It's All in the Surprise

OK folks, we're down to one week and counting until we find out whether Baby #3 will be a boy or girl. And there's a lot of pressure, too ... heaven help this child if it has a penis. There are going to be lots of disappointed people who have been praying, divining and just plain hoping that we have a girl. I am, after all, the only female in this house -- even the beagle is a boy. But I'll be happy either way.

I get the questions and comments all the time -- "Are you feeling different with this one?" "Do you have an instinct one way or another?" "Oh, I'm holding out hopes that its a girl this time!" and my own personal, particularly stressful favorite from my husband, "This is the last shot for a girl, so I'm hoping for your sake it is. Personally, the thought of a girl scares me to death."

Seven days and counting.

But on to other surprises -- like some recent knitting. While there are multiple other projects on the sticks these days (including a sock and the Basil baby blanket from Courtney that I finally cracked the code on), last week I had to prepare a gift for my cousin, who had a baby shower on Sunday. (Of course she's having a BOY, which prompted even more discussion over the gender of Baby #3.)

So I knit up this:

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket never ceases to make me squeal in childish delight. It's an amazingly simply pattern that knits up in lightning speed and is just way too cute once you fold the knitting up and sew the seams. With the right buttons, it made a perfect gift for my cousin. She loved it. (Pay close attention to the gift bag at her feet -- I felt particularly clever wrapping the jacket for her "little monster" in a "little monster" bag -- and that made the the Yarn Sniffer squeal with delight because he was the gift bearer and everyone commented on how cute "his" bag was.)

But what else do you get at the baby shower for the daughter of Kniting Auntie of Aran fame? You get one hell of a baby blanket -- hand-designed, and hooded in the shape of a dragon, complete with spikes on the back and fire from the mouth. Lordy, I wish I had better pictures (and selfishly, I'm glad Cat opened mine first because it would have fallen flat after this one ...). I can picture her little boy playing with this blankie for years pretending to be a dragon and curling up on the floor sound asleep wrapped in "scaly" softness.

My aunt said the blanket was "the best gift she ever made for the best gift she ever got."

'Nuf said.

Updates

When I last left you, I had grand plans to finish Parthenope. Alas, I haven't touched her since that post. I think that part of my subconscious has me waiting to find out the baby's gender before I move forward ... after all, the finishing will be all the sweeter if I can "name" the shawl as I cast off. You know, dedicate it in some way. Maybe that's a bit extreme.

In any event, I've been moving along on Basil, and I swear it's been tricky. I've cast on and ripped FOUR TIMES. Not all because of gauging issues (that was the first and second times), but also because I can't seem to get the yarn right. I went nearly all the way with the Baby Ull and then ripped when I had a problem with the edging. Since I didn't run any sort of lifeline, I just ripped it all out. Then I started again, this time with a different needle, and didn't like the end result. Back to the frog pond. Then for some reason totally unbeknownst to me, I cast on in cheap white acrylic (no comments, please) thinking that the care factor might matter and then ripped when I got tired of the yarn squeaking -- ugh. Now I'm working in a wool/acrylic blend (much quieter) in a pretty green and I'm moving along. I'm waiting for Courtney to get back to me with a clarification on the pattern, but this one is not getting ripped for any reason whatsoever. This version is for my cousin's babe (due the week of MS&W) so I must get it done so I can do one for my own little one. No pictures, because Knitting Auntie of Aran Fame (who is soon to be the proud grandmommy) reads this blog.

Next on the sticks after the second Basil is a Baby Surprise Jacket for our little one ... but I'm waiting to see if I should do it in a lovely heather green or a deep scarlet. We find out the gender in exactly three weeks ... and then I can finally start my shopping list for MS&W!

The Letter P

I'm finally on the home stretch with Parthenope. I can taste it. Five more rows -- straight vanilla rows alternating knit a row, purl a row -- and this girl will be off the sticks. And for some reason, I think I may very well be a little sad to see it go.

I'm not quite sure why. I started Parthenope right around Thanksgiving, had to rip out a full beginning or two because I was having some problems with the pattern. I've had to e-mail Courtney and Wendy two or three times with questions about said pattern. I finally put her on a diet -- partly to help it fit me (I'm very petite) and partially to save my sanity. My husband has been laughing for months (literally) at the yellow and calling the poor girl "The Big Bird Shawl." To add insult to injury, photos of knitting lace are pretty boring and given Parthenope's size (really people, it WILL look like a blob), I've neglected to share her growth with you here on the blog. I've loved and loathed this project simultaneously for the past three months.

Finding out that I was pregnant in the midst of the whole thing put the brakes on the knitting. I slowed down to do things like get extra sleep, eat more (it's hard to knit and eat yogurt) and deal with two brothers who are sticken with cabin fever and dreams of blizzards. My assistant, er, associate, at work quit at the absolute worst time of year and took off on a whirlwind trip around the world and I had to recruit (note that this is why I did not really pick up on the pregnancy -- stress makes you skip). But through it all, Parthenope has been there, even with last-minute holiday gifts, the Diamond Fantasy Shawl and other little things.

