Survey Says. . .

Amy tagged me for a survey. Woo hoo! I don't always do these because I'm lazy, so I think people just stopped tagging me.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

1998. I had this awesome apartment in Cambridge, and that was right around the time the area became a really hot hub and housing prices started going nuts. The landlord of my building was raising everyone's rent by about $350/month, and joined a tenants' association to fight it. The association ended up winning, but I gave up long before that because I was afraid of coming home and finding all my furniture and cats in the street, so I was preparing to move BACK HOME. To Malden. Where I stayed until May 2001. I was also in a relationship with a total jackass at the time, who really wanted me to move in with him (because he really couldn't handle his money OR a job, so I'd be able to keep things afloat), but I chose to live with my parents instead (for reasons mentioned).

I also took a solo trip (without the jackass!) to New Orleans to visit old friends in June 1998, and ended up going to a funeral for an old friend who had overdosed. Joy, right?

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

Pick up a Boston Phoenix (I know, it sounds simple, but I can be so forgetful.)
Knit
Spin
Blog
Drink beer
I've got one of the five done -- wait, two! I knit on the train!

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Watermelon (I'll have some today), cookies, cake, ice cream, trail mix. . . anything, really. I have both a sweet and savory tooth.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Pay off all of our debt
Leave Boston immediately for the South - Florida, Georgia, or, in my wildest dreams, back to NOLA. The home would need a pond with turtles in it, however.
Give my parents the option of renovating their house (it was built around 1893 and I've dreamed about restoring it to its Victorian glory) or buying them a new house
Set up college funds for all of my nieces and nephew (who is halfway through anyway!)
Open my own shop -- I'd love to have some big emporium with yarn, fiber, local artists' wares, and some hand picked vintage pieces.

5) Places I have lived:

In Mass: Malden, Cambridge, Allston, Brighton, Roslindale
New Orleans, LA

6) Jobs I have had:

Office Monkey, for a bank, insurance consultant, hotel, high-tech company, and law firms
Animal Caretaker, for an animal shelter (I got to drive the van, wheeee!) and a veterinarian from hell (the guy was the biggest dick I've ever met!)

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
Everyone who reads this blog! Just post a comment that you're doing it.

WIPpin' out some FOs

I love that the title of this post could potentially confuse someone who does not have knitting is his/her life.

I finally have a post that proves that I don't just buy fibery things, I use said fibery to make other things. Lovely (I hope), useful things.

Here's a thing!





This is my progress on Branching Out. I started this back in September, and haven't worked on it much since, um, well. I guess it's been a while. I don't remember when I had last worked on this, but I managed to do 20 rows Tuesday evening while I was zonked on Vicodin. Not bad, eh?

How's this for progress?

May 18:



May 22:



(Note the "Frogged" pint glass I got on Ravelry, along with one that says, "Ripped". It contains this month's beer obsession, Magic Hat Lucky Kat.)

May 27:



Weeee!!!

These are just plain n boring top down socks. I wanted a project to work on while I commute, and they fit the bill. The yarn is the KnitPicks Bare that I dyed in September. I love how the colors knit up.

I had to start a small commuting project, because the one I was working on was getting too large to take with me on my way to work.

May 18:



May 27:



Finished! I told you there would be a finished object!

I was totally zonked out on Vicodin when these pics were taken. You can really tell in this one:



Either that or I'm a really colorful unibomber.

I checked my notebook (because I did keep track of this stuff at one time), and I started this around April 2. It took me a little under 2 months to knit this sweater. At one point (beginning of May) I was afraid I wouldn't have enough yarn, so I went searching for more. I found it at a place in Arkansas for $4/skein, and ordered two, what the heck. If you keep track of weather news, you know that Arkansas has had a wild ride in the past month, so it took a while for the yarn to get to me. I think I got it the day after I finished! I still have half a ball left from my project. I have 2.5 balls of Artyarns Serenade (cotton/angora) for whatever project I can find. I'm not sure if I should just use it all up now, while the little green and blue rabbit hairs are all over my couch, or if I should wait until we vaccuum the couch. What would you do?

Oh, yeah, I mentioned that I got a cheap drop spindle at MA Sheep and Wool. I started spinning some stuff on it the other day.



That's the "Dyed by Ingrid" blue stuff I got at NH Sheep and Wool. It's a small amount, so I thought it would be nice for spindling. Spinning with a spindle is easy and hard at the same time. I already know the basics, and it's easy to get it going, but then all of a sudden I start to lose my mojo, the stuff doesn't spin enough, and the whole thing falls to the floor. That's when I move on to something. It takes 10-20 minutes to get to that point.

I'm really hoping that my progress on Branching Out has given me some lace mojo. I'm enjoying it, but I have a looooong way to go on that pattern, and lots of other lace projects in mind.

I'm also hoping that I'm back to regular blogging about stuff other than cat bites.

MA Sheep and Wool!

Yup, it was the last sheep and wool fest of the spring! I've decided to skip Maine and Vermont and wait until Rhinebeck. If you saw the size of my stash lately, you'd agree that it's not a bad idea.

We saw some happy sheep:



some unhappy sheep:



Llamas:



And lots and lots of fiber!



Spunky Eclectic's booth!





