Soctober!

Yeah, so I fail at being up to date.  I meant to post about Socktober in the first couple of days of October but time passed me by.  Have you been knitting socks (or something with sock yarn) this October?  I have!

I finished my first pair of socks in 8 days!  During school, I could finish a pair that quickly because of all the 3 hour classes of knitting I mean learning time.  I think this pair went so quickly because I really wanted to see the way the cables would turn out.  The pattern was Midsummer Night's Dream from Knitty.  It has leaves growing up the front of the sock. 




Sorry for the bad pictures.  It's deciding to be cold and rainy here today. 

Pattern: Midsummer Night's Dream
Yarn: Fancy Dancing Feet, a superwash wool
Needles: US 2, 2.75mm
Dates: Oct 2 - 10, 2009
Modifications:  I used my own toe pattern and the sockitecture from Cat Bordhi's Riverbed pattern.  That sockitecture is fast becoming my favorite way of doing socks. 

My next project wasn't a pair of socks but it was knit out of fingering weight yarn.  A couple of yarn festivals ago, I bought some sock yarn in OSU colors, scarlet and grey.  Dad is a huge OSU fan so I was going to make a pair of socks for him.  That was before I learned that he likes knee highs (well, knee highs for me but midcalves for him) and I really couldn't face doing all of that knitting.  Also, I only had bought one skein of yarn.  True, it is a very generous skein but not enough for my 6'4" father's feet.  Anyway, this yarn has been hanging around my stash for a while now looking lonely.  I decided that, if I wasn't going to use it for socks, I should do something with it.  After poking around ravelry for a bit, I decided the yarn was destined to be a hat. 



I doubled the yarn and cast on 112 stitches.  I did a 3x1 ribbing which doesn't look that exciting on the right side but, when you turn it inside-out, the pattern looks really interesting.  I cast on before going to the Quarter Horse Congress with friends, knit on it while we were walking around, and finished it after we sat around a bit and watched a couple of different classes.  Definitely a quick little project. 

Pattern:  None really
Yarn: Yarnsmith Mazu, wool/seacell blend but I've lost the label
Needles: US 6, 4 mm
Dates: Oct 11
Modifications:  Well, since I was making it up as I went along, none really. 

After finishing that OSU hat, I immediately cast on for another one but with a different yarn.  The yarn is one of my handspun yarns, a DK weight called Rainbow Fleece.  It is 100% soysilk and was naturally dyed by Earthly Hues. 



I spun the singles for this yarn back in 2008 and then finally plied everything this past July. The chain plying I did kept all of those colors together and the finished product has a really nice rainbow transition. 



After I had finished the yarn, it was calling out to be made into some sort of hat.  I pictured some sort of simple ribbed hat so that the pattern and the yarn would work well together.  July, then August, then September all passed without me doing anything with this yarn.  When I was grabbing the yarn for the other hat, I decided at the last minute to throw this one in my bag, too.  This hat took me much longer to finish because a) it wasn't the weekend anymore, b) the house is cold and I didn't want to take my hands from under the sheepskin blanket, and c) I wanted to use up all of the yarn and that made it much longer than the other.  I really wanted all of the colors to show up in the hat because what would be the point to have a rainbow hat without the purple? 

Pattern:  None really
Yarn: Handspun, Rainbow Fleece, 100% soysilk
Needles: US 6, 4 mm
Dates: Oct 11 - Oct 14
Modifications:  Apparently, I forgot the pattern from one minute to the next and did a 2x1 rib rather than 3x1.  

I am apparently on a hat kick because I've started another one (!).  This time, I'm doubling sock yarn again and making sure that I do a 3x1 rib.  I don't think I even have this yarn in my ravelry stash because it has been in the stash for so long.  It was probably the second sock yarn that I bought and I made one sock out of it back when I was doing socks one at a time.  Yeah, that didn't last long.  I know that SSS hits me badly and knitting two socks at a time is the only way that I get pairs done.  Another reason this sock didn't last was that the yarn pooled horribly around the ankle.  So it was time to reuse the yarn for something else.  I think that this hat will go in the holiday gift pile for a recipient to be named. 

Hopefully, I'll continue with Socktober and be able to finish up at least one other pair of socks before the end of the month.  I have a number of WIPs hanging around including a pair of toe-up Jaywalkers on which I've turned the heel and just need to do the leg.  There is also a pair of cabled knee highs from last Socktober that have the entire intricate leg finished and I just have to turn the heel and finish the foot.  Simple, really, after all of the work on the leg.  Remind me why haven't I already finished them? 

Oh!  I almost forgot what I'm calling the Blanket of Insanity aka sock yarn blanket.  I'm still continuing with the squares but now I have to finish up some socks in order to get the leftovers.  Thanks to the Midsummer socks there is plenty of yellow left and I have a little bit of the OSU yarn from the hat left, too.  Right now, there are somewhere between 45-50 squares finished with their ends woven in.

and we're back!

