Log Cabin fever

ON MY NEEDLES

Finally gave in and cast on a log cabin afghan (or blanket depending on finished size) using all the Knit Picks Palette yarn I have. I'm making color blocks that are outlined in white and will be joined in a three needle I-cord bind off in black.

There are over thirty different Palette colors in my stash, but the majority of them are only one ball each. Some of the colors I'm picking out are coordinating colors and some gently contrasting colors. Some will be picked by random number generator, which should make some very interesting (& probably wildly clashing) color combinations.  This is the yarn colors and the first two blocks (without the white border). 

And another block with white border 

Most of the blocks will have five or six colors although some will have only three.  

I'd like to get both this project and the hexipuff baby blanket finished by the end of Stash Dash in August.  Doubtful but I'm going to try. 

March knitting

OFF MY NEEDLES 

The  Rainbow socks are finished. These are my basic cuff down sock with a Strong Heel knit in Knit Picks' Felici yarn in the Rainbow colorway. 

I also finished these cuff down vanilla socks in Knit Picks Hawthorne yarn in Ladd's Addition colorway  my first time knitting with this yarn and I liked it. It will be interesting to see how well they hold up in use. 

And last but not least are two more pair of baby socks, one in Kroy Socks blue-brown marl, and the other Monster socks from yarn scraps I had with me. 

Start with a bang

OFF MY NEEDLES:

I finally decided what to knit with the Handspun yarn I made with all those Phat Fiber samples.  I cast on the Spectrum Scarf on December 24th using size 9 needles (5.5mm) and just knit until it was wide enough.  I finished on January 20th and used about 290 yards.  I still have one skein and a little bit left.  Final measurements: 58 inches long and 8 inches wide.

Lissie chose a skein of  Biscotte & Cie Felix base in the Conte de Fee A colorway for her birthday socks.  It's a self-striping yarn so I suggested the Fruit Stripe Gum socks pattern by Leah Oakley,  I started them on January 22nd and finished on February 1st.   It was a very easy pattern and I look forward to using it again.

The Mona Lisa socks I started on October for #OperationSockDrawer are finally finished (February 5th).  This is self-striping yarn from Desert Vista Dyeworks in their Viso base, Mona Lisa colorway.  I used a Strong Heel, but otherwise they are my standard plain vanilla socks.  Very nice yarn to work with. 

In February, I also made a little pair of socks for Matthew to wear over his regular socks. It's out of Kroy Socks FX in their clover colors colorway.  They are big enough to fit him next winter too.

ON MY NEEDLES:

I started my poll winning January Challenge socks - Water for the Elephants by Rose Hiver - on Jan 24th in Knit Picks Stroll in Gypsy Tonal (red) and natural colorways.   This is about halfway through the first leg:

Jan's birthday socks were started on Feb 1st (a wee bit late there, but oh well) out of Knit Picks Hawthorne in the Ladd's Addition colorway.  The first sock is done and I'm on the heel flap of the second:

My February Challenge socks - made out of the brightest yarn in my stash - were started on Feb 19th.  I chose Knit Picks Felici in the Rainbow colorway.  These will be second pair for Lissie.  First sock leg:

Also in the queue to be started are the March Challenge socks from the oldest yarn in my stash, which I believe is Lisa Souza Sock!; olive drab socks for Socks For Soldiers group; five pair of socks as gifts for others; and Dither by General Hogbuffer for me in KP Chroma's Buttermint & Black colorways.  Guess this is the year of the sock for me!

Another Year Over

My last FO's for 2014:

OFF MY NEEDLES:


My ninth pair of socks during 2014, Socks on a Plane by Laura Linneman, were started on November 13th as a holiday gift for a friend. They were finished on December 25th - just in time. I thought the yarn, Red Heart's Stardust, had very nice stitch definition, and I'm hoping they wear well. I would use both the pattern and the yarn again.

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:


The final skein of Promise colorway was spun between November 25th and December 22nd. I ended up with 180 yards of 3ply yarn with an average wpi of sixteen. The fiber is a 50/50 blend of soy silk and wool dyed by Tempted.

ON MY NEEDLES & WHEEL:

I cast on my Spectrum Scarf on Dec 24th using my Phat Skeins Handspun and size nine needles.  I'm knitting lengthwise in garter stitch and really loving the way the colors are lining up.




BROUGHT TO ME BY:
Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
Audiobooks:
DVDs/TV, etc: Blue Bloods S2; Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries S2; GiGi; NCIS New Orleans; Hawaii 5-0; Scorpion; The Big Bang Theory;
Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins;
Knitmore Girls;

Tis The Season...

...for frantic finishing of knitting and spinning WIPs.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

The blue socks I started on Aug 9th out of Schachenmayr Regia Racing Color were finished on Dec 2nd.  They are a men's size 9 with nine inch legs, and are my eighth pair of socks this year.

ON MY NEEDLES:

On my needles are the usual assortment of socks in progress and holiday gifts.   Also, have a few gauge swatches going for the three or four sweaters I have planned to knit for Project Sweater Chest.   I'll be casting on for the BFL Delight and Pagoda sweaters when I get back home in a few weeks.   

