Well, I'm back.

I've been MIA while finishing this puppy:



My first sweater just for me! It's as scratchy as a sack of cats, but I love it :)

I've had the yarn for more than a year - it was the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm mohair/wool blend that I was so allergic to. I hadn't made anything with it because it was so scratchy and lanolin-filled, but when I saw the Yarn Harlot making a Dale sweater for the Knitting Olympics, I knew what I had to do. I can't believe it went from this:





to this:



in just 11 days. DP loved it, and he said I should make a short-sleeved version for spring/summer. The waist shaping is amazing - it fits perfectly, even though I didn't really tweak the pattern at all.

I also have both bohus wristlets finished:



I ran out of one of the colors halfway through the second mitt. It was probably my gauge that was at fault...since I never swatched! I had enough yarn to finish them, even if the colors aren't quite right. They are so soft and warm that I had to wear them to bed a couple of times. Now I really want to make a bohus sweater!

I also got my Bosworth charkha. Zowie. It's an amazing piece of engineering, and I can't wait to show it to my dad. I haven't done too much spinning on it, mainly because I've been working on my sweater.

I'm also working on socks for DP:



This is Mirasol Hacho in Northern Lights. The yarn is awesome - springy and soft. However the yardage is abysmal. I'm not even going to be able to get a pair out of two skeins of the stuff. I'm going toe up, and the ribbing at the top will have to be something else, once I figure out what will match. DP wants black at the tops, but I actually have no plain black yarn, much less black yarn in the same gauge. The fabric is nice though, and I think DP will enjoy them once they're done.

Back to it!

Correction and ruminations

I found out that the part of the cuff that I thought might have a mistake in it did have a tiny mistake...so at least I wasn't going crazy. I'm almost halfway through the second guld cuff and loving every stitch. Now I really want to make one of those sweaters :)

I'm also thinking about maybe trying to make a regular v-neck sweater for myself. I'm running low on sweaters and the stores have already switched over to spring and summer clothes. I was thinking of basing it on Pink by Wendy Bernard, adding in some stripes at the top to make sure I have enough yarn to finish it. I'll see what I have and what I need to do, but mayhap...

In crazy good news, my Bosworth book charkha may ship next week - eek! I'm so excited to get this puppy. I have some silk/cashmere that I want to spin up, and some bison that I'd like to try to spin without blending. I'll be sure to post pics when I get it, assuming my camera behaves. It's been sucking down batteries lately, and I have to remove the batteries after every photo shoot so that they're not drained by the next time I use the camera. Sigh.

My swap package arrived!

Check it out:



and a closeup of the mitts:



The generosity of a complete stranger is amazing. The work that went into these mitts, and the attention to detail it shows, makes me feel like the human race isn't all bad :) I hope that doesn't sound too mercenary!

My partner even made me 3 knitted bookmarks that I'm going to use for the LotR readalong in March. The sock needle holders will get some use with my second guld wristlet.

Speaking of guld wristlets, here's a process shot of the first one (now finished):



I think the dark needle holder will look perfect with the wristlet.

Hooray!

Out for delivery

My swap partner's package is out for delivery - eek!

Twilight

I decided to make another pair of computer gloves for DP. The crochet ones I'd made last year were looking a bit worse for wear, since he wears them every day. I have some yarn that I spun from a roving I'd gotten from the Loopy Ewe. I bought it because it reminded me of twilight in summer:



He didn't want fingers or a thumb, so that he could have full movement of his fingers while typing. I decided on the easiest type of mitts, the ribbed tube with a slit for the thumb. Cast on 32, rib 2x2 for 20 rounds. Next row, kfb, kfb, rib to end. Rib 2 rows. Next row, kfb, k1, kfb, k1. Rib 2 rows. Move 3 k stitches from beginning of row to end, and work back and forth in rows 13 times. Then start working in rounds again for 13 rows. Bind off with Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off.

I think they turned out rather well:



and



The nice thing is that they are tighter in the wrist than in the palm. It gives wrist support without binding the movement of the fingers in any way. Not bad for a day's work!

Generosity

Someone was extremely generous to me today - I'm always floored when that happens.

In other news, I printed the shipping label out for my swap package and scheduled the pickup. Hooray! I was beginning to treat my shawl like a silmaril, so I'm glad to get it out of my house. I really hope my partner likes it!

I also discovered that the chai mix I get from Trader Joe's can be made with water, not just milk. I don't know why I didn't realize that before, but I'm happy I discovered it today.

Tomorrow I'm going to see The Turn of the Screw in opera form - crazy! I'll let you know how it is. I'm never too optimistic with modern opera: The Picture of Dorian Gray, anyone?

Slipping away

Here are the slippers in their finished form:



and



(You can see the leather sole patches I put on them to keep them from being too slippery. Thank you Renaissance Faire leather workers!)

I'm planning to mail the package out tomorrow, if I can find someone to take it to the post office. Hopefully, my swappee will get it by Saturday or Monday.

I'm slowly working my way through the guld wristlets (go to the Bohus Stickning page and they should be on the top). They're not really complicated to knit, but you need to keep an eye on where you are in the chart. It's not really the best bus knitting, but I have to keep busy :) I may end up trying to finish them as an Olympic project - I plan to do a lot of Olympic watching, and I'll need something to work on during all that TV watching.

Other than knitting, there's nothing new. My health issues are still not resolved, but that's nothing new. At least they don't interfere with my crafts!