sheep in the city

The Stitchmarker: A Tutorial

So, here is the promised tutorial on how I make stitchmarkers. This is the way I do it, so if you have questions feel free to email me. If you have another technique that you use...share it! I'd love to hear how you make them.

Supplies:

•Beads
•Head pins or Eye Pins
•Needle nose pliers (preferably small ones)
•Small Wire Cutters
•Pliers
•Split rings of varying sizes (according to what size needle you want to put them on) I like to use a 13mm size because it’s kind of a middle range size.

You’ll start by picking the beads that you want to use, then loading them onto the head pin. I would suggest staying away from beads that are really heavy, as they can weigh down your knitting if you are using a lot of stitch markers.

Next you will cut off the un-used portion of the head pin, using your clippers, leaving a little over an inch from the top of your bead. It's good to hang onto those little scrap pieces of the pin that you clip off, because some of them are big enough to use for something else!! (note that I am a pack rat, so you can throw them away...but they do come in handy for small markers)

With your needle nose pliers, you will turn the pin completely around, so that you end up with a little loop that ends right above the bead.
Like this:

Then stick the needle nose pliers into the loop and pull back on it so that you end up with a little question mark.

This should make it so that the beads don’t slip up and down on the pin a lot. This step took me a while to perfect, and it does feel awkward at first! But don’t give up!!

Now you can slip the split ring onto the loop. If you have to loosen the loop, that’s ok, just try to get it snug when you tighten it back up by using the flat pliers.

Voila! You have just made a one-of-a-kind handmade stitch marker!! Enjoy, and welcome to the world of beading. You now have a whole new hobby!! The eiffel tower marker was made using the same technique as the above, with the only difference being that I used an eye pin instead of a head pin. The charm can hang off of the loop that is already formed. This is a great way to make dangle earrings too. I'm working on a pdf document of this tutorial, so be watching the sidebar for that in the next few days! **until I figure it out, if you want a pdf file, I can email one to you!!**

Have you seen it?

On the knitting front:
If you have ever knit a Clapotis, than you need to go check this out! It's the Clapotis hat! Amy designed it after she knit her first Clapotis, and it's awesome! I am definitely going to knit one myself because I will have tons and tons of extra yarn when I'm done. Such a cute pattern...I'm constantly amazed at all the talented knitbloggers out there!

I'm working on the stitchmarker tutorial, and I hope to take some pictures in the next day or so!! What an overwhelmingly positive response...thanks everyone!

I took this picture last week...I drive by this tree everyday when I leave my neighborhood. Wow! I love Spring! I love flowering trees! It almost makes me want to live in a place with trees like this year round, but I love Colorado...so I just have to be happy with Spring trees. Here's a close up of the branches. The flowers are a beautiful pale pink color, I love it!

Beads, Birthdays, & boring knitting...

First come the beads: These are the promised pictures of some of the stitchmarkers that I have made. I made the celtic/aran knitting looking one and the little pink VW bug on Saturday with the girls and the others a few months ago. Here are the two pairs of earrings that I made. They are so quick and easy, and the best part is that they are under $5.00 to make!! I'm working on putting together a tutorial about making stitch markers, so be looking for that in the next week! Thanks for the positive response everybody!!

I was asked to post a list of supplies that you need to make the stitchmarkers so that people can be getting ready, so here it is! Feel free to email me with any questions about the supplies!

•Beads
•Head pins and/or Eye Pins- I use the the eye pins when I have a charm to hang off the bottom.
•Needle nose pliers (preferably small ones)
•Cutting tool, like small wire cutters
•Pliers
*the above three items can usually be found in a set at any craft store like Michael's or Joann's for about $10-15*
•Split rings of varying sizes (according to what size needle you want to put them on) I tend to like the bigger ones, I think they are about a 13mm ring. If I'm doing the math right. They are just the right size to me, they fit big needles and they aren't SO big that they totally flop around on a smaller needle.

