Here it is!

Here are all three skeins, hanging to dry. I dyed these on Saturday.

This...

...and this...

...and this...

...turned into this. This was the first skein. I think I was a little stingy on the dye because I knew I had two more skeins to dye, and wanted to make sure I had enough (mixed up) for all of them. I could have mixed up more dye, but didn't want to.

This...

...and this...

...turned into this. See the pinkish/purple? In real life it pretty much looks purple. That's from the blue that I used. It "bled" and turned this purple-y color. It looks cool.

This...

...and this...

...turned into this. This is the third skein I dyed. I used plenty of dye on this one. This is the yarn I'm going to be sending to my Dye-O-Rama Swap pal. She wanted water-y colors for a certain pattern. I like it. Again, it reminds me of the colors in the water around the Florida Keys. I was born in Key West (although, we only lived there til I was about a year old), so that's one of my favorite water examples.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my dyeing. I am now out of dye-able yarn, so I won't be doing any more for a while (I have the QP's school AND her summer day camp to pay for - which doesn't leave me with too much yarn money!).

Today, I'm putting away our fall/winter clothes. It's been in the high 80's and 90's here all weekend (and Monday and yesterday). Very yucky! It wouldn't be too bad if it weren't so damn humid, too! Oh well. This is how the weather is in Pennsylvania.

MAKE it a great day!

My brain's pattern...

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy. You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts. People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused. But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

I saw this on Ann's blog. It was hard for me to decide which picture to pick, but my eyes kept going back to this one. Turns out that this pretty well describes me. I've been told I'd be great at poker (since people have a hard time "reading" me). Although, I can't say that anyone's ever told me that they're impressed with my imagination. :-)

I did some dyeing today. 3 skeins. With the new dye colors. They're still drying. I'll take pictures of them tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get them re-wound tomorrow. Maybe not. It's supposed to be hot here the next few days. I don't like the heat & humidity - well, that's not true. The heat's ok. I HATE the humidity. It's gonna be a long summer for me (no air conditioners or central air in the house).

MAKE it a great day!

Watery goodness

Look at what I got today! More dye!! You know what that means...this weekend (if the weather's nice) I'll be dyeing some more yarn. Yay!! Do you see the names of the dyes? I'm going to attempt to dye some watery looking yarn. Blues and some greens. Yarn to remind you of the water when you drive through the Florida Keys.

Oh! And I realized today that I can dye my own yarn and then knit one of the awesome lace patterns out there. That way my lace will be the exact color(s) I want! Sock yarn should work for lace, right?

Aren't these stitch markers cool? They were made by one of the Nutty Knitters, Melissa. If you've read the Nutty Knitters blog, she was one of my models in our great shawl photo shoot. She brought these stitch markers along last night & showed them to us. I think they're so pretty!

See this bag? This was made (for me) last night by the QP. One of the other women had her daughter along. Well, the daughter had all this craft stuff & she showed the QP how to make this bag. Cool, huh?
The QP came over and demonstrated how to use the bag (maybe she thinks I don't know how to use bags??). She put the yarn (that I dyed) into this little bag. This particular skein of yarn is a small skein (it's the result of me cutting the yarn while trying to wind it because it was so tangled that I couldn't do anything with it).

Well, I'm off to bed. I am going on a field trip tomorrow with the QP's class. They are finished with school next Friday (which is a half-day, and they have off Monday, for Memorial Day). This school year went by really fast!

MAKE it a great day!

Just for Dave...

When I was creating the last post, I thought about adding the lilac pictures. I didn't add them because I thought maybe you guys are sick of flower pictures.

Then I looked at the comments this morning & saw Dave's. Now I have to wonder if he's been hacking into my computer to find out what flower pictures I've taken but haven't posted yet...

But there you go, Dave. Lilacs. :-)

MAKE it a great day!

Intention

Every week I have the intention of posting every day (well, at least 5 days out of the week). What happens, you ask? I don't know. My life just isn't that exciting. I don't knit (and finish items) especially fast. And I'm not witty enough to make a great post out of something mundane. And then there's the thing with the camera.

