Spring Fiber Handling

This week, I didn't get much knitting in. Darn work keeps getting in the way.

However, I did get to do some dyeing and some spinning. I am continuing to work on my Pinkerton Shawl. There isn't much to see because I am still doing the stockinette stitch portion, but it is a very nice project to take to knit night or any other social situation.

I spun fiber all week. I was able to finish a project that I had started a couple years ago. I was spinning some black alpaca from Coldwater Alpaca Ranch. I have finally spun through all of what I had. Now, I have figure out my yardage and choose a project that I can knit with it. It will likely be a shawlette of some sort. I am very happy with the results. I blended in some crystal firestar as I spun it, so one strand has some

sparkle and the other is straight black.

I also spun more of the fall colored fiber that I purchased at Wool, Warp, and Wheel. These may sound vaguely like somethings I finished last week. In fact, they are. I am working to finish off this ball of roving as well. In fact, I hope to have it spun up by next weekend so I have a finished yarn to show. It will be nice to finish off these outstanding projects.

Yesterday, I participated in the dyeing party and my LYS, Hank of Yarn. We had some very interesting yarns dyed up. Turquoise and bright green, purple and chartreuse, red and salmon. Everyone's turned out beautiful. I used baby alpaca glow from Plymouth as my base. I chose fuchsia, turquoise, and purple for my colors. I call to final product "Supernova." The sparkle of the angelina makes me think of the night sky with this color blend.

Next week, I hope to have the search for the perfect bead completed. At that point, I will be able to start my In Dreams http://afewstitchesshort.blogspot.com/shawl. I have seen so many beautiful projects that have been started, I can hardly wait to start mine.

I also have made a purchase this week. I purchased the "Japanese Garden" shawl from Wendy Johnson at Wendy Knits http://wendyknits.net/. She has raised an amazing $3400 for Japan from purchases of this pattern. I encourage everyone to go to Ravelry or her website and purchase the pattern for yourself. It is a beautiful pattern and directly benefits those who are going through this horrible disaster.

That is all for this week. Time to get ready to face the new work week. TTFN.

This Week in Fiber

Well, I have made some progress this week. I finished my Gracious Tam by MinKnits from her KAL on Ravelry (picture around here somewhere). I love the pattern, but did not love my yarn choice. Bretton by Patternworks is better suited for a project that needs a stiff composition. I will probably use the rest for a bag. As for the pattern, I think this would be an excellent chemo hat project to donate for spring, summer, or fall due to the laciness of the pattern. I will likely make another one in a different yarn once I come acrossed one more suitable.

Due to the fact that this was spring break, I had time to do many projects that I usually would not have time to do (happy dance). I was able to block my Chinook shawl that I knit back in September. I purchased it a couple years back as a kit from Knit Picks. I don't know why I waited so long, but it is beautiful. OK, bad me, I didn't take a picture of it. One will follow later.

I received my fiber for the Knit Girllls' SAL/KAL(http://www.theknitgirllls.com/wordpress/) from Tempted. I highly recommend her BFL roving dyed in your favorite colors. Give her a holler over on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/temptedyarns?ref=pr_shop_more. I have to see how much yarn I make from 4 oz before I choose the KAL pattern. I am excited to get this project started. So excited, in fact that I finished two colors I have been working on. One is Black Jack naturally black 100% alpaca fiber from Coldwater Alpaca Ranch (http://www.coldwateralpacaranch.com/). I am mixing in some crystal firestar to make it shimmery. I also spun up some fall colored fiber that I purchased at Wool, Warp, and Wheel in Richmond, IL (http://woolwarpandwheel.com/). I am one step closer to finishing up those two colors, but I needed to clear the bobbins for the SAL. The rest will have to wait.

The saga of the beads for the In Dreams KAL goes on. I went up to my local bead shop and picked out beads. Once they are in, I will start my journey there and back again. If you get a chance, Susan Pandorf of Sunflower Designs is donating 10% of her profits to Japan relief and other charities. Her patterns are beautiful, and you will be helping a great cause. You should take the time to browse her site. http://afewstitchesshort.blogspot.com/

Finally, I received my Interweave Knits Spring 2011 edition a couple weeks back, and I decided to make the Pinkerton Shawl by Susan Dittrich out of some yarn I purchased at the Knutty Knitter in Yazoo City, MS. It is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn in the Caribou Creek colorway. I finished the first 22 lines of this pattern. It is going to be a long one since it is on size 4 needles and made out of fingering weight yarn. I am sure I will love it when it is done, and the pattern is ideal for knitting when you are at a knit-in or other social knitting event.

