Stolen Time

I don't have much homework today, but the past few days have had lots of homework in various classes-I guess that since it's the middle of the week, the teachers are giving everyone a little break.
I'm happy about that. My knitting is happy, too!I am right at the heel, which is supposed to be blue. I'm searching for the blue ball of yarn-I had it Sunday, put it down...and it seems to have decided to wander off.
"Here, yarny yarn yarn.....I've got some needles that are missing you! Why don't you come back?"
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I've started a new project. Well, yes and no. Yes, I just cast on another project, but no, this isn't a new one. This is the friend to the pink cardigan I finished a week or so ago. I can't wait till they are both done, so that I put them next to each other and coo. However, the cardigans aren't the same as seeing the babies to which the jackets will soon be owned by.
I stopped by our neighbor's house, where the twins (which I will call Baby Girl R, or BGR and Baby Boy R, or BBR) were. When I came to help, both were asleep, with BGR drooling (but it was very cute drool). Their mother was holding BBR, and I got to hold him. I accidentally woke him up, and he fussed quietly until Mommy was within reach. He (and his sister) are so adorable-I can't wait to see the cardigans on them. However, I still need to get buttons for the pink one, and, as you can see, I have a lot to do on the boy cardigan.
And now, it's time for "School Conversations"
Several people observed that I would get suspended if I kept on bringing my knitting needles to school. (I haven't, and I've talked to several teachers about knitting, so I guess I'm safe!) Other people asked me to knit them sweaters, and one boy swore at me when I said I wouldn't be able to-but hey, it's just the life of a freshman knitter.
PS: I have a new addition to my sidebar-a poll. If you're reading this, could you answer the question? Thanks.

Oh, Wow

It's Friday! Did you know that?
Yeah, OK, you probably do. Don't worry, I do too-but I can hardly believe it. First 3 days of school- gone. I hope the rest of the year doesn't go by quite as fast-I'll barely have time to study!
Today, I have a little thing for a friend of mine-(notice how it's purple? Huh? Huh?) :)
I have a really good friend who had a special day yesterday. Unfortunately, the power went out before I had the time to write this up, or even call!:( -sorry!
I wonder if she brought treats to school (we now go to different schools-we didn't last year).
I wonder how many people wished her "Happy Birthday!" (My minimum guess? 100-and that's not even close to all of the lives she's touched with her smile!)
I wonder when she's read this, how much homework she has tonight. Not too much, I hope.
I wonder how she's doing on her knitting, if the pillow I made her for Christmas last year hasn't lost all of its stuffing yet (if it has, I'll bring more stuffing and a needle and thread the next time I come over, kay?).
But what I wonder most of all is whether I've said "Thank you" enough times to cover the friendship I feel. I am so lucky, so blessed to have this wonderful girl as a friend. She's kind, loving, smart, supportive, attentive, happy-go-lucky, huggy, giggly, hyper, and a lover of mints.
Many happy returns, Sridivya!
You're a terrific friend!!

Coming Soon (aka when I get my homework done)-
How far did Fiber Chic get on her sock?
What were the responses to 4 tiny pointy sticks being gallivanted around the school?

Time For School!

Tomorrow, that is. I am going to be up at 5:00 am tomorrow to get all ready for my 6:20 bus time. Oh, goody.
One thing that is a real good thing-(please excuse the blurry picture...)I finished the girl baby sweater!
Well, I actually just got all of the knitted part done. I'm still debating what to put on for decorations...Initials? Stars? Flowers?
And above, you can see Sock #1. I finished spinning the yellow yarn today-it's a little thinner than I expected, but not too bad!
In the pattern, there's a ribbing just after the cuff, and you fold the cuff over the ribbing when you're done. I'll have quite a bit of time on the bus tomorrow to knit, so let's see how far I get!

Time For Laughter

I was really looking forward to showing everyone a finished ball of yarn, ready for knitting for my socks, and saying how I can't wait to go and knit at Rain Day again this weekend....but I haven't even started plying yet.


Next week, perhaps?

So here's some shirts I found on the internet, featuring knitting. (Please note: some of the shirts/bags/magnets I found on the site were ones I didn't find appropriate for a 7-year-old, so therefore I didn't put them here. If you go farther than where I linked, there may be some weird stuff. I'm just showing you the safer jokes-and by safe, I mean REALLY safe.)
Here's the links:
This one I want!
Just knitters would get this joke..
Heh.
One of those things I'm suprised I didn't think of earlier
Ineresting...knitting does promote peace and love, so I guess it counts, right?
Ha
For the punks..
I'll never see road signs the same way again!
Have you knitted too much when you recognise the yarn?
Aaand one last link.
See you next week!

Yay!

