Rockinknit

So far this week has been an interesting one for me. I started my new job on Monday, this is the one I felt was going to be a great opportunity for me, and it’s a permanent one, so even better, benefits, PTO, etc. I’m kind of on the fence at whether it is truly something I like. What I learned through the 3 interviews I went through before getting an offer sounded like a dream job, for now, at least in the last 3 days its kind of, um..not. I know it’s very very early for me to really know how this will pan out, but I’m just not liking what I’m seeing this far, however I will give it a chance and do my best to find ways for it to turn into something I’ll grow to like and maybe even want. We’ll see, so this is why I’m posting this so late in the evening, my normal posting routine is to post in the mornings, but my schedule is a bit thrown.

I’ve completed one of the Traveling Scarves I had for Herebedragons in my group, I really like the Eyelet stitch from Vogue Knittings Crochet Stitchionary. I can’t thank Turtlegirl76 enough for this tip, as she is also getting into crochet. This book has an immense catalog of various stitches & patterns to use for Crochet. It is perfect for these Traveling Scarves groups. I’ll also be investing in the other volumes, one for Knitting, one for Cables soon.

Here’s a spoiler of the Eyelet Stitch pattern using none other than Noro Silk Garden yarn #279 for this:

My camera was being nice to me I was able to get a decent close-up!

The bottom is the Eyelet Crochet Stitch portion I added, and the top is Herebedragons Seedlet section.

I meant to ship this pretty thing off since Tuesday, just have been behind on getting to the post. I’ll definitely ship out tomorrow so it can continue to blossom into a pretty Noro scarf.

In other news, are you wondering what my “Mid-Week Plans” are?? Hmmm…?? Well, a very long time ago, say back in February of this year, I signed up with Marisol & Leslie for the Skein Lane Knitter’s Retreat which is being held at the Marconi Center in Point Reyes.

I’ve never been there, but boy the pictures look beautiful. Just check these out:

This is my first ever knitting retreat, so it’s an experience I’m really looking forward too. Last time I was immersed with other knitting maniacs was at Stitches
West 2008, boy was that crazy! Yarn is my crack, and Stitches West didn’t help with my addiction! I spent some pretty serious dough there. To make matters more difficult for me, there will be yarn to buy!! I’m purposely leaving my wallet behind, during these harsh times, I need to use the force to resist.

During our retreat will be taking a class taught by Melissa Leapmean.

Who has written knitting books “Cables Untangled” and “Continuous Cables”. We’ll be making this pretty pillow:

I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with Marisol and enjoying my retreat, I feel bad though because I just wish I had some great thing for my hubby and kids to do while I’m out knitting and relaxing. Hopefully they won’t mind too too much! Back to my plans, well it’s obviously ramping up for this weekend’s retreat, getting all my WIPs in order, all my FO’s that I’ll be deciding to take, any necessities, goodies, you name it.

To end, I’ll send you off with my first installment from the Madeline Tosh Magnolia Society, and it’s a good one! Gosh, this color has my name written all over it! It’s as if it was made especially for me. I love the rich sheen it has..Uh! It couldn’t be anymore luscious!

Happy Wednesday!

I enjoyed a 3 day weekend, courtesy of ME I completed my last day of work at my former company on Thursday, and gave myself Friday off. It was sad to go, I’d only been at my last job since July 7 of this year, but when your in an IT support role, you really get to know quickly, almost every employee at your workplace. Well if your good at IT support, you do, and I can confidently say I am good at what I do. I really work hard to make sure my “customers”, the employees I support, get their issues or requests resolved quickly. Really, employee’s are my customers, and if you treat your customers with respect, attention, and honesty, you’ll go far.

My Thursday was pretty busy and I tried to leave my job with all things done, and then shoot on over to go to my daughters High School Open House night. She got a good group of teachers this year, and thankfully! I’ve had some serious encounters with teachers that have been difficult.

