No Slowing Down

Despite my best efforts, it would appear that the craziness experienced these past few months just may be my new normal.  Time will tell.

I think my last post left off somewhere after the minions' regular sports seasons and before Zombie.  The Stockinette Zombie retreat was a lot of fun.  I didn't take my Nikon with me so I was at the mercy of my phone as far as pictures go so I didn't take too many and some of the ones that were taken were blurry so here is just a tiny sampling.

Not only was this my first Zombie retreat, it was my first time to Rochester, MN.  It was an interesting little town and though it was cute, I need a little more elbow room; it felt like I was in some sort of video game where all the sidewalks and passageways were connected somehow.  This was all the sky I could see at one time.

The coolest thing by far was meeting so many knitters and there were a bunch that came up to me to let me know that they loved the Hermione's Everyday Sock pattern and that they had made them or were making a pair or were going to make a pair... I even had one woman (@atangledyarn on instagram)gift me with a wee mini Hermione Sock during the designer showcase!  It was good for me to get out and meet people though - as I've stated before, I am very much a hobbit and it can be difficult for me sometimes to stretch my boundaries.

I'm definitely not used to eating out quite so much but I made sure to get a good spot for the USA game!

The vendor market was cool - I met some of the people I have been following on instagram in person and I even met Hobbledehoy and geeked out a bit because I have loved her batts for so long! Here is one photo of my booth - the rest were a bit blurry.

(I'm the one on the right).

This was the haul, most of which was gifted and/or bartered.

 

Honestly, I behaved myself and didn't buy very much - a few skeins of yarn (1 to gift), 2 bags (one to gift), and a bit of fiber (some of which will also be gifted)! One thing I did buy though, was a Downton Abbey bag from BagsbyTerry. I had been coveting one of these for a while and he put up a nice coupon code so I splurged and nabbed one up and it arrived while I was in Minnesota.

 

 

He even put the fun pocket inside with the outer fabric :)

 

This was the Exclusive Zombie Knitpocalypse 2015 colorway.  There are still a few up in the shop.

 

I wanted to knit something simple so I made a garter stitch triangle using 1 skein. It actually blocked out to be quite large given that it was only one skein.

It was good to get home though.

Ever since I got back I have been on the go. Little man's All Star team games started and Little miss has soccer on Tuesday evenings so this has been my view for a while.

This sweater.... I have dubbed it the Princess and the Pea Cardivest. This was a pattern that I designed for little miss and it has been stuck in a bag for quite a while, untouched. The urge to clear our some of the wip's I've had hit and I brought out the green would-be cardigan that little miss SWORE she would wear multiple times, even with the ribbed sleeves. I finished the sleeves and seamed one in and all I had left was to seam the other sleeve and then pick up and knit the button bands/collar. Voila! Completed sweater. Or so I thought.

 

I had her try it on before I sewed in the second sleeve and she immediately started scratching and saying that she wouldn't wear it because the sleeves were tight and it made her itchy. For the record, Cascade 220 Superwash isn't all that itchy. AND, keep in mind we went over this multiple times before I even started knitting the thing and she even had a sweater (storebought) with similar sleeves and she was fine with those.... Pissed. I removed the one sleeve and frogged both arms. I had posted a picture on Ravelry and someone mentioned making it a vest. That's a thought. Little miss and I had a few more discussions (I would rather frog the entire thing and repurpose the yarn than make it and have her not wear it) and a vest it is. I ribbed one armhole and made her try it on. I ribbed the other arm hole and made her try it on. "I'll wear it, I promise." Okay, so I knit the buttonbands and finished the collar today. She needs a wash and a block and then I'll add the buttons - not the really cool ones I got because she only wanted 3 buttons at the top, not buttons all the way down, so I'll save the other buttons for a full cardigan. Maybe one for me. :)

 

Another FO for today was this little guy - Ferdinand.

 

I can only take partial credit for Ferdinand though, this was something little man wanted to make for one of his friends at school so we sat down and worked out what he wanted it to look like and I filled in the details, finishing, and knit some of the main body rows to speed things along. Since Ferdinand will be meeting his new family tomorrow, little man and I thought it was a good time for a boys day out. With this group, trying to take photos wasn't easy...

 

Ferdinand is a fellow Knitter who absolutely loves to cook, especially French cuisine. He is also incredibly fond of gardening so Medwin showed him some of our plants.

 

 

If you remember, Medwin is quite the athlete (he met Roderick on the squash court) and he has also discovered his love for rock climbing. He wasn't about to let his friend fall.

 

 

It was a good time had by all.

 

 

"Am I taller than this plant?"

 

 

"Check out my no 'do!"

 

 

"Is there a fungus among us?"

 

 

"Wasn't me!"

 

 

The boys had fun and Ferdinand showed them all quite a bit about some of the local flora and fauna.

 

The Dreams in Fiber Household had a quiet 4th of July this year. We didn't go anywhere for fireworks and just lit some sparklers in the driveway.

 

I do have a few other things I've been working on. I finished one sock and am nearing the end of another sock (different pair), I have made progress on a blanket wip that has been languishing for a while and I've been doing a bit of spinning in honor of Tour de Fleece. I'm not on a team, I've just been spinning more - or trying to. This is my Gryffin colorway in Pencil Roving - it's destined for an nply.

 

 

I'm a bit further on it now but there is probably a little more than an ounce left. Given our weekend plans I doubt I will be able to spin more until the first part of next week. Little man and I will be doing the Color Run tomorrow. I have been battling some sort of tendonitis/fasciitis on my left lower leg and I'm just now walking normally again after I completed the 5K at the Zombie Retreat so after tomorrow I imagine it will be another couple of weeks of pain. Yippee. Could be worse though. At least it's not my spinning leg!

 

Hopefully I'll have more FO photos for next time along with some colorful shots of our run tomorrow :)