Rabbits From Hats

Anyone remember that old Rocky and Bullwinkle sketch where Bullwinkle tries to pull a rabbit out of a hat and gets a lion instead? Well, that's kinda what I'm trying to do except for me it's Finished Objects I'm trying to pull out of my hat. A hat that will disintegrate in twelve days.


ON MY NEEDLES:

I've got the first of two Holiday Stockings on the needles. Using a combination of recently purchased and vintage stash yarn to make modified versions of the "A NEW Family Portrait - A Collection of Three Christmas Stockings" pattern by Dorene Delaney Giordano.

Also working on the Mystery Knitting project. And some cat toys. And some more WarmUp America squares. And, of course, socks. And....

Yikes! Where's the TARDIS when you need it?


OFF MY NEEDLES:

Finished three more squares for WarmUp America. The "joining" party is January 25th, and I'm hoping to have a full blanket's worth of squares (ok, I know, they're technically rectangles not squares) completed by then. That would be forty-nine squares; I've completed twelve so far.


The Surprise Mittens and the Wild Blueberry Socks are finished, but no pictures until after their recipient receives them. The socks were finished yesterday and the mittens a few days ago.

Fall Spinning

Off My Spindles/Wheel:

For Spinzilla, in October, I spun eight ounces of Corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms in the Walpurgis colorway. I also spun about five ounces of BFL/Finn cross fleece, and a little bit of "Mo", a Finn/Dorset/Targhee cross.

This is the finished Walpurgis yarn. It's a chain ply:

And here's the finished 2ply BFL/Finn yarn (top skein), as well as what little 3ply yarn I managed to spin before I gave up on Mo (right skein). Oh, and that's the Walpurgis singles on the bobbins. And by the way, the team I was on (Team Knit Girllls) took second place.

On My Spindles/Wheel:

The only active spinning I have going right now is a small portion of a Rambouillet/Montedale cross pre-washed fleece I purchased several years ago.  I started prepping it by combing then drum carding, but I didn't like the way the carded fiber was coming out or spinning.  Way too many nepps. So I settled on just combing it but still spinning smoothed, attenuated long draw. I've finished the spinning and started plying it (2ply) which will eventually become a 4ply cabled yarn.

Socks & Hats & Mittens, Oh My

Off My Needles/Hooks:

Remember I said way back in January that I had the urge to do stranded knitting again. Well, I finally did cast on. The first pair of mittens are complete. This is the "La Joie du Printemps" mitten pattern by Heather Desserud, and the yarn is Knit Picks Palette (fingering weight) in Hollyberry and White. I started them on Sept 30th using US1 (2.25mm) needles, and finished them on Oct 29th. I made them a little bigger than the pattern called for to accommodate my wider hands and a lining if they needed it (and they do). Now I have to decide between a knit lining from reclaimed cashmere yarn or a fleece (fabric) lining. Decisions, decisions.



Also working on hats for Cancer Care of Maine in honor of Holly's husband, Mike. I've completed three hats with more planned.







On My Needles/Hooks:
What's on my needles? Socks, socks and more socks! Socks for me, socks for charity, and socks for friends. Like these teasers for three of them:



  


I've almost finished the first mitten of another pair of mittens. These are a semi-surprise gift so no picture until after they've been received.

I cast on Susan Pandorf's "Rivendell Smoke Ring", a lace cowl, in September using my Rise of the Phoenix handspun yarn. I got about three inches done then set it aside to work on other stuff. It was not in a project bag and received unmentionable abuse and neglect resulting in a visit to the frog pond last weekend. It's been restarted and I'm almost back to where I left off. And yes, it's residing in it's own little project bag. Lesson learned.

A variation on the sock theme is Christmas or Holiday Stockings. I've collected the patterns and just need to pick the yarns. I need to make two, one done by Dec 15th, the other by Dec 24th. At least that's the plan.

Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:  
  Audiobooks: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones; Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead;                    
  DVDs etc:   NCIS; Bones; Moonlight; Big Bang Theory; Castle; Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries; Angel;                            
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  Two Tangled Skeins; Out of the Blue/Geek Nation; The Knitmore Girls; TwinSet Designs;

Oddments of Progress

The four ounces of Rise of the Phoenix colorway BFL top from Crown Mountain Farm that I started while on vacation is done. There's about 400 yds of chain plied yarn (1,200 yds of singles) with a wpi range of 15-18. It was spindle spun and plied. This yarn is a different weight than the pattern calls for, but I will be casting on for a Rivendell cowl with this yarn shortly.



Stash Dash 2013, sponsored by The Knit Girllls, ended in early August, and for the first time I surpassed the goal. This year's goal was to knit, crochet or spin 4k of yarn, that's 4,375 yds. I finished with a total of 4,641 yds worked. Yay Me!

I've been piecing together the Hexipuff Baby Blanket as I've been finishing the hexipuffs. It's really beginning to look like a blanket. See:



2013 Stash Reduction Goals update: the prognosis isn't good for the 40lb stashdown at all. Then again I knew when I set that goal that it was pretty unlikely I'd actually meet it. I think it was more an incentive thing than anything else. P.S. Incentive-wise, it ain't working. It also doesn't help that i keep buying more yarn! On the other hand, there's better progress in meeting my Yardage Goals of 17,000 yds spinning; 13,000 yds knitting. I'm at over 11,000 for spinning and over 5,000 for knitting/crocheting. KnitMeter is my friend.

I signed up for Spinzilla in October on the Knit Girllls team. It's basically a race to see how much you can spin in a week. I've been prepping fiber in preparation for an intensive spinning marathon, and will hopefully have a full fleece ready to spin plus I have lots of commercially prepared fiber too.

Guilt-Free Crafting

 
 

Aaaahh, the joys of guilt-free crafting on vacation. That nagging little voice that says I should be doing ...whatever... instead of knitting or spinning is silenced, and I can just revel in doing what I want as long as I want. Blissful enjoyment!

  

The result of all that crafting bliss is a finished pair of socks, forty-three hexipuffs, two out of four ounces of a lovely black & red BFL spun & plied, and another little spinning sample for my collection.

The Cauchy socks. Pattern by Cookie A. from her "Sock Innovation" book. Yarn is Lisa Souza Sock!.

 

 
 

43 Hexipuffs (puff #43 was a bit shy and slipped out of camera range when I wasn't looking)

About 2 ounces of Bluefaced Leicester spindle spun & chain plied Rise of the Phoenix colorway from Crown Mountain Farms.

25 yds of a 2ply Romney/Alpaca blend sample for my Itty Bitty Bits collection

On the Road....WV, I Am In You

 
 
  On My Needles/Hooks:
 
 

Hexipuffed like crazy on the train ride down to West Virginia or at least it seemed that way. A two hour delay in D.C. while they put my train together (don't ask) helped the illusion. Apparently though, I really only make one (or less) an hour. These are the seven I made on the road. There are a few more I made that night.

 

I started the Cauchy socks back in June but ran into a snag when I couldn't decide which heel I wanted to use: the pattern heel, afterthought, sweet tomato, or something else. I brought them with me on vacation and I'm pleased to say progress has been made. I went with a square heel. This is first sock progress.

On My Spindles/Wheel:
  
  

The first half (about two ounces worth) of the BFL from Crown Mountain Farms in the Rise of the Phoenix colorway is done. Spindle spun and plied, I got about 150 yds of 3ply (chain) yarn with a wpi in the 22-27 range. I'm hoping to get enough to make a Rivendell cowl, and I think I should have just enough. Pic taken before twist set.

Fiber Prep

The second half of "Mo", a Finn-Dorset-Targhee cross fleece, is washed and I've begun prepping the fleece to spin. I'm hand combing then drum carding. The plan is to spin woolen and 3ply as the first half was done. The only difference will be I'm probably going to wheel spin instead of spindle spin. Probably. Then again... By the time I get back from vacation and can work on it again I might change my mind.

