I made this:

Behold:

My first hand tied fly.

For Hubby's 30th, I gave him a fly fishing class along with some other stuff. Well... it was free and his birthday was a month ago, but it's the thought right? I signed us up for this class in early February and today was the day. What a good class! Even though we've been fly fishing before, this was exactly what we needed AND I got to tie a fly!!

How could I possibly relate this to knitting?? I'm glad you asked. The pattern is a Woolly Bugger. Yes, wool!!! It's a classic fly that is almost everyone's first to tie. It's also called a "meat fly" because if you ever needed to rely on a fly to put meat on the table, this is your fly. When in doubt, tie on a Woolly Bugger and you're bound to catch something. There always a fish dumb enough to think this crazy furry fly is food.


A picture doesn't do justice to a hand tied fly. This is so small and is comprised only of thread, marabou feather, chicken feather and chenille yarn (there's that knitting connection again). It really is an art and this is by no means a well tied fly. BUT I MADE IT! WOOT!

When i was tying it, the instructor came over and asked if I'd had any crafting experience. Um yeah, a little.

Hubby's brother gave us a fly tying kit for christmas. Now I know what to do with all those feathers!!

baby sweater and gauge issues

If you can believe it, I buttoned, blocked, wrapped and delivered the baby sweater without taking a final pic. Do you believe it?! I don't either. I would be pissed at myself, but the mom-to-be was teary eyed when I gave it to her on Saturday. I had to rush a little to get it to her and I'm glad I did. Never, ever underestimate the power of handknits. Something to behold for sure.

I'm having some serious gauge issues.

• My baby sweater was a whole size too small in the end. Doesn't matter too much. I figure it's a 6 month sweater now and the baby's not born.
• I think my socks are too small. But... how do you tell? By the time you know, you've invested a lot of time. Ugh. I may take them to the frog pond.

I think tomorrow I will continue the multi-directional scarf. Gauge doesn't matter there. HA!

on my third ballband

Now this is a little more accurate.

I finished a second ballband on the train today. Started a third while watching Die Hard [yippee ki yay m-- f--er] with Hubby. Don't ask. We've been searching for good tv lately and coming up short. Last night was the biography of Stephen King. Yeah. Good times.

ballband dishcloth

Knitting... an excuse to clean your sink.

Trust me. I'm not keen on cleaning. In fact, knitting is usually my excuse NOT to clean, do laundry, walk the dogs, etc. This time knitting actually forced me to gladly clean the sink so that I could share with you my new dishcloth.

I foresee a few more of these in my future.