Started my Friday off with some knitting, picking a stitch out for a Traveling Scarves Group 25 SO scarf section belonging to CoffeeKnitGal’s on Ravelry. I sent her an email with some yarn and let her pick which one she wanted me to knit with, she choose some of Vanna White’s new line at Michael’s in orange. I bought this yarn specifically for my Amigurumi projects, but in CoffeeKnitGal’s notes, she said she’d like oranges, so obviously she choose the orange 8). I do like how the trinity stitch looks, it kind of has a bobble effect, can you see? You Knit, Purl, Knit into 1 stitch, thereby creating 3 stitches out of one, and you get a bobble.

Can you see the pattern?

I tried really hard to get a good shot, but damn if my camera wasn’t being bitchy with me! Trust me, it looks pretty in person. There is definitely 2 sides to the trinity pattern, both look pretty, so I decided to reverse the wrongside to the frontside half way through so you get half of the Rightside in front, and half of the Wrongside in front. If only I had better pictures to show you.

I also spent some of my Friday with my Mother, going over ideas to create my own Stitch Markers line, and we made some pretty good progress. I’m actually testing out one of the stitch markers she made, which is pretty cool. I can’t wait until I have a few products for sell in my Etsy store. There’s not much in my store right now, but I plan to have some good yarn, stitch markers, WIP bags, and other things to sell soon.

Besides the little knitting I did both Friday and Saturday, I also was really really wanting to spin.
I decided to try out my new spindle given to me by Marisol from our Knitter’s Treasure swap, and also decided to spin the “Rise of Phoenix” Crown Farms Pencil Roving she gave me too. I drafted a very good amount, I mean the amount of fiber she gave me was enormous, I swear I didn’t even make a dent in it! I drafted about a good 1.5 ounces, and started spinning. I can honestly tell you that I just really do love spinning.

My goal for this wool was to try and spin my fiber in the same weight continuously, I didn’t want chunky here, skinny there, you know? I actually succeeded to keep it pretty uniform. Took me about an hour or so to spin, while also watching football. I actually think I like spinning and watching football over knitting and watching football.. hmm… maybe I’ll use my football Sunday’s as my spinning time???

Here is the fiber drafted

On the left is my spindle I bought when I first learned to spin at Purlescence Yarns and on the right is the pretty spindle given to me by Marisol, in the background is the bottomless pit of yummy fiber

Some close-ups

Besides these fun things, I also spent time getting ready for Day 1 at new job. I’m looking forward to the 15 minute commute **woohoo!!**, and just plain curious on how my first day will be. I’m really hoping I made a good choice and just hope I’ll like it there. Because I don’t know what’s in store for me tomorrow, I’m posting this early.

And to end this post with some fibery goodness,

**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!
**SOCKS THAT ROCK SPOILER ALERT**!!!!!

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Club 2008, September installment in “Tidal Pool”!

rav_outofcommission

Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

It was a bright and fresh morning, I awoke ready to knit another day. First, feed the family, fresh homemade potatoes, some bacon, some fresh over easy eggs, and orange juice.

Well, before I could get cooking, there was the task of freshly ground and brewed coffee.

As I sat and watch the recorded premiere of “Heroes”, I knew I had no plans today, except to catch up on knitting, and my other crafty things.

So, flash forward to post-breakfast and I’m relaxing, watching for the umpteenth time the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”, and realizing I could use this time to also catch up on my blogging, and blog stalking *-)

I leaned over the side of my bed, picked up my laptop and turned it on, launched Firefox and quickly hit Ravelry.

Everything seemed normal, messages in my Inbox, posts to reply to, but wait! OH NO! What’s this??? I keep getting BOB’s cute face telling me something I don’t want to hear, my knitdrug, Ravelry is down! I’m suddenly going through withdrawal, hoping this is only temporary, as I F5 repeatedly to get a good page.

So far its been intermittent, but I hope doesn’t last long. I had to share this with you, are you addicted to Ravelry too???

For my swap, Question of the Week #3:

What meals or foods mean Fall to you?

Since Fall is such a happy time for me spiritually, it is also one of the best times to show off real good home cooking. I’m not big on eating out, my family and I do eat out, or eat in, but I really work at making a fresh meal for my family nightly. I really love to cook and really care about the quality, presentation, and tastefulness of the food I cook. All I want from someone I serve is for them to enjoy the meal.