Now for birthday's:

We celebrated my Grandma's birthday on Sunday afternoon. She turned 79 years young! The woman is amazing, she just retired two years ago from running a preschool full time! She and my grandpa moved out here in October, and it's so great having them close by so that we can celebrate all the special days together...not just the major holidays. We had lunch at a historic restaurant here in town called the White Fence Farm. We had corn fritters and fried chicken. Yum! I can't remember the last time I had fried chicken?! My parents and grandparents talked about the way my great-grandma used to make fried chicken in a cast iron skillet...and how it tasted so much better "back in the day". I love sitting around listening to stories about how my grandparents grew up. Family history is so important...I suggest that if you have a living grandparent, go visit them, or if you aren't close by, call them. Ask them questions about their childhood and the town they grew up in. It's fascinating stuff and it will make them feel loved that you care enough to ask!

And last, but not least, the boring knitting:
Clapotis...or should I say "Bonopotis" as Cleo suggested:

I've dropped 8 stitches so far and it seems like I might be finally getting somewhere. I am in the home stretch on the straight portion of this monster scarf, then I can start the decreases! Yippee!

Resurrecting an old hobby

I've had many hobbies over the years...some have stuck, but many have fallen by the wayside. Some were just a fade and didn't hold my interest for the long haul. Beading is one that I think I had forgotten how much I really enjoy it! So, Saturday I spent the morning with some of the crew (Michelle, Wanda, and Cynthia) at a bead shop near Park Meadows. We went with the intention of making stitch markers...and boy did we! I couldn't help myself though...I have had these beads for almost 10 years so I finally made them into a necklace! (I made a couple pairs of earrings too!)

It was fun to see everyone's personalities come out in the stitch markers that they made, Cynthia was making "sets" of markers. They were all very uniform...with the beads matching up just so:-) I had to give her a hard time about it of course, but they were really cute. She took a great picture of her markers and Wanda's...go take a look! Michelle made a really cute one with a little coffee cup on it. Wanda was in the mood for fresh water pearls, so she had every color all together. I, of course, had very bright funky beads, but relatively simple ones. They were all so different! **I will post pictures of my finished markers tomorrow** After the beading session, we headed over to LoDo's for lunch and a little knitting. After lunch we did some damage at Joann's, seeing as they are discontinuing the only kind of Lion Brand that I would ever want to knit with...Cotton Ease. Those people at Lion Brand don't know what they are doing!!! We were all on the hunt for some to add to the stash. Bonus that they were having a great sale on scissors, 40% off, even the gingher scissors (you know...the wicked expensive ones, so now is the time to buy some!!!). All in all, it was another great day with the girls. And I think I may have just picked up beading again. (so many hobbies, so little time) I am seeing many more beaded stitch markers in my future.

*I am thinking of posting a little tutorial on making beaded stitch markers...let me know if that is something that you, my readers, are interested in!!*

Knitting+U2

So...the concert was amazing! And no, I didn't take this picture...I got it from the official U2 website. Go visit for lots of cool stuff about the tour.
Seriously though, I could go see them over and over and over. There is something so timeless about their music. And boy, have they aged well. Sexy Irish boys that they are. Ahhh...what a good show. I'm so bummed though, because I brought my camera, but my brother in law thought you couldn't take them into the concert. So I left it in the car at the light rail station, and of course everyone else in the arena had their cameras, arrgh! So, I'm going to attempt to download a picture off of my cell phone. (which I have never been able to do by the way!)

Nope...didn't work,so you get a picture of the picture on my cell phone. It's of me knitting...at the concert! I didn't care that I was getting weird looks, obviously I put it away when the concert started. I'm having a hard time coming up with the words to describe the set...it was SO cool. The stage was a big elipse that went out into the crowd, people were standing in and outside of the circle. (one of my friends actually was about 4 people back from the outside circle, which means that she was a few feet from the band!) I on the other hand was up in the nosebleeds...but that's ok. I've seen them before, at previous concerts, up close and personal, so I was ok with our seats. The cool thing about all of the people sitting in the higher seating was that you had a better view of the light show. I keep thinking that they can't top the stuff that they did on the last tour...but they always do! There were 6 big curtains of light bulbs (i'm sure they weren't bulbs, but that's what they looked like to me) that would come down during certain songs and flash different images and words across them. It was cool because even when they had them all down, the people in the back could still see. I'm not doing it justice...suffice it to say that it was one of the best shows that I've ever seen. I highly recommend seeing them sometime in your lifetime.
Now, I'll always remember that I was knitting on my Clapotis at a U2 concert, ha!