ON MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

Back in August I revisited my Promise spinning which I first started in summer of 2012.  I'm spinning this from the fold and will chain ply.  Promise is a 50/50 blend of SoySilk and Wool from Tempted.  My August/September spinning on this was done on my Barebones spindle.  However, the bulk of spinning was done the end of November on my wheel, but it hasn't been plied yet. 

OFF MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

I spun approximately half of a four ounce braid of superwash BFL in the Maple colorway for the Howarts at Ravelry Deputy Headmistress Interhouse Unity challenge back in August.   The fiber is from Sweet Georgia and I used my Barebones spindle.   

 I spun and plied the second half on my Sidekick wheel Oct 28-Nov 4th.  I finished with about 306 yards of 2ply yarn that looks like this:

The BFL Delight yarn I started spinning during Spinzilla in October I finished in November.  Total yardage of 2ply yarn is 2,537, which I'm hoping will be enough for a sweater.  All the fiber for this yarn is  Bluefaced Leister from either Crown Mountain Farms (white plus the Novalis and Bacchus colorways) or Miss Babs (Dark Secrets colorway). 

 

Finish Line Crossers

Which is another way of saying I've got some Finished Objects here.


OFF MY NEEDLES:


Genell's socks were started on July 31 and finished on Oct 8th. I used the pattern from Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (which I've used before) for the legs/instep on my own basic cuff down pattern. The yarn is Zitron Trekking, and I used about 312 yds.  This is pair six for this year.

I started a pair of Monster Socks on Oct 3rd for the Sock Knitters Group Monster Sock KAL, and finished them on Oct 31st (appropriate I thought). They are toeup with a reverse Strong heel using an assortment of leftover sock yarns, handspun Itty Bitty Bits samples and Phat Fiber yarn samples. No plan or pattern followed except I used the same color for the heels, toes and cuffs.  I really had a lot of fun making these and can't wait to start another pair. These are pair #7 for this year.

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:


 I fractal spun four ounces of Wensleydale fiber in the Spunky Eclectic Jello Shots colorway on Sadie, my Sidekick wheel, and plied it on Jack, my Hansen for approximately 340 yds of 2ply (112 grams).   This Wensleydale fiber was a little more coarse than others I've spun, and because I tend to spin all my singles with a high twist, my singles were a little wirey.  So I loosely plied in hopes it would soften them up. I think it helped.

Spinzilla Spinning:
I went into Spinzilla this year as a Rogue Spinner.  I had a wonderful time last year on The Knit Girllls team, but had no idea how much I'd get done this year and didn't want to let a team down, so I went Rogue.

I went through my stash and pulled out 36 ounces of BFL top in both white and handdyed.  I wanted to see if I could spin a sweater's worth of 2ply yarn.  I didn't. I only got three skeins done, but I had fun trying.   I pulled:
 1lb white BFL top from Crown Mountain Farms spun semi-woolen on wheels from the fold from fauxlags
Crown Mtn Farms dyed BFL in Bacchus and Novalis colorways, 8oz each. Spun on wheels semi-woolen from the fold from drum carded batts
Miss Babs dyed BFL in Dark Secrets colorway 4oz spun semi-woolen from the fold on spindle and wheel

 One strand of white plied with one of Novalis or Dark Secrets gave me 3 skeins totaling 231 grams, 1,827 yds plus 296 yds white BFL. Total Spinzilla yardage: 2,123.

This yarn, plus the rest of this spinning I've dubbed BFL Delight, will be finished shortly, and I'll be using it to make a pullover for myself for #ProjectSweaterChest.  I hope to cast on by the beginning of December.


...to be continued....


BROUGHT TO ME BY: 
Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
Audiobooks: To The Grave and In The Blood both by Steve Robinson;
DVDs:   Murder She Wrote; The Big Bang Theory; Rizzoli & Isles; Bones; Moonlight; Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets; Hawaii 5-0; Blue Bloods;
Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins;








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Summer Oddments Part I

OFF MY NEEDLES:


The Charlotte Bronte Shawl by Stephanie Swarek that I started on Sept 1, 2011 was finished on June 16th. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in November Muse colorway. I used a little more than four skeins or about 1,822 yds. It wasn't part of the pattern, but I added beads to the first lace border (silver lined dark topaz Miyuki-6).  I think if I knit this again and added beads, I would put the beads in both borders. Most likely I would leave out the beads altogether.  This took me what seemed like forever to block since I had to do it in sections (it was way too big for my blocking boards).   This is a bad picture, I know, but I wanted to get a quick picture before I left on vacation.  The blocked shawl measures approximately 60'x34".  It's nice and big and squishy and comfy.  If this coming winter is anything like last year's winter, it will be well used and much appreciated.

I made a Snug Sack and a Baby Hat for baby shower gifts over a three day period (Aug 4-6).  The hat is the Bunny Hugs Hat by Shana Schasteen (without pompoms), and the snug sack is well just a snug sack I made.  The yarn is Bernat Softee in soft fern (green) and Bernat Baby Solids in antique white.  The snug sack is a strand of each and the hat is in just green.  Altogether I used about 505 yds, 177 grams. 

Stash Dash, sponsored by The Knit Girllls, began on May 23rd and ran through August 7th.  This year's goal was 5k or 5,468 yards of yarn.   I managed to finish a number of projects, both knitting and spinning, however, I still fell 681 yds short of my goal.  Regardless, I'm pleased with what I did accomplish.  Hopefully, I'll get to cross the finish line next year.