Off My Spindles/Wheel:
  

The little Corriedale/Polypay sample is done. I started with 8.5 ounces raw fleece and after it was washed had 5.5 ounces. I hand carded the fleece and instead of dizzying off the combs, I pulled it off in tufts and spun it semi-worsted from that. It's my version of "cloud" prep. Worked surprisingly well. Picture taken before twist set. Ended up with approximately 350 yds of laceweight/light fingering 2ply yarn.

What's Goin' On....

On My Needles/Hooks:

I've been hexipuffing like mad lately. I have a whole bag of them finished but it just didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. So I started sewing them together and now I'm feeling much better about it. I am getting somewhere and I can't wait to finish.    

  
  
 

I had a little difficulty when I first started sewing them together - trying to find a way to join them that looked okay, but I eventually settled on something and now it's going smoothly. I know in the actual pattern (The Beekeepers Quilt) the puffs are just tied together not sewn. However, this is a baby blanket for charity, and I didn't think holes that little hands and feet might get stuck in was a good idea. Besides, the yarn and stuffing are all washable.        

At some time in the near future I will have to decide if I'm going to leave this blanket with uneven edges or square the sides off with half hexis. Right now I'm leaning towards evening out the sides, maybe even putting a little crochet border around. I don't know. We'll see.

 
 
On My Spindles/Wheel:

I just love the yarn prep and dyed colors that Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms did, and I was sorry to hear he had to close up shop. So I put in an order in June to pick up some of his colorways that I hadn't gotten to yet. One of them is "Rise of the Phoenix" in his BFL base. I'm spindle spinning (worsted) and chain plying. First ounce spun and pre-chained and resting on the bobbin, and I'm about two-thirds through spinning the second ounce.     

    

Unbelievable how hard it is to decide what knitting to take with me on vacation next week. I'll be gone for two weeks, and I have limited packing space. I can't decide between hexipuffs, socks and hats, or socks and a shawl, or hexipuffs and colorwork mittens. Decisions, decisions!    

   
    

Tour de Fleece - Finale

 
  
 
 

Well, another TdF is over, and as usual the extreme heat made it very difficult to spin. However, I did manage to get two more projects done.

Tour de Fleece: Day 19
 

This is the finished Polwarth/Silk blend from Two Sisters Stringworks:

The skein on the right was spun and plied during the Tour; the other two were done beforehand. Spindle spun worsted and either spindle or wheel plied (chain ply) these three skeins total approximately 360 yds of 3ply, 1,080 yds of singles (112 grams/3.95 ounces). TdF spinning portion was 204 yds.

Tour de Fleece: Day 22

I plied the last skein Saturday morning (July 20) of the RDC (Ramboulliet, Dorset, Corriedale) cross fleece. There are five skeins wheel spun/plied during the Tour added to the previous eight skeins. This is a traditional 3ply yarn from either hand combed & hand carded rolags or hand drum carded batts, woolen spun then plied on my wheel (Hansen mSpinner). I'm estimating 726 yds of woolen spun 3ply yarn (2,178 yds singles) for the five skeins, which I will confirm after skeins are dry.

I didn't get to the blue-green braid at all, but that's okay. I'm not really feeling it right now so it's going back in the stash bin. Maybe it will float back up for next year's Tour de Fleece.

In the Midst of Spinning, Knit Happens

 
 
  Off My Needles/Hooks:
 
  Summer Mystery shawl closeup (unblocked) 
 
 

The 2013 Summer Mystery Shawl KAL by Wendy Johnson is done. I really liked this pattern and will make at least one more, probably two.  I did the large size, using 957 yds of Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock II (Merino, Cashmere & Nylon 80/10/10 blend). That's two skeins plus 20% of the third skein.  I tried it on hot off the needles and it was wide & long enough unblocked, so should be nice and cozy when blocked. Unblocked dimensions are 74 inches wide and 35 inches deep at center.

