It’s been fun watching how the striping is turning out, with random widths of the different colors. I would never have chosen these colors if the fiber wasn’t part of a spin-a-long, but I’m liking the finished product!

I’ve also gotten some spinning done…I finally taught myself how to use my adorable Jenkins Turkish Delight spindle that I bought way back in October with birthday money. I’ve been “saving” it; for what purpose, who knows? I know I’m not the only one who buys special fiber tools or yarn and then hoards them away, because they’re “too nice to use.” I have a fiber stash, not a museum! That’s crazy talk. Anyway, I finally convinced myself to stop squirreling it away and actually enjoy it. There was a little bit of a learning curve moving from a top-whorl spindle to a turkish-style, but the Jenkins site has really useful tutorial videos, and I cottoned on fairly quickly. It’s really been a huge pleasure to spin with. Mine is made of Borneo Rosewood, is 1.26 oz (36 grams) and it’s just the cutest little spindle. I love it.

The fiber I’m spinning is super bright (to the point of being almost dementedly, crazily bright, really) but I like it. It’s from FatCatKnits, the colorway is called Nerds, and it really is perfectly candy-colored. It’s Falkland wool, which I would definitely recommend as a good beginning spinning fiber. Just the perfect amount of stick-together-ness, to use the technical term.

(I also have to say, apologies for the sub-par phone camera pics this week. I just couldn’t get it together to use my SLR, and I figured a blog post with serviceable photos is better than no post at all, right?)

Moving on to patterns! It’s easy this week to keep up with my 2012 resolution of sharing my favorite patterns, because there have been SO many cute patterns and collections released in the past few days. Stop it, knitting designers of the world! You’re spoiling us!

• Whimsical Little Knits 3 and Saturday Treat from Ysolda Teague were just released for pre-ordering. Saturday Treat is a collection of six accessories patterns that will be released each week. WLK 3 is Ysolda’s third collection of patterns that are both whimsical and little. : ) I have the first two collections, and may buy this one later down the road when I’m further through my massive to-do list of projects. My favorite from this new collection is a shawl called Sherilyn.

• The Spring 2012 Knitscene preview is up! Definite buy. I love the Hester pullover from the cover, the Roxborough Dolman,  the Beulah Cardigan (cute!), and the East Falls Hat. Knitscene hits another home run for me.

• Cecily Glowik Macdonald released a couple new sweater patterns this week, and I adore them. Chalet is a v-neck cardigan with pockets (!) and Oakwood is a pullover with a really pretty lace neckline…and more pockets! : ) I want to knit them both right away!

• Tanis Gray released a book of Washington DC inspired patterns called Capitol Knits – you can see all the patterns on the Ravelry page. My favorite is a lacey, slouchy hat called the Library of Congress hat. I have to admit, it first caught my librarian’s eye because of the name, but I was impressed by the rest of the collection, too.

I’m always on the look-out for new patterns to add to my dream list of knitting, so feel free to share your favorites. : ) Have a great week!

I got a decent amount of knitting and spinning done at home. I always pack an ENORMOUS amount of knitting when I go on any trip, persisting in the delusion that I will somehow have time and energy to complete entire projects while traveling. Never happens, but that doesn’t stop me from packing it! One thing I did actually finish was spinning and plying my Polwarth fiber, from Cloudlover in the Haunted Vineyard colorway.

The singles were spun on my Cascade Little Si spindle, it was chain-plyed on my big ole Louet 2.7 oz spindle, and I ended up with 376 yards. It’s a little uneven, but I’m happy with it!

The project is for the KnitGirllls podcast spin-and-knit-along, where everyone works with the same fiber, chooses from a list of patterns, and then you get to see how all the different projects turn out. I cast on for the knitting portion last night, choosing the Yvaine shawl. I love (LOVE) how this is turning out so far. The yarn is really soft, has a nice drape, and watching the color changes work with the pattern is so fun.

Plus? The yarn? I totally made it!

