the Akamai Knitter

Yesterday was a busy day. I had several errands to run, a doctor’s appointment, the bead show, and dinner out. I won’t regale you with tales of my errands and my doctor’s appointment as they were all rather mundane and boring, but I’ll share my loot from the bead show.

Before that though, I want to introduce you to Andrew who’s with Green Girl Studios. He’s actually Green Girl’s brother and he’s a sweetheart. I look forward to seeing him whenever he’s in town.

Isn’t he a cutie? He used his wiles on me and I ended up buying all this:

I really love the mermaids. I have a “thing” for them and these are really beautiful. Take a look at the backs.

Don’t you think that makes these pendants extra special?

I also got a free bead for wearing a Green Girl bead to the show. It’s a real beauty!

I also got some charms just for me from Hip Chick Beads.

I especially like the one that says “Balance, Belief, Beauty.” I think those words are especially inspirational. :)

Here’s the rest of my goodies.

I really love those Panda Bears. They’re so sweet!

There is one last thing for me to share, but I didn’t get it myself. My lovely mother bought it for me as a gift. I wish I could remember who the artist is, but alas! My memory! It is shoddy!

I just love the colors! In certain lights it also looks green.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but even though I was there for two hours I still didn’t really get a good look at everything. It was such a whirlwind of people and now I’m just exhausted.

I did manage to get some new earrings up on the shop though. Since I’ve been doing such tedious and complicated designs, I felt the need to do something simple. So I came up with these earrings.

It was a really nice change of pace and talk about instant gratification!

I think it’s time to try and recuperate from all the hustle and bustle.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Even though I told my Joy no presents when I invited her to my small birthday dinner, she gave me this.

It’s Artyarns Ultramerino 4, Color 144 and I plan on making the Simple Yet Effective Shawl with it. My hopes is to knit this up and have it blocked by next week Thursday.

Why?

Because my mother will be out of town for a week. This way I can have a secret present for her on Christmas day. This is the goal.

I’m not sure how realistic it is.

Nothing like a little self-confidence, eh?

Continuing on with the birthday fun, I was thoroughly spoiled by our Jen.

Does she know me or does she know me? I could not stop squealing as I unwrapped everything.

She knows I can never have enough bags. The bag is from Slipped Stitch Studios. She knows I collect fantasy art cards.  The  cards are from Susan Rodio Art.  She knows I have a Hello Kitty thing.

As for the yarn? Take a closer look.

Jen calls it “Black Opal.” Isn’t that awesome? But there’s a small story behind the yarn.

I’ve been wanting to knit Irtfa’a for ages. Only I had a specific yarn in mind. So I custom ordered some from Jen. What she did was hand paint some Jaggerspun Zephyr Merino/Silk to my specifications. Only she didn’t let me pay for it.

Now I can’t wait to start the shawl.

Only I have that Christmas present to knit.

And don’t forget the Damson, the Lyra, or the Oyster Bay Shawl someone *cough*megan*cough*kindly keeps reminding me off.

Then there’s jewelry to be made and cross-stitching to be done.  And I musn’t neglect the spinning wheels even though I have.

Oh and the other presents. There are other presents that need to be made.

Yeah.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.

Remember when I used to show you all finished things? Ha. Haha. Ha.

Happy Wednesday folks!

When last I checked in, I was all excited over learning a new wire wrapping technique. I had big plans on stocking the shop and I even planned on having a sale this month.  Unfortunately I caught the flu last week Tuesday and the crud has settled in well and tight and has been around ever since.

I’ve mostly been cross-stitching because I can’t concentrate on anything else. I did try in vain to make jewelry. I ended up wasting some precious wire.

Even though I’m on the last chart of the Oyster Bay Shawl, the weather here, for the most part,  has been very humid so knitting hasn’t held much appeal. I think that the lace might also be too much for me to handle right now too.

The knitting mojo might be making a come back though. There’s been a certain skein of yarn in my possession that’s been calling me.

If you can’t tell by the picture, this is a Merino/Silk fingering weight blend from Hungry For Handspun. The color is Steel Wool.

I’ve been itching to knit with it for awhile, but I didn’t have the energy to wind it until today.

As for my plans for it?

I think that the Damson will be the perfect knit while I recover from the crud. The pattern looks mindless and soothing.

I just hope I have enough  yarn. A lot of Ravelers ran out of yarn as they were binding off and I can’t get a hold of anymore of this yarn since it’s a unique hand paint. I suppose I’ll have to search for a complimentary color in case of emergency.

This isn’t a new photo of Quincy. I didn’t have the energy to wrangle the boys up for a photo shoot. I hope you’ll enjoy this just the same.

Happy whatever day of the week this is! Lysol your keyboards just in case this flu goes computer viral on you. ;-P

This weekend the bead show (I can’t remember the name) rolled into town. Not only did this crazy person go on Saturday, this crazy person also went on Sunday.

It was so busy and hot on Saturday, I didn’t get a chance to see everything. Nor did I get a chance to spend my full allowance. Now that just ain’t right, right? That’s why I had to go back on Sunday.

Lisa has been hollerin’ to see photos of my haul. Who am I to deny her?

Semi-precious gemstones and a strand of copper beads sprayed or inlaid or something with silver.

Sushi beads! Mankei Neko beads!

And the ultimate prize(s), Green Girl Studio loot.

I kind of forgot include all of the beads I got from Green Girl. Maybe I’ll photograph them for another day.

I went a little crazy at her table. I really can’t resist her beads and pendants and her buttons. They’re just so inspirational. I’m also something of a collector when it comes to her products.

Of course standing at her table and talking with her delightful brother, Andrew, doesn’t really help. All the pretties are just sitting right in front of me while we talk, just begging to be adopted.

I also went a little crazy with the semi-precious. This is because I do the bulk of my shopping at the bead shows. There are only two bead shows a year, so I really need to stock up!

All this exposure to beads and the lovely people in the bead world has really inspired me. Necklace ideas are percolating. Bracelet ideas are popping.

It looks like the shawl might take the backseat for a spell.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Crazy is thinking I’ll be able to spin this batt with  a spindle:

into laceweight singles.

It helps that the spindle is so nifty. (I got it at Maryland Sheep & Wool last year.)

I love how the artist wood-burned her name into the shaft.

This is how much I spun last night.

Crazy is winning the CJ Kopec Spin-Along thingy.

Crazy is how the winning yarn knits up. I personally think it’s ugly, but the intended recipient loves it.

Crazy is wanting to acquire more spindles when I already own over ten of them.  No hassle me! I’ve been collecting for nearly 10 years! (Do ya like my pidgin?)

Crazy is the way cats can sleep comfortable with their feet past their chin.

There’s more crazy, but I can’t share it with you all on a public forum like this. You’ll just have to take my word for it. I will say that I hate people.

Happy Thursday, people! It’s a long weekend! :D