10 July 2007

Photos, photos, photos

First news, I bought a bike! It's a Marin Kentfield in a charcoal color. I've put on silver fenders, a black rack, a silver bottle holder, and a pretty floral bell! I love my bike. I rode it to work yesterday and fell off on the way home. My knees are scraped and bruised and my thighs hurt like a son of a gun, but I'm game to go again as soon as it cools down. It was over 100 degrees today and I'm a wuss in the heat. I'm getting up early tomorrow to ride, but not take the bike to work. Oh, and I got a spiffy pink, silver, and white helmet to accessorize with. Now for the floral basket that Leslie is forbidding and I'll be set!

Okay, I dug out yarn I don't believe there are photos for. Here is a montage of sock yarns. The turquoise/teal is Koigu. The red/orange blend is Lorna's Laces. The black/grey/pink is Scout's Sock Yarn, and the blue/orange/Green/purple/brick is Socks That Rock in a millend that you can't have.



Here is a photo of the beautiful alpaca I purchased outside of Hood River.


Here is the di.ve Autunno as well.


And now for two finished Amanda's Squatty Sidekicks with coin purses. The rusty one is out of Manos and the purple/green is out of Malabrigio. I did not like knitting with the Malabrigio compared to the Manos and I'm not sure I would purchase it again. I can't explain in words why I didn't like it, but in my hands it wasn't as pleasant to knit with as the Manos. I also did not like the colors pre-felting. They were really muddy to me. They lightened during felting and now I like it much better. I would also say that knitting this pattern in thick/thin yarns (as both Manos and Malabrigio are) was somewhat of a mistake. The bottom is knitted as a rectangle. With the Malabrigio purse, the rectangle was wider at one end than the other. During felting, this went wonky and the whole purse is now somewhat mis-shapen as a result. I stretched and worked it during the drying process, but could not erase this effect. So beware the two yarns when felting a shaped article!


I just purchased three knitting books from amazon.com. I got Knit 2 Together, Stitch and Bitch Nation, and Never Felt Better. I love Nicky Epstein's new felting book. It is a work of art. I highly recommend it to everyone out there who felts regularly and wants a clearer understanding of felting with lace, cables, or colorwork. It's brilliant.5

Finally, the felted Noro Kureyon purse I made last year redone. I tried to give it to Susan and when I saw it in her hands I could see that it was all wrong. It didn't just feel wrong it was. I went to JoAnn's for buttons for the Squatty's and bought handles for the Kureyon. I cut off the old handles, tightened up the ripple effect and sewed in one handle. I feel that it doesn't need two, but I may change my mind and add the second after I try to use it. Anyway, comments are welcome.



Finally, I knit a baby hat for my friends Mark and Natali, but I neglected to photograph it before sending it off. It was a great pattern that I will share at a later date.

I'm madly trying to finish socks and the scarf before Rich gets home, but I'm not getting much done in the heat.

Any guesses as to what this is? Lorie already knows...

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