Cashmere Dreams

Maple Leaf Shawl

2009-07-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Maplewing is finally and officially a finished object!

There were a few modifications to the pattern: the yarn used has a finer gauge that what was recommended, so I used US 2.5s instead of US 5s. Since I had a shorter row gauge, but still had quite a bit of width, there is an additional repeat of chart B, and I used a double-stranded German twisted cast-on.

The edges were intentionally blocked asymmetrically to mimic a Maple Leaf. What do you think - did it work?

Pattern: Maplewing Shawl by Anne Hanson (Knitspot.com)

Yarn: Wollmeise lace-garn in Terra di Siena-dark

Yardage: About 175 grams from a 300 gram/1740 yd. skein

Knitting time: early April 2009 to June 22, 2009.

Needle size: 2.5 US

Almost...

2009-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Maplewing came off the needles about two weeks ago, and I suddenly realized that I needed blocking wires. A few friends said they would lend theirs, and after trying to remember who they lent them out last to (or trying and failing to locate them); I ordered a set for myself.

The wires arrived yesterday evening. After evening duties were completed, I soaked the shawl for about 60 minutes in wool wash. Seven wires were painstakingly wound through the outer points and central "spine" panel. After shaping and re-pinning the shawl, I checked my watch and realized that it took 140 minutes!!! On top of this, the only space large enough to pin it out was the queen size bed that I sleep in, so sleep was found elsewhere in the house.

The shawl increased 55% in length and 75% in width.

Look for final pictures in the near future!

Fall shawl - Now?

2009-06-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you find yourself working on unseasonable items.

Take for instance my shawl project of the last five weeks. That's right, I said five.

Hey now, there's over 47 thousand stitches in this shawl thus far. Is it just me, or does it look like a whole lot less work than this?

I decided to go crazy and knit the "tall" version of Maplewing. (Here's a Ravelry link to the project.) I loved the pattern instantly because of the leaf motif on the edge, the faroese shoulder shaping, and how it easily translates as a Maple Leaf! My version has a few deviations from the original pattern: it was knit with an extra leaf motif to the border on chart B, and has a double-stranded twisted German cast-on.

Ok, the skein on the left is the what I started with - Wollmeise lace-garn in Terra di Sienna (Earth of Sienna) dark.

Next to it is a picture of the shawl taken 3 weeks ago before the hosta below the stone wall exploded. Notice anything? Like how stinkin' hard it is to photograph this color?!? Seriously, none of these shots are accurate. The skein at the left is the closest depiction. It's a really pretty color - certainly not hunter-orange, nor a dull terra cotta.

Honestly, I can't wait for this shawl to grow up and become a huge wispy leaf of a thing. I'll be great to wear it this fall!

Rhubarbery

2009-06-05T14:07:00.001-07:00

Is there anything better in spring than sweet & tart rhubarb and a great pair of socks on the needles? I think not.

By now you all know that I love to knit socks. For a while now I've been thinking about Sue Grandfield's free Wollmeise Poppy sock pattern. (It's a Ravelry download.) Sue has also created a medium weight version. While digging through my stash, I thought "Rhabarber" (rhubarb) and "Frosh" (frog) 100% Wollmeise sock yarns complimented each other well. After knitting the corrugated ribbing, I absolutely loved the combination.

Unfortunately, the sock itself is too small to go over my high insteps. So, I'm deciding whether to change the classic Kaffe Fasset pattern motif, or to make short socks. Whatever decision is made, I will finish these socks-- and the second one will be knit with reverse colors!

Since it's the perfect time, here's a great recipie for spring. Enjoy!

***

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups rhubarb, pieces
- 2 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar (I often use half of this amount)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons orange juice. Sometimes I use orange zest, or other citrus juice.

Ingredients for Topping:
- 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)

- dash of vanilla (optional)
- 5 tablespoons butter
- Chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Butter an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
In a mixing bowl combine and toss the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and orange juice.

Transfer mixture to the buttered baking dish.
Mix the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
Cut in the butter with the mixture becomes coarse crumbs.
Mix in chopped nuts and spread over the fruit mixture.
Bake until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling (25-35 minutes).

Navajo Ply, certainly not on the Fly.

2009-06-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

After watching Cathy navajo ply on her spindle, I was tempted to try the "non fly" method on my spinning wheel. (Navajo plying a yarn allows you to turn a single strand into a 3-ply yarn.)

I started by picking out the roving below -- kettle dyed Jacob Humbug roving by Shunklies Jacob sheep are rugged, beautiful two or three toned animals that often have 4 horns. Their fleece is rough and tumble as well. It's not soft and plushy like merino, but certainly seems to be hard-wearing stuff. This particular roving has been dyed to create a perfect ombre from color A to B to C, then C to B to A. I really didn't want to disturb the way the color was dyed, so I went ahead and spun a single ply, then used the navajo method to create a 3-ply yarn. The final yarn was wound into a ball, and it certainly reminds me of a ball of Noro's Kureyon or Twisted Fiber Art's Dutchess once wound. This was spun around the time that my niddy noddy broke (it was used-- not that nice to begin with, and the wood split where a screw was holding it together), so I have no idea what the yardage is. I'm guessing that it's around 110 yards, and it's a worsted to aran weight yarn.

With it's rugged-ness I'm not sure I'd like to wear a hat from this yarn unless it was lined with something lush. An alpaca, angora, or cashmere/merino blend would be great!
You might remember the roving below from March. It's Bluefaced Leicester superwash (BFL- "the poorman's cashmere") inspired by spring flowers, even though I dyed it the previous fall. I don't know why, but I created seriously long repeats! Whenever you dye superwash roving, it has to be braided first (or set in a crochet chain). If you don't do this, the fiber can (and often will) detach from it's neighbors, and you won't have roving anymore!

Here's another look at the seriously loooooong repeats when the yarn was just a single:

The resulting yarn is fantastically soft, and is a dk weight of unknown yardage. I think this yarn is destined to become a pair of mittens! I think there might be enough for another small project, too. Perhaps I should set a goal to knit with my handspun!

Koigu Mash

2009-06-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do at a local yarn store is to dig deep into their koigu mill-end bucket and play with color. Unfortunately, this often leads to a handful of skeinlets and handing over of a piece of plastic before I walk out of the store. Although, I have to admit that I do really love the socks these skeinlets knit up into:
I used 6 kpppm skeinlets & two US 1 circulars for these socks. They were knit toe-up with Judy's Magic cast-on, and the sand stitch gussets were inspired by Marjan Hammink at Yarnissima.com. I did not use a pattern, and I learned quite a bit about how to create a smooth wrap pick-up on the wrong side. (One sock looks great, and the other one - not so much.)

All in all, they're my favorite socks knit to date.

Navajo Ply on the Fly!

2009-06-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Cathy taught Renee and I how to navajo ply on the fly! Here's how it all happened:

It all began when Cathy went to Madrona Fiber Arts (a.k.a "Madrona") last February, and apparently caught some sort of 48-hour fiber-enthusiast bug. She was filled with soo many ideas and concepts that she couldn't possibly sleep. How do I know this, I tell you it was all the late emails with crazy talk of ply-as-you-go spindle spinning! (Scroll down, waay down after you click the link on the left to see Cathy's post about this technique.)

A short time thereafter, Cathy and I were able to meet-up at the American Swedish Institutes' knit-out to celebrate the final week of the Bohus Stickning exhibit in Minneapolis.

After reading about her late-night insanity, I forced her to show me how to do this! Cathy pulled out her spindle with a smile, which looked like this:

See that wee loop on top? That's where the crochet chain was set to begin. Although we're really in a chicken-before-the-egg situation here. First, she had to prep fiber to spin a single:Isn't that shawl gorgeous? Go here to learn more about it.

Once a section of single was spun turning the spindle to the right, Cathy stopped and picked up the loop from above. Here she pulled the single through the loop creating thirds. This also creates a crochet chain:Here Cathy plys the chain together by spinning the spindle in the opposite direction as the single: Once complete, she attaches the loop and spins another single section. How cool was that?

Now, I think that spindle spinning is pretty amazing - perhaps I should give it a try again. Honestly though, I just love the speed and ease of a wheel. Do you know how long it would take for me to spin a four ounce bundle of fiber? Yeah, neither do I-- but I'm going to guess that it'll be just about forever!

Cathy is to Twisted Fiber Art as I am to Wollmeise. About a year ago I picked up a 4 oz. bundle of "Sleek", a superwash merino/tencel blend by Twisted Fiber Art roving. The colorway is Scorched. Sometime in March it just looked like spring to me - and a great color for Cathy.

So, I split the roving in two equal parts. The first half was spun with long color repeats, and the second half was split lengthwise into ten skinny pieces. These short repeats were spun, then plyed together with the long repeats to create a barber pole that will stripe when knit up:

Cathy just received the skein on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what she knits with it!

Therapy knitting & spinning

2009-03-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

My former work mentor is out of the hospital & his pain is medicated appropriately. He's started radiation -- and all we can do is hope that it'll shrink (and hopefully destroy) the tumor in his brain. On top of this, my current work partner has to have emergency surgery. So, my workload is about to double. Fabulous. Time for some therapy knitting and spinning!

Last fall at Yarn School I dyed pounds and pounds of fiber. I've only taken pictures of production from day one. Above is BFL superwash roving that was crocheted into a single chain braid before dying. It was soaked in water, doused in acid dye, sprayed with citric acid, covered in plastic, and heated in a microwave for about 5 minutes. The color turned out great, and I love the chromatography affect as the color spreads into undyed sections. I've started prepping this fiber to be spun. I'm a little stuck on a regular 3-ply, navajo ply, or fractal method. We'll see.

In the fall I like to knit autumn-looking socks. For some reason the colors above forced me to pluck them from the mill-ends bucket at Needlework Unlimited and begged to become a pair of socks. After a little play on figuring out a toe-up heel flap formula that works for different sizes, I found something that worked.

and finally, here's a pair from last spring that have been marinating in my desk at work. Again these are toe-up socks knit from Koigu mill-ends. Many cousins in my family have received a pair of hand-knit socks. These are destined for Mary!

Sadness

2009-03-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find yourself in a strange obsessive-compulsive state when upset? Tonight I found myself standing over the produce section trying to find the perfect blood orange, the perfect bosc pear, and trying to decide what varieties of apples to buy...

***

Work has been intensely busy, so there's little time to reflect during the day. Today someone whispered something in my ear - a message to be discussed downstairs. It was horrible, horrible news.

Up until ten months ago I had the most wonderful work mentor. We almost always shared the same philosophy and goals to serve. Working side-by-side on multiple projects, we never grew tired of each others' company. I always knew that I was lucky to have him help guide my career. He was certainly more disciplined than myself when it came to exercise and diet -- and I always aspired (I still aspire) to reach his level of devotion to health.

I was upset, yet happy to see him leave the workplace when he decided it was time to retire. He's been on my mind recently because we both just celebrated birthdays - and the candles from the cake I made last week were from his retirement party.

Ten months after that party he is now resting in a hospital just blocks from his former work space to mitigate severe pain. A hospital, I hear, who does not have fruit that lives up to his standards. He has an aggressive form of cancer. The tumor in his brain grew exponentially in the last two weeks and he's started to lose vision in one eye. Today was his first day of radiation therapy-- it's just too dangerous to surgically remove the mass.

We're going to have lunch together tomorrow. So, this evening I found myself looking for the perfect gala apple and perfect asian pear...

Focus on Finishing

2009-03-02T07:27:00.001-08:00

Anyone else currently forcing themselves to focus on finishing any languishing UFOs in sight around the house? My "Sock Drawer of Shame" continues to grow, and I have two unfinished sweaters who want to be worn sooner rather than later! (Wild Apple for me-- or perhaps my mom since she won't stop asking for a Turquoise Light Bohus sweater, Patrick for my brother.)

Hopefully by the end of March I'll have a few finished FOs. To get things started, here's the first one:

Last fall I started a pair of super simple socks at the same time. They were knit with koigu purchased from the Yarnery about three years ago. I used 2 US1 (2.25mm) k.p. circs with Cookie A's fabulous and free pattern at knitty.com: Monkey. (Yes, again!) The pattern was modified by knitting the purls, and changing YOs to M1s.

...and, they were too small. The results above were frogged in December.

I ripped back to the ribbing, and changed the M1s to YOs. This minor change gave me enough stretch to pop these tubes over my high instep. In retrospect, I'm really happy that I had to rip, because I just love the pooling results:

Now, I thought these were pretty short socks. Apparently Wollmeise sock yarn has really spoiled me with 510-575 yards/skein. Koigu only has 175yds/skein - thus a total of 350 for this pair. Right as I was decreasing I ran out of yarn! After a little stash diving I found a skein of dark brown koigu just for the tips of the toes.Perhaps this is a little silly, but I love knitting socks that match your lovely, well-worn shoes:

***

So, now I'm finishing another pair of koigu socks - this time from last spring!

"Happy Time"

2009-02-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated a co-workers birthday, and I ran into a slight problem with the cake that I prepped for her. The plan involved a great fat-free rainbow cake recipe from Aleta at the Omnomicon Food Blog. (It's a funny post, and a great theme cake.) I played around with the shape for a bit of a Seussian look. The candles, I thought, spelled out "Happy Birthday". When I assembled everything this morning, well... a slight improvisation was necessary:

"Time" was the best I could come up with out of "Retirement"!

February 26th is now official "Happy Time" day at work. :)

Here's a sample of what the tie-dyed cake looked like inside.

The cupcakes were all different colors.

Another co-worker wrote a "Green Cake with Icing" poem for her as well. Happy Birthday, C!

***

As a quick aside, thanks to friends, family and co-workers who have treated me like a queen in the past week for my birthday. (+ random Ravelry well-wishers as well!) From the fiber folks I loved the STR, spinning & natural dyeing books, crystal & pearl earrings, and great dinners out! To my family - what a treat to spend all day on Sunday with you!

Looking for a Knitting Break?

2009-02-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

Clara is 93 years young and is just a gem. Her recipes from the Depression era are not only thrifty, but they look mighty tasty as well. My family may not have ever been this inventive when cooking with potatoes, onions, and oil over and over again. I've embedded episode #3 instead of #1 because her reason for quitting school is quite surprising, and it's fun to see her grandson and friends dig into her just-off-the-stove meal. Enjoy!

Handspun on a Tuesday Evening

2009-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

+ gratuitous dog picture

Anyone a little tired of winter? I'm certainly getting there. Today the St. Paul mercury raised to a balmy 38 degrees (F). My lunch time walk was pure bliss.

My dogs have been living in their puppy parkas in my relatively cool house, and they're ready to take them off! (Sorry, I need to snap a pic of them. It's too adorable to miss!) Above is a rare moment for Toby-- sans puppy parka.

***

Honestly, I haven't quite figured out how to move pictures around in blogger on a mac. One of my favorite professors in college was a modernist who always stated that the only way to truly convey Dadaism in a lecture was to have an assistant project random Dada images for the entire conversation. So, here we go-- a post in Dada form!

***

For the past two weeks I've been spinning yarn to knit Deep in the Forest Mittens by Tuulia Salmela. As soon as I saw a pic of these mittens pop up on Flickr, I quickly added it to my "must knit" list. The plan was to spin squooshy fingering two-ply yarn. The trick was that I had different fibers for each of them.

For the background (white) I selected 4 oz of "Kansas Snow" roving from Art Club at Etsy.com, a glorious alpaca/llama/merino blend. This is Nikol Lohr's store, and yes - I did but this gorgeous stuff when I attended Yarn School last fall. The singles were unbelievably soft and squooshy. November kept on pushing them down on the bobbins and saying "wow. just wow." They were soo very different from the superwash sock singles I've been spinning. When I plied it against itself, and the yarn became the absolute opposite of the single. They were plied looser than I ply sock yarns, and I'm still mystified at the final resulting yarn-- a soft, dense two-ply that almost looks like a single. It did fluff up a bit after a soak, whack and dry-- but the plied yarn is a good deal thinner than the single ply. Clearly I have more to learn about this fiber combination. I was aiming for 200 yards per 4 ounces. The Kansas Snow came out to 208 yards in length.

The foreground (brown) is 4 oz. Crown Mountain Farms' superwash merino in "Wild Horses". Oh, is this a pretty colorway! The singles were just as puffy as the Kansas Snow blend, but no where near as squooshy. Once plied, it became a thick, poofy fabulous yarn that I expected the alpaca/llama/merino to end up. Wild Horses measured in at 210 yards once plied.

