the Akamai Knitter

Yes, there has been knitting. Actual knitting. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But it’s true! I managed to finish a cardigan during my stay here in Altoona.

I give you the piCardigan (Ravelry link).

Pattern: piCardigan

Yarn: Tatamy Tweed in Black

Needles: size US 7 / 4.5mm

Started: May 5, 2008

Finished: May 21, 2008

Modifications: I left out the shaping for the sleeves. They would’ve been too baggy if I had done any increases.

I love top-down raglan sweaters. I love the way the increases look. I love Tatamy Tweed. It’s so soft and easy to knit with. The tweed had just enough going on that it made knitting with black not so monotonous.

The hem was the most tedious part because you have to sew it in. I’m a knitter, not a seamstress. The sewing nearly did me in. There was quite a bit of sighing and groaning during the process. In the end, I think it was worth it.

There you have it. Actual knitting content. Don’t you all faint on me!

Have a happy Thursday everyone! Friday is right around the corner which means the weekend will be upon us soon!

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I hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. My weekend was crammed full so this will be a long post.

On Saturday Shelly and her family took me out for some site seeing. The first place we hit was Baker’s Mansion, which was originally the home of ironmaster Elias Baker and his family. The house is beautiful and so are all the wonderful things inside. I went a little crazy with my camera. You can see all the pictures I took here.

After the tour, we drove past the Bedford Springs Resort, which is a historical landmark here in Pennsylvania. It’s incredibly beautiful and from what I hear, incredibly expensive.

After we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful architecture of the resort, we drove to Gravity Hill where we defied the laws of physics and coasted our vehicle uphill. It was quite a thrill!

Finally we adjourned for a meal at the Jean Bonnet Tavern where we dined alfresco. I had the house specialty crab cakes and they were delicious! I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture.

I got a real kick out of the Rules Of The Tavern that they had posted.

I had a really good time and I can honestly say that I was thoroughly exhausted by day’s end.

Instead of resting on Sunday like I would normally have done, Shelly and I decided to have a Dye Day. The fun never stops here in Altoona. :)

We started by weighing out roving into 4oz increments. There’s a scale under that yellow bin.

After that we soaked the wool in water for about an hour.

While that was soaking, we played with painter sample cards to see what colors we wanted to dye up.

Finally, the dyeing began. First we laid out plastic wrap across the table. Then we laid the roving over the wrap in strips.

We used squeeze bottles to paint the roving. Here’s some Corriedale I did myself in blues and greens. My camera really didn’t like these colors.

Then we wrapped the roving into little squares with the plastic wrap and nuked them in the microwave.

And voila! Hand painted roving!

Most of the roving you see here will be posted on Shelly’s Etsy shop, Rose Garden Fibers, in the coming days. That’s if I don’t snatch them all up first. The roving I dyed, which is on the far left, will be coming home with me. I think I’ll probably spin it up into laceweight.

Yesterday, I did have a chance to rest and recuperate from all the activity. We ended up staying in and watching Gone With The Wind. Can you believe that this was the first time I’ve ever seen that movie? And for some odd reason I thought that Elizabeth Taylor played Scarlett O’hara. Shows how much of a movie buff I am. I really enjoyed it, but I was flabbergasted at the ending. I mean really, that’s it?

Anyway, I did get a lot of knitting done. It’s amazing how much you can get done during a movie and in the car. More on that later.

Thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a happy Tuesday! The day after a long weekend is always tough. Here’s a picture of some mighty cute dogs to help with that.

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On Wednesday Shelly took me out to The Knitter’s Underground and its new location. It’s located right on Molly’s farm.

Inside was a beautiful shop full of racks of gorgeous yarn.

Needless to say, I bought some yarn.

On the very top we have Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted* in Onyx and Lotus Pink for the Pirate Queen Booty Bag.

In the middle, we have Frog Tree Alpaca Wool in fingering weight for the Shetland Triangle Shawl that I’m planning on making for my mother. (See? This yarn isn’t for me. It’s for my mother. It doesn’t count as stash!)

Finally, we have Trekking XXL in Color No. 105 and Trekking Pro Natura in Color No. 1506 because a shopping trip just isn’t complete without sock yarn.

Yarn wasn’t all I got either.

I picked up another copy of Barbara G. Walker’s Knitting From The Top, because I seem to have misplaced my own copy.

Then there’s the pattern The Brora Black Cobweb Shawl, which I consider my greatest find. I didn’t think I’d ever get my hands on this pattern. I’ve been coveting it for quite awhile too.

After our visit to the yarn store, we traveled on to Miller’s Hoagie’s. They have the best sandwiches I have ever tasted.