As it turns out, I'm pretty sure I started Parthenope right around the time our little bundle of joy was created. Had I known I was pregnant, I probably would have done Parthenope in blue. (I have a house of men, and I presume this pregnancy will produce the same, though there are many, many people who are going to blast me for saying that. Everyone wants a girl ... no pressure here!) But I didn't. I picked a sunny yellow -- odd for me, honestly -- and through the past three months of dismal weather, holiday stress, unexpected pregnancy, work nightmares, etc., a ray of sunshine has been growing in my knitting basket as well as my belly. This week she will be reborn as a full, beautiful yellow square. We'll have to wait a few more months for the other blessing.

Parthenope has become the pregnancy shawl. I have a sneaking suspicion that she'll be the first thing to go in the baby's layette ... because, boy or girl, this shawl has already draped the baby in handknit love as I sit and knit and knit with this in my lap.

I honestly can't wait to show you ... let me slog through those last few rows.

Diamond Fantasy

Over the weekend, I finished the charity shawl. As I cast off Diamond Fantasy, I panicked. Two skeins of Koigu ... same colorway as Charlotte's Web ... and the thing looked like a hankerchief. I immediately cast-on for another super-fast knit ... using my precious merino/tencel blend from Ellens Half Pint Farm (purchased at Stitches). I've been knitting, knitting, knitting on it -- and making great progress.


This morning, in the wee hours, I looked at the Diamond Fantasy and felt a bit sorry for it. Koigu shouldn't sit in a wad without a good block, after all. At the very least, I should give it a shot, right?

Obviously, I forgot the wonder of blocking lace. The teensy weensy kerchief blossomed this morning into a shawl that is 60 inches from wingtip to wingtip and 30 inches from the center point up. Here it is on my queen-sized bed:




You can't really see the head and foot of the bed, but the shawl is only about 16 inches short of spanning the length. I think it's big enough, and perhaps my panic was a bit premature.


Here's a closeup of the lace itself:





And a tight look at the edging:





Will this do for the charity silent auction?

The Long and Short of Things (Plus A Long-Term Project)

It's been a rough (but very interesting, as usual) couple of weeks here at Chez Spinneas. In my last post, I was slogging along on some lace projects, and since it's been so long (I've had my reasons) I thought an update might be due. For those non-knitters visiting today, I'm also trying to avoid "knitter-ese" or at least spelling out the abbreviations. Apparently my last post was pretty hard for those-without-sticks to comprehend.


The Long of It: I'm finally a mere 14 rows from finishing the edging on Parthenope and moving on. This shawl has taken me a long, long time. Pictures wouldn't show you much (it's LACE, after all), so I'm withholding until I can give you a good pic of Parthenope with Pins or a nice finished object (FO) picture. But the end is finally in sight, and that is making me happier than you'll ever truly know. This pattern has been wonderful, aside from the little nuances that make every designer different, it's been a joy to knit.


The Short of It: Remember in my last post how I said I was starting a pi shawl with that skein of Helen's Laces yarn? Well, it got frogged (non-knitters, that means that I "ripped it, ripped it") because the varigation was really muddying up the pattern. Since this particular shawl is being done for a silent auction taking place next month to raise funds for a very special school, the shawl needed to be done just right. So I shelved the pi in favor of Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy Shawl. I swatched it with a skein of Fleece Artist merino sock yarn, and loved the way the shawl was shaping up. The varigation worked, gauge worked, everything worked. Except the color (it's a varigated brown). On a high from reaching the edging on Parthenope, I bought some Anne (non-knitters, that's a yarn) and swatched it out. I hated it. The Anne is a nice pewter color, but it just didn't look right in this pattern. So I hit the Koigu in my stash and pulled the final two skeins of the colorway I used for Charlotte last year. It has beautiful greens, purples, blues and grays, and it's working out beautifully. I'm on the fourth of seven repeats of the second chart (non-knitters, that's fast and furious progress), and I'm on target to reach my deadline with it. The Yarn Harlot finished hers with the same amount of yarn, so I'm holding strong that the Koigu will hold out for me. I'm on the second ball, and since it's extremely difficult to match Koigu colorways, keep your fingers crossed for me. I have faith that things fall into place.


Long Term Project: Things fall into place for sure, and I've almost always tried to take things as they are dealt to me. One of the few times I didn't resulted in a huge karmic shift that forced life to bite me in the ass. So what is the long-term project?





Well...















Yup. The Yarn Sniffer is six (seven just after this one arrives) and his big brother is eight (nine later this year). So after years of having kids that can dress themselves, feed themselves and sleep through the night, I'm having a baby. Had my first doctor's appointment yesterday and it turns out I'm 11 weeks. It's a good thing I've been through this before -- I'm a week away from my second trimester. Nothing quite like a good old fashioned case of denial coupled with a doctor's busy schedule to put things in a holding pattern.


