Hand over the Wool!

Getting My Mojo Back

After Critter#2 was born there just wasn't the time or energy to play with my dyes. There's almost, not quite, but almost a metric butt load of wool and yarn to be dyed in this house. Last Thursday I decided to order in food for supper and to get back in the saddle. Oh, how I missed it! I really love the beauty of turning plain yarn into unique bits of art. 

There's some superwash DK weight and some sock yarn up there enjoying the sun. Don't they remind you of jewels in a crown?

Tour de Fleece 2009

It's been a couple years since I have participated in this annual spinning challenge. This summer I really needed to get excited about spinning, so at the last moment (July 4) I managed to sign up for a couple of teams and get started on my spinning and dyeing challenges.

My challenges are:
-Dye a whole Romney fleece
-Spin 4 oz of Merino/Seacell Roving bought from an Etsy shop.
-Spin 4 oz of my handdyed Corriedale roving.
-Spin 4 oz of my handdyed Bamboo top.

The 2 teams I have joined are Stash Busters 2009 and Team Spinmore. I did set myself 12 oz worth of spinning in just over 2 weeks, but I did not commit to how thick or fine the spinning needed to be. Don't 'cha just love loop holes?

My progress so far includes about 10 oz (I think) of the Romney fleece being dyed and some spinning. The fleece is a beautiful medium to light gray which I hand washed a couple years ago and just haven't been too inspired to work with just yet. So, since I have about 8 other fleeces waiting in the wings, I figured it was time to have some fun and throw some dye on it. Don't you just love the vibrant colors?

And my spinning, well all I can say is wow! Having kids and limited spinning time has increased my spinning speed. A couple years ago it would have taken me weeks to get this much wool on the bobbin, by lastnight I had spun up 2 oz of the total 4oz, destined to become a 2-ply sort of worsted weight yarn. During the afternoon nap time and in the evening I was really cranking out the yarn. The wool is a Merino/Seacell blend, picked up on Etsy, I have to find the fiber label so I can tell you who dyed it.

 

Critter#1 says "I'm helping Mama! I spinning!"

 

Maybe I'll get enough yardage to do a scarf? Hat? Cowl?

Colorwork is not my friend

All week I've been working away at the colorwork or stranded knitting for the ankle of these Nancy Bush Eesti Hiking Trail Socks. A row here, a couple rows there. It's really slow progress for me as the only way I seem to be able to get a decent tension with both strands is to knit with only one strand held in my right hand and pick up and drop the strands as needed for the pattern. Slow going to be sure. I'm almost done with the snowflake motif and decided to try it on. Here's where I am reminded that my normal tight knitting tension is not a good thing for colorwork, which needs lots of slack in the back strands to prevent unsightly puckering.

 

 

Its a little snug at the solid green band above the snowflakes. I'm thinking of frogging back to before the green band and starting the colorwork over. Reason has talked me into completing the heel and trying it on at that point before making any drastic decisions.

SIP - Sock In Progress #5

I just joined the June 09 Sockdown for the Sock Knitters Anonymous forum on Ravelry. This month's challenge is to cast on either an original design of your own or any sock pattern by Nancy Bush. As I already own "Favorite Socks" in which many of Nancy's patterns are published I thumbed through it until one pattern popped out at me. The Eesti Trail Hiking Sock was cast on at about 5pm today and I already have 4 inches knit. Don't you just love knitting socks with worsted weight yarn? Critter#1's feet help out with the photo op:

 

And for those of you keeping track: I now have 5 pairs of socks going. A new (to me at least) knitting term is required to describe my knitting status. SIP, otherwise known as Sock In Progress.

I've got socks coming out my ears

Here's the Opal Citron Monkey sock I've been slowly working on. I'd ripped out the toe at least twice, I think this will work this time. I should be able to work on the grafting tomorrow and hopefully be able to cast on the second sock before bed.

 

And here's the Spring Forward socks in my own Blue Lagoon colorway in 70/30 Merino/Silk. I had finished the first sock and cast on the second the night before my water broke, so I did work on it a little before the serious labor started. When the ribbing pattern was too hard to work on between contractions I asked for drugs to take the edge off. So they started with about a quarter of the full dose as they had to give it between contractions, right? Yeah, good plan. Except about 10 minutes later Critter #2 was getting checked out in the baby-warmer by the OB nurses and I was explaining to DH how I'm never doing this again. Then the drug starting to kick in. That's right - AFTER the delivery of DD#2. Great.

