little bit of crazy leaking out

I am amazed at how fast the chicks are growing.  The difference between last week and this was surprising, and I see them every day.  Look at all those feathers!

Dixie

Wynona

Reba

I used the random number generator at random.org and the winner is #14, Karen in Toledo.  Karen can to choose between a copy of One Skein by Leigh Radford or Holiday Knits by Allison Issacs and Sara Lucas.  Congratulation Karen!

Thanks to everyone who joined in!

. . . and it has been all about the charity knitting (and joining more KALs, I am a sucker fot the KALs).

First, I joined the Charmed Knits KAL and knit these Slytherin hats.

All three are knit from the House Hat Pattern at the Charmed Knits KAL blog.  I really enjoyed knitting the 2 beanies, the double decreases are neat and make the hats just a little different from the average beanie.  The beret, I have to say, wasn’t my favorite.  It was quick enough to knit, I just wasn’t thrilled the finished product.  This is totally a personal preference, I like a flatter top on a beret.

Which lead to knitting more hats for the Dulaan Project.

The top five hats are from some skeins of Kid ‘n Ewe from my stash.  The yarn was originally purchased to knit a sweater for my daughter, but I didn’t knit it, and she grew.  Darn kids.  No real pattern just a basic hat.

The bottom two hats were knit from some Brown Sheep Burley Spun, also from stash, using the Avalanche Hat pattern(pdf).  The bottom hat is just a variation on the pattern. 

Then I joined Norma’s Magic 28 KAL, and knit up some socks for Dulaan.  I see this KAL as an excuse to use up some of my sock yarn stash.  I doubled the yarn and it works perfectly. 

    
Pairs 1 and 2 were knitted from discontinued Knit Picks sock yarn I bought a year or so ago ~ Paper Dolls and Daffodil.  I am able to get a pair from one skein (220yds) of yarn.

    
Socks 5 and 6 were knitted from Knit Picks Pansey.  The first sock I knit double stranded without matching the colors, the second I did match the colors.  I have another skein and will knit up matching socks from it.

I’ve started keeping a Magic 28 sock by the computer, so I can work on one while surfing blogs, and I keep one in my purse for knitting emergencies.

We have a WINNER: Rebecca (no blog listed). Congratulations Rebecca!

Since we have a winner so quick, anyone who comments on the contest post by midnight Friday, April 27th, will have their name put into a random drawing for an additional prize.  No, I’m not sure what it will be yet, I’m working on it.

Now, let me introduce . . .

Wynona

Reba

and Dixie (Chick)

Look what’s in my garage right now.

And, look what’s inside.

Three baby chicks! I blame it all on Chrissy.  Ok, not really, but looking at those cuties oven on her EnviroMom blog got me thinking, and no good can come from that.

Hubby and I had been talking about getting a few chicks to keep Gimpy company and so we would have a few more eggs, I egg a day just isn’t cutting it for a family of four. (yes, Emma, I have your standing order for eggs) Hubby went to the feed store for chicken feed this morning and when he came home he cleaned out the brooder packed us into the car and we drove back to the feed store to get chicks.  So, now we have three little peepers.

Now for the contest:  

What did we name the chicks?

Guess what we named the chicks and win sock yarn!  Here are some clues:

• we bought three chicks: a Buff Orpingon, a Rhode Island Red, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte

• there is a theme to all their names: Country Music

• two are named for singers, one is named for a band

Leave a comment with your guess and the first one to get all three correct will win enough yarn for six pair of socks:

clockwise from top left:  100g Regia Cotton Surf Color, 100g Meilenweit Fantasy, 100g Regia Cotton Surf Color, 150g Opal 6ply, 2-50g Knit Picks Sock Garden - Star Gazer Lilly, 2-50g Knit Picks Essential Solid - Ash

We have just put Bubba, and the rest of the family (I am not not a short order cook and I will not be making something different for each member of the family at every meal), on a gluten free/casein free diet.  For those of you who don’t know what that means; it means no wheat, rye, barley, oats, cheese, milk, yogurt, ice cream, etc, etc, etc.  This is not easy and not cheap, but necessary.

Tonight I made Twinkiedogs, but with these ingredients . . .

I was a bit worried about how they would turn out, but I used a recipe for the cornbread from a GF cookbook called Cooking Free, and they turned out really well.  The kids liked them and that’s the real test.

A week or so ago Emma and I decided we would go the the Seattle Knitting Expo so we could buy more roving.  Crown Mountian Farms was going to be there, and I love how the pencil roving I have from them is spinning up.  Must buy more pencil roving.  Then last night Emma e-mails me about a warehouse sale on Craigslist.  A yarn warehouse sale who’s address Googles as the Cascade Yarns warehouse, just over the freeway from the Expo . . . bitch.

This morning I got up before the birds, as my husband, the morning person, pointed out.  I picked up Annie, who’s arm I twisted last night to come with us (right!), and then we cruised over to Emma’s so we could pile into her car to make the pilgrimage to the Seattle Knitting Expo.

We made great time and were there about ten minutes early, and had to stand outside the doors peering in at all the yarn and roving, and drool wait.

The first place we dumped a load of cash purchased a bit of roving was at Reflection Farm Wool Products.    We all had a difficult time choosing which lovely roving(s) to take home with us.  See how much Emma loves her roving.

We also left some money at Crown Mountian Farms and Williams Wools & Weaving (no website yet). We bought a bit of roving between the three of us.

 

We staggering out of Expo with our credit cards smoking.  Since the warehouse sale didn’t start for half an hour we stopped for a bit of refreshment.  Bolstered by hashbrowns and beverages, we made the trek to the Cascade Yarns warehouse . . . where we bought a bit of yarn . . .

The yarn was hard to resist, $20 for a 10 skein bag.  At those prices it’s lucky we walked out with as little as we did.

Ok, here is the final damage:

 
15.9oz of color #78 from Reflection Farms

 
8oz Superwash - Good Vibrations
8oz Pencil Roving - Promise of Spring
from Crown Mountian Farms

 
Gray Merino from Williams Wools & Weaving
(could be 2.5lbs, but I may have to deny it)

2 bags Revolution, green for shrug for Bug, pink/gray/black for felted bag for me; 1 bag of 128 Tweed, natural