Wintry Mix

These show notes are a couple of days late......sorry folks---had an podcast upload glitch with one of my browsers and that took me two days to hash out. Took me another couple of days to get all the pictures taken..........as I've said before, sometimes I just can't get out of my own way!

Thank-you everyone who has participated thus far in our very first contest!! I'm just loving all the names that you have come up with for our newest little fellow here on the farm. Your support means so much!!

Fiber Conquests
In knitting:
My Wintry Mix Sweater designed by Amy Herzog is done and I am lovin' it!! Done up in Berroco Blackstone Tweed colorway "Steamers." Fits well, and it was a joy to knit---although I miscalculated how much time it would take to knit up the collar---the collar truly makes the sweater.....I'm sure you'll agree!

My second Sizzlin' Hot Hat designed by Lucy Neatby is going at a glacial pace as I've been distracted by other projects which have a deadline as you will see....

I've joined a 'Christmas Club' for knitters. The concept is simple----knit one project a month and stow it away to give to those lucky someones for Christmas 2012. Hoping this will fare better than the Rockin' Sock Club did last year (update: have YET to finish a pair of socks from the Rockin' Sock Club--even though there were only 6 pairs to knit for the year! Shameful!). Anyhoo, the January (ergo, the first) project is the Citron Shawlette designed by Hilary Smith Callis. I've been woefully late-to-the-party on this one because it basically went viral on Ravelry soon after its release on Knitty in 2009. What can I say? I'm not a big shawl person---inhabitants of New England tend to gravitate towards sweater-knitting. I must say though that it's been a good knit---using some cool laceweight merino by Ella Rae---AND it looks like I might just get it done by the deadline!! Fingers crossed! Wish me luck!

Have been searching around for a project to use my very limited supply of mill spun 'Fergus' yarn on. Fergus is our brown Shetland wether (neutered) sheep---it's a very lovely shade of brown and I thought I deserved something made from it since he's not the easiest animal to keep----recall the 'Fergus' damage that my DH has to repair on the barn every spring when Fergus decides he's had enough of winter and repeatedly bashes his head into the walls of the barn. You have to wonder what goes through their minds.............I digress.......the project, oh yes---I decided upon the Eco Vest by Katie Himmelberg which is in the book Knitting Green. The pattern came to me via a free e-book download from Knitting Daily which is a daily e-newsletter put out by the folks at Interweave Press---I think I subscribe to 4 of their magazines altogether. Anyway, the Eco Vest is a great knit---4 row pattern repeat which is easy to memorize and this is going to be one cozy vest---pattern calls for Size 10.5 needles, but I've gone down two sizes as usual as I'm always the loosey-goosey knitter.

I've been invited to a baby shower for a fellow co-worker who started with me back in 2008. I was in quite a quandary over what to make when I heard that she loves handmade things. Lucky for me, my LYS, White River Yarns, helped me out. Went in last Saturday an purchased enough Cascade 220 Superwash yarn in the appropriate colors to make the Slip Stitch Blanket featured as project #59 in 60 Quick Baby Knits (a review of the book is in the Yammer section of this episode of the podcast). Loving this project and REALLY crossing my fingers about getting it done on time---shower is February 8th!!

In Crochet:
Made some progress on my Dusty Snowflake Throw---added another row of snowflake motifs to the throw with some speed bumps along the way. This is a join-as-you-go throw and I don't have a lot of experience (read: none) joining motifs as I go. So I had a couple of false starts, but I think I have the hang of it now.

In spinning:
Still working on the dog hair from my sister---the ultimate procrastination project as I don't enjoy spinning dog hair much...just sayin'. But the sooner I get the dog hair done, the sooner I can move on to other wonderful fibers!!

What's happening on the farm and in the barn?
Listen into the podcast to hear me go on about some mishaps that happened with our newest addition to the flock. Also, where are the birds this winter?

Sleeping on the Job: Settling in to being a 'full-time' worker at just one place of employment. May use this segment in the future to talk about the phenomenon of pain.

Yammer:
Book review: 60 Quick Baby Knits

Thanks to everyone for tuning me in......talk to you again soon!