Last weekend I donated 2 hat & scarf sets and one felted knit bag to the auction at the QP's school. I even made nice little "Angelia's Knitting" sleeves to hold the hat/scarf sets together. The sleeves also listed fiber content, care instructions, and hat/scarf measurements.

Have you seen them? No? Well, that's because I didn't take any pictures of them before I turned them in. There I had a nice post - all those finished items - and I forgot to take pictures! Duh!

In other news...I got a beautiful postcard from my SP8 today. It had a rose on the front. Very pretty and very sweet! Thanks SP!

I'll leave you with some pictures (since this is such a lame post!)...



This is the wisteria. If you remember the Backyard Greetings meme several months ago, you'll remember that this was bare. The day that I took these pictures, the wisteria was buzzing (from all the bees that were at the flowers). It was a little unsettling to walk under this buzzing wisteria, but I was willing to walk into danger for the sake of providing you all with wisteria pictures.

The wisteria flowers, up close.

I'm not sure what these flowers are. They're growing up the side of the shed. When we first got this shed, the QP was pretty little. You can't tell from this picture, but it kind of looks like a little barn. The QP kept talking about this cow. It took us a while to realize that she thought it was a barn & that a cow was living in it.

This is a close up of the shed flowers...whatever they may be!

MAKE it a great day!

Where does the time go??

It's been a week since I dyed this yarn! Here (finally!) are the rest of the pictures of it. These are the two skeins I dyed. I used the same colors of dye but look at how different they turned out.
The first skein. This one reminds me of harvest colors. I like the richness of the colors (I don't care for pastels - I like bold colors).

Here it is, knit. I don't love it. I think there are too many colors - or maybe I just don't like varigated yarn - or there's too much green. I don't know. I just know that I don't love it once it's knit.

The second skein. I only had a little yellow left in my squeeze bottle. Instead of having sections that were just yellow, I mixed it with the blue and with the red. I really like the colors in this skein. They remind me of sherbet (except for the blue part) or of a flower (leaves & all).

Here's the second skein, knit. I like it better than the 1st one - but still don't love it. Again, I think I just need to use fewer colors. Picking one or two colors is really hard for me - that's why I end up with this yarn of every color! Oh well. That's why these were my practice yarns!

Friday was the chicken bbq at the QP's school. The kids had an early dismissal - they were done at 11AM. Because this is the school's biggest fundraiser, 100% family participation is expected (that means that parents are expected to volunteer their time and to donate things). I donated 2 scarf & hat sets, 2 "spa" baskets, a felted knit bag & helped at the "Sweets & Treats" stand from 11-2. In case you don't know - that's the baked goods stand. We had all kinds of yummy things to sell! I made chocolate chip cookies and whoopie pies (to donate to be sold).

Whoopie pies are 2 round chocolate cakes with a white icing filling. The cakes are about the size of a cookie, maybe a little bigger. Some people make pumpkin whoopie pies (the cake is pumpkin) or red velvet (the cake's red velvet & the filling is butter cream), and some make a peanut butter icing filling for the chocolate whoopie pies. The most common flavor is white icing and chocolate cake. The whoopie pies are wrapped in plastic wrap & sold individually.

Today, the school held a "country breakfast", a candy drop (a small plane from a local airport flew over & dropped candy out for the kids), a "country auction", and food (fresh sausage sandwiches, hot dogs, pork bar-b-que (which is not the same thing as the chicken bbq - the pork is similar to sloppy joes), french fries (the fresh cut kind), cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream and baked goods. They also had a bouncy castle ( you know - those inflated castles that the kids can jump in) and a clown making balloon creations for the kids. The QP and I spent several hours at her school today.

I had every intention of posting earlier in the week - but then the days just got away from me - and before I knew it, it was Saturday night! I don't think I even turned my computer on after Thursday afternoon!

And the QP only has 8 1/2 days of school left! I am so not ready for her to be out of school!

Enjoy what's left of the weekend and remember to MAKE it a great day!