   This is a quick picture right off the needles (forgive the dangling ends & messy bed)
 

On My Needles/Hooks:  
 
 

With all this lace knitting, I needed a pair of vanilla socks to freshen my palate, so I went stash diving and came up with a skein of Lisa Souza Sock! In the Newtown color way, which looks like this (pic from her website):

Newtown was one of the first sock yarns I bought when I started making socks, oh so many years ago. I'm about three inches down the first sock leg. I'm a little tired of afterthought heels so the Newtown socks shall have Sweet Tomato Heels.

 

I also cast on the Cauchy socks by Cookie A using the Garnet colorway of Lisa Souza Sock! Another long ago sock yarn purchase. For this one I'm about five inches down the first sock leg.

Also on my needles/hooks are some odds and ends for the Hogwarts at Ravelry games: preemie hats, hexipuffs and coasters.

 
  
 
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:. Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead                
  DVDs etc:  NCIS; Bones; Angel; Charmed;                        
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist; The Knitmore Girls; Knitting Pipeline; The Anatomy of Knitting; Cast On; Two Tangled Skeins;                          
 

Tour de Fleece 1st week

 
  

 

The Corriedale Ewe I plied on Day 1 has dried, and it shrunk a bit.  Instead of the 200-220 yds I was estimating, I got 179 yds of traditional 3ply (537 yds singles) from five ounces of drum carded fleece. Average wpi is 16.  

  
 

The ten mini-batts of the Rambouillet/Dorset/Corriedale fleece I drum carded on Day 1 have been spun. I still have lots more to drum card so this is ongoing.

I'm spindle spinning the Polwarth/silk blend from Two Sisters Stringworks. This is what I spun for Day 2. The spindle is now twice as full and ready to be moved to a bobbin. I've got about two ounces, more or less, left to spin. I'm hoping to get to that this weekend.

This is today's (Day 8's) progress: Abstract Fiber "Chocolate Rainbow" alpaca/silk, 190 yds 3ply yarn (570 yds singles). Picture taken before twist set (it's drying now). Spun worsted/semi-worsted and chain/Navajo plied.

 
 

 

And They're Off....

 
 
The 2013 Tour de Fleece (TdF) started today, June 29th, and runs through July 21st. For the unfamiliar, the Tour de Fleece runs concurrent with the Tour de France. While the cyclists race through France, we spin through our stashes in an effort to meet our individual goals. Those goals are personal and can range from just learning to spin, spinning a new fiber, to learning the ins and out of a new wheel or spindle, spinning down a certain amount of stash, or to spinning a whole fleece. This year I'm on three Wildcard teams: the Diagon Alley Marauders (the Hogwarts at Ravelry group),  Footloose (the Hansen mini-spinner group), and the Spin Your Stash group, as well as the Lantern Rouge group, one of the main TdF groups. My goal is to spin as much as I can.
   
 
This is what I hope to get through. It's mainly finishing up SWIPs and a couple of new projects.
Clockwise from right: (1) Ramboulliet-Dorset-Corridale cross fleece what's left to prep, spin, ply (2) Abstract Fiber Chocolate Rainbow bump #2, 4oz (3) Six bobbins of Corriedale ewe singles to ply (4) 4oz hand painted Finn, and (5) Two Sisters' Stringworks Polwarth/Silk blend.    
  
There are a few others I wanted to include, but we will see how far I get with this first.

First up is plying the Corriedale in a traditional 3ply.  The twist isn't set yet (it hasn't finished drying yet), but I'm estimating there's between 200-220 yds of sport weight yarn here.  I was in such a hurry I forgot to check the wpi before I soaked it, but it was spun semi-worsted so I'm hoping it won't poof up too much. Time shall tell.  
  
