Last June Update

I can't believe we're looking at the tail end of another month.  Sheesh,  it'll be Christmas before we know it.  I had a little slump this week, so not much progress to report. 

Sanctuary of Knowledge:

HAED Sanctuary of Knowledge
Spangler

Nature's Little Helper:

HAED Nature's Little Helper
Warren

And the never-ending Monkey socks (no-purl version):

Housekeeping is done for today and I am planning to show Sanctuary some love.  I'm hoping to have a page finish by July 4th. 

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

June IHSW and Then Some

Here's my week's progress on Nature's Little Helper.

HAED Nature's Little Helper
Warren

The Monkey socks suffered yet another setback.  I was halfway through the foot when I finally came to the conclusion I really disliked the way the purl sections looked when it was on.  So after asking myself several times if I really wanted to rip it out, sleeping on it, Monday morning I ripped it out.  I restarted it with the no-purl version and so far I'm liking it better. 

Then last week I also spent entirely too much time on Ravelry and decided I could not wait another minute to try to knit a lace shawl/triangle scarf.  So I ran down to the LYS and nabbed some Blue Heron Bamboo Lace yarn.  Now, up to this point I have yet to buy yarn in a hank.  For some reason, I decided not to have them wind it for me.  I do have the ball winder I got for my birthday.  How hard can it be?  (Can you guess where this is headed?)  So, later that night I decided to wind the yarn.  I very soon discovered the benefit of a yarn swift.  Two minutes and I had 1230 yards of a tangled mess.  Oy.  I managed to get part of the skein hung over the banister and got a large part of that wound.  Then I spent the next two evenings untangling from the other end.  Honestly, I thought it would take me months to get it undone.  Valuable lesson learned about hanks of yarn.  If you do it right, it is quick and easy.  Done wrong, not so much.  So now I've cast on and gotten a good start on the Holden Shawlette.  I'm pretty sure I can do it if I can keep the project on the needles.  This stuff is super slippery.  But sooooo soft and pretty.

Holden Shawlette
Blue Heron Bamboo Lace
Summer Meadow

The colors in that picture aren't very true;  it's a richer teal color.  I'm almost halfway through the main body and then the lace portion will start. 

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

Monkey Takes a Vacation

The sock got a mini vacation while I attended a conference for work.  The sock and Nature's Little Helper lolled around in the hotel room whilst I sat through hours of lectures.  Hours and hours. 

At least the view from the balcony was nice.  This is as close as I got to the beach with the time constraints.  The sock very much enjoyed sitting out there in the evening.

After going for a short walk.

And greeting the locals.

Now I'm going to try to settle in for IHSW while I do laundry.  With any luck, there will be an actual needlework update for next week. 

Happy Stitching,
Tamara

If At First You Don't Succeed...

try, try again, right?  The sock in the last post was ripped out Thursday night after I got the heel flap done (why is it looking so funky???) and realized I had only cast on to 3 needles instead of 4.  I've never been a whiz at math, but even I should be able to figure out 16 + 16 + 16 does not equal 64.  You'd think, anyway.  So, the sock was restarted on 4 needles and I started knitting away.  Until Saturday night.  When I had gotten a few repeats of the leg done, tried it on and saw that it was too big.  So it was ripped out again.  On to the size 0 needles.  I have the leg done and it appears to be fitting well.  I hope to get the heel flap done, the heel turned and the stitches for the gussets picked up.  Whew.  The pattern itself is not a problem, fairly easy as long as I don't zone out too much and forget when to stop at the end of the round (yes, even with a stitch marker to remind me).  For anyone interested, I'm loving my new Hiya Hiya DPN's I picked up last week. And this beautiful skein of Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk Paints (85% merino superwash wool/15% mulberry silk).  This stuff feels heavenly! 

And the sock:

Monkey
Paton's Stretch Sock Licorice

The pattern doesn't show up well in the picture.  A tiny bit more progress on Sancuary of Knowledge.  I probably would have stitched on this more if it wasn't for the sock fiasco.

HAED Sanctuary of Knowledge
Spangler

A little fairy is making an appearance in the lower left corner of this page at the edge of the column.  And a pitiful few stitches in Nature's Little Helper.

HAED Nature's Little Helper
Warren

Happy Stitching.
Tamara