sheep in the city

It's Afghan Thursday!

I've had much more time to knit this week than last...so I'm not even scrambling to finish a square by today! That feels kind of nice. I guess this is what happens when you stay home at night. I had laundry and Lost to watch last night, so I stayed home. I don't realize very often how many nights I'm actually out and away from home...between babysitting for the niece and nephew, teaching classes, and meeting up with my knit girls it's quite a few nights a week. Not tonight though...it's Grey's night!! Okay, back to the afghan.

Who sent it: Lauren, a.k.a. Almost Felted

Yarn: Lion Brand, Mystery Yarn. Lauren has knit samples for many different yarn companies and this was one of them. She sent me this yarn already knit up as a swatch...so I just unraveled one end and started knitting my square with it!

Reason behind it: As many of you know, Lauren is one of those wonders of the knitting world. She knits really fast, has a full time job going to graduate school at Yale, knits samples for multiple yarn companies, designs (click here to see some of the ones that she has designed for Alchemy...like The Academic, BFF Pullover, and The Naturalist to name a few), writes reviews of her favorite shows, and still has time to knit her own stuff! She is one of the first "out of town" bloggers that I had the privilege to meet. Remember my L.A. trip in March of '05?! We both happened to be in L.A. at the same time so we made a point to get together. It was so fun getting to meet her!

Thanks Lauren!

I'm currently knitting the right side corner square, it's another big square. When I finish it, I will have the whole top row of the afghan complete...so I'll be able to show you how wide it's going to be! Exciting times are ahead with this project! I just love how the pieces are put together and how it's asymmetrical...it's definitely not boring to knit on.

**For those of you wanting an update, Jesse was a good boy while I was at work yesterday. There was no yarn out of place when I got home last night. Let's hope that when I'm away this weekend, the good behavior continues!! Also...can you believe that I've blogged 4 days in a row! I'm thinking that the blogging-blahs are gone for good! Whoo hoo!**

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!

I ran by my mailbox this morning on my way to work and there was a paper saying that they had tried to deliver a package yesterday. They needed a signature for it, so being the impatient person that I am, I ran to the post office to pick it up! Imagine my suprise when I noticed that the package was all the way from Australia! It was a total suprise, but Kylie, of The Lazy Knitter blog, sent me some yarn for my afghan and included some goodies! How cool is that?! Thanks so much Kylie! You totally made my day...I just love getting yarny packages in the mail!

The goodies included a little Paul Frank bag that is perfect for a small project like socks. (look below to see the inside of the bag!) I'm not sure how she knew that I have a secret love of all things Paul Frank, because I'm pretty sure that I've never talked about it on my blog. The yarn is ArtYarns Merino in a pretty shade of pink...click here to see a close-up. She also made me some cute sets of stitch-markers, both hearts and little purses! AND she sent me a needle holder that matches a little notions bag that I already own! Thanks again!

Afghan's abound!

It's Thursday...which means that it's time to show you the afghan progress. We'll start with the bloggers afghan. It's times like these that I wish you could reach into the screen and feel this yarn, it is so soft!

This yarn was sent to me by one of my local knitting buddies, Sharon. She and I go way back, to gasp before knitting, back when I was a scrapbook junkie! She was part owner of my favorite local shops! I spent hours there...and tons of money! (oh to have that money back to spend on yarn! Just kidding, I still love to scrapbook, I just don't have the time with all this knitting!) Sharon is allergic (if I'm remembering correctly) to wool, so she sent me the softest Alpaca yarn!! Since she was generous enough to send a brown skein and a green skein, I decided to stripe it. I love how it turned out...and it's just so soft!

Next in line is my Lizard Ridge afghan. Have you been over to the Leapin' Lizards blog yet? There are some really cool things happening over there! I'm almost done with my third square and I am still loving this project. I love the yarn. I love the short rows. (this may not last, I know) Of course I love the colors on this third square, it's totally me!

In the "I just couldn't resist" category, I picked up some yarn for a little Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket yesterday. Here are the colors for your viewing pleasure:

I'm not going to cast on for this yet...at least not this week. But I know of someone who approves of my color choices!! I think that Alice approves...don't you?!

