alpaca challenge in Conyers Georgia

I spent the afternoon with friends Jane, Diana, Hali, and Rob at the International Horse Park in Conyers today. There were a lot of beautiful alpacas and we even got up close and personal with one really friendly one. She was so incredibly calm and there were a several people petting her at the same time.



Here are more pictures from the afternoon.













I also purchased some Suri alpaca roving to spin up later. It's a mixture of grey, tan and white from an alpaca named Natasha. The owner said she is truly an evil animal, but the yarn will be beautiful. I'll try to post the resulting yarn later.

...and then on the way back to Jane's house I spotted this on the side of the road. We figured it was probably a remnant of someone's Halloween costume. It just kinda stuck out as we drove by that there was hair on the street marker.

finished sweater

I finished the Welcome Back Old Friend sweater yesterday while at Knitch for the Sunday knitting social. It took exactly two months of on and off knitting. It is a little shorter than I thought it would be (maybe the belly doesn't help) but I'm happy with the result. It's a warm one and will be my official SAFF sweater this year.


Thanks to Regan for taking the picture for me right after I finished it. She tweeted about it too. :)

I'll take more pictures later of just the sweater (without the baby) when I get a chance so the collar is visible and not hidden by my beard.

long overdue update post

It's been quite a while since my last post. I really do mean to post more often than bi-annually. Not that there hasn't been anything to post about, I just haven't had the inclination.

I guess the best way to start is with what I've been working on lately.
I started making a sweater in March "Welcome Back Old Friend" by Kathy Zimmerman. It was in Interweave Knits Fall 2002. The pattern is also available for download from Ravelry.

I'm using yarn that I bought a few years ago at SAFF. It's a blend of rayon/linen/acrylic and it's machine washable. (at least they said it was)



The front and one sleeve are on the blocking board drying now and I'll probably be able to block the other two tonight. I have to put the blocking board in the other room and block the door with a wire gate. I do that so the air can circulate in the room and also to keep Bob out as he likes to pull out the pins. I guess it's the colorful pinheads that attracts him or maybe he's just a bastard-cat. Probably the latter.







Once it's all together and the neck it finished I'll post some pictures of the finished sweater.

I had my third hernia surgery (within the last 15 years) the last week of March and it' all healed up nicely. I now have a large exclamation point scar on my belly with my belly button as the period!

( ! )

Sorry, no pictures of this.

Michael and I were supposed to go to New York for his oldest son Nicks wedding in June, but we just got the invitation last week (with the date of the wedding which wasn't a sure thing yet) and now we can't affford to go. We decided to use our vacation time and considerably less dinero elsewhere. It looks like we are headed to Arkansas to spend a week with family in a cabin. We tried to locate somewhere central to just about everyone so no one person has to travel too far. It's near Hot Springs and close to a lake so maybe I'll get some swimming in this year. I miss having a lake closeby to go swimming.

feeling like hammered crap

It's official, Michael and I both are down with the swine flu.
Now we don't have to worry about getting the shot.

New Arrival

We have a new member of the family.



Her name is Iris and she's a Pekingese. We adopted her from a rescue shelter and she's 2 years old. We have a second one on the way this weekend and Michael will probably pick her up on Saturday. I don't know what name he and David have decided on. I'll post a picture of her when she gets here.

So far Iris hasn't had an opportunity to "meet" the cats. I hope she and the cats will get along together. For the most part the dogs will be downstairs and the cats will be upstairs most of the time anyway.

Class with BrooklynTweed - Jared Flood

Today I took a class at the new Knitch location on aran sweater design and steeks with Jared Flood. It was a great class and there was so much great information presented that I had never encountered before. He talked about guage swatching for cables and adjusting for ease in the process of designing a sweater and how to use this information to make a sweater that fits your measurements. He also showed us how to do a crocheted steek. I've done a steek with machine stitching before cutting, but this was the first time I'd ever tried the crochet method. Great method and I look forward to using it in an upcoming cardigan.




Here are my swatch and steek samples from the class. This is a close up of the steeked edge on the back side.


He also showed us how to pick up and knit the button band. This is the same swatch after I knitted on the button band. It lays so nice a flat and the steek just folds right under and lays flat on the inside. This is the front side.



This is the back side of the sample. The steek flap had a little bit of a pucker to it, but he said this could be remedied by just using a smaller crochet hook to do the steek.


Of course I was a total knitting geek and asked Kim (the owner of Knitch) if I could keep one of the demo sheets from the class and she said I could if it was alright with Jared. I then asked Jared if he would autograph it. He probably thought I'm a nut, but he did sign if for me! :)


It was a fun class and he is an excellent instructor. If you have the chance, I can highly recommend the classes. Be warned... you better sign up quick. The classes were popular and filled quickly.

short post

I finished the Herbert Niebling Jesien blanket. It ended up about 60" in diameter.



A couple of new kitty pictures too

Blanche in the kitchen window ledge



Dear Daddy,
Thanks for the wonderful Socks That Rock yarn pillow.
Love, Bob