A Froggin' I Will Go...

It's always so painful to frog a project! But this ...

Diamond Vest from Paton's website...


Had to go. I cast it on back in January, when I weighed 15 lbs more than I do now. I've dropped 2 sizes since then, so it wouldn't fit now.


It has become ...

This! Paton's cardigan with cabled yoke.

(This part is the yoke)

Free pattern from the Paton's website.


It is buttoned at the top and should fit even if I lose a lot more weight, which I don't think I will. I might get one size lower, but I don't think I'll go further than that, so it should be safe to start knitting for myself again.

And the Crest of the Wave scarf continues ... when it's done, I will block it together with the Angry Eye scarf, and be done with both at once. It's so hot! I can't bear to knit much in this heat. 












Other news: I completed my 3rd 5k this year (since 29 April, actually). The 22nd Annual Spirit of Gettysburg 5k, which took place this past Saturday.

Here I am, in the pink tank and gray skort.

(Aside: I *love* exercise skorts. I feel so girlie in them! Especially with a fancy fingernail paint-job!)


My actual chip time was 39:40. I started out pretty far back from the start line.





That's all from here! Don't forget to stop by Andrea's for Fiber Arts Friday!

Lazy Days of Almost Summer

Not getting too much knitting done ... a row here, a row there ...

A new ipad carrier. I suppose it didn't need a 100% merino wool 4-ply cabled handspun cover, but I have a bad habit of trying to save yarn for special projects ... then I wind up never using my "good" yarn. Silly, I know. So now ipad has a nice carry case/cover to keep it warm and protected from the uh, brutal Baltimore summer heat.

Picked up an old and long abandoned WIP! 

Crest of the Wave scarf I started in the winter, with Malabrigo. Easy pattern, but I get distracted and wind up having to go back and fix mistakes. It shall have a beaded fringe, and be loverly.

Free Rav pattern link here.

This is my latest heart-throb ... beckoning me from the yarn basket. KnitPicks. Colors are purple and green. 462 yards. Don't all yell "Wingspan" at once, now. I'm still deciding.









Okay, now on to Giveaway, Take II. I held another drawing for the roving and stitch markers featured on this post, since the first winner never came back and I couldn't contact her. So NANCY MCCARROLL is the new winner! Nancy, if you get in touch with me (is my email address on the webpage somewhere?) I'll send you the goodies!

Buh-bye!

Don't forget to stop by for Fiber Arts Friday Fun!

Finished Object Friday!

  Ta Da! A finished object! It's been so long since I had one of those, I'd nearly forgotten how to cast off. 


The Angry Eyes scarf is done, but it still needs to be blocked. I figure I'll get around to that in a month or two. It's not like I'll be wearing an alpaca scarf anytime soon. 

And, being the type of person I am ... instead of picking up one of the eleventy other WIPs I have laying around ... I started a new one. This is to be an ipad carrier. I hope to finish it soon and not just add it to the pile. I really do need something to carry it around in, and why buy a carry-case when I can knit one? Amiright? 

Or am I cheap?

Here's one of my handmade sweatbands after a washing. I must have dropped a stitch. I untangled it and pulled it back and re-knit it, and solemnly swore to only wash them in a garment net bag from now on.

These things really work, if you're wondering ... it's sock yarn, so it's either merino or merino/nylon, and it's light enough so that I don't feel like it's making me hotter. And they are very absorbent. I've made four, and I wore one under my ball cap when I ran outside, and didn't even feel it.


Oh ... and if you're wondering ...

Here is what poison oak looks like. If you didn't know.

I didn't know.


Thank God for steroid cream .... not only did it ease the itch and swelling, I got to pretend to go into ''roid rages' at work.








One final thing ... Dawn F. won the giveway drawing, but she never came back to tell me her address. I can't get in touch with her, because she uses google plus and there was no website or email address listed for her ... just an invitation to join google + so I could contact her. I've waited a few weeks. Should I just draw another name? I'm not sure of the etiquette. What do I do?

Thanks for stopping by! Please visit Andrea's blog for Fiber Arts Friday stuff!

Paging Dawn F.!

Hello, Dawn F. who chose AQUAMARINE for her crayon color ... you won the giveaway! Please get in touch with me so I can send you your prize!


In other news ... I've been knitting myself some sweatbands. With sock yarn. 

I have a large head, and none of the commercially-available headwraps/bands fit me ... so I did what any enterprising knitter would do. Made some for myself!

Mostly garter stitch ... but the one on the right is seed stitch. They stay on, soak up the moisture, and are much more comfortable than the sweat rolling into my eyes! I wear them when I run...I might make some from cotton to see if they are more absorbent. I don't want to get breakouts on my forehead.



