sheep in the city

Day of fun...and then some!

So, something happened on our way to our day of fun around town on Friday. We decided to visit a yarn shop, Knit Wit, in Olathe. The shop was small, but jam packed with some great yarn. They had great bags too, which as you all know, is a make it or break it deal with me. I like to see good knitting bags when I visit a store! This wasn't the problem though. The problem was, when we decided to go to a 12:15 showing of Pirates of the Carribean. Holy cow! We walked out of the theater at 3:15! The day was mostly gone?! I'm not sure why we didn't look at the playing time on the movie...but oh well. We chucked our plan and went back to RayLynn's place to just hang and knit. So funny. We had spent the whole evening before mapping out our plan of which part of the city to go to first and which stores were worthy of a stop. Sheesh. After the movie, we scrapped the whole thing.

Saturday dawned, and we drove down to Springfield for a wedding and stayed over with family for the night. Sunday, Alice woke me up at the crack of dawn...so RayLynn and I ended up getting a much earlier start back to Kansas City than I expected. On the drive up, I ripped a chunk of my Molly Ringwald out. I decided to lengthen it...so off the needles it flew. It has been raining off and on here the last few days, but we've managed to do a few outdoor activities. Sunday we headed to The Plaza and did some touristy things.

Starting with lunch at Winstead's. This is a diner that my grandparents went to on dates, my Mom went after school with her friends in high school, and I grew up visiting. It's totally nostalgic for me. I get a Limeade, grilled cheese, and a 50/50. (that's half fries and half onion rings for those of you that don't speak diner!) Yum! Then we walked around a bit and took some pictures by one of the most famous fountains in KC. Gotta love the strange looks that people give you when you are knitting in public...it's so funny. Some people will actually ask you what you are doing, where others just stare. More talk about my Kansas City adventures later!

Cheetoh's, Cherry Coke, & Teletubbies

These are the things that made the drive to Missouri bearable to us all. Cheetoh's for Alice. She held that bag in her lap and it was almost as big as she is. Cherry Coke for me. Somedays I'd like to just hook up an IV. Mmmm...I love a good cherry coke from the fountain with lots of ice. The teletubbies were for Liam. We could get at least 45 minutes to an hour of semi quite time out a Teletubbie dvd. Poor little guy. He hates the car on a regular day, let alone when we are in it all day.

On Thursday I made it down to The Studio and picked up the makings for a little swirl hat. I couldn't resist the mint chocolate swirly cuteness. I'm planning on making a couple of these for Kaps for Kendall and I've already started one for Alice out of Nashua Cilantro. You can see in the picture below that I am knitting on it while on a walk with my family. My cousin thought that this was so funny, he had to take a picture of it. You can also see a closeup of my new haircut in that shot. (click here for the closeup) I've got a big day planned today with RayLynn...we're making the rounds of all my favorite places in Kansas City. More on that later!

What I did this past weekend...

I learned to SPIN people! Can you believe it?! I should say, more accurately, that I attempted to spin! But all around it was a great time. I basically moved in with Mary-Kay for the weekend and she imparted her wisdom on me. The wisdom is vast people, seriously! She knows alot about spinning, and fiber, and whorls, and drafts and many other fibery words that I can't remember at the moment. Mary-Kay had invited Tiffany and Michelle over for dinner on Saturday night, so the spinning lessons didn't get started until after they had left. Well...that might not have been the best idea. Learning to spin for the very first time, after a big dinner and 2 Cape Cods? Not my best moment ever.

Needless to say, the lessons really started the next morning. After trying and trying the night before, I finally had my "ah-ha" moment. Saying that Mary-Kay was excited is an understatement. I was making yarn. How crazy is that? I'm using the word "yarn" loosely...I'm sure that I have to do something to this "yarn" before I can knit with it but I haven't gotten that far yet.

We enjoyed the beautiful Colorado sunshine and knit and spun on the back deck. Here is where Mary-Kay started showing off her mad skillz. She's spinning...wait for it...over the side of the deck! Show-off!

I needed a little confidence booster after spinning, so I gave Mary-Kay a little lesson in Intarsia. This was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time...thanks so much for opening up your home to me Mary-Kay!

Tomorrow I'm leaving with my sister and her family to drive to Kansas City for a visit with my friend RayLynn. If anyone wants to get together and knit...email me at my gmail account: sheepinthecity AT gmail DOT com. I'm open to knitting and/or yarn crawling on Friday, Sunday, or Monday. I'll definitely be hitting The Studio and The Yarn Shop & More...so come and join me! Are there any other knit shops that I should go to. I've heard of one called Urban Arts & Crafts, and I may try to check that out too. I need to get to packing, but I will be blogging from the road.

Stash Sale!!!

