MDSW 2007

Saturday Amy and I went to the annual MD Sheep and Wool Festival! It's the larest Fiber festival in the country.
I had a gyro, fresh squeezed lemonade, and half a giant eclair!
I'm always so overwhelmed when I go to this...Just The Tess Yarns booth blows my mind!
Now I'm really getting excited to buy a spinning wheel. I think I might take a class first though. I did buy a good book about it at the fair though, and I'm going to try to go to the spinners meetings more often, now that I have evenings off.

I seem to have issues buying yarn that doesn't scream out what it wants to be, so I only bought one skein (everything I like seems to be expensive anyway). But fiber isn't a problem as it always just screams YARN! Can't argue with that :P

Alpacas! Aren't they cute!!??


And here's what I bought!

Turquoise silk from Maine


Mongolian Baby Yak down (reminds me of chocolate cake!) I also got some baby camel, not pictured.


Lovely green and orange Merino Silk roving



Cormo undyed roving, and EBONY knitting needles


and some Cormo/Alpaca blend


and last but not least, two balls of yellow/orange thick n thin novely yarn that ties together my two balls of merino/silk/angora handspun :)

Spring!

I'm working on a ton o different stuff at the moment, pics to come later:
-Finally made a swatch I like ("Little Fountain" lace) for a deep-v vest I'm going to make out of the Brooksfarm silk/mohair I got at sheep and wool last year.
-Working on the gauge swatch for a Penny Straker aran cardigan for my mother in Silky Wool
-And bored to tears with my mini clapotis. it's taking forever.

I'm very excited about the MD Sheep and Wool festival this weekend! I plan to try out some spinning wheels buy a bunch of fiber, hang out with some knitting friends I rarely get to see, and of course, buy some more yarn. Probably silk, knowing me, or perhaps some nice natural-colored aran yarn for a sweater for my dad.

UFOs and Cyberpunk Hairfalls

I can't wait to get a new job... I am so unmotivated to do anything creative in the little free time I get in the mornings and late at night. My most productive hours are spent working or cleaning the house.
I have a million little things started. Here's the big ones though:
*The Rogue Sweater. This thing has been DONE for months now, but I need to re-do the i-cord edging I put on it because it's too tight and is bunching just a tiny bit and pissing me off.
*The Lace Leaf Pullover, was coming along beautifully, but since i had to adjust the pattern to fit my gauge, the neck/shoulders is a little too small, but the body fits. I have to go back and add stitches to the neck. (It's not easy to pay attention when you're knitting on vacation.)
*The Clapotis. I'm one ball into it, it's pretty boring knitting, but it's gorgeous to look at.
*Circular Shrug. Just swatched for this last night. Should be a Quick and satisfying project.

I posted my first stuff in Knitswap on LiveJournal; it's really cool to get stuff you want for stuff you don't hehe!
I need to find swapping communities for other stuff like books ..or..stuff.. i dunno.

OH! I almost forgot! I made my first hairfalls last week. I LOVE them. They were a bit pricey, as I stuck some $30/ball crazy handspun yarn in there, but they're awesome :) I plan to make many more sets of these:


And wearing my kickass new boots!

Hopping on the Bandwagon

So I finally got the Clap...
Clapotis , that is!
There was this GORGEOUS sport-weight hand dyed merino at the shop (Claudia Handpainted Yarns) that was just begging to become this. It's not even in colors I would normally wear! I'm paying for it one skein at a time ($25 each), this will be a very expensive scarf, even though I'm making a smaller version (I plan to use 3..yikes).
It's knitting up Soooo beautiful though! and the pattern is fun! I can't imagine making the huge one though, I'm not really a wrap kinda girl.

The picture really does the colors no justice.


OH! ANd see those funny South Park looking things? Lindsay made them for us for xmas! here's a close-up! She's a stitch marker master :)


Also, I recently entered a piece in a contest for Mango Moon! I con't post pictures till I know if they like it or not yet though. The winner gets a trip to Bali to see where it's made!

Calorimetry--sort of

Whoo! A Post!
For xmas I knit a coworker of mine a Calorimetry headband out of that handspun, hand dyed merino I got from Etsy in the blue/brown colorway. Because I used a much fatter yarn than called for I cut the number of stitches in half (about) and did only half the short rows. Since so many people were complaining about the original being so wide, I was glad I did.
On to the pictures!


She loves it and it looks really since on her :)

Yeah it's been a while....

