SnerKnits

long time comming

2008-07-25T15:10:00.004-06:00

well it's finally summer and I'm actually finishing projects. Here are the latest:

I finally finished a mystery KAL. This is "Mystic Light", the yarn is a merino/seacell mix that I bought at Knit-knackers and dyed myself. The final measurements were 6'6" along the top and 3' deep. I'm in love with the drape and the colour and very proud of myself for finishing the damn thing!

I also made up a Clapotis. This is probably my fourth Clap but this is the only one that has stayed with me. It's made from two skeins of the Noro Sock yarn (also bought at Knit-Knackers). I hadn't intended to make up this project but I saw the yarn and knew that it had to be done.

Being a voluptuous type I opted to make this a really good size - I mean really good. It ended up over 8' long. Blocking was a hoot!

I'm working on a lot of baby knits right now. A cousin and a good friend are both expecting their first in a few months so I've got to get moving. The Fad classic mentioned in the last post is finished and I've worn it tonnes. The Tree Jacket is not getting much action in the summer but I'll try and pick it up late in August so that it will be done before spring ;-)

The other thing keeping me interested is my new drum carder. No pictures yet but I'm deeply in love with what my Strauch petite can do. I've had it ripping through all kinds of lovelies and can't wait to get the new goods on the wheel.

Hope everyone is having as much fun this summer as I am!

Hooking, babies, and light

2008-04-15T11:53:00.003-06:00

How's that for an opener . . .

I've recently gone over to the dark side and actually tried crochet. It was an overwhelming desire for a new bath "poof" that sent me over the top and led me to actually complete a complete project

it looks great but it does a horrible job. The mesh/fibers are too big and the bath gel just gets absorbed and dosen't foam up.

I made ribbed baby jacket for my good friend. She delivered the baby last weekend and he is adorable. She was a trooper (33 hours of labour and then a c-section) but everyone is healthy and happy in the end.

it's a superwash wool who's name I don't remember but it is very soft and was fun to work with.

and I've signed up for yet another mystery along. I always start these things with the best intention but then get side tracked. Mystic Light is holding my attention pretty well. I love the pattern and and the yarn I hand-dyed. The yarn is a merino/seacell blend that has just been a pleasure. This picture shows a completed clue 1 and I'm mostly through clue 2 (never mind that clue 4 comes out tomorrow.)

I've also finished a Fad Classic and I'm working on a Tree Jacket but no pictures just yet.

Oh my god - they just keep breeding!!

2008-03-03T12:51:00.004-06:00

There are a million pregnant ladies at my school (really only three) but I have been having a blast knitting for them. It really is so much fun imagining the little guys (three boys) in their new gear and it really is a pleasure to give something handmade at the shower in amongst all of the mass produced stuff.

First up were the sweaters.

I love the classic colours of this Organic Guernsey. F.Pea is making some amazing baby patterns. Once I was done the sweater I was worried about finding buttons but I'm really happy with where I ended up. I snagged these from my Mom who has one of those great baskets that are just stuffed with buttons. I think the orangy/red give is a very playful feel.

This is Supernatural Stripes out of Cotton Ease. The mother wasn't sure what she was having for a while so I knit in green but we're pretty sure it's a boy now. I hope the green is manly enough. The pattern is great and really well written. If anyone else desides to reproduce I would totally make this again.

I think this is my favourite. This is for a good friend at work so I'm not ashamed to say it got more work than the sweaters for the "just co-workers". It is of course Trellis from Knitty. It is in a superwash merino and the cables were just a blast to work. I had lost a little knitting mojo working on all the gift knitting and this thing just fixed me up proper. I zoomed through it and adore the finished product. I had a little trouble sewing the sleeve to the shoulder but I think it looks ok and I hope that the Mom to be will love it.

and then the pants

How can you not love baby cargo's again out of Cotton Ease. These were given away just this weekend and the love for them was very strong. There's something so sweet about adult like clothing for little people. I kept the pockets open rather than mucking about with sewn down top flaps and it was my first run at a hemed knitting project.

there have been a few socks and slippers too but I didn't snap pictures before I gave them away.

Another piece of which I am very fond is my new lap blanket

It's a bigger piece so I feel it deserves a bigger picture. I loved the idea of the Hemlock Ring blanket by Jared Flood but I couldn't get my head around the crochet so this was the cheater's solution. I found an old doily pattern that didn't have any crochet and went to town. I used some handspun that I had made from a mixed fibre batt (about 500 yards) and kept expanding the pattern until it looked like I was going to run out of yarn if I didn't bind off soon. I absolutely love the finished product and it is now an object of pride in my study.

I think that's it for now. I am working on a sweater for myself out of handspun at commercial yarn, a vest (Fad Classic) for myself out of cotton/linen and a summer top for my Mom but they are all at various stages of completion and I don't tend to take pictures until things are done.

Thanks for stopping by!

back in the sadle (ish)

2008-01-21T13:05:00.000-06:00

I told you I still knit! I've been knitting away all holiday but haven't had a chance to post anything. I have a tonne of pictures on my camera and hopefully this weekend I'll be able to put some of them up. The move was great and I love my new home. It's the first one time I've had this much space (even if I have to share it with the BF!).

The only things I have pictures of right now are my new winter accessories.

This is the Roman Centurion Scarf and it was a great pattern to knit. It's the most basic Patons classic merino but I love it.

To match I made the Manly Mits from Knitty. I made them with the same Patons Merino but on a smaller needle size to make a smaller mitt. They came out with a nice firm fabric that has blocked all but the very coldest of Ottawa winter winds.

I have one other project uploaded - it was a goofy Xmas hat I made for a staff picture at work. Each department was posing for a calendar month and English was December. I couldn't find any ornament baubles so I just made tiny pompoms (which is incredibly annoying) but I love the result.

The BF wore it to his office's Xmas party and was harrased by all because they loved it so much (yay). It's made out of Cascade 220 and various sock odds and ends for the lights.

Not Dead Yet

2007-12-14T08:28:00.001-06:00

It just looks that way I promise! My BF and I have just purchased a home and are moving in one week. We are so excited but also soooooo busy! I've finished all of the X-mas knitting (except for his socks but he can wait). I've been trying to find time to spin but that just isn't happening. Add all this to the craziness that abounds at a school two weeks before the holiday break and you can start to understand my non-blogging. Hopefully I'll get a post in with pictures before the move but no promises.

The Xmas knitting comes on a pace.

2007-10-23T11:50:00.000-06:00

I finished up all the knitting for my sister and her partner. He's recently moved to Canada from much warmer climes so I wanted to make sure he would have something warm to wear.

Pictured below are a fake isle hat (pattern from Magknits) and a one row scarf from the Yarn Harlot. I made both out of Paton's SWS. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I particularly like the striping on the scarf. I hope they do the trick when it really starts to get cold here.

My Sister got a hat too but it's very special. One of the spinning groups on Ravelry is having a monthly spin a long and for September it was Merino in "end of summer" colours. I hand dyed 200 grams of merino (which I showed you here) and spun it up into this:

It kills me how pretty it turned out (if I do say so myself). It is a traditional 3 ply and about a worsted weight. It very quickly turned into:

and these

The mitts are Dashing from knitty with some alterations. I didn't make them as long as the pattern calls for but the cables really hug the wrist and I think they'll keep my Sister very warm.

I've also been working on the Secret of the Stole which is exceptionally pretty. I know I bailed on the Mystery Stole this summer but I'm actually really enjoying this one. The picture shows the end of clue number one and I'm most of the way through number two (never mind that three is already posted).

It also pains me to admit that I've signed up for another mystery lace project - the Mystic Waters KAL. It's not my fault though, the designer is from Ottawa and I really had no choice ;-). I'm using some malabrigo lace for it and the first clue is released tomorrow. I think I may need help!

Just in time for fall I present you. . .

2007-09-20T07:14:00.000-06:00

A summer top (it never fails).

This is Josephine from IK Summer 2007. I used some Debbie Bliss wool/cotton that is now discontinued (but that I got for a song at Knit Knackers). I made the largest size and the only real modification I made was to increase the length of the top part (past the eyelets) by 2" to account for my bust. I love how it fits - I wore it to my school today and everyone else seemed to like it too. Luckily we're having a bit of a warm snap this week so maybe I'll get another wear or two out of it before it has to be put away for next summer.

I've also finished up a little more Xmas knitting

This is for the BF's sister. I didn't actually knit it myself but I did do a lot of work so I'm going to claim it anyways. I went to my local Value Village and found a lovely child's sweater that looked like it was made from something Lopi"esque". There was no label so I assume it was handmade. I took it home and felted it to within an inch of it's life, cut off the sleves and sewed up the bottom. I sewed down the crew neck and attached a leather strap and now I have what I think is a very cute recycled sweater bag. His sister is big into responsible consumerism so I know she will enjoy this!

Now for my Dad (who has stated that all he ever wants are more socks)

This is the Spring Cable pattern and some very generic plain grey sock yarn. My BF took one look at these and decided that I should make him a pair as well. I told him no problem but he gets socks all year so he would have to go to the back of the line. He was good humoured but less than impressed (I don't know what he has to complain about - he already has like 10 pairs of handknit socks).

This is the first in the pair of socks from the yarn that I squirt dyed and showed here. I love how the colours look but I'm a little terrified that the chevron pattern is going to make them too small. I won't really know until I have more foot knitted - please thing positive things!

School is amazing right now. I have a couple of really great groups of kids. I still don't have a lot of time for knitting and spinning but I'm doing what I can. I finished some yarn last night that I think will be for my Sister's Xmas gift but I haven't really decided yet.

Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!

the last dye day for a while

2007-09-01T19:39:00.000-06:00

Well school starts on Tuesday so I guess my first summer off is officially over. I really enjoyed having the time to recharge and I'm feeling more relaxed than I have in years. I just have to find a way to keep up better during the year.

In an attempt to aide my sanity I did a little more dyeing. All the roving is from Knit-Knackers and the sock yarn is from Knit Picks.

This is 200grams of merino roving that is intended for the Ravelry "Spinner Central" September Spin a Long. The colour theme is the end of summer and I think I'm calling this "Last Blush". It kind of reminds me of the excitement of the first day of school with the pink and the beginning of serious studies with the brown. I tried a hot pour technique using Wiltons dye for this roving. It worked fairly well but I need a bigger pot to spread my rovings out in. I had a hard time getting the dye all the way to the bottom.

This is a superwash roving that is hand dyed using Jacquard acid dye. I love the birghtness of it. I think I will try and chain ply this so I can keep it in stripes but I haven't decided yet.

Another superwash roving again with the acid dye. I can really see the difference between the Wilton's dye above and this one. They use what should be similar colours but the end result is drastically different for each. I think this one will make an awesome verigated barber poled sock thing.

This is another "new technique" attempt. I wound a skein into a much larger one but going around and around a large packing box. I then soaked it and twisted it into a traditional skein. Then the dyes were squirted into the cracks. It has resulted in various lengths of colour and a lot of white showing through. I've just started knitting this up and I love it! Detail shot below.

