Secret Pal Package

I received a package from my Secret Pal today and it is wonderful. It included: a skein of plum JaggerSpun Zephyr, a pattern called Spring Things Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence, some Page Markers sticky notes (very cute), and some Mexican Spiced Cocoa (yumm!). I love it all - it's as if my Secret Pal already knows me. I've wanted to try JaggerSpun Zephyr and I didn't have the pattern.
Thank you so much, Secret Pal!

Update to Wool Wanderings

I updated Wool Wanderings today. There are over 500 new links, mostly in the category of Knitters' Home Pages/Blogs.

Brewing

In response to a comment (Hi, Secret Pal!), brewing is not difficult. If you can make soup, you can brew. Our best resource was our excellent homebrew store, Hennessey Homebrew Emporium. They were someone we could talk to if we had a question. The book we learned from is How to Brew. The first edition is online. We read the first chapter and then brewed. There are a few rules to follow. The most important thing is sanitation - everything must be clean. The start up cost for equipment is around $50.00. It costs about $30-$40 for a batch of beer - about 48 bottles. We get our bottles from the local beverage store - they sell us bottles for .05 cents each (the cost of the deposit).

I think homebrewing is a great hobby for a couple. We plan what we are going to brew and go buy the ingredients together. We visit breweries when we travel (as well as yarn stores, of course). We enjoy making the labels. We also make wine from kits.

This is a subject I am passionate about - I could go on further but don't want to overwhelm you. If you have more questions, let me know.

Scotch Ale

Today we brewed Scotch Ale. The gravity reading was 1.068. I'm working on writing up the recipe and will publish it soon.

I lost my notes for the hefeweizen we brewed a few weeks ago. I'll add those when I find them. I'm still working on organizing our brewing notes. It would be nice to see the notes from all the times we brewed a particular style. This will take some time.

Tatting

Yesterday I spent my lunch hour teaching someone to tat. What I learned: tatting is a lot harder to teach than knitting. At the end of the hour, she had one stitch formed. She's going to practice and then we're going to get together again. I think she had the hang of tatting but needs to teach her hands what to do. Beginning knitters also have to do this.

I learned to tat from a book when I was 19. It took me several weeks to figure out that the stitches form on the shuttle thread. If you can't slide them along the thread, you've got knots, instead of tatting stitches.

There are several free tatting sites on the net. I've got several tatting sites here, bottom of the page. I want to try this one. I think it will be pretty in a varigated thread.

Life Number

My life path number is 11 (see below). What am I supposed to do with that? lol Anyway, I've always wanted to be an artist. I work as a computer programmer for the state. I really love programming and have wanted to be one since I first met a computer (I was in seventh grade). My other passion is knitting so I thought at one time that I would like to own a yarn store. I could probably open one with just the yarn I own but it would have to cater to a specific crowd since I own mostly pink and purple yarn. But the actual running of a store doesn't appeal to me. My current idea of "what do I want to be when I grow up" is that after I retire (in about 12 years) I would make and sell jewelry and stained glass. With the remnants of stained glass from projects, I could make beads. See how it ties in? Of course, through out all of this, I would be knitting. My whole life, professional and leisure, will be crafting. Doesn't that sound loverly?

Your Life Path Number is 11

Your purpose in life is to inspire others Your amazing energy draws people to you, and you give them great insight in return.You hold a great amount of power over others, without even trying.You have the makings of an inventor, artist, religious leader, or prophet. In love, you are sensitive and passionate. You connect with your partner on a very deep level. You have great abilities, but you are often way too critical of yourself.You don't fit in - and instead of celebrating your differences, you dwell on them.You have high expectations of yourself. But sometimes you set them too high and don't achieve anything.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Progress on Rose Trellis Shawl

I'm on row 34 of the Rose Trellis Shawl. When doing a lace pattern, any lace pattern, for the first rows, I have to look at the chart for nearly every stitch. It seems like it takes a very long time to make any progress. There comes a point where I start to feel "settled" with the pattern. I'm at that point now. I can look at the chart and do a group of stitches before looking at the chart again. Soon, I'll be able to look at the chart at the beginning of the row and not have to look at the chart until the next pattern row. I think this process is part of what I really like about lace knitting. I feel like I've mastered the pattern somehow because I worked through it until it became easier. This can only be done with practice. I like a challenge. A quote from a A League of Their Own seems to work here: "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

SecretPal 11 Contest

Shelby, our hostess for SP11, sent out an email today that included a contest where the prizes are yarn. All I have to do is answer 5 questions. How easy is that? And it's a great idea - it gives me something to blog about.

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
I would have to say my row counter. It helps me to keep track of where I am in the pattern. Stitch markers are another thing that I can't live without but, since one could make them out of pieces of waste yarn, I guess they wouldn't be called accessories.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
Of course I take knitting! My usual project for vacation knitting is shawls. It's a lightweight project, doesn't take much room, and is good for many hours of knitting pleasure. When I use the shawls, I can say "This is the shawl I was working on when we went to ....".

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot? Dingle Peninsula in Ireland is one of the most beautiful spots that I've seen (and the Irish are wonderful people).
Locally, I love going to the Adirondacks. I'm a country girl who lives in the city and regularly go to the woods to recharge my batteries. I love to find to quiet spot near a lake or stream where the only sound I hear are the birds and I can sit and knit. It's a piece of heaven!