Anyway, loving the yarn and the pattern, though I want to knit this colorway in the Monkey pattern too.

This is the first of a pair of plain knit socks, started in despiration for something to do while Critter #2 is sssllooowwllyyy falling asleep in my arms. The yarn is Lion Brand Sock Ease Sour Ball color. Nothing spectacular about the yarn except it's very ecconomical. It's nice to be able to knit a pair of socks for under $10.

 

And here's the beginning of a patteren called "No Purl Monkeys" from Ravelry. Just knit the purls in the original Monkey pattern. How easy can that be? The yarn is Pagewood Farm Sock Yarn. I couldn't wait and had to cast them onto metal DPNS, but then I found they're US 0 not US 1 needles, so I'll be frogging and casting on again soon.

My knitting time was so limited the last couple months with Critter#2 joining us that I kind of went nuts with the socks. Because they're small I don't feel too much pressure to hurry up and get them done like a sweater and I'm only limited in sock projects by how many needle sets I have. I actually could cast on another 3 pair at least. Wouldn't it be interesting to have 7 pairs going at once and knitting each pair on the same day each week until finished? Each day would be a different pair, and at the end of a couple months you would have 7 pairs of finished socks. It could happen, maybe.....

Return to the Blog

I'm finally getting the energy back to knit and spin and now even blog. I wasn't prepared for how much harder it is to have 2 little Critters than to have just one. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my OB and plan to come out of that appt with excellent birth control, as I really don't think I can do this again. Bless those of you with more than 2 children.

I've had lot's of knitting plans floating in and out of my mind the last couple months, the one that keeps sticking is to knit a rugged work sweater for DH from the thick woolen Coopworth I had spun last year. EZ's Hurry Up Last Minute Sweater from the December chapter of the Knitter's Almanac seems to be the best choice of pattern for my not-too-dainty man, especially if I want to finish it before winter comes. Time to swatch, I guess.

I did finish the February Lady Sweater, although not until Memorial Day weekend, in the minivan (that's another new thing) on the way to a friend's cabin for supper. The only things keeping the sweater from being an FO was one cuff and 3 buttons. I managed to get the cuff and only 1 button done, but it still looked good, even though it is at least one size too big, and that means I'll have to knit it again.

 

 

The buttons were super cheap at Walmart! And do you remember this past winter and spring, where I was fussing about making sure I had plenty of yarn spun up? Yeah, I have at least half the yarn left over. I'd weigh it and tell you the total oz required for the sweater, but my digi scale is missing. Time to interrogate the toddler.

It's been 4 weeks already! Fleeces added to the Sale.

I can't beleive it's been 4 weeks since DD#2 arrived. We're getting better at the whole sleeping at night thing and so far Critter #1 seems happy to have her here. Can't ask for better than that.

I've added a few fleeces to my Etsy shop and they are included in the sale. Check  them out, I'm planning to do another update tomorrow with a couple more fleeces, some batts and yarn.

The top two fleeces are alpaca from Hollyhock Farm Alpacas, and the bottom is a Romeldale from a private flock.

 

 

Critter #2 Has Arrived! Sale Time! Got to Make Room!

She's here! Critter #2 arrived a little early and has been keeping me busy ever since. She's the very image of her big sister, who is getting used to sharing mommy time, although slowly. We're starting to get the hang of a routine and nursing is going much better this time than it did with Critter #1. Critter #2 goes to work with me every day, and during the hour or so of deskwork nurses and then naps in my free arm. I'm getting pretty good at typing one-handed with either hand, even though I'm right-handed.

Today I knit one round on the Green Monkey socks, still trying to finish the first one after reknitting the toe twice. I'm adding another pattern repeat anf then planning to do an assymetrical decrease for ergonomic toes. It could work.

Here's the other socks I've been working on, I dyed the yarn in my Blue Lagoon colorway. The yarn is a beautiful 70/30 Merino/Silk and shimmers in the sunlight. It's also really soft and lovely to knit with. The pattern for these socks is called "Spring Forward" from Knitty.com. So far I've really enjoyed the pattern and found it easy to memorize, which for me is never an easy task.

And last but not least, I'm running a sale in the Etsy shop, in honor of Critter #2 joining us. I have lots of fiber to share with you all and I need the space, so everything is 20% off in the shop, handoverthewool.etsy.com through the end of May. Check back for updates as I'm trying to post as much as I can to the shop, including washed and raw fleeces.