Here's the list of songs that they played that night:

City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Vertigo
Elevation
Gloria
The Ocean / New Year’s Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Standstill
Bad
Pride in the name of love
Where the Streets have no name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Original of the Species
“40”

Guess where I'll be tonight?!

Under 12 hours and I'll be listening to these guys! This is the 4th time I've seen U2 in concert...I went to the Zoo TV tour and Pop Mart in the early and mid 90's. And then I saw them a couple years ago for the Elevation tour. Needless to say, I'm a little excited!! They put on the greatest show I've ever seen.

Report to follow, but here's the set list from tonight's first show in Denver.

Love and Peace
Vertigo
Elevation
Cry/ Electric Co.
An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart
City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
New Year’s Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Standstill
Pride in the name of love
Where the Streets have no name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Yahweh
“40”

My sister, who has the U2 iPod and the ultimate edition of U2 songs from iTunes (which is every song they have ever recorded...I think it's like 485 songs!!) made up a playlist of the songs that they are going to sing tonight and she's been listening to them at the office all week. My sister is awesome:-)

Knitalong Day!

So...this week has been really busy for me...so not as much knitting as I would have liked, but there has been some progress!! Here it is:

Clapotis: I'm on my 6th dropped stitch...still not an exciting picture, so I'll spare you the boring details. I am liking how the yarn is knitting up. The colors aren't pooling at all, which I'm a little surprised about with a varigated yarn. I did take a picture of RayLynn's Clapotis last friday night at Cathi's. She is almost done with hers...she's on the decrease rows already. She's actually back in California for her job this week which is funny to me that she started her Clap in Califonrnia and she's going to finish it out there too!!

She is using Art Yarns Fable. I love it!

Other random things I've joined recently are:


Go check this group out before it's too late!! It's a great crafty exchange for those of you that are into other crafts besides knitting! But the cut off for the sign up is in the next day or two!!

I am so excited about this group that...well...I can only say I'm so excited!!! It's called Camp Wannaknitknit, and it's going to be tons of fun! We are still in the planning stages, but it's going to be a knitting weekend, probably at a Hot Springs somewhere in Colorado! Felicia came up with the idea, and I think it's fabulous! Who wouldn't want to spend a weekend with a bunch of other knitters who are as crazy about this stuff as you are?! Check out the blog she has set up to get the details...come on...you know you want to come to Colorado and play with us!!!

Last, but not least, I found out about this little stitch marker exchange from Amy last week. Basically, you make 4 stitch markers, mail them out, and get 4 from someone else in the mail. Sounds fun to me, and I have been on a stitch marker making kick lately. Go sign up for that too!!

That's all I've got for now folks...I have some exciting news to unveil tomorrow...so come back to find out!

The Clap that attacked Denver

What happens when you get together with a bunch of crazy knitters who are a little camera happy? It's the attack of the Clap!! Six of the 10 knitters that were there on Friday were knitting a Clapotis! It was pretty funny and Michelle was such a good sport "posing" for us! Thanks Michelle!

After a long week at work, I spent Friday night with my knitting crew at Chez Pink. It was a much needed evening of knitting, eating (umm Cathi made homemade Praline sauce for sundaes...I need to buy a cookbook before I have these girls over again!!), and all around girl talk. Felicia came up from Colorado Springs to knit with us so I was finally able to put a face to the blog that I've been reading. She and Tam had everyone laughing so hard...they just kept the one-liners rollin'. I told them that they need to take their show on the road, those funny ladies. Here are the group shots...gotta have the group shots! From left to right,it's Felicia, Michelle, Tam, Teresa, and Wanda.

And now for the other side of the room, it's Libby, Lisa, and our "hostess with mostess" Mrs. Pink herself Cathi! (Cathi's knitting on her Just Beachy. Go check it out!)

