What I spun yesterday

Two ounces of Romney from Adrian at Hello Yarn. My last fiber club offering (for the moment...):

I think it will go nicely with the other Romney I already have put away for a felted entrelac backpack:

The top is Romney from batts I bought at Woolbearers in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.
Middle is Leaf Peep Romney from Spunky Eclectic (my favorite colorway of her Fiber Club so far). The top two have the purple in common, the bottom two the cranberry and rusty reds. And I will finally have enough yarn for a bag! What's the deal with felting taking so much yarn?

I've been loath to knit this up with different wools, with my varied felting history and all, but all Romney should work just fine.

What are you spinning?

Arwen proceeds apace...nothing new to show, though.

Anybody thinking about participating in the Moratorium on November 6?

Go Chris Dodd! We're behind you all the way!

Peace.

Not too bad!

In case you're wondering, we are in no fire danger of any sort. But they are not letting the kids exercise outside due to terrible air quality. DS's field trip to a farm WAY too close to 2 fires was cancelled (after they drove up) but it was rather a relief. We are praying for all of the evacuated and the displaced and hoping to find someone to take some clothes and toys.

PROJECT UPDATE: Okay, I haven't actually worked on the project yet. But I have already spun for about 2 hours today. Evidence:

1st 2 ounces of Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club Shetland in Celebration done.

Next up (in the quest to empty some bobbins):

Finished and wound off the singles of the BFL dyed by DS a long time ago. Will be socks for him eventually, although I might cable the yarn to fatten it up. Then again, kid socks, even on 1's, just don't take that long. Oh, BTW, he loves green. Can you tell?

DD had a playdate last week. I let them have the camera:



And DS's self portrait:

They had lots of fun!

Mom, don't read this part.











Arwen is progressing apace:

Back finished, Left front at about 6 inches. Still hoping I have enough yarn. I will know by the end of this piece and then can order more if necessary. Loving the Andean silk. It is very soft and pleasant to handle. I wouldn't mind one of these for myself...

Stay safe.

Peace.

An Announcement

I hereby announce that I will knit an entire sweater from handspun yarns by June 30, 2008, in order that it be entered in the 2008 Los Angeles County Fair.

There.

To that end, I also hereby announce that at least one (1) hour per day will be spent spinning. Something. Doesn't have to be for this project, but when the dyeing is done, it should be.

In order to make these things possible, I will be requesting a key from J to her new apartment so that I can hang out there when no one is home. I will also be doing some more dyeing samples. I will also clean out my bedroom so that there is more floor space for the wheel. I will also carve out the last hour of school for this purpose.

Oh, blogging friends, please help me to accomplish these tasks as they will make me happy and more relaxed. And hopefully result in (1) a beautiful handspun fairisle cardigan; and (2) a ribbon!

Thank you.

Peace.

And we're off! (Mom, don't read this one)

The second sweater of the season is on the needles!

I had to swatch quite a bit and the gauge changes dramatically when the knitting is washed, but I think I am doing fine now, about 9 inches into the back of Arwen.

Here's where I am now:

Admittedly, a blob. Worried about yardage already, but have eschewed the hem facings and am knitting on with confidence (h/t EZ).

A bit of spinning has also been attempted in the past few days, but I took on WAY too much work this weekend and everything else was forced to fall away. But here is the beginning of Spunky Eclectic's Celebration Shetland.

I'm going for a light fingering/lace weight, really just having fun with finer singles than I normally do but not so painfully fine that it takes the rest of my life to finish.

I am so desperately eager to begin my handspun sweater project I can hardly stand it, though. But I need to make some decisions. Raw fleece? BFL top? Dye colors, spinning technique, carded or painted?

I would like to end up with two colorways of self striping yarn, one warm, one cool, to use in a fairisle pattern. And let the chips fall where they may. My latest idea is to dye 6 cool and 6 warm semi-solids and card them in different combinations. Then just have fun spinning it all up. I think what's stopping me from starting is that to end up with definitely enough of everything to make it come out nice, I need to dye three pounds of wool. I don't want to run out! But three pounds of wool is all the BFL top I have in the stash. It's awfully hard to look at that nice big box and know it's all going away when I can't afford to replace it. Well, not right now. But soon enough, I suppose. It's not like that's all the wool I've got anyway. I think another dye test run is in order... I have a suspicion that I will end up with LOTS of sock yarn and no sweater, but worse things have happened.

Anyway, all of this mad pondering is an attempt to STOP thinking about the nasty bully mommy who in fact did confront me at the Room Rep. tea last week in the most unpleasant way possible. I'm now trying to forget about it and move on, but I'm sure she'll go after me again sometime. In the most embarassing and public place possible, no doubt. But I'm determined never to allow her to interact with me again so my response will be to walk away (briskly). Why are people so crazy?

Draft Al Gore!!

Peace.

Finished Objects

I have a few, two of which were finished today, my goodness!

About ten days ago, I finished DS's new hoodie sweater:

It's rather long, but so is he and gets longer all the time. It should fit for this year and next, god willing.

Pattern: Wonderful Wallaby from Cottage Creations (my third time)

Mods: 3 spi instead of 4.5. Had to redo the maths and was a bit nervous at times. The pocket and hood are a bit shallow but not enough to worry about.

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky that my mom kindly bought for me when we ordered the yarn for her Arwen, which is the next sweater in the queue.

Today I finished up DD's poncho that we have worked on together for quite a while. It's a long story, but she did let me help her with it (otherwise it would have been another year or two most likely) . It is big enough to fit her almost to adulthood without being so big that she can't wear it now, which is pretty cool. Hope the yarn lasts!

Pattern: Jen's Poncho from Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch

Yarn: Wool-Ease Thick and Quick

Needles: US 11

Mods: None, really. Did one row of single crochet around the neck to neaten it up.

And last but not least, Bellatrix 2!

Took DD to the craft store to decorate a fake pumpkin on Sunday and did the last two repeats on these (as well as finishing the poncho knitting; it took a while). Nothing like getting to the end of a project to make you not mind waiting around for paint to dry!

I will probably wear these this morning as it's cool enough early for wooly socks, but this afternoon it will be too hot and so they won't make it to the Room Rep. tea at school, ho hum. Where the bully's mom will be sucking up to, oh, everyone. But, hey, I shall just soldier on, be helpful, bring cookies. I refuse to participate in anything that brings others down, even if I think they do not have the same compunctions. In truth, we all make our own reputations and if they are sullied by the lies of others, well, what goes around comes around, but not from me.

Anyway, today is rather busy with baking and working and tea and all. Now to find an hour at the wheel... Have a lovely!

Peace.

A Milestone

My baby boy had one today. He became a Tiger Cub.

I'm very proud of him and a bit weepy as well. I took school just fine, but this one might really help shape his later life. I know how important Girl Scouts has been to my daughter and this could (should) be as big a deal for my son.

Congratulations, Sirrah! I love you!