Being Quiet

Funny thing. I haven't felt much like talking. Lucky for me Liz fills in the blog for me.

Work has been stressful, and I've been plagued by this vague feeling of not doing things right. Both at work and home. That's not very comforting. Maybe this is the reason for my inward grunting.

One thing that's going well Celtic Cable Neckwarmer with my handspun camel.

This is an instant gratification project, as far as any cable projects go. This goes to my mom, if I can part with it.

What I should do is to spin. It does me good, always.

Fingerless Mitts, Fingerless Gloves, Fingerless Mittens

No, I haven't gone insane, if you were wondering. Not yet anyway.

I finally managed to knit a pair of fingerless mitts, and I get to post about it. I'm dying to see if I can attract some Googlers that come to visit our blog as a result of searching "fingerless gloves" or "fingerless mittens." Between the fall and late winter, those who come to see Liz's post that was written nearly two years ago are a half of the hits on our blog. You see, it's like a study on statistics...

So there.

Sorry about the dark pictures. It's just a gloomy day here... The pattern is "Mitt Envy" by Weezalana. I love this pattern! Used Nature's Palette fingering superwash. Probably used about a half of a skein with US 1 DPNs.

As much as I love them, I don't get to keep them... They are going to our beloved neighbor Lia. Yup, I am going to knit a pair for myself before it gets warm!

I've neglected to post, but I've knitted a pair of socks for my mom using the same yarn earlier. They are done and safely arrived in Japan, and she loves them -- phew! It was the first time I've used this yarn, but I was shocked by its rather poor quality. The color is great -- it's the uncreatable "Mystery" colorway. But the yarn was cut in three places, and on top of it there were about six places where the yarn was thin, barely held together by a fiber or two. The second ball I wound up was the same way. I've contacted the owner of the yarn company, and she promptly contacted me, to which I was pleased. She mentioned that she suspects a moths damage (which never occurred to me as the cuts were all clean, perpendicular cuts). I offered to send her the yarn so she could inspect, as she did show an interest, but after that no reply. I have a ball of yarn just sitting here... And yes, she did offer to send me replacements -- very nice of her.

Seed Stitch Ribs from More Sensational Knitted Socks. My mom has tiny feet, so a skein was more than enough to knit this pair.

Ok, here's Mitch's Cowabunga, knitted with my handspun merino. See the post below for the link for the pattern. Another great pattern!

Should have made it larger (or deeper). It'll be way too small next year!

I've spun the camel too. Three-ply with two strands of Camel/Silk 50/50 blend from A Verb for Keeping Warm, and a strand of Mongolian camel I spun at GGFI. Some of the Mongolian camel was re-carded and respun after I practiced long draw with cotton. Fulled and whacked. 12 wpi.

I'm not sure if I LOVE this yarn... I'll see when I knit it. It was quite confusing to me to spin the Silk/Camel blend. Silk is very long, and camel is short. To which fiber do I apply the twist to? I felt like I was doing a core spin, the silk fiber being the core. I love the camel though -- so I decided to treat myself for the camel/merino blend from Herndon Creek Farm. I thought these two fiber might be more akin to each other, and less confusing.




Great quality, great service -- and the red ribbon is a nice touch! Oh, did I mention GREAT price? I highly recommend them. Can't wait to spin it, but now I have to concentrate on casting on and finishing a pair of mittens for Mitch.

I need to take a breath! Boy it's a loaded post. Happy Holidays everyone -- wishing you a great time knitting and spinning, and being with the family.

Beach in November

We are having a record-breaking warm weather here in Northern California. I took my son to the beach last Saturday to take advantage of the unexpected gift. I thought it might get foggy and colder as we head to the coast, but in fact the thermometer climbed up to 75 F when we arrived at the beach. No wind, no waves, just a perfect beach day.

The locals know -- there were many families with young children. It was nice, peaceful, relaxing day. The water was just amazing!

And after leaving the beach, we stopped by Windrush Farm in Petaluma -- they were having a gift show - open house. My son is very tolerant of me taking him to fiber-related outings.

He got to feed Mimi's goats -- they love grape leaves, and Mimi let him treat them.

(Waiting Anxiously!)

I finally finished my FIRST pair of socks of the year. After knitting ten pairs last year, I may have gone sock-shy, but here they are.