 
Next up is the alpaca/silk blend from Abstract Fiber in the Chocolate Rainbow colorway.  If it looks or sounds familiar, well it should.  I spun the first bump during last year's TdF.  I'm spinning this worsted and will chain ply as I did the first bump.  I just love the colors in this. I spun until the fiber started sticking to my hands too much, then switched to prepping the RDC cross fleece on my drum carder. I ended up with ten small batts totaling about 3.50 ounces.
Here's a group photo of Day One's progress, top to bottom: batts, Chocolate Rainbow, plied Corriedale skein

Haphazard FOing

 

I had every intention of posting monthly Finished Object posts but that doesn't appear to be happening, at least not this half of the year. But I have been knitting and I have been spinning, although I've been doing more fiber prep (combing, carding, etc.) than actual spinning.

     

I finished the The Knit Girllls Fiber Optic SAL in early March

This was spun semi-worsted on Jack, my Hansen mini spinner, and Navajo/chain plied for about 357 yds of 16wpi 3ply Merino/Silk blend yarn from one bump (about 1,071 yds singles).   Pictures were taken before it's twist setting bath.  The Fiber Optic fiber's prep made this a joy to spin with no predrafting required.  

I also spun a few little fiber samples for my Itty Bitty Bits during March and April, but bless me if I can find the little devils. They've apparently disappeared into a black hole or something. They'll turn up eventually, like when I'm frantically searching for something else.    

I started working on the E. Friesian/Corriedale cross last August and finished most of it this April. Altogether there was a little over three pounds of raw fleece, both adult and lamb. Some I washed, but most of it was washed by Q. I combed and/or carded all of it and spun most of it woolen or semi-woolen; the remainder was spun by Q. These three skeins total about 400 yards of 3ply heavy sport weight yarn and were given to Q to use for a test knit.

this skein is approximately 288 yards of 3ply, spun by Q and plied by me.

The Berry Happy socks, also a plain vanilla afterthought heel, were started on April 27th and finished on May 28th, the day they were due as a birthday present.  This is the Berry Happy colorway in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino.  I really enjoyed knitting with this particular yarn and am actively stash diving for more.  I should have at least four more skeins tucked away somewhere.  

The Autumn Walk socks were started in November 2012 and finished on May 30, 2013. These are plain vanilla afterthought heel socks knit with Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber self-striping Merino/Tencel yarn in the Autumn Walk colorway. Sadly, this was my last skein of Three Ewes yarn.     

    
  

  
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:                
  DVDs etc:  Midsomer Murders; Craig Ferguson: Does This Have To Be Said? & A Wee Bit o' Revolution; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Moonlight; Downton Abbey;                  
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist; Knitting Pipeline; Cast On; Yarnspinner's Tales; The Anatomy of Knitting; The Knitmore Girls;    

This and That

 

The 2013 Tour de Fleece starts on June 29th and runs through July 21st.  So far I've joined three teams: the Diagon Alley Marauders (the Hogwarts at Ravelry group),  Footloose (the Hansen mini-spinner group), and the Spin Your Stash group. I haven't decided yet what exactly I'm spinning, but as my general theme this year is stash busting, it really doesn't matter.  And I still have a couple of weeks yet to decide and finish prepping fleece.

    

I am once again participating in The Knit Girllls' Stash Dash 2013 challenge which started on May 24th and will run through Aug 5th.  This year we are knitting, crocheting, spinning and/or weaving our way through 4k of yarn (that's 4,375 yards).  Fingers crossed that I'll actually reach the goal this time.

  
  On My Needles/Hooks:

I'm actively working on the Wendy Johnson 2013 Summer Mystery Shawl and the Cauchy socks by Cookie A, but they're not the only projects on my needles right now.  There's also the Owlie socks in Hufflepuff colors, as well as the resurrected Charlotte Bronte shawl,  the Hexipuff Baby Blanket and some preemie hats.      

    

I've had the urge to make stranded color mittens for quite some time now.   I have two books of mitten patterns in my library that I'd love to work my way through, as well as a sampler pack of Knit Picks Pallette yarns to knit with.  Right now I'm going through the books and my Ravelry favorites and queue and selecting patterns and matching yarns for them.  Sometimes planning is as much fun as knitting!        

