Kathryn's Brain

The Pre-Game Show

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 21:18:00 +0000

By most accounts, I'm not much of a girly-girl.

I can count the number of times I've had a pedicure (2), manicure (1), massage (about 20) and other-wise spa day (0).

I don't care much for dresses although my mom tells me I liked them as a little girl. I do wear them to things like weddings and Mass, but I don't believe I've ever worn a dress to work.

... Oh, I take that back. I did wear a couple of skirts when I had an internship in a down-town office building when I was a graduate student. I remember resenting it at time. It was clear we were expected to dress up, but I spent my entire time in an office... by myself... doing research. So, apparently the books, papers and periodicals had high standards for the people who were reading them. :-/

The evidence that I'm not really a girly-girl continues with (1) I love math and I'm really good at it, (2) I'm a mechanical engineer and actually miss it a little, (3) I love building things and working with my hands and (4) we are building a farm for ourselves.

But all of this not-girly-girl stuff goes out the window when it's red carpet time.

I like the Oscars because I enjoy movies, but I LOVE the pre-game show. :-D

I love watching the celebrities go up the red carpet and seeing what they're wearing... mostly the clothing but also the jewelry, shoes and hair-dos.

I almost always pick up a copy of People Magazine and try to catch the appropriate episode of Entertainment Tonight... I'm such a little girl about this stuff. Hubba thinks it's pretty funny.

I don't really know most of the designers very well... I mean, I do know some of them. Oh, alright fine, I know who a lot of them are. ;-)

I dream of creating my own line... and when they ask, "Who are you wearing?" Sometimes they'll say, "Kathryn Ray."

Fiber Arts Friday: Challah Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:32:00 +0000

I mentioned the beginnings of my Challah socks in December... Can it really have been that long ago?

I was knitting along and feeling pretty confident when I realized I messed up one of the larger cables... right at the beginning. :-/

It doesn't look too bad in this photo, but you can see the big cable on the right does not mirror the big cable on the left. :-/

Also my purl stitches are looser than I would like them to be. I changed to smaller stitch markers a few rows back which helped... but ugh.

I talked it over with both Hubba and Kristi and I tried on a few ideas...

(1) it will be in shoes and no one will see it anyway,
(2) it's my first cabled sock, so no one really cares if it's messed up,
(3) it's a design feature and
(4) I might just knit three socks.

I knit a few more rounds and the whole time I was thinking, the toe is wrong, the toe is wrong, the toe is wrong. It really started to bug me and I couldn't let it go. So I pulled it out and started over.

I meant to post the corrected sock at the same place as the photo above, but well, I'm a lot further than that now. :-)

Check that out... a real sock that fits my very own foot. :-D

This sock demanded my full attention when I was working on the gusset increases, especially at the beginning... keeping track of whether I was on an increase round or not and where I was in the cable pattern. It was a little challenging at first. Now I'm past the heel and about ready to cable until my heart is content.
:-)

There are several mistakes in this sock... even after the big rip-out, but they are smaller and less noticeable, so I have decided to leave them. I know the next sock will be better. :-)

That being said it was a little snug pulling over my heal. So I am planning to tink back a few rounds and switch to larger needles... as recommended in the pattern.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday. Be certain to check in with everyone over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Snowshoeing

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:03:00 +0000

I went snowshoeing last weekend with some friends...

View of Mount Audubon

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

At Home

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:53:00 +0000

I came to realize over the last week that I've been home for most of the last three months. It's quite surprising, because it's been three years since I've been home for more than a couple of weeks at a time.

I just love being at home and the time has flown by.

I have also come to realize that I enjoy working remotely. This was not initially the case.

I do still have a suitcase mostly packed, but it has been very nice not using it.

Hubba said he wishes I could work remotely every day. I guess he likes having me at home too. :-)

Personally, I now feel available to become part of our community.

Does that sound weird?

With being gone a lot, I haven't had much energy for or interest in being out. Which means we haven't spent a lot of time going to the local restaurants, shops or festivities... all of those things that make sure one is part of their community.

That's pretty sad considering we've been in this house for a little more than two years.

Fiber Arts Friday: Casting On

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:55:00 +0000

After I settled on a stitch pattern I began to cast on...

A little over half of my intended stitches were crammed on 29-inch US6 circular needles. I definitely needed longer needles for this project.

It took me a few days to get it done, but I found a 60-inch pair of US6 circular needles at one of my local yarn shops. whew.

