Tag Archives: FO

FO: seasick.

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405 yards of corriedale singles in the Hello Yarn Fiber Club colorway Seasick. More swooning over here, folks. These colors are so vibrant! I might have spent a good hour on ravelry yesterday drooling over handspun shawls. So many I want to make! (Also, this is way more fun than compiling a draft reading list for my comprehensive exams.)

I might have started spinning more singles. This is BFL from A Verb For Keeping Warm in Sadia. I’m thinking this might become the contrast color in a handspun daybreak shawl? Happy June!

FO: parritch. (Also, peonies.)

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It was humid this weekend, which meant that Parritch took forever to dry. Just before heading out to dinner on Saturday, I considered wearing the still slightly damp skein as a necklace. Awesome, no?

The colors are tough to photograph, but boy, are they lovely. This is 155 yards of sproingy, squishy 3-ply, in the Parritch colorway of some Hello Yarn Fiber Club targhee. I’m tempted to just turn it into a simple cowl, but I might also dig through my handspun pile to see if it might pair nicely with another skein or two so that I can make a bigger, floppier, cozier cowl – or a big comfy shawl. I’ve been inspired by some feather and fan shawls with lots of handspun colorways — and I do have a pile of handspun leftovers to throw into the mix. Just an idea. Also — I am toying with a big handspun pinwheel. Cosy over