last minute photos

Of last minute gifts! At least Rich’s hat got done relatively early. I worked on it the weekend I was in Cleveland with Cosy. Originally I had gone through my stash and was going to make it green and brown. Then I realized those are two colors he cannot see very well (they look very similar, I guess). So instead I made an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby, since I have no yarn shop, and bought the yarn right in front of him. I think it was store brand. He seems to be pleased regardless of my struggles.

For my Florida sister, I made this little zippered pouch. It’s from Weekend Knitting; the pattern is the Felted Stash Accessories Bag by Leigh Radford. I used stash yarn, mostly Brown Sheep Company Lamb’s Pride, which has always been a favorite yarn of mine. When I first saw it in my first real yarn shop, I fell in love with their colors. Ever since I’ve loved singles.

Putting the zipper into this was a challenge. In fact, my mother did it on Christmas Eve. I had never done it before and neither had she. Maybe in the future I will attempt a zipper again, but with fabric, not felt.

christmas knitting still!

Surprisingly I’m getting my Christmas knitting done. I have two more projects that are about half finished; one is a pair of fingerless mitts for Rich’s dad and the other is the scarf I started months ago for my mom. That is the one I’m thinking of wrapping incomplete. Cheryl says it’s okay! Otherwise I’m making good progress.

I dyed some more fiber, using up the last of my BFL. Must reorder again. Perhaps in the future I ought to buy a larger quantity. These two balls are 6 ounces each. I wanted to follow Cosy’s lead and try spinning 4 ounces and then plying 2 of different colorways. They both contain a bit of the same blue. It’s so hard for me to ply a yarn with another yarn rather than plying it back on itself. I like to keep things pure. But besides the option of interesting color combos, I’ve decided I’m getting tired of winding all that yarn into a center-pull ball!

questions to myself

Is it cheesy to wrap up a half-finished present and give it to someone for Christmas? I thought I’d have the chance to do my own knitting with all this spare time on my hands since I’m not concentrating on the sale, but I was wrong. Apparently there are only, um, 2 weeks until Christmas? oops. And I have some special orders to do, which means I get to make OTHER folks’ Christmas presents in addition to my own. I suppose I  could have said no.

But after the holiday is over, what am I going to do?

This yarn I purchased in September while at the Knit One birthday party. I’d like to get started on another sweater in the new year. It looks like the “Button Me Up pullover” was my primary choice.

I really dig Zephyr Style patterns though. So far I’ve never tried any of them – I’ve just been pining from afar. “Glee“  and “Ms. Marigold” are two favorites – love the minimal seaming on both of these. Nothing says I can’t do all three!

What else? Strangely enough, I think I want to play with crochet a little more. It was fun to add it on items here and there. Seems like lots of knitters are dabbling in crochet also. I learned when I was 11 or 12, but it didn’t inspire me like knitting does now. The funniest thing? My favorite part was winding the yarn into balls. I used to rewind the yarn from one ball into another, even though it was unnecessary.  And I used to comb my cat’s hair back and forth between the two brushes. What did I think I was doing? Who knew I’d end up here?

christmas knitting: GO!

Now that the cardigan is officially complete, I couldn’t wait to get started on my next handspun project, especially since this one is ALL handspun. As I mentioned a few days ago, I am knitting the Handspun Scarf for my mom’s Christmas present (no worries, she will never read this).

I just began working on it yesterday, so I’ve only gotten through one and a half repeats of the pattern. But it’s looking like it will work out fine. My major issue is with the yarn, not the pattern. I knew from looking at the yarn, that it wasn’t “even”, but I had no idea just how uneven it was! I am worried that all the obnoxious imperfections are very noticeable in the fabric. Maybe blocking will help? I do like seeing the colors come out, something I am fascinated by in using my handspun yarn. That’s one of the main reasons I would like to do more knitting with handspun, even though I still don’t.

christmas knitting and experiments

This year I’ve decided to knit my Christmas gifts. Yes, I suppose after 3 years of knitting it’s a bit shameful that I haven’t already been doing this. I have no excuse. Why now? Because I’m poor and I have a sizable yarn stash. I think it makes sense. Thus far I’ve decided what to make for my mom and my sister. April – the sister – lives in Florida and will be getting a bag, this one, in fact.

