Life is whizzing by...

Here it is, 3 years later (how can that be?), and my resolution to post more often has fallen by the wayside. Honest, my blog friends, I keep thinking about you, and taking pictures to show you things I'm doing, but the actual blogging part...? Not so much. But I'm back, if anyone is actually still out there!

In the last 3 years, I have continued knitting and crocheting and spinning, and added dyeing and weaving to my bag of fiber tricks. I've completed lots of projects, frogged a bunch, acquired yarn and fiber, spun fiber into yarn.

I finally finished the Susie cardigan  (Ravelry link) last October, 5 years and 2 days after I started it. The recipient wore it EVERY DAY for months, except for washing it. I haven't even put the clasps on it because she wouldn't take it off long enough for me to do so! I made it in Dream in Color's Classy in the Good Luck Jade colorway. No hood, just a garter stitch neckline.

Purlescence Yarns continues to be my home-away-from-home. I've gained so many dear friends through my association with them, and people that I now consider to be family. Kevin has just started his Tails of a Sassy Fiber Monkeh blog. Mari has her Just The Food, People blog too. Sandi, Kaye, Nathania -- I love you all!

We had a blast teaming with Pam Haschke for the Halos of Hope-athon, a 24-hour knitathon to create hats for people undergoing cancer treatment. Halos of Hope is an all-volunteer organization that distributes these hats to cancer centers across the US and we're proud to have provided 230 hats in 24 hours. I even pulled an all-nighter, which I hadn't done since college, a thousand years ago.

The 2nd annual Halos-of-Hope-athon will be held June 28-29, 2014, from 10 AM Saturday to 10 AM Sunday. We'll see if I manage to stay up this time, as I will have returned from London just 2 days before that! Hope to see you there.

Stitches West is still our biggest event. I was lucky enough this year to be part of the Purl Up & Dye team, creating color on superwash merino fiber. Such a fun time, playing with color! I bought several braids and am loving spinning that fiber into yarn.



For example, here is my chocolate cherries colorway still wet (top), before the color is set, and the bottom picture is the final spun product, a 3-ply fingering weight. The finished product is more rose-colored than red in real life.

School is as wild and crazy as ever and I still love it. Last year, I got a new part-time librarian and spent time training her. However, she started the job in August 2012 and went on maternity leave at the end of February, so this school year is the first full year she's been present. She's been a great help, with lots of great ideas and energy.

I've started to get more engaged with my own health. Some numbers were heading the wrong way and I just felt pretty blah about myself. So last June, I started working out at the gym that had just opened near school. LOVE IT! I'm working with a personal trainer who keeps me going. In addition to the increased physical activity/strength training, I'm also being more mindful of what I'm eating and how much of it I'm eating at a time. So far, I've lost almost 25 pounds, aiming for maybe another 5-10 more. I've had to buy new clothes (terrible problem to have, really) since I'm down 2 sizes.

Another project that I'm really pleased with is my CustomFit sweater. If you haven't heard of CustomFit by Amy Herzog, and you're a knitter, go check it out right now! You input your measurements, your swatch measurements for whatever yarn/needle size you would like to use, and your design elements (cardigan/pullover/vest, neckline, sleeve type/length, etc.) and CustomFit will return a pattern to you. Simply follow the pattern. It is written out for you. You don't have to figure out which size directions to follow. You don't have to figure out how to modify the shaping to fit your specific needs. AND IT WILL FIT! I will be making more sweaters. The next one will be for Kelli out of the same yarn I used here, Cascade's Eco+ in the Aporto colorway.

Music has also come back into my life in a big way. I had mentioned previously that I was singing with a gospel choir. Well, that group is no longer active. :-( In December, I was watching The Sing-Off, an a cappella competition show. The winning group, Home Free, completely captured my heart, and I'm obsessed by them and their music. (Ask anyone that knows me about the Home Free obsession!) When I heard their album release in January, it made me realize that I truly needed to be singing again. After a few months of searching, I've begun singing with the Peninsula Harmony Chorus, a local a cappella group.

Thanks, Kevin, for reminding me that I have this blog to update. I also post on Facebook as Kathy Lew Clark and on Twitter as PurpleYarnQueen, if you want to follow me at either place.

Odds and Ends...

Wrap-up of projects:

The Dork's homework project (a Shinto shrine) that he and his class partner decided to make out of Legos:
Side view. The roof wasn't quite right because they didn't quite have all the pieces they wanted.

(And yes, that is a stormtrooper on the roof!)


Bird's eye view, including interior








Front










From the other side












Dork placed 3rd (tied) in a saber competition. He's the one on the right, and he's giving me the "don't take my picture, Mom" look.



As a reward, we ate at Joe's Cable Car Restaurant (mmm, patty melt and onion rings).



I've finished my fingerless mitts (and have been commissioned for 3 more pairs by members of my family).






New Stuff:
Started a Scrunchable Scarf in Mirasol K'acha as a mindless project to take to the theater when we saw the Reduced Shakespeare Company in "The complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged)". Fun yarn (not purple!), fun pattern, even more fun show!


I've started (and restarted, and restarted) a baby blanket that needs to be gifted by Dec. 16th. Nothing that I've tried has really resonated with me and I'm getting bored after only 2-3 inches. I may give up on the dk weight yarn I'm using and find enough worsted-weight and just crochet a fast giant granny square to get it over with! The older brother got a giant granny square blanket from me 3 years ago. Or I'm intrigued with the thought of knitting random stripes...

