My order from Jimmy Beans Wool arrived with some of their fun eco-yarns.




On the left is Vermont O-wool (organic) which will be a men's hat design. On the right is Maizy which is a corn silk and nylon blend. This yarn will become some girly socks.



On the top is some Panda Cotton which is my favorite of the bunch. It is a bamboo/cotton/nylon blend and is soft and elastic. It will become some fingerless gloves with a lacy cuff. The Karaoke is a soy silk and wool blend that will become mittens. I also bought four more colors of Pakucho naturally-colored cotton since it was on sale.



I've been spinning up some lovely angora blend fiber from Anne at Wooly Wonka Fibers with my favorite Tracy Eichheim spindle. It has a rabbit design and is quite the little speed demon. This yarn will become socks for myself and DH.




Here's the rest of my spindle collection. I have a Tracy Eichheim production spindle, a laceweight spindle, a Bosworth spindle, a cotton spindle, a Louet boat anchor spindle for plying and the very first spindle I used from colorful fimo clay. I've broken off the hook many times but I can't bear to get rid of it.

If you are reading this blog entry on any knitting blog other than Knitting in Color, http://knittingpatternfree.blogspot.com/ , then you can be sure my blog entry and photos were used WITHOUT my permission.

I've found some entire blog entries (and my photos!) were used in two other blogs. This is apparently called blog scraping and people do it to make money through adsense. I could shorten my feed but you'd have to go to my blog every time I post so instead I'm just going to post this disclaimer occasionally. If you want to see if your blog entries are being copied, go to http://www.copyscape.com/ .

I'm still undecided about my Great American Aran Afghan squares. I have ten squares completed and an additional 7 skeins of the now defunct tomato Wool of the Andes. Knitpicks kindly sent me a list of colors they think would complement the tomato yarn and I could probably even find more of this color but honestly I'm not sure I want to finish it. I have had this project hanging over my head for years and I'm never comfortable with unfinished projects.



DH thinks I should just make a small afghan which is a possibility. I also could make a bunch of pillows but I don't really need more pillows. Hmmmm.

The skies are finally clearing here. It is now quite hot and I'm hoping DH comes home early enough to install the window air conditioners.

Of Bicycles and Yarn...

I have made some knitting progress on the secret sweater today. I am done with the body section that is knit in the round, and am now working back and forth on the back. Another 2 inches and the back will be finished. I will bind off the neck stitches but I will put the shoulder stitches on holders and reserve them for a three needle bind off. The front will have a high v-neck.
Talking about the sweater brings me to the topic of this post.
I actually got myself tangled in a situation that I should have clearly avoided having given plenty of advice to many of my knitterly friends on what to do in that exact situation.
Last night, my husband was in the basement. He was working on his newest bike. See he already has 2 others...I was standing there, amused. I asked him a few questions about the new bike, and in particular what the difference was with the other bikes. And then suddenly, out of the blue I got myself tangled in a conversation no knitter should put themselves into. I said "Do you think you have enough bikes?" Mr. SockPixie, stopped working on the bike, and with his striking, gleaming blue eyes, and a little smile, said "Do you think you have enough yarn?" Well he got me there. What was I to do, I have boxes of yarn everywhere, downstairs in the basement, in every closet, in every bag, in every basket.
All I could do was give no answer, just smile and climb back up the stairs...
Morality: Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones!

It is Sunday...on Colors, Husbands, and Cats

This Sunday's SockPixie update is ready, and exceptionally this week, I decided to bring back some colors. You have been asking me to do that for a while, and I was ready. I had a lot of fun deciding which ones I would bring back. I hope you will like the selection.Feel free to send me a note through the contact us link on the website, I love to hear from you.

On the knitting front, I have made a lot of progress on the sweater for Mr. SockPixie who is not supposed to know anything about it. Since he usually does not read my blog, I feel pretty safe posting pictures, though he is being a little too curious about the project. Last night, I was knitting on the project and he said "What are you knitting?". My evasive answer: "Something to felt". His next question "What is it going to be?" My bored answer:"Something, you know...for the cats..." Next he said, "Is it something fo me?" My final answer: " Darling, a knitter is entitled to a little bit of privacy, don't you think?!"
My oldest daughter helped a little today and confirmed that it was indeed a new cat basket, that would be felted. He did not seem too convinced, but there were no more questions.
The body is almost at the armhole, and it is going to be time for me to knit front and back separately. It takes time to knit for a giant husband! At least this yarn is thicker and I am knitting on a size 9 needle. I do like the yarn. It does not split which makes the knitting very smooth. As far as the pattern is concerned, I decided to stay simple. So it is in the round, mostly in stockinette, but with "accidental" sections of garter. I really like the more informal look. I think that will be a great weekend sweater for my husband. I am on my 4th ball. I hope I will have enough yarn, and will be able able to finish the project without getting too creative!

