Woolen Spinning

I have finished my singles for Yarnspinner's September Spin Along. They are fat and fuzzy. Nothing like what I usually crank out.



Giving up control of what is happening to the twist is very scary at first, but then liberating once you get the hang of it. My only concern is that it is all going to come apart during plying because I was so busy worrying about what my fingers weren't doing to notice how much twist was going into the fiber. I may end up with just a pile of fuzzy stuff at the end, instead of actual yarn but it will be a lesson learned and that's what this is all about-lessons learned.

Awwww......

There is nothing cuter than a bootie-nothing.

Tour de France Update

It's not over until it is over and my TdF 2011 project is not done. The knitting of the shawl in done but I had to spin something special for the edging. The pattern calls for variegated yarn so I had to chain ply some Jacob in hope of getting a similar effect.



You can compare the difference between this leftover skein from the body and the top skein.



Here is the mumbo jumbo of a shawl all scrunched up on the needles waiting to be liberated with an edging. I've got a feeling I'm going to be surprised by how big it is once it's off its needles.

Right At Home

If you read my other blog Mother of the Bridezilla, then this will all look familiar. Everything but the name of the buildings we were in on the day Daughter had her hair and makeup trial for her upcoming wedding.



I was tickled to find myself in the former carding and spinning buildings of historic Savage Mill.



The old mill houses studios and shops. One of which is the Amy Decker Beauty studio.



Daughter aka Bride to Be looked lovely. I was very pleased. Now let me get back to work. I have some carding and spinning to do. I really do.

Extreme Knitting Revisited

I'm still working on this BIG project that I started last spring but I am discouraged by all the joins. I didn't take into consideration that a ball doesn't go very far. I should have machine stitched all the balls together and made one giant ball in order to make this a better knitting experience. Right now I am hand sewing, rather sloppily, the ends together pretty much every other row and I am not happy with the look of it. I'll know better next time-and there will be a next time as I have bought another bolt of stretchy stuff. At $5 a bolt who could resist?

For Charlie to Be

Baby Charlie is due for arrival in January. He will make landfall in New Mexico. In winter. When I was asked by daughter to make something for him, I was very skeptical. What do babies in New Mexico need in winter? I thought it was hot there all the time. It seems I was wrong.



They don't need Lopi but they could use something for the chilly temps. Knit Picks Sock weight Imagination in Seven Dwarfs seemed to be the right choice for an Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat and Christine's Booties while Comfy Sport in Planetarium will become a Baby Sophisticate cardigan.

Something Else Done

I had another finished object this week. The Crepidula I started last August is finally on the blocking board this morning.



I spun the yarn from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Undyed fiber and then dyed it myself.



I was tempted to frog this many, many times but every time I tried it on it looked rather cute so I kept on going. The mismatched dye job didn't seem to matter much but I completely screwed up the pattern. All those little holes are supposed to be diagonal to each other but for some reason mine aren't. I suspect it is because I was tempted to "read" the knitting instead of reading the actual pattern. Oh well, sh*t happens but I still have a cute little rib warmer thingy soon to be ready for fall weather.