Sleevy

I decided to dig out the yarn I'd gotten to make DP a sweater all those years ago, and found that the sleeve I'd made was missing! I tore apart the entire fiber closet, and was on the point of giving up, when I discovered it at the top of the closet behind the drum carder.

So, at least I have all the yarn :) Now I'm not sure if DP will actually wear it, because his skin has become even more sensitive over the years.

I finished the featherweight! It's blocking right now. I ended up with a lot of yarn left over, so I could have actually made the sleeves full length rather than bracelet length, but it's cool. DP suggested that I wait to give it to my sister until after the twins are a bit older...but if I wait, I may end up with it myself :)

Now I have to decide what to make: a sweater for DP, a sweater for my best friend's upcoming baby, a sweater for my mom, or a sweater for me. I have all of these on the brain, along with spinning and Christmas/Hanukkah bazaar presents. Eeep.

I got the Mabon shipment from the wheel of the seasons club I joined - an ounce of dyed silk caps in sort of a rainbow-ish colorway, leaning towards autumn. I was thinking of knitting up some wristwarmers for myself or DP from the unspun caps, since my cap spinning is not the best, and I want to actually make something and not just think about it.

I also dug through the sock yarn bin, looking for the next sock installment. I'm thinking of some plain stockinette in muddy autumn rainbow STR. DP loves plain stockinette socks. Or maybe stockinette with a traveling eyelet - he loved those socks to death. I should really finish my darning before making any more socks, but I don't know if I can! Maybe I should take the darning to my sister's house...?

I bought Circle & Bloom's fertility series yesterday (you can guess why), so I'm going to start today. It can't hurt, and I think it might help. I'll report back. At least I had a 20% off coupon.

Knock out!

The cardigan is done, save for a blocking and buttons! It's soaking in the washer right now.

Huzzah!

It's a Yorkshire kind of day

It's cold and rainy, and I have a cup of Scottish breakfast steeping. I'm just about to sit down and read Wuthering Heights - it's just that kind of day.

DP has been very sick the past week - stomach sick, fever, chills - but he seems to be a bit better. I'm letting him sleep, and the rain on the roof makes good white noise for him.

I'm excited for the next mystery sock clue; here's what I have so far:



I really like how this yarn is knitting up. I wasn't sure about it at first, because it has a firm hand, but I like the stitch definition. We'll see how it wears.

I'm also working on my Smaug socks, which have now been dubbed Diamond Waistcoat socks. Here's the toe:



I still need the beads, but maybe I can get my sister to take me to the store sometime. DP's in no condition to go anywhere.

I've also been working on the Uinen sweater, and I'm into the sleeves:



I've finished both fronts and the back,



so I really need to get these sleeves done. I may not actually put buttons on it, depending on the fit. Time will tell...

Once DP wakes up, I'm going to make a seedcake, but I haven't decided whether I want caraway or cardamom...decisions, decisions.

The Professor!

Today is the birthday of JRR Tolkien, and fans all over the world raise a glass to his memory. Right now, I'm in the middle of a good deep mug of cider, but I'll probably raise another toast in ale later tonight :)

When I think of all the different things I've read, and all the ways they have influenced me, JRRT's works are some of the most important. In almost all that I do, I can find reflections to the Silm, or the LOTR, or even The Hobbit. I love his style, his stories, his choice of words, his imagery. If I got nothing else from that long ago, ill-fated relationship in college, I got introduced to Tolkien and his world. Thank you, Brian!

In other news, I did finish most of my Christmas gifts, but I didn't finish the mittens. I had some...trouble...so I'm still working on them. The cowl I made for my brother was too orange, so I made him a green one with Madelinetosh and Cascade 220. He loved the green cowl, but also liked the orange one, so he got both! My other brother liked the scarf I made for him; it was a heathered navy Cascade 220. He actually wore it to work, so I think he really liked it and wasn't just being nice. My aunt and grandma liked their keyhole scarves, and I think my other aunt and cousin probably liked theirs as well; at least, I didn't hear about how they hated them.

Now that 2011 is here, I really want to crank out some more socks for me, DP, and maybe some of the little nieces and nephews I have running around. I do want to finish my Uinen, and I saw a gorgeous sweater on Knitspot that I'll have to make for myself or DP as soon as Anne publishes the pattern. Last year I made several cardigans, but none of them were perfect. This year, I'd like to make one cardigan that fits really well, and one pullover that I can wear with no undershirt (if I'm so inclined).

Forward!

Done, and buttons

The socks are done! DP loves them, since he didn't realize I was making them for him.

I got the buttons from jennybuttons - they're gorgeous, and I think they'll be perfect with the sweater. Little bronze buttons with a hand hammered look...swoon :) I've got to get the back of the sweater finished so I can start on the sleeves. I'm just so excited!

