Is it Time to Knit Yet?

Spinning: Something Old and Something New

I finished up some more handspun yarn.  This will be filed under the Something Old category.  This is the Dew on the Moab Desert colorway.  It only took me a day to spin and ply and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  There is a couple hundred yards and it is pretty much inconsistent in it's weight so I'm not even going to try and guesstimate it.  I didn't do much with this in the way of finishing, just messed with the plunger while washing and then snapped it out a few times before laying out to dry.  So what should I make? I'm thinking maybe a little hat for The Baby, but I'm still undecided. Any ideas?

The second yarn I have is my Something New.  It is BFL in the Joshua Tree colorway from  Spunky Eclectic.  It wasn't the most thrilling fiber I have ever seen, but as I got more and more of it spun up I became more and more in love with it.  Isn't it lovely?!  I did a 2-ply yarn and it is probably dk weight, not sure as I haven't bothered to check it yet.  I got maybe 200 yards or so out of it which was weird, I thought I would get a bit more than that.  I think it has been so long since I've been regularly spinning that I've forgotten what I should be getting in terms of yardage.  Anyway, I love it.  I have no idea what to do with it though.  I think I'll just keep it on my desk here and oogle over it some more :)

Stripey Scarf

I finished this scarf while at SnB the other night.  I can't even believe I made it to SnB as it has been a lot of months since I've been!  It was fun and my plan is to keep going.  I know I need the time away from the house :)  Anyway, the scarf.  I picked up the yarn at The Wool Cabin last week because it was the only thing different that wasn't sock yarn that caught my ey e.  I figured it would make something cute for The Baby and I was right.  I casted on about 20 stitches and starting knitting, and kept knitting.  I ended up with a simple garter stitch scarf that changes colors a lot, and I didn't have to do any work.  What could be better?!  It ended up about 56 inches long and 4 inches wide.  So there you go, that's just one thing you can do with 2 balls of this yarn.

WIP Wednesday

Might as well, right?  So here is my newest Work in Progress.  I'm planning on it being a cropped cardigan for The Baby.  I just separated the body from the sleeves and joined the body.  I think I might have already screwed up though - I only used two stitches for the edge and I don't think that will be enough to put a zipper in.  Oh well, I'll figure something out.  The yarn is Cotanani, a wool/cotton blend from Mirasol yarns that I picked up Three Wishes.  Isn't it great?  I love how it looks kind of like faded denim.  It should be pretty cute when it is all done.

I also have some more handspun that qualifies as a WIP, since it is getting a wash and hasn't been whacked yet!  This is the stuff I was spinning in my last post.  It went very quickly!  It only took me about 2 hours to do the spinning and then less than an hour to ply.  Hopefully it doesn't look like it didn't take very long when it is done ;) 

That's it for today, I have a cute FO to show tomorrow and now I'm off to choose and prep some more fiber to spin!

Spinning: Something Old and Something New

Since my friend Eva pushed me to start spinning again, it's like I've instantly become addicted again.  Spinning is getting much more attention than knitting now, and I'm already very excited again about all of the possibilities.  I've decided to try and get some of the old stuff spun up while also getting some of the newer stuff done too.  Today I have old and new!  The new is the finished yarn that I did not such a great job on.  The fiber came as a surprise present from Eva (she's so sweet!), who got it from this etsy seller.  It is very pretty stuff, but different from what I'm used to spinning so that's my excuse for not getting it as nice as it could be.  Anyway, I will use it for a scarf of something for The Baby.  It's about 100 or so yards of a bulky 3-ply.

The old is some stuff I got at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair in it's first year.  It is from Judy's Novelty Wool, a colorway called Dew on the Moab Desert.  I've already gotten half of it spun and the other half should be done today too.  I had 8 ounces of it originally, the other 4 went to make my Energized Socks.  This batch will be different as I plan on doing a 2-ply.  I'm also planning on something for The Baby with this yarn. 

