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A fiber addict's struggle to subdue her baser urges

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Are the holidays over yet?

Peeps, I am TIRED. The holidays are exhausting. I've had to drive home every weekend since Thanksgiving, because of various activities going on.

I guess that's kind of a lie because one weekend I drove to Breckenridge instead of home, but the point remains the same. Lots of driving, lots of gas usage, lots of freaking washing and then packing back up. My apartment is suffering from neglect, but I really don't have time to deal with the piles of stuff right now. I did manage to clean out the fridge last Wednesday or Thursday... I don't really remember.

Accordingly, my crafting time has suffered as well. I can't drive and knit at the same time, and the lack of sleep as a result of sleeping in different beds has meant that I'm too tired even to knit. It's kind of tragic. I didn't even knit any Christmas presents this year. I couldn't think of anything that people would want/that I wanted to make. Maybe next year I'll be more inspired.

I have made a few things, though. I found some Laura Nelkin designs that were too pretty to put off. Therefore, I knitted up a Ribband and a Mudra cuff.







Don't tell me you don't think the Mudra cuff is pretty. I made it with a sample of yarn sent to me with a bigger order, and some beads that I took FOREVER picking out. Because I'm indecisive and Caitlin wasn't there to help.














The Ribband was the result of some leftover sock yarn from a Haruni I made a couple years ago, and more beads that I took even more time picking out... seriously, I need someone to follow me around and help me make decisions. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't listen, but at least I'd have someone to argue with.







I also got it into my head to try and copy the row-counting bracelets I've seen online. They're not really that expensive, but I'm not fond of any of the colors I have seen, and they looked like something I could do myself... it turned out to be harder than I thought, but I did it anyway!


I hope it doesn't fall apart the first time I try to use it... I have very little faith in the beading thread that I used. If I were to try again, I think I would look for beads with larger holes, because that's where I really struggled.

Contrarily, since I don't really like carrying my spinning wheel up and down three flights of stairs when I try to take it places, I've been in the mood to spin. Rather than bringing it all over the state with me, I agreed with myself that I can spin when I'm at home. Maybe my spinning bug was the result of some fiber that came in the mail last weekend...

Merino/angelina sparkle batts from Gritty Knits. They're luscious. And soft. And green. We all know how I feel about green, right? Haha...

Anyway, I spun 2 oz of the pretties into singles this week. I wanted to spin more, but I ran out of time because I had to pack again... The singles look nice, though!

Know what I'm looking forward to next weekend? Not having to drive. I'm going to sit around in my pjs and craft ALL WEEKEND LONG.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

ONWARD!

Peeps! I finished the obnoxious cabled sweater! It would be more exciting if I liked the finished product better. It fits and everything, it's just that the sleeves are less fitted than I like, and the neck is a little wider than I was hoping for. And I'm not ripping back. We are moving on from this sweater. Onward, to bigger and better things!

Well, other things, anyway. I've been pretty anxious to start new things, having forced myself to work tirelessly on that effing sweater for so long. I cast on 2 new projects last night, and I started spinning a new braid of fiber, since I haven't spun lately.

This hat is going to be lovely and colorwork-y. I seem to have mixed up the needles, somehow. But that's a relatively small problem, although it might be symptomatic of my lack of focus currently. Did I tell you that I ended up with different length sleeves on that sweater? It was only 2 rows and the mistake was pretty far back, so I just decided to deal with it. And one of the cables was REALLY off. But I couldn't figure out where that mistake was, so I just improvised. No one but me is going to see it, right? Everyone else will be impressed with my knitting prowess.






I also started a laceweight Sand Tracks Cardigan. I think it's going to be very pretty, but I'm also relatively certain it's going to take me FOREVER to finish. Because I'm just that smart. I'm thinking about starting another sweater out of bigger yarn, but I think we all know that's going to be counter-productive. So I'll hold off for now.













My calves hurt today, from the 2 oz of Frabjous Fibers BFL that I spun last night. The singles look lovely so far, though. So it's totally worth the soreness. I have another 2 oz to spin, but that's not gonna happen tonight. I have to go pick up a bridesmaid dress. It's probably not going to happen this weekend, actually, since it's Thanksgiving and I'll be doing family and drinking related things starting tomorrow night. I love Thanksgiving!