The moment that I know you've all been waiting for...it's Stash Sale time here at Sheep in the City! There are tons of pictures, so consider yourself forewarned! Let me lay down the ground rules:

1.If you are interested in anything, send me an email to my gmail account: sheepinthecity@gmail.com Once you get a reply from me, we'll set up a payment through PayPal.

2. Everything will be shipped by USPS Priority Mail. Shipping is included in the price I've listed. If you live internationally, I'll need to charge you an extra $5.00.

3. If you don't want to see what is for sale...you can skip this entry all together. But if you are at all curious, click on the extended entry to see what I've got!

4. Have fun! I hope that you find just what you are looking for!

Berroco Rasta

100% Cotton

Each hank is approximately 69 yds

Color: 6813
This yarn has been discontinued, but you can look at some patterns here.

15 HANKS FOR SALE: $60

Cascade Pearls

55.7% Cotton, 44.3% Viscose

Each ball is approximately 120 yds

Color: 4425

6 BALLS FOR SALE: $24.00

SWTC KARAOKE

50% Soy Silk, 50% Wool

Each ball is approximately 109 yds

Color: 281-Bloom

6 BALLS FOR SALE: $35

Rowan R2 Paper (this yarn is now discontinued)

100% Nylon

Each ball is approximately 148 yds

Color: 006?/light pink, dyelot 20B4

12 BALLS FOR SALE: $80
FYI, I also have the R2 Magazine that has coordinating patterns for this yarn, that I can throw in if you are interested.

Rowan Cotton Braid & Cotton Braid Pattern Book

68% Cotton, 22% Viscose, 10% Linen

Each ball is approximately 55 yds

Color: shade 353-Renoir, dyelot 2100

6 BALLS + PATTERN BOOKLET FOR SALE: $60

Gedifra Sheela

48% Wool, 48% Acrylic, 4% Nylon

Each ball is approximately 33 yds

Color: 4180

2 BALLS FOR SALE: $12

New Zealand Woolpack

100% Pure New Wool

Each hank is approximately 310 yds

Color: Pink

2 HANKS FOR SALE: $30

Rowan Linen Print

70% rayon, 30% linen

Each ball is approximately 60 yds

Color: 342-Blush, 347-Crush, 348-Moody

3 BALLS FOR SALE: $15

I also have 3 sets of Bamboo Crystal Palace Needles that have never been used in sizes 9 (16"), 13 (16"), and 13 (35"). If you buy them all...you can get them for the low, low price of $25. If you just want one set, then it's $10 apiece.

Happy shopping everyone! Feel free to email me with any questions.

Red Sky Fiber Handspun

50% Angora 50% Kid Mohair

1062 yards total

Color: salmony pink

4 BIG HANKS FOR SALE: $70 SOLD

ArtFibers KYOTO

69% Spun Silk, 25% Kid Mohair, 6% Extrafine Wool

Each ball is approximately 110 yds

Color: 31

2 BALLS FOR SALE: $20 SOLD

Artful Yarns Serenade (this yarn has been discontinued)

70% Pima Cotton, 30% Angora

Each hank is approximately 110 yds

Color: I forgot to write down the color number, but it's a really pretty pink and green plyed yarn.

10 HANKS FOR SALE (with one skein wound up for swatching) : $50.00 SOLD

Cascade Fixation (this is enough yarn to make a great baby sweater!)

98.3% Cotton, 1.7% Elastic

Each ball is approximately 100 yds

Color: 6185/ dyelot 131546

5 BALLS FOR SALE: $24 SOLD

Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace Weight

100% Merino Wool

Approximately 2400 yds

Color: Indian Summer

1 GIGANTIC HANK FOR SALE: $40 SOLD

Malabrigo

100% Merino Wool

Each hank is approximately 216 yds

Color: Saphire Green #2403, dyelot #1

5 SKEINS FOR SALE: $45 SOLD

Jo Sharp Desert

65% Cotton, 35% Micro Fibre

Each ball is approximately 60 yds

Color: 2 balls in Monet, 2 balls in Cinnamon, 1 ball in Clay

5 BALLS FOR SALE: $20 SOLD

Socka Color

75% Superwash Wool, 25% Polymid

Each ball is approximately 224 yds

Color: 9166

2 BALLS FOR SALE: $12 SOLD

Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace

50% Silk, 50% Wool

This ball is approximately 1250 yds

Color: Vera

1 BALL FOR SALE: $45 SOLD

KnitPicks Shimmer (bought to make Elizabeth Zimmermans 'Pi R Square' Shawl

70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Silk

Each hank is approximately 440 yds

Color: Happy Dance, #E844

4 HANKS FOR SALE: $22 SOLD

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock

75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon

Each hank is approximately 215 yds

Color: Baby Stripe

2 HANKS FOR SALE: $15 SOLD

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted

100% Superwash Wool

This hank is approximately 225 yds

Color: 201-Yellowston

1 HANK FOR SALE: $15 SOLD

Announcements!

