My Mythos

It is rare for me to do one of the top popular patterns on Ravelry but I did it this time with Mythos. I do peruse the list and occasionally add patterns to my ever growing que. Though I don't usually get to them until well past their trendy period. No surprise there I'm sure. But there was something about this pattern that latched onto my brain and wouldn't let go. I had to make it! Maybe it was it's casual look, or the flow, or the fact that it would work perfectly with some of my hand dye. I then got it into my head that I wanted to wear it at Stitches, at least at the pajama party. I worked like mad and finished it the afternoon of the pajama party. It's a bit snugger on the arm than I thought it would be. I won't be able to wear it with a long sleeve shirt. I like it; I really like how the yarn worked up. I am starting to get impatient for fall, if nothing else just to wear some sweaters!

All the Blues

The St Louis area LYSs had a yarn crawl about a month ago. I scored 12 balls of dollar yarn. Totally not my color as you may have guessed.
So you know what that means; dye it! First putting all 12 balls into skeins so the dye can get to all the yarnie bits better. My thought was a dark blue; I love dark blue.
The thing is it takes a lot of blue to get blue. This was after my first dye day, two bottles of McCormick's blue food coloring (they are small) and an entire thing of Wilton's Royal Blue. Also a few packets of Kool Aid Grape to darken things up a bit. As you can see not too blue.
This is the final after one more jar of Wilton's Royal Blue and a few more Kool Aid packets. Admittedly I spent as much on the food coloring as on the yarn; but still $24 for a sweater's worth of yarn is not bad at all.
It's not very solid I'm not even sure I'd call it mostly solid. A bit solid maybe. I do have plans for a sweater. I'm hoping it will work out.

Socks on the Road

Well you know we drove to Chicago and you know what that means; Sock knitting and progress pictures!
Leaving St Louis; I'd started these socks a week or so early knowing I'd want plain socks for the drive.
When we got to Chicago.
Leaving Chicago,
and back home. I didn't get to knit the last hour or so because it got too dark. That was hard. I tried to remember what I used to do in the car and couldn't. Was there life before knitting?

Stitches Midwest....Or My Mom the Enabler

So a few months ago my mom was talking about wanting to go to a Stitches and how cool it would be to go to Stitches Midwest because it's in Chicago and I can drive their and meet her. Do you see the enabling? So long story short we went to Stitches last weekend!
We got up to Chicago early so we could enjoy some family sight seeing.
Then while mom and I had fun at the market The Bug and Mr. Gnome had fun at Legoland.
A great time was had by all. And some great knitting time.
My stash enhancement. You may notice, and if you don't I will tell you, this enhancement is smaller than the Maryland Sheep and Wool hall. There are two reasons for this. One is it was planned (darn budget); second Maryland Sheep and Wool was way more about Indy dyers while Stitches seemed to be more about retailers, the Indies were there and all but way fewer. Now each have their place but when I go to things like this I like to get things I can't get around town. A bit of explaining: The bug buttons are for The Bug's Sweater (theme? what theme) I'll be making her this year. The hat pattern goes with the yarn in front of it; it was in this clever booth where you pick you pattern then a neat chart tells you how much yarn. The Hiya Hiya needles were mostly so I could easily finish the Mythos Sweater. The silver thing is a shawl pin; while the brass thing is a stitch chaser that the artisan was making for anyone with a Ravelry pin.
Lastly there was a pajama party. 60 some knitters in the lobby of this fancy hotel in their pajamas hanging out and knitting. It was so cool! And, yes, a wee bit nerdy. The blue and pink yarn along with the pins were in the goody bag. The red yarn I won in the hand knit slippers contest. Won as in there were 11 of us and 9 prizes so you might also say I just wasn't one of the two losers.

Midwest Surf Hoodie

Finally it is finished!
I do like it. It fits really well. So glad I thought to get rid of that pesky extra repeat. ahem.... It is a nice length on me this way.
It is remarkably warm for being fingering weight in lace. To review the pattern is Apres Surf Hoodie with Knit Picks Gloss on size 2s. I learned that when one does an I-cord bind off it should be very loose, very unlike an actual I-cord. Redoing the bottom bind off looser made all the difference.
Perhaps my biggest problem is that I don't surf; it would be rather hard to do so in this land locked state. Thus I don't need a sweater to wear after surfing. But I'm glad I have one just in case.

Continuing the madness

When I got to the bring of the hood on The sweater I needed to switch needles. When I realized I didn't have the needles I, for some reason, decided it was a good time to cast on for another sweater.
Another sweater knit up with sock yarn. Really I have a problem. Mythos, this is one of those projects I saw and couldn't get out of my mind. I was drawn to strongly to it. The yarn is from the May DAL. Now the big difference and what may make me seem a little less crazy is that it just uses two skeins of yarn and is knit up on US 7s.
Way better and faster than all this US 2 business. See the difference? All I need to do to the purple sweater is decide how I feel about the sleeves; they are a bit long. sigh.... The blue sweater is half way knit.

Oven

In this heat it's nice to have more than one reason to turn on the oven. And if that doesn't give you a reason to make cookies than you are a stronger person than I.
On the left are Ricotta-Basil Stuffed Tomatoes from the July/Aug. issue of Vegetarian Times. This recipe was written to either be eaten right away or to be frozen for later enjoyment. Love that. These will be frozen and greatly enjoyed in the winter. Also, just remembering that there will someday be a winter is a nice thought. On the right are double Chocolate-Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. These will be enjoyed immediately and with great joy.

The Tale of the Pepper Man

There was once a Pepper Man and his little friend. They had been made by a little girl. This little girl brought them home. He cried tears of joy to have a home and a little pepper friend; even if he did have a crazy big nose.
Little did he know he'd been brought to a home of crazed vegetable eaters!
Even his little friend couldn't escape.
Mmmmm.....tasty Pepper Man.

Today

Wow last week was something else! We were all over the town celebrating World Breastfeeding Week and now I'm worn out! I'm a true introvert and all that socializing wears me out and makes me dream of home. So today I plan on knitting,knitting,
sewing, baking, and, I guess because I really should, cleaning.

The Sweater That Will Not End

It goes on and on my friend!There was knit the back, knit the front, knit the sleeves, knit the back again (grrrrr), sew it up, I-cord bind off the bottoms, knit the hood. Now I'm knitting around the hood and neck opening then there is more I-cord bind off. I'm not liking the I-cord bind off at the bottom of the sweater. It's a firm bind off that hits right at my hips; not really where I want something firm and lacking in the stretchy. Still thinking about what I'll do about that. I'm leaning towards just doing a regular bind off; or a slightly stretchy one and letting the fabric roll. The roll would be a bit like the I-cord.

Feeling Naughty

Really there is little else I can say. Recipe is in the latest Vegetarian Times. I promise to have a healthy lunch.

Socks!

It feels like I've been knitting these socks for a long time. It's been about two months? I think?
These are Vilai from Cookie A.'s Sock Innovations. It was a fun knit that required quite a bit of attention. It took me a while to feel a hundred perscent on the pattern itself and then I still had to be looking at it most of the time.
I got the yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival it's mill ends from the Davidson Corporation. Which means it was pretty cheep. The yarn was a little felted but I love how it looks knit up. Blues and Purples; my favorites!

Peachey!

Yes sir that time of year again!
Strawberry-Peach preserves.
Spiced Peach Jam. There was also a peach pie, peach in a stir-fry, dried peaches, frozen peaches, and lots of peach juice covered chins.