Finalmente, I finished cutting the fringe for Mariah's chuppah. I finally took Caitlin's advice and got a piece of cardboard long enough to wrap the right size pieces, so I didn't have to measure them all, or try to work out some other system. It went a lot faster after that. Now I just need to find some time to tie fringe. Again, won't happen this weekend, for the same reasons mentioned above. Freaking holidays. Messing with my crafting plans.


Happy Thanksgiving to all! Starting tomorrow, it doesn't count as "alcoholism" or "day drinking" if you constantly have a drink in your hand. It's just the holiday spirit!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sweater weather

The weather is getting cooler, my friends. Cool enough that I could wear handknit sweaters, if it weren't for the fact that a) I'm on medication that makes my skin super sensitive and the sweaters I knit last year kind of itch and b) I still don't have any sleeves for the new sweater.

It's really a shame that I don't have any sleeves. I totally would have worn that sweater today, if it were done. But I've been intimidated by the need to blend 2 dye lots. Caitlin finally took charge and ripped the sleeves back to the ribbing and rethreaded them on to the needles. I just re-started them last night. There's going to be lots of untangling, I can already tell.

Let's not focus on the negative, though. Let's focus on the fact that I'm on a roll when it comes to finishing right now!

I finished knitting Mariah's chuppah. I had to go out and purchase more foam floor mats so that I had enough to block the thing, but now it's all stretched out and nearly dry. Next step, fringe. Again, not dwelling on the negative.

Then, I finished Abby's long socks. I have a shorter pair that still need doing, but they're pretty, right? The cable is seriously cute. I just hope they fit her, and that she likes them, and that they aren't too itchy... but they're done! Really done, not waiting for anything else.

Pretty good, right? Let's hope those positive feelings carry over to the sleeves. I really want a new sweater, and I ordered a bunch more kits in the mail... Cute hats and mitts or mittens. They're fun colors too, as opposed to navy blue that has to be blended. But they are not sweaters, and I think we can all agree that it is definitely sweater weather right now.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Setbacks

Hons, I ran into a big problem on the blue, cabled sweater. I ran out of yarn. Then I thought I wasn't going to be able to find the same color, let alone dye lot. Fortunately, the lovely people at Jimmy Beans Wool found me the right color, but not the right colorway. It's Malabrigo, so I figured that would be the case. But it's really a different dye lot. So now I need to rip back a bunch of sleeve, so I can blend in the new skeins unobtrusively. Lame.


Those little stubby things at the top? Sleeves. They're not that stubby in real life, but they're certainly not done. In lieu of working on this doomed sweater, I have started a whole bunch of other projects. Cuz that makes sense, right?




Abby asked me for a couple pairs of socks to wear with her boots, so I started some cabled socks. I got all the way to the heel, started to read the pattern more closely and realized that there were supposed to be cables on both sides of the socks, instead of just one, like I was doing. Since Abby doesn't know this, and they're kind of large socks (she wants them to reach above her knee), I'm not gonna rip back. I'm just going to do the other sock the same way. Except, you know, with the cable on the other side.













Then, I wanted to knit something else for me, something that wasn't a sweater, you know, but would keep me warm as the weather gets colder. So I started a very pink cowl. It's very shiny, because it's made out of the new Knit Picks yarn line "Galileo." The pattern is the September Cowl, which I thought was really pretty, and large, and will keep me nice and toasty. I hope.






I've got a couple more things that could probably stand to be finished (I'm looking at you, mystery mitts and chuppah). But I've had a stressful couple of weeks at work and I don't really think I should overtax myself with knitting, do you? Dealing with all these setbacks has been bad enough.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Feeling uninspired

Hello again, friends. I've been getting accustomed to my job and my new digs, and just generally trying to catch up to life. This doesn't mean that I haven't been creating. I've been knitting the crap out of this sweater that I've been working on. And I tried to start some socks for Abby, but that didn't work out. And I've been picking up work on a shawl that I had going...

None of it is very exciting, though. The sweater back was MILES of stockinette. I've got the sleeves going now, and they're not nearly so bad, because they each have a cable. It's just that the shaping is a pain in the butt, for some reason. Primarily because I lose track of what row I'm on.

