The Red Scarf Project

As most knitters might know, there is "The Red Scarf Project", which is a project of the Orphan Foundation of America. The Red Scarf Project has been mentioned and promoted in many different blogs, I found out personally from the great Scout.

I did some research into the project, and it is project I wholeheartedly stand behind.

Some teenie'bit of info about ~we O me~, my Father who raised me, raised me from whence I was just months old, I think 1 month (not too sure) with my Mother. My real Father, did a *houdini*, and poof, that was it. I was so fortunate to have had my Father be there, and raise me. I know him as the only Father I've ever had, and he is my blood, regardless of the who actually created me. My hubby also had a Father who did the *houdini* act as well, but he wasn't fortunate enough like me to have a great man step in. We've raised our two children to also know the importance of family as well.

We know how important it is to have family, whether you have 1 parent, 2 parents, or just a close loving family that cares.

They need to know there are people who care, and one way to help, if at least a little is to knit a Red scarf for this cause. The OFA will be accepting donations between September 1, 2008 to October 31, 2008, which is more than enough time to knit a red colored scarf to donate.

Won't you please find it in your heart give a knitted treat that has more meaning behind it than the average knitted goodie? For more information on the project and to find out info about the OFA click here.

Everything Handspun (**plus Vesper spoiler**)

For the Ravelympics I gave myself a goal to learn to spin. Coincidentally, Purlescence Yarns, was also offering a Drop Spinning class as well. I signed up for the class, bought my drop spindle, some spinning books, and I was ready to go.



I had fiber from a few fiber clubs I joined, plus some that I bought just cause they looked pretty 8) I know it's funny that I would invest in fiber without evening knowing how to spin, but I thought if I had fiber around it would force me to spin. Not really force because I really wanted to spin, regardless. It's been something I've wanted to do for awhile now.



I had some pretty teal/greenish' Coriadale wool from The Sweet Sheep, which I thought would be perfect to start spinning with, at least based off of my research.



Sandy from Purlescence I have to say, is a great teacher. She really did give me alot of information about the fibers, the staple lengths, drafting, carding, you name it. At the end of my first lesson she gave me a huge amount of **mystery** fibers to spin. She wouldn't tell me what they were and wouldn't tell me how to spin it.



She wanted it to be a real learning experience, and it was. I can't thank her enough. For each fiber I took a few notes, and put a small piece of the fiber in my notepad. There was the Silk, which is just soft, but very delicate and easy to break, and the cotton top, which is gosh darn easy to break, hard to draft, and the alpaca hair, which is easy to spin and draft, but has a fuzzy kind of hair spin to it.



Look at all these different fibers. For my spinning, I decided to spin each fiber as I pulled them out of the bag. I didn't want to pick & choose, I rather let it come to me. It's really amazing how the finished product came out, it's just so pretty.



In the picture, from Left to Right, Top to Bottom, are the following fibers.. I think there's a few missing that I spun completely:



Alpaca Top, easy to spin, don't need much twist, long staple length.
Camel hair, easy to spin, but still hairy, long staple length.
Silk Top w/nods.. very hard, there's a trick to it, it comes in a square shape, which you stretch into a donut, then spin.. I didn't know this, but found out after.
Merino Silk, easy to spin, can break.
Long Wool, easy to spin.
Cashmere Silk, so soft, spins slow, breaks easily.
Merino Cashmere, soft, spins medium, can break.
Silk Top, hard to spin, very delicate, but super soft.
Bison, so hard to spin, breaks easily, short staple length
Cotton Punt, hard to spin because the staple length is short, and breaks easily.
Merino Silk, spins good, soft.
Cotton Top, hard to spin, breaks easily.
Tencel, spins ok.
Super fine Alpaca, so soft, easy to spin.

After having that sort of crash course in fibers, and I just eager to keep spinning and really become good at it.

All those fibers produced this beautiful skein, which I'm calling "Everything" handspun 8-)


And I still have some left over to ply another fiber with... I can't wait!