Aside from knitting headbands and gardening ... that's about it!

The overflowing herb garden ... survived last winter, and has been severely pruned twice!

And this years' vegetable garden. I'm trying to be a bit more conservative than I normally am, and I only planted 7 things in this little space. Three tomatoes, cucumber, basil, and parsley. That's six .... oh, and eggplant. It was originally going to be two tomato, but I found a tomato sprout in the front, where I haven't grown tomatoes for two years, and I'm insanely curious as to what it could be. Supersweet 100? Yellow heirloom? Juliet? Margarita? Jellybean? I can't wait to see what it is! I hope it's not Juliet or Margarita, because I'm already growing those!

I have to be honest. I'm probably going to try to squeeze some sort of squash in here, too. 



Thanks for stopping by ... don't forget to visit Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, Andrea's, for Fiber Arts Friday!

And the Winner is ....

Aquamarine Dawn!

Four stitch markers and 2 ounces of blended fiber will be on the way to you ... as soon as you tell me where to send it! Message me in Ravelry (SpinsterBeth) with your address, unless you can magically find my email link somewhere on this blog (honestly, I am so stumped...and I can't load your google+ page for some reason!)

Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy spinning it!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday, all ... be sure to check in with the fabulous Andrea  and see what everyone is up to!

Hey, Maybe I Should Have a Giveaway...

A Cat in a Box! Who doesn't want one of those?! Just say MEOW in the comments, and she's all yours! Add a few purrrrs, and you can have the cat doing the photo-bombing in the upper right hand corner.


Just kidding. Molly Cat not available. But since I am so lucky to be living close to the West Friendship Fairgrounds, site of the fabulous yearly Sheep and Wool Festival, I thought I'd share some of my happiness.

2 ounces of alpaca/wool/angelina, by Little Barn, inc.

(Clematis not included)

Also, four handmade stitch markers.















The recipient will be decided next Friday in a random drawing by a stranger I will accost on the street and ask to pull a piece of paper out of a jar. To enter this drawing, leave a comment in which you name your favorite color of Crayola Crayon ...and write it in all caps with an exclamation point: CERULEAN! for example. That way I won't inadvertently draw the name of a non-spinner for the giveaway. So, get out that crayon box and choose a crayon!


Here's what I've been working on:

Spinning the merino I bought at Sheep and Wool.



Er, let me try this without Edgar Cat in the picture.

SIGH.














THERE. I'm going to do a 2-ply of each color.

These are my favorite Zebisis spindles. I adore them. They are just the right weight for just about everything. 

















Anyway ... here's what else I've been doing. Harvesting a ridiculous amount of chamomile. Everything in my herb garden survived the winter. So now it's barely into May, and I have enough herbs to last a few years. I've snipped off the flowers and I'm going to dry them for tea. I love chamomile tea ... so relaxing! It's like a sedative.








So that was my week! I have another 5.3k tomorrow (Friday) ... this one is sponsored by my workplace, and electronic devices are not allowed where I work, so there will be no pictures to share.

****update from work: I ran the 3.3 miles in 40:58. About a 12:24 pace. Now I'm ready to come home and drink wine and relax!****

I won't be blogging that one, but my friend has just written part two of her 1/2 Marathon adventure from this past St. Patrick's Day Rock-n-Roll 1/2 Marathon. So if you're interested, stop by and take a look!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday, all! Don't forget to stop by Andrea's!

Another Awesome Sheep and Wool Festival!

I'm going to post the images without too much commentary ... it was a lovely warm day, and the rain held off till I was all the way home.

Below is Misty Mountain Farms, my favorite vendor. Last year, I paid their mortgage.

Above are some lovely trindles!  Below, a Christmas ornament.

 

In retrospect, I should have purchased this lovely pink-and-green-and-white Zauberball. It reminded me of roses.

 A peg loom

   

A friendly blue-eyed alpaca and some less-thrilled friends ...

This little one was hopping around like mad ... then she suddenly lay down and rested.

This is an extreme close up of a sheep's nose. A very curious sheep. 

 

 

My haul ... very restrained! Three bags of roving, some mawatas, a nostepinne, a skein of mixed wool/acrylic/mohair/somethingelse. Last year I over-indulged to a ridiculous degree ... I still have unspun roving from last year, not to mention yarn! So I kept it simple this year. I wanted another spindle, but the only ones that caught my eye cost $100. There were also spindle-lazy kates, but those were well over $100, and I can get by with cardboard tubes. No matter how nicer a real wood spindle kate would be ...



Now I am determined to get through some of my stash, well before next year's Sheep and Wool. If you're going to the fair tomorrow, have a good time!