In an effort to deal with the tedium of miles of stockinette, and more ribbing than I am usually fond of, I have gotten back on the spinning wheel horse.

In an effort to get away from my apparent obsession with green, I pulled out a braid of Merino/Bamboo in a colorway called "Professor Plum"

The singles look nice, right? Then I triple plied it, so the colors would stay consistent.

Very pretty, yes? Unfortunately, it was only 4 oz of fiber, which didn't go very far. So not much motivation to be gained there. I continued knitting the sweater, but wasn't very pleased with it. Then, last night, I pulled out a different braid of merino/bamboo. In a colorway called "Cullen House."


Also very nice, right? I'm about halfway through it. I'll show you the singles later. When I've finished the other half. And maybe some more sleeve. Effing sleeves.

If you have any other ideas for how I might get motivated, please share. I've got most of 2 sleeves left, and the ribbed edging left. And I can't quit on this sweater again.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

What's in this bag?

Man, I am a bad blogger. Admittedly, there hasn't been much to post about. But still, I could make more of an effort, right? I'll work on it, I promise. Perhaps when I get better internet, it will be easier to remember to post more often.

As a catch up, let me tell you that I'm officially employed as a full-time engineer. Which means that I've been working on finding more permanent housing. It's nice that I was able to stay with friends this summer, but I'm getting a vibe that they love me, but they'd love me more if they saw me a little less. Which is fine, because I think I could really get behind having my own place. I've found an apartment (I move in on the 30th), and I'm working on furnishing it. I don't think I've ever fully appreciated how much work has to go into equipping the entire house. I've always had roommates to share the burden. And all of the furniture I used to have now belongs to my sister... But it's been fun to pick out all new stuff, and visualize what I might want in my new place.

In knitting news, I've been working on decreasing the number of UFOs and WIPs. I don't have as many as some people I know, but there's certainly some that could use attention.






I finished my second pair of "work" socks. I call them that because I take them to work with me, in case I get some free time. Except I stopped taking these to work, since I offered to take the clapotis off of Caitlin's list.















Which reminds me, I finished the clapotis too. Yay! The colors were nice, and I found out that I wrap my purl stitches a little bit differently than Caitlin does. Which is why my stockinette looks different than it should. Always a worthwhile lesson to learn.















Last, but definitely not least, I finished the Highland Triangle! This is a terrible picture, I'll post a better one when I get it blocked. That might have to wait until after I move into my new place. But trust me, it looks nice. And it's great to have gotten one of my effing shawls off of my to-do list. There's 2 more (turns out), but only one of them is gonna get any attention any time soon.






Things that I'm avoiding? Mariah's chuppah (it's not doing anything bad, I just don't want it to turn into a hate chuppah. I'd hate to jinx their marriage), a lace sweater that I don't have the attention for, a chunky cabled vest which has a similar problem (both patterns have so many charts, I'm gonna need a whole table to keep track of it all), and the aforementioned shawl that is in disgrace.

On the list of things that will be getting attention: I just ripped out the start of a sweater that was going to be too small (points for noticing that before I got to the end?), some mystery fingerless mittens that I'm pretty excited about, except I'm pretty sure I can't take them to work (they're on double points), and some boot socks that my sister has requested (I just need to get her leg measurements... not sure how that's gonna happen, but I'm sure I'll figure it out). Alas, none of these are sparking my need to knit. I think I've just got startitis, but I don't want to indulge too much. Starting the mitts and restarting the sweater should count, right?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Well that's weird.

So, I was going to post a beautiful wrap-up post for the Tour de Fleece. So, I was pulling together all my lovely handspun from the last 3 weeks, and I took a picture.


How is it possible that I didn't notice, while powering my way through tons of fiber, that I didn't actually get out of my color comfort zone? 80% of this nonsense is green. Or has a significant amount of green in it. The only fibers that didn't involve any green at all were the:

A) 8 oz of pink surprise BFL, which I didn't intend to own so much of

B) The 2 oz of yellow Rambouillet that isn't pictured because I gave it to Caitlin because I couldn't stand it.

C) 4 oz of some tasty brown alpaca that was a pleasure to spin, and not nearly as filthy as the white stuff I got at last year's Wool Market. Next year, I'm totally getting more of this stuff.