I'm thankful that I have enough yarn in stash that I can change my mind.
I'm thankful that my family is healthy and happy.
I'm thankful that I'm happily employed and that my husband is too.
I'm thankful that we have a happy, well-adjusted Dork Teen.
I'm thankful that I have great friends that I can laugh and cry with.
I'm thankful that we have a roof over our heads.
I'm thankful that we have enough food to eat and clothing to wear.
I'm thankful that we have a producing vegetable garden and access to fresh local produce.
I'm thankful that we have access to this fabulous communication and research system called The Internet.
I'm thankful that I have enough brains (usually) to solve minor house repair issues (the kitchen faucet this time) by searching the Internet for information.

I'm thankful that I can contribute to other people's fund-raising efforts. Stacie is raising money for the Lymphoma Research Foundation through her Etsy shop. I sent over a scarf for her to sell (and I'm looking for a couple other ones that I know I have around here somewhere...). You must see her Incredibly Soft Vibrating Scarf!

And with that, I'm thankful that we have options for our Thanksgiving meal this year. It will only be the 3 of us and an out-of-commission oven. We were smart enough to realize that we don't have to heat the entire smoked turkey at once, so I carved the turkey when it arrived home Tuesday. We have a small convection oven that we've been using, but there was no way to get even a smallish turkey into it! The bonus: getting to eat leftovers before we've even had Thanksgiving dinner!

Hope your Thanksgiving is a joyful one for you!

Hi there!

Hey, remember me? The one who kept saying she would be posting more? Riiiigggghhhht!
But I have an excuse! Really, I do, honest!

I've been busy ... KNITTING! Gasp! You don't believe me? Well, here's proof:

Pink Ruffles scarf
Pattern: Just enough ruffles
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, color: Molly (about 1.2 skeins)
Needle: US size 9
Started: Dec. 29, 2008
Finished: Dec. 30, 2008 (which brings my total for 2008 to 20 finished objects)



Zig-zag scarf
Pattern: Malabrigo keyhole scarf (pdf file)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, color: Happy Valley (about .85 skein)
Needle: US size 9
Started: Dec. 31, 2008
Finished: Jan. 1, 2009

Gretel hat
Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Lion Brand Woolease
Needle: US size 7
Started: Jan. 5, 2009
Finished: Jan. 11, 2009

I was so cold, even inside my house, that I had to make myself a hat. Right. Now. So I pulled out some stash yarn (hooray for shopping within your stash) and immediately cast on. May I say, Ysolda's tubular cast-on technique is brilliant (even though I had to do it 3 times to get a reasonable looking piece). Of course, when I finished the hat a week later, the temperatures had shot up into the mid-70's during the day (in January...) - so much for being cold!

Here's a piece of charity knitting that made its recipient known to me, (ala Alison). I got the yarn (Lion Brand Watercolors - discontinued) at the latest yarn swap at Purlescence. It's super bulky and I cast on 15 stitches for a garter stitch, knit until all 3 balls are used type of scarf, figuring that there's always someone who needs a warm fuzzy scarf. Then I found out via Ravelry's Charity Knitting group about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The pancreatic cancer fundraising color is purple. A fellow Raveler is selling purple scarves to raise money to raise awareness and find a cure for this fast-moving disease. In honor of my sister-friend's mother, this scarf will be going towards this cause. And I think (wink, wink ;-) that I have just a little more purple yarn in the stash that can be used...


Oh yeah, there's another pair of vanilla toe-up socks on the needles in STR Peaseblossom. Yup, the one that I used for the failed Monkey socks back in June. See the difference? One needle size and fewer stitches totally changed the striping and I like it a lot better. The colors are truer in the left picture however.


Did I tell you about the Ju-san Luna shawl kit (Ravelry link)I won from Purlescence? No, I guess I didn't... In their end-of-year raffle, my Dork pulled my name out of the bowl to win this kit of Claudia mohair and ribbon yarns. It's so pretty and very warm! It is destined to be an auction item for a Winter Camp that The Hubby attends.




I got about 15 rows of the Ju-san Luna done while at a fencing tournament yesterday. The Dork was, once again, thiiiis close to earning an epee rating, but lost his direct elimination bout by only a couple points. He placed 10th/37 (top 8 earned ratings). This particular competition was excruciatingly long; we were there from 2:30 until 9 pm so I got lots of knitting time. Just because I could, I took my new Mino and took some video of him (he's on the left). I really like the overall quality of the Mino, and love the fact that it's purse-sized and ready to whip out at a moment's notice! I also figured out how to upload videos to YouTube and embed them here.

The Dork asked me to mention that when the fencers get too close to each other, sometimes the referee calls a halt to reposition them on the strip. They actually have to poke each other and depress the tip of their weapon (in this case, epee; the entire body is considered a target) in order to register a touch/point. Sometimes they hit the wall or floor, which doesn't count.

Off to knit some more!

Bye-bye!

Be a good Beast* car for someone else!

The paperwork was easy, the transfer of liability already filed with the DMV online, and hopefully Cars4Causes can fix it up and sell it for a few hundred dollars. 50% minus towing fees goes to the organization of my choice (RAFT) and the rest goes to Cars4Causes.

*Her name is The Beast so if I got mad and yelled at her, I was just calling her by her given name, so she wouldn't get mad at me.

How good is your vocabulary?

I was sent this link today to Free Rice. It's a great vocabulary game, and you're helping the world's hungry at the same time! Warning though - it's pretty addictive; although, that's a good thing because you'll be sending more rice for each word you correctly identify.

I'm consistently around Level 43 (out of 50), and I've donated over 800 grains today. How about you?