  
 
  On My Spindles/Wheel:

  I have worked on some odd fiber samples for the  Itty Bitty Bits and I've been sporadically spindle spinning a bump of BFL/silk from Two Sisters Stringworks, but mostly I've been doing fiber prep - combing and carding fleece.    

There's a Ramboulliet/Montadale cross fleece that I'm using to practice carding on my new drum carder.  Honestly, I think I prefer hand carding, but that could be because I'm new at it (the drum carding).

I'm also working on an absolutely lovely Ramboulliet/Dorset/Corriedale cross fleece (a/k/a the RDC fleece) that's just a joy to comb and hand card. It's only drawback is it has a lot of yellow in it, but a nice dip in a dye bath should take care of that.  I've started woolen spinning the hand carded rolags and it spins like butter.  My singles are the thinnest I've done so far so I'm hoping my final 3ply yarn will end up as fingering or sport weight yarn.      

There's also the Expand Your Horizons spinning for March (Jacob) and May (Coopworth) that I have the fiber for but haven't touched.  I may not get to spinning this particular batch of Coopworth because I'm blending it with some other fiber for Q to use for her sister's wedding shawl.  Guess that means I just might have to buy more fiber.  Heehee :-)      

      
  
 
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:                
  DVDs etc:  Midsomer Murders; Why Didn't They Ask Evans; The Borgias; Murdoch Mysteries; Hemlock Grove; Doctor Who; Moonlight; Twin Peaks; Angel; NCIS;                      
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist; Yarnspinner's Tales; The Knitmore Girls; The Nerdist; Knitting Pipeline; SpinDoctor;                        
 

2013 FO's: February

  
 
Off My Needles/Hooks:
 

I finished the Riverbed socks for Mom using Cat Bhordi's Master Riverbed sock pattern from her first New Pathways book. I worked on these a lot when Mom was in the hospital and my concentration was perhaps not all it should be. Regardless, this pattern needs major tweaking to properly fit, and because of that I'm not likely to make another pair right away. Too much effort; I think I'll stick to Cat's sweet tomato heels for now.  

 As I said, I was originally making these for Mom, but she died right after I finished the second sock.  They probably would've been too big for her anyway as they are large on me especially around the heel. One sock is worse (bigger) than the other.  I mushed the excess fabric around to the underside of the socks in this picture, but if you look closely you can still see bagging on the heel/gusset area especially on my right foot.  Used approximately 86grams/282 yds of Knit Picks Felici sport wt Self-Striping yarn. Started Jan 14 and finished Feb 14.      

 
  


 

Odds and Ends - Only one this month: knit a quick little bookmark in Hufflepuff colors for a Quidditch match

 

 

 
Off My Spindles/Wheel:
  
  

The Knit Girllls Expand Your Horizons Jan/Feb SAL (spin-a-long) was Southdown. I tried spinning Babydoll Suthdown during the SpinDoctor Wool Breeds Challenge several years ago but found it difficult to spin. I didn't like it then, and I'm not very fond of spinning it now.

Southdown is the original Down breed so there is a bit of Southdown in all the current Down breeds. It is a British based breed varying in size from toy to medium/large sheep. Staple length ranges from 1.5 to 4 inches but averages around 2-3 inches.  Micron count is 23-29 for white and 27-31 for black/colored fleece. Babydoll Southdown is one of the smaller types and usually raised as pets/fleece sheep. ("The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook" by Carol Ekarius & Deborah Robson)  Babydoll wool is springy and squishy to touch; very interesting hand. 

I started spinning this on spindles (for portability), first doing a short forward draw, then switching to supported longdraw, but eventually switched to Jack, my e-spinner. In this instance I found longdraw easier on Jack (not always the case for me) than on my spindle, especially if I was spinning from the untouched portion of the Babydoll roving. Predrafting or any fussing or prepping of the roving at all made it much harder to draft. Lessons learned: don't predraft or prep the fiber, and spin woolen or semi-woolen.