We're actually quite thrilled about it. Even the boys are happy. We won't know whether it's a boy or a girl for a few more weeks, but when we do, I'll be sure to share.


In the meantime, let me share a different version of the ultrasound picture -- cropped and rotated by my husband -- that seems to show that this little peanut is already on the move:






His original intent was to just zoom in and rotate so that the head, arms, belly and legs were clear for folks. But when he showed it to me, I started laughing my fool head off saying that it looked like the baby was standing up in full walking posture. We've dubbed this picture "Fetus Taking a Stroll." I apologize if it isn't funny to anyone else, but I think it's absolutely hilarious.


So, the 29-week countdown begins!

Pass Me Another Pi

OK, I know I said I'd never do it again, but last night I cast on for another pi shawl. Heaven help me.

I knit my first pi shawl in 2006, and had grand plans of doing the beautiful patterned one in the Knitter's Almanac. However, after many many problems with deciphering the pattern and getting the stitches to work, I cast it aside and instead opted for the simpler concentric circles one.

It's amazing what a fresh eye (and a better understanding of EZ) can do. I sat down yesterday and attempted to figure out what I was doing wrong the last time, pulled out a calculator, and figured it out. You see, when EZ says, "K5, *YO, K2tog, K57*, ending with K5, she really means "K5, *YO, K2tog, Kx to last 59 stitches, ending row with YO, K2tog, K5." That was my hangup. I was trying to do the full repeat at the end and squeeze the "ending with k5" into stitches that just weren't there, no matter what the math. Dumb, dumb, dumb mistake.

The yarn is Helen's Laces in the Black Purl colorway, and so far I love the way it's knitting up. This shawl is not destined for my shoulders, but rather for a silent auction at my husband's school in two months. They have a huge fundraiser for the school, and he's pitched my lace work for an item to be auctioned. I opted for this colorway simply because of its dark purples -- the winner can immediately drape it over her little black dress (the school is CHILLY!)

To repeat: Heaven help me.

Happy New Year!

In 2006, my first blog post of the year was filled with some resolutions. I accomplished all of the knitting ones. For 2007, I had wild plans to do the same, but I'm already a week into the year and just now getting around to blogging. I don't think that makes them resolutions anymore... so I give you Spinneas's List of Knitting Goals for 2007.

1. Learn to knit with two hands. Non-knitters reading this blog are not likely to know what I'm talking about here, but in order to do colorwork, rumor has it it's easier to knit one color with one hand and one color with the other. On New Year's Eve, I set out to train myself to do this. It was awkward, to say the least, but I figured it all out. You see, I knit continental-esque with my left hand, and I've been "picking" for years. It's more awkward (and slower) to "throw" the yarn with the right hand. Here was a preliminary result of my efforts:



Just a little test with some Katia Austral, but it worked out fine, and leads me to Goal #2.

2. Tackle Fair Isle. Hence the goal for two-handed knitting. I've done lots of knitting, but one thing I've never done is something truly two-color (I don't think that stripes really count here). On Thursday, I headed to my LYS and picked up a Philosopher's Wool Color Your Own kit for a Fair Isle cardigan and got started.



I dove in that night and finished about 4 inches of a sleeve, but my gauge was way off, so on Saturday I started again. This time, gauge was much better, I cut the cuff short by a repeat and was well on my way. I cannot yet tell whether Fair Isle knitting goes faster than regular knitting, but I'm already past my elbow with the one sleeve, and could conceivably finish one sleeve today if I hunker down and go exclusive (not likely, since my house is a train wreck).


3. Complete another Clapotis. I finished the clapotis, and decided that I'm not crazy about the varigation that I chose. I'd like to try again with something a little more neutral (or at least less pastel). It's an easy knit, and one that can be put down and picked up frequently without worrying about losing one's place on a chart or pattern.


4. Complete the patterns from the Smith Island Pattern Factory. I finished Maude, Parthenope is moving along nicely, and I make it a habit to purchase all of Courtney's patterns as they come up. So I'm going to finish them all in 2007 . Right now, her portfolio is manageable, and if I'm going to be dedicated to one designer, now is the time to get started. Here's Parthenope on her third repeat. I'm not sure how many more repeats I'm going to do, but I probably won't take it all the way to 10 reps, just because I'm smaller than average, and I generally have to cut things short or have them end up gargantuan.

5. Get my sock mojo back. I've lost it somewhere, and the loss has stranded two separate No. 1 socks into UFO land. I'm hoping it will turn up soon.

6. Take more pictures of non-knitting. I took the following photo one morning when this sunrise caught my eye and I couldn't resist. I even woke both my kids up to see it.


I think that's enough for now, though I'm sure a technique or other idea will come around that I'll add to the list!

Christmas Fondue**

I've been pretty incognito lately, sorry for the absence. It's hard to write about knitting that you can't show off on the blog, so knitting content will resume after gifts have been given. Somehow or another during this time, I also managed to miss my blogiversary. Oh well, right?

