you dye...



Soak yarn.



Mix dyes. Wear a mask for this part or you'll be blowing purple out your nose for awhile!



Spread out your skein on Reynolds plastic wrap and go to town!



The Scout let us loose to dye our own...



Adrienne's



Elaine's

Then, pop your skein into the microwave with a steam bath. Eh, Viola!!!!! You dyed yarn. Disclaimer- You should probably read the directions for whatever dye you use. I'm just sayin'.



Leave your yarn out in the sun to dry before trying to knit with it.



I think we did a pretty good job for first skeins!



My self striping skein



This will be self striping too. But I tried it on a Knit Picks Sock Blank. Cool, huh? I wound the yarn up on Monday night (without incident!). I can't wait to see how it knits up. But the best part of the day was meeting some of my bloggy friends- Marisol and Leslie. And of course, the Y Knit boys! If you listen to an upcoming episode, you might just hear me!

And you know I couldn't pass up a chance at some of Scout's yarn.



Marmalade



Smashbox



Watermelon Mt.

All in all, it turned out to be a great time!

**I'll apologize now for the crappy photos. I only had my phone. Anyone have a little point and shoot digital camera that they love? I'm in the market.

Knitting Update

I received the last installment of the Scout's Indie Swag Club. (Sign ups for the new year will be Scout's website on March 10) I'm on the fence about re-upping only because I don't really have a lot of money at the moment. And I have an abundance of yarn. So do I really need to buy more without having a job? Probably not. It's a sad situation though because the yarn and swag has been wonderful! I mean, look at this...



The yarn is Raspberry Sorbet and a scarf stick from Romi. I'm not the biggest fan of pink. But this is such a pretty and sophisticated pink. I love it!

Here's a close up of the yarn.



I finished the back of the Central Park Hoodie. And today I cast on for the left front. I really do think it's going to be too small. But like any good knitter, I'm going to see what happens. HAHA! You can remind me later how silly this is.

I also found a grain CSA and I'm contemplating joining. But I'm not sure we'll use all the flour, pancake mix, and hot cereal. Although, it would be great to have organic local options around for that. Hmmm.... that's the big decision for the day.

I Heart Antibiotics

Today the weather went berzerk! 5 inches of rain and 70 mph winds. 4 semi trucks literally blew over on one of the bridges. Good thing I had no where to go. (except to the Dr. this afternoon.) I was very nervous all day until Brian got home.



This is the view from our balcony. You might not be able to tell but it's raining like CRAZY. I even went to let the kitties out on the balcony (which was dry) but Milo was too scared. She ran and hid under the bed. Poor girl! Supposedly today was the worst of it. So hopefully my trip to the hospital in the morning won't be too terrible.

I realized that I didn't show you my Christmas presents from my sister. She went to The Loopy Ewe. She was worried I wouldn't like it but you can't really go wrong on that site!



3 skeins of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in Anthracite

And...



3 skeins of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in Hurricane

We had to ship our presents back home and they finally got here. Sorry the pictures stink but we already talked about the weather.

Finally, I received the December installment of the Scout's Indie Swag Club. The colorway is here. The swag itself is very cool. I haven't dabbled in that craft yet but I'm curious.

So after a week of feeling really crappy, I went to the dr. today. She promptly diagnosed me with a sinus and ear infection. I was off to Target for mucinex and antibiotics. I was glad she thought antibiotics were the answer. There's some movement toward decreasing the amount prescribed because of their general over use. I just knew that's what I needed. And I'm so happy she thought so too. So I should be feeling better in a couple of days.

For tonight, I'm cuddling up with the kitties and some soup. And try not to think about how early I have to get up.

Knitting Resumed

So here's what happened. Somehow when I was watching Sopranos on DVD last night, I got off a stitch in the lace pattern in the EZ pattern Baby Sweater on two needles from The Knitter's Almanac. Then, I callously pulled the needles out and tried to put the stitches back on. That didn't work. And I got frustrated. So the sweater went into time out. Today, after ACLS (which I passed with flying colors, YAY!), I took out a smaller needle, carefully tinked back, and I added yarn overs when needed. Thank goodness!



Here's the sweater so far. I'm knitting it in Sundara Sock Lenten Rose sock yarn. I really like the dusty purple for a little girl. It's a little more unexpected. Brian's cousin has a new baby girl, Eleanor. So I'm furiously knitting so she isn't too big by the time I get this done.

I also received October's Swag from Scout.



Scout's Swag in Ballooney. Love the colors! And it came with a cool pattern from Lisa Shobhana Mason.

For those wondering, ACLS stands for Advanced Cardiac Life Support. It's not required for school but if I want to work in the ICU (which I do), it's a good certification to have. The professors at school tried to discourage us from taking it. But I really don't want to be cramming it in at the end of the year when I'm worried about the board exam.

Finally, remember that bucket of candy? Yeah- I had 0 trick or treaters. So Brian and I are slowly working through it. What diet????

Taking off the Blinders

I've been thinking a lot about my knitting this weekend. (Yes, I should be thinking about studying.) It is suddenly clear to me that I have been blinded by sock yarn. Almost my whole stash is sock yarn. Don't get me wrong! I love knitting socks but I think I need to branch out. It all started with the infamously frogged Hourglass Sweater. I finished that just about the same time I made my first pair of socks. The socks turned out perfectly. They fit. They were fast to knit. Loved them! And you all know how that sweater turned out. I think I was foolishly put off from garments other than socks because of that first lumpy, bumpy sweater attempt. Today I passed the arms on Wicked. (I think this will be a short sleeved version but we'll see.) And I'm really enjoying this knit. And it looks like it'll turn out to be wearable. (fingers crossed.) So now I'm feeling the pull of other garments like Tangled Yoke and the Katherine Hepburn Cardi. Except for a sweater's worth of Elann Peruvian Highland Wool, too bad I really only have sock yarn in the stash. Getting back to garments opens up whole new world.