The last is not dyeing at all but it is the continuation of my Xmas knitting. My mom requested a cat bed for their new cat, Monty. My folks have a huge collection of white and blue plates that dominate the kitchen and the family room where this would likely go so I tried to tie it into that. It's the Kitty Pi pattern and I used two colours (and two and 1/2 balls) of Lopi. It took three runs through the washer to felt but I really like how it turned out.

Welcome to the dye pot.

2007-08-17T14:17:00.000-06:00

It was a busy day here on Thursday morning. I decided to really get into the acid dyes that I had purchased before school ended. I wanted to try a couple of techniques that I had seen in Dyeing to Knit and a good time was had by all.

I did two roving bundles first. They are both superwash lambswool from Knit-Knackers and I used the standard handpaint technique. I find that superwash roving takes the dye so fast that I don't even need to heat them afterwards.

I was using dye measurements that were intended for a different brand of dye and I think it was way too much. I love the colours in the top one - the saturation is what I wanted but there was some run off before I got a total exhaust. I'm a little less happy with the green and purple. I wish I had given myself longer repeats of each colour. I guess the proof will be in the spinning.

The two sock yarns were both Knit-Picks Bare. The top skein was "sprinkle dyed". You wet out the yarn, spread it out in a shallow pan and sprinkle the yarn with the dye powder. The colours migrate a little but I think the end results is a little muddy. Again - I won't have a final result until I see it knit. I love how some areas look like they've been air brushed.

I was thrilled with how this one turned out. It is tie dyed. I space dyed the yarn with a light yellow, a light green and a teal. Once I finished that process I tied it in a bunch of different places with cotton and over dyed with saphire blue. The yellow didn't quite turn the blue I wanted but the overdye on the blue and the green is awesome! I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

I'm going to try and get one more dye day in before I got back to school. I will probably be back in the school building week after next and right now dyeing is helping me convince myself that I don't need to buy any more yarn (it's like I'm creating my own new yarn!). I may go pick up a little more natural roving but that should be it for a while.

socks, socks, socks, and the beginning of the December rush!

2007-08-16T10:55:00.001-06:00

So summer's almost over and all I can do is knit socks. The evidence speaks for itself!

Above are some gym socks I made for my self from Zen Yarn Garden cotton/lycra yarn. The yarn had been marinating in my stash for a while and I could never really decide what to do with it. I'd tried making some full length socks but I was knitting it on 1's (2.5 mm) and it was way too tight. This time it was 2's (2.75) and everything went swimmingly. The tragedy is that after two weeks of going to the gym religiously I sprained my ankle at the gym. No I wasn't doing anything too strenuous. I was actually completly finished my work out and steped off the treadmill wrong and my ankle gave out under me. It's been a little less than a week and while I can walk on it now it is disgustingly bruised and sore.

These are a summer staple for our household. My BF always insists on wearing socks all summer with shorts so every summer he gets a pair or two of anklets in cotton sock yarn that will hopefully spare my shame. We are in a heated debate about the colour of these socks. He swears that they are purple and I am bound and determined to make him see that they are a dark blue. Any votes?

I'm especially proud of these. I spun up some superwash merino roving from Mama-E's (Mermaid colourway) and decided that the colours were perfect for my Mom. I wasn't super secure in my yardage so I learned how to do toe up socks so I could take advantage of every inch. I ended up with an 8" leg so I am super pleased. I don't love the short row heel so the next step is to figure out the toe up heel flap. I was most worried about the toe and once I got used to it (I did the Turkish cast on) it was no problem. I was left with a mere 10 grams of yarn that I will hold on to for darning purposes. This represents the beginning of the Xmas knitting. It shouldn't be too bad this year. The BF's sister is boyfriendless so that's one less person but my sister has a new BF so I lost my advantage as soon as I got it!

Today I spent the whole morning dyeing roving and sock yarn. I'll put up the results shortly. It was my first full experience with Jacquard Acid dyes and I experimented with a few techniques. Pictures to follow shortly.

FO and UFO update

2007-07-27T18:18:00.000-06:00

So I finally finished Dad's socks. I began the saga here with a first attempt at a space dye. I personally love them but after speaking to both the BF and my Mom they are worried that they are a little too loud for my Dad. I ended up rinsing the finished socks in a weak brown dye and it muted them down a little. I hope he likes them!

Next up is a prize!! I participate in the Sunday Spin Along and for tutorial #3 I was the lucky winner!! For my Turkish Knot yarn. Diane sent along this lovely package of goodies. There is some handspun silk/merino, a couple of very pretty stitch markers, and some Wensydale locks that look like they will be fun to play with. Thanks Diane!

Beside the alpaca fleece you can see a silk scarf I am making from some silk nolis yarn I got at Knit-Knackers. It was undyed so I promptly dunked it in some sky blue wiltons. I love the colour. The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today (page 80). It is a very easy scarf - almost too easy - and the silk is great.

These two are just for my pleasure. When I finished the Tour de Fleece I realized I didn't have quite enough yardage for what I had in mind (a super warm, wooly vest). So on my last Knit-Knackers pligramage I picked up a pound of merino fleece for the whopping price of $6. It is now washed and dyed and I managed to felt it just a little. The carding is taking care of it but looking now at the beautiful crimp I regret that I didn't treat it more gently. I know I won't finish this in the tour deadline but I will finish it by Septmeber and hopefully I will have started the vest.

All is progressing. I'm having a blast on Ravelry (I'm sner - feel free to add me as a friend) and I'm only slowly starting to get bored of this whole summer vacation thing.

Down on the ALPACA farm!!

2007-07-24T18:46:00.000-06:00

So two weeks ago I accompanied the DBF to his parents place in Havelock ON. It was a great chance to hang out with his Nona (who I adore - she has great stories about spinning yarn straight off the fleece to make socks for her family when they were still in Italy). We spent all night Saturday at Casino Rama so DBF and his father could check out a boxing match (SOOOOOO not my thing). I did a lot of knitting once I was done with the slot machines. I've been working on the socks for my Dad out of the yarn I dyed here. I got a tonne of great comments from some of the older gamers.

The next morning (Sunday) I decided to see if there were any farms around that I wanted to check out for fibre and as luck had it there was an alpaca/llama farm literally down the road. I went with DBF's Mom while he slept in. I didn't have my camera with me but what a great time.

The farm is Elmlea Farms. The two owners (Elmer and Lea) were there to show us around. I almost left with as many fleeces as we could fit into Mom's SUV but I ended up only taking two

fleeces home.

The only one I have pictures of right now is the alpaca (a llama fleece also followed me home - pictures to come). It is a lovely mottled gray with light and dark streaks. It's also pretty dirty. This alpaca loved the mud. Luckily we had a couple of great sunny days in Ottawa so I got is all washed out. I used the much described method of laundry bags in buckets of hot and slightly soapy water.

Once I had a decent chunk washed and drying on my patio table I carded up just a fraction of the fleece and spun it on my bottom whirl drop spindle.

It's only thirteen yards but it is amazingly soft. I love the touch of it. I think this will spin quite fine so it may turn out to be lace - there's probably enough (just under two pounds) to make a shawl and maybe a super lacy sweater.

This is the last thing that followed me home (actually I'm lying Lea gave me a small bag of prepared black alpaca roving with a little nylon). This is a hank of black alpaca sock yarn. I think it may be for DBF's father for xmas. He may get very warm alpaca socks from animals in his own back yard.

ElmLea Farm also had angora goats (two had just been born and were adorable). I was tempted to take some of that home with me but it was just so full of lanolin I was worried I'd never get it clean. I loved being able to buy from someone so local. I will absolutely be going back.

I've Finished the Tour!!

2007-07-19T14:40:00.001-06:00

Woo Hoo - the tour is finished (with the possibility of an extension - details to follow). I finished up the spinning last night. Three of the four final bobbins on the left. I plied two bobbins worth last night and the rest this morning. I am very pleased!

In the end I have just a little over 600 yards of Bulky weight Tunis (about 10 wraps per inch). I didn't really pay attention to the colours of the rolags as I spun. I just went for the box and spun whatever came to hand. I have mostly purples and greens and blues here but a little white I through in for fun.

I knit up a little swatch with size 9 needles and I'm pretty happy with the fabric. My carding needs a little work - I had a lot of little neps that I pulled out as I spun.

I don't think I have enough for the vest I had imagined. What I think I will do is go to Knit-Knackers and grab some fleece. I know they have Ramboulette and Merino. I already have some Ramboulette in the mix here but I think I'd like to try the Merino. I will dye it solid blue and spin it up to create the bottom ribbing and the neck and arm ribbings. It will be very warm and very cozy. I can't wait!

To come very soon - my visit to an alpaca farm and what followed me home. . . .

Who knew I was such a joiner?

2007-07-11T06:41:00.000-06:00

I've signed myself up for two "alongs" this summer. The Tour De Fleece and Mystery Stole 3

I've been having a lot of fun with both. I don't have any pictures of the mystery stole yet but I'm using Elann's new laceweight which is an Alpaca Merino and is very nice. I've finished clue one and should start clue two tonight. This is by far the most difficult lace I've ever worked on. I need to keep track of every single row. I have one of the big red "clicker" row counters and I rarely use it. The boyfriend picked it up this weekend and randomly clicked away on it (after having watched me using it for the last half hour). I almost fainted - he appologized and normally it wouldn't have been a big deal but it just about killed me. He did all the make up work (he counted stitches and matched it to the row on the chart) so I can't fault him too much.

I did finish one lace project recently. This is a Spring Things shawl. I made it with a fingering weight mohair that I got on sale a year ago. The idea was to have a huge wrap to take outside in the morning if I wanted to have a coffee on the patio - now that I'm a lady of leasure for the summer. I did four more repeats of the first chart and in the end the shawl measures 80" across the top and almost 40" top to bottom. I'm thrilled with it and as long as I remember to make time to have coffee it should see alot of use.

For the Tour de Fleece I'm working at spinning up12.5 oz of Tunis Fleece I got from a great etsy seller. I've already carded it all and added two ounces of fleece I got from Knit-Knackers just to up the yardage.

Left to right we have the fleece as it arrived at my door (Walmart bag and all). Centre is about one third of the rolags. The bright green in the middle is the added fleece. I've devided about ten rolags of green amonst three bags of tunis rolags. I'm hoping by having a shot of green in each bobbin I will get more continuity in the finished yarn. In reality I'm not going to care but I thought it would be interesting to try. On the right is the first finished bobbin. I'm learning that I really need to work on my carding. Some rolags were a real pleasure and then some were just torture. I'm not sure I'll have it done in time but it certainly has inspired me to spin every single day.

This is the other thing I've finished. It's a second pair of Roza's socks. The first pair went to my sister but these are all for me!!

I used Fleece Artist Merino and as always it was a pleasure to use. I have one skein of Sea Wool that I scored at Wool N Things that I've been saving so I think it may be next.

So this is what teachers do when they go on vacation!

2007-07-05T12:48:00.000-06:00

I have been spinning my hands off and loving every free minute I have now. I'm not completely off the hook - I'm doing an online course of a Special Education speacialist which is pretty intense.

This is the resulting yarn from a huge batt I got at last November's Ottawa Spinner and Weavers Guild Show (original here). It is a super bulky. There are 13oz and 496 yards give or take. I'm very proud of myself for finishing all of this!

