How The West Was Spun

A Moment of Silence

I have cleaned out my WIP queue.  Yes - I know - seems very unlike me.  Not to say that I don't have other projects on the needles, but the "official" WIP queue - empty.

So here's my final FO that was in the active WIP queue:  The Nevis Cardigan.  (My apologies for the craptastic nature of this photo.  D took some other ones on his "good" camera, rather than this one from my point-n-shoot.  I feel sure the others are less blurry and I'll try to wrestle those from his memory card at some point.)

Project Specs:

• Pattern:  Nevis by Kim Hargreaves from A Season's Tale. 
• Yarn:  Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky.  I used 6 full skeins, and possibly 20 or 25 yards of the final 7th skein, but I have almost a full skein left over.
• Needles:  US 10-1/2 and 11 straights.
• Modifications:  Surprisingly enough, none really. Considering how short-waisted I am, I normally have to decrease rows in order to not be drowning in tunic-length things.  This one, I just knit up as written. However, one minor modification was that I did not cast off for the ends of the collar at the back neck; I kept one half live on a holder and then grafted the live stitches together.  I think it lays flatter in this thick yarn.
• Overall:  I was pleased that this chunky yarn did not make a hugely oversized, bulky sweater.  The pattern is written with waist shaping and that helps a lot!   While being knit up, the yarn itself is a little coarse-feeling, but it softens up nicely after blocking, and sort of has a chalky, cotton-like feeling to it.  It is very lightweight for its bulk.  The only beef I've got is that the sleeves are a little floppy.  I think I would cast on fewer stitches at the wrists if I knit this one again so there isn't so much open air at the wrist.  I can see I'll get a lot of wear out of this one on weekends and bumming around the house (which is where I am 90% of my life).  It has a rustic ski-lodge feel to it, and the shawl collar makes it nice and warm against your neck.  I was happy to wear it this weekend when it was raining and 35 degrees out. 

All for now.....

Spey Valley Socks

Wow!  These were a quick knit.  Nothing like socks on US 2 needles to scoot right along!

Project Specs:

• Pattern:  Spey Valley from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road
• Yarn:  Reynolds Whiskey (100% wool) in the "Heather Brown" colorway
• Needles:  US 2
• Pattern Mods:  None.
• Other Notes:  These look a little funky on my sock blockers, since they are sized for a large men's foot.  Like the red ones from last month, these are designated for the Akkol orphanage.  I was a little bit surprised I got gauge with the Whiskey, which isn't really billed as a fingering-weight yarn, but it actually worked out fine, since we are going for warm, thick, wool socks for the kids' feet.  Easy pattern with just a little bit of futzing to get the horizontal braid to work, but nothing major.  I'd definitely make another pair using this pattern.

Here's a closeup of the braid detail around the cuff:

All for now.....

The Polls are Closed

Wow!  Thanks to everyone who took a second to vote in the poll.  It was really interesting to watch the front-runner change over the course of the last couple of days, but 26% of you felt strongly enough to push STR Mustang Sally into the winning spot.  Fair enough - I can totally live with that choice.

I think I've even picked out a pattern for it with the help of Margaret, who is knitting in a parellel universe to mine. 

The other great news is one of my readers, Mia, mentioned that she really loved the bright pink Fleece Artist seacell/merino yarn, and since I had no specific plans for it, and she promised to give it a good home, it's on its way to her on the east coast, and she's going to pick something more "me" and swap me for that skein of yarn.  Sa-weet!

Otherwise, I am now taking a well-deserved break from about 6 hours of dyeing this morning to plop down and do some knitting.  Since I am under the weather again (airplane plus 2 young nephews + craptastic immune system on my part = another damn-it-all cold), I took it sort of easy yesterday and took Diggs to my Bhen lesson.  Jerry didn't care - a horse is a horse to him - and I don't have to post on Diggs, so instead, we worked on my seat (I rode most of the lesson without stirrups) and we practiced some rollbacks (please note that's a You Tube link - and it's neither Digger nor myself in the video!).  And I stopped a lot to blow my nose and cough.  (TMI?)  We had a nice mellow morning together, and then I ran errands until barn-chore time yesterday, so today was my day to get caught up on all my dye orders.  Having accomplished that and having a couple of chick flicks, I'm gonna turn on the fire and work on my Spey Valley socks for a bit this afternoon.

