baby surprise jacket times twins

As April says... the sweetness of these makes my ovaries do flipflops.


Baby Surprise Jackets (twin set)
Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Started: 21 January 2008
Finished: 28 January 2008
Colinette Jitterbug, 1 sk each of "salty dog" and "vincent's apron"
US 3 (3.25mm), 24" Addi

My kid has no idea how lucky he is not to fit into these... I was seriously, SERIOUSLY eyeing my sock yarn stash and thinking that I could make a few (hundred) more no problem :) The novelty of the pattern was great (2 seams!) but it was more the satisfaction of getting an actual, complete knit out of a skein of Jitterbug and how nicely the colors work together that gets me.


honey by the sea


vincent's apron


salty dog, closest to reality colorwise

I've resisted buying Jitterbug for socks because there have been too many complaints about it (short yardage for a yarn marketed as a "sock" yarn, too many knots allowed per skein, unhelpful customer service from Colinette)... but these colors, singly and together, are just too much to resist. (The 25% sock yarn coupon from Article Pract didn't hurt, either ;)) For what it's worth, I had one knot per skein plus one odd broken ply slub in the blue... and had more than enough to complete each jacket but really not enough leftovers for booties or a hat or anything between the two colors.

I did notice that it's now put up in 110gm/318 yard skeins; when it was first introduced it was 100gm/292 yards (and Colinette's website still lists it as such). A step in the right direction... Blue Moon upped the yardage of lightweight Socks that Rock (from 4.25 oz/325 yd to 4.5 oz/360yd) after similar problems of running out of yarn for socks cropped up. Colinette's the closest yarn to STR I've used, but STR is still a better deal in a yardage to cost sense. (The colors though, the color!!) I do have 3 more skeins slated for a less-wide Jeanie, but don't think I'll look to Jitterbug for socks anytime soon.



I did go ahead and use the applied i-cord bindoff for the edging in the coordinating color (for those of you who haven't knit it before-- everything but the neck collar). I just dig these colors together... a fellow knitter at Article Pract had put them together for a pair of socks she'd found on Ravelry of a sun and moon and stars and zodiac and I'm reaching here... for the life of me I can't find it now but it was an awesome choice :) Needless if these were for my kid, I'd be embroidering some Cal logo or something since these colors are close enough to where I could get away with it. I do kind of wish I were adept at embroidery cos the lovely garter stitch just calls out for it-- eh. Someday!

I started the i-cord on the wrong side-- I found that it looked better since a bit of the coordinating color peeked out when working it on the RS...


(up the skirt and inside)

...this may just be me, the first time and all. Not a big deal to choose which way to work it, and I really like the effect on the edge. You could also start one row in garter with the border color and then you'd not have the issue of the coordinating color peeking thru, but I don't think that much ahead most of the time :)

I did do something similar for the neck; after everything was seamed and done, on the right side I picked up sts around the collar in the border color, then turned and worked the applied i-cord on the WS.


...so I can look at you from inside as well...

Helps keep that picked up seam on the inside, and looks more complete than just the body's bindoff border color by itself. I considered doing the same for the cuffs, but kind of like this center line look... reminds me of Mandarin dress. I was going to try and knit up a small standing collar in that vein, but didn't want to get too fidgety.

The seaming was simple-- used a sorta-mattress stitch (you're joining horizontal and vertical garter stitch) that left a small ridge at the join...



...looks fine though :) I didn't want a bulky seam, and this isn't at all.

Soft, like TWIN BABIES!! :) Man, my son's paying the snuggle price this week with me knitting up these tiny treasures and getting baby brain over it :)

To top off the squee, I reversed the buttonhole placement on each, so one crosses left and one right...



!!!

I did want to ask some advice though (if anyone's still reading this far down!!)-- I was thinking of making my own buttons since the buttonholes are tiny and I have no sense of taste when picking something like buttons to match... Is there a way to make a small bobble-like button, either in knitting or crochet? Something tiny but made only of yarn, a little hard solid "knot" of yarn? I want to do coordinating color buttons since, well I've gone this far... and imagine there must be a way to make some small things like these.