If I do run out though, I can get it at Windsor Button. I started working there last week. Now that I know the store a little better, I can assure you that even if I run out of yarn, I will be able to find the solution to my troubles there. They have the largest selection I have ever seen. Susan, the owner of the store is wonderfully helpful, and is always happy to check in her storage room for a matching dye lot!
I had so much fun being in a yarn store again! I met some amazing knitters. We talked about everything, from sock yarns, to how to cast on, and completely unrelated topics, like May 1968 in France. I am really looking forward to going back this week.

I wanted to also give you some updates on This Little Piggy, the thumb sucking help, and on Chaton Minet, the cat basket. They are both working out perfectly. S. loves her Piggy, and has stopped sucking her thumb! The basket has been claimed by my daughter's second cat named Cat. Isn't it good to be a Cat?...

DH and I went to Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco last night and it was absolutely spectacular. It was so much better finally seeing them perform in person instead of on tv. I was positive someone was going to kill themselves about 10 different times throughout the show.

We did see a near miss - a woman acrobat was propelled flipping into the air from a swing where she was supposed to land on the shoulders of a guy standing on a long pole held by another guy and she missed. It wasn't until she started falling that I saw she was fortunately attached to a wire. The most popular performers were the acrobats who jumped on four poles in the center of the stage. One guy actually climbed up a pole upside down with only his hands.

The evening was jam-packed with jugglers and strong men and clowns and drummers and trapeze artists and live music. We got there early which was fortuitous because most of the performers come out before the show and start goofing around with the children in the audience.

I have an idea for dealing with running out of yarn for the Great American Aran Afghan but I have to wait until it clears up to take photos. At least all this rain has been creating some gorgeous sunsets.

I've been furiously cleaning the house looking for my amethyst necklace shown above. DH bought it for me for our anniversary last month from the Sundance Catalog and it had this unusual handmade clasp that was partially open. I wore it constantly so I have absolutely no clue how it disappeared. I need to stop thinking about it and just go ahead and replace it. Of course that will be when the first necklace finally shows up but I can always get a jeweler to make me a matching bracelet.





Here is the fingering weight hemp from Elann. I'm going to use these colors to make a small stranded bag. I'm pretty happy with the shininess of this yarn.









Here's the Pakucho naturally-colored cotton. (Yes, I dearly need to get a tripod.) It hurts my hands just to think about knitting with it. I have read the colors darken with washing so I'm going to go ahead and pre-wash each skein several times to see if I can't soften it a bit before knitting. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it - maybe some thick legwarmers.

In the comments Kayla W mentioned a yarn made from corn silk so I've added that to the list of fun yarns to try this summer. It is called Maizy and is made by Crystal Palace. It has elastic in it so I will make some colorwork socks.

And in other news, I just realized the Tomato color of Knitpicks' Wool of the Andes has been discontinued. It was the color I was using for the Great American Aran Afghan and it serves me right for taking so long to finish. Tomorrow I'll post all of the squares I've finished and some of my options at this point since I only have a few more skeins of the yarn.

A new Sweater

Thank you for the nice comments about the Chaton Minet basket.
There were a couple questions one pertaining to the basket the other to Miche.
I just want to clarify that the basket is knit using 2 strands of the yarn held together throughout the pattern.
As far as Miche is concerned, we think he is about 2. Miche actually became our cat thanks to one of my customers at the store. He somehow had ended up on her doorstep. Her older cat really did not share her joy at finding a kitten, so she asked me if I knew anyone who wanted a kitten. We did! Miche soon came home with us, and got his name in memory of the cat my husband grew up with. He is the sweetest, and smartest cat. He rings a bell to go out, and says hello when he is on the wrong side of the door, and he is a shameless purring machine enjoying every moment
.



Being done with the basket, I am off to knitting another project. This time it is a sweater for my husband. I picked Cascade 128 Tweed in a lovely rusty color. It will be knit in the round,my favorite way to knit sweaters. I have a design in mind. I want something simple and masculine and at the same time interesting.
I have cast on, and the edge is done...it's on to the design!