Back in the saddle again

Well, I broke down and got the Crappy Cardi back on the needles. I've decided that if a good washing doesn't fix that stupid dark band around the middle, I'm going to over-dye the entire sweater with dark blue.

So, I've been working the "chain-cable" up the shoulder, and it's really fun. I'm knitting back backward across the "wrong-side" rows, and knitting it together alternately with the front and back. . It's a lot easier to show than say.

I'm almost to the point of working across the back to make the front lower than the back, and I'll be done! With the knitting, anyway. I still need to sew and then cut the front steek, and the side slits. Then I need to come up with an edge. I'm thinking I-cord.

The whole dark band thing is still getting me down. Maybe I'll shoot off a plea for help on Knit-U. I keep worrying that I'll dye this thing blue and then it'll just be a purple sweater with a dark band of purple in the middle.

Well, I'm almost done with my newest sock. Just a few more rows and some grafting, and this sucker's done! I've been working on the 2nd sock of my hand-dyed yarn, and I've got about 3 inches done. But it's in the car, so there's no pic right now. Maybe later.

There's no new spinning, but I've swatched my Blackbird yarn.

This is pretty amazing for a few reasons.

Firstly, I very RARELY swatch. I think it's a waste of knitting time that could have been spent on actual knitting. And of course it's boring. And the few times I have swatched, the actual project gauge turned out different than the swatch anyway.

Secondly, this is only the second time I've actually knit my handspun. Believe me, I've got plenty of handspun yarn around. So, the fact that this yarn moved me to actually knit it is pretty surprising to me. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's destined to be a hoodie much like Rogue. I had actually bought this pattern once, but my old computer crashed, and took my pattern with it. But I think I saw a recent Elsebeth Lavold pattern in Knitter's magazine that I like too. Anyway, I'll hone in on one here pretty soon. Oh, yeah, and I guess I'll need to spin the yarn too, huh?

Happy Mother's Day

Firstly, happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. No one but we know how much work goes into making sure the next generation is not a bunch of worthless yahoos running rampant and wreaking havoc. The world owes us big time.

Well, I've taken a "sabbatical" from the Cozy/Crappy Cardi. Its future looks bleak.
It's still needle-less and sitting in a basket in my "re-modeled" wool room.


This is my "most improved" corner. I added this second book shelf to house my knitting & spinning books and my Spin-Off collection. The other (unseen) shelf has my dyes, my extensive collections (I've had subscriptions to these since 2000) of Knitter's, Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, FC Easy Knitting (now Simple Knits), INKnitters, and Creative Knitting (new magazine 2005). This along with my "non-knitting" books. I hung some handspun on the flower hooks and called it good. I did rearrange my fleeces, but I'll have to show you those another day.



Look, I even did some spinning! Remember Blackbird? This fleece is insanely soft. But it's also "rustic", with clumpy tips and some really short staple lengths. This translates into nubby "textured" yarn. But I'm spinning this softly and plan on making a plain sweatshirt-type of sweater which will show off the unusual texture. No chance of messing up the dye lot on this one! I'm still experiementing with my twist & tpi, so I'll let you know what I end up with.

I accidentally left my sock at work over the weekend, and I needed some small, mindless knitting to keep me occupied during a nice family trip to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Buena Park on Saturday.

This is some stash Regia Stretch knit on size 1 needles and 56 stitches. I'm not sure how many inches around it is, but I'm hoping the stretchy yarn will help me out. I'm really loving the colors of this, and it seems to be moving along fairly quickly for some reason. Anyway, I think I'll alternate between my other sock & this one to help stave off mind-numbing boredom. Oh yeah, and I still have the Viking Cardigan at work. I'm still hoping on getting that one done by this Winter.

Well, today I ordered a Woolee Winder for my Symphony as my Mother's Day present, so I'm pretty excited about it. I spun up Blackbird on the Symphony, and I just love spinning on it. The wonderfully smooth treadling and the big gorgeous wheel just make it so enjoyable to spin on. From what I hear, the Woolee will make it even more so.

Would ya look at that!

Today there is no knitting. Cozy/Crappy Cardi is still NOT on the needles, and I've done like 2 rows on the sock.

I do, however, have this....

I've now got 2 skeins of that oilslick/dragonfire yarn. They don't look exactly alike, but I think they'll work for the hat I have planned for them. I've got a bit more roving to spin up, and I'll be ready to knit.

But here's something REALLY interesting. Remember that wonderful Fiesta Heaven yarn I got? That wonderful, one-of-a-kind, hand-painted beautiful stuff?

Look at this:

The roving is what's left of my oilslick/dragonfire roving. Pretty cool, huh? I'm taking it as a sign that the Fiesta was meant to be mine, and that the handspun will be just fine.

Check back with me in a few weeks...

