I'm GLEEFULLY working on GLEE!!!

Ughhhhh, can that get ANY cheesier......of course it can ;) Oh my gosh, I LOVE this pattern. It is so fun and so cute. It is GLEE from at Zephyr Girls... I have several of their patterns now (which I will be knitting from over the course of the next few months). I can honestly say I adore all of them! This is the front of the Glee, which is cleverly done might I add. I love the front and how they knit it. Just genious I tell ya.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss wool/cotton. Nice yarn folks, what can I say about this that I haven't said about her yarns before. Ya gotta try it. Knits smooth, holds shape while knitting, I'll post more on the wear and tear of course after making and wearing it. I LOVE the increases at the shoulders, FABULOUSSSS.
The pattern can be purchased at :http://www.zephyrstyle.com/home.html

Seriously ya'll, ya know how I am with patterns, if it's good, dang it, it's good!!! I HIGHLY recommend you check this site out and try one pattern, you'll be hooked. I can't wait to finish this and show you!

Moving on......sorry, that's kind of all I got on knitting, I am kind of hell-bent on this sweater;) The spinning side is still finishing up the previous post about the fiber, I should have some nice pics this weekend! Stay tuned.

Okie Dokie, what's equally as fun as knitting/spinning? EATING!!

mmmmm, feast your eyes on THIS!! Red Pepper,Yellow Pepper, Orange Pepper and Zucchini. YUMMO, all sauted' in some yummy goodness and plopped over rice!

For dessert..... BAMM!

Cranberry/Orange muffins....AND....they are GLUTEN FREE BoooooYaaaa Baby!!

Yup, I have a WHOLE house full of Celiacs but we eat good ya'll, dang good heehee! I always laugh when people say to me, "How do you get Mr. Mann and Miss Priss to eat veggies like that?" My answer has been and always will be full of such confusion LOL. They are 9 & 4, whaddya MEAN how do I get them to eat it......Simple, I COOK IT, they EAT it. When they can cook dinners and clean up, then hey, we'll talk, till then, ya eat what's made. No resteraunt ordering here at Che' DebbieKnitter House!

' Sides ya'll, when ya got a Miss Priss who INSISTS on putting bandaids on all over her head, what do ya THINK she's gonna eat?

I tell Mr. HubbyKnitter, it's a damn good thing she's cute cuz, well, what the HELL!!

Mr. Mann and Miss Priss (plus mommy and daddy) have picked up a fun activity together lately......wanna guess?? It's not fiber oriented (dang it) and it is EVERY adults childhood love.....can't guess??

How about now? Or now????

Yup, it's coloring. I personally, ADORE coloring...WHAT, it's better then SOME things ;) I remember when I was pregnant with Mr. Mann, I colored ALL the time and then when I was pregnant with Miss Priss, at the end of the pregnancy, I was not able to move around and needed to kind of stay put (bed rest sort of) so I colored with Mr. Mann. Probably more then HE would have liked because I always bugged him LOL.

Well, that's what we've been up to, how about you??

It's time for the website of the week (SUSAN, this one is just for you)

My very good friend Susan likes this so much, I thought I would tie up her ENTIRE evening with TWO, count 'em, TWO sites!!

http://cinnamongirl93.blogspot.com/

and this next is not knitting related but oh so cool!!

http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/06/chicken_spaghet.html

There ya have it.until then ya'll..........Knit fast, Knit on and then ship it off to me!

good food,good friends, what's better then that??

First I want to take a second to thank someone very special. A friend of mine who always remembers the little hilltops we face everyday when dealing with Mr.Mann. She always has an encouraging word for him, or a little snippet she found that makes a good read for me.

When I opened my email this morning, I found a much loved site, Danielle's email. Always happy to see her name, I quickly opened her email and once again, her true compassion for children, her true desire to help her friends. This is the link she sent me. Please, we both ask that you follow it and look at least once.......you'll see when you get there.

