knitting, spinning, knitting, spinning

Cardinal puppet, knit for my April moms swap partner.

Spinning- Fiber Optic Honeysuckle Rose #2 merino/bamboo, Yarn Pirate Inky merino.

Knitting- Big Herringbone Cowl. Knit in Malabrigo.

Spinning- Lisa Souza Leaf Pile merino/silk

Gestating- 36 weeks (That was 2 weeks ago!)

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Wrapping Up

In 2010:

I knit 63 finished objects, apparently many of which did not make it to the blog.

Designed 8 new things.  Some of which are still waiting to be released.

I spun 18 3/4 skeins of yarn.

It’s been a busy, but productive, year full of exciting things.  We joined a CSA, I got a wheel, a yarn store opened, and a new baby is on the way (and kicking up a storm).  Here’s hoping 2011 is just as great.

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Stash Enhancement

Yarn Pirate had a small shop update the other day, and I took the opportunity to grab a few things.

First up- Neapolitan Woolies Kit.  Each mini-skein is 1oz.  Super cute!

Next up- Inky roving.  It’s superwash merino.

Culture Club roving (also superwash merino)

Which soon became  320 yards of Culture Club yarn.

And finally, some Lisa Souza 50% fine merino/50% bombyx silk roving that I won on Ravelry for my Tour de Fleece contributions!

I can’t wait to get spinning and knitting!

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Tour De Fleece Wrap Up

The challenge was to spin every day July 3-25.  I did fairly well, only missing a few days here and there.

I spun three different yarns, and had a finished yardage of 1202 yards.

l to r: Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino roving 3 ply sock weight, targhee/merino 3 ply chunky weight, Wild Hare Fiber wool top navajo plied

I’m fairly happy with the way they all turned out, even if I did have to ply the chunky weight twice (first go was way overspun, so I went back and took out some of the twist).  Now to think up projects that will use these yarns…

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Yarn acquisitions and Tour de Fleece

I was lucky enough to catch the last Wollmeise update at the Loopy Ewe.  I snagged a skein of Lila Ludmilla, which is a quite lovely purple.

I’m also doing some spinning for the Tour de Fleece.  Here is my progress so far.

This is a Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino roving.  Colorway is Aqualung!  I spun it at a 12.5 to 1 ratio.  There are 490 yards of three ply, 80 yards of chain ply.  The second pic is a close-up of the three ply.  Turned out pretty nice.

The next two are my try at a worsted three ply.  The turquoise is a little uneven, but the chocolate is much more consistent.  I’ve still got a half a bobbin of the chocolate, and a natural white targhee to spin.  Then I’ll ply them and hope for the best.

And I’ve still got lots of secret knitting going.  Lots.

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Roving, Roving, and a Rave

Roving- Crown Mountain Farms BFL- 4oz.  I dyed this myself using Paas dyes.  I slightly felted the roving when rinsing, but even so, it spun pretty nicely.  Sadly, you can’t make out how vibrant the orange center is in this picture.  To explain-  if cheetos and yarn made a baby that would be the color of this yarn.  I had planned on using this for a pair of shorties, but I cast on and didn’t love it.  I’m thinking I’ll let it sit for a few days and see what happens.  Maybe I just need some scrap yarn for the waistband…?

Next up- Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino.  The colorway is She’s Like a Rainbow, which I made sure to listen to while spinning.  I cannot say enough good things about the roving and the finished yarn.  I did a three ply (courtesy of a ‘home made’ lazy kate- read box with three knitting needles stuck in it) and I love the outcome.  I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but it is so even and feels like ‘real’ yarn.  I have 588 yards and I’m hoping to make knee socks.

And finally, my brother got me an Amazon gift card for my birthday, so I ordered Itty Bitty Toys (and a few other things).  I had read a lot about IBT when it came out, and I love Susan Anderson’s other books/patterns.  I was really drawn to the Noro bear, because a) it’s noro and b)  I thought a bear would be a good introduction to the book.   As with all toys, it was a bit fiddly, but I think it turned out super cute.  Plus, it doesn’t take much yarn at all.  In fact, I made Guinevere with scraps a friends sent after she made a pair of socks.  Guinevere is going to live with a friend who is 8 months pregnant.  I hope she can bring her a little joy.

