Saw these pictures of Hammie in the handspun baby belle I knit for her, and had to grab them to re-post over here. (Photo credits to W+L.) Baby Hammie and her awesome family are climbing and camping out West right now, and it makes me so happy that this sweater came with them on their trip to the States. All we ever hope for when we gift a handknit is that it will be used, worn, lived-in, loved.
Yesterday, two dogs lounged and played in my house while I read and spun. Boh’s friend Coltrane came over after they met up at the dog park so that Coltrane wouldn’t be lonely, as his owner had to attend a day-long event.
While they snored, I spun the second bobbin of norwegian top singles, and then plied them together.
Here’s what it looked like right before I set the twist.
We took a couple of short walks through my neighborhood yesterday, and I learned that it is tough to walk two dogs who don’t normally walk together at the same time! T., one of Coltrane’s owners, came over for dinner, and the dogs continued to lounge. After beet and carrot latkes and more homemade chocolate pudding, we dumped out a jar or two of buttons onto the kitchen table. T. needed buttons for some baby bibs, and I needed to pick out buttons for my handspun baby belle.
These buttons are a pinkish red, and I love how they stand out against the pastel shades of the handspun. What do you use to sew your buttons on? I’ve only ever used thinner yarn and a darning needle (seems I always pick buttons with pretty fat holes), but T. reminded me that when you buy a sweater, the buttons are sewn on with thread! (Which makes sense. It also means I need to acquire more than a travel button repair kit from a random hotel stay if I intend to keep sewing small buttons onto my knitting.)
This guy is such a good sport. We’re going to ease into Sunday with a little bit of knitting and a morning walk. Then, back to work!
Ahh, Friday. Today’s title is a mixture of elements from each of the things I have to show you. (It has been a long week.)
This is Norwegian top, from the big, basic fiber order I placed right when I got my wheel. It is softer than it looks, but I’m not quite sure how to tame all of these super short fibers. I divided my 8 oz into 2 chunks, and I’m working on turning the first 4 oz. into some basic 2-ply. I’m interested to see what happens once I ply and set the twist. Anybody have experiences with this fiber to share?
Last night I made this tomato jam. I am planning to bake bread today in order to enjoy it. I am very, very excited.
As you can see, I won my race with my ball of handspun — and I even had about 15 yards leftover. Next up: blocking and buttons!
Also, yesterday was full of surprises! First up, this set of Baggu bags arrived from Joy the Baker, along with a lovely note about how I’m a winner. (I needed that.) I cannot wait to take these to the farm this week. Plus, I heard from a college friend who just happens to be within a few hours of New Home, so she is driving down for the day!
106 yards of 2-ply, light worsted, from 2 oz. of pinky-purple falklands fiber from AVFKW in the hollyhock colorway.
Despite what you’ve seen here lately (Mara, this baby sweater, lots of pink spinning), pink is not my favorite color in real life, but I am always really happy with the pinks in my fibery projects. I hated pink as a child, and as soon as I headed off to college, my parents painted my bedroom what I like to call “pepto bismol” pink. (That pink is still not okay.)
I’m loving how this is knitting up, but I’m getting to that place where I’m concerned I may run out of yarn. With this in mind, I stopped the sleeves at 4 inches, so these will be 3/4 length, rather than full length. I even caught myself knitting faster last night…fingers crossed!
I’m not exactly sure why — maybe because it is early enough in the semester that I don’t quite have a routine yet, maybe because getting back into this particular mode of being is a bit of a struggle — but last night I felt just plain antsy, like I should be getting things done, even though I was tired. I think one of the reasons there is such crossover between the land of knitters and academia is that knitting is a way to see what you are producing, to hold it in your hands. Sometimes, even though there is a pile of reading staring at me, I just need to really see my own progress on something slightly more tangible.
Hence, my baby belle. I just have the sleeves and the button band left to do, and I love how this is turning out. Also:
I plied the bobbins of the green falklands fiber in the hollyhock colorway together, and set the twist.
110 yards of 2-ply, from 2 oz. of fiber. You may recall that the other half of this bump is pale pinks and purples. I may have spun up the remaining 2 oz. before bed last night…
I’m taking a class that is exciting to me, although it is out of my field — and out of my comfort zone. I may ply the rest of the hollyhocks falklands fiber this morning in preparation — the fibery equivalent of a few deep breaths?
Yesterday Boh and I began winding the yarn I spun specifically for baby belle, an adorable baby sweater by cosy of cosymakes.
I cannot get over how cool it is to see my handspun in yarn cakes. The yarn is superwash BFL (so soft!) from AVFKW in the Pointillism colorway.
Although the pattern is written for a main color and a contrast color, I decided that I’d rather have the yellows blend into the pinks and greys, instead of alternating between the two. I started using 8s, but the fabric was just a little too open and sloppy, so I went down to size 7s, which are just right.
I do have a baby in mind for this sweater. I’m knitting the 6-month size, in hopes that she’ll grow into it as winter approaches. I was up late knitting this — I just couldn’t put it down until I separated the sleeve stitches from the body — and now I’m going to knit a few more rows with my second cup of coffee before I head to campus.
barefoot rooster 