For those of us that deal with this silent stalker, it means so much to us to know others care about what happens. I am asking, no, begging you, please care about our kids. We too have years of hopes and dreams just like you, ours are just a little different.

Here is Danielle's link: http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Danielle. To visit Danielle's blog and send her a little thank you....please go to http://aknittingmom.blogspot.com/

She's a knitter,a mom, a wife and a friend:) Tell her hi!

This is the face of Autism. This is Autism at home, with family. This is Autism

and its family. We're so ready to fight, are you?April is Autism awareness month, please, will you be aware?

Is innocence really lost, or hidden in the lines of cashmere and ice!!!

She wanted my innocence,

She came to me where the winds blow

Where the seagulls fly high above,

I would have given a death for her.

She was a miracle of the heavens,

wrapped in a forbidden love,

that drapes to the depths of ones soul

and soars to the gates of the Heavens.

She wrapped me in seduction,

silky,sexy innocence, then set me free.

For all my inner soul to see.

Pattern :Hypotenuse

Source: knitspot.com

Yarn: Cashmere/silk blend, hand-dyed

final length after minor blocking: 57"

Probably my favorite scarf pattern EVAH!!! I will make this over, and over and over. Class and lust, what more can you ask for! Oh I so hope people read my blog, even if just for this one time. This is a taste of beauty one cannot,should not miss.

These photos do not do this pattern justice!!

It's almost a shame to put anything else in this post for fear it will take away from the beauty of this scarf .....BUT.....as always, that fear is short live ;)

Last night, during my 1am chat with Anne (poor thing, can you IMAGINE having to listen to me THAT late heehee)......we chatted about this fiber I spun and am LOVING it. The problem you ask??? Well, as always, I lost the original bag (it happened in the move) and I have no clue WHAT it is OR where it came from but I LOVE it!!! I thought maybe it had mohair in it but I just dunno. It is a little to soft for that I think. It appears wiry in the photos but wiry its not. It is soft, very soft and spins like nobodies business. I am hoping to get enough of it in a fingering to make a nice lace scarf to match this Alpaca Peds that I am gonna make socks out of.

What do ya'll think? Is it knit worthy? As a set? Oh crap. I wonder if it IS alpaca fiber too??? I was at one time on that kick. I am taking it over to Anne's house to see if she can decipher it for me.....the big mystery will then be solved, but until then, how about some fiber pron........

The twist is nice and even and it doesn't look like it to me in the photo's but what do I know. IT should ply up very nicely with a fairly tight and even twist. The test spin also bloomed so nicely,any unevenness it DID have,blooms right out. I did have to weight it a bit though.

Now I gotta say, the Alpaca Peds didn't come from anywhere on the net that you could all have easy access to and I have no idea if Melissa does Internet orders BUT it would be worth a shot cuz she is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S and all who know her, just love her! Her store is :http://www.yarniashop.com/ stop on over and take a gander....it'll make ya wish you too lived in Oh-i-o!!!!!

Okie dokie folks, that's it for now....until next time.....knit it..........then ship it off to me for safe keeping;)

Blue balls and Blue Hands....the same, I think NOT! *g*

Ok, well ,maybe THAT was a little harsh, but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I looked down and seen my hands. For several days and several classes, while knitting my GORGEOUS Hypotenuse, I would look down and see that my hands had this ODD look. Sickly sort of. I thought once or twice that maybe it was cuz my hands were perpetually cold but I have lots of yummy hand knits to fix THAT problem. WHAT could this odd "illness" be?? LOOK, LOOK at these hands, do they LOOK normal to you ( I know, I need a manicure, more on that later) Here is the front view (the main offender)........................................

and here is the back, equally as creepy...............

WHAT is it, what have I been plagued with?! I felt borderline like I should be banished to a knitters blue hand island!

Then it happened, I was happily knitting and I suddenly STOPPED, LOOKED and GAWKED at the seemingly responsible culprit of the "blue hand mystery".....are you ready, hold on, you may wanna sit down first.......

