Longer Than I Thought

In the Bag

I pulled out my Soay Cardi this last week and frogged the sleeves. I have set it aside and will probably pick it up closer to spring. It won't take long to knit the sleeves and it is a spring/summer cardi. I feel better that I got it ready to begin knitting on again. I also frogged a worsted weight shawl that I have tried to knit twice and didn't work. I will have to wash the yarn to smooth it out and then find a new project for it. 

Nanner Nanner Socks are coming along nicely. I have started the increases for the heel gusset. The picture probably doesn't look much different but I have put about an inch on them since the last picture. 

I mistakenly said the yarn for my Mr. Greenjeans  sweater was a faux Fair Isle. Silly me, its a Tapestry, its even called Worsted Tapestry! Anyhow, I've changed the name to Tapestry Greenjeans Sweater on Ravelry. I've made some nice progress on it. I'm past where I put the sleeves on holders and am knitting down the body. Its a very soft, squishy yarn and its working very nicely. I believe it will be an awesome, comfortable cardi. 

I've started a new project. Its called 2013 Weather Scarf. Its taken from the blog 400 Square Foot Living by Kristen Cooper. There are many variations and you can see some of them on Ravelry in the My Year in Temperatures Scarf KAL. Colleen, Ashley and I have split skeins of Plymouth Yarn Encore in 11 colors. We are using 10° increments beginning at 0°. I am using the daily high temp, ideally using my own thermometer at the house. If I can't use that then I'm using Wunderground or Weatherbug temps. I am planning to knit one row for each day and to knit every day. 

Out for a Spin

I finished spinning the all of the Bamboo/Alpaca I discussed last time. I have 2 bobbins of singles to ply and I'm saving that for tomorrow at spin group. I'm being very cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. If all goes as planned I will be meeting with a young lady after spin group and sell her my Spinoultions Bee wheel. I have my Ashford Joy which is really my favorite wheel and I really don't feel I have space for two wheels. Even though both are small travel wheels. I would really like a Woolee Winder for my Joy and by selling the Bee, which is not being used, I can purchase one. I am also going to be watching for a great price on a 24" or 32" rigid heddle loom. I'll be adding a segment for weaving as I go along. I'm leaning towards the Kromski Harp loom because it has a built in warping board on the back. So I hope it all works out. Here is a pic of my singles... I forgot to take a pic before packing the wheel in the travel case to go to spinning tomorrow. I will ply them together and then I think I'll try dyeing them with the Kool-Aid ice cubes and see how it comes out. 

I also made use of the loan of a drum carder to card some fiber. I had washed some alpaca back during the Tour d' Fleece but never got it carded to spin. At spin group last week we celebrated ROC day and a few people brought drum carders. At the last minute I pulled out this alpaca, some wool locks and some dyed mohair locks I've had for a long time. This is my resulting batts. I ended up with 5 batts and 11.65 oz total. I'm looking forward to spinning this.

Mindless Nattering

I'm really not sure why I didn't get a blog post done earlier this week. I guess my posting dates will change somewhat depending on what my work schedule. Anywhere from a week to 10 days will probably be typical. I'm also starting to plan my garden,,,, this very warm weather (near 70° today) is making me want to plant. But I will resist, since I'm very sure that we will have much more cold! 

Thats it for now, thanks for joining me on my fiber journey. Remember to make the most of everything you have. Its not the quantity its the quality. 

Happy New Year!

I've spent the last couple of weeks thinking about where I wanted to take my fiber craft and how I wanted to do it. I have expanded my skills this last year and I have posted pictures on Facebook about it. I decided that one thing I can do is keep a better record of my journey. I have a new outline and will attempt to publish a weekly blog. I have thoughts of producing a podcast one day. So this is my journey. I hope you enjoy it.

My new segments will include some or all of the following. I won't always have content for every segment but this is what I have planned.

Who's New

In the Bag

On the Drying Rack/Knitmeter update

Up and Coming

Sew Good

Out for a Spin

Mindless Nattering

I also will be updating the Knitmeter and Spinmeter. These will change as I finish a project and can calculate how much yardage I got out of it. 

So here we go with my first weekly blog post for 2013.

In the Bag

I have a couple of ongoing projects left from 2012. The first one is my Soay Cardi which has been in time out for a few months. I plan to rip back the sleeves and reknit them so that they are the same length. This is the last picture I took. In reality it has two sleeves but they are different lengths. 

My next project is the Nanner, Nanner Socks. They are toe up socks knitted with Unwind Yarn Company in the color way Aurora Borealis. I'm using a Wendy D. Johnson's pattern called Nanner Socks. Dana, Craftygirl83 on Ravelry, owns Unwind Yarn Company and she and her friend Brittany have a podcast call Just One More Row. I met them at SAFF and Ashley took a picture for me. 

I just cast on a new sweater today. Its called Mr. Greenjeans and its a free pattern on Knitty. I am using Universal Yarn's Classic Worsted Tapestry in the Vineyard color way. It works into a faux Fair Isle pattern. I did a test swatch and loved the pattern. 

On the Drying Rack

I have two Finished Objects (FO) this week. One is a shrug/cardi that I was knitting for my friend Colleen who owns Make It With Yarn, my LYS. This is a Plymouth Yarn pattern called Encore Worsted Tweed #1940 using Plymouth Yarn Encore Tweed in #9960 color way which is a purple color. It is knit sideways and was a good knit.

I also finished my Heloise Cardi. This is knit from Lion Brand Cotton Ease yarn in the Hazelnut color way. I used the Eloise Eyelet Cardigan pattern. I loved knitting with the yarn and the pattern is very easy. The fabric is a bit looser than I normally like and if I knit with it again I'll go down another needle size. The one complaint I have with the yarn is that every single skein had at least one knot in it and one of them had 2! 

Up and Coming

I have several items in my queue that I will be starting soon. I will be casting on for the Spatterdash Wristwarmers using Viking yarn Nordylis. It is a long repeat variegated yarn. I also plan to cast on for my Holden Shawl using Kraemer Yarns Sterling Silk and Silver in the Estate Green color way. I have yarn chosen for a Color Affection shawl as well. I also have two sock patterns waiting to be cast on as I finish the Nanner socks. One is a vanilla sock using 3 colors to stripe. I'll try an afterthought heel on these. The other is Earthbound. This is a sock pattern published in Knitty magazine by my friend Carissa. You can see her other great patterns here.

Sew Good

I haven't been doing much sewing for a while but I've been missing it. I'm hoping to do some garment sewing this spring. In the meantime I'll be making some project bags. I have 3 cut out ready to sew but I need interfacing. Here is pics of some I made for Christmas exchanges. 

Out for a Spin

I was spinning some 50% Bamboo/50% Alpaca fiber that I got from Fiberlady a couple of years ago. Its the fiber I used for my beet juice dye experiment. I spun the part that I used vinegar as a mordant so it was more pink. The other is with alum and is more purple. Both of them are very pale though and so I decided to spin them and ply together and then over dye it. Here is the "pink" 1.5 oz. I know... it doesn't look pink. 

That's it for now. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy my journey through my fiber discoveries. Remember, make the most of everything you have. Its not the quantity its the quality. 

Completed Crocus Toe Up Socks!

Ok, done with these socks! They are incredibly soft and comfy since they are made from 100% Alpaca fiber. I love the color pattern. I used Wilma Becker's pattern but dropped down a size on the needles to get a tighter fit since the stitch count was set for the pattern. This is my first attempt at any lace pattern and I really liked it. I may try a shawl soon since I do have several fingerling weight sock yarns in my stash. I'm trying to decide what to cast on next. I think I need a light color yarn for a change so its easier to see. I'll keep you posted.

Alpaca Crocus Toe Up Socks

Time to update everyone on the socks currently on the needle. This is lovely sock yarn, 100% Alpaca yarn and the pattern is a treat. Its by Wilma Becker from my Sock Toe Up yahoo group. I made the toe a bit more narrow rather than rounded and it feels better. I also went down a needle size as the pattern calls for specific number of stitches and I wanted the socks to be a bit more snug. I'm pretty happy with these and the stitch pattern is quite easy. It was a way to ease into lace.

Booby Sock Update

Time for an update on my Booby Socks! I have knitted all the leg and have turned the heel. In these pictures I have picked up gusset stitches on one side of one sock. It should go pretty quickly now. I really love them and think I will be wearing them often.

I also had a great time on Saturday at the Song and Dance Ranch Fiber Gab. We had a demonstration on hand carding and I took home some wonderful alpaca fiber. I have spun nearly a full bobbin and still have tons left! I hope to make a pair of socks from it. I have some brown and some white alpaca to wash so I'll get it done and ready to spin also. That way I can use the white for the toes and heels and if the other brown is different color I can put some stripes in.

On Sunday we had our gift exchange at the North Texas Weavers and Spinners Guild meeting. We had wonderful fellowship, food and gift giving. The violence from gift theiving was kept to a minimum with only a couple of thefts. I chose my gift based on the packaging. It was in a wine tube and I had been reading about how they make good spindle carriers for your drop spindle. Since I want to start using my drop spindle again I thought that was a good gift to choose. In the container was this lovely hat knitted by Laura Easterling. It was a great meeting, I always have such a good time.

In case I don't post again before, Merry Christmas to all my friends and family and a Happy, Happy New Year. I for one am really looking forward to the new year, may it be a happy one! I love you all, thanks for your never ending support.