This is a first attempt at Turkish Knot yarn for the Sunday Spin Along. It was really interesting to try.

The roving was a Fleece Artist Wensleydale. It was only 50grams and in the end I had 88 yards of very unique yarn.

Detail shot of above.

The only thing I decided to try was space dyeing. Dad's B-Day is comming up and I know he will want new socks. I'm tired to death of knitting him plain brown socks (Mom's answer - Knit black sock - blah). I had some Knit Picks bare that needed to have something done to it so here we go.

I used Wilton's Dark Copper, Moss Green, and Brown and the techniques I'm learning from Dyeing to Knit.

Here is the final product after re-skeining.

I'm really really happy with it! It will be an adventure to knit it up. I don't know if it will be Dad"ish" enough but I'm going to give it a try.

There's been some FO's as well but I'll save those for tomorrow.

Sample spinning and a cool vest

2007-06-16T14:05:00.001-06:00

I swear I've been working away for the past month and a bit. The summer is comming and I am almost as excited as my students. Here's what I've been up to lately.

This is some sampling I've been doing for the summer spinning I'm planning. Left to right and then top we have: Rambouillet from Knit-Knackers (Previously dyed here but just now spinning it.), Romney purchased from etsy that I'm carding and spinning (it is lovely stuff - very shiny), a sheltand and alpaca blend I tried with my hand cards, some Tunis fleece from the same etsy seller (SDSpin), and at the top a superwash merino/seacell blend from ebay. I have a pound of the seacell blend and can't wait to sink my hands into it serioulsy!

Next up is Berroco's Badia. I knit is out of a cotten/linen blend from Katia (papiro). It was a pleasure to work with. The pattern originally had the cable and lace on the back as well but I didn't like the idea of that so I just did a plain back. I was very lucky with the gauge gods on this one. I knit the enitre back on needles one size smaller than the front but it still turned out ok. I think I should have made it a little longer. I always forget how much real estate my boobs take up ;-)

Sorry for the crappy pic - no one was home to help out!

And it being Dad's day here are Dad's latest socks.

They are loosely based on the "railway stitch socks" from Knitting Vintage Socks. I really only took the stitch pattern as my Dad dosen't really need calf shaping. The yarn is Austermann Step and Jawoll for the heel and toe. Don't tell him there's aloe in there - he might not wear them.

Detail shot. I wasn't really sold on this pattern as I knit it. before it was stretched out it really looked like nothing.

All in all I am very pleased and now with an 8" leg maybe he won't complain about them being too short!

All Spinning - All the Time

2007-05-06T15:08:00.000-06:00

I think I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one.

This is 100grams of 50% merino/50% silk blend from Fleece Artist. They never label the colours but guessing from the website I would think that this is "Jester".

It is a single ply spun quite thick and then plyed with sewing thread. It's the first time I've plyed with something other than handspun on handspun and I quite like the effect. I ended up with 360 yrds and it measures up at 9 WPI. It is amazingly soft. I don't know what I'll do with it yet but I think a full face mask may be in order just so I can rub my face all over it all the time ;-)

Next up is a stone that has been hanging around my next since January (actually it's not as bad as I thought it was). These are the BF's hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-knit socks. He loves the colour and says they are wicked warm (perfect for may right?). They will probably end up put away until next winter but I am very glad to have them finished.

Last is a traditional 3ply (another first). It is 4oz of a merino tencel blend from Winderwood Farms. It was a bit of a clown mix of colours (there is orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in there) but I like the effect, it's very cheerful.

Details: 220 yards (I lost some in the plying because my bobbins weren't even) and 13WPI. I think this will be put away for baby clothes at somepoint (hopefully someone else's baby since I'm not planning anything). It is superwash so the parents wouldn't have to worry too much. It's around a sport weight so I think I may attempt the Zimmermann BSJ with it at some point.

See - Twice!

2007-04-22T15:40:00.000-06:00

Yay, I managed twice before the month was out!!

Here we see the Biscotti socks finished. Details here or below.

The yarn is super shiny and comfy. The stitches did seem to even out after I was finished.

I have 8oz of merino tencel wool to spin up from Susan in Clematis which is not first on the list to spin but is lovely. The purchase in the first place was to bolster an order for her spinning wheel drive bands. It also works really well. I will buy from her again!

I finished this last week too (it was a busy week).

This is -of course- the Kiri. It was made up with three balls of Kid Silk Spray (purchased at a ridiculous price, details here). The pattern was so much fun to follow and I ended up with almost the exact size in the pattern.

Fancy detail shot to show the fuzzyness.

I got to try out my new blocking wires on this pattern. It made the process so much more pleasurable.

Next up a very pretty skein of sock yarn from Madelinetosh. It's part of her project spectrum sock a long and while I'm not actively participating in the "along" I am loving these colours!! These are going to be a super summer sock very very soon.

Last but not least is the scarf I made from the roving I showed you a couple posts ago (here to be exact).

The roving was amazing to spin and the scarf is exactly what I wanted, light and colourful.

Well, I think that's all the news from here. I'm sure I'll be back soonish ;-)

who knew - I can post more than once a month!

2007-04-09T09:47:00.000-06:00

Or at least I hope I can. Here's what I've been up to!

On my last trip to Knit-Knackers they had in some mill ends yarn from one of their distributers. It is very tightly spun and just a smidge over fingering. It was cream when it came home with me but just a little Wiltons and I ended up with these.

I love the golden yellow (also the dye name). It came out perfect. I wish the teal had been a little deeper but it's working perfectly so far.

And here's what they are working in.

It is, of course, Enny's Endpaper Mitts. I have just started them but I'm already in love. The colours are working better than I could have imagined.

Next is a pair of "just because" socks for my Dad. Last time Dad loved his socks but complained that the legs were too short (they were only 5" but I was terrified of running out of yarn). This time they were 7 1/2" and he still wants an extra inch or two. It's going to take two balls of yarn to make him happy I guess.

This pic also shows of my Mom's latest Value Village find. They are adjustable sock blockers (they are a little large but I can squeeze them down to fit my size socks). They show the pattern so much better than a limp sock.

The last pretty is one of two socks meant for my lucky feet.

It is a simple garter rib from SSS. The yarn is the real prize. It is a merino/tencel blend from Susan's Spinning Bunny the colourway is called
Anshan's Biscotti and it is lovely. The yarn made for some slightly uneven stitches but I'm sure they will even out with a wash and a wear.

I'm already on the leg of the next and can't wait to have them finished!

With any luck I should have a finished Kiri shawl blocked and ready for pictures next time round. Just realized I didn't take picutres of the scarf I promised from last time. Oh well - more incentive for me to get off my but and post more often!

It's been HOW long?

2007-03-25T09:41:00.000-06:00

Never mind - I'm a bad blogger, I know it. There's nothing for me to do but put up some pictures and hope for the best!

So the One Skein that you saw last time needed a little surgery. My mom tried it on and she's about the same size as sis and the sewn on lace edging was super tight (I really need to learn how to knit edging on but it scares me a little). So I ripped it all back (whimper) and put on a simple ribbed sleeve ending.

I think it looks way more casual now but I still think it is very wearable. The fact that it is 100% slik should add to the luxury factor!

I truly love this pattern and have made it time and time again (I think I'm up to 5 or 6 for various and sundry people). I'm tempted to get Glampyre's new book but I worry that the patterns wouldn't be flattering for a big busted gal such as myself.

Next up is the sock parade. This is made from Lisa Sousa's fabulous merino sock yarn in Gendarme. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed using this stuff and I can't get over the yardage. I have size 10 women's feet and even with a 7" leg I still have tonnes left over after the second sock! It also made a lovely spiral all the way down on both socks. I may as well just give Lisa my credit card now. There will be many more orders from this lovely woman. Espically after hearing her speak on Stash and Burn (a fantastic new podcast - just incase you were under a rock with me - I didn't find them until episode 5!).

Last is another giftie for Sis. It's a pair (I swear there is another) of Roza's Socks from Grumperina. It was a fun pattern and it knit up very very quickly. I just used a very basic Jawoll yarn in a lovely burgundy.

I hope she likes them!

Last is some spinning progress. This is a merino/tencel roving that I got from the Sweet Sheep. It was dyed by Mama E of C*eye*ber fiber and it is the Lady Rosalind colourway. It is becomming a spring scarf and it is so lovely and soft and shiny and pretty and and and . . .

No promises about when the next post will be because I just tend to break them anyways! The March Break was a bit of a bust because I got really sick near the end of it. We're almost to the summer right?

That's Nice Dear,

2007-02-25T08:46:00.000-06:00

Geez, you'd think the bf would be more excited when I ran across the room cheerfully explaining that I'd navajo'd for the first time and it was so pretty! ;-)

This is 100 grams of Fleece Artist 60% merino and 30% silk and it is beautiful. The plying was difficult and I'm sure I had the ratio too high. I ended up with 320ish yards of 15 wpi (right between sport and fingering). I think this will become a wideish scarf knit lengthwise to take advantage of the colour progression.

I'm just so proud of this one (the drape is fantastic by the way) that I have to include a close up shot. There are definately places that need improvement but all in all I'm very happy.

This is a one skien wonder I made for my sister from elite silk. I made a cute lace edging and sewed it onto the sleeves rather than have them a simple seed stitch. I can't give this to her until April when she comes for a visit (it was for her birthday in January) but I hope that it will be perfect to pair with jeans and a simple shirt. I'm also furiously whipping out a pair of Roza's Socks for her from some simple Jawoll yarn. The brioche stitch is surprisingly easy!

Next up is my best sweater to date. It is another Interweave wonder - the Portland Pullover. My neck didn't stay up like the models but it is super comfy and I love it. I made out of Suri Dream from Knit Picks and it is very cozy next to the skin.

I'm working on a couple of other socks and some merino tencel for socks on the wheel now. March break is comming and I can't wait to have more time for the knitting and spinning (and hopefully blogging).

The Usual FO Parade

2007-01-31T17:14:00.000-06:00

It does what it says on the tin.

First up is the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Fall 2006. This was a great pattern. There was absolutely no part of this shawls that I did not enjoy knitting. Even the nups weren't bad at all. It is out of Headwater Wool fingering so it is a good length (close to 70"). I wore it to school last Tuesday I received many compliments.

Next up is a cute hat for a co-worker. At the bar on Friday she asked how long it would take me to knit her a white hat with a pom-pom. I had some cream wool in the stash so it really took me no time at all.

It is a super cute pattern called "He Gives Me Butterflies" I think if I did it again I would convert it to in the round rather than seaming it up but she loved it on Monday. Her boys (6 and 9) didn't understand how the hat could have been made by someone (in their world everything comes from the store). I've been working on converting their Mom to the Knit side but she is rather stubborn.

This one is for me. It is - of course- Center Square from Knitty. It is very cozy and it was a very quick knit.

I really have to figure out the two handed stranded technique. It would make this a lot easier.

I'm working on a pair of mitts to match.

This is the BF's handspun sock in progress. The yarn has turned out very pretty in the knitting. The leg is in a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks and the foot is in plain knitting. It's going to take me a while to finish these because of the BF's clown feet.

