Alpaca

We are getting two alpaca! Well, not exactly us, but the in-laws are. They are going to be in the pasture right behind our house though.

Alpaca are so cute. And their fleece is so soft. Looks like I'm going to be learning a lot about alpaca.

I wonder if two alpaca can give you enough fleece to produce enough yarn to make a sweater? I guess I may have to learn how to spin after all.

I'm going to check out the The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association website to get more information. Any one have any good resources about alpacas?

They are coming Friday so expect pictures over the weekend!

Spiral Socks - Sock One Almost Complete

 

The first Spiral Sock is nearing completion. I really like how the ribbing wraps around the sock. I think these will be ankle socks. The ribbing at the top isn't as tight as I'd like and I don't think it will hold up the sock on my leg. So I plan on folding over the ribbing at the ankle.

Now on to completing the first sock and on to the second. I've told myself that I can't start another project until these socks are done. I want to make a cardigan to wear at work in my cold, cold office. 

Spiral Socks

I've started these spiral socks from the Sweater Workshop. It is a beginning knitting project that the author suggests for first time knitters. I'm new to knitting socks so I thought this would be a perfect start.

We are going up to Dallas for the weekend for Memorial Day and I wanted a small, portable project to work on.

I keep reading people's blogs that they always keeping a sock in their purse to knit. I thought that sounded strange at first. I imagine a small child pointing and saying, "Hey, Mom, look at the strange lady who just pulled a sock out of her purse." But now I get it. Socks are a great portable project.

I'm using Lion Brand Yarns Magic Stripes and I am totaly enthralled with the fact that it does make stripes magically with no thinking/planning on my part. It is fun to see it knit up. The color is #203 which has blues and purples (of course) in it. Yummy! 

Entralac Wrap Complete

Pattern: Kalediscope Entralac Wrap
From: Encyclopedia of Knitting
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #8
Needles: Denise Size 6




This was a fun knitting project. I had never done entralac before and the Noro is just perfect for it. 

Tribute To My Dad

November 7, 1944 - May 23, 2004




Two years ago today my father passed away. This is what I wrote in my journal last year and read at his memorial:

My dad was one of the my best's friends. He was always there for me, treating me with respect, patience, and love. I wasn't always easy to get along with, as my mom and brother will surely attest, especially during my teens and early 20's, but my dad was always there for me and I knew I could turn to him when I needed support no matter what kind of support I needed.

My dad loved to cook and some of my fondest memories of him are in the kitchen or at the grill. He got better at it over the years and could prepare wonderful meals although we might not have guessed it as children when we had his famous "hockey pucks", the biggest and driest hamburgers you ever had. He was so proud of those burgers. I didn't know as a child how truly awful they were!!! He took it well when we joked about it later in life and he had expanded his cooking repertoire.

My dad really loved computers. One of the other early memories I had, besides those "great" burgers, was going to work with him when he was on call working as a computer programmer or operator in the early 70's. Here where these huge computers that my dad was in charge of. He put me in front of an 80-column card punch machine to play with and the transfer of his love of computers was passed on to me.

I am so happy to have had the opportunity to share our love of computers together over all these years. We worked together a couple of times. He could be a demanding boss but also understanding and patient.

I will miss my dad. He was so young, to young to be gone. But I'll always remember his laugh and his smile and his never ending optimism. He was my father and my best friend.

I LOVE YOU DAD!!

Texas Fiber Event

I just got done posting the upcoming knitting and fiber related events on the Knitting News Cast website.

I plan on post each month's events as I come across them. This list is through the end of June.

It seems like all the upcoming events are everywhere but Texas. But I did find one that is being held in Houston at the end of August. It is Houston Knit at Night Guild.

It sounds like a great event. They are having a bunch of great knitting classes including:

• Basic Lace
• Modular Knitting
• Knitting Socks
• Crotchet For Knitters
• Mobius Knitting

Registration for non-Knit at Night Guild members opened up on May 15th. I got to hurry before all the spaces run out!

Week End Plans

Yeah! It is Friday! Even though I only worked two days this week since mom was in town and flew out on Wednesday, I'm glad to be away from work.

Tomorrow, I'm heading back into Austin for an art get together day with some friends at Ava's house. I'm bringing my entralac wrap to work on. I bought another skein of Noro Silk Garden so that I can make it longer. Will post a picture of it in the next day or two. It is beautiful!!

I'm also bringing a few skeins of yarn to knit swatches from. I plan on reviewing about four or five different yarns on this week's episode. So far I've knitted up Blue Sky Bulky (50% alpaca, 50% wool), Di.ve' Fiamma (100% Wool), and Cascade Yarns Luna (100% Peruvian Cotton). I have 3 other yarns I'd like to include but I might wait on those until the next episode.

I've also been putting together my show notes for Sunday's Knitting News Cast podcast. I haven't been able to stick to my every other Sunday recording lately. I've only been able to record every third Sunday. I hope to get back to every other week starting in June after Memorial Day weekend.

I have been keeping up with knitting news though. I've posted several entries on the knitting news page. Most noteworthy are World Wide Knit In Public Day and the Knitting World Cup.