Sheep Shots

No, sillies, not here!

here!






I was lucky enough (very, very lucky, thanks to my fiend fried friend Rabbitch ) to snag a copy of Franklin's book autographed personally to me (so there!) and so, I am reluctantly relinquishing my personal (bought by me) copy of It Itches to a lucky winner who has donated to the Red Scarf Project.


But wait. There's more!







I am also very pleased to call Ilene Hochberg friend.

My lord, yes, the author of Catmopolitan and other wonderful furry take-offs on popular ::ahem:: human titles lives right here where I do--imagine! She has graciously autographed a copy of her Stylish Knits for Dogs (which is endorsed by the incomparable Mr. Jeffries, as it contains not one single neon acrylic version--though, I guess if you really wanted to, you could sub Red Heart--but please don't tell Mr. J or me!) for the Red Scarf Project.

(Did I mention that there are a couple of great scarf patterns to match the doggy sweaters? And a couple of sweaters for the human at the other end of the leash?)





Hop on over to Norma's blog, follow the instructions for donating to the Red Scarf Fund, then cross your fingers. You could be the wiener winner.


(That was a daschund joke! Did you catch it?)

Labels: books, charity

/whine mode off

I have been wanting to expand my weaving library (if a copy of Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving can be called a "library") for a while.

When the opportunity to self-indulge afforded itself, I was right on it! (Mind you, I haven't re-warped yet--still trying to decide on a project.) These books were not on sale (my usual criterion for book buying). They weren't even discounted! How bad is that?

Weaving Made Simple is very readable. Funny (yeh, a bit), irreverent (um, yeh, that too--a sidebar titled "We can't all be Vera Wang" caught my eye). It's step-by-step instruction that I wish I had owned in January, but I'm willing to backtrack and let Liz Gipson take me through the steps.

Seventeen (only) projects, and all of them quite simple, may not fill my whole weaving bill, which is where Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom comes in. Betty Linn Davenport (author of the Hands On book mentioned above) offers all sorts of interesting "stuff" that should keep this beginning weaver busy for years and years.

I can't wait to get started!

Labels: books, weaving

I've made some nice progress on the Fair Entry Blankie. About half of the length is completed and my calculations show that there will be sufficient yarn ::whew:: to get it Long Enough.

I guess it's time to cast on something new.









This is the only craft-related purchase I made at the Friends of the Library sale last week. It cost 20 cents when published (1945). I paid 50.

Tomorrow is Bag Day. We are going back to help clear out the leftovers.

Labels: books, fair entry

Monika offered this book on her blog a couple weeks ago, and I won the draw to get it next! It arrived just as we were walkin' out the door, so (now that we are back--did you miss me?) I am just getting around to offering it to the Sheepshots reader base.

It's a good book. It's thought-provoking. And it can be yours! To read, not to keep.

If you'd like a chance to read it, please leave a comment. I'll draw a name over the weekend and keep it moving!

I will warn you, it's not a pattern book, per se, though there are patterns in it. I will be making Oatlion!





And the Tiny Prince got a late Christmas from his own Uncle Cool. It's not a telephone! It's a hammer. For playing with a Noisy Toy.

And he got a new sweater from Mammo who was less than thrilled with the way it turned out. Love the yarn (Adriafil Knit Kol), love the pattern (Cottage Creations Knitted Tunic). Really, really dislike the color! I picked this colorway for its Lack of Pink. What's up with that, anyway?

The yarn is supposed to be a "self-patterning" (as in, like the sock stuff) DK weight. Yeh, well.

But his Momma likes it, and it fits (for now). He wore it to his daddy's graduation (which is why we were on the road).





Feetz, Don't Desert me!

Barbara D. sent me this picture of tiny Feetz Heeters that she will be mailing to Cheyenne River.

If you'd like to see your creations here, send me a picture. If you have a blog and would like the traffic, send me a link.

abmcmanusATverizonDOTnet

Labels: books, FOs, heet the feet, Tiny Prince

Another X-moose sweater is finito.

