Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all. I hope it is a day full of appreciation both by your family and by yourself for the job you do as a mother.

I have had a great weekend so far. I spent all day yesterday at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival with two good friends. Kimberly left with two Angora bunnies and Deb and I left with a few new skeins of yarn.
This is all the yarn I added to my stash. There is a beautiful skein of cashgora/merino blend from Spirit Trail fibers. I love all of her yarns. It was hard to leave with just one but I am sure I will visit her website often. The peach colored skein is handspun by the woman from fiberfetish. She was so personable and fun that I wanted to stay all day and watch her spin. The little purple and green skein is a wool/silk blend that will make a perfect spring and fall scarf. I got it from a local woman- Ellen's half pint farm- I don't know if she has a website. I think this is the first thing I will knit. The two skeins of variegated green are destined to be socks for my husband. He gets a pair every Christmas and he has had his eye on some green that I bought for myself at the VA S&W last fall. Now we both will get our green socks! I got a skein of lacy silk and two skeins of a to die for angora blend that I bought and used last year too. It was the one vendor I knew I had to visit again this year!

I bought a few patterns and a book- Sweater Workshop based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater formula. The woman who wrote the book was so great and she has been knitting forever.

I found a new pair of needles that I can't wait to use. They are ten inch circulars with a strechy cord. The idea is they will stretch so it is easier to knit socks on them. I can't wait to see how they work and if they work as well as I am hoping I will be purchasing them in many sizes. I can crank out socks on small circulars!

The last skein of yarn needed it's own photo...
This is what my daughter calls Double Pink and is currently her favorite color. I have no idea what I will do with it although I would like to just use half and keep half for her to fingerknit with when she learns. I think she will love to use the yarn too and we have to get them started young- right?

Onto the knitting...
This is the first of the Horcrux socks. It was a fun and easy pattern to knit although it is going to be a challenge to finish the second without diving into the new lucious yarns I now own. I did cast on the second to keep myself from second sock syndrome completely!

So, that was my mother's day gift from the family and what a treat it was! I went to bed last night dreaming about yarn and colors and do wish that I had many more dollars to go back again today! We instead just got our three piglets and are introducing them to our land. This makes for a fun mother's day treat too!

Green socks finished!

I finally finished the green socks out of Fleece Artist yarn. I whipped the first one out in a week and then got a wee bit distracted by the other yarns calling my name and had to do a few projects in the interim. I just buckled down and worked on the second sock this week and I am so happy I did. They feel so nice on my feet and the color is great!! Here is a close up that shows the color better.
I just got a few new books in the mail and since I love to read and knit it is a treat to read about knitting! I got the Yarn Harlot's new book. She is going to talk at WEBS in Mass and I am planning on making the trip down to hear her if any Vermonters are interested in carpooling. I have never been to WEBS and am looking foward to a yarn store where I can have a shopping cart!
I also got the new Harry Potter pattern book which my kids have pored over. I love that the projects they like the best are the bookmarks and the mini sweaters. They may actually get those! The last book is by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I can't remember the name right now but it is the first book of hers i have read and it is so amazing. I have been hearing her name for years now and I can finally understand why!
There is currently no new work in progress- I am carrying around a few balls of Koigu trying to figure out what I want to knit with them. I don't want to do socks as I love the colors and I tried the clapotis but got off in my numbers really early on and ripped it out. ( Lace overwhelms me as there is very little knitting without young children around!)
I will have to get a photo of the yarn soon so I can hear your ideas!

Spring has sprung!

Spring has finally happened here in Vermont. I have been busy pulling weeds and planting seeds- it feels so great to dig in the Earth. I also finished my final exam for my last class until fall. It feels a little strange to not have thinking work to do every evening but I like it. I am trying to decide what book to read first.
On the knitting front I have finished the Kochoran afghan.
I thought about making it bigger but I just had to use it. It fits perfectly over my lap and down past my toes and I am the one who will use it so I sewed in all the ends last night and snuggled up!
I made a beautiful head wrap/ scarf from a pattern by Wendy Bernard- the Dream Swatch
Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern:
Isn't it lovely? It looked a little complicated until I started knitting and then it knits up pretty quick. I would like to try some with nice sock yarn. This is made out of silk and it is already getting a little furry.
A good friend is having a baby any day and I found this cute bolero in the One Skein book. It was a fast knit and I used a cotton/tencel blend that is so soft. It is perfect for a spring baby! I have to get it off in the mail tomorrow as baby's grow so fast!
Once again I did not finish my socks for the sock a month KAL. I finished some in February and the Fleece Artist socks have been next inline. I am finally in sock mode again (at least until this pair are finished!!)