I've got a few things to share with you all. First, and most important, my friends Allison and Whitney, who run the charity "Kaps for Kendall" are in need of about 40 more hats. I have a big interest in this particular charity because Kendall was a friend of mine. (you can read about our relationship and see a picture of us here) I'd love to see them get more than 40 hats...I'd love for them to be blown away by the generosity that I know exists in this online knitting community. I'll be casting on for my hat this weekend! Any style of hat will do. They don't have to be "chemo" style hats, they just need to be fun and funky!

Second, I've gone through my stash...and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of yarn that is sitting around. So...it's stash-sale time! I will be listing everything out on Monday morning, May 21st. There is a little bit of everything. I've got sock yarn, Malabrigo, Rowan, and much much more! Come over on Monday and check it out!!

**you'll never guess what I'm doing this weekend! (Those of you that have knit with me lately aren't allowed to guess, since I've been talking about it) If anyone guesses correctly...they'll win a little froggy notions case!**

Random info.

These are my Moo Minicards. I love them. They are so cute and small and the best part? They are made with my photos. Go check it out, and get some of your very own.

This gorgeous afghan was knit by a student of mine named Elizabeth. She was super fun to have in class and we had a blast picking out the colors for her Log Cabin afghan. She used Brown Sheep worsted weight in 13 different colors. (and one of the shades of green was actually Cascade 220, because we liked the chartreuse better in that brand) We broke it down like this: 3 pinks, 3 greens, 3 blues, 3 turquoises, and red for the middle and the border. Congratulations on a job well done Elizabeth!! You have truly knit yourself an heirloom.

After the response to my little frog notions case that I posted about last week, Tiffany ordered a bunch into the shop...so please call her if you'd like one. (303-798-2299) Also, stop in from 4:00 to 8:00pm tomorrow night for "Ladies Night"...I'll be the one serving the wine!

Here's my last bit of random info to give you, a meme. I've read this on a few blogs lately...and it is so interesting to me. Looking this list over, I was amazed to see just how many different knitting techniques I've done over the last 5 years. I have always had the pull to learn and grow, so I push myself to try new things out. I'm always up for a knitting adventure.

Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl (wrap?)
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backward
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair...by default, since I live with a cat, I have a little cat hair in almost everything I knit! :) But I haven't traditionally knit with yarn that is made of cat hair.
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Friends and family...

I received a package last week that contained this little gem:

It's a fun bag from the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival! I mentioned to Ann that I had regretted not getting any kind of bag or t-shirt when I was at Rhinebeck last year, so I asked her to get me something. In exchange, I'm going to get her some fun sock yarn from the Estes Park Wool Festival. Thanks again Ann! I haven't stopped using my bag since it arrived. I love it!

Mother's Day was awesome this year.

The weather was perfect.

Lunch in the park was perfect.

Laying in the grass felt great. My Dad had a nice little nap, that was only interrupted a few times by a squealing Alice.

Don't ask me how I managed not to take a single picture of my mom on Mother's Day. Sheesh. One other good thing is that my mom was completely surprised by the gift that we gave her. (which sometimes is really hard to do!) Speaking of my parents, my Dad's chemo is going really well, he's had two treatments so far. (read about some good news over on his blog) I haven't announced it on my blog, but my parents recently decided to down-size. Or I should say, that my Dad finally convinced my Mom to down-size...so they are selling their house and moving to a smaller place. What does this mean for me and my siblings? Well...the possibility of hand-me-down furniture is now a reality. I have the new dining room table and elliptical machine to prove it. So, I spent the afternoon on Mother's Day rearranging furniture to make way for the new stuff. I'll have to take a picture of my new, totally gorgeous, dining room table. It might even inspire me to cook a meal, rather than just heating one up. (you single people out there know what I'm talking about, right!?)

I'm back up to full steam ahead on my Molly Ringwald top. Thanks for all the encouragement! Apparently, I'm full steam ahead on the blogging front too...this post today makes three days in a row! Wow!

Crappity crappers...

Why did it take me so long to realize that I had a twisted stitch in row 19? I am now up to row 41. Arrgh. Guess what I've done during my knitting time today? Drop stitch down. Untwist. Pick all the stitches back up. I know that I'll be glad once it's done and not all twisted wrong and laughing at me...but I hate spending good knitting time fixing boneheaded mistakes. I will be wearing this tank top for my birthday next month, or at the very least I'll wear it to the Estes Wool Festival 2 days after my birthday! I'm not going to let a few twisted stitches stop me!

By the way, thanks for all the wonderful tips yesterday on how to correct my funky looking ribbing. I think that I've got it figured out...but I'm still working on it. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it actually. I'll keep you informed of my progress.

Houston, we have a problem...