A Colorful Weekend

This past weekend, I did some dyeing. The first three pictures are of the 1st skein I dyed. I used Yellow, Copenhagen Blue and Cherry. These colors created this "Rainbow" yarn. I haven't taken pictures of this yarn knit yet. It's been rainy here, so I haven't had any sunlight to take pictures in.

The sun was messing with me the day I dyed & took the pictures of this yarn - it kept going behind a cloud. So I had very few "good" pictures. The yarn above does not have a black section - that's actually blue.

This is the 2nd skein I dyed. I was running out of the yellow dye (that I had mixed up), so there's no yellow in this skein. What yellow I had, I mixed with blue and red. This skein has alot of magenta, purples, blues and greens in it. I haven't wound or knit a swatch with this one yet.

Again, the light was funny - so that section is actually more blue than it looks.

A few weeks ago, Fawn had a contest on her blog. This is what I won! Can you believe it? I can't! I never win things!! It's a felted cell phone cozy, and the flower has a (hair) rubberband on the back - so I use that for the QP's hair. She also sent some stickers for the QP. Wasn't that sweet? The QP loves stickers! Notice the stationary she used - "Deery-Lou The Cheerful Fawn" - cute, huh? Thanks Fawn!

MAKE it a great day!

"I" is for...

Iris

These grow in the back yard.

Can you see the spider?

The purple iris grow along the south side of the house.

That's all for now. I have to finish getting things ready for the auction at QP's school this coming weekend. I'm donating two "Spa" baskets, two hat/scarf sets, and a lined, felted bag.

MAKE it a great day!

Maryland

I know this post is a long time coming. What can I say? Saturday, all day, was MDS&W. Sunday, I was recovering (and had a baby shower - for triplets - to attend). Yesterday, well, I had to get the SP8 questionnaire posted. So, today I'll tell you about Maryland.

My day started at 5:45 AM. My Mom & I were meeting the others from church, at the church, at 7:30 AM. The QP spent the day with her Grandpa. She was upset that I was leaving for the day (even though she would have hated the sheep & wool festival!). 7-year olds!

We were all on the road to Maryland by 8 AM (don't even ask what happened to the "we're leaving at 7:30" thing!). We didn't have much traffic till we got off the fairgrounds exit. Then, we just followed the masses into the fairgrounds. We had three vehicles in our group, and we got separated at this point. Thankfully, we all have cell phones! My Mom got a close parking space. In fact, we were parked before anyone else in our group. We were parked, maybe 500 feet from the fairground entrance (my Mom's lucky like that).

Well. Let me tell you. I walked around (all day!) with my mouth hanging open. There was yarn and fiber EVERYWHERE! Any kind of yarn. Any color. Some had crazy prices. Some had regular prices. And some was cheap. Then there were the spinning wheels and the looms. And sheep. And alpacas.

Our second stop (the 1st was the bathroom), was the line for the Sheep & Wool souveniers. I'm not sure how long we were in that line (I'm really not a time person), but it had to have been an hour. It was ok - because we stood there and talked, and ate (there were all kinds of food stands close to the line).

**Little did I know, that this was how the entire day would be - waiting in lines.**

Next year, we're shopping first!

Once we were finished there, we got some more food & drinks and headed over to the border collie demonstration. It was already packed. But was interesting.

After that, we headed over to the main exhibit hall. This is where we got split up. The place was PACKED. And in the center of the building, it was so hot. At one point, I thought I was going to pass out. I took my bottle of water out & drank some, and felt a little better. Then I got to the end of the building and there was a little air coming in, that helped.

My Mom & I went through 2 more buildings and then it was almost time for the blogger meet-up. So we went to the meet-up area and sat on the grassy hill. Bloggers came pouring in and soon the little group turned into a bigger group. No sign of Cara, though (I was looking for the shawl). Then we found out that there was another group of bloggers, farther down the hill. So we combined with that group. Now. If you look at the sidebar on Cara's blog, you'll see that about 50 bloggers were signed up for the meet-up. There were way more than 50 people there! It was amazing! It was a huge group. Of women (I don't think there were any men). Talking. And knitting. And wearing and/or carrying knit items. And shopping bags full of fibery goodness. And yes, Cara and her shawl. I saw it (and touched it!). Heather and her friends (sorry - I don't know everyone's names) had these wonderful (bright!) shirts that had their name on the back and their blog name! What a great idea!

