The Fibonacci Experience

I know I said in a past post that I would be dropping out of HAT ATTACK 2, but damn if the competitor me wouldn't let me quit! I stood in folks, and got my victim this past Tuesday from the Oracle.

Now, remember why I wanted to drop out??? I've been so busy lately with too many things going on that I just couldn't commit time to making a Death Hat, well since I didn't drop out, I ended up having to scramble for my tools to kill with. This includes, 2 coordinating colors of yarn, worsted weight, a stitch marker, US size 6 24' inch circular, and a few other items, highlighter, ruler, etc.

The competitor in me wouldn't give up and in no way shape or form wants to be forced to have to send a WIP to an assassin! I luckily found in my stash, 2 colors that I thought hopefully most anyone would like, a grey tweed and a light green tweed from O'Wool's Organic yarn line. I fell in love with this yarn when I first found the gem "Green Planet Yarn". Beth, (GPY's owner), stocks up on a huge assortment of "green" friendly yarn, and O'Wool is one of them. The quality is very good, and soft to touch, and the colors are soothing.

I've completed my death hat and need to ship in the mail, hopefully today, if I can make it on lunch, otherwise it will go to the post first thing tomorrow morning. I don't have any pics yet of the FO, but I do have some pics I took on Wednesday to share.

This is a pic taken in my car Wednesday as I was knitting this killer hat!



Do you see my Hello Kitty stitch marker??? I just had to use it for this project, the little kitty follows me around in circles!

Another pic...



The pattern used for the Death Hat is called "Fibonacci Frequency", it really is a creative pattern. My hat's off to S.Quinn, pattern designer.

Fibonacci is a sequence of numbers named after Leonardo of Pisa. Each number in the sequence is equal to two numbers before it is added together. If you've seen "The Da Vinci Code" or read the book, your familiar with it. If this has sparked your interest, go to Wikipedia, where there's a wealth of info there.

I'm just amazed at how the designer soley based their pattern on the Fibonacci principles. When I was reading through the pattern pages, I couldn't imagine that the pattern would be something so pretty, and my proof is how it's knitting up. It's so simple, just combination's of Knits and Purls using the Fibonacci method, so simple yet so complex. From the pics I posted you can see it creates kind of a wave, or design that is pretty cool. It almost reminds me of a Monet painting, from far away the design really comes out, up close there's still a design, but it's different then the view from far away. I'll have to make me another one of these hats, there super easy and super fast.

On the list this weekend, in no particular order, except for No. 1, which is of high importance:

1) Take pics of dishwasher appliance and stove to sell on Craigslist to earn some extra, but needed $$$

2) Finish Clue 2 of MS4

3) Finish Hint's 2 & 3 of SSiii

4) Finish Tree square of Tech Afghan

5) Start Log cabin square of Tech Afghan

6) Work on section received for Group 25 Significant Others Traveling Scarves

7) Send out my seedling section for Group 25, must be done SAT!!!

8) Send out my seedling section for Group 37 Noro Knit/Crochet Traveling Scarves

9) Work on section for Group 37 Noro, received from herebedragons

10) Put the finishing touches on my swap packages for Day of the Dead, and Falling for Ewe 8)!!!

11) Chat it up with my new swap buddies from the Tea Swap and Hollywood Glamour 30's & 40's

12) Clean house

13) Work on pattern bag with my sewing machine

14) Go through kids clothes and get ready for a yarn sale

15) Give Rosie (my doggy) a bath

16) Bring out Autumn/Fall decorations

17) Finish organizing office

18) Celebrate my Aunt's Birthday, she's my Godmother

19) Celebrate my Mother's Birthday

20) Anything else I can't remember!

It will all turn out good, I'm thinking positive 8-).

Happy Friday Everyone!

The Buzz That Is MS4

If you don't already know, there's buzz around about the latest knit along, "Mystery Stole 4". This is my first MS to participate in, I've heard such good things about these knit alongs. I enjoy knowing that there are many many other knitters out there working along the same pattern and the same time frame, unless you turn into a Turtle, or a Snail! So far, I'm neither, YAY! I completed CLUE 1 a few days ago, the beading in the beginning was torture! There was a bead every other stitch, but I pressed on and I really like how it adds a nice pearly border to it. I used my recent stash addition, Blue Moon Fiber Art's LACI in Typhoon Tina colorway. The deep rich blues and blacks are very pretty and will dress up any jeans attire. This yarn is soft and luscious, literally, I find myself continually stopping to pet it as I knit. I know, I'm totally weird, but I just love to pet yarn, something about it gives me a soothing feeling... does it do that to you? My bead choice was a lame one, I found myself, again, scrummaging for beads, not willing to drive to a bead shop, but hyper eager to start knitting, so my impatience to knit won over, I just strolled to my local Michael's (just a few blocks away), and bought two different sets of beads, some clear ones, and some really pretty blue ones, that have this sheen, kind of like a pearl sheen, they were very pretty when I saw them. They match the color of my yarn, dead on, and look very pretty knitted up. I took a bunch of pictures last night trying to get all the angles, but sadly my camera didn't want to cooperate, it never does. Sometime soon I'll invest in a new camera that takes really good and clear pictures. The beads are very silky to touch and don't hurt at all when you press on them, which for me is a requirement because I plan to wrap myself with this stole, and I don't want the beads to feel like there engraving my skin. The diamond pattern is very pretty, a surprise for me, which threw me a wrench for a minute is that the right and left ends have sort of a wave to it, so it's not a straight vertical border. As I was knitting, I kept thinking, I hope I don't get a visit from the frog fairy, cause it's not looking straight, but I had faith in Georgia, MS4's designer, and pressed onto the end of CLUE1. It's pretty neat to step back and see it, now I can't wait to continue onto CLUE2. I'm glad I'm keeping pace with MS4, for now, I don't want to have to join a turtle club 8)

What do you have planned?