I was cruising blogs yesterday and I had to laugh when I saw Yarn Harlot's post from yesterday.  Look at her yarn she made - is mine not very similar?  Mine is definitely more yellow than green, but I thought they were otherwise pretty darn close to the same.  Kind of funny and weird.  Anyway, that's it for today, have a great day :)

Good and Bad

Let's start with the good.  I told you about the stranded sock I was knitting - well I frogged it because it was too small.  I wasn't in love with it either.  So I ripped back to the ribbing and started a new sock.  I'm now doing the Baby Cable Rib pattern found in Sensational Knitted Socks.  The yarn is what is good.  It is some self-dyed Knitpicks Bare that I did a while back.  I don't like the actual knitting of the yarn all that much, but look how pretty the dye job turned out!  I like it a lot :)  There is also more good.  Eva gave me a much needed nudge to get off the pot and start spinning again, so I did.  By the way, check out the pretty orange yarn that she made from some roving I sent her!  She did a fabulous job!  Anyway, I did get to spinning and here is where we move on to the bad.

I dyed this roving using some purple and chartreuse dyes.  I thought it might be pretty funky but still cool when I started in on it.  It soon turned funky, but very uncool.  This turned out to be some crazy weird yarn, don't you think?  I'm not sure if it is perhaps the fugliest yarn ever, or if it might just be okay knitted up.  It's okay if you think it is fugly, you can tell me.  I know!  If there was a 'You Spun What?!' blog, this would probably be a perfect candidate for a post.  Thankfully what I'm spinning now is much nicer, though it wouldn't be hard to top this yarn now would it?
   

Cables and Corrugations

I have a new pair of socks to show off, surprise surprise eh?  As I told you about these before, they are the Cables and Corrugations socks from Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters.  I know I have said it before, but this book is great!  And if you don't have it by now, well something is wrong with you ;)  I have knit at least 6 pairs from this book, maybe more (I don't know off the top of my head) and I plan to knit a few more from it too.  There is just something about this new-fangled way of creating socks that I really, really like.  Anyway, let's talk about the socks.  I did them with a different gauge than the pattern in the book called for, using 46 stitches to start with.  I had to change up the cable chart a little bit in order to accommodate the lesser number of stitches.  I ended up having to do more arch increases than I had calculated too for some reason, but in the end after some frogging and some more frogging, it all worked out.  The heel is still a little weird and I don't know exactly why, but the important thing is that they fit now!  So here's the stats:

• Pattern - Cables and Corrugations by Cat Bordhi
• Yarn - Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway Monsoon from the 2007 sock club (took me long enough to knit them right?!)
• Needles - US Size 2 1/2
• Took me - 5 days

I have also started a new pair of socks, wow huh?  I'm trying to use up some old self dyed yarn that has been lingering in the stash for far too long now.  The pattern is one of the Four-Stitch Reticulated Patterns from Sensational Knitted Socks.  So far I think they are pretty neat, crazy, but neat!  I'll give you a sneak peek before they are done.  That's all I've got for now - have a great day!

I guess this is WIP Wednesday

My latest and greatest project on the needles is - you guessed it - socks!  I'm doing the Cables and Corrugations socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters book.  I've had to make some adjustments due to my cast on number.  I basically changed the cable chart to make the cables less stitches and the stitches in between less as well.  I also had to rip out the first sock when I faced the music and decided it really didn't fit.  Too bad that was after I was all done with it.  Anyway, these are pretty fun to knit, and since I'm using size 2.5 needles and Socks that Rock mediumweight yarn they are going very quickly.  I should be done with these by the end of the day!

In other news, it is The Baby's last day of school today.  I can't believe we made it through the whole year!  It was pretty fun overall, but I am sure ready for a break.  We will be going back to the same school next year with the same teacher and I'm sure she'll have an even better time.  So we get to go see her graduate and have a potluck lunch.  I just need to stay on track so I don't mess up my progress in the weight loss department! 

Have a great day!