Dog vs. Bamboo DPN

You know who won. Yep. The dog. Not my dog, Kulta, she knows it's a death sentence to even sniff my needles, thus I'm a little lazy about always putting my work knitting away. That's usually a sock that goes with me anywhere there might be waiting like the bank, doctor's office, waiting for others when I give them a ride.

Sometimes Tila (pron: TEE-la) who is my mom's dogger rides around with me during the day. Our day involves driving about 40 miles on averagebetween our 2 store/office locations and various errands. Normally if I just set the sock knitting down between the front seats and under the little cup holder in my car then no one bothers it. Until Tila. She had to hunt down the knitting to get to it. And when I came out of the bank that day, upon seeing the broken needle on the seat next to her I wondered to myself "Where did she pick up hayfrom? It must have been tangled in her coat (for Tila is very furry and curly), huh, but then why is one end of the hay kinda pointy? WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!?" At which time Tila looks away in knowing guilt and avoids eye contact with her accuser.

I present the evidence:

There is a white dog hair matching the fur from Tila which was pulled from the broken/chewed end of one of the halves of the needle. And other chew marks on the shaft of the broken needle. Open and shut case.

So the Monkey socks are on hold for now as those were 2.75mm US 2 needles, my only pair. All the other US 2 needles are 3.00mm and circs. I really prefer knitting socks with 5 DPNs, using only 4 is driving me nuts so I need to hunt up a new sock project for the weekend.

I hope everyone has a safe and lovely Easter weekend. After Christmas this is my favorite holiday. The celebration of Christ and his gift to those who accept it has always been important in my family and my husband's family. Sharing these traditions and why we celebrate certain events is something I look forward to sharing with Critter #1 and Critter #2.

The sale in my etsy shop ends tonight. Last chance!

We Have a Sleeve!

Haa, Haa! I finally finished the body for the FLS. One sleeve is started and has about 5 inches completed. I tried it on last night and I'm thrilled so far! I really could have this done for Easter. Wow!

I also just added a few more items to the etsy shop. They are also included in the shop-wide 15% off sale. I had a thing going for blues and greens the day I dyed all this up, can you tell? Go for it!

 

 

 

On the chicken front, we were able to secure a permit for our chicken coop, and DH and BIL built most of it last week. The front will be finished when the snow melts from our last storm, most is gone but there's some stubborn bits hanging around. Our chicks come home next Monday. Yay!

More FLS and a Spring Sale in the Shop!

I'm this close to finishing the body of my FLS, only about 2 inches of pattern left and then I can knit the garter stitch band. There is hope after all that I might finish this sweater in time to wear it for Easter. Of course, I have no idea what I have that is going to go with it. I might be looking for ginormous white tank top or short sleeved T to go under it, I do have a black maternity dress, but that would entail being more dressed up than I can handle. Only 5 weeks and 1 day to go, then I start to deflate, I can't wait! Oh, here's a shot of the sweater as of this morning.

Also, I'm having a shop-wide SALE in my etsy shop, Hand Over The Wool!  Head over there and enjoy 15% off everything through 4/10/09.

FLS Progression, My Right Hand, Shop Update

I forgot to mention that I had my second carpel tunnel surgery done ( on the right hand this time, a matched set!) so I've been a little scarce as it's hard to type when your strong hand is bandaged up like a mummy. It's healing nicely and I can now type, there were 2 moments that really sucked, during surgery (Remember, I'm pregnant so couldn't really get the good drugs) and the Novocaine didn't get all the tissue, so there was a little burning, searing pain until they shot more Novocaine into the hand. Ouch! And then when I was in to get the stitches out, one had become "ingrown". Yeah, see the little scab below, that's where they dug it out, no pain meds. Did I mention I really hate pain?

I've recovered enough now to get working on the FLS, and it is coming along. I think I'm halfway done with the torso of the sweater. The gull lace pattern is addictive, at least at this point. I'm sure I'll be cursing it by the time I'm done with the second sleeve, which hopefully will be before Easter, so I have something like 16 days to get this little lady done.

It's been quite a while, but I finally have updated my Etsy Shop, swing over and take a look!

         

Cluck, Cluck, Cluck...

I know it seems like I went AWOL but I was still here, doing fibery things and lurking at my favorite blogs. I got almost the right color for my Orangey-Red spinning project and cast on for February Lady. Twice. My gauge was fine, but after I knit the yolk and had the three button holes in they looked way too close to each other. They should be 2.5 in apart, it was more like 1.5 in apart in my first version. The second is going better. See?