It’s pretty funny, I’m a very strong willed person, but for things such as cooking, I’m utterly and completely at the mercy of my guests and family. I know it sounds weird, but my cooking and results mean so much to me, I’m always looking for facial expressions to see if the person is enjoying the food I made. Did I mention I was neurotic???

Well, besides being neurotic, I’m the same way when it comes to actually prepping my food, whether it’s for a meal, appetizer, or baking. I use only the best quality products and freshest products available. I have a few favorite “Fall” Recipes, that I only make between October and November yearly.

The first, and my family’s favorite, is Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread. I came across this recipe a long time ago, it was given away by a restaurant owner in New York. After about 2 yrs. making the recipe, I added my own secret ingredients to it, but all I can say is it is the most yummy and sweet & tart bread you’ll eat. You make it with fresh Cranberries, Pumpkin, and Walnuts. The walnuts are optional. I’ll share the foundation recipe with you, it is just scrumptious, if you ever get the chance to make it, I’m sure it will be a fave for you. Please keep in mind that the recipe makes a rather large quantity of bread, with one full batch I can usually divide the batter evenly to 4 standard sized bread pans. I love it warm, and fresh!

Here is the foundation recipe, which can also be found on FoodTV’s website.

Ingredients

* 4 eggs
* 2 cups pumpkin puree
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 4 cups sugar
* 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In bowl combine eggs, pumpkin puree and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add cranberries and mix well. Divide dough into 2 (8 by 4-inch) loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes.

Besides the yummy bread, others I make specifically in the Fall are:

*Pozole - A Mexican style soup. I make it as healthy as I can using boneless-skinless chicken breast, cubed, my own homemade chili-sauce (I make this in huge quantities during Tamale season and freeze it, it will as forever in the freezer), fresh chicken stock, hominy, cumin, mexican oregano, many other spices.

*Sarma - I was introduced to this food by my husband’s Mother. She made it one day, and I was very hesitant to try it, but once I did, I just loved it. It is basically very lean ground beef, flavored heavily with mint, salt, pepper, seasonings, finely chopped bell pepper, onion, etc. You mix up the meat thoroughly with the ingredients, then take cleaned, stemmed whole grape leaves, and put some meat in them, roll into an eggroll shape, layer in an oven pan, pour some chicken stock over them, with some tomato paste, cook in oven until meat is no longer pink. Serve with homemade Rice Pilaf, no boxes! This is an absolute delicious dish, and great for your body!

So those are a few that I like and make seasonly. Now how can I leave you without sharing another yummy treat, hmmm.. fresh new yarn! Even better, from my Yarn Pirate Booty Club installment.

It’s as if this yarn was waiting for this post because it fits the “Fall” theme to a *T*
Yarn is Superwash Merino in colorway “Hard Cider”
Have a good weekend everyone!
~Rocky

Where do you travel? Where have you been? Where do you want to visit?

For me there are so many places I dream to visit, and really hope I’ll be able to during my lifetime. I love history, all history, you name it, I love it. I can sit and watch documentaries, specials, (real “6th period” stuff as my kids call it), all day long. I love archaeology, I love books on history, beautiful landscape pictures of historical sites. It really is amazing to stop and think of what it was like, long, very long ago.

What must it have been like to build the Pyramid of Giza, or Sphinx? To revel in the monumental and geometric definitions? Not to mention the astrological connections?

We could probably liken it to the monstrous skyscrapers in New York, though I’ve never been there, I can only imagine how humanizing it must feel to stand next to structures of such magnitude.

Or I wonder what the minds & pressures of Rebecca Nurse were while she endured the Salem Witch Trials?

I’d liken it to our modern day equivalent of gossip in our groups of people we congregate with. Do or say something wrong and you could become a cast out. Although I’d hope that present day society wouldn’t lead to such hysteric and fanatical acts; though I’m afraid it is still a very real event that can happen again.

I always wondered if I were able to go back in time and visit a real Colosseum event, would I enjoy it or be aghast at the primal and vicious games that were played at Rome’s Colosseum ?