620 stitches cast on. :-)

... and because I made a mistake about half-way thru the first row, but didn't realize until about half-way thru the second row, I ripped it out and cast on again.

530 stitches this time. I think this will be closer to my intended final length after blocking anyway. :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday. :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Bear Down

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Several weeks ago I told you about the Bear Hair my cousin's son who henceforth shall be known as my personal rare fiber dealer, found in their back yard. Thank you all for your suggestions about how to incorporate it into some fiber-y goodness. I have much to think about. :-)

Today I want to show you what my personal rare fiber dealer found near the river...

1/8 ounce (~4g) of Black Bear Down. :-)

So now I have a small amount of Bear Hair and a small amount of Bear Down. :-D

This down is incredibly soft. It's very dirty and much of it is matted, so I'm not sure how much of it will become usable, but it is definitely spin-able. I will get to it as soon as I finish up the Rocky Mountain Goat. :-D

I'm feeling very blessed in the fiber department right now. :-)

Have a terrific weekend and Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Felting the Big Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:53:00 +0000

Hubba liked the Big Hat. It was a little loose, but it wasn't ridiculous.

He wore it for a couple of days. I thought I was ok with it, but as your comments came in last week, it made me want to felt it even more.

So I took Hubba yarn shopping. :-)

It's true. He actually went with me into a yarn store and chose a yarn he would like to have a hat made out of.... so one day, he will have a different hat. But don't worry about his head getting cold. He already has an alpaca hat that fits him properly and a cotton hat that he loves but I dislike very much. :-)

So I attempted to felt the Big Hat in a bucket of hot soapy water. All it really did was slosh soapy water all over my feet. :-/

While Sunday was a very nice day, it is still winter so I wasn't keen on getting myself sopping wet. So I set it aside.

The next day I ran it through the wash with a load of towels... which brought horror to my knitting group's eyes. But it worked.

The hat is thick and sturdy. It fits suggly. It perhaps could have been a tiny bit longer. Which has me thinking about making another big hat.

I'm calling this one a good save. :-)

Oh, and I no longer have to figure out how to take a photo of me in the mirror...

:-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday! Be certain to check in with everyone else over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Fiber Arts Friday: A Simple Hat??

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:48:00 +0000

When I ripped out my bandana cowl a couple of weeks ago, I was traveling and still had plenty of knitting time ahead of me, so I decided to cast on a hat.

I've made this pattern a couple of times... back in my baby hats for adult-sized head days. :-)

The pattern is written to be made flat, but I prefer to knit in the round. So it's probably best to say this hat was inspired by that pattern, because honestly I didn't really follow the pattern all that well.

Hmmm.... are we uncovering something here? Oh, no. We already knew that engineers don't follow directions very well. Even if I'm not practicing, I am still recovering. ;-)

Anyway, the detail isn't exactly as designed and the hat looked more like a bucket than it's supposed to, but I thought it was still pretty cute.

Then I blocked it.

Gently, mind you. No pins. No stretching. I just soaked it, layed it out flat and turned the edges down. I thought it would help even-out the stitches a little. Which it did, but geez... big hat, Big Hat, BIG HAT!

It's really hard to take a picture of yourself in the mirror
when you can't see because your hat is too big.

Seriously, what is up with me making big stuff lately? Remember this gem?? Ugh

I'm afraid this one may be frogged too.

Maybe it's the yarn?

It's nearly 4 skeins (including what's in the hat and used to be in the cowl) that is left over from the Plumber Sweater I made a while back. It's a soft, commercial, alpaca yarn. I really like working with it. But I think no matter how much I want to finish it off, it wants to stay in my stash.

Although, I am sorta thinking that a turn in a hot soapy bucket of water with a plunger might serve as a warning to the 2 1/2 skeins waiting to torment me. ;-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday! :-D

Just for Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:30:00 +0000

A friend in Minnesota wanted to see how Clementine is growing up, so I took my camera out to see what I could capture...

I captured the "puppies" showing off.

Wonton beating up Noodle

These girls love, and I mean LOVE, to wrestle.

Can you see the smile on Wonton's face?

Posing for pictures

The Alpaca Dog likes to get in the middle of it too.

He's the small dog now, but he's still the top dog. Wonton still has a smile on her face. :-)

And of course I got a few shots of Clementine and her friends. :-)

Clementine with her momma, Kocoa and Daisy

All of our girls having breakfast together

Apple wants to make sure we don't forget that she is cute too

Clementine be four months old next week.