Fall is in the air

I went to sleep last night to the sound of rain falling on my skylights. When I woke up this morning, it was still raining and overcast, and it had even snowed in the mountains. I decided it was the perfect day to bring out the *Bloggers Afghan since fall is officially here. The picture on my computer screen was from this morning at about 7:30...the sky was all dark and scary. What it really made me want to do is go back inside and knit all day instead of going to work. But alas, duty called and I went to work. I'll be trying to post weekly about this afghan, probably on Thursday's, so check back!

Since it's also my other favorite time of the year, season premiere time, I joined another Knitalong! I will say that I had a friend, who will remain nameless, ahem, Cynthia who threatened not to be my friend if I didn't join this KAL...but that's not the reason I joined, I swear. It's the Grey's Anatomy Knitalong! The point of the knitalong is to knit a project, while watching Grey's this season. Cool idea, huh?! Some people are knitting projects with gray yarn. Other people are knitting a sweater from the "Gray's Anatomy" article in the latest Vogue magazine. I've decided to go with the second one...and I'm even going to knit the same sweater as she is...because that's what me and my knitting group do. We like a pattern and before you know it everyone is knitting one!

I think that this sweater is so classy and just plain gorgeous. I ordered my yarn from Colorful Yarns this week, so I should be able to cast on next week. I chose Blackberry Ridge wool in a sport weight, and I couldn't decide between Charcoal and Nectarine. Believe it or not...I'm leaning towards the charcoal gray. It is the Grey's Anatomy knitalong after all...when in Rome!

*In regards to the Bloggers Afghan: If you have no clue what I'm talking about, read all about it in the archives, starting in march, I think.

Stacey of Green Gables

I've figured out why I'm obsessing over knitting a Green Gables top. It's all in the name. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. When I was younger I was obsessed with Anne of Green Gables. If I'm honest with myself, I'm still a little obsessed, but that's not the point. I've read all the books, seen all the movies, and some day I'm going to visit Prince Edward Island where the stories take place. So...maybe in the back of my mind I've been thinking I'll make the Green Gables top, wear it, and then I'll meet my Gilbert Blythe. Some of you out there know what I'm talking about, admit it! Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but I now have to knit it! This is where you come in. Take this poll and help me figure out what color I should make!

In afghan news...I finished another square on my Blogging Afghan! Tada! The yarn was sent to me all the way from Iceland!

Who sent it: Carola, a.k.a...sheep and no city

Yarn: Lopi Lite in a heathered lavender

Reason behind it: I first heard of Carola's blog when she left me this comment, "P.S.: Just stumbled across your blog's name for the first time - fun. We've got something in common..." Then Wanda was talking about her socks that she knits up one night at a knit group. (seriously, go take a look. She cranks them out!) She even sent Wanda some sock yarn, that's just the kind of person she is! Carola is just an all-around A-number 1 knit-blogger! Thanks Carola!

Knit-Bloggers Afghan Thursday!

So, I am a total slacker and didn't work on this project at all this week! Bad Stacey! But I did get some really cool yarn from Singapore a few weeks ago and then some from Iceland right before I left town! In the spirit of receiving yarn from overseas and around the country...I've decided to start a map keeping track of where all the yarn has come from! So...if you've sent some, go over and sign the map!!

If you were the one who sent me this yarn from Singapore...please email me! There was no name or return address on the package! I need to get your information!! I love this colorway...sherbet is such an appropriate name for this yarn!!

Knit-Bloggers Afghan Thursday!

Finally...an update about the afghan!! Yesterday over my lunch hour, I ran home and with the help of my mom and sister I organized all the yarn that I have for the afghan. I had assigned most of it to specific squares already, but not the stuff that has come in the mail recently. Take a look at all of it spread out. Crazy, huh?! Disregard the bright orange Post-it notes attached to most of the baggies...it's an organizational thing. Now that I think about it, I should have turned them all over so that you can actually see the yarn for the picture! Oops! So...can you spot your yarn?

Of course, my little furry helper is never too far away from the action. He would rather have been laying right in the middle of it all but I wouldn't let him. This is as close as he got. (click to view!)

Who sent it: Ruth, aka Woolyheaded

Yarn: Peace Fleece in the Moscow Magic Pink colorway.