This is Jared Flood's Cobblestone (from last fall's IK?) all done up in Filatura Lanarota "Puno" from Smiley's. I chose the camel heather colorway and was most pleased with the hand and the feel.

I'm not crazy about the way my wrap and turns look on the right shoulder. I think a little manipulation of the stitches might be in order.






It stretched to enormous proportions when I washed it, but a short trip through a warm dryer on gentle knocked it back in line.

All in all, a successful project. The dimension match those provided by the intended victim recipient.

The photos don't do it justice at all. But then, when do they ever? The color is much richer in real life.








These were not on the doorstep when I checked on Saturday, but there they were with the newspaper this morning!

I've wanted Wooly Thoughts for a while, and when I saw it on the Overstock.com site (I was shopping for a birthday gift), I just had to have it it jumped right into my shopping cart. Honest!

My story. Sticking to it.

Labels: books, Christmas

We are switching Internet providers.

Supposedly, this will be faster and cheaper. So far, it is neither. I will have a new email address. Watch for details.

And Blogger was causing me fits this morning. I couldn't upload photos. It should be obvious that I finally found a "work-around" for that problem.

Gentle Readers may be wondering what knitting would keep me busy now that the fair entries have been dropped off. Would the Sheepie take a break of several weeks? Or what? *

Well, in a sense, I am taking a break. Nothing "competition worthy," just some little things on the needles.

First up: 4" squares in "baby colors" for January's Blanket Blitz for the Reservation. This Blitz is sponsored by the Yahoo Group (Native American Support) and the Ravelry Group (Helping Hearts for Cheyenne River Reservation).

Nine and four inch squares, completed hand crafted blankets (all sizes) and purchased blankets are all needed. Leave me a comment if this interests you and you'd like more information.

In addition to the squares, I am working on a "scrapghan" in some sorta-boy colors--not baby colors exactly, but definitely not "girly girl." I have another collection of girl colors (pinks, lavender, minty green) and will start that one next.

Good old Red Heart (and other ack-rillic) for washability and wearability.

There's some soft, fuzzy stuff (Caron, Whatever That Nasty Stuff Was Called, the name escapes me at the mo') and the last of my Aussie yarn (3rd stripe in from the right side, that creamy beige) that Nanna sent me a while back.

Yesterday, since the Fairgrounds Farmers Market was closed (because of the fair!) for the next couple of weeks, we went on a "shopping expedition" to all of the high spots in the Valley.

A trip to Ollie's (previously described as a "downscale" Big Lots store) yielded these two new books for the collection.
Books at Ollie's are often damaged (didn't see any on either book) or remaindered, or something. They are also (usually) very cheap.

I paid $6.98 for both of them (cover prices were $14.95 and $12.95).

So, both have some interesting ideas--stepping off places, if you will.



They'll be used. . .eventually.





Next stop was Border's (for a slushie coffee drinkie thing for the ride home that I really didn't need--Brain Freeze!) and a quick look on the magazine rack.

I had checked the "usual places" for Knit Simple (don't you know that it will be on the magazine rack at the grocery store the next time I look?). There are some cute mittens and a very basic cardigan and a tea cozy shaped like a pumpkin. Very solid issue. Nothing strange or exotic.

Knitting is a very British magazine and comes sealed in plastic, so gawping first isn't an option. It came with a copy of Beautiful Baby Knits (loved the cover sweater) so I figured that alone made it worth the sticker price ($9.99). There's not a lot in the main mag that I will knit (truthfully, I doubt that there's anything there that I will make. though the article on lace will bear further notice) but the baby supplement. . oh, my! Six lovely sweaters, 4 clearly "girl" with flowers and ruffles, 2 unisex and knitted up in "boy" and photographed on wee laddies, two hats and a pair of booties.

Then, there's Belle Armoire subtitled Art to Wear which is inspiring and fun (and no, I don't think I'll make anything from that one either, but it's fun to look at and fun to imagine with, you know, fun).

Oh, and since Border's is a book store, We bought books for late summer-into-fall reading.

