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!

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.

"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.

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.

The stash is getting out of control

I have to confess to a fiber-buying binge recently... I don't know what happened, but last weekend I fell hard off the fiber diet wagon. It started at the store where Caitlin works. They had this brightly colored bump of BFL from Mountain Colors. And they were having spin-in that night... and I'd magically brought my spinning wheel without being asked. Man. It was just serendipitous all the way. So I bought it, finished the alpaca that I'd been fighting with, and started spinning the new bump of fiber, even though I had brought a different braid with me, just in case. Anyway, I finished that bump this week.

Pretty, right? It's gorgeous, and it's BFL, which I adore, and I'm trying really hard to think of something luscious to knit with this. Something that will really show off the colors. Otherwise, it might have to be some kind of yarn art for a while. The colorway is called Springtime, which I think is pretty perfect, since the weather is acting pretty spring-like lately...

Then, Caitlin and I spent Saturday on a button hunt. I required buttons for the February Lady sweater that I intended (and did!) finish last weekend. Well, we ended up going to the Fancy Tiger, in Denver, which has a great selection of fibers. I may have fallen down in there, and accidentally purchased 2 braids of fiber from them.

As I mentioned, the alpaca fiber is done. It was a labor of love. You know how much I love alpaca. It's one of my favorite fibers, and it feels so pretty, and this bump of fiber had been taunting me from the top of my yarn bureau (yes, I have a yarn bureau, you don't?) since November, when I lost the battle to not purchase it in the face of a massive sale.





Alas, I fear that I'm not quite ready for non-sheep fibers. I just haven't had enough practice. By the end of the bump, I think I was doing pretty well, but starting out was painful. Anyway, the finished yarn is luscious and wonderful, but I'm not ready to get back on the alpaca for a while. (See what I did there? Like getting back on a horse, but with a fiber animal. Hahaha, I'm hilarious, I know. You don't have to tell me.) I'm thinking of turning the alpaca handspun into a cowl or hat or something that I wear next to my skin, it's so soft and pretty. I love that it's kind of an oatmeal color, and looks a little rough. We'll see what it wants to be next winter. I can't knit alpaca in the summer.

Finally, this week I found myself tempted by several braids of fiber by various online sellers. I bought a braid of merino/silk from a destash on Ravelry, and some merino/bamboo from Etsy... well, it just got me in the mood to make an effort to restrain the spinning stash. So I've made a new resolution: when at home, I'm going to spin spin spin spin spin. I finished the sweater, and haven't really got any knitting that I want/need to do until the test yarn for Mariah's chuppah (did I tell you that I'm knitting a chuppah for a Jewish wedding next summer?) comes in. Since I'm feeling uninspired on the knitting front, I shall apply my efforts to spinning. Already I've made a pretty good start, I finished the Mountain colors bump, and have started a new braid of merino.

It's very pretty, very easy to spin, and I'm enjoying it. The colorway is Rue (from the Hunger Games), and it's from Storied Yarns. Pretty awesome.

Wish me luck in keeping the new resolution. I'm really hoping I can make a dent in the stash before I run out of oomph. We'll see. Next time I'll post a picture of the new sweater, and hopefully something newly spun.

Sleeves are the devil

I hate sleeves. They're worse than second sock syndrome, for me. A sock is a finite object, and kinda small, and there's not usually very many pattern repeats needed to make the socks match in size. Sleeves, on the other hand, are pretty much infinite. They feel like they go on forever, anyway. Especially since I have excessively long arms. 

That's the amount of sleeve I've gotten done in the last 3 days. Admittedly, I haven't really made that much of an effort. But you'd think it would be going faster. Especially since I'm doing them one at a time. 

Originally, I had planned to do them two at a time, so that they would definitely be the same length, and I wouldn't have to power through the second one. Unfortunately, it turns out that it's much harder to make sleeves two at a time when they are attached to the sweater, not waiting to be seamed. 

On the bright side, it allows me to use the fancy square double points that I got for the colorwork sweater again. I really dig these needles. They're really pretty, and they're wood, so my stitches don't slide off so easily (let's not talk about how often I try to extricate the fifth needle from the rest of the knitting and it turns out I've pulled out the wrong needle.), and I find the shape just fascinating. It's great. You should try them, they're from Knitter's Pride, so they're not terribly expensive. Definitely super bueno.

Also super bueno: finishing the body of the sweater while getting a pedicure! The guy who was doing the pedicure kept staring at me. He was real cute about it. He and one of the nail ladies were very impressed with how quickly I was knitting, and by the seeming complexity and size of the project.

He also did a very nice job on my toes. I always like to have nice looking toes when it's sandal weather. I can't keep a manicure looking nice, but my toes don't get a whole lot of action, so I like to have those done. Plus, who doesn't love a free leg massage?

In addition to the lovely sweater, and the equally lovely toes, I have some lovely spinning to share with you. It's the alpaca that I started last week. The spinning is still not as simple as I might like it to be, but it's going better. I hope it looks nice when it's plied. We shall see.

Spring Break

Hey Y'all! I hope everyone has been enjoying the warming weather, and maybe some time off? I did. Well, not the warming weather bit, until the end of last week. But I had quite a bit of time off. I went to see Shelby! It was lovely to see her and where she lives. We did some fun stuff, and I had a LOT of knitting time.

I started a February Lady sweater in Berroco Weekend, which I picked up at Jimmy Beans Wool! Yes, that Jimmy Beans. I flew in to Reno, so Shelby and I made Chase take us to the yarn store. He was unamused. And kind of judgy about the fact that I bought an entire sweater's worth of yarn. But he's a boy and doesn't really get it. Anyway, I got a fair amount of sweater done. Which is impressive, considering the lackluster amount I've finished since I returned home.

I can't help it, I've been busy. I helped my mom paint the trim in the living room (turns out the fireplace has been the wrong color for 17 years, who knew?), and then we did yard work, and then I came down with a monster cold and I had to go back to work. Buncha crap. And this cold is kicking my butt.

Since I returned, I have managed to finish a blanket.

 I did most of the work while my parents were out of town 2 weeks ago, but I didn't quite manage to finish before I left for Winnemucca. So I finished on Saturday, after doing yard work. Whew! Just in time for a cold snap, surprisingly.

I also tried spinning a little bit of alpaca roving the other night, but it didn't go well, so I'm not gonna dwell on that. I am, however, going to take some Nyquil and go to bed. In the hopes that tomorrow I will have kicked this cold to the curb. Good night!