The way I hold my yarn is the culprit!! The stains are exactly where the yarn sits as I knit. seeeee.................I'm not plagued (at least not by something blue;)

I feel soooo relieved and plus, it is soooo worth it.....look at this beauty's progress........

TEN, count 'em TEN stunning repeats and I think 3 more to go, maybe one or two more, whaddya think? I am so in love with this. Even if the yarn does bleed *grin*

I have since been told that the yarn has silk and cashmere in it and the silk when it is dyed, it does bleed some so when I am done with this, I am going to soak it in some vinegar and lock in the color.

.....and of course, the obligatory looonnnggg shot (ok, only obligatory for me heehee)

That is so cool isn't it?! Ok, 'nuff of the braggin' right Deb, right! Next up on the list is something pretty dang AWSOME.

For Christmas this year, my dear friend Anne (KnitSpot) got soooo sick of hearing me whine and seeing my alligator skin pawing at her yummy knits. So, what was the answer, what would save our friendship and let me continue to paw her knits and yarns and fibers without felting them in a single swoop.................THIS!!!

Ya'll know I like to yak about the latest yarns, the finest fibers and the coolest patterns BUT, I also just HAVE to tell you about this hand cream. I thought about keeping it a secret so that Kim would always have it on hand for me, but I am all about sharin' the love ;)

I have even emailed her asking for a larger jar because being Diabetic, I have some pretty sore tootsie's (I'll spare you the photos) and I started using it on those piggies and they are the SOFTEST TOOTS EVAH!!! You simply MUST go to the site and get your order, I swear you will not be sorry. I have not felted a hank of yarn just by touching it since;)

Here is her site in case you haven't already found it......just like the yellow brick road, follow it.

http://www.thewoolenrabbit.com/

Oh, save some for me though please!

I have got several emails about what Mr. Mason aka Mr. Mann is up to lately. First, I must tell you he gets such a charge when he knows others ask about him, he has a smile that lights up the Texas sky that one...........anyways, he has been hot and heavy in school. He is doing fractions and doing well and has just finished a rather large report on Timber Wolfs and their habitats and such. He is now studying Sir Isac Newton and is rather amused by that too. BUT have no fear, there is play going on too, both with his new puppy AND with boy stuff. Take a gander at this handsome dude.

He's playing one of those handheld type games and having a BLAST I must say.

Okie Dokie all, that's it for now but hey, just a quick note, http://www.fearlessfibers.etsy.com/ still has some of the Wool/Mohair blend yarn that the Pave' is made out of on http://www.knitspot.com/ and you truly MUST get some. The softest, most addictive mohair blend I have EVER used. Try it, you won't be sorry......plus, if you buy it, you'll be helping me stick to my "use the yarn stash rule...". I would so be all over that yarn!!!

Till then my friends, Knit it and send it to me for safe keeping heehee

Let us pay homage to the shagging of the sock!!!

Ok, I must confess, I THOUGHT about taking a picture of it, but I was so depressed by the thought of froggin' it, that I just kept rippin' without the camera in tow!!! PLUS, this is a FAR better photo, dontcha think *grin* ok, sorry for the tease, the rest of this story is below, more on this later.
BUT, on a plus side, now I can keep working on the Marie Antoinette socks from Anne @ www.knitspot.com

THIS knit will be fun!!! I'll post pictures tomorrow of the start....*WARNING* I have been known to be VERY indecisive when it comes to Wednesday knitting friends and patterns so if I change my mind and start to knit the Acorn socks or the Cardigan socks then well, cut me some slack;)
Ok, gimme some cheers for fiber! Tonights photo's are brought to you courtesy of Miss Priss and her upset tummy and mommy trying to bore her back to sleep! Any tips *aka* offers to babysit** are greatly appreciated.

Speaking of babysitting, this is what occupies alot of the kids time...it's a four legged babysitter heehee. Isn't she cute?! Oh GAWD, please don't tell me I am one of THOSE people heehee...

