sheep in the city

Weekend Update

So this past weekend was so nice and just what I needed. It started with a knitting gathering friday night (see previous post), followed by sleeping in on Saturday (which I never do, not for lack of trying, but I just can't do it) and a whole day of hanging out with my sister and niece watching movies and knitting! So fun! Seriously, I can't take enough pictures of my niece!! Here's one where we were playing with the camera and I was taking the picture myself! She thought it was so funny!

I finished my Wavy scarf...pictures soon, I promise. And worked some more on Ginger. I need to have Ginger done by March 1st for my friend RayLynn's birthday and our trip to LA on the 10th! Yippee! It's getting closer RayLynn, get excited! So here's how far I got on Saturday:

It's a really easy knit, especially when you read the directions. Duh,right? Stupid directions...I'm sailing right along, knitting, knitting, happy as can be. When I decide to glance at the directions again I realize that I haven't been decreasing on both sides, just on one side...I thought that looked a little funny?!So bye-bye progress on Ginger...you must head for the frog pond. But it's not a total loss, I only had to rip back to row 8. Crap. Here's what I think about that. Sunday, I finally watched Napoleon Dynamite. Holy crap, that is a funny movie. I laughed a ton...and laughter's always good medicine when you have to rip out whole projects. RayLynn also brought the shawl/poncho that she made for her mom. It ended up being too long, width wise, so we were trying to figure out a way that she wouldn't have to rip the whole thing...are you sensing a theme here? Anyway, we decided to seam it up and then pin one end up with a flower pin, which I think worked out really well. At least one thing was saved today.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for the kick off of the Fry Up! knitalong, and other knitalong updates...because yes, tomorrow and every following Tuesday will be, from now on (thank you Alison), drumroll please, "Tuesday's are for Knitalongs"!! Yeah!

Secret Pal 4 Q/A

This is for you secret pal! Thanks in advance for spoiling me! I can't wait for this to begin...I love mail, and for it to be knitting related is a bonus!!! I just copied and pasted my answers from the last SP Q/A...but the answers marked with a * are new/updated answers. Hope this helps ya! In case everyone doesn't want to read my ridiculously long list...I posted it as an extended entry, so read on only if you want to!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
•I don't like to think of myself as a yarn snob, but I kind of am:) I learned to knit using natural fibers and anything else just doesn't feel right!
*I do use acrylic on occasion...like with the knitalong that I'm starting Feb. 1st where nothing else will do, it has to be acrylic!

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
•Nope! Aside from decorative edges, I don't really have a desire to learn to crochet.
*still the same...I'm fascinated with people who spin, but I still don't know if I really want to learn or not.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
•no

4. How long have you been knitting?
•2 1/2 years
*Wow! It will be three years in March!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
•yes, amazon is my friend. See the link on my sidebar under "about me"
*it says Wishlist with a little Hello Kitty face...awww!

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
•I am super picky about smelly stuff, but I love anything with a citrus scent, especially grapefruit
*still love the grapefruit!

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
•Not just tooth...sweet teeth!! I love candy! It's really, really bad. You can't go wrong with Haribo Gummi Bears or Grapefruit Slices, anything with Peanut Butter...ummm...I'm not a huge fan of sour stuff, but it will do if that's all that's available. Do you see the trend? My name is Stacey...and I'm a candyaholic!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
•I've tried just about everything, but knitting and painting are the two that have seemed to stick! I love painting with mixed media and watercolor. Since I started knitting it's been fun to try and incorporate fiber into my paintings.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
• I listen to just about everything, except country and rap. I have been on a big Ben Lee kick lately. On the subject of MP3 players, I am hoping to get an iPod mini soon...Yipee! (see the following question for a guess at what color I'll get)
*I got my PINK iPod Mini for Christmas...so iTunes is a wonderful and yet dangerous place for me;-)

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
•in one word PINK!! Ever since I was 5 years old and got to pick out my carpet and wallpaper at our new house and I had floor to ceiling pink!! I can't have too much. My friends can testify, the longer they hang out with me, the more pink creeps into their wardrobe. It's catching!
•Looking at my finished projects will show you that I love bright colors...red, orange, and pink especially