The colours are a little more muted than they show on my monitor.

Tomorrow is the start of a new term at school so I'm not sure when I'll post next but I'll do my best!

you wanna hear something cool??

2007-01-25T08:53:00.000-06:00

I just heard from the woman I gave the Baby sweater to that she is using it as the "bringing home baby" outfit. That means that there will probably be alot of pictures of her new baby boy in the baby yoda sweater. My heart just melted when I heard that! It's so nice to have a whole new group of people to make things for!

Baby, Birthday and Blue Face

2007-01-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Can you tell I didn't have an original title?

I'm still busily knitting away and I thought I'd better post proof.

An amazing woman at my school is expecting any day now and I couldn't let it pass without a knit something. This is the Baby Yoda sweater . I made it with Mission Falls wool rather than cotton (as the pattern calls for) and played around with the colours. My finishing obviously still needs some work but overall I am happy with it. I left it on her desk before she came in on Thursday and she came running into my classroom all but squealing. I was so happy that she liked it.

It's really nice to be in a workplace with co-workers again. My last job was just me in a satalite office and it got a little lonley. It's a pleasure to have people to bounce ideas off of and build relationships with again!

Continuing the present vien. This is the first of two Monkey
socks that will be for my Mom's birthday in February. The pattern is just as much fun as everyone says it is. I personally hate working on five DPNS so I spaced the stitches over four and happily went on my way.

The yarn is Lisa Souza Merino Sock in "Violet's Pink Ribbon". It is lovely stuff and I was so impressed that I made another order just two days ago. I ordered some sport weight sock to make socks for my sister and enough sport weight to make a short sleeved sweater for myself. I also ordered some of her BFL roving to try.

Speaking of spinning and BFL here is some BFL from Knit Knackers that I dyed with Wilton's Dephinium blue (I love the way it splits).

I was going to try spinning a single that would be a little think and thin. It was far more challenging than I thought it would be. I kept letting the fibre get too thin. I eventually had to stop thinking about it and just let it fly through my fingers.

I am pretty happy with the results but I have no idea what I am going to do with it.

Specs: 152 yards, around worsted weight but it varies.

The colours are so pretty when they are kept separate like this. The majority of my yarn I ply and end up with sections of barber pole. I think I'm going to have to learn Navajo plying so I can have plied yarn with longer colour repeats.

Still having tonnes of fun with the wheel but we're heading into exams so I'm not sure what my time is going to look like for the next week or so.

I've started the BF's handspun socks and they look great. I've also done most of the knitting on a Swallowtail Shawl from the fall Interweave Knits. I'm doing it up in a fingering weight and it's just zipping along. I've only been working on it for a week and I'm already down to the last two charts! Hopefully I'll have pictures next week!

Now this is what we call spinning

2007-01-11T17:06:00.000-06:00

Ahh, that feels good. This is the BF's sock yarn plied and finished and (I think) lovely.

The Specs:

Yardage: 452 yards from just under 5oz
WPI: 17 wraps (around fingering)
Material: Superwash Lambswool

The Spinner: Happy Happy Happy!

It was realy a pleasure to up the ratio to 20:1 and spin thin like I'm used to doing on my spindle. I loved watching the blues come togeather. I wish there had been a little more of the super dark stuff but I think the socks will turn out quite lovely.

Just for the sheer pretty - below are the singles before plying! This stuff is so soft and it was super easy to draft.

Now on to my sock roving (see previous post for colours

His and Hers Dye Job

2007-01-07T10:32:00.000-06:00

The BF's first request for the wheel was a pair of handspun handknit socks so never being one to deny a request that means more roving off I went to Knit Knackers and I bought 300gm of Superwash Lambswool. I devided it up into two bundles. I dyed both with Wiltons but I had run out of vinegar so I needed to find something to set with. I had some citric acid (from a failed attempt at making bath bombs) and I'd heard that it worked well. I have got to tell you it was super crazy fast. I didn't even have time to get all the wool into the dyebath before it was exhausted.

I had to give the second half another bath with a second batch of dye (which was not as deep - I was almost out of royal blue) but I think it looks really interesting.

It is spinning up really well and the verigation should make for some amazing socks.

For mine I decided to have a go at something more exciting. I've tried handpaint before but I always end up turning the whole thing muddy. I figured with the quick grabbing citric acid I might have more luck and this is the result. It is Wiltons violet (turned more blue but bled some purple), green, and brown to tone it down some.

I have no idea how it will spin up but right now I am totally head over heels in love with the colours. I'm going to be picking up the Twisted Sister Sock Book soon so hopefully I will get some good ideas on how to make this a more exact process.

I also finished off a quick and dirty project this weekend. It's a baby cable reversable scarf out of Merino Bulky from Handpainted Yarn. I made a purple scarf from the same yarn last year and was so happy with it that I had to give it another go.

I'm still happily spinning up a storm but I'm a little sad that I have to go back to school tomorrow (I'm sure my students feel the same). I would have loved another week at home with my new wheel. Oh well - I'll just have to mark more at school so I can come home and have more free time ;-)

Update Supreme

2007-01-04T10:02:00.000-06:00

First things first. I got my wheel!! It wasn't the wheel I was expecting but she is here and she is beautiful! I ordered a Kromski Minstrel from CopperMoose early in December and on Tuesday there was a huge box at my door. I ripped right into it and only once I had all the pieces out did I notice that then instructions said Symphony instead of Minstrel. I called Copper Moose and he said to keep it (it's a higher end wheel - about a $50 bonus) as it was his mistake. It took more work to find a place for it in my tiny appartment but I love it. I puposefully got an unfinished wheel and have only given it a light coat of beeswax polish and probably won't do much more to it. I can't wait until it gets that worn look to it!

I immediately started spinning. This is some mystery wool from April at Woolyvines. She sent it to me with a spindle I ordered early in the school year. It is a lovely combination of blues and greens. It is taking me a while to get used to the speed with which the twist enters the yarn but the production time is cut in half.

I finished up the bundle of wool last night and two plied it with the lovely tensioned lazy kate that came with (so much faster than hand plying with a spindle - no surprise but definately a pleasure). It came to 120yrds (approx) of worsted weight. There are some places where it is over spun but I'm hoping they will even out with a wash. The BF is determined that my next project but sock yarn for him so I'm off to Knit-Knackers for some superwash roving because as much as I may love that man I am not handwashing his socks!

Now for the knitting. One of the teachers at my school mentioned that her daughter had asked out of the blue for yellow handknit socks (her Mom dosen't knit) and I said that I probably had something in the stash that would do. The socks are so tiny. The girl in question has size 6 children's feet and I am so used to my large women's 10 and the BF gigantic men's 12 that these were a pleasure. I got the yarn from the Sweet Sheep and I was so impressed with the service and the shipping that I will absolutely order again!

The final piece de resistance is my finished Icarus. I finished up this bad boy New Years Eve and blocked him the next day. I love love love it and it was super cheap too. I got a skein of laceweight for all of $5 from Headwater Wool at the needlecraft show a couple of months ago and it was more than enough to finish this off. Now I am craving more lace. I have two skeins of merino lace from Handpainted yarn and the Kidsilk from a couple of posts ago - I can't decide which to start with!

Soon my pretties soon. . . .

2006-12-19T09:50:00.000-06:00

There should be a Kromski Minstrel wheel in my mail very very soon. The BF and I gave each other permission to make one extravagent purchase for Xmas and this was mine. I paid for it on December 7 and I hope hope hope that I get it before the holiday. I can't stop thinking about spinning on my new wheel. I know, however, that I will have to be paitient. I tried to save myself a little cash by getting the unfinished wheel so I'm going to have to take some time to finish it before I start spinning - right now I'm thinking a simple oil finish, nothing fancy.

I'm also waiting on some "violet's pink ribbon" from Lisa Souza. This is my first purchase from her so I'm afraid it may turn into something of an addiction.

I find myself searching Etsy and Ebay for interesting dyed roving and it struck me today that I could just go to knit-knackers and get some undyed roving and dye it myself with my wiltons with the full knowledge that it will split and be all cool and interesting. I think that's my afterschool project for today!

Sorry that there aren't any pictures. I finished all my xmas knitting on the weekend but everybody knows about the blog so none of it is safe until it is handed out. Maybe there will be some pictures of a pretty wheel in the next couple of days!

Can we all say Score!

2006-12-03T08:54:00.000-06:00

So last night I went to Knit-Knackers on a whim because I happened to be out that way and did I ever score. They specialize in odd balls at a really good price and that is exactly what I got. Usually when I go in with something in mind I never find it but last night I discovered the secret to this store - shop with no pre-conceptions. I only brought home $30 of yarn
but the actual worth is huge!

This lovely teal 50/50 Alpaca/Wool is going to be a cable cap for someone for Xmas. I did a little research and it usually goes for $7US (that $3.99 Canadian man). But lovely as it is it isn't the real score for the night!

Um, that right - Kidsilk for $4.99. Most places have it going for $14.99 US. There were mostly one offs (one purple / one pink / one white) but I managed to dig through and find four matching - enough for a nice sized stole. It is beyond beautiful and the hand is amazing. I just want to hold it all the time!

And just so that this post isn't totally assy - one of the last Xmas gifts I need to finish. This is a handspun fair-isle hat that I designed. It's for my Dad. I used the Shetland that I spun up and showed last post and some of the mystery batt that I picked up at the Spinners Guild show. It's not perfet but the design is one that had been "Dad's doodle" for years. I remember when I was little Dad showing me how to draw that symbol and I thought it was magic how you could make lines look like they were going under and over each other. I hope he likes it!

Still here Still Bizzare Still Knitting

2006-11-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

So even though I've been going crazy with report card marking recently I've still managed to get some knitting done. Here is our class shot - this is about two weeks of knitting. Enjoy!

First up is a great pattern from the most recent MagKnits. It's called Fake Isle and this my friends is my first attempt at Fair Isle. It went amazingly well and now that I've done it I'm craving more.

We have a member of staff at my school who is expecting in February so I think I may attempt a fair isle sweater for the new baby to be. Anyone have a good suggestion for a pattern?

Next up is a pair of bog standard thrum mittens. The pattern is from Yarn Forward (my most local knitting haunt)

I used some pretty basic wool/acrylic blend for the body and some Spunky Ecelectic roving for the innards. They are amazingly warm and I can't wait for it to get really cold here so I can put them to use.

This is some finished spinning that is destined to be Xmas knitting. I've managed to get everyone taken care of except my Dad and one more sock to go on a pair for a friend. This is some beautiful natrually dark shetland from Knit Knackers. I'm spinning it fairly chunky and will hopefully make a mosaic hat once I've spun some of the mixed bat from the last entry.

It won't be anything he will wear to work but I'm hoping that it will keep Dad's head warm on the weekends at least.

And finally we have a progress shot rather than an FO shot. This is a very belated Icarus and seeing as everyone in the blogsphere has already done one I won't bore you with details. I will say, however, that while other people were working on theirs I always thought that they complained too much about the chart one section lasting forever. Now I COMPLETELY understand. It feels like it may take forever but I know the end result will be worth it.

