Girls Knit Day Part Two: the yarn

So after a great two hours of knitting and catching up, everyone headed across town to a big stash sale being held by a few of our favorite local ladies! Meredith jumped into Laura's truck, so Twilight and I jumped into the back of her truck for a ride. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for a November afternoon!!!

The yarn sale was awesome! I can't imagine how these ladies have developed the stash that they have, because with all the yummies they were parting with....what must they still have at home??

Laura is buying a spinning wheel this week...so she had to be good and not buy anything!! Meredith managed to be good too somehow. She showed marvelous restraint! But guess who didn't...check out that giant bag of yarn!! OMG!! Let's ask her how she smuggled that into the house past her husband!!! (I got a couple of goodies too)

Girls Knit Day Part One: the knitting

I finally got out for a wonderful Girl's Day!! Twilight and I went to our knitting group, and you all know how it is! Lots of talking, laughing, knitting, eating, and coffee drinking!! Here's the group! Be prepared, alot of pics for this blog post!! I got kind of camera crazy while I was having so much fun.

These are my favorite knitting girls here!! Meredith, Twilight, and Laura!! I love these ladies so much!!

And of course....me and my sista Twilight!!! My partner in crime!! My evil Twin!

My Koolhass Hat

I just finished my first Koolhass Hat, design by Jared Flood. I did this in KnitPicks City Tweed DK, color Orca. The yarn gets two thumbs up!! It's a super soft alpaca blend! I love the finished hat, but I struggled with it a bit. It took me a while to get the hang of it, and it felt awkward getting started. None of Jared's patterns are no brainers, they all seem to require one's full attention and nimble fingers! I wouldn't have had to do so much Tinking if I had only read the pattern carefully to begin with!!

I love the waffled texture!!

This one is for my BIL, Nathan, who is such a sweetheart! He gifted me copies of everything Star Trek, including the original series, Next Gen, and all of the movies! I was never a Trekky as a kid, but he thought I'd enjoy having fun stuff to watch on my computer as I'm snuggled in for the winter evenings. He was right! I love the cheese!!! All he wanted for a trade was a hand knitted hat....well I'm making him a scarf too!! Just so I don't feel guilty when I ask him for the next series I want!! LOL The scarf is a sampler with many different stitches to give a wonderful saturation of texture....to compliment the Koolhass Hat. I used a total of 4 skeins.

Veterans Day

My friend Polli just got back from Italy, where she got to spend two weeks with her man Dave. Dave was there finishing his training before deploying to Afghanistan where he'll spend the next year serving as a Pilot in our Airforce. We got together to celebrate/commiserate our Veterans. Polli is desperately missing hers, and trying to sleep at night without worry, and I'm greatful that mine is done with war, has already served his country, and is at home safe and sound. My heart goes out to Polli and all of the women and families who are holding up the fort while their soliders are at risk!!!

I made Polli a pair of handwarmers as a comfort gift! I was still putting on the finishing touches while we were chatting!! She had just recieved the text that told her Dave had landed safely in Afghanistan, we shared some tears and alot of hugs. She loved her handwarmers, saying they were perfect for still showing off her pretty rings and bracelets!

New Rug Progress

When I started this rug, I pictured it under my feet next to the fire in my knitting spot. But, when my husband looked at it and admired the colors...he seemed to assume that I was knitting it for his office space. I didn't have the heart to argue!! So when the weather turned nasty cold last week, I bound it off and let him use it before it was finished. Our wood floors feel so cold!! Now we're having a beautiful Indian summer, so I took it back to put on those finishing touches. I'm outside working in the shade on the deck.....enjoying the repreive.

It's about 3 and 1/2 feet across, and I'm still in debate about adding gray fringe to the outside edge.

I had some good sturdy canvas material to back the rug with. I'm prepping it now. It definately requires a backing to help it hold it's shape. Even though it's Garter stitch with bulky yarn, it's still kind of flimsy feeling.

But I still have a ton of bulky recycled yarn in my stash!! So I've started another rug for my knitting spot!! It'll be a matching one, but not identical of course. This one will be colors mixed with tan instead of gray. I'm hoping to hold out against winter and make this one a good 5 feet across. Wish me luck!

Thanksgiving Skirt

I got this skirt at a thrift store, it's a machine knitted wool skirt in a very coral/orange color. I mention that because I'm still struggling to learn my new little digital camera, and the color seems really off. But the skirt was terribly plain, without much personality, so I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

I sewed up the hem, and used a little crochet hook to CO some beautiful wool/silk/bamboo mix that Twilight gifted to me from the 2008 Taos Wool Fest. The color match was absolutely perfect. I picked up the stitches on the inside of the hem to give it a layered look.
I decided to go with Feather and Fan lace. It's one of my favorites for a ruffle, so feminine!
Then I used some left over yarn for the I-cord....and some leftover sock yarn scraps for leaves and petals.

Now I'm in the process of sewing it into place. I plan on having it done to wear to our yearly Thanksgiving Day gettogether with friends and neighbors. I really love how it's turning out!!

Inspiration: Mandy Greer

I want to showcase Mandy Greer, who has without a doubt become one of my all time favorite artists. Her Fiber Performance Art goes beyond inspiring me...it thrills me, literally gives me goose bumps. I find myself lost in the images of her work for hours. I read every article and piece written about her that comes up in search engines, and it's still not enough. I dare say I could easily become obsessed. When I dream about the direction of my own art, I find myself wanting to follow in her footsteps, and knit large elaborate installation pieces. She combines my two favorite themes: Nature and Fiber, with a whimsy, fantasy and freedom. These images have been borrowed from her blog. I recommend to everyone interested in Fiber Arts, check it out! These images are from her show Mater Matrix Mother and Medium. The waters of your face. Enjoy!!