Wow!  I did not realize it had been so long since I last posted on the blog.  Not a lot of excitement in my life.

I have been in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama since I last wrote.  I am currently in Texas for the holidays.  I came down before Thanksgiving and will be staying until late in January.  It's fun to visit with family and friends.  It's great to see the grandsons.

I have been knitting while I was away from the blog.  Mostly shawls and socks although I did manage to turn out a sweater that I am pleased with.  I was at a fiber festival back in July and bought some yarn from Brooks Farms.

Not much else going on here.  I hope everyone has a safe, blessed and happy holiday.  Merry Christmas!

Bar Hopping Cowl



Recently I had the opportunity to test knit a pattern and new yarn for Denise at Lost City Knits.  The pattern is called Bar Hopping Cowl.  It was a very fun knit.  Easy pattern to memorize, but interesting enough to not be boring.  The yarn is Hard Workin' Worsted also from Lost City Knits in the Houston colorway.  I really like this yarn.  It is soft and has a nice twist.  It does not split or snag.  I  have two other types of yarn from Denise, too.  I have some of her silk lace weight and some of her merino/silk DK weight yarn.  Both are divine.

 

I knit this pattern with US size 7 bamboo needles.  It took two skeins of yarn. 

This is the professional photo taken by Chris at Lost City Knits for the pattern.

 

If you get a chance, drop by Lost City Knits and check out Denise's yarns and patterns.

Alpacas and more



A couple of weekends ago I went up to Guthrie, OK, to see Donna Hilton.  Donna is the owner of The Weavery at Indian Meridian.  I went to see Donna because she has alpacas, roving, looms, spinning wheels and drop spindles.  But mostly I wanted to see the alpacas. 

 

 

Donna has several alpacas (I think she said 8), but she also has llamas and angora goats.  She showed me some of the roving from her alpacas, and it was beautiful.  Almost made me want to learn to spin.

Here are just a few of Donna's alpacas.  They were very curious to see these strangers who were visiting.

 

Donna showed me her shop and weaving room, too.  She was very informative, and I had a lot of fun.

 

 

Here is a small sample of the roving Donna has.  I love the colors.

Spinning wheels anyone?

 

All in all it was a great trip.  If you are in central Oklahoma and interested in spinning or weaving, you should make an appointment and visit Donna.  She is just a few miles east of Guthrie.

Oh, and I might, just might have come home with a 10 inch Cricket loom.  Just maybe.

Minty Socks

 

I have been knitting some, and I actually finished some socks.  These are my usual basic pattern knit on US 2 needles.  The yarn is Felici from Knit Picks in the Minty colorway.  Not too exciting, but fun.  I did not match the stripes exactly.  The dark gray stripes match, but I knit one sock with the yarn from the inside of the ball, and one sock from the outside.  Yes, it was intentional.  I wanted the stripes to be a little bit different.

 

 

Gray day here in Oklahoma.  Not much going on.  I am still working on my red socks.  I am sorely tempted to start something else, but I have too many projects started to start another.  I need to finish some before I start anymore.

Back in Oklahoma after nearly a month in Texas.  I am trying to get back into some kind of routine.  So far, I'm not doing too well.  I am missing all the family and folks down in Texas. 

On the knitting front, I finished a pair of socks.  I will try to post a photo later.  The photos I have are not very good as the light was bad.  The sun is out today, so I will try for a better shot.

I am also working on another pair of socks that I started while in Texas.  These are red cable socks.  I was aiming for Christmas, but now have set the goal to Valentine's Day.  I need red socks for Valentines, don't I?

I watched the first episode of season three of Downton Abbey on Sunday.  I am enjoying it as much as the other seasons.  Maggie Smith and Shirley Maclaine are a hoot.  They get the best lines.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Happy New Year!

It's been quite a while since I posted to the blog.  That's me being lazy.  However, I am going to try to better this year.  I'm going to try to write more about knitting and life in general.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year.  May you have many blessings in your life.