So that's all the news from Sner world for now. I really am trying to be a better blogger seeing as I still love watching everyone else's project I feel like I have to keep up my end of the deal and give you all something to look at too.

Festival Season

2006-11-05T16:51:00.000-06:00

Forget Rhinebeck or any of those fancy shows down in the States. I'm making my own fun here with a couple of local shows that have run in the past couple of weeks.

Just this weekend the Ottawa Spinners and Weavers Guild had their annual exhibition and sale and it was beautiful. There were not alot of vendors but I walked away with what I think is a pretty good deal!

This is a rather large carded batt of mixed fibre (lamma, alpaca, mohair, and wool) that weighs in at just under a pound and was mine for a very reasonable $25. The BF has already claimed the first spinnings for a winter hat.

The show was great and had alot of people showing their craft rather than trying to sell. I wish there had been a little more fibre for sale but I think I was too late in the day (I was there right at the end of the second day of the show - there was one more day to go and I wonder what was left for the Sunday visitors.

The other show was the Inspirations Needlecraft Show that ran last weekend. There was a large emphasis on sewing at this thing and there was a very minimal amount of fibre to be had (a doll maker had some wool that she used for needle felting but that was about it). The woman who runs the store that made the donation to my school group was there and I couldn't help giving her some of my money and I found some rather non-commercial lace weight and fingering from Headwater Wool which I am fond of. Here is the "class shot"

On the left is the red laceweight and the sage green fingering from Headwater. On the right is the haul from WoolNThings. There are two skeins of Fleece Artist sock (one for BF one for me) and the prize of the night. A skein of Lady Godiva from Hand Maiden it is a 50/50 silk wool blend and it is softer than anyone could imagine. It has already been worked up into a scarf for my grandmother for Xmas (blue is her favourite colour). I just picked an interesting stitch from Barbara Walker and went to town - this is the end result.

I am absoluetly in love with this scarf. I have to keep reminding myself how much Grandma will love it too so that I actually keep it for her rather than for myself.

The last amazing this was that my lovely BF offered to go halfsies on a wheel for my as my Xmas present. It's too much for either of us to afford on our own but he will cover half the cost. I am so excited to start looking for a wheel but I have to remind myself that there's no way I'll have time to use it before my Xmas break so I must be paitient.

Remember me?

2006-10-22T09:18:00.000-06:00

This is the question Blogger asked me as I signed in. And no wonder - I've been very delinquent. This teaching job - while fantastic - is sapping me of more energy than I thought possible. I've still been knitting and a super exciting thing happened this week. I had been asking the LYS's in Ottawa if they would be able to help us out and only one really answered the call. WoolNThings did something truly amazing. The owner called and said she had some bits and pieces for us and when I went it I was shocked. There were three garbage bags full from one of her distributers and a box of stuff from her own stock.

This is from the distrubuter - it is some nicer acrylic worsted and some pretty cotton verigated.

This is the bag that makes me cringe but I know the students will be fighting over. It's an entire box of fun fur and eyelash yarn.

This is more of the acrylic worsted but these kids are going to be thrilled with the colours so much that I don't think they will mind.

And these are the bits and pieces from this wonderful woman's own stock. There is some white buffalo that is going to be great because some of the students really want to make thrumed mittens.

So now all we need are some more needles. I got a great deal on a vintage lot on ebay but there never seems to be enough.

I have been doing some knitting and spinning of my own as well but I don't have alot of great pictures. Glee is finally finished and I have to express some frustration. It wasn't until I was completely finished the damn thing that ZephyrStyle admitted that the published CAST ON numbers were all incorrect. I had tought so while I was working the thing but for the technical editing to be so poor as to not catch a mistake in the first line of the pattern was pretty dissappointing. I don't know that I will buy from them in the future.

I also finished a Gray Ghost which I am in love with. It's out of Wool-Ease but I don't even care. When my classes saw it they all wanted one and I assured them that if they would only come out to the Sit and Stitch I would happily show them how to make their own.

I'm also super scarf happy recently. I'll try and post some more tomorrow but it is enough to say I really don't need this many scarves but who's counting.

OK, Fess up

2006-10-04T13:47:00.000-06:00

Who found my blog with the search querey "make love in bathroom". The only thing I've made in my bathroom besides the obvious is silk hankies which isn't nearly as dirty as it sounds. Glee is now fully completed with sewn in hook and eye and everything. I've started on the Breton Jacket from the Fall Interweave and it's just the ribbing so far but I'm looking forward to this being completed.

In other exciting news I'm starting a knitting club at the High School where I'm working. We begin this Friday and while I have alot of staff excited about comming out I don't know what the response will be from the students yet. Stay tuned . . . .

So I suck

2006-10-03T06:30:00.000-06:00

no no, it's true. I haven't been good about posting but I swear I have lots of good excuses (but that's all that they are). I've finished Glee and the second sock from the Spunky Ecelectic yarn (love) and I've started a couple of other pairs of socks for friends (xmas is comming). I will get some pictures up soon. I think I am going to re-dye the silk (just not happy with the colour, it really is too bright for me or for my sister). I should be getting Knitting Nature in the next day or so and I think I will be diving straight into something from that or from Knitting from the Top which is comming in the same shipment.

I promise I will try to be a better blogger.

On the art of letting go.

2006-09-17T12:48:00.000-06:00

Two posts in as many days - you guys are gonna get spoiled (the all of 6 ish who check my blog - love you all ;-). I decided to dye up the silk from that I bought Friday and I thought I'd use it for good blog fodder. It was a really interesting experience in just letting the colour happen.

My favourite pic is on the left. It looks like I'm boiling up something evil in there! I orginally wanted something fairly dark and in the black family. I knew from some research that Wilton's black tends to split so I was happy to let it do so and see what came of it. It was 250g ish of silk and a big crock pot with plenty of dye and vinegar. Here's what came of it.

It was slightly underwhelming. I liked the colour split but it just wasn't dark enough for me or for my sister for whom this yarn is destined. So I threw it all back in with a whole bunch of burgandy (wilton's again) to see if I could get a darker and more even result. Here's what I ended up with.

I'm much happier with this and while I wish it was darker and less floraly coloured it is beautiful so I think I will leave it at this and if sis dosen't like it I'll dye the finished product for her.

I'm still making progress . . . . . Slowly

2006-09-16T19:39:00.000-06:00

I'm still here and still knitting. The job is going very very well but it sure does cut into the knitting time. I've made some really good progess on Glee . Please excuse the horrible bathroom shot. It's the best I could manage right now. I didn't make the slit in the front as long as the patttern suggessted and I'm starting the ribbing way earlier and I will carry it way farther. It turned out a little big (my guage was spot on but I'm pretty sure the numbers on the pattern are a little off) but I will have to wear a cami underneath because of the big gaping hole (which I know will close up) so I guess it's good that it's not skin tight or anything.

For the first time in two whole weeks I hit an LYS - it's been rough I tell ya ;-). I went to Knit-Knackers and hit their silks (I love this stuff - it dyes beautifully). I found something there I'd never seen before.
It's called Faswa Silk and it kind of looks like fiber and nolis blended togeather and spun. It's about a worsted and I'm going to dye it a purply black (hopefully) and make something for my sister from it. They have great prices on silk at this joint. This is probably around 400yrds (it's always a guess, it comes straight from a mill and they don't print yardages) and it only cost $20 ish (Canadian to boot). Here comes the gratuitous close up shot (click for a better view)

This stuff really shines but has a slightly rough hand. It should be perfect for my sis. She's a diplomatic type who likes to play rugby so she fits the elegant but hardcore duality.

I also came home with some beautiful, pure white BLF that I'm in the process of spinning. I'm spinning it up kinda thick and thin to make myself a new winter scarf when I'm all done.

I'm going to try and post at least once a week for a while - hopefully I can keep to that commitment but work comes first. Once I get into the swing of things I'm sure I'll be able to do more. I'm still watching all of you and really enjoy seeing what you all come up with.

Things that make me happy.

2006-09-06T15:51:00.000-06:00

These are things that make me happy. Two of them are knitterly related and the last one may keep me from blogging as much as I used to.

This is the first thing that makes me happy. Actually it's the last one to arrive but it was a great thing to come home to. Abi from Abi Knits had a spare ball winder lying around and we arranged a trade. She will soon be receiving (hopefully, hopefully) some dk silk from Knit Knackers. She also threw in some sweet sweet candy that I will be enjoying later (thank you very much Abi)

The second thing that makes me happy gets two pictures. You may remember from this post that I picked up some really cool spun silk (called rosewood) that was sari silk threads spun with a purple solid colour. I'd played with a couple of stitch patterns and eventually landed on a very basic one of yo's and k2tog and plain knit stitches that resulted in a nice open look that I really enjoy. I don't really have a picture of the whole thing because it's huge. It's taller than I am (5'7") and about 15" wide. It is super drapey and I love love love the colours.

The last is what may keep me out of the blog verse for a bit. I have been supply/substitute teaching for about four years now in Ottawa trying to land a full time job. Well it finally happened this year. I found out on Friday that I had a job teaching full time starting on Tuesday and that I wouldn't be able to see any material until then (STRESS). It's been two days so far and I'm having a blast. The job is at a school that I am very familiar with (I've supplied there plenty over the last couple of years) and teaching very interesting students. It's a tech high school so the kids are way way way more interested in masonry than what I have to say in English class but they still need to pass my class before they can gratuate so they usually respect the need to do well. The sad part about this is I've never had less spare time in my life so until things settle down I may not be around the knitverse. I'm even going to pull out of Sock Wars because I just won't be able to do it justice.

So please think good things for me as I approach my first full year of teaching.

Hand Spun One Skein Wonder - oh and some socks

2006-08-28T17:36:00.000-06:00

Check another one off the list! I finished the BF's Sister's One Skein Wonder over the weekend. It's the first project with my hand spun that wasn't a scarf. I'm glad that I decided to ply the yarn. Originally I wanted a very rustic look (ala Manos / Malabrigo) but I thought that if I spun a single I would be more likely to get a bias in the finished product. The merino is very very soft and I'm kinda jealous that I'm giving this one away (she's much smaller than me so it won't even fit if I decided to steal it!). For all that I tried to spin the yarn a little uneven - the knitting seems to balance it all out, you can see a couple of very small thinish patches in the upper right and bottom left of the close up shot but other than that I am very very happy with it! Xmas knitting almost completed.

Also finished is a second pair of the BF's "must you wear socks all summer" socks. These, like the last pair were done in a Lana Grossa cotton/wool blend. This yarn is a pleasure to work with and his handknit socks got me all kinds of compliments from his extended family at the reunion a couple of weeks ago.

Glee is slowly driving me insane. Because I'm such a big beautiful busty girl I'm making the biggest size and that means that I have to do 103 rows of increases! I'm at 84 increase rows finished. I'll be so glad when I can take the sleeve stitches off the circular.

Now that is some Pharty Yarn

2006-08-24T18:05:00.000-06:00

So I spun up the homemade hankies last night and I've decided that if I ever do this again I need to invest in the proper equipment or it's just not worth it. Here are all the gory details (with pictures of course because that's just how we do things around here).