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
Victorian Lace Today is my favorite and I own it. It is filled with beautiful photographs of lace and wonderful articles about the history of victorian lace.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
I don't but I do listen to Audible books. A recent good read is Family Tree by Barbara Delinksky - the main character is a knitter and her grandmother owns a knitting store.

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you
absolutely *not* like?
Merino is my fave. Cotton is my least fave. Rarely use bulky or novelty. I like soft and not scratchy. I don't mind acrylic if it is nice.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I use mainly circulars - I have each size in a separate ziplock bag which are all kept in a tote bag

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider
your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learned when I was 9 at 4-H. We knitted a scarf, which took me a long time to knit 'cause I thought it was boring. After I graduated from college, I took up knitting and haven't stopped since! I can knit advanced patterns but there is always more to learn!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Click here for my wish list:


5. What's your favorite scent? vanilla, lavender, apple

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes, I have a sweet tooth. Dark chocolate is my favorite. I love fruit so anything with fruit is great. I don't like black licquorice. I'm allergic to onions and garlic.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you
spin?
Currently, I also bead crochet, make some jewelry, and cross stitch. In the past I have tatted, sewed, and some quilting. I love to do stained glass but don't have the space for it at this time. I have a spinning wheel but haven't used it in several years.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if
your buddy wants to make you a CD)
My fave is country, celtic and folk. I don't care for rap and heavy metal. I have a mp3 player and my computer will play mp3 discs. I have a wide range of favorite groups and am always on the look out for new stuff.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Really dislike brown. Like pinks, purples, blues, greens, greys.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live with my partner/boyfriend and 2 cats.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes - I live in an area where we get lots of occasions to wear that stuff here during the winter.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Lace - mostly shawls. I don't do many sweaters but if I do, they are usually textured (knit, purl, cable, etc). I don't do colored knitting like fair isle. I'm not crazy about socks but will knit them upon request.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm working on Rose Trellis shawl. In the ufo pile, are three shawls and 2 pairs of socks (later are for partner - at his request).

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circular. Don't like wooden needles (gives me the "nails on a chalkboard feeling"). Like addis.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? yes - both

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
3 years. I tend to alternate among projects until they're finished. When I lose interest in one, I pick up a ufo or start another project. Eventually the projects get finished. If a project gets to a point where I dislike it, I will rip it out and resuse the yarn for something else.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect? besides yarn, beads and books, anything with sheep or cats on it.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get
your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
There's always something. Depends on what catches my eye.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'm always up for learning something new. Nothing specific at this time.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Don't care much for knitting socks. I wear woman's shoe size 10.

23. When is your birthday? December 18

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
As of 8/8, I'm on the waiting list - 13,796 people are ahead of me.

Soshi singing a duet with Aunt Kim:

We went to visit my parents and my sister yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The weather was warm and dry. I brought gazpacho.

These are 5 baby barn owls that are in my sister's neighbor's barn. They were making a rattling sound, trying to scare us off.
This is my sister's rooster. Isn't he handsome?

Uncle Tom coaching Bretton in soccer:

Wool Wanderings has been updated. I've been adding an average of about 150 new links per week. There are now over 3500 fiber-related links!

I've got a few rows done on the Rose Trellis Shawl. I'm on row 8 of chart A. It looks like a bunch of holes with no discernible pattern. I'm sure it'll look great after I've done a few more rows. I'll post a picture when I've done row 20. The needles I'm using have a dull point and the stitches are hard to move on them. I ordered a new pair of Addis from Patternworks. It always amazes me the difference it makes when I change needles. One can never have enough needles (or yarn).

I'm working on a "100 things about me" list and will post when that is complete. I did one a couple of years ago but can't find it. It'll be fun to see what pops up when I do it this time.

Wool Wanderings has been updated.

I've started a shawl with the yarn that I bought the other night. I'm using a free pattern called Rose Trellis Shawl. I think that it is going to be a beautiful shawl. I'll post a pic when I get a few rows done.

Here's what I bought at Trumpet Hill last night. For some reason, I thought it was wool. When I got home, I looked at the tag - it's alpaca. It was a great bargain. The tag says laceweight but it appears to be cobweb weight to me. I've wound it until a ball and have been looking through my lace books but it hasn't told me yet what it wants to be.

A yarn store near where I work - Trumpet Hill - has open knitting night on Thursdays. I went for the first time tonight and had a wonderful time. There is nothing like sitting with a group of knitters. I felt very relaxed right away. It was like I had come home. Everyone there is very nice and I enjoyed looking at what everyone was working on. I also bought a lovely skein of lace weight yarn.

Tomorrow is my day off!!

I decided to join Secret Pal 11 and got notification today that I've been accepted! It looks like a lot of fun. Regular blog posting is one of the rules and I'm hoping that this will help me to get in the habit of blogging. I love reading other knitters' blogs but never seem to get around to posting to my blog. I'll start off with posting short posts every day and see how that goes.

I know that part of the problem is that I don't like to be on the computer much at night. I'm a computer programmer and spend so much time on a computer at work. Sometimes the last thing I want to see at home is the computer. I'd rather be knitting!