All for now....

Choices, Choices, Choices

In my frenzy of non-participation in various groups, I also signed up for Lolly's Project Spectrum 3.  The first group of color elements we'll be exploring for February/March is FIRE.  This is represented by the colors red, pink and orange.  Now, y'all know me..... I'm a purple and cool color kinda gal, so I wondered what exactly I'd have in the stash that I could knit up.  I did decide since I already have a red shawl on the needles as a gift (which is perfect!) that I'd knit some socks, and I probably had 1 or maybe 2 odd skeins I had picked up in the red/pink/orange colorways.

I seriously underestimated the stash.  S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y.  To the point I can't even decide where to start.  Here are my options:

From left to right:

Lisa Souza Sock! in Mars Quake colorway
Fleece Artist's Sea Wool (70% merino and 30% Seacell) in Raspberry
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid in Burgundy
Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Indian Summer
STR in Mustang Sally

But wait.... there's more.......

Dream in Color Smooshy in Giant Peach
Araucania Ranco Multi (colorway is 303, but it's got red and burgundy and purple and a wee bit of yellow)
Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Red Willow
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in SWAK (I do have 2 skeins of this)

So, since I'm having such issues deciding, you, gentle readers, get to make the call for me.  Check out the poll in the sidebar.  You can vote for your favorite and I'll earmark the top seed for my next sock project on the needles.  If I feel feisty, I may try to tackle 2 pairs over the next 2 months, but we'll see where I am on other deadline knitting before I commit to that.

Talk amongst yourselves.  Go and vote. 

All for now....

Another FO

Saturday zipped by this weekend - I had to work, but I took off a couple of hours midday to go ride with Bhen at our lesson.  It's amazing what a little collection will do.  His trot, which had been bouncy (but frankly, compared to Diggs, who is a gaited horse and doesn't trot, everything is bouncy), has smoothed out remarkably by just adding a little "brake" to his front end and a little more "go" to his rear end.  When I got him from Sally, she said he had the world's worst lope and canter - very hard to ride because it was so rough, but I'm encouraged we can smooth that out too with a little more time working on collection with Jerry.  By the end of our lesson (and we trotted for almost an hour), Bhen was overstepping by about 2 hoof lengths, and I was having to work much less hard at posting.  Nice!  We then ran home to meet Dan and John, and the boys helped D off-load another 75 bales of hay that got delivered to be sure we'll have enough to get through until spring.  (We had bought our main load of hay before we knew we'd have a third horse for the winter and it's been COLD here, so the crew has been getting some extra at night to help stay warm.)

Sunday was also a work day for me, but I managed to get finished with work in time to watch the Patriots advanced into the Superbowl (go Pats!) and then moved on to the Packers/Giants game with sock knitting firmly in hand.  I was feeling like something mindless, so I just sat and knit around and around on my socks for the orphanage, and by the time the Giants had clinched their Superbowl spot, I was able to cast off the toe, darn in the ends and call this pair done.  (They look a little funky in the photos as they don't fit on my blockers very well.)

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS:

• Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch in a cinnamon red colorway.  I like this yarn.  I like it a lot.  Great yardage (these are big enough for a men's 10-1/2 shoe size, and I still have about 50 yards left of the skein) and nice subtle color transitions.  It's just slightly beefier than the sock yarn I usually work with, so it knits up pretty quickly.
• Pattern:  Just a simple 2x2 rib with a short-row heel and rounded toe.  I cast on 76 stitches onto size 2s and then after 5 inches of rib for the leg, switched to size 1.5s to finish the leg and knit the foot.
• Needles:  Size 1.5 and 2 US bamboo DPNs.

These are destined for a care package for an orphanage in Akkol, Kazakhstan.  They are soliciting socks for some of the older kids (larger feet sizes) between now and March, so these are ready to go.