Tragedy & Drama (the usual stuff)

The beginning of my latest chapter in the saga of the "Sweater Loosely Based on the Cozy Cardi" (herefore after known as "CC" for Crappy Cardigan) starts on an unusually high note. This should have been my first indication of the disaster to follow. I was off on Friday, and this is how I spent my afternoon:


Ahhh, yes. Just me, the boys (running rampant and keeping out my hair for the most part), the CC, EZ's Knitting Around for help/inspiration, a little early Cinco De Mayo spirit, and the warm California sun. Life was good.

So, as you can see, I got the sleeves & body on one circular. I started decreasing for a saddle shoulder sweater per EZ & Meg, and things were looking good. In the words of the geniuses known as the Eagles: I "had planned it out so well, so carefully", that "I got a peaceful easy feeling". But, as my hero the Yarn Harlot knows all too well, pride goeth before a fall.

So, I spent Saturday working on this thing and decided to try it on, just to see how I was doing. I tried taking a picture in the mirror, but I failed miserably and was so disheartened by the whole thing that I just gave up. So, there are two MAJOR reasons why the Cozy Cardi is now the Crappy Cardi.


1) The waist shaping is waaay too severe, which causes it to balloon out very unattractively (I daresay freakishly). This is because I had forgotten to start my waist shaping during the early stages of this thing, and I figured I could just fudge the rows a bit to get to where I needed to be. Nope. But I think I can fix this by just cutting slits in the sides which will hopefully mask that problem. However, I am not so optomistic about #2.

2) If you look closely, you may notice that there is a definite band of DARKER RED in the MIDDLE of the cardigan body. Don't ask me how I missed this, but it appears that this yarn is NOT OF THE SAME DYE-LOT as the rest of the sweater! Holy idiocy, Batman, how did she miss that? Well, I have no excuse, other than the skeins have no ball-bands and I didn't notice the difference. I do remember that the yarn had felt "oilier" for a while, so I'm hoping it's just dirty and will come out the same color after a good wash (HA!). So, if anyone is out there, "won't you please, please help me?" (my nod the the Beatles)

You may notice that the sweater has not yet been put back on needles. Yup. I noticed that too.

So, to drown my sorrows, I must admit to a splurge on yarn never-before seen in this house. All of the yarn I have in my stash has been bought ON SALE. I've never paid full price for yarn, so this should give you an indication that I would feel that $20 for ONE skein of yarn is incredibly outrageous and I would refuse to support such price gouging by boycotting any and all yarn that would cost more than $4.00 for 100gms.

Well, I have succumbed to a 5-year obsession. Behold, Fiesta Yarn's Heaven & Gelato in the Rainforest colorway:



They are too gorgeous for words and the picture does them no justice. The Heaven is soooo soft. Just beautiful!

So here's the story: I taught myself to knit in the Winter of 2000, and in the Spring 2001 Knitter's magazine, I saw this, the "Monet Garter Stitch" shawl:



I don't care who you are, but that is the most drop-dead gorgeous thing I have ever seen. But the cost of the yarn would make that shawl like $80! So, it has been in the back of mind ever since. For 5 long years. Until I stumbled upon a website sale that was offering Fiesta Yarn for 15% off! AND free shipping! So, I did the deed, and now it's MINE, ALL MINE. But I've been dreaming of this for so long, I'm kind of afraid that I've hyped it up too much. I'll keep you all posted on any progress I might make.


And, yes, I am keeping up with my obligations and am dutifully working on the mate to my sock. I'm not really expecting the color to stack like it did on the first one, but I'm ok with that. My sock takes the edge off that Crappy Cardigan I'm trying to forget. Wish me luck!

Knitting is better than Prozac

Well, I really don't have a valid basis for comparison, having never before taken Prozac, but I'm sure I would have seriously freaked out on the flight home from Las Vegas this afternoon without my knitting. There was so much turbulance, the flight attendents didn't even have enough time to serve peanuts since they couldn't leave their seats. Have I mentioned that I'm insanely afraid of heights? Insanely. So, I had to cope with the fact that I was in a human-made, human-operated (last I checked, humans are NOT perfect) heavy metal tube thousands of feet above the earth. I just worked intently on my Cozy Cardi sleeve, crossing cables and making bobbles like there was really no chance of my plummeting to a horrible fiery death at any moment. I was able to fool myself long enough to make it safely back to California. This was only possible thanks to knitting. And as an added bonus, I ended up with this:


That's right! Only 1 1/2 inches left till this puppy is arm-pit length. Then it's on to joining the sleeves & body together. I'm still not sure if this will be raglan or saddle-shoulder. But I've still got time to decide. The spectre of possibly running out of yarn, however, is looming larger than ever. I'm currently using the second-to-last ball, and by now it's feeling pretty squishy, if you know what I mean. I'm not at all sure if I'll make it.

