More Fiber Crafts

I took a needle felting class this weekend. Just what I needed another reason to buy wool. I have a bag of cat fur somewhere around here I want to try it with. The stuff wet felts and I've seen cats that had mats which are basically felted so... Yes, perhaps it is weird to make a 3d copy of one of my pets. I never said I was normal, whatever that means. I wonder how Bobcat will feel about a 3d counterpart. The better question may be how will Orange Kitty feel about Bob Jr.

Well, I think I need more cookie cutters for the shapes of the felt projects so I'm off.

Mmm! Yarn

Here it is before I got it out of the box. I was so happy when it came today. I don't enhance my stash often.


Here it is on my bed. It is all from Knit Picks. I love their prices. The brownish yarn is Gloss (70%merino30%silk) in Serengeti and is destined to be socks for me. The dark blue is EssentialSolid (75%superwash25%nylon) in Dusk and will be leggings of a sort for my dad who apparently has cold knees. These are both sock weight. The last yarn on the right is Alpaca Cloud (100% baby alpaca) in Mist. It is a pale purpley blue and will be a lace scarf for me. It is lace weight. Where I live it is rarely cold enough for a full on Alpaca scarf, but a lace scarf that can be doubled up on really cold days will be perfect.

The dyes are for a roving I have and we'll see how that project progresses. As it stands now I have some knitting to do. Now I just need to cast on something. Hey, I did work on my hat while I was in line to vote.

Startitus

So I think I'm coming down with something. I have yarn on the way for three new projects, plus dye for a roving I have for a fourth project. Currently I'm working on a very dull hat for myself. Red Cascade 220 in a 1x rib. It will match a scarf M bought me years ago and that I love.

I'll post a picture of all the yarn booty when it arrives. I've been really bored with the stuff I'm working on so hopefully this will motivate me. Even though I have all this on the way I had to check out the new yarn store in town, Happy Cat. (by new I mean they've been open for quite some time and even changed locations, but with A always around I hadn't had a chance to go, like many 5 year olds she hates the yarn store) I promised, I mean told surely it wasn't a real promise, M that I wouldn't buy any yarn. I suppose if you want to be literal I did buy "yarn", but it isn't really yarn it is just an unmade pair of socks for my mother for X-mas.



Fortunately I married a man who understands me and M didn't even roll his eyes when I told him about my lovely purchase. I showed great restraint considering the store. They had some very, very lovely yarns. There was this one that I wanted so badly, but seeing as how it ranged from butter to lemon yellow I don't know what I would do with it. I really just wanted to have it, just to have it. I think I may have a problem. It wasn't just the yarn, they had other colors, it was something about that, particular color that I loved.

On another note here is something from my garden.



This is a brown cotton boll. I only got two bolls so not enough to do anything with, but I think if I plant it in a different spot next year I can get some more. Who knows maybe I'll have enough for a hat in a few years.

Done, Done and Now What?

Of course I couldn't leave the socks alone. I don't know why I thought I would be able to knit them knowing there was a mistake. I found that actually there were two mistakes. They offset each other so as to give me the correct number of stitches. Just not in the right order, yarn overs and whatnot. It took a little doing, but I figured it out and ripped back the affected repeat about ten rows. It was really slow at my garage sale. I sold almost nothing but, I now have a completed pair of socks fit for this winter. I'm sure it will cool down enough to break out winter clothes sometime before January. Here is a picture of the socks.



The pattern is Falling Leaves from the Fall '05 issue of Knitty.

They make my ankles look fat, but since I will only wear them with pants it shouldn't be an issue. I will have warm chubby looking ankles.

I also knitted an ear warmer for A. I had some handspun merino that I was planning on turning into a hat. The only problem with this plan was that I really didn't have much of the handspun. I picked the roving up at a fiber rendezvous a little over a year ago. I spun it up pretty much right away as I had just started learning to spin. I like the random colored plys that don't always match. I still have some left so I may knit up some matching wrist warmers. Nobody likes wrist warmers more than a five year old. Here is our friend Funshine Bear modeling the ear warmer.



I put some cables on it even though they are hard to see. She should get a lot of use out of it since it won't be as warm as a hat and it doesn't get too cold here. Seems like we had winter here when I was a kid. The last few years it has been very mild.

I am also still wanting to make a shawl. I am looking for a triangle pattern that has straight edges instead of little pointy bits along the bottom sides. Personal preference. If you have any suggestions let me know. I'm thinking of using the Alpaca lace weight from Knit Picks.

Socks

I finished the socks on the two circs. I have to say it was wonderful to be done with both of them at the same time. I think it would be easier if I got some shorter circs, but that was part of the test, to see if it was worth it. I'd rather buy yarn than needles. I am wanting to do a shawl for some reason I have yet to figure out. It is presently in the 100s (F) here and I'm thinking about shawls and sweaters. I'm sure my friend Cynthia's beautiful Pi Are Squared may be influencing me.

I am also finishing a pair of socks that I started ages ago. Okay a couple of months ago. I found a mistake or rather there is a mistake somewhere and I can't find exactly where. Since I can't find the mistake I've decided that probably no one else will notice it. I had put the socks down so that I could get a little distance and perspective to see if that would help. It didn't. Since I am less than 20 rounds from the top (yes they are toe up socks) I've decided to just work through it. I'm sure as soon as I cast off the mistake will become very obvious.

I need to go through the stash and see what potential projects I have. Usually Sunday is a good knitting day for me since I go to the In-Laws for a few hours with M and A, but I haven't taken anything in weeks. My time has been sucked away since me and M installed new flooring in a measly 590sq feet of our lovely home. It's done now though and I need a project.

photo of socks

Just a quick post for a pic.


Here is a picture of the two socks and the two circs. The little feet belong to A. Little socks for little feet = less knitting. So far I am liking it and as I said before it will be wonderful to be done with both socks at once. I have a friend who kept shaking her head every time I would talk about trying this. I don't think she thought it was worth it. Of course, unlike me, she knits really fast.

2x2

M is tired of hearing about my knitting so I thought I would start a blog. Most likely this will mean that I am telling no one about my knitting, other than my knitting friends, but hey it will give me something to do late at night.

I have just started my first pair of 2 socks on 2 circs. I'm pretty excited about it. I really like making socks since I am a slow knitter and they are relatively fast. Not exactly instant gratification, but close. Finishing both at once seems like it will be a big bonus. I was having trouble using the right needle at the right time, I kept picking up the wrong one. So today I came up with a brilliant plan, I drew a line in paint pen around each needle on the circs using different colors for each needle. Now if I'm knitting off of a purple needle I should be knitting onto a purple needle as well. I'll post pics after the camera batteries are done charging.