Ohhhh la,la, check out this fiber. It is sooooo nice. Lovely dark coopworth that I have been spinning. I have some major plans for this stuff. My problem is, I need to mae a concious effort to spin it a little thicker so I can get a worsted out of it. I am so used to spinning sock weight, this has proven to be a challenge, especially since I don't want it to be a single ply.

It really is gorgeous fiber though right?! It spins like a dream and I truly enjoy it. So soft, so sproingy. It is said to bloom quite a bit when washed and I am hoping to get some good comparison shots when I am done. This will be sort of a love hate project. Part of me is just itching to spin it fine, the other is saying no, no, you must spin worsted for that project!

Well, as noted above, I have a 4 year old who is not complying to the night-time rule of "this is mommy time" so I must end this now. I know, I know.....your thinking, do you REALLY have to go *giggle* kidding......before I go though, I wanna give ya'll the blog of the week.....remember, this was something I started before that I had alot of fun and unbeknownst to me, alot of you missed....sooooo, here ya go....

The blog for this week is: http://www.justcallmeruby.blogspot.com/

Stop by and sit a spell...this is a great blog and "Ruby" really has some pretty knits. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Lydia's Borscht, it's what's for dinner..mmmmm

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, THIS is what I have been smelling ALL day. YUMMO.

This is a family recipe from my husband's side and it is DELICIOUS. I had never heard of borscht before meeting my husband's family and when I spoke of it to others, I always got this spine shivering look and the words cold beet soup always followed. NOPE, this has NO beets, and is tomato based with onion,carrots,potatoes,cabbage and shredded beef and LOTS of dill. My family always called it veggie soup with cabbage but not his ;) They top theirs off with a large dollop of sour cream per bowl. Seriously, you would be surprised at what a difference that sour cream makes. I'll save ya'll a bowl!

Here is an update on the Hypotenuse scarf I am making. I was hoping to finish it this weekend but I wandered onto other projects.....ones which you will see in a minute! Some people asked me how long I was going to make the scarf and my answer.....until I run out of yarn. I have 400yds. of the silk/cashmere blend and it is VERY drapey so I am hoping it knits and blocks out to what I have in my mind.

I just love those shots :) It is really shaping up wonderfully. I am so happy I decided to knit it out of this yarn.

This is one of the little side tracks that got me this weekend. I finished the Avalanche socks and have been itching to start another pair of socks but wanted to make a "pattern" pair. Lord knows I have TONS of patterns and books but still was finding it hard to settle. I even purchased 3 new patterns but in between that, I started swatching for this pair. The thing is, I have never knit from a chart before. I find it unbearable to try and figure it out and cannot read them at ALL, therefore,aggravating me even more AND making me more determined. Well, after boohooing and crabbing about THIS pattern, I finally realized I DID IT!!! I read a chart!! I was so excited. At first, I was gonna rip and start one of the patterns I had purchased but late last night, I kept staring and staring at the sock swatch and thought, I'M GONNA FINISH IT! I am so happy I did. I realized I only hated the pattern cuz I thought I couldn't do it;) once I realized I could, then of COURSE I liked it:) The yarn is Briar Rose Sock yarn, Grandma's Blessing and of course it is sooooo yummy....follow my enabling link;) http://briarrosefibers.net/

Remember, I am an enabler;) and I must tell you, one peek at her yarns and your HOOKED!!!!! Isn't that yarn GORGEOUS. It feels as good as it looks too! So whaddya think? I know tons of you probably have already made this pattern (I Ravelried lol) but I must say, I am so proud of mine!!! The pattern is Waving Lace by Evelyn Clark. It's in the Interweave Knits 25 Favorite Sock Patterns book.

Ok, now for the BIGGIE Project.......here are the last bucket's of stash that I have that I have not gone through and sorted yet. I sorted my other stash buckets and have them all nice and neat and organized....these, well, I have some of the yarns grouped but the bucket's are deep and full of yarny blobs LOL......the next time I photograph them, they will be as neat as a pin!!