Please note the little baby head in this picture. This photo is actually the only one out of the 3 I took where the sleeve was on actually on the couch long enough for me to get a reasonable photo before being snatched away by the resident yarn-thieving baby boy.

Well, before you ask, no, I'm ashamed to say (but not very surprised, given my track record) that I did not have a new pair of hand-knit socks to show the Vegas slot machines. But I do have this:

Will ya look at that? A completed, perfectly-fitting sock! Although, the cuff still seems not long enough to me. But the foot is perfection! The heel flap is just the right length, as is the foot itself. If I was smart, I'd write down these measurements and keep them forever to help calculate socks for myself from now on. But for now, I'll just settle for actually finishing the mate for this bad boy.

Already loafing

Sorry for not posting over the weekend as usual. I have no good excuse. Well, the kids are always a good excuse, but it's old and worn out, so I won't use it this time.

Anyway, looky-looky at my side bar! Yup, that's right baby, I got to join the Knitting Blogs ring. It's been closed for a while, and when it opened, I lept at the chance and got in. One of the requirements is that your blog needs to be updated every week, and I've already broken the directive. Oh well. I really just wanted it because the Yarn Harlot is a part, and I'm just in awe of her.

Speaking of which, I've been knitting my sock while reading her archives (I'm to October 2004 now).

I'm really happy with it. Yes, it looks freakishly long, but that's because I wanted them poke out of the top of my motorcycle and/or snowboarding boots. I hate socks that are shorter than my boots. I just hope I have enough yarn to finish a second sock.

Anyway, besides the rough start, I think it's pretty cool. Although I can't explain how the top looks so different and I'm sure I won't be able to duplicate it for its mate, I'm still pretty content. The yarn is sooo soft. I used navy blue Woolly Nylon in the heels and will in the toes as well, and you can barely see it up close. This is fine with me since no one will be that close.

And yes, the flap is kind of long, but that's cuz I've got a rather high instep, and other socks I've made with a shorter heel slouch down unattratively/uncomfortably into my shoes. See? I can be taught.

Here's a little taste of how crazy-weird I am with knitting...Hubby and I are going to Vegas this weekend, and I'm set on finishing these socks in time to wear them. The reason is that these will be "lucky socks" and I will show them to the slot machines before putting in my money. Don't look at me like that! Yes, I've done this before (with different lucky socks, of course), and it worked out pretty well. Of course my husband thought I was insane when I lifted my leg up, lifted my pant cuff, and then proceeded to play the machine. Actually, he thought I was showing the machine something else altogether, but we won't go there on this nice wholesome blog.

So all this sock-knitting has cut into my Comfy Cardi time. I only knit on this one night last week...

I know it's not much, but I've done all the increasing, and it's big enough around to be able to use my circs on it. So now it'll be smooth sailing from here on in. Just rounds and rounds of cabled tube. Unbroken. Nothing to break up the monotony. Did I mention this is the 2nd sleeve? That means I've already knit one of these. Yup. I'm just dying to get back to it. Dying.

But things here may get a little more interesting than I would like because I have only 2 more skeins of Top of the Lamb left, and I'm almost ready to join one of them in to finish the sleeve. Let's not forget that I still have the chest and back to finish up. And a button band of some sort. And an edging. The skeins are 4 ounces, so I'm not too worried. Yet. Stay tuned...

Steady as she goes

I've had little time for fibery stuff, and have only allowed myself to knit/spin/look up fibery stuff on the internet until 10:30 p.m. at the latest. I've been getting so carried away and staying up so late that I'm a zombie at work (I've got a new-ish job, mind you, where I still have some impressing to do), and I have very little patience when I get home from work. Not good for the kiddies when I notice that I'm yelling at my 3-year old that I don't want to read "Goodnight Sweet Butterflies" for the third freakin' time.

So, although I love my fibery stuff, I need to spend more "enjoyable" time with my kids. All this really means is that I've been working on getting them to bed about 1/2 hour earlier. It seems to be working, because I've made considerable progress on my Cozy Cardi sleeves, I've managed to complete some projects at work, and I can read "Goodnight Sweet Butterflies" 4 times before I start yelling.

Since last we spoke, I had to rip back a considerable amount (all the way back to where I had only 5 inches of knitting left) since I noticed that I had left out the vertical lines of knit stiches inside the cable. I actually don't like these lines because they don't look right where they begin and end out of the cable. The illusion of going through the cable isn't very convincing. Maybe it'll look better blocked. I also had to drop a couple of stitches (seperately) allllll the way down about 12" and then hooked them back up to improve the looks of the underarm - I had come up with the idea of increasing in 2x2 rib. This brilliant idea is the fool-hardy result of my delusion that I can design on the fly like Meg Swansen.