Classy Slip-up from "Knit Socks!" by Betsy Lee McCarthy. Yarn - Lana Grossa Meilenweit, US 0 needles. I made them quite a bit longer than I usually do, and I only have 15 g yarn left over. I think they'll be very warm because of the waffle-weave pattern, but if you try this pattern make sure to knit them just a tad smaller because they scrunch up.

I didn't want to start anything else until I'm done with them, so now I'm eager to get started on Christmas knitting, finally! The heat is on.

I finally skeined up the silk hankie 3-plies as well.
I spent my Sunday afternoon at Llama Llama Knit. Their first Spinning Sunday!

What a great weekend it was. Just not long enough!

Fleece Therapy

I've been spinning a lot. "A lot" is a relative term. 3 hours in the evening is three times more than I usually get. I need it; treadling and watching the fiber slip between my fingers, the rhythm, the gentle white noise. The sense that I am producing something -- for some reasons, spinning is more therapeutic than knitting to me usually, as it brought me fewer disappointments and frustrations so far.

Brown New Zealand Corriedale I bought at Stitches. I spun two full bobbins this week, and I was planning to ply this with the redhead alpaca, which I also spun more of. Then I realized that these two are too different to be spun together -- the alpaca is too good for this particular corriedale, which is not N2S soft. I'm not too sure about the color combination either -- the dark brown and cinnamon seem too high in the contrast. I think I will spin some white merino and try plying that with the alpaca.

The brand-new book called A Fine Fleece arrived! It's a beautiful book.

This is about knitting using handspun yarn, but the patterns are pretty much all Aran sweaters. They are beautiful to look at, but it is a bit disappointing; I don't think I'd be spinning one kind of yarn (and consistently that is) enough to knit an Aran sweater. I have no patience to knit a fancy Aran sweater with full sleeves either, not to mention the skills!

Another disappointment is that the photographs, as much as they are beautiful, don't show the full view or the details of the finished works. There are two vest patterns in the book, but I can't really tell what they are going to look like in reality! There is a close-up shot of a nice cable stitches for one of the vest patterns, but I can't figure out where exactly the stitch is used, from the photo of the vest itself. I may actually try knitting one of them just to see -- if I can spin enough yarn for it.

At last, I give you my apple blossoms! Next post will be about the Japanese Indigo.

Have a nice weekend!

Ribwarmer Done and it's Spring

It took so long for me to finish this. Now it's too warm for me to wear the Elizabeth Zimmermann's Ribwarmer.

Knitted in my Corriedale handspun. I used the I-cord edging for the whole thing. It was fun and I like how it looks. But I wish I made the whole thing a bit smaller for a better fit. This was the first time for me to knit a piece entirely in garter stitches, but boy it was tiring... Come to think of it I love purling so I probably shouldn't be choosing garter stitch patterns.

I have not decided on a button -- the one in the picture on the top is a brooch.

This is the biggest piece I knitted using my handspun yarn. It wasn't easy to have enough yarn that has the same twist, ply and weight... It was harder than I thought it would be!

Yes, the spring is here in Northern California.

It's time for a little break and sunshine. It would be good for you and me.

I'm thinking about taking a couple hours off tomorrow and sit under my cherry tree and admire it like a fool. I wonder if I had any sake in the kitchen?

Spring is in the air

I know I've been away for a while, but I'm glad that Liz has been keeping you amuzed!
Happy Valentine's Day! Spring is definitely near with acacia and cherry blossoming here and there. It means lots of sneezing for Mitch and Charlie. Poor boys.

Mitch has a wide range of hobbies.

While he was having fun with my Joy, I was spinning more corriedale because I was running out of the handspun to knit EZ's Ribwarmer.

This was knit with my earlier handspinning product. I love the way it's coming out -- I wasn't happy with the singles when I was plying them, but when it's knit up it's very soft and lofty.

But the batch I just spun came out terrible! It's too tight in both spinning and plying, and the gauge is all wrong now -- and it's tight and not pretty. I thought my spinning skill was getting better, but I guess I was imagining. Sigh.

Luckily I have just some more corriedale left, so I am going to spin it again -- back to basics. I hope I can repeat the soft hand again.

Here's the January delivery of "Fiber of the Month Club" Charlie gave me for Christmas.

