Wow! Its been a while!

 I haven't been very good at posting things I'm working on lately. Mostly its because there are limitations in using the iPhone Blogger app and I didn't want to use up data by posting via the Mac. Now that our data limits are lifted I would prefer to update via the Mac. I have several items I need to enter into my Ravely projects and to blog about here.

First of all, let me update my Carnival Houdini socks. I have finished them and then they sat waiting to be washed and dried. I had several skeins of yarn I had spun as well as socks and shawls, scarves to wash and I finally did it all last week. I like the fit of these but not sure I will be doing this process again. I'm just not sure I like the look of where you knit up from the footprint. I do think my next pair of socks will be done using an afterthought heel as I have not done that yet. 

I also finished the dishcloth I was doing for my DD with the raindrops pattern. I have another ball of yarn and am looking for a different pattern to use. 

I also finished my weaving sample, cut it off the loom and then washed and dried it. After it was dry I tied the fringe on the edge with a simple overhand knot. I need to learn to hemstitch I think. I like the pattern, it was a type of waffle stitch using pick up sticks done on my Cricket loom. After washing it measures 6.5" x 6" not including the fringe. Its 6.5"x9" including the fringe. I like the stitch pattern, I like the yarn. With only a 10" weaving width I'm guessing I can't get dishtowels, but I believe I could make something useful other than scarves.

Another thing I have been working on this summer is a Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl by Wendy D. Johnson. This is a lace shawl that was released in sections starting on June 20th. It is a crescent shaped shawl and I really love it! It was fun to knit. I think I will start knitting some more shawls of other shapes rather than triangle.  I have a few pics in process and then finished. It helps to have a light colored couch! 

The pattern called for 420 yards/100 gms. I had 15 grams left over. I did the shawl as written except it had optional 5 stitch or 3 stitch nupps. I did not do the nupps and I did not do any pattern repeats. It looks very nice on and sits well on the shoulders. My shawl pin looks really nice as well.

I had picked up one of my drop spindles, the resin Mother of Pearl looking on by Butterfly Girl and had continued spinning some fiber I purchased at DFW Fiber Fest back in 2010. Its a lovely soft mix of several fibers that drafts wonderfully and has been spinning very fine on this wonderful spindle.

I am knitting socks also. I started a pair of Waterfall Socks by Wendy D. Johnson as toe up socks. The yarn is some lovely sock yarn that I cannot remember the fiber content. I purchased this yarn from Mary Berry at Fancy Fibers Farms. It was an oatmeal color and I used some acid dye and dyed them a lovely dark purple.

I guess thats enough for now. Sorry for the photo overload, I figured I would get these up and then try to blog as I go along. I'm still mad at the Soay Cardi, but I will be getting it out of time out soon and ripping out the sleeves and doing them again. I'll probably do them at the same time so they come out even. Pics of that then. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Winging It Socks

I'm starting some new socks. I've wanted to use this yarn for a while that I got from my friend Amanda Truan. It was during one of her destash sessions. I am not using a pattern, hence the winging it. I didn't want to use any pattern stitches because the color changes will make a great pattern. I did not do a swatch with my 00 addi turbo circular needles so I will just have to try on the toe cup to see how much to increase. I love the gusset heel that Wilma Becker uses so I will use that heel. I'm also doing two at a time which is my preferred method. I did make an effort to match up the color repeat so these should be fairly close to matching. I only did that because I only had to sacrifice about 18" of yarn. This yarn is Maxim Prints and is very soft. It is 80% Lana Merino Superwash and 20% nylon. As I said, very soft. No matter how many projects I have going I have to have socks. This will be very portable as they don't have a pattern to concentrate on.

One down!

Here is my completed left Tree Frog sock. I finished it last night to much admiration of my husband. He is so wonderful! The fit is perfect. I took good notes on number of rows for each section so I should be fine for the right sock. The difference in the socks is the way the pattern twists around the leg and foot. I'll probably cast on the 2nd sock tomorrow. I need to finish some beading work for my MIL.

From my iPhone...

Back to Blogging!

I'm going to get back into the habit of blogging everyday about my fiber activity. I really find this a great way to look back at what I've accomplished. So I have 3 things to blog about today. The first one is my most recent completed spinning project. Back in April I took a space dyeing class with Leef Bloomenstiel from Apple Leef Farms at the DFW Fiberfest along with my friends Edee, Ellen and Karen. I chose Teal, Turquoise and Chestnut dyes. I had approximately 4 oz of fiber to dye.

Roving in dye pot.

After the class I took my fiber home and rinsed it out and let it dry on my fiber (sweater) dryer. I really thought the colors came out beautifully.

Roving after dyeing on drying rack.

When I spun this I first split it into 2 parts as equally as I could. I had 3 separate sections of roving and I split each section into 2. The I spun each "half" to a bobbin. As I spun it I alternated between the 3 sections that had different amounts of each color in them. Now, I really like a barber pole effect when I spin hand dyed roving, mine or anyone else's dye job. Its my preference. I have tried other methods of plying to keep the color changes closer together such as Navajo plying but I wanted to have as much yardage as possible from this.

