In the Nick of Time

From fiber ...

to yarn ...

to socks!

Pattern: my basic stockinette recipe, with 2x2 ribbed cuffs and eye of partridge heels
Yarn: my handspun, 3-ply superfine merino from All Spun Up
Needles: two 12" US 1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: November 13/November 25

There really is no greater pleasure than knitting with your own handspun. I'm looking forward to repeating the experience as many times as possible -- including with the leftovers of this yarn, which are enough to make quite a few baby socks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Warm Head

Cross another holiday gift off the list!

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood, Interweave Knits holiday 2007 and Knitting Daily pattern store (link)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, colorway Verdes, one skein
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: November 10/November 13
Recipient: my brother-in-law's girlfriend
Mods: none

This was one of those patterns I'd long been wanting to knit, and after kicking myself for months for not buying the IK holiday issue last year, I finally decided to just buy the darn pattern from the Knitting Daily pattern store. It was well worth it, if you ask me.

This hat was a delight to knit and only took as long as it did because I had some difficulties in reading the pattern (entirely due to user error, not the quality of the pattern). This was my work knitting, too, meaning I only knit on it about two hours each day. I didn't have any smaller circs in the sizes required, so I magic looped the whole thing and that worked just fine.

I think my favorite part of this hat is the way the decreases spiral up to the top, which isn't shown in any of the pattern photos.

Your eyes do not deceive you; this Malabrigo is indeed the same colorway as my Foliage. I thought it would be overkill to make another winter accessory for myself, so I used this second skein in my stash as a gift for my brother-in-law's girlfriend, on whom I think it will look spectacular. I have a couple other shades still in my stash, though, that are contenders to become a Koolhaas for myself!

I thought this was my last holiday knitting project, but it occurred to me after finishing it up that I didn't knit anything for my brother-in-law. The Mister suggested that he'd probably like some socks -- which figures, because he's got the biggest feet among all the men I knit for (excluding my brother, who thankfully will not wear handknit socks). I think some ankle socks may be in order.

Shiny!

Today I have some handspun yarn pr0n for you. It was finished about a week ago, but the whole time change has messed with my ability to get any natural light until the weekend, so it had to wait a while for its photo shoot.

This yarn started life as a 60% merino/40% bamboo blend dyed by Kristin at All Spun Up (my favorite fiber pusher).

Because of the shine of the bamboo and the way it took up the dye differently, leaving that beautiful silvery effect, I knew I wanted to spin this into a laceweight yarn. I discovered that while it seems to take as long to spin the singles as it does for, say, a three-ply sock yarn, it takes forever to ply. I spent several days' worth of spinning sessions just plying. The last day, I was at my wheel for a total of more than four hours! In the end it was worth it, though, because I got a gorgeously shiny yarn with the nice tight twist I like.

Starting with 4.2 ounces of fiber, I yielded approximately 625 yards of two-ply laceweight (about 27 wpi). I was a bit worried about how the finished yarn would look, because the singles had some noticeable runs of a burnt orange shade that I wasn't too fond of, but everything blended together in the plying process. The finished yarn reminds me of chocolate-covered berries.

This yarn clearly wants to be knit into something lacy that will show off its shine to full effect. I'm thinking perhaps Waves of Grain from the most recent Knitty; I have some silver-lined beads that I think would be a perfect match.

No More Secrets

At long last I can reveal some super-secret knitting I did over the summer.

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash Handpaints (100% superwash wool), colorways Arctic Ice and Spring Meadow, approximately 1.5 skeins each
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: August 15/September 10
Recipients: "Luke" and "Leia," Jen's newborn twins

When Jen announced to us that she was expecting a boy and a girl, I knew I wanted to make coordinating sweaters as a gift for them. The BSJ has treated me well before, so it didn't take me long to settle on it as my pattern. My idea was to choose gender-neutral colors so that either sweater could be worn by either baby. The only thing standing in the way of making the jackets truly interchangeable was the placement of the buttons. So I eliminated the buttons altogether.

Instead of buttons, I used applied i-cord around the entire border of each sweater (including the cuffs) using the other color of yarn. It was a bit slow going at first, but I love how it turned out!

