Make New Friends but Keep the Old

2012.04.04

Eastside Stitchers 2012.04.04

Yay!  I snuck out of my legion's fort defense, and went to knitting tonight.  There were 4 of the "regulars" at Crossroads Mall . AND!  3 of the "old" Eastside Stitchers who have moved north drove down and joined us for the evening.  They were so much fun.

Who was there?  and, (the important thing) what were they knitting?

MsWiz was knitting a "green blob." (that is her description, honestly)

Colleen was cranking away on another delicious looking mint green baby blanket

Chockelet brought some extremely yummy fiber that she had combined and processed in her new drum carder, as well as some gorgeous looking art fiber, but I only got a photo of this beautiful scarf

Angelvet, one of the  returning Eastside Stitchers, was starting a dog sweater

Ecogryff brought some socks she was designing

and, Tassereine had a green baby sweater

While we were all there, LM from Spokane stopped by our table in the corner.  She was walking through, and her knitting radar had picked us up.  She didn't stop to knit, but was wearing a ruffled scarf

 Allifer stopped by for the last 30 minutes after work.  She brought the new placemat she was hooking






Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today, I got back on the bike and told myself, "slow down, f1bercat.  You can do it."  And, I did it.  I knitted 8.29 miles.  Of course, it took me 45 minutes.  But I was alive and knitting at the end of the ride.  I think I have a bit of a cold.  That might explain the lack of energy.  Or, staying up until midnight to do a Besh Temple run with my legion mates in Aion might explain it.  (Sorry, non-gamers for the gaming talk).

I have not reached the next yarn shop, but I am close.  And I reached my goal of 8.25 miles. I would like to knit faster, but not at the expense of the miles.

Here I am, near Kelso, WA:


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Ugh!  I am not sure why, but I can't get the big map again.

Well, I will just say then, that I am making progress.

Sleep well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one great knitting group at a time

Stuck on the Side of the Road, Virtually

Hello, f1beristas!

WIP's

Today I knit 8.01 miles.  I was knitting the sleeves of the Red Hot Sweater for my friend Tony (he better love me forever for this sweater) while I rode the exercise bike at the Y.  I am knitting the sleeves 2aaT on Addi Turbos.  I sometimes find it hard to remember which sleeve I am on.  No kidding.  I mean I finish a sleeve, and I just want to turn it around and knit back.  This isn't a problem when I a knitting 2aaT socks.  Because you never go back, well unless you are doing heels, and now that I think about it, I have had the same problem.  But back to the sleeves.  I am increasing every 4th row.  And of course, since these sleeves are more than just plain stockinette, I have to work the increases into the pattern.  And the increased part is not a complete section, so I have to figure out where in the pattern I would be in that row, etc.. Is it my fault that I knit one sleeve with increases, then turned that sleeve around and knit back?  I caught it as I was once again, knitting back on the SAME SLEEVE.  At first I thought, tink the row.  But that is slow, and not so easy to do while riding a bike.  So I just finished that row, then, since I was at the right part to begin the next sleeve, I knit that sleeve until I caught it up.  I was so involved with all this catch up, that I kept riding the exercise  bike for 45 minutes!  So, yeah, 8.01 miles.  My legs hurt.

I know the sleeves are a bit loose from knitting while pedaling (that is not as bad as knitting while driving!).  But I have to finish this sweater.  I am not sick of it, but there are other shiny things to knit.  So it is best that I DO finish it, before I am totally distracted.

I have been busy crocheting.  I got the idea to do a charity baby afghan from MWitch3 at her blog Needles and Hooks and Books, Oh My!   I am already making hats for the Sharing Our Gifts Across America Group on Ravelry.  And I thought it would be nice to send a small afghan also.  I don't want to make any of the squares that I am making for the Block a Month Crochet a Long, although I absolutely love so many of those squares  (SPOILER!  Just wait until you see the 6 in block for March!  It is amazing looking).  But I wanted something simpler, as in using only 2 squares, so I am using the More V's Please 12 in square designed by Melinda Miller .  Originally, I thought I would make 5 and then fill in with blocks of 4 Never Fading Flowers by Nellas April.   I am making the big square in solid yellow, and thought the small squares could be in yellow and white or all white.  Maybe both.  This would make the blanket a bit more gender bias free, though it is a bit floral.

So far I have hooked 3 of the big ones.  Now I am not sure if that will be big enough.  I don't want this to be huge, it is for a baby after all, but I don't want it to be postage stamp size.  So I am toying with the idea of making 9 of the big squares, and then dividing them up with a single line of the smaller.  The smaller square would form the boundary between each More V's Please, and maybe, I'll make enough to have them also be the border of the afghan... 

I would really appreciate it if anyone reading would give me some typical baby afghan measurements.  I guess I could Bing it.  But I would love to have first hand information.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today I virtually reached what will be the new home of Yorkshire Yarns  in Lakewood, WA.  They have classes, KAL's, their own patterns, trunk shows, and participate in the South Sound Yarn Crawl

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But since I continued pedaling for a whopping 8. 1 miles, I kept going.  Googlemaps wanted to make me ride right towards Mt. Rainier!  Lovely, but I am not sure I want to bike up it.  I searched for Yarn Shops near Yelm to take me back towards the coast a bit (I might like to visit Olympia, our fine capitol), and I found Faith, Fiber, & Friends,  which is a Yarn Shop and Fiber Arts Studio. I don't think I will make it there tomorrow.  I doubt I can knit another 45 min trip.  I have to get my teeth cleaned in the morning, and will probably ride the exercise bike after... 

So, here is where I stopped:

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I'm stuck on the Spanaway-McKenna Hwy for the night.  Hope it doesn't rain.

Here is what it looks like on the big map:

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I am still all scrunched up at the top.  I feel like I haven't even finished the ribbing...

Have a great night.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet, two super sore legs at a time