I know it looks bad BUT keep in mind, at least I have the yarns IN the containers (yes, they are the big Rubbermaid ones, I dunno how many gallons......Miss Priss plays on the tops of them, she grabs her pillow and blankie and lays on top of them....girl knows yarny goodness I guess;) and plus, these 3 are the only bins left that are unorganized.

Organizing all of my yarns just made me more determined to knit from my stash. I know looking at that probably makes you think that I can't POSSIBLY knit from my stash, clearly I have a yarn addiction BUT what you DON'T know about me is this......I have REMARKABLE will-power when I want to. I don't even need to reward myself for doing it, just trying to store all that was all the reward I needed to get it through my noggin that I need to NOT buy anymore yarn until I make some SERIOUS dents. Another thing ya'll don't know about me, I HATE clutter and will go to all extremes to get rid of it and short of hauling up a trash bin and unloading, well, I know when things need to be in control. I mean really, if I bit the dust tomorrow, what would become of all my stash yarn....you know the yarns, the ones that you just HAD to have and now you covet because it is simply to gorgeous to knit???!!! Well, I for one, want to at least enjoy my splurges:)

It really is shameful to have ALL that yarn, a little stash is ok, but THIS is ridiculous. So there ya have it, I am knittin' from the ol' stash buckets. No need to buy any yarns for me, I have enough to make a YEARS worth of sweaters!!!

Come back often and watch the dwindling down process and cheer me on!!

I'll leave you with this................this is the reaction Miss Priss had when I told her I was going to knit from my stash....Go Mom!!!

*In my best french accent* wee wee le' hat :)

Let's start off with some cashmere/silk "Eye Candy" for Friday. This is the always classy, always sleek, always sexy pattern by Anne Hanson @ http://www.knitspot.com/ I have knit this pattern 5 times already (this is the 5th) and I love it more and more each time. You can purchase her patterns at her site,just follow the link.
The long shots are some of my favorites ;) I'm so silly. I am hoping to finish this one this weekend. Although, I enjoy the pattern so much that it could take me a year to finish and I wouldn't care.
Just lovely I tell ya, just lovely!!

Alright,alright,I know, I know. Your here for the Paris Roubaix set.

Drum Roll please......................................................

This is the long awaited Paris-Roubaix pattern that can be purchased at http://www.knitspot.com/ . If you have not yet purchased this pattern, I HIGHLY recommend hauling the ol' tush on over there and get it. I thought her Waffle Pattern was fun, THIS was a blast. Actually, it probably should be sold with a warning stating "This pattern has proven to be very addictive, knit at your own risk" LOL. The model is our very own, Miss Priss. She has graciously agreed to hand over her set to Miss Anne for the photo op and she now feels she is "famous" being on the web;)

Another one of Anne Hanson's works of pure genious. The yarn is AWSOME as well. It is from the notorius Deb @ Fearless Fibers http://www.fearlessfibers.blogspot.com/ . This is her Wool/Mohair blend and I tell ya what, if you haven't yet had the pleasure of trying it, do so now before she sells out. This is quickly moving into my top 2 favorites (oh crap, the number one favorite is F.F> cashmere LOL, at least I am consistent).

**WARNING** This post is photo heavy;)...don't say I didn't warn ya....

Next line of business is a pair of socks that have been gnawing at me for WEEKS. Now I must say, I am a pretty speedy sock knitter, I like them, they're fun, fast and portable. Right? WRONG!! I dunno WHY but these socks haunted me. I SWEAR I had to almost chew my arm off to force myself to knit them. I wonder if it's because when I started them, I kind of wanted to knit a pattern but then I had that nagging flip that screams in my head saying "NO, just do a 2x2 basic so you have them done" and I figured well, since I need some socks for my own que, I'll listen to that stupid....next time I'll slap that stupid voice to kingdom come!! Anyways, here they are, they are done FINALLY!!!

It shows some nice stitch definition. I did shave them when I was done as they were a little to pilly for my liking. I don't know why they turned out that way but all is well now.

