sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Days of mini-posts and roses.

i. "what i did on my labor day vacation."

whitesingle

blacksingle

spuntrio

I spun *all* weekend. Even outside in the sun (yo quiero mi Joy!!), watching my kid play with other little people. The white turned into the pink navajo plied skein, the black in navajo ply and another little hat in the making, and the brown/white is 2 ply.

Is navajo plying the best thing ever??! Survey says, yes! :) Its not terribly awesome looking at this point, but my goodness my guinness is it a miracle to watch and supercool to execute! Makes me almost not be afraid of ::gulp:: crochet as much.

I dyed the navajo plied white skein in acid dyes, pink and a twitch of black. I think it may be a nice (gasp) HAT for me, sometime. The brown/white should stripe in places and remain marled in others, I'm thinking a hat for a big head or a chunky mittens would be best (90 gm and not soft enough for scarf stuff).


ii. "my mailman missed me."

brownmill

greymill

caramelmill

Brown Sheep roving mill ends, from The Sheep Shed Studio.

$7.50/lb, a pound each of "medium brown with wide stripes" and "grey with black dye error." Dude. (The brown/white 2 ply above was from the roving pictured here). All are uninterrupted looong strips of roving, no breaks... except for the little extra more-brown bit at the front of the brown/white picture-- that was quickly felled in my first navajo ply attempt. No pics, the horror!

They even tossed in a 3 oz+ sample of some caramel colored top. Very cool, and very fast shipping (received via parcel post about a week after the order was placed, parcel post can be hit or miss though.) I only paid $2 extra in shipping than what was paid to the post office, a good deal figuring everything was packaged in plastic and had to be boxed up, etc. (It seemed high at the time, but really isn't.)

iia. "what i did with my knitty honorarium."

haivory
Henry's Attic "Silk & Ivory" 50% wool, 50% silk
2000 yd/lb unscoured, 1 lb cone
aka "carrera"

hamerino
Henry's Attic 64's superwash merino roving
5 lb (!!) bag
aka meow!!!

The honorarium I received from my Summer 2006 knitty pattern went to help pay for all this undyed glory here :) It just arrived and I'm in love.

Someone have good links or tips on dying roving? Pretty please, mangosteens on top? My ultimate goal in spinning is to spin my own sock yarn someday... :)

I love you, knitty.


iii. "i still knit!"

bluewoolhat

Blue wool tweed handspun cap
Started: August 29, 2006
Finished: August 31, 2006
US 4 dpns, 4 (+ a spare addi when it got too big!)
Handspun dyed with acid dyes

Last time I checked, that's not my kid's head. No no no no NONONO, he doesn't want to wear it. Oh well. Too bad I've already started another (the black, above) :) I see a lot of top down hats for my big headed kid in the near future, nice way to eat up the practice yarn without guilt.

Btw, Whip Up's September Whiplash challenge is "hats" and they have some decidedly awesome knitter/crocheter slanted prizes this time around (can you say yarn, knitting books?)...

As for my too long for socks project...

stockingprerip

Uh, yeah. These are *pre-rip* back to the knee... I just started knitting them again after working on the blue hat during last week and spinning all the long weekend, and I realize my intention of creating a super-tight knee, while it worked in theory and practice, makes for a very uncomfortable object when wearing them for more than a second and a half. (Oh, and a hoot in watching me try and cajole them up over my "jaunty" calves too.) So, this is my pre-rip to the knee pic at the same place I was more than a week ago, but eh-- what can you do? :) I'll be ripping the longer one just to where the one on dpn's is, to give you an idea of my pseudo-pain. (Not really a big deal, I want to be able to wear them at least once, so its worth it to make them wearable. At least I'm not knitting them both at the same time!)

I also started working the leg on the addis so I could easily try them on as I went along, but I find it takes me soooo muuuuch loooonger to knit one sock on 2 circs than I'm used to (used to 2 on 2), and its driving me a little mad. I may just put them back on the dpn's and knit them onto addis during the rounds I want to try them on.

I'm still undecided about the buttonhole tops-- purrl (who knows way more about this than me!) says that the holes won't help me as the stockings will eventually stretch and the repositionable snaps on garters help alleviate that... but I like the idea still! I still have a loooong way to go though, so we'll see! But I am awfully glad for the advice, just what I was looking for! :)


iv. who, me?

"Best Sock Blog" via Lucia's "Addict's Choice Knitting Awards"

"Yarnival" contributor: Vol. 1, graciously hosted by Eve

Linked on the Victoria and Albert Museum's website, via their fashion/knitting collection page


ps... gratuitous kid pic.

spinning

Could I help myself? No. :)

Am I jealous his form is prolly better, and he looks better sans pants? Maybe :)

Did he have to help me pick up the spanish/english flashcards? Yes :)



...the non-staged pics are the best, even when they show the house in disarray. Monkey see, monkey do indeed-- I'm raising a spinner here!