My next spinning project will be using some Fat Cat Knits Falkland fiber. She pairs together colorways in her store that will share some of the same tones but are still quite different, and you can get a 2 oz braid of each. These colorways are Nerds (that would be the candy-colored, retina-searing fiber on the bottom) and Tanzanite. I’m planning to 2-ply these together, and just see what happens! Fun.

Since it’s a new year, I’ve been thinking about what I can do to make the blog a little more exciting, for me and for you all. I’d like to start a new habit of providing links to newly-released patterns each week, ones that I love and want to share with you. I won’t be including the image, since I don’t always have time to track down permission from the copyright holder, but click on those links and it’ll take you right to the page where you can admire the awesomeness. : ) My favorites this week:

• Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed released Wool People 2, a collection of stellar, gorgeous patterns, from pretty much all my favorite designers, using his yarns Shelter and Loft. I need to make Norby immediately; it’s a slouchy hat with a great texture and TASSELS! Must, must knit. Lawrence and Graham are great sweaters. Seriously, the whole collection is beautiful. Love it all.
• Grown Up Girl by Joji Locatelli is an adorable, comfy looking cardigan with cute flower and leaf details. It also has optional ties at the waist, which I think is a cool feature.
• North Lyme is another slouchy hat with a great texture…knit in gray…that I love. Is a pattern emerging here? It’s designed by Wooly Wormhead, and the pattern also comes with a beanie option.

So much potential knitting! It’s going to be a great fibery 2012. : )

The other thing that has sapped my blogging energy is work…during the last month, the school district where I work decided to close my school at the end of this school year. Then a few weeks later, they decided not to close it, but to phase it out over the next two years. Maybe. If we get enough families to agree to come back. Which we won’t know for months yet, leaving the staff completely up in the air about our jobs. Stressful! Whoa.

Combine that with the usual holiday craziness, and, yeah. I’ve been lucky to just accomplish basic tasks like eating and exercising and brushing my teeth, let alone engaging in my hobbies. The basic survival level maintenance is about all I can handle right now.

I did spin a bit more on the Cloudlover Fiber, and I figured out how to chain ply on a spindle using this tutorial by Knottygal. I LOVE the results of chain plying with this fiber. It keeps the colors of your fiber together, rather than mixing them all up. I’ve plied 2 ounces of it, and am spinning up the remaining 2 ounces this week.

Pretty! Alright, I’ve got presents to wrap and a house to clean so I better get moving. I won’t wait another six weeks to check back in, I promise. : )

I’ve been spending almost all of my crafting time on spinning Polwarth wool for the Knit Girllls spin-a-long/knit-a-long going on now. I want to have the fiber spun by the end of November, so I can choose the pattern and start my knitting. I’m trying to spin it quite thin, and am aiming for a fingering-weight 2-ply. I’m loving the colors, though! The fiber is from Cloudlover, and it’s spinning up nicely.

Check out more Works in Progress from lots of blogs at WIP Wednesday!

It’s been a long while! I had to take a break from all fiber-related stuff for almost two weeks due to a random and mysterious hand injury. I’m not sure exactly what happened, although I suspect I spent too much time spinning one evening, because I woke up with a really sore muscle in my right hand the next morning. I rested it for several days, and it still never seemed to heal. Finally I stopped using my right hand for basically anything at all, and that seemed to do the trick. My hand is fine now, but it made me realize that almost everything I do – knit, spin, type, shelve books at work, cook – relies on my hands! That might be a massive duh, but I’m now so much more appreciative of having pain-free hands and careful to avoid injuring myself. I don’t spin or knit for more than an hour at a time, and I’m trying to limit my computer time. Which is probably a good thing for my brain as well as my hands. : )

While taking a break from all of my other hobbies, I did a lot of reading. Here’s the stack of library books I’m currently making my way through:

It’s been such a relief though to be able to knit and spin in the evenings. I realized how much I rely on playing with yarn to calm me down from the chaos of middle school. I spun and plied the merino top I got from the knitting show I went to back in September. It’s from the Unplanned Peacock Studio and I like the nice purple-y jewel tones.

Fiber: Merino top, 4 oz

Spindle: Cascade Little Si

Details: 2-ply, 232 yards, sport-weight-ish

This is my second skein of yarn, and I’m very happy with it. I 3-plied my first skein, and I definitely noticed a difference with this one. Of course you get more yardage when you 2-ply, but the 3-ply nestles together really nicely, hides a lot of unevenness, and makes a pleasantly round yarn. My singles are still pretty wonky, so I might 3-ply in the future to even things out a bit. Hmm.

Speaking of more spinning, this is next on my spindle. It’s for the Knitgirllls Podcast spin/knit-a-long, and it’s Polworth from Cloudlover Fibers. The colorway is called Haunted Vineyard, and I think it’s awesome for fall. The participants in the SAL/KAL will all use the same fiber and/or yarn, and choose from a list of patterns. It’ll be fun to see how we all start with the same thing and end up with different finished projects.

Fall has been chugging right along; it always seems that after Halloween, there’s a crazy downhill slide right into Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Almost before I realize it, the holidays are here and gone again. Hopefully I can take some time to enjoy autumn before I rush right into winter. : )

My pre-ordered copy of Coastal Knits came in the mail! The book is a collaboration between two awesome designers, Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig. I love both of their designs, so as soon as I heard this book was available for preorder, I snapped up a copy. When you paid for the book, they also sent you two of the designs in a pdf, as well as coupon codes for their online pattern shops. Nice!

The book is just lovely, and I may do a more in-depth review sometime soon. I will be finished with my first project from the book soon, the Rustling Leaves beret. It was one of the pre-order pdf patterns, and I cast on for it in Miss Babs Yummy sock yarn in the firecracker colorway, basically the second I saw the pattern.

The pattern has been going really quickly so far, and it’s fun to see the leaves take shape. It’s a great autumn project!

Check out more projects over at WIP Wednesdays!

So a few weeks ago, I made yarn. And then I made that yarn into an actual, useful thing!

Pattern: 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Gloves

Yarn: My own handspun (yay!), Spunky Eclectic Corriedale in Robin Hood, 3-plied on my Cascade Little Si drop spindle

Needles: size 6 US

Mods: I knit twisted k1p1 ribbing, instead of the k2p2 ribbing the pattern calls for, just because I love the way twisted ribbing looks.

Very pleased with this little project! I knit them both during one sick day last week, sniffling and coughing on the couch, watching episodes of Inspector Lewis and admiring the way the colors played together in the yarn. I love the idea of variegated yarns, because I’m a color junkie, but they rarely turn out nicely in finished projects. Handspun satisfies my need to mix a bunch of colors together, but I think the blending and transition between the colors is much more subtle and interesting than with variegated yarns.

The mitts are also incredibly warm. They will get a lot of use this winter!

This is merino top from the Unplanned Peacock, in the Lobelia colorway. I’ve only spun a teeny bit of fluff on it, and, wow, is it soft. The softness feels great, of course, but provides a little challenge when drop spinning. I seem to experience more, well, dropping with this fiber than the Corriedale I spun on my first try. It’s almost like the fiber is so soft that it doesn’t want to hold together sometimes.

It’s spinning up into a pretty blend of blues and whites so far though. Can’t wait to get to some of those purples and pinks!

October is my favorite month (not least because it’s my birthday month!) but it also signals the real beginning of autumn, my favorite season. Lately we’ve had several of those perfect crisp-but-sunny fall days, and I thought I’d share some of the photos I took on a walk this week on one of those lovely days.

I just adore everything about fall. Fall candles, colder weather, Halloween, golden leaves, wearing hoodies and boots, making soup for dinner again, pumpkin everything. I honestly think I could have fall year-round and not get sick of it. In the first five days of October, I’ve had a pumpkin latte, pumpkin ice cream, and homemade pumpkin pancakes. Overkill? : )

Happy Wednesday! Check out more WIPS at WIP Wednesdays.

After years of blocking, I’ve learned a few things. One: make sure when squeezing water out of a garment to use the oldest and dingiest towels in your home. Just in case, oh, let’s say…the yarn stains them pink.