It was Buy-one-get-one (50% off) pile that attracted both the Other Half and me. Before long, I had selected my 2. He had found one, then I added another, then he did and next thing I knew, we had a pile of 6.

I'll probably read all of them. Four are clearly of interest to me mostly (chickish lit, but high quaity "chick lit!") so those will be passed along to the Daughter In Law and (eventually) to her friends.

Even if no food shopping (other than lunch and the Brain-Freeze inducing drinkies) was involved, it was a very productive trip!

* Christmas knitting (couple of sweaters) will be next, and a baby gift that I must finish (but first, I must start it!), and then (shortly after the new year dawns, I think) I will be starting 2009 Fair Knitting. I have no intention of waiting until the last minute to make All Those Projects! (Is there an echo in here?)

Labels: books, charity, Cheyenne River, magazines

The Sheepie Household has been taken over by cattly toys.

Sparky got Undercover Mouse for Christmas. She spent the last 2+ weeks trying to decide what she thinks of it.

It rustles. It moves. It makes a funny noise.

Yesterday, she got a little closer and by George, I think she likes it!

See that feathery thing in the lower left corner? It "runs" around the yellow circle in fits and starts, just like a real mouse.

Sort of.

Or like Bed Mice.




I have a confession to make.

The Magical Moccasins are the creation of the wonderful colorist who also wrote the book (eyes left) that I got last week.

This book is terrific. There's nothing else I can say!

I will probably never knit any of the 27 projects, but I am truly inspired to break out of my brown/gray/ beige color scheme and knit something full of fantastic colors.

Oh. wait! Moccasins!

I am looking forward to curling up with Kristin Knits!




I got this, too, because, you know, free shipping if you spend $25.

It's inspiring in a different way and I'm pretty sure that I will cast on more than a few of the projects to use up odd balls of yarn.

Probably for the reservation.

And for gifts.

And for me! Just like they are written. Imagine!

I will say, though that I consider it a bit "cheaty" when some of the single skeins are 300+ meters of Worsted Weight.



And what would Caterday be without a little shopping expedition?

We hit Borders (not very hard; we like them, after all) because there was a rumor that this was a particularly excellent issue of Piecework.

It is, oh, it is.

All knitting! The entire thing! It's a skinny one (48 pages, only, and $5.99) but worth it. So worth it!.

Rovaniemi Mittens (and mitts), Poetry Mittens (the ones with the verse knitted in), a lovely Estonian scarf, Lithuanian baby mittens, a pair of men's gloves, and an Ann Budd sweater.

Lots that I might actually make!


Then, these were these calling my name.

British, all of them. Sealed in plastic. Hmmm.

But I had it on good authority that Simply Knitting had a pattern for Shaun the Sheep. I should have paid closer attention.

Shaun made his appearance in the December issue. This is January's! ::poop::

The issue of Simply Knitting was disappointing on a number of levels, besides the non-Shaun. Clearly, the "best" patterns were featured in the ads. Patterns in this issue included a Rowan Big Wool jacket, A kid's "argyle" vest with "wings" where the armholes belong, a Louisa Harding cardigan shown off-the- shoulder on the model, a pillow, some Barbie clothes (the Alan Dart pattern for this issue), a knitted wire necklace that looks for all the world like a lacy version of a spiked bulldog collar,a crochet shopping bag, and a pair of socks. There was a set of yarn/sheep-themed postcards to make up for some of the disappointment. It didn't.

Knitting, on the other hand, started off with three cardigans (one I might knit) and a lacy tunic. Of course, there were the lacy leggings that made me scratch my head and vow "never!, a knit beaded choker, a big square floor cushion and a ruffled tea cozy that is not on my to-do list. There are a cute, well-fitting vest (dk weight fair isle with proper armholes) and a tunic length "jumper" for kids, 2 pairs of socks--one kid size, one for adults, 4 Christmas stockings. There was a "Gift Supplement" that include patterns for knee socks (Joan McGowan-Michael), slippers (Erika Knight), a lovely beaded evening bag, and a hat, glove, scarf set.