Today's a day off for me, coincidental to the MLK holiday, and D is home.  Overnight, we've gotten about 5 or 6 inches of snow already, with more coming down, so I think we are going to hibernate inside and wait out the storm today.   

All for now.....

Tres Finis!

Thanks to a semi-trashy novel, I finished up the miles of double seed stitch on the beret, decreased for the crown and called it good last night. (And Susan, I owe you your head back.)  I think the colors in this picture are pretty close to the original.  This yarn is hard to photograph accurately, I'm afraid.

Project Specifications:

• Pattern:  Basque Beret from Veronick Avery's Knitting Classic Style.  Easy pattern, well-written, nice finishing details.  Pretty much what you'd expect from her patterns.  My main gripe about the book is that the photos in it are, for the most part, craptastic.  In the book, this looks like a close-fitting beanie in the one (ONE!) photo you get of it.  Most obviously, it is not.  Granted, I think my bouncy cormo wool yarn probably blocked out a bit more than the cashmere used in the original, but it is still not a beanie!!
• Yarn:  A limited run of 100% cormo wool in sportweight, hand-dyed by me in the Elderberry Wine colorway.  I only used about half of the huge skein for this.  I have just over 250 yards left, plenty for another small project.
• Needles:  US 3 bamboo DPNs.
• Modifications:  I didn't bother with a provisional cast-on for the band.  I just picked up the cast on edge (like turning the edge for a picot-edged sock) and turned the stockinette band under to finish off the edging.  Otherwise, no other mods.

Here's a detail picture of the nice crown decreases and little I-cord nubbin on the top of the crown.

So this lovely little beret will be on it's way to Virginia so my mum has an excuse to visit and chat with our friend and see how she's doing. 

All for now......

A late-game substitution

After an email from my mum this week about a mutual friend of ours who just treated treatment for breast cancer, I think I may have to put aside most of my WIP Wednesday projects and get something on the needles for a cap for this lady.  She's already started to lose her hair, so sooner would be better than later, I think.

Anyone who has to go through treatment for breast cancer deserves to have something nice and warm for their newly bald scalp, IMHO.

I'm thinking of using this:

Which is some hand-dyed sportweight Cormo wool.  (I have about 20 skeins of this, BTW, with approximately 525 yards per skein, which I am happy to dye in any current colorway I've got in the shop, or can do a custom colorway for you.  Just email me and we'll talk.)  It is very soft and squooshy.  I think it has more burgundy tones to it than the purpley-er ones above, but since Becky likes deep purples and reds, I think it will suit to a T.  I have to do a swatch, but I think I'm going to try it with the Beret pattern in the new Veronik Avery book. 

So y'all will know what I'm working on this weekend.  In case you worried I didn't have enough projects on the needles and all.

All for now......

Some Other WIPs

I've been pretty focused on my WIPs, but since variety is the spice of life, I've got a few other things going on when I've finished my "WIP homework" every week.  In a weird way, I'm finding it is easier to keep on track with my WIP Wednesday projects because I know if I DO get my goals for the week done, I'm free to work on anything else that strikes my fancy.

So, as mentioned in a previous post, I started a pair of socks for charity knitting.  These socks are slated for a March departure to a children's orphanage that has a large group of older kids in an extremely cold climate.  I decided to hit the stash and have come up with what might be a new favorite in the sock yarn world: Meilenweit's Mega Boots Stretch.  Subtle color gradiations, knits up quickly and feels wooly and not plastic-y, even with nylon in it.  One of the socks is completely done, just a basic 2x2 rib and the other one is knit down to just about an inch before I need to start the heel. 

Then, I also scored on some end-of-the-year-sale yarn from Three Wishes here in SLC and bought enough Silky Wool to knit a shawl for my mum.  She wound up wrapping up in my leaping rabbit stole that Cathy crocheted for me about 2 years ago from handspun when they were visiting over the holidays, and she indicated that she would wear something around the house in the morning and on weekends, so I decided to go with a heavier, less lacier, everyday kinda shawl.  I think I've got a nice marriage going with the red Silky Wool and Mim's Seraphim Shawl (which is available for sale via her online store - although I think I'm the only knitter in the universe who hasn't knit it yet.)

