Yes, I'm still at all things fibery...spinning, knitting, and weaving. Here are some of my recent accomplishments...
Project #1:
Have I mentioned I can also crochet although I don't do it very often? In fact I was proficient at crocheting long before knitting. Anybody recognize this guy? And, no, I didn't miscount his eyes -- there are supposed to be three. He's (She's ?)
Blinky , from the Simpsons, found in the not-so-fresh water near the Springfield nuclear plant. I made him for my DDS and surprised her when we came to visit last week (more about the reason we came to visit at the end of this post).
Pattern: Three eyed cartoon fish by
PixieKitten (I'm assuming the vague name is so the designer doesn't run afoul of copywrite laws. But we all know what it is. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge. Say no more.)
Yarn: Red Heart in Don't Shoot Me Orange and white
Project #2:
These socks were more of a challenge due to the number of twisted stitches and being tied to a chart. So I'm extremely pleased with the way they came out.
They are an
Anne Hanson pattern and the pattern was just impeccably written -- well designed, clearly charted and not a single misprint. And when I was sitting waiting for kids at various events and people asked me what I was working on I answered, "My flaming desire." Now I honestly I thought this was hysterically funny as it is the name of the pattern but I'm thinking most people were looking for the answer "socks".
Pattern: Flaming Desire by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock in Into the Fire (that may get the award for longest yarn name)
Projects #3 & #4:
Little socks for DD2.
Pattern: Basic top down sock recipe
Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in Positively Pink and Opal in light blue and light pink
Designer: DD2 picked out the yarn and the colors for the toe, heel and cuff.
Little socks for DearSon
Pattern: Basic Sock recipe
Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in turtle
I forgot how fast it is to knit socks for people with not-quite-adult-sized feet.
Project #5 (In which I am impressed by my own cleverness)
This is a device made from the contents of the closet where-the-door-must -remain-shut-lest-its-contents-spill-out. I had an empty Nike shoebox that when the yarn from the bobbins (aka toilet paper tubes) are threaded through the holes at edges of the box and the lid is shut, makes a great lazy kate. (A lazy kate is a device used to hold one or more spools or bobbins in place while the yarn on them is manipulated). That is my large Louet spindle (almost 2oz) that I use for plying. The yarn is made from some shetland that I bought from
Spunky Eclectic . (See? Pretty clever. I will not mention my fairly frequent bone headed maneuvers where I often flail for no apparent reason walking through doorways bruising my knuckles or elbows. Or even the fact that I had to rip out an entire leg of a sock this morning because I forgot to switch needle sizes. The universe tends to balance things out.)
Project #6 (In progress)
These socks have knit up quite fast and have given me a chance to practice colorwork knitting one yarn in one hand English style and one yarn in the other knitting Continental style. Always fun to pick up a new skill. (One of the reasons I like knitting is there is always something new to learn.)
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare in Fingering weight. Dyed dark turquoise and rainbow.
Pattern:
Spot Check by Beth Parrott from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn
I also dyed the two yarns -- the rainbow one I had to be careful when planning the colors so that no color complements were next to each other as I didn't want any sections of muddy brown yarn if the colors ran into each other a bit.
Project #7 (In progress)
And this lovely crumpled lily pad of knitting will, one day, be a skirt. And by the way.... Oy! Bobbles! Actually, it should move along quite a bit faster now that I've completed the bottom of the skirt with all the bobbles. They look really cool and I don’t mind making them but they do take some time. I think I figured 25 stitches for each and there are about 30 for each bobble row in addition to the some 300+ stitches around the bottom edge anyway.
Pattern:
Show-Off Ruffle Skirt by Kat Coyle from the book
Lace Style
Yarn: CotLin from Knitpicks in blackberry. (I'm really enjoying knitting with this yarn -- sheds a bit but the texture is nice and I love the saturated color.)
As promised, this is why the kids and I bugged out last week. The destruction part of our remodel began.
Our rather wonky old house had 2 narrow steep 19th century stairways that ran parallel up the center of the house from the time when it was 2 side-by-side apartments. So now we're having those replaced by one proper sized 21st century staircase. Not surprisingly when you do construction up the middle of your house it touches just about every room in the house. So currently we're having a good time living around the periphery of our home.
And if any of the above blog doesn't make sense that's because everytime <hammer banging> I start to get a <drill> complete thought together <compressor charging> to write down some incredibly loud noise <vacuum turns on> interrupts my thoughts ala
"Harrison Bergeron " from a short story <kids turn up TV to counter background noise> by Vonnegut <workman dropped something large upstairs>.