All these historical sites are just a few I dream to visit, and can sit and read, listen, or watch anything about. Which brings me to a couple of my most recent projects, the “Traveling Scarves” groups formed on Ravelry. The premise is to knit or crochet a starter or “seedlet” section, about 6 x 6 inches, give or take, and then mail on to your downstream TS pal. There are usually about 10-15 people in each group, and the Mods for each group put a travel itinerary together for the members to routinely send their sections downstream to the same person, and will receive new sections from their upstream TS pal.

What you get is a round-robin effect, where all members of the group can add to the seedlet section there own knitting or crochet, and by the time you get your seedlet back, its blossomed into a completed scarf that has traveled great distances and been welcomed in households by your fellow knitters or crocheters.

The turn around is about 6 months to get a completed scarf, and the benefits are you meet other crafters, you get to add your personal touch to the scarve sections you receive, and you get a finished scarf in the end.

I joined the Traveling Scarves Group 25 Significant Others group where there the theme is to knit a scarf for your significant other. I mailed off my seedlet the other day, and I decided to request only gray & black color yarn, because I wanted it to have a more masculine feel to it, so my hubby can wear it I went with a Basketweave pattern for my seedlet with a 2 stitch garter border. I used Lamb’s pride superwash wool in gray.

I also joined the Traveling Scarves Noro Group 37 Kit or Crochet group, only requirement is you can only use Noro yarn. I thought this would be a great way to get a Noro scarf! I also took on moderating duties for this group, along with my Co-Mod “TrustCrazyIdeas“. Since this group allows crochet, I crocheted my first granny square. I just love how the Noro yarn colors transition. I’m sorry about the picture, my camera wasn’t in a good mood during the photo shoot 8(

Where are my scarves traveling?

Group 25 SO Seedlet I know will definitely be visiting some of these destinations…

Missoula, Montana, Lewis & Clark traveled here

It will also be visiting the state of Michigan, I don’t know what city, but Michigan was home to one of the great writers, Ernest Hemmingway, this is a picture of the cottage he grew up in on Walloon Lake.

For my Group 37 Noro Seedlet, it will get to visit Maine, there are many “haunted” sites in Maine, here is a really cool picture of Booth Bay Harbour in Maine, I love this picture. I can just see myself all cozied up with some handmade scarf and jacket basking in the airy fogginess.

Another really interesting location, is Charlotte, North Carolina which is home to the Andrew Jackson State Park in honor the 7th United States President. Andrew Jackson was the U.S.’s first “citizen president” in that at the time represented the common man. He was a member of the Continental Army and also a former prisoner of war.

There are many more places both my seedlets are traveling through, it is as if they are traveling through history because really, what place doesn’t have a history on this old earth of ours? I would love to follow my scarves and take in the scenery and history.

I hope I didn’t bore you too much with my digressions into my love of history. Again, like my kids and even my husband say “Mom’s teaching 6th period again”, they also call me “The Teacher” =-) They say this because they feel my books and documentaries remind them of that 6th period class in school that you’d have to sit through some movie documentary. I loved when my teachers would play informational videos, I would actually stay awake watching them while the rest of the students snored

Happy Wednesday!
~Rocky

Can you hear the Death Hat knocking???

I mailed my “Fibonacci Frequency” Death Hat bright and early this past Saturday morning. I took a few pictures of it, and I must say it is very cozy and comfortable. My death hat is set to kill “redhead1968″ on the warrior list for HAT ATTACK 2. I’ve given fair warning of the impending death to Red Head, and she’s happily replied “Bring it On”. As a bonus, I got a USPS notification this afternoon letting me know they successfully delivered the package to Red Head, and now I can’t wait to see her death on the scoreboards!

Although my bloody victory might fall short, as my own assassin has forewarned me of my impending death, which is in the mail as I type! I must say that I actually did enjoy knitting this hat, more than any other competition I’ve been in thus far. I know originally I had wanted to drop out, but just couldn’t bring myself to do that because I’m just a huge competitor at heart, and now I’m very glad I didn’t. The pattern really was a very pretty one, of which I know I’ll knit again.

Here go the glamor shots!!

Side View

Front View

Back View

Me, tired looking, but sporting a lovely hat… did I mention I hate this photo???