Anyway, on to the wrap up! I kind of lost interest in spinning for a while, probably because I'd been doing so much of it. I did still make quite a dent in the fiber stash, but I still need to get more done. However, the Ravellenic Games are coming up, and I need to come up with a project/variety of projects to use as a goal for the next fiber-related marathon. In the meantime, I'm working on Mariah's chuppah (it's coming along nicely, although I'm not 100% that I'll use all of the yarn I ordered). And my sister requested some socks. Long socks. I'll have to get on that sometime before it gets cold and she needs to wear boots again. Yay.

That's all the news that's fit to print. If you have any good ideas for Ravellenic goals, let me know. I'm drawing a blank.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lesson learned

Lesson 1: Endeavor to bear in mind that just because you hardly ever purchase that color of fiber doesn't mean you haven't ever purchased that color of fiber. That's how you end up with surprise stash issues. Yay!

Lesson 2: When in the throes of stash enhancement fervor, endeavor to check the fiber content of the item you are purchasing. Turns out, not all fibers are created equal, and spinning something you don't like is painful. (Turns out I forgot that I don't really like spinning superwash merino). At least the color was nice.
Lesson 3: Remember to only buy colors that you like. Admittedly, some pictures can be misleading. But colorway names can be a good indicator of what the finished product might look like. This started life as a braid of Rambouillet in a colorway called "Harvest Moon." I don't usually spin yellow fiber, I've never spun Rambouillet before, and I was working against the clock. Not a good combination. The singles shown here and the remainder of the 4 oz braid have gone to live with Caitlin because I couldn't face it anymore.

Lesson 3b: I don't like Rambouillet. Now I know. Since I also learned to only purchase fibers that I like (see above), hopefully I won't purchase any more of this particular fiber.






Lesson 4: I always over pack in terms of fibery goodness for a trip of any length. Especially one in which I anticipate a significant amount of downtime, despite knowing: that I have not yet started the homework assignment due over the weekend, that I have 3 doctor appointments in one day, and that I'm a serial over-packer.

Lesson 5: All liquor tastes better from a glass that says "3 sheeps to the wind" on it. 'Nuff said.


Details, you say? Fine. Caitlin drew the lovely illustration based on a knick-knack that Shelby and I encountered while I was visiting her lovely town of Winnemucca. I became enamored with the concept of owning wine glasses with drunk sheepies on them. Turns out that glasswithatwist.com will happily execute any relatively simple drawing on a variety of glassware for you. Most excellent!








I also tried the new wine-and-art fad with my sister this weekend. We painted technicolor hibiscuses! Hibisci? Hibiscus? And remembered that I have a complete dearth of natural artistic talent. Turns out that's not such a big deal, since the proprietors of the shop are trying to make sure people come back, so they take you through the painting process in baby steps. Very simple!

I'd show you a picture but the pictures are all on my phone, and some of my hibiscus attempts (like how I avoided the plural question there?) are a little deranged looking. Like I said, no natural artistic talent. It's a burden I've learned to live with.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The first step...

They say the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. Well. I think I may have to admit that I have one. 

I went stash diving today. In the fiber stash, so I could have more fiber to spin this evening for the Tour. I came across a variety of exciting items, but grabbed 2 items: some superwash merino, and a braid of BFL I purchased at the Fancy Tiger, in Denver. Just to make sure, I kept rooting around a bit more to look at everything in the stash bin. My eye was caught by a braid that looked similar to the BFL I had already extracted from the bin. It was odd, I though, since it was in a peachy pink color that I'm not usually persuaded to purchase. 

I pulled it out. It was the same brand, but slightly fluffier. 

I checked the band, it was the same fiber. In fact, it was the same colorway, the same fiber, the same brand. And I knew that I hadn't purchased the two braids at the same time. For one thing, they were slightly different in their colors. And for another, I remembered purchasing both of them at different times. From the same store. And I hadn't realized it until today. 

Like I said. I may have a problem. An impulse problem when it comes to stash enhancement. Now that I'm aware of it, I guess that means I can fix it? I hope...

Anyway, enough true confessions. Let's get to the Tour update! I've been spinning a lot. Doing very well on stash busting. 