Hoping! :)

Have a good one, miss you!

eta... i've put up my new malabrigo stash up for sale on destash if anyone's interested :)

etsy friday

Part of the love I have for etsy is not just finding acres of cool stuff for myself, but being able to connect with other artists and use their handmade items when making and preparing things for my own etsy shop. I realized, after buying more "zero" hangtags for my handdyed rovings and handspun yarns that I should check MaryLou's shop out for larger sized tags as well. She has a huge range of tags, but these! are! perfect!


Octopi handstamped tags by time2cre8.etsy.com
(bright in real life, rainstorms today!)

Ever since packing up my holiday knitting, I have been thinking how nice it would be to include a tag attached to items that I don't have the chance to deliver personally... you know, with a little "handknit by" and care instructions and the like. These tags have lots of room on the back for just that... and fulfill my irrational attraction to all things tentacled :)

It was a tossup between my colorful octopus tags and these "handmade by___" custom tags... the handmade ones may have been a better fit for what I intend to use them for, but... octopuses! :)

I also asked time2cre8 for more recycled business card envelopes (I use them in my packaging to send gifts in with orders)... I've gotten into the habit of letting MaryLou just surprise me with what she sends and these are so fun :)


Recycled book business card envelopes from time2cre8.etsy.com

These are made from a children's book and a comic-- so bright and fun :) I'm always floored by these; time2cre8 handcuts each from a template she designed, and handglues each together. She sends me blank business card sized cards as well that I go on to handstamp with my Hotai + Yarn stamp and write a thank you on... I'm lucky MaryLou's work helps me extend the handmade revolution a little further with these :)

I also try to find handmade items on etsy to make stitch markers from-- it can be a challenge, but one of my favorite artist suppliers for my shop is jessprkle.


Handmade paper beads by jessprkle.etsy.com

Jessprkle's shop is full of handmade goodness, from jewelry to handspun yarn and to these handmade paper beads. I use these beads to wrap copper colored wire around and make into one-of-a-kind paper bead and wire stitch markers like these...



I haven't made these in a while; they are more work but I really do like the effect. Jess' beads are the best of any I've tried-- they are very very hard (some paper beads I've bought still have a flimsy paper quality and don't hold up to the wrapping as well), and the papers she chooses are always very interesting and stand out even against the dramatic wire. With the downpour outside, I'll probably be spending a chunk of time this weekend wrapping these beads :)

I also couldn't resist picking up this tiny pendant from jessprkle when checking out...


q pendant by jessprkle.etsy.com

She's taken a glass half marble and applied a jumpring and a "q" to the back... and backed it all with a tiny dot of felt. It's tiny, but I don't always have to be a size queen ;)

...

Meanwhile, back on the farm-- I ran out of time last week to share something from an etsy artist who has purchased from my shop, but it is something I want to keep doing! I think it's another fun way to find cool etsy stuff... like handspun yarn from Knitted to a T:


Handspun superwash merino/tencel from knittedtoat.etsy.com

I don't usually go for tencel blends, but the blue and orange combo here is one of my favorites and would make such a super hat! I've been wearing my handknit hats a lot lately and need to knit one from a superwash-- they're getting much more use (and downtown grime!) than I had thought they would and wish I could toss them into the wash instead of handwashing them :) There also may be just enough here for some sweet simple mittens (esp. if paired with a coordinating color for cuffs and thumbs), another thing I could use more of lately :)

That's all folks, miss you! Stay warm :)

surprises all around

Handspun American Maid socks
from Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy
Roving from dyeabolicalyarns.etsy.com
US 3, 3.25mm dpns-- 4
Started: January 2007
Finished: 24 January 2007

Were they unexpected because I haven't knit socks in so long, or for some other reason? :)

I usually do have a Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy sock somewhere idling for the right moment of spare time and stockinette crave... I was updating my Ravelry project notebook and actually counted-- there are 14 pair of socks in there based on Ms. Gibson-Roberts' heel/toe recipe, not counting times I've switched in her heel into another pattern. (!!) I have lots of knitting books but none get as much use as that one does around here :)

I'm sure I'd only knit them if I could keep spinning such striking yarn...



