Tour de Fleece Wrap Up

Right Around, Baby
Well, Tour de Fleece ended on Sunday, and I was kind of sad... I would have liked to have one more week.  I almost made my goal, I had one 4oz braid and one 1oz batt left to spin that I had bought specifically for TdF, but I did spin 20oz that I hadn't planned on spinning... I guess, overall, I got a lot done!

I'm not sure what any of the yarn is going to become.. I'm thinking the brown skein might become mittens, as it is a baby alpaca/silk blend which is very cozy and super warm.  Other than that, I don't know.  I still have to measure some of the yarn and do some pattern searching. 

Sticks and String

Friday starts the kick-off of the Ravellenic Games (formally the Ravelmpics, but that is a whole other story... one that kind of made the internet light on fire, so I'm sure with some google searching you could find a few stories on it)! My plan is to knit matching hats for Sawyer and Baby. If there is time after that, I will hopefully finish up some lingering WIPs. I have a lot of things on the needles right now that are begging for my attention... a hat for Weston, Baby's coming home outfit (have to rip back a bit, so I'm dragging my feet on that), a pair of colorwork mittens, a pair of thrummed mittens, Sawyer's birthday sweater, my handspun lace shawl (needs ripping back as well... my preggo brain apparently can't handle complicated knitting right now)... that might be it. I know there are some other things I want to get done as well, but who knows when I will get to them.  I have all the yarn to knit Sawyer three bears (a big white one, med brown one, and small black one) I was hoping to knit them and give him the book AK's Three Bears for his birthday, but that might get pushed back to Christmas at my current rate of finishing things. I also want to knit a pair of mitts to go with a hat I just finished for a friend. Man, I spend a lot of time planning knitting projects. Lucky for me, I have actually been knitting a fair amount lately, so I am getting things done, even if it is just a little bit on every project... progress is being made. 

My Little Guy

Mini-Me
I haven't been posting a lot about Sawyer, mostly because I have so much other stuff going on! And, since he has his own blog, I figure people keep up with him there. But, I wanted to share a few things about him.... He has lately decided that he loves to pee in the toilet and is super good about letting us know when he needs to go (if he doesn't have a diaper on...). It has been fun to see him be so proud of himself.  He is also getting a new tooth... BOO on that. Teething has never been super easy for him, he gets really moody, which makes me crazy. I'm really hoping we get through the worst of it (normally once one starts coming, he will get all of them in that set... right now it's his K9s) before Baby shows up. Which could be in as early as SIX WEEKS! What!??! How did that happen. When we first found out we were expecting in Jan, I figured I would have loads of time before the baby was here... now it's right around the corner and I can't believe it.

Sawyer has been having a great summer. We spend a lot of time at the zoo or the museum (I can't really walk to the park anymore as pulling him in the wagon is a bit too much exercise for me) which he loves. I love watching him explore and learn. I am hoping that he starts talking soon... most of the frustration we have during the day is because he can't use words to tell me what he wants and I get a bit tired of interpreting what "meh" means all day. He is a great kid though and I am very blessed to be able to spend the days with him...

Sticks and String
I've been knitting Baby's coming home outfit and I'm loving it! I had my friend Carrie dye yarn for it and it is working up to be GORGEOUS! Pictures soon.  Also, the Ravellenic games (formally the Ravelmypics) are soon and I think my goal is going to be to knit Baby and Sawyer matching hats. I picked the pattern a bit ago (a Tot Toppers pattern, conduit) and have the yarn ready. I think they should be quick knits....

I get along...

Random Chatter


With a little help from my friends... I seriously have the best, most generous, thoughtful friends. The other day I was talking (on Rav) about how I really needed some colored pencils because I was trying to sketch some knitting ideas I had... a few days later, a set of colored pencils arrived in my mailbox from my friend Sara! Totally unexpected, but much appreciated. Just the other day, I received a wonderful surprise package from my friend Jess. It included a robot toy for Sawyer (no pics as he was unwilling to pose and would not give it up... I will try and get one later), a skein of handspun for me, and a quilt for Baby! It was just wonderful. I love it all. The quilt is so cute! The center panel is adorable and she backed it with polar fleece instead of using batting, which I would have never thought of, but it makes it the perfect weight to wrap around the baby!! And it is super snuggly... Such a generous gift!