We had a nice snowfall today (it's even better since we don't have to drive anywhere), and we're having a tree-trimming party with my sister and her family. I'm making a big pot of chili, some cornbread and a caramel nut tart for dessert. I have coffee and port, and I'm ready to go. Unfortunately, I have to shovel the driveway before they get here! I hurt my neck and shoulder yesterday - I was moving an upright piano and one of the casters came off, so I had to lift it up and push it on two wheels - but snow waits for no (wo)man, so I'll soon be off to the garage. I love shoveling, but it really cuts into my knitting and baking time.

DP lost the blue fingerless gloves I made for him last year, so I'll have to make him another pair as soon as I can. I have some of the terra cotta colored Madelinetosh DK left, which feels like it will make good glove material. It's soft and a bit bouncy, which I think he'll like. He's able to wear merino and other fine wools, so I'm going to make these and see what happens. It's too bad he's allergic to angora, because my brown angora mitts would fit him perfectly. Sigh!

Snow and socks!

It snowed this morning! I was setting up for a meeting, watching the snow drift down, and wishing I could just be at home. Sigh.

I'm almost done with DP's plain stockinette socks. I have to finish the ribbing and do the afterthought heel, and finis. I'm pretty happy with how the striping worked out, since I didn't really plan for them to stripe at all. The yarn is STR mediumweight in Muddy Autumn Rainbow, and the heels are the same yarn in Bella Coola. The mediumweight gives a good springy sock that's not overly thick, but is nice and warm. I've discovered that DP needs at least some nylon or mohair in his socks, because he just ripped through the koigu autumny socks I made last year. Huge holes under the ball of each foot. I think I'm going to rip out the socks from the toe to the ball, and reknit them in something with some strength. I love making socks for him - he always appreciates and wears them, and he chooses his own colors. Something we can collaborate on :)

I ordered the buttons for my Uinen - little handmade brass ones from an Etsy store. I think they're going to be awesome. I'm tracking them on their journey to me, and they are currently in Coppel, TX. Maybe I'll get them by the weekend!

I'm still trying to work out the pattern for my handwarmers; the transition is tougher than I thought it would be, and I spent two hours screwing around with it to no avail. I think I have to tweak the lace to make the pattern run over fewer rows so the transition isn't as jarring, and possibly combine two transitions to make it work. If I ever finish the dang things, I'll let you know.

I don't know what to do about Christmas...maybe stockings with lotion bars or something? Is it better to give something that people might not like or give nothing, or just give everyone $25 and be done with it?

Back to the grind

All is as it was. Thanksgiving is over - it was pretty fun - and I go back to work tomorrow. Sigh.

I just made these cranberry sauce muffins using the leftover cranberry-orange-ginger relish from Thursday. Super delicious! DP and I each had three in quick succession. I'm going to tell my mom and sister about them, though they'd have to make cranberry sauce in order to have it left over at this point :) I also made a turkey soup with the leftover turkey carcass and meat. It was pretty tasty, though we couldn't finish it all, so I put the leftovers in the freezer. That way, I'll be ready to make homemade turkey pot pie sometime this winter.

I'm plugging away at Uinen, my Sprossling. I'm about a third done with the back. I might finish the back this week, if I play my cards right, leaving me just the arms to finish before Christmas. I love the feel of the fabric.

I also want to swatch for that Thandie funnel neck from the latest Interweave Knits, but I have to wind the laceweight first, and that's about 1500 yards worth. Right now, I don't want to give up valuable knitting time for winding time. I was going to do it last night, but I was so tired I fell asleep at around 10:30.

I haven't really gone out this weekend, which is probably for the best, since crazy shoppers might be about. I'd like to go out and get a Christmas tree, but maybe I should wait until December...I'm just not sure. I don't know how long they last, and I don't want it to be completely dessicated by the 25th. We decorated the basement on Friday with lights and the mini tree, since we were trying to occupy my niece while my sister took a nap. It looks very cozy, and I think it will be even better once we get the tree. Maybe my sister et al will help us decorate!

Sweaters - argh

I realized I have two sweaters "on the needles" right now (even though one is in pieces and not on any needles really). One is Sprossling by Anne Hanson - a great design, and made in pieces. The other is my cardigan made out of Rowan felted tweed - just a simple raglan I worked up. Sprossling I might just put off to the side until I get a few days off, because I can't work on it without checking my notes to make sure I do the shaping right (downside of working in pieces.

My raglan is another story. I've knit this yarn into 3 different sweaters, but never finished any of them. I keep making them too big! I'm not tiny, but for some reason I always make things so big that I can't even wear them. I had this iteration of the cardigan done to about 8 inches past the armscye, but when I tried it on it was about 4 inches too big around and the armscyes were huge! Rather than rip the whole thing out (I cant bear to do the raglan increasing again) I ripped back to the split for the arms and unraveled about an inch or two past. Then I laddered down and put an 8 stitch cable on each arm and on each front to pull in the excess. I tried it on again, and I think it's worked. I'm also casting on a steek and working it in the round, because my other sweater is back and forth and and I need a break :)

Tour de Fleece - day 3

I'm spinning up some black Jacob fleece:



I like it; it's combed top, so I can spin a fine singles easily with few slubs.