I must say a few words about this yarn, because it made for a truly wonderful knitting experience. Everything that there is to love about classic Cascade 220 is true of this yarn. Wonderful yardage, great hand, consistent quality, excellent stitch definition, and a great price point. I was planning to do a regular superwash when I was pointed in the direction of this gorgeous handpainted variation. The variegation behaves -- and I mean really behaves. Absolutely no pooling or flashing to be seen. I couldn't be happier.

As happy as I was to present these to Jen last night at Hurricane Knitting, I was a little sad to see these go. I have a strong feeling these are not the last BSJs I will knit!

Little Things

On Saturday, Yvonne had a group of us over to her house for lunch and some knitting. I didn't want to take anything too big or complicated, knowing that we'd be talking and I'd be easily distracted, so I took some sock yarn scraps. A couple hours there, along with a couple hours last night, and I had a pair of bootees.

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees (pdf link) by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: scraps of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight (100% superwash merino), colorways Lenore and Flower Power
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: November 15/November 16
Mods: none

These are for a friend to give to her newborn niece, by her request. They were on the needles such a short amount of time, I'm not even sure they counted as a WIP. They were fun as always, even with all the ends to weave in.

Speaking of small things, I've been knitting with some very skinny sock yarn. It's actually some rather special yarn -- recognize it?

I'm discovering that I love knitting with handspun sock yarn almost more than I love knitting with any other sock yarn. I especially love the subtle color changes. These are, unfortunately, going to be some very delicate socks because the fiber was superfine merino; the knit fabric is extremely soft but also rather flimsy. I don't think reserving them for bed socks is such a bad thing, though, because I'd hate to spend all that time prepping the fiber, spinning the yarn, and knitting the socks only to have them wear out right away.

Thanks again for all your opinions and words of advice regarding the swatch and my vest. I still have to do a few calculations to be sure, but I think I'm going to go with the smaller needle and the fabric I like. I can't see spending all that time on something only to have it come out fitting me but with poor stitch definition.

A Conundrum

So, I was a good knitter and swatched for my Ivy League Vest. I even swatched in the round, which is a bit of a pain, what with all the loose ends hanging every which way. And I even used two needle sizes! Here's what I got:

That's with a flash so you can see what the stitches look like. This is without a flash and a better representation of what the color combination looks like:

Amazing how one little swatch can cause so many problems. You see, the bottom half of the swatch, which is knit on a US 4 needle, gives me gauge (7 stitches/inch), but I don't care much for the loosey-goosey appearance of the fabric. There's a chance that this may have been exacerbated by the swatching technique and that the fabric might not be so loose when I'm knitting "for real" in the round. The top half of the swatch, worked with a US 3 needle, gives me a fabric I really like but at a gauge of about 7.6 stitches/inch. I did a little math and figured out that, at the smaller gauge, I can knit the largest size and wind up with a vest that will be approximately my size -- approximately being the key word here.

So I can use the needle that gives me gauge but risk getting a fabric I don't like or use a needle that gives me a fabric I like and keep my fingers crossed that the math works out. Add to this the fact that the pattern specifies that the v-neck accommodates up to five inches of negative ease and I'm really confused. I'm hoping some of you will have advice for me or at least a strong opinion, especially those of you who've done a fair amount of colorwork before (Rebecca and Pat, I'm looking at you!).

In the meantime, I'm focusing on the second half of my mystery stole -- should finish clue 1 tonight! -- in the hopes of having it done to wear to my office holiday party a month from today.

Ballband Heaven

At 9 a.m. this morning, I finished my last big holiday knitting project for the year.

Pattern: Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream (100% cotton); colorways Hot Purple, Violet Veil Ombre, Yellow, Playtime, Light Blue, Butter Cream Ombre, Red, and Natural Ombre; one skein each
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Complted: October 29/November 9
Mods: omitted two "stripes" on each dishcloth

I can say with complete certainty that this is the only pattern I've knit eight times. One would think that knitting the same pattern that many times would get really boring, but I think I actually sped up with each dishcloth I knit. While I need a little break for the moment, I picked up some additional kitchen cotton yesterday to make some of these for myself. They are fun and very addictive.

These are a little shorter than called for in the pattern because of a bit of a mistake on my part when I was knitting the first one. I misread one part of the directions and didn't realize it until I had started on the second one, but at that point I decided to make the coordinating cloth to match the first. Then I discovered that by leaving out the two "stripes," I actually was able to get two dishcloths out of two skeins of the yarn when using the solid as the background for one and the ombre as the background for the other. After a light steam blocking to get the fabric to relax, I think these cloths are a very nice size; I almost think the size they should have been (had I followed the pattern correctly) would be too big.