We'll be asking the vet to come out in the coming weeks to make sure all of our "pregnant" dams are in fact pregnant and to give everyone their annual vaccinations.

We are also starting to make plans for breeding Noodle next year. We will have her hips and elbows certified. Then, assuming all is well, we plan to breed her in November-ish.

Fiber Arts Friday: Spinning Llama

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:58:00 +0000

I have spun Huacaya Alpaca, Suri Alpaca, Paco-Vicuna and Baby Camel so llama was the last of the domesticated camelids I had to spin.

I picked this batt up at the Estes Park Wool Market last spring.

Much like the Paco-Vicuna I spun in November, this llama has a beautiful color variation.

It is softer than I expected and quite easy to spin even though the batt had a lot of vegetable matter in it... so much actually, that I'm seriously considering moving that picker higher up on my to acquire list. :-)

The final result is 2 ounces and 79 yards.

I'm not crazy about the little curlie-ques in this yarn. I think they are there because I was trying to pull out the VM on the fly and therefore continued to treadle. Oops. That being said, it was a nice fiber to work with and I would like to spin llama from a roving sometime. :-)

Be sure to check in with the other Fiberistas over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder because it is Fiber Arts Friday!

Thinking and Writing, but not Posting

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:56:00 +0000

I have a lot of things going on in my brain... as evidenced by the 90 drafted blog posts I have.

But I have not been posting much.... as evidenced by the 5 weeks of only FAF posts.

Some of this is because I've been getting ready for going live, now live and in the midst of hyper-care with a software tool that I've been working on for the last several months.

Some of this is because I don't talk about my client's business here.

Some of this is also because I think that Project Management, in and of itself, is not very interesting to write about.

And finally some of this is because I've been working on some things that I'm not ready to talk about yet.

Some of these things are evolving, growing and developing. So I am hoping that I will be able to move some of my thoughts and ideas beyond the draft stage soon. :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Peaceful Knitting?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

This was supposed to be a small bit of peaceful knitting to get me through the end-of-the-year-crazy-ness.

I was using a much smaller yarn and needles than the pattern recommended. I did a swatch and made some adjustments to the pattern.

I'm not entirely sure when I started to think that something wasn't right. But I kept knitting, trusting in the edits I had made.

Finally on Saturday I decided I had to try it on. I moved the cowl from the needles to waste yarn. I used a crochet hook because I was traveling and am certain that tapestry needles are not allowed in the carry-on luggage. For the record a crochet hook works, but it's much easier and faster to do this with a tapestry needle.

My suspicion was confirmed... my cowl was huge. :-/ The finished cowl is supposed to be about 12 inches long from the top to the point. At the time of this photo it was about 18 inches and 75% complete. So frogged, it has been. :-(

The Bandana Cowl is a lovely pattern. It is exactly what I wanted... very simple but with enough short-rows to keep it interesting. I enjoyed working it and am sad that I did not do this pattern justice.

I will make a few more adjustments next time. Or perhaps, I will just use the recommended yarn and needle size. ;-)

Please be certain to head over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see the wonderful-ness that everyone else has been up to for Fiber Arts Friday.

Fiber Arts Friday: Swatching

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:56:00 +0000

I've had and idea for a project in my head for quite some time. It requires hand-spun yarn, which I finished spinning last summer.

I had been pretty convinced I would use the linen stitch, but I wanted this project to be simple and reversible. So a review of my stitch catalogs and a few swatches later, I think I have a plan.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Bear Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:19:00 +0000

Yes, that's right. Bear Hair. Black Bear Hair found by my cousin's son in their back yard last September.

Yes, that's right. Black Bears in the back yard. They live in Colorado too. :-)

If you remember the Rocky Mountain Goat I posted about a few weeks ago, this is my same cousin with the same son. It might mean that my cousin and her son have become my very own personal rare fiber dealers. ;-)

This is only 1/4 ounce. There is absolutely no crimp, but the shine is gorgeous and the color is just beautiful.

I attempted to spin it straight on my wheel, but the hair is stiff so it didn't go too well. So I'm not sure how I will get this spun or even if spinning is the right thing to do. I suspect blending it with something will be the way to go, but I haven't done any blending yet, so suggestions are absolutely welcome.

If you had access to Black Bear Hair, what would you do with it?

While you're thinking about that, please check in with all of the lovely Fiberistas over at Fiber Arts Friday and have a great New Year's Eve!

Fiber Arts Friday: Elevation Profile Scarf is Finished!

