This is our newest arrival. His name is Isaac Robert Matthews. My sister had him August 19th, and that is my son George holding him. Don't they look like they could be brother's or something? He's George's twin when he was a baby, so we've dubbed in LG (little George).

Where in the World have You Been?

I've been working! Yes, working. I've joined the world of "real people" again, and went back to the grind. I love it though. You know what that means... no time to knit or spin or dye or anything fiber related anymore (NOT). I've been busier than ever doing all of the above.

This is a circular yoke sweater that I finished a week or so ago. That charts came from Sheila McGregor's book of Scandanavian Knitting. I then adapted them to fit me of course, and gathered up some shetland wool (purchase from Schoolhouse Press), and knit this sweater.

This is a full shot of the entire body of the sweater.

Also, this is some handdyed merino/bamboo that I just finished spinning up and ready to set the twist. I don't know what color I'm going to name it yet, but I'll think of something. It's 206 yards. So, It'll make something...

The pic above is a merino/tussah silk blend that I had gotten from Ashland Bay. It was a yellowish color. I just didn't like it, so I over-dyed it with these colors. And this was the wonderful result.

That's about it for now. I've got some other things to do, but will hopefully post again soon. I'm going to be also posting to my etsy shop in about a day some gorgeous new dyed merino/bamboo blends, and merino (Chocolate Princess colorway). Until then, happy knitting all.. :)

Today's pic progress of Leanora. I'm having a great time knitting this. The chart comes from a Turkish chart for knitting these traditional Turkish socks. I've always loved this chart and it's a 40 stitch repeat, so it was perfect for something like a sweater.

And, I started another fair isle. I've been dyeing to do one for months! I've just been spinning and dyeing so much, that my knitting has gone by the wayside, and the knitting that I love doing the most has suffered. But on Sunday, I decided, that's it! I'm casting on and doing it. the wool is from Brown Sheep Company the Nature Spun! I love this fingering weight of theirs, and it's sooo soft! And they have lots of colors to choose from. I wanted some blues... it's fall, and I'm getting into the mode! Happy spinning and knitting all, and later!

I have also been working on another handspun lace project using shetland blended with silk that I carded at a ratio of about 85/15 and then dyed and spun up into this! Gorgeous huh? But take a look at that tube of Tiger Balm... you know what that's for don't you? Yep, good ol' Arthuritis has come to visit me! He just hangs around and bugs me daily... hands, wrists, elbows, whatever, knees. But the Tiger Balm is really good for it! Take that Mr. Arthurrrrr

I've been doing some spinning as you can see. The pic isn't very good, but you can get the gist of it... I love these colors..

This is handspun sock yarn that I'm spinning for Yellowdog Knitting Shop. This is a sample that I've spun up of superwash and dyed (green of course). Knitting on size 1 dpns and using Tidal Wave pattern, but done toe up! I hope to be done with these by next week!

The second pic is of my new obsession! I've been spindling in my spare time. The small featherweight Bosworth has merino/tencel, and I've only got about and ounce of that. I'm spinning it lace weight for a scarf or something. The right one is a Greensleeves featherweight that I got at the spinning retreat in February. I'm spinning laceweight merino that I dyed a while ago! I've got about 3.5 ounces of this to get spun up. In my spare time! I'm doing many other things right now including a typing job. So we'll see what get's done!

Weddings and Wool!

Here we are at a friend's wedding this last weekend. That my hubby and me having some awfully good chicken for a wedding... gorgeous girl and dress and good looking couple.

And so far, I've tried this again with blogger and I've only been able to post one picture correctly. I'm getting a little aggrivated here....

New Blog Site!
I'm done with blogger... I just decided all of a sudden. Here is the new link to my new site
www.chocolateprincess.typepad.com/

Come on over and visit!

Well, what's going on?
I so far can only figure out that this "google" thing is a pain in the butt. I can't post any pictures, and it's been a nightmare with my AT&T account! Changing all of my computer information and everything! Just so that I can post a blog? What is going on? I may not be blogging through Blogger anymore if I can't get this thing figured out. Sorry....

LACE KNITTING!

Since I've been having problems with my hands and elbows and wrists, I've been mainly knitting lace. This is the lace stole that I've been knitting from the spindle spun silk hankies and the shetland/icelandic blend. And dyed up, and here is the result. The chart is from Barbara Walker's book of patterns and charts (blue cover). And I've found a very pretty border to knit onto it. I've got about another 3 - 5 inches left to go, maybe more, and then I'll knit on the border. I'm also still spindling the silk hankies just in case I need more. Fortunately, I know the dye recipe to get this wonderful color again and again.... 

For about the last 3 days I've been spindle spinning the silk hankies you see in the background on my Bosworth spindle, and spinning icelandic/shetland to go with it for the blue lace stole that I decided to knit. In the foreground is the resulting dyeing of the plyed singles... I love this color. 

Here is a pair of handspun, hand-dyed socks that I finished last week. This is corriedale wool that I got from a local area farmer who raises corries. The fiber is nice to work with and very lofty. I love dyeing it too! It takes dye very well. And this is the result.