I’m looking forward to making many more of the Itty Bitty Toys.  H loves the pears and the princess, so I think those are next on my list.  I really like the hippo, so I figure I’ll get around to that one pretty soon too.

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Taking Care of (crafty) Business

I’ve been hard at work drafting up two new sock patterns.

I’m very happy with the way both patterns are turning out, although I wish I had a bigger sock yarn stash (and the ability to knit while sleeping) to knit up several different versions of each sock.  From a pattern picker’s perspective, I like to see patterns on variegated yarns and solids/semi-solids so there is less chance of being surprised when I go to knit.  One will be for sale, the other free.  One has a short-row heel.  Both are top down, but could be converted to toe up fairly easily.

In spinning news, I got a lovely order from Crown Mountain Farms the other day.  I got some of their superwash merino handdyed roving expressly for the purpose of making socks.  I split it in thirds as evenly as I could without a scale, and started spinning.  It is  so, so soft.  It’s also really fun to watch the different colors go on the bobbin (the colors are washed out in the bobbin picture below).

I also ordered some BFL to spin yarn for shorties.  It came white, so I bought some Easter egg dye when it was on clearance.

It went from this:

To this:

I only wish it had a touch more blue.  I guess I didn’t have it laid out quite as evenly as I thought. 

Superwash Merino Hand Dyed Roving

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Fraternal Socks

A quick little post, because I am so excited about my latest finished objects.

Handspun Fraternal Socks

This yarn didn’t sit long.  I had it up on my mantle (with the rest of my ever growing collection of handspun) and it kept whispering at me to cast on some socks.  One day it was too much, so I eschewed all of my other works-in-progress and cast on.  They are lovely.  The socks are super squishy.  Partly because I overspun the singles- so the yarn is super sproingy, and partly because they are heavier than most of my normal socks.

yes, my legs really are that white

Now we are off to Spring Farm Days at World Hunger Relief (this is the farm where we get our CSA), brunch at the pub, grocery shopping, and hopefully a stop at the cheese store.

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Catching Up

Where does the time go?  Here are a few random catch up things:

I finished spinning up the Orange Cranberry Tart roving from Tuscan Grove.

Being a new spinner, I wasn’t sure that I’d love the look of a two ply, so I navajo plied the first bobbin.  I really liked the look of the finished yarn, so I did the second half the same way.  I ended up with two skeins (138 yards and 162 yards) of heavy fingering/light sport weight.

Yesterday, we got our first CSA share.  It’s still early in the season (even in Texas), so this share is a little smaller than the others will end up.  We got eggs, cabbage, chard, spring onions, dill, cilantro, spinach, and kale.

The eggs are really pretty.

And the spinach and spring onions went into one of our favorite recipes last night (chicken with peanut sauce and green vegetables).  The chard is going in a quiche for tonight.

The chard is going in a quiche for tonight.

And, as a final note the entire Buffy series is available to watch instantly on Netflix.

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spinning catch up

Here’s what I’ve been spinning:

Merino, I think, hand-dyed for my by Studio Avenue Six as a swap present. I’m not sure how much there was, but it spun up into 78 yards of light worsted. There is also a smaller skein that I tried to navajo ply.

Tuscan Grove superwash merino in sweet grape bread. 294 yards of sport weight. I think I’d like to make a baby sweater out of it, maybe. Again, there is a small navajo plied skein of 36 yards.

150 yards of heavy worsted chevoit from Homestead Heritage (a local homesteading community north of Waco).

Tuscan Grove superwash merino in the Garden Maze colorway. 378 yards of fingering weight yarn and 60 yards of navajo plied light worsted. This is destined to be sock yarn.

I think all of the navajo plied skeins will eventually work themselves into a blanket of some sort.

I’ve really been enjoying getting to know my Sonata and perfecting my spinning. It helps that H is content to sit on the floor and watch the wheel spin around and around.

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