If you look at the picture to the left, you'll see Cara's black shawl laying on top of her bag. She was off, talking to people.

Me, the introvert, was a little overwhelmed by all these people I really didn't know. So I stood and took some pictures. My Mom & I left after maybe an hour (she doesn't read blogs). Anyway. I don't really know who's in the pictures I took! So if you're reading this, and recognize someone, let me know!

We wandered around the festival for a little longer. We left around 3 PM. We were tired and hot and grimey feeling by that time. We didn't see the others from our church at all after we were split up in the main exhibit hall. I'll tell you what - we were sooo happy for that close parking space when we left!! And can you believe that as we were walking out, there were still people walking in?!?

On the way home, we stopped at an Italian restaurant a few miles from the fairgrounds, so that we could sit down and eat. And cool off.

We got home around 5:30 PM. The QP and her Grandpa had gone out to eat. I guess, by that time, she was over being upset that I was not with her for the day!

So, overall, the S&W was great. Crazy packed with people. But amazing to look at all of that yarn! It would have been waaaay more fun if I'd had several hundred dollars to spend, but it was cool. I'll have to plan better for next year!

I bought a few things. I bought 3 skeins of sock yarn. No. Not Socks That Rock sock yarn. I didn't know which stand had it, and by the time I found out who was selling it, they had pretty much sold out. The sock yarn I bought is Filatura Lanarota Country Sock. It's 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon. We'll see how I like it.

I also bought some yarn that's a merino/alpaca mix. It is sooooo soft. I have about 200 yds of it - not sure what it's going to be yet. It's a beautiful lime/purple/white color. I love the color more, every time I look at it.

That's all for today. Tomorrow, maybe some finished objects...

MAKE it a great day!

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire

1.) What is your favorite yarn(s) to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I'd like to try bamboo yarn, soy yarn & Koigu. I don't care for Red Heart and I'm "boycotting" Lion Brand because their dye lots are so screwy.
2.) What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I store them in plastic bags, or in my big knitting bag.
3.) How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting since fall, last year. I consider myself intermediate.
4.) Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No, I don't.
5.) What's your favorite scent?
Citrus.
6.) Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes! Favorite candy would have to be chocolate! I also like marzipan.
7.) What other crafts or do-it-yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Right now, it's all about knitting. Although I am in the Dye-O-Rama Swap, so I'll be dyeing real soon. I don't spin...yet.
8.) What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3's?
R&B, 80's, 70's, yes, even disco. I don't think I can play MP3's.
9.) What's your favorite color? Or - do you have a favorite color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
My favorite color is blue. I like bold colors. I like blues, greens, purples, reds, orange and yellow, black & white. I don't care for pastels (especially pastel pink).
10.) What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a 7-year old daughter, a cat and a goldfish
11.) Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats, mittens and gloves. I don't wear ponchos.
12.) What is/are your favorite item(s) to knit?
felted bags and socks
13.) What are you knitting right now?
(3) prayer shawls, (1) sock, Irish Hiking Scarf, (2) hats
14.) Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!
15.) Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Straight, circular, dpn - depends on the item I'm knitting. I like bamboo, wood, and aluminum.
16.) Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I have a swift - no winder yet.
17.) How did you learn to knit?
Mostly self-taught. I learned alot from Vicki Square on one of the Knitty Gritty episodes.
18.) How old is your oldest UFO?
Old. At least 8 or 9 months.
19.) What is your favorite holiday?
I don't have a favorite holiday.
20.) Is there anything you collect?
Umm, yarn?
21.) Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Yarn Harlot, Mason-Dixon and Wendy Knits new books. Oh! Also the dyeing book (Dyeing To Knit - or something like that). Size 0 or 1 circs with a 40" cable. I subscribe to IK and KnitSimple magazines.
22.) Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Lace. Fair-Isle.
23.) Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have knit 3 socks. My foot measurements are: 9 1/2" around the instep and 9 3/4" from heel to toe (size 10 shoe).
24.) When is your birthday (mm/dd)?
March 7th.