I finished the left front of Uinen, so I've started the right front. It's good bus knitting, so I probably won't do too much more of it today.

I'm casting on for my Lembas & Lace swap stole today. I'm so excited to be knitting with my first two-ply laceweight!

Tour de Fleece - day 2

I spun the rest of the Stansborough up:



I'm going to take a break from spinning for the rest of today and do some knitting. Here's the left front of the Sprossling, hereafter named Uinen:



That is, I'll start knitting as soon as I've finished folding the laundry!

Pics and bugs

Here she is:



It is amazingly soft and comfortable. I love it!

In other news, I hate mosquitoes. I'm seriously thinking of luring some bats to my house to cut down on the vile beasts. I can't even weed my garden without being chomped.

I have a pic of the cashmere singles:



Plied and washed, they are the softest, most delicate yarns I've ever made. I'm so excited to knit them up.

C'est fini!

My Zoe Cardi is done! I'm pretty happy with it, though I had forgotten that silk likes to grow when wet :) I should be able to get a picture of it tomorrow. I even had three buttons that fit with it!

It's warm, but the short sleeves keep it from being too steamy, and it's perfect for being in air conditioning on a hot day. I think it will go well with jeans too.

Now I'm need the Grandma's blessing so I can swatch for the Sprossling.

The yarn for the Lembas & Lace swap has now been spun, plied, washed and dried. I finally get to start working on the lace itself. I'm super excited for my scheme: a center of leaves with little openwork that moves to more openwork leaves, and (hopefully) a leaf border.

Exciting!

Almost there

I still have a spindle and a half to spin up - I haven't gotten a lot of spinning time recently. Then I need to ply and finish the yarn, and I'm off to the knitting. It can't be soon enough!

I'm plugging away at the Zoe cardi. I'm so excited for it to be finished! I have about 5 inches left of the body, and that's it. I don't have any buttons for it yet, but that won't stop me from considering it done.

For my next trick (!), I'm planning on the Sprossling sweater by Anne Hanson. I've seen so many beautiful ones, I can't resist any longer. Add to that a ravelry destash of enough yarn for a large sized one, and I'm there. I think I'll actually try to follow directions this time and knit the thing in pieces. This will only be the second sweater in pieces I've ever knit, and I'm a little nervous about the seaming up. I'll just have to take it nice and easy. At least knitting it in pieces will make it able to be brought on the bus!

Sweaters - proof

I was having a hard time getting good pics of Dunkle's cardi for some reason, but here it is:





The color is a bit off, even though I took the pictures outside in natural light - ah well. My sister loved it, and so did everyone I showed it to :) I ended up using the buttons DP had chosen, and everyone seemed to think they fit with the rest of the sweater, so no problems there. For the steek, I decided that instead of tacking it down, I'd use stitch witchery (small strips of fusible interfacing) to keep the steeks from popping up. I had to cut it even thinner, but it worked like a charm. I tried to take pictures, but I couldn't get a good one, so you'll just have to imagine it :)

I'm about 7.5 inches into the body of the zoe cardi; here's a couple of process shots:





I love how it's knitting up, but I'm mostly using it as bus knitting, so it's slowed down quite a bit. I did the neck and sleeve edgings already so that I can use every bit of the yarn I have left for the body. I'm short waisted, so I think that I'll have enough. Webs doesn't have the same color anymore, and no one on Ravelry is destashing it. I could buy a skein or two from a couple of other places, but beside the dye lot being different, I'd have to pay an arm and a leg for shipping. Sigh.

On the book front, I'm waiting for Gates of Fire (it's supposed to be delivered today), a book about the Spartans at Thermopylae. That battle has been one of my favorites ever since I first heard about it (3rd grade?), and after reading this description of the battle on the Silver Key blog, I went to Amazon and ordered it. Yes, I realize that battle and war are horrible, but like generations of people for thousands of years, hearing the stories of brave men gives me goosebumps.

Reading The Silver Key and The Blog That Time Forgot makes me feel almost brave enough to post some of my essays on Tolkien, so you may see one or two in the future.

Speaking of TBtTF, read this entry on Howard and his views of women. As Sam would say, for a lot of people this is an eye opener, and no mistake.

Year of the sweater?

So, I'm working on two sock monkeys for DP's sister's kids and spinning yarn for my Lembas and Lace partner, and Friday I decided to cast on for a short sleeved cardigan for myself. It's the Zoe Cardi and I've already finished the yoke. Now it's just 15 inches of body :) I'm using Cascade Pima Silk in a dark grey color. I bought it a couple of years ago for some project that I can't even remember, and I've tried to make various things with it, but nothing ever really stuck. I love its hand; it's soft and supple.