And now the LOWDOWN:

Pattern:
Fibonacci Frequency
Skill:
Knitting
For:
HAT ATTACK 2 ‘2008′, Target “redhead1968″
Started:
9/17/08
Finished:
9/19/08
Tools:
1 US 6 24′inch Addi Turbo Circular, 1 Hello Kitty Stitch Marker
LYS Shout Out:
Yarn purchased at Green Planet Yarn in Campbell, CA.
Yarn:
1 skein of O’Wool Organic Balance Yarn in Slate 2215 (green tweedish), 1 skein of O’Wool Organic Worsted Weight Yarn in Graphite 9118 (Grey Tweed).
Yarn Specs:
50 / 50% certified organic merino / certified organic cotton
weight: approx. 1.75 ounces /50 grams
length: approx. 130 yards / 120 meters
needles: 5-7 US / 3.75 - 4.5 mm
MODS:
None, in the heat of battle, the Oracle won’t allow any MODS.
To Knit or Not Knit again???
YES! I will knit this pattern again, including using this yarn again.
NOTES:
While I like the pattern, I think the initial Cast on of 100 stitches is a bit much, at least for teeny hides like mines, so I would probably drop it down to 80. Plus, I wouldn’t make the length as long as required for the competition, which was 9′ full inches of pattern repeats then decreases which added about 2 more inches, in total about 11 inches long. (approximate). The hat is meant to be rolled up, so the longer length fits but for me, I would probably make it a total of 9 inches, including decreases. Did I mention this yarn was green friendly? O~Wool hand knitting yarns are spun from 100% certified organic fibers and processed in accordance with the Organic Trade Association’s Fiber Processing Standards. O~Wool uses no harsh chemicals in processing making it durable, long lasting and a well-wearing fiber.

knock_knock

I know I said in a past post that I would be dropping out of HAT ATTACK 2, but damn if the competitor me wouldn’t let me quit! I stood in folks, and got my victim this past Tuesday from the Oracle.

Now, remember why I wanted to drop out??? I’ve been so busy lately with too many things going on that I just couldn’t commit time to making a Death Hat, well since I didn’t drop out, I ended up having to scramble for my tools to kill with. This includes, 2 coordinating colors of yarn, worsted weight, a stitch marker, US size 6 24′ inch circular, and a few other items, highlighter, ruler, etc.

The competitor in me wouldn’t give up and in no way shape or form wants to be forced to have to send a WIP to an assassin! I luckily found in my stash, 2 colors that I thought hopefully most anyone would like, a grey tweed and a light green tweed from O’Wool’s Organic yarn line. I fell in love with this yarn when I first found the gem “Green Planet Yarn“. Beth, (GPY’s owner), stocks up on a huge assortment of “green” friendly yarn, and O’Wool is one of them. The quality is very good, and soft to touch, and the colors are soothing.

I’ve completed my death hat and need to ship in the mail, hopefully today, if I can make it on lunch, otherwise it will go to the post first thing tomorrow morning. I don’t have any pics yet of the FO, but I do have some pics I took on Wednesday to share.

This is a pic taken in my car Wednesday as I was knitting this killer hat!

Do you see my Hello Kitty stitch marker??? I just had to use it for this project, the little kitty follows me around in circles!

Another pic…

The pattern used for the Death Hat is called “Fibonacci Frequency”, it really is a creative pattern. My hat’s off to S.Quinn, pattern designer.

Fibonacci is a sequence of numbers named after Leonardo of Pisa. Each number in the sequence is equal to two numbers before it is added together. If you’ve seen “The Da Vinci Code” or read the book, your familiar with it. If this has sparked your interest, go to Wikipedia, where there’s a wealth of info there.

I’m just amazed at how the designer soley based their pattern on the Fibonacci principles. When I was reading through the pattern pages, I couldn’t imagine that the pattern would be something so pretty, and my proof is how it’s knitting up. It’s so simple, just combination’s of Knits and Purls using the Fibonacci method, so simple yet so complex. From the pics I posted you can see it creates kind of a wave, or design that is pretty cool. It almost reminds me of a Monet painting, from far away the design really comes out, up close there’s still a design, but it’s different then the view from far away. I’ll have to make me another one of these hats, there super easy and super fast.