Here we have the dried hankies - they felt a little brittle - probably because I only had commercial fabric softener rather than the specific silk softener that www.wormspit.com suggested. I do have to admit that they look really pretty in a porny shot kinda way.

They came apart from each other just fine but it became clear as I was spinning them up that I hadn't soaked the cocoons long enough because there were still spots where the silk had not separated - they were unspinnable and became slubs.

There was nothing for it but to spin it anyways. I was dead on about the colour too. The colour was absolutely no where near as saturated as it had been on the cocoons.

Once I had spun them up and plied them back I maybe had 25yrds of yarn and I doubt that it's very usable. I just have to keep reminding myself that this was an experiment and that I had no intention of going into the silk business. The colours were actually nice and the shine was amazing but the in the end I think I'll go back to trying to find a cheap soruce of hankies so I don't have to pull out my hair. I'll leave you with two porny shots - one of the hankies before separating and spinning and one of the finished yarn.

Wow - that was ALOT of work

2006-08-21T21:43:00.000-06:00

I picked up some cocoons a month or so ago at Knit Knackers as something fun to try. I finally got to it tonight and man, it was so much work.

I should preface this entry by saying I finished about 60min ago and have since rewarded my self with these. I guess you may say I'm a little tipsy while typing but hopefully this won't turn out too bad.

I made this frame out of a 6" square canvas frame that cost me all of a couple of bucks. I removed the staples that were holding on the canvas and put four nails through the corners.

Following the instructions (as best I could with my equipment) from www.wormspit.com I soaked the cocoons in hot water with washing soda for 45 min to 1 hour (replacing the hot water every 15 min or so) and it was still a struggle to open them up. I think if I were to do this again (not looking good right now) I would pick up a cheap crock pot or hot plate to keep things a little warmer.

I eventually was able to wiggle open one end of each of the cocoons and take out the little guys (linked picture - do not click if you do not want to see dead pupa). It wasn't too bad. I kinda like knowing where my product comes from and acknowledging exactly what I am doing when I work with silk. I'm wierd that way - I also find some satisfaction in making a thanksgiving turkey and really dealing with a carcas and knowing that I'm taking life to support my own. I should explain that better - I don't necessarily like taking life for my own benefit but if I choose to do so I don't want to hide from what I am doing.

I found that with the majority of the cocoons I had to remove the cradle (more solid part of the cocoon that the worm spins to protect itself. From my understanding most hankies include this part but I just couldn't get it to spread out you can see a couple in the linked pic). Once the cradle was removed it wasn't too too hard to spread them out on my homemade frame. I did have to work the silk alot to get it to spread out - I was teasing out the solid bits so that they would be as evenly spread as possible.

Here are the final hankies that have been rinsed in lemon juice (no vinegar in the house) and then in a very light soloution of fabric softener to give them a better handle once they are dry.

I bought these pre-dyed but if I repeated this exorcise I would just get natural ones. The dye really only stuck to the outter layer of the cocoon and I think I'm going to see alot of white when I get around to spinning these.

I'm glad that I did it but until and unless I get some better equipment I don't think I will try this again. It was very difficult. I think I will have rough spots on my fingers from working against the silk to spread it out. I couldn't knit tonight after working with the silk.

Hopefully this isn't full of typos - please forgive. I rarely drink unless I think I deserve a reward for a job well done.

This makes me feel all kinds of better

2006-08-20T20:39:00.000-06:00

After the silk debacle this is making me feel much much better. This is a very boring looking black merino for another Xmas present. My BF's sister saw my One Skein Wonder last weekend at the family reunion and was completely enamoured. Her only request was that it be black which is easy enough but I wanted it to be a little special. She's kinda a rustic type of girl so I was thinking something like a Manos or a Malabrigo but the only in town source is at the far away yarn store and I thought I'd make it super special by spinning the yarn myself. She's a wee slip of a thing so it's only costing me about $10 for all the fibre (did I mention it's Merino). I spun it a little thick and thin to keep it rustic and started knitting this weekend.

This is the first weekend in a while that the BF and I haven't had to run to some other city for some event or another so I had the whole weekend to do house work and knit (which I'm surprisingly happy about - we were both letting the place get a little run down). Here's the progress shot but in actuality when I put it down tonight I'd finished one sleeve and only have a little more to do before I can check another one off the list for December.

I also made progress on my Glee but it is very boring to look at so I'll spare you. The final set of projects for the weekend was to work on two pairs of socks I have on the go (I'm trying to free all my sock needles for Sock Wars). I've finished one of each pair. This photo makes me giggle because I don't have small feet (size 10 womens) and my BF's socks dwarf mine but a large amount. I'm completely in love with the colour of my socks from Spunky Ecletic in the "confused" colourway. There was some pooling around the gusset but I actually really like it (being the random type that I am). BF's are in a Lana Grossa cotton blend. With any luck I'll have at least one pair done by next weekend with all the bus knitting on the way to work this week.

It broke my heart I tell you

2006-08-17T16:03:00.000-06:00

This is the silk that broke my heart. I was going to ply this with some Fleece Artist roving I started on a while ago and I finished spinning the 50g that I had purchased. I was winding into a centre pull ball for later plying when this happened. It is an ungodly tangle that just drifts apart when you try to figure it out. I think the only answer is going to be to get a stack of hankies to spin once I finish the Wensleydale Teeswater.

The other "dissappointment" (in quotes because in reality it wasn't that bad) were the hand cards mom had for me. They are very antique and were obviously well loved in their time but I think they are going to prove unusable . The picks on the cloth are bent down in a lot of places and the leather that holds the picks is comming away from the wood. The second small let down was that the "wool-winder" that mom spotted at the Salvation Army was actually a reeler that someone had built themselves. The arms weren't at all adjustable and I think I can actually build something better. I was hoping that it was a ball winder but until I can bring myself to spend the money - and until I have a swift-ish this to pair it with I will just use my Notsepinne. I still had a great time chatting with Mom so the day was far far far from a complete bust. Back to bemoaning my silk disaster.

Another one bites the dust

2006-08-15T21:09:00.000-06:00

Another Xmas present finished (don' t hate me - xmas stress makes me crazy). I didn't finish this on the trip because I decided to cast on another pair of summer socks for the BF. I finished it up last night and it got washed and hung to dry. I was a little surprised at the amount of colour run off I got from the Euroflax. The remaining colour is still brilliant but you really don't expect to see run off in commercial dye.

It ended up being about 60" long and 5" wide. The pattern worked really well and because it was based on garter the BF's mom can wash it without having to worry about blocking it.

I picked up a new pretty today as well. I went to Knit-Knackers to pick up some black merino for another gift and I saw this . . .

It's called Rosewood Silk and it's imported from India. The mix of the solid silk and the bits of sari silk poking through caught my eye and I just couldn't look away.

The last piece of exciting news is that I'm getting my hands on a set of hand cards tomorrow. My Mom - in typical Mom fashion - mentioned last week when I was bemoaning the cost of cards that there was a set of cards somewhere in the house. I expressed my surprise because neither my mom nor her mom were really into fibre - most of the things they knit were some blend of acrylic - very durable but not requiring a set of cards. Mom's response was that they had been made of a pretty piece of oak (so typical for my folks - if it's a good piece they'll bring it home). I'm dropping in for coffee and wool cards tomorrow. Even better my Mom is the master shopper and said that she spotted a "wool winder" (her terminology - I'm not sure exactly what it is) at the local Salvation Army for $13. We're going to check it out tomorrow as well. What an exciting day!

pretty pictures

2006-08-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

Not much to say - just wanted to get a couple of "in progress" pictures up as a backdrop to my driving this weekend. We're going to the BF's parents this weekend for a family reunion of sorts. It should be a great time - lots of Italians (who I love) - lots of great food (also love) - even more good times! It's not alot of driving (about 5 hours total) but I hope to work on these two projects:

Glee has just begun but is now stalled because I need new needles. I love my Denise needles(please don't get me wrong) but the size 5's always seem to have issues disconnecting mid knit. I think it's because the cord and the needle are so close in size. As the stitches twist around the cord they are close enough in size that they cause the needle tip to disconnect. So now I need to go to the LYS (shucks). I'm digging the colour and the rustic feel of the yarn!

The other project is a green linen scarf for my Mother "all but in-law". She hates wool (I just don't understand) so I thought this would be a good alternative because it will be so soft once it's washed. It's essentially my own design in so much as I found a lace pattern in a Walker Treasury and cast on!

We'll see how much I can get done in 5 hours!

Man, I love having a day off.

2006-08-09T13:40:00.000-06:00

I rarely if ever take a day off but this week I made a couple of exceptions. Today was my last day off for a while and I used it to check out an LYS here in Ottawa (Wool-Tyme) that I had never been to before. It's not that it's impossible to get to but it is difficult. I went, I saw, I spent - behold!

I picked up four skeins of Briggs and Little "Sport" to make Glee and I am super excited! The colour is Mulburry and it is ever so pretty. It is a single spun format and it is a little wooly but I actually really like the wooly feel.

I also got two skeins of Misti Alpaca lace weight - probably going to be an Icarus (I know - really late to the bandwagon). It is heavenly, light and soft. The colour isn't really a WOW colour but I enjoy the subtle natural look.

The sock yarn is Regia - one of the Canadian Colours series and it's a good thing that no one ever sees my socks because no one would take me seriously - I don't care though - I can't get enough.

Add to that some split lock stitch markers and a very pretty Fiddlesticks pattern and it makes for a lovely morning. I wish I could get out there more often but I'm sure my wallet is happy that it's a little out of the way.

I wish day's off were more frequent but I guess I shouldn't complain since I have a job to go back to tomorrow.

FO's and lessons in Spindling

2006-08-08T12:31:00.000-06:00

So I finished up a Sizzle this weekend - what's that - you didn't know I was working on a Sizzle? Well I'd started this tank with Elann Sonata Print a month or so ago and surprise (maddeningly) my Mom was right when she said I would probably go crazy with all those little squares. I ripped it all out and started on this instead. It went really quickly and the instructions were very well written! I started on Sizzle August 5 and Finished yesterday (long weekend in Canada - yay).

So the pictures - on the left we have Sizzle with a completed back and seed stitch border for the front. On the right is the finished product. I made the largest size (being the big bodacious buxtom beauty that I am ;-). and I skipped one waist decrease and one waist increase. I also made the higher neckline suggested in the patter. The Sonata Print didn't pool too badly. I wish I'd made it just a little bit longer and I will probaly throw a brown cami under it when I wear it outside the house. The Sonata isn't really meant for size 7 needles but I'm happy with the results.

This is the other FO that I'm really pleased with. Fleece Artist sent me a free skein a couple of months ago and I finally finished the sock I started. It is a slip stitch rib from Sensational Knitted Socks (an amazing resource). I think they may be gifted but I'm not sure yet. The colours are phenomenal and the slip stitch ribbing was a great way to show it off!

I have a couple of days off this week and I've been trying to finish the silk I want to ply with the purple / marron wool pictured a couple of posts back and I was using my turkish spindle. I almost went crazy and threw the whole thing out. The silk kept breaking because I couldn't get enough spin in quickly enough. Then I gave up and emptied my top whorl, set the slik up there, breathed a huge sigh of relief, and got on with my day. A good lesson for me - to consider the quality of the fibre and the spindle in relation to each other (I usually just consider the weight of the spindle). I will hopefully have it done soon so I can post some pretty pictures!

