My spin on Easter

I've had a good time with spinning lately. I LOVE spinning the Llama/Silk blend. I got so confident that I figured I could spin while watching Bride & Prejudice last week. Rather than use the single I'd already completed, I spun more. I even had time to ply them during that last musical number.Here we have the original fiber, a ball of the first single I spun, and the yarn I spun & plied during the movie. Notice anything? The single is far less than half the thickness of the yarn. Now why would that be? Perhaps the spinner wasn't paying quite as much attention? Nooo... couldn't be. There must be something wrong with the fiber. (Actually, after I washed & dried the skein it evened out and looks much better)

Time to try another fiber? Of course! PFD (project focus disorder) isn't just for knitting.

Yesterday I managed to spin all 2oz of this peachy-keen fiber.
It didn't make much, but I love it anyway. I do wish the coppery threads would have showed up at least a little in the finished product, but oh well. I haven't decided if I want to keep it as a single or ply it. Maybe if shuttles has more of this color I can... NO. STOP. Anyway, in between spinning sessions, I made semolina rolls from punkin's recipe. They were a huge hit at the family Easter occasion. Mom almost tackled me when I tried to leave with the leftovers.

is unfinished the new look?

Am I done yet, huh? huh?

Disco Feet

Mmmmmm.. sparkly... shiny... girls like shiny & sparkly. Can you see the specks and flecks?

Disco? It's the yarn name. Fortissima Colori Socka Color (Disco) in color #9053, which I bought at least 7 years ago while I lived in the great locale of Madison, Wisc (where disco is popular I suppose).
The pattern is Nancy Bush's Rib & Cable Socks (Fall 2005 - Interweave Mag).

It's now official.

I'm a sock whore.

It's SissyPrincess' fault, and she may try to deny or plead the fifth, but she knows...

Take Exhibit A (above), and now Exhibit B (at left) - these are socks that I actually *forgot* about until recently. They're even my very first knitting project! WTF? I only yesterday listed them and their photos on Ravelry. If you know me at all, you understand that this lack of inclusion in Ravelry is, well, INSANE.

Oh, and I've worn 3 different pairs of hand knitted socks over the past week. Only a few months ago I wouldn't touch 2 of those pairs because I believed they were itchy. Turns out they're really not. I think I'm losing it. But hopefully I won't be too far gone for long since I'm currently casting on some socks for mom...

Fun with Fiber

Every time I sit down to knit, I'm right next to my stash. No matter how enchanting my current project, something in that stash entices me. The handspun yarn I bought in November was especially alluring. It didn't take long

It was just so delicious to knit with this wonderfully soft, handspun yarn. Unlike many commercial yarns, I could smell the lanolin and the yarn just felt.. well.. lively. It took a few tries to find a pattern that complemented the texture of the yarn and the slight color variations of greys and creams. The first couple of attempts seemed to compete with the yarn, but I finally ended up with a simple woven cable pattern.

I love it.

Besides, it's the first thing I've managed to finish in a month. I know that doesn't really seem like a long time, but I got addicted to that finishing rush after completing 9 projects in December. So I evaluated my WIP's and decided that Irene's socks were the closest to done and finished them.

Yarn: Fleece Artist Basic Merino Socks that Irene bought in Canada.
Pattern: Victorian Lace Socks from Six Sox Knitalong

I highly recommend the yarn. The pattern turned out well, but I probably won't make it again - I found the "mini-melon" stitch somewhat annoying. Fortunately, I only had to do it every 8 rows. Also, these were the first time I've done a short-row toe. I did it as written in the pattern. It was nice to not have to graft, but I'm so used to grafting that it would have been faster!

Meanwhile, knitting with handspun re-inspired me to spin. I kept working with the one fiber I owned, even I found it difficult to work with. The fiber is a deep violet with some ocher streaks - very similar to my rug. Add-in the fact that I mostly spin in the evening, without particularly good light and it makes for a squinty experience. Even so, I managed to eke out a ball of yarn. As I wound the ball, the yarn was like a record of learning to spin. The most recent yarn was thinner and far more consistent. The first bits have huge variation in size and twist. It seemed to me that I'd earned some new fiber!

Off to Shuttles! I picked up Maggie's new book and some fiber. Even though I had a great time fondling all the fibers I had no idea what to buy so Maggie helped me out. She steered me away from the cottons and silks, the hemp and the linen. Also no blue-faced Leicester (I just love the name). The feather-light buffalo was tempting, but pricey and was dark - I'd had enough of dark fiber for a while. I bought a couple ounces of basic Merino:

Then some pretty stuff with sparklies. Not too many - just enough to speak to me. I also love the colors. This is Alpine Meadow Artisan Fibers, Soft Wools in Alpine Sunset.






The real splurge was the Llama / silk blend. I was delighted when Maggie said it'd be an excellent choice, but then I put it back on the shelf. They were only selling it by the bag and I'd really wanted to buy smaller quantities to experiment. Eventually I came around and added it to my pile of purchases. Later than evening, I headed to punkin's for a pizza party. I was so excited about my new fiber that I had to try it out. It's so easy to work with! Much faster, softer, and easier to see. Isn't it pretty? I'd love to spin a really thin yarn with it, but my spindle is bit heavy for that. Another trip to Shuttles may be in my near future!