Mom lives in Ohio and will wear just about anything I make for her while telling everyone she meets that HER DAUGHTER made it (she’s my PR representative). For her I will make the Handspun Scarf (ravelry/nonravelry) by Monica Gomi. I printed the pattern quite some time ago and when I came across it yesterday while cleaning the Fiber Den, I thought it would be appropriate. For the scarf I will be using my handspun Strings of Jade, which ended up 220 yards – I think that’s my most yet out of 4 ounces. It could have been a little more even, but it’s acceptable. I’m excited to see the subtle color changes as I knit.

As for the experimenting, this two photos are the outcome of a lighting set-up that I tried this morning. Again, cleaning the room yesterday turned out to be a major boon. Some new space was made available that works well as a small photo-taking corner. I had a 300 watt bulb that really made a difference over the 60 W bulb. I’m pleased with the results. I knew that with winter quickly approaching, hours of good sunlight would become scarce. Cheers. Problem solved.

And the yarn is called Rhinos at the Disco. It’s my Columbia locks, handdyed and drumcarded. I also added a bit of Firestar while carding – also an experiment, actually. I spun it thick and then, then plied it with button thread and seed beads.

meeps indeed!

I knit? Yes I do! A few months ago (January), I made a little square monster for Johanna’s birthday gift. Wednesday she asked if I would make two more so she could give them to friends in need. So, yesterday I dug around in my odds ‘n ends and pulled out a couple yarns to work with. I knit these two little Meeps last night in no time at all. The eyes took considerably longer. One will be going to Bulgaria.

These photos were taken in the office. The light in there is super and the color looks fantastic. I wish I could bring in all my stuff and photograph them there. Plus the bookshelf in the back makes a good background.

dye day

Now that some of holiday fervor has died down, I’ve been able to get back to fun fibery stuff. This morning I dragged out my Lanaset dyes, BFL, and my notebook. I’m determined to record what I’m doing! If not, how can I replicate something I really like? Total I dyed four lengths of roving and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I took Cosy’s recommendation regarding mixing and muting. I had a hard time coming up with new color combinations, but I like them anyway.

My secondary goal of the day was to dye wool for a new hat and mittens to go with my new coat! Yesterday at Ann Taylor I found a brown wool coat that actually fit me just right. The sleeves aren’t too long, the belt is at my waist – it’s perfect. Plus it goes with my scarf, it’s just that nothing else does.

I might make this one into the mittens.

I’m thinking of using this for the hat.

For Christmas, Rich gave me this very nice umbrella swift. He had to get the wooden one, so it would match all my other wood tools and equipment, even though the plastic one was cheaper.

what else did i get?

The rest of my birthday went fine. Unfortunately it tends to snow a lot and ruin my plans, so we didn’t go out for Japanese like we’d planned on Sunday night. I opened the rest of my gifts though, along with eating some cupcakes. Sunday morning I decided on a whim that I wanted a cake for my birthday. But since I don’t really like “cake”, and I didn’t want to buy one at the grocery store, I made cupcakes instead. Cherry chip with cream cheese frosting (the only kind I like).  I dusted them with snowflake sprinkles.  

As for gifts, from my parents I got Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi with two circs and sock yarn (packaged by Knit Picks); also Vogue Knitting Vol. 3: Colorwork, which I am returning due to its uninformativeness. All it has in it is charts! What if I need help and guidance actually KNITTING WITH MULTIPLE STRANDS? The only instructional photos they had in the back were about doing yarn-overs!  The best gift was from Rich. He gave me a set of three throwing axes. Now I have my very own set that I can become acquainted with. I won’t have to wait for weapons to become available when I want to throw and I don’t have worry about someone else banging them up. Isn’t he thoughtful?

(Photos to come)

I’ve been plodding around the house toting my wheel along with me – into the living room, into the bedroom. I want an excuse to take it with me somewhere. 

instead of doing homework (again)

My sweater vest yarn arrived from Knitpicks yesterday.  I’m still not sure what color I will dye it, but it will probably end up green (like all things tend to do).  In addition to the yarn, I bought this zippered hippo carrying case. I couldn’t help it! I have a weakness for containment vessles. 



As of this moment I have no idea what to put in it. Maybe this weekend I’ll get to the dyeing.  I also bought a large casserole dish so I can paint/dye larger amounts of roving and spread it out better too.  Due to time constrictions (and homework), I haven’t put it to use yet.On Saturday it was Sweetest Day. Yes, I know. Who cares? I wasn’t expecting anything because I don’t really consider it a “holiday” of any importance, but I was surprised by these adorable stitch markers!  Nothing says love like heart-shaped stitch markers.



PS. I made it to 600 hits!