Anyway, I knit till this thing was to my arm-pit. And I didn't make any more increases than I had since the 5 inches of knitting, so it's a pretty shapeless tube. I think it's alright on my arm, although I probably should have increased at a more gradual rate, and even still not as much as I have. But I'm sick of knitting stuff I've already knitted, so we're moving on. I got the 2nd sleeve started, baby, and I'm not changing a thing.

But I'm being sidetracked by my sock. I know I haven't mentioned it much since the last pic I took of it quite a while ago, but that's because I was underwhelmed by the barber-pole effect I was getting with the yarn. After struggling with the pattern for a bit, I also decided that I didn't want to have to concentrate on reading and keeping track of a pattern for my socks and that mindless knitting was the order of the day. So I ripped back to the ribbing and began nice, easy, soothing stocking stitch. And an amazing thing began to happen:
The color's doing really cool things. This actually isn't one of the better sides of the sock, but I'm intrigued with the colors. It's hard to put this down because I keep wanting to see what the yarn will do next. Because there is now no pattern to concentrate on, just a few minutes ago I was knitting on this thing while at the same time reading the Yarn Harlot's blog archives (I finished her 1st book and have ordered her other 2. I'm now on August 2004 of the archives, just in case anyone is tracking my Harlot addiction, too).

All hail mindless knitting, which fixes horrendous barber-pole effects on socks and enables the time-starved knitter the ability to feed two addictions at once. Now that's multi-tasking.

As for spinning, I've got half a bobbin-ful done of that self-dyed "dragonfire" silk/wool roving. You'll have to take my word for it because I don't have a picture. Soon, though. I promise.

I ain't got Ah-nold arms

Since last we met, I've got some somewhat good news. I've made considerable progress on the Comfy (Cozy?) Cardi Sleeve #1.

Everything's going great (although I managed to forget a bobble in the beginning), and I'm dutifully increasing at the rate the pattern instructs for the smallest size: Inc 2 sts every four rounds 6 times, then every six rows 8 times.

Well, I went to try this puppy on, and it is HUGE around my arm. Now, I've got puny arms - 9 1/2 inches around my bicep. After re-evaluting the increase rate, I've determined that the pattern wants me to increase a total of 28 stitches. At 15 sts per 4", this is an increase of almost 8 inches - almost double my arm circumference.

At this point in the pattern, I've completed 11 increase rounds for a total of 22 stitches. This is waay to wide, so I'll have to frog this back. I don't know how far back...at least until the thing doesn't float around my arm. So, I'm thinking I'll increase at a slower rate and hopefully come out with something wearable. This pattern is perplexing me...first it wants the length of this sweater to be obscenely short, and then it wants you to knit Ah-nold arms. Can you imagine the Terminator in a belly-baring bobbled sweater? I don't think that's the look for me.

Hmmmm. I think I've deviated so significantly from this pattern (knitting in the round, omitting the ribbing border, lenthening the body, narrowing the sleeves) that I think this is just a loose interpretation of Kathy Zimmerman's original. I'll really be taking artistic license when/if I get to the joining of the arms and body. So, please do not hold Ms. Zimmerman (one of my favorite designers) responsible for the outcome of my sweater. It will be my own fault for putting too much stock in my own designing abilities, but you gotta listen to that inner knitter. To be continued....

On the spinning side of things, I did manage to get a bobbin-full of my hand-dyed roving into finished yarn.
While spinning the singles, I was really loving the colors I was getting. The whole time I was spinning, the term "dragonfire" kept coming to me. The green/purple/turquoise areas reminded me of the iridescence of dragon scales, and the orange/gold/yellow was definitely fire. It was kinda cool.

Then I plied. I Navaho-plied to try to keep the continuity of the color changes. But there are "muddied" areas where too many colors were incorporated. My confidence has wavered again. I've got a hat pattern in mind, so we'll see how it goes.

A little help from my friends

A few weeks ago, I was digging through my fiber stash and happened upon some lovely, snow-white Corriedale fleece I had washed up last year. I pulled out a handful, and it felt rubbery, not like I remembered. Having never before worked with raw Corriedale I had washed myself, I figured it would fluff up after carding. Well, after a couple passes through my drum carder, I pulled the "batt" into "roving"...

How's that for scary? It feels as horrible as it looks. This is a sticky, neppy mess. So I wrote to the Spin List and asked for help with "sticky" wool. They all responded with lots of advice, the most common of which was to re-wash the wool in HOT water with a good dish washing liquid.

So I filled up my washing machine with boiling water and a good dose of Palmolive, and let it soak. After 2 hot rinses, I let the stuff dry in the sun.

It felt much softer this time, so I had high hopes as I sent it through the carder very slowly. After two passes, I pulled it into roving, and ended up with this...

