Quelle Charmante Surprise!

It wasn't that long ago that I was ranting about how mean the folks over on Ravelry can be.



Today's post is about how nice they can be.



I sent some of my old Phentex stash off to a good home and look what I got in return.



Not only is it the cutest little bag in the world-that is totally made of vintage materials-but it also smelled like heaven.

Pinney: Merci pour ta gentillese. Ca me fait très plaisir!

Breaking News!!!

I am breaking into today's boring post to relay some exciting (at least to me) news.

Thanks to a early morning tweet, I was alerted to the fact that Knit Picks is now carrying fiber and fiber related tools! They have 3 different types of white Merino plus Corriedale in colors all for their usual great prices. I ordered one of everything plus their Turkish spindle. Don't worry dear family. I stayed on budget. The total was under my $50 gift certificate! Woo hoo!

Second Sock Syndrome

One Fishgyle done. One to go. I am not particularly proud of this bit of Fair Isle. It is a bit wonky in places due to my going back in forth between double points and the magic loop. I kept trying to find a comfortable way to get these done but truth be told they are NOT a fun knit. Way too fiddly. And horror upon horrors, I just realized I have no idea where I started from with the ball of self striping yarn so now I have to figure out how to make the other sock match. I HATE when I do that.

A Lot of Socks

Last summer's mystery wool batts yielded 5 crazy mismatched socks. I just finished the last of the bunch. I still have to weave in the loose ends but this project is declared officially OVER and I haven't been able to say that about anything for a very long while now.

New Trick

I get so excited when I learn something new. I have to thank You Tube once again for showing me how to use the stuff I already have in a crazy new way. I have a carder and I have a diz and if you use the two together you can make a big pile of roving in no time at all. Who knew?



The trick is to coordinate the rolling of the drum with the motion of the diz which is not so easy with carders with handles like mine. I could not come up with one long continuous strand. That's going to take a bit of practice.



I don't spin from one continuous strand anyway so it doesn't really bother me but I still want to learn to do it. This lovely pile of fluff is my Cormo, believe it or not. I have slaved for a month combing it out and today I just piled it on the carder and voila...done.



I just couldn't stand anymore white so I threw a little dye on it to match the little batt I made out of the Cormo yesterday. It looks like the dog's breakfast here, but it is spinning up rather nicely.

Here's a link to that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qkhSsbkGrk&feature=related

Snow Blind

The entire month of July was dedicated to working with my giant bag of WHITE Cormo. I am so sick of WHITE Cormo that I threw some in the drum carder one morning and then dyed it with the darkest colors I could mix. The little batt is very cute and thankfully NOT WHITE. I can't wait to spin something that is NOT WHITE.

Looking Forward

The Polwarth fiber that I dyed in shades of gold, olive and burgundy is now 93 grams of yarn.



I am a bit disappointed in the color as the singles seemed to have had more variations in shade than the 2 ply does. This is just a bit too barber pole-ish for me.



Of course once I start knitting with it, it will change again so I am not counting this as a complete fail just yet. I chain plied the leftover singles and liked how the colors worked better. Too bad I didn't make a sample before I plied it.



I am hoping to have enough for a tam and some fingerless mitts. I plan on spending the cool, crisp days of autumn on the walking trails behind my house instead of in a classroom so this project is more than just a hat. It's freedom.