Month: July 2005

  • the knitting

    Didja see johanna’s comment to my last post?

    “I don’t know Laura, your last minute attempt to throw in some knitting doesn’t convince me. You’ve gone to the other side. You are a spinner.”

    Hey man, it ain’t all spinning up in here. Evidence:

    Bamboo Chickami
    Pattern: Chickami by Chicknits
    Yarn: Southwest Trading Company Bamboo, “Chocolate”, less than 2 skeins!
    Needles: Denise US 5 and 6
    Started: June 27, 2005
    Finished: July 18, 2005

    Notes:
    I only had 2 skeins, so I made a size smaller than I’d usually do (34″ instead of 36″). It turned out well, if pretty darn fitted. I even had yarn left over…

    …but not enough for me to have done the larger size. Oh, and I did the wide strap version. Bra strap issues, but I don’t care all that much. The yarn is weird; feels really soft on the ball but more scratchy knit up. I think wash and wear will help, and it’s really starting to grow on me, actually.

    Oh, and I even started another project.

    I’m calling it “Sapphire”. A tank of my own design out of Pingouin Sillages, which I assume is discontinued. It’s 50% cotton, 45% viscose, and 5% silk. Yummy colour. In an unprecedented move, I have since bought and switched to an Addi Turbo needle for this project – the bamboo was dragging. Why don’t I like Addis? Well, I find the tips too dull, they’re too slippery (so I don’t have control, and I knit looser as well), and I don’t like the noise. Oh, and they’re expensive. But, we’ll see. Maybe this will convert me or something. (Don’t worry Denise, I’ll always love you.)

    And I finally bought buttons for Spencer.

    See? Not a spinning thing in the bunch. But how about some dyeing?

    “nectarine”, a nice soft wool blend.

    Crazy bright merino that I bought (I didn’t dye it) from my trusty eBay seller.

    Tomorrow: Stash addition.

  • sleepy saturday

    I feel like I haven’t even woken up, just kind of wrapped in fuzz. And I really need to write a paper, too…maybe some chocolate will help.

    I finished spinning up the primary-coloured merino from this post. As you can see, all the colours blended together. This comes in at 314 yards!

    And in dyeing, I did a big lot (8 oz) of blues and purples, which didn’t really come out like I wanted, but it’s ok.

    I find I’m often dissatisfied with my dyed roving, but it’s cool once it’s spun up. I also did a bit of green, pink and yellow.

    It hasn’t all been dyeing and spinning – I’m still working away on the second broadripple (almost at the heel) and the bamboo chickami.

    I’m almost at the armholes on the cami, so I hope to split it today. I’ve also got an idea percolating for another tank top, so perhaps I shall swatch for that one…

  • blog faster!

    Must type rapidly.

    Sherbet merino – 266 yards of 2ply!

    Camo green/yellow dyed merino.

    One broadripple down, one to go. Next sock will be the “go with the flow” sock from interweave.

    Spencer all blocked. Just need buttons.

    Also: just when I ran out of stuff to dye, another pound of wool blend showed up. This time, at least one 8 oz dyelot – what colour, what colour. Also, i want to order more merino! It’s soooo soft and lovely.