The really weird thing is that right after I took the picture below I wound both skeins into balls. They both became huge balls of the same size. Huh. After swatching, it looks like they will work perfectly for the pattern. The brown will pop out a bit from the natural white - but I think this will be a nice addition to the forest motif. It calls for 400 yards, so I should be fine-- but I also have enough fiber to spin another 400+ yards if necessary.

Over the weekend another five inches of snow fell. It certainly cleaned things up, but certainly doesn't help you at least pretend that spring is around the corner.

Last fall I spun CMF superwash sock singles in the "Born to Be Wild" colorway. They sat on my bobbins for at least 3 months. Last weekend I thought enough was enough, and I plied them while watching a so-so episode of "Meet the Press". (Oh, how I still miss Tim Russert!) It's about 650 yds of tightly plied fingering sock yarn.

When I posted this yarn to Ravelry in my stash, I couldn't help but call it "Soo Girly". It's not quite my taste, but will make for a great future gift!

Stonehenge Cowl

2009-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Was it last fall when I bought this beautiful BFL "Stonehenge" roving from Crown Mountain Farms? I remember Angela loved this roving after seeing it, and bought a bump of it, too. We both starting spinning at about the same time-- Interestingly enough, I think we both preferred each other's received version of the colorway. Mine (above) was pretty, yet muted. Hers had a bit more of a punch, and turned into this truly gorgeous laceweight!

I split the 8 ounces of roving in half and spun them into singles on my Reeves Frame. I did not use the fractal method. The color was spun just as it came.

The singles were tightly plied together, and I was really happy with the resulting sport weight yarn. All in all, there was 475 yards.
After letting the yarn marinate in the stash for a few months, I decided to knit the spiral cowl by Keri McKiernan with it. What a joy to be able to knit with yarn you have made!

After a wet block, it's just perfect.

Roy G Biv

2008-12-08T09:52:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend a friend mentioned to me that she thought my blog was in competition with another to see who could go the longest without posting. Heh. Without going into too much detail, the post below was started sometime in December of 2008~ I guess I've been spending waay too much time at work, or something. :) When I'm home and not working on a project I tend to spend too much time on Ravelry, too
****
Do you view your yarn-in-waiting as stash or a collection?

I've always had a project or idea in mind when buying yarn. It was always stash- Sock yarn took me in to the "Duh, it'll be socks" mode.

Well, ahh... here's a few socks' worth:

This is Wollmeise sock yarn, and it has clearly brought me right to collection mode like no yarn before! It's an addicting yarn, indeed. The colors are great, and my often-worn Wollmeise socks show NO WEAR. That's right, no wear at all!

For the most part I have greatly reined in purchases of other yarn in the past six months. (Although I could certainly use a full year break!) This was a greatly needed activity because of the Wollmeise purchases *and* new yarn coming off the spinning wheel.

Can you see the tree reflected on the screen? I wasn't kidding about December~ :)

Is it Time?

2008-12-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last summer I bought a few skeins of Casbah sock yarn at The Yarnery. (Ok, more than a few. There were six skeins in total.) It feels great, makes a great fabric, and washes well. Did I mention that it's cashmere? Ok, just 10%, but it feels like a much higher amount! I've just finished my 2nd and 3rd pairs of socks with the stuff.

The middle skein (pumpkin) was used to knit Slalom, a lovely sock pattern by Elizabeth Warner. (Ravelry link for pattern download) The heel was inspired by Cat Bordhi's 'sockitecture' concept. The purls between traveling stitches increase around the ankle, and the semi-traditional heel turn is a touch higher than a regular sock. You can see the heel flap above-- it's on the bottom of the foot. I modified the pattern by knitting with 1.5 US needles instead of 1s (tight gauge), and I added an extra pattern repeat.

The fit is great, and I love the way they feel!

Over Thanksgiving I spent a few days at the family cabin just like last year. During the first few days I read the second book in the Twilight series (yes, it's teenage literature!), and knit socks.

My aunt Sandy looooves pink, so I chose the skein on the right (above). Since our family is from Germany (Alsace Lorraine region--- the other side is from Bavaria), I thought Suzanna by Stephanie van der Linden on the Germain Creative Sock List (Yahoo group) might be a good choice.

Aunt Sandy seemed to agree. Here she is is in all her morning splendor. (I don't think she would appreciate this pre- hair & makeup pic on the internet, but I think it's great. :)

The socks were knit to pattern except for the instep. I added an extra ten stitches (half a repeat) to create two full motifs instead of 1.5. She really likes them, and I know I'll see them over and over again during future trips to the cabin.

I really love when handknits are appreciated!

***

For the past year I've knit with cashmere (blends) a good deal more than kitchen cotton. Is it time to finally change the name of the blog?

para el Diablo del Norte

2008-11-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm about a month behind with blogging.... behold, a Halloween post! (I thought I should sneak this in before I start chattering about Thanksgiving vacation...)

Over lunch in mid-October, I spent a number of days working on this weird piece of yellow knitting. It was sculptural, thus lended to lots of questions by co-workers and friends. This item was knit with knit picks worsted-weight "swish" in the yellowish tone, originally purchased for August's blanket.

Once it was finished, I overdyed the balaclava with Jaquard Acid Dyes in reds with a touch of black. This was a gift for a c0-worker of mine. When you have a serious fan of Dr. Who coupled with a history of being called "el diablo del norte" (which will not be explained here), how could I not resist this project? Also, it was his birthday.

Now I see creepy (yet fabulous) screen saver in neighboring cubicles.

Bokaclava is a fantastic design inspired by a classic Dr. Who episode called The Daemons. Apparently a demon sculpture named "Bok" comes to life and creates havoc.

Ok, so it was a little tight on him. It's one thing to try and gauge the size of someone's head in meetings - and completely another when faced with the actual size of said head (large-ish) with finished garment. Oh well. It is what it is.

This mask certainly created havoc at work. We all fought to see oncoming co-worker's responses to this Halloween outfit. It was hilarious.

Part of me hoped he would take the mask home and wear it this winter. You know, frighten the neighbors to bits when snowblowing the front yard and the like. Instead, it's been hanging out in his office. His future plans: hang it on the wall some sort of display for all to see.

If I were going to knit one again, I'd go for a heavier weight yarn. Aran would be a good choice.

A Post for Pam

2008-10-19T13:45:00.001-07:00

In The Skies
Originally uploaded by cashmere dreams

Pam is my "knitting over lunch" buddy on Tuesdays. She has heard me talk about some purple and blue handspun recently, but wants to see the evidence.

Pam, hon, this post is for you.

The roving is from Crown (crack) Mountain Farms. (Click the link to view their fall sale going on right now!)

It's 100% superwash merino in colorways "In the Skies" and "Layla". When you buy this roving it comes in 8.5 ounce bumps per colorway.

To the right is a photo of pre-spun "In The Skies" with Toby. Here he's showing his best, "Can we just go for a walk?" face.

Finally, a photo of the finished yarn. It's all approximately heavy fingering weight. The blue skein has 618 yards. I haven't checked to see how much purple there is.

The Harveyville Project: Yarn School Fall 08

2008-10-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went on a little road trip.As I drove through Iowa, the car had to navigate around hundreds of massive wind-harnessing energy-making thingies and Iowan airplane radar rays for hours. (..and, I, umm, narrowly escaped an Iowan speeding ticket!)Ms. Sassy lent her gps for the trek, and it made the 8.5 hour drive long - but effortless.

***

I went to Harveyville, Kansas to attend Yarn School - Fall 2008.
Fellow fibernista Nikol Lohr (of Naughty Needles and Art Club fame) purchased four rural schools in the middle of rural Kansas. She maintains the property with Ron, a tattoo artist and music enthusiast. The space is full of fun and interesting details - a perfect storm of creativity and space. (It's worth the drive just to see the school!)

Yoda is a six month old pygora goat from Laura's Pygoras. He's super cute, and he feels like heaven. Yoda and his pack joined us for lunch one day, alongside angora rabbits from Little Angora House on the Prairie.

Waking up on the second morning at Yarn School was an absolute joy. The corridor separating the two Harveyville school buildings was lined with gorgeous columns of dyed fiber.

We all spent hours in the dye studio (a former chemistry room) the day before with Adriane Bizla from Hello Yarn dyeing pounds of wool. ***We all received pounds of fiber to dye upon Yarn School check-in: superwash wool, Mashum, Corredale X, Blue Faced Liester, & a few ounces of sea silk, nylon, and sparkle for dye play. Some people brought yarn and even more fiber to dye, too.

Doesn't Felicia (pictured above ) look adorable in her new roving outerwear? :) She's never without a smile, and sells her dye work online at Sweet Pea Fibers. Over the weekend I had a lot of fun with Molly, who here is upset over a little color loss that morning. She kept on saying, "My carrots and corn ate the peas!".
Nikol set up an awesome batt-making station with six drum carders and buckets of different fiber to play with. I cannot tell a lie. I love the drum carder. Some day I'd like a Strauch!Nikol taught us how to make roving from the drum carder. You need a "diz" (a thingie with a hole in it) to pull the fiber through to create a uniform, consistent length.

Behind Nikol is one of my roommates from the weekend - Christine. I have to say both she and Lisa (unpictured) were great roommates!
Here's a set of batts that I made on the first day of drum carding. I started with a base of bamboo in a topaz color that I brought from home. 100% bamboo can be a pain to spin, so I combined it with random fabulous fibers in autumn shades. I'm really excited to spin these up!
Laid out on my bed was my fiber production from one day at Yarn School. That's right-- one day's worth.

We drove out to Alpacas at Wildcat Hollows Farm to visit the beautiful animals, buy some of their fiber (I purchased raw alpaca), and to eat a fantastic meal. It was a perfect aesthetic experience. The owners of the farm plan on starting two week-long stays. One will be around the time of shearing, and the other during the alpaca birthing period. I have to say, I'm a little tempted to go!

Adriane (below) showed us how to comb fibers. I have to say, the tools are wickedly sharp and a little scary. (Envision miniature pitchforks latched onto your table!) Although, she looks more than happy to comb all day long!

I stayed for an extra day with a dye lab extension. My car was busting with fiber on the way home. The roving below was still drying when I left in the morning.

All in all, I can't recommend Yarn School enough. My fellow attendees were diverse and wonderful people from around the US. We were surrounded by a community of people who more than understand our affliction for fiber. If you are interested in spinning, this would be a great first experience. (There are yarn school wheels to use.) If you are an expert spinner, there's a wonderful experience waiting for you.

I can't wait to go again!

Hurried Rush

2008-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like you're in a constant hurried rush? Over lunch the other day I quickly snapped a photo of the socks I've just about finished: The pattern is "Fluke" by Alarming Feminist. (Download is free on her blog.) I've just started the toes, and plan to finish them by Friday.

Unable to resist bright orange Wollmeise, I cast on for Julia Mueller's fabulous pattern "Entangled Stitches" last week. (Available as a Ravelry download.) Oh, do I love this knit! Perfect for fall - love the texture - and they're orange. Happiness.
Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Yarn School with the Harveyville Project in yes, Harveyville, Kansas. It'll be a long drive, but I'm looking forward to spending time with unknown fibernistas and learning new spinning & dyeing tricks.

Color Phase

2008-09-08T06:27:00.001-07:00

Why does something as simple and basic as color hold our fascination every single day? As a child, nothing was more exciting than selecting your favorite crayon from the box. At work I love seeing how coral looks great on every skin tone, and I continue to detest the mushroom color of my cubical walls. Now, nothing is more exciting than picking out the perfect wall color-- or perusing your Wollmeise stash for the best saturated colors...
-
Are you someone who has a constant favorite color, a favorite set of colors (warm vs cool?), or are you like me-- you find yourself going through color phases? I'm certainly stuck in one right now: bright-sunshine-orange.
-
Last January I started a pair of socks that I originally classified as "losers". After a little leg shaping, the chevron pattern sucked in too many stitches for me to get the sock over my large instep. Talk about knitting too small of a gauge swatch... Over the summer I ripped it out and started again - and I just loved how they turned out.

I still love the shaping, though. I love it enough to pay with gauge and re-knit this pattern again! I've had a number of requests for this pattern from people who saw them at the Minnesota State Fair Creative Activities building (they won a blue ribbon in the Textured Socks category) and from folks on Ravelry.

So.... yes, I'm writing up the pattern. I'm going to change the ribbing to flow into the chevron pattern, and chart out the leg shaping as an element to add if you wish.

The first copies will go to people who will be taking a sock workshop class at Bella Lana in Minneapolis this October from me. I'm really excited to be teach a knitting class again! Project details:

Start/end: January-July 2008

yarn - Wollmeise Sockenwolle in Sonne M

needles - knit picks circulars in 2.25 and 2.5mm

pattern - coming soon!

***
Coming up: A spinning update & most recent knits: a pair of Poison no. 5 socks and Entangled Stitches gloves (Gorgeous pattern!) in the Wollmeise SOS- Save Our Souls crazy-bright-orange colorway. Wow, are they bright!

Night Swimming

2008-07-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, all right. It's been a long while.

I haven't stopped knitting or spinning like a mad fiend, just stopped blogging and uploading Flickr/Ravelry photos... A big reason why is a recent trip to the North woods of Minnesota.

Extended family and friends joined us, although this was the first trip since 2003 with my brother. He loooves to fish. So, we fished every.single.day. We had a lot of success on the Little Big Fork River. For the first time in my life I caught something other than a lake Perch. I couldn't believe this tiny river had Walleye, Northern, Large and Small-Mouthed Bass, and an armada of massive Suckers.

He's a Rosie-Grier style needlepoint guy, but I did teach him to knit:2008 is a wet, buggy year. The boys had tons of fun in the mudd-
My brother did not.
hee.

I bought these shoes for him during the last holiday. Looks like it's time for another pair!
At the lake I knit in and out of the water. These are Wollmeise socks that have recently been finished, and I love them. Also, I worked on a pair of Cashbah socks for my aunt in lace from the far-right skein.

Mid-vacation there was a slight canoeing mis-hap, and my once-lovely Canon took a final picture of the weeds ---

--and now produces images like this!

It's an impression of my cousin, and yes- this is as good as it gets!~ Once again, time to re-learn that water and electronics don't mix.

So, I'm shopping for a camera. Any recommendations?

Just Two Years!

2008-07-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Spinning update:

There hasn't been much going on in this category. I'm still upset with my stupid drive band that keeps on growing in size. (Note to self, must try sewing a cotton drive band.) A week ago I did force myself to give navajo plying a go, though. I've watched others do it, and after a few minutes of frustration I found a rhythm. This is four ounces of targee/bfl, merino, and angelica from Traveling Rhinos in "Chasing Rainbows". The photo below gives you a sense of how the yarn gradates from color to color.
After Two Years, Who's Counting?

Four-ish? years ago Knit Picks came on the scene. I was fascinated by how cheap their alpaca prices were, and quickly ordered four skeins of their laceweight in Tidepool to compare to Misti Alpaca Laceweight, which sold for $4.40ish at the same time. If memory serves me right, I paid $3.49 per skein, approx. $1 difference. The KP yarn was the same quality as far as I could tell, exept the yarn had a fabulous heather in each color - and Misti only had the same in their dark mossy grey/green. (The same holds true today.) The skeins I received appear to have much, much longer yardage than 440 each. I used 2.2 balls only double stranded for a 78 x15.5"
stole/scarf.

After swatching with the yarn, I decided to knit a shawl with two strands held together on a US 6. Madli's Shawl from IK was calling my name.

I started the shawl and loved it. After two weeks I was bored. Over the next TWO YEARS I worked on it here and there. Finally last weekend I wove in the final ends. As lovely as she looks, she's much better on your neck. What a joy to wear!

On the Road Again

2008-06-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

just can't wait to get back on the road again...

In the last week we were forced to leave our beautiful workspace where previous sock kong citings occurred. The new space is just too depressing to show, although I did get a promotion. (Woo for sustainable, & livable wage!) On top of this, I'm back to traveling 'round the state- and the next few weeks are full of travel days.