I realized that this will be the 5th sweater I've made this year - 2 Liesls, my Olympics v-neck, Dunkle's cardi, and now this. For a person who doesn't make sweaters, I'm making a lot!

On that note, I've finished Dunkle's cardi but still need to sew buttons on. I have some buttons that DP chose, but I'm not sure they're right - they may be too bright. DP also told me that he'd try to find an infusion for my button box, which would be wonderful. I'm getting low on fun buttons.

I'm spinning up the fiber for the L&L swap; I have 6 spindles spun up, and I need about 18 more. I'm using my charkha - it's the first time I've used it for a large scale project. It's definitely a different way to spin, especially since I'm used to spinning with the fiber supply in my right hand and the charkha pretty much requires you to spin with the fiber in your left hand. You need a very soft touch.

I also got some Stansborough and some Gotland from International Fleeces. I can't recommend them enough! Beautiful fibers, beautiful packaging and super fast shipping. The Stansborough is the fiber the cloaks were spun from in the LotR movies, and while I have gripes with the movies, I did like the cloaks :) Stansboroughs were bred down from Gotlands, I think, and so I also got some Gotland. I bought a little Jacob because I've never spun it, and when the fibers all got here, I realized they all go together! I have an idea for a shawl using all of them...but it will have to wait until I get this other fiber spun and plied!

So I started the weekend with one project on the needles and one on the spindle, and ended with double that. Not bad for a weekend's work ;)

Another one down

I finished another Liesl! Well...almost :) I still have to choose a button and sew it on, but it's finished blocking and everything. I love it - it feels just like a hug. I should probably learn to use my blog to keep track of progress, rather than just showing the finished projects, but it is what it is. I did take pictures along the way...

Fiber: Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino in Light My Fire.



I'm not even sure why I bought this a year ago, but it turned out to be just what I wanted. I ended up buying another 8 oz to round it out. I turned it into this:



and this:



Which became this, in short order:



and then this:



I ran out of Light My Fire halfway through the arms and had to improvise. I had some beautiful red cormo locks I was going to use, but when I opened up the bag...I saw a bug!!! I'm not sure what kind of beetle it was, but I chucked out the cormo and kept looking. I found the wool/mohair blend I'd spun up after the Sheep in the City festival last year:



I decided it went well enough, and plunged forward. Using it allowed me to make long sleeves (which I actually prefer to bracelet length), and I did one partial repeat at the body hem with the yarn doubled, just to pull everything together.

Here's a blocking pic:



I hope to get a better picture - maybe with me wearing it - once I have the button on and DP is awake to take it.

I'm so happy with this!

Spin, spin, spin

I'm onto another swap project, and so have been spinning all weekend. Proof:



I had 8oz of Crown Mountain Fibers Tobacco Road colorway, and I spun 4 2oz skeins in a worsted-ish weight. I washed them and started knitting last night, so I only got a picture of two of them:



(I had to hold them up to the window to get the last of the natural light.)

I'm making Liesl by Ysolda Teague...and loving it! I especially love that I'm making this for a person who's a smaller size than me. It's like knitting socks for people with small feet - heaven!

I may have to make this cardigan for one or two other people as well. I was a bit bummed that the instructions are very "knit this to fit you" without giving measurements of the item at various points. This is good for knitting for yourself, bad for knitting for someone else. Ah well, it should block to various sizes :)

I'm also very happy with the yarn itself. My last foray into Crown Mountain was the Big Yellow Taxi, which was more Big White Taxi, as there were large stretches of undyed fiber in each batch. The Tobacco Road is very saturated, and I'd love to buy more of it if it's still available when I have money to buy roving. Either that or buy another color :)

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.

Argh!

Almost a month between posts. Sigh.

I decided on Tuesday that I wanted to make my mom a sweater for Christmas. She wanted the Leavened Raglan in white, in a silk/wool blend. I bought 20 balls of Plymouth Royal Silk Merino, now discontinued, to make it.

Well, I finished both sleeves and the front. I have 318 grams left to make the back of the sweater, and the front weighs 302 grams. I think it will work! I'm on pins and needles here, because I'll need to make the collar after I assemble the thing, and I'll need to seam it up. I'm going to use another yarn for the seaming, so I may have just enough to get this thing done. Eeek!

I haven't started my swap project yet; I really need to get through Christmas before I can do another big project. I did order something from Etsy for the package, and it came. I can't post about it until I mail it, but it's just lovely.

The wedding and the Hawaii trip were great, but the trip was too short. Got there Thursday evening, left Monday afternoon. Sigh. I'd love to go back - the weather is so nice, and there are no horrible bugs!