Woolly Wednesday: Post TdF

You'd think I would have had enough of doing this during this year's Tour but when I thought about doing it with my never ending bag of Cormo locks, I had to keep going.

Since Easter I had been spinning the technicolor Cormo one boring lock at a time and they were in serious danger of being put into hibernation forever.

I had seen a video on using Fancy Kitty's blending palette and decided to give the idea a try on my smaller but just as effective hand cards.

After trimming the ends of the locks and then flicking them open on the carder, I used a paint brush to make sure the ends are overlapped and the colors blended a bit.

 I am using a diz and a small crochet hook to pull it off into a ribbon for spinning.

Four finger sized locks made all this fluff to spin. I could do this all day.

On Your Mark

When I started the lace pattern on the Holden, I had to tear the house up looking for stitch markers. I have tons of little round ones but I needed something different for that middle section that is different from the other repeats. The only different ones I could find were too big and bulky for lace.

I had made a bunch for a marker swap a while back but the leftovers were all too "swingy". They kept getting caught in all the yarnovers and just felt too heavy for the project.

I still had all those expensive supplies so I decided to make some more but this time in a petite version.

I only needed four but I couldn't help myself, they are lots of fun to make.

Another Ancient UFO

Along with the sad neglected sweater, I found another bag full of fun stuffed in the top of the closet.

I was slightly over ambitious when I thought I could pull off this mosaic knit afghan a few summer's ago.

A few years ago I saw a finished one on Ravelry and thought-why not? I found the book, a smelly old text off Amazon and got to work using my late Aunt's stash of vintage Red Heart that I had inherited. That's the finished version on the cover. If you want to be awed look at this one on Ravelry.

It's not a tricky technique so it all came back to me rather easily. I did a few rows and then took a good look at what I had been doing.

I hated it. That dark green and burnt orange had to go. I wanted an authentic color scheme but it wasn't happening with the colors I had to work with so it got good and frogged.

I went digging in Auntie's stash bin and came up with a better choice for the dark green. Much better.

I could have sat there all night doing this-it's that fun and easy a technique although it is a bit like knitting a sweater on an octopus. All the sides are live stitches that are on cables and they dangle about. Now I know where all the cables went for my set of circulars. I doubt I am going the full distance on this baby but I bet it won't be long before I am shopping for even longer cables.

An Ancient UFO

 This is a three year old project in a size that would fit a four year old.

Ages ago, when Middle Sister became a grandmother for the second time, I started this sweater for her and then gave it to her to finish. She was new to knitting and wanted to make something for the new baby's older brother. Although it is a very simple in-the-round knitting pattern, I can't even begin to tell you what she did to it. I rescued it and then put it aside. I added a few rows here and there but for the past few years it has been packed away. I suppose now that we have another grandson in the family I really should finish it. He will be four in only three years so I better get moving on it.

Ain't She Sweet

 The ex-teacher in me can't stay away from the Back to School aisle at Walmart.

 Every new school year I would covet my student's pencil holders. They were perfect for spindles but I could never find one as cute as the ones I saw in the hands of my first graders. I am ashamed to say there were times I would think of forever "borrowing" one or two-but I never did. Honest.

That's all behind me now because I am happy to say I found one of my very own that I love, love, love.

Of Course

It seems like lately every other blog post is about the drama of running out of handspun on a project and having to put it on hold while I go spin more.

The newest Pimpelliesse is no different. Of course I went past the halfway point and didn't start decreasing when I was supposed to so now I have to go spin more pretty Merino fluff. I am not going to say this is a problem because not only do I love this pattern but I also I love this fiber and I love this spindle. It's all good.

Playing With Hooky

 I haven't picked this up in a while and it didn't take me long to realize that I needed to cut more wool. That's when I discovered that my wool filing system stinks. I had a terrible time locating the colors I needed so one day I am going to have to re-organize my stash. I just shoved it into bags and now I see that I need to separate it by color.

 I am getting a little better with the fancy new hook but I think the backing and wool size are working against me. There are rules about these things and before I start a new project, I intend to learn them.

I have also learned that all those pretty lines I drew need to be filled in first or they disappear. You can't go back in and add things later.
At least I have learned enough about rug hooking to know when I am doing things wrong. That's real progress.