Enough about my absence... I'm ready to chat about holidays and traditions.

When I was a child, the 23rd of December had a certain mystique. I can't quite put my fingers on it, but in so many ways it was almost as magical as the 24th. School was over for the break, there were large tins of cookies all over the house and always there seemed to be a stack of LPs on the turntable that played holiday music all day long. Some of those LP covers really stick out in my memory ... the old Gene Autry Rudolph album, the Royal Guardsman's "Snoopy's Christmas" (that was my dad's) and lots of others, including one of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir doing all the holiday traditionals. By this time, we had already watched "Babes in Toyland" (while my mother burned the chocolate cookie press men) and "White Christmas" (while we trimmed the tree). We had already spoken to Santa on the direct-line phone at the firehouse, which was trimmed to the hilt and had a huge room FILLED with electric trains racing over snow-filled landscapes and little model references to our small town. There was a promise of visitors throughout the next day, a church service and a very giddy night when I swore I could hear sleigh bells and see Santa on the horizon through my bedroom window. Forcing myself to go to sleep so that he would actually arrive (I knew he was nearing our state because the local radio station had a direct line to the "official" Santa radar).

On Christmas morning, my parents would make my brother and I wake them before heading downstairs to the tree. I remember it was tortuous to wait while my father went first and made his instant cup of coffee and a cup of hot tea for my mother. (In retrospect, I was glad it was instant...it took less time.) He would also get the old camera ready (it took flash cubes, remember those?) and lay in wait for my brother and me. He'd call up the steps to my mother, who was ready in her terrycloth slippers and pink robe, and she'd go down the steps first. My brother and I would follow, and we'd stop at the foot of the steps before going down the long hall of our A-frame into the living room. Again, Mom would go first -- this time not to stop us from dashing in, but to make sure that we. kept. our. eyes. closed. You see, my folks had a ritual of taking a picture of us as we opened our eyes and saw the tree and our stockings. Every year we did this ... and I honestly don't remember when we stopped. I'm sure it had to do with a discovery of a certain something. All I know is that of all the traditions of my childhood, this was the one I liked the least.

Traditions are funny things, and its equally odd to see the merging of two very different cultures into a single family. You see, my husband had a very different Christmas experience ... no less loving, for sure, but he was a city kid living with his grandparents without his mother. I've heard the stories of the years that his dad went whole hog at Christmas ... the year of the "Mighty Casey" electric train that carried a four-year old around the house on a large track, and tales of him racing downstairs in the morning and then running around waking everyone in the house (some of whom had only just fallen asleep). Christmas was more materialistic in his house than in mine, for sure. I kid you not when I say that I've heard stories of the year the presents were piled to the ceiling (his dad was dating a sales clerk at the toy store) . That was the year he and his bro got an air hockey table and a arcade-size "Happy Days" pinball machine. These days, his family has a huge Christmas Eve party with a bushel of oysters and steamed shrimp and everyone opens their gifts at midnight. We duck out long before then with the kids but there is always much alcohol and revelry (unfortunately, someone always manages to drink too much and shoot their mouth off at the wrong person ... like I said, we duck out early). All I have ever heard music-wise on Christmas Eve (with the exception of the year that his dad drank too much and made us listen to Kenny G over and over) was rock music.

My husband and I have managed to meet halfway on the kids' gifts (they get plenty -- more than my relatively sparse years but way less than his "up-to-the-ceiling" year. I still watch "White Christmas" every single year while I decorate the tree, but not until after my husband puts the tree up to the backdrop of The Who's "Tommy." I make the cookies, but there aren't 10 tins (and I don't dare make the chocolate men for fear that I'll burn them and be destined to suffer the merciless teasing that my mother has endured for years).

Another tradition that has transferred -- and grown in a way -- was the legend of the elves. When I was little, a conversation like this was not uncommon in our house in December:

Dad: "Wen, quick -- look at the window!"

Kid: "What? I don't see anything."

Dad: Oh, it was an elf. Checking in on you to report back to Santa. You missed him."

Now of course this only really worked for a short time. But I carried the tradition to a pair of two little spirited girls that I babysat for one evening in December when they were out of control. I spun a yarn about a gentle-elf named Harold Holly who was watching them and reporting back to Santa. They snapped right into shape, and after they were asleep that night, I wrote a note to them from "their" elf. I explained the whole thing to their mother and father when they got home, and thankfully they loved the idea. In fact, the Legend of the Elves grew and grew. Shortly after that fateful evening, an elf doll arrived at their house one night. The same elf doll kept coming each year and after a short time, he grew up into a bigger doll. He kept coming, though, and I'm pretty sure that two young adults (the youngest is nearly out of college by now I'm sure) still have a great memory. Not to mention that their friends' parents joined in on the game, and a local boutique eventually stared a whole elf section in their holiday decorations.