Sorry, guys, that I've been gone for so long. I wish I could say that I wasn't blogging because exciting things were happening in my life. But in reality, I just didn't sit down and blog. Don't get me wrong. I thought of blogging and even went as far as composing things in my head (don't tell me I'm the only one who does this!). It seemed like I was never in front of a computer or was at work when I had a flash of inspiration. Oh, well.

Anyway, I've been up to much more spinning recently than knitting. This situation is going to have to remedy itself soon because the handspun stash is going to take over the world if I don't start using it. I really don't need another hobby but isn't weaving supposed to use up yarn quickly? That is looking like a really good option.

My biggest project to date (big in terms of both yarn and stash usage) has been a handspun sweater/jacket thingy. The pattern is from
The Yarn Girls' Guide To Beyond The Basics and is called Slip and Slide. When you imagine a handspun sweater, this sort of project comes to mind. It called for a super-bulky yarn and the linen stitch makes it look nobbly. Let's just say that it isn't a form fitting kind of sweater. When I first saw the pattern, it looked perfect for some yarn that I spun when I first started spinning. It was that beginners yarn that is super bulky then thin then bulky. A friend had given me a pound or so (I should have weighed it when I first got it) of brown wool roving. Well, I thought I could double the yarn and it would be the right gauge for the project. It turns out that it wasn't and I added a strand of a 3-ply worsted yarn I spun out of the Jacob fleece my cousin gave me. The fronts and back took me a weekend to do but then I hit a roadblock on the sleeves. I was going to run out of the original brown yarn. There is no more roving nor does my friend have any more and she bought it eons ago. You can see my dilemma.

My solution was to use some of the light brown in the Jacob fleece (I keep using it for different projects and the amount of fleece never seems to go down!) and spin it up in a similar style as the original brown. My cousin's sheep are rather elderly and their black and white patches have faded to light and dark brown patches. The light brown matched the original really closely which was very surprising. I had to card the fleece and make rolags because the original was roving strips torn off a drum carded batt. Next, I had to spin in a similar style as when I was first starting. Let me just tell you how hard that is! My default spinning style now is a worsted technique and very, very fine. The original was a woolen technique and thick and thin. Trying to replicate my previous spinning style has been teaching me a lot about how to use my wheel to the best advantage. I put the drive on a larger whorl and ratcheted the tension up so it pulled the fiber out of my hands faster and gave me a bulkier yarn.

The project has come to a slight halt because I've had to be prepping the fiber and spinning the yarn as I've been knitting. Hopefully the sleeves won't take too long after I get that yarn spun up. The only problem now is that I think I might run out of the 3-ply Jacob. That will mean I have to prep and spin for 3 singles and ply it up. At least I won't have to be as careful to prep only the light brown locks. I pretty much used everything in the 3-ply. My quick project is taking a lot longer and involving more effort than I thought it would.

Before starting on the sweater/jacket, I just had to knit a Milkweed Shoulder Shawl out of some yarn I had on hand. It is a fingering weight Cherry Tree Hill in the colorway Peacock. I have to tell you, I love this color. Everything about it makes me happy. It is a mix of lovely blues, greens, gold, and a dark fuchsia. Originally, the yarn was supposed to be a pair of Pomatomus and the color pooled quite interestingly in that pattern. Those socks, however, stalled out because I thought I was smarter than the pattern. We all know how that goes. Well, I saw the Milkweed pattern and, lemming that I am, I had to make it. After perusing the stash for possible yarns, I remembered the languishing Peacock.

This pattern is perfect if you want a very simple lace project. It is garter stitch and has a very simple lace pattern. It also took no time at all to make. This picture is from when it was unblocked. After blocking, the edges don't curl in the same way.


In other knitting news, I've been taking part in the Single Skein September over in the Stash and Burn Ravelry group. The goal for the month is to use up those single skeins you bought because they were pretty or because you used up everything else in a project. Let's just say that I have a number of those hanging around in the stash. The only problem is that my SSSeptember is turning into Startitis September because I've been casting on for everything under the sun. Let's start with the first project for the month.

I've been wanting to start using my handspun for a while now (see comment above about it taking over the world). So part of my goal for September was to use it in different projects because I usually had only one skein of the handspun. I started by making a pair of mittens out of some Gaslight Dyeworks roving called Wisp. It is a mix of wool, alpaca and different colored sparkle. As it so happens, the yarn I spun up was bulkier at the beginning and the sparkle was mostly blue/purple. By the end, it was thinner and the sparkle was pink. So the hand of one mitten is blueish-purple and the other is pink. In order to make them match(ish), I knit a blue cuff on the pink mitten and a pink on the blue one. I have no idea why I love these mittens so much. I'm not usually a sparkle kind of girl but these just make me smile.