Yesterday, I found out an interesting fact. Signature Needles are made in my hometown, Kenosha, WI. The president of the company used to be my parents' neighbor. It is a small world, apparently. It makes me more proud to use their needles. Not only are they beautiful, purchasing them helps the local economy of my hometown. Go K-town.

That is all for this week. Live well, love others, and find time for your daily fiber. Until next time.

Spring Break Knitting

Happy Saturday. Today is absolutely beautiful, and I have been busy working on KAL stuff. I finished my Springtime Bandit KAL with the Odd Ducks KAL/CAL on Ravelry. I have to say that I really like the finished product. Above is a picture. I had some stash yarn I bought from the Coldwater Alpaca Ranch a few years back. I kept telling Cathy (ranch owner) that I was going to knit it up and show her what I made, but it didn't happen until I came acrossed this KAL. The alpaca yarn was perfect for this project. I think it was her herd blend, but I have to check.

As I review this pattern, it was a pretty easy knit. It is a very simple lace pattern that is a joy to work through. Once you get started, it doesn't require much attention. I personally had trouble remembering all of the yarn overs, but that is a problem I often have. I recommend this pattern if you are looking for a lace project that doesn't use lace weight yarn. I also think this would be beautiful if you made it with a aran weight, hand spun yarn. There should be many examples on the Odd Ducks KAL/CAL page once the month is over.

As you may guess, I am working on lowering my stash (aren't we all?). As of today, it is pretty sizable. I decided to start the "In Dreams" KAL on Ravelry (Lord of the Rings KAL group). I remembered buying some beautiful amethyst yarn at Hank of Yarn last year, so I went stash diving today and found it. I now have to find the right beads to match it and start that project. I was drawn to the idea of knitting pieces that were inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkein series and was also looking for a beautiful, intricate piece to work on. I have not beaded in the past, so I will be learning a new skill as well. I like to jump in with both feet, and this piece has 5,000 beads on it. I guess I will be a beading pro when I am done (or an anti-beader, I am not sure). I am looking forward to a beautiful finished product.

Another KAL I joined was the Min Knits KAL for her "Gracious Tam." I also found some stash yarn for this KAL. It is some miscellaneous lavender yarn I had in stash from Pattern Works, I guess I am on a purple kick today. I haven't done a tam in awhile, so it will be a fun little project.

As I progress through my knitting adventures, I hope to also keep up with this blog. I am not very good at keeping up with stuff, as you can see from my previous blogs, but I will try to do what I can. Until we meet again in the blogosphere, I wish you happiness in your knitting adventures.

Knitting on a Friday Night

I love a good Friday night at home. It is raining here, so I thought what better way to spend time than knitting. Right now, I am knitting on a pattern from the Hank of Yarn sock club. Lalaknits wrote a great pattern called Winds From the North using Mountain Colors handpainted yarn. I am about to finish the second sock. I will post pictures once I finish.

Summer Vacation Knitting

Well, it has been awhile since I have written. I teach, so school got in the way. We are now on summer vacation, and I have had some time to knit. I am still recovering from collecting new yarn, but I have refocused on making my own. I have two projects going right now. They are both in the spring 2009 Interweave Knits. I am in the process of finishing the Net Duffle Bag by Vivian Hoxbro. That project was a great way to learn and practice mitered squares. I also am learning the I cord bind off. To comment on the pattern, I forgot to count my squares (note, this might be an important step). Don't count the open squares; make sure that you count the actual squares. I added an accidental row of miters. I don't recommend it unless you really shorten the handle. This is already a large bag. I agree with other knitters who have done this project. Because the bag is so long, the handles may be shortened by half. I did not, so I have an extra long bag. I do love the bag, though. I made it with Linen Isle from Plymouth in a verigated pastel color (pink, light green, lavender, and light blue).

