On The Niddy Noddy and other stuff

I've finished my first 2 oz batt from the Bohoknitterchic's All Hallows Eve SAL and it's now on the niddy noddy. I've decided to store it there since I couldn't decide if I should just keep going with my second batt or do two separate batts so I'd have a better idea of how many yards I had to work with when I was finished. I'm thinking of making a pair of fingerless gloves or mitts. If I can spin the next batt the same weight, I'll have two skeins of about the same amount of yarn so I'll have an idea of the size of the mitts I can make with one. I think I have about 100 yds give or take a couple yards from the 2 oz batt...not bad.




I was also looking at the Sanguine Gryphon's blog and the stunning outfits she makes. They're very like the ones you find in the Renaissance Faires my daughter and I love going to, only made in the most exquisite fabrics and with such talent sigh. She is one very gifted woman. It made me think of how I love my daughter in her Ren. Faire garb. I love watching her as she enjoys the day, the experience, the children, the pickles, and I love how she plops down at the end of the day, totally exhausted but happy.....

Back To Eddie

I know I blather on to everyone about all the running for charity that Eddie Izzard has done & how I'm taking my Darling Daughter to see him as part of her 24th birthday gift, and how we watch everything he's ever done, and somehow Eddie-isms just jump from our mouths at randon intervals making total sense to us but rendering entirely too many people speechless wondering what a Flag is, but here's the proof that the man actually does fabulous charity work as well as comedy....and don't be afraid to admit that you just thought I was being crazy with my Flag Ravatar & Eddie groups in Ravelry...we love him, his talent, his way of giving back to charities & now, even his feet.

And yes, of course he has a Flag....


A whole bunch of them....why run all over the place & not have a bunch of Flags. Any number of things could come up...


And he's gone to very confusing places in the name of charity...


He loves animals, especialy small furry ones...

He has never complained....



And he has being doing all this for a worthy cause (and 43- 30 mile a day marathons deserves donations)
Sport Relief...which you can see on their shirts and can still donate a few dollars to...after all he did all the running for us...

le sigh. http://www.comicrelief.com/donate/eddie
(You can click on the photos to see more of Eddie's marathon at Twitpic)
I'm so bummed that we missed him when he was in the city for the opening of his movie Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, but if I could have walked, I'd have been there. I can't wait til January when we see him in his show in NYC. I'm already practicing to get in shape for the trip. I've been doing stretching, and walking, and moving around with my trusty rolling walker and ankle brace, using my SCS implant and trusty remote control zapper, and am now going to have to make yet another trip to the Dr to find out why all this is still causing me pain. I must be able to sit through an entire Eddie Izzard show without screaming out in pain! After all, if he can run 43 thirty mile marathons day after day, I must be able to see him in person without setting off alarms from having my SCS on too high.

And While We're On The Subject (or Don't Look At The Fiber Next To The Spindle)

I've been making some progress with the All Hallows Eve SAL with Bohoknitterchic's beautiful fiber. Everyone's giving me such great (if undeserved) feedback and it's helping me forge ahead with a vengeance. Here's where we play and look at all the beautiful spun art on Ravelry-http://www.ravelry.com/groups/bohemian-knitter-chic. And here is Bohoknitterchic's Etsy shop of fibery delights...and I mean the entire long drawn out addy ....http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5776752&ga_search_query=bohoknitterchic&ga_search_type=seller_usernames . So there, now run over & knock yourselves out with her shop.....you won't believe the things she can do with fiber. And if you manage to think of something that she hasn't, dream on... but where there's life, there's hope, so I guess it could happen, and if it does, you just have to tell her about what you have in mind & Ms. Magic Fingers Herself will make the colorway for you! Amazing!!! I love her to pieces!!

It's starting to look like yarn...my spinning that is. The close-up on the top is a bit fuzzy but I was aiming for the sparkles and I'm just not great with the camera, as you already can tell. The oranges are deeper & really vibrant, the greens & purples like jewels and the black just brings out the colors brilliantly. So much for the photography.

I thought I was really moving along & had found a groove with my spinning. At one point I thought I'd either lost a whole piece of roving, or I was getting absolutely brilliant with my spinning, but I'd put my little piles of fiber right next to me and when I looked, there they were, so I thought "Whoa, I'm really getting good at this!"