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
•single, never married
•I have the world's greatest cat named Jesse, he thinks he's a dog.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
•Currently, I'm praying about moving to Kenya, Africa for a year to work at an orphanage
•When I grow up, I want to own my own yarn store with my friend RayLynn

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
•I have been on a big Rowan kick lately...but my all time favorites are Koigu, Noro, Manos del Uruguay, and Interlacements.
*I have to add Lorna's Laces to this list as well as Black Water Abbey Yarn

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
•I don't like "Splash" yarn. It's a furry, hairy yarn that is so soft it feels greasy. It kinda creeps me out. I'm also not a big fan of acrylics, or plastic feeling yarns.
*I don't think there have been many yarns that I can't find some kind of use for for...I'm really not that picky.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
•Besides buying yarn:) I have been looking for vintage knitting images, in art, cards, books, postcards, etc. I love old knitting needles too, it's fun hunting for the old bright plastic needles. I have them all in a big vase on my kitchen table.
*KOIGU...I can't stop buying it! And at the moment, Sock Yarn.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
•Felted clogs are what I have made the most of (11 pairs), but I am loving making ponchos on really fat needles...instant gratification is a great thing!
*Socks and items that make me laugh...like the Fry-Up! bag.

17. What are you knitting right now?
•Koigu wristlets (fingerless gloves), clogs, shawl out of Colinette Point 5 and Kidsilk Haze, Afghan squares for a community project, Salt Peanuts sweater, Alien Illusion scarf from Stitch 'n Bitch, and a couple other little things. (really I'm just too ashamed to write any more down) Many of these are just a few hours from being done!!
*Most of those items above are done...uuummm...right now to name a few,
-baby blanket for my niece out of Plymouth Dream Baby
-Tank sweater for a friends birthday out of Rowan Summer Tweed
-Sockapalooza socks out of Interlacements
But February's going to be a big month. I have lots 'o knitting plans!

18. What do you think about ponchos? (this is really a curiousity question for us)
•Love, love, love them!! I think that they are fabulous! There is a great pattern over at MagKnits called Frida...is it coincidence that Frida Kahlo is one of my favorite artists?! I think not!
*I still like them...and someday I'm going to knit Frida!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
•circulars!
*but sometimes I just love using straight metal needles, Inox makes great metal needles!

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
*Mostly Aluminum Addi Turbos, sometimes Bamboo (straights), never plastic because I don't like how the yarn sticks to plastic.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
*I'm starting to be! There are so many great sock yarns out there...I want to try them all! Ha! I recently read about a yarn called "The Socks that Rock", now that sounds like my kinda yarn!!

22. How did you learn to knit?
•I took a class at a local shop in Littleton called A Knitted Peace with my mom, sister, brother, roommate, and a couple other friends. I've been hooked ever since!

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
•Ummm...how long have I been knitting...about 2 1/2 years...soooo, I guess my oldest UFO is about 2 1/2 years!
*now it's almost three I guess;-)

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
•I love cartoons...I'm just a big kid really. I love things that remind me of my childhood, like Strawberry Shortcake (have you seen the updated version? What they have done is a tragedy...I'm old school all the way), Jem, The Power Puff Girls, Rainbow Bright, Pinky and the Brain, Smurfs...I love Smurfs!, Dexter, and the list could go on and on, but I'll stop there!

25. What is your favorite holiday?
•Christmas, definitely Christmas
*and my birthday! which is on Flag Day...the most obscure holiday ever.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
•Apart from knitting related items, I collect stuff from Paris or Paris-themed, like miniature metal eiffel towers (preferably older ones, but I have some new ones) I also collect children's books, both new and old. I want to start collecting old Nancy Drew books. Probably the largest collection I have is of baby plates. They are primarily from the early to mid 1900's and are made from heavy china (so that the baby can't move them that much) and have bright pictures and stories on the face of the plate.
*I am big on vintage knitting needles...you know the bright colored plastic/metal/wooden, it doesn't matter as long as it's older. I have found a lot of needles at thrift stores or garage sales!