At the knit group everyone has come to realize that I don't knit very much at these gatherings. They were giving me a hard time about it...all in good fun! I just usually get so caught up talking to everyone, and looking at peoples projects, and eating, and did I mention talking? So, I didn't get much done on Friday...like usual, but I sure had fun!! I'm determined to have more of my own knitting progress to report about in the coming weeks! I want to get some other projects going. (ie: Rogue and Charlotte!) I borrowed my friends season 1 of The OC (and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have become throughly addicted to it this season) so I should have lots of knitting hours with fun TV to watch in the next few days. These old TV shows on dvd are both a blessing and a curse because I get sucked in and want to watch them on a continual feed. I just put a couple series on my Netflix list...The Greatest American Hero and The A-Team! Gotta love the nostalgic 80's sitcoms!! I woke up wondering where the weekend went...it can't already be Monday, can it?!

Who knew...

...a measuring tape could be so much fun? I went to lunch with 4 of my favorite people yesterday. My friend Laini and her daughter Hanna and my sister and niece Alice!

She's concentrating so hard to figure out how to push the button to retract the tape. Once she figured it out, she would let it snap back and saw"Oww" and then do it over and over and over again.

It was really fun to watch the little girls interact with each other. We ate at a little locally owned place called NoNo's. It's the greatest if you like Cajun food and food with a little extra kick, plus they have the best desserts around! They serve real sweet tea and pralines...but my all time favorite is their strawberry cake. Mmmm...it is so good!! Anyway, when we were close to being done, Hanna started to get fussy so I rummaged through my bag for something for her to play with and that's where the measuring tape comes in. I think she could have played with it for hours.

But then Alice managed to grab ahold of the end...it was really funny to watch!

Look at that face...doesn't it just look like she up to no good?!

Just at the right time...

On Monday, I received these fun stitchmarkers from Cindy. They were in the cutest little card and sealed with sealing wax...so fun! I love little touches like that. (I am so busting out my little seal and wax and copying her! I haven't used them in years!!) And, that's not all, I got a postcard from Carrie of Southern Fried Knits! It is hilarious!! It says "She liked imaginary men best of all"...I love it! These vintage pictures of 50's housewives cracks me up. I shared on an email list that I'm on that these little "pick me up's" came at just the right time. Late last week I found out that my dad's cancer has returned. He originally had prostate cancer, and they thought it had been taken care of with surgery...but apparently it wasn't. His doctors can't be sure why his PSA levels are rising when he has no prostate, so they are just going to moniter his levels and treat it with a medication for now. If it gets worse, they may have to do chemotherapy...which he has never had to do before since he originally was diagnosed with cancer in the early 90's. He has a great attitude...is always upbeat and positive...he's great. If you think about it, say a quick prayer for him and my family as we try to deal with this again. Thanks everyone!!

Knitalongs and meetups!

So I am alive, I didn't get snowed in...but I did get Monday morning off, I just had to go in by noon! It was nice just having a leisurely morning, no rushing around. Then Tuesday I spent the day watching my niece. My schedule at work has changed for the next 7 weeks and so I'm able to help out my sister each Tuesday with Alice...hmmm, I see many tuesdays at the pool this summer in my future! If you want to see the cutest picture ever, go check out Alice's blog and see her in her new (hand me down, thanks Laini and Hanna) swimsuit!

Fry-Up and my Clapotis:
No real news this week...I planned on getting the base of my purse finished this week, but did I? Nope! And it looks like no one else did as I scrolled through the participating blogs. The call of the Clapotis was too great for me, and I keep seeing how far Cynthia's Clapotis has come, and she keeps telling me that it gets faster in the straight rows but so far...not so much. I am liking the look of it, next week I'll take a progress pic, right now it's still pretty boring looking. I think that it's going to be monster huge, so I can see myself making a smaller/lighter weight version similar to Cathi's.

Flowerbasket Bag:

Here's the yarn that I decided to knit with. It was all in the stash...I love it when that happens!! It's going to be an orange base with a dark pinky/purplely trellis and light pink flowers and lime green leaves. It's a departure from the basic colors of the original bag, but that's my favorite thing about knitting patterns...the changing up of the color schemes...making it uniquely mine. I started a swatch (i know, I never swatch!) to see if the yarns felt well together since it's three different brands. They are the same weight though. We'll see! I'm going to be sure and take some before and after shots.