I had enough yarn left over to make a hat and have been doing an inch of blue then an inch of pink. I've kind of stalled out on it, though, because I don't like the way I've done in the decreases. It is a 1x1 rib but the decreases at the top look funky. It would be nice to get it finished before it starts getting cold so I can have matching sparkly mittens and hat (what in the world has happened to me?!).

In the middle of working on those mittens, I cast on for a scarf using some Noro sock yarn I had on hand. I bought the skein originally to make some sort of shoulder shawl but never got around to it. Unfortunately, that scarf has stalled too. I really like the way it has been turning out but then I ran out of yarn in the last inch. That wouldn't really be a problem if I were making a regular scarf but this one is knit diagonally so an inch short means I don't have a corner. Someone on ravelry happened to be selling a skein of the same colorway so I bought it from her yesterday. It's annoying to have to buy a whole other skein but maybe I'll use it to make some matching fingerless gloves and add a fringe to the scarf. Anyway, it's on hold until the yarn comes.

Another project I've been working on, was started a couple of months ago but finished this month. It was a pair of 2x2 ribbed socks made from yarn I bought up in Wooster this past May. I'm going to a fiber festival this weekend and the vendor from whom I bought the yarn will be there. I really wanted to finish them because I wanted to show her what I made from the yarn. The yarn base she used is fantastically soft and squishy. If she has more this time, I might have to break down and get another skein. I did remember while I was knitting the socks, however, how much I hate ribbing. You knit on it forever but the socks don't grow in length. Well, anyway, it's nice to have another pair of socks to add to the rest of them.


Speaking of socks or rather fingering weight yarn, I've completely lost my mind. Like other sock knitters, I've been saving the leftover balls of yarn for a while now. Well, I started working on a sock yarn blanket a couple of days ago. For someone who hates weaving in ends as much as I do this is insanity. INSANITY. I've been using (kind of) the pattern from knit me a river. The only difference is that I've been using Judy's Magic Cast On so I don't have a hole in the center that I have to sew together when weaving in ends. In order not to kill myself with sewing in ends, I've been zealous about doing it the second I finish one. I've also been casting on for another square the second I finish one. When I have enough knit, I will weave in the tail so I only have one end to weave in upon finishing. As of this morning, I've finished 13 squares that will be about 4.5 inches when they are blocked. These things are like potato chips, seriously addictive.


I've decided to do this blanket a little bit like a quilt. I'm going to have at least one outside border of a solid color yarn (probably will have to buy a full skein or two for that). Then, rather than sewing the blocks together, I'm going to have a border in-between squares (see the purple sections on the highly "technical" diagram below). The plan is to pick up stitches along the square edges and knit the last stitch of the border and the picked up stitch together. Does that make sense?
Only time will tell if this idea is insane. I'll see what changes I have to make along the way. This is definitely not a project that I expect to finish quickly.

Well, you made it through a very long post! I'll have to do another one soon to let you know what else has been happening recently.

Excited!

Guess what! I've signed up for a class at the end of April with Judith McKenzie McCuin and Nancy Bush in Indiana. It is going to be a three-day spinning and knitting Estonian Lace class. Can I even tell you how excited I am? I absolutely love the Estonian lace book Nancy Bush just published. Keep in mind, I haven't actually seen the book myself but I love the pictures posted on Grumperina's blog and on ravelry. Hmm, must purchase book before class so I can get it signed. Must also purchase Judith's new spinning book. Hmm, looks like that one is coming out in March.

One lady from town just took a class with Judith in North Carolina and said it was nothing like she has ever done before. She learn so much but it didn't even feel like you were learning, just absorbing information. She also said they spun from 9 in the morning until 10:30 at night with short breaks in between. She told me that the class has improved her spinning 200% and she feels like she can do so much more. I'm very excited!

So at least there is one exciting thing in an otherwise depressing future. Sorry, not to be morose but work has been difficult the last few days. I'll talk about knitting instead!

I've been on a mitten kick apparently. I've been working on that pair of glove/mittens for my cousin. They are mostly finished and are just waiting for their ends to be woven in. I hate weaving in ends with a passion. I have a confession to make. Some of the socks I've finished DON'T have their ends woven in so it is like I have a small sock tail. Really, I'm just lazy.

