Look What I Made!

Well, I've completed two pairs of Yoga Socks (thanks, Yarns International!) for Christmas giving. Not very exciting, BUT I made them from my very own handspun! Go me! I'm very pleased at the way the two pairs turned out - the yarn is soft and seems to be balanced. Certainly better than the vest I made from the rescued (maybe shouldn't have been rescued?) single ply from years ago.

I'll be knitting several more pairs of Yoga Socks - but I'm not saying who they're going to!

Look What I Got!!!

Rhinebeck 2009 has come and gone, and what a fine time it was! Pam picked me up at 7:30 sharp - we arrived at the fairgrounds at 9:15. It was a cold and windy day, but the rain stayed away. A hat would have helped but we managed to stay fairly warm nonetheless. We hit ALL the barns, and my $300 was quickly drained as I bought (mostly) fiber for spinning. I did buy some yarn, including a hat kit, 5 skeins of "Sylvan Spirit" from Green Mountain Spinnery (along with their newest book, 99 Yarns and Counting), and some Shelridge Farm sock yarn for Nancy Bush's "Canada" sock in Knitting on the Road.

We were smart this year - had an early lunch of lamb ravioli and beat the LONG lines that formed by noontime. Later we treated ourselves to hot apple crisp with ice cream - yum!

Here's a photo of the fiber I bought!

Spey Valley meets Pine Star

I've begun Nancy Bush's Spey Valley socks from Knitting on the Road. The yarn is from Pine Star Studio, purchased at Fiber College in September of 2009. The colors are absolutely lovely, and the merino/silk blend is perfect.

Not Sure About This...

Here's the completed Abrazo Vest. I finished it this morning and modeled it for my husband. He hesitated for just a nanosecond too long - he doesn't like it. Actually, he doesn't like the yarn. Boohoo.

I guess I don't like the yarn, either. Though rescued from a life buried in the stash vault, it's unbalanced, thus it still skews.

Oh, well. I've got enough left to knit at least 2 pairs of Super Bulky Mittens.

Rescue Redux

This weekend I was rootling about in the stash - always a dangerous activity (I usually remember to attach a lifeline to reality but forgot this time) - when I came across several skeins of handspun. Handspun by Penelope, circa 2002??? Part of it was no longer in skein format, but was knit up into some monstrosity of a self-designed garment. The horror is that the garment was being knitted with - gasp - a single ply yarn. Nooooooooo, you say, but don't click the Back button yet. With my newfound grasp of the fact that singles are good for weaving but not so much for knitting, I yanked the skeins/balls/partially frogged garment out of the bin and proceeded to rescue - via plying - the yarn.Now, in 2002, my spinning prowess was, shall we say, limited. I knew so little about spinning...the tension band confused me (which way to turn the screw to tighten???), and predrafting - what's that??? Suffice it to say that the singles weight was a heavy worsted, and, now that it's plyed, I'm not sure if "Super Bulky" is descriptive of the rope you see in these photos.

Well. I'm now on the prowl for super super super bulky patterns. Or maybe I'll just donate this "yarn" to the nearest ship's chandler.

Scarves

I have two scarves on the needles right now - both are somewhat lacy, and one is super easy (a one-row repeat - you can't get any simpler than that). The one on the left is a pattern designed by Marji Lefreniere, owner of Marji's Yarncrafts in Granby Connecticut. The scarf on the right is designed by Turvid. I don't know if they'll be gifts or if I'll be selfish...

Dumpling

Again, it's still damp, but here's my second Dumpling Bag! I knitted the first one last fall and gave it away at Marji's annual Christmas swap extravaganza. I had enough of the same yarn to knit another, and voila! This is an EASY one day project, using size 11 needles and two strands of Noro Kureopatora. Easy to knit, easy to felt, easy to embellish.

I think I'll keep this one for myself!