Tour de Fleece

Right Around, Baby


It's Tour de Fleece season!! (For those who don't know, tour de fleece is a spinning challenge that coincides with the Tour de France... I think I've blogged about it in more detail before today) I have been rocking my spinning. I've already spun more than a pound, which is exciting! I hope to get at *least* 8 more oz spun, but hopefully more than that. Here is a quick picture round up of what I've spun.  The two big skeins are both 8oz (each around 200 yards of aran/bulky weight), so that is why I don't look like I've finished that much even though I've been spinning like a crazy person.  The two mini skeins are each 1 oz (yardage not measured) and there are three more that will be joining them soon... I'm hoping to knit some color work with them. Off to spin!

Snobbish

Random Chatter
It's no secret. I'm a yarn snob. And a fabric snob. And a milk snob (that one might be a secret, since I don't often talk about my food buying on here). I wanted to talk about why I choose what I do as a snob of many types....

Yarn

Ahh, yarn. We all love it (well, I assume if you read my blog you love it).  A lot of us probably own too much of it... I know I do. I am pretty picky about the yarn that I use. So here is why I buy what I buy...
*I love natural fibers. Why dress in plastic, when wool is so breathable, alpaca is so soft, or silk is so luxurious? Plastic? No thanks.
*I also tend not to buy super wash yarns... I hand wash all of my hand knits (including blankets) because they will last longer and it is less expensive. Plus, the process that makes yarns machine washable is quite harsh and sometimes can destroy some of the qualities I love in the yarn.
*I believe strongly in you get what you pay for. I try to use quality materials for my hobbies. If I'm going to spend 20 hours knitting something, shouldn't it be something that is worthy of that much time? Yes, I may spend a bit more upfront, but seriously... I know how long things take me to finish, I want something that I love when I am finished. And something that will last as long as I will, hopefully longer.

Fabric

I have quite the fabric stash. I'm really good at picking out things I love and then putting them in a drawer to dream of what they will become. I only buy fabric at quality quilt stores, for many of the same reasons I mentioned about my yarn buying habits. Another reason I'm a bit nuts about my fabric buying is that you can really tell the difference.  Fabric from a quality quilt shop feels nicer. The thread count is higher, seems to cut better, and it is normally printed more on the grain...it's just great. Fabric from a chain store is a gamble. I do not mix fabric from a chain store and a quality quilt store as I want all the fabrics to last the same amount of time. It would be terrible for a few pieces of a quilt to start falling apart while the rest of it to still be holding together. And, again, the price difference is negotiable.  Sure, the cost is a bit higher up front (although, I've done the math, and it normally is only about $40-$50 difference buying a whole quilt top from a chain vs. a quality store) but if you are spending time on something you want to last a lifetime, isn't the cost worth it?

Milk

I pay $5 for a gallon of milk. There are store brands and other brands of milk I can buy for much cheaper (I think I can get two gallons of milk at Costco for $6, for example) but I honestly can not think of the last time I bought any milk that wasn't Matanuska Creamery (which is a local brand).  I remember having milk at Weston's parent's house that wasn't Mat. Creamery and tasting the difference. I drink probably a gallon of milk or more a week... oh, and I drink whole milk.  So why this milk craziness? For a few reasons... I like to support the local creamery, I can taste the difference (other milk tastes almost burnt to me, I can not drink ultra-pastruized milk, which is why I don't drink organic milks. The organic milk available at my grocery store are all ultra-pastrurized, which to me tastes terrible), and it lasts longer (which I guess at the rate I drink milk isn't really an issue). Plus, I feel like it is as close as organic milk as I can get without the label.

So, that's that. I'm a snob. I believe in using the best materials you can afford.  And sure, I have to save up for bigger projects, but I still feel good about my choices. Now I'm off to knit, with my pinky held high in the air. :)