Happy Blogoversary Barknknit!

I almost missed my Blogoversary!! Barknknit Blog turns 2 today! I can't believe I've been knitting and blogging for two years now! I started knitting right around the time I started this blog and so much has happened since it's crazy!! I became a better knitter, I started spinning, I processed fleece! I also happened to get married and get a new job! Crazy how much can happen in 2 years!

I love looking back on the last two years and seeing all the pictures I've shared. I love all the cute doggie faces and all the pretty yarn and fiber and knitting!

Thank you my readers for hanging around and reading my craziness! I appreciate you all!

Well..to catch you up from my weekend...Thursday night at about 3am I woke up with the stomach flu...it was bad! I didn't end up being able to eat a meal until Sunday morning. Took me a while to feel back to normal. I'm better now and today at work was pretty good. I got a little nauceous a couple times but I just drank some water and breathed and it seemed to be better. My stomach is still getting used to food again. I am not a fan of the stomach flu!!!

Well...other than that I didn't do much this weekend. I really couldn't knit until saturday and even than it was very basic stuff. I missed a day of spinning for Tour de Fleece but I think I had a good excuse!

And since I can't resist...here are some fiber pictures!

I've started work on the 2nd 3 oz of the sock yarn that I'm making. This is my first single of the 3ply from Manda's stash! Thank you Manda!! :)
I also managed to get some dyeing in this weekend. I love the colors!And of course! I have to include my babies! Here's Abby on the couch with her bone!
And Jackjack resting up after a long day!
Hope you are doing well! I'm going to go back to trying to figure out a friend's sweater I've been ripping and re-knitting on and off for the last couple weeks! I feel bad because I need to get it back to her but it takes so much mental energy to work on it's driving me crazy! I'm almost done and am doing to try one more thing..pray that this works out!

Ok..hope everyone is good! Happy Blogging!!

More of my weekend...a wedding.

This weekend my childhood friend Lynley got married. I've known her since the first day of kindergarten. :) Let's just say it's been a VERY long time! She got married at the David Island Garden Club, which is a beautiful location.
The ceremony was on the water and it was nice but a bit hot. Glad some of the chairs were in the shade.
After the ceremony there was cocktail hour. My friend Viviana and her boyfriend Nathan were there and Special K had not met them yet. So it was a good time for them to get to know each other.
The reception had great Panamanian food and it was great to see so many familiar faces.

The really cool part was that her mom surprised her with hiring some Pollera dancers. They are native Panamanian dancers and it was pretty cool to see. Special K didn't know what they were but I had explained them before so it was great for him to finally see them. I took a couple videos of some of the dances.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the videos. I'm so sleepy. I am off to get ready for bed...and then read for a bit and hopefully be asleep in no time!

Weekend update...spinning and weekend fun.

So...this weekend was JAM packed! I'm ready for a vacation from my week last week and this weekend..and I really doubt this week at work will be it. :)

First off...last week was so busy and stressful that all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and wake up in a month...but since that is not possible...this is what did happen this weekend.

Friday night was my friend Bambi's 30th birthday! She threw a slip n slide party. :) hehehe It was fun but I did NOT slip or slide. Special K and I stayed way too late...thanks to our friend Becky but that's ok. Becky is visiting from up north and we don't get to see her often so it was great catching up.

Saturday was an early day for me. I got up early and got my allergy shots and then Manda and I met at starbucks and then headed up to Safety Harbor for my guild's monthly spinning meet up. We only have 5 people but we had a great time. We hung out under this gazebo in the center of town and enjoyed the nice breeze.

I worked on the Ramboullet for my sister's shawl. I love how it's coming out!!
After that we headed over to Sheryl's and saw Levi..her son who is 2 months old. It was SO cute because I got to feed him and he's smiling now and just TOO cute. No pictures sorry! Will take some next sat. at his baptism. I'm going to be one of his god parents! I'm very honored and excited!

Saturday night, Special K and I headed over to Becky's parents house. Her dad is the pastor at our church and the person who married us. It was a great evening with good food and great company.

Today...was another day. :) Kenny let me sleep in and then we met up with our friend Phil and Katy for brunch because well...we kind of cancelled plans for Saturday night because Becky invited us over for dinner. :) They understood though and brunch was great!

Then we picked up a loveseat from Kenny's boss and unloaded that into the house and then we got ready for the wedding. I'll leave that for the next post since...this one is already long enough.

Well...hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll be back in about 5 minutes with the next post about my childhood friends wedding.

Spinning FOs and a carded batt.

I have Spinning to show you!! I am still working on getting better pictures but it's coming along! :)

This first skein is the sock weight yarn that I spun from the superwash merino I carded at Manda's. I think I might need to convince her to let me have a couple more ounces. It's a three ply and I think it came out to about 150 yards. I think I need about 200 or so more to do a good pair of socks for myself. I'm sure Manda and I can work out a trade. :)
This second skein I've been working on for Tour de Fleece. It's a Ramboillett and it's navajo plied. I love how it came out and have already started spinning up the 2nd 2oz of it. Once I'm done than I'm going to knit this into a shawl for my sister Luz. I think she will love it!
Last night I got to bring home the drum carder that is owned by my weaving/spinning guild! It's a clemes and clemes and so far it's working good! I ran some of the dyed locks I have through it and it is SO pretty! As usual there is still some VM in it but it's so soft and lovely! I plan to spend some time tonight with the drum carder and card up some more batts from what I have dyed. I also scheduled a dye/fiber day with Manda next Sunday...yes...I think there is a theme of fiber days at Manda's lately. hehehe

This week at work has been super crazy, we are down a person in our dept and it's been SUPER busy! I'm glad SK called me today and offered to go to the grocery store and make me dinner tonight! I'm feeling a little clammy today which isn't good. Hopefully a good night sleep tonight will prevent me from getting sick!