So we're going to do this the difficult way!

2006-07-29T20:05:00.000-06:00

Damnit! Blogger wouldn't let me post any more pictures so this is a continuation of the post below - if you want the story in the correct order start below.

I put the clean wool my usual dye pot with a good chunk of Delphinium Blue dye from Wiltons (same blue as I used on the failed alpaca attemt a while ago). Looks blue right? He then got zapped a few times until the dye was done.

So we have a number of colours here. There is blue and pink and red and orange and black and no wonder the blue on the alpaca never seems to take correctly. It looks wild and handpainted but I don't think I would ever expect to get a consistent blue with this particular dye.

I pulled off a lock while it was drying and using my fingers spun it and plyed it back on itself to see what it would look like. I think it's going to be six kinds of cool spun up (I'm going to have to wait however because all three of my spindles are in action right now).

As I said - I think I need a sponsor - hopefully I can keep myself occupied with what I have for a while before I need to head back out in search of more.

I just remembered - I have more fibre comming from Spunky Ecelctic . Man, I need help.

I think I may need a sponsor!

2006-07-29T19:42:00.000-06:00

Blogger is kicking my ass. This is the first part of the post above. Enjoy in whatever order you like.

So I went to Knit Knackers on Friday and bad bad things happened. The owner - who is perfectly lovely - had ordered an Ashford Turkish drop spindle for me so I went in to pick it up. While I was looking around I saw some Mulberry silk that should ply well with the Fleece Artist that I'm working on right now. While we were chatting the owner offeres me a taste of some raw fleece that she's working on right now. It's in the small bag between the spindle and the silk nolis that I'm going to try once I grow another set of arms.

The fleece is Rambouillet and was pretty interesting to work with. I learned alot about the processing of fleece and even more about why my last attempt with Wilton's dye may have gone awry. What follows is in chronological order.

The precious, it isn't alot but it was free and it will be some thing fun to try. Is it supposed to smell this much (turns out the answer is yes)

Man was he ever dirty. Most of the VM was already taken care of but there was still some grass and bits to take out. A little Euculan seems to be taking care of the smell. It took about three washes before I was convinced he was clean.

Here we are all clean and much less smelly - now he just smells like lovely wet wool. The crimp is still very obvious (I'm glad - I was afraid I might have felted the bunch while I was scouring him).

The story is actually finished above which sucks but oh well.

Why I love Kate Gilbert

2006-07-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

Clapotis! So many other people have waxed poetic about this pattern that I have very little to add. It is so adaptable and very easy to follow. I find that it whips along at a break neck pace. This whole scarf took me maybe 4 hours. This is my third clapotis type scarf. I made a full sized one for my sister before I started blogging, the merino silk one for Mom and now a very very mini clapotis for me from silk I spun myself. This was another batch of silk hankies from Knit Knackers and dyed with kool aid. I only ended up with about 70 yrds (give or take) and I needed to come up with something small that would show it off. This was perfect. I finished the"set up" rows and row 1-6 of the "increase" section, worked the straight rows until I was happy with it, worked rows 1-10 of the "decrease" section and then the final rows. It only wound up being 40" long and maybe 4.5" wide but it's just long enough to go around the neck with a nice shirt and it is a lovely colour.

I've started spinning a batch of Wensleydale Teeswater Roving from Fleece Artist and it is super soft. I'm working on spinning a consistent and thin single so I have more options with plying other than just a 2 ply (with out ending up with a super bulky finished product). It's taking alot of pre-drafting but I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting so far.

Sock Wars!!!!

2006-07-26T07:49:00.000-06:00

I just found out about This today and I've totally signed up. Sock Wars is on man and I can't wait. Check it out and sign up!!

Lovely Lovely Linen

2006-07-24T11:34:00.000-06:00

So I promised pictures of the beautiful EuroFlax laceweight linen and here we go . . .

I absolutely love the colour of this stuff, it is really tweedy but the red lends is a wonderful casualness. It feels like twine when you first start working with it but after swatching a few times with different patterns and different needels the first few yards softened up so I can see that I'm really going to enjoy this once it's done and had a bath. The other thing I can't get over is that it's machine washable and can go in the dryer - how cool is that really?! The colour is so cool it needs a close up - don't you think?

I finally decided on a pattern after much fussing. First I started trying the Cozy pattern from Knitty but something about how it appeared in this colour didn't work for me. I tried it on about three different needle sizes too just to see if that was the problem. It's great to have my Mom in the city again (she and Dad were oversees for a few years) I raided her needle stash for some smaller straights but I ended up working with this pattern for what she calls a "snakes and laders stole" on US 4 circulars. I've cast on more stitches than she calls for and I'm slipping the first stitches on each row to combat curling and so far I'm really enjoying it! One last shot for posterity.

dye disater to dye master

2006-07-20T19:38:00.000-06:00

Not really. But I am much happier with the scarf now! I finished it up last night and then threw it in the microwave with three packages of grape kool-aid and I am very happy with the results. I didn't want it to end up being too too dark but I really like how I was able to get rid of most of the muddy look of the original dye job. The pattern is called Liesel and can be found here. It was very easy to follow. For the first time I actually had fun while I was reading a lace chart. It went super quickly and I'm surprised at how even the handspun looks when it is knit up because believe me it didn't look that even when I was winding it!

Please excuse my incredibly ugmo ironing board cover. The board itself is from the 60's and is a wierd size so my choices are limited.

I'm getting severely hooked on knitting with wool I spun myself. This is a very very dangerous hobby!

Where is all my sock yarn going?

2006-07-18T07:03:00.000-06:00

Why is it leaving me? To become part of something bigger and better!! The Heathen Housewife is looking for donations to help her make up a "left overs" sock yarn blanket and I was more than happy to get rid of the bits I just couldn't bear to throw away. I hope she enjoys them.

Good news on the Alpaca dying front. I snipped a little bit of a ball last night and tried over dying it with Grape Kool-Aid and it looks like I should be able to pull off a dusky midnight purple when all's said and done.

I went to Yarn Forward yesterday (and I didn't even mean too - I think they have a magnet in there) and I found the most beautiful single skien of Euroflax lace weight in "marble red" (I'll try and get pictures later). I almost didn't take it home (it was the last one and I would have prefered more yardage) but it was so pretty that it had to be mine. I'm thinking some sort of lacy scarf/stoley thing but I'm forcing myself to finish a couple of things first. I finished the second of the BF's "Must You" socks yesterday. I hope to finish off the second of a pair from Vintage Knitted Socks that has been sitting on my desk for ages and maybe if I'm really dedicated I'll finish the alpaca scarf before I break open the Euroflax. It's unlikely but I'll really try.

Well, that could have gone better

2006-07-16T18:56:00.000-06:00

I tried the wilton dyes with the Alpaca on Thursday night and it was a bit of a disaster. The first attempt looked like it was going to be pretty (blues and browns alternating)but I think I put too much brown dye on the skiens and the brown mixed in everywhere and I got a really wierd musty brown with light blue patches. Then I tried overdying the whole thing with the blue to pick up more blue in the paler areas and that just made it worse. The blue separated a little so I ended up with some purple halo on the brown sections of yarn. I then gave in and threw it all in with more brown dye - the result was less than spectacular. The real colour result is somewhere inbetween these two.

I'm not really happy with it but I can't take any more dye jobs so right now I'm just knitting it and we'll see what I can do once it's finished. I'm just doing a simple lace scarf and afterwards I'll maybe try to overdye with purple kool-aid or something similar - anyone else have any other ideas?? I'd love to hear them!

Here is the scarf as it stands so far and I really like the pattern - I just wish I could make myself love the colour. Hopefully I'll find a way to make it work!

Part II

2006-07-13T07:33:00.000-06:00

As promised the other project that I finished during the long car ride this past weekend (is it Thursday already!!). I knit up a fantastically fun Dream Swatch in Eden colour 626. The yarn was left over from an Xmas gift I made for the BF's sister last year and I was looking for something short and sweet to do with it. It went really quickly and was a joy to do - just the right mix of paying attention rows followed by blissful mindless rows. This one is for me and me alone but I think the pattern might work as a gift for my oh so fashionable sister. I used just a smidge (technical term) over one skein and I think if I make it again I will use more. I'm not much of a head wrap person (I have really short hair so it's not often necessary) but I do really like the pattern as a summer or dressy scarf - it adds a little colour just where you need it.

I'm really excited to get home tonight. I finished spinning up some Alpaca yesterday but it was too late to try my hand at the new Wilton Dyes I picked up so tonight is the night. I have a brown and cornflower blue dyes and I hope to approximate something like this. Wish me luck!

It's amazing what you can do with 10 hours in a car

2006-07-11T08:05:00.000-06:00

The BF and I went to a friends' cottage this weekend near Bracebridge and had an amazing time just relaxing and swimming. I finished a bunch of stuff in the car (5 hours there - 5 hours back). The one I am most proud of is my handspun Clapotis. It is amazingly soft and it was a blast to take this project from this to this to this to . . . . . . . This -

It was such a satisfying project and I can't wait until I've spun enough Alpaca (my new spinning project) to do something with. I think if I can spin it fine enough I'd love to do a lacey scarf that would still be very warm. The Alpaca is the purest white and I think I will try my hand at dying with Wilton's. I also finished a Dream Swatch - it's blocking right now - pictures tomorrow. One last shot of Merino Silk goodness .

it can become more than just a pretty thing!

2006-07-05T10:50:00.000-06:00

This is making me so ridiculously happy! This used to look like this I've started making up the merino silk blend that I spun into a mini"ish" Clapotis . I was a little worried because the yarn is a little uneven (being a complete understatement) but it's really turning out nice and it's super soft. I think I have enough but thankfully the LYS where I got the fibre has tonnes so if I need to spin up some more it should be no problem!

why I didn't mind working today

2006-07-03T07:58:00.000-06:00

Even though most of the city didn't have to.

On my walk to work this morning I spotted this
huge bunny that let me get ridiculously close because there wasn't alot of traffic this morning.
Sorry for the crappy picture quality - cell phone camera and all.

I guess it won't be all bad. The BF is on vacation so he's meeting me downtown for lunch at the Black Thorn and then we're going to hit a museum. Should be a good time!

time for a quick one

2006-06-30T16:59:00.000-06:00

With finished objects and finished yarn. To my left ladies and gentlemen is the finished Spirng Fling. It was nearly the death of me but I love the finished thing. It wears beautifully and is very comfy. It was made with Smooth DK by King Cole and even though it was acrylic it feels fantastic to the touch and it didn't squeak on the needles at all!

and just because it's pretty the merino silk I was spinning in the finished product stage. I need to do just a little more and I'll have enough to do a mini-clapotis for Mom for X-mas!

Must you wear socks with those?