These dishcloths are for our friends who host us for Christmas each year. This year's theme is "green Christmas," so I wanted to make something that would be reusable -- and something that would be pretty enough to not require any special wrapping. I think these fit the bill!

Now all that's left to knit for holiday gifts is something for my brother-in-law's girlfriend, so I'll be casting on for a Koolhaas tomorrow morning. Tonight, however, I'm breaking out the colors and swatching for my Ivy League Vest!

Repetition

The holiday knitting continues here, and lately it's all about the Ballband Dishcloths. I am churing out at least one of these a day. There are going to be eight of them total for Christmas gifts, and the fifth will be finished shortly. It's a good thing, too, because I'm getting to the point where I could probably knit them in my sleep.


I finished another Christmas gift while watching the election returns on Tuesday, but it's still in need of a little embellishment, so you'll have to wait a few days for that. I'm anxious to finish up these little projects so I can get back to knitting for me. Specifically, I'd like to get back to the second half of my mystery stole -- I'm hoping to finish it in time to wear it to my office holiday party in mid-December -- and then there's always the siren call of fair isle!

As to the election, the topic on everyone's lips, well, I would be remiss if I didn't mention anything about it. I try to keep politics off this blog as much as possible except, as I did the other day, when I remind my fellow American citizens to take part in the democratic process. I know that this was a long and at times difficult campaign, with very strong emotions on both sides. But I don't think anyone doubts that the outcome marks a historic moment in American history. I know that one day I'll be telling my children about this election and the part I played in it. I'm proud to have had some impact on the outcome, however small, and I'm excited to see what the next four years have in store for our country.

An Important Message

We interrupt our regularly scheduled knitting content for this important announcement.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Exercise your right and fulfill your responsibility.

Please cast your ballot!

Autumn on the Vineyard

It's Sunday, so you know what that means! This week, I want to show you my latest yarn.

This was the All Spun Up spinalong fiber, a superfine merino dyed in deep autumn shades that made me think of the colors of a vineyard in autumn -- the deep purples of grapes on the vine and the greens and golds of the leaves.

I decide that this was destined to become a pair of fall socks, so I went for a three ply fingering weight yarn.

By far, this was best yardage I ever achieved with four ounces of fiber. I wound up with approximately 450 yards -- more than enough for a generously sized pair of socks -- and even some singles leftover. This is probably the most even I've spun, too, so you can understand why I'm rather proud of this yarn.

I went through all of October without knitting a single sock, and I've missed my sock knitting, so my goal is to turn this yarn into a pair of socks to wear to Thanksgiving dinner.

Tres Chic, N'est-ce Pas?

This knit up so quickly, I didn't even have time to take a progress shot.

Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney, fall 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, colorway Verdes, one skein (with leftovers!)
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) 16" circs and dpns and US 5 (3.75 mm) 16" circs
Started/Completed: October 25/October 28
Mods: see below

I'd wanted to knit this hat for a while because I really liked the stitch pattern, but I didn't really want another beanie-style hat. Instead, I wanted a slouchy beret-style hat -- something that would cover my head but not smoosh my hair. So, I decided to take the basic pattern and enlarge it.

How did I do it? Luckily for you, I took notes so that I could remember what I did.

First, you should know that I did the worsted version of the pattern, so these mods will not necessarily work with the chunky version (though I'm sure a little experimentation could yield similar results).

I started by following the crown directions, working rows 1-19 of the Crown Chart. Then, I repeated rows 14-19 of the chart until I had 196 stitches on my needle. After completing the decrease round that begins the body, I had 192 stitches.

Next, I worked one repeat (rows 1-12) of the Leaf Lace chart. At this point, I had to decrease some stitches, so I worked rows 1-4 of the Leaf Lace chart again, but this time around I omitted the yarn overs in the stitch pattern. These decreases got me back to the 96 stitches called for in the body of the hat in the original pattern. I worked the brim as written and bound off using the larger needle. And voila! Instant beret!

I know some of you will have difficulty believing this, but this was actually the first time I'd knit with Malabrigo! I'd had a number of skeins in my stash that I was hoarding, but now that I've had the pleasure of actually knitting with it, I have a feeling that the remaining yarn won't be left in the stash much longer.

