May 9th, 2008 by turtlegirl76
One advantage of going to Maryland Sheep & Wool this year, was that I got to be the first to receive my Artsygal Sock Club shipment for May! Hand delivered by the Artsy one herself.
I got the “Surprise Me!” option this month and boy, am I ever happy!
380 yards of 2 ply fingering weight merino & seacell superwash sock yarn.
Pardon me while I drool.
The colors are so subtle yet strikingly beautiful. The yarn is so freaking soft that I don’t want to put it down.
The blues and greens play so nicely against each other.
This will create quite a lovely pair of socks. I just need to find the perfect pattern for it. Though it may have to live around my neck for a little while first.
I’m so glad I joined her sock club. I managed to sneak in for the April shipment and got something quite different.
But that shipment, I didn’t choose the “Surprise Me!” option so of course I went for the colors that yelled at me. 
You see, Artsygal screws with her sock club colorways with photoshop first, and you pick the swirl of color that appeals to you. Or you can be surprised. That surprise may be an entirely different base yarn from the rest. I think I’ll be going with the Surprise Me option from now on. Expand my horizons.a bit. Mmm….Seacell.
Posted in Yarn Pr0n Friday | 22 Comments »
May 8th, 2008 by turtlegirl76
Do you see that?
Do you see what she’s trying to do?
Is making stuff like this worth it? I think not.
This is MY chair.
Posted in Kittehs!, Spinning | 26 Comments »
May 7th, 2008 by turtlegirl76
I’ve been talking to Pam for a while about getting a good crochet lesson from her so I could expand my horizons. Turns out, this weekend was the best opportunity since not only did I have Pam, but Carrie and Betsy as well as Pam’s friend Hyon. I was surrounded by many talented crocheters, so I took advantage.
This is the second in a set of armwarmers inspired by Carrie’s Blinding Armwarmers. I’m really hoping she writes up a pattern soon because I apparently suck at following my own notes. I did the first armwarmer just fine with all my gurus surrounding me for advice. This second one has been ripped out about 6 times. The yarn is holding up well. It’s a something I picked up at the festival from Suzanne Banghart’s Natural Dyed Yarns. It’s dyed with Madder. Very pretty coral color isn’t it? I hope to finish these up tonight.
Before I picked my Chiagoo hook, I chose to work on the Pi Shawl as my travel knitting and drinking knitting. I managed to add about 24 rows to this section, with 24 to go.
I bought the yarn I’m using in the Pi Shawl at last year’s festival. Yeah. I really need to get cracking on that. Ah well. Finally, the day before I left for the festival, I was fortunate enough to work the Dining Chalet for my company at the Wachovia Tournament. There was lots of downtime. We were watching golf after all.
So my two at a time toe-up magic loop socks (uh, can we get a better name? TAATUMLS? Ooh! Tatus!) are nearly ready for a heel. Wee! Progress has been made. I didn’t get a chance to work on my other WiPs in the last week, but that’s ok. I will NOT stress out about them. One by one, they shall be done.
Posted in Knitting Stuff, WIPs | 12 Comments »
May 6th, 2008 by turtlegirl76
Now, there were 2 posts of people that I met yesterday, but I missed posting one (like a dumbass) that was was particularly thrilled to meet. Carol!
The brainchild behind Black Bunny Fibers and the enabler behind my first fiber club. It was so awesome to meet her and get to chat with her for a bit. I know Jeanmarie got a better pic of the two of us, so I’m looking forward to seeing how hers turned out. I believe it may have been a bit more, um, straight on and not so much of ME. That I’m in any of these pictures is a wonder though. Somehow it was way easier for me to turn my camera over to people and ask them to take pics for me. I don’t usually do that. Ah! Too many words between pics!
Anyway, first order of business when we got there on Friday was to procure the alcohol for the weekend. This necessitated driving by an Aldi store, so of course we had to stop and get a pic for PennyKarma. But I had to get a pic of Pam getting a pic. Heh.
Once we got home and fed, it was time for some testicle toss. Valerie modeled the testicles…
Val’s got balls
Pam showed us how an expert tosses her balls…
Val and I watched and learned from the ball flinging master.
Val was much better at this game than I was. But it was definitely a fun game! You know, normally when you get a woody you score, but in this game, wrapping your balls around a tree doesn’t get you a thing. What a disappointment.
The next day was Sheep and Wool. We arrived early, and bought a few things…
That’s Al Swearengen on the right there. My new Ashford Kiwi
Went to the Ravelry meet-up…
We googley-eyed our phones…
And no, we did not go to the Ravelry party. We had a party of our own to attend that night. Pam had some of her friends over and much drinking and merriment ensued.
That’s AliceC (Knittyboard name - YarnKarma on Ravelry) in the purple shawl
Roxy goes for a cold one
All Girl Rock Band!
The hijinks continued early into the morning. I gave up around 2am.
The boys carried on until 4…
It was a fabulous weekend. And I think I’m finally done blogging it. For now. Until I get more pics from Jeanmarie.
Posted in Knitty People, MDSW | 28 Comments »
