On Weaving

I love it. Setting up the loom is a lot of work...but I love it. :)

I finished my first weaving project. It's a scarf for Maxim.

• Specs: 10 dent heddle, simple weave. 58 ends. What other info do people give in weaving projects? I'm new to this and don't understand it all yet!!!!


• Warp: Silky Wool

• Weft: Creatively Dyed Steele in Topdog colorway
  

• Recipient: Max, my love. :)
  

I also finished that soaker from my last entry:

• Pattern: Adirondack Soaker

• Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted...Hand dyed by me!

• Modifications: None

• Verdict: Cute and easy! I'm definitely going to make another one because I really only used half a ball to do this one. You can never have too many soakers!
  

AND that obnoxious potholder:

• Pattern: Your Nana's Potholders. That's not a Ravelry link, so anyone should be able to click to see it! :)

• Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream (stash yarn!)
  

• Verdict: Love!

Well, that's all for now. More to come soonish. :)

Slow and steady...

...wins the race.


That's what I have to keep telling myself with my Blomsterknopper cardigan. At this point in the game, I have five decreases completed on the body of the garment, with 12 more to go. This thing is killing me, but I know that it will be more fun to work on once I get a few more decreases under my belt (because there will be fewer stitches!). Right now, one row takes me approximately one million years.

I really want this sweater finished before baby Armen (aka "womb monster") arrives in June because it is a major project (not to mention, the yarn takes up a lot of precious closet space). I should really adopt a regimen of complete project monogamy, but that hasn't really been happening.

Article 1: Slouchy Entrelac Tam (pattern by Verbena Knits)


I have had this yarn in my stash waiting for this project for a few months now. It's Noro Silk Garden (which is in my list of favorite yarns that I rarely have an opportunity to use). I'm loving it so far and it has been working up really quickly!

Article 2: Baby Romper


I couldn't resist casting on for this one. It's in Crystal Palace Maizy, which is made of corn fiber! It's really nice to work with, kind of silky but softer than silk. I love it! I can't wait to put a human in it. :)

Article 3: Moderne Jacket


I'm crocheting this out of leftover (purple Cascade 220) and stash yarn (a cashmere blend I bought while I was still in Japan a million years ago). I will probably run out before it's finished. If I do, I'm not sure what I'll do to rectify the situation. The Cascade will be easy to find (I know finding the same dyelot would be nearly impossible, though). The other yarn is the tricky bit. I guess I will just have to find a yarn that is nearly the same color and weight. Since the yarns are held doubled, dyelots might not be that big a deal. Still, I can worry about that if I need to. I might end up having plenty of both. We shall see. This garment takes no time at all on a size N hook! Big crochet is definitely the way to go!

Other than those three new projects, I'm still working on that baby sack I was supposed to finish during the Ravelympics (but didn't). I don't pick it up too often.

I've also been weaving. I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the blog, but my amazing husband bought me a 24" Kromski Harp for Valentine's Day. :) Weaving is a slow process for me, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it.

Another Handspun Yarn

Bulky two ply! The fiber is from Cloudlover, I do believe...I can't find the tag anywhere (typical, lol). This is so FRIGGIN' soft and is my first successful bulky handspun! this is 2/3 of the fiber, so there will be one more smaller skein coming up sometime in the near future! :D

Spun on my beautiful Kromski Minstrel. :D



I have no idea what I'm going to make with it. Because it's a bulky and I will only have 4 oz. worth, my options are limited. Maybe I can use it in the yoke of a sweater or something. Hmmm....

Not much knitting to speak of going on around here. No focus whatsoever. :/

Kromski MInstrel

I humbly introduce:


Isn't he dashing? I'm quite smitten with him, anyway. This is a Kromski Minstrel in the walnut finish!

Let me start off by saying that I was a little bit worried about learning to spin on a wheel after having used spindles for so long. Now, I see how silly I was. Immediately, I was spinning yarn just as thin and even as I had on a spindle...and perhaps even more so. My spinning productivity has increased dramatically.



I love the sound of the wheel as it turns, the leather bearings, the finely turned wood. I love everything about it, but perhaps what thrills me most of all is the relief on my shoulders compared to spindling. Because with spindle spinning I find myself spending prolonged periods of time with one arm high in the air, I tend to develop a great amount of tension in my neck and shoulders. Pair that with a general disregard for proper posture (I'm working on it, though) and you are setting yourself up for pain and headaches. With the wheel, on the other hand, both of my arms sit casually in front of me and much of the pressure is relieved. Needless to say, I am quite the happy camper.


So, at this point and time I am going to say that I love my Kromski Minstrel and I have no complaints at this time. I've only been spinning on it for a few days and I can't help having one of those so-far-so-good kind of feelings.

I think it needs a name. I'm considering Rasputin. :)

A couple of things...

...Monday was St. Distaff's Day and I spent a large chunk of my time spinning up some merino in "celebration." I have finished the singles, which I allowed to rest a bit on the niddy noddy and I have begun plying them. It is slow going and I don't have any pictures for you yet, but I can show you a picture of my first mistake:


I don't know why I decided I should take it all off the niddy noddy before winding into a ball...stupid me. ((oh, and I know plying such fine singles from one center pull ball is not a good idea, but it's the only way I know how to do it at this point and I have my techniques to keep it all from tangling too much...))

I have not been knitting much, mainly spinning. I'm loving this spinning business lately...and I've been toying with a few other hobbies too...which are related to my love of books, writing, and list making.

I can't wait to ply all these singles and move on to spinning up my Cormo roving!! It's so soft and smells so very sheepy. It even still has little bits of vegetable matter in it...and you know what?...I'm not removing it. It stays. In all its sheepy wonder. Can you tell I'm stoked? lol I will be spinning a bulkier yarn with it because my spindle is just too heavy for the the finer yarns (as I learned with my spinning WIP). Besides, the Cormo is so soft that I am sort of getting gah-gah over the idea of making something really squishy out of it. I want to eventually spin up enough for a sweater, but I will need to make a few trips to the fiber place to get more. It's undyed, so no problem with that dye-lot nonsense. I may decide to dye it myself after it's all spun up, but possibly not.

All this fiber talk leads me to spindle dreaming...and, brace yourself, wheel dreaming too. I want some of these, and one of these, and this one too. And someday, I really really want to get this little eye-sore.

My Butterfly Mobius looks like this:


My Purple Lace Blouse looks like it did last time I showed it to you. lol

Ok, enough. You're all bored. I made Onigiri:


I'm so in love with them...tasty tasty...