Monthly Blogging

Yesterday I received a box of goodies in the mail.

I'd read about Homestead Wool and Gift Farm before, in Pluckyfluff's book and also in several Ravelry groups I'm in.

Coated Coopworth fleece

But I first heard about it when I was buying merino roving for 12-16$ a pound. Why would you buy dirty smelly fleece for 10$ a pound when you know it's more work and you'll loose some of that weight in the processing?

Clean and picked Corriedale

The answer is, if you don't already know it, that most commercial roving has all the life processed out of it. Sometimes you can wash or dye or or otherwise wet it and get some of the wool's natural crimp to come back, but not always.

Romney lamb's fleece

Spinning wool that you processed yourself is like having brownies from scratch instead of the ones you can make from a box. You're still making the boxed ones yourself, so they're better than those premade packaged brownie snack cake thingies you can buy, but no where near as satisfying as the real homemade ones.

A lock from the lamb's fleece

Besides, as I've been combing the cormo fleece I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool, I've decided there's something therapeutic about just touching wool. It doesn't even have to be knitting or spinning to be calming and peaceful. Just wait-in a few years I may just settle down on a sheep farm and do this all the time.

Oh, and I almost forgot-I'm very happy with my order from HWGF-The wool is all soft and lovely and I can't wait to throw some in the dyepot to see what I come up with. Also, they are very pleasant people to order from. Trying to decide if I really need the rest of that lamb's fleece...

Relatively Settled

I'm mostly settled in here now, my stuff is unpacked (mostly) and organized (mostly) and I can get at my stash any time I feel like making something.
Best thing about being on the east coast? There's a million fiber festivals! I got to go to Maryland Sheep and Wool this month, which was fantastic. I went with friends who had a time constraint so we didn't see everything. Which is probably good, because I would have wanted to spend all the grocery money on wool. I did buy a beautiful coated cormo fleece. There will be more about that soon.
I've been doing a lot of spinning. A seriously huge lot of spinning. Mostly art yarns, which are now hanging out at the Pyramid Atlantic Community Arts Store. It's in downtown Silver Spring and has all sorts of work from local artists. I'm excited to have my yarn out in a real store where people can see it and fondle it. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite skeins already sold:

Mrs. Robinson: Mostly cormo and a silk skirt from Goodwill, with a bunch of other stuff thrown in all wrapped up with pink sparkly thread. If you're the one who took this home to live with you, I'd love to see pictures of what it becomes!

In other news, I've signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon. Training is keeping me pretty busy, but I don't feel at all guilty when I spend my whole "off day" spinning:)

Happy New Year

I've been away a while due to moving from place to place, and also my camera died. Now that I have a shiny new camera (it's green!) and keys to a shiny new apartment, I'm out of excuses.

There's a neat little shop just blocks away from my apartment where local artists can sell their work. I found a fabulous skein of handspun yarn there that had to come home with me.

Yarn handspun by re-yarn. Singles with wool, mohair, soy, sparkles, strips from a mohair sweater, ribbon roses, and thread. Yarn name: Blue Bell.

It felt so soft and I loved it so much that I had to cast on right away.

I knit this from the top down because I didn't know what my gauge would be or if I would run out of yarn. I also wasn't sure what kind of edging I wanted, so I had more time to figure it out.

Pattern: Top down, made it up as I went Needles: Size 8

I'm fairly certain that a sparkly hat with roses on it probably has some sort of magical powers, but I haven't figured out what they are yet. I'll get back to you if anything exciting happens while I'm wearing it.

Moth

When I found out my aunt was expecting, I starting knitting right away. No small relative of mine should be without a proper sweater. As you already know, it wasn't long before I found out my wee cousin-to-be was very sick. I knew there was nothing I could do that would help, nothing to fix him or the situation, and absolutely nothing that would make my aunt and uncle feel any better. Still, I felt like I needed to keep knitting. Rather than making another gift for Baby J, I decided to make this shawl for his mom.

I thought about a lot of things while making it. How unfair it was that such a long-awaited, almost surprising pregnancy could go wrong in any way. How tickly mohair is when it gets up your nose. How beautiful the shawl was going to be.

I wavered about whether to even give it to my aunt. I hated the idea that she might think that I thought knitting her something would somehow make her feel better. Really, it was just to make myself feel better. I cried over it when Baby J and most of the family were in the hospital. I cried again when he left us, wishing I'd had the chance to meet him. I thought about my aunt, how I can't even begin to imagine what she's feeling.

Mostly, this is the only way I can hug her until December, when I plan to visit. I also think it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever knit. My good friend talked me into finishing this to send it, and I think I'm glad I did. If nothing else, my aunt is a knitter and will probably appreciate the thought. I'll make cookies tomorrow and send them together.