Are you sensing a "red" theme?  Hm... yes, well, in the spirit of not joining anything, I also signed up for Project Spectrum Three, which kicks off in February with the element of fire and things red, pink, and orange.  I like to stay consistent to my personal mantra of not being a joiner that way.

All for now....

Stash Knit-Down 2008

Ravelry has completely sucked every ounce of willpower from me.  I will say it again - I am NOT A JOINER.  So why is is I've joined a buncha stuff over at the Ravelry Groups website?  I have no explanation for this.

Starting Saturday, the 5th, I'm jumping on the Stash Knit-Down 2008 "Knit a Mile" challenge bandwagon.  The nice thing about this is also will include any fiber I spin in that mileage number (see yet another Ravelry group - the NaSpiMoMo - I AM NOT A JOINER) , but holy fiber-frolicking Bat-Girl!  That's a whole crapload of fiber stuff!!  I'm going to give it the old college try, however, and see how far I might get.  As a wise woman once said, "Sometimes you just gotta get off your butt and go try something and see how it goes."  (This was said in regards to another thing entirely, but I find it applicable here and in many other places.  Good advice is good advice.)

The entire Stash Knit-Down group isn't a yarn or fiber diet, per se.  It's just about shopping in your stash first, and then, if you have plans for a specific project, by all means go out and buy what you need, but at least start with what you've already got.  Considering what I have in my stash (and there's still quite a bit I haven't gotten posted to Ravelry yet!), I think this is likely a do-able first step in decreasing the overall Titanic-like bulk of the fiber residing in storage.

So, my plan of attack is to keep working on my WIPs.  I have a couple of other things I haven't really posted about in the WIP Wednesday posts, but I think I'll likely keep them in the rotation of "as I have time" projects, or maybe even scoot them into the WIP Wednesday list for a bit. These include a pair of boot-weight men's size socks for a charity knitting project (DAMN IT - NO JOINING!) and Mim's Seraphim Shawl knit in Silky Wool for my Mum.  Of course, the spinning portion of it - y'all saw the merino/tencel in a previous post - those 9 ounces should keep me busy for a while.  Yardage knit or spun before 01/05/07 won't count to my final milage, but if I get several FOs out of the bargain, that isn't a bad thing either, is it?

The Knit-A-Mile challenge ends on February 19th.  Wish me luck!

All for now.....

Belle Starr Bison-Fiber Hat

As promised, my recently completed FO - the "Belle Starr Hat".  This is a sneak-preview for those of you in the Exotic Fibers Spinning Club; those packages will go out in another 10 days or so.

Believe it or not, this little hat took only an ounce of 2-ply hand-spun bison fiber, spun up in a DK weight.  It would work very nicely with the last odd 100 yards of another project if you have some lying around.  I'll be posting a free pattern for this once the fiber club folks get theirs.

Project Specs:

• Hand-spun DK-weight 2-ply yarn, spun from bison fiber.  This makes for a very soft and light, but very warm yarn.  The initial 2-ounce skein had 135 yards to it, and I used about half (the hat weighs 1.01 ounces).
• Design details include a subtle chevron-edging, which is formed by the arrowhead-lace pattern.  This is a simple 4-row repeat and works up quickly.  The crown of the hat has decreases which form a star pattern, highlighted with purled stitches.
• Needles: Size 6 (4-mm) circulars and then DPNs.  These allow for a slightly stretchy, but not very tight hat.  Those with smaller heads could go down a needle size and tighten up the lace a bit if they wished.

The bison fiber was interesting to work with.  It's definitely not wool, and it took a bit of sampling for my hands to find a groove when spinning.  I wound up going with a sort of hybridized supported long draw.  Hard to describe, but I kept my hands closer together to be sure the shorter downy fibers wouldn't pull apart, but I pulled back against the tension of the wheel and let the twist run into the fiber source. The bison also really benefits from a bit of cold water shock therapy after it's spun.  It makes for a much more even and softer finished product.

All for now......