The Solstice Slip Sock Progress

Yes, I did make it back from Atlanta. Boy, what a culture shock - to be in the middle of such a big city when you come from such a small town. Even though I did grow up in Southern California and went to the L.A. area many times to shop, I never stayed overnight in the heart of L.A. The hotel that we stayed at in Atlanta was the Hyatt Regency. It had 22 floors, and we were on the 15th floor. It was like a small city just by itself with several restaurants, a gift store, conference rooms, bars, ets. There was even indoor access to a mall that was right next to the hotel. I was on total crowd overload by the time I got back home. If I can figure out how to get pics from my cell phone to the computer, I will post some of the pics I got while I was there.

I did get alot of knitting done on the plane. These socks ( The Solstice Slip from theRocking Sock Club) are going much better than the last pair I tried to knit, and I am really enjoying them.

I am really likeing the wrap and turn method for doing the heel. When I do the heel flap method, I am always so excited about getting on to the foot, that I forget to turn the heel and end up re-doing it. With this pattern, you can't forget to "turn" the heel, and there aren't any stitches to "pick up" to do the gusset. All-in-all, it seem to be going very quickly.

Forgive me this silliness, but when I was looking at my work, there was just such a perfect little hole, I had to put something in it. Doesn't that look like a cozy spot for a little "critter" to nest??

Okay, I have to get back to working on secret projects. Time is growing short, need.. to... work ...hard ...and... fast ...(and not make any mistakes!!!!) More on double secret project in the not too distant future..................................

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

....but I'll be back on Saturday. I am going to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a conference for 3 days. So what is the first thing I think of when I am going on a trip? What am I oing to do with all that travel time. I just can't sit idly by staring out a plane window, and my hands must stay busy. So, good excuse to break out the knitting!

I'm looking forward to having some time to do some knitting on the plane, and maybe during the layover time. I have neglected the Rockin' Sock Club knitting lately, so I thought that the Summer Solstice pattern with the Firebird colorway would be a good choice to take with me.

Before I left, I had to take care of some apples that we got off of one of our trees. In the past we have only harvested enough apples to make, at the most, 2 apple pies. This year we filled up 2 5 gallon buckets. My wonderful husband helped me make 2 large batches of applesauce out of one of those buckets. Boy is that some good applesauce!

I have been doing alot of searching and reading on the web about spinning, trying to learn as much as I can. I stumbled on a sight for the Spinning and Weaving Association, and found out that this week is "Spinning and Weaving Week." So, in honor of the aforementioned week, I thought I should get some spinning in tonight before I leave. I had some brown Llama that I wanted to try spinning.

Yep, I'm still working on my photography skills (I was in kind of a hurry). This fiber is soo soft and lucious. I really like the natural color and am trying to figure out what small project I can make with it (I have another sample about the same size to spin and ply with it).

It was spinning up pretty nicely and was fairly easy to work with, expecially for a novice like me. Even my 17 year old son thinks that my spinning is getting a little more even!!

Just a small sample of what it should look like when it is plied. I sure am having fun with the spinning. I'm hoping to learn how to relax and not sit on the edge of my seat when I spin, it's hard on the back!

Another site to check out, for those of you who are interested, is the Yarn Museum. They have some very nice pictures of some handspun yarns. There is a way to submit pictures of your own handspuns, and some other interesting stuff on that site.