Meetup!:
I can't say enough good things about this group...it was great, as always. It has been so fun getting to know these lovely ladies. We had, I think...maybe 11 or 12 people there this time. (thanks Sharon for setting up the tables, you are a doll!) This was probably Brynne's last time to be with us, she's moving to Texas:-( And I have no picture of her wonderful "cheshire cat" striped scarf because she left before I busted out the camera. Her husband has to get home because he was defending his thesis the next day! And he still brought her to knit group, what a sweetie!

Michelle was casting on for a summer cotton top...that girl has some beautiful sweaters going right now!! Cathi was sporting her latest FO...Tempting (it looked so cute on her!) and working on a design of her own out of the Manos Cotton Stria in a pretty varigated (and this is the girl who doesn't like varigated yarns...ummm, yeah this is not the first varigated knit that she has been working on lately. I'm thinking she may just be changing her mind!) pink/purple mix. I can't wait to see the finished project! Cynthia was working on her Clapotis...and it's just gorgeous! Here, take a peek by clicking here! She's using Southwest Trading Co. Bamboo yarn in a varigated green colorway. She is a green girl for sure...just as much as Cathi and I are pink girls!! Tam was knitting away on some mittens, Laura was busy making sample scarves for a class she is teaching, Sharon was figuring out a dropped stitch shawl pattern, and we even had a couple new girls!! I love getting together and knitting with these ladies, there is always much more laughter and talking than knitting...but that's ok!

One thing that I did do while I was there was haul out the Koigu stash and get some opinions on what colors I should use for my Charlotte. After seeing Jenifer's last week, and how she just sort of wraps it around her neck like a scarf with a little bit of the point hanging down her back, I know even more, that I want to knit one. So here is the color combo that we came up with:

It's going to be my "Pretty in Pink" Charlotte! I'm not crazy about that middle red color, so I may just have to "look" at the local yarn shop for a different reddish/pink, oh darn! If any of you Colorado knitters has seen a secret stash of Koigu at any of the local shops, shoot me an email. It seems like a lot of the shops are running low. (it's not my fault, some other crazy Koigu obsessed knitter must be buying up all the good colors!!) Next month we are going to meet and then head down the street to the Colorado Hacienda for knitting and margaritas!! Come and join us if you are in the area!! It promises to be a very fun and interesting evening! We'll see if we can handle mixing knitting and margarita's, it could be very entertaining to say the least!!

**For those of you who are not finished with your Fry Up, continue to email me with progress!! You know who you are!!**

Mail call!

Lookie, lookie what I got from Carolyn in the mail over the weekend! She makes the cutest stitchmarkers out of scrabble pieces. So cute. And what a great idea to mark increases and decreases with...super smart girl that Carolyn. Go check out her blog, she sews too! She makes the most interesting stuff, you may want to see her tutorial on making a binder for your circular needles out of a regular 3-ring binder...very cool! Thanks again Carolyn!

I have been terribly neglectful in posting a picture of a fun package I got from Amy at Easter. We share a love of all things Paris, so when she saw this Paris tape measure, she thought of me. So sweet! She made the flower for me, and the funny part is, I had just made that same pattern for my Flower Swap pal! We are always making similar projects without knowing it, and finding out after the fact. It's just one of those funny/weird coincidences. The teacups weren't part of the package...those are for Amy's benefit because I'm always striving to take pretty pictures like she does!! How did I do Amy? Ha!

Cross your fingers everyone...I still don't know if I have just a half day off, or the whole day. But I am knitting, and that's a good thing indeed!

A different sort of string...

*I started writing this Saturday night*
So I spent my Saturday playing with a different sort of string...the garden variety. I finally had a weekend day that I spent completely at home, it was wonderful. I don't have a ton of room to plant, just a little space right in front of my patio, but it's the perfect amount because I'm really not that good with plants, but I'm trying. So, I cut back the rosebush that is starting to bud, before it gets out of control, and tied it to the fence so that part of it would start to grow over the fence. (don't ask how many times my clothes became attached to that rosebush!) I planted a few little ground cover (*fixed after my lovely sister pointed out that it's perennials*) flowers last year and it's fun to see that they are coming back...and spreading! I love it!

Here's my creeping flox, it's called Candy Stripe or Peppermint stripe or something like that. I love the little stripey petals, and it looks so fun next to my purple crocs!!

