work has been a challenge - so I have been working hard on the stripy neckdown wrap - am down to the last sleeve, then realized I did not finish the trim on one side of the neck, so picked it up to patch it in.

also ordered another bag from Namaste Seconds Sale - the Laguna in Peacock, along with another buddy, this one in pink (hey for $5 - you can't lose), and a t-shirt. I was excited they came today and I opened them in the car - they sent along a cool tape namaste tape measure in orange. nice....

So I stopped at the Knitting Grounds the other day and this young woman was buying some yarn for felted clogs. She had a bunch of questions and I was able to answer them, which was gratifying. My recent escapades felting helped me to offer knowledgeable info. But I realized, if I had a yarn shop I would try and have sample needles out that people could check their gauge before they left. After all some folks don't want to buy a kazillion needles until they find the right one, so this could be a cool option.

gotta keep knitting. later.....

Perfect, Perfect, Perfect.....I ended up going down the hill to the laundromat, since my front loader only had lukewarm water.

The guy at the laundry said their big washers only got to 110 degrees. I thought if that wasn't hot enough I could always bring it home, boil water and haul out the fabric plunger, and spend the evening plunging. I was also concerned because these fancy washers do not allow you to open the door and remove it before the spin cycle, but voila!

The texture is great, I love it. I am thrilled!!!

Lucy is done! (almost)

The self striping sweater is coming along swimmingly - I have the armholes formed and working down the back - but I took a break to finish my Lucy bag.

Got the strap finished last night and today while watching a few movies (Monsters Ball - never had seen it, Grey Gardens - fascinating, then Fargo was just on, so saw the tail end of that while I wove in tails, ha ha).

Here is my Lucy all laid out on the floor with my Berner, 'Nico' - this is before felting, so off to try and start that now. It is always tricky using a front loader. Fingers crossed!

I am contemplating ordering a Namaste bag - the Zuma vs. the Malibu - they make such beautiful bags, and of course living in Alaska it is not possible to go to the LYS and try them out, feel them, look at the colors.....argg. So far the Zuma is winning......

I already have a Namaste Buddy Bag, that I got in Portland last year, BUT the puppy got hold of it, so now it is not so pretty with annoying tooth marks in it......I can just imagine the good feeling of that soft fake leather between her teeth, arggg. I also want to order a Buddy for Stephanie and put in a gift certificate for her Graduation present. Her hooding ceremony for her Masters is May 1.

Ravelry has a 'Namaste lovers page' where the Namaste company shows factory seconds, many modeled with dogs. But all the ones they are showing have broken zippers. I would rather start out whole here, with my luck.

I figure need-wise that I can use it on weekends for my knitting dates, rather than schelp the purse and the multiple knitting project bags that I do. I need to get organized so my tools do not become puppy chewies. Lost a plastic darning needle holder too, I bet that hard plastic felt good between the choppers, found it all flattened.

ok, enough chatting off to felt, felt, felt.....

yikes, it's been 2 years!! it's amazing what cancer and kids can do to distract you.

so i am currently working on a wrap sweater, one that the Yarn Harlot made. It is called the Neckdown Wrap Cardigan, by Diane Soucy.

I ordered the cheapest yarn from WEBs on sale, those were my parameters. so the whole sweater cost me $20. The yarn is called Moods and it changes from salmon/pinky color to black. When I ordered it, I ordered an extra ball, thinking of legwarmers for Zoya, and they sent the extra in a different dye lot. Oops. When I called they said they would send a whole new order and I decided it was ok, I would keep it, so the nice folks at WEBs refunded my shipping costs.

It is kind of fun to knit with. It morphs slowly into black then to pink.

I kind of did the big gulp yesterday when my friend Stephanie noticed that the yarn is 50% acrylic, but my goal on this one was to knit with the most inexpensive yarn I could find (it is hard to choose), so away we go......and I am not minding it so far, it does not feel like crappy acrylic.

I also just finished a pair of leg warmers for Zoya. These are the Clover Hook and Eye legwarmers knit in Noro Iro. Zoya complains they are too bulky, but Rick loves the colors....