I still can't believe how deep the reds are in the Dyeabolical Yarns roving. I like the blue, but love red-- but I never buy red roving for fear of pink. This red didn't even run when the yarn was rinsed and set in hot water (I always abuse the yarn a little, not fearing the felt it's kinda fun!)... though I really thought the blue and red would create a line of purple somewhere between my brain-eye talk.



I've been spinning a true fingering weight yarn lately, but the dk is so fun and so fast to spin and knit that I may try and spin some heavier ones soon. At only 48 sts around, these socks fly off the needles and are a nice cushion of warm against the lingering cold.

Speaking of the cold, yall will get a kick out of this. Mom came by the other day as I was leaving to run errands... she pointed to the unoriginal (handspun) hat on my head and said (I swear)-- "Oh, and I need to put an order in for a hat, like that to go over my ears, but in black." Oy.

She is my mom though, crazy is and does all, and I can do a hat. (And goodness knows I had the yarn.)


Koolhaas hat by b r o o k l y n t w e e d
Interweave Knits Holiday 2007
Malabrigo worsted, black
US 7 & 8 Knit Picks Harmony 48" circular (magic loop)
Started: 14 January 2007
Finished: 16 January 2007

It turned out great, if I do say so myself :) I couldn't get the true black of the yarn in pictures, and couldn't capture a good shot of the top to save my life, but it was way fun and way fast. It fits well; the Malabrigo must have a longer column gauge than the listed yarn though-- I thought I'd have to add another repeat to get it stretched down over my ears, but the women's size worked just fine and would have been a little too long had the ear covering part not been requested.

I did try and eke out another toddler sized Koolhaas from the leftovers... didn't quite work for my big headed boy, but would fit a baby/2 year old. I had *just* enough yarn with 16 fewer sts, 3 repeats and a hasty decrease at the top-- no matter. Some bobble headed baby will fit in it, I'm sure :)

Speaking of... So. My family (not me!! i wish, yadda yadda) is welcoming a pair of twin boys in the near future and of COURSE I have a burning desire to knit a set of baby surprise jackets for them, even bought some GORGEOUS deeper than pictured turquoise and orangy yellow Colinette Jitterbug from Article Pract for the task. After scanning Ravelry I'm pretty sure a skein each will suffice... My problem? I was planning on doing an applied i-cord bindoff in the contrasting color on each (so, yellow will get the blue icord, blue will get the yellow) and thought that was freaking brilliant!

True to form, now I'm staring at the skeins trying to decide if it's too matchy matchy.

The colors do look great together though.

Ergh. Anyways! Have a good one, see you soon!

etsy friday

I'm a big big fan of finding etsy goods thru word of mouth from my friends-- they're always right on with what they think is cool :) So when I found Jelby thru Jen of piddleloop, I couldn't help but ask for a few custom stitch marker holders... you know how many stitch markers I have around here, eh? :)

I asked for an orange sheep...

felted stitch marker holder from Jelby.etsy.com
(pictured with stacked freshwater pearl stitch markers from zero.etsy.com)

...and an amanita mushroom (the mycophile in me still burns)...


felted stitch marker holder from Jelby.etsy.com
(pictured with pale cape amethyst stitch markers from zero.etsy.com)

They are SO COOL. Cary even included a tiny felted mushroom stitch marker-- it's awesome! The felted beads are very light and I could see how well these would work as stitch markers-- not heavy like glass, but so unusual and all handmade using a combination of wet and needle felting to capture the effect. VERY high up on my admiration list. Cary is also really great to work with for custom orders-- both the orange sheep and mushroom were special requests, and they are spot on to what I wanted. You can always convo Jelby to make you something special easy peasy, too! :)

Of course, Jen is a trickster and asked Cary to send me some squid love on a stitch holder... and Cary added her own touch on the other side...