**Click on the picture to see the difference a day makes!!**

*it's now Sunday night*
So, the weather took a turn for the worse...aside from a jaunt down to my sisters (she lives just down the street) I have been home all day. Church was cancelled due to the snow. Snow? Yep, it's a spring storm, after all...March and April are Denvers snowiest months. So here's a picture of what my cute little patio looked like today.

It's all snow covered,no gardening for me today! Only knitting and watching movies! It's the perfect time to curl up on the couch, put a movie (or two or three) in and make some progress on my Clapotis! I just got the call that we are not opening up the office until noon tomorrow, yippee! Here's hoping that the snow keeps coming and I get to spend another day in my pj's!!

Blogging Buddies Unite!

It was another great meeting of the Mile High City knit group Friday night, this time at Lesley's house. (you too can join the fun by joining the Yahoo group!) She defintely knows how to host a party...there was wine, chocolate fondue, strawberry shortcake with real whip cream!, spinach artichoke dip in a homemade bread bowl, and I'm sure there is more I'm missing. Can you believe it? All of this was done after she took a Thermal Physics exam?! What? Smarty woman in the house! Thanks Lesley for hosting us, you can have us over any time! Here she is printing out the pattern for her very own Clapotis!

(it is catching you know!) She and Tamara both decided to cast on for one, and Jenifer, Cynthia, and I were all working on ours. Cathi (aka, the model) brought her now famous Clap to show off, and yes it's still gorgeous, and yes I still want to steal it each time I see it! So Cynthia decided that we should all take a group picture when we are all done knitting our scarves and title it "the Contagious Clap" or "the Clap that swept Denver". I think that this is a hilarious idea, and I'm all for it! The evening was filled with so many good conversations, all happening at the same time, that Cynthia and I had to laugh because we just couldn't be involved in them all. I don't know what happens to me at these events, but I rarely work on my project for long. Not when there are other knitters to talk to! I discussed the start date of "Project: Rogue" with Cathi and Michelle and we have decided to start July 1st. You heard it here folks, this isn't an official knitalong, but join us if you want to! I am hoping to get the yarn for the sweater for my birthday (hint hint mom) in June. I think I have decided, I'm 97% sure, that I'm going to use Peace Fleece in Georgia Rose. There is still time to change my mind though, so if any of you readers out there have any suggestions, than suggest away!!

Before I got to the knit group, there was a little bit of yarn tradin' going on. Wanda stopped on her way from work at my house and traded me this:

It's leftover yarn from a project that she has finished already, and in her words she's "done with"! So, I gladly took the yarn (which is Interlacements Peru) off her hands. I plan on making the same thing that she did, a three point poncho. No comments...it's a poncho, I know. But it's a great pattern. I'll give the details when/if I knit it. Next, Tamara, who is still blogless, (come on woman, you're killin' us, start one already) brought some of her homespun. Isn't it wonderful?

I can picture maybe making another 'My So Called Scarf' out of this yarn...thanks Tamara! I'll get you in touch with her, if you like the look of my greens, she has much more where this came from!

I spoke too soon...it's Peeps for me!!

So, yesterday I was reading Cathi's amazingly funny blog. (If you haven't added In the Pink to your daily reads, than do it!, right now! hee hee...here's a little picture of her!

She's famous you know...she's modeling Libby's latest creation that just got published in the new Spring Knitty!! Way to go Libby! That girl is a designing machine! Maybe the longer I hang out with her...some of that designing goodness will rub off on me!? So...back to the reason for this post. Yesterday I read Cathi's post with just a twinge of jealousy...what? She has a peep's stitch marker? I kept telling myself, "Stacey you do not have to have all the same cool stuff that everyone else has. Cathi is allowed to have special stuff." But I keep thinking about it. All day it would pop into my head. Cathi has a peeps stitch marker. So, I go about my business as usual, check the mail on my way home, no special key in the box...so no presents...but wait...what's that little manilla envelope in the back of my box?!! No way! Could it be? Sure enough...I ripped into it and there it was, cute as could be. My own little Peep stitch marker from Amy. It immediately went on my knitting, of course! I love it. Thanks Amy!! You made my week!

