Tuesday, January 29, 2008

KNITTING WITH MY OWN HOMESPUN


Woooo Hooo...I've spun enough BFL to make this little shoulder wrap! I can't believe how soft it is and surprisingly, for a singles, it isn't wonky when knit up...I'm very pleased.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

SPINNING YARN(S)



This week I have been practicing my spinning...and I'm pretty sure I'm getting better at it...at least no more overspinning with all of the curls and skewed yarn everywhere. What a pain...thought I would never learn to get it to resemble real yarn. Anyway, I've spun all of my Tri Color Jacob..wish I had known about spinning thinner because it would have made some lovely sock yarn (wahhhhh) Nevertheless, it's all spun..I've spun a couple of hanks of Merino...yummmmmy soft goodness! I must have more of that!!!!! Also working on the 8 ounces of BFL which is a lovely milk chocolatey brown and 8 ounces of Shetland...which, by the way, is a pain the arse to spin. I must learn a better way for it because all I am getting is a slubby yarn. That may not be so bad, but from what I understand, Shetland is supposed to be a pretty decent wool. It's soooooooo short!! Yikes, I am not able to manage it well at all! I'm saving the Yak hair for when I actually know what I can do with it. I have no clue right now-but I got a lot of it and it's bound to make something interesting!! I should have enough of it for a sweater I think...I have a whole pound of it!!!!

Monday, January 21, 2008

IN THE SPINNING ZONE...FINALLY




I know I haven't been spinning long, but sometimes it just takes that one time to finally have the light go on and then you're in the zone!! I reached that zone yesterday and I have been spinning up a storm ever since....I can't get enough and now I need wool...I need silk...I need all sorts of spinning goodness to try!!! I've spun all of my Jacob, most of my Merino and pretty soon all the BFL will be spun. I tried the Shetland, but I don't really like it for spinning...maybe later when I get better or I'll spin it with something else...too rough and sticky for me though! The Yak is being saved for something wonderful (and further spinning instructions...to be obtained at the Conference in March)

Oh yeah, I finished my Toes Up Socks too...

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Garn Studio Eskimo KAL...I'm gettin' her done!

You'd think since I love knitting so much I would be chomping at the bit to do this sweater...maybe it's knit overload from the Holidays, who knows. At any rate, I do love the sweater design and am anxious to really get into it and make it for Pat, soooooooooooooo to that end, I've joined the KAL to do just that!! I know once I get moving along on it, it'll be fun. If I like it well enough, I might make this same sweater in the lighter weight version-just to have, not necessarily for myself.
Ignore my whining about it in the post below...It's going to be fun to knit with others who are making the same. See-I even have the button that proclaims me as a participant. It's official-it's done!!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

I've got FO's ....yea!




The mad Holiday rush is over and I surely am glad of it. Now I can get down to some seriously interesting knitting and hope that by year's end I will be well ahead of the game...no last minute, late night knitting sessions to finish gifts that need to be mailed, no knitting the last sock on the way to deliver them, etc. Yeah, right! What would this passion be without burning some midnight oil and all that? In fact, I was up until the wee hours Friday am finishing the little lavender jacket for Misstress Claire Johnson...but such fun and doesn't Mommy look happy with it?

I've also finished my very first Tutorial on Wet Canvas..the Toes Up Sock...and I think it's going well. I have 5 Stars!!!!!! I love these socks so much and they fit like...well, they fit like good fitting socks! I'll be making lots more of these.

Pat's Drops Design Jacket has been started and I don't know about it...it's one of those things that I know she's going to love when I give it to her because she picked the pattern and the wool, but it just isn't all that much fun to knit. It's bulky and the needles are big so it feels sooooooo chunky in my hands. I will finish it of course, but I know me and it will probably be one of those projects that I will only occasionally pick up and work on from time to time. Hope to have it finished by the end of February (see, that's how much I plan on working on it)

Now, back to knitting....