TBT and Thursday things

Throwback Thursday.  I can remember this--oh my how young we are!  Living in Alabama, I was working in Ozark and teaching art lessons.  Jim was working at Ft. Rucker with the helicopter simulators.  Soon we would return to Germany on our next life adventure!

Jim and I in 1984

Lace knitting is not something I do often and that is why I chose Sinopia, a one-skein project, for my latest shop sample.  It is from the book, Curls.  Baah Aspen is gorgeous yarn and is holding up well to the knit a few rows frog a few rows type of knitting.  Thankfully I am nearing the last of the repeats.  It will be nice to see the piece blocked.  As with any project blocking improves the fabric and drape.

There are more repeats since this photo was taken.  

Bobbi's monkeys joined in for the class photo.

Monkey was happy to knit himself some pants.

Coming down the pipe...

This week I joined the Boston Scientific team for a charity boxing event.  It is quite a workout and as always so much fun with the usual suspects.  We went to the Vad afterwards for drinks.  We were starving and the burgers tasted so good after the workout.

Boxing buddies

Suretha and I give it our all--I have a good left hook.

Team BoSci!

Welcome to the flock Reginald

Reginald is the newest member of the spinning wheel family.  I was at spin-in on Saturday and noticed him in Mary's space at Anoka Fiber Works.  He was a little dusty and needed his screws tightened, and I thought he was amazing!  On Tuesday, armed with tools and a dust cloth I set to work on him.  Mary had some oil and in no time he was in his element.  I brought the pound of Jacob/silk noil roving with me added a long leader to the bobbin and now have a nice single in the works.  Reginald is an Ashford Country Spinner.  Knitsinclass (Kate) is his former owner.  Joanne was helpful today in helping me track down the instructions.  Naturally we started looking at the internet together, which led us from the Ashford website to Ravelry, and then we looked at patterns, and so on and so forth.

The Ashford Country Spinner Double Treadle was made between 1999-2012 according to the website.  I did not notice a date stamp on Reginald, but I did find a date stamp on Louie (8088) making his birthday in 1988.

Reginald in all his glory.  The fiber is Jacob/silk noil Deb Peterson carded at Ewespun Woolen Mill the day of our field trip to her farm recently.

Now I know Louie's age!  On the bobbin is more of the Dark Side of the Moon.  I will have a sweater's worth when I am finished.  

I finished Dreaming of Provence by Tori.  It is a lovely pattern and the Madeline Tosh Unicorn Tails were the perfect choice of yarn for this project.  It is the perfect hat to wear on a cool spring day.

From bottom to top: poppies, lavender, sunflowers and almond flowers.

I recently had a class at Anoka Fiber Works using the Harrisville rug hooking kits.  Everything was included, but I encouraged the students to bring bits and bobs of their handspun yarn to use in addition to the yarn in the kit.  Deb Peterson carries the kits in her Anoka Fiber Works space.

Mine is on the left and Dawn's on the right.  Adding our own bits and bobs of handspun yarn made each picture unique.

Last but surely not least is Monkey Jacobus.  I finished him during the latest monkey class.  It is a challenging project to knit, but the result is so darned cute and always brings makes me smile.  He got into the leftover blue yarn and is making himself some pants.  Annita Wildshut's toy patterns are delightfully charming.  One of my students started the Vera Bear and it is adorable.  She said that after knitting the monkey the bear  is very easy.  

Monkey pants in the making!

SSK

Sit, Sip, and Knit...not only at the shop, but at home. I am knitting up samples for upcoming classes.  It is good to get past picking up stitches and reading charts at home so I can move along quickly to finishing projects by taking them along with me.  Getting the fiddly bits out of the way at home works well for me.  If I take something complicated to knitting group I would have to frog everything and do it over again.  We are a fun group, although not necessarily quiet!

Last week at SSK our table was knitting with purple!

The Ariana Shell is so beautiful.  The charcoal color has grown on me and since it is tweed, there are lovely little pops of color in the yarn.  It is joined in the round as of yesterday and I am working the stockinette portion of the body for 14-inches before the lace border at the bottom.  This is a well-written pattern and I like the simple construction that appears complicated.  I think it is a perfect class project choice.

Lace yoke is worked flat, ends are grafted together in a circle, and stitches are picked up on front and back.

One Valentine Mitt is complete and the second mitt is well on its way to the finish line.  The mitt in the photo is not blocked yet.  When I finish the second mitt I will block them at the same time.  another perfect class project perfect for learning how to read a chart, knitting in the round, etc.

Purled hearts on the Valentine's Mitts.

The final session for Monkey Jacobus is tomorrow.  I am at the monkey's bum.  This will be a gift for a little girl.  I think this little monkey needs to have a dress.

Little monkey is taking shape and the face appears more duck-like than monkey.  Once the muzzle is added, the personality begins to show.