****

Last weekend I finished knitting the short version of Laminaria. Aside from the first row of the last chart not printing (prompting an emergency rush-hour phone call to Deepa to save the day), it's a stellar pattern. Someday I'll probably knit the longer version. During all of last week I asked friends and co-workers what they thought of the army camo-ish variegation. There were 12 likes and only4 dislikes. Here's a reminder of what it looked like:

Minutes after finishing the shawl I knew I hated it and started drawing up a dye bath. Bright, light lime-y green didn't cover the tan/brown, so I blued-up the solution and darkened just until it covered the variegation just enough for a monochrome green. I tried to maintain as much color intensity as possible, and am really pleased with the results.

The tips were dyed lighter than the center, thus a slight ombre to the finished piece.

Go on, knit one or two Laminaria shawls yourself!

Back to Blogging

2008-06-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello dear readers,

Sorry for the recent 2-week blogging hiatus. No, I wasn't on n a fabulous vacation --haven't had one of those for years. We're in the midst of transitioning work spaces, so it's been busy-ish, but I shouldn't have neglected you or the blog for this long!

Before talking about recent knitting projects (I'll save spinning for another post), there was one really exciting event that I was lucky enough to attend last week in my hometown on 6/3/08. Any guesses?

We waited in this massive line for a few hours.

Eventually we walked in serpentine fashion, deposited beverages & umbrellas outside and found seats. Via cell phone texting & mini web page browsing during the wait we learned that Barack Obama was the Democratic party nominee. Wahoo!

Shortly thereafter the headliners arrived on stage.Here's a view of what it's like to see Obama speak from the nosebleeds. The crowd was fired up and ready to.... make lots of noise. At times it was soo noisy that I 'heard' the speech by reading the prompts on screen.

serious yay!

***

A co-worker of mine recently gave me a lovely gift - basenji sock blockers. They were patterned after a Fiber Trends blue blocker size medium, although these are thicker and taller than the pattern.

He used oak for the foot/leg, and used walnut to join them together. Apparently he also made the brass hanger, too. (He is not taking orders for future blockers. Sorry.)Here's how it looks in action -

(and yeah, I finished the Monkeyfish socks too. :)***

Since it's summer, I'm back to lace and sock knitting full-time.

Laminaria projects kept popping up all over Ravelry, and I just couldn't resist anymore. Laminaria is a form of kelp, and it seemed to want to be green-- you know?

Last week I pulled a skein of yarn from the stash purchased from an (unknown) etsy seller for a short shawl to match a green wool tulip skirt that I wear in the fall. The yarn itself is a lovely 2-ply. One ply is silk, the other is wool. It does have the dry, papery feeling of some wool/silk/cotton blends. (Think Jaeger Trinity)

Once received, the color was much too bright for the skirt. The more I knit with it, the more this variegated shawl started to look like nasty military camo gear. Uggh.

So, once I finish knitting Laminaria, I'm planning to over dye the shawl via immersion- perhaps ombre green, darkest at the tips?

At lunch-time, I've gone back to a one-time loser project to start anew. So far, so good.

Modern Libraries, Gaping Fish?

2008-05-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Modern Libraries: quick thoughts on E-books & opinions of librarians

I let my political leanings slip earlier when I mentioned how fabulous I think Al Giordano's The Field is - so I'll share a recent situation from the week:
A few nights ago I decided to walk 10ish blocks to the local libe and pay off that overdue fine from 3.5 years ago to check out a few books. I was pleasantly surprised to not only find the books I was looking for on the shelf-- but one was available as free e-audio books as well! Shocking. I asked about this feature in depth (again, shocking!), and both librarians had no idea it was offered. period. After reading the fine print, about 400 books are currently free to download in the St. Paul public library system as long as you have a personal PC or MP3 with media player formats. (I have a mac book and ipod at home.) These downloads don't expire after a set period of time, either. Anyone else shocked at this? It's really cool - but no end period, ever? Suffice to say, I checked out the books pictured below:

Once one of the librarians looked at them and made a Ferraro-esque comment to me. [That is, words G. Ferraro has become infamous for saying during this primary election.] I'm sorry --and perhaps this is post-feminist of me-- but should one forward primary gender-based vitriol onto patrons of the library? Aren't you there to help people find resources and inform the public-- not offer your opinion (in an offensive way) to the people? I just smiled and said, 'check me out please' instead of offering... well, my strong feelings on the subject.

***
Since this is a knitting blog, do these socks look like gaping fish just out of the pond & on the dock? I can't knit them without thinking 'fish', 'gaping fish drowning in oxygen'. Last night I started decreasing for the toes, and I'm hoping to finish them at lunch today.

During the last post I might have mentioned how much I have enjoyed knitting with Handmaiden's Cashbah sock yarn. Since spinning has taken over at chez Cashmere Dreams, I've been really good about buying only pre-yarn materials, not actual yarn. These socks made me fall, and fall hard. It's the cashmere blend, I swear! The Yarnery had a new shipment in this week.

Weekend Spinning

2008-05-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I was supposed to garden...

Plant, garden, garden, plant. Instead, I played outside without doing any work - and spun a little bit. (Co-workers did come to take some well-propagating zebra grass on Saturday. That counts a little, right?)

So, here's some Crown Mountain Farm BFL roving that you've seen before in Stonehenge.

The singles were spun up - 4 oz. per bobbin last week.

After plying, I washed the skein and placed it in the shower for drying. (Yes, I had to move it to shower last night.)

The 8 oz. spun up into about 475 yards of light fingering weight yarn. What do you think about knitting Laminaria with it?

I had a small amount that didn't fit on the large skein. It dried pretty quickly, and I was able to take an accurate color shot:

***

The Twisted Fiber Art shop opened up two weeks ago, and I purchased a wee bit of roving from them. One was a skein of Guardian-colorway- in 'lively' - superwash merino. (Cathy gets the enabler badge for starting my wee addiction to this fiber line.) My hank of Guardian had dark purple instead of black - which I loved.I used the fractal 2-ply method for spinning the braid. This creates long striping barberpole yarn. Here's a quick how-to I learned on Ravelry:

1. Split the roving in half. 2. Split one half lengthwise in multiple strips. (here, I had 10.) 3. Spin the first half with looong color repeats. 4. Spin the second half -the short repeats- on a separate bobbin. 5. Ply together.

You can get a sense of how the yarn stripes when it's on the bobbin.Off the bobbin and on the stretcher (niddy noddy, although I like to type 'knitty noddy'), it just looks like barberpoling handspun. Ze stripes have disappeared!
***

When I spin, the wheel is right next to a window and the couch. Both dogs like to either wistfully look outside, or seemingly glare at me for spending time with fiber instead of them. Here's a little proof with Paco pics:

Spring! (monkey edition)

2008-05-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to prove that I haven't completely gone over to the spin side, here's my latest knitting project:

Yeah, I'm knitter #15,637 to finally knit a pair of Cookie's Monkey pattern. Honestly, I don't know why I waited-- there's noting short of love for this pattern once the purl stitches are replaces with knits. It's great, I highly recommend it-- and yes, I'll be knitting another pair!One more modification here - Eye of the Partridge Heel was used instead of a regular slip stitch. I love the way EOP looks in variegated yarn, and I actually like the fabric it creates better than the semi-ribbed slip stitch version.

The yarn used, oh - again, pure love: it's Handmaiden/Fleece Artist's Casbah. It's a merino, nylon, cashmere superwash heavy fingering blend that can only be described as near perfect sock yarn. Some people (a minority?) may think the blend feels a little velvety - I think it's cushy soft and fantastic. This yarn receives a thumb's up from me.

***

Signs of spring at work-- a large bird's nest directly in view of skyway walkers in downtown St. Paul. Still no signs of life within, though. ...and here's the nest that stopped me in my tracks. Between the 400 Robert and Town Square building there is a marble enclosure with anti-pigeon effects. These include a substantial fake plastic owl hanging by a rope with light-up eyes and a bed of nails tucked into the marble niche to stop birds from seeking shelter in this spot. Low, and behold- pigeons have created a nest of their own poo on top of the bed of nails. I counted four babies and one un-hatched egg stuck between the nails. Two adult pigeons at the nest a few hours later. What a precarious beginning to life.
***

A co-worker gave me an antique men's sock blocker - size 12- a few weeks ago. I keep forgetting to take a picture of it! A woodworker in the office asked me what the heck it was. After a short explanation and demo, an offer to make a set that fits came up. The next week he asked me what kind of dogs I have. The sock blockers aren't ready, but a prototype did end up on my desk this week. How cool is this??? I'm about to have a set of Basenji Blockers!

As always, Toby is thrilled for his human. :)

surprise gift + meme

2008-05-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

When I came home last night there was a large box waiting at the front door. Instead of running inside to take the dogs for a walk, I decided to open it right then and there-- Look at what was inside!It's an unexpected gift from Cathy-Cate -- a Sheep-to-Shoe kit in the Eggplanted colorway. She went to Sock Camp a few weeks ago picked this gorgeous kit for me. Thank you so very much. I just love it!

***

Last week Carolyn at Yarn Therapy tagged me with a "Five things about you" meme, so here goes. Since I'm not a meme person I'll go ahead and humor you - but will follow just a few of the rules. I'm not going to tag anyone - but if you want to play along consider yourself tagged and read the rules here:

1. In high school and through most of college I listened to a stellar radio station. Here's the honorarium website for Revolution Radio. Once it went off the air there was a very long and sad radio drought. Brian Oake ran to Cities 97, and Mary Lucia had completely disappeared... Then a gift came from Minnesota Public Radio – The Current is the best station that we've heard in the Twin since Rev 105 was taken off the air. Eclectic playlists are back! Who doesn't want to hear Patsy Cline with their Jayhawks and Atmosphere? Local Minnesota music is highlighted, DJ’s and listeners actually pick a good deal of the songs. Interested in listening online? Just click.
.

2. Like Rosie Grier, my brother loves his needlepoint. As a video game aficionado (especially old-school Nintendo like Zelda), he has been known to design a pattern or two – a melding of two passions into one. He has zero interest in knitting, but thinks spinning is cool. His girlfriend wants him to stick to needlepoint only-- they live in a space-challenged one bedroom condo.

.
3. I have two collections in my house- the first is obvious. The second: Dansko shoes. I’m now up to nine pairs, one of which should be thrown out from serious wear.

4. One of my undergraduate majors was Art History. This gave me an excuse to visit Europe repeatedly throughout college. Man, was I spoiled! I never go anywhere now.

5. I grew up on a hobby farm in a small town in Minnesota. We had to drive 30 minutes to get anywhere. Now my brother and I both live "in the big city". (St. Paul really isn't that large. :) We had a constant revolving pasture door of animals. Chickens and wild barn cats were the only constants. Sometimes we had Holstein cows, ducks and geese incubated from eggs, few horses until the teenage years hit, and often had sheep. Two old neighbors would come in their overalls to shear the sheep, my parents threw the fleeces out. Hurts to hear, doesn't it?

.
6. Well…. Here’s an extra one. (note: not following rules again. is that officially #7? :) Usually I read knitting/spinning blogs only. With the crazy US political scene around us, I was nudged by Erik to start reading Al Giordano’s “The Field”. (He's also the creator of Narco News.) Once you click and start to read, you’ll quickly find out that I’m an Obama supporter – as (nearly) all of us who devotedly read this genius of a blog are. Al has helped me weather the crazy storm of a primary season thus far with stellar examples of true journalism, spot-on predictions (check out his Super Tuesday picks – then the results. Wowza.), sarcasm, and a touch of reality when "Chicken Littling" started to set in. Seriously, he’s the best thing since sliced bread. If I could only read one website during the day, this would undoubtedly be it. (I also read Politico – Ben Smith in particular, and Mark Halperin’s “The Page” at Time.)

***

Last night I finished spinning singles from Crown Mountain Farm's Blue Faced Leister roving in Stonehenge. I started to ply the two bobbins below together--and my driveband popped off. The cotton just split in two right by the knot. I'm going to take Angela's advice and will try a thin stretchy drive band from Paradise Fibers. It's the same one used on a Lendrum, but a great deal thinner. Anyone actually know what the band is made from?

Shepherd's Harvest 2008

2008-05-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here we go, it's the annual Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival re-cap - 2008 Edition.

The markets were larger this year by about 1/2 of a building. There were three buildings packed with vendors with festive banners above: Smiling faces with new wool-y purchases were around every corner.

Kerry had just picked up her processed fleeces from Morning Sun Farms. (Correct me if that's not the right farm- I'm new to this processing thing.) Click the link to see what's inside those bags!

Miss Amanda was working on her stash once again. She had just picked up some gorgeous 2-ply silk laceweight for a shawl.
Marge, Pam, and Myriah were just starting their adventure at this point. (I was walking to the car at 9:15 a.m. with my first purchase - see below.) They did not leave light-handed, either.

No matter when you walked through the second building, there was music to hear.

My mom loves sheep skins. She found great steering wheel covers, and purchased one. I popped in on her neck, then couldn't get her to take it off all day long. Argh. :)

Apparently she now wants one for every vehicle in the family.

Lots of bunnies for sale-- isn't he cute?

Here's where I confess and tell you about stash acquisitions. My plan was to buy pre-yarn items only - including ONE fleece. Just one.

The event opened at 9 on Saturday, and here I was at 9:09 at the RiverWinds Farm booth. (I couldn't find them on the map - but they were pretty easy to find with a quick scan.) The 4.5 lb bundle of Cormo fleece on the table went home with me.

I purchased Jasmine's fleece. She was the grand champion winner two years ago at Shepherd's Harvest - but is a touch out of her prime and was not entered in the competition this year. Apparently I'm lazy today-- for more information on how to buy one (or combed cormo roving for $20/8 0z! What a deal!), click to embiggen the image for info.

Cormo is incredibly soft and lovely. It's kinda like cashmere, but a step or two down. I'm not sure of the micron information - but I am planning on spinning thin singles and plying tightly to avoid a yarn that will pill.

I'm thinking of perhaps trying a natural dye to create a light tan - perhaps Am Kamin would be just the right pattern for a sweater if I get gauge. The fleece is unwashed, although Jasmine was coated - and her fleece was skirted. The lanolin is definitely there- but it's actually really nice. Many fleeces feel really gross and slimy to me. I'm actually thinking about 'spinning in the grease'. This means that you don't wash the fleece before spinning the wool into yarn. Imagine wool with lotion in it. :) Remember how I was going to buy one fleece? Well, I cheated. Burr Oak Farms sells washed fleeces in 1 lb. bundles. There was a gorgeous bag of Border Leister Lincoln cross looking me in the eye - and for $10, how could I refuse? After walking around with the fleece for an hour, I came back and purchased another pound from the same fleece. I spent $20 for this gorgeous wool! Ivy was her name, and what a sweet fleece she has.

I have to say, I'm more excited about this fleece than Jasmine. Yes, the tips are bleached blond - and yes, a few tips broke off when I started carding. Breakage was minimal and I just created a throw-away pile on the table. The basket above has about 3 oz. of carded fiber in it.
Here's a close-up of the bag, and locks are below. The staple length is approximately 5.5", and Ivy is primarily a light grey. There are many, many shades in the wool - from blonde to a dark, dark grey. Most of the fleece isn't this sun-kissed, but I have to say I just love it. What a sweet fleece.

So, in 2008/2009 you're about to see a good deal of spinning with natural colors - and some natural dye experimentation. My goal is to spin and knit at least one sweater from a fleece purchased.

Due to rain, I didn't visit Llama Magic this year.

Ah, well. Something to look forward to next year.

Fiber Forward

2008-05-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

Minnesota fibernistas, this weekend's Sheep and Wool fest in Lake Elmo, MN is almost here. Shepherd's Harvest will make for an exciting (and wet) weekend. I hope to see you there!
(I'll be around Sunday morning just after 12 noon outside of the lunch building for the Ravelry meet-up. Stop by and say hello!)
***
Over a month ago I purchased 8.5 oz of superwash merino roving from Crown Mountain Farms in the "Oh Pretty Woman" colorway. Here's what it looked like after I opened up the white package:

CMF does this cool thing when dyeing sock yarn: The roving is continuous, but the dyework is not. One half is always brighter/more intense/darker and the other is lighter/subdued/less intense (depending on colorway). So, here I've split the roving in half per dyework:
After pre-drafting, the roving was spun into singles:
Singles were plied together, and after a little wash gorgeous sock yarn emerged. (These photos were taken early this morning, and color on my screen is not 'true'.)
In total, 8.5 oz spun into 650 yards of fingering weight yarn. I thought this might be a good fit for this Lacy Cable Knee Sock pattern.
***

Two months ago my Wednesday night knitting buddy Addie (pictured front and center here) welcomed a baby boy into her family. A group of us (Renee, Deepa, November, Connie, Marge, Jeanne, and I) knit a group project for the little guy. We did not know the gender at the time. It's the Mason Dixon Moderne Baby blanket in Knit Pick's Swish. We had a great deal of discussion over the color combination-- and I was relieved to hear her say, "I love it. It's just my colors." last Wednesday evening.

