all over the place

happy thanksgiving? sure... too much food, too little family. mom got teary saying her twice yearly blessing over dinner, i ate all of the cranberries and the inside of my mouth was in a state of perpetual pucker, and my son just slapped his spoon in the potatoes and had about half a roll for dinner. good times :)

spent the day spinning outside with the too-alone-for-their-ages neighbor kids watching (started out well... "my grandma must have done that. cos she didn't have tv before we were born" but slowly degenerated into bickering and death threats amongst each other... they're only 6 and 3! oy...)


final skein of h2g2 roving, top right (appox 200yd)

the hitchhiker's guide yarn ended up shorter than the previous and without any yellow (one of my singles was much longer than the other), but... no knots! i think i'm learning, which is the point :) these will make their way to laurie in maine as soon as i can wedge myself out the door.


baby alpaca & silk roving in fawn
from mataharispinnery.com

my soft loose love is now a big squishy pile of yarn. if only everything were this simple. i started spinning this very fine as it seems i'm now accustomed to doing, but i didn't like the result... a little too wiry and definitely not the soft poof of the roving. so i tried to spin it thick in order to 2-ply it into an even thicker result-- it worked, even though it varied from dk to heavy worsted. not sure what i'll do with it, but its soft :) since i started spinning the roving very thin, i had a large bit of that single left over i navajo plied into a similarly weighted yarn. i've changed my mind, i like 2-plying better :) i think i may pick up a lazy kate and more bobbins to attempt 3+ plying... fun fun.

after thanksgiving, i had a sudden surprise... i decided that i will go to see my family this coming weekend (!!!) which of course sent me into a panic-- i am only about 1/4 of the way thru my uncle's scarf...


cable and rib scarf from knitspot
finished celtic cap from girl from auntie (november 21)
both in patons classic merino wool, grey mix

and still had many other gifts to finish for family i'll see then... of course i went into immediate panic mode and decided i'd just knit 18 hours day and finish everything by this weekend. after sleeping on that, i decided to relax and work on something else instead...


sherwood sweater from fall knitty 2006
brown sheep cotton fleece, wild orange
size 2, us 5 (3.75mm), addi 24" circular

sherwood, that i had set down when i started my holiday knitting. laying in bed, agonizing over the yet-to-be-knit gifts and what my son and i would be wearing to the holiday blowout, i realized it would be really silly to go buy him a new sweater when sherwood was aching to be finished. it just needs arms and a collar after marathoning it thru this weekend.

i realized that i had been knitting it incorrectly-- i had been knitting each cable cross, instead of following the pattern (either knit or purl). this probably resulted in the "sloppy" looking cables i had complained about-- now that i have fixed my mistake, they look more defined and flat. its not so bad i felt i had to frog though... :)

i'm hoping to finish the sweater and a pair of unfelted fuzzy feet for my dad this week (i'll be able to custom felt them for him when i see him this weekend, better than trying to mold them to my feet and hoping they fit his.) anything else done this week will just be gravy.

other definitions of gravy...


hypotenuse from knitspot
started: november 13, 2006 (?)
blue sky alpaca, alpaca silk dk in #123 (ruby) ... color's not correct
us 7 (4.5mm), addi

so.nice. i put in a few rows on this every once in a while, when i'm feeling selfish and need some "me" time :) the yarn is amazing and soft, way light and i love the color (its not correct in my photos.) i quickly memorized the pattern so its just a delight for me to zen out with late at nite, alone, dreaming in red. this is about a full skein of the alpaca silk (i bought 3)... i'm debating on adding a 4th when i get there for a really long scarf. how long are scarves supposed to be, anyway?


my new double pointed needle protectors holder from three owls knitting
front: ryc cashcotton, us 1.5 (2.5mm) in sugar (pink)
back: interlacements tiny toes, us 1 (2.25mm) in chairman of the board

i totally fell in love with sherry's dpn protector holders when she put her tek up, but i never got around to making any of my own (even though i kept finding needles poking out of my sock bags!) so i squealed with delight to find she had opened up an etsy shop and was selling them, and had added some beautiful beads to them as well. she cut down a set for me so i have a 6" set that fits my knit picks options dpns (which i like btw, if they made "regular" us sizing they'd probably be my needle of choice) and a 7" set that fit all of the other dpns i own. i'm holding myself back from ordering another set, i think there was enough gluttony over the turkey day weekend :)

wish me luck with sherwood, my family, life the universe and everything...

