Frog Is A Four Letter Word

Well, Mother Nature sure is a literalist, huh? It is now summer and man did it get hot all of a sudden. I even tried turning on my (new!) central air yesterday, but I guess I didn't do it right. Anyway, I thought the odds of getting my hvac guy out here on a holiday weekend--our first hot week to boot--were pretty slim.

So the dogs and I are parked in front of the fan and I'm working on a non-wool project--it's the sampler from The New Crewel. The dogs are also working on a non-wool project called "snoring".



It was intended for my mom for Mother's Day since she gave me the book, but I didn't like the way it was turning out. I'm not using the right fabric (not twill) or thread (linen, not wool) but at least I'm learning the stitches. I guess I'll have to order the supplies online because no one has the linen twill fabric and even the specialty needlework shop did not have the wool. I bought a silk/wool mix and alpaca so I'll definitely make something with those.

Enjoy your weekend--I still have two more days in my four-day weekend! Yippee!

I've been working on a crocheted rug using some scratchy wool I bought years ago. I had started it as a circle, but then decided I wanted an oval. An oval will fit the spot--bathroom floor--better and is easier to make.

I wanted to see how much rug I could get with the yarn and if I would need to add some contrast stripes. So through the magic of maths and an extremely dirty kitchen floor, I can see how big the rug will be. (That's my bamboo crochet hook for scale.)



Wanna know the mathy details? It's easy! I weighed the yarn, so I know the percentage of yarn I've used so far. Then I measured the oval as a rectangle (minus the rounded ends) and calculated the square inches (width x length). Then it was easy to figure out what my total square inches would be...square inches divided by percentage. I know the ratio of width:length of my oval, so then I just applied that ratio to my total square inches! Tada!

Haha, if it has anything to do with figuring yardage of fabric or yarn, I'm there. But god forbid anyone asks me to track money. Hopeless! So I think I would like to add a few inches of my contrast color--minty aqua green--as a stripe. Then it will fit the space perfectly.

So my friend A was in town at a big book thing and I got to spend an awesome couple days with her. She gave me a couple books, one of which was an advance copy of a knitting book! How special am I?

I don't know if I can mention the name but it's a teen novel whose characters knit. I think I will read it then pass it on to a teen who knits--if only I knew one. Also, an interesting sidenote, A is from the West Coast and she says far more people knit here on the East Coast than where she is (LA County). Not that knitting isn't HOtt there, just that you are less likely to know several people who knit.

Anyway, I really hate this only blogging on the weekends thing that I'm doing, but I've been busy! I have a couple projects to show you, but I may have to spread them out through the week. Oh, guess who has a FOUR DAY WEEKEND coming up? Hell yeah.

Hi there! Remember me? I've been knitting and MDS&W'ing and all sorts of other things that don't allow for blogging time. But not writing stuff down makes me feel unorganized and out of touch with my own projects. So no more two week "vacations", k?

Here are a couple dishcloths I made for my bf. I'm pretty sure it's Kitchen Cotton and I used #7 needles. I'm calling them zebra cloths, but just a little more color pooling and they could have been panda cloths!



I was using my casein needles when about halfway through the dishcloths one of the needles broke in half in my bag. T was using my only other pair of #7's so I pushed on, using one blunt, broken needle. How much fun was that, gang?!? Lots. I can't believe I don't even own #7 dpns, so I know what I need to stock up on.

M and I had a fabulous time at Maryland Sheep & Wool. Lots of "awwwww"s and "squeeeeeee"s over the animals, lots of eating and a wee bit of shopping. We ran into Jenna and Lolly who we'd seen last at Springwater's Super Bowl Sale. Hey ladies! It was good seeing you again!

I got some variety bags of fleece for needlefelting, so I'll have some flowers to show you soon. M got a primitive rug hooking kit--which is totally different than regular rug hooking--and I got a Shirret kit, which Jenna pointed out is the ultimate recycling craft. It was a very relaxing day and the weather was friggin' GORGEOUS despite predictions.

Happy weekend! Talk to ya soon!