The squares have landed!

Friday afternoon I received a box from New York City! I wonder what's inside?! Could it be...afghan squares maybe? I think so!

Now all I need are some more knitters to help me sew these beauties together! We are going to get together February 12th starting at 10:00am...just email me if you want to come. Bring your tapestry needle and be ready to get your sew on...you can drop in any time, we'll be sewing all day! Can't wait to see what this afghan looks like. I hope to see many of you here!!

New Yarn and New Knitting Friends

First the new yarn: So I waited almost a week to spend the gift certificate I got last week. There is something about gift certificates that just burn a hole in my pocket! I can't habg onto them for long. Oh well, that's the way it goes. So what did I decide to buy? The new Vogue Knitting, which I am not always impressed with, but I love this issue! I really want to make that flower basket bag! (I am going to restrain myself though, for now) There are a couple other sweaters that look interesting too. And then I bought two skeins of Lamb's Pride in a color that I hadn't seen before, called Kiwi. This yarn is destined to make a buttonhole bag. What's a buttonhole bag you ask? Head over to the Mason-Dixon and check it out...you'll want to make one too after you see the parade of buttonholes that they have going on! Now I just need to decide if I make an all green bag, or a green and pink bag? What's your vote?

Now on to the new friends!!

The Mile High CityKnitters came to my house last night!! And fun was had by all. It's nice to be around other knitters who are as passionate and into knitting as I am. Cathi and Libby were there, as well as some other knitters that I hadn't met before...it was great meeting you Lisa, Christy, and Lindsay! It was a night of talking, drinking wine (thanks Libby!), and KNITTING of course! I love to have people over to my house...I forget that sometimes. I cleaned up the stash Friday afternoon so that Libby and Cathi could take a peek, and they were able to give some advice on what yarn to knit a Clapotis out of! Thanks ladies! Cathi has a picture of her super-cute shrug that she recently finished knitting from the Scarf Style book over at In The Pink , and she looked great in it! Thanks ladies for coming over!

I have seen it all...

And it is not good.

Seriously...do we really need men to join in on the poncho craze? I received an email with this photo in it...and it said, "in response to everyone asking...here is the new Mancho. The poncho for men." Ok...I don't know about you, but I don't know a single male who would be caught wearing that thing?! Yuck!

**after reading everyone's comments...yes, it is a real pattern...it's from a certain yarn company that many of you love to hate!**

Meet Oreo...

My brother got a puppy for his 25th birthday on the 19th...isn't he the cutest thing?! He is an Alaskan Malamute and my brothers dream dog. Chad also received this same breed of dog for his 3rd birthday 22 years ago. The previous dog was named Rocky because Rocky III had just come out and Chad turned three...you get it? Anyhoo, here's a picture of Oreo meeting my niece...I know, I know, it's not knitting content, but it sure is cute!

So tonight I am going to spend the evening watching above pictured niece, and cleaning out my studio/stash area. Why? Because I have knitters coming over on Friday night! The Mile High CityKnitters group is meeting at my place this time...and you know if there is a stash in your house and knitters coming over, than usually they want to see it. So a-straightening I will go! I have three projects on the brink of being finished! I will hopefully have some finished pictures to show soon...and then on to the next few projects in my lineup:
•Fry Up!...we are fryin' it up here at Sheep in the City starting Feb.1st...it's not too late to join, just email me!! (acrylic baby!!)
•Sockapalooza socks (Interlacements Toastie Toes)
•Ginger (knit with Rowan Summer Tweed)
•my fixer-upper...Klarlaund...it's biting the dust on Feb.1
•and maybe I'll finally start my Flower Basket Shawl! Here's a flash back to a post in September when I made the debut of this lovely yarn.

America's Alpaca 'Glimmer'. [this site sells it in packs of 10, but you can buy it individually other places...like where I bought it...from the lovely ladies at The Black Sheep Wool Co. in Utah...when was I in Utah? I wasn't, but Margene lives there and I saw a post of hers, and called up the shop promptly after!!) It is the softest thing you have ever felt...beautiful light pink in color with tiny flecks of silver thread running through it. Jesse loved it as you can see, I quickly had to put it away before he loved it too much...if you know what I mean.