Anyone doing anything this weekend? For me, I have alot of goals I've established for myself. One fun thing I was able to get done, packaged and dropped off to the U.S. Post Office, is my package for my swap pal from the "Knitters Treasurer" swap on Ravelry.

I joined this awhile ago, and perhaps cheated a bit, because I was able to choose my swap partner, my good friend, Marisol. When I first came across this swap back in early August, I really like the goodies that you give in the swap, and put in my request to join. I was told that they would need at least one more member to have a swappee for me, so I invited Marisol, who happily joined! Whats even better is that I was able to make a goodie package that I'm hoping she'll love!

Could there be the yummy yarn in it???
What type of yarn, I wonder???
Could there be patterns?
Could there be recipes?
Could there be knitting accessories in it???

Hmm... who knows? Only time will tell. I want to share this goodie package, but I won't spoil it for her (I know she reads this blog) ... I just want to tease a little!

For other swaps upcoming that I've requested to join, are a Tea swap, fun! I love Chai tea, it is my favorite tea of all teas. I love it hot, with some milk and a touch of sugar. The aroma is just so comforting. I also love homemade sun tea with some simple syrup, ahhh, refreshing. Normally in the summer I'll get some monster tea packets, and fill a big glass tea jug with clean bottled water, loads of freshly sliced lemon and just put it out in the morning, right smack in the sun's view, and by end of day I have the most refreshing and great tasting tea. It doesn't last too, my kids and my husband drink it up by end of day. It is so eco-friendly, you use the suns heat to penetrate the tea leaves to flavor and enrich the water. The lemon adds such a nice zing to too. I believe there are still openings for the Tea Swap, if your interested and have a Ravelry account, please visit The Odd Ducks Swap in Ravelry.

Another swap I'm also in, is the Day of the Dead swap. I've been putting together a package for my spoilee for awhile now, and probably won't call it complete for about another week, and then I'll send it off. This swap is in honor of, obviously, "Day of the Dead". It means so much to honor those who have passed on. Swaps are just so much fun. I love getting to meet new knitters/crocheters, and visiting their blogs. If you've never been in one, you should try it, I bet you'll enjoy it.

Onto my Traveling Scarves groups, I'm in Group 37 Noro Knit/Crochet, the premise behind this is that you knit or crochet a section of about 5 x 5 inches with only NORO yarn, and then pass on to your downstream knitter/crocheter. This goes around in a circle, between all members. Over the course of the traveling scarves, you'll get sections from each of the members and be able to add your own section. By the time you get your original section (your scarf), you'll have an FO that was knitted or crocheted by the members of your group. Cool idea! I love this group, it's all NORO, and you get to knit or crochet. Since I've been honing my skills at crochet, I love it, I can crochet my piece quickly. It can also be a great stashbuster, but I deviated and went and purchased some new NORO yarn, look at these, I can't wait for them to arrive!



Yummy New Yarn, my fave!

Plus, some late breaking news, not relative to knitting, but to me, I've landed a permanent job at a new company, and will be starting there in about two weeks. I currently work contract right now at another company, and while I like it here, the opportunity at my new job is just immense. It's a company that completely outsourced their IT services, and are unhappy with the performance of the vendor, so they decided to build an in-house IT from the ground up. I was contacted about this opportunity from a former colleague, who I can't thank enough! I'll get to influence, develop, and create an IT from scratch. There is so much opportunity with this, I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good thing. An even better plus, it's about 10 minutes from my house! I left an interview there about 4:55 p.m. on a Friday, and was walking into my home by 5:15 p.m.!! Wouza! I deserve this, for three years my hubby and I commuted from Newman (Central Valley of California) to San Jose, and to Palo Alto for me. This is about 400 miles a day, just in commute time, so this will be a nice change for me, especially since we now live in San Jose, CA again 8)

As for what I have planned this weekend, just straight knitting. I really want to get back on track with my Secret of the Stole KAL, and with the Mystery Stole 4. This is the first time I've knitted with STR Laci,and I love it. It is so soft and easy to work with, I can't imagine using anything else. The stitch definition and structure is just strong and pretty. I'll take final pics over the weekend to share with you.

Besides knitting, there will be some re-organizing/re-decorating of my home office. I have big plans for it to be a "Mini Fiber Studio". We'll also try to get our dining room in order. Right now it's empty and full of boxes.

So my plans are pretty simple, and cost nothing but my time 8) Maybe I'll throw in a BBQ for football Sunday! I just can't do without my football 8)

Have a good weekend everyone!
R