I do want to point out to the knitters out there like me, who constantly worry about running out of yarn, that I completed this hat with less than one full skein of yarn.

In the end, this hat is perhaps a bit larger than I was intending, but the numbers worked out really well -- without planning, I might add; math was never my strong suit -- so I didn't have to fiddle with the decreases. I think this chapeau will come in handy on those slightly damp winter days when I don't want my hair to get messed up by any precipitation; I can just shove it all inside the beret!

Lacy Ribbons

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery, spring 2008 Knitty
Yarn: J. Knits Superwash Me Sock (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon), colorway Mississippi, one skein
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) Knit Picks circs
Started/Completed: October 15/October 25
Dimensions: approximately 6 1/2" by 90"
Mods: cast on 44 stitches rather than 53
Recipient: my mother

I'm thrilled with how this turned out. The lace repeat was easy to memorize after two or three repeats, and after that, the rest of the scarf prettty much flew off the needles.

I reduced the stitch count in part because I was only using one skein of yarn, but also because this scarf struck me as more of an accessory than an article for warmth. I ended up with only a few yards leftover but a nice length. I did not block very aggressively, however, only just enough to open up the lace and straighten the edges a bit.

I'm really quite enamored of this pattern now and think I may eventually need to knit one for myself. I think it might look very nice in my merino/alpaca handspun.

I have a few more small things to knit, but now the majority of my holiday knitting is complete!

Dashing

Cross another holiday gift off the list.

Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath, spring 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 (100% merino), color 1362, two skeins
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: October 20/October 23
Recipient: my mother-in-law
Mods: shortened by a few rows between third cable cross and thumb and in hand

These were a quick, satisfying knit. I had to wait until several days after they were completed to do a proper photo shoot, but they knit up in just a handful of evening knitting sessions.

The yarn was a delight. It had been sitting in the stash for quite some time, waiting for the right project. When I asked The Mister for guidance on color choice for his mother, he suggested a neutral shade, so this Aurora 8 fit the bill perfectly. I omitted a few rows here and there in part because I was nervous about running out of yarn (probably wouldn't have been a problem in the end) but also because my mother-in-law has small-ish hands, like me, and I didn't want the mitts to be too long. I tried them on as I went, and as you can see, they're a perfect fit on me. The Mister says she'll love them, so I'm happy. Just a little steam blocking is left and they're ready to go.

I finished some other holiday knitting this weekend, but you'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to see it; it's still drying. Trust me, it's worth it. I'm thrilled.

The Squoosh Factor

The first of the Dashing mitts is done, and I have to say that if I hadn't already planned these as a gift, I'd be very tempted to keep them. This yarn is so unbelievable squooshy!

The second mitt is about two-thirds done and should be finished up tonight. (I think two hours of Nathan Fillion kept me from finishing it last night. I kept getting distracted -- can you blame me?)

Next!

Thank you for your compliments on the blanket. I'm planning on presenting it to Amelia's mother on Wednesday, as a present for her six-month birthday. I have no doubt that it will be well received, as today I got some adorable pictures e-mailed to me of Amelia wearing the sweater I knit her. (It's still a tad big on her, but she was smiling!)

Now that the blanket is done, I'm through with all the non-holiday obligatory knitting and am turning my attention full time to "Chrismakkah" gifts. First is a Lace Ribbon Scarf for my mother in J Knits Superwash Me Sock, one of two skeins I picked up at 30% off at Natural Stitches. It's knitting up very quickly, and I have to say that this is one scarf that I've actually found fun to knit. Eventually I think I might knit myself one, maybe in my merino/alpaca handspun.

It's amazing how hard this color is to capture on camera, probably because it looks different depending on the light. It can go from a deep royal blue, as it appears here, to a really vibrant purple. It looked purple through the lens as I took this picture, but you can see how blue it turned out.

Tonight I'm casting on for a pair of Dashing (Dashings?) for my mother-in-law. I'm using some very old stash yarn -- Karabella Aurora 8. I bought it at Pittsburgh Knit & Bead when it was closing; I don't remember exactly how long ago that was, but I know it was when I was still living in my apartment and just starting to build a stash. It's so old I never even catalogued it on Ravelry! Fortunately it's still in pristine condition and will make some nice squishy mitts.

Stitched with Love

Miles of garter stitch, a seemingly never-ending edging, and two days to dry, but the blanket is done.