Ok..hope you have a great day and don't forget to run over to the DOT post this week!

WIPs and my spinning for Tour de Fleece!

So, to make sure you know that I'm still actually knitting....proof that I'm knitting I guess I should say. Here are some pictures of my knits.

First we have the 2nd of two dishcloths I'm knitting as part of a gift for a friend. I like how these are knitting up.
Then here are the Seaweed Socks that I'm knitting for my SIL. I'm hoping they will be completed before she gets her at the end of the month. I'm almost to the toe and so I'm pretty much done with the first sock. I've already memorized the pattern!! I love when I can do that!
And this past weekend on the 4th started the Tour de Fleece which goes the same time as the Tour de France. My goal this year is to spin every day the tour is on! So far so good. On the 4th I started spinning up this lovely Ramboillet fiber that is spinning up beautifully! I plan to navajo ply it and knit up a scarf for my sister Luz. She mentioned this weekend she wanted one and that she liked pink! This is only the first half of the 4 oz. I'm going to let it rest and navajo ply it tonight so I can start on the next 2oz.
Since I finished the first 2 oz of the pink stuff last night and wasn't ready to put my wheel away. I pulled out the bobbin with the fiber I processed. It's from the fleece from WI and the stuff I dyed up and drum carded. It has a bit of vm but it's spinning up BEAUTIFULLY!! :)
Well...now I can call my blog a fiber/knitting blog again. Sometime I just get over zealous with my cute puppy pictures!! But really can you blame me?

Happy Knitting and Spinning!!

More from Doggie Swim Day at Manda's.

Here are more pictures!!

Look at my baby sleeping on Manda's back balcony. He's sleepy after swimming!
Abby even though she is sleep...she is not ready to give in to the sleep!
They are just so cute and WOW do I have a lot of stuff in my AWESOME Zuma bag!! :)
Check out my spot!! Look at the view.
Our comfy knitting spot! It was a perfect day...cool breeze and lots of sun! I worked on a dishcloth and my sock...you know how I can't just knit on one thing lately!
Here's our view!! LOVE IT! I have asked Manda if I could move in but I think Special K would miss me. :)
And then our highness found her throne. :) She is so cute.We had a great time...and can't wait to go back for another fiber day and/or doggie day! :)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

Doggie Swim Day at Manda's!

So, Sunday was Doggie Swim Day at Manda's! Let's just say it was SO much fun!!! Here we are going to start with doggie swimming pictures!!

What was so great was that Jackjack has figured out how to jump into the pool at any location. He used to only get in at the stairs. Now he just flies into the pool!

They way my pups swim is Abby swims and has fun and Jackjack chases her around and barks and jumps in after her.
We haven't figured out if he's trying to save her or what?
He will literally be across the yard and sniffing...he hears her jump in and he runs over and jumps in after her. :) It's so funny!!
Manda and I did get in the pool for a bit. It was a great day...not too hot and the water was the perfect temp.
Manda has a small dog and cats...so I was just a little worried that my two big dogs would be overwhelming to her and her husband but I think that the fell for Jackjack and Abby as many other humans do. :) Even their pup Nala got in on some of the play. She didn't swim though.
They had so much fun!! They did start scraping up their back nails so we decided it was time to relax. Those pictures will come in the next post!

Thanks again Manda for the fun Doggie Swim day!! :) She has even invited us back!

WWKIP! and yes...really late but with TONS of pictures!

Ok..yes, our event was held two Saturdays ago..but for some reason I just can't get blogs or podcasts up in a timely manner lately. At least I'm getting them up! So, Saturday June 20th was my knitting group which we like to call ourselves the Fiber Fanatics, had our World Wide Knit in Public day. I planned the event at a local park at a really nice shelter spot. It was funny because when we got there the reservation sign said "Rush Party." I laughed because I forget that I have a new name. :) My niece Surfer girl was like isn't that a sorority party. eheheheh

The venue I picked is one of my favorite spots.
How can you resist being out by the water...even though it was hot the breeze helped a lot!This was a pic of when we first got there. Check out the cool decorations that Sid made!And here is Sid, Frankie's new mommy! Frankie's new sister is Arwyn and they get along so great!Sid the crafty woman that she is...made these awesome red velvet cupcakes!Frankie hanging with Arwyn by his new daddy.Manda and I brought our wheels and spun a bit



Here's Manda!
Here is Surfer Girl. She looks so amused. :)
Sheryl without Levi but with her never ending sock! :)
My sister Fleas crocheting!!
We all had a great time. It was sad to leave but the park closes at dusk! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

Happy WWKIP day!!

PS...I think every day is KIP day! ;) heheeh