Cowboys and Horses aren't the only things you can find at the Stampede.


You can also find yarn.
Buffalo Gold. 40% Bison down, 20% cashmere, 20% silk 15% Tencel. Soft squishy yarn in laceweight. I think it's destined to be the Heartland shawl....the one with all the hoofprints on it....a perfect match.

Mom asked me to do a guest blog...sorry, this blog doesn’t include much about knitting, well maybe a little bit, sort of...I’m on the hunt for some cute crochet baby hats, you know those cute trendy ones – do any of you knitters know where I can find some in this city?? Also, the only knitting talk around the house these days is the lack of knitting that is getting done...I don't think Grandma is too unhappy about that!!

Hello from Oklahoma...we’re here, and funny enough, we heard those words during the first few minutes of the stampede parade from a cowboy on his horse! We enjoyed watching the floats and big horses go by, and Carson made Grandpa’s day when he was dancing to the bagpipes! Heather treated us to a Tim's coffee (which I've been dreaming about for 6 months), and tim bits ('cake') for Carson...leave it to Auntie to get him hopped up on sugar!!! We’ve also made it to a pancake breakfast where C charmed the line-ups with his dancing! Paige has been smiling so much, she must be a Canadian at heart! She is sleeping a lot, which I can’t complain about, and she rolled over for the first time just the other day! I think Carson reallllllly impressed his Uncle B when he sang that the "pirates on the bus go yar,yar,yar!". Both Grandparents have been playing hard, and due for some time to sleep!! So many things to do while we’re here, including a bus ride, the zoo, Riley park, Nose Hill...and of course relax and put our feet up!

Kari
PS. no time to edit video today, so hopefully I can add it tomorrow!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Tonight it rained again.

My Rainbow socks are finished.


They are the first socks from the Wizard of Oz Sock club.
They took longer to knit than I thought they would. Originally, I started with 2.5 needles. They were the perfect project to take to a guild meeting. I had the pattern memorized and I was past the heel so I could knit without worrying about making a mistake. I was confident that I wouldn't need to rip out the sock the morning after the meeting.
What I hadn't considered in all my careful plans was that everyone I was sitting with was going to tell me that the socks were knit too loosely and that I should rip them out. I had the whole leg done. I was past the heel. There was no reasoning with my fellow knitters. Good Grief, before I knew it, Lucy had pulled out the needles and I was ripping the whole sock back...back to the beginning.

I started again with 2mm needles.

I'm not feeling the love for these socks. I agree that they had to be knit at a smaller gauge, but I liked the pattern of the yarn more when it was knit on the 2.5 needles. They will wear longer than a minute and a half but the colours are all mixed up. The short row heel keeps the pattern of the yarn more consistent but I like the way a round heel fits. The toe is just plain weird but it fits with the rest of the sock.

If there's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, I haven't found it yet.

<
The 10 days just before the Stampede are some of the longest.

For those of us who enter our projects in the competition, the days drag on. We wait anxiously until Sneak-a-Peak so we can find out who won in the various categories. Will there be a red ribbon beside our stitching? A blue ribbon beside the socks we knit? We are the ones who are waiting at 6:00 for the doors to open, pacing, impatiently waiting.

The 10 days before Stampede are also very long days for the volunteers on the Creative Arts and Crafts Committee.

It starts the last Wednesday in June when people line up to enter their projects. Invariably there are mix ups with the computer registrations, projects that have been entered in incorrect categories, Artists who didn't read the books and who have to be told that their projects are ineligible for one reason or another.

The space is in such a disarray, it doesn't seem as though it will ever be ready in time.

Before 8:00 that night, all the entries will have been delivered to Hall D. Over the next two days, Judges will arrive, and every item will be examined.

The Volunteers continue. You might get a day off for Canada Day but the displays must be ready and there are no days off for Volunteers.

Finally, on July 2, at 6:00, the doors open.

