Category: spinning

  • a return to the needles

    Thanks for all the sweet concerned comments! Luckily I didn’t have too bad a reaction, took some Advil and the swelling went down overnight. Today was a rainy day, I stayed in and worked on various things, including the switch/reorganization/weeding out of winter to summer clothes, and did my taxes. Sadly I’m not getting anything, but neither do I owe. So it could be worse! (I am getting the GST credit, though – and that’s over $300!)

    The other day I had the crazy idea that I could knit something new for Maryland, and I’m trucking along:

    new mdsw project?

    Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed – makes a really lovely fabric and is nice and light! I just might need a little something in the morning and evening, the way the forecast is looking.

    As for the new wheel, no photos yet – I had a bit of an allergy attack to it due to it coming from a cat home (I never thought I was all that sensitive before, but it might be getting worse) and it’s in a bit of quarantine after a wipe-down. Any ideas for de-allergen-ing a wheel?

  • more and bigger

    I’m extremely busy this week but I thought I’d pop by with some more photos of my giant granny square!

    honkin' granny square

    This is all five balls of yarn that I had, and it’s about 42 inches square.

    granny square!

    I still need to find something to crochet a row of border, and to do that whole fabric-backing thing. I love it though! Just in case anyone missed it, I used the Purl Bee granny square tutorial.

    Knitting? Yeppers, although just now I’m feeling a little stuck in terms of actually getting started on projects. I’ve got lots of ideas, I just need the time to sit down and work them out so I can get knitting!

    an attempt

    This is some Koigu that I really love – but this attempt got ripped. Working on something shawl-y.

    Spinning down the stash is going…okay. I’ve been working on some merino/silk – it’s probably Ashland Bay, and I got it at Rhinebeck last year.

    pretty purple

    I’m almost done the second half, so then I can ply and be done with it! But I’m spinning it a touch finer, so of course it’s taking longer. Next bit I pull out of the fibre stash is getting the fast and furious treatment!

  • fits and starts

    Whew, that flu really knocked me out – I didn’t even want to knit for a couple days, so you *know* I was really ill! But after that the crafting kicked right back in – and hard.

    I finally blocked the slip-stitch ridged cardigan I posted about before – now it’s just waiting for some buttons. I’m going to be working on the pattern for this one for the next little while, but the yoke shaping might be a bit tricky to write up!

    cardigan sans buttons

    Although I haven’t had much time with my spinning wheel at all lately, I’m finally getting back into the groove. I’ve got this goal to spin down my stash as much as possible before MDSW (will I see you there?).

    254.365 - spinning away

    So far I wound off some gorgeous teal yarn that’s been sitting on a bobbin for a long while – this was mixed batts that I got last Rhinebeck.

    mmm, teal

    Then I spun and plied up all the grey roving behind the teal there – it was a big fluffy cloud of fibre, also from last Rhinebeck.

    460 yards

    I spun it really fast and furiously to a couple episodes in a row of Six Feet Under (which is awesome, but kinda depressing tv-watching) and came up with 460 yards of 2ply, worstedish weight. It goes really nicely with the teal, so they might end up together in something!

    All this desire to work through some stash has also resulted in me picking up a hook!

    my new obsession

    This is my very first granny square – inspired by Joelle’s Giant Granny Square, I’m working up a giant granny square of my own. This is nearly one ball of Noro Taiyo, a little bigger than a foot square, and I’ve got five balls. This goes so quickly! I love the colour changes. Might back it with some fabric afterwards, but we’ll see.

    Happy Easter, Passover…or just Sunday!