I also am STILL working on the Fountain Pen Lace Shawl. You can follow it in the KAL in Ravelry. I have ripped out the fourth and fifth repeats several times. Thank God for lifelines. You get them in life, why not use them in knitting. Unfortunately, I tempt fate a couple times before adding one. After two repeats and ripping it out, I decided to break down and add one. I also found out it is helpful to add stitch markers by every repeat, FYI. I am in the process of doing this, and I hope it will make counting and finding mistakes much easier. Once I finish my bag, I will be back on that. I love Lorna's Laces Helen's lace. I am using it in the color watercolors. I bought it originally because my late mother-in-law was named Helen, so it has some sentamentality to it. After this project, I hope I still love to knit lace. I think I need to get some lace needles. My Harmonies are OK, but I think the lace needles may help with the process.

Spinning news: I am also spinning some yarn. I made some worsted, rainbow color yarn from 8 oz blue faced leicester top from Frabulous Fibres. It is very nice material, and the yarn is very nice and squishy (yes, this is a technical term, OK I may be stretching it). I cannot wait to knit it. I also spun up a ball of roving I bought last summer at Wool, Warp, and Wheel in Richmond, IL. It was a mystery blend, but it is purple with firestar mixed in. The artist then added turquoise, yellow, and red to the purple before making the roving. It was about 6 3/4 oz. I really enjoy that yarn as well. I am not sure on the yardage on either one, but I will measure it on the McMorran balance to get an approximation. I am working on cleaning a cotswold fleece right now as well. I will experiment on dyeing this summer and see what results I get.

As you can see, there are a lot of fun things going on at my house. I hope you find time to enjoy what you are doing for the summer. I will try to update the blog more often.

I hope to add pictures soon, once I figure it out.

Spring Break Knitting

Thank god for lifelines. I reached the fourth repeat of the pattern on the fountain pen shawl, and for some reason I lost my ability to count. I had to rip it out about ten times or so before I got it right. I decided that I needed to find a new project for spring break so I didn't stress myself out. Something that took less concentration would be great for the plane and during down time.

Ok, geeky or not. I went to Ft. Myers for spring break, and I brought a new project with me. It was a good thing, too, because it was on an off raining while I was there (boooooo!). It was good to go see my dad for a couple days, though. For fear of having to mail back my needles and project, I left the fountain pen at home. I started the Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley. I had some yarn in my stash that I wanted to make socks out of, and these happened to be the ones. I bought some superwash merino/nylon blend yarn from LaLa's Knits in the Lost Boys colorway. It is a mix of purple, lime green, and brown. Sounds kind of weird, but it is actually very cool. The leg turned out almost candy striped (it wrapped down the sock in a spiral instead of just a straight stripe). I really like how the socks are turning out, and the yarn is very comfy on my feet. I finished one sock since Sunday. It is a great pattern for mindless knitting. You may consider it for your next SnB project. If you can count to four while you talk, you should have no problem. I actually follow the pattern of the previous row. I will finish the other sock and continue on the Fountain Pen Shawl now. Pictures should be coming soon.

One note, since my last post, I have fallen off the no yarn buying bandwagon. I fell off the wagon because my LYS, Hank of Yarn, received new stock that I could not resist. She brought in Plymouth Yarn's Mulberry Merina (52% mulberry silk and 48% merino wool). Talk about heavenly. Once I laid my hands on it, I could not resist. Have you ever had yarn talk you into buying it. Oh, wait, maybe that was my friend I was shopping with. :) Anyhoo, I bought that and some Cascade baby alpaca lace weight in a purple color. I also bought some sale yarn for a bag in the Spring Interweave Knits. I will post more on that once I get started.

Knitting Lace-One New Year's Challenge Being Met

Well, this year I have set some knitting goals for myself. One of these goals is to knit a lace shawl. Low and behold, there is a beautiful Fountain Pen Lace Shawl from Susan Lawrence in the new issue of Interweave Knits. It is also made out of a yarn I currently have stashed. I had a skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace yarn in Watercolors (a beautiful pink, lavender, blue, and olive color). I am hoping this will turn out nice. I already had to frog it because I didn't read the chart close enough. Note to self, watch which way the slashes go in the boxes or you will mess up your pattern. Lesson learned, and I am on my way.

On another note, I made an exception to buying yarn today. I could not pass up some cashmere lace weight yarn that was on sale at Hank of Yarn, my LYS here in northern Mississippi. I cannot wait to plan the project for it.