Clearly, at least to me, Knitting is a better value than Simply Knitting.

I will leave it to all of you to decide which makes sense for you (or maybe neither will), but get the Piecework, or at least look through it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Labels: books, cats, magazines

The Other Half informed me that he was up half the night with a toothache.

Seeing as I was up half the night with Can't Sleep Syndrome, we must have been perfectly in sync, or we'd have passed each other enroute to the bathroom a couple of times. Clearly, one of us (or both) got significantly more sleep than s/he thinks.

At some point, the moaning and the digging through the linen closet for the Tylenol 3 that was left over from a previous toothache finally got to me and I said, "For the sake of all that's holy, call the dentist." Yes, it's Sunday. But they have a service, and someone's bound to be on call who can call in a Rx. And so, 30 minutes later. . .and they'll see him first thing tomorrow!

Amazing thing is, he thanked me. Sometimes pain dulls our sensibility to the point that we suffer rather than get help. That's why there are 2 of us. So that someone can remember to say, "Call the dentist!"





I've been at work on stuff for the fair. That's Anouk having a warm soapy soak.

She's adorable, you'll see.


Just needs 6 buttons. And with my history, it might take longer to sew them on than it did to knit her!





And here's Jimmy Beans, ready to jump in the bathwater.

He needs 8 buttons.

Don't hold your breath!









Here's another hint on the secret project.

















And here are the two stars wet and pinned out.







Movie Reviews: We rented Shooter Friday night. It was good enough that the Other Half bought Blackwater on Saturday. What does that tell you?

Last night, we watched The Last Mimsey. Don't believe the package! It will never replace E.T. though it is charming and sweet.




If you don't see me for a couple of days, don't worry. I'm in good company.

Labels: baby things, books, fair entry, movies

From Writer's Almanac:

"On this day in 1951, J.D. Salinger's (books by this author) The Catcher in the Rye was published. Salinger worked on it over a period of ten years, in between writing stories for magazines like the New Yorker. At one point, he had a 90—page version of the novel accepted for publication, but he thought it wasn't good enough and continued to revise and add bits and pieces.

::major snippage of plot and reviews::


"Thirty years after its publication, The Catcher in the Rye was both the most banned book in America and the second most frequently taught book in public schools. The book has sold over 60 million copies around the world. "

So, read a banned book today in commemoration.

**The Diary of Anne Frank is also banned, as is Huckleberry Finn. Go figure.

Read a banned book.

Labels: books

Cheyenne River: Since I started keeping track (August 2004), Native American Support (the Yahoo list that provides material comfort for Cheyenne River Reservation), has sent over 1000 pairs of mittens, gloves, and wristers to the reservation.

In the face of the overwhelming need (for example, more than 650 children use the Youth Center in any given month--that's unduplicated count for one program and there are elders and moms and dads, and a Teen Center, too) 1000 isn't a lot, but it's 2000 more warm hands.

This is the third year (I think) that I invited our NAS group members to
join me in a personal challenge to provide gloves and mittens for the coming (and it will!) winter. Last year, I opened the challenge to my blog readers and this year, blog readers have taken it to other lists!

Mittnz: The plan is to "blitz" the reservation with mittnz. A blitz, in the
terminology of NAS, involves everyone mailing around the same time so that the mittens all arrive right about the same time. In this case, mailing in September so that the mittnz and hats and such all arrive before October 1 when winter begins to rear its head yet again. Can you imagine the look on the faces of staff and volunteers as they open box (or envelope) after box (or envelope) of lovely handmade (knit, crocheted, sewn from fleece) mittnz!

There will be prizes (random draw) for those folks who 1) create 7 pairs
(it's 2007) 2) mail them during September and 3) email me amcmanus@ptd.net) a photo of the completed pairs that I can put up here. I'll post photos as fast as I get them, so don't wait if your 7 pairs are finished.

In the grand scheme of things, what's one pair of mittnz? It's one more
person who can do what needs to be done in spite of the weather. And in the grand scheme, that's quite a lot!