The sandwich has ham, bologna, hard salami, and provolone. The veggies consisted of lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. I declined on the hot peppers that day because my stomach was feeling a little iffy. As you can see, they put the meat on top. This made the sandwich a lot less sloppy then the hoagies I’m used to.

All in all, it was a wonderfully successful excursion. Thanks to Shelly for giving me such a fabulous time! Tomorrow there’s more fun planned, but none of it has much to do with fiber. This is actually a good thing for my wallet.

Still to come are the purchases I made from Delightful Ewe, the local yarn shop that I helped move. It seems every time I stop by I come away with more yarn. Carla, the yarn shop owner, has generously donated an extra suitcase or two for me to cart my purchases home with me. I’m sure she gave me the biggest suitcase she could find in order to urge me on in filling it up with all the yarn I can.

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for reading. :-)

*It’s late here so I took the lazy way out and linked most of my purchases to Ravelry. My apologies!

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It’s about time I got to this post, isn’t it? My excuses? Well, I’ve been busy helping a friend move her yarn store to a different location. I’ve been laid low with a 24 hour flu bug. (This post was planned for Friday, but I was completely incapacitated that day.) Not to mention, that Fibromyalgia flare just won’t seem to go away. Enough with that though!

I give you the booty.

That’s the sum total of my yarn purchases. Were you expecting more? I certainly was! I think I’ve become such a mad spinner that my focus was on all the fiber I could spin and on all the goodies I could spin with.

First up is some superwash merino sock yarn from Wullenstudio Designer Yarns in Green Tambourine. Such a lovely yarn. I’m not sure what it will become, but it’s certainly very soft and squishy.

Next up, is some Sea Sock yarn from Dragonfly Fiber Designs. This one has some sea cell in it and it feels very silky. I think I’m going to use this yarn for the Rivendell design. The color isn’t really accurate as I’d like in the photograph as I’d like. Just think ocean.

The next yarn is more sock yarn. (Do ya think I have a thing for sock yarn? Do ya think?) This gem is from Brooklyn Handspun and I’ve had a really hard time finding this stuff online. There weren’t many colors left, but I’m happy with what I found, which is Wheat Field. I think it will be a good match to my wardrobe.

Oh look! Something that isn’t sock yarn! Yes, I actually found some laceweight that called my name in a lovely semi-solid purple from Sweet Sheep. The color is called Muddle Through, which I find totally appropriate for the way I approach knitting.

Finally, the last item wasn’t exactly a straight up yarn purchase. It’s a kit from Just Our Yarn for the shawl Jack In The Pulpit. I fell in love with the model. At first I resisted the siren call, but in the end resistance was futile and I caved. I think it was the beads that did me in.

I think I did pretty good in the yarn department at MDSW, but I did mention something about a yarn store right? Well, my willpower only stretches so far and there might have been a bit of damage done there. I think I’ll save that for another day though. Too much in one day will have me in a state of shock over the mass quantities of stuff I’m going to have to transport home.

For those who don’t know, I’m flying home on June 3rd, so I wouldn’t expect regular posts until then. I do have a lot to post about though. It’s been a whirlwind of activity here. There just hasn’t been enough downtime for me to write about it!

I shall leave you with a gorgeous shot of some snow on trees in Sinking Valley that I took last week Monday. I couldn’t get over the fact that there was snow! Actual snow! In May! Whee! :-D

I hope you’re weekend is going well! Have a great week!

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With all the excitement being here on the mainland, I had completely forgotten about a pair of socks I finished while on the way to Pennsylvania. (Please excuse me if I’m incoherent, I’m recuperating from a Fibromylagia flare and the brain fog won’t go away.)

Pattern: Nutkins

Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss

Needles: Size US 1 / 2.25mm

Started: April 5, 2008

Finished: May 1, 2008

Modifications: None

I love this pattern. It was perfect to take with me on the looong plane ride over here. The only time I needed to refer to it was when I did the heel. I’m not normally a short-row heel gal, but I decided to try something different so I followed the pattern to the letter.

They’re not as comfortable for me as a heel flap, but they’ll do. I do like the yarn over method more then the other types of techniques. Yet, I also think they look horrendously sloppy. That’s likely due to the fact that I’ve so little practice with this way of knitting heels. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. ;-)

I really love this yarn. It’s not called Smooshy for nuthin’. It really is soft and well.. smooshy! It also has amazing stitch definition. I can’t wait to work with more of it.

I did cast on for another pair of socks once I finished these, but they didn’t work out. I have another pattern in mind for the yarn I brought with me, but I have yet to start them. I just haven’t had as much time to knit while I’ve been here as someone has had me busier then a bee.

For all of you who are mothers, happy mother’s day! For everyone who’s not, happy Sunday! I’ll be back with a post of the yarn that I came back with from MDSW.

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