On the list this weekend, in no particular order, except for No. 1, which is of high importance:

1) Take pics of dishwasher appliance and stove to sell on Craigslist to earn some extra, but needed $$$

2) Finish Clue 2 of MS4

3) Finish Hint’s 2 & 3 of SSiii

4) Finish Tree square of Tech Afghan

5) Start Log cabin square of Tech Afghan

6) Work on section received for Group 25 Significant Others Traveling Scarves

7) Send out my seedling section for Group 25, must be done SAT!!!

Send out my seedling section for Group 37 Noro Knit/Crochet Traveling Scarves

9) Work on section for Group 37 Noro, received from herebedragons

10) Put the finishing touches on my swap packages for Day of the Dead, and Falling for Ewe 8)!!!

11) Chat it up with my new swap buddies from the Tea Swap and Hollywood Glamour 30’s & 40’s

12) Clean house

13) Work on pattern bag with my sewing machine

14) Go through kids clothes and get ready for a yarn sale

15) Give Rosie (my doggy) a bath

16) Bring out Autumn/Fall decorations

17) Finish organizing office

18) Celebrate my Aunt’s Birthday, she’s my Godmother

19) Celebrate my Mother’s Birthday

20) Anything else I can’t remember!

It will all turn out good, I’m thinking positive 8-).

Happy Friday Everyone!

If you don’t already know, there’s buzz around about the latest knit along, “Mystery Stole 4″. This is my first MS to participate in, I’ve heard such good things about these knit alongs. I enjoy knowing that there are many many other knitters out there working along the same pattern and the same time frame, unless you turn into a Turtle, or a Snail! So far, I’m neither, YAY! I completed CLUE 1 a few days ago, the beading in the beginning was torture! There was a bead every other stitch, but I pressed on and I really like how it adds a nice pearly border to it. I used my recent stash addition, Blue Moon Fiber Art’s LACI in Typhoon Tina colorway. The deep rich blues and blacks are very pretty and will dress up any jeans attire. This yarn is soft and luscious, literally, I find myself continually stopping to pet it as I knit. I know, I’m totally weird, but I just love to pet yarn, something about it gives me a soothing feeling… does it do that to you? My bead choice was a lame one, I found myself, again, scrummaging for beads, not willing to drive to a bead shop, but hyper eager to start knitting, so my impatience to knit won over, I just strolled to my local Michael’s (just a few blocks away), and bought two different sets of beads, some clear ones, and some really pretty blue ones, that have this sheen, kind of like a pearl sheen, they were very pretty when I saw them. They match the color of my yarn, dead on, and look very pretty knitted up. I took a bunch of pictures last night trying to get all the angles, but sadly my camera didn’t want to cooperate, it never does. Sometime soon I’ll invest in a new camera that takes really good and clear pictures. The beads are very silky to touch and don’t hurt at all when you press on them, which for me is a requirement because I plan to wrap myself with this stole, and I don’t want the beads to feel like there engraving my skin. The diamond pattern is very pretty, a surprise for me, which threw me a wrench for a minute is that the right and left ends have sort of a wave to it, so it’s not a straight vertical border. As I was knitting, I kept thinking, I hope I don’t get a visit from the frog fairy, cause it’s not looking straight, but I had faith in Georgia, MS4’s designer, and pressed onto the end of CLUE1. It’s pretty neat to step back and see it, now I can’t wait to continue onto CLUE2. I’m glad I’m keeping pace with MS4, for now, I don’t want to have to join a turtle club

For my swap, question is “What ‘cold weather’ project are you looking forward to making the most this autumn?”

That just could be the most difficult question to answer! Autumn, Fall, Winter, all these are just about some the best times for a knitter, crocheter, spinner, you name it. All you can think of is that fibery warmness.

I have so many projects I want to finish just to be able to enjoy them during all the cold weather that’s coming. Let’s not begin with all the ones I aspire to start, as well. If I had to pin one project down, that I would love to have done to enjoy, it would have to be the classic of classics, the “Central Park Hoodie”.