Yes, your right, those socks ARE resting on a boat load of stash;) I needed some extra care when I photographed these since they were such a pain heehee.

Well, I think that is about it for today. I am working on some spinning of the CoopWorth!!! I love,love,love that fiber! Soooooo pretty and sproingy! I'll hopefully have alot of that to post sometime this weekend. I am going to try and get some skeined up and weighted shots so we can have a nice post on singles and how to hank and dry them.

Until then my friends................................I'm off!

A knittin' I must go, a knittin' I must go, high ho........

Here is what is I have been up to.....knitting,knitting,knitting, and some spinning.
Mr. Mann looks very nice in the OSU Buckeye colors from Lorna's Laces Bulky Shepherd.It's nice and warm but a little rough on my hands. This set should have been done in an evening but my fingers actually hurt from knitting with it so I took 2 1/2 days to knit it. It is superwash for those who have never used it before. I probably wouldn't buy it again as I prefer Mission Falls over this BUT Mr. Mann is allergic to M.F. which can be a MAJOR bummer :(

I'll have some more pictures of another set using Fearless Fibers wool/mohair blend that is to DIE for. I need to wait to post the pictures as it was a test knit for KnitSpot.com and when she is finished writing the pattern and gives me the go-ahead, then I'll post photos. Trust me when I say....this Pave' pattern is an ABSOLUTE must to buy!!!!!!! It is really fun to knit and it is so pretty knit, two thumbs up here!




I have been a busy little beaver this month so far and I have MORE to come.

I have some strict knitting/spinning goals this year. I want to knit down my stash TREMENDOUSLY. Let's face it,it doesn't matter how much I knit, I will NOT knit through this stuff before I croak, sooooo, I wanna knit what I got, not get more to knit *giggle* say THAT ten times fast.

I'm not gonna be ridiculous about it though, I mean, if I need to make a baby gift and I either don't have enough of a yarn or I don't have ANY of a yarn, then of course I'll go buy it. Other then that, no need to be doing some foolish buying.

I know alot of people say "Sock yarn doesn't count" but ladies, it DOES, it is still yarn and I know plenty who have just as big of an obsession with sock yarn as I do for cashmere sport weight. Besides, I have WAY more sock yarn then I can count and personally, I like to use my handspun for socks the best.

There leads me into another discussion, handspun. I got out of the kick of spinning and knitting my handspun and started buying ALOT of commercial yarns, I want to get back to the handspun. I love it, love to do it and love to use it! I have some hand-dyed Targhee that is patiently waiting for me to spin it to a dk weight for a summer sweater for Miss Priss. I also have some really lovely brown BFL that Mr. Mann is longing for a sweater out of. So there ya have it.....my mere goals for just one knit loving mom who has a huge obsession for the fiber arts;)

She Thinks his Tractor's Sexy...................

Those who know me know that I am a HUGE Kenny Chesney fan. This morning, I looked out my kitchen window and saw this....and that song was the first thing that hit my brain LOL. Even though I see that tractor every day, I still crack up laughing and immediately think of that song.

The next is Lorna's Laces Bulky Shepherd in OSU Buckeye colorway (Ohio State). I started out knitting it for Mr. Wannabe, but when he tried it on....can you say ewwwwwwwww. So, naturally, the next thing to do is plop it on Mr. Mann's head.....viola, a winner it is! Sorry Mr. Wannabe, I'll knit you another one NOT out of Bulky weight, that bowling ball head of yours is a tough one to fit;)

Now well follow up with the ..."my how they've grown" photo's...................

Mr. Mann giving the thumbs up............he's having a bit of a bad hair day.....his top is usually spiky with that hair cut.......not today!

Now enter Miss Priss..........well, what can I say..............the girl's got the "tude"!!!!

Happy 2008~~~

Let's try this again....hopefully I don't screw up all the buttons on here again :)


I will be updating and such soon!!

In the meantime, here is what has been keeping us busy lately.......