Bloggiversary and FOs

So my Bloggiversary has come and gone (it was on Saturday), and no I didn't miss it, I just wasn't prepared for a post or anything.  So Happy Bloggiversary to me!  I kind of can't believe it has been 3 whole years of blogging for me!  I know I haven't done a great job of it lately, but life happens and I just haven't gotten into the swing of making a new me and knitting at the same time, let alone blogging. I do want to thank all of my readers for joining in my blog-life for the past three years, so Thank You!!  To celebrate I will show you some finished objects.  Don't mind the shaggy hairdo please :)

• Pattern - Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty.com by Veronik Avery
• Yarn - Pagewood Farms Bamboo sock yarn, Butterfly colorway - 1 skein
• Needles - US Size 3
• Took me - 3 1/2 months  - procrastinator!
• Comments - I love this scarf.  The pattern was easy to knit and memorize, and since I put it down between almost every pattern repeat I didn't get bored with it.  I love that you can use a variegated yarn and not lose anything from the lace since it is so simple.  I kind of wish I had more yarn to make it longer, but it is a decent size at about 70 inches long.

• Pattern - One Skein Scarf from The Happy Hooker
• Yarn - Rowan Tapestry, just over 1 ball
• Hooks - 9 and 10
• Took me - An evening
• Comments - I'm not very good at crochet.  I think I did the starting chain too tight because it kind of curls when held up at one end.  The stitches on the sides also don't match up exactly, but oh well!  I like the yarn and I do like the scarf, it will do just fine :)

• Pattern - Seamless Hybrid from Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann
• Yarn - Karabella Majestic, just over 10 balls
• Needles - US Sizes 5, 6, and 7
• Took me - Way too long!  I didn't even write it down in the project notes.  I just know I started it soon after I finished my first EPS
• Comments - I would recommend this sweater to anyone!  It was pretty easy to knit but kind of exciting once you get to join the body.  It is a neat way of constructing a sweater and I don't think it will be the last one I make like this.  Of course, as always, the sleeves ended up too long even though I tried my damndest to get them the right length.  Such is my life ;)

So thanks again for reading and looking and commenting, and I hope to have another great year of blogging fun!  Have a great day :)

Marina Piccola Socks

They are done!  I finished them last night just before bed.  Aren't they pretty?!  I really, really love how they turned out.  I have to admit though, by the end of the second sock I wasn't feeling the love for the actual knitting of the socks anymore.  I guess it was just too many stitches and make one purls and make one rights that got to me.  I do love the socks though.  Maybe if I wasn't just knitting on these socks and nothing else, I mean taking breaks from the socks, I might not have gotten tired of doing them.  And who knows, maybe I just got the plain old Second Sock Syndrome?  At any rate, here they are in all their glory :)

• Pattern - Marina Piccola by Kate Gilbert
• Yarn - Socks that Rock lightweight, not sure of the colorway but I think it is Stonewash, almost 1 whole skein
• Needles - US Size 2
• Took me - 5 days
• Comments - I wasn't sure of what size to knit, Kate gives you a nifty chart to figure it out using your foot width and stitch gauge.  She says that the pattern pulls in the sock, and it does, and to knit with more stitches than you usually would.  I still ended up with a 65 stitch sock and I like the way it fits just fine.  Great pattern!

Work in Progress

I've been working on the Marina Piccola socks, not as quickly as I did my last pair, but here and there whenever I can.  I just finished the gusset decreases on the second sock which is going a lot smoother than the first.  Now that I have done the pattern repeat a few times it is a lot easier to not make mistakes.  I love how they are turning out and I think I picked the perfect color! 

I'm having an itch to buy more yarn.  Why?  I don't know, since I have plenty of yarn available to me right here in my home!  I guess it is time to go do some stash diving and rediscover all of the treasure that I do have. 

I swear I will get some pictures of finished scarves and a sweater today - yes I finally blocked the Seamless Hybrid!  I've been busy trying to keep to my new house cleaning schedule and driving around town to find a bike for The Baby :)  Stay tuned for pictures of FOs!