Need I say more??? Not only is it stylish, and just plain cool, it is perfect to wear during the colder months. I really have been aching to start this one and get it done to wear with honor. I’ve yet to invest in yarn for it, however I have decided on a color, it would be a real pretty deep brown, a brown with character. I so love the color brown. I haven’t decided on a yarn, I know I’d want something soft and durable, just don’t know what to use. I do know it has to be brown though, that I am sure of. Anyone suggest any good yarn for the Central Park Hoodie?
Here are some pics of it I found on the web, I just love how this hoodie looks. That green tweed is really giving my brown color a challenge, I love greens too!

Oooh, maybe a brown tweed! OMG, okay I’ll have to be on a serious mission to find the perfect brown tweed that is soft and durable..any ideas???

Also, because I just have to share goodies, I got my latest installment from the fabulous Woolgirl’s Seven Deadly Spins club, this has gotta to be the winner of the entire club. This is the “Pride” package, full of luscious yarn from The Unique Sheep, the colors are so pretty and Fall’ish. This shawl pattern is so pretty and it really is one I want to make. I just love the goodies that Jenn from Woolgirl puts in. A cute yellow plastic WIP bag, some stitch markers, candies, all sorts of goodies, I’m a sucka for this stuff.

Here it all is….

Knitter’s Treasure Swap package from Marisol

Originally uploaded by RockyMoreno

My adventures in the “Knitters Treasure” Swap are now at end. It’s been quite fun having Marisol as my swap pal. I thought because I already knew her, having her as a swap pal would be easy, but it turned out to be much different. Marisol has a crazy stash (I’ve seen it!), she could literally open a yarn store from her house, the choices are broad, the colors are so gorgeous! She arms herself with all the right accessories, notions, etc. So in actuality, it was harder for me to get her things because “What do you get the Yarnaholic who has everything??”, well I ended up putting together a package I would really love to get myself. She will hopefully get it today, if not the latest tomorrow, or else I’ll be going postal at my local USPS office (just a metaphor, nothing serious)…hee hee

Besides my package to her, I received her package to me Saturday, it’s just FIBERLICIOUS! She knows about my recent interest in spinning, and really catered to it. I got some very pretty fiber, see that pretty red, white, burgundy, and orange huge ball of wool on the left? I can’t wait to spin this, I bet it will turn out real nice. I also got a very pretty drop spindle with glass rims, too bad I was tired when I took this picture, cause I totally cut it off, I’ll have to take more pics tonight so you can see how pretty the glass rims are. In my package I had 3 balls of some luscious red lace, 2 more balls of wooly fiber goodness, and some ultra soft green & white cashmere! A bunch of other goodies, sheep magnets (I LOVE MAGNETS), a sheepy tape measure, pretty glass stitch markers, and a WIP tool, plus a keychain needle sizer….. and what don’t you see here??? Are the bars of chocolate that came with my goodie package, but unfortunately never made it to a photo cause they were quickly gobbled up by the chocolate hoards at my house. Last but not least, a very pretty knitted flower, it will go great as an embellishment to a future project.

Marisol, I can’t say thank you enough for this wonderful package!

Besides my goodie Knitter’s Treasure package, I also was able to really make progress on my “Mini-Fiber Studio” this weekend. It is another treasure to me, and soon it will be completely setup for anything, spinning, dyeing, computer work, knitting, sewing, you name it.

Here are few pics of it:

We put in a large shelf, I’m now able to have all my books, patterns, magazines organized. I even took time to go through my entire stash, and organize it, seal it, and keep it safe from critters and such. There is so much more for me to do, I just need to find the time, but it is coming along rather nicely. I have a ton of magazines I still need to put up, more decor, more yarn to organize, but it’s a great start.

Plus I got my 2 balls of Noro I ordered for my Traveling Scarves Group 37 Noro Knit & Crochet group, the colors really are much prettier in person. Now to decide which one to start my piece with???

I’m thinking the one on the top? I’ll have to order me more of this lovely yarn, may favorite NORO colors.

Happy Monday Everyone!

~Rocky