Harold Holly and his brother Howard come to our house each and every year. They arrive shortly after both children have exhibited good behavior and they leave when Santa picks them up on Christmas Eve night. Harold (who is red) started coming when Z was a very little baby, and his brother Howard (who is green) started visiting when The Yarn Sniffer came along. We're hoping that they'll come tonight ... for you see, they come together and the Sniffer hasn't been a very good boy these days. School is wreaking havoc in his life and he can't stay on the green light. I'm confident they'll be perched somewhere in our living room tomorrow when I wake up.

But they'll be gone by the time we awake on Monday ... and I make my husband wait upstairs with the boys while I make the coffee and get the camera ready to take their picture when they come into the living room and first open their eyes and see their gifts ...

Share your traditions with others. Tell me about them. But above all, have a wonderful, magical holiday!

**My husband participated in the creation of this entry. His thought processes can sometimes be quite abstract... hence the use of "fondue" instead of simply saying, "melting pot."

A Quickie Update

I've been really bad about posting lately, but car problems, work and household stuff (i.e. holiday decorating) have been keeping me busy. Not to mention a super-secret family project that has absolutely nothing to do with knitting. Only two people know about said project, and I'm afraid that you all will have to wait until after Sunday when it makes its debut. Only one of the people in on the project will be there at the party; the other person is my mother (my folks are divorced and this project involves my father's family). It's gonna be really great.

On to other things ... like my knitting. Progress has been reasonably slow here at Chez Spinneas, particularly because I've made the command decision to not drive myself wacky with holiday knitting. This time last year I was scrambling to finish facecloths and scarves and all other kinds of things, and I hated every minute of it. Knitting for me is therapeutic, and the holidays are stressful enough without turning my cherished hobby into an instrument of torture.

Following car problems leading into Thanksgiving, I started just about every project imaginable trying to find on special piece that would give me solace. I ended up ripping out just about everything and filing it away in the "not the right time" category (rather than leave a bunch of UFOs on the sticks). With the exceptions of a few pairs of socks and a clapotis (sorry, can't show you those right now because I'm not sure it won't make it into the the Santa bag). I started the clap right before Thanksgiving, and only just finished it on Sunday. Got REALLY bored on those straight rows, ended up cutting it a few repeats short because I'm a small person, and then wrapped it up. It turned out well; I'll post a picture after Christmas.

I also de-stashed. I can't believe how much fuzzy stuff I had in my stash. I pulled out all of that, along with some single skeins and my bits and pieces ('cept the Koigu -- even scraps do not leave my house) and took it to the wonderfully enabling director and assistant director of my kids' aftercare school. They are knitters and dutifully working on scarves and other things for the holidays, and they've already dived in and are hard at work on even more projects. The director there is an absolute doll -- she loaned me her wool cards "indefinitely" and I adore her for it (though I'm really hoping that the holiday elves will see fit to bring me my own). The assistant director took it upon herself to teach the kids how to finger-crochet this summer. Not my first choice, but the boys loved it because it was easy and they made necklaces. The smaller balls of yarn? The end bits of projects? Well, doll drawings need hair and all of those macaroni ornaments need hangers. Kids love yarn, and I'm happy to share.

So what's on the sticks for me? The latest pattern from Courtney at the Smith Island Pattern Factory: Parthenope. I ended up screwing up my first start and ripped out the entire first repeat of the chart last night. I'm nearly back where I left off.



Hopefully I can get it right this time!

Interruption

I interrupt this unscheduled hiatus with a post to let everyone know I'm alive. Just busy, and going through some issues that have taken my mind from knitting (though I've had a serious case of castonitis, I just can't find a project to fit, you know?)

Soon, I promise.

Maude

As it turns out, 10 minutes in the dryer was all Maude needed to perk up. A short run in the dryer also gives Koigu a nice sproing.

Photos by "Crazy Woman" Jenn on a break from work. Sorry, Wendy, but your poses were winners, so I copied.

From the front:


And from the back:


All in all, a fab knit. If I had it to do again, I would limit the skeins and make it smaller (I'm pretty short and thin, so she's big -- but I love her anyway). Other than that, no major issues. In fact, I would do it again in a snap.

Anticlimactic

In the not-so wee hours of a dreary, rainy Sunday, a lone knitter and her cup of coffee bound off a single stitch.

And Maude was complete.She waited a day to block it, and then managed to totally screw things up. Maude, blocked, is gargantuan. That said, I have only a lone picture to show.

Close-up of the lace:


Because you see, Maude had to be blocked doubled over on herself, she was so big when wet (that should have been a HUGE hint). Maybe I should have just left her alone and not worried about showing off the lacy edge to Jenn tomorrow at work. 'Cause when I came home tonight, ran upstairs and unpinned her, draped her over my shoulders and looked down, I realized that her ever-so-graceful arms were dragging. the. floor.I have to go back to the blocking board tonight (maybe I shouldn't have pinned, but rather just laid her out to dry).