Roving spun to fingerling weight.

So this is my final product. It is essentially fingerling weight although I can't find my WPI tool right now so I can't be certain. The colors are lovely and I believe this will make a beautiful final product. I have approximately 449 yards of this. I'll let you know what I'll be making. Right now I'm leaning toward socks.

The next subject is the hats I've knitted lately. I'm into hats right now and I had some yarn left over from a "stealth" project and decided to use Fair Isle technique to make a hat. I found my friend Carissa's hat pattern on Ravelry. Carissa has a blog called Carissa Knits and the hat pattern can be found, along with many, many other wonderful patterns, at Carissa Knits: Snowflake Hat. I used sport weight yarn and thought I figured my gauge correctly but should have knitted the hat in the large adult size as Carissa suggested. The small adult hat fits me but with my new longer, curly hair its not quite right. So I will probably make a larger one and give this one away. I also made a hat called Shroom from Knitty. Its also a free pattern on Knitty. Just search for Shroom hat. Here are pictures of them.

Snowflake hat 

Shroom!

In February of this year I attended the Fiber Retreat hosted by Mary Berry from Fancy Fibers Farm. One of the purchases I made there was 8 oz. of a wool/angora blend. This is 80% Merino top and 20% German Angora fiber. I personally pulled out the fiber, weighed it and gave it to Mary to blend for me on the drum carder. I decided to start spinning this next. My plan is to get a fingerling weight double or triple ply and make a shawl from it.

I'm also doing some "stealth" knitting but more about that later. Currently on the needles (OTN) is still my Stacey Shawl, a cardigan from my handspun brown tones fiber and SOCKS! lol... I recently organized my yarn/fiber stash. I found this sock kit that Edee and I had purchased from the Woolie Ewe  in Plano, TX a while ago. I decided to start knitting it. I'll post what I've done so far and then give you updates... I had to get 00 Addi DPN for this to get the gauge. While I was at the LYS I got 00 Addi lace 40" circulars for toe up two at at time socks cause a lot of times the 0 is too large.

Lorna's Laces in Tree Frog colorway

Isn't it pretty wound up?

Pattern

Cuff complete on first sock.

Today's progress so far. 

The pattern is actually very simple.  You do a grid pattern for the cuff which is very stretchy and then the first 8 rows set up the diagonal pattern and then its just a simple 2 row repeat for the leg. You do have separate instructions for left and right so the diagonal lace pattern goes opposite directions. There is a YO that makes the lace but you can't see it in the picture. I used Jenny's Stretchy Cast On since these are cuff down. It is really easy and really works. When I do toe up I use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off to finish the cuff. This link is Cat Bordhi's explanation.

I actually talked about more than 3 things but I hope you don't mind. I'm going to try to post this on Facebook also so please be patient as I try to do that. There are several methods but I'm going to start with the simplest and see how it goes. One day I'll have a Facebook page for this stuff but I think that will wait for a while. I hope you like my updates on my progress. Your feedback is important to me. Let me know how I'm doing!

Michele

Shawl and Sock Update

I figured I better get an update on here. Here is a new picture of my shawl in progress. Its coming right along. I've completed Chart A and will be starting Chart B. I estimate its about 60% complete as I only do Chart B and C once where I repeated Chart A 3 times.

I'm also updating you on my Diamond Chain socks. I'm really happy with the look of the pattern. This yarn really shows it off. I've learned alot about yarn/pattern choice. I think I will save the lace patterns for smoother yarn as it really shows up better. The fuzzy yarns I'll do a simpler pattern like Wilma Beckers Waffle Stitch pattern. It make a lovely texture. On a side note while I was waiting for my car inspection to be done yesterday I pulled out these socks to pass the time. I had quite an audience in the waiting area.

Knit Olympics Shawl Update

Ok, a quick post to show my progress. It may not look like much but if you look close you can see the white string running through as the lifeline. In the last picture the string was several rows lower so I think I've done about 20 rows since the last picture. I'm going to visit Katie next week in Bosser City and will have time to work on it while everyone is in school and work so I still hope to be in Gold Medal contention. For those of you who don't know, Gold Medal is completed by the closing ceremonies.

Booby Socks Finished!!!

I know, everyone laughs when I say Booby Socks, but they are supposed to make you laugh. :) They are so cute. It did take me a while to get these done since they have so much pattern in them but I did have fun with them. I especially liked the star toe for the decreases. It was easy and no

Kitchener Stitch at the end. However, I've never really had a problem with the Kitchener Stitch. Just don't interrupt me while I'm doing it!

I will be casting on two new pair in a few days. One will be with Alpaca Sox yarn using a pattern called Crocus Toe Up socks by my fav designer Wilma. I'll also be casting on with one of my other sock yarns yet to be determined for another of Wilma's patterns called Diamond Chains. I'll post pics of that when I get them started.

OTN now is Paton's Classic Wool in camo colors for another ribbed cap for my grandsons. They work up fast so I'll get them done quickly. Katie has also asked for a scarf out of the rest of the yarn I spun for her hat. I'll post pics of those when they are farther along too.