My aunt came over a couple weeks ago for a refresher course on how to spin, she picked it up right away. My mother even tried but so far has not been bitten by the bug even though she did get yarn on the bobbin. Don't worry, I'm still working on her.  We also did a little dyeing as neither of them had ever tried it. I kept hearing "no, no, you do it, I don't want to mess up your wool" when I was trying to get my aunt to squirt pink dye on some Rambouillet roving while I was squirting purple dye on it. "Silly lady, if it sucks I'll just over-dye it!" Then she let loose and hose the wool with pink dye. And it doesn't suck, see:

I have a confession to make- I have been cheating on you guys. I've been lured into a different hobby. There's websites, online ordering, overnight delivery, and forums where other cultists share where to get the good stuff. I can't stop, I've taken out every book on the subject from the library and even watched lot's of YouTube and DVD videos about this new hobby. It's hot, you have to check it out. Everybody's doing, why not you too?

 

What is it? Chickens! Seriously, raising backyard chickens is a rising hobby similar to gardening, just, well, different. If you are interested you have to check out www.backyardchickens.com and you will find the answer to all your questions. I've got 6 (for now) chicks on order for pickup the day after Easter from a hatchery in Iowa (going to be down that a way for Easter anyway) and I'm here to tell you, this new adventure is addictive as anything in the Fiber world.

Anyway, I'm not abandoning Fiber, just expanding my horizons. Spreading my wings. Get it? I crack myself up. Seriously, can't stop. :-)

Snow Day

It is snowing today, and basically my boss called and said "Stay home, I don't want you on the road today". This is my first real snow day that I can remember since college (I went to Univer. of  Minn - Duluth, we had a lot of snow days there) and it is really quite a weird feeling. I'm used to going wherever and whenever I am needed to go. I'm sure this ordered snow day is due to my pregnancy, and the additional fact that I work for my parents. Did I mention that before? Yeah. It's a blessing and a curse :-) . The family business currently has 2 locations about 13 miles apart and I usually need to do work at both locations each day plus run miles of business errands. Those of you with small businesses know how it is, if something needs to be done you have to usually get it done yourself or manage it to make sure it's done right. I feel like a total slacker not being at work right now while my husband, also working for the company, is on the road making a delivery.

I also drive a CRV and really love it. In 10 years I've never really had problems with weather mostly due to the fact that I'm not an idiot and know to drive carefully in inclement weather (unlike 90% of the drivers out there) and also my vehicle handles weather really well. I dont know what I'll do when this one dies.

On to a more joyful topic: Finished socks! These are the Koigu socks I've been working on for about a year, with time off for when the carpal tunnel issue started up. My left hand was the worst but my right hand also goes numb and will be fixed on March 13 (it's a Friday too!). The pattern is a generic with help from WendyKnits help pages. I used US1 Knitpicks 16" circs for needles.

And here is a side shot, showing the heel flap and gusset. I knit these toe-up.

And after finishing the Koigus promptly cast on my first pair of Monkey Socks! The yarn has been in my stash for about 3 years, and is Opal 4-ply. I started on US2 DPNs but they are not as sharp as Knitpicks needles and I am really missing those pointy points. Might just have to switch over... we'll see.

I finished some of the Mystery Fleece yarn, here's about 12 oz of bulky 2-ply. It might end up as a dog sweater, we'll just have to see how much yardage results when it is all spun up.

Rainer Cherries!

After 3 tries I managed to dyed Merino close enough in color to the original batch. It had been a very long time since the original batch was dyed and I've changed colors in my dye stock bases since then. The reward for my diligent work is:

A box of Rainer Cherries! The real color is a bit more vibrant. No, they actually are little nests of the dyed wool, waiting for their turn on the wheel. Each one is maybe 1.5" across, and are really to big to be cherry size, but the colors and the cuteness just begs to be called cherries.

There's a little more yellow and a little more green and even some purple in this batch of wool. No idea where the purple came from. It is spinning ever so nicely as I used my Superfine Merino (80s Bradford count) combed top, which is the same as I sell in the Etsy shop (see right side bar). I can finally see the end of the spinning part of this project and I'm really excited to start the knitting phase thus producing a finished February Lady sweater just for me. I did finally get gauge on US6 needles but am being a good girl and finishing the spinning first. This delayed gratification stuff is brutal.

I'm finally getting some fleece dyed and posted to the shop. It's Romney fleece hand scoured and dyed with acid dyes.