We race, past the vegi-matics and the sham-wows.


There, in the middle, are my socks.


And there's my shawl.


The Committee works on. They are the people who are walking around the displays constantly cleaning the fingerprints off the glass. They are also the first one's to hear complaints about the displays or disagreements with Judging.

When you go down to check out the display, tip your hat to the ladies with the spray bottles. Once again, they have done an amazing job.

* Thank you SpinKnit for the pictures of the display. I haven't been down to the grounds yet. It's on the calendar for next Sunday!

Dying Sock Yarn...Not as easy as it looks.

I went to Olds Fibre Week this past weekend and took a two day class in painting yarn.

I came home with samples, experimental mini-skeins and yarn.This is my sock yarn. I dyed Superwash. I dyed a merino,bamboo, nylon blend. I also experimented with a merino seacell blend.

They need to be over-dyed. I like the colours. I don't like the white spots.

But, unlike my normal experiments, I kept notes. I know which colours I used. I also have my samples to refer to. It should be easy to fix the skeins.
Please refrain from laughing until I leave the room.


These were my mini-skeins. I used the same yarns and dyed them with two different types of yarn. The yarns were blends and I now have record of how the dyes work with the yarns.




This is a hemp cotton lace-weight. I did not loose my mind completely and think that this would be a pretty colour. It is not the colour I thought it was going to be. It was supposed to be green. Lime green, but still green. The turquoise washed out and I was left with a colour that is reminiscent of my last round of stomach flu.

It will be over-dyed.

It was a fun weekend and I came home with a whole new appreciation of the talents of dyers. It's not as easy as it looks.

I was looking for a shawl.

I knew where it was. It was on the shelf with the rest of the shawls. But, it was at the back of the shelf and I had to pull numerous other shawls out to find it.



This happens often. Actually, this happens almost every time I decide to wear a shawl. I end up pulling everything out and then I have to put it all back. This pile of shawls also develops as I try to decide which shawl to wear. (It's especially frustrating when I pull them all out and then decide to wear a hoodie instead.)

Now a logical conclusion would be that I have too many shawls. Or at least, that I have enough and should quit knitting them. Sure that makes sense until you look at this.



This yarn started put as a "Mother-of-the-bride" lilac. I hated it.

SpinKnit worked her magic and made it perfect for a wrap named for an Egyptian Queen. It is now destined to become Nefertiti.

In my previous post, I questioned whether I should cast on a new pair of socks. Actually, the question should have been "how many socks would I put on the needles?"


These are Fraggle Squiggle Socks from STR.



These are the Over the Rainbow socks from the Oz Sock Club.

I should be receiving the My Fair Lady kit from Sock Cinema club today.

I expect the Men in the white coats will also be arriving at my door soon.

FINISHED!

At 9:32 last evening, the final sock was done.


There are no socks on needles, on spare stitch holders, or on lengths of yarn. There are no more single socks in my house, waiting for me to knit the mate.

13 pairs of socks - DONE!

The oldest socks that I pulled out of a drawer were started in 2001.


This was the last pair. They are also the newest pair to have been started.
These were the April shipment from the Woolgirl Sock club. The June shipment was being mailed yesterday.

So today I have a choice. I can either continue to work on UFO's and possibly complete some of the many lace projects that are waiting impatiently or I can cast on some new sock yarn. Hmmmm??

Progress

I am winning the battle of the single socks and WIP. For several weeks, my house has been overrun with socks talking to me. At first, it was just a whisper."We're here. We're waiting."

Then, the socks got louder."Are you ever going to finish us?"
My favorite chair became surrounded by UFOs. I couldn't cast on anything new because all my needles were in socks. The socks were mocking me.

I have now completed more pairs of socks than the socks that need to be knit. I realise that I am tempting fate by declaring this publicly but I feel that the battle has turned in my favour. I will win this war.



The single socks have sent for reinforcements. The STR shipment should arrive on Monday.