matahari spinning fiber, grey cables

First and best, thank you all for the comments on my grandma's Lizard Ridge afghan. I am so pleased with it and had a great time knitting it, not only for the end result and being able to give something like that away but because of how fun it is to share it with yall too. Thanks for the feedback, it made my day. :)

Speaking of, my day's been made all over the place... first sn and now a surprising package in the mail:


Spinning fibers from Matahari Spinnery
clockwise from top:
Corriedale handdyed in Noel, Noel colorway
Baby Alpaca/Silk in Fawn
Natural Corriedale
Dark Blue Faced Leicester

I won a fiber sampler pack from Arianie's birthday contest and she sent me these lovelies from her shop... so so nice. I am just drawn to the baby alpaca/silk, its ridiculously soft and wonderful!! The dark BFL was a surprise too, its way soft and I love the natural brown color. I'm going to order some more fibers from Arianie soon, maybe some more dark bfl for a pair of natural colored socks? Kristi has me jonesing for natural handspun socks... (Anyone have recommendations on where to find "unusual," naturally colored fibers/fleece suitable for sock yarn? Someone special needs a pair of handspun, natural socks... think the brown is cool enough?) She also has natural blue faced leicester on sale during November for $14/lb, which sounds like a really great price.


Baby Alpaca/Silk in Fawn.
(this is what love feels like. this and !!! that.)

How much fiber do you buy at a time? Just enough to spin a little, or for projects? I always think any project will take at least 4 oz, but I never know how much to buy.

I do know how to knit me some rad socks though. :)


Boyfriend (dad!!) Socks by Alice Bell
M size
Started: November 3, 2006
Finished: November 18, 2006 (?)
Interlacements Tiny Toes, pearl grey
US 1 (2.25mm) dpns, 4


(i need a haircut!!)

Lovely, just like last time. I'm definitely making myself a pair from my red skeins of Tiny Toes when the holiday knitting dies down... They're the same specs minus another paired cable repeat, sized for a man's foot (these and a pair of reknit Fuzzy Feet will be my dad's holiday gift) but they still are comfortable on me-- I love the range that the pattern has as far as fit goes. I'll make a smaller pair for myself, just so they can be all mine :) I had yarn left over in grey and prolly will for the reds, the grey & red leftovers will make a great pair of stripey socks for the little one. (I predict you'll see a lot of stripey socks around here soon!)

Previous posts on boyfriend dad socks...

November 4, 2006
November 10, 2006


The holiday knitting is still in full force though...


Celtic Cap by Girl from Auntie
Started: November 20, 2006
Patons Classic Merino Wool, grey mix colorway
US 5 (3.75mm) 16" circular, Addi

I spent Saturday & Sunday trying to knit this cap in Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky (#505 I think) on US 8's and it just wasn't happening... from missed cable crosses to super thick yarn on smaller needles hurting my hands, I folded and put that yarn away for this one and I'm very glad I did. (Now I have a bag of really beautiful grey DB Merino Chunky... maybe a kid's longish coat, like a pea coat? Something.) I really like the Patons; I picked up this ball on a whim just to have after enjoying using it for the Lizard Ridge crochet edging, perfect use of stash, eh?

The pattern's great with a huge range of yarn weights and head sizes, plus worksheets to customize fit for the hat. The hat's for my uncle, who gets up even earlier than toddlers do to go work fixing and tinkering so other people can build skyscrapers and jacuzzis, a to z... cold weather stuff seems appropriate, thinking of those early mornings. I'm thinking if I have time I'll knit him a pair of mittens in the same yarn, except those with a "flip top" that exposes the fingers underneath like these? Maybe not with fingers though, or would that be weird? Or maybe a scarf... something :)

Happy early Thanksgiving yall! I'll be sating myself with some Honeybaked Ham and the true world's best mac and cheese, despite what the competition claims...