Alright, so both Cosy and Christabel did this and now I must as well. Cheers!

1. What is your first name? Gwen
2. What is your favorite yarn? Bulky singles
3. What was the first thing you made with yarn? Ugly squares
4. What is your favorite color? Yellow
5. Which crochet or knitting designer do you have a crush on? Zephyr Style
6. Favorite handmade gift you have received? A Cosy scarf
7. Dream project? Argyle sweater vest
8. Favorite notion? Stitchmarkers
9. What will you crochet/ knit next? More socks
10. What do you love most about yarn? Variety
11. One word to describe your craft. Minimalist
12. Main inspiration to craft. Because I can

1. Québec en couleurs! 10 000 views! wow thank you!, 2. Merino Bulky Singles, 3. Just ugly, 4. Fly me to the Mooooon…, 5. Rusted Root One, 6. …wrapped up (11/365), 7. Argyle Sweater Vest, 8. AnthroPoMorphCo drinky-poos JUMBO stitch markers, 9. what ees zees thing?, 10. choco*choco*choco, 11. Painful backache, 12. Because I Can

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

So, I signed up for Summer of Socks 2008 because I never sign up for anything. And now I know why. It’s because I can’t keep on any sort of schedule or make myself knit things when someone tells me I’m supposed to. It started on June 21 and I just finally got around to starting my first sock of the summer. One of my goals was to do something more than just stockinette or ribbing, so I went looking for a pattern that I could handle without being overwhelmed. I like cables, so I ended up with BFF Socks by Cookie A. I think I mangled that first little cable increase. The slant is going the opposite direction of the rest of the cables. blerg. I like it anyway.

Other socks I’d like to make include one made with handspun and something coarse and bulky that would be more like a woolly boot than a sock. Another sock pattern I want to tackle is the Twisted Tweed Socks by Schrodinger.  One of the pairs I make will be for my mum since I haven’t made a pair for her yet. I figure socks are a good project to take to Pennsic because they don’t take up a lot of space. I’m thinking about adding the magic loop method to my sock making repertoire also, you know, options and variety. Just to say I can.

I’m so please with this yarn. It’s part of my “spinning finer” series and the wrapping in plastic wrap and microwaving experiment. I’m feeling more comfortable spinning fine, but that dyeing method didn’t quite do it for me. I do enjoy these colors immensely, but it didn’t really do what I was expecting. All the colors still blended together. 

100% Bluefaced Leicester
Handdyed using Wiltons icing dyes
Spun from these

Bliss. Handspun BFL, 166 yards, 11 wpi

My second yarn is also a 2-ply, but it couldn’t be more different from the one above. I spun it ultra-bulky and willy-nilly on the Country Spinner. I couldn’t keep focused on it long enough to spin more than a few yards, so once plied, it ended up only 15 yards. The best part, it is 3 wraps per inch! How awesomely hilarious is that? It consists of assorted natural wools (including Bluefaced Leicester X Border Leicester; Romney; Shetland; unknown wool).

 
Death by Chocolate. Handspun natural wools, 15 yards, 3 wpi

And to finish up the day, Fuzzy Booties! They’ve been done for several days, but I didn’t get to photographing them until this morning. Unfortunately the second bootie is slightly smaller than the first and I haven’t decided if I will make a third. I’d know, you know? I still have the hat to make.

Again, two unrelated subjects. First, I wanted to share this dress:

I bought it on Etsy last summer but never had the chance to wear it. It was looking like I was not going to have a chance to wear it again this summer, so I decided to wear it to work for no particular reason. It’s so much fun and definitely that weird old 60’s fabric that doesn’t feel quite natural. I can’t believe how perfectly it fits me either. I think vintage clothes work better on me than modern clothes. Were all the women petite? Did they not think everyone was 5′7″ and 105 lbs? Sensible, I’ll say.

Photos taken by Billy.

And next, check out these adorable buttons I had made! I want to specifically thank Laura who designed the graphics since I can’t make things fit in a 1 inch circle. Thank you so much Laura!! They were made at purebuttons.com and were really affordable. I wanted them to put in my etsy packages for a little something extra. So go buy something and you’ll get one!

This is my biggest shop update yet! Nine hanks of roving. Wow. That was a relatively long and dull process… adding all of those to etsy. It gets rather tiresome near the end. All of them are either Falklands or Corriedale; most at 4 ounces, though two are less and one is more.

Here is a small selection of the nine. From left to right: “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream”, “Anthropological”, “Turkish Delight”, “Vintage Rainbow”. Please hop over to the Etsy shop and take a look. Thank you!