Look at Glimmer up close and personal, ain't she pretty. We'll see when I can start working on her...for now, it gets put in the stash.
Flash forward to January 27, 2005...out of the stash she comes!

Thank you whoever you are!

So over my lunch hour last Friday, I went to my LYS, A Knitted Peace, because (do I really ever need a reason?) they were having a Black Water Abbey trunk show. If you haven't checked out their yarn...go over and check it out, it's beautiful stuff!
Anyway...I walked in and Peggy, the shop owner, called me over and said she was just going to mail something to me. (Yes...all the ladies at the yarn shop know me by name. It's a wonderful thing) So I waited about 5 seconds before I tore into the envelope...and...what was in it?

A $10.00 gift certificate to the shop! Who was it from? I have no idea! It just said RAOK in the from line!! Wow! Thank you to whoever sent it to me...that was so fun and unexpected! It's not everyday that you walk into a yarn shop and leave with more money than you went in with.

I'm going to see how long I can save it...probably not long...but I'm going to buy something special with it for sure!! The kindness of people is amazing to me, thank you, thank you, whoever you are!

*In case anyone visited yesterday, or tried to visit yesterday while I was having a little bit of technical difficulties...I apologize! Everything is straightened out now though!!*

Lost and Found

Jesse looks so mad in this picture...but it's more a stunned, quite making that flash go off in my face look;-) A few minutes before he had his head buried under my wavy scarf. Of course, he moved before I could take the picture!! Dang! So it's only Thursday...I still hope to finish this wavy scarf and take a picture of it before the week ends! I can do it! I am soooo close, I just need to sit down and work on it! No watching Alias, no watching Lost, or any other show that I get so caught up in that I lay my knitting down without realizing it! Do you have any shows like that...ones that completely suck you in and don't allow you to work on anything else for fear that you'll miss something?! I love those shows though, don't get me wrong...I want JJ Abrams to keep writing/producing TV shows in Hollywood forever!! He is the man when it comes to creating unique storylines...I've been hooked since the first episode of Felicity aired in 1998. I love that show...hmmm...maybe I need to bust out my season's one and two and knit long with that tonight! [(you'll notice that I didn't say season three...uhhhum (clearing throat) hint hint mom...maybe birthday?) Yes...I am one of those people who drops not-so-subtle hints 5 months in advance]

Anyway....on to knitting, I am loving the idea that Alison came up with to make February the fix-a-thon month! Here are her words of invitation to knitters everywhere,

"Got a few knits gone wrong? Need to rip? Need to reknit? Fall in love with those projects again this February by putting them back on the needles and putting them right. It's a February fix-a-thon for inspiration and commiseration!"

So...I've decided to join her. (lately I have been joining stuff like crazy...this one was too good to pass up though!)

First in the line-up:

Klaralund...I don't think it's going to look right on me...so I'm thinking that it needs to be ripped and possibly made into Boo, Too...any thoughts, or other ideas for Noro's Silk Garden yarn?

Salt Peanuts...I put this sweater down so long ago that I have no idea where I am in the pattern. It may need to be ripped and restarted. This is ok with me though because my mom wants to start this sweater, and I'd like to re-do my math and make sure that I'm knitting it big enough.

That's it for now, but I'm sure as I look at my works in progress and finished-but-never-worn knits...I may find more! Come join the movement, and reclaim your old knits! And another good thing about joining, for all you YNBA, Yarn Diet, etc., is that it costs you nothing! No new yarn to buy, just old yarn that you loved once and have since cast aside. I say it's time to fall in love again!!

Life happened...

When I have been really busy, I don't have as much time to knit, and that in turn doesn't give me much to blog about. I hate this cycle!! But...there has been some knitting in the last week, I went to the Littleton Meetup last Tuesday. (see sidebar) We had our largest group yet, with 11 people showing up...it was great fun as always, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite nights of the month! Skip ahead to Friday night, I went to Cathi's house to knit and I met another Colorado knitter/blogger, Jon and his friend that some of you might know as Brian "the Lurker". Cathi has some great pictures over at In The Pink since I seem to have misplaced the vital little cable to download pictures from my camera to my computer...aarrgghhh! Anyway...Saturday I spent the day with my friend RayLynn shopping for some clothes to wear on our trip to California! Yeah! I'm getting sooo excited! It's still over a month away and I can hardly control myself!!