In Flight

Even without its feathers, the Swallowtail flies.

Bald Bird.

Now that I have your attention, let me show you the (unblocked) featherless Swallowtail:


Why is it featherless? Well, I ran out of yarn. My plan was to do this shawl in Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool ... on #10 needles. Plan was on track until I realized that I was running critically short of yarn so I stopped at the end of the second Lily of the Valley border chart (just before the peaked edging). Either way, this bald bird is a big one. It's lovely, too ... and warm. Despite my resolve to put it in the holiday gift box, I've found myself wearing it. To Stitches on Friday. Picking up the boys from after-care. On the sofa while knitting. It ain't goin' in no box.

That' s not a bad segue into my Stitches post.

A few months ago, I bought my ticket for the Marketplace on line and took a day off work. In October I went on a yarn diet (except for Santa Fe) with the understanding that I was going to drop big bucks at Stitches with one major rule: No buying anything that I can get at my LYS. That said, here's the rundown of the purchases.

Koigu. No yarn store in the vicinity carries this, so when I see it, I must buy it. In bulk. And kill the wallet in the process. Koigu is one of those yarns that TOTALLY lives up to the hype. I bought five skeins and some mill ends -- all from Rosie's Yarn Cellar. Rosie's was my first stop at Stitches ... I wanted to make sure I bought the patternfor Maude and enough Koigu to go with it. The mill ends were a bonus and will go in the bag with the ends I picked up at MS&W. One day I'll figure out what to do with them.

Socks that Rock. I have NEVER been able to score this. I don't know if it's been a situation where they've run out or whether I haven't been able to find it, but now it's mine. Three skeins. Harlotty, Lucy and Downpour. It seems way too succulent to put on my feet, so maybe I could take the Harlotty and Lucy colorways and make a shawl. Knitblogger's Shawl. Fun.

Other Miscellany. The STR, Koigu and Maude were my three major goals. The rest was icing on the cake. Some beautiful roving, some merino/tencel from Ellen's Half Pint Farm and some doo-dads from the Mannings (had to avoid the Koigu there -- it runneth over). I also picked up a book on dying with natural ingredients and a book on Shetland lace motifs.

One of the coolest things I picked up, though, were two sets of sock-needle covers. Check them out:


So what in the hell has taken me so long to get this posted? Well, I've been hard at work. That tencel/merino blend? One skein is destined to be the second Swallowtail ... this time with feathers. I'm on repeat nine of the second chart with plenty of yarn left. While this one wil be a much smaller piece (more like a "shawlette" most likely), this one will be more true to the pattern itself, which is designed to be small, and it. Will. Have. Feathers. I think I cast this on immediately to assuage any guilt I feel over not putting a shawl in the gift box. I cast on for this almost immediately after I got home on Friday from Stitches. I'm thinking that the other skein in this colorway could just be matching socks :)

But I'm not just working on the Swallowtail. Yesterday, I cast on for Maude, which I heard about from Wendy. I met designer Courtney at the Rosie's Booth at Stitches, and I have to say this pattern is really something. Not only are there no long purl-back rows, but it's done in such a way that you aren't stuck with a zillion stitches at the end -- it's knit from one wing to another and the lace is hypnotic. There's elegance to the edging and, put simply, I'm totally loving this pattern. I bought a very-Thanksgiving colorway of Koigu ... which gives me a serious deadline for this project. But here's evening one progress:

Busy, busy, busy

Some weeks, I even surprise myself. This week has been one of those weeks. Not because I've been particularly busy knitting, or that I've made significant progress. Just because I'm in severe cast-on-itis mode and I have a raging case of PMS. Not a good combination ... because very little that I've cast on has been right and I've been spending quite a bit of time in the frog pond.

Actually, I need to move the dates back a little. I've been fiddly for a while now (other than that second Widdershin and a few scarves). Remember that peacock homespun that was Navajo plied? I hated it and unplied it. Ugh. I hope I never do that again. However, I managed to salvage enough singles to make a short stockinette scarf so the spinning and the fiber weren't a total loss.


And then there was the matter of knitting a new sock. Have you ever bought a skein of yarn that you fell in love with at the LYS, put it in the stash only to pull it out later and wonder what in the world you were thinking? I did, about a year ago. I pulled the Mountain Colors "Crazy Woman" out of the stash on Sunday thinking I wanted a new pair of socks. There's a lot of cherry red in this stuff. Too much for me. I spent four hours that day casting on and ripping out cuff-downs, only to realize that what I wanted desperately was another Widdershin. Problem was, I didn't want to waste this yarn. And then it hit me. These could be the Jennifer socks.

