Yarn!

Still no knitting, but I do have lots of spinning and some BIG news to share with you!

I finished the falkland from Cosy on Sunday. I have to say that I LOVE it, even though it's not as even a weight as I had hoped. It's on average, a worsted-aran weight. I can't stop petting it!

Soaked and thwacked to finish!

Next up is the silk yarn I bought back in September. It was a little graduation gift for myself. It's from Gnomespun, and the color is "Demeter", although I tend to think of earthier colors when I think of Demeter as she's the chaste earth goddess. Although she did preside over the harvest too, so you can think of this as her golden waves of grain. This is 2oz of tussah silk top. It was super easy and fast to spin. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. But it's shiny and nice enough to look at right now. =)

This is a picture of it before the twist is set, you can see some of the kinks in it. I left it as singles to get the most possible yardage out of it. I'll get a better picture of it once the twist is set.


I promised BIG news, didn't I? Okay, well, I think I mentioned before that my company is opening a new call center in Arizona and that I applied to go. Well, they pulled me aside on Monday and told me that I was one of the few that they had chosen to reloacte! EEE! In just 4 short weeks I will be living in Arizona. They certainly are not giving us much moving time, they want our last day here to be May 26th, and our first day there to be June 1st. That's a mere 5 days to drive across the country. However, I requested the 24th-26th off so I'll actually have 9 days to get moved.

This will be the longest road trip I've ever taken and I'll be going through a lot of states that I've never been to before. It's exiting and scary. I've already called a few places about apartments and I think I've found one that I really want. It's 1050 sq. ft. for $725/mo, with a balcony and a washer and dryer in the unit. None of the utilities are included so that's kind of a down, but it would be great to have all that space!

Until next time.

Not a Stitch!

I haven't knit ANYTHING this week. I know, crazyness, right? I talked before a little bit about my phases, and this week it's not been knitting. I did, however, tuck 2 and a half novels under my belt as well as a skein and a half of yarn.

A few weeks ago I signed up for Cosy's Falkland Fiber Club. I've never been in any kind of club before because they're usually to expensive. However this club only lasts for 3 months and so it was at a reasonable price. Plus the faulkland isn't treated with chemicals and it is dyed with organic dyes, who wouldn't love that? Anyway, I got the first shipment in the mail on Monday. It's a riot of color, if you think about it, chocolate brown, acid green, deep purple, with some dots of red, lighter yellowy green, black, and some of the white still peeking through. I was enamoured with it an I wanted to spin it right away! However I still had some fiber on my wheel from the last time I spun, so that needed to get out of the way first!

This is the fiber that I won at Sticks 'n' Stitches back in January. It is a merino/tencel blend from a local dyer whom you can find on Etsy as the Yarn Chef. The colorway is "Mauve Maven" and it's really lovely. I'm not usually a huge fan of the softer colors, but I love this. It also has a really great sheen and I can tell that the final project will have amazing drape. This yarn is, on average a chunky weight, but it's thick/thin so it varies.


After that I divided the falkland in half and fluffed it up before spinning. I finished the first half this morning, and prepped the second half. I usually half the entire length of roving long ways so that all of the colors are in both sets of singles, however, I didn't really want the colors to match up in any way for this yarn so I tore it in half length wise.

The 2nd half of the fiber, prepped for spinning.

The 1st half of the fiber on the bobbin.

My goal for this yarn was to come up with a lighter weight yarn that was more even than thick/thin. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it. It's a little thick/thin, but mostly even. The falkland is lovely to work with. It's soft and it drafts quite easily. I can't wait to have the finished product! I'll either finish it on my day off tomorrow or on Thursday, hopefully.


Happy Weekend!

Rhinebeck Part One: The Yarn

So I went to Rhinebeck, NY this weekend for the Sheep and wool festival. I can only say that it was an amazing time. Not only were there tons of amazing vendors and products, there were a ton of like minded people who were extremely friendly. I met so many people, those I knew only online, and those that I'd never met before at all. Everyone was nice (with the exception of one of the people at one of the booths, but I digress...) and I had such an amazing time. I have tons of pictures to share with you all. Since today was my day off I wanted to make a point to take some pictures of the haul to share with you all, I also have several pictures of the people that I hung out with, mostly people from the VLT in the CPaAG on Ravelry.

Since I did get a lot of fiber as well as yarn (and OMGSOMETHINGELSEAWESOME) I'm going to stick to yarn for this post.

I give you... Yarn Pr0n:

Two 750 yd skeins of worsted weight yarn from Briar Rose.