Maryland Sheep & Wool tomorrow!

Yes, tomorrow is the Sheep & Wool Festival. This will be my 1st...I'm soooo excited. Even more so, because I almost wasn't going to be able to go. Yes, I know. It's only once a year. An unbelievable event. But, you see, money's tight right now. And I'd hate to be there and have no money!! But some things happened - and now I'm going! Yay! A few of the Nutty Knitters are going. My Mom & I are going (by the way, if you check out the Nutty Knitters blog, my Mom knit the "Charcoal" triangular shawl). It's going to be our Mother's Day present to ourselves! Yippee!! Cara's having a blogger meet up tomorrow afternoon. Life is good.

Speaking of good...guess what I got in the mail today??? Yep! Yarn. 5 skeins of Knit Picks "Color Your Own" sock yarn. That's about 2,200 yards of dye-able yarn! Woo-hoo! But I won't be dyeing tomorrow. No sir. I'll be in Maryland - looking at fiber, yarn, and I can only imagine the rest of the goodness I will see. I'm putting my camera into my bag now, so that I don't forget to take it along. I'm putting the extra batteries into my bag too (I won't need them now - but I guarantee, if I forgot them, I would need them!).

Yesterday I went to one of my local yarn shops and bought some dye. Only three colors for now. Red, blue, yellow. Ahh, the power of having those three colors! I can create any color with them! I can create any color - that's the power - but I do plan on buying other colors. :-)

Oh yes. And I told you last night about some finished objects. Well, I still haven't taken pictures of them (saving the camera batteries for Maryland). Possibly Sunday? Or, maybe I'll be so excited from the Sheep & Wool Festival that I'll totally forget about them til next week. I mean, Cara's gonna be there...and Norma...and Wendy...and other people that I just don't know about yet!

I'm off to get my bag ready for tomorrow. Enjoy the day. For those of you going to the Sheep & Wool Fest tomorrow, I'll see you there!

MAKE it a great day!

The matches have been made!

The matches have been made - for the Dye-O-Rama Swap!! Woo-hoo! I received the info for the person I will be dyeing yarn for. I e-mailed her. She e-mailed me back. She sounds fun. She's new to dyeing, too, and is very excited about the swap.

Yesterday I ordered the yarn. I'll be using Knit Picks Color Your Own yarn (fingering weight). I also bought some dye (from AC Moore). Went to Nutty Knitters last night. Realized the dye was the wrong kind. Had to return it today. So then I went to one of the local yarn shops. I bought the right kind of dye from them. I also got some tips from the woman who was helping me. I only bought three colors (that's all the cash I had on me). I need to go back and get some more colors - I have this beautiful color combination in mind for my swapee! I plan on doing some test yarn first. That way I can get the hang of dyeing, before I do the "official" yarn for my swapee.

I also heard from my Swap Buddy (the person who will be dyeing yarn for me!). S/he sounds great. Asked me questions as to my color and fiber preferences. I'm so excited! My very own custom dyed sock yarn! How awesome is that?? What sock pattern do you think I should use? Or should I wait to see the yarn first, to see what pattern it "calls" for??

As if all that isn't exciting enough, I'll soon have my Secret Pal 8 match! Tune in (probably tomorrow) for my SP8 Questionnaire.

Oh! I also have some FO's to share with you! Can you believe it?? I was actually knitting! I still have to take the pictures. I'll probably post them this weekend.

That's all for tonight - I have an early morning meeting tomorrow. Have to get some beauty sleep! :-)

MAKE it a great day!

"H" is for...

Hyacinths

They always make me think of Spring. Probably because they are one of the first flowers to bloom in the Spring here. I also love how they smell.

All of these are from my yard.

My Mom had hyacinths in her wedding flowers. She & my Dad were married in March (I was born on their first wedding anniversary).

MAKE it a great day!