Monday, January 28, 2008

The Return!

The Return of Handspun Monday! And the return of the camel!

You've seen the singles. Well, last night I plied one bobbin.

camel6
Yum.

I was considering Navajo plying, but in the end I just did a simple 2-ply. It's simpler, especially for an uneven yarn.

camel8

camel7

It's soooooo soft. And I haven't even set it yet. It's like a little cloud of happiness. Fluffy and soft and squishy... and all mine.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Science Fantasy

Whoa almost forgot yarn pr0n Friday! And I have just the thing.

In my magic loop class, a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn was included in the class fee. We all got to choose our own color from the selection that our lovely teacher brought. One colorway leapt out at me.
scifi2

I surveyed, I saw, I snatched. It was like everything I ever wanted in a yarn color at that moment.

scifi4

When I looked at the name, it was like it was meant to be. SCIENCE FICTION.

scifi1

I know I'm more of a fantasy fan than a scifi fan, but I'm fairly equal-opportunity. Of anyone in that room, that yarn wanted to go home with me most of all. It told me so.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Unseasonable

No progress on the Tribe scarf this week. But there is one WiP that I've been keeping from you. I started it in the Fall, but haven't been working on it at all since the show. So last week I picked it back up, so here we go: my first sock!

autumnsock1

Started with a short-row toe. I'm alternating three stitches knit, three stitches in seed stitch across the arch. Once I get to the leg of the sock, it'll be that pattern all the way around.

autumnsock2

The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Gold Rush. For the toe, I double stranded it with Red Willow. I'll be doing the same for the heel. I love these colors, cos they're perfect Fall colors. These socks are mostly going to be worn in the Fall. But that means I need to work on them now and finish them before Fall. A little bit out of season, but that's okay.

Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go beat up my wireless network.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Gifty Pr0n

The best pr0n is free ;)

One of my coworkers is leaving for a new job. She and another friend and I started knitting while we were working offsite right near a lovely yarn shop, so I figured what better going-away present than yarn from that shop?

rosequartz1

rosequartz2

It's hand-dyed from a company called Cinnamon's Dye Pot. The colorway is "Rose Quartz." It's even prettier in person.

And last week, another coworker brought me a present as a thank you for mending her sweater over the summer. So sweet of her! It's Noro, too :)
fuji1

fuji2

fuji3

Haven't decided yet what I'm going to make with it. Gotta wait for the right project.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

It's a Kind of Magic...

*snap, snap*

Tonight I learned how to do the Magic Loop! w00ties! I rather like it. About as much as I like using two circulars. And way better than I like using dpns. So yay, I have a new way to make round things!

Also, I have progress to show on the Tribe Pride Scarf:

tribescarf3
What? Draped over a candle? Oh noes! Oh wait, it's LED :)

Details:
tribescarf4

tribescarf5

I realized today that it's the same lace pattern that's in the Hemp for Knitting fingerless mitts pattern that my mom made for me. Same pattern. Didn't recognize it until I wore the mitts today and saw my hand on the steering wheel. Duh.

That's really it for this WiP Wednesday. Wow, just under the wire. Go me! I'll post an FO tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

We interrupt this program...

...to bring you progress. Sadly, I did not get any spinning done today. Despite my new resolution to spin a bit on every Sunday. I know, bad Carrie. No biscuit. But what I did do today was make some progress on organizing my life. Got more storage stuff for my bedroom (which is one of the two rooms that are all mine in the house), cleaned up my CDs, rearranged some stuff, and it's now waaaaay cleaner in there. Why does this matter on a crafting blog, you ask? Why, because it's one step closer to guilt-free crafting, of course! Until I set to work cleaning my room, I felt soooo guilty sitting in the next room knitting away on my W&M scarf. Do you ever have that problem?