How's that for success? This is soooo soft and fluffy. Maybe there's a nep or 2, but this stuff is wonderful!

Here's a side-by-side for comparison:
These are both 1 oz balls. Of the same wool. The one on the right is courtesy of the Spin-Listers. So, THANK YOU SPIN LIST!!!

I am bitter

Today was one of those beautiful rainy, over-cast days which always inspire me to work with all of my fibery things. Spinning wheels sat beckoning, soft fluffy rovings spilling invitingly out of nearby baskets; bags of freshly washed wool waited patiently by the drum carder; my knitting sat in progress on needles, both current projects calling to me. All I needed was a nice cup of hot coffee and a comfy spot near a window to enter fibery bliss.

But my baby is teething.

Of course, on the best of days, the most I can hope for is a few rows of uninterrupted knitting, but today, I could get through only a few stitches before having to tend to one of the kids, so I gave up. Oh well. One of these days (hopefully before I lose my sanity), they'll be old enough to undestand that Mommy is not to be disturbed when she locks herself in her fiber room.

So, here's what I accomplished this past week in the late evening hours after the kids went to sleep:

I pulled my rovings out of their post-dyed, matted state into a semblance of their former, fluffy selves. I'm thinking that I like this dye job after all. We'll see how it all spins and knits up.

I started knitting the merino sock yarn I dyed. I'm not really liking the diagonal effect the colors are doing, but I'm too lazy to break the yarn and start it at a different area to break up the effect. I'll work on figuring out how to dye to make a more random color repeat.

Oh, I actually ended up changing to size 0 needles for 7 1/2 stitches per inch. A knitting friend of mine just informed me that, with the same yarn, she's getting 10 stitches per inch with size 3 needles! So, who's the freak here, her or me?

And congrats to her for completing her first-ever sock!


I finally tracked down some Woolly Nylon for reinforcing my toes and heels. While in the check-out line, and trying to convince my 3-year old that he really didn't need 3 bags of candy, I decided I HAD to have this candy:
Isn't this just the cutest mint tin you've ever seen? I know I'm gushing, but I love this thing. I'll be offering mints to strangers on the street just so I can admire it. I still don't know why I only bought 1, but I'll be heading back pretty soon. If anyone is interested, I got this at JoAnn's for $1.99. It took the edge off having just dealt with 2 grumpy boys who were fresh from daycare, eager to get home and stuck in a craft store with their frazzled mother who had to search the entire store for just one spool of thread. Hmmmm, maybe I have already lost my sanity.

And, yes, I am still working on the Cozy Cardi. I cast one of the sleeves and have gotten about 2 inches done. I'll post a pic when it looks a little more spectacular.

The yarn is talking

The sock yarn I dyed last week has been calling me. I wound it into a ball, and left it to ponder it's future. It's been calling even louder ever since I finally got some time to flip through the pages of these treasures:

Great stuff on sock technique (Sensational Socks), historical content (Knitting Vintage Socks), and loads of wonderful sock patterns (both)! How's a girl to decide? Well, first, I guess I got to get to swatching.....

I'm sorry for the quality of my photos, or lack thereof, but I'm still figuring out my digital camera. I'm so happy with how this is knitting up! Anyway, I'm getting 7 sts to the inch on size 1 needles. Armed with this knowledge, I'm going to decide on a pattern and get to knitting. I've been itching to knit a sock lately. This yarn is wonderfully soft Merino, so I'll need to get some Wooly Nylon to reinforce the heels and toes. Darn, that means a trip to the craft store!

Speaking of not needing to spend more money on fiber-related stuff, here's my newest acquisition...

Meet "Blackbird", a Shetland/Corriedale cross with beautiful colors & lovely crimp. I'm so excited to wash this up, but it's going to have to wait till it this weekend.

And this is why I really didn't need more fleece:

And this is just a partial picture of my fiber stash. Let's not even mention the yarn.

Oh, did you notice my Harlot button on the side bar? She's awesome, I tell you! :-)

A new addiction

Alright, before I start, I want to show you that I have been dutifully working on my Cozy Cardi...

See? And for those of you following along at home, you'll immediately notice that I've strayed from the pattern in that I've significantly lengthened the, er, length. The pattern wanted this thing to barely cover my belly button, and I'm of the mind that tummy-baring sweaters kind of defeat the purpose of wearing a sweater. But, I am a bit worried about the placing of the waist-shaping...I think I should have made it closer to the armholes. But it seems to work when I hold it up to me, so we'll just go by that. And block the living hell out of it if it doesn't work out.

Now that I've got this thing up to my under-arms, I'm going to start knitting the sleeves; well, one at a time. I'm still pretty confident that I can join the sleeves to the body and then saddle-sleeve this thing a'la Meg Swansen in the Aran Coat video of "Knitting Around" fame. Yes, yes, and I'll come up with a border. Eventually.