I really should learn to trust my instincts more because when my husband came home he walked into the den by way of the living room and he was holding a long piece of roving stolen by Kitty and who knows what hiding place it was being pilfered to. That's a piece of it that I lay next to the spinning I did get done today in the photo on the bottom. I call it Exhibit A in case I have to take this to court to find any other pieces that she managed to get to her hideout. And she looked so innocent (I thinks she's teaching a course in looking innocent while ransacking a house of whatever you want...she doesn't get out so I'm sure it's an on line course at night while I'm sleeping & think the computer isn't being used...Google Cat Thief for more information).

So, I haven't actually spun as much as I'd imagined, and Kitty is getting even sneakier than I thought possible. I thought she was finished fooling with me for the day after literally falling asleep with her face on my wrist while I was knitting-see earlier blog entry-but no, she was just trying to lull me into a false sense of security while she plotted her next coup. I think purring is involved as a means of relaxing me into sleep while there is still fiber in my hands...that's just wicked. I've told her that I may have to report her to Ravelry and have Bob deal with her, she washed her face & groomed her long fluffy tail.

She's good. She's really good. She could get a job sniffing out expensive fiber...if only she'd give it to you when she found it. She's sooooo lucky we love her.

But I Have An Excuse ! ! !

There are days when I feel like I get nothing done. I know I think I'm working on something. I do my exercises for my back and legs - I remember the pain so I know I did them, but I look at my WIP and wonder how it's possible to have so many.
I do try to do a little spinning & knitting every day so I think I should be farther along than I am. So why am I still working on a pair of socks that have been on my needles for over a year. I just can't figure it out.

JUST KEEP SPINNING, JUST KEEP KNITTING.....

Yup, I've been busy... tired, but busy. I'm knitting the Martini Scarf for the KAL with The Knitter's Brewing Company for my daughter. Of course I missed the finish date, but the knitting goes on. I love the colorway! Cosmopolitan is a red, but not a bright red, more like a rusty red. It's described as a medium cranberry red with naturally occurring highlights-love that Sock-aholic Cosmo! I love it so much that I just added yet another thing to my knitting list for the holidays. I bought the kit for the Drinking Gloves in Cosmo since they were so cute I couldn't resist. I can only pray The Knitter's Brewing Co. doesn't come out with a matching hat, I'd be doomed.
Now, if I could only get the photos right...one more thing to work on le sigh.


I've also been working on Bohoknitterchic's Spinalong for Halloween. She made the most beautiful fiber kit for the SAL. I love playing with it almost as much as I like spinning it. The spinning takes forever for me with that spindle, but it's a blast. And I love looking at all the unbelievable spinning being done by other spinners in the group
(http://www.ravelry.com/groups/bohemian-knitter-chic) who really know their stuff.....and even have wheels wish I had a wheel wish I had a wheel. I wish you could see how beautiful the colors really are, and how they sparkle....Yummy! Anyhow, I'm so far behind in this SAL that it may be next Halloween before I finish spinning & actually make something out of the fiber. The good news is that it'll be the first thing I've made with something I spun, and, I'll be early for a change!


I've still got to finish the socks I've been making for my sister for her birthday. It's been so long that I now owe her another pair for the last birthday. At least I've got the yarn & pattern for the next pair & I think she'll love it...I hope she does anyway...and this should go down in history for the socks that have taken me the longest to make. No photos here just in case she visits -she knows I'm making them but after all this time she at the very least deserves to be the first one to see them :-)

All this has started me thinking of all the WIP I still have to get to before the holidays. I have no time to write about them if I ever expect to get them done, and I'd better lay off Ravelry for a day or two so I can get some actual knitting time in. Rav is so addictive!!!! Back to knitting...

Ah, YES, I AM A PIRATE

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

OMG SWEDISH YARN ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I’m beyond excited & had to share. My nephew(& Godson) and his lovely wife went to Sweden (home of my ancestors) and brought me back the most amazingly beautiful yarn so I had to share. I can’t read a word on the labels or on the website but I don’t care! It’s called Jarbo Garn(yarn-I got that), I’m guessing that the color is lovikka, & to show how chunky it is I stuck a chapstick in the photo (I’m just nice that way). I am so over the moon it’s nuts! Each is 100g=60m (I’m totally blank with metrics) and I have to come up with something extra special to make with them so I’m open to all suggestions. Oh, and I want the guy who’s knitting on the left side of their website-I called it first so he’s mine but you all can take a look-www.jarbo.se (there’s something very hot about a guy knitting, or maybe a Swedish guy knitting, or it could be just the guy…..)