Reason behind it: I met Ruth when I went to Boston in March. (read all about it here!) We were able to meet up at the yarn shop in Littleton, MA called The Woolpack. It was a great shop and I had fun finding lots of wooly treasures. While my mom, Ruth, and I were all shopping, my Dad was bonding with Ruth's son. It was hilarious to watch them together. Little did Ruth know when she sent me this yarn that I have looked at this colorway many times before and never bought any. So this was a treat for me to work with! I love all the little flecks of color! They just pop out of the light pink background. The yarn was leftover from a sweater that she made for her daughter, who I also got to meet. (she and her friends/siblings were playing hide and go seek at the yarn shop...what does that tell you about the size of the shop?! Impressive, huh!!) Thanks Ruth!

I am going to be taking this afghan on my trip to Arizona...so I should have multiple squares done next week...keep your fingers crossed!! Believe it or not, but I still have a few unclaimed squares on my afghan so if you have yarn for it...send it this way! Thanks everyone!! (oh, and hey Cynthia...where's my Paintbox?? Just kidding!)

Stacey got mail! Stacey got mail!

Lookee what came in the mail! I received my contest winning's from Cara! I won the Mason-Dixon Knitting book...signed even! (which is a good thing since I didn't end up getting to go to Kansas City (boo hoo!!) last weekend) I knew that she was going to include yarn for my afghan project when she sent the book, but imagine my surprise when I opened up the box and found all of this!

She sent me some PINK Euroflax yarn, since those crazy Mason-Dixon girls love it so much. She also sent some of her beautiful sheepy Photo Art Cards. These beautys are going to go up on the wall in my knitting loft! Now for the BIG unexpected part of the package...she gave me Socks That Rock for my afghan!! Can you believe it???!! It's Garnet Dreams, very appropriate from January One. (click for a close-up!!)It's almost too pretty to knit with, especially in an afghan...but I'm going to do it. It will forever remind me of Cara, and come on...when you think of her, what yarn do you think of? Socks that Rock of course! Thanks so much Cara, your generosity is overwhelming to me...thank you, thank you!

**Look who had to get in on the action!**

Better late than never...

Yes, it's Friday...the day after I'm supposed to show you the progress on my afghan. Thursday just got away from me. I had breakfast with a friend before work, busy day at work, tried to donate blood in the afternoon, and then had a knitting group to go to that night. I think my day just got filled up and the blog got put on the back-burner. But...since I am loving this rambling rows project I couldn't go a week and not fill you in. (plus I had someone remind me that it was Thursday, and there was no update! So, I promised her I'd update!)

This week's square was knit with yarn given to me by my good friend and knitting buddy Wanda. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but there are bright colored flecks of turquoise, pink, purple, and green in the Noro yarn that she gave me. It was really hard to photograph because the yarn is so dark...but this is totally Wanda yarn. She loves jewel tones and all the colors are of that family, plus she usually uses yarns that are on the more conservative side but with a little kick to them. The picture below is the afghan next to my computer that has a rotating screen saver on it...ha! That's Wanda and I at my Olympic knitting party, and I'm wearing her recently finished Marilyn sweater! I didn't want to give it back to her after trying it on...so I went out and bought yarn to make my own! Wanda is always inspiring me with her finished (that's the key word for me!) sweaters. Thanks Wanda for always inspiring me!

Knit-Bloggers Afghan Thursday!

Well...it's Thursday again, so that means it's time to show you the progress I've made on my Rambling Rows Afghan. This week has been a busy one for me. Between starting the Liam Blankie and taking the sock class I've only had time to knit one square! But it's a good one ladies and gentlemen! I love that my afghan is getting a bit brighter! Plus...this square is knit with Koigu!! Who would send me Koigu for my afghan you ask? My mom...that's who!

Yarn:
Koigu KPPPM in color number ?? (of course I left the tag at home! I will fill this in later!) I held this yarn doubled.

Reason behind it:
My mom knows of my love of all things Koigu and she just happened to have this really bright skein of greens and turquoise and a little bit of dark red. It's not a color that she would normally pick out for herself. Then when I was looking through my stash of Koigu the other day, I noticed that I had a skein of the same color. So, what you see knit up is a strand from my mom's skein of Koigu and a strand from my skein of Koigu. Now, not to be too cheesey, but I love that it's my mom and I knit together in this square. Okay, enough mushy stuff!