Okay, I also did some experimenting with silk and wool and dyes:

Let me explain. I was trying to go for a "fall foliage" kind of look, and bolstered by my success with my first dyeing foray, I approached this with a very cavalier attitude, thinking that I couldn't go wrong. I don't know about you, but methinks I was not very successful. I'm really not thrilled with this, it looks kind of like an oil slick, but it is still wet in this photo, so hopefully it'll look different when it dries. Or maybe it'll look nice spun, or it'll look great knitted. I'll let you all know.

And now, I must announce that I am addicted to the Yarn Harlot. Of course, I had "heard" her mentioned on the various knitting lists I subscribe to, but I never thought I'd be interested in reading another knitter's stories about knitting. Then a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure why, I visited her site. And I'll never be the same.

Of course, I now have her first book, and will shortly be ordering her other two. Did you know she has new one that was just released? But since I left the book at work over the weekend, I've been feeding my addiction by reading her archives. I'm on March 2004, so I still have quite a bit of material to get through. Yay!!

But she's so inspiring, her knitting and spinning are amazing, and she comes up with the most outrageous stuff. I've laughed out loud several times while reading her blog. Really, really great stuff. My next blog project is to put a button on my sidebar to link to her. Yes, I'm star-struck, but she's great. Check it out if you don't believe me.

Well, the whole point of this is that I've had less time to pursue my fibery interests because of my obsession with the Harlot, and I'm going to try and get a handle on it. Just as soon as I catch up on her archives. And finish reading her books.

Sidetracked again...

Well, I have been working on the Cozy Cardi, and I'll post pics another day (don't feel like messing with the camera right now).

So, on to what I did manage to take a pic of....

See that? That means that I am no longer a dyeing virgin! This is my first hand-dyed project! How's that for beginner's luck? I know, I know. It's got quite a bit of white, but it still came out pretty cool IMHO. This started out as some un-dyed sock-weight merino from Knit Picks, and it is soooo soft. I used Country Classics dyes in Raspberry, Cornflower, and Mountain Aqua. I laid out the yarn (after soak in Palmolive & vinegar), squirted on the dyes, rolled it up in plastic wrap and steamed it for 20 minutes. Let it cool, rinsed it out and VOILA!

So, when this stuff dries, it'll be a nice pair of socks for MOI! I'm so happy with how this came out that I'll be dyeing some roving fairly soon. I've got jars of 12 other colors to get to...the possibilities seem endless!

Ooops!

Well, I've made major progress on the Cozy Cardigan. This sweater has become an obsession lately, and I haven't been obsessed by a project in a loooong time. So, I'm motoring along, memorizing the pattern, feeling good about my commitment, having grand ideas that I might actually finish this sweater, and basically having a blast watching this thing grow so quickly from my needles (gotta love chunky wool and Addi Turbos). Then, I stopped a moment to take a look and admire my work...

If you study this fuzzy picture, you may notice that I've missed a bobble row about 6 long rows ago (remember, this is circular knitting, so the prospect of frogging even 1 row makes me cringe). When I first noticed this, I figured I could just make some bobbles and sew them on (I think I read that Nicky Epstein does this). Content with this plan of action, and determined not to make this mistake again, I continued on. Alas, I didn't get far.

Now, if you study the sweater a little more, as I did, you may also see that the cables on either side of my steek stitches are at different stages of development (the ones on the right are crossing over the verticle line of st st, while the ones on the left are not). I blame the countless interruptions from my family (darn kids just have to have their diapers changed), and the fact that I've allowed myself to become overly confident regarding my knitting skills.

Now, because I've been so impressed with myself at memorizing this pattern, I've only just occasionally been consulting with the chart, and of course have not bothered with my usual method of keeping track of which row I'm on by using Post-It sticky notes. The realization that I've made a huge error which has cost me valuable knitting time (of course this all needs to be ripped out at least 2 rows back) is a veritable rainstorm on my cheery little knitting parade, not to mention a HUGE wake up call reminding me that I have not yet reached a "chart-less" level in my knitting. Very well, lesson learned.

But now that I'll absolutely be frogging, I'm figuring that I may as well rip back to fix my missed bobbles. I've got a very bad attitude about the actual act of ripping, but, surprisingly, I still have that burning desire to get this thing done. I'm envisioning completing the sleeves then joining them to the body and attempting my first-ever saddle-shoulder sweater in the round. Can you tell I've been watching too many EZ & Meg videos?

Oh, and I didn't even get the Viking Cables sweater out of its bag since it's photo shoot below. Work is a never-ending nightmare from which I can't escape to sneak in even just a little bit of knitting. Oh well.