In other news.. I received the August shipment from the Vesper Sock Club, I love the colors it has, so pretty...the orange in it really stands out nicely.

It's Pron Time

Yarnissima Zum Dirndl Kit w/Wollmeise yarn


Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

I have been stalking Yarnissima for awhile now, just waiting for her latest creation to become available the "Zum Dirndl", and now I finally have it!



I missed the sign-ups for the test knitting, so I had to watch from the sidelines of the Zum Dirndl Test Knit group in Raverly. 8-( But, I got my email from Yarnissima a few days ago regarding the release of the kit, and I quickly Paypal'd for it.



The Natural colored Wollmeise yarn is just divine, and the pattern is so classy, I really want to cast these puppies on.

I already have an outfit in mind, wearing these stockings with these black stilettos:


A classy black skirt, and a Natural color sweater to match.. ooh can't wait!

While I was at Purlescence last Saturday, I picked up the softest lace yarn from BMF the LACI series in the "Typhoon Tina" colorway. It is so soft, and has pretty deep tones for fall. I'm thinking I might use this for MS4, if it swatches good.





Ok, I'm done salivating....onto my Crochet project.

I've been meaning for awhile now to learn crochet, primarily for embellishments, and have become fascinated with Amigurumi, which you obviously need to know crochet to do. You can do it with knitting, but I think it's better to use crochet for this.
I went and invested a full set of crochet hooks, in a ton of yarn at Michael's, I know, I know, under any other circumstances I would NOT buy yarn from Michael's, being the "yarn snob" I am, but I didn't think it was right or even made sense to use quality yarn for my Amigurumi projects, don't you???

Ok, didn't mean to scare you there... I only use quality designer yarn for my projects, with Amigurumi being the exception. I also bought the adorable "Creepy Cute Crochet" book, Crochet for Dummies, & the Amigurumi World book.

Last night, I put down my knitting, and picked up my 3.5mm crochet hook, and tried to read a Crochet pattern.
STOP HERE... these pattern charts are crazy, it was like looking at a different language????
Look at this:


You see that circle on the left, with all the characters, that's the chart I'm supposed to read!?! For a brand new crocheter like me, this was just ?#?*@!??? But I didn't give up, I looked through my books, did some YouTube browsing, and after some research, I was finally able to make a Magic Ring, and understand that Crochet Chart. Now it doesn't look so freaky to me. After about an hour I was on my way to completing the body of my little "Grim Reaper".



I learned to Magic Ring, Single Crochet, Double Crochet, Decrease Crochet, and so on. I got my little body done, and was ready to fill it, when I realized I couldn't find my filler! I searched high & low, nothing, so now it sits on its crochet hook until I go to Michael's and stock up on some filler.

Here's what the body looks like so far, you can't tell too much now, but tonight it will be filled and then given an head.



I was so proud last night, for a minute there I didn't think I was going to figure it out. Hopefully the rest of the body goes smoother.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!
8-)

Dia De Los Muertos "Day of the Dead"

These are depictions of the "Catrinas". The Catrina was made famous by a zinc etching from "La Calavera de la Catrina" by Jose Guadalupe Posada. To find out more click here.


I joined a "Day of the Dead" swap on Raverly, and I just got my swap partner, Cheryl. She has a blog http://knitdevotion.blogspot.com , in one of her more recent entries she had pics of her kids in some clothes she made with clothing tattoos (I think that's so cool), here's a peak at them.

This is a piece of a dress, just look at those tattoos! I love the women with wings on top of the rose, so pretty! I really love the idea of clothing tattoos vs. actual body tattoos. I have wanted one at one time or another, but never thought it was a good idea, for me at least. Cheryl is already turning out to be a great swap partner, she pm'd me right away via Ravelry, and even blogged about me. I just love swap pals like this! I can tell were going to enjoy ourselves with the DOTD swap.

By the way, if you like to swap, there is an Odd Ducks Swap group in Ravelry that holds polls to setup new future swaps to join, plus you can suggest swap ideas, share swap info, a really cool group. Here's a link to the group's blog.

