Field Trip

Today was a great day because I was able to visit my good buddy and fellow spinning knitter Nola without my little ones. It was a really good day.

First, we started the morning off with a nice ice-cold glass of Bud Light right out of her very own keg. It definitely helped to take the edge off this 103 degree heat!! After some fiber show-and-tell (it had been about a year since we had last met in person), we drove off to a "local" yarn store:
This was about a 30 minute drive away. It is the new-ish shop "Knit Affair" in Corona. The owner (I presume) Tori, was very helpful. She even offered to wind the hanks of yarn Nola bought into balls. Very nice!! It was a lovely shop, and I'm glad we made the drive, even though we had to fight So Cal traffic on the way back. While there, this stuff may have found it's way home with me:

This is 2 balls of Trendsetter's lace-weight Kid Mohair & Silk (I can't remember the name, and I'm too lazy to go upstairs to look at the label). Just know that it's lovely, and I'll be using it in lieu of Rowan Kid SilkHaze to knit the Birch shawl in Rowan #34 (on it's way to me in the mail) of Yarn Harlot fame.

The book is full of cute little sweater patterns for kids. There are quite a few I'd like to make for my boys. I really must love these patterns, because when I got home to put the book on my shelf, I discovered I now had this:
Well, at least my taste is consistent. It's a sad commentary to the fact that I have so many knitting books that I can't even keep straight which ones I have. I just regret that I used potential yarn money on a book I already had. Sigh.

So, when I finally got home, I found a package from Copper Moose waiting for me. Inside was this:
2 pounds of Blue Faced Leicester. This is gorgeous, soft, lustrous clouds of wonderful fiber. My husband is already ordering me to knit him a hat out of it like the one "Survivorman" is wearing on an episode showing right now; the one where he simulates a plane crash in the middle of Canadian winter. I pointed out that he (my hubby) has 4 hand-knitted hats and I have NONE, but he is adamant. He thinks the BFL is so soft, he HAS to have a hat. We'll see.
I also got this

4 ounces of Merino, and this

4 ounces of Merino/Mohair blend. It's not quite as crazy and bright as it looks in this picture. It's a nice blend of neutral colors.

As I said, it was a great day. Thanks Nola!! :0)

Look Mom, No Markers!

Well, progress remains steady, but not remarkable, on my current projects.
I've knit 3 repeats of the pattern on the Adamas Shawl since last we met. This pattern is really freaking me out since it is increasing to the bottom point. I can't quite comprehend this, but it's working, so I'm good with it. Except that the rows are getting alarmingly loooong. It's going to take me a good hour to complete just one row once I get toward the end. Talk about needing some stick-to-it-iveness!

Also, please note that I have done away with those pesky ring markers, whose goal it is to fall off my needles and onto the floor where my 1-year-old can scoop them up and put them into his cute little mouth. Not good. So, I'm glad that I'm getting so used to this pattern that it's easy for me to "read" my knitting and I've been able to find and correct mistakes (there have been (ahem) a few) by simply paying attention. So, good-bye little round choking hazards!

I know you all were worried, but please rest assured that I was successful in talking my 3-year-old son out of wanting purple, pink & aqua socks that match Mommy's. So now, I'm working on this:

This is the first of his "camoflauge" socks he's going to wear to the deer hunt in August. I'm planning/hoping on completing a pair for my 1-year old son and also for my 3-year-old nephew, who will be attending the hunt as well (it's a family thing for my husband).

Of course, I've completed the requisite skein of Blackbird for the week (left-most skein on the top of the pile).
This skein has some issues, and I'm really not sure why. Firstly, it's only 88 yards, where the other recent skeins have been around 100 yards. I usually spin a "batt-ful" of wool at a time and get roughly the same amount, but this was different for reasons beyond my understanding.

Speaking of my level of understanding, I also jacked this up by plying it way too much. When
I usually ply this (when I'm not on crack), I count out 5 treadles per 3-foot draw, and wind the yarn on as I start counting the next set. So it goes: 1-2-3-4-5, (wind on during 1)-2-3-4-5, etc.

