Can’t get enough of little girls dresses!

Sock monkey dresses!

Everyone has an apron now

New pajama pants

So I have been sewing like mad and my living room has turned into a mini sweatshop! Unfortunately, the only sweat involved is mine. :) I have really been enjoying re-learning how to sew and am just amazed at the information that is on the internet nowadays. I have learned so much in the past few days than in all the days I have been sewing! I am doing things I have never done before like creating custom bias tape and it has been so much fun! And I just love little girl dresses, too bad I have only boys. So all of my friends out there with girl babies, don’t be surprised if I push some of my obviously home made dresses on you!!

Both dresses are from free patterns - The sock monkey dress is the Itty Bitty Baby Dress in the 1-3 month size, and the other ones are the Baby Dress Tunic in the 9-12 month size (warning, I had a bitch of a time printing out the pattern because it doesn’t automatically split print the file).

I also managed to make some stuff for my boys. Everyone wanted an apron after I bought one on Etsy and the boys love to put it on a help me in the kitchen when I’m cooking dinner. They actually fight over who is going to cook and set the table. :) I also made some pajama pants that would’ve been the easiest things in the world if I didn’t make the hole in the pants for boy parts. But I thought I should try something new. It totally wasn’t worth the effort, since they will never use it.

March spinning

It’s just been spinning, spinning, spinning at Chez Bockstark. I have gone off the deep end and immersed myself in it again and LOVE it!!! I’ve also been doing some singles spinning, which is totally new for me. I am still overspinning a tad and have to do a pass back through to let out some of the twist, but it works. Merino/tencel is just perfect for singles! Here are the yarns that I finished last month - 9 skeins!!

I also ordered some new woven labels for the knits that I’ve been making and I love them (see new header!). Much better than my 15 year old “Made with tender loving care by …” ones.

I guess that’s all the news fit to print…just keep spinning!

Michael’s new chullo

this one took me a year to finish!

Bee Mice Elf alpaca/silk

I just finished lining Michael’s new chullo hat with fleece. I’ve never done that before and couldn’t believe how easy it was! The best part about it is that because I knitted it loose, it came out slightly too big for him, and the fleece makes it fit PERFECTLY! For more detailed instructions, see this article from techknitting.

After I was done knitting that, I got the spinning bug again! It took me about a year to finish off this 2ply and was amazed that I got 680 yards!!! I think that is a record for me. After I finished that one up, I started right away on some alpaca/silk from Bee Mice Elf. I bought it awhile back and am in love with the colors. For some reason, I’ve been really hankering to spin with alpaca, have no idea why!! It’s great to be spinning again!

And on that note, I opened up my etsy shop again and added a few new yarns.

Kiseki’s Oriental Lily - front detail

full view

Cross Country Chullo

So ever since I finished the shrug, I have found a lot of projects that I NEED to do! :) But I need to start with the “necessities”. The first up is a gift for my niece who is turning 1 in April. I knitted Oriental Lily in Sublime Yarns Extra Fine Merino DK. The pattern is fabulous - top down construction and she can wear it awhile since it would look good as a tunic as well. And the yarn, oh the yarn!!! I want to knit more stuff using their merino!!! It’s so divine, you would think it has some cashmere in it or something!

So now the next project I’m working on is a Cross Country Chullo for Michael. I’m doing the Anemoi variation. He lost his beloved handspun hat somewhere in Austria (shame on him). I can’t complain though, he has used that hat quite a bit and it has been on summits such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn and it was probably time for a new one anyways. I am knitting it using Wollmeise Spice Market dark and natur. I am quite pleased with it so far but my stranded knitting needs a lot of work. I think I’m knitting quite loose but it turns out a tad bit tight. I hope blocking helps! And then I’m planning to line it with fleece, which is a first for me. Thank goodness for the techKnitting blog, I don’t know what I would do without it!!

Loch Ness Marathon

I’m a work in progress

My first shrug!

Stephen and me at the Munich airport

WonderMike and me at SFO

Wow, it’s been almost a year since I last posted. I’m sure a lot of you are wondering what the hell happened to me! I haven’t been blogging/checking blogs/knitting/spinning in awhile (obviously!). A lot of it has to do with not being able to really afford to buy stuff anymore (or at least controlling the habit) and reading blogs, looking at flickr pics and being on Ravelry was really making me spend a lot of money and all it did was build up my stash.

So what did I do for all that time? Well, I decided to get off my butt and start exercising. Computers, knitting and spinning involves lots of time sitting. It just got to the point where I had to do something. And I’m also at that age where you hear a lot more about people getting sick, dying, or what not because they didn’t have a healthy lifestyle. I feared that I was going to end up in that camp.

I started casually walk/running from November 2008 - 1 or 2 times a week, for 2 to 3 miles. Nothing major, just something to get started. Then in March, I got an advertisement in the mail to run the Munich Half Marathon and I thought about it for a few days and then decided “why not”? I started training in earnest then walk/running 3 days a week - 2 of them short runs (3 miles) and 1 of them a long run. I was really serious about it and stuck to my schedule. In June 2009, I completed my first half marathon! I was the very last person to cross the finish line and it was a slightly humiliating experience, but there you are. But I was just happy that I did it.

Then one evening after drinking some wine, I thought “hell, why not just go and do a full marathon!” Crazy, I know, but I was really determined to do something BIG. So I searched around for marathons that have a long time limit (most ones in Germany have a 6 hour limit, which isn’t enough for me) and since I’ve always wanted to go to the Scottish Highlands, I decided on the Loch Ness Marathon. I am happy to say that on October 4, 2009, I completed it AND I wasn’t the last one. :)

During the year of training, I lost about 35 lbs. I didn’t have weight loss as a goal, but it was a very nice side benefit. I bought new clothes and feel more confident and more like myself again. I still have a ways to go before I’m in the “normal” weight range, and that’s what I’m working on this year.

All this running and activity has made it uncomfortable for me to sit and knit or spin for long periods of time. I know at some point I will pick it up again because I do miss it, but for right now I’m putting it aside. So that’s my story.

So now that I bought a whole bunch of new clothes, one of which is a sleeveless dress, I had to make something to cover up my saggy arms. And I love shrugs but never owned one so it was my first knitting project in a year (or maybe even more) beside a couple of Jayne Cobb hats that I knitted for some friends. The pattern is the Two-tone Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits and the only mod I did was to make the sleeves longer. I really like it and will probably make another one in the short sleeve version!

In other fiber news, I was also lucky enough to meet up with the Y-Knit boys, Stephen at the Munich airport and WonderMike at the SF airport. I just love both of them, they are so much fun to hang out with! Mike was such a doll and brought me some wonderful Verb goodies and fiber!!! Thanks so much, Mike!!

So that’s all the news fit to print. Thanks so much for listening!