i have a problem

When I started the blog I wondered if yarn addict was a silly name but today I realize that it is the truth. I am a yarn addict. I don't know if it is the winter blues or spring fever but I have made alot of purchases this week and I have an almost overwhelming amount of WIPs. I just received a box of Noro Kochoran I bought on ebay today and have already casted on for an afghan I am going to make by mixing two colorways. I have no idea how they will look together, as with Noro it is hard to tell until you knit it up, but I am looking foward to snuggling up in a blanket so soft. These are the colors.
I have had some finished projects though. I finished the purple silk scarf and made a second which I am wearing and I have gone a little crazy with the washcloths. They are really fun and fast to make and I think I just needed something like that. I am trying to make a set for each teacher I work with for an end of the year gift. I will be leaving my job at the end of the school year to go to nursing school full time. I am looking foward to the school experience but I will miss all my colleagues and students.
I am going to work hard to finish my research paper tonight so I can spend the next snow storm doing nothing but enjoying my knitting. A big one is coming Sunday so wish all of us New Englanders happy thoughts!

My sock swap questionnaire

Here are the answers to my Hogwarts questionnaire. I look foward to finding out who my pal is!
1.

What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Ravenclaw

2.

Shoe size?

9-9 1/2

3.

Foot Length?

9-9 1/2 in

4.

Foot Circumference?

approx. 9 in

5.

List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a.addi turbo bamboo

b.any wooden needles

c.

6.

Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

sure- shorter is better- 5-6 inches

7.

If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

I think I would like either

8.

Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

yes

sock swap

I am excited about the new sock swap I joined. It is the first swap and it is a Harry Potter sock swap. You can check it out here. My oldest son and I have been reading the HP series and he is so into it. He helped me with the sorting quiz and did it for himself too. He was not sorted into Gryffindor and now wants to try all the sorting quizzes we can find online to see if he will get in at a different site. It is fun to see him so excited about books and reading. Anyway, I think he is just as happy as me about the socks and it will help us have some good knitting time together.
I went crazy with the cute washclothes this weekend and have already made seven more. I will get a picture up soon as well as a new photo of all the kids comfort dolls!

king winter returns

I had high hopes that spring was on the way but Mother Nature fooled me again! the daffodils were starting to poke up and I found a couple of tulips peeking out too and they are now under a foot of snow. To add insult to injury my car is in the shop and I have a 2WD loaner with no snow tires so I am forced to stay home. The good part about staying home is that I make time to knit while I hang out with the kids.
I just received my first online order from WEBS. The Cascade Cloud nine is new to me and a little different color than I thought I was ordering but it seems quite soft and will make a great baby gift. I love the Debbie Bliss Alpaca/silk. I have a hat pattern I have taught a couple of people that works beautifully with the yarn. I am really excited about the italian merino in deep purple and green. I knit with it once a few years back and loved it! All of the colors I received are a little different than what I thought they would be but yarn is yarn and I do love it all!
The next two photos are the projects I whipped out the last two days during the blizzard. The color is off on all of the pictures but the scarf is a really beautiful, shiny purple silk that I purchased a few years back at the VT sheep and wool fest. This scarf is for a friends birthday but there is so much left and it is so soft I am working on one for myself too. I love the feeling of silk wrapped around my neck!
I also just made these washcloths following the pattern from the book Mason Dixon knitting. I have been wanting to make them for a while and now that I have I wish it hadn't taken me so long. They are fun and easy to make and they are the most lovely cloths I have knitted. I am sending them to my mom for her birthday.

I have made a few exciting knitting related purchases this week. I found a copy of Lily Chin's The Urban Knitter discounted at a small bookstore. I can't wait to make the empire waist dress. I have one made out of wool from a friend and would love a lighter weight one for the warmer months.
I also won a skein of qiviuk on ebay last night. I am so excited!! I have had my eye out for this yarn for a while now and haven't found it at any of the stores I have been to. I hear that it is at the Burlington YS but I have not been up that way in a while. Qiviuk is supposed to be softer than cashmere--Is it possible?!? I imagine it will be knit up quickly once it gets here. I guess that is one great reason to give thanks for this extended winter, right?