Since most people give gifts for the new baby, I though the new mom might like something for herself:
Here's a better pic of the handspun. I used Hello Yarn's Wensleydale in an unknown colorway (Strata?). It's approximately worsted weight and 125 yards. Did I mention that Addie really likes green? :)

never say never

2008-04-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a pair of koigu socks knit from scraps from a Charlotte's Web shawl:

(These were both pre-blog projects. Shawl was a gift.) They've been great socks. I love the way they've worn over the past 3 years.

Well-- up until yesterday, anyway:

Before I noticed the hole in my sock, I was chatting with uber-sock knitter Holly about how I've never had socks wear out before*... yep, it's o.k. Laugh. After recent wear-outs, she's given up and now is going to use commercial sock yarn (nylon blends) only. I've decided to boycott Rowan Soft 4-ply for now.

Bad Heels! Bad! Bad Rowan 4-ply Soft!

(*I did walk right through my kitchnered toes on my first socks. They don't count-- that was just kitchner gauge incompetence.)

being good to yourself (and house)

2008-04-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend new windows were put in, and they are great! It was a little painful to pull out Oak and replace with Vinyl due to cost-- but the cold draft in the living room and bathroom is gone! (The house is well-insulated, but the previous windows were not.)

I'll never have to carry heavy window parts around again-- and paint/caulk/re-screen/re-glass the storms and screens on a bi-annual basis. (I gave up on this effort last fall.)

So, here they are:

My dad's friends put the windows in, and I swear he must have uttered the phrase, "don't worry, my daughter will clean that up" at least 20 times. My house was clean on Thursday, and absolutely filthy when they were done. It would take two minutes to clean your boots, guys. I spent a good 2.5+ hours sweeping, vacuuming & mopping the floors/rugs. Argh!

One of my duties over the weekend was to clean up clutter on all surfaces. Yeah, that happened all right. (I'm knitting here, but you just can't see it.)
In other exciting house news, the upstairs bathroom toilet was replaced. It's soo exciting that I'll skip a photo for this one...

**********

Uncle Sam owed me a bit of cash after my yearly taxes were filed. Instead of being a responsible adult and invest further for retirement, I purchased a few lovely items:

Shoes: Dansko Lotus in Pomegranate.

As some of you know, I'm a partial amputee. All of my shoes are purchased through Nordstroms at no extra cost for different sizes. (Bless them for making me and other "Intentionally Mixed Mate" purchasers their tax write-off!)

Do they make you think 'tulip', or is that just me?

Smart Phone: Treo 755

My 2 year contract was up, and my

brother J found a fantastic deal that I couldn't refuse.

Spinning Wheel: Rick Reeves 19" Wheel Frame.

(now completely paid for!)

Man, I love this wheel.

It's been at my house for a few months now, and it spins wonderfully.

Ok, I've done my part to boost the economy. Time to start saving again!

In search of leafy green

2008-04-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lunchtime park knitting returns.

Note: root beer water. The city of St. Paul hasn't cleaned out the fake river yet. The holiday lights are still up. I love how they sparkle in the sun.
As you can see, the trees are still bare. I'm waiting in suspended animation for that wonderful burst of chartreuse-- when the baby leaves burst all over in spring. Last year this happened from April 24-27th. Since nature isn't ready to supply the leaves just yet, here's my latest sock. It's a 2-at-a-time toe-up Koigu number with a leaf-like pattern. Well, at least a geometric leaf.

Over the weekend I organized the stash, and put all started projects away in the yarn storage --the 'yarn-oire' downstairs. All untouched stash went upstairs. Hopefully this move will help with project monogamy. It's a good exercise to count how many pairs worth of sock yarn you own, and how many sweater's worth.

I really shouldn't buy any stash for the next three years. Perhaps I should place this photo in my car and look at it every time I get the urge to buy that "needed" skein of sock yarn or malabrigo. Think it'll work?

Exciting Bohus Class + Announcement

2008-04-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I was lucky. Lucky, indeed. There was an opening in the Bohus Stickning class on during this year’s Minnesota Knitter’s Guild Yarnover event - and I was able to use it. Wahoo!

Bohus Stickning (Bohus knitting) has this fantastic duality:

1. The designs and garments are gorgeous: fantastic studies of color, absolutely gorgeous designs, and high-quality wool blends for absolutely dreamy knitted fabric.

2. The story behind Bohus Stickning is terribly facinating—it’s creator Emma Jacobsson was quite a woman. She started this cottage industry due to economic need: a world-wide economic downturn + a gravel industry gone bad in Sweden (asphalt roads!) left families in need of sustinance. Bohus garments truly were luxury sweaters knit by this cottage industry for the very rich to wear* Two owners: Grace Kelly & Eartha Kitt

To me, this combo-platter is utterly inspirational. To learn more, you might want to pick up Wendy Keele’s book Poems of Color: Knitting in the Bohus Tradition.

The class, taught by Susanna Hansson (below) was absolutely stellar.

She's holding up an authentic Blue Shimmer garment from her extensive collection.

Over the years, this design was the most popular with the public.

Susanna has thought through how to keep her audience entertained as she talked about the fascinating history of Bohus knitting: wind gorgeous bits of angora/merino fingering-weight yarn!

Here Susanna demos how to avoid nasty puckers in your colorwork:

The class project was a wee taste of Bohus knitting: Blue Shimmer wristlets! Aren't they adorable? (Some knitters elected to make sock cuffs instead).

Here are two examples of wristlets from Susanna's collection.

They're different. Do you like one more than the other?One is knit with bohus texture (left), the other is knit plain- just like regular fair isle work. Of course, Bohus knitting also often incorporated multiple colors per row instead of fair isle's mainstay of two.

Fellow classmates Pam and Paula work on their wristlets.During a full-day class, I didn't get much further than this. Apparently I talk too much, take too many breaks-- or am an exceedingly slow knitter! :)

I knit the largest size-- but should have opted for at least one size smaller. They're loose, but still lovely.

At the end of the class we lined up our work. My favorite part of the class was spending time with Susanna's gorgeous collection of Bohus garments. They're absolutely dreamy.

If you are petite enough, you could try them on. Here Pam wears a non-authentic Bohus garment. It's the Large Lace Collar design, and is knit with bohus-quality yarn. The sweater, however, is not true to design. Susanna surmised that a Bohus knitter decided to make this design 'update' for a sweater of her own. Pam also tried on the blue variant of The Egg:
I just love this one: Someone (probably an American per Susanna) special ordered a Blue Shimmer with a dark main color. It's next to the original design. Gorgeous, no?
It was incredibly hard to capture the gorgeousness of this design. It's The Azalea.
Without Susanna's guidance, I never would have noticed that this design is exactly the same as The Egg-- it's just in a different colorway! Susanna seemed to directly hint that Solveig may very well have The Azalea ready for sale sometime soon. Re: in the next year or two. (Use this link to see all of Solveig's available kits in Bohus-quality yarns. The patterns are available in English as translated by Susanna.) Knit swatches of popular designs were on view along with Bohus Stickning books in Swedish. (I have purchased both of these directly from Sweden. Email AnneSofie in English for availability. Her site is not updated often.) On the left is a design I've never seen before: Dallas. On the right is The Blue Flower. Oh, and here are my finished wristlets.

Just a few days after the class I had the luxury to chat with Joan Schrouder during the April Minnesota Knitter's Guild meeting. She knit the Blue Shimmer (the actual) sweater photographed in Poems of Color. Joan has also done what many of us thought impossible: She has steeked a Bohus knit in the round to knit a cardigan. What a rebel! She's my knitting hero of the week. :)

Finally, during the class Susanna made an exciting announcement for Bohus enthusiasts. Here in Susanna's words:

Dear Bohus Knitting Friend,

I have some wonderful news and I wanted all of you, my special Bohus devotees, to be the first to hear, and hopefully mark your calendars:

There will be a Bohus Stickning exhibit in America in 2009! It will be held at the American-Swedish Institute in Minneapolis between January 23rd and March 29th, 2009.

Many things about the exhibit are still undecided but during the opening weekend the Institute is hoping to host celebrity guests and present lectures, expert guidance through the exhibit, and show a brand new Swedish documentary film (with English subtitles) about Bohus Stickning. It is even possible that a special Bohus garment will be re-created and released for sale in conjunction with the exhibit.

I hope that many of you will be able to come - if not for the opening weekend festivities, then at least at some point while the exhibit is showing- to celebrate this great event and ASI’s willingness to provide exhibition space for these wonderful garments. This is something I have been dreaming of for for a long time and I am so very happy that it is now in the works for real!

The last time there was a Bohus exhibit was in conjunction with the World’s Fair in New York in 1964 so it is about time for another one, don’t you think?

Warmly, Susanna

Keeping us all in stitches

2008-04-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

Amid the driving freezing rain and hail thunderstorm nastiness, about 400 knitters gathered last night.

On the left is the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl McPhee. Can't you tell? Yeah, I can't see her either. Good thing she's soo darn funny, then.

Aside from laughing a lot, last night we learned how knitters are less likely to have dementia or Alzheimer's in life because of our daily constant-- plenty of theta time. Fascinating.

For me, the best part of the night was The Yarnery's fantastic pre-show. I was mightily impressed. Staffers and Men's night knitters were great as the Yarn Harlot Family Knitters. Angie re-wrote lyrics from the Sound of Music-- and it was absolutely hilarious. You really should go check it out for yourself on YouTube! (Thanks to Shelly for posting these!)

Sarah took photos of a few audience members last night-- here's Renee in her adorable new top, moi, and Deepa in her colorful Rosedale Cardi.

It was great to see all of the Minnesota knitters (and tri-state area, Ms. Cathy-Cate!-- and International knitters-- Ms. Holly!) out enmasse last night!

MN Fiber Activities and stuff

2008-04-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Fiber Activities in the Twin Cities in the next few weeks

1. Yarn Harlot visits St. Paul once again this Thursday at St. Thomas.

There will be some tickets available via standby if you are willing to show up at 6 with a print-out from the link above. (620 free tickets were given away by the Yarnery within a week. I've heard 120 requests were not met.)

2. Joseph Scrimshaw's new production: Stitch, Bitch N' Die looks like a great time!

It's a murder-mystery-comedy playing at the Bryant Lake Bowl the next three

Friday nights at 7pm. B.Y.O.K. (Bring Your Own Knitting)

I'll be at this Friday's show with fellow fiber lovers.3. The Minnesota Knitter's Guild hosts Yarnover this Saturday in Hopkins. (note location change) There's a plethora of classes to take & there will be a fab marketplace, too.

4. Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival is just around the corner. It's always mother's day weekend, and is well worth placing on your calendars! Come spin; buy fiber, yarn, or tools; take a class; watch working dogs round up sheep; and don't miss the Llama Magic!

***

On Not Giving Away Yarn:

I've been giving away most of my handspun yarn. Last week my first yarn creation nearly left the house. After looking at it this weekend, I decided I would make it impossible to give away in it's current form...

Most of the first yarn is now a neck warmer. I casted on 77 stitches on a US 9, knit a few rows of seed stitch and switched to stockinette thereafter. 1/2 way through I decreased 2 stitches evenly around and knit until it was 'just the right length', and finished with more seed stitch.

Toby was a pretty willing model last night.

He may just want to keep it.

Perhaps I should knit him a sweater of his own.

Of course, this is supposed to be worn by a human.

For the first time, here's a few pics of me. (Taken just hours after a bout with flu, no less.) This is how I'll wear it next winter while waiting for public transportation.

Fiber Stash

2008-04-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, certified "work(s) of art" entered my house in the past few months. Deepa likes to keep me honest and often asks for full stash disclosure. So, dear readers-- here it is-- the fiber stash.

*****************

Crown (Crack) Mountain Farms released a new set of Blue Faced Leister handpainted roving for Spring. I couldn't resist "American Spirit" below. It's reminiscent of my favorite koigu colorway-

Enchanted Knoll Farms

"Queen Mermaid" batts with a mix of fiber + a dash of sparkle

Cherry Tree Hill roving in potluck colorways, a gift from Cathy

Pigeonroof Studios,

Peony BFL (left), and Hydrangea S. African Fine (right) Mill Ends @ Detta's Spindle

11 oz superwash

"Scrappies" fromVedabliss/Funky Carolina, mixed fiber
More Crack Mountain Farms, Wild Horses superwash merino. (I love this colorway!)
Crack Mtn. passed Toby's sniff tests. (Here, superwash merino in "Pretty woman")Of course, Toby grew bored pretty quickly.

(now with In the Skies, superwash)-right about here the "it's-s000-nice, let's-go-out" whining began. "Enough with the pictures. There are bunnies out there to chase!"

(and chase them he did!)

***for brevity's sake, I left just a few items out. Go to my flickr page for full disclosure.

Return

2008-04-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

A return to blogging after nearly two weeks--

I have no excuse other than two handfuls of increased work duties and extra hours in the office. The project is nearing the end, and they started tearing down miles of cubicles in on the floor center. I've been sneezing like mad for the past two weeks due to the dust storm. Do you think any over the counter products would help?

The latest handspun installment started out with enthusiastic singles (my specialty!) and turned into a fun, striping worsted weight skein. It's 176 yards in total and was spun on a Reeves 19" wheel. Once I realized the driveband was too loose, I've been able to control the amount of spin per ply on the next spinning project. Details forthcoming...

My friend Sara, uber-St. Paul/Political blogger and recreational knitter, gave me her older MAC laptop this week. She collects computers like I buy yarn. The least I could do was give her a little handspun love.
*As you may or may not know, I've been a bit of an electronic luddite for the past three years. I have a tv, a cell phone, and a digital camera. No cable- no internet. Now that I have a laptop... well, perhaps I'll blog more often. Perhaps.
***
In other news, new windows will be installed in my home in a week or so. Yipee! I can't wait to end the storm/screen screen/storm updates each spring and fall. As you can tell, I gave up on glass replacement last September. (and yes, it's April-- and we still have snow on the ground!!!)
I've abandoned the last few repeats of Madli's Shawl to whip up a bit of knitted origami. Someone's first birthday is coming up in a few weeks...
Toby's eyes pleaded, "Can we go out for a walk, pleeease? You're gore-tex tennis shoes are out and waiting..." It doesn't matter how late, this little guy always wants to smell the fresh air.

Spinning out of Control?

2008-03-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

Indian Corn
Renee gave me some beautiful Blue Faced Leister (BFL) roving last month for my birthday. She purchased it at The Fiber Studio in Minneapolis, and it was labeled as the "Masquerade" colorway. I thought it was absolutely gorgeous! Apparently she asked for an autumn-like colorway. The fiber stayed in a bowl on the coffee table for about two weeks-- then quickly found its way onto the bobbins!
Once plied together, the yarn looked just like Indian corn! We used to grow a row of it on the hobby farm I grew up on, so it was around every decorative surface in the house for months out of the year. Ahh, it still needs to be washed and dried. It should fluff up and soften a bit. The fiber is a nice sport weight, and is approximately 225 yards. I'm planning on tucking it away until next fall for a special undetermined project.
Baby Blues
All right-- so I'm a little late here. This skein was plied about two weeks ago. I purchased a few scrap bags from Funky Carolina and gathered all of the merino/soysilk fiber together. I split each color in half, then spun the fiber from blue to purple, purple/pink to cream, then cream to yellow-y green. It created a lovely transition of color. Combined with the fact that I finally got just the right amount of spin per ply, I'm really proud of this yarn!!

Of course, I used the Traditional Ashford to make it. This wheel has returned to it's owner and after a few updates (new treadle, drive band, etc.) will soon be for sale in the Twin Cities. Send an email if you're interested, and I'll relay you to the owner.

File under Spinning Experiments:
I've been working on a different wheel for the past two weeks. A friend in the fiber community has a 19" Rick Reeves Frame Wheel that needed a little TLC. It hadn't been used for over 2 years. Thanks to Kerry (ravelry and blog), she's up and running-- and spinning beautifully. I'm 98% sure that I'm going to buy this wheel from her.