I'll be wearing it in July, thank you very much

I started working on the warm hug (Suzy) last fall, and it hibernated during christmas knitting and didn't come back out until the i-cord gloves had trouble - they're a little too big. The problems just have kept coming on the damn thing, I am so frustrated. I would really like to finish this in time to wear it but spring is already right around the corner. I just know I'm going to finish late... or not at all. I don't really mind the knitting, because it's such a large gauge, but the yarn it starting to look a little tired and felted. Sissy Princess asked me what had gone wrong, so here is the hit list:

* I can't count. I'm not sure why I thought 38 stitches was 48, but voila, now I've ripped back to the armscye bindoff. It's probably okay though, because...

* I also can't tell how many stitches I bound off on one side, and I don't think it matches the other side. I have this strange method of binding off at the edge that makes a nice smooth line instead of a zagging line - it's a variation of a short row, really - but it completely prevents me from being able to determine what row I started my bind off on, and it even makes it hard to see how many stitches I've bound off. I don't know why I think I like it because this won't be the first time I've had to frog back to the decreases simply because I can't tell what the fuck I'm doing.

* I can't write. OK, actually I can, but later when a post-it falls out of my knitting bag with the number "56" on it, I have no idea what it's for. 56 rows? Bind off on the 56th stitch? My aunt's birthday?

* I still can't count. If I have 25 rows in the raglan sleeve decreases, then just maybe I should have 25 rows in the body as well. Front AND back? Well, now that's just crazy talk. Frog, frog, frog.

* I can't seam. How many times did I start the seam with some kind of bizarre, made up stitch instead of the one my mother taught me which I think is a mattress stitch? Let me count the ways... one.... two.... three... ah damn it!

* I can't measure. Sure, it looked fine when I held it up to myself. It even seemed okay when I pinned it together with stitch holders. And it is the same size as something sorta similar in my closet. But it wasn't. It pinches at the underarm and is a little too cropped. I like slightly cropped, but this is Sissy Princess annoying, way too short, cropped. A visit to the frog pond, anyone?

I've disassembled the freaking thing back to the armscyes, again. We are in very familiar territory here. I've confirmed the body length at this point, using TWO different methods - actual measurement (!!) as well as the gee, it was too short before, I should add about 4-5 rows method. I've double checked the row gauge they're using and since I'm whoppingly off on the rows, recalculated using my row gauge. I know, seems totally obvious, but usually the row gauge isn't that important - I've learned something new about raglans! I think it might be to never knit one again.

So now the plan is to triple check the row calculations, since I did them on the bus using the calculator on my phone and a piece of paper ripped out of a magazine and I'm just feeling like a spreadsheet might be a safer bet. I may even check my numbers against the Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Stand Back!




For the fitting, I may have to go the extra mile. I've certainly had problems getting a good fit in a partially completed item before. Threads magazine has had a few articles on creating a mannikin / dress forms. Good dress forms are expensive, and ones you can change the size on are REALLY expensive, the idea was to have something cheap enough that if you changed weight, you could just create a new one. Since I'm currently wearing pants that would fit better were I to lose 10 pounds, and damn it, I'm on spark people every day, I like the idea of a body double that is cheap enough to chuck. Even if I don't lose the weight (sob!) I'll still need to get rid of it in a few months when The Big Trip (TBT) starts.

A Hat x 2 - Double Your Pleasure

Double Knitting - what a brilliant way to double your hat stash.



This is the Celtic Beanie pattern from Son of Stitch 'n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men. Men? Oops. My bad.

Anyway - I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Pitch Black and Lovage. It doesn't itch and it's super warm and soft. The technique of double knitting allows one to knit both sides at once - a reverse image. It was a fun pattern. I had to decrease the number of rows by about 10 to fit my female head.


This is where I spent a few hours knitting this past Saturday. The view was amazing... the weather
was beautiful (60's!), and I had it all to myself.


The weekend was filled with a few hours of quality car-travel knitting time. I was able to pick up working on my socks, and I've fallen in love with them, especially now that the cables show up beautifully when worn.

What WIP's?

I have a couple of projects I'm totally inspired to finish. The olive cardigan is getting sooo close. I know it'll be spring and too warm to wear it, but it's so lovely. I'm almost done with the left front - only the right front & collar to go.

Then I have Irene's socks. The yarn is completely enchanting. The color changes are so beautiful that I can't wait to knit with it, so second sock syndrome hasn't struck here. Each day I've waffled about which project I love gets to travel with me. What's a girl to do?

Start another sock. Earl Grey for Sean. I'm so tired of hearing how he comes last in the knitting queue that I just wanted something to wave in his face. Turns out that the pattern is fun and fast. It's easy to cruise through the stockinette parts, but the cable makes it just interesting enough to motivate me.

Now with 3 projects that are fun and a snowy day yesterday, I sat in my yarn corner, happily knitting away. There's such a wonderful view of all my yarn there. It's a bad thing. I kept picking up a hank of handspun and smelling it. It's amazingly soft and just kept begging. I started the scarf last night.

I've got to start knitting where I can't see my stash or I'll never finish anything.