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:02:00 +0000

I feel like I had been just a few inches from completing the Elevation Profile Scarf for quite some time. So last weekend I decided it was going to be finished. Sunday had me binding it off... I wove in the ends, wore it around the house for a bit then set it in the block.

I really do like the drape of this fabric. The yarn is a blend of Yak and Merino and I knit it on slightly larger needles than the yarn called for.

This was my first time following a pattern that was written with only charts. It was also my first time knitting with two colors at the same time.

Once I figured out what I was doing, it wasn't all that difficult. Although I was not working on this project exclusively, so occasionally I forgot how to make the transition between the colors after I had set it aside.

I love how the selvedge is turned out.

It's so easy to make this beautiful edge... just slip the first stitch purl-wise for each row and then move the working yarn to the back. I will definitely use this technique on future projects.

And now that the scarf has been blocked, I've been wearing it almost exclusively... and since I'm not about to take a photo of myself wearing it, you'll just have to happen to see me walking around town. ;-)

I really like this pattern a lot, so I believe I'll do it again... with perhaps a single color. I think the texture of the pattern would show better with one color that's a little lighter in color.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanuka and Happy Fiber Arts Friday. May you eat well, be warm and enjoy the company of the people you love.

Fiber Arts Friday: The Fiber Fool and Nourishing Knits

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:20:00 +0000

I met Kristi Schueler a few years ago on Twitter. Hubba and I were living in New Mexico and planning our return to Colorado.

Kristi was a knitwear designer based in Colorado. I was smitten. :-)

After Hubba and I got settled in our Colorado home, Kristi and I realized we were almost neighbors. We met a couple of times. She helped me overcome my fear of cables. I was still smitten. :-)

She invited me to join her knitting group. I was intimidated.

I came a few times when my travel schedule allowed. I was at ease.

Kristi wrote a book. I want to tell you about it.

As a matter of fact, a few of us will be talking about it. Today is the first post in a blog tour highlighting Nourishing Knits. Kristi will be announcing a couple of giveaways over on her blog today, so you will definitely want to check that out.

Nourishing Knits is jam packed with delicious recipes and beautiful knit designs. I have had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of some of these test recipes and the name for one of the patterns came from a suggestion I made. :-)

The Alpaca Dog has been a taste tester as well. One night, he knew there was something in my bag for him as soon as I walked thru the door... He devoured it and begged for more. This dog doesn't generally care for treats, so let me tell you... If you get this book for nothing else, get it for the Bow Wow Biscotti. Your best friend will thank you. :-)

It's pretty easy to write about something that's fantastic. The trouble is finding the one piece I wanted to focus on. I have 5 or 6 of these designs in my queue. Not just the favorites. They're in my queue. That means I will make them. It's only a matter of time.

The one I've been thinking most about knitting next are the Challah socks.

I am a new (and excited) sock knitter... and Kristi helped me overcome my fear of cables... and the socks in the book are made from alpaca. So really, I do think this is the perfect choice. :-)

I have selected a charcoal/green Malabrigo to knit this pattern. I hear Malabrigo is lovely to work with, and now that I've wound the skeins into cakes, I'm getting excited. :-)

I'm about half-way into the first cable repeat for the first sock. I am trying to follow only the charts, but I am cheating a little and looking at the written out instructions every now and then. Since I don't have a lot of experience with charts, I want to make sure I'm reading the marks correctly.

I do have to say that I like following the chart in the round... it means I'm always reading it from right to left. :-D

And I love seeing the roots of cables forming...

I am enjoying these socks so far and am looking forward to some dedicated sock knitting this weekend. :-)

If you don't already know Kristi, follow her. You'll learn something. You'll be inspired. You'll have good food too. :-)

The Fiber Fool on Twitter
The Fiber Fool Blog
Designedly, Kristi on Facebook
Designedly, Kristi on Ravelry

And of course, be sure get your copy of Nourishing Knits soon!

Photos courtesy of Kristi Schueler

Then once your finished checking out all of the Nourishing Knits goodness, please also check out the other fiberistas who have linked in for Fiber Arts Friday.

Dogs Working

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:43:00 +0000

Our girls don't look much like puppies anymore. They love being out with the alpacas and are growing into very good protectors.

We take them on walks and to the Farmer's Market to ensure they remain well socialized. They enjoy other dogs and people when we're out. But when they are with the alpacas, they are definitely working. I have no doubt that these girls would fiercely protect me, Hubba, the alpacas and each other if the situation ever presented itself.

I have not posted any photos of them in quite a while. Mostly because they generally don't stay still. Which means that usually the only thing I'm able to capture is a black blur.