So, I'm 95% done with Rogue. And I ran out of yarn :(
I'm trying to find a ball of Plymouth Galway in color #742 (rust heather) that I don't have to pay exorbitant shipping for. Can anyone help me?


In other news, I bought some new yarn! I was on Etsy and stumbled across HandspunAndDyedToo. Beautiful, lusciously soft yarn at a really good price! I of course had to buy this yarn called "Goldfish" ;) and from there I fell in love with "Devotion", and "Plantation"!
On to the YarnPorn!
Look! It's a Navel Orange! hehe



Devotion!


All together now!

No Luck Yet

I emailed the shop in Woodbine that Amy Butler's site lists as carrying her fabrics, and they don't currently have any in stock. Not only that, but she's now exclusively and e-business, so I'd have to order online and be right back where I started. I'm sure there are other places unlisted that carry her fabrics. I'm going to try the quilt store in Catonsville next.

It's expensive stuff, so I don't want to get something before seeing it in person!
I wonder if any of the online places do samples?

Guess I'll be checking luggage when I fly...

x-posting from my own LJ a bit, for some filler.
Strangeness with the TSA : At least I can still bring my knitting needles! And Scissors! But no toothpaste, shampoo, or lipgloss!

Yesterday I spent the morning drooling over Amy Butler fabrics, especially this one that I want for decorative pillows!

There's one like that one that is pale green and cream too that I like just as well. We'll see. Oh, here's a pic of a GORGEOUS bag made from the green-cream version

Finally! A FO!

I haven't been knitting much since the move and the job change. There's so much to do in the new place, when I'm home I feel like I need to be cleaning, unpacking, decorating, and straightening, instead of sitting on the couch knitting. Also, all my knitting stuff is still packed in bags and boxes. Soon though we will have bookcases and can clean out the spare room, so i'll actually be able to get to my stuff and even work in there!

Yesterday I worked at the yarn shop, and managed to finally finish these socks :) They really didn't take that long, I just haven't been kntting.
Next, Rogue is %90 done, just have to finish the hood and do some detailing, then next I want to work on my leaf-green silk to go with my orange fall jacket.

Here's my socks!


Also, here's some pics of the new apartment. We're still waiting on some key pieces of furniture, like the dining table, a sideboard for the snake tank, and bookcases.

News!

So, lots of new stuff going on! First of all, The Celtic Knot Yarn Shop , my lovely place of employment and source for awesome yarn, has moved! Learn all the details on their page, but here's some pics of the new place!




ALSO, I unfortunately won't be spending quite so much time at the yarn shop anymore because I got a new job!
I real grown-up full-time job with benefits and everything :) I'll be working at a residential treatment center for girls as an Activities Leader. Should be challenging, fullfilling, etc.

AND we're moving to a new apartment this week! Yay! more space! I'm excited :) it's much nicer than the place we have now.

and lastly, I dyed my hair! It's Chocolate Cherry, I love it!

Oops...

I like to knit outside on the patio. Maryland summers are not conducive to this at all, and so in May or so I put down the Rogue sweater I've been working on in favor of smaller less-wooly projects that are easier to knit in heat (like the socks). The heat broke for a few days a week or two ago, and I picked up the sweater again, and have been working on the last part, the hood, off and on since in the cool AC of my apartment.

This is what happens when you try to knit cables while watching tv:

I THOUGHT it looked wrong, but I thought I had read the chart right, so I went online to look for errata, and to see other people's finished hoods, and realized that things had gone horribly wrong about 15 rows back. *PALM TO FOREHEAD*
On both sides of the hood, of course.

So, because I didn't feel like ripping back the entire rows I did THIS, on both sides.

Unfortunately for me, the twist was part of a travelling cable, so a 5 stitch miss-twist resulted in me ripping out more like 17 stitches and 15 rows worth of cabling.
I used safety pins to hold the stitches that were ok, and used DPNS to do the surgery. It actually went faster than I'd expected!

Success! ooooohhh Pretty :) So now we're back on track, and I hope to be finished with the thing by the end of August!

Baltimore Spinners!