(pictured with oval amethyst stitch markers from zero.etsy.com)

...a FELTED SPACE INVADER. Holy crap on a cracker but this had me squealing when I opened my mail this morning!!!! Jen also included some glass mushroom stitch markers-- I'm wearing one as a pendant today :)

So happy!!!

Further on the happy tip...


Blue faced leicester roving from pigeonroofstudios.etsy.com -- Loganberry

I don't know if you know (but judging from the speed at which her updates sell out, probably!) but Krista from Pigeonroof Studios is taking her shop on as her fulltime work-- a big leap of faith that I'm so excited about! There have been updates almost every day, and with the help of her new Schacht she's also updating her handspun yarns every Saturday. This is definitely the best time to add her shop to your rss feed, or get onto her email list for a headsup on her updates :)

One more shop I visited before the holidays...


Card case by sweetheartsinner.etsy.com

SweetheartSinner makes lots of things using kitsch, pop, punk, robot, pulp, and traditional images-- including this card case I bought for mom for the holidays. My mom had been carrying her essentials (id, cards, cash, etc.) in an ancient metal Camel case I'd given her back from when I was in undergrad (ages ago ;)) and it was literally held together with a rubberband and a prayer. SweetheartSinner's shop to the rescue-- she has over 70 (!!) pages of card cases and such to choose from, and this Hokusai print was perfect for mom. (Another Hokusai dream print would have my choice, but it can't always be about me ;))

The card case is really quite deep, made for holding cigarettes on each side...



...and the hinges inside are perfect for that, and for holding cards and cash securely.



Another etsy hit for the handmade holidays :)

Ah, I'm running out of time, so more next week!! Have a good one, I will ;)

fiber to yarn...

I was a little excited this time to document the different steps and changes these fibers took to get to a finished yarn...



...so lots of pics :) Apologies in advance!



I started with about a little over 2 oz each of 2 different fiber blends, dyed at the same time by me (when dyeing for my shop)-- a 70/30 superwash merino/seacell blend and an 80/10/10 sw merino/cashmere/nylon blend. The cashmere blend took the dye much more like a straight superwash merino does-- striking fast and brilliantly where the effect of the seacell blend was more muted, more even across the fibers. Perhaps it was cancelled out with the seacell not taking the dye when spinning...


sw merino/seacell blend

The seacell blend is quite fun to spin-- I enjoy the *cel fiber blends, the slip and the shine are really interesting and feel good in the hand. At this point I enjoy the way it looks but don't really like the idea of knitting with a 2-ply of this blend... it looks to have too much drape for my desire to knit this into socks, and I just am not really drawn to yarns with shine. This seems to have less shine than other tencel blends I've spun-- but those were 50/50 and this is 70/30, so... :)


sw merino/cashmere/nylon (left) and sw merino/seacell singles

Surprisingly, the singles don't look that much different. I thought they would be vastly different looking, but apart from the mild sheen of the seacell blend they are a bit hard to tell apart at a glance. The seacell blend still looks slightly more muted and even in color compared to the cashmere blend, but spun at this fineness it is less of an issue than it would be if I spun this into thicker weight singles.

The bright cherry red of the original fiber can be seen to have drafted to pink in both the seacell and cashmere blends; I usually don't like this, but in this yarn I like the effect with the grey (that had drafted from black).


sw merino/cashmere/nylon (left), plied singles (middle), and sw merino/seacell singles (right)

Plying them together was noneventful; my seacell singles may have been slightly finer, but it really didn't make a difference in the finished yarn overall.


75 superwash merino, 15 seacell, 5 cashmere, 5 nylon
2-ply yarn, spun from zero.etsy.com roving-- "mercutio"
approx 440 yd, 110 gm-- fingering weight

I'm really happy with how these turned out. There is still a lot of bounce in the yarn, and while there is shine (these finished pics were taken outdoors under sunlight), the effect of plying helps it not look as jarring as I usually find it. It's really interesting how well the plies look together, despite being different fibers-- I thought it would have been more dissonant looking, but I don't think so. Dissonant's not bad, but this is better.



The seacell ply does stand out when under direct light like this, but it's not as pronounced under natural ambient light. I can't wait to see what this yarn looks like knit up... I think I want to use a pattern-- pomatomus? :)




Have a good one, welcome back :)

but, i'm not a garment knitter!

35 skeins of Malabrigo
(tortuga, frost grey and red mahogany in bags; chestnut and black chunky loose)

I think the grey'll be knit into grandma's Christmas afghan... but the rest?! (Pattern suggestions, anyone?) Judging from his expression, my son's sure it'll just be more fiber chaff hidden in the recesses of his closet :)

Off to knit a Koolhaas hat... you know, journey of a thousand miles and all that jazz.

etsy friday

Always good to start with yarn... :)


Alluring sock yarn by illusionyarns.etsy.com
"Clementine" colorway

I haven't added much new yarn to the stash recently, but how pretty is this?! (It's actually prettier, Meghann's etsy photos are better and more true than my cloudy day one.)

Meghann and I swapped and this was hers to me... I think I got the better end of the deal :) I asked her to surprise me with a semisolid yarn in an orange, yellow or grey and this lovely was made for me! I really dig the semisolid yarns lately, and this beautiful bright one makes me think of the sun hiding behind the clouds outside. It may be too pretty for socks-- I haven't lighted on a project, maybe some bright mitts to ward off the cold? I've been getting a lot of use from my knucks (still unembroidered) outside playing with the kid and my new toy at the same time...


ipod touch cozy made by thelovelyteaspoon.etsy.com

Of COURSE the moment I had my new ipod I went looking for etsy stuff for it :) I know I can knit my own cozy (and there are a lot of sellers who make and sell handknit ipod covers on etsy), but I am a sucker and fell for the pop loveliness of this vinyl cozy. I wanted something super light to slip into my back pocket, no bulk but something that would help protect against coins and keys and whatever else inevitably ends up in this purseless-girl's pants.

Hm.

Moving on-- I always check out the whole store of an etsy seller when I find something I like, and I'm often right that they'll have something else that's absolutely necessary. The Lovely Teaspoon has a *bunch* of stuff-- seriously, a shop that consists of lego jewelry, handbags, this tv neckace that i want-want, and a catchall everything else section that had this gem...


"Abandonment" definition flashcard greeting card by thelovelyteaspoon.etsy.com

Alicia has taken 5x7 word definition flashcards and mounted them on cardstock as one of a kind greetingcards-- pretty big, and really really cool :) She still has "baggage" and "abuse" cards in stock-- believe me I held myself back from purchasing those :)

And now for something completely different... My friend MaryLou of time2cre8.etsy.com (the same who supplies me with all of the supercool recycled paper envelopes I use in my packaging for my shop's shipments) does her own spin on etsy fridays. She features etsy sellers who have purchased from her shop, picking out favorite items to share with her blog readers. I think it's a really interesting way to find new shops-- so I'm going to copy her and include an item in my etsy fridays from shops who have purchased from mine :)

First up, actually my most recent sale at this writing...


Peonies Handcarded batt from theyoyo.etsy.com
photo by theyoyo, used with permission

Notwithstanding the hot jealousy over Alyson's new drumcarder (you can read about her holiday surprise here, too f*ing cute)... her newest shop offerings of batts alongside her handspun yarns actually have inspired me to put her shop's rss feed into my bloglines read. As soon as I pare down my fiber stash (ha!) you can be sure this'll be one of the first places I look for a batt fix.

Alrite! Happy weekend, miss you :)

lemonade...