Blue Moon had a booth and I got some much coveted Socks That Rock. I got it in both Mediumweight:

And Lightweight:

The Mediumweight will be a pair of socks for my dad for Christmas (I think this pattern [Ravel it!] would be great. I'm not sure about the lightweight, though. It was really interesting, they had several colorways that were black with the purple in the skein and another color, one had a goldish color another was just purple and I think one other had blue in it.

Gorgeous Alpaca Laceweight from Burgis Brook Alpaca farm. The tweedy look comes from silk nepps.

This lovely yarn is from Hope Spinnery. The actual color of it is a little softer than in this picture. It's probably my favorite skein, though. It was dyed using all natural dyes and it was spun using wind energy. It's smooshy and wonderful. I adore it. I'm planning on using it for the Snap Dragon Tam and Mittens, but we'll see if there's enough for both as it is a little lighter weight than the pattern calls for. I do have about 40 extra yards and that should be plenty, but we'll see.

Last but not least we have the yak yarn! It's from Bijou Bison Spinnery. At the Ravelry party on Saturday night we got coupons in the goodie bags for buy one get one on all the yarn in their booth, which is amazing. This sock yarn was $65/skein and so out of my price range earlier in the day. I just couldn't pass up the buy one get one, though. They had many lovely choices but the sock samples are what got me. This yarn knits up beautifully and I can't wait to play with it. ;-)

As you can see in the photo, the brown yarn is fluffier than the white yarn. The lady at the booth told me that the cream colored yarn was the first one that they spun and so it was spun fairly tightly (It is sock yarn after all) but the second they wanted a big squooshier and so that's what they got. They're both awesome.

Okay, so that concludes the yarn portion of our program. Stay tuned for the fiber and people portions!

Checking In

So I mentioned photo updates, didn't I? I've been a neglectful blogger as of late, posting sparsely. But at least I've had some interesting photos, right? Right? Right. Haha.

Anyway, as far as TdF goes, I've been spinning every day, but not posting pictures to show my progress as much as I should. I spun up a silk sample from Zebisis Designs that I just love. I got it in my Phat Fiber sample box in march. It's gawgus.

I chain plied it!! I was so excited to find out you can do that on a spindle! Go me! =D

I've also been wrestling WIPs, but not as much as I've been spinning. I got through most of the foot on my 2nd Leyburn sock yesterday.


Okay now that I've proven that I've been working on the competitions I want to share with you that I started an amigurumi project. It's actually really easy and I did most of it in one sitting, but it's not finished and I have no idea when it might be. It's a little snow dragon (Ravlink). So cute.


In other news, I was looking through some cardigan patterns since I have 2 sweaters worth of yarn (Cascade Ecological wool and Malabrigo). It was sparked by the fall Knit Simple that I was browsing at work. I liked several cardigans in it and since I'm on a yarn diet until Rhinebeck (Which is going well- I haven't bought any yarn, well, except for a swap but that doesn't count!) I was trying to decide if my yarn would work with it.

Then I was thinking aobut what I really wanted to make with the yarn as I've had several different ideas (If you've been reading for a while then you know that I am a fickle, fickle knitter). The Cascade was originally for the Windowpane Coat, but that was frogged. Then I knit a sleeve of the OWLS sweater (cardigan version for me!) and decided against that. For the Malabrigo I was thinking of maybe that Cabely sweater from Vogue, or something else heavily cabled and came up with Mariah unofficially but now I'm rethinking that again.

The cardigans I really liked in the Knit Simple are the 2nd and 3rd in the 9 to 5 category on the website (There's no Rav links for these yet...!!). I was like Hey, I could make the 3rd sweater out of the Cascade, or better yet the Mal! Or wait, the 2nd would look awesome in the Malabrigo. But Malabrigo pills.. Hmmm...

Anyhow after much searching I am still largely undecided, so I was hoping that you, my dear readers, would have a bit of input. Here are some of the sweaters that I've been contemplating. So for the input, lets make this interesting. How about a contest? I'm going to post my choices and I'd like your opinion on which ones I should go for and what yarn. You can give a thorough reason or just state your choices, whatever I'll be glad of the input. =)

Factors:
Malabrigo Worsted 8-10 skeins "Simply Taupe"


Cascade Ecological Wool 3 skeins (~1300 yds) "8087"



Sweaters/My Combos:

1) Shalom(Ravlink)/Ecowool- I'd put long sleeves on it



2) Oblique(Ravlink)/Ecowool



2) Urban Aran Cardigan(Ravlink)/Either

3)Brompton(Ravlink)/Ecowool

4)Mariah(Ravlink)/Malabrigo

5 & 6) The Knit Simple Sweaters(2nd and 3rd)/Either yarn:

Okay.. that's a lot of sweaters. And yes I know some of them will involve math because of the yarn differences, but I'm okay with that.

The prize! I don't know what it is yet. It's going to involve yummy yarn, though. That I'm sure of. =)

You have until Saturday July 18th to leave a comment and be entered!

Peeektures!!

Why hello there.

I've been away for a while, but never fear I've been keeping up with my fiber arts. This is going to be a picture heavy post. I had a photo shoot out infront of my apartment a few minutes ago. I'm in my PJs (I've been out and about today.. buying new shoes, acutally but I changed back into my PJs... I have a paper to write. D=).

First, a skein of my finished handspun. This is a merino/silk batt from Mad Angel Creations.





It's more thick and thin than I'd like, but I still love it. It's soft and shiny and squooshy. =D


My new spinning project:


A merino/baby alpaca batt from Port Fiber. The colorway is "Sunset". Lovely. =)



So I wrote not too long ago about hating almost everything I was knitting.. so I started a couple of new projects! (And ripped out a couple of old...)

Another Ishbel (Ravlink)! This is my Colinette Jitterbug that I bought a couple of months ago. I don't know how I like the yarn yet. It's really sproingy and even though it's merino it's not as soft as it could be because of how tightly it's spun. I imagine that is why it's good sock yarn. However I just love the color (Salty Dog!) and I wanted to make something a bit more glamorous with it.

Another reason I started another Ishbel is because Ysolda is coming to Columbus! I'm so excited! She's going to be at Wonderknit on June 17th. Yay!


I started a Parker Cardigan (Ravlink) with the yarn I originally bought for Decimal.

I really like the texture!


Finally, Alhambra (Ravlink). I'm not certain that it's a good match for the Malabrigo lace, though (Color: Sealing Wax it's more orangey rather than pinky in person).


Ahh, it's the end of the quarter! I have a paper to write (I really need to start that.. it's due on Monday...) and a final on Monday, and then I'm flying out to North Carolina! My mom and fam already left for NC on Thursday but I had to stay due to school work, but I get to join them on Monday night! I'm so excited! I'm going to be knitting and reading on the beach for several days.

The perfect answer to a busy quarter.

TTFN.

Long, Long Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away..

Er, wait. That's the wrong star movie.

Friday night I went to see Star Trek for the second time. If you haven't seen it at all, I highly recommend that you do. It's a seriously awesome movie. You don't even have to know anything about Star Trek to appreciate it, but you will appreciate it a little more if you do (Plus there are hot guys in it). I went to see it with fellow blogger, Candice. We had a very nice friend-date. Haha.

I keep meaning to update this blog but I am hesitant to do so without decent pictures. But, alas, I'm too lazy to take pictures. There seems to be a dilemma here.

Anyhow, last week a Subtle Stripes Kit from CozyMakes arrived in my mail. I immediately dropped all of my other spinning to start this. Since I was spinning it for the BF he got to dictate how the yarn was spun and the order of the stripes. So he wanted a think/thin funky yarn. It ended up so, and it's pretty bulky. Here is a crappy flash photo from the other night, the yarn deserves more pomp and circumstance as my first skein of finished yarn, but I was anxious to start knitting it and it was night time...


It's a long weekend! Thank goodness! I have some reading to do, as always. Only 2 more weeks in the quarter, which I am grateful for. =)

And now I'm going to leave you with a picture of my contest winner (Heather, AKA Zuzusunshine) from a few weeks ago. She happened to be the 2nd person drawn and she was visiting from Cleveland for a yarn crawl. It was fate.
This is how she's going to wear it; nija style.

This isn't Heather, This is Jesse (aka 1stitchatatime) who stood there with the bag of yarn on his head in the wind! Ooo, amazing!

Warning: Yarn Sales are Dangerous

I'm not having the best day ever. I'd planned on talking about the Chur Relic-Purse again but I don't feel like it. I'm currently overwhelmed with school work (so I'm blogging instead of doing it- good idea, right?). I'm reading 2 novels this week along with 60+ pages of a text and writing a paper. Boo.

So, Friday I got an e-mail from a LYS that they were having a sale, 25% off sock yarn. Twenty-five percent.

Presenting:

Interlacements Tiny Toes, 100% Superwash.



Which I cast on the same day I bought it (Saturday) and I finished it yesterday. I knit a lot of it while reading my History text.


That colorway reminded me of a Court Jester in the skein, so these are Jester Socks. I think the colorway is 'Southwest'.



Presenting: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Burgundy. 60% Superwash Wool, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon. It's semi solid and gorgeous. I can't wait to make a pair of socks out of it.


Presenting: Colinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog. 100% superwash (I think). I don't know if this will be socks or not. I already kind of want to make another Ishbel out of it (Even though I haven't finished the one I started yet...). Is it bad to want the same scarf in two colors?





And, that's all you're gettin' right now. ;-)

Photos

Waves of Grain





Victorian Lace (Ravlink)





Windowpane Coat









Kool-Aid dying experiment. Semi-solid dyed with Grape Kool-Aid.












This scarf I want to say something about. The lovely Casey posted a chance to get a RAK (random act of kindness) on her blog. So I commented and said count me in! So a few days ago in the mail, this lovely Multi-Directional Scarf (Ravlink) showed up. I was so excited! I remembered admiring it when Casey had posted a picture of it. I think it was supposed to go to her step mother for Christmas, but proved not to be a match. I'm glad it wasn't. ;-)

So I posted the meme on my blog. But, only one person commented. So there are 2 spots still open if anyone would like to get some kind of RAK. =) Please leave your e-mail so I can contact you.

FOs

Okay, so I said that I'd have the 'mystery' knitting done by like last night, and I coud have, but it was turning out way too big (something that I was ignoring blissfully while knitting it). I was knitting up Cosy's handspun into one of her hat patterns from Knit one, Embellish Too. I love the way this yarn is knitting up! Here are some pre-frogging pics:








It's all wavy because it was sitting on a bush






So, on to the real FOs:


Binary Cable Hat:





This is a Christmas gift for my dad

Specs:
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, 'Frost Gray'
Pattern: Binary Cable Hat By Firefairy (ravelry links)
Mods: I hat to knit about 18 extra rows before the decreases to get the right length.
Thoughts: Great pattern, really easy. It worked out wonderfully in the Malabrigo, the cabling looks great. It's knit at a tight enough gauge that it will be really warm and a little wind resistant.

OSU Striped Hat:

I look like such a dork in that picture!

Go Bucks! We're playing our rivals this weekend and at work we hat a pot-luck tail gate party so I had to sport my OSU shirt.

This is a Christmas gift for my Step-Father.

Specs:

Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, gray, and Lion Brand Wool-ease 'Ranch Red'

Pattern: Fibonacci Pea Hat by Lisa Bennett

Mods: I added another row of single color, because I wanted there to be less of the red because I thought it was a little obnoxious, also the fibonacci sequence goes: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc. I also didn't do the twisted rib because I'm not super fond of ktbl, I have to actually pay attention when I do that. Also my gauge was bigger so I had to account for that.

Thoughts: It was a nice pattern and I think it turned out really well! I even ended up liking the red, even thought I didn't think that I would.

'Yo Gabba Gabba' Monster:






Now, I haven't been able to share him with you because he was for a swap! Mariesa's son, Cade, got him and she has told me that he loves his Yo Gabba Gabba (that's a show on Nicelodeon) Monster. He even went to bed with Cade! =)

Specs:
Yarns: Lion-Brand Wool-ease 'Cranberry', held with Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie (mohair for the fuzzyness!) 'Pimento'
Pattern: Furry Monster by Heather Rupe
Mods: Okay, so there were many because I wasn't using the same yarns. The pattern calls for fun-fur, but I didn't have any and I wasn't going to buy any. For the arms I cast on 6 sts and worked until a little smaller than the reccomended length, and I did an extra set of increases for the hands, since the arms were originally supposed to be just the fun fur and then the acrylic is added at the hands, to make up for the fact that my gauge didn't change. For the legs I cast on 8 sts and worked to shorter than the reccomended length, and I did extra increases, but only on one side to give his feet a more foot-like shape. Also for the head of the monster I didn't draw the yarn through like reccomended, I grafted the stitches together. This unintentionaly created the point at the top of his head. Since I thought he was cute enough with just the point, I didn't bother making the antenae.

Thoughts: Cute pattern! Quick to knit up (if you have the stuffing on hand when you start!). I'd make another. =)

So onto the swap, here is what I send my Spoilee, Mariesa(ravelry)!

I individually wrapped everything because I thought it would be more fun to open that way. =)

Box includes:

Flavored hot chocolate, mocha, caramel, and mint I think

Hot cider mixes

Sticky notes

Magnetic paper pad

'Peaceful views' calendar (I thought it would be good for a busy mom!)

Chocolates

Ginger snaps from Trader Joe's

A Trader Joe's reusable grocery bag

A skein of Malabrigo Silky

Print off of patterns to go with the Silky

Recipies

For Cade:

Monster

Hippo toy

Various Candies

I had fun finding out what she'd like and putting together her package! Now I'm waiting for mine (I check the mail EVERY DAY! lol).