Drying socks and mittens in winter
(Click on picture for my Flickr picture with notes)

The mitten part of the glove/mittens

And then the fingerless gloves of the mitten/gloves

Anyway, back to mittens. When I finished that pair, I decided I really wanted to make a pair of riding mittens. Now, when you ride English, you have the reins going through your pinkie and ring finger and up across your index finger, being held down by your thumb. Regular mittens don't allow you to hold the reins correctly but they do keep your fingers warm. So I decided to keep using the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and make myself a pair. I just slapped on a pinkie from the glove pattern and did the rest of the fingers like it was a mitten. I think my thumbs are a little short but, eh, I can rip them out again and reknit them. The whole pair took me 2 days (!) to finish even with sleeping and other non-knitting activities mixed in. The afternoon I finished them, I broke them in with their debut ride. The horses sniffed the sheepy wool quite vigorously but the dogs didn't really seemed interested. It's possible the horses thought they were going to get treats. Knowing them, that was probably the case.

Mom keeps saying they look like the Lambchop puppet.

I'm now working on a pair of fingerless gloves. Well, that's a lie, I was working on them before the glove/mittens and the riding gloves. I knit a 4 inch cuff on them but then paused to finish the other handwear. I've just gone back to them now. They are Serpentine gloves, a free pattern. Last night, I got through half of the chart as well as teaching myself to cable without a cable needle. (It's lost somewhere or stuck in a project. Guess that could be considered the same thing at this point.) This morning before going to work out I put in another 6 rows of knitting. It's amazing how quickly something can go when you, oh, I don't know, work on it! I can't decide if I want to keep these gloves for myself or if I should be a smug little knitter and put it in the Christmas gift pile. I love the Mountain colors sock yarn I'm using for it. That little bit of mohair really keeps your hands and/or feet warm.



Oh, did I tell you about the felted mittens? Ever since the LYS had a class on felted cabled mittens I've been really wanting to make a pair. I didn't take the class but I got to see all of the lovely results. So I bought (I would use stash yarn but I don't have any feltable stuff that would work) some Cascade Tweed in a brown. See, I've also been dreaming about making a pair of those mittens in this yarn. I could just see them in my mind. When the unfelted mittens were finished, I tried them on and started laughing hysterically. These things were HUGE. I mean, going down to your elbows kind of huge. I felted them once and the mittens came out slightly smaller but not much. Yesterday morning, I threw them and some other things I wanted to felt in the washer and went to work. When I talked to Mom later, she said they were the perfect size. I never thought that would happen. They just seemed too big! I'm going to give them to Mom because I never really wanted the mittens for myself. I just really wanted to make them. Ah, the lure of cables, bobbles and mittens. It was too strong to resist.

I also knit a small bag out of my Jacob handspun for the spinning wheel. I'm hoping to put all of the little accessories like the plying tool, wpi tool, oil bottle, etc into it and hang the bag on the wheel. This bag is also supposed to be felted but the first felting run only made it get fuzzier and a tad bit smaller. I also plopped the bag into a pot of dye Mom had going in order to dye some of her shirts to a light blue. Her dying attempts didn't work out well so I used the rest of the dye. I wasn't expecting much change to the color of the yarn because the yarn is so brown but parts are lighter brown. Those parts did pick up dye and the whole thing has an almost bluish-grey look to it now. I'll throw it in the washer whenever I have another load of towels and sheets to do.

Apparently I've just been a hive of mitten-making and felting activity! I really should finish the Hey,Teach! (aka Hey, Librarian!) I put down back in October. Hmm, wonder if I can catch a sweater making bug. But I really want to make the Lily of the Valley shawl instead. I have just the right yarn for it. . .

Full Moon

You know what they say about full moons? That everything crazy happens then? That is definitely true in libraries. It always seems like a day or two before and after are the zone of insanity. Strange patrons and even stranger problems come up. If someone has fines, they throw a hissy fit to end all hissy fits. Strange requests are made for things like tax forms from 2006. Strange things happens to people's common sense. (And if this kid doesn't leave the desk I'm going to start screaming) People get stuck in the elevator prompting calls to the front desk like "Hi, it's the elevator. I have people stuck in me." In short, it's always a "fun" time to work. I've just about reached my limit for it tonight (and my limit for the video on a loop promoting a program in November with Amazing Grace-like music playing ad nauseum). I'll just think about knitting (and mentally scream) until all of this is over.

I finished the pair of socks I mentioned last post. They are a Riverbed sockitechture from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. Have I mentioned how much I like that pattern? It really fits your foot well. The garter stitch toe worked out nicely. It's funny though, without classes, it takes me longer to finish a pair of socks. With class, I could finish a pair in a week. Now, it took me 12 days to do it. This was even a plain vanilla pair!

Right after binding off, I started another pair, Clessidra from Knitty. This pair of knee-highs have been on my to-knit list ever since it came out in the Spring 07 issue. I went out and bought the yarn (actually the same brand as the pattern used! that never happens) right after I first saw those socks. I'm using Regia Silk Shine in navy. The shine is extremely subtle and catches the light every so often. It should be really interesting to see how it highlights the cables.