Instead of doing lots of intended things (etsy friday, secret knitting, listing new freshwater pearl stitch markers in my etsy shop), my past week was sidelined by the crazy rain here in the bay area (mom had a leaky roof!!) and my son's first bout with the flu ever-- meant lots of no sleep for me and lots of juggling, but thank goodness for our hobby... it calmed my nerves quite a bit over the past few days.

During the night hours where I'd watch my redfaced son try to suffer thru sleep, I worked on my Casino shawl project.


Casino Shawl by Anne Hanson of knitspot-- petite size
Elann's Lana Cash
Started: 28 December 2007
US 6 (4.0mm) Knit Picks Harmony needles, 48"
faceted freshwater pearl knitting stitch markers from zero.etsy.com

I know, doesn't look like much! :)

I started this shawl soon after Christmas for someone close to me who needed something akin to a comfort shawl... something to be wrapped up in where each stitch was made with a good thought of warmth and love. Of course, my mind flew instantly to anne's pattern shop and I remembered how much I liked this shawl when she debuted it a while back. It's interesting and not mindless-- one of the things that scares me about lace is the monotony of patterning and my tendency to get bored with the familiar, but the casino shawl is "knitted lace"-- patterning on both sides; the WS patterning is simple but it's not just "purl across." There is a provisional caston for the upper edge's border, but the side borders are knit as you go so I'm not as intimidated as I thought I'd be.

The Lana Cash (not carried currently by elann, the link above is to my short review of it; 70/30 wool/cashmere) is a 2-ply of black and brown with white tweed flecks; I worried that the shawl would look too... shabby? in this yarn, but figured it would be more wearable on more occasions than something dressier like a solid or silk blend. I also really liked the way the Lana Cash ended up after a good warm water soak-- it feels like rowan felted tweed and gained quite a bit of softness, so we'll see in the end :)

I did keep making some sort of mistake on the row 18-row 1 transition so I put it down for truly mindless knitting...


Handspun American Maid BFL socks
roving from dyeabolicalyarns.etsy.com
Started: Jan ? 2008
US 3 dpns, 4

Another pair of handspun socks based on Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Simple Socks method, another beautiful showing of handdyed roving from etsy sellers. I'm still amazed at how red they are (and this is the more blue skein)-- I shy away from buying red roving destined for socks since it usually drafts finely into pink, but this is red-red and you guys know what a red fan I am :) The blue also holds its own, not purple which is a nice change for me.

You can see what I mean here from last time-- my long draw spinning's becoming less fuzzy in yarn and FO from the last pair, which looks better but doesn't feel as good on the foot. I'm definitely a feel-girl, so I may start to try and make some more fuzzy yarns :)

In the wake of the week I also started spinning the 50/50 rovings from my last dye session-- I dyed 2 oz of 70/30 sw merino/seacell and 2 oz of 80/10/10 sw merino/cashmere/nylon together, intending on spinning them into singles and plying together to see what they'd look like in a finished yarn.

The seacell blend:


"Mercutio" colorway

I usually don't like on-the-bobbin shots since mine always come out blurry and weird, but I tried since I really want to get pics of how the different fibers look individually to compare to the finished yarn plied together. The seacell in the blend didn't take the dye (I use acid dyes), and my method of dyeing will often leave white spots of undyed roving, so the finished singles were almost ethereal in their shine-- fog stains of the original colorway. I bet if spun into a thicker yarn you could see the streaks of whitish seacell, but here it just lends a sheen to the overall single.

I have come to the realization that I don't really like yarns with sheen/shine, but I really like spinning tencel-seacell-*-cel fiber blends. I'm hoping that plying with the merino/cashmere single will leave me with a yarn I can enjoy knitting into socks... I'm getting nervous about running out of handspun sock yarn for my mindless knitting :)

*Finally* regarding diverted time, I did manage to make lots and lots of new knitting stitch markers for my shop, though I am wrestling with the weather for better pics. New shapes for old favorites (tiger's eye stone bricks, silver leaf jasper in square pillows), new pearl/garnet combos and amethysts to be listed sooner than later. I will be restocking regularly over the next weeks-- I have a lot of sets that I just haven't even taken pics of yet.