Last night, I pulled out some mystery fiber that may have been mohair-silk-something or other. It's really pretty, but not very nice to touch. I guess I'll wash it and see what happens then, but I'm not hopeful. I also plied the Dragonfly singles from this weekend. They are lovely, at least! 

Today, after my stash diving adventure, I plied the mystery singles. Again, pretty to look at, not very nice to touch. Then I yanked out one of the BFL braids. Cuz, hey! I have a lot of it, surprisingly. And I'm a little embarrassed about it. So, spun 2 oz of that nonsense. 

Tomorrow, I have the day off. Caitlin and I are going to see a movie, and I'm going to do some homework, and I shall endeavor to take a larger chunk out of the BFL surprise. Should be a productive day! After I sleep in, of course. 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

And we're off!

The Tour de Fleece has begun! I still don't have what you might call a "concrete" goal, but I think that I'm going to aim for a major stash reduction, and to spin every day for the length of the tour. We shall see.

The picture above is the remainder of the fluffy green bamboo stuff that I said I needed to do last time. I whipped through that nonsense. Like a powerhouse. It was awesome. I still need to ply it, but that can happen tomorrow. Maybe. I have to do a lot of driving tomorrow. There may not be a lot of time for spinning.




Then I pulled out another braid from this year's Wool Market haul. It's one of the 4 braids that I bought from Bonkers, since I loved the superwash merino that I got last year. This year I didn't get any superwash, but I got a bunch of very colorful in just about every other variety offered. This braid is, apparently, merino and silk. In the Dragonfly colorway. Which turns out to be very appropriate, because the shiny silk gives the fiber kind of an iridescent look. Like dragonfly wings. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done.







I spun about 5 ounces of fiber tonight. Pretty impressive, considering all the other stuff I did today. Alone, because everyone nearby abandoned me. Cuz they have lives and stuff. It's rude, really. Ah well, more time for spinning!

Friday, June 29, 2012

On your marks...

You know what tomorrow is? The Prologue for the Tour de France.

You know what that means? I need to come up with a Tour de Fleece goal. Other than "spin a bunch of the stash so you look like less of a hoarder." I mean, that's a good goal, but it would be good to be a bit more specific, right?

I've not been getting much done lately. I spun a few things.




Like the Oatmeal BFL-Tussah Silk from Frabjous Fibers that I purchased at Wool Market. Ohmygod it's luscious. I mean it. The fiber is lovely, the color is lovely, it was a joy to spin. Holy cow. I'm pretty addicted. I wish I'd bought more of the stuff.










Then there's the angora-wool blend that I bought from Woodlake Woolies last year at Wool Market. It's pretty, and soft, and a little bit sparkly. But not all that exciting. Thank goodness there wasn't all that much of it. Now what do I do with it?








More exciting, there is some bamboo something or other. Again from wool market. From Your Daily Fiber (I think). It doesn't have a tag on it. But it's lovely to spin. Like spinning clouds. And it's shiny, and soft, and I lurve it. Good thing, cuz there's a lot of it. I still need to spin 3/4 of a braid. Yeah man.





I have been knitting a little bit too. I got the yarn in for Mariah's chuppah, so I've been working on that. It's nice that the yarn is chunky, and goes quickly. The pattern is easy to figure out, and I think that she and her fiance are really gonna cherish it, so I'm pretty enthused about that. Except that it's gonna get huge and wooly, and it's roasting this summer.

I've been trying to finish my highland triangle shawl, but that's kind of slow going. It's pretty, but there are lots of stitches and the pattern is a little bit boring.

And then, I've been suckered in to knitting my 4th clapotis. That pattern is like a disease. There's a reason we call it "the clap." The worst part? Only 2 of my 4 were knit for me or someone I know. Caitlin's grandma wants one, though, and Caitlin doesn't really want to knit another one. So I volunteered. Cuz I'm a good friend like that.

And amongst all this stuff, I still need TdF goals... I'll think on those. And hopefully let you know tomorrow what I decide. We shall see.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Bo-ring!

You know the really unfortunate thing about going to the wool market? It's given me a complete dearth of enthusiasm for the stuff I was already working on. I mean, the merino-silk that I had been spinning before I went? Please. That's so yesterday.






