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!