MMMMMMMohair!!

I wonder what this is going to turn into?

Did you get the Spring issue of IK? Did you like it? I didn't. Why do they have to put six cardigans in very similar designs knitted in similar yarn in the colors alike? I didn't much care for the Winter issue, and I'm disappointed that I didn't find anything I wanted to knit two issues in a row. Bummer.

Need Rose-colored Glasses

... because of this.

This is the final result of the apple bark dye on corriedale.

Although it's way better than the first trial, it's still not the shade of pink I was expecting. Charlie says that it's not pink at all. I guess I need rose-colored glasses -- and they may just help brighten the situation with my day job too!

One of my WIP is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Rib Warmer. It's brilliant -- it's done in garter stitches, and I'm a bit tired of them (I love purling!), but the design and all those short rows keep me interested and motivated. And I'm using my handspun yarn. I am close to finishing the first piece -- another to go. Photos next time.

I have to go to Montreal again next week. Oh yes. It'll be freakin' cold. I may have to spin some tomorrow, as I always get the urge to do so before a business trip!

Nicest Mittens

I just came home from the Knit Night at FlourChylde Bakery in Downtown Novato, and am still pretty excited -- Erin had her latest FO on. Pretty handknit mittens.

They are cute, and they are soft. And they are knitted with my handspun yarn I gave her! I just couldn't stop fondling them.

I'm so in love.

Thank you for knitting them Erin! I hope you'll enjoy them for a long time.

I've been spinning for a year and a half, but these are only second knitted objects with my yarn. The first one was my socks, which I am crazy about. I've been trying to find some good patterns to knit with my yarn, but I usually don't have enough of one kind to do much...

By the way, Novato knitters -- FlourChylde is open late on Friday evenings! It's a great place to knit. Wine, amazing torts and cookies, yarn and friends.... what more can we ask for?

Ready for Winter

I'm done with Crosspatch, and I'm ready for Winter.
I didn't run out of the handspun yarn -- I have just a small handful left. The pattern by Elizabeth Morrison calls for a ball each of 100-meter yarn, but my estimate is about 60 meters each for MC (gray in my version) and CC (brown), in case any spinners want to knit this with shorter-than-100-meters yarn. I used US 9 needles.

This is only my second FO with my handspun yarn! And since it was something I actually needed, I'm really proud.

This is called mosaic knitting, and this was the first time I ever tried. Mine looks more bumpy, compared to Elizabeth's smooth mosaic pattern, and I'm not sure if it's my lack of technique or my unevenly spun yarn. But I still like it.

My Column of Leaves scarf remains unblocked. I hope I'll get my act together on it soon.

I've also started on a new pair of socks -- the first pair as Christmas gifts. I'm using the Knitpicks Options metal DPNs for the first time. It's fast -- but I have to pay attentions so they don't slip off the stitches. Something I never needed to worry using my bamboo DPNs.

I can't believe it's Thanksgiving next week! Winter's in full swing.

What a Week

Last Friday Mitch started coughing. By the evening it was a full-blown croup, and he was barking like a little lost seal. Of course it had to be a Friday evening. Of we went to the After Hour Pediatric Clinic.

He had a high fever, and the cough was awful. Hard to see a little kid go through this. The first night he woke me up six times, crying. It's rare.

His regular pediatrician is on vacation (the timing was perfect), and we got an appointment with another doctor on Tuesday. By then I was having a bad feeling -- may be pneumonia. Oh yeah. I was right. On a strong antibiotic, he's rapidly recovering -- what a relief.

Staying home with him and trying to work at the same time is pretty tough. I feel sluggish.

But I've finally finished Brooke's Column of Leaves scarf!

I used 2.3 hanks of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport. The picture is before blocking, which is essential to this pattern. I hope to get to it later this week...

I've also started on Crosspatch with my handspun.

I'm worried that I might run out of the yarn... It's always a problem with knitting with handspun; at least for me it has been. I love the pattern though. I also am in love with the yarn -- very lofty and light. The gray yarn has the handful of mohair I got at the Apple Fair blended in it. I wanted to knit a warm hat for my winter trips to Toronto/Montreal. I was going to go to Toronto next week, but with Mitch being sick and all, I've decided to cancel it.