On the other hand, at least I only had 2 ounces left on the Crayons. So, it could have taken longer to finish. But I was really impatient to get to the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean the new stuff. Because obviously new is better.










After I was done with that stuff, though, I kind of had a dilemma. I mean, how do you choose from all the new lusciousness? I was frozen with indecision. It's like a kid being confronted with all their new toys on Christmas Day. It's overwhelming, and you can't decide what to play with first. Unlike a kid on Christmas, though, you can't really play with one thing, then toss it on the floor and move on to the next thing. Fortunately, the indecision didn't last for long. I just grabbed the first thing that caught my eye and went to town.


The first braid to catch my eye was some polwarth/tussah silk from Dicentra Designs. It started out looking like the braid in the bottom of the photo above. Pretty, shiny, fits right into my usual color scheme... basically, it was perfect. I turned it into this:


Pretty, shiny, a little bit understated. It was a perfectly lovely spinning experience. Alas, it was also just a tad boring. I mean, this year at wool market, I made the effort to get out of my color comfort-zone, and the first thing I chose to spin from my haul was squarely in the middle of that comfort zone. Lame. I'll do better next time, I promise.







I also finished some socks. Did I tell you about my socks resolution this summer? I need to get rid of some stash, and I have a bunch of yarn set aside for socks, I need some knitting to take to work with me... it's just the easiest plan in the world. Anyway, pair number 1 for the summer! Sadly, I made the soles a little bit long for my feet, so they fit a bit awkwardly. I'll think of something to fix that, though. You'll see.







Next time, on "Dirty Words"... we learn about Lily's new desperate love for oatmeal BFL, we meet Lily's new socks, and get the real story on Lily's yarn addiction. Stay tuned!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Wool Market!


Yeah. The Estes Park Wool Market was held this weekend. It was just as good as you would expect it to be. I got even more stuff this year than I did last year (yes, it's possible). The vendors were wonderful, the animals were cute, and I managed not to be utterly overwhelmed by the wool fumes.

Although, I must admit that there were a few moments where I got a little light-headed. Regardless, I got a lot of good stuff.

We started out at the alpaca barn, having learned from experience that if you wait until after you go to the vendor barn a) you will be out of money and b) they will be nearly out of fiber. They had many luscious bits of fiber. I ended up with a little bit of dark brown and more than a little bit of gray fiber. They're gonna be fun to play with.

After the alpaca barn, we went to the vendor barn where we purchased from several of last-year's vendors and a few new ones. I got a LOT of stuff, mostly fiber. I got one lonely little skein of laceweight because it was just calling out to me, but otherwise I was able to restrain my yarn-purchasing impulses.

One reason that I managed to avoid purchasing yarn is because I know that I can find most of the yarns online at a better price. Or at least I can find them again, and you can pretty much tell what yarn is going to feel like from a picture. Fiber, on the other hand, is better purchased in person. Therefore, I felt no need to restrain my baser impulses in that area.

Want to see all that stuff piled up? Here ya go:


Remember, this is a judgment free zone. And also, notice how pretty it all looks! And how much variety in color and fiber content! Alas, I fear that I really need to start spinning again. Because the vast quantities of fiber I purchased yesterday are not going to fit in my fiber bin. And it's a pretty large bin. Oh well! More fluffies for me!




The green bag is the official wool market tote for this year. The artist had a lot of really cute things in their official booth, but Caitlin and I weren't so enamored that we purchased anything. The bag, on the other hand, was too cute to pass up. The print is "Maaaster's Degree," which we thought was appropriate.






Speaking of a master's degree, I'm taking marketing this summer and it's ruining my life. There's so much reading involved. The assingments aren't hard, but I'm taking the class online, so I have to participate in "discussions," and read the 2 textbooks, and read the cases and write my responses to them. Holy cow. Taking up all my time. Including the time I spend at work, since they haven't had much for me to do. But that's beside the point.

Between the job, and the class, and the upheaval of my life caused by moving to a different city for (at least) the summer, I haven't been doing a lot of knitting. It's a shame, really, since there are so many things I would like to knit. I'm thinking about purchasing more sweater yarn. And I need to purchase more chuppah yarn (Mariah picked one of the samples that I produced for her). And I am feeling the need to complete something I have on the needles. Either the highland triangle shawl, or the socks that I started so I can take them to work with me. Or the other shawl that's been hibernating for a while.