I was back to an earlier problem on it, though-- too much enthusiasm in my plies. I've been playing around with tension and different whorls, and I think I'm getting there... Time, practice, time-- it'll happen!

See? The enthusiastic singles have returned.
This yarn is heavier than I've been spinning lately. I've been playing with random color lengths to create self-striping barber pole yarn. From what I saw last night while plying, I'm REALLY pleased. I can't wait to take it off the bobbin to see how it looks!

Again, I'm hoping some of the twist will relax with a nice wash. If not, it'll be an elastic yarn, and a fun experiment. :)

Alpaca Clouds

2008-03-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

The lovely dusting of snow yesterday turned into a full-on sticky onslaught of late winter snow. This morning I shoveled some of this heavy stuff and wished I was eight again. It's perfect play snow-- snowballs, snow angels, and snow sculptures. Tomorrow's temp is predicted to be 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so we'll be back to the mud and urban grunge in no time!During the last 11 days I have been knitting and spinning, even though I've been short on proof lately-- so here goes.

The pattern is Madli's Shawl (ravelry link, sorry if you're not a member yet) from Interweave knits. I've eliminated the annoying 'nupp' stitches. These are the bumps you see on other versions when the shawl is held up to the light.

This is one of those projects that I really can't highlight a 'start date' on it. Back when KnitPicks introduced their yarn line, I ordered 4 skeins of Alpaca Cloud. I believe they were $3 each, and now they're about $5. The shawl was started sometime later-- 2 strands held together on a US 6. Toby was a puppy and attacked one yarn cake. (He used to taste yarn that had interesting smells-- especially alpaca and angora! If he wasn't soo darn cute, he might have been tossed out of the house) I've used a wee ball of the slightly marred cake for the bottom edging-- but the rest is from 2 skeins held together. When I originally began it, I only completed about 4 or 5 repeats until six months ago. Then I knit another 6 rounds up until the knitting retreat.

I have to say, those early skeins must have held more than 440 yards! I've completed about 24 repeats so far, and the unblocked shawl stretches across about 3/4 of the width of a queen sized bed. I think there's going to be plenty for another lace project!

So far, I've been project monogamous-- and I'm planning to finish the shawl in a week.

love.hate.spring

2008-03-17T09:18:00.001-07:00

on urban grunge and season change

Last week a near miracle occurred. We finally were above freezing for extended periods of time. The news was announced last Tuesday by a co-worker: "Guys. Hey guys-- it's 50 degrees outside!" A woman next to him replied, "Yeah, but it feels like 45."
People started whistling at work in the cubicles due to the heat wave in Minnesota.

Of course, there's an ugly downside to these blissful temperatures:

Urban grunge revealed.

Uggh.

It's even worse up close and in person. This, ladies and gents, is my usual bus stop. My one-way commute by car is about 5 minutes. I elect for public transport during the week-- an extra 10 minutes is added each way, but I save $100 a month, and I can hang onto my older car for at least a few more years.

After the snow started to melt I couldn't take it anymore. This week I switched up and now am back to taking the bus closer to home, although this results in a further walk in downtown.

This morning we had a dusting of snow. Like all March snows, it'll be gone in a flash.

I hate to admit it, but I'm not a fan of spring until the crazy-bright 3-day chartreuse burst from the trees begin. The warmer temps are fantastic, and I love the return of long evening walks. It's certainly a love/hate relationship. The muddy, grungy in-between phase is not my favorite.

On knitting: for the past 1o days I've been working on an long neglected project. (2nd 1/2 of post) Within a week it should be done!

Jammin' Pajama Weekend

2008-03-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was one of those glorious three day-ers with friends. Of course, I had to pay my dues with a fervored work week before...

Friday morning Deepa and wee one came over for a traditional Turkish breakfast before Cathy and I drove up to The Nunnery for a knitting retreat. My mom also joined us and watched her grand puppies while I was gone.

It's fun when people come over sporting previous gifts. Wee one was in a silly hat I knit for her when she was still a thought in her parent's minds, and my mom was wearing last year's holiday gift-- a kureyon cardi.

After breakfast November joined us, and we drove North to Little Falls, MN. After a fabulous dinner At the Black and White, we crawled into our pajamas.

Once in our comfy clothes, we stayed in them the entire weekend.

Want proof?

Yes, lots of pajama wearing. Cathy 'air thrums' for Louise and Joyce.

After a few hours, a thrummed mitten monster was born.

Marge knit a pair of STORM WARNING socks.

Doesn't it look like a nasty front is on it's way to your house?

(They're Jitterbug- Lolipop colorway yarn)
Michelle and Amy are not forcing smiles here-- they genuinely had a good time.

Marge didn't want her face shown... so hopefully this pajama profile is o.k. Too bad Jeanne wasn't in the photo-- the two of them looked like an LL Bean advert together.

We're all looking forward to Louise's next retreat in the fall.

busy, busy week

2008-03-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Oh, what a busy week.

I've been swamped at work, and have tackled organizational projects at home.

Fiber activities are almost at a dead stop. A touch of knitting, zero spinning. Tonight Cathy-Cate is coming up for a visit, and will be staying in my guest room. She might be running late due to occupational responsibilites, and I found myself writing in an email, "Oh, don't worry about us. We'll just play with squeeky toys and fiber until you get here."

I wonder, will she avoid the advances of uber-cuddler Paco or not? (Paco is the furry guy on the left). He does love to jump into bed with strangers...

Over the weekend, knitting will resume.
Look for a report early next week!
****

Oh, if you're a spinner-- I'm in the process of wheel shoping, and if you have any opinions I'd love to hear them. Any thoughts on a Reeves 'Wheel Frame' or Majacraft's 'the Rose'? I'm loving each of them, but there's no way in hades that I can swing a purchase of both.

"Karate Knit (cast-on, cast-off )"

2008-02-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

Movies for Knitters.

Love it! Thanks, Karen!

Finally... finished objects!

2008-02-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had a wearable finished object. Over the weekend and during the early part of the week I was feeling under the weather, so I actually finished a few:

Handspun sock yarn is a finished object, isn't it? I finally spun all of The Ranch "Fall" superwash merino into yarn. I'm really happy with the consistancy, and I think it'll knit into great socks.

Yardage: 718!

WPI: didn't measure, but thin. It's thinner than STR lightweight and koigu. It's closer in thickness to Trekking XXL or Wollmeise Sockenwolle.

***

First Handspun Project: resoleable house socks

Most of the yarn is from my second and third week of spinning, so it was a bit of a lumpy & bumpy adventure. The soles were knit first with a dk weight handspun toe-up, then I joined a sportweight handspun at the toe and knit up to the heel. They're great for cold Minnesota nights.

Last year I bought a skein of Jitterbug sock yarn in "Alizerine". I just loved this colorway, and coveted Miss T as she knit up her pair a few months ago. (Hers pooled in a much cooler way than mine.) They're terribly bright, and I absolutely love them.
They were knit toe-up with Judy's magic cast-on on two circulars, two at a time. I tried Charlene Schurch's reverse heel flap. It fits well, but I had to play with the gusset decrease to make it work. Recommendation: start the heel flap just before your arch starts to begin. It'll be much sooner than you think.

Fervored Felting

2008-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to friends, family, and online buddies for birthday well-wishes this week. The gorgeous fiber swag was unnecessary, the dinner with knitting friends was delicious and entertaining as always, and the fantastic chocolate & tea has been sampled a few times over!

There's one item that begs to be shared. I'll let Deepa's note tell the full story:

(you may need to click and embiggen)

They're warm, soft, fuzzy-- and will be cherished always.

"You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"

2008-02-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

On winners and losers

Let's start with the loser project.

Yes, this bit of knitted sunshine is a total loser.

The culprit? Check out the calf shaping. The too-tight calf shaping, that is.

The "Stansfield 304" stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Socks is used here. It's in essence a 12-stitch chevron pattern, and really pulls the fabric in.

I've completely thrown in my hand. The sock has been frogged to the ribbing, and I'm thinking about starting over entirely. Such a dis-service to a gorgeous yarn. (Wollmeise in "sonne").

Do I try the next needle size up? I really like my arthritic gauge. Miss "you Undercounted Sassy" November accused me of this last week. Before you start saying, 'oh just add another stitch repeat', I'll add that these socks have 96 stitches before the shaping, and 84 afterward. No, I'm not going to share how many stitches there are per inch!!! Let's just say "lots".

Dense sock fabric is a good thing, I think! :)

The winner: Bohus

For the bohus enthusiast, AnnieSofie sells both Swedish Bohus Stickning books at her shop. That is, they're published in Swedish with just a touch of English thrown in here and there. Yes, even the out of print one is available! The site may not be in your native language, but AnnieSofie will respond to Emails in English. My copies arrived last week in perfect condition.Bohus is a hand I'll never turn in.

Now, it's true, I've loved knitting the colorwork soo much on the Wild Apple pullover that I've procrastinated. I'm just not ready to let the colorwork go! My kit had plenty of yoke yarn, so I've modified the design by adding about seven rows. I think I've just worked out the last few, and I'm looking forward to miles and miles of soft and fluffy green angora on the sleeves and body in the next week.
Before you wrap-up your daily knit blog fix, make sure to check out the new Yarnival over at Miss T's. You might recognize a few MN bloggers in the mix like MaryLou at Yarnerinas, Wound-Too-Tight Deb, and perhaps even this blog too!

You spin me round and round

2008-02-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

The sock yarn spinning obsession continues.
Last week I tried spinning superwash merino batts. Oi! This stuff is slippery as a wet eel, and I'm guessing it's not the best undertaking for new spinners. (just call me crazy.)

Onto spinning progress-- This week I've improved a great deal. The yarn is becoming more consistent. The thin and thick parts are evening out, the clumps dissapearing, and my singles are certainly less enthusiastic than a week before. (That is, it's not curling back on itself like 1500 piglets in a pen with their bums in the air.)

Oh, and I remembered to take a photo of the plied yarn with the original fiber! Well-- for one of these photos, anyway. Above is "Fall" by The Range at Etsy.com. Lovely dye work, great price.

Crown Mountain Farms-- oh how I love thee.
I will now refer to you as "Crack Mountain Farms"

Remember the sock hop love? I never ordered any skeins, but I did pick up a few colors of roving. At $19 for 8.5 oz of superwash handyed merino roving, its a stellar price compared to similar kits from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (Sheep to Shoe is 8.5 oz for $30), or many Etsy sellers with averages at $15 for 4oz of superwash merino.

From 8 oz. I was able to spin approx. 378yds of tighly plied sportweight sock yarn. I just love the way it turned out.

First Handspun Project:

From last week's spinning I started a pair of resoleable house socks. They're pretty comfy-- and may never wear out.

(Thanks to my enthusiastic singles!)

all spinning, all the time.

2008-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

News from the past week:

Amy hosted a fabulous knitting party over the weekend. Thanks again! The camera stayed at home, so check out pictures at Deb's blog - Wound Too Tight.

My dear friend Deepa-- previously seen here and talked about here-- has started a fabulous blog at least partially about knitting-- and a good deal more. She's a self-proclaimed "creative spirit, bibliophile, polyglot, knitter and mom. Not necessarily in that order." Go and check it out!

Even if you can't possibly add another blog to your watch list, you must- MUST view this Bollywood homage to Barak Obama linked at Deepa's blog.

Fiber Talk:

I've worked on a secret knitting project that you'll see in due time, and have continued to spin.

Toby and Paco were a little miffed at the lack of snuggling opportunities. They both started sleeping on the wee rug below and would snuggle up to my legs or the wheel. Cute, but annoying. The best course of action was to bring a dog bed next to me and the Ashland!

Perfect for one dog-- but a tight fit for two!

When I started spinning my goal was to be good enough to make my own sock yarn. Here's my first sock yarn singles on the bobbin, Funky Carolina merino superwash in Royal Robes. I've learned that I need to start taking pictures of fiber before spinning begins. Apologies.

After the first week of spinning , I was rather productive. From top to bottom

Brown Yarn: thick dk weight superwash sockyarn from Enchantedknoll at Etsy. I've used 1/2 of the fiber to knit sock bottoms. Next week I'll post a picture of progress.

Yellow: thick fingering weight superwash sockyarn from Funky Carolina. Loved the way it turned out after I plied the singles together. This yarn will become the sock tops & legs for the Entchanted Knoll yarn above. I've started knitting the top to one of the socks-- wow. It's a joy to knit your own sock yarn!!!

Pink: Worsted weight Corredale from Pigeonroof Studios. She's a dying genious. Love her work. This yarn was given to a friend at work who knits and often leaves gifts at my desk! I also pointed out this neckwarmer pattern to her. She has a maroon coat, and I think it's a perfect match.

Blue: Crazy, insane ART skein spun from everything but the kitchen sink. Merino, silk, denim, mohair, BFL, Angelica, Cotton, Alpaca, Angora.... everything. I have no idea what this yarn wants to become when it grows up.

Knitting Advice, circa 1970

2008-01-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

Holly, a fellow knitter in St. Paul, found the following

long-forgotten letter in a knitting book over the weekend:

Here's a close-up of her Father's advice:
(Click Image to Embiggen)

My favorite line is:

"I could have made this more clear but your mother said not to make it too easy. Love, Dad"

Then again, this is a gem: "If you can figure it out, I'll give you more explicit directions later-".

Hee.

This letter was written well over 30 years ago.

Holly's parents are in their 80's. Currently, both are active knitters.

First Handspun

2008-01-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

I'm completely in awe.

Can you believe this yarn?

I thought my first handspun would be just horrible. Now, it's not perfect in any sense of the word other than it is what it is-- a rustic and wonderful mass of spiraling color that ranges in thickness from dk to hvy worsted. Expectations were a lumpy, bumpy nasty mess of unuseable yarn.

Honestly, I would actually buy this yarn from someone else! The skein moves from warm to cool tones. Plying was a great deal of fun. Watching the colors come together was absolutely magical.

Spinning your own yarn is great. I highly recommend giving it a try. It's relaxing & meditative (for the most part). I loved just about every moment of it.

A few minor problems: 1. One bobbin came undone (the end cap literally popped off) 2. I had a heck of a time maintaining appropriate tension with both the scotch break and driveband. Yesterday I tried out a lovely double drive wheel. It was lovely! 3. I didn't understand what my mentor said when she told me to "turn the wheel counterclockwise to ply". I thought she meant to physically move the wheel. Insead, you have the wheel spin in the opposite direction. The singles are spun clockwise, and the yarn is plyed together counter-clockwise. Approximately 1/2 of the twist on each of the singles goes away.

Nearly all of the pigtail twists are now gone. This is what I meant by 'enthusiastic' singles in the previous post.

Many thanks, Marge.

Now, onto that Potato Cannon...

'cause a girl needs another hobby

2008-01-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Miss Marge, a foreign object has found it's way into my house. She's a stubborn wee thing at times, but she does the trick. Ahem. Perhaps I'm the stubborn one as I try to force the wheel to spin as I think it should! Each time I start to spin a new kind of fiber I have to play with the knobs to get enough/or lesson the 'suck' from the intake.

See? I'm really new at this. I have no idea what to call anything.

I kinda feel like a kindergartener--

and I like it.

During the past two nights I've spun these many bits of roving into very energetic singles on two bobbins. (Approx. 7.5 oz. total) With a successful plying lesson tomorrow (hopefully)-- I plan to show you my first finished handspun on Friday!

Socks: 2 WIPs & 2 FOs

2008-01-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

The official switch from DPNs to 2 circular needles hasn't occured, but it's just so darn easy to throw these into my bag when in transport!

The pink/blue socks are basic stockinette and knit with Jitterbug yarn from Colinette. As bright as they are I thought I'd forgo any possible pattern~

The Socks In the Cities Knit-a-long has monthly contests, and I won a skein of Fleece Artist Somoko. It's a lovely Merino/Nylon/Silk/Kid Mohair blend, and is a dream to knit with! Love the shimmer and the soft feel of this two-ply.

The pattern is really simple-- it's just traveling stitches on Stockinette-- a modified "Swirl Sock".

Looking back through the blog archives, these socks were started in February of 2007. Less than a year later, complete.

Purple Trekking XXL-- lovely colorway (66?) Undulating Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.

Water Whorl Knitting

2008-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Day I visited a great spot for indoor knitting in Minnesota's metro area.

Attractions:
1. Lots of Warmth
2. Space for knitting friends & lively conversation
3. Coffee shop
4. People watching
5. Greenery!