Last week, I met Michelle for a little "lunch-hour" knitting. We were going to discuss summer-time knits and what we were going to and/or wanting to accomplish. Is it at all surprising that I immediately cast on for something? (even though I have about a million projects already on the needles) I have been wanting to knit the Molly Ringwald tank-top since it came out in the Fall 2006 Knitscene. (scroll down to project 18) It's so cute and simple. Here is where I have a problem...everytime that I knit in rib, when I go from a knit to a purl stitch it looks all wonky. I've tried everything that I can think of to fix this problem. I've heard that you can twist the stitch on purpose on the right side and then untwist it on the wrong side. I've gently tugged a little on the knit stitch right before I change to a purl. Nothing works. I still have loose sloppy stitches. It's SO ANNOYING! Help me please. I really want to wear this top for my birthday, which is exactly a month from today, so I need to keep on knitting. Do any of you wise knitters out there know of a good solution? Please, I beg of you, share your knowledge with me.

Say hello to my little frog.

I just couldn't resist. I mean, come on...it's so dang cute! I first saw these little guys at TNNA in January. Tiffany thought that I was nuts for liking them. Then low and behold, what shows up at the shop yesterday? My very own "Fergie" the Frog. I sure am a sucker for anything that is knitting related and a little quirky. Thanks Tiffany!

Rip, rip, rip!

I spent the evening on Friday with some of my lovely knit girls, and boy did we have fun at Colorful Yarns!! Pictured from left to right is Michelle, Nachaele, and Wanda! (who we never are allowed to photo!) Kim, Mary-Kay, and Tiffany were both there too.
The last half of the night I ended up ripping out my entire Jawbreaker sweater. Why, you ask? It was way too big. I have a bad habit of thinking that I need to knit a bigger size than I actually do. Wanda set me straight on that one. (thanks Wanda...I do appreciate it!) So, I ripped it out and cast on in a smaller size. It actually wasn't as painful as I would have thought. It feels good knowing that when I'm finished with this sweater this time around, it will actually fit.

That's Mary-Kay peeking into the corner of my picture being goofy. She is such a fun friend! (thanks for the picture up at the top too Mary-Kay!)

A finished Seraphim & a little purple yarn...

I bound off the last stitch on my Seraphim shawl on Monday night. What a great feeling! I love the way that this shawl turned out. Now I just need to block the heck out of it. I haven't been that successful at blocking in the past, between not having a proper blocking board and my cat...I just haven't got it down. But, this weekend, time willing, I'm going to block this shawl and take gorgeous pictures of it. (I've heard a rumor that we might be in for some bad weather...so I'm crossing my fingers) I have now accomplished my goal of knitting with some of the yarn that I bought last year at the Estes Park Wool Festival, therefore clearing the way for me to buy more yarn this year! Don't you love rationalizations?!

I promised to show you some purple yarn...so here it is! What you see here is about 5 sweaters, 1 summer top, 1 vest, 1 scarf, 2 lace shawls, and a couple of other random skeins. This yarn alone could keep me busy for a good long while. Sheesh.

For the sweaters:

•Cascade Cloud 9 for my Elizabeth Bennett Cardigan (from Fitted Knits)in a lovely shade of lavendar. It's actually the same color that the sweater in the book is knit out of. Such a girly and romantic color. Love it! The yarn was purchased at Colorful Yarns.

•Rowan Plaid in color 164-Sea Thistle. I got this yarn from my mom almost three years ago for my birthday. She had purchased it at 50% off at a shop in Arizona. They have awesome sales down there on wool yarn because, seriously, who needs wool in Arizona?!

•Rowan Harris Scottish Tweed Aran, purchased by me, last summer, also at 50% off. I couldn't pass up that sweet of a deal...and the purple has little flecks of hot pink in it.

•GGH Merino Soft...it's washable folks!!

•Rowan Cork...which was the beginning of a Salt Peanuts sweater, but has been ripped out. I may attempt this sweater again because I really liked the yarn and the pattern. Plus, I feel like I'm a much better knitter now then I was when I started this project 3 1/2 years ago.

The vest:
•Manos del Uraguay

Summer tops:
•SWTC Bamboo

Lace shawls and scarves:
•3 skeins of Blackberry Ridge Lace Weight, destined to become Ene from Scarf Style.
•1 skein of Skaska bought at Rhinebeck last year.
•Random Blue Sky Alpaca bought at a sale...no plan for this yarn
•Frog Tree Alpaca, purchased in Boston, for a scarf called Cap Cod.

That's all folks! Now you know why I have been saying that purple is the new pink...doesn't that seem like a crazy amount of purple yarn? At least for someone who has been claiming for years not to like purple? I'm planning on doing some heavy duty knitting this weekend. I need to finish up some stuff for a couple of my up coming classes that I'm teaching! Have a great weekend!