The Wool Peddler's booth:









It was a nice day, but cooler than we thought it would be. On the way out, we took a turn down a dirt road and saw some cows:



Then we went and had some cow products:



This place is good! It's just down Rte. 9 a couple of miles west of the Fairgrounds. It's a grocery store/deli/ice cream place. It's kinda earthy-crunchy but has a decent selection of beer/wine/liquor, so it's for those partying types of earthy-crunchies. They make some pretty good sandwiches, and the ice cream is awesome.

Wanna see my loot?

Well, what I didn't tell you earlier is that we had gone to WEBS on the way to the Fairgrounds. After all, I did have a $50 gift certificate to spend. Here's my loot from WEBS:



Alpaca Sox by Classic Elite Yarns.




Kraemer Sterling Silk in Silver in Majestic Blue.





Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk dyed by Kangaroo Dyer in the Cornucopia colorway. I bought a pattern for this yarn, but I can't remember what it's called. It's in the Stash Hutch with the yarn, and I really can't go look for it right now. No. Believe me, you don't want me to open that door. It's a little bit frightening at the moment. But the shawl pattern is gorgeous; it's -- oh, fuck, you know what? I can probably find it on the website. It's the Rhea Lace Stole, but you know, it doesn't look like anything special on the website. We saw a sample knitted up with the 2/14 Alpaca Silk in a different colorway, and you know? It's pretty gorgeous. It doesn't look too difficult either; maybe if I ever finished up the Branching Out scarf that I started last [cough] September [cough], I can do some other lace projects.

Here's my loot from the Sheep and Wool Fest:



Ball & Skein/Knitspot Arequipa yarn in a peach colorway, with the pattern for Gust. This was a pressie from ZMrK.




Spunky Eclectic - 4 oz wool in Pink Lemonade.




More Spunky! 4 oz superwash corriedale in Tahiti Bikini.




From The Wool Peddler: 7.8 oz wool top in "Fresh Air"




Also from the Wool Peddler: 8.4 oz. wool top in "Fiery Kiss"



I don't know if this is boring or not. This one vendor had 4 oz skeins of undyed sport weight yarn for $2.50 a skein, so I couldn't resist buying two so ZMrK and I could play with some dyeing projects. I should have bought four, right?

Not pictured, but I also bought a $4 spindle from A Touch of Twist, and I've used it too.

I've got lots of knitting and spinning to do before the 3rd week in October, which is when I next hope to replenish.

NH Sheep and Wool Fest!

We went to the NH Sheep and Wool Fest on May 10. ZMrK and I picked up my mom and met my blogless, non-knitting but fiber loving friend Lena up there for lots of fiber fun!

I'm just gonna go straight to the purchases.



30% Alpaca/70% Corriedale -- 4 oz in a burnt orange and brown colorway. I purchased this from A Touch of Twist.





The red and blue go together. These are little 2 oz balls of roving that I purchased from Ward Brook Farm. They're just called "Dyed by Ingrid!". Ingrid is Ingrid Bird, of Ward Brook Farm, who is also one of the organized of the NH Sheep and Wool Fest. There was always something about her that I really like, and my mom helped me to pinpoint it: she looks a bit like my grandma Aurora (Dad's mom). I've had good luck with her hand-dyed yarn in the past -- the colors are always really nice, the yarn is soft, and nothing runs. Plus it's cheap.






Again, the yellow and blue go together. These are 3.5 oz each of Lemon Yellow and Baby Blue from A Home Spun Yarn. I'm pretty sure it's merino; it's something really soft. Yes, I bought them because they are the colors of the Swedish flag. After seeing Ingrid/Aurora, I was feeling lots of Sverige pride.

I also got 3 skeins of Zephyr merino/silk laceweight from A Touch of Twist, but seem to have not taken a photo of it! Weird!

ETA: here it is!


I've been on a big yellow kick lately -- I almost purchased a yellow patent leather jacket from Lord & Taylor but decided not to spend big money on yellow, in the event I hate it by June. I don't hate it yet!

We also saw lots of cute animals. ZMrK wasn't feeling well, so he went to the car to snooze a bit, so Ma, Lena and I walked around and saw lots of cute stuff.



Baby lambs!!!



They weren't feeling well. Someone had given them FOUR bottles of milk, which they of course drank all of. That milk was supposed to last all day.

You can see the hangover in this little one's face:



Alpaca with an Alfalfa haircut!







I love seeing the needle felting displays. I thought this kangaroo and joey was very impressive.



I also remembered to take some yarn pr0n in some of the booths. These are from Decadent Fibers:





Someday I'll buy some of their ultra-thick, wavy stuff, but I have no idea what to make with it. It's always so soft and pretty.



These are from Ellen's Half Pint Farm. You know how they have those $150 skeins of merino (it's like 800-900 yards or something)? Yeah, I photographed those.





And here's something we don't even see in Boston in May:




A pile of SNOW covered with dirt!! Lena had told me about it, and she pointed it out when we walked by it. I think she said NH got about 102 inches of snow this past winter.



We also saw this adorable little lamb being led around on a leash. I believe his name is "Pippin".

That's it for NH Sheep and Wool! I'm going to try to get a MA Sheep and Wool post up soon as well.