Bargain Shopped Books: I had quite a good day at Ollie's (okay, I had to hit two stores to score this well) where I can sometimes find good remaindered book bargains. (Ollie's seems to be a regional thang, sort of a downscale Big Lots with all sorts of good stuff mixed in with the crap. I got a great t-shirt there last summer with a hummingbird on the front. (Fifty cents! and it hardly shrunk ;-) at all in the wash.) Many of my Vogue and Vogue on the Go books came from there, as did a couple stitch dictionaries. The Other Half finds lots of techie stuff.)

Not Your Mama's Knitting was $3.99 and has a couple lot of funky patterns that I will never in this lifetime (or the next three) ever consider making. But it also has a cute, cabled earflap hat, some nice socks, an adorable short sleeve seamless sweater (adult) and button-on-the-raglan pullover (kid).

Project prices in NYMK are way over-stated unless you are buying all the yarn at full retail and not using any stash (who, me?). The Little Boy Blue sweater (the one with the buttons on the raglan) calls for 7 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash, for example. That's 1500+ yards of worsted weight for a 6 month's size ($50-70) that I am pretty sure I could put together for $0-10 depending on whether I had to buy the main color (1 full skein). Of course, if you insist on making this exactly as pictured. . . Stephanie encountered something similar with a baby sweater she blogged about yesterday (May 25).


The Leisure Arts book (Now You're Knitting) is a compilation of many of their leaflets and came with a nifty acrylic knit gauge glued in the back. (Of course I damaged the inside cover when I removed it!) The needle gauge part is "American" sizing, but it will tuck in my needle basket more safely than my brass sheep.



Leisure Arts has published a bunch of leaflets over the years and I own many of them. I was pleased, then, to see that only one pattern I already own (no, not that one) was included in the collection.

At $8.99 for the eqivalent of over 100 LA leaflets, this one was quite a bargain!

And in case you were wondering, that "Fuzzy Halter" is not something I am considering knitting. No way! It's my personal contribution to What the Hell Were They Thinking Wednesday except that it's Sunday. Days late, dollars short yet again! It's also one of only a very few "unreasonable" patterns in this book!


In Other Charity Knitting Knews: I mailed these off to Barbara yesterday. Her guild (in Victoria, BC) is collecting handmade face cloths to give to newly trained midwives in the Philippines.

If there are clothmakers among you, I can pass along more info. They are planning a big display mid-June, but the need is ongoing, I suspect.

And now I will turn my attention to Mittnz knitting, my garden, and TiVo! Happy Sunday.

Labels: books, Cheyenne River, mittnz

We came home from a trip to BJ's (for cat litter and gallon jugs of floor cleaner and such as that) to a wonderful pile of packages on the front porch.

Top of the pile was This Yummy Book that I will read cover to cover then cast on something just perfect. (<$20 from Overstock.com). In the same box was a copy of Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading by Maureen Corrigan (NPR book critic who was interviewed on Fresh Air last week. I came home and ordered it. Fresh Air is very bad for my wallet).






And, it seems, all I have to do is type yarn diet and packages start arriving. Of yarn.

There is Annabelle Fox Chunky Tweed in Jade from Ann which included a finished hat and nearly finished mittens and enough of the yummy green wool for a kid sweater for Dulaan (far left), The sage green Maya that I won from Tammy (I believe we've already drooled on that one, top), and a box of wooly odds and ends and full balls of of Pinguoin, Emu, and Reggia from Tammy as well (and a bit from Rabbitch) .

Cat not included.

I have spreadsheeted (my blog, my word) all of the new stuff and I am now officially 1 mile ahead of where I was at the beginning of this Knit From Your Stash experiment.

Clearly, it isn't working!

This whole whack of goodness and knitterly generosity took the wind right out of my prepared rant for the day and made me feel like a very small person, indeed, so I will save it for tomorrow and just say a hearty Thank You to the folks who made me feel like a million bucks.

Labels: books, yarn diet