Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is this Saturday!

I already have two t-shirts and the large tote bag. I can't stand waiting in that long line! LOL I keep urging them to have more colors available, but I might as well talk to the wall. Their service is spectacular though!

I have my patterns ready to go. My bag and suntan lotion are ready to go. Now I just need my checkbook and a visor!

I'm currently knitting a loooooooong cat scarf I found on Ravelry. Although the pattern shows it finished in black and white I am using Red Heart's Fall and Hunter Green. The contrast is good. I'd tried double knitting back in the 1980's when I worked for a yarn shop. It was interesting, but I never did anything with it. Now I'm doing this scarf and I'm liking it. Not enough at the moment to knit my own loooooooong cat scarf though! LOL (Of course, I bought yarn to do my own: dark purple and light purple for the good contrast.)

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New Cross Eyed Cricket designs

I like the America circular one, Summer, and Ps & Qs. That'll keep me busy! LOL Now to wait for a good sale. I ordered from the April Online Needlework Show from Cecilia's Sampler. I liked Sassy Cat from Tapis-Tree the best. I need to stitch more and shop less! ;)

Kathryn Alexander kits

I googled the designer of the color on color scarf (Kathryn Alexander) and WOW! she has some fantastic designs out there AND some of them are kitted. http://www.kathrynalexander.net/page01kits.html Her new Doo Dad scarf looks like it'd be fun to knit and I like that she made the socks into a glove (well, someone did!). I'm too big for the jacket (blocks and stripes with doo dad edges), but maybe that's a good reward for me when I can fit it.

I-Cords and the Color on color scarf

I-cords are easy-peasy to knit, but there are so many of them and you change colors as you go up the cord! Who would have imagined! I still have about a dozen to do and then I can sew up the first fair isle section. Technically, I should have sewed up the fair isle section prior to starting the garter band with I-cord edging.

I ordered another skein of each color that called for one skein. Now I feel very comfortable about my amounts. This makes it easier to do the I-cords since I was hesitating to take a strand from a color without knowing how much I'd need of that color later on. I've already run out of one color and it is used later.

Maybe I need to have one of those techno-gadgets with me so I can google the scarf pattern out of a book to see if the comments are favorable BEFORE I buy the book. LOL

I finally did some cross stitch this month! The Bent Creek sheep "Life is Good". I just have to finish the sheep and it's ready for framing.

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My Woodlawn entry

Hooray! Here's my second place win at Woodlawn 2010. I liked the change in the display arrangements. Could see things much, much better. This biscornu was a freebie from Aury's blog.



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All Creatures Great and Small

Here's a pic of a finish I don't think I shared when it got done. It is all blackwork. It's by Homespun Sampler on Sandstone 28 ct fabric.



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Color on color scarf progress pics

Here is the first main block. It is made of 10 colors.



Here it is a few days later (today) after the fair isle portion is done.



All the ends are driving me batty!!! I'm going to hate weaving them all in.

Gauge?? Who does a gauge???

Okay, I'll admit it. When I'm making a scarf I don't worry about the gauge. Not an excuse; just the way it is. However, I am very particular that I use the size needle called for in the pattern.......except for the other day. I was going gangbusters on the color-on-color scarf and was about to start the fair isle (section 11). HA! The parts I'd done looked awful! I'd found out when getting ready to bind off section 10 "with the larger needle" (a size 7), that I'D BEEN USING THE SIZE 7 THE WHOLE TIME!!!!!!!!! Drats. So I did what I normally would not do, I started that section over with the size 5's I was supposed to have been using and bound off with the 7's.

I didn't know frogs came this big.

Turned out I made several other "pattern modifications" with the net result that last night I ripped out the whole thing. At least I keep the baggies with the yarn I've used separate from the baggies with the yarn yet to use. I baggied (is that a verb??) everything up and started fresh. Yes, I triple checked that I was using the size 5's. Looks much, much better!
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Color-on-color scarf

This scarf is wonderful! Lots of great colors and fascinating to knit. It's from the book Scarf Style by Pam Allen (Interweave Press). Color blocks, fair isle, I-cord, buttons, and all made from a needlepoint wool: Paternayan Yarns! I found the kit at Strings of Purls in Omaha, Nebraska (other sites had it as well), but I liked her web page. Best of all, she had it in stock.