My homework is finally done.
I am the happiest person on Earth, as now I only have 5 work days left before school starts, and I can spend most of that time knitting, spinning, writing, and helping my dad with "Rain Day" on the weekend. Above is my finished 4 1/2 pages of answers for my science homework.
On the subject of school, here's one of my new notebooks-I usually get plain notebooks, but this year, this will be my Spanish notebook.Below is the body of the baby girl's sweater. I think I will block it before I finish the sleeves, that way, I'll have something to do while the sleeves are blocked.
I am still plugging away at my spinning for the socks. I still have a lot of roving to spin. It appears that this third spool will have a bit more thread than the other two, but you never know!

I'm Off!

My family and I are going on a little road trip to Springfield, to help with a tent called "Rain Day" my dad is setting up at the fair, so I can't talk long--
I got one homework question done, and I have the back and right side of the girl cardigan done-now I need a new ball of yarn to finish it!
By the way- thanks for your suggestions. I am planning on, right in the top of the back, putting one symbol (a flower for the girl, and something else different for the boy). Inside the symbol, I'm planning on putting their initials, so if anybody has another idea for a shape that could fit RJG for the boy and RLG for the girl, I'd appreciate it..
Pictures will come within the next week. I guess you could say I'm training myself to spend less time on the computer, now that school is just around the corner!

Lotsa Updates

Sock update first:

I have knitted together the squares for one sock, and I'm as far as I can be without using the yellow yarn, which is a work in progress, still.

I weighed the already-done thirds...and they're the same weight as the third I hadn't started at the time. Huh. I guess I made thinner yarn on the bigger spool. Like I said before, however, I don't think I will even out any spools until all of the roving has been spun.

Aaand here's the info on Ravelry:

You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
10495 people are ahead of you in line.
4980 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far.

10495 people--hmm. Shouldn't be too long now!

OK, now for the baby cardigan info:

The bitty sweater has been started, but I will need another ball of Bernat pink to finish the one for the girl. Since I'm using this pattern, I am also debating whether I should add the flowers (for the girl)/snakes (for the boy). I have A LOT of little bits and pieces of yarn I could use, so that's no problem. What do you think?

I am also being crazy and REALLY thinking ahead-to when I have finished all of these projects, and I need something for 4-H next year.

I've decided on a lacy shawl made by the late owner of Copper Moose. The pattern is in the book Spin To Knit, which I recently checked out of the library. I am planning on dyeing my own roving, then spinning it, then knitting it. If I get started soon (as in in November or December), perhaps I will be able to steal enough time to start the knitting in, like March.

Before I finish, or even start, any of the above, however, I should probably get my summer homework done, so in the next week, I can at least say I have some sort of FO!

Confessions Of A Teenage Knitter

I. Am. In. Love.

No, we are not going to discuss my past and present crushes today--we are going to talk about the BABY SWEATER!!
I just want to hug this thing every time I look at it! It's beautiful! It's exquisite! It's what every baby girl wants........but it's too small.
No, I have not tried it on the baby yet, but it was supposed to be 10 inches long, and it's 8 1/2.
Obviously I did not check the gauge well enough. But, don't worry! Your Fiber Chic has a plan!
I will keep this sweater for my Hope Chest, and I'll make two more sweaters, in this pattern, for the twins next door.
Perhaps this new pattern will work up faster...I'll probably have enough yarn left over to make little mittens to go along with the sweater!
In other news...
This is 2/3 of my yellow for the socks. Notice how the third on the left is a whole lot smaller than the third on the right? I'm going to have to even out the spools.
I'll wait till I have all three spools, then weigh each one and divide the thread accordingly. My logic is, if the third spool is too small, I'd have to redivide everything up anyway, so why not wait? Here is eight, count 'em, eight little squares. They are for the cuff of my socks--as the spinning for the yellow is taking a while, I can work on the blue cuffs in between spinning spurts. Logical?

Ooooh!

No, the "Ooooh" is not about the baby sweater (which will be done this week, I promise...), nor does it have to do with the fact I am finally posting early in the day. In fact, it is about more fiber to spin! Yay!!!
Please excuse the bad pictures--I tried to get good ones, I really did...
At the county fair (where I entered my shirt and skirt, the American Girl Doll clothes, etc), a nearby spinning shop had a booth. Our family looked around, and this

is what I found. It's unwashed (though still soft) alpaca. I got an ounce for 3 dollars, and brought it on my "playdate" with a friend of the family. I showed the 2nd grader how to brush the fiber, and we ended up with about 3/4 of the ounce looking like this:

However, there's still little bits of dirt and stuff, so I'll probably rebrush everything. Next time I see my friend, I'm going to bring a drop spindle, and show her how to spin the yarn. Perhaps we can make something together for her from the yarn!

Next order of business (see if you can guess what it is):

You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
10986 people are ahead of you in line.
3505 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

Yep! I'm in the Ravelry queue! I was going to post this sooner, but I sorta got distracted! :) I can't wait till I get my invite, although that will probably be when Ravelry is open to everyone....