Babydoll Southdown is not one of my favorite fibers to spin, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. It has interesting character and I like the finished yarn. Out of 40grams of roving I finished with approximately 109 yds of 2ply yarn (218 yds singles). Spinning started on Jan 5th and plying finished on Feb 6th. Picture was taken before yarn received it's twist-setting bath, and you can clearly see difference between the worsted and woolen spun sections.

 

 

Itty Bitty Bits for February are just three small samples (top to bottom):

A) “Nordic Sky”, Cobblestone Creek Farm, sw merino/nylon, blue, 32yds 2ply, 64yds Singles, spindle spun & plied, S/F Jan 29-Feb 3, 7 grams
  B) “Raw Turquoise”, WoolieBullie, merino, green/gold, 23yds 3ply, 69yds Singles, Spindle spun & chain plied, S/F Feb 5, 7gr
  C) unlabeled, pinks/greens/white, wool & sparkle, 24yds 3ply, 72yds Singles, Spindle spun & chain plied, S/F Feb 7-9, 10gr.

 
 

 
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:  Emma by Jane Austen; Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore;              
  DVDs etc: Iron Man; The King's Speech; Midsomer Murders; Nero Wolf;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  Round The Twist; The Knit Girllls; Yarnspinners Tales; Knitting Pipeline;                
 

2013 FO's: January Part 2

 
  Off My Spindles/Wheel:
  
  

I did a lot of spinning during January, but the only "finished" items were a few samples from my Itty Bitty Bits project.  Eventually, these will be knit up as hexipuffs or blanket/afghan squares or something similar, so I'm trying to keep them as consistent as I can by spinning worsted/semi-worsted and Navajo/chain plying.  

Clockwise from left:

“Blue Moon” BFL/silk fiber, blue, green & purple, Spindle spun and chain/Navajo plied, 29yds 3ply, 87yds Singles.

Unlabeled fiber, wine, Spindle spun and chain plied,  19yds 3ply, 57yds singles.

“Market Salad” All For Love of Yarn, BFL, spindle spun and chain plied, 10yds 3ply, 30yds singles.

Unlabeled fiber, yellow/gold/green/wine/pink, Spindle spun and chain plied, 79yds 3ply, 237yds singles.

 
   
 

2013 FOs: January Part 1

  
 
 
  Off My Needles/Hooks:

The Blue Yoke Sweater is done! I'm quite surprised that I used only about five and a half balls of Filature Lanarota Chaco or about a little over 1100 yards.  

 

I was only halfway through the yoke when I'd stopped working on this in 2006, and seriously, I have no idea what my problem was with finishing it. The yoke decreases were following the modified EPS percentages and worked like a charm. And I got the collar right this time by adding an inch worth of short rows to the back collar ribbing. Oh, and I also changed to a size US5 (3.75mm) needle for the last round and for the bindoff round of the collar. Made it much neater looking. I think the next time I make a yoke sweater I will decrease an extra eight stitches (rather than the four I did here) after the final yoke decrease round. But other than that I'm quite pleased how this turned out.

BBS or Big Black Socks  were made for the Socks for Soldiers group, and I'm ashamed to say started almost three years ago.  These are "Team Knit" socks, with the legs knit on a CSM (Circular Sock Machine) then forwarded to me to add the feet.  That's right.  All I had to do was add the feet and it took me this long to do it.  I get fifty lashes with a wet skein for that. Feet were knit using US0 (2.0mm) and US1 (2.25mm) needles.    

 
  
  

 Mom's Mitts were started on Jan 13th using some unlabeled blue-toned mystery yarn and size US5 (3.75mm) needles. Mom went into the hospital on the 19th for pneumonia, and I finished them on Jan 21st while sitting at her bedside. It is just a vanilla afterthought thumb mitt with ribbing at the cuff and seed stitch at the fingers. They are about 10.5 inches long.  

 

 
 
   
  The 40lb Stashdown Goal (in grams):  18,144;  Grams Used: 829;  Left to Go: 17,315