Greetings, faithful viewers! I’ve started a new aspect of this little blog, suggested by none other than Richard, Mr. String, himself:

What to do with all those little pieces of string?

You will see in the navigation bar at the top of the page, “Got Bits of String?”. On that page, I have started compiling a list of various ways to use those little bits and pieces of string that we find around the house, end up with after a project, etc. I am requesting that each of my readers contributes at least one way they have found to use small pieces of string. Please leave a comment there, here, or in my inbox.

Thank you for your input!

Summer storms! Random and abrupt. Also abrupt: the postal system! I spent the morning knitting a wee baby booty that didn’t end up so ‘wee’. Eh, babies grow, right? And after lunch I went out to find two packages on my doorstep. One containing yarn for Knit Picks that I will neither be using nor enjoy post-knit. The other box contained four pounds of top from Hello Yarn; 2 lbs Corriedale, 2 lbs BFL. I started with the Corriedale and split one pound into four 4 ounce hanks. While I was working on that, my order from R.H. Lindsay arrived, packed in a beer box, no less. That was 2 pounds Falklands top, which I split into 4 ounce hanks also. In total I dyed 2 pounds today. The most I’ve done in one day!! I needed to do this, since I haven’t updated the shop in quite some time and everyone seems to prefer the spinning fiber rather than my yarn.

I dyed these using three different techinques. Four were done on the stove top (hot pour, suppose) with lots of water in which to slosh around. Two were done by putting them in a casserole dish and baking them. Two were done in a crockpot. The last crockpot batch is still cooking as I type this. I had a difficult time choosing colors. I see lots of orange.

With Pennsic quickly approaching - 36 days/2 hours/45 minutes/8 seconds - my priorities are shifting, which is why I shared that tunic a few days ago. I’m thinking not so much about knitting and craft sales as I am about fixing wayward garb and filling my wardrobe with hot weather friendly garments. Lately I’ve been heading in a slightly new direction or at least a more tailored look. I saw an illustration in a program of a woman standing at a cooking fire. She was wearing clothes very similar to what I like to wear, except she looked better.

Usually I wear large baggy dresses because it’s easier than making things fitted. However, it isn’t very flattering to my figure. Also, the fabric shifts around a lot and I’m always fidgeting with it. The veil I’ve been wearing is a rectangle - actually called a headrail. It constantly falls off the back of my head and the tails are always falling over my shoulders into whatever I’m working on.

Using the illustration as a guide, I made a new dress that laces in the back to make it more fitted. I also made a new two-part veil, one part being a tube that gets tucked under my chin and one part being a circle that pins to the top of my head. It might actually stay on this time! I’m quite excited to try it out in a few weeks. I’m hoping to get at least one more fitted gown finished before Pennsic, but I also need to sew a few more sleeveless dresses and overdresses so I won’t die of the heat.

Lady Genevieve at Squire’s Castle, March 2007.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think I am backtracking as far as my knitting capabilities are concerned. So many of my current projects are not getting finished; not just abandoned out of boredom, but frogged from frustration. I feel like I’m knitting quite regularly, but not getting anything accomplished. Nothing to show for my efforts. 

The mug cozy was started 3 or 4 times, but eventually given up on entirely. Sometimes projects make me so mad, I don’t want to make any attempt to finish them. Sometimes I find things half done that were completely forgotten about. I found the feather and fan test swatch this morning. It’s only a few inches long, but I needed the yarn for my weaving project, so I bound off, leaving it a useless 6 or 7 inches.  The cardigan, on the other hand, was rolling along really well. I got so much done in such a short amount of time. However, now I’m to the sleeves and it’s really annoying, not to mention I don’t know what I’m doing - when to decrease? So, it’s been stuffed in a bag and left for now.

On the Kromski loom I’ve got this little wooly scarf that has been laying around for months. Ok, maybe not as long as I thought. The photos were uploaded in September. You’d think in 8 months I could have finished it. But no. It’s annoying me too. I hate the way the color has turned out - you can’t see the warp threads at all! And my edges are really bad. Now I’ve got something else in mind and I want to get it off the loom. Do I cut it, ending up with lots of short lengths of string and a short, useless “scarf”? Do I rush through just to get it done? Or do I let it wallow on the loom and never get anything else accomplished? 

Well, I brought the loom to work with me this week. While gallery sitting, I’m going to get the stupid thing done! I want to wash it and see if some of the annoying parts are lessened.