Of course, if my Wicked turns out poorly, I may stick to socks for good. HAHA!

I had another good mail week this week.



I ordered the Dream in Color Tulips kit from Threadbear. They have several versions to choose from. After seeing the finished article at Yarn Harlot and Pixie Purls, I had to have it. No one I know is having a girl. So this'll be a knit for the gift box kind of thing. Don't be afraid if they tell you it'll be 4-6 weeks for delivery. Mine came in about 3 weeks. It's going to be so cute!

I also got my August installment of the Scout's Indie Swag Club. There are two pictures. So if you don't want the yarn surprise to be spoiled, don't scroll past the picture of the swag.



A Go Knit pouch!!!!! Love the color. I've been contemplating one of these for awhile.

This was inside...



900 MHz Merino sock yarn from Yarn Nerd! The color is Chuck T's. Very nice! I was really surprised to get yarn from someone other than Scout. But I'm excited to try Adam's yarn too.

Finally, some advice for the weekend. Don't go on Etsy if you've been drinking. I'm just saying...

Goals Update- Week 25

Wow, it's been a few days since I posted. I made it through my first term at school. New classes start tomorrow which include me heading into the hospital 3 days a week. And I have lots of reading to do.

1. Thin for Thirty- I bought a couple of things to help me get this going again- The Ultra Simple Diet and Alli. You've probably heard a lot about Alli. It's an FDA approved fat blocker. But if you don't change your eating habits, really unpleasant "treatment effects" occur. (mostly related to bathroom issues) So I'm using it as a training device to remind myself not to eat too much fat. And I'm going to do the 7 day Ultra Simple plan next week which includes eating a lot of vegetables, vegetable broth, and a nightly bath. I need a week to get everything prepared. This might sound a little extreme. But I really need to get headed in the right direction. And I only have 2 months to make significant progress before my birthday. I assure you, I'm not being unhealthy. And I will continue to eat. I'm just going to really focus on healthy habits.

2. Knit from my stash- No yarn purchased since school started! But I am getting sock club deliveries. Just like Peaknit, I might need a sock club intervention!

First, from Scout's Swag...



Kizkalesi. I love this deep teal color. And there's a pattern from Cookie A. included!!!! Very nice swag!

Next, The Petals Collection from Sundara...



Grape Hyacinth. The pattern that goes with this one is really cool too. There's cables and little sections that look like bunches of grapes.

STR Club for June....



Oh yeah! This one got sent to my old office. And I'm sorting it out with the BMFA ladies. I'm sure it'll get figured out one way or another.


Thanks for all your help on the destash! There's still some things left...

And Happy July! Have a safe and fun holiday!

Saturday Spoilers

ATTENTION!!!! There are Rockin' Sock and Scout's Swag spoilers in this post. Don't read on if you don't want to know!

First, I have to tell you about the crazy dream I had. I was just starting nursing school. There had been 2 or 3 classes and the teachers pulled me aside for a serious talk. They told me that they wanted me to quit the program because I wasn't able to crochet. I even had to bring samples of my needle work up to the front of the class where the professor told me it was all wrong. The kept saying, "We don't think you'll make it through the year. You don't think three dimensionally." And the whole time I was pleading, "But I can knit! I can knit!!!! I'll learn to crochet. There have only been 2 classes!!!" I think I'm a little nervous about this school thing. And I might have to whip up a granny square, just in case.

I also finished one of my Baudelaire socks this afternoon. It's a little tight going over my heel. But once it's on it is very comfy. And the lace looks very fancy. I did do one of the cables in the wrong direction but I'm leaving it. It doesn't bother me. All Brian said was, "Wow, those are really green." It's Sunshine yarn in Avocado. My SP package got me thinking green again!



OK- On to the spoilers!

The April shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club came on Thursday. I could not be happier. It's so pretty. And not only is the colorway new, the yarn is new too!!!



It's STR Silkie- 81% Superwash Merino, 19% Silk- in Walking on the Wild Tide. I love the barber pole effect of the yarn. And the silk gives it such a nice shine. I have to clear some needles more quickly for this one.

My Scout's Indie Swag Club package was jammed into my tiny mailbox yesterday when I got home from work. Good thing yarn is squishy!



It's 100% Superwash BFL in Lavender Mint. I love this color way. (I'm on a bit of a purple kick lately.) I've also seen the reskeined version of this yarn and the colors blend really well.

Also in the package was Heal My Hands lotion bar, lip balm, and face mask. I've really been wanting to try this. The lotion bar contains lanolin and, for me, the smell of the lanolin overpowers the intended Lavender Mint scent. It doesn't smell bad. I'd just like to be able to smell more of the lavender since it's one of my favorites. There's no doubt this stuff will fix and dry hands or feet. It's really thick and moisturizing. I'm going to slather my flip flop feet in it before I go to bed.

Have you seen The Last King of Scotland? If not, you should go rent it. Forest Whitaker is amazing and the movie gives an interesting point of view on the Ugandan regime of Idi Amin. It's violent but it gives you a good look at what happened.

Hope you're having a restful Saturday.