The pattern is clearly written but last night I just couldn't get it to work in my head. You work these from the top down (not my preferred way of doing socks) and have 4 different cables as well as seed stitch and stockinette stitch panels all going on at the same time. So I did something which is probably just making it more complicated. I charted everything. All of the different cables and panels are now next to each other in the correct order. I think this probably says something about how comfortable I am using charts versus written instructions.

Another thing I'm doing with these which is probably complicating the process is I'm working them 2 at a time on circs. The pattern was written for DPNs so there are instructions for how many stitches should be on each needle. I'll just ignore all of that. It will probably take me longer working them at the same time but it is more likely that I will actually have a finished pair in the end. If I did them one at a time, there would only be a small, small chance. Here's hoping I can finish them by the end of October. . .

Sock Meme

Hello All! I've been so lazy recently that I haven't really looked for my camera to take pictures of anything on which I've been working. I haven't processed any more sheep fuzz recently because I've been working on some gifts.

One of my coworkers is a little depressed right now so I wanted to do something to help her. When in doubt, I say, knit. I was trying to look through my stash and see what yarn I had on hand and what could be made. I settled on using some Buckeye Blast sock yarn I bought a while back and a shawl pattern called the Ostrich Plume Shawl (Rav link). Hopefully Sue is a fan of the Buckeyes! It is pooling a bit around the shoulders but I think there will be a nice chevron pattern further down the triangle. The pattern is SUPER easy and can be made with any weight yarn.

The only problem with the project is that I usually work on the project when I'm at lunch and Sue is usually there, too. I want to surprise her completely so I had to find a different project for lunchtime. This means I've cast on for another project because I'm nothing if not fickle. This one is a Chickadee Cowl with some of my own handspun. The linen stitch of the cowl makes it absolutely fly. I've already got a couple of inches in and will probably be finished next week (saying so will jinx the project though). I started using the handspun (100% merino in an aran weight in the Broken Hearts colorway) for a 1 row scarf but didn't have enough yardage for a good scarf. This cowl is a perfect solution and I really like the way the stitch highlights the handspun.

And now, for some more fun, a meme for you. I've seen this one making the rounds and thought it would be fun to do.

Sock Meme

When did you first learn to knit socks? Probably 2005 (all of the years run together)

What's the first sock you ever knit? A bed sock top-down pattern from one of those weekend knitting sort of books. All I remember about the pattern was that the designer had you do 3 rows (not all together) of purling at the top of the ribbing on the outside of the sock. It was very strange. I think the purling was to "help keep the sock up." That was definitely not something I continued doing after that first sock.

Favorite Sock Pattern? My plain vanilla toe-up stockinette socks though I've really fallen in love with Cat Bordhi's sockitectures especially the Riverbed one.

Favorite needle method? 2 circs

Favorite sock needles? Anything with sharp tips

Who do you knit socks for? Mostly me.

How many pairs have you knitted to date? No idea because I usually forget to count the ones I've given away.

What is on your sock knitting to-do list? Play with the Flat Feet I just bought at the yarn shop.

What kind of socks to you like to knit-
Striped? only if is self-striping
Colorwork? not as enthused but willing to try at least once
Plain Stockinette? definitely
Cabled? cables = addictive substance
Lace? lace = more addictive that cables
Anklets? not a first choice
Knee Socks? I've made one pair and keep dreaming of all the others I'm going to make but never seem to get around to it.
Solid colors? only if I use an interesting pattern
Bright and crazy? of course! In fact I'm wearing a pair right now that is bright orange, red, pink and yellow.
Faux Fair Isle (the yarn doing all of the work)? yup though I don't really have any in my stash anymore

I'm not going to tag anyone but, if you are interested, let me know if you fill this one out!

delayed post

**This post was written last week but for some reason I never posted it. Enjoyed the belated fun!

I've been knitting pretty steadily since last weekend but most of it has been Christmas gifts so you'll have to wait a couple of months to see the pictures. I'll just say that I absolutely love the one gift though I've made 1.5 extras of it because my gague was way off the first time around (and then the third time around which was just plain annoying). Then I started knitting some things which could be pictured because they are not gifts for anyone. Dishcloths!


My work has a silent auction (usually) twice a year. I knit these up the past couple of nights and am going to put them in the auction. Someone's daughter already knit up a bunch for the staff breakroom and I know people really like them. They are so super easy, fun and addictive. Must stop knitting dishcloths. . .

I've also picked up my February Lady Sweater again. It started languishing at the end of July for no good reason. If I had kept at it, this sweater would have been done in 8 days. Now, however, it will be done in a month + a few. Recently, I've been having a bought with startitis which results in many, many works in progress. It also produces many knits which sit in the corner being neglected. I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on this one in the next couple of days.


