Casting Off

OFF MY NEEDLES:

I finished my first pair of socks this year, and had my first Ooops! moment at the same time. These socks were Cast On on January first for The Great Hufflepuff Sock Fest. I finished knitting them on January eighteenth, wove in my ends, tried them on, and this is what I got:



That was a first for me - never had a heel come out with that much excess fabric before. So I ripped back both heels about an inch and did decreases as if it was a hat crown. For one sock I kitchenered the remaining stitches closed. For the other sock I drew the yarn through the remaining stitches and cinched it closed. I prefer the look of the latter closure (top sock in the picture).

Here are the finished and fixed socks, knit on 2.25mm needles in the Monsieur X colorway of Biscotti & Cie's Felix base sock yarn.








Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks: Soulless by Gail Carriger;                      
  DVDs etc:   Rizzoli & Isles; Inspector Alleyn Mysteries; Endeavor; Moonlight;            
Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  The Knitmore Girls (almost caught up);                    
 

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;    

We Have Knitting & Spinning

On My Needles:
"Woolgathering Socks" were started as stripey plain vanilla afterthought heel socks in Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber yarn.  The first sock was finished (except for the heel) last month, and the second started.  Along the way on the second sock, I read about Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato heel and couldn't wait to try it.  So I did.  Me likey!   This is my first Sweet Tomato Heel:  
   
   
 
Of course, this means my socks will be mismatched with two different heels, but who cares -  they're heels
  Modifications to original pattern:  heel worked on 60% instead of 2/3rds(66%) of stitches; center heel sts 12 on 1st repeat, 10 on 2nd, & 16 on 3rd (no idea why I did that, but it worked).  
   
   
  On My Spindles:   
   
  I've been working on the Columbia fleece I started processing/spinning last year. This was slightly less than a pound of pre-washed fleece from two sheep that I acquired separately, so there's a difference in the fiber's texture & color. As of this morning when I finished spinning, I have thirteen bobbins of singles to ply tomorrow. That should be enough for two more skeins of 3ply.
 
   
   
   
   Also started spinning the Manx Loughton I've been eyeing for six months. Its really wonderful fiber prep and lovely to spin. This will be a 2ply, and I'm spindle spinning semi-worsted.  
 
   
  Brought To Me By:  
  Audiobooks:    
  DVDs etc: True Blood S3.1-4; Buffy TVS S7.11-end; Moonlight S1.1-16;   (guess I'm on a vamp role)
  Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; The Knitmore Girls; The Pagan Knitter; Round The Twist;      
 

It's been a while!

And I'm falling way behind.

The Wool Breeds Challenge ended on June 30th. I didn't finish all the different breeds I had collected for the Challenge, but I did manage to spin thirty-two of them for a total of seventy points. I have the last few breeds to post here and then I will be officially finished, although I will continue posting about new breeds here as I spin them.

Speaking of spinning and challenges, the Tour de Fleece started on July 2nd. This year my challenge is to spin the thirty-six ounces of BFL (Bluefaced Leicester) natural multicolored top into a 4ply 2x2 cabled yarn for a sweater I'm planning on knitting for myself. At a 4ply yarn I'm not sure if I'll have enough for a sweater, but I also have another pound of plain natural BFL that I can also use if there isn't enough of the multi. Or I can order more of the natural multi top.

This is a pic of my TdF progress thru Day 3 and all the unspun top.

I'm also participating in The Knit Girllls Stash Dash 2011 and have finished objects: the Summer Mystery Shawl, two pair of socks, and some plied yarn. Squeee!

This is the Summer Mystery Shawl by Wendy Johnson, hot off the needles, ends dangling and unblocked. I used one of my beginning handspun yarns (Little Fish colorway spun from hand dyed roving from Enchanted Knoll Farms). The yarn is definitely thick and thin but it doesn't seem to affect the shawl construction or pattern. I like it.

I also finished the "Native Traditions" colorway socks and the modified Hermione pattern socks. Both are afterthought heel socks.

Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber Socks for Ewe sock yarn Native Traditions colorway:


Zen Yarn Garden Tencelicious yarn in Sun Kiss colorway:

February/March update

I've done a lot of spinning over the last two months, but not much knitting. Well, at least not enough knitting. And I have a ton of pics to take for the Breeds Challenge, but first I have to set the twist on all the samples. At the rate I'm going, if I wait until that's done, it'll be June before I post again, so....no pics this time, but anyway....

I did finish the pretty blue Gluttony colorway socks. They were plain vanilla cuff down heel flap socks in Lizard Toes yarn from the now defunct Cables and Lace.

The first socks for both the Cherry Tree Hill "Rustic" and the Opal Rainforest "Cassandra?" colorway are done and the second for both started. These are both afterthought heel socks (something new for me) vanilla cuff downs. The Rustic I've been working on in between spinning while visiting Mom, and the Opals are my nighttime DVD knitting.

I found (yeah, like they were lost) some new (to me) podcasts I really like: Electric Sheep, Ba Ba Blacksheep, Subway Knits, and The Fiber Files.

On the spinning front, my "Wash Me" finishing box for my spinning is almost full (it's small - 7x7x6) with completed samples skeins from Gulf Coast, Fressian, Montadale, Border Leicester and Clun Forest breeds, as well as five tiny Phat Fiber samples. I've also got four skeins of the Merino/Bamboo/Silk blend to wash, but I'm keeping them separate. On my spindles are Gotland, Hog Island (big yuck), Perendale and BFL. And the MBS blend.

The Wool Breeds Challenge has been very interesting. I'm learning a lot, both about the different breeds and about myself and my preferences. I like Down breeds better than the really long Longwools. I like prepping my own fiber. I like both combing and carding but prefer carding. I love spinning long draw even though it can be frustrating on a spindle. When it works, it's magic.