However, Hubba and I have been able to snap a few over the last couple of days.

Clementine and Wonton enjoying the sun while everyone else was enjoying breakfast

Noodle

Noodle and Wonton working hard ;-)

The girls are just about 1 year old now. Wonton, in a couple of days and Noodle, next week.

Noodle, me and Wonton

I can't tell you how much we love these dogs. They were absolutely the best choice for us. :-)

No Christmas Knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:15:00 +0000

I was feeling quite proud of myself...

Several months ago I had decided there would be only one, perhaps two knitting projects for Christmas. The Christmas related knitting stress would be very small and I hadn't attached much expectation to either project.

Things have been (extremely) busy at my day job and I haven't had much extra mental capacity for quite some time. So I felt this was the best plan.

Now, a few months later, the primary project's current status is "lame." It needs to be deeper and bigger. I don't have enough interest in making the corrections now, so it has been shelved and may be resurrected for next year.

The second project was started and f-d up, re-started and f-d up again. I've decided the yarn I selected was not the best choice, so it has also been shelved as well.

Therefore, there are no knitted gifts from me this year and frankly, I feel ok about it.

HEV Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Last week I was given a Toyota Prius as a rental car.

I was excited. I had never been in one, so I was anxious to see what it was like.

I didn't hate it.

I didn't love it.

That's pretty much my reaction to most rental cars... with the exception of the PT Cruiser and HHR. I hate those cars.

I don't want to write a review about rental cars, but driving this car for several days brought up a few questions for me regarding Hybrid-Electric Vehicles.

What is the actual mileage while the IC Engine is running?

The engine started and stopped a lot on my commute each day. The starting and stopping, especially at traffic lights invoked memories of being a new driver with a very old, poorly maintained, manual transmission car.

If the rated mileage is 50mpg, I should have paid 40-50% less in gas. I paid only 20% less.

There is the possibility that the car wasn't full when I picked it up, but that is always true. My rental car company does not have a good process for ensuring the cars are full prior to pick up.

What are the emissions when the IC Engine is running?

We hear a lot about HEVs having terrific gas mileage, but we don't hear much about the emissions. If I remember correctly, the IC Engine creates most of it's emissions when first starting up.

So if the engine starts and stops 10 times on each commute, does it create more air emissions than a similar engine that is only started once?

What happens to the batteries when the car has reached it's useful life?

I know batteries have come a long way since I researched HEVs in the early 1990's. Do they get recycled?

What about maintenance?

Is there an availability of non-dealer mechanics that are affordable and skilled? Are parts reasonably priced?

While the Prius is not in the pool of cars we would consider when the time comes to replace the ones we have now. It doesn't mean an HEV or EV wouldn't work for us. I would just want to have acceptable answers to my questions and be able to fit Hubba's racing chair in the car without having to take the wheels off.

Fiber Arts Friday: Rocky Mountain Goat Fiber

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:02:00 +0000

I've been wanting to share this fiber with you all for a while. :-D

In early June, my cousin was on a hike near Breckenridge, CO. She and her son found this Rocky Mountain Goat fiber strewn across some branches and wondered if I would be interested in playing with it.

1 1/8 ounces raw Rocky Mountain Goat Fiber

My first reaction was H*** Yes, Hand it over! But I restrained myself until I knew what she wanted to do with it. We finally connected in July and I spent a few hours each weekend working on it over the summer when I could.

I did an initial skirt where I removed the twigs and most of the guard hair.

The guard hair is quite coarse.

The down is on the left and guard hair and twigs on the right. I was expecting to pull more guard hair out, but this was only the first pass.

I gave it a good bath and a few changes of water, then hung to dry for a few days.

After the initial skirt and bath, the fleece is down to 3/4 ounce and oh-so-white.

Now I'm in the middle of opening up the fibers and doing a more detailed pick with a retractable dog brush. I'm about half finished.

The second picture is the opened fiber. It's so soft.

It will most likely be next spring before I'm finished, but I've been wanting to share it for quite some time. :-)

I hope you are having a terrific Fiber Arts Friday. Please be certain to check into what everyone else has been up to over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Fiber Arts Friday: Paralympic Medal Socks

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:17:00 +0000

I've been saying for more than two years that you might be inspired when reading through the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Posts. Well, back in July I was inspired to make a very specific project.

This post by AllyB included a pair of socks that just about knocked me over. She referenced this post by ScoutJ for the custom yarn used to make the project.