Two: no matter what or where you are blocking, a cat will be lurking somewhere in the background. Plotting. Scheming. Just patiently waiting for you to leave so he or she can walk all over your lovingly-handknit items.

And, because photos of sweater pieces blocking are not the most exciting viewing, I also have some yarn candy to share. I drove Saturday (in a torrential rainstorm, no less) to the Knit and Crochet Show, held by the Knitting Guild Association in a different location each spring and fall. The fall show happened to be an hour away from me this year, and since my husband was working that morning, I thought I’d pop on over and check it out. It didn’t hurt that I knew Miss Babs would have a booth there.

It was definitely on a much smaller scale than the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF), which is the biggest annual fiber festival ’round these parts. The other difference is that many of the booths were yarn shops with yarn from the big companies like Cascade, Berocco, etc., as opposed to indie dyers or small farms. I had fun just browsing and petting the yarn though. I did somehow manage to find a few things to purchase! Haha. The first treats I bought were actually from an alpaca farm in Kentucky, Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works. I bought a couple skeins of the yarn they spin in a blend of alpaca and merino. I think it wants to be a colorwork hat.

I also got a batt of the alpaca-merino blend, in a light turquoise. Pretty! I think I’ll hang onto this until I’m a more experienced spinner. It was nice to get a little something from my home state!

I also got some spinning fiber at the Unplanned Peacock Studio booth. It’s merino top, 4 ounces, in the Lobelia colorway. I love how vivid it is! The dyer and her staff were also super helpful and friendly.

I couldn’t resist the Miss Babs booth, either, but it was totally justified! It’s yarn for a Christmas present! hehe. This is her BFL fingering weight yarn, in the Blue Leg Mushroom colorway

I love monochromes. : ) Hope you’re all having a pleasant first week of fall (at least in this hemisphere). Hopefully the weather will finally cool off around here soon and I can break out the woolens!

Check out more works in progress at WIP Wednesdays!

Oops!

As a “sorry, pal, you gotta go back to work” present, I bought myself a Cascade Little Si drop spindle and some Corriedale wool fiber in the Robin Hood colorway from Spunky Eclectic. I’ve been admiring the amazing handspun yarn I see on Ravelry and my favorite knitting videocast for a long while, but resisted the temptation to add yet another hobby to my list. At the end of a long day of herding cats middle schoolers, I fired up the ol’ computer and bought myself this treat.

My first attempts were, like everyone’s, ugly as all get-out. I was essentially pulling apart the fiber into increasingly smaller ropes, and then just adding twist to the ropes. Leaving me with a lumpy, uneven mess.

The third night of spinning, something in my brain and hands just clicked, and suddenly I was drafting instead of putting twist into roving strips. I can’t point to one resource or video that made me understand how to draft properly; all at once, I just figured it out. Maybe I just needed to make some fugly yarn first. : )

Those are my three toilet paper rolls full of singles. I plied them together in a 3-ply, and it created a more-or-less worsted yarn. After plying, my yarn was super kinky. I ended up re-plying it on the spindle, in a clockwise direction, to take out some of the twist. After soaking and drying, the skein was actually pretty darn balanced.

I would be a liar if I didn’t say I am pleased as punch with this. I did an awesome job for my first attempt at spinning, if I do say so myself. I have room to improve, of course; I’m still getting really thin spots, and I haven’t moved past the park-and-draft stage. Rarely, though, do I feel this…satisfied with my knitting, you know? Spinning definitely has a “who cares?” vibe to it – whatever you do, you’ll end up with yarn and it will be pretty. Or at the very least, a learning experience.

Here are some of the resources that helped me along the way:

• Getting Started by Abby’s Yarns (I watched those videos, oh, a dozen times)
• Beginning Spinners Group on Ravelry
• Learn to Spin kits from Spunky Eclectic

It’s been really fun to switch back and forth between spinning and knitting. Tired of one? Try the other! Here’s a little peak at my current knitting project – the Augusta Cardigan. In wool, because it’s getting to be sweater season!