Somethings cookin'

Fry-Up news:
So I finally have my own progress to update about, and here it is...1X1 ribbing! Isn't it exciting?! I tried to take a picture that would make it look more exciting than it is. Did it work? I really don't like 1X1 ribbing, almost as much as I dislike seed stitch. Ugh! But at least I'm working on it. Obviously, the majority of you voted for the green, so I went with the green. I can't quite get my camera to capture the brightness of this yarn. It's really, really bright. I may have to make a pink one as well if this one goes together nicely. I might attach the "food" with snaps so that I could change the purse and not have to knit two of everything. (in the next update I'm going to do a similar thing with the fllowers, I'm all about short cuts these days) I decided to throw caution to the wind and knit the purse in the round. I'm fairly optimistic that it's going to turn out...have any of you other Fry-Up gals done this? We'll see, this could be an exercise in disaster.

**Any of you girls who have been working on your Fry-Ups, email me with any progress, especially those of you that don't have a blog...send me pictures!!**

Flower Basket Knitalong: (will hopefully start this in the next month or so!)
I think that I have enough yarn in my stash (big surprise!) to knit the flower basket bag without buying a single skein!! My plan is to use Tahki Baby in color #8 (which was going to be a sweater) for the background, and then use Brown Sheep Burly Spun in Limeade for the trellis. The flowers will probably be out of some kind of Brown Sheep as well. I plan on putting the flowers on with snaps so that I can change out the colors if I want to. It's going to be brighter than the model in the picture, but that's me so it's ok!

Thrum Mittens: They have been sadly neglected for a while now. I have no immediate plans to finish them since it's getting to be warmer weather and they were a little tedious for me to knit. I'm going to have to be reinspired to start them up again. They are in my half started/finished project bin...it doesn't look good for them.

Weasley-Along: Since my roomate moved out, the idea of knitting this sweater has lost a little bit of it's appeal. Plus, I never bought the yarn for an adult sweater. I did knit up three of the little mini-weasley's though...does that count? You can see them here.

Poetry in Stitches: Someday I'm going to pick this back because it is one of the most beautiful sweater kits! I love it, but just don't have the patience for it right now.

Flower Basket Shawl: Ditto...have the yarn in the stash and would love to wear this shawl this spring sometime. In the meantime, go drool over Stephanie's, it's wonderful.

Clapotis: Nothing exciting about dropped stitches, but I'll take a picture of my progress when it looks a little more impressive. Go check out Niki's finished Clapotis that she made with Koigu! It's to die for and I can already imagine this yarn being knit up in a similar manner.

Today is not my day...

Ok, so this whole daylights saving thing is kicking my butt this year! Monday morning I woke up at 4:00AM! totally alert, couldn't go back to sleep. (hence the reason that my post from yesterday was up and running at 5:10am!) So then last night, after watching the game at a friends house and driving home, I hardly remember getting upstairs and into bed. Next thing I know it's 8:54AM and I was supposed to be at work at 8:00! Holy crap! Why didn't my alarm go off? Why didn't my silly cat wake me up like he does every other morning at the crack of dawn?! So, needless to say, there won't be any post today on knitalong updates, or at least not until after work!! I even have some progress of my own to show you on my Fry-Up bag!! Finally!! This day is not going as planned. Hopefully, I'll get my stuff together, but until then here's another stash for ya:

The Colored Pencil Stash: looking at them in their little jars just makes me happy

Projects I'm only thinking about...

I think that this is a common occurance for knitters who are finishing up projects...to dream about the next project that is. It doesn't hurt to think about it, right? It's not like I have cast on for anything. I have only joined one new knitalong in the last few days since flapping my jaws about finishing old projects. I have been eyeing the Flower Basket girls for some time now, and I have some, if not all, of the yarn in the stash! (bonus!) Speaking of stash, I'm feeling a little vunerable here after showing my stash to everyone. I've even thought of taking the pictures down...I can't explain why, but I feel kind of like I have told the whole world a huge secret, and now what? I have a lot of yarn, and I do someday want to own my own yarn shop, so maybe I'll just tell myself that this is my way of starting my inventory...or something! Ha! Thanks for all the comments ladies, you too could have this much yarn if you just visit your local yarn shop on a regular basis!!