Well, with it being more than a year since the original yarn post, it was no longer available and I didn't find anyone on Ravelry willing to part with theirs.

So being a recovering engineer, I can usually find a way to get something done... I Facebooked a friend who is a knitter and dyer along with many other wonderful creative things and told her about my idea.

Seriously, as much as Facebook frustrates me, I can almost always reach someone there.

She liked it, so we set about on the details.

The yarn was finished in October. We made arrangements for me to pick up the yarn and then I worked furiously to finish My (well, Hubba's) First Socks.

The big secret that I didn't tell you about before is that those first socks were really a template for these socks. :-)

I wanted to be certain I had a pattern that worked for him, but I couldn't let him know about the real project until it was ready. I finished them right before he got home from Guadalajara so I decided to give them as a welcome home present. :-)

He's pretty stoked! Especially since his first socks have gone on their own adventure.

So again, I used the Sock It To Me pattern plus the amazing Olympic Colorway from Wattsolak.
If you like what we did, please visit her on Etsy, Ravelry and Wattsolak.com. I'm sure you will love her as much as I do. :-)

And when you're done doing that, please head over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder because it's Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: First Knit Socks have gone Walkabout

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Hubba loved his hand-knit socks so much that he took them to Guadalajara while he was there for the Para Pan American Games.

It was quite warm during the day, but very cool in the mornings. The Athlete's Village did not have heat, so he was happy to have some woolies with him.

Then one day last week, he was showing them off and bragging on me. :-) He wanted me to knit a pair as a tip for the massage therapist. :-) Then sometime later he didn't have them anymore. :-( He was heartbroken. :-( He traced and re-traced his path, but didn't find them. :-(

He called me with the sad news and then asked if I could whip up a pair before he got home. lol.

Well, my answer to whipping up a pair of socks in a few days is Not Possible, but I was working on a secret that I'll tell you about next week. ;-)

I hope that someone picked up the socks, that they fit that person, and that he or she will have warm and toasty toes for a long time to come.

I do wonder where the socks have gone now that the games are over... Argentina? Canada? Brazil? or maybe they've decided they like it in Mexico??

It's Fiber Arts Friday, so please go see what everyone else has been up to.

Fiber Arts Friday: Spinning Paco-Vicuna

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:25:00 +0000

I picked up what I thought was a cloud of Paco-Vicuna at the Taos Wool Festival a few years ago. It was in the silent auction, and I HAD to have it.

It was my first ever festival acquisition.

I was a brand new spinner, so I was really nervous about messing it up. Which means it has sat quietly in my stash ever since. But now that I have a lot more spinning experience, I felt like I was ready to try. Or at least I had reached a point to where my fear of risk was balanced by my sense of confidence.

I have to say I'm not crazy about this preparation which turned out to be shredded chunks of batting and not clouds.

But I do love the how color changes in the yarn and I'm looking forward to see what this will look like woven up.

Since today is Fiber Arts Friday, you know what I'm going to ask... so please go visit everyone else and tell them how awesome they are. :-)

World Wide Moment - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:41:00 +0000

I finally got my World Wide Moment Photo posted... I was at home on Friday, 11/11/11 and the weather was beautiful, so I took a photo in the most peaceful place I know... our farm.

You can see the photos that others have submitted here.

Fiber Arts Friday: Elevation Profile Scarf Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Kathryn Ray) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:41:00 +0000

The Elevation Profile Scarf has been neglected while I was working on Hubba's first pair of socks and taming recycled yarn. And now it's being (mostly) set aside for a couple of secret projects that I won't tell you about... at least for a while, anyway. ;-)

Isn't that how it goes? The thing we're doing for ourselves always gets pushed to the bottom of the list. :-/ Of course this means I currently have three knitting projects "in work" plus one spinning project for a total of four. This is my self-imposed maximum.

Anyway, I have made some progress since the last time I told you about this Scarf...

I had a few more episodes of ripping out on the second half of the third chart. It was really bunching up in the valley, so I added a few rows without any increases or decreases to alleviate some of the stress between the two extreme ramps.

The scarf is in the "doesn't require a whole lot of thought" state now... I've been doing the same two rows for about a mile and a half... Ok, not quite that far, but I still have about 15 inches to go before I start the final chart.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this baby looks like after blocking. It's recommended in the pattern and after seeing what happened to the Traveling Woman Shawl, I have to think this will look awesome when it's finished. :-)

Be sure to visit everyone else over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder because it's Fiber Arts Friday.