Have a good week yall!

22 comments:

lexa said...

Long time no post! I had withdrawal! (Guess I have to realize other people have lives!)

He's soooo cute and looks very professional indeed! Bet he can spin better than me. My littlest one especially hates hats (tho he's getting better), and I always went with hats with earflaps that I could tie on his noodle.

Too bad about having to rip back the stockings. Stuff like that's always a bummer.

Looks like you had a wonderful time spinning. Got some purdy hand-spun yarn there, girl!

Anonymous said...

Your handspun is looking so good already! I'm jealous! but I know I wouldn't have time for another hobby anyways... (that doesn't stop me from having a small fibre stash and a spindle though!)

Anonymous said...

Just Craziness.... You've been busy. So many projects, so little time...

Lori said...

I was wondering how your spinning was coming along - figured the lack of posts meant you were becoming an addict...:)
How to dye roving? VERY CAREFULLY! It felts very easily, and superwash tends to fall apart in water. Laurie, guest poster at the Yarn Harlot's site, demonstrates a great method, which I happen to use successfully...
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/02/24/the_wool_house_presents_part_3.html
AND THEN
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/02/25/the_wool_house_presents_finale.html
Sorry about the socks - better to do it over and like them in the end though, right?
Your son is PRECIOUS by the way. I guess you've gathered that by now.

Anonymous said...

What an amazing weekend you had. Handspun yarn by your own hands, knitty honorarium, and a child who spins.

Heck, I was just excited to be able to sleep 10 hours between Saturday and Sunday.

Dave said...

What can I say? Total yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Sounds like you're having a truckload of fun -- good on ya.

Victoria & Albert! Woo-hoo!

Rachel said...

Ohmigosh! That's a lotta fiber!

Navajo plying is the best thing ever. I feel like I actually know what I'm doing when I pull those long chains through.

I kool-aid dyed some roving a few months ago. It helped to shove the roving in pantyhose. It kept it from getting too agitated.

HPNY KNITS said...

OMG! what a loaded fun post! I LOVE your home spun, even if the kid is "better" than you...
you are so brave to frog the socks. I can't imagine.
and wow, congrats on all the reco. the V&A site, oh boy baby- that's arriving!
:-)
love reading all your good news and great pix of the raw stuff.

soapy said...

OH MY That lovely merino!!!!
Great Job and doing the navajo ply, thats how I ply 90% of my handspuns
h,mmm now is there any roving left for $7.50lb??? I never find stuff like that... I learned to purchase fleeces and hand comb and spin before I was introduced to roving....Lucky you!
your DS is doing great! My kids like to too, after a while they loose interest...my DD still likes to spin with me

tatjana said...

You are doing so awesome! Navajo plying already, you go girl :) All your stuff looks great and you have the cutest little man ever!

hillary said...

Wow! That's a whole lot of fiber in one post and it all looks so yummy. I really love the picture of your little boy spinning. Way to go!

Jennifer said...

I'm in a fiber induced coma...

sheep#100 said...

Go, baby boy, go!

Melissa said...

Looks like the spinning is going well. The boy looks like he's getting really into it as well.
The socks/stockings seem to be coming along great!
Love the hat!

Karen said...

I want to jump in that 5 lb bag of fluff.

Your spinning looks wonderful!

The boy is WAY too cute at the wheel!!

Alyson said...

There you are! I love the hat, and I love all the yarn - it looks great! Glad to see you're having fun with the wheel....even more glad to see you're not the only one!

Now I feel like I need more fiber.......

Stacey said...

you went a little crazy with the roving, huh? :)

too bad about the thigh-highs meeting the frog pond part way, but after all that knitting, may as well do them perfect!

Jason said...

Woohoo! Spin-happy! You are making beautiful stuff, both spinning and knitting of course. :-)

5 lb bag of roving!?! OMG!!!

PBnJ said...

Glad you're having fun learning to spin. And cute cute cute little boy!

Anonymous said...

I thought you knew nothing about spinning! Holy shizit! You're awesome. I haven't tried dyeing superwash. Check over at Hello Yarn. She uses it and loves to spin it. I think she has a dyeing link on her blog, too. The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook also talks about superwash, and gives good instructions for dyeing rovings using three different methods.

Jae said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm glad you did, I love your post. So much fiber in one post! I'm jealous. ;)

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

You son is so adorable!! A real cutie patootie for sure!!

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