On this particular skein, I had a major brain fart and counted thusly: 1-2-3-4-5, (wind on during its own treadle), then 1-2-3-4-5, etc. So I ended up adding an extra 20 twists to those particular lengths of yarn. When the skien came off the niddy-noddy, it was a curly, pig-tailed mess. After washing, it behaved much better, but I'm not really happy with this, and I can't explain why I started counting this way. I am a mystery even to myself.

In other news, I've been keeping up on the Spin-List, and right now they are discussing carders. I have the Louet Jr. Roving Carder, and I like it. However, I have found that it's harder to card finer wools with it without getting a bunch of neps (see my April 3, 06 post). I've got to crank ridiculously slowly, and it just about saps the life out of me. Of course, I happen to like finer wools, so most of my stash is Corriedale and Shetland, and aye, there's the rub.

But a lot of the members are mentioning the Strauch Petite, citing that it makes a lovely batt and cards fine fibers well. The price is pretty comparable to the Jr., and I'm toying with the idea of selling my Louet and getting the Petite. I don't know. I'm still debating. I'd love to hear any pros and/or cons you all may have about this.

Finished!

Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a genuine, honest-to-goodness finished object:

Well, objects which together equal a finished object. I'm very happy. The only thing marring my happiness is that my son wants a pair of socks out of the very same yarn. Have I mentioned that I'm pretty sick of this yarn?

Something New

How's that for an opener? This is the Adamas Shawl from Knit Picks. I'm knitting it in Knit Picks lace-weight Merino wool called "Shadow" in colorway "Oregon Coast". The yarn is really lovely and has various subtle shades of blue & pink so that it reminds me of a dark opal. And the most awesome part is that the price for the required 2 balls of yarn AND the pattern was...are you ready for this?... UNDER $7! At that price, how could you NOT knit this beauty?

Anyway, this is the first honest-to-goodness laceweight shawl I've ever (attempted) done, and I'm finding that it's not too bad. I'm already starting to memorize the pattern, so I'm not having to refer so much to the chart. I'm really liking it, but it's kind of worrying me that my ball of laceweight seems unaffected by the amount of knitting I've done. It's like the "loaves and the fishes" story, but in tiny little laceweight wool. But, the important thing about the shawl is that it is something new.

In that spirit, I will not post a pic of the Crappy Cardi. However, be assured that I am making progress on the I-Cord border. I've completed the left front and the back and am fast approaching the right-front and cardigan front. Well, maybe not so fast, but I'm still actually working on it (instead of burning it in the bar-b-que), which is good enough for me.

I also will not post a pic of the 2nd hand-dyed sock. I'm closing in on the toe, but progress is slow and boring, and I'll not make you all suffer.

But I will show you my cumulative stash of Blackbird yarn:
That's over 500 yards now. Although I don't think I'll be able to use the lighter skein, I'm still counting it. I'll probably use it for the inside of the hem. I'm fighting the urge to cast on Rogue until I get the yarn done, but the time it takes to do the flicking and the carding and the spinning and the plying is making me antsy. This "skein-a-week" pace I've got going is just not working for me. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep holding out for long, because I've already been scouring my stash for some comparable yarn, and I think I've found some. You'll be the first to know if I succumb.

Pretty boring

Alright, I've been taking pictures of this last week's progress, and I've realized that my projects are extremely boring. After I was done taking the pictures, I was looking around for something more. Surely, this can't be the extent of my projects? How pathetic.

This feeling may have been exacerbated partially because I discovered Claudia's Blog. Check out this woman's gallery! OMG, I am sooo unworthy. At first I was inspired. But toward the end, as the seemingly un-ending parade of perfectly-fitting gorgeous, homespun "Claudia Originals" continued, I was feeling pretty disappointed in myself. I've really got to get some stuff done. And she's made not just one, but TWO Rogues; Rogues which she "cardiganized". And both fit absolutely perfectly! And of course, she has just the PERFECT figure. I might hate Claudia, except that she's raising money for MS, and she's a genius spinning knitter, so I guess she's pretty cool.