Or, and I realize this is really out of the box, maybe I'll get hooked on hexi-puffs. I got ensnared by some mini-skeins being sold by Jessica at Storied Yarns, and now I have 10 tiny skeins of sparkly colors that need a small project, and apparently these mini-skeins are perfect for hexi-puffs. We shall see.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

"You should sell that!"

Don't you love when people ask you if you sell the stuff that you make? I do. Mostly because they have no idea what really goes into making the item. Not to mention that I think it would be harder for me to knit things for other people than it is for me to knit for myself. Or for gifts, you know. I'd have to make sure there were no mistakes, and that I made it up perfectly, and... well, take more care than I sometimes do when I'm knitting for myself.

Anyway, today I was spinning, and one of my brother's friends said "You should sell the yarn that you're spinning! You could call it... Lily's yarn stuff!" I just laughed.

Admittedly, it would be something to do with my handspun. God knows I don't know what to do with most of it. I've started packing up for my impending move back to Golden. It's a little alarming how much stuff I own. Especially the yarn and fiber stashes. They're not as bad as they could be, but they definitely take up 2 rather large bins. And there's a significant amount of stuff that I haven't packed... I think I need another bin.

Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately:

I spun up some Anzula BFL fiber that I purchased at the Fancy Tiger a while ago.

I turned this BFL/silk from Funky Carolina:













Into some rather lovely 2 ply. I really like how shiny it is. I really think I'll use this for something. Possibly a cowl?

















Then, in the process of packing up my stash, I came across 2 little bitty BFL rolags from Cloud City Fibers, which I brought home from last year's Wool Market.











Which I quickly whipped into some little singles, since there's not really enough to make anything out of them. They were really just for testing out the idea of spinning from a rolag, and for trying the fiber.







And, last weekend, I dragged Caitlin to Fort Collins on a yarn hunt for Tosh Merino Light for a Color Affection shawl, for which I blame the lust on the Yarn Harlot.

The stripes are abso-freaking-lutely charming. I love them. I keep making people admire them. Frankly, I'm pretty sure my family is trying to figure out how to deal with the craziness. Oh well. Screw them, they have no idea how clever little short-row stripes are. And the garter stitch is surprisingly zen, rather than obnoxious. I like it.

Tomorrow, I shall endeavor to obtain some more bins, and pack more things, and spin some more fiber, since it's become apparent that I really need to work on the stash.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It's pretty!

My mother has noticed a) the amount of spinning I have undertaken lately and b) the amount of fiber that has been arriving at the house... She asked me "Do you have a purpose for all this stuff?" and I told her "It's pretty!"

She asked "But what are you going to do with it?" and I said "It's pretty!"

She gave up asking.

Don't you thin it's pretty? It so is. And I actually planned ahead while spinning it! Split it into 3 equal-ish sized chunks, 3-plied the final product. Very exciting, very pretty, and it's probably the most consistent product I've made myself. So yes, it's pretty. Pretty awesome, that is! It's Rue, on merino 64, from Storied Yarns.



In complete contrast, I also dredged up an art batt that I purchased (also from Storied Yarns) last fall. I think it was fall, anyway. Probably. I get confused.
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, on a variety of fibers. Only 2.8 ounces, so in less than an hour, I had some singles, and then I let it rest for a few hours (I know, you're supposed to wait overnight... whatever. I'm impatient), and voila!




Pretty! If not terribly practical. I'm not sure what it's gonna be, other than decoration, like the other art yarn I spun. Whatever, sometimes you just need to not care about drafting or even-ness, or... well, anything. It's nice to just let it all go.





And for my final stunt, the first test skein for Mariah's chuppah. The yarn arrived in the mail yesterday (2 skeins of different yarn, so she can decide what she wants), and I cast them on, and now I'm out of the first skein.
I'm going to throw that bad boy on a life line and block it, just to see what it looks like all stretched out, and whether the color ends up being any different, and then I'm gonna drape it over something chuppah-like, so I can figure out if it grows, and then I can help Mariah decide which one of these yarns to use. Tomorrow, perhaps I can finish the other one?

We shall see.