My friend Jenn is one of those people who just gets the whole crafty thing. While she refuses to learn to knit (she's a graphic designer, a painter, a jeweler, a scrapbooker and a great decorator -- there's already a lot in there), she's ALWAYS on board with a new project. When I was hanging outside with her the other day at work and we were talking about dyeing with pokeberries and black walnuts, she starting theorizing on the other things I could dye with ... pointing out this and that. When I'm working on a new project, she investigates, touches, sniffs ... just as though she were a knitter. We've done some very cool things craft-wise together and to boot, she's one of those gals who can pull off two patterns in the same outfit. Very cool.

She also never once judged me when I burned myself with hot enamel a few years back when I was in jewelery mode. No one else could understand why in the hell I was playing with enamel or why I'd want to in the first place. (Note: A few weeks ago, I bequeathed the melting pot to her ... I haven't touched it since that fateful day two years ago and for the record, she's been melting and dipping up a storm and hasn't yet seared flesh.)

I knew these socks were for her. Because she, like me, is also a Crazy Woman. The colors are much more jewel-toned than shown in the picture. I showed her the sock in progress, deemed them hers and she's psyched.

In other news, here's the color that Kool Aid Arctic Apple makes:

The picture makes it look sickly, but it's actually a very pretty pale green. Modeling the green is a skein of singles spun this weekend from the washed-in-the-tub fleece. Not too bad.

Fruity Goodness (and another scary thing)

Last night our kitchen was a busy place. I made cupcakes for The Yarn Sniffers Halloween/October Birthday party for his kindergarten class.


So while I was in the kitchen, I pulled out some roving that I've had forever, two pots and eight pouches of Kool-Aid. Four Tropical Punch and four Black Cherry. I mixed up the Kool-Aid in the pots (one for each flavor) and then added the roving. The Yarn Sniffer FREAKED when he asked what in the world I was doing and I told him I was making dinner.



Heated the pots for about 20 minutes (not boiling, but close) and turned off the pots and waited for the wool to soak in the dye. I then rinsed the yarn in a bath that was the same temp as the water in the pots (110 degrees -- I used my meat thermometer). Then I hung it up to dry.

This morning I wound it (tropical punch on the left, black cherry on the right) and took its picture in the early morning light outside.



Tonight, I spin.

Scary Stuff to Share

Halloween is two days away, and it's time to start thinking about scary things. There's plenty in my fiber world that can be pretty alarming, so I thought I'd share.

But first, the second Widdershin is nearly complete. A few more rounds on the cuff and they are done. The jury is still out on whether they will be for me, or for the holiday box.


Scary Thing #1: The Shark Scarf
OK, so this isn't frightening or anything, but since it's dubbed "the shark" and those guys can be scary, I dub this #1. I finished it this a.m. for The Yarn Sniffer, who has been waiting a whole two days for me to finish (I was late starting after the spinning ... yarn's gotta dry, after all).


Scary Thing #2: Oreo
In and of itself, the yarn itself isn't scaring me. What terrifies me is that I have about 900 yards or so of this delicious homespun and now, quite frankly, I'm terrified to cast on for anything for fear of destroying my largest spinning endeavor ever. If anyone has any ideas for 900 yards of bulky yarn, or a pattern that is virtually indestructable, let me know. I could make a bunch of scarves for the holidays, but something just tells me that Oreo (the CVM darling) is destined for something much greater than a simple scarf. Truth is, I'm really freaked about the challenge.


Scary Thing #3: Fleece Among Us
I may be completely in over my head on this one. A few months ago, I went on eBay and purchased 8 oz of raw fleece -- I honestly can't remember what breed -- and started processing it bit by bit in the sink. No fun in the sink, let me tell you. Lock by lock, 8 oz takes FOREVER. So this past Friday night (in between cleaning my house to prep for my mother in law's visit yesterday, which is why I am still a ghost at spinner's group) I threw it in the tub (before I got to that part of the cleaning) to scour it. Worked very well, I must say, and I just threw what was left in there. I don't completely scrub each lock ... if there's a little dirt at the end of the lock it usually brushes out during carding.

So what's scary about that? Well ... there's the fact that I have to card it all still ... that's going very, very slowly. There's also the small problem of my subsequent order of 18oz of Targhee/Merino cross wool that is awaiting processing. What have I done?

Wild Kingdom

I'm not a big dreamer, but sometimes when I do have them, they're doozies. Last night I dreamed that I was heading to a fiber festival (it wasn't specific, though when I got there it turned out to be Maryland). It was cold, windy and rainy but there were tons of people and I was desperate to get to the Koigu mill ends and the Socks that Rock. So I was going behind pavillions and racing -- jumping over things (small things, don't think The Matrix or anything) and going in pavillion after pavillion from the back doors trying to get to Building A. I was ahead of the crowd (I was peeking through between the buildings to check as I ran) ... and just as I was reaching Building A, my damn alarm went off. Ugh ... I hope it's not a prelude to the Stitches East marketplace next week (I have a ticket to go on Friday).

Anyway, in fiber news -- in my last post I showed you all the fluffiest puff of fiber that I've ever held in my hand (I can't say "fluffiest puff ever" because I've touched quivet but never really held it in my hand...). No it isn't quivet, and it isn't guanaco and it isn't camel.