Knitting Progress...what's that???

It seems that every time I get going with my knitting it sets off a silent alarm that only cats can hear. It's without fail that once I get into the actual knitting, (I'm fine if I only have a ball of yarn & needles in my hand), the cat must come and sit directly on the project in hand. That's a furry blob over 10 lbs. lounging on top of my WIP as well as the hands desperately holding onto the needles so I don't drop any stitches while she's there. This time I wiggled away and decided to do something other than knitting, something the cat wouldn't be interested in at all. I thought I'd make some changes in a sock pattern I was going to start.

So out came the Basic Sock Pattern I have typed up and ready and I began to make changes on a little notepad that was next to me on the sofa. This could work. It's knitting related so my brain was happy thinking knitty thoughts, but there was no yarn for Kitty to get the silent alarm to flatten me with her fluffiness. Now this could just be my cat, or maybe cats everywhere have an uncanny way of knowing when their world is out of kilter, because the next thing I knew there she was. And she decided to take a nap on the paperwork...or did she... I quickly noticed as I sat there burning up, that I was writing on a pretty incendiary pad if I were to think like a cat. Here's the picture of her sly little self letting me know that "I heart dogs" is totally unacceptable, even for number crunching a knitting pattern. I get the message Kitty & I apologize.

I'm now knitting away on the baby sweaters for the local hospital. They have to be made in acrylic yarn. Kitty has no interest in acrylic and will leave me and the yarn alone for as long as I'm working on it. Alpaca & cashmere is another story altogether. She's a real sneak thief when it comes to good fiber. If for nothing else, I've got to love her for her good taste.

Moonwood Farm MoonBeam Club Giveaway

I am so in love with everything in Moonwood Farm, especially Roo (and Serious, that handsome little boy). And now Roo is so generous, she has offered up a Moonbeam Club subscription for a lucky commenter! Just visit Phatfiber.blogspot.com for details, stop at Moonwood Farms on Etsy & let them know what fiber you'd like to see in her MoonBeams Club.

What is so special about moonbeams? Well Roo, being the genius she is, has gone to the trouble of carding all of the pretty luxurious fibers together and then has separated the batt into one continuous coil. That means, it's even more ready to spin than a batt would be! It is as if you took some roving and predrafted all of it before spinning- only with this you wouldn't have to! Experience the pure joy of the twist without the prep. I'm all for that, since I love the spinning & always have issues with everything I have to do to get there.

So, stop at the Phatfiber site for the details and then run to the shop now! If you don't win, you can still get a subscription...if you're fast enough ;-)

HELP NEEDED! ! ! A terrific opportunity for a Random Act of Kindness!

This is a copy of a request from a very deserving scenic artist. If you can help, please send her what you can, or let me know, & you can send it to me & I'll send it her way. I'm adding her original note so you have all the details. You can also look at this as a great way to clean up the neighborhood by carefully taking down from poles, posters from bands you don't even know with shows that are probably outdated. Or clean out your attic/basement of the old posters show posters you never got to toss-now's the time.
So, please , look around your home,work & play areas for show posters, graphic stickers etc., & take them down for a good cause. Thanks, I'm getting off my soap box now. Here's Lisa's letter-

lamp posts of philly
Originally uploaded by lepetitbleux

posters wanted!

Hey blog readers! I need your help.

Could you go out in the next few days and tear down some show posters, and mail them to me?

We're covering the gigantic walls of our upcoming show with this sort of thing, and we would like as many real posters as possible.

Also desirable, are graphic stickers, and other cool images on paper that are bold enough to "read" from twenty feet away. Random weird stuff on paper is good, too.

Artists, take your images and blow them up on the photocopier, and then mail them to me!

The same goes for you, letterboxers.

Please mail to:

Berkeley Repertory Scenic Studios
Lisa Lazar, Scenic Artist
2526 Wood Street
Oakland CA 94607

(We will be gluing everything to the walls, so please don't send me anything that you want back.)