I have the day off tomorrow because our office is closed for Good Friday...guess what I'm going to be doing? Knitting! My friend Nachaele (who just started a blog by the way, go check it out and welcome her!!!) is coming over at 9:00am and we are going to knit the day away...only breaking for snacks! I hope that everyone has a good Easter holiday and are able to spend some time with their loved ones! I know our family is going to have a blast with Alice's first Easter Egg hunt. My mom's even planning an egg hunt for the adults...complete with camouflage eggs! It's going to be a great weekend!

Knit-Bloggers Afghan Thursday!

This week has gone by so quickly! I have loved getting started on this afghan project, it's a pretty mindless, sit in front of the TV and knit project. The first square that I knit up was from Jae. We both participated in the International Scarf Exchange this past Fall, and she started up her blog in November. If you haven't checked out her blog, Some Knitting Required, go check it out! She's knitting some really beautiful stuff.

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay, Color #115
Reason behind it: She wears a lot of neutral colors, but knitting is a different story! She loves bright reds, and greens, and turquoise when she's knitting! This is a favorite yarn of hers, particularly this colorway! Thanks Jae!

The yarn for my second square is from my friend Cassidy. She doesn't have a blog...yet...but she does own a yarn shop! (She is one of the owners of Highlands Ranch String: A knitting boutique. I love this shop) One of these days I'm going to wear her down and get her to start a blog of her very own!

Yarn: Trendsetter Kashmire
Reason behind it: The yarn that she gave me is very special because it's the first yarn she got when she met with a yarn rep for the store, before it even opened. It also just happens to be one of her favorite colors too! Thanks Cassidy!!

Here's a shot of the whole thing so far. I'm already onto the third square...let me just say again that I'm loving knitting on this afghan!!

Knit-Bloggers Afghan Thursday!

What's this? You've claimed Thursday for your own project? Yes, indeed I have! Last night I finally organized all of the yarn that I've received from all of you and cast on! A huge thank you goes out to Genia, for helping me decide what yarn to start with and which ones to use after that...we wrote it all down on a big chart that's included in the pattern. I sure love that I have friends who like to help me organize!! This is going to be such a fun project!! I'm going to have updates every Thursday about the squares that I've finished and who sent the yarn and a little bit about my relationship with the sender. I'm really excited to get going on this, and I can tell that it's going to be highly addictive!

I'll leave you with this teaser of the ball of red and pink Manos in honor of Project Spectrum. I'll have better pictures of a completed square (or two, or five!!) next week. If you still want to participate in my blogging afghan project, email me, I still have about 20 squares that need to be filled!! (it can be any type of yarn...leftover or new, whatever you have and love to knit with!!) Here's a peek at the box I'm storing all my afghan yarn in!! Fun, fun!!

You had to know...

...that I almost always buy some sort of bag while I'm on a trip. It's just kind of a fun tradition at this point. Well, while I was in Boston I kept my eyes peeled for just the right bag. I saw a canvas bag at The Woolpack that had a sheep on it, and it was cute, but I didn't want another canvas bag. So I kept looking. I saw some cute ones at A Good Yarn, but I was more interested in yarn at that point. On the drive back to Marlborough, I saw that my mom had bought a bag and I knew that I had forgotten. I think I was in a Koigu induced stupor. So the search continued, but I wasn't holding out much hope since we weren't going to visit anymore yarn shops. Then on our final day, we decided to drive through Concord to get back into town and the airport. I'm so glad that we did! We stopped off at the Orchard House, home of the Alcott family, and the place that Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women!

We went on the tour of the house and I learned alot about the family that I didn't know before. It was interesting to hear little insights about the sisters and how Louisa incorporated them into her books. While we were browsing in the gift shop I spotted my bag! It's really tiny, but it's perfect for sock knitting. Mr. Alcott tought all of his daughters from the home, and one of the things he would do for their exercise was bend his body into the shapes of the alphabet. It fits my new sock yarn perfectly. (click to see inside the bag!)

