Estes Sheep and Wool 2008

This past weekend, I managed to escape the daily grind and hang out with my knit sisters. A lot of fun was had by all. We took off work on Friday and drove up to Allenspark and spent the night, so we were prepared to be up and early for Estes Park Wool Market. Estes was a lot of fun, as always. Some of the best times are seeing old friends.

This year wasn't all about the shopping. It was more for companionship, although a little shopping was done.

The Estes haul was small-ish in nature this year, although of course, I didn't attend Estes last year. I did a little shopping at my favorite vendor, Plain & Fancy Sheep and Wool booth. A couple of skeins of the sport weight were purchased for a shrug.



And this year, I also picked up some fingering, which I didn't recall seeing in previous years.



This year I bought my dream yarn. More Elsa Sheep & Wool cormo yarn. It might be nice if I knit with the laceweight I bought over 2 years ago. The yarn purchased this year is a natural, undyed color. I love it!



We stopped at Oskar Blues for lunch, as per our custom. We all like to stop for the wondderful sweet potato fries, yum!

That's it for now. I'm still working on the M socks. I was getting close and found a huge mistake and had to rip back quite aways. But still I keep pressing on.

Knitting (Somewhat) Merrily Away

Lots of work, between the real-paying job and school work, there's been some knitting.

I started on a Persephone scarfby Mim of MimKnits. The yarn I'm using is Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Midnight colorway. I'm loving the yarn and the pattern, a perfect combination.



I have been working on the Flutter Sleeve cardi as well. I finished the back of the cardigan and am up to the left cardigan. However, I'm a bit stuck with the short rowing this pattern requires. Hopefully I'll get some time to stop at the LYS get some help. If anyone has any videos, links, etc., I'm appreciative of all help.



Lastly, I started a scarf sometime in March. The pattern is Trekking is for Necking, a pattern designed by Jenn Jarvis. My friend, Kim, finished a scarf in Trekking. I opted to use some of my sock yarn stash and make a scarf using Colinette Jitterbug in the colorway Raphael.



I really like how it's turning out, but I tell you what, you do feel like it will never end. But hopefully I will have it done sometime by the end of the summer, or early fall.

June Goals

Reminiscing on my May goals momentarily, the success rate was pretty poor.

1. Knit three dishcloths. I might have to start changing this goal altogether from three to possibly two, because I have yet to accomplish this goal in two months. I did manage to knit 2 baby bibs and two dishcloths. The basic dishcloth is sort of my favorite, with a basic eyelet pattern in garter stitch. One was actually finished this month and the other in May. For these, I like to use the leftover scraps from other dishcloths, bibs, etc. They are pretty eclectic, but I like to call them rag cloths and they are easy to knit and good for using up the odd bits of cotton.






2. Finish the Caribou Cherub Thujas. I'm actually pretty close with finishing this pair of socks, but it looks like the first sock is a bit short. I'll have to go back and rip out the toe and reknit a bit longer.



Heh, no ripping, I say. I finally finished the second sock, but honestly it was not as pleasurable as other knits. I was merrily knitting away on the second sock, when I ran out of yarn. What I mean is that, of the yarn I purchased, each skein is 200 yards. Since the yarn is sportweight, I cast on fewer stitches than normal and used less yarn on the first sock. I was able to knit the second sock down to the heel flap before changing to the second skein of yarn. When that happened, the two skeins were markedly different, although it didn't appear to be so when I moved to the second skein. I looked down on the foot of the second sock and it appeared much darker than the first. That was really a bummer, especially as I really liked the first sock, but these socks are a bit heavier to wear with regular shoes, so they will be house socks or with clogs. Since I'm behind in blogging projects, this will serve as my FO report as well.

3. Start a Barn Raising square. All of my friends are doing it, why shouldn't I? Heehee. Nope, didn't happen. I do need to start at least one for June.

4. Pick up either the Hanami stole or the Enchanting Juno stole. Or perhaps start something new? :-) Hmm, I did pickup the Hanami stole again, but promptly put it down after a couple of rows because I realized I was reading the pattern wrong and need to rip back. Haven't gotten to that yet. But I did start a new lace project and decided to rip Enchanting Juno. Perhaps I'll start it again at another time or not.

June goals

1. Start a Barn Raising square. Since members of my knitting group are knitting squares for each other to put in our individual blankets, I need to have one completed by the end of the month to pass on to a special friend.

I won't even mention dishcloth cotton this month. The dishcloth cotton stash is getting low. I think I'm down to five actual skeins and I have scraps to knit two additional dishcloths, but that's fine.

2. Finish M's second sock. I finally kitchenered in the first sock and after more than a month, cast on the second sock yesterday. Since school is back in session starting last week, I managed to make some headway on the first sock with a mega-reading session tonite at a local cafe. I'm going out on a limb to finish the pair by Father's Day. I think I can, I think I can!



3. Continue working on my Flutter Sleeve Cardi (oops, haven't mentioned that one, getting stuck at the short rows currently).

That's about it for now. Life has been busy and blogging has been taking a back seat. My theory is life to be lived. I'll catch you all on the flip side.