*FYI* If you were my pal from the Secret Pal 3 program...I'd love to know who you are, because I think that you live in L.A. and it would be really fun to meet up in person when I come out there!!

Then came the swatching for my sockapalooza socks...normally I wouldn't spend much time swatching for a pair of socks, but I wanted to see the color knit up...and be sure about my pattern. Here is the color I chose, it's Interlacements 'Toasty Toes'. I love this yarn, and it's hand dyed in Colorado!

Sunday...Golden Globes...kind of a disappointment, I can't really put my finger on why though. Monday, I had the day off of work (yeah!) but I had an appointment with my skin doctor (not-so-yeah!) and my doc ended up taking off 2 abnormal moles...and giving me stitches. (definitely not-so-yeah!) So now I'm walking around like a little old lady, because I'm scared of popping the stitches that are on my shoulder blades. I never realized how much I actually move my shoulders in a day until now. And that's the recap of my week...exciting huh?

My goal this week: I'm AM going to post some finished Wavy scarf pictures!

Afghan Sew Up!

It's sew up time everybody! Many of you know about the Afghanalong that Kay and Ann hosted over at Mason Dixon Knitting. They had a 'Sewing Up Bee' in New York City and in Nashville. Then Stephanie hosted one up in Canada. Everytime I read the posts, and saw the pictures I wanted to be there. I wanted to hop on a plane, and land on their doorstep. I wanted to be a part of what they were doing. Well...I decided that I would be involved, I'd take action! So I emailed Miss Kay and said, "how about an afghan sewn up by some women in middle america?" She replied that she was originally from Nebraska, and that she'd love it! Yippee!

Kay is going to ship out the squares, now all I need is people to help me arrange them and sew them together! Email me if you can make it, I'd love to have you! Plus, it's great fun to get together and meet other knitters and bloggers. If you don't believe me that this is going to be a big ball of yarn, I mean fun, check out these pictures and they will make a believer out of you! Here's the evidence that much fun was had at Kay's, Ann's, and Stephanie's.

I Heart Harry!

This is for all you Harry Potter fans out there.

I was shopping with my roommate yesterday, when we stubbled across this little gem. She had to have it, it was the perfect tee-shirt! We found it at a really fun store (for all you larger sized gals out there like me) that everyone should check out, it's called Torrid and it's the plus size (12-28) store owned by the creators of Hot Topic . It's like Lane Bryant, but with an edge. I am now going to go and write an email asking where my 'I heart Ron Weasley' tee is?! Come on people...he deserves a tee shirt too!

Knitting Marathon

This weekend was filled with lots of friends and lots of knitting time! Sounds like the perfect weekend, right? How could it get better you say? Well...read on!

It all started Friday night, when my friday night knitting group started back up after a holiday hiatus. We met at Stella's, a cute little locally owned coffee shop. My sister and I took over one couch as soon as we got there and sure enough, pretty soon we had taken over the whole room! Victory was ours! (you have to time it just right to grab both couches, ha!)

Here's my friend RayLynn and I mugging for the camera...we are so camera shy! Anyway, there were about 11 of us there, and then towards the end of the evening 3 more showed up for the conversation and company, not the knitting (oh yes, they will be turned into knitters domeday!). We were definitely the rowdy group of knitters that most serious coffee shop snobs hate, but boy was it fun!

Here's my sister engrossed in the 5th Harry Potter book, she wasn't paying attention to anyone but Harry. Since I love Harry too, I let it slide...but Whitney, if you are reading this, you only get 1 "bring a book to knit group and ignore everyone" card. So your card has been cashed in and stamped used!!