Thanks for all the welcome home wishes. It's good to be home! I'm going to start on my Bloggers Afghan this weekend. I'm trying to decide just how to go about figuring out which yarn should go where. I'm going to lay out all the yarn on the floor and play!! Hopefully by Monday I will have made some progress and have photos of all the yarn that people have sent! This is probably one of the most fun and exciting projects I've worked on, mostly because I've met so many new people through it!! If you are still going to send yarn, there's still time, this is going to be an ongoing project and will proabably take a while to finish! Just email me and I'll give you the details and my snail mail addy.

And a thank you goes to...

...these lovely ladies who I have received yarn from in the last few weeks! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
•Suzanne
•Brynne
•Jae
•Cheryl
•Dani
•Natalie
•Amy
•Jeni
•Marisol
•Mandy
•Cassidy
This project has already been such an encouragement to me. I've been introduced and reintrduced to some really cool bloggers!! This afghan is going to be so fun to knit! Whenever I get a key in my mailbox I get so excited, and then I read the stories and reasons that you picked the yarn out and it just makes my day! Thanks everyone. If you have no clue what I'm talking about and you're curious here's a link to the original post. I'm waiting until after the Olympics to start on this project...but it's so hard not to play and start knitting with all that color! The Olympics are over in 12 days, so I guess I can wait. That really freaked me out to see that I'm supposed to be done with this project in 12 days, AHHH! I need to get back to knitting. Thanks again ladies!

A HUGE thank you!!

I just want to publically thank the lovely ladies who have so generously sent yarn for my blogging afghan so far!

Thank you Joanne!
Thank you Zonda!
Thank you Ruth!
Thank you Andie! (who lives in Paris by the way...I am so jealous!)
Thank you Sedie!
Thank you Brianne!
Thank you Sharon!
Thank you Becky!

I'm going to wait until after the Olympics to cast on, for obvious reasons, so you still have time to send something if you want. Just email or leave a comment and I'll send you my snail mail address. I think that I've decided to reveal and talk about the yarn as I knit it up instead of showing it off now. This gives you a reason to check back in with me though! Because of the great computer debacle, if for some reason I haven't emailed you my address, and you wanted to send something, please email me again! (sheepinthecityATgmailDOTcom) I apologize for doing that, but things with my work email are still kinda screwy. Thanks again ladies!!

My big idea...

...well, it's a little bit my idea, but mostly I'm blatently copying my friend Joanne! A few weeks ago I finally got my hands on an afghan pattern called "The Rambling Rows". I've mentioned before that I had been looking for a while now, and every shop I'd go into would tell me, "oh yeah, we have that pattern, but we're out of it right now!".

So, when I saw it at Cotton Fields I snapped it up! Where I am I going with all this? OK...it all started when Joanne told me that she was going to knit up a friendship afghan. She asked different people to donate a ball of yarn to her afghan that would represent them. You can see the square that is "me" in her January 11th post, I'm the pink (who would have guessed?) #10 square! Cool idea, huh? I thought so. This got me thinking about an afghan of my own. What I want to do is make an afghan that will represent all the people that I've met through my blog! I could have met you in person, or only know you through my comments! If you haven't ever left a comment and you read my blog regularly then you can participate too! Now is the time to introduce yourself! Here's what I need:

•a whole or leftover skein of worsted weight yarn (the yardage doesn't matter in that the squares are all different sizes!!). If the yarn is a little bit thinner than worsted weight that's okay, since I can double up the yarn and knit with it that way!
•any color yarn will do...it can be a color that represents you, or the colors of your blog, or just your favorite color in general. I'm not picky:)
•Your name and blog name so that when I'm knitting it I'll know which square goes with who! Plus your return address because I'm cooking up a little something for those of you that are going to participate!
•With the leftover yarn that I have at the end of this endeavor, I'm going to kick off my charity knitting of the new year. I'm checking into starting a knitting club at the retirement center down the street from my house and if that doesn't work I'm going to see about teaching knitting to long term patients at the local hospital. (Thanks to Jennifer for the great idea!!)

If you are interested in doing this, email me or leave me a comment and I'll send you my snail mail address!! This is going to be fun!!