No guesses? That fluff I showed you is yak. That's right ... hair from one of these. It's the most beautiful heathery gray and oh so very soft.

Rather than risk f-ing it up with a ply, I (literally) took a page from a recent article in Spin Off and starting spinning with an energized single straight from the bobbin and letting this yarn work with its twist.

Here's the bobbin:


And here's the scarf I'm working on for my husband:


See that center part? That's where the biasing is. (Look closely where the stitches are slanting to the right.)

It's garter stitch all around (note: it's doesn't bend and angle in garter, just stockinette) on #4 needles with a stockinette panel in the center. I probably should have gone with #5 needles just to open it a bit ... and honestly I'm going to consider that today while I'm at work. I think frogging a charged single will be a real pain, though, so I may just grin and bear it. If I leave it alone, it will still be super-warm and it will stay a little thick (though overall thin and light). He was actually worried that a single would be too thin and perhaps too delicate for him. Come to think of it, I'll probably just leave it alone.

I got approximately 18 wpi with this, though there are definitely slubbies here and there. All in all, I'm relatively content so far. So content that I ordered four more ounces of the stuff. Why? 'Cause Mama needs a yak scarf too.

The Very Un-Rhinebeck Post

This past weekend was my husband's birthday, so I didn't push the Rhinebeck issue. However, I got into the spirit of a good fiber festival from the comfort of my own desk (and the internet) and ended up spending considerably less than I might have had I headed up to NY for its wool festival.

It all came yesterday. Perfect timing ... it's as if I shopped all weekend :)

From Spunky Eclectic:


I read about this fiber shop on Janine's blog, and I was not disappointed. What you see are the Sangria and Carribean colorways. These already have holiday recipients once spun and knit. The notable roving, however, was in the Shark colorway. The Yarn Sniffer has a thing for sharks. I spun it up last night and remembered to take pictures:


Roving, singles and yarn. In that order. The yarn needs a good soak, but then I'll be a'knittin.

Secondly, I headed over to Vicki's Kendig Cottage for some exotic fibers and fun. I ended up coming out with two things. The first is a lovely colonial wool filled with dark greens and reds.

The other fiber purchased is something you have to guess on. I'll tell you it's exotic, that I'm making my husband's scarf out of it, and I promptly ordered two more ounces last night after getting a feel for this stuff.



Any ideas of what this is? I'll spill the beans tomorrow.

Colors on Parade

I've been so into spinning this past week or so that I haven't thought to take time of the pre-spun roving, the process or the singles. Hell, I haven't even taken the time to note ratios or pre-drafting activities to repeat myself later. I've just been a whirling dervish.

Spinning has been an activity of mine for about six months now ... I got the bug back in the pre-Spring months when I ordered a spindle from eBay. That one spindle multiplied and I ended up with my fair share of spindles, which allowed me to tackle multiple fibers at once. In the meantime, I stocked up with more than my fair share of fibers at MDS&W. Then i got my wheel in June, and it's been nuts ever since.

But I've never actually knit with any of my homespun. Until now.

Earlier this month, the Harlot posted a beautiful story of a Grafton batt of fiber that she spun up, Navajo plied and then knit into a very simple, one-row scarf. I was inspired, and I took to the wheel with a passion, tearing through my MDS&W fiber like a madwoman, spinning and spinning and spinning. Then I went to Cloverhill and discovered Mama E's roving, and got some of that and took to it. I showed you what I Navajo plied earlier last week (that peacock colored yumminess? I'm unplying it to do a double -- Navajo makes a three-ply), but late last week I hit the Cherry Garcia colorway.

Now I'm no pink girl, and I doubt these pictures will do it any kind of justice, but this colorway is like ice cream. No joke -- it's smooth and luscious, the color transitions are subtle and if I could get naked and roll in it, I would. I wish I could show you the process, really I do, but I spun it up, hung it to set the twist, and then made this:

There it is, all wound up. I'll note here that there were no fancy steps taken to preserve the colorway ... I wasn't about to f#@* up another batch of roving trying that. Instead, I let it go the way it wanted to, and the transitional result is (I think) pretty darn nice. See?

I like it. The only question is, is it mine, or do I put it in the holiday bin?

And I'm on to Fire. Mama E makes one hell of a roving, and I'm really looking forward to knitting with this once the twist is set (the plan is to soak it this a.m. before work and then hang it up in the hopes that it will be dry by tomorrow).



I have a child who wants an orange scarf.

In more spinning news, I'm dealing with some singles that I spun up last week in my frenzy -- a beautiful yellow merino/llama/silk concoction. I only bought four ounces of it and was hoping to get a fine yarn out of it. I did, soaked and hung the singles (they were very twisted) and now I have approximately 230 yards of singles to work with. I'm torn ... do I make a modified Melody (I cannot tell you how long the finished product is--it's ginormous) or something else. Thoughts?