In the midst of knitting we decided that we needed to have a Lord of the Rings marathon. I volunteered my home and we made plans to meet up the following day and watch all three extended versions of the film! Yeah baby! During the whole discussion I'm thinking...3 movies, extended scenes, snacks, knitting...yeah I could do that. We met up at 11:00am and got started. We were ready. We had snacks, soda, lunch stuff, dinner stuff (I had my secret supply of chocolate), a twenty pound bag of ice that filled up half my freezer. We were good to go. I rearranged the furniture so we almost had stadium seating. My knitting basket was overflowing with little projects to finish, but my Wavy scarf was the #1 priority.

Her she is...wavy scarf...I love the pattern, but it still feels like I just creep along on it. I am now, thanks to the LOTR marathon, on the 6th repeat of 9. So, any day now I should be sending that puppy off!

This is my friend Emily. She finally had the time to sit down and learn to knit, so this is her first project! She is cooking on her green and yellow scarf! Yeah Emily!

My niece was a little trooper. She was passed around quite a bit, and only got fussy in the later hours...you know the 10th or 11th hour we had been watching;-) She just got in her jammies, and was crying a little, when my sister put her on top of her head and she just stopped crying. It was hilarious! What a cutie!

All in all, there were 10 people that stopped by during the course of the day to watch parts of the movies...but only 5 of us were hard core and stayed the whole time! How long were we there watching movies like lazy slugs, you ask?Ummm...12 hours to be exact...and boy was it a great day!

They are everywhere!

So I decided to join the Sockapalooza that Alison started last week, and boy am I glad that I did! It looks like it is going to be really fun, there are 150 people participating...knitting socks simultaneously around the world! I just received my person who I'm going to knit a sock for! He/she likes bright colors...bonus!...because I LOVE knitting with bright colors. The start date is officially January 15th and the send off is March 15th. So this week I am going to start swatching sock yarn.

While I was perusing through old IK's to find a pattern to play with, I ran across the Uptown Boot Sock in the Winter '03 issue and the Waving Lace Socks in the Spring '04 issuse. They could be contenders!! Does anyone have a favorite sock pattern? Then I started looking for sock patterns online, (dang! there are a lot of great patterns out there!) and I noticed something...everyone is knitting socks right now! Froggy is knitting socks. Em and Cari made some hot knee high socks with some beautiful yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Of course, Margene is the sock queen in my books, I see her on every sock knitalong list out there...your socks rock! (check out her six socks knitalong socks so far...see what I mean!) A lot of people are saying it, and I agree...this just might be the 'Year of the Sock'!

ROAKed!

I keep forgetting to post a picture of the awesome yarn I received in the mail last week from Jenifer! I have been wanting to make a "Boobie Scarf" ever since the the last Knitty surprise came out...and now I have the perfect yarn to make one! Check out Breast Cancer Awarness mini-issue!Into the stash it goes...waiting for the day it will be pulled out and made into a scarf.

Knitting across Kansas

My dad ended up renting a mini-van for us to drive to the funeral, since my Uncle and cousin Ryan were riding with us and none of our cars would hold 6 people. Plus, my dad always finds good deals, he rented the van for $8.00, no clue how he swung that, but it happens on a regular basis, him getting sweet deals on random stuff. Anyway...my mom and I planted ourselves in the back seat and took over every available space back there with our knitting! I primarily worked on my Wavy scarf...which should be about 10 inches longer than it is because I've had to rip it back so many times (about 4 times)! Dang, I hate ripping out! What a waste of time!

I did work a little bit on a "new" project from the stash. It's a tank for my friend RayLynn's birthday. It's called Ginger. It has a high neck in the front, and a v-neck in the back...sexy, sexy! We are going to L.A. in March for a wedding, a few days before her birthday...so, the plan is for her to be able to wear it then! I need to get moving on it. I bought the yarn about 6 months ago at a sale here in town. It's Rowan Summer Tweed in Angel (color 526). I think she's going to love it! She already knows about it because I asked her if she would rather be surprised, or have something fit right. She chose fitting right over being surprised. What sucks about it is, the size that I was planning on making WAS the right size, and it WAS the color I remembered her liking, oh well! At least I know it's going to fit her though. Here's Ginger:

*FYI- Anyone who lives in L.A. and wants to get together to knit when I come out, or make a yarn crawl, or knows anything else that I shouldn't miss...let me know!*

Back to the trip...I also worked on some sadly neglected clogs for my roomate Genia. They have been on the needles for far too long! I am now, thanks to car knitting time, more than half way done with them! I went through a faze last year where I was making everybody clogs...I made 11 pairs. I'm thinking that the reason that these have been sitting in the knitting basket by the couch for so long is that I was just burnt out. But I'm getting back into the swing of knitting clogs. I really love to give this as a gift to people. It takes three skeins of wool total. (I always use Lambs Pride Bulky) You need 2 in the sole color and 1 in the color that you want the top of your clog. The clog in the picture is made with one strand of WW wool and 2 strands of a novelty yarn that will shrink a little.

The pattern is by Fiber Trends, and is one that you really have to pay attention to, and follow very carefully. It's not hard, but it's very specific in the amount of stitches you need to have at all times. I always make a photo copy of the pattern so that I can highlight the numbers for the size that I'm making, otherwise I would get totally lost. My mom helped me out by highlighting the pattern for me! Thanks Mom! This picture gives you an idea of how many numbers there are the pattern page. A highlighter is your friend when making felted clogs!
Here's a shot of my mom knitting in the back seat. She was the true knitter in the car, and deserves a prize (if I was giving prizes) because when the sun went down and I put my stuff away and took a nap...she busted out my flashlight and knitted on into the night! My mom rocks!

Fried Up and ready to go!

That title is so cheesy but man, I love it when I crack myself up. Ok...I can see it already that almost everything that has to do with this knitalong is going to silly, but that's going to be half the fun! So far the response has been good, many people saying they've wanted to knit this, but weren't brave enough. Some saying this is just what they needed after the holidays...so let's talk about yarn selection. Leave a comment about what type of yarn you are going to use, or email me. Also, let me know if your name isn't in the sidebar and you are knitting along with us!!

So this is the very first button that I have ever made...not the slickest, but it will work. Take it if you want, and if any one wants to come up with another one, have at it! If you put this button on your blog, just link it back to me here at Sheep in the City.

I'll let everyone know what yarn I have decided to use as soon as possible! We will officially start on February 1! Here's the pattern.

Thanks everyone!

Thank you everyone for the outpouring of support that I have been shown the last few days. The trip to Kansas was a quick one. There and back in one day, it was about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Colby, KS from Denver. So about 7 hours total in the car...I must be getting old because boy was I worn out just from riding in the car all day! The service was nice, I was sad to say that I had only met this great-grandmother a hand full of times. She was my father's stepdad's mother, born June 16, 1904...so she was 101 years old when she passed away. I kept thinking about all the things that she saw and experienced in her lifetime...wow, so much has changed. I heard a lot of wonderful stories about her, and I was glad to be able to be there to support my Grandfather, who 6 months ago lost his wife. Thanks again everyone for giving me a little bit of cheer when I came home and checked my email!
I have said it before, and I'll continue to say it...this knit-blogging community is AWESOME! Go see and take the challenge that Stephanie has made!! Seriously...go...right now! In 3 days, count em, three days...this community of knitters has made a difference! And it's only the beginning!

Unexpected Plans

I am on my way to a funeral for my great Grandmother in Kansas today. My mom and I will at least get a chance to knit and talk together on the drive there.

Fry•Up•Along

All right ladies, you asked for it, so here it is...let's all knit our own fry up!! The knitalong officially starts February 1. Email me if you are going to participate and I will list you in the side bar. I bought some yarn at Joanne's last week and fiddled around with it this weekend and may have to exchange it because it's worsted weight and I think I need to do it in DK weight, the bacon I started was too bulky...it looked tasty, but too big for the purse I had in mind. I'll let everyone know what yarn I end up deciding on. Come on out all you lurkers who have been thinking about this project...you know you want your own fry up! Check out the pattern here. Anyone can join, if you have a blog or not! I think this is going to be a ton of fun to knit, thanks everyone for encouraging me to turn it into a knit-a-long!!