2006-06-30T10:26:00.000-06:00

If you are my boyfriend of far too many years the answer is always yes. He wears socks with everything - thankfully he doesn't wear sandals so we have avoided that disaster thus far. He does wear socks with slip on shoes all summer and it looks awful with them pushed down around his ankles. His solution? Get me to make him anklets so I don't have to hang my head in shame anymore. Fine - maybe I will - I was even nice and picked out yarn that wasn't pink (so tempting but I do acutally want him to wear these). I'm using Meilenweit Cotton Fun in the 508 colour way. He has ginormous feet however and the progress is slow. This first one has taken about a week and I'm just now at the toe. Wish me luck with the second! This is my foot in the shot so don't worry - I know I can start the toe for his socks when the foot goes over mine (simple but effective)!

Edited to add a picture of the completed sock the first. One more to go (man is feet take forever to cover)!

spining silk into . . . more silk

2006-06-28T19:05:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday I went to my fibre crack den and picked up a small package of three silk hankies. I thought it would be interesting to try dying them (as I've never done the Kool-Aid thing before). I have to say the results were interesting.
Here is one of the hankies after dying and drying.

I wish I'd used less of the purple and more of the green - also that I'd eliminated more of the white but not bad for a first attempt right?

I then followed the excellent instructions from Knitty and had a blast spinning the many hankies that my $2.25 yeilded on my new Kundert Spindle - it is so pretty and simple. Steve was fantastic. He was emailing me about the weight of the finished product, he kept me updated about what was happening and he had the beauty out to me in record time! If I could convince myself that I needed another I wouldn't hesitate to buy another from him!

and the finished product!! I think it looks ok but I'm not totally even yet. I'm also lying when I say that it's done. Right now the skein (which yielded ~ 30 yrds) is drying in my laundry room after a short soak. I'm hoping that the yarn will even out slightly but I'm still very enamoured with it. It's so shiny and all.

So this is the post with a lot of pictures

2006-06-25T06:38:00.000-06:00

Which I really enjoy when I'm looking at blogs so I hope you will too.

These are dad's finished socks after blocking and they fit him like a glove.

The next lot are pictures of my new obsession - about two weeks ago I was at Knit Knackers just looking at sock yarn and I got caught by the pretty corriedale roving and the woman minding the store asked if I knew how to spin. I didn't and she offered to teach me on the drop spindle (for a very reasonable fee). She was super sweet and it seems like such an inoccuous craft as it was relatively inexpensive. My first yarn wasn't so pretty.

Oh so very uneven . . . . . This was some natural colour BFL that was eventually easy to spin but the slubbyness was unholy! Then I got to work on the corriedale. I just alternated the three colours that I had taken home and then plyed them togeather to see what would happen.

See - it's getting better. I used the Andean Ply bracelet and it worked really well. I then gave it a good bath and weighted it as it dried so it's actually balanced. So what to do now that I'm sort of getting better. I go back to the LYS and buy some "relatively expensive" stuff. I picked up 100g of black merino and white shiny silk blend and tried spinning it a different way. I figured out - with the help of a few web sites- how to spin from the fold and it worked really well for this yarn. Here's where I was on Friday night. It's really pretty and soft - so soft. As of today I finished spinning the lot, plyed the whole thing, and hung it to dry after a nice bath. It came out to about 111yrds of a heavyish worsted so if I want to use it for anything I should really pick up another 100g. I think it may become a Xmas gift for Mom (don't judge me for planning early - I don't handle stress well).

I've started work on the Elann Sonata Print tank top and I've started work on my very on Picovoli in Knit Picks Shine Sport. So far so good.

Updates and Finished things (with absolutely no proof)

2006-06-19T11:03:00.000-06:00

I finished the Spring Fling over the weekend and I love it. I just need to get a hook and eye for the closure and then it's totally done (ends woven in and everything). Pictures to come. Dad's socks are also finished and were gifted last night before a very manly meal of steak and garlic break at our house. They seem to fit so yay for that!

I've started using the free Fleece Artist yarn and it really is beautiful. I began by trying a baby cable pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks but it just wasn't doing it for me so I switched to a slipped stitch ribbing from the same book. The colour is just amazing and the pattern is really appealing. Enjoy the pretty colours . . . . .

PS - I love using the office camera - the macro feature is so nifty!!

See - I do other stuff than knit . . . .

2006-06-15T14:56:00.000-06:00

I finally finished a painting that I've been working on for months. I meant it to be for my Dad (a real wine fancier) for Dad's day but his B-day is in August and I think I'll wait until then so I can find a good frame. The painting is a paint by number but I found it really challenging. I've done a number of these types of paitings before but this was the first one in which I was given about 8 colours and had to mix them to achive the variations needed for the image.

There is a debate if I should put his initials on the wine label in caligraphy or fancy script - thankfully I still have a couple months to decide!

In an unprecidented burst of craftiness I also got my old sewing machine up and running to make this. . .

I was inspired and blatently stole the directions from Grumperina (scroll down to "Sore Subject"). It works beautifully but I definately need to work on sewing a straight line!

It was a lot of fun to make this but I broke a few (three) needles trying to sew the small elastic loops to close the thing. I kept hitting the pin even though I'd pinned it correctly. Oh well - last time I buy sewing machine needles from the dollar store!

Beautiful Fleece Artist

2006-06-09T14:25:00.000-06:00

What a lovely company to work with! In less than a week I had a replacement ball of sock wool that had already been wound to check for problems. They even said that if I didn't like the colour I could pick another from the website. This kind of customer service is second to none and it makes me proud to support this Canadian company. I have written an email expressing my thanks but I will probably vote with my dollars as well!

what's this I see before me

2006-06-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

why yes, I do believe that it is the left front of a spring fling (WooHoo). This means that the back is totally done (I am so happy after the frogging disaster). I am past the ribbing and into the lace. I love this pattern - the lace is interesting enough to keep me going but easy enough to do on the bus.

Yesterday I ordered Sensational Knitted Socks from Chapters and I can't wait to have it in my hot little hands. I also ordered the fourth season of News Radio - one of my altime favourite shows. It dosen't actually ship until the 20th but I can wait (I think) .

The first of Dad's socks are done and I've picked up and begun the guesset of the second. I was all panicked because I thought this weekend was Dad's day but now I have a whole second week to finish them - very releaved (now I can spend more time on the Fling)!

now that was a crappy picture

2006-06-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

That last picture didn't do the colours justice at all, so I'm hoping that this one is better. The picture was taken covertly at work with a better camera than my own and more sunlight.

Now that's customer service!!

2006-06-04T08:27:00.000-06:00

I'm working on a pair of socks for dear old dad for Dad's day (seems only fair since mom got a pair) and I am using Fleece Artist merino sock yarn. It is a lovely colour palette of autumnal colours and perfect for a guy. The disappointment came when I was winding the skien and found four splices, some ok to just knit in but some were so messy and thin that there was nothing for it but to cut and weave in extra ends.

I wasn't terribly happy about so many splices in only 325m of yarn. I've never seen more than one splice in any other commercially available sock yarns. I sent off a quick email to Fleece Artist just to let them know that there had been a problem and they have offered to send me a new skien free of charge. Being the yarn ho that I am I will absolutely take them up on the offer and what really amazed me was that I emailed them on Saturday night and I had a reply by Sunday morning! While I was originally disappointed with the yarn the customer service has more than made up for it.
And now for a gratuitous picture of socks in progress. Because the yardage is a little short on the Fleece Artist I'm doing the heels and toes in a solid Jawoll superwash. Looks ok right?

I may have a yarn problem . . . .

2006-06-01T09:50:00.000-06:00

But then again don't we all. I've got the Spring Fling back to where it was before the disaster on Saturday but what do I see today in the newsletter from Knitter's Review but this really cute tank from Elann http://secure.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=136024 and I immediately fall in love with the "Lilac Satchel" colour of the Sonata yarn and proceed to purchase it without having any real need of a new summer project. I still have to finish my Fling and I have some KnitPicks Shine Sport to make a Picoli once that's done. This is my first summer as a serious knitter and I have to restrain myself. From here until Fall it's sock yarn only! Unless - well unless I finish all three tops - then I can get myself something else, maybe .

I think I'm going to cry

2006-05-27T17:17:00.000-06:00

This is what it looked like at my house tonight. I've got the place to myself this weekend so I thought I'd use the time to make huge progress on my Spring Fling
. I finished the back up to the end of the decreases and counted and had too many stitches. Dammnit! So I rip back to the beginning of the decreases and count again - Still too many stitches . . . Crap!! What the hell is going on. I look at the ribbing and count from the beginning. I'm making the largest size and I'm supposed to cast on 150 stitches. For some God forsaken reason I've cast on 162 stitches . . . There are no words . . . but there is wine.

It sucks even more because I've already frogged a bunch this weekend. The yarn that I'm using for this was originally the front and part of the back of a "Shapely Tank Top" but I got bored of stocking stitch. Well I hope I really like this lace pattern as much as I think I do. Here we go again!

Good thing I have a nice bottle of white all to myself tonight - I also treated myself to some amazing Thai delivery . . . it still hurts but the curry helps!

socks, socks, socks

2006-05-22T09:27:00.000-06:00

It feels like I'm knitting nothing but socks right now. . . Alot of that is because I knit on the bus and a full pullover is just a little too much baggage but I also love the instant gratification and the fact that you can't screw up the shaping too too much.

These are some socks I made up for the bf for our four year anniversary this past weekend. As much as I love that he loves my knit socks his huge feet (size 12) make it something of a challenge. I didn't use any pattern for these. I just cast on 76 on 2.5mm needles (four double points) and knit for 7", short rowed a heel down to 1 1/2", knit the foot FOREVER, and decreased as for a standard toe until I had 28 stitches left and grafted.

I was seriously worried that I wouldn't have enough wool to finish. My mom was giving me a hard time about not giving the bf enough leg but it really was a choice between leg or foot. I went for foot. The evidence speaks for itself . This is all that was left from two 50g balls.

I also finished a pair of Hedera
from Knitty for my Mom for Mother's day last week. My mom is a fantastic knitter of the old school and while she has made socks they were mostly worsted weight and certainly not lace. I hope she likes them. All the piano students who saw them really liked them ("especially the holes" as one said). I hope that I encourage my piano students to be creative and crafty when they see that I do things like knit and paint and such. I really wish more kids were introduced to the creative arts and the traditional crafts. More on that rant later, for now here are mom's Hedera.

Oh You Tube

2006-05-10T07:31:00.000-06:00

The joy of wednesday when you find something entertaining on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

"The evolution of dance" this guy is impressive! I'll even admit to a few of those moves.

Some Previous Knits

2006-05-08T17:13:00.000-06:00

Thought I would toss in a knit I put togeather for my Mom for her b-day in February. It's an Odessa from http://www.magknits.com/feb06/patterns/odessa.htm
and while it was lovely it just didn't fit her head (big brain - runs in the family).

The incredibly scary lady the hat is sitting on is a styrofoam head I got at an auction years ago. Some one else painted the face on her and though very creapy she is a fabulous hat blocker.

You can just see my piano in the background. It's a beautiful old specimin that used to belong to my great grandmother. It was made in Oshawa Canada (very conincidentially the same town in which the boyfriend grew up).

First Post

2006-05-08T09:32:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I'm actually starting one of these. I've always said that I'm not the type to post my life all over the internet but this will mainly be to show off my lovely knitting (at least I think it's lovely).