Pattern: improvised log cabin-style blanket in garter stitch with applied i-cord edging
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon), in colorways (from center out) Bittersweet, Jay Pond, Cool, Georgetown, Grape, Mint, Uptown, Purple Iris, and Mixed Berries, with Bittersweet for edging; all partial skeins
Needles: 32" US 2 (2.75 mm) Knit Picks circular
Dimensions: approximately 27" x 27"
Started/Completed: September 16/October 15
Recipient: Amelia

I knit this blanket after a request from Amelia's mother, a coworker of mine. Amelia has a very rare condition having to do with her liver. Because of her condition, she is likely to wind up in the hospital from time to time and may even require a liver transplant one day. In her six months of life, she's already had one surgery and spent time in the NICU. Her mother lamented the fact that she looked so small and cold in the hospital, and at that moment I knew a wool blanket was in order.

I decided to use sock yarn because I knew it would be perfect for a blanket that would be warm but not too heavy. It also needed to be in a superwash yarn so it could be cleaned easily. I chose the Shepherd Sock mostly because I had a lot of scraps left as well as a lone skein of one color; Jen very generously donated two skeins she had that became the two outer stripes.

I purposefully kept the size of the blanket small. It will be just enough to cover Amelia now, and my hope is that, as she gets older, it will be more of a comfort object than a covering.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out, and I'm hoping that all the positive thoughts I put into it as I was knitting provide some comfort to Millie and her parents.

In the Navy

I think I may have married a saint. The Mister humored me by modeling a wool sweater in 70+ degree heat. I think he deserves to get a sweater next, don't you? (And yes, that is a squirrel trap in the background. We haven't caught any more since Sunday, but they've managed to get in and steal the peanut butter sandwiches without getting trapped.)

Pattern: Seamless Raglan from Knitting without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann, 40" chest
Yarn: Cascade 220 (100% wool), color 8393, five skeins*
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) 32" and 24" Addi Turbo circs and dpns
Started/Completed: September 13/October 10
Recipient: my father, for his birthday

There's not much commentary I can give on this sweater; like all EZ designs, it's simple and straightforward and results in a completely wearable garment. I stuck with a simple 2x2 rib for the hem, cuffs, and collar and blocked firmly so that they wouldn't hug the body too tightly. My father in particular is not fond of collars that are too close to the neck -- he used to talk about the sweaters my aunt made him years ago, sweaters that had collars so tight that he couldn't get them past his ears when he tried to put them on! -- so I made a real effort to keep the collar loose. It's maybe a little too loose, but I preferred to err on that side than risk it being too tight.

The Mister especially liked the raglan shaping, so he'll likely be getting one of these in the future. I happen to like the look of the Seamless Hybrid a little better, but this is a lot less finicky to knit. With a little shaping, I think this would do very nicely as a woman's sweater, too; it certainly doesn't have the look of football player shoulder pads that saddle shoulder sweaters can create.

(The Mister really just wanted you to look at the sweater and not him in this photo. Well, that and he was also pretending to be shy.)

*One note on the yarn usage: I had to break into my sixth skein of yarn to finish the collar, but after I wove in my beginning ends and snipped off the tails, I think the excess was probably equal to the amount I used in that last skein. I spit spliced every time I joined a new skein, so I really maximized my yarn use. Plus, did I mention that my dad kind of has long arms? Those extra couple of inches on each sleeve would certainly be enough to finish a sweater for a similarly sized man, such as my husband.

Productivity

Tonight we're playing a game. It's called "Who Had the Most Productive Weekend?" Let's compare the stats.

This weekend, I:

• Made two dinners
• Made a batch of Amy's peppermint brownies
• Finished and blocked a sweater
• Cleaned the bathroom
• Cleaned the kitchen
• Did four loads of laundry
• Went grocery shopping
• Spent several hours spinning
• Updated my Ravelry stash
• Picked out photos for our wedding album

The Mister? Well, he caught a squirrel. Two of them, actually. This is only the first one.

He also released both of them. I think he might have a future in pest control if he keeps this up.

Of course, what we did is nothing compared to Jen, who gave birth to twins Saturday morning! I think it would be really great if, once she's home and back online, she opened her e-mail to a bunch of congratulatory messages. So why not pop over to her blog and leave her a comment? I'm sure she'll appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi There!