On Friday I worked at the yarn shop all day, which I usually love, but I was the only one there and it was very boring. To pass the time I called Brian and Mary and Aleshia and got to talk all three for a little bit :) I hadn't talked to Aleshia in ages, it was good to catch up.
After work I drove straight to Clover Hill (a rival yarn shop in Catonsville) for a Baltimore Spinners meeting! I don't really know any other spinners, so that was a lot of fun! I only have a drop spindle right now, and everyone else had wheels, but that was ok because I GOT TO TRY 3 KINDS OF WHEELS!!! WHEEEE!!! Of course, now I have to buy one :P Unfortunately they are very expensive (around $500) so I'll be saving up for that one for a while... or maybe put it on the credit card once I start making real money.
I got to meet some wonderful women, including Amie, who taught me how to use the wheels, Erin, who dyes her own yarn and roving (I bought some beautiful blue and brown!) and Eunny, whose knitblog I read and who is a bit of a knitting celebrity! Her work is incredible! Everyone was sooo nice, I really want to go again. I hope I get Fridays off so I can!
Roving Pics!



While I was at the spinners meeting Joe called to say he arrived in Dullas (around 7:30pm) and that he was taking a cab home and I should exect him around 10pm. SO, because I didn't want to wait around at home alone, I stayed at my metting till a little before 9, when he called again to say I'M HOME! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU!!?? hehe oops. Apparently there was no traffic and he got home fast. I felt so bad that I wasn't there when he got there!
He's all jet-lagged and stuff, didn't sleep well the first night, then slept most of the day yesterday, despite my best efforts to get him up, and then stayed up all night last night.
I made chicken pitas for dinner with homemade hummus (YUM!) and we watched that Russian fantsy movie NIGHTWATCH, which was ok, but not as good as advertized. We also watched this Japanese creepy movie called Premonition, about a "Newspaper of Terror" (it sounds better in Japanese haha).
It's SOOOO good to have him home!

I think having to work till 9pm is really going to suck :( I won't be able to go to any sit and knits, or meet people for drinks at a reasonable hour, OR what i'm really sad about, cooking Joe dinner. I don't cook much while he's gone, and I won't get to cook for him on weekdays anymore! except for one day a week. I will get one weekday off, but i don't know if it will be a monday or a friday yet. I'm wishing for Fridays.

Can't-Finish-Itis

So, of all the projects that I have started this year, the number that I have finished is woefully small. In fact, of the projects I have started since January, I can't think of a single one that is in a wearable state! How horrible is that?!
To rememdy this I present The Red Sock. Yes, it is only one sock, for now, and to qualify as a Finished Object there must be two, but it's a good start, dammit! It's brother is about 6 inches into the cuff.

The Red Sock:



Fiber Trends Raindrop Lace socks on sz 3s knit with Fleece Artist Hand-Dyed Superwash Merino (I LOVE THIS YARN!)

I found Rhubarb!

I got an idea in my head while going to sleep Saturday night that I should make a strawberry-rhubarb pie, since strawberries are all on sale right now. So I made my crust dough, put it in the fridge and went off to buy strawberries, rhubarb and other groceries while it chilled. I knew i'd seen rhubarb at SuperFresh, and they DID have rhubarb, but IT WAS ALL ROTTEN!!! I was so pissed, and it was late, so I left without it. So my crust had to stay in the fridge.
Then on Monday on my way home I stopped at two more grocery stores, and not even the GOOD Safeway had Rhubarb! I'm so frustrated! I wanted my pie damnit! So i had to put my crust in the freezer.
On Tuesday I went out for drinks with friends and it was suggested that I try the Asian Grocery. I had overlooked the Lotte Mart because Rhubarb is a singularly American plant, and I've only ever seen it used in American food, so why wwould it be at the Asian Grocery?
Never underestimate the Supremacy of the Asian Grocery!
They had a whole bin of lovely, ripe Rhubarb :) YAY!
SO I made my pie! And the crust was AWESOME!
I don't think I'll do a lattice crust again though, it doesn't do a good job of keepingthe filling IN the pie.


and also I found these beautiful little hot peppers! I put a few in out spaghetti sauce last night WHOA were they hot!

Thursday's Sit N' Knit/Spi N' Spin

Last Thursday I joined the K1P2 Sit N'Knit group for some lovely lakeside socializing! We sat out on the patio at the Lakeside Cafe in Columbia, munched on lovely sandwiches and smoothies, and listened to live jazz-fusion! It was great :) Also great to see some friends I haven't seen in a while.
Thanks to JavaJem for this photo of me spinning!