I love this lace pattern! It is so simple that I don't have to look at it at all and I don't have to follow a pattern which is really good for knitting during the Olympics. Chart knitting and/or counting while watching engrossing TV is usually a bad combination.


The morning light made the yarn look much more purple than it actually is. The earlier pictures of my project page show it much more accurately. I love working with this yarn! It is O-Wool Balance, a mix of cotton and wool. Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves it. . . .
Knitted items on the ground/me/the couch/any flat surface seem to be kitty bait. You put it down and *poof* kitty appears. I swear that she was nowhere near me before I put the sweater in the grass to take a picture of it.

Tour de Fleece time!

The Tour de Fleece starts today and, oh yeah, some bike thing does, too. The whole concept of the Tour de Fleece is to set goals for yourself and work to achieve them. If possible, participants try to spin everyday, July 5th - 27th, which is the length of the Tour de France. On the 23rd, the last hard climb of the bike race, the spinning participants are supposed to challenge themselves by doing something difficult. The last day people are supposed to wear yellow, the color of the winning jersey.

I have a few different goals for the Tour. My first goal is to spin at least once a day for 10 minutes or more each day while the Tour lasts. I have plenty of fiber in the stash and am really looking forward to using some of it. Looking through my flickr pictures, I realized that I have about a quarter of the fiber stash not actually recorded in the blog/flickr/ravelry notebook. Ooops.

Another goal for the Tour is to break out my new lace flyer and bobbins. Can I even tell you how excited I am to spin lace? Spinning lace has been a goal since before actually learning how to spin. It happily coincides with my recent lace knitting binge. (I don't think that it is a bad thing that I have a different shawl for every day of the week.) In order to swap bobbins and flyers, I had to finish spinning up the tencel/merino roving I had gotten in Maryland. Yesterday afternoon, I finished plying it and washed it. The weather has been so wet recently that it wasn't dry yet this morning.

Yesterday afternoon, I prepped the Finn roving and started playing around with the lace bobbin. It definitely took me a lot longer to get comfortable with my tension and drafting for lace. I'm still overspinning but hopefully that will even out. This morning, I serious attacked the project and am moderately happy with the first results. It reminds me a lot of my first yarn, very thick and thin (well, as thick as lace gets), but I'm happy with learning a new goal.

The Tour has definitely inspired me to pull out languishing projects and start using up roving. I finished spinning up some merino I got from CJ Copeck a while back in the Cowgirl Chic colorway. I started it on the drop spindle while at the Equine Affair back in April. Now I just need to pull it off the spindle and ply it up.

I also pulled out the other drop spindle I bought while in Maryland and started spinning up the sparkly silver roving I got the same weekend. Let me tell you, this drop spindle is soooo nice. I've decided that I really love working with it. Tuesday, I started spinning the sparkly roving while walking around the July 4th fair seeing what there was to see. (The new low of fair food is fried coke. What will they think of next?!) Yesterday, I was spinning during the entire July 4th parade. It seems to be much easier for me to drop spindle while out and about. At home, I just use the wheel instead.

All of this spinning makes it sound like I haven't been doing any knitting. Well, I've been doing a tiny bit. Mainly while at the bar with high school friends in town for the weekend. That definitely requires simple knitting so I've been working on baby bibs and dishcloths. So far I've done 4 of the Mason-Dixon washcloths and 1 baby bib. I also need to work on a pair of socks which have been languishing since October. The recipient is going on a Scandinavian cruise and I feel like she will need wool socks. So that means finishing them before the 13th. Hmmm, 7 days, I think I can do that.

Yes, I'm still here

I've been AWOL for a while with no good reason. Well, I guess my reason is that I am lazy and get distracted easily. So here we go with a little update.

Last weekend, I flew to Maryland and met up with friends in St. Michaels, Maryland.

I can definitely understand why it is a tourist town. It was so beautiful and we had great weather. A highly enjoyable time and it was great to catch up in person with everyone. **ETA: Oh, yeah, I found a yarn shop on the main drag of town. Of course, some yarn came home with me. I'll take a picture of it soon. It's hand-dyed by a woman in town and is a pretty purple with metallic. What is with me and the sparkly stuff?

The only problem with the weekend was that my flight home was delayed so I spent more time than expected waiting in the airport. Luckily, I had my knitting (ha!) and was able to finish a project. This is the Queen Anne's Lace Shawl (rav link). I finished it while waiting in the airport and finally blocked it on Friday. I'm actually wearing it today at work and it has been really well received.


Having finished with it in the airport with 2 more hours of waiting and 1 1/2 hour flight to go, I had to create another knitting project for myself. I had a drop spindle and fiber left but I really wanted to knit. Luckily, I had all of the parts of the QAL pattern, my needles and enough leftover yarn from the first shawl. Of course, that meant I was starting the shawl (with a cast on of 8 stitches) with a 60 inch circular needle. Magic loop anyone? I got pretty far with it and, once I got home, I spliced on another ball of yarn and kept going.


