Happy Leap Day

Hey all,
I guess I failed the posting every week promise. Oops!
Oh well! I will try to do better.
I couldn't resist posting today--It's Leap Day!!!!!!
I have often wondered what it would be like to have my birthday on Leap day. Imagine choosing when to celebrate on the non Leap years. One year it could be in the summer, another on Christmas day. The possibilities are endless. I wonder how it works for things like renewing drivers license and health cards?
Anyhow, welcome back to TriFly Why.
Let me fill you in on things that I have been working on since the last post.
Firstly, I will finally be updating my Etsy shop very soon. Here is a small example of the goodies:

 Octopus Tea Cozy

 Fox Tea Cozy

Jellyfish Mobile 

Secondly, since my last post, I am about 2/3 the way through my Lintilla. I am truly enjoying knitting this shawl. The pattern is easy to remember and progress is marked by each new ruffle. I will post photos when finished. Hopefully next week!!!

I have also been spinning up a storm.

This is from "Lola" (as seen earlier in the blog). It is 4oz. of the 8oz I have to spin.

This has been spun from my new obsession----Loop. I have 5 more bumps to spin and every time Steph has an update, I have to sit on my hands so I don't buy anymore. I have to save money for Iceland. (I will post more about Iceland soon)

Here is the bump before spinning:

Okay, I know that this post is mostly photos, but I have even more to show......

Two weeks ago, my father came to Ottawa for a brief visit. With him he brought a few Christmas gifts that hadn't arrived in time for the holidays. 

Firstly, another yummy Loop bump called Pow from my wonderful sister Carol:

Secondly, a beautiful russian spindle by Bristlecone. It is called Holly- for obvious reasons and because the spindle is made from holly.

This beauty was a gift from my parents. I am truly grateful that my family supports my fibre obsessions.

Over the last few weeks I have bought a few yummy things. One a Valentines gift to myself, the other some sock yarn to bring to Iceland.

I wasn't going to buy anymore fibre until Iceland, but I couldn't resist this bump. See, I told you I had a slight obsession with Loop!!!!!!

I don't have a photo of the sock yarn (it hasn't arrived yet), but I can direct you to a place where you can see some socks knit with it. Firstly, the yarn is from Knitterly Things. It is the Vesper Sock Yarn in the "Muddy Waters" colour way that can be found all knit up in the header for  The Knit Girllls podcast site. I bought this self striping yarn to knit on my upcoming trip to Iceland. 

More to come soon about my upcoming trip. 

Till next time,

Leap up and down and

Fondle some fibre!!!!

Jen

Monogamous Knitter

My name is Jennifer, and I am a monogamous knitter.
Let me explain.....
I have an incredibly hard time knitting more than one item at a time. This also includes my spinning projects.
I want to be a knitting "slut"!!!!!!!
My current item on the needles are these fun socks called Gush by Yarnissima. They are my first "toe-up" sock and the pattern is ever changing. I am finding it challenging, but I will persevere. I might take a break in-between socks! Watch out, my inner slut is coming out......

The yarn is really cool. As you can see from the partially finished sock, the color transitions beautifully from yellow to orange and finishing in a pink. Love it. They will be sunshine on my feet! The yarn is Gypsy Girl Creations transitions.

The wonderful lady (wish I knew her name) at The Fold booth at Rhinebeck gave it to me. 

Love!!!!!

This February starts the beginning of The Knit Girllls "Expand Your Horizon" spin along. Every other month, people are spinning a certain fiber at the same time. The first one is Shetland. Luckily I had some in my stash. 

I bought this yummy goodness at Rhinebeck. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the vendor, but the sheep was called Lola.

I have 8 oz. of the fiber, and I hope to be able to spin enough to knit the Hogwarts Express shawl. Fingers crossed.

Okay, I just realized that I am not a knitting slut......

I must finish the one sock before I start my next project. Even though I wont have finished the pair, nothing will be left on the needles.

I hope to cast on Lintilla by Martina Behm. It is a very pretty shawl that looks as if it will be a great tv knit. This is the yarn that I will be using:

My first Wollmeise.

Oops.....

I did it again!
I just bought 2 new great project bags. One for my spindles and the other for knitting projects. I have been eying these great bags for a while, and finally I caved.
Okay, did you notice that I said "spindles"?
That's right, I bought 2 new (new to me) spindles. Both from a destash. One is a Bristlecone Glindle and the other is a Jim Leslie Cherry Russian.
Must not buy anymore..... Must save money for trip..... Repeat this mantra 10x.

Project bag by JessaLu

Spindle bag by JessaLu

Don't you love the fabric? I saw one of these at Rhinebeck and hesitated. By the time I went back to buy it, it was gone. Now I have 2.

Top: Jim Leslie Cherry Russian

Bottom: Bristlecone Glindle spindle

I have to be strong. Loop is listing a bunch of new bumps on Friday. Help!!!!!

Knit and Bitch with Dick

Let me explain.......
I have a wonderful group of friends that get together as often as possible to share our love of knitting, good food and wine. And of course we talk- or more correctly, we bitch. Sometimes we talk so much, little knitting gets done.
Our motley crew consists of Tracy, Sophie, Chris (Our token guy, who is definitely not a Dick. The Dick in our group's name is derived from a men's knitting group called "Dicks with Sticks".), and Christine.
Occasionally we are joined by our dear friend Liz.
Let me tell you a bit about these wonderful people:
Tracy has been knitting the longest out of all of us. She is incredibly busy, working and caring for her two beautiful boys, but would never hesitate in helping a friend in need. Tracy has just finished a great sweater for her partner that has been on the needles for a very long time. Well done!
Sophie is the most prolific knitter in our group. She shares my love of hand dyed yarn. We ran to the Sanguine Gryphon booth at Rhinebeck this year. We hardly had to wait in line at all. Not like the two hours that other people waited. Sophie is out of knitting action right know due to an injury.
Chris is our token guy. Our group's inaugural meeting was held at his apartment. Chris is working on his first sweater. Slowly but surely! Unfortunately, Chris doesn't have muscle-memory for knitting. He often needs to be reminded on how to purl.
Christine is relatively new to knitting. She loves to knit items for her beautiful son. She makes the most amazing rice paper wraps. Like I said, we eat a lot of great food.
These people are great, and we have a lot of fun together. They are true friends.

Sophie, Chris, and my sister Carol at Rhinebeck 2010 waiting in line for artichokes 

My Citron (made with Touch Yarns that I bought in New Zealand) at Rhinebeck 2010

Look at my new toy

I just bought this beautiful Russian spindle and bowl today. I have been stalking the Spanish Peacock Etsy site for some time and I finally bought one. Now all of you in the know realize that once these beauties are listed, they go quickly. So there I was, refreshing the site continuously for about 5 min.
I think I scored because the list time was posted to be at 10 am., but it was actually just before.
She is a beauty.
12" long, 26 grams and made out of Wattle.
She was meant to be mine. Wattle trees are native to Australia. I love Australia.

Happy Dance.
Now I have to learn how to spin a supported spindle!

My Promise

I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog for some time, but I didn't want it to be one of those blogs that reports on the mundane activities of day-to-day existence.
I will write about my passions.
My promise to you, the reader, is that I will not blog about the days weather, what I eat for dinner or how I am feeling.
The topics of my posts will include my work, my travels and my creative pursuits.
I will post at least once a week.

Stephen West and me at Rhinebeck 2011

I felt like such a geek going up to him and asking for a photo. He was so gracious and commented on how much he liked my Daybreak.

The Beginning

Well here it is. My first post. Small, but I said that I would begin this adventure on the first of the new year.
More to come.......