The Como Conservatory (officially the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory) is one of those nearly forgotten spaces. Most weekends I drive right by and never think about stopping in. It has plenty of nooks & crannies with benches and comfortable spots to sit, talk, and knit away the afternoon.

2007: My Year in Knits

2008-01-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

2007 was a first year of blogging, and a first year of recording exactly

what you can knit in 365 days.

Most recent projects are on the top left, and earliest projects of the year start at bottom right. The first nine images are unfinished, and will be following me into the new year.
* The largest project: Lizard Ridge.
* The most exciting? Wild Apples Bohus! (a Work In Progress)
* Number of gifts: 12
* Realization: I'm primarily a sock knitter.

In 2007 I laid out rather strict "yarn freeze" goals. Honestly, I failed miserably. (Lizard Ridge pushed me off the wagon!) Only goals 2, 3, and 4 were met.

During 2008, I'm going to try to reach the following goals:

1. End the year with less stash.
2. Start a healthier lifestyle.
* Eat breakfast * Go to bed earlier * Greatly limit Splenda & Equal in diet
* Begin weight training & yoga regimen
* Use bike as much as I did 3 years ago.
3. Buy knitting tools, magazines, patterns, and books as desired.
4. Finish at least three sweaters including the Wild Apple Bohus & Erik's cabled pullover.
5. Continue to knit through or frog UFOs & thin out the sock drawer of shame!

Happy knitting to all in the new year!

Postcard Progress

2007-12-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's the little things that make you happy.

I just love how these two match up!

The postcard provided in the Solsilke kit is a nice way to mark how much is left of the pattern on my sweater. Also, it's fun to see that the apples are not the same as the sweater photographed. The postcard sweater has stockinette apples, and the Solsilke/Susanna Hansson pattern uses garter. They not only pop with color, but burst with texture!

I'm not sure if the postcard image is from a museum piece, or a test-knit by the Solveig/Susanna duo. (Perhaps I should check the back of the postcard!) The apples in the larger gauge sweater in Poems of Color introduce a third treatment to the apples. Interesting, this lack of continuity.

Looks a bit like a sombrero, yeah?

I'm just loving the process of this sweater. The photo was taken somewhere around row 38-- there are only 70 colorwork rows in this design. I've certainly slowed down to enjoy it. :)

The fabric is really, truly fuzzy.

Unblocked sweater underbelly.

Lots and lots of floats!

Unfortunately, I might just finish the colorwork over the holiday.

Let's see how long I can drag this out...

Holiday Edition

2007-12-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Can you ask for more than wonderful friends and family?

Last night I met up with my Wednesday night knitting group and we exchanged holiday gifts. I just can't get over how incredibly thoughtful and wonderful each and every item was. Thank you Dullknitters!

Deepa gave personalized knitting necklaces with Elizabeth Zimmerman's well-known words of encouragement.

Renee contacted Scout and commissioned personalized swag! She sent an image of the coffee house we meet in each week. (On the right is the only image I have from the space. This was taken over a year ago.)

This is the first stash item that just may be too precious to knit with.

Useful and tasty knitting gear from Addie and Marge:

We each received a yummy truffle from Celeste Chocolates, a Blue Sky Guide, and a homemade gift from Connie's pantry. I've never had a blue sky, but I just love it. It's chock full of great stuff in the Twin Cities. Lifted from their website (linked above), "[Blue Sky Guide is an]... innovative resource contains tips, information and coupons for products and services promoting healthy living and reducing environmental impacts in the Twin Cities."

That bottle? Homemade Cherry Bomb-- Vodka steeped over fresh cherries and infused with honey and casked for months. Mmmmmm. I'll try not drink the whole bottle and invite y'all over in a few weeks. Promise.

****************************

November couldn't join us last night, but did request a Holiday meme. I'm not a meme kinda girl-- although I'll offer an exception this time of year.

If you want to use this meme on your blog, feel free to substitute the winter holiday of your choice & to add/subtract questions.

What was the best Christmas present you got as a kid? I always loved the crazy-huge boxes of stuff from my great aunt. She would pack in paper, games, toys, silly items, a cute outfit or two-- I just loved opening them! They took forever to get to the bottom. I try to replicate this experience for my brother each year. He just laughs. The extended family moans. :)

What was the best Christmas present you got as an adult? The absence of an NRA membership.

What’s your favorite Christmas carol? Ukrainian Bell Carol/Carol of the Bells

How long can you stand to listen to Christmas music before you break? one month

How many Christmas albums do you own? 3

Did you ever go caroling as a kid? Yes. Lots!

Would you willingly eat fruitcake? No!

Do you own any Christmas sweaters? Absolutely not!

Did your family have any Christmas traditions? We always spend Christmas eve with the extended family, then would go to midnight service. Once 'the kids' (re: my brother and I) were in college the family started enjoying more alcoholic beverages. The last time we went to one of these services was in 2004. Only the drivers and kids under 21 were sober. I remember my brother leaning over to me and loudly whispering, "We're all going to hell." Lots of laughter ensued. I think 1/2 of my childhood congregation heard him. :)

Do you buy Christmas presents for your pets? A few treats.

What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? Simple butter cookie with an Andes mint in the middle. My aunt makes 'em.

What’s your stocking look like? It hasn't been out in ages and is probably in a box at my parent's home-- it's red with white fuzz and the diminutive form of my name painted in sparkles across the top.

What is the oldest ornament on your tree? My brother's first Christmas ornament- circa 1979. Why I have this, unknown. I'm adding it to his mega box this year.

Real or artificial? Artificial. I leave it up and decorated year round. :) After the holiday I wrap it in plastic & cart it into the basement.

How do you feel about Christmas letters? Love 'em-- as long as their short with a picture or two.

How far would you drive to see Christmas lights? A couple minutes, tops.

Are you a fan of tasteful or tacky? Classic. Tasteful.

Do you have any Christmas collections? I'm primarily a yarn collector. That counts, yeah?

Have a great Holiday season everyone!

Exquisite Beginnings

2007-12-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

On Sunday morning I grabbed a project that I started a few weeks ago. It was not a secret-- just didn't feel exciting enough to talk about 1x1 ribbing on 2mm (US 0) needles. Here and there I'd knit a row or two of the tedious rib. Over the weekend I looked at it and thought, done! Time to play with a little colorwork.

A quick and not-so-fabulous morning picture after 2 days of colorwork:

The new project is "Wild Apple" or "Vildäpplet" from the Bohus knitting period-- a sweater designed by Kerstin Olsson in 1958. Kits for sweaters, hats and scarves are available at SOLsilke and the Bohusläns Museum .

Susanna Hansson certainly deserves a huge thanks for translating the original patterns from Swedish into English.

A larger gauge (7 sts/inch) Wild Apple pattern is available in this great book on Bohus Knitting: Poems of Color: Knitting in the Bohus Tradition by Wendy Keele (Interweave Press, 1995)

The pattern specifies 2.0mm for ribbing, and 2.5mm for colorwork and the body of the sweater for a gauge of 8.5 sts/inch. I found that I needed to go up to a 2.75 to hit perfect gauge during the yoke. After reading this post at the Bohus KAL, I'm planning to use a 2.5mm for the body and sleeves of the sweater. I'll work out gauge once again when the colorwork is done.

Now, to work with the yarn is to love the yarn.

It's a very fine 2-ply 50/50 angora merino blend. It's incredibly light and has an ethereal haze which continues to bloom after knit into fabric. The design of the colorwork-- careful gradation and simple purls during transition directly add to the surprisingly mysterious design. There's a bit of an optical illusion going on. This specific kit includes multiple shades of green and warm tones that reach toward bright & intense traffic-cone-orange.

Looking at a picture of a finished Bohus piece (above), and then seeing the colorwork up close & feeling this amazing fabric are completely different experiences. If you have the chance, go and view one of these in person.

I don't think I've ever loved any knitted work that I've done more than this.

Wendy Keele had it right. Bohus designs truly are poems of color.

Unfinished

2007-12-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

It's o.k. to admit that you're just not going to finish all of your holiday projects, right?

Ever since I was a kid I usually would opt for making gifts instead of buying them . For some, it's the perfect item. Others don't quite get it-- and that's o.k. Since I've been without a sewing machine for the last few months, and a loaned surger is arriving for a week or so tomorrow , I know any knitting project that may have possibly been completed from here on out will be on hold.

With that said, I give you unfinished holiday item #1: It's the Patrick sweater by Black Purl Designs. The neck/shoulder decrease section was poorly written-- we all know how the "at the same time" business works-- so I sorta stopped after I realized the neck opening was too small. This, of course, occurred after I had finished a 3 needle bind-off at the shoulder! grr.

It's ripped out and waiting for corrective knitting. Perhaps you'll see it on your birthday, Erik!

Unfinished holiday item #2:
Alpaca mitts for my brother-- modified Charlene Schurch pattern. (he doesn't know about the blog.) Soft as butter. There's a slight chance I'll finish by Dec. 24th. We'll see. I'm aiming to finish *at least* one to wrap up and place under the tree.

Wee Tiny Lace Disaster

2007-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I made a ground-breaking purchase... for me, that is. I've always thought of cashmere as an out-of-reach fiber due to cost.

I've been facinated with the Princess Shawl v2.0 knit-a-long on Ravelry. I followed up by checking out Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller at the MN Textile Center. After a short calculation of stitches, I've decided that I'm not 'ready' for a project this massive right now. Although it was fun learn more about it.

There are many reviews of cashmere yarns available at Fleegle's blog. (I just love her posts. Check out her amazing gossamer lace shawls and Bohus sweaters!) She lead me to Colourmart UK-- fabulously priced and deliciously soft coned cashmere. Customer service was fabulous-- many thanks to Robert!

About a month ago I ended up buying a few cones-- 3/45 65% Cashmere/35% Silk in Arctic blue (below) and a fingering weight 100% Cashmere in Garnet. Wowza. These are lovely fibers.

Since then, I've stopped all fiber-related purchases. On 12/15/07 I'll celebrate a month of 'yarn freeze' activity.

Of course, moments after the yarn arrived I knew I had to try it out! I knit a small swatch of the fingering weight in stockinette and washed it. It's hanging out on the shelf for a project next year. (It'll probably end up as a Faux Russian Shawl by Katie Nagoney & Ann Swanson in A Gathering of Lace.)

The lace (near gossamer) yarn was swatched with US 2s, 1.5s, 1s, and eventually 0s. Yes, 2mm was the perfect size. I've never knit lace with US 0s-- and it was most certainly a challenge! Of course, I decided to try a pattern with a nasty start: CO 8 stitches in the round for 2 rows-- Frost Flowers and Leaves by Eugen Beugler in A Gathering of Lace.

What a complete mess. Instead I knit a belly-button like I-cord with left-over koigu from the monster socks, then transitioned to the cashmere/silk.

Once I was past row 4 I was on a roll. Everything was smooth-sailing. It was a Sunday. The sun was shining. I was watching the Vikings in the midst of a winning game, even. (Who expected this turn-around even after Adrianne Peterson started to shine?)

Then, on row 19 I encountered a wee arrow. Somehow I didn't pay any attention to it.

Now, take a look at the left bottom corner.

Compare to the other corners. Arrgh! I didn't notice the error until row 31. By this time the sun was starting to set. Without the use of a headlamp, I don't know how I could fix this error on such wee needles.

I waited a week, then practiced fine-gauge lace surgery. After a bit of time, I think I got it-- but the stitches looked pretty terrible afterward. I decided to chock it up as a learning experience & frogged the whole thing. It was only 35+ rows afterall.

After the nasty defeat, I wanted to pick up a lace project that would certainly be successful and perhaps boost my lace knitting esteem! Lo and behold, in the unfinished project stash I found this beauty: Madli's Shawl -- Nancy Bush -- Interweave Knits, Summer 2004. What a delight to pick up a project and see every last stitch. The pattern repeats just zoomed by on US 6's. The yarn is two strands of KP's Alpaca Cloud in Tidepool. It's been in my stash just months after the yarn line was introduced. Is it just me-- or do others think this is this the absolute best alpaca on the market for the price?I'll be honest. I'm not planning to be faithful to the shawl. I'll work on it for time to time, but socks are still calling out my name.

Simple Holiday Socks

2007-12-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

The koigu bit/'monster' socks are complete! These are all ready wrapped and under the tree. The recipient gnabbed them out of my bag when they were on the needles a few weeks ago and made sure to show me that they were a perfect fit. (Almost like this person knew they were for her.)

These are the first pair of socks I've knit on 2 circulars with US 1s. They both have a crease up the sides from the needle switching. This goes away after their first wash.

It's amazing to look at left-over sock bits in balls, then see them when knitted together. They look entirely different~ I thought the blue would blend better with the yellow/orange sections. I could have blended them together a-la-Charlotte Web style, but there were tens of ends to weave in as it was. This wouldn't be a big deal if the first 4 colors didn't blend well together. Ahh, well. knowledge for next time.

Last winter I knit the first sock below-- "Bittersweet" Lorna's Laces Sport on US 1s in a 4x1x1x1 rib. I pulled it out of the sock drawer of shame last week and have knit about 1/2 of the second. So far, so good. You know, knit bright colors to dissuade Seasonal Affective Dissorder and all... :)
Unfortunately, I've added to the drawer in recent history. If the color wasn't as bright, one might not have noticed it's departure.

Plastic Chucks

2007-12-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

Chucks
Originally uploaded by MamaHippycrite

Found on Flickr.

How cool are these? What a great way to show off your handknit socks!

There's zero support so some of us will never be able to wear them, although they're 150% more interesting than other similar (unnamed) products on the market.

The Wait

2007-11-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

I know, I know-- it's a little late to talk about Thanksgiving. My regrets.

Here's a quick account of an extended family "up North" at the cabin.

Can you see the time on that clock?

This was 10:14 on Thansgiving day. Yep, the turkey still was not dethawed.

For some, the wait for dinner was unbearable.

"Big Boys" took to playing with leggos.

We couldn't serve roast Bryce, so we decided to play a few games and knit for awhile.

(pre-felted clogs make great hats)And then, well.... we had a late liquid lunch.

What else could we do?

Even the neighbors got into the act:The kids drank responsibly... milk and chemicals only.
Finally, dinner was served.

Brent's tummy grew two sizes plus one:

It was a Thanksgiving full of lots a' love.

and a wee bit of snowy exercise.

My 'feminine' bed was quite enticing that night.
We stayed for a few more days. Similar events occured over and over again.
It's a haul back home-- so we had an early drive home once the weekend was over.

Everyone's looking forward to our next holiday together.

Potpourri- Jeopardy Style!

2007-11-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

I've been out of town for the past few weekends, and haven't had a lot of time for a decent post. So, here's a mis-mash of knitting-related stuff. be forwarned: picture heavy!

Wisconson Roads

Kinneared photos from the road just over three weeks ago. E and I went to the North Shore on the Wisconson side.

Retreat at the Nunnery

The only photo I took!?! Here's Marge (feet only), Amanda (knee) Chell, and Deb M. at our all-knitting, all-relaxation weekend.

Cathy and Chell have great posts from the event. Check em' out!

Bella Lana

A new knitting store popped up in Minneapolis called Bella Lana. (Beautiful Wool in Italian! It's located right next to the Minneapolis Aveda Institute-- perfect for a morning of pampering and yarn shopping!)

I just loved their white-on-white asthetic! Well worth checking out if you're in town.

Angela's Crazy Amazing Socks

Angela's slipper socks on pointe-- she has knit over 100 pairs of crazy socks. I love how she arranges her stash by color, then knits whatever she chooses, whenever she wants~!
These are both stashbuster socks. Three strands of sock yarn are held together and knit on US 4s or 5s. More of her socks to come.

Favorite Etsy Sellers

First, there's Pigeonroof Studios. I love her dyework soo much that I almost don't want to tell you about it! Everything is gorgeous. Competition is fierce. I've purchased 4 oz. of roving only... and I'll continue to watch her shop closely.

A new favorite is Twisted Fiber Arts. Meg is a fabulous new indie dyer. If you click over to her site, you'll see that she dyes hand-striping yarn that verigates within each stripe. Time-wise, her dyework must take forever! (An assumption after reading Eunny's loooong process for self-striping yarn dyeing.)

I couldn't resist ordering a skein in both the Rodney and Netherfield colorways. She added the wee skeinlet for free!