On this second shawl, I did a couple of things differently. The cast on and first 30 rows or so were on US 4s. Then I changed to US 6s. The plan is to then change to US 8s for the last chart or two in order to have a really lacy outer ring. It should be interesting to see the differences in size from one shawl to the other.

In other FO news, I finished a burp bib from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I really liked this pattern. It was so simple to memorize and you could knit it without thinking. It also looks really pretty. I don't know what was going on with this picture but it actually is a rectangle with completely straight sides and top and bottom. Who knows what happened. Crazy camera and grass.



Next up, fiber! (Like I don't have enough!) I saw a note on Yarnzombie's blog about her opening an etsy shop. Well, you can't let something like that pass you by. You have to click "Add to Cart" as soon as possible. Then you get something wonderful like this in the mail the next day.


Ah, WISP, I love you. I thought I liked you in the picture but that was just a lie. In person, you are better. Much better. Your different metallic colors and soft yellow roving are beyond words. I've found another batch of roving which is almost too pretty to use.

I think I am going through a shiny metallic period. Four purchases within the last 2 months have shiny bits. Hmmm. And look what Jacki threw in the package! Cute! I think I love the bronze.

And here are some more pictures of pretty roving.


While I was taking pictures outside, Lily just sat on the brick walkway thinking that I was a foolish, foolish human. Doesn't her expression say just that?

Her left eye looks really strange in this picture. I think my camera was having a very off day.

Cute!

My friend was married last weekend and luckily it was the perfect weather for an outdoor wedding. We've been having unusually cold temperatures but on Saturday it was nice and warm with the sun shining. Isn't her wedding cake adorable?!



They got married on a farm (complete with a tractor ride down to the reception!) so all of the cookies surrounding the cake are farm animals and tractors. Adorable!

In knitting news, I've still been working on the Stash and Burn challenge of reducing my stash. Currently, I've been working on the Queen Anne's Lace shawl though I put it aside temporarily for another project. And that project is the Hemlock Ring Blanket by brooklyntweed. I had some 2400 yards of thick and thin Cherry Tree Hill in the color, Green Mountain Madness in the stash from a yard sale last year.

It has quickly knit up to this blob.


If you want a fast blanket pattern, I highly recommend this one. I started it on May 25th and am already close to being finished. I think though, I am going to add a number of plain knit rows to the bottom just to use up some more yarn. So far I've probably used 600 yards so I am definitely not going to run out anytime soon. It is a perfect mindless project but with a little bit of lace to keep it interesting. I'm expecting to be able to finish it in the next day or two.

Where does time go?

I can't believe it was the 12th when I last posted. Between then and now, I've a) cast on for a new pair of socks, b) put the socks aside because I fell in love with another lace shawl, c) blocked a different shawl which I haven't posted about here because it is a surprise, d) had tons of people stay in the house over the weekend, e) cast on for that new shawl, and f) rode the horse a bunch (he's thrilled about that one). Here is some pictures of the new shawl.


The pattern is called Queen Anne's Lace (ravelry link) and is by MMario. Now, I absolutely love the flower, Queen Anne's Lace (my horse loves it too but I think that is because the plant is a cousin of the wild carrot). The delicateness of the flower is so pretty and I like the legend of it. There is a red flower in the center of all of the white flowers and, supposedly, that red flower is a droplet of blood from when Queen Anne pricked her finger while making the lace.

This is the first circular shawl that I have made. Other than the fiddly-ness of the center and making sure that I didn't twist those stitches, I'm enjoying it. This pattern sometimes has things happening on both even and odd rows. Because it is in the round, you don't have to purl at all. It's definitely a different type of shawl for me and I'm definitely going to have to do more of this designer's patterns. Someday I'll get back to those socks. . . .

When I was taking pictures outside, Lily tried "helping" again. There is something about knitting that she really loves and, of course, she loves being in the way. She prefers any blankets made out of yarn (though polar fleece does have a strong appeal for her) to those made out of cloth. The little cat will also spend hours curled up on a shawl or, while I was organizing my stash, on top of skeins of yarn. She found that she REALLY liked alpaca yarn. I would come into the room and find her with each paw on a separate ball of alpaca, kneading it and looking very zoned out.


In closing, the Dame's Rocket are coming out! I love this time of year because the hedgerow and the woods behind the house are filled with it.

Some more spinning and lace

First off, awwwwwwww, isn't she cute?


Yesterday, I washed and set all of these skeins of yarn that I spun up. The brown yarn is from a gift of roving I received in November (or was it October?). It was a trash bag full of roving and I made approximately 858 yards of worsted weight yarn from it.