Next up in the cue:

•Strawberry Hat for Alice, my niece. I made one for one of the dozen baby showers that my sister had, but then I was told, by my sister, to give it to our cousins brand new baby, so I did. Here's a picture of Alyssa sporting the strawberry hat I made.

Awww, what a cute family! My sister, of course, still wants me to knit one for Alice, so what's a good aunt to do? And besides, who can resist this face.

•Rogue: (you can find the amazing pattern at Girl From Auntie)
Cathi and Michelle and I decided that we would all knit Rogue together. We'll be our own little support group! This is a project that I wouldn't knit for a while, but I need to gear myself up for. I'm thinking about knitting it out of Peace Fleece. I've wanted to try this yarn for a while now. Has anyone used it, or have an opinion about it? I'm thinking of going with either the Georgia Rose or Buffalo Brownski for mine. Thoughts? (Besides the fact that I never need to buy anymore yarn...but I probably will!)

•Sweater from Rowan's Plaid collection. I received some from my parents last year for my birthday in color #164, Sea Thistle. The practical side of my brain says I should knit this because I already have the yarn...what a concept! I am thinking of knitting either Tidal Wave or Spray.

•The more I see people making mitered square afghans, the more I want to get started on one for myself. I have been hoarding Cotton Classic for a while now. I'm thinking that this would be a great portable project to bring to work. Grab a couple colors from the stash, and go.

Of course, none of these are going to be started until I FINISH some other stuff first! So, for now, these projects live only in my dreams.

The Stash has spoken

It's "Flash Your Stash" day here at Sheep in the City! (I heard about this through Margene, I'm not sure where it originated)

Once I started looking, I realized that I have lots of different kinds of stashes. I have the yarn stash:

...and here's a little bit more, the top bin is Brown Sheep and the bottom bin is the unfinished/indefinitely-on-hold bin. (there may be a few more "mini" yarn stashes that I'm currently working on, and so they reside upstairs in the living room.

I have the needle stash:

Straights (these are just the tall ones)

Circulars!

There is the book stash:

I really love books, I always have! Any hobby that I get into, I end up getting books for. I dream of having a room in my house someday that has one of those ladders that goes around the whole room, with floor to ceiling books! This is the new desk that I got for my studio (aka-my basement) that I now have all my painting/knitting books on, as well as all my beading stuff and my old computer. (I thought it was a good idea to have my old computer down there so that I can always get online and check for patterns, etc.)

Last, but not least, there is the FREE STASH that I recieved yesterday! A friend of my mom's called us yesterday and told us that a lady at her church had a car full of yarn and was giving it away. We immediately left to head over there...the promise of free yarn?! It was like the call of the siren's...we had to go right then, no matter that we knew we didn't need anything. Ha!

Here's what all this yarn is on the table:
•8 skeins of Phildar Elegance
•7 balls Anny Blatt:Coton Egypte in green
•16 balls Adrienne Vittadini: Angelina in red (this is Angora/wool/alpaca blend)
•6 balls Adrienne Vittadini: Angelina in brown
•4 balls of Adrienne Vittadini: Gianna in an off white
•3 balls of Adrienne Vittadini: Sophia in a dark brown
•10 balls of Trendsetter Paradiso in color #8
•18 balls of Trendsetter Cantu in a tan and white stripe (this kind of reminds me of R2 Rag yarn)
•6 balls of Lane Borgosesia Classico in color #10 red
•14 skeins of Anny Blatt Honey-Moon (mohair) in a dark aqua color
•11 balls of a mystery Mohair blend in Browns with a hint of pink.
•2 big hanks of off white nubby yarn
•6 cones of random bumpy textured cotton/?
•8 balls Trendsetter Piatina in white
•8 balls Red Sparkle yarn named Sax, in a brand called Omaghi Filati

Can you believe it? When we got there, they were down to the last couple of boxes and my mom's friend Julie said that a lot of the good stuff had been taken the day before. I have no clue what I'm going to do with it, so for now it goes into the stash. There you have it...my stash...it's a little bit scary to put these photos out there. But I thought I'd do it so that once again I'd be reminded that I don't need to buy more yarn anytime soon!!

**FYI to all Denver area knitters**
A few of us are gathering at 7:00pm tonight to knit at Stella's Coffee shop on Pearl Street in Denver. Come join us if you can!!