On the Spinning side of things, I did get around to plying my 1st skein of the BS Mill-ends roving.

I am so loving this stuff. It's so purty. And although the rest of the roving is singing its siren song to me, I've been hopelessly distracted by this new arrival...

Look at this gorgeous stuff! This is Mountain Twilight roving from Beaverslide Dry Goods. I've bought their yarn before, and it's wonderful as well (it's marinating in my stash, but I fondle it often). This wool roving is sooo soft and fluffy, and the colors are wonderful, as you can see. I'm already planning on getting the Mountain Midnight colorway, just as soon as payday rolls around. I really love tweedy yarns, so I'm really looking forward to starting in on this. Anyway, at $16/lb, it's an absolute steal. Check it out and support a small business.

Viking Saga

Here are the much-anticipated pics of my beloved/hated Viking Cables cardigan. As you can see, I've finished the back...



















the fronts (I have no clue why this pic is a strange blue-ish green color)...

And I've started the sleeve. Yes, that is a paperclip marking my pattern. I only work on this thing at work (not to be confused with during work - it'd be pretty hard to play off knitting in the cubicle if I actually got caught), and I had to improvise. The fact that I don't go ahead and replace it with an honest-to-goodness marker is mere superstition.

So. It has taken me about 2 years to make it this far (I also made a baby during this timeframe, which included a pregnancy complete w/unbearable carpal tunnel, so maybe I get some slack). Well, of late, I've been making a concerted effort to cut back on going out to lunch and to start brown-bagging it so I can stay in the break room and knit.

This would be a good plan if only I wasn't so busy at work that I can't actually take breaks away from my desk. Well, I dare say I'll get this sucker done in time for next Winter. Stay tuned....

OT: I must share that I had the most wonderful ride today with my Hubby on our Harleys. I'm a very green rider, having gotten my motorcycle license 3 years ago by taking a safety class and having just gotten my 883 Custom Sportster this past December (no practice in between). Today was actually only the 3rd time I've ridden my bike. And I LUH-HOV it! We had a nice 2-hour ride. Hubby enjoyed it not so much because he was worried about me the whole time (the sweetie!). But he also led me on some trecherous-to-me roads (read really STEEP and WINDING), so I think we're even. Only here in So Cal could a ride have been so sunny & marvelous.

Knitting a Phoenix

Out of the ashes, it rises again... Here's my progress so far on the cardi I'm working on from the current issue of Vogue Knitting (I love me some Kathy Zimmerman - I wish she would come out with a book!).

The yarn I'm using is actually attached to the old, incorrectly set up, 1st attempt on this thing. That's why it's so curly and "used" looking.

This pattern is going surprisingly fast because I was able to memorize it fairly quickly. This is very unlike the cardigan I designed using Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Cables, which has been a constant WIP for the last 2 years because I only get un-interrupted chart-reading time at work (ie away from the kiddies). Those suckers are quite involved, but soooo impressive. I'll get a pic of it up.

Alright, well, Boy #1 is whining about going to Chuck E Cheese (aka the outer limits of hell) because we're having his and his brother's birthday party there. Talk about a place where you could really use some knitting to maintain your sanity....  

Try, Try Again

Knitting: Last night I tried starting the cardigan again. This time I used the German Twisted Cast-On since I'm not really sure what type of edge I'd like, and I'm wanting to start the pattern right away without ribbing along the bottom. I'm thinking I may crochet a picot edge to match the bobbles in the pattern. I got the patterns situated correctly this time, so I'm off to a good start. I'll share a pic when I get further along than the 2 rows I've managed to accomplish.

I wanted to mention that if you haven't already, you have GOT to get Meg Swansen's "Knitting Glossary" on DVD. Absolutely a MUST! I got mine from her website at www.schoolhousepress.com. Yes, I'm an EZ/Meg Swansen worshiper, but this DVD is full of truly invaluable tips. Mine is playing right now.

Sorry, no Spinning action, but I'm planning on getting that bobbinful of BS plied up. I almost want to forego sleep to Git-R-Done, but bed is so warm & comfy that I can't resist. G'night!

Look Look!

Ha! I've learned how to post pics to my blog :-) This is the Brown Sheep millend roving I'm working on that I mentioned previously. Is it not just fabulous? Not too shabby for $7.50/lb.

Anyway, since I've remembered about my blog, I've decided I'd like to belong to some webrings. But I'll have to post regulary (i.e. more often than my track record of twice a year), so there's my incentive to be faithful.

Now I'm thinking I want to start a photo gallery to get me inspired to finish some projects. It's amazing what the possibility of public scrutiny can accomplish. Behavior modification at its finest.