Well, without further ado, after that wonderful build-up...my current works in progress:



I've started putting a 3-stitch I cord border on the Crappy Cardi. I know...boring. But I'm running out of yarn, so it'll have to do. The good news is that I had a zipper lying around that is the perfect length, so it's a done deal. I'm thinking I need to finally finish this thing and get to trying to fix that stupid dark stripe. I know you're all sick of hearing about it, but it's a pretty big issue for me.



Here's the cumulative total of my Blackbird progress. I've got about 400 yards. Rogue takes 1200 yards. My resolve is waning, especially since I've just acquired the most gorgeous dark grey Corriedale, but I'm going to try sticking to Blackbird. But it's pretty boring.


And my modest progress on the second hand-dyed sock. I work on this thing in the car at red lights and drive-thrus, so that's my excuse for the slow (boring) pace.

Well, that's it. I'd recommend visiting the Yarn Harlot or Claudia's Blog for some real knitting and some inspiration. Maybe I'll have something cool to show you next week....

I'm still here!

I'll bet you were wondering if Crappy Cardi put me over the edge, huh? Well, I've exacted my revenge:

I crochet-steeked per Meg Swansen's instructions in "Sweaters from Camp". It was pretty interesting, and I didn't even flinch when I cut into the fabric. But it's very sturdy (except for 1 place where I crocheted the wrong stitches together), and I'm going to have to start an I-cord border soon. Well, someday.

In the meantime, I'm an extremely proud mama because of this:

This, lords and ladies, is the very first knitting done by my 3-year old son! He has not yet completed a row, and this is actually 2 sessions-worth, but those stitches on the right-hand needle were done by him (yes, I did help a little, but his hands were on the needles at all times). He's a thrower. However, he's still more interested in the ball-winder, and who can really blame him? He IS only 3! The point is that he's knitting. I'm busting!

Alright, what else do I have to say for myself for 2 weeks? Oh, the 2nd hand-dyed sock is coming along

The heel flap is just about done. It would have been done had I remembered to carry along the Wooly Nylon the FIRST time I knit it. I guess I can be grateful I remembered it at all.

But most of my time has been devoted to this:

That is my THIRD skein of Blackbird (alright it's still singles, but it's pretty darn close) on my very own WOOLEE WINDER!!! I LOVE this thing! It's so worth the money. It kind of freaks me out that my Symphony is now worth about $600, but I'll get over it.

Anyway, back to Blackbird. Well, it turns out that during the making of my first skein, I found that there were A LOT of neps and it was pretty slow-going while I picked only some of them out. That is the middle skein seen below.

For the second skein (the one on the right), I wanted to see what would happen if I did a little more prep. So I started flicking the locks individually with a dog comb, and found that the light tips of this fleece literally break right off! So, it's a "tippy" fleece, and will require that I comb EVERY single lock. Do you know how bad that sucks? But I love the fleece despite it's MAJOR flaw, and I went ahead and started flicking. The carding was way smoother as was the spinning.

The only thing (of course there's something) is that the 2 skeins do not match, since the 1st skein is lighter than the 2nd. At first I thought it was the tips, but then I noticed that the very first yarn I made (the stuff on the left) matches the 2nd skein. I guess I had just carded a bunch of lighter grey fleece without making sure I had enough dark blended in as well. Lesson learned.

And now, I must introduce you to the newest members of my wooly family. Here is Snowy, a Romney lamb:

And here is Posey, a Romney ewe:

Aren't they just gaw-geous! These are so next-to-the-skin soft and so fluffy that I just wanted to lie down on them once they were done drying in the sun. These are famous "McNair" Romneys offered at Homestead Wool and Gift Farm (link is in my sidebar), and they go pretty fast. Sandy is just the sweetest person ever, and I'm always glad to help support her fiber family.

Alright, that's enough for today. I'll try to go back to posting weekly so I don't slam you like this again!