Recent Projects

On the left, I'm still plodding along on the koigu bit socks. Two at the same time seems to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Looks like they're going to be a holiday gift.

On the right, I've started a Felted Stained Glass Fan bag. It's a lovely pattern-- and I just love how the bottom looks like a rose window from a cathedral. Yarn is Plymouth's Boku #5 from Sheepy Yarn in White Bear Lake, Mn.

Shawl meets Sock Kong x2

2007-11-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

Comfort ShawlLast week I mentioned a co-worker that didn't have the same test results that I did. At the age of 26 she found a lump and was told it was nothing. A few years later this single mom discovered her doctor was an idiot. She's now in the midst of battling stage four breast cancer.

I decided to knit a soft, easy-to-wear shawl for her. As written, the Shetland Triangle Shawl in Wrap Style can be knit with only three balls of Elann's Pure Alpaca. It's a quick and easy project-- perfect for upcoming holiday knitting!

I added an extra repeat and needed to use part of a fourth ball.

Check out Brooklyn Tweed's version to see truly fabulous photos.

Sock Kong (times two) Gunifer appropriately called my sock-work-window photos "sock kong"(s) in a comment about a month ago. I just loved it! I'll probably continue to take these photos, as I fight with decent light for knitting projects through the wintry months. (Also, it's just easy!)

So, here's the latest mix: Take koigu left-overs or bits, and arrange to your liking. Cast on using Judy's Magic (fabulous. you've gotta try it!), and you're off and running to the races!

These are 72 sts. on 2.25 circulars.

Gauge- approx. 10.5 sts/in.

I'm working on ball 3 of 6, but the first two were pretty tiny.

A Good Day

2007-11-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Morning hours spent here:Result: Whew! I wasn't due to start mamograms for about ten years, but I found an abnormality.
The tests weren't as horrible as I thought, but I am a bit sore.
********************
Tonight: stress-free knitting once again!
*********************

Since I didn't have to wake up as early as usual, the morning light was perfect for photos of recent projects.

During the shop hop three weeks ago I couldn't resist a skein of Silver thaw (Noro) after a fellow attendee called the colorway (ahem) "gay". Well, I now have a beautiful and cheery reversable and double-thick hat to keep me warm while waiting for the morning bus this winter.

M, I'll wear this hat with pride!
Hrm. I'm thinking about giving it to her as a holiday gift... what do you think?

**************
On Monday I started the purple shawl blob below with a little alpaca in the stash. It's a project for a co-worker who unfortunately did not have the same test results that I had this morning.

18

2007-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

The "Single Sock Liberation Movement" on Flickr makes me laugh. I laugh because it makes all too much sense to me.

Like some of you, I have a hard time staying motivated to knit a pair of socks-- you know, one right after the other. I'm prone to getting really excited about the idea of the project. A particular yarn, colorway, and stitch pattern will cause bizarre elation and joy. Some of you might call this the 'lust' stage of knitting.

Knitters like to categorize themselves as process or project people. Perhaps I'm a planner.

Strangely, I've finished another pair of socks. #18

For some reason, Claudia's yarn *has really pulled me in. (Perhaps it's the gorgeous dye work and v. tightly spun superwash merino.) I've finished two pairs within two months. This has got to be some kind of personal record!

*Claudia's Wollmeise now subtracts VAT for US orders. Skeins can be purchased at 12 Euro, so if you order five at once the yarn plus shipping is only $21.40/skein.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Scary Mask- au naturale

Toby and Paco refuse to wear adorable Halloween costumes like other dogs.

17th pair's a charm...

2007-10-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

They're my 17th pair, so hopefully I've got this sock knitting thing down! Without a doubt these are not only my favorite socks, but are my favorite project from the past year.

Autumn Toes:

yarn: Wollmeise, Spice Market colorway

pattern: Elongated Corded Rib in "Sensational Knitted Socks"

needles/gauge: Knit Picks 2.25 dpns at approx. 10.5 sts/inch

As you might be able to see, I'm a tight sock knitter and the gauge (approx. 10ish sts/in) is dense. I used to knit with 2.25 Crystal Palace bamboo needles-- but switching over to KP has been fantastic. Dare I say, a revolutionary change in my sock knitting? I'm finally able to knit as tight as I want without breaking or severely bending needles!

The Spice Market colorway was such an unexpected joy to knit with. Last summer I ordered five skeins of Wollmeise Sock Yarn in a combined order with friends. I hate to say it, but the Spice Market skein was not my favorite of the bunch. So, I thought I'd knit it up first. As the sock took form, I absolutely adored how the color knit up. Claudia's hue combination is great-- she's a dying genious. I just love the cumin, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, and curry all mixed together. Over time, I found that even if you're not attracted to a specific color or combination, her dye work makes you totally fall for it. I've never seen dyework like hers before.

Claudia's yarns have become wildly popular since that order. If you're looking to buy a skein or two, watch her weekend updates like a hawk. According to the Wollmeiseholics Anonymous discussion board on Ravelry, he most recent sale on 2/9/08 sold out in 15 minutes!

The pattern used is a simple eyelet rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch -- Elongated Corded Rib. I thought a simple pattern would be the best way to showcase the color. A touch of calf shaping at the top, and an eye of the partridge heel were the only adjustments made.

Go on-- knit yourself a pair!

Exhaustion

2007-10-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

There's a wee bit of knitting in my life at the moment. It's a second sock!

I'm thouroughly. totally. completely. exhausted.

Work is dragging me through the coals at the moment.

Weekend events: St. Paul Art Crawl, Twin City's 2nd Annual (yarn) Shop Hop

Both events were excellent. Thanks to those who attended with me- I had a great time!

(I'll blather about them later if time is available.)

Tonight, the film The Devil Came on Horseback at the Bell.

It's o.k. I'll sleep next week.

Ripple or Pop?

2007-10-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Not so attractive, right? The two skeins on the right are Lucia skeins from Posh Yarns. I over-dyed the middle one for a friend, and another friend gave me the (not)-so-gorgeous skein on the right. They both over-dyed nicely. I don't have a picture of the middle skein, but the right one was used below. (Please excuse the poor lighting! All of a sudden it's winter in Minnesota.)

Maia Discoe designed a wonderful pattern for September's Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL on Ravelry. She's called it Sheherezade's Slippers, and it's free. Clicking the link above will bring you to clue #1. Later posts in her blog (http://maiaspins.typepad.com/) will lead you to clues 2-4. I'm a little late to the game, but thought I'd give it a go. [Note slight detour from Wollmeise socks...]

If you've seen pictures of other's sheherezade slippers, you'll see that I modified rows 0 (cast-on) through 7. I've also changed rows 49 and 51 slightly.

Requesting Advice: Ripple or Pop?

The cables really don't pop in the Posh yarn. Elemm has recommended ripping them out and twisting the cables. Whaddya think? Leave them as a ripple texture, or rip out and force them to pop as traveling stitches?

Toby and Paco don't care-- they just want to be wrapped in wool for the entire cool season!

Single Sock Details

2007-10-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

Common ground for yesterday's single socks: Wollmeise sockenwolle, Knit Pick's 2.25 nickel-plated dpns, and eye of the partridge heels.

Spice Market

For me, once complete these will be perfect fall socks. Claudia's color combination is great-- I just love it! The pattern is a simple eyelet rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch -- Elongated Rib. I've started the second one, and am determined to finish it by the end of the month. I'm particullarly determined to finish them by Halloween as they are my 'official' Socks in the Cities KAL socks.

Suzanne Chevron

Now, the Chevron socks don't scream fall to me-- but they're delightful, too. The fit is fabulous, and I love the unexpected colorway. The Jaywalker pattern is great for verigated yarn-- but it's a very stiff pattern. The eylet rows from Welt Fantastic, another Sensational Knitted Socks pattern, was just the thing to make a well-fitting chevron sock.

Two Timin' Woman

2007-10-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Two socks does not a pair make.

Is it time to give up and join the Single Sock Liberation Movement?

Single sock syndrome, startitis-- call it what you will, but clearly I'm having problems here.

small gift knits

2007-10-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying the last few weeks of flowers before the frost. Here's a few finished objects from the past two weeks hanging out in the front yard:

Fingerless Pomatomus mittens, a 2007 holiday gift: 2-socks-on-circs, Fiesta Boomerang, US 3's.

Man, did these seem to take for-ev-er... Another holiday gift:

[No one in my family knows about this blog. E, no sharing!]

liberation

2007-10-03T11:59:00.001-07:00

For the month of October I joined two related KALs.

Socks in the Cities is hosted by the Yarnery in St. Paul. It's local, low-pressure, and includes a prize or two for a lucky few. Everyone's asked to finish a pair of socks during the month.

The second KAL is very low-key. Socktober! It's soo low-key that there isn't a new 2007 button. It's loosely based via Socktober's Flickr group and the Socktober Ravelry group. Essentially, lots of pictures and chatting about all things socks. Right up my alley!

I'll be honest with you all, I feel Liberated!

Fall is a time for wintry knitting. Wool, texture, colorwork-- Sweaters. Yep. This year I was all jazzed when planning projects, but I'm more than happy to just knit socks for the moment, thank-you-very-much. I just don't want to be bogged down with such a bit project at the moment.

Perhaps I'm really just a sock knitter at heart.

(or, I'm working too much)

eye of the partridge heel-- love it!

Proof.

2007-10-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

Wee swatch

becomes Sock Cuff.

Calf shaping, yes.
Wollmeise sock yarn in Spice Market.

See? I *have* been knitting.

Claudia's new store just opened up today. Go and buy some Wollmeise!

Kauni Following

2007-09-28T14:56:00.001-07:00

What a hiatus! It's been ten days since my last post. Work has been busy, and I'm feeling under the weather. Enough of the un-fun, fellow knitters.

Let's talk Kauni
When I posted about the exciting arrival of Multicolor-EQ (Rainbow) I knew that I wasn't going to knit Ruth's wonderful Kaffe Fasset-esque pattern. It's a beautiful pattern, but has too much horizontal focus for my frame!

I even thought about using the Kilim pattern in Sweaters from Camp with the square motif from Ruth's pattern.
*(no one online seems to have knit this pattern. Hrm. It doesn't have stellar instructions... but still!)
Why? It's knit vertically. Sleeve to front/back to sleeve. This is still a pretty great option for an easy knit- even if it isn't knit in the round.

I still wasn't happy. Way back in August a hunt for fair isle patterns started. Off to the Textile Center's library I went, where I picked up these:

I decided that I wanted a pattern that used approximately the same amount of yarn for the positive and negative space. I also wanted something that would have at least a partial verticle access-- or would not at least focus on horizontal striping. The best fit was "Turkish Maple" (open book above) from Meg Swanson's Knitting.

Before I swatched, I started stalking Kauni sweaters on Ravelry. Look at what turned up:

Kauni Experiment:Heidi's knitbits http://heidisknitbits.blogspot.com/
Love the simple geometry with neutral tones. Nice sweater.

Turkish motif: Liza at String Theory http://whitebirchfiberarts.blogspot.com/
Along the lines of what I was thinking about with the Turkish Maple sweater. Clearly, a Turkish motif, Verticle Emphasis, and Positive/Negative space use up the same amount of yarn real-estate. Great idea!
Now, here's the show stopper.

Maria from Passing Down Crazy (a mom-daughter knitting blog) is a fellow Minnesotan is in the midst of this amazing knitted work: Look at the wonderful 50/50 negative and positive space use! The perfect placement of color across the wheel with varing intensity (lightness/darkness). I'm not a huge fan of Fleur de Lis, but I love the leaf and Iris motif. Irises happen to be my favorite flowers!
The more I see the sweater, the more I love it.

Here's the downfall. She used a Dale of Norway stitch motif called "Damask".
A friend tried to order said pattern. The results?

Request: On Sep 25, 2007, at 1:02 PM, Deepa wrote Item #B22006 (Book) -- $5.50Dale 6023 DamaskWoman's cardigan to knit in two lengths. Adult sizes Sto XL.(6023)I would like to order this pattern. Please let me knowthe total cost and I will pay with Paypal.Thank you.Deepa

Reply: From: Velona Needlecraft [mailto:info@velona.com]Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:44 PMTo: Deepa Subject: Re: just sold out: pattern orderI am sorry but this was sold out a few days ago. Thankyou.

Bummer. I'm not going to lie. I've started charting the pattern in Excel.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2007-09-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, you do give the best advice. Sure, it's been weeks since I've finished any knitting project. Nothing makes this fact more glaring than Ravelry! Upon your resounding advice, I did rip out the Wollmeise sock and start again. It's just about to the heel turn.

There was a good deal of sun over the weekend. I took the dogs to the park a few times, so they were thouroughly exhausted!

Never too soon

2007-09-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's never too soon to start holiday gifts, right? These will be given to a 25 yr. old who has a purple jacket. What do you think-- leave as fingerless, or knit full mittens?
Pomatomus pattern at knitty.com, 48 stitches on US 3s, Araucantia Atacama purchased on sale at elann.com, palm in rib. 2 skeins are needed for a pair with two pattern repeats on the cuff.
I wore the wrong shirt to work to model these!

Finger-smooshing update:
feeling better, still a little swollen, and permanent bruising under two nails.
(fuzzy pic, hard to take with one hand!)

Updates:

2007-09-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Go HERE to read Cathy's dizzying account of a fantastic and fiber-filled Twin Cities weekend. (exhausting yet wonderful :)

My fingers were smashed in a garage door over the weekend, so typing and knitting are not high on my 'fun' list at the moment. So far, bruises are getting lighter and I still have all fingernails!

Lately I've been having trouble sticking to any project. As proof, I'll fess up to another project recently on the needles.

I thought a simple yet beautiful Wollmeise sock in the Susanne colorway would help. The leg is nearly finished. When I tried it on, I realized it's about 4 stitches too small. Would you rip it out and begin again, or keep going and gift the socks?
Two news items for today:

1. The Bohus sales previously at Kimmet Croft yarns is now StageCoach Yarns. In fact, the old Kimmet Croft website routes you there! Mary Jo is ready to prepare kits-- so if you're looking to knit Bohus garmets at a *slightly* larger gauge than museum pieces, go and order! They create beautiful items.

2. LR is home. Toby has claimed it for his own.

Sock Monkeys!?!

2007-09-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you know me well, you know that I kinda hate sock monkeys. (and clowns)

Sock Monkeys were the only toys around at my evil step grandmother's home. She made an entire sea of them. My brother, on the other hand, thinks they're absolutely hilarious. Two holidays ago I sewed orange and brown sock monkey pillowcases for him-- and now they're not only worn out, but they don't match his new home.

For J & G and they're new blue/green/tan condo walls:Since the Singer Featherweight was out, I sewed a set for myself.

No Sock Monkeys for me!

Knitting content? So, I pulled out a sock from the infamous drawer. This was my first toe-up attempt, and boy is the work sloppy! See how it torques? (It goes away with blocking). I think these were started 3 years ago. The yarn is wound in a huge ball, and I still thought verigated yarn and lace was o.k. I'm continuing with the pattern because the "Indian Corn" bearfoot color is a lovely autumnal shade, and the Tiger Eye lace actually does lend to a corn-like aesthetic.

Anticipation. Sorrow. True Joy.

2007-08-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

Wollmeise sockenwolle: our dramatic quest
for gorgeous yarn from Germany

Poison no. 5 in dark, medium, and bright (for Cathy)

From a previous confession you know that a few of us stalked Wollmeise sock yarn on Flickr for months. (You know, before Ravelry emerged.) Elemmaclitur kept posting absolutely gorgeous photos- how could the obsession possibly wain? Of course, I kept forcing other knitters to look at the photos, too.

At the end of June a few Minnesota knitters placed an order with Wollmeise. We each ordered a number of skeins, and opted for the cheaper "Sea Way" shipping from Germany to Minnesota.

This was a bad idea for two reasons:
1. The wait was nearly unbearable.
2. The shipper was very naughty.

Sodden and stinky, the Wollmeise box arrived in St. Paul less than three weeks after Claudia shipped our gorgeously dyed wool. Everything was wet. Completely wet. Either the shipper left the box out in drenching rain, or (most likely) it sat in multiple inches of water for an extended period of time-- days, I'd say. Most of the skeins were in a jumble, the box had multiple holes, and one skein-- Tiefer See-- was completely missing. Cathy thought her skein wanted to go where it came from- the Deep Dark water! (Tiefer See roughly translates to 'Deep Dark Lake')You can see from the photo above that there was beautiful wrapping- but it nearly disintegrated. All of the labels had shredded and were stuck to the cardboard box.