Yup...I'm still alive

Howdy! Betcha thought I had falled off the face of the earth, huh? Well, you all haven't missed much.
With the boys getting older (yesterday was my oldest's 3rd birthday!), they're demanding more attention (imagine that) which means little/no time for fiber arts. Plus, I got a 2004 883 Custom Harley Davidson Sportster in December, so I have another hobby to compete for my attention. Not to mention that it's snowbarding season, too, although the weather hasn't been great this winter in 80-degree So Cal.

Knitting:
Well, ashamedly, I don't have much to report by way of finished projects, even though it's been like over 7 months since my last post. I made a sweater for my baby, finished an apple cap for a co-worker's soon-to-be baby boy, and a Fair Isle cap for my brother's girlfriend. Of course, I have already promised both my brothers and my sister-in-law a cap as well. Need I say that I, myself, am wearing a store-bought acrylic abomination on my head when I go boarding down the slopes?

WIP: I'm still slogging away at a dark green Viking cable cardigan which I only work on during breaks at work...children make it hard to follow involved charts. Last weekend I had attempted to start the "Cozy Cardigan" by Kathy Zimmerman (pg 73) in the Winter 05 Vogue Knitting. This was a failed attempt since I was converting the pattern to knit circular, and I got the fronts mixed up, so the 3 inches of knitting I actually got done is worthless. Oh well, I wanted to try a different bottom border anyway. So it'll be to the frog pond for that one, and then back on the needles.
By the way, I had tried my new Denise circular needles on this, but had such an awful time of having to push the stitches around the "sticky" cord. Maybe it was my wool (Brown Sheep's Top of the Lamb), but I had to dig out an Inox to use or I would have gone nuts.
I recently got the "Sensational Socks" book, and am now inspired to start knitting socks again. I have a constant sock in progress, and I pulled it out yesterday with the intention of starting the heel flap. However, I noticed 1/2 way down the leg, that I had unwittingly dropped a stitch, and then had knitted blithely on for another 2 inches. So, I'll toss that guy in the frog pond too. Boy, it seems like I'm making negative progress.

Spinning:
I've got even less to report here. I made a nice skein of some dark Romney I have in my stash, and now the entire 5-lb bag wants to be made. I really like this fleece since it is long-locked, the colors vary from really dark to medium grey/brown, and it spins so easily. I'll get to it again eventually.
But it's being overshadowed by my most recent exciting find: Brown Sheep mill-end rovings from The Sheep Shed at http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/Roving.html. I got 2 pounds of roving in the "Brown Tones" and this stuff is lovely! I'll post pictures once I figure out how :-) But it's got lovely colors and it spins so easily. I'm actually spinning from the fold because I like a loftier yarn and the fibers are so parallel in their rovings. So, I got my package yesterday, hurriedly picked up the house, and got to spin after the baby went to bed. I've almost got a bobbin-ful, so I'll be ready to ply soon. I can't wait to see this stuff plied.

Alright, well, hopefully I won't disappear for months on end again, and my subsequent posts won't need to be so lengthy. We'll see.....

Progress!

Hubby, the kids and I went camping for the 4th of July weekend. We rented a motorhome and embarked on an 11-hour journey to Utah from Southern California. Surprisingly, the kids were very well-behaved. And 11 hours translates to LOTS of knitting time.
Knitting: Between the drive up, the drive back, and down time at the campsite, I knit 2 hats, finished a sweater for my 2 year old, and finished knitting a lovely scarf. Ah, the scarf. The scarf is made from a blend of white corriedale and chestnut alpaca which I blended on my hand cards in a roughly 70/30 ratio. I spun the lightly carded fiber and Navaho plied it into a lovely soft heathery yarn. I used a pattern called "Seafoam" from the Vogue Book of Knitting which worked well with the randomness of the yarn's color. This fiber was actually given to me along with a bunch of other fiber by a member of the Spin-List named Joy. When I first started spinning and posted to the list to ask for help, she answered my question, and then asked for my address so she could send me a bit of fiber to get started. Not long after, I received a box full of lovely dyed wool roving, the corriedale and alpaca, and llama fiber. Once I put the fringe on this scarf, I'm going to pack this pretty thing up and ship it off to surprise her. I hope she likes it. I'll try to post a picture once I get the hang of this blogging thing.
Spinning: I had brought my Lendrum on the trip, but didn't take it out since it was so dirty and windy where we were staying. Besides, I was having to tend to the boys every 15 minutes, and it was much easier to put down knitting rather than to interrupt spinning. But I had carded up 4 nice big batts of black Shetland wool, so I have those ready for me when I get a little time to work on them. I'm planning on carding up some nice moorit Shetland to spin on my Symphony. I just got a new drive band to replace the one which had frayed, and I believe I'll put it on in the double drive mode. I've been using the wheel with Scotch tension, and I find that I don't much enjoy the constant adjusting of the brake band I must perform as the bobbin fills. We'll see how it goes.