Current Events (**Malabrigo Alert**)

Woolgirl Sock Club "August 08"


Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

What can I say, I heart WOOLGIRL!



Saturday I received my August installment from the Woolgirl Sock Club, and it's just wonderful! Check out the big bag! This is perfect for large WIP's or just many smaller WIPs. See that baggy of goodies? It has the cutest rubber erasers shaped like sandals! I so will not use these, I'll have to place them on my shelf in my office to display. I just love the clever packaging, the way the skein of yarn was stored in the cute orange water bottle. The yarn is just refreshing and pretty, it isn't a colorway I would choose, but it is one that I like alot, which is a perk of joining a yarn club, I think it allows you to broaden your yarn color choices.





Plus.... SQUEE!!!!..... I got an email from Jenn letting me know that I won the "Georgia O'Keefe" Contest from the Woolgirl Sock Club. Not only did I win, I won 1st place! That's 3 skeins of the soft Mama Llama sock yarn of my choice coming my way. Getting my club package, and then finding this out, was just too good; it was kind of like a late bday present.



For the "Georgia O'Keefe" contest, we had to write a post of our favorite Georgia painting. She has such a beautiful collection of art, I just couldn't settle on just one painting, so I did one post with a few different paintings, with a quote of why I like each one. Here is the one that scored me the 1st prize.



My quote for this was:
"Jack in the Pulpit IV"
Rich dark petals bring a feeling of comfort & security...soft blue center of fire reminds me that my sole is strong.
~Yo me siento vivo/I feel alive~

To see my full post, click here.

For my Mama Llama Sock Yarn, I choose these colorways:
Fall Leaves

Venice

Forest



And now onto other events, when I was GPY the other week, I found out from Beth (GPY owner) that they were to start a "Tech Square Afghan" Knit Along, starting 8/17/08. I quickly signed up, because the knit along is not like any other knit along. The Tech Square Afghan really is a unique experience. In this Afghan alone, you'll learn almost every technique under the sun. Techniques are: Entrelac, Intrasia, Provisional Cast-Ons, Seaming, Cabling, Increasing, Decreasing, Half-Hitch Increases, Double Decreases, Mattress Stitch, Circular Knitting, Knitted Cord, Traveling Stitches, Sewing, Waste Yarn Opening, Pockets, Embellishments, Steeking, Hemming, Duplicate Stitch, and much more. It really is a great project. I'll take some pictures of my WIP to show where I'm at in the Afghan, here's a look at the completed Afghan from the book.


**Malabrigo Alert**
I came across a thread on Ravelry, and the wonderful Gonzo, gave a link to a shop in Germany that is well stocked with the coveted Malabrigo Sock Yarn!!! YES ITS TRUE! All you need to do is choose your colors, send an email to bestellungATjuergenweidnerDOTde, they'll process the order for you via PayPal. The online store is Juergenweidner...it's all in German, to translate, use the Free Translation website.

Last, but not least are both the Ravelympics and Yarnsmackdown Events I'm in. I'm sorry to say but I'm just falling behind on my Ravelympics. I'm so upset. Yarnsmackdown has just eaten up my time. And Sock Wars III is still on, but now it's just getting old to me. I've been in this competition for months, killed 4 so far, just received a cake of Mountain Colors sock yarn from my previous target, but really have no desire to cast on another pair of Sock Wars Detonation socks. I've knit so many socks, not just for Sock Wars, that I'm just UGHHH! about it now. I've now decided that both Sock Wars & Yarnsmackdown are going to the bottom of my list, and from today on I'll be focusing on the Ravelympics, the Tech Square Afghan and Secret of the Stole III. I will say that I managed to score some points in Yarnsmackdown, killing with 2 Diamond Lace bookmarks, 1 pair of Starry Starry Nights socks, 1 Avocado w/Dollup of Sour Cream Toast, and 1 set of Diamond Lace Dishcloths = 10 points!