JessaLu Knits (and Spins!)

Yep, I jumped on again. It seems to be a habit for me - I like to play the cool aloof knitter but the ‘pattern of the moment’ always seems to make its way onto my needles.

Anyway, I promised to show you what’s in the bag:

The Spring Forward socks [raveled] seem to go almost as quickly as the Monkey socks, it has somewhat the same amount of rows in the pattern repeat (20 for SF only 10 are one way and 10 are reversed…does that make sense?) so you’ll be going along and think, “well, I can finish the last five rows of this repeat” and then you get there and you think, “well, I can do the next 10 rows since the last 5 went so quickly” and before you know it, you’re at the heel.

Which, on this pair of socks, I’ve knit two times so far since I hated the first one so much I couldn’t live with it. The first heel was a regular slip-stitch flap heel (with no give) and the second is a modified partial-flap short-row sherman heel (with no holes and lots of give for my fat ankles - yes, cookie, I said they’re fat. shut up. ;op) which makes me *way* happier than the original heel. It also uses way less yarn so hopefully I won’t run out before I hit the toe… ;o)

Also, thank you all for your nice comments on my bags - wonky and otherwise - they are very much appreciated!  I’ve had a couple of people ask if I’ll be selling them and while it’s something I’ve considered doing, I’d have to make a significant upgrade regarding what I use to sew them together, which isn’t going to happen anytime soon.  You see, for my regular ‘everyday’ sewing, I use a c1938 Singer model 15-91 which doesn’t do zig zag stitch easily (it does go backwards, thank the GSD, unlike my other antique Singer which only knows forward stitching) and from what I’ve gathered, I need to be able to use a serger or zig zag stitching on the inside corner seams in order to have a nice clean bag on the inside.  I just don’t feel comfortable selling something that isn’t 100% up to my own standards so for now, the bags will have to stay on the sidelines.  However, If you know anyone who has the zig zag attachment for an antique Singer drop me an email…we’ll talk.  ;o)

In other knitting news, how about I share what I purchased from the Loopy Ewe for my birthday.  I used the two gift certificates gifted to me by my ‘rents and my sister:

As usual, click to see the ‘magic’! ;o)

Another birthday gift I received?  Four of these:

Not as fuzzy, but hopefully they’ll help with the lovely swaying sensation I experience while the camper is being towed.  I’ll do anything to keep from puking (vomit free since ‘03!), even spending yarn $$ on tires.

I also received the new Civ IV for the DS from Dobby and Whipping Boy and a new computer mouse from RR that has the cool new micro receiver thingy and a table for my laptop.  The mouse?  Love. it.  The man knows the second best way to my heart - technology.  ;o)

I’ve been using the wonderful ‘next’ feature on Google Reader to get caught up on my RSS feeds (makes it easier for me to leave a comment since the page is already loaded and in my face so no procrastinating - although leaving a comment in Blogger is still a PITA since they use a secure connection which isn’t so fast with satellite internet…but anyway). I knew I was doing pretty good with the catching up but I guess I was doing better than I thought since apparently I have read everything there is to read as of 1pm today because this is what I saw the last time I clicked my ‘next’ button:

Congratulations, you’ve reached the End of the Internet .

Woohoo! I guess I can go work some more on this:

I know it doesn’t look like much but there are only so many hours in the day!

Or I could cast on with one of these:

I tripped and fell at The Loopy Ewe and completely lost control of my credit card on the ShibuiKnits page…oopsies!

Or I owe my Aunt two pairs of socks so I could work on those…

…or I could just go back to work.

Bleh.

…are reading this post, the first two hanks ‘o roving are mine, the rest are filler. Lent to me by fellow bloggers out of pity so I didn’t look like too much of a Rhinebeck loser ‘cuz I only bought two things.

*ahem*

The rest of the world? Well…you know that it’s really all mine - and soon you will know that I went a bit…overboard. There was a boatload of stuff in those ‘wee’ bags.

Here are the Saturday acquisitions:

Here we have Brooks Farm Primero purchased in the hopes that it would match a skein of Primero purchased two years ago at Rhinebeck. It doesn’t, but it’s close enough to mix; 4oz of BFL hand-dyed by someone (the dog ate my label); 4oz of Merino/Silk in ‘Cranberry Bog’; 4oz of Merino/Silk in…? (it’s in the car and it’s raining, I’m sorry but I’m not going out there to check right now, I’ll melt!); Sheepshed Merino/Tencel in three different colorways; Two balls ‘o Trekking for RR socks (see? I can buy for others!); Foxfire superwash/bamboo; Sock yarn from Autumn House Farms AND a Hatchtown Farm spindle made of cocobolo and something else that’s pretty… ;o)

Sunday I tripped and fell into the Brooks Farm booth, possibly passed out from wool fumes, and put my plastic into intensive care:

After coming to, I recovered and soldiered on to pick up a soap dispenser, mug and a skein of wool/mohair that I had been eyeing on Saturday but just couldn’t bring myself to purchase (you know, since I was being so mindful of my budget and all):

That’s it! Or at least, that’s all I’m owning up to at this time! ;o)