Pattern: Wing of The Moth by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, 3 balls
Size: 37" long, 72" wide after blocking
Modifications: Made the pattern smaller by omitting 5 repeats of the fir cone pattern and adding an extra row to the reverse stockinette ridge. Also shortened the edging by 4 rows because I was almost out of yarn.

Baby J

My sweet little cousin left us today; he was 4 days old. Please be thinking of his parents, I cannot imagine what they are going through.

I haven't had anything really clever to say lately, but I have been doing some knitting. First up, I finished a pair of socks that have been floating around the UFO pile for some time now.


Yarn: Austermann Step
Pattern: Earl Grey, but the Yarn Harlot
They're shorter than usually so they can be worn with one's very cool Keen sandals in the summertime.

I met one of my new baby cousins recently, and he just so happened to be the lucky recipient of a baby surprise jacket and a pair of saartjee's bootees. How cute are they??

Yarn: Shibui Knits fingering weight, Colorway Earth
Pattern: Saartjee's bootees

I knit a hat on Saturday while my husband was at work. Not that I didn't have other things to be working on, but I've wanted to knit this hat for a while, with this yarn out of the

Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky
Pattern: Foliage, from Knitty

My favorite is the yarn I just finished spinning. I may or may not have made a number of purchases from Pigeonroof Studios this month, the first of which at least, has been spun up.

Fiber: Falkland wool
Color: Chard
26 WPI, laceweight
782 yds, 4oz

It's the thinnest yarn I've spun so far, and the colors are absolutely gorgeous. I'm planning on knitting a Swallowtail shawl with it, but it'll probably be a gift. There's another color of this roving in my stash that I like even better...

I'm currently trying to finish this shawl for my aunt, who actually just had her baby yesterday. He's doing okay, and is apparently very cute. My dad saw him today and claimed my new wee cousin looked tough and purposely stuck his tongue out at my dad. I made him a BSJ too (I wrote about it in the post I already linked to), which made it to the hospital so my munchkin cousin could wear it right away. I've been promised pictures, and I can't wait. He's a whopping 3 lbs 12oz, I bet he's too cute.

Still Yarning

Just so you don't think I've ditched the yarniness for racing, I've got lots to show you.
Jack the wheel has been getting some love lately

I bought this roving on my first trip to the Fold, and have been hoarding it for a while. I dyed it up a few weeks ago and could barely keep my hands off it! I was really pleased with the colors.

80/20 Polwarth wool/silk
2-ply
18wpi
1000 yds
8 oz

I'm planning a cardigan on largish needles, something like Tempest, only without the stripes. And probably without seams too.

I got this roving from Paradise Fibers a few weeks ago. It's a little pricey, but so worth it. It's got a little sheen and behaves a little like silk, but isn't quite as slippery. The yarn feels a little fluffy and is the softest I've ever felt. Seriously.


Happy Hippie Optim, colorway Yasgur's Farm
4oz
300 yds
12wpi/worsted

It really wants to be a pair of armwarmers for cycling, we'll see when I get around to it. I like this yarn so much I'm contemplating buying enough undyed Optim for a sweater and dying it myself. It would probably only take a pound...

Last but not least, I've been knitting. This sweater only took me about 2 weeks of evening knitting, plus some time in the car on the way out to my race over the weekend. This sweater is perfect for me in every way. I love the contrast of the garter and lace stitches, the swingy-ness, the shorter sleeve length, and the heathery yarn. The stitch pattern only requires memorizing 2 right-side rows, and they are pretty intuitive. There's just enough going on during the knitting that you don't fall asleep, but not so much that you can't watch tv or hold an involved conversation. Also, I love that it's top down so you can stop when you run out of yarn or patience, and you can do the sleeves first (I dread knitting sleeves) to the perfect length.

The buttons came from a little shop in Seattle, and are handmade. I love them every bit as much as the sweater, and the yarn was inexpensive enough that I felt I could justify them.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Worsted, color charcoal, 4 balls
Size: finished about 37"
Modifications: I did M1 increases instead of the eyelets called for in the pattern. I also knit the garter yoke a bit shorter, doing 2 lace repeats before separating the sleeves (pattern calls for 1). My gauge was also finer, so I knit the 41" size on US 7 needles to get about a 37" chest.

I really can't wait to wear this out, but of course the weather has warmed up again now.

The next big project for me is going to be a sweater for my husband from handspun. Before that though, I think I should finish one UFO. I'd appreciate any votes, if you want to check out my Ravelry projects. Oh, and any votes for the sock yarn blankie will be ignored. I have no problems conducting my own voting "recounts."