May 18, 2007
Yarn Miracle is moving its official headquarters to yarnmiracle.com. I've owned the domain for a while, and had it set up as a redirect to this site. But well. Changing servers is a good time to change a domain. And changing the domain is a good time to change your blog's look. And your blog's software. And change from popups to lightbox. And there you go.
Please update your feeds if you need to, and I'll see you on the next page!
May 13, 2007
Alice has a new family! There was an adoption day yesterday where all parties involved were struck with love at first sight. We talked to them this morning and Alice is adapting very well to her new home. One more doggy to go!
I finished these on the way home from adoption day:
CannahgettaWOOHOO?
Which means that I finally get to start something new. Something that isn't a sock. After a fair amount of deliberation, I've decided to make the polo shirt before the lacy top in the Nashua book. Mostly because I find the idea of several feet of stockinette very appealing right now. I don't know why.
Lime! It'll match my very loud butterfly skirt.
May 07, 2007
I have discovered a new yarn store. Or rather, Darleen pointed it out to me. RubySapphire Yarns is a mother-daughter dyeing team - they really have a knack for color combinations.
I could look at them all day.
They carry several different types and weights of yarn all hand painted or hand dyed. The two above are Luster (50% Merino/50% Tencel) and Sapphire Sock (75% Merino/25% Nylon). Both are machine-washable (Yay!) and the colors are simply lovely. The Luster (in case you're wondering about the Tencel) has a sheen and is cool to the touch - I'm hoping it will be a great yarn for spring (nearly summer) socks. The best part is that RubySapphire is putting together a sock of the month club! A girl can never have too much sock yarn...
One of my cousin's graduation socks is finished!
mmmm neapolitan ice cream
One more and I can finally start something new.
May 01, 2007
My Bloomin' Feet have arrived!
Please focus on the beautiful stitches and ignore the un-mown grass.
When I got the box out of the mailbox and saw that the return address was Simply Socks Yarn Company I got excited because I figured it was yarn I had forgotten that I ordered. But I discovered something even better: Allison is my Bloomin' Feet Pal! The socks above are Koigu and fit like a dream. I thought that particular pleasure was forever lost to me, but many Kind Readers have told both Allison and I that machine wash cold (no dryer, of course) will not do them any harm. I am thrilled with this news because (as I have just now discovered) Koigu really is All That. I am especially fond of the subtle variegations in the yarn - you can have both a multi-colored yarn and complicated stitch patterns in one sock! Who knew?
Allison also enclosed some Lorna's Laces Nearly Solid in Margarita, Simply Socks special Lorna's color and some cookies.
Again, your attention should be focused anywhere but the grass.
I love the Margarita (for one thing: it's green, for another: it's Lorna's Laces) and I have already planned the finished socks: they will have a white edging - for the salt. In a miraculous collaboration between the Alabama sun and my black mail box, the cookies arrived in fresh-out-of-the-oven condition. I ate the warm and gooey chocolate chip immediately. The box in the picture contains half a sugar cookie. I have no self control.
Since there are no cookie pictures, here is one of Betty and William Henry attempting to develop similar fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness.
Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown.
April 28, 2007
I bet the mail man thinks it's my birthday with all the wonderful boxes that have arrived this week!
For Special Swap, Lynda has sent me a Safari in a box!
Ooooh!
The sock yarns are Jitterbug in Sahara and TOFUtsies in zebra colors (you would never know was made with chitin - the things they can't do these days)! There is also some delicious Assam tea, a jungle print project bag (Did you make it Lynda?), a green chibi (Yay! Green!) AND some animal crackers (which tickled me to death because how cute, perfect and delicious).
Then I had this from KT!
Ahhhh!
It's straight from Sock Camp in Dixie Chick (which, I am told, was one of the tribes. KT was a "Clucker." I hope that wasn't a secret, KT! I forgot to put the stitch markers in the picture - you'll have to take my word for it that they are also marvelous!
To celebrate the bounty of mail, I've picked a yarn for the Hurricane Sock Party (which should make Christy feel a whole lot better). It's some of the hand-dyed superwash from last summer. I've been hoarding it waiting for the perfect project.
Sailors' Warning (the yarn formerly known as "Bushel of Strawberries")
My Bloomin' Feet Box is ready to mail on Monday and my cousin's graduation socks are off to a decent start (I need to finish them by May 15).
Second verse same as the first! Except these are in Little Bunny Foo Foo.
April 26, 2007
Last week was Quite a Week. Dogs can really suck up time. But Little Man has a new family (photos in Michael's Flickr)! We met them at Adoption Saturday. Little Man was the only puppy* and did his best to be precious, friendly and interested in everything. We liked them right away, but the way BARC adoptions work is that interested people fill out forms, and we all go home and a background check is done (someone calls their vet). Since this couple is getting married in May (awwww), they had to come up to get their marriage license and picked up Little Man at the same time. I think he will be happy with his new family and I know they will be happy with him.
We are now calling Little Girl "Alice" and Big Girl "Maude"** since we will probably have them with us for a bit. Maude had her surgery yesterday and is still feeling pretty bad. They both stayed inside last night (and are still inside) to work on house training and liking cats.
At the expense of my blog reading, I have finally finished the Bloomin' Feet socks! Yay, me!
I'm glad my partner isn't allergic to cats.
It is pouring down rain today*** - hence the awkward flash pictures. I pulled them onto my sock blockers and realized that wouldn't do any good as the blockers were for me sized feet and not Bloomin' Feet Pal sized feet. So I blocked them in my traditional manner.
After that I did a little swatching for the polo shirt in Greetings From Knit Cafe. I bought the yarn the pattern called for and I am SO disappointed. The yarn itself is fine and the color is great, but when knit at the appropriate gauge it is loose and floppy. Not something I look for an a polo shirt and not at all what the picture looks like. I am going to give it a try with some Shine and see if that is any better.
Swatching for the Lace Surplice Top is going much better. I am trying CotLin and I really like it. The gauge for the two projects is the same, so maybe I'll get a color card.
In the meantime I've got Graduation Socks to make!
*We left the other one at home because of her red mange (people don't understand that is perfectly curable and not contagious) and it turns out that Big Girl does Not Care for Other Dogs. And likes to Make a Scene about it.
**You will notice that these are NOT First Lady names. First Lady Names mean you live here. But we have to call them something.
***And I do mean POURING.