I'm trying to finish all of the spinning I started on my borrowed wheel. There was a bit of a time crunch because I'm returning it this week. I'm happy to say that everything is finally off of the bobbins, set, and stored in archival photo boxes on one of my shelves. I would have it hanging all over the place but the amount of yarn might scare my cousins and aunt who are coming to visit this week.

Next, instead of cleaning my room for the impending guests, I blocked a shawl. This is the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits. I made it out of fingering weight rather than laceweight so this shawl is HUGE.



I ended up having major problems with this simple pattern because I kept running out of yarn. On the last chart, I eliminated the first half of it so there would be enough yarn to make the ends into tips. Then, on the bind off, I ran out of yarn again so I ripped back a few rows and tried again. It was a fast knit but all of the issues I created made it take much longer to finish.

And finally, here is the fingering weight yarn I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool. Isn't it pretty? Those colors are pretty true to life.


Yesterday, while closing the yarn store, I cast on and, by the end of the evening, had this much.


I can definitely understand why so many people have made this pattern. It is a completely thought-free knit which will look great when finished.

Lookie! Pictures!

I got my act together and started uploading pictures! Because, really, who likes a blog post without pictures? :)

First up, impulse purchases. I should not be allowed to go anywhere near anything small and cute in craft stores. That is how I ended up coming back to work with these little guys.

Tiny pots! With tiny bulbs in them! Cute!!!! OK, I'm finished now. I'm trying to grow them at work. We will see if this works. Sometimes I really have a black thumb.

Now we have some pictures of the BSJs. Aren't they cute, too?


Here is the blue one in the middle of the folding magic that is the BSJ. One second it is this blobby mass. . .

Then you start to fold it. . .
And *poof* jacket!
Here is a blob in progress.

On to the next project! The Forest Canopy Shawl in Copper Penny. Here is the skein (the flash gave it a rather pinker hue). I kept meaning to take a picture of it in the natural light but I kept forgetting and then was too impatient to wait to cast on with it.


Seconds after I took the picture of the skein, I cast on and, by the time I went to bed, had a couple of inches done. Guess that is what happens when you start on a Buffy and a Bones marathon. (Hulu.com has the entire 1st & 2nd seasons of Buffy and just put up the entire 1st season of Bones. Ah, hulu, you must stop (but don't really) because it is getting detrimental to my getting to bed before midnight.) Anyway, this next picture is a couple of days later.


Late last night (darn you, hulu), I was nearing the end of the shawl. Now, keep in mind that I flew in the face of common sense and knit the shawl without any lifelines. Crazy, I know. Especially crazy when you realize that you have 9 rather long rows left to do and only have enough yarn to do 3. So, at 1 am, I ripped out one 7 row pattern repeat very, very carefully. I picked up the stitches and decided, upon consideration, that it would be smarter to go to bed than to try to finish the remaining 9 rows.

So this morning, I finished knitting and bound it all off. It took a bath in woolwash and I stretched it out to block.


I didn't take any pictures of the blocking process because my room is such a disaster area. Remember me posting a picture a while ago about the disaster I call my fiber corner? Well, now it is NOTHING in comparison to the rest of the room. After next week, I'll have to go something about it.

Back to the shawl, I'll take some FO pictures of it tomorrow or the day after. All I can say about it is that I am completely in love with it. The copper/fall colors of the yarn are wonderful! Tricia at Earthly Hues did a great job. The shawl took me only 4 days to make. The pattern is great because you can make it out of any weight yarn. You just choose the needle size you like for a lacey look and do as many pattern repeats as you want. I can't wait to show you the pictures.

This evening, I realized that mom was having her church circle over tomorrow night. Normally that would not present a problem but it does this time. Tuesday is the edible book festival at my practicum library. Edible books, if you haven't heard about it, are edible pieces that represent books or book titles. This is an international event will people all across the world making books from food on or around April 1st (April Fool's day, hehe). My book is going to be Pompeii by Robert Harris. So I'm making a volcano out of round Devil's Food Cakes stacked on top of each other. Then, in the top one, I'm going to be putting a shot glass with a jello mixture that will foam out when you add lemon juice. I definitely couldn't bake the cakes in the middle of the church circle tomorrow so an extra task was added to my evening of finishing homework. The cakes turned out extraordinarily RED didn't they?

I'll take pictures when I start putting them together after the meeting tomorrow. It's so exciting!

In another sidenote, have you ever listened to a radio station where it is like they have reached into your head, found your favorite songs and favorite types of music, and started playing them? A new station came to the area and it is like they know exactly the kinds of music I will like even if I had never heard the artists before. For a while tonight I was listening to playlists on iTunes then I switched to the streaming audio on the station's website and it was like nothing had changed. I had never found a station before that was such a good match for my tastes. Interesting.