Some would perhaps say that I "Look like I need a sandwich" in this picture, however, what did not make it into the photo was the huge chicken salad on croissant sandwich sitting in front of me, next to me awesome banana/coconut smoothie! mmmmmm I love their food!
Unfortunately, Sit N'Knit happens to fall on my clubbing night, so I don't often go. After July (when NATION in DC closes) I'm sure I'll make it out more Thursdays :)

Merino Tencel yarn

At MD Sheep and Wool I got EIGHT OUNCES of merino tencel blend roving to try spinning, which is the largest amount of fiber i've spun of the same kind yet. I'm slowly chipping away at it 2oz at a time or so. I'm spinning it to about fingering weight (on my drop spindle), then Navajo plying it. It probably would have been a better choice to do a simple double ply with it, but I wanted practice Navajo plying :P I'll figure out something to do with it.. I think it's about worsted weight when plied, but I haven't measured.

From this:


to THIS:

hhmm.. that probably would have been prettier wound in a hank, but I was too excited. Here's a detail:


This stuff is a JOY to work with, it practically spins itself! I've had no problems with it at all :) I still have a lot of it to spin up, but I wanted to share!

I was going to make a Navajo plying tutorial, but I need a few more hands to do it AND take pictures, so you can learn how I did, from HERE. Except, I seem to do it better with my other hand, but to each his own.

Fiber Trends Raindrop Lace Socks

Remember this yarn I got around x-mas?


I'm finally getting around to making some socks with it!
I love this colorway SOOO much! I want to dye my hair to match!
I needed a small, portable project to bring to my Granny-nanny job, and this is perfect :) Easy to pick up and put down, and the lace pattern, larger sock needles (sz 3) and beautiful yarn is keeping me interested :)

I decided on Fiber Trends Raindrop Lace sock pattern.

Here's my WIP!

And here i'm stretching it so you can see the eyelets. I think I'm going to give them to my Mom :)

Stitch Markers!

I finally got around to making myself some decent stitch markers. After dealing with pipe-cleaner or scrap yarn ones for over 2 years, it was time to dig out the wire and beads and take 20 mins to twist some up!
Here's what I did:

They fit up to a size US11 needle. I have some ridiculous glass fruit pieces waiting to become markers for my size 13-17 (or 19 even?) needles.
Here's my new markers being evaluated by the cat, Subi:


I believe they passed inspection and were deemed sparkly and distracting enough for general use.

WIP SHOT!
I'm currently working on another Glampyre minisweater!


This one is made with only one small change to the pattern so far (i'm only using one of the puff-sleeve increases/decreases). It is made of "Banana Silk" yarn made from banana leaf cloth. It is shiny and slubby and unfortunately quite heavy. At least it's just a minisweater and not a whole sweater :P I wanted to try some more interesting patterning with this yarn, but nothing shows up in it, hence the basic stockinette shrug. I have some black summer dresses that were just begging for a red silk shrug :)

Navajo Plying!

As you can tell, I've been doing a lot of spinning lately :P I spun up that wonderful angora-merino-silk blend bats I got from sheep and wool, but I wish I'd gotten a different color than the blue. It's a lovely blue, but I really don't LIKE blue much. Orginally I was going to spin or ply them together, but scrapped that idea.
I was able to spin my finest and most even single from this blend! The fibers drafted soooo nicely :) I want more of this fiber! I only bought an ounce of each color (one bat), and got a fairly long single from it.
The other day I found a video of Navajo plying using a drop spindle! (video is HERE) So I got right into that, and made a very soft, springy yarn that is about 13-15 yds long, of each color. It's not much, but it's a substantial yarn, I'd probably knit it on a 10, maybe even an 11. I'm thinking of making some goldfish-inspired wrist warmers, since this stuff is sooo buttery soft :)

On to the yarn!
This is before setting, fresh off the spindle. I think I plied it too tight, I got a little carried away :P Navajo plying is FUN!


close ups:



mmmm that orange is sooo yummy! I can't get over it! I've just been buying little bits of all different kinds of fibers to play with, but I'm definitely getting a taste for the more expensive! Next experiment will be the merino-tencel I got at sheep and wool!

BrownHeather yarn

More spinning!
This time I experimented with plying DMC craft thread with a thick and thin spun cardinal wool in chocolate, reds and blues. I had some difficulty with the wool, which was strange since the red-multi spun up so nicely. This one wouldn't draft evenly, so I had many times when I had to re-attach the fiber after it pulled out too much. Also, I didn't have enough of the craft thread in the right color to finish the skein, so I had to use purple for the last bit.

Here's the orginal single, pre-plying so you can see the colors:


I wanted to emphasize the turquoise, so that's what I used. The thread is varigated:


and here with the purple: