Coty Combs, Alabama

I am searching for Coty Combs from a city in Alabama. If you read this, Coty, and want to contact me please feel free to email me at castratedbean(at)gmail(dot)com (hope this doesn't confuse you)

this is very important and would love to hear from you ASAP

another give away!

https://www.facebook.com/DustBunnyLand?ref=hl

there's a lovely little post on my fb 'fan' page and reply to the post for your chance to win this pattern

DIGITAL COPY
must like dustbunny knits on facebook in order to qualify
only posts on that actual thread count as an entry for this pattern
if you are on rav, feel free to leave your rav name there too :o)
if you have won something from me within the last 30 days please give others a chance :)

*this is for the pattern only, not the finished pattern

you have until August 1st to post and enter the drawing

project is finished!

5 different lace patterns add an open airy feel to this project. Reaching an almost 5ft by 3ft distance, it's small enough to keep the chill off your shoulders and light enough to give you privacy for something like breast feeding (and you can still see your wee one!)

approx:1130 yards
55x35”

(close to 5ft by 3 ft) I think I got carried away.lol
7/11/12 started
7/27/12 finished

these colors were chosen by the recipient. 

but yarn barf is what I do......

a while back I had a spinning wheel that I had to sell in order to meet rent....years later the hubbs gave the go ahead to invest in another wheel eventhough I have more yarn than brains......

While I'm waiting for my wheel, I've picked up a drop spindle (I have 2) to try & learn how to make yarn with one of these beauties. I wish I could learn how to do it this way.

I know it's not yarn yet......but I am determined to teach myself how.

I'm not the fastest learner, but there's no one here to teach me, so I will just wing it.

oh when oh when will it ever really be yarn?

fiber to play with, please?

some time ago I had to sell my wheel to help pay for rent & now I'm itching to spin again....yeah. again. And I have some drop spindles that were sent to me by a veryyyyyyyyyyyy dear friend Joyce...she sent them to me a few years ago and I've used them some......but I want to learn more about using a drop spindle and such.

if you have any fiber to sell or trade, let me know okay?

thanks!

update on 'shawl' (blanket) *pic heavy*

a friend of ours had a baby girl not too long ago and I'm working on this for her.....she chose the colors white/pink/brown and I'm loving how it's turning out as I knit it. You see in the pics above various stages of the work that I've been doing and the latest update is I've finished the center panel, lightly blocked it, tinked back the pink border to run the 'hugs and kisses' cables the other direction so that there are an even number of cables (makes sense to me). I still have a ways to go, but I'm getting there.

what's on your needles today?

heartfelt prayers to the victims and families of the Aurora shootings

I assume everyone in the world that has access to either TV or radio or newspapers or the internet has heard of THIS shooting.

My heart goes out to the victims and their families and prayers go up to the Heavens for them as well.

I was watching a news reporter interview the gentleman that just lost his daughter and she asked
"is she dead?"

yeah. Way to be classy. Couldn't you have asked it more gently? That to me seemed so callus for you to ask it that way directly to a man that lost his 6 year old daughter. I shudder every time it plays.

my husband found this article that discusses some of the questions that I know I've had on my mind relating to the craziness that is this James Holmes. I don't understand HOW he did it in the first place, but especially don't understand how he afforded to have all those things & to think that this guy acted alone......that's a lot of chaos for one man to unfold and I assume it was just one man (until I'm told differently by those in the know)......so how did he get there? How did this happen?

I would love to know what caused this 'laid back' (as he said in his apartment application) guy to turn into this nightmare...and how it went downhill so fast for him.

more pics of my Triangle Shawl...love!!

my blocking shawl

5'5" x 4'0"
(width x's height)
blocking on king size bed *and hanging over*

squeee!!!!! bumper sticker hides sin!

what I mean by that is:
a few months ago an evil bad do-er 'hit and run' me on my Kymco. leaving me with a broken foot & several mean ol' scratches on my baby jewel.......it was a sin!! It has put a black eye on what was just a beautiful scooter..(still is....but still)

Well, I received this bumper sticker for free that advertises my business & it just fits over some of the mean ol' scratches. :o) An added unexpected plus.....take that evil person!

she is finished!!!

for the past few days (and I stretch it not. It only took a few days) I have been knitting this jewel from "Victorian Lace Today" (one of my favorite lace books). Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern (Rav link)

UNBLOCKED it is wider than I am tall. I can not believe how big this thing is. When I started out I wanted to make sure I used the whole skein so I did just that & ended up using a couple hundred yards finishing and putting a nice frilly crochet edging on it. I am pretty happy with it & I can't wait to see what it looks like blocked...but I dread doing the blocking. I just know I don't have enough pins as it is, and Lord knows I don't have enough wires...but I'm gonna try to "Hugh it up" and make it work *reference to my Daddy & how he can make anything work for him with just a little time & sometimes some duct tape* 

 

of lace knitting and happy gyms

the day before yesterday I started the Shoulder shawl in Syrian Pattern (Rav link)

I started out with 1 stitch and now I'm over 300 stitches. I can't wait to see it all frilly and blocked out instead of clumped up like that is as you are knitting it, you know?

and yes. I love it even with the mistakes I made. It's what makes it mine. It's not perfect.

In other news, I am having to send my Nutri-system food back 'cause my tummy hates it. (sad face here). but I did get the joy of going into the gym again today. I'm still not feeling 100% after everything, but at least I went & I'm so thankful the gym is nice and clean and cool!

a look at yarn

today I want to finish up my pictures (and show and tell) about different gauges and types of yarn used to create an item.

For me, The yarn size needed has always been open for suggestion. As long as you get gauge you are good. But, if I want a sturdy lace or a thin lace there are of course a difference in what I use

notice in the pictures above that this yarn would make a really good thicker weight shawl that would hold up to machine washing and hard labor and stand the test of time...you will see in the picture above how I do my last stitches. I don't thread them in until after I've finished blocking my project so that if I need more yarn to stretch I have it and don't have to worry about tightness in the yarn.

you will notice in the last picture my life line. Yes. I even do them with swatches. It helps me keep track of where I am in the repeat.

 unblocked v's blocked of the same yarn and repeat

 prime example of dk weight yarn v's laceweight yarn. Same pattern same number of repeats. Eventhough the curves of the lace don't seem as pronounced on the lace weight, I would prefer to knit this pattern in the laceweight simply because I love the delicate road you can see in the pattern, unless I was knitting for warmth in colder weather or something to hold up to machine washing (I never machine wash my laceweight yarn no matter if it says I can or not. I'm just  not that trusting of my machine)

in the 2 pics above you see how I use lifelines and stitch markers. I normally use stitch markers made of straws and opposite color of yarn, but this color of straw is all I had so there you go.

I  used a bright pink yarn to thread thru the last repeat of my 1st chart and that way if I need to tink back I don't have to do the whole thing over, just down to my life line. I made only 1 lace project without them, and I never made that mistake again....ever.

lifelines. Yeah. That's what they are. AKA How TO Monday on Thursday

If you are doing a new pattern, or a new repeat, or knitting something difficult, or especially with lace knitting life lines are a must have. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, a simple strand of any yarn any other color than what you are using in your product & the willingness to thread it thru the stitches or to learn how to thread them. Some people (like me) have needles that all you have to do is thread the base of the needle *and carefully remove stitch markers as you go* and then when you are at the end of the row it's already threaded.

Sometimes it seems that's all I'm doing is threading lifelines, but they really are life lines to keep you from messing up and tinking back any further than the repeat that you need to fix........and if you have to work on a certain section, then you can pin the stitches as you go down and pin the open stitch. Fix the error, go back & reknit up to your current row and go. (another day another time for that).

life lines are so worth the time. do it.

SURPRISE WINNER!! Knitwear Design Workshop

for my Facebook 'likes' I held a drawing for
Knitwear design workshop

CONGRADS TO BURROW!!!

please forward me your addy (you can send it via message on facebook)!!! congrads!

number picked by random number generator at
www.random.org

winner for our Jane Austen Knits summer 2012

Please contact me with your email information so that I can send you the digital copy!

winner chosen by random number generator at www.random.org