Maybe tomorrow Mitch will be well enough to go take a walk with me. It's been beautiful outside, but we've been cooped up!

Everybody Wants Fingerless Mittens

The number of visitors to our blog who's after "fingerless mittens" patterns has not decreased. Many reach to Liz' post after googling "fingerless mittens handcuffs flat knit" or very similar combinations. And of course, there are several visitors who were obviously after some very different destinations -- "woman in handcuffs." Just imagine the frustration and irritation our site must have caused to this poor guy. Someone needs to knit real handcuffs and post it, wearing them! Any volunteers?

Just some pointers to the knitters who came after fingerless mittens --

Magknits has a nice pattern called Lucky K8, which I do plan to knit sometime.

Knitty has a popular pattern, Fetching.

There is a beautiful pattern in the book called "Folk Style," which I've bought recently, along with the brand-spanking new "The Best of Interweave Knits."

I actually am in search of a child's mitten pattern that uses DPNs and knitted round, as opposed to many visitors who are looking to knit in flat. I don't like sewing with mattress stitch, and I try to avoid it as much as I can. Any leads?

I finally have a real FO with my handspun -- other than the wacky FO of the pirate's blankie! I have many WIP with my yarn, but it feels great to finally finish one.

With my mint-green superwash I spun a while ago. The socks have the "rustic" look, and very comfy. I just love them.

With US 2 DPNs, casted on 48, 4 x 2 ribs with some cables on the cuffs. It's my own design, although I'm sure there are similar patterns!

I need to cast on! I'm just not sure what. I have so many things I want to knit.

Toronto Purchase and Blankie

So I'm back from Toronto. As usual, it was a busy, meeting-filled trip, but I was able to squeeze in a visit to a local yarn store. There is a store that stays open late on Thursdays. I jump on a taxi, then I realize that I forgot my camera, AGAIN!

It's Romni Wools, about 10 minutes taxi ride from the hotel. It's HUGE. I walked around every isle that's filled with amazing inventory of yarn, the large book and pattern section, then found out that there's downstairs. From the stairs I could see wool bats and spinning wheels. Only 20 minutes to the closing time. I hurry down. Woof, there's another big section of yarn there, on top of spinning and weaving stuff!!

I picked up some Noro, some unknown brand cotton yarn, and two braids of Wensleydale wool top -- Gotta get that of course; the codename of the project I'm working on right now is Wensleydale! I'm quite proud of myself to have kept the damage to minimal.

It's a must-see place, if you happened to be in Toronto. I have never seen so much yarn in one place. I said that to the salesperson (could well have been the owner), and she was like "un huh, I've heard that about a million and three times."

I'm plying the Kool-aid yarn with a pale-pink kid mohair.

I was hoping to get the bunny socks effect by plying with mohair, but I'm not sure if this is the color match I wanted. It looks like the Japanese red-white celebration stripes! The mohair should have been a little darker.

Mitch wanted me to knit a blankie for the Pirates. He pointed at the small roll of the mint-green single I had on the lazy kate. Okie dokie.

The lucky recipient of the hand-spun hand-knit blankie is my favorite pirate, Fernando Alonzo (name taken from the F1 racer).

Come to think of it, this is my FIRST FO from my handspun yarn!! I hope he appreciates it.

Ouch

I've been having pretty serious sore neck for nearly three weeks, and it was getting worse. I was worried, but I thought my being stressed a bit was the cause. Now the major stressors had come and gone, my neck ache moved into my head and was pounding! And then came the fever of 101+.

Finally I got into see my doctor today, and she told me I had a heavy-duty strep throat and ear infection. She thought the neck ache was coming from those two major nasties. I surely hope so -- I'm really tired of this pain. Because of it I had very little knitting done in the last few weeks.

Yesterday afternoon after the fever was gone, I lied on my back and knitted with my handspun -- the back of dropshoulder vest.

It was a bit hard to knit at the beginning, but now I'm loving it. I've spun multi-colored locks just randomly, so I can't predict the order of the colors or how the color blocks would look.

I am mixing in the greens here and there... Brighter pink to come. I'm a bit anxious to see a bigger knitted piece.

Oh, yeah. Girls came over last Friday, and I did finish (finally) my Bunny Socks. Pictures next time!