Month: March 2006

  • ah, the smell of new projects

    It’s a balmy 10 degrees Celsius today, and it just feels like one of those lovely productive spring days! I washed a bunch of yarns, and spun up just a bit of new stuff:

    The bottom one is 114 yards of 2ply merino, one strand of red-and-blue single and one strand of solid blue plied together. The top one was made from the leftover red and blue single – it’s 60 yards, navajo plied. More for practice than anything, although it is lofty and squishy!

    I started a new project the other day, and I’m just in love with it.

    It’s the “Cable/Rib Cardigan” from last year’s holiday vogue, knit out of Shelridge Farm W4. This just might be my new favourite yarn – soft, even, multiple plies, great yardage, super colour. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of it (you can bet I’ll be buying a bunch at this year’s downtown knit collective’s knitter’s frolic in April) so I’m heavily modifying the pattern. The sleeve and back will be done in stockinette stitch. I’m up to almost 10″ of one of the fronts.

    I finished the first Trekking sock. I’m not sure why it took me so long, but here it is – this is a horrible photo for the colour; much better one here.

    Hmmmmm. Maybe I should go finish up that vneck sweater and cross it off the list.

  • attack of the killer headache

    Well, it’s taken me ages to get this post up today because I feel like CRAAAAAP. I’ve still got a cough (although it’s a bit better today). I managed to confuse my eyeballs by spinning and watching TNG for a few hours this afternoon, even though it wasn’t any longer or different than other times I spin! My vision got funny and I couldn’t see properly. Seems to have gone away after a bit of a lie-down, though. And I’ve got a killer headache that refuses to go away despite a banana, water, and painkillers. Owie.

    Anyway, what did I make during that spinning session? I finished up the spring-pea singles from before, and made a big skein of 2ply (too scattered to figure the yardage), about 14-15 wpi. (P.S. The colour sucks in these photos, overcast day – a bit more accurate in the photo from this post)

    With the leftover singles, I made my first cabled yarn! This is about 44 yards. I think the structure is pretty awesome, although in some areas there’s much more twist in one of the plies.

    In other handspun goodness, I started knitting a Flower Basket Shawl out of the fleece artist wool/silk I spun up awhile ago! I looooove it, even though it is multicoloured lace ; )

    I’m starting to get the hang out the pattern, too, so I might just be able to memorize it.

    Lastly, I wanted to share a super sweet gesture from one of my readers, Dotty – she made a top down cardi from my pattern, and sent me a (totally unnecessary) gift!

    This was her Olympic “alternate” project and her first lace!

    Thanks so much Dotty!

  • knitters’ eternal question

    What do I knit next?

    Charlotte’s Web
    Pattern: “Charlotte’s Web” by Koigu
    Yarn: Jaggerspun Zeyphr in “Steel”, worsted weight
    Needles: Denise US9
    Finished: March 6, 2006

    Ah, Charlotte. Just as beautiful as the first and second times I knit you. This one, being much heavier yarn, has a really nice weight and warmth to it without being stifling. Would it be odd to wear my grey Charlotte as a scarf with my grey coat?

    Vneck’s almost done too – just need to figure out what to do with the neckline and weave in the ends. Hmmmm. Ribbing? Or just simple single crochet?

    So….what do I knit now? I’ve got shawl options – flower basket shawl outta my handspun, leaf lace shawl with elann baby cashmere. I’ve got sock options – Pomatomus from knitty in Cherry Tree Hill? Uptown Boot Socks in Knitpicks Essentials?

    I’ve got sweater options – I want to start Breezy Cables from the latest Interweave for a jacket, but I’m not sure it’s really going to be useful or get worn (I’m going to use Elann Highland Chunky). I’ve got some super yummy handdyed Shelridge Farm W4 (washable worsted weight wool) for some sort of cabled cardigan, possibly a pared-down Must Have. And I’ve got a bunch of ultra luxe Artyarns Supermerino in brown for a girly springy cardigan, but starting that would mean winter (and heavy wool sweater season) is ending! Not like we had much of a winter, anyway…

    Obviously, that’s not ALL the sweater yarn I’ve got, but it’s what I feel like working with. One of those.

    Sorry for the rambles. I’m sick at the moment, blame it on that! I should go make some soup.