Pixie Purls

Fleece Artist Garter Stitch Jacket (Purchased in Nova Scotia 2006)

Back on Valantines day in 2006 I was working on this Jacket. Ironic I rip it out just before Valantines day!

I should have known I would never knit something that required 2 skeins of mohair knit together. When I knit it I got very tired of the 2 strands because they looked so much alike that I started just knitting every 2 rows with alternate skiens. This makes it pretty darn hard to rip. I couldn't use the ball winder so I had to do it all by hand and my back was killing me by the time I was done, as I slowly hunched lower and lower.

Before:

After:

Near the end it got really bad so I simply threw that bottom strip away. Yes I am crazy like that. I don't think I will ever get rid of this yarn, it's sentimental because I got it in Nova Scotia and it's very pretty. I might put it in a nice bowl just to look pretty.

I have started getting e-mails asking why I am MIA! Well if you really want to know...

My husband quit his job in late December and is still on the great Job hunt. I supported his quiting (even without a nother job lined up though I did warn him about it of course) but we are okay right now as I do work full time and our house payment isn't that high compared to most (we live in the boonies!).

So the stress of him wanting to find something that meets his requirments but also just gets him back to work is stressful but we are doing well.

Australia! It's just around the corner now and I can honestly say it's stressing me out a bit. We need to purchase our plan tickets faily soon (before prices rise) but I was waiting for a deal, none to be found. It's going to cost nearly $1,000 more then the last time we went so I was hesitating. So now with the husband jobless it's a bit harder to click the "buy" button for such a large purchase. We don't do credit cards in this family so when we spend larger chunks of money it effects reality!

So yeah that's whats keeping me from knitting and blogging, some life stuff but this often happens to me at the first of the year so no worries at all! Things will swing back up in February. I have a knitting retreat for a girl weekend with Claudia only a few weeks away!

The photos above show some of the "big ice storm" we got here. Not so very exciting, however Jen got 8 inches and I am very jelouse!! You will want to click that link for cool pics of Llamas and other fiber animals in the snow!

Posted by pixie at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This Saturday our SnB ran over to Woodstock, GA to the lovely "Whole Nine Yarns" for our monthly fieldtrip. I of course wasn't intending to buy any yarn but I find it hard to walk into a yarn store and NOT buy yarn. I have always wanted to try Louisa Harding and she has a lovely new book out that is just my style.

It's called "Modern Classics" and while I think most of us knitters who had some "balls" could probably write these patterns up fairly easily, it is nice to not *have* to. I got this on a whim, knowing full well I didn't need it.

I thought the Fitted Textured Sweater was very pretty (doesn't look that fitted to me...) and the yarn really caught my eye. I got it in the same color (08) of "Impression" that is in the photo. To me it's the color of "Tigerseye" stones, I love it.

Impressions is a superfine strand of kid mohair, wrapped around a very soft ribboned yarn. It's extremly soft and fluffy. I'm anxious to swatch but I think I'll save it for a little later.

I'm still working on my bolero, nice and slow like a turtle!

Posted by pixie at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I was browsing the Knitters Review Forum because I hadn't been by in a while when I came upon a very clever idea.

"... Had two balls with wrinkly, krinkly sock yarn that I wasn't looking forward to casting on again. At that point my dishwasher shut off and I opened the door to let things cool down before I started putting away. I felt a rush of steam on my face and the proverbial lightbulb went on. I put the two balls of sock yarn in an open space, closed the door and after about 5 - 7 minutes took them out. They have straightened out nicely, and I'm ready to cast on again!"

What a very clever knitter!

Posted by pixie at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

So on this MLK day I had to go to work, however the highlight is very little traffic. So I went to the LYS for lunch because I knew it wouldn't take to long to drive. My eyes got caught on this funky-curly-cotton, Manos Cotton Stria. It's soo soft. I don't normally like knitting with cotton, or curly yarn. I did get to see a swatch knit in it and I liked it.

The green is softer and paler then this photo and the blue is actually a bit more blue. Very pretty, kettle-dyed colors.

So here is my current knit from Debbie Bliss "Simply Soft"

I don't normally knit in such large yarn, but it certainly goes faster! Lets hope I can finish it before global warming takes over early spring. It was freakin beutiful out today, around 70 degrees. Tommorow has a high of 45! Talk about weather that will make people sick, it's colder inside my building right now then it is outside.

Posted by pixie at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

There is a new podcast up!

Posted by pixie at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I feel dumb, I has no idea His Dark Materials is going to be a movie. Wow how will they handle some of the special effects I wonder. Man I hope it's good like the Harry Potter movies. The girl doesn't look exactly as I imagined her, as I always imagined her very pretty just under lots of mud, because her mother is supposed to be so beutiful. This girl looks more lilke Anny.

December 2007, so happy to have a movie to look forward to! Nicole K is perfect for the part she's playing.

Update: Check out these photos, okay I like the girl playing lyra now! Lookit, handknits hehe

Posted by pixie at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Well I'm home and nearly settled back in. The husband and I both have head colds from the trip now or something, and we both have sore throats but we arn't terribly ill, just lots of sleeping! I'm trying to get myself back in gear to knit and spin (and I feel that urge to finish some quilts but I need to clean out the old crafting room).

I have been working on a bucket hat for my newphew in some Rowan Calmer but not very activley, I think I will spin up this stuff;

I might make a hat for me and the hubby from it. Hats are so easy and rewarding to knit from handspun. so are fingerless gloves. So here I am trying to get back to "normal" and into the groove. Hoping you all had lovely holidays and are also trying to get ramped back up into full "Crafting" gear. I see a bunch of people are doing the whole knit from your stash thing. I of course never join any sort of knit-along as it never works for me, but I understand the goal and wish all of those luck who are joining in. I might buy a few things this year, but probably not like last years with a new wheel and drum carder. I think this year I will stick to smaller purchases!

Posted by pixie at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)