Okay! Little boy MUST be feeling 100% better because he's crawling all over me, so miss you and talk to you soon :)

unoriginal hat and new original colorways

Spinning's slowed down quite a bit in the wake of travel and holiday/secret knitting, but since I haven't written for a while it seems there's a lot to catch up on!

I didn't even have a chance to share the roving on etsy friday for this one, so I get to (for once!) share a walkthru of roving to FO :)

I have a tiny crush on orange, and when Krista introduced her "harvest" colorway I couldn't just stop at harvest yarn :) (Her "bitter orange" is my new fav colorway though... I didn't buy that one, I swear!)


Corriedale by PigeonroofStudios.etsy.com -- "harvest" 3.5oz

As pretty as this is, I had no idea what to make... socks were out since I have no desire to handwash any new knits, probably not quite enough for a scarf (though, you'd be surprised how far 4 oz can go!)... I did have a deep love for the hugeness of Stephanie's new "unoriginal hat," despite my 100% failrate on knitting them for myself, and I attempted to spin a yarn to mimic Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Leticia to break that streak.

Leticia is a handspun yarn, bulky and thick and thin-- 80 yd per 3.5oz. I've never seen it in person and online it looks more thick than thin, so I aimed for a thickish side single that wouldn't be too weird/variable when knit up into cabling. I ended up with about 95 yd for my 3.5oz, so thinner than BMFA's going by the numbers. A very fast spinning project-- completed in one nite!



In addition to ending up with slightly thinner yarn, I also had no appropriate 7mm needles called for by the pattern so I decided to change the cable up a little bit to account for all of that and my truly oversized head. A simple change-- I increased each cable's "leg" by 1 stitch; so the 4 st right twist cable became a 6 st, and instead of 2 sts for each leg of the other I made three. Odd to describe, easy to see:


Unoriginal Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Handspun corriedale, dyed by pigeonroofstudios.etsy.com
Started: Dec 2007
Finished: Dec 2007
US 10 (6.0mm) dpns, 5

Like everyone else has said, a fast, fun hat. I was surprised that I used ALL of the yarn... this is a heavy, dense, WARM hat. Awesome for the local weather, and despite being slightly loose (esp. from being worn daily), it doesn't look bad. Maybe a little too ostentatious colorwise on my (giant) head... attracting more attention when I should be toning it down, but it's grown on me. I'm also glad to have made yet another project out of only 4 oz of roving; it makes me look at my fiber stash in a new and less daunted way-- I may be able to work thru it all eventually ;)

Speaking of fiber, I'm going to be listing several types today in my zero.etsy.com store: 80/10/10 superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, 70/30 superwash merino/seacell, and one 100% superwash merino. I dyed some old colorways...


"Fermina Daza"-- 80/10/10 sw merino-cashmere-nylon

...as well as some new ones...


"Skin Storm"-- 80/10/10 sw merino-cashmere-nylon

I received an ipod touch over the holidays so of course the first things to be added were the (few) cd's of Morrissey and The Smiths that I held onto (easier to misplace a cd than a record; who knew I'd give up my turntable?!)... so there are a few colorways named for moz b-sides scattered in the update as well :)

I did pair the seacell and the cashmere blends together for a few batches...


"Mercutio"-- 2 oz of each

...I'm keeping this one to spin as singles and ply together. Can't wait to see how *that* turns out :) I also have several "mixtape" scrap bags to list-- bags of more than 4 oz of one fiber type in several short color runs and in different widths (for a good price!); fun for stripey skeins or blending/carding or whatever your heart calls for.

Enough with the shilling... they'll be listed about 12pm pacstandard later today in my etsy shop! :)

Have fun, be back (etsy) friday!