Claudia, the Wollmeise herself, took the incident in stride and called our sea way box a submarine. She even asked if there were any fish inside! Claudia even offered to re-send our entire shipment.

I felt a compulsive need to 'save' the yarn. Every skein was washed at least once the moment it left the box. Some received multiple washings. Not all skeins were save-able, and were just too stinky to salvage. Claudia replaced these few skeins without charge-- and the insurance company is currently passing her request for damage reimbursement from desk to desk.

Of course, what you really want to see are photos. Now, they do not do justice to this gorgeous yarn.

Am Kalten Polar & Raku-Regenbogen
Dornroshen,Rosenrot & Feuerwanze
the infamous Tiefer See
Suzanne
Koralle im Meer (bright) Spice Market, Granataphel, Brombeere, Red Hot Chili, & Sonne
Gewitterhimmel- this photo certainly does not capture how beautiful this yarn is!

What do I think of the yarn? Honestly, the better question is-- what's not to love? :)
The colors are truly unique, and fantastically dyed. The yarn is smooth and not as stretchy as other superwash merino yarns, but has a ferocious amount of bounce. At first touch it may seem a bit like cotton-- but it doesn't react this way at all. The yarn does have many plies, and I have split the yarn once or twice while knitting an entire sock cuff. Of course, I do this with Regia or Opal, too. Once it's knit up into fabric it's absolutely wonderful- lots of stretch and resiliency.

According to Claudia's blog*, her shop will be closed for the next month. Ordering should be easier for both the user and her in the future. Distance always makes the heart grow fonder!

*The Google translate tool can be used to read her blog in English, although as Cathy notes, the effect is rather yoda-like.

Experiment #2

2007-08-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Recognize the pattern?
Gloves! I've never knit them, so I came to a natural conclusion: find a fingerless mitten pattern to modify-- you know, just for a bit of a challenge.

I really had no idea what I was doing, but I think they're just fine. The first "crotch" between the pinkie and the ring finger is not-so-fabulous, but I figured out how to make the others come out o.k.

weekend experiment!

2007-08-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Fiesta "Boomerang" yarn

Rhubarb color
Toe-up socks on two circulars! I split the ball in two, placed them into a ziploc bag with two tiny holes at one end (yarn tangle control), & tried Judy's Magic cast-on (I'm a TOTAL convert!).

The needles are huge.

It's like knitting socks on telephone poles.

I think I'm liking it.

Minnesota State Fair

2007-08-26T17:50:00.001-07:00

Friday night I volunteered for the Minnesota Knitters Guild at the MN State Fair with a few friends. We certainly had a good time talking to fair-goers as they passed by. The only downside was that we were sitting on a bit of a stage behind a sample barrier. The effect was reminiscent of visiting the zoo- and we were the animals in the cage!

There were many gorgeous knitted items submitted this year. Of course, it's always fun to see entries from knitters that you know--
Deepa, Jeanne, Louise, Susan, & Leslie all received awards-- congrats to you all!

In return, thanks to all who have sent congratulations my way-- Lizard Ridge took 1st place *and* afghan sweepstakes! What a fantastic surprise!!!

Check out the reflection of the fair-

Afterward we visited a few spots. The horticulture building had a "largest sugar beet contest". Good lord, I had no idea how big these are. I'm from corn and soybean country. The North-western corner of MN grows a good deal of these.

(Berry Lozenge sock for scale)

Have you seen the crop art, or seed art? Wow! Truly amazing work!!!

Someone painstakingly 'painted' lace out of small seeds on the Spanish Lady. The seeds lend to a true sculptural form. I was entranced. There was a good deal of pop culture and kitch, some were drop-dead gorgeous.

I can't help it. I have to leave you with this:

Possible Critical Mass?

2007-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

First of all, Holly is the best Sockapalooza 4 pal ever! She sent a SECOND package with patterns! Now, onto the critical mass issue. So.... in the past 6 weeks I've indulged my long-term desire to order Wollmeise and Kauni. Even though one package had arrived, and the other was just days away.... I went shopping. Now, I was just going to buy Cat Bordhi's book, "New Pathways for Sock Knitters", vol. 1.

It's fabulous. I'll be honest. I *hated* the magical knitting series. Mobius, no thank you! New ways to knit gussets and sculpt socks, fabulous. If you're a sock knitter and are interested in mixing things up, this is a book for you!

So, umm... I found some Jitterbug. I've been looking at this colorway for months-- and then I noticed that they changed their formula to a thinner yarn. Sold! I swiped up the original thickness the moment I noticed the difference because I wanted the thicker one. I've certainly hit critical mass for sock yarn. Must stop buying sock yarn!

Wednesday night, Deepa placed this in my hot little hands.

It's ooh, soo much better in real life. Kauni, fabulous. Absolutely gorgeous stuff. Just so you know I'm not completely mad, 1/2 of these skeins will be delivered to another knitter tonight!

I decided against the sedate blues and the absolutely gorgeous Princess Line sweater design. I'm taking the advice of you, dear readers, and have decided upon something completely different. No, I'm not going to knit Ruth's fantastic design. For the past few weeks I've been plodding through as many Alice Starmore patterns that I can find... and I think I found a winner. Of course, the search made me change my mind yet again. I'll explain all soon.

Paco waiting patiently for play time. One last photo. Ahh-- I love this yarn!

Bus Stop, Beautiful

2007-08-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Wollmeise can make a dreary bus stop beautiful: I owe a long post to all of you full of gorgeous colors and a story about how fantastic Claudia (owner and single dyer at Wollmeise) is. I haven't had a chance to take all of the photos. Look for next week- I promise!

Remember the pigeon prints?

Berry Lozenge

2007-08-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

The sun came out for a lunch-time visit before settling in for an afternoon nap.

As luck would have it, I had just finished the first of the hard-to-photograph Trekking XXL color #76 (Berries) sock. This is the first touch of sun that we've seen for days! The color is spot on here on my monitor. (whew). The Saturday Como ladies kept calling the undulating ribs 'lozenges', thus the name Berry Lozenge socks. Here's what they look like in a lighter colorway with lozenges down the instep. I continued in rib after turning the heel.

The yarn is a bit darker then this photo, although the rib is perhaps a bit clearer.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

2007-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Minnesota has had a dramatic weather change in the past few days.

We went from 90+ degree days to fall-like 60s and a huge whallop of rain. Unfortunatly, Southeastern Minnesota was hit rather hard, I hope local bloggers, like Cathy at Hither and Yarn are o.k.

Como Saturday morning knitters were visibly upset as they thought about dropping their cotton and acrylic blends for 100% wool. We thought that Amanda's preparation for the new season was giggle worthy. Check out her ribbed tunic flanked by a cable-ribbed red cardi, and her oh-so-matchy and just finished oatmeal ribbed sweetheart sweater.

Last week I was on about Wollmeise, gorgeous Wollmeise. There'll be more in the near future!

The Pomatomus socks from the last post will be a gift, and I worried that they might be too small. So, they're just past the heel turn and are visiting the giftee for try-on mode,

and I'm onto another sock:

See what happens in the middle of monsoon season? Crappy sock photos!

I really like these new ones- but you certainly can't tell what they look like from the photo!!! The yarn is Trekking XXL in the "Berries" colorway, undulating rib from an old IK pattern,

78 stitches on the cuff and 72 around the foot.

Perhaps when the sun comes out I can take an accurate photo.

Sock yarn follow-up: the Junior High Eyeshadow socks (JHEs) in Posh's Lucia are holding up really well. I've worn & washed them about 7 times, and they're not showing signs of wear. I had feared that they would be bedsocks only-- but they're really tough! Who knew merino/cashmere socks could be this fantastic when it comes to wear?

Wollmeise has arrived!

2007-08-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

After approximately 3 weeks by sea, the Wollmeise arrived at my door. I'd recommend air shipping-- the wait seemed too long for all knitters who ordered yarn with us!

Raku-Regenbogen (Raku Rainbow, medium)
All skeins were washed upon their arrival. This softened up the wool dramatically. I couldn't help but cast on with Raku-Regenbogen shortly after it dried! I'm sure you recognize the popular pattern. Surprising how different it looks in the skein and knit up, huh? I think they're both absolutely gorgeous, though. These socks will be a holiday gift.

Pfauenauge (Peacock, medium)
Unfortunately, this is someone else's skein. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous? Look how the color emulates and nearly matches the peacock feather.

Poison No. 5 (bright), Sultan (medium), and Pfauenauge once again.
Again, these aren't my skeins- except for the sock above.

More Wollmeise to come...

Heart-a-Palooza

2007-08-09T07:34:00.001-07:00

Sockapalooza 4 Pal revealed!

A perfectly square package from Germany was delivered to my door yesterday from my SP4 pal Holly. The box utilized every last square centimeter of space. Here's the thoughtful and overly generous contents: Thank you, Holly!

The superwash wool/nylon on the left has a really wonderful feel, and the Regia Silk- gorgeous! Included is a pack of pastel food color dye, and three "happy catch" toys for Toby and Paco. (sorry for the poor lighting from last night)

The socks are truly original, and laden with cables and twisted stitches with heart motifs. Heart-a-Palooza, indeed! They're ribbed all over the place, and certainly would have fit a number of foot sizes. As you can see, I do have two differently sized feet. (To find out why, see below). My pail knit both a left and right sock to accommodate each foot.
The detail work is really lovely. The clog (patterned) heel heart motifs on the heel are reversed, and are used on the sock's insteps. I've never seen toe decreases like this before, and I think they're quite attractive on the foot.

Warning: next photo not for the squeamish

I've been thinking about taking part in a sock exchange for a while, but always avoided it because of the obvious...

The accident happened when I was a child, and there has been very little repercussion in my adult life.

Most people never notice, although each time I post a picture of socks modeled on my feet I wonder... Do people see the difference? Do they wonder why the left foot is usually shown more than the right?

Of course, the only person that has directly said anything about the size difference was a MN State Fair judge last year. She wrote: "Are you aware that there are many more stitches on one of your socks?" It's a little funny, actually. Should I have slipped in a Polaroid of my feet upon submission? I think not.

Once I discovered that Nordstrom will sell a pair of shoes with different sizes for the original price, I donated all of my old pairs and started a new shoe wardrobe! If you know of anyone in the same situation, please let them know. They'll ship a pair of shoes anywhere in the US for $5.

...and Holly, the dogs loved their toys. Thanks again!

Sockapalooza 4, Out!

2007-08-07T06:49:00.001-07:00

A little late to the finish line, the Sockapalooza 4 socks were mailed out this morning to my pal.

I was aiming for a pair of feminine, comfortable, summery socks.

Knit with Cascade Fixation 'multi-effect' yarn, US 2s, picot cast-on, a wee bit of feminine lace and garter to finish the top, and then a simple spiral lace rib of *YO, K2, K2tog, K2*. This is the first time I've used the pattern to knit a stockinette sole, and the socks did torque a bit with the spiral before they were blocked. Post- blocking, no problems. One of the strangest sites I see while zipping through the sky ways in St. Paul are the pigeon prints. I'm always amazed at co-workers who have worked here for years and are utterly surprised when I point them out. They're everywhere, folks.

Don't show Bert, he would be devastated to see these:

Lizard Ridge

2007-08-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Certainly my largest finished project to date.

February 2007 to July 2007.

Knit with approx. 4,000 yards of worsted weight yarn.

Noro Kureyon and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes.

Modifications: Added six squares and used a mitered garter stitch border a-la Mason Dixon.

It'll be on display at the Minnesota State Fair in a few weeks.

Opinions, please

2007-07-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

You spoke, and your voices were heard. Kauni EZ and EL combination, not a fabulous choice for the project.

Here's the sweater again.
How about ES and EL?

Workable, or should I just give up and start dreaming about Harrisville Shetland?

Finishing Week

2007-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, you're about to see a flurry of finished objects this week. Let's get started with the old ones, shall we?

First off, the Junior High Eyeshadow socks were finished during vacation week.

Pattern: Basic toe-up, double wrapped sockinette automatic heel with EZ's sewn bind-off.

Yarn: Posh Lucia, approx. 320 yards

Finished July 2007

Well-worn Dansko shoes.

I've heard that German knitters call this a "boomerang" heel. It's knit back and forth. How cute is that?

Green Tea - Lotus Blossom Tank

Great pattern. The sleeves roll a bit for me, even after the garter edging. I've been thinking about picking up the edges and knitting a short-row sleeve cap.

Pattern: Lotus Blossom, Interweave Knits Summer 2006

Yarn: Cotton Patine, 8 skeins

Modifications: Added an extra 2", knit one size smaller for bodice.

Finished June 2007

Rosedale

Great pattern, except for the horrible collar. Blocking is a necessity here! It still needs a zipper.

Pattern: Rosedale at knitty.com

Yarn: Noro Kureyon and Kathmandu Aran (black)

Modifications: Intarsia on both sides, not on front. Created thicker stripes on front of Cardigan.

Finished: December 2006

German Obsession

2007-07-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

All right. I'll admit it. I've had a bit of a German yarn obsession for months. It started with Wollmeise in January, then Kauni popped up (for me) the next month while searching aimlessly through Flickr. Deepa tried to analyze why it was all coming from Germany... there was no conclusive answer. I held off from ordering either one for months! Watching ravelry and reading blogs has only made the obsession worse.

I caved in July.

Ordered Wollmeise? check.

Kauni... you tell me.

Everyone's knitting this rainbow-licious sweater. It's great, it is-- but the horizontal focus is just too strong for me. Love the color. Fun to knit, but I had to ask myself, "Would I ever wear it?". Probably not.

So, I thought about the fair isle sweaters that I've always wanted to knit. Near the top of the list is one from Norsk Strikkedesign:

The Princess Line sweater

Do you think it will work in Kauni EL and EZ?

*********

EDIT: love Renee's comment: Kauni is actually a Danish company, so you're perfectly well balanced and not obsessive at all. :-)

Home

2007-07-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I was able to get away to part of the National Forest located in Northern Minnesota. Our extended family goes a few times a year together, and as always the trip was absolutely gorgeous.

We canoed, kayaked, swam, fished, walked, hiked, took saunas, played cards, and ate excellent food all week long. There was little time for knitting, and lots of time for HP7 theories! I took very few photos, so there aren't that many to show you.

There was one new experience: we went to Stone lake to fish. The 5 mile road leading directly to the lake washed out a few years ago. We used an ATV to pull the boat and fishers, then hopped out of the boat whenever we hit ravines, mud pools, or washed out road portions. The horseflies were frightenly enthusiastic. Warm bodies! The lake, gorgeous. It was full of wildlife, lots of flowering lilypads, and blue herons.

Toby and Paco were able to stay in my house thanks to a lovely puppy-sitter. They were a little 'sticky' when I returned!

During the week I did sew up all seams on LR, and knit two borders. The seams have been blocked, and I'm starting the final borders tonight. It'll be done in less than a week. Toby has a new fondness for it.

For fear of spoilers from all sides I finished reading HP7 over the weekend-- and didn't finish the Sockapalooza 4 socks. August is closing in fast! Must finish these socks!!!

Vacation

2007-07-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

See you next week!

Wild Apple!

2007-07-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Bohus service announcement:

Solvig, a fabulous dyer and supplier of Bohus kits from Sweden, sent an email announcement yesterday. She now has Wild Apple kits available! With shipping, they're 1250 Sek. (divide by approx. 7 for US currency equivalent). Each kit comes with original Bohus Museum instructions translated by Susanna into English. If you're interested in ordering one, email Solvig directly.

Tiny Gauge Warning: these kits have *gorgeous* fingering weight angora/merino wool and are knit generally 2-2.5mm needles. Designs published in Poems of Color use a much larger gauge and DK weight yarns. If you would rather follow these patterns, the book recommends kits from Kimmet Croft Yarns-Fairy Haire.

The picture above is a mystery. I found the image online here: http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/lv2knit/WildApplessweater2.jpg If you know who lv2knit is, please let me know. From the image above, clearly the sweater was entered into the Minnesota State Fair. (Ingebretsen's gave it away!) I've seen one of the Rainey Sisters wearing a sweater just like this one when the Yarn Harlot came to visit Minnesota just a few months ago.

disclaimer: I am not ordering one of the kits. The Large Lace Collar must be completed first!