I bet you thought I'd fallen of the face of the earth, didn't you? I didn't, but it has been a crazy week. I have a fiber-heavy post ahead to make up for my absence, though.

I had a lovely surprise waiting for me at home yesterday evening: Both my Knit Picks order and my All Spun Up over had arrived! I was really shocked at how quickly the former got to me; according to the tracking, the box spent only 32 minutes in Leetsdale. I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed in the yarn fans at the distribution center. They're really starting to let go of my yarn more easily.

But enough about the postal service. I know you want to see what I got. Let's start with the fiber, shall we?

First there was this 60% merino/40% bamboo that I wish you could pet through the screen. Incredibly, it's actually softer that pure merino. I've seen how this spins up and I can wait to try it. Before I can do that, however, I'm working on the spinalong fiber:

This is 100% merino, and the colors really make me think of fall. I'm going for a three ply with this, using my fast flyer again.

Now, onto Knit Picks. Remember the debate we had about the colors for my Ivy League Vest? I still wasn't decided, and I think it was because I really wanted shades of brown and blue and the heathers weren't doing it for me. I looked at the pattern again and discovered that the colors used were actually two shades of three different colors. I had to wait a bit due to some shades being out of stock, but here's what I've decided on:

Palette in Twig and Bark (browns), Blue and Navy (blues), and Mist and Fog (grays). The Blue, Navy, and Fog are new. What do you think?

I also got some Wool of the Andes in Fern, Avocado, and Grass (left to right) for the felted Christmas trees from the new Mason-Dixon book.

In addition to some Essential Kettle Dyed to make some socks for The Mister (I know you can guess the color, so I didn't bother posting a picture), I finally decided to get this because of the holiday book sale:

I think it will be good for ways to use all the extra Palette I have sitting around, don't you?

Finally, take a guess what I finished last night! It's in its bath right and will need to dry, so expect some finished shots in a day or two.

It's a Series of Tubes

Thanks to some very diligent knitting time (and two rather interesting movies to watch), I managed to finish the second sleeve of my father's sweater and join it, the other sleeve, and the body on one needle. After some very long plain rounds, I've now started into the raglan decrease rounds. I think it's very reasonable to think I can finish this up by the end of the weekend, don't you?

As to the title of this post, if it didn't make you laugh, then you obviously haven't seen this. Watch it -- you'll enjoy it, I promise.

Spin, Spun, Span*

After days of waiting, this morning the sun finally came out and stayed out for an extended period of time. So, I immediately grabbed my camera and my latest handspun for its photo shoot.

I'm quite happy with how this yarn turned out. I split the fiber into halves to get a random color effect. I also used my fast flyer for the first time on this yarn, although I used the standard flyer to ply.

The fiber, if you recall, was shades of gray with the slightest hint of purple. That, combined with the alpaca content of the fiber, gives a delightfully tweedy look to the finished yarn that I just love.

See that pretty halo? This will look so nice as something lacy, though what I haven't decided just yet.

The specs:
Fiber: 70% superwash merino/30% alpaca from All Spun Up
Yarn: two ply, heavy laceweight/light fingering weight, approximately 444 yards
Spinning: spun on my Lendrum: singles spun on fast flyer, lowest ratio; plied on standard flyer, highest ratio


*The Mister's suggestion for the title of this post.

Monkey Arms

I said it last night and I'll say it again: My father has monkey arms. Here's the first sleeve of my father's sweater, currently measuring up to 18 inches. And I still have two more inches left to knit. Yup, monkey arms.

Fortunately, the sleeves are a pretty quick knit, especially in comparison to the body. About half of this sleeve was completed last night at Hurricane Knitting and I should be able to finish up those last couple inches while watching the debate tonight.

We had a small group last night, but I was glad for the good company. I was also not pressured at all into making a purchase.

(Sorry for the flash glare. I was hoping the overhead lights might be a reasonable substitute for natural light. Seems I was wrong.)

I'm excited about this book. I'm thinking that the felted Christmas trees might be a good alternative to coming up with another idea for an ornament. We're supposedly doing a "green Christmas" this year with our friends (you remember, right? our friends who have their Jewish friends over for Christmas every year?), so I'm planning a bunch of knit dishcloths, Swiffer covers, etc. as gifts.

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We have plans to get together with some friends Saturday night, but other than that, our schedule is free. I'm hoping to get in a lot of knitting time and maybe see some fireworks. What do you have planned?