Chili Socks Done!

I finished another pair of socks tonight. 10 days start to finish. Not bad huh? This is my 2nd pair using this Serenity sock yarn. Since it has bamboo as well as nylon and merino wool they are very soft and silky. I love these socks. I'm going to go backwards from the Paprika socks and try making Katie a pair of pedicure socks out of the leftovers of these... But I will try making hers "toe" up in case I run out of yarn. Gotta finish the Booby Socks before starting any new socks.

Waffle Stitch Socks

Since the Booby Socks are nearing the finish line I've started my next pair. I'm using Serenity sock yarn, the same yarn as Katie's Pedicure Socks are made from. I loved knitting with that yarn and it feels lovely on the feet. I got 2 skeins in the Chili colorway. I cast on last night using Judy Becker's Magic Cast on which you can find a demonstration by Cat Bordhi. Its my favorite cast on for toe up socks. I'm going to use a pattern from Wilma in my SocksToeUp Yahoo group called Waffle Stitch Toe Up Socks. I wanted to do some pattern but nothing too complicated since the self striping yarn would not show anything too complex. These should knit up fast as I am using size 2 needles. I used size 3 needles with the last pair and would like to have a tighter fabric.

I also wanted to show off my new project bag from Blue Tulips. I love these bags and she makes them for me with a divider so I can keep my 2 balls of yarn separate. While I'm knitting I fold down the top of the bag and lay it on its side with the balls side by side to keep me from tangling up my yarn while knitting 2 socks at a time. It reminds me to turn back and forth not around and around..... I love the sheep fabric. I had ordered one with that fabric to use as part of my gift exchange for the spinning guild.
I now have 3 of these bags, 2 smaller ones and one a bit larger. I think I may ask her if she can make one for me in the larger size that does not have a divider but has a plastic liner. In all her bags she puts a plastic pocket on the side. It would make a great bag to carry fiber in for spinning when going to meetings. It would look much nicer than a plastic zip loc bag! That would be perfect! If so, I will be sure to post a picture of it.

Car Coat

I finally got around to getting Anthony to take some pictures of me with my car coat. I finished this project in the spring but was at a loss on how to block such big pieces. Finally in September I found some of those interlocking play mats at Sam's Club and used them. That gave me the surface to lay some towels on and then to pin the garment down. Anthony had given me the yarn and pattern for Christmas last year and I started it right after New Years. I used Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes bulky yarn in the Hazelnut color with size 10.5 needles. I used the interchangable circular needles with the 32" cable on the needles. This is a Knit Picks pattern. This is the biggest and most complicated knitting project I have done so far. It taught me a lot about following patterns and charts. After it was dry and blocked I had to wait for cold weather to try it out. Believe me, its not suitable for wearing in Texas even in October! Now that we have had some cold weather I have worn it several times and I love it! Its warm and soft and really comfortable. It is even a good fit although its very forgiving with the pattern. Its a chevron pattern that acts like ribbing as far as stretchiness. I'm really, really happy with it although I think I'll stick to socks and other smaller things for now.

Autumn Prairie Roving into Yarn!

A couple of months ago I saw this roving on Etsy at Laughing Rat Studios and fell in love with the depth of colors and the vibrancy of them. When it came in the mail and I opened the package I literally gasp out loud. The colors were even more lovely than on the computer. I knew I wanted to try to spin thin enough to have enough yarn for socks so I set out to spin very thin and I managed to get pretty thin. Then due to the hand painted dye I decided to learn to

Navajo Ply which makes a triple ply yarn out of one single. It allows you to keep color changes together. For the most part I did pretty well with the color changes and don't have too much that is barber poled. Overall I'm very happy with the resulting yarn. I'll let you know how the socks turn out!

Update on Christmas Stockings and Katie's Afghan

I have one stocking finished and has been approved by Katie so I cast on last night for the 2nd one. If I'm quick I should be able to get it to her before Christmas. I've included 2 pictures of the progress as well as a completed one. I realized when I was knitting the swatch to test that I had yarn that was too thin for the pattern so I experimented with 2 strands held together. Since I had a skein each of red and green I used that. I liked the look so I sent a picture to Katie to make sure she liked it. The resulting pattern was very nice and definitely Christmas! Since this was my first experiment with felting I wasn't sure what to expect but it really went very well. I put the stocking in the washer with towels and hot water. It took about 10-15 minutes to felt to the point I was happy with it.

I also have an update on Katie's Afghan. I really wasn't that happy with the yarn I had found because it was so rough. Even if it was for an afghan, it was still rough. So when Anthony and I were at Michaels before Thanksgiving we found this other Red Heart yarn that had much more beautiful colors as well as being very soft. Because the color changes are closer and more varied you get a much nicer looking pattern. This will make a lovely throw. We found the coordinating colors as shown in the picture, 2 shades of blue and 2 shades of brown. So I will crochet it all up into hexagons and we will see how the pattern forms. No idea yet on how we will arrange the squares but I believe it will be lovely.