Featherweight Cardigan Continued....

I have been working on this sweater for what seems to be forever.  Last I posted, the additional fiber needed was finally dyed.

I did get around to spinning up the 3-ply yarn that I needed and got more purple than I bargained for.

I am now going to have a switch balls of yarn while knitting to get the best effect in blending the new fiber with the old fiber.

A Little Rain

I think summer is dying as fall starts.  Rumor has it that it will be an El Niño year so the rain has come twice now.  It is a relief to have cooler weather and some overcast days.

 

I spoke too soon.  After a little rain, the sun came back and the temperatures are hovering around the mid-70s again.  There is still relief from the humidity that plagued me the entire summer.

Sock the Vote - Weeks 2 & 3

The second week of Sock the Vote separated the parties into two main groups and two sub-groups - Presidential and Mayoral; <> size 8.

I fell into the Presidential >8 since I was on schedule and my feet are larger than size 8.  Those that were behind schedule fell into the Mayoral group.

Assignment of week 2 was to increase the gusset for both socks.

After two weeks of knitting, the parties were reconstituted again.  Week 3 assignment was to knit the heels and one inch of the leg.  Depending on the type of needle one is using, the parties now consist of Heavy Metal and Knock on Wood.

Since I am using the Chiao Goo Red Lace metal needles, I fall into the Heavy Metal group.  Here are the heel flaps finished.

Next is the one inch of the leg knit up.

I'm on schedule to finish my sock before election day.

Shopping Galore at Vista Fiber Festival

No fiber festival is complete without shopping.

The Steam Engine Museum and Weaver's Barn is fund raising right now to add a new building full of spinning wheels and looms.  There was the requisite fund raising table full of bags of all kinds of fiber.  I found some cotton and some brown unknown fiber of a very short staple, but super soft.

I also found some holiday gifts at a couple of vendors which will be a surprise to the recipients.

I did get a couple of knitting bags from Slipped Stitch Studios and a couple of sock kits from the Knitters Brewing Company.

I found a new pet who is super soft.  Here he is at home.

I also saw this color way of fiber someone else purchased and I need to replicate since there was no more available.

Vista Fiber Festival

Had a great day at the 2nd annual Vista Fiber Festival.  We had the spinner's circle again.

And next door was the Back to Back challenge.

My pal Fluffysgarden had a learn to spin and weave table where she had quite a few interested participants who went home with a drop spindle and a woven bookmark.

It was fun to meet up with friends and Carol hung with Jan and Juli holding on to my new pet.

It was not too warm and there was a slight breeze.  Fun filled day with friends, fiber, and enabling.

Hark! Fall is Here.

I spent the day in the car yesterday and boy howdy, did the rain come down.  I was lucky that everyone was paying close attention and no accidents occurred in my direction.  At some points, sheets of rain obscured the view and the traffic slowed to 30 mph which is unheard of in Southern California.

After I got home, the air was clear and there was much needed moisture on the ground.  The night temps were cool enough that I had to close my bedroom window.

It is so nice that summer is having its last gasp although the weekend temps are forecast to be in the 80s again....

This fall weather has put me in the mood for sweaters and sweater knitting.  I'm contemplating a new cable sweater pattern and am looking through my stash for enough yarn.  Some practice swatches are in my forecast as I await the winter.

Late Birthday Present

Val brought my birthday present with her when she came to visit and it is the cutest knitting bag.

It is a sampling of llamas with the season's signature color - orange.

She even made me a small purse for supplies.

Birthday Dinner at Panda Inn

My best friend Val made it back to visit San Diego after moving to Colorado and it was a jammed packed weekend.

First we went to have our birthday dinner at Panda Inn.  We use to do this for each other and this time, we celebrated both our birthdays with our usual dishes.

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Black Bean Fish

Sesame Asparagus

And a new dish, Sweet and Aromatic Shrimp

We also had mango mousse as our shared dessert.

We parked at Nordstroms and I saw this accessory for a hand held receiver for a cell phone.

Sock The Vote

The Singlehanded Knits podcast is sponsoring a Sock the Vote knit-a-long.  Each party knit socks a certain way.  Since I was a late starter to the podcast, I ended up in the green party where my socks need to have the color green in them.

I dug around my stash and found many skeins of green yarn but decided to pull out the sock blank that I made from Knit Picks yarn.  After making the sock blank, I dyed the blank with the goal of making certain kinds of patterns that match from sock to sock.

When I unraveled the blank, it was tangled on each end so I had to ball each side separately before starting the knitting.

I chose the Socks on the Plane pattern and the socks are making progress for week 1 where I have knit to the place to increase for the gusset.

Annual Visit to Chicago

Made my annual visit to Chicago and was able to get away from the heat and humidity at home and find cool sunny weather in the windy city.  It was almost shocking to feel cool dry air again.  I stayed this time at the Embassy Suites on N State which had a fabulous breakfast spread.

Across the street, the Weber Grill was on the corner and the smells of BBQ were enticing.

Besides work, I was able to meet up with a familiar Ravelry friend who took me to Loopy Yarns for some yarny shopping.  

I found some sale yarn and got my skeins to knit Helms Deep with Malabrigo Sock.

We also went out to dinner at the bar next door for some fish and chips and later on in the week, we had dinner in consisting of roasted chicken.  Food was fabulous.

I also met a new Ravelry friend who came over to the hotel for some knitting and what we hoped would be happy hour, but the place was over-run.  We made a date for the same time next year for drinks and dinner.

During the week, I was able to hit a few places for eats and I have to say that a person would be hard pressed not to find good eats in this city.

No stop to Chicago is complete without some Frango mints and around the corner I found the Ghirardelli shop where some of my money got left behind.

I also got some great shots of the skyline.

It was good to see my work peeps and get the skinny on what is going on in the office.