must. make. mittens.

I did it AGAIN. Yes, AGAIN. I waited until the last minute to beef up my stash of mittens for the Holiday Craft Show. Can we just pretend that planning that wedding took up all my free time?

For the sale this year, I’m not doing any neckwarmers. They were too confusing for most people. In place of those, I was hoping to get some tea cozies made, with the pot included. However, I have pots but no cozies. We’ll see how that ends up…

Another change to the status quo is the type of yarn I’m using. The first few years I purchased white commercial yarns and dyed them before knitting simple ribbed mitts. Gradually, I’ve incorporated handspun yarns and different styles of mittens. This year I don’t have any of that first style of mitt and most are made of handspun. I will also be using some undyed fiber and recycled sweater yarn.

And here are some of my most recent pairs of mitts. The middle pair was knit two at time and finished in one day! I’m excited about that accomplishment.

tom’s favorite mitts.

Apparently Thomas has a favorite pair of fingerless mittens.

It began when I left a pair in progress on the couch and came back to find him using the ball of yarn as a pillow. He had been resting his chin between both balls, but then adjusted to favor the blue-green one.

Then, after I had finished knitting the pair, I brought out the stool to take photos. He joined me.

Or perhaps he just wanted to look out the window.

lone bobbin

Hasn’t been a fiber-filled summer, that’s for sure. I think I’ve been spinning once a month for the past 2-3 months. Rather shameful, I’d say. In fact, I’ve actually been spinning on my Ashford more than the Kromski since the latter was packed in its backpack since the beginning of July and the Ashford is sitting at Rich’s apartment.

I’ve finally unpacked the Sonata even though I’ll probably have to pack it up again pretty soon. It is a traveler after all. Anyway, I had purchased some funky wool at Pennsic – left overs from a yarn machine. Dyed it (also something I haven’t been doing much lately) and carded it. It ended up extremely lumpy, so I’m curious to see how it plies.

These are also my wedding colors. In fact, I have several skeins around the house that are blues and greens. hm.

flip-top mitts

Every year I sell fingerless mittens at Christmas, people always ask about those convertible flip-top type. They go from fingerless to full mittens – BAM! And I always say, “yes, I should do that! Maybe next year.” A year goes by, nothing happens. I don’t think about mittens in July. Well, I didn’t really think that much about mitts this summer either, but I decided to try the flip-top mitts anyway. It was interesting. For next time I need to make the edges overlap just a wee bit more. Buttons and loops to secure the flap, and we’ll be done! Except I have to make the other one to match. That’s the hardest part!

a shop update

It’s on the small side, but I haven’t updated the Etsy shop in several weeks, so I thought something was better than nothing. I’d like to get back into spinning and dyeing, but right now Rich and I are busy getting his apartment ready for another occupant. Also, we were on vacation, and not fully unpacked from that either. Most of the wedding planning is done, but we have lots of other things to work on. For instance, finding a new bed, getting his wedding ring, me packing my stuff. Basically the big day is TWO MONTHS away. Plus I’ve been working late this week. So, I hope to keep doing fiber stuff, but I make no guarantees. And that’s a quicky update on my life!

What are the new goodies?

Each is 4 ounces of Brown Sheep Company combed wool top

pink pouch!

Three years ago I met Lydia primarily because her daughter, the Wee E, crawled into our camp at Pennsic. Happily, we’ve become really great friends. However, we only get to visit for two weeks once a year. I can say with confidence that she has made my Pennsic experience so much better! Well, last year Eleanore had a lovely pink cloak and pink gillies. So when I dyed and spun a skein of pink yarn, I had to name it in her honor. The yarn was spun bulky weight (4 WPI) from combed Romney top. I was really happy with that skein and listed it in the shop for a long time, but no one purchased it.

Then I found out that Lydia had been wanting it! I brought it out with me when I came back for the second week. She asked if I’d knit something for her, so I made this little woolly pouch. Success! I’m glad to know it has a happy home, plus it’s the most productive thing I did the entire week!

favoritest mitts ever!

Is it just me, or do you fall in love with your projects? I think I’ve brought this up before in regards to yarn. I find that I will knit something and think, “this is the best _____ I’ve ever made!!” And it will be admired for a time before I knit the same thing again and say, “THIS is the best ______ I’ve ever made!”

Well, this time the fill in the blank is mitts. I seem to make a lot of them. Prior to my current favorite, I was mad about these embroidered peach mitts from January. It was very exciting, adding the details and using handspun.

Just this past weekend I finished a pair of fingerless mitts that are my new favorite pair. I knit them using a yarn I spun when I was going crazy for long-draw. The beautiful handdyed wool locks came from Neauveau. It’s Merino, something I generally avoid, but as locks it’s really fun. I love the texture on these and the way the colors made little blocks. Also, they don’t particularly match.

shop update

I added a few more braids of the Corriedale lambswool from the Great Lakes Fiber Show. There are six total, which is all I have! Also, don’t forget to check out the Sale section. As items get close to their expiration date, I discount them a few dollars.

we’ll see how that goes…

Where I’m at right now:

1.) This summer I’m planning a wedding and planning for Pennsic.
2.) To save money and clear it out, I’m trying to use up my stash and not buy more fiber.
3.) And, as it has been mentioned before, I’m NOT a great multi-tasker.

What does this mean for you, the reader, friend, and customer? First of all, I’m not sure how often I’ll be updating my blog in the next few months. We’re planning to get hitched in October, so that gives me 4-ish months to make the arrangements, which I think is completely doable. Speaking of, I hadn’t planned on talking about it here, but if you are interested I could drop a few details on occasion.

Second, using up my stash means odds and ends will be for sale including… LOCKS! That’s right. It’s been months since I’ve had any locks available. But I just bought that Tunis/Lincoln/Cotswold fleece and have the whole thing washed (Power Scour rocks!). In fact, I dyed some yesterday:

who’s it gonna be?

Sorting through my yarn stash, trying to choose which yarns will participate in the skein competition this year.

Categories according to the Show’s website include:

class 1	Fine singles
class 2	Medium singles
class 3	Bulky singles
class 4	Fine plied
class 5	Medium plied
class 6	Bulky plied
class 7	Spinner’s choice of fiber & ply
class 8	Novice spinner, 2 ply yarn (spinning one year or less)
class 9	Novelty yarn (ie, boucle, knot, spiral, slub, cable)

Obviously I won’t be in Class 8, but everything else is a possibility. However, anything in the fine department is highly unlikely. And I tend to spin “bulky” almost exclusively… at least by their standards. Yarns I would call medium have shown up in the bulky section at the end of judging, so I’m measuring everything ahead of time.

Previously I’ve only entered two skeins total, but this year I’d like to have a stronger showing. I have singles, 2-plies and 3-plies to pick from, along with a few novelty yarns.

I’m deciding between these three 2-ply yarns.The front two are about 10 wraps per inch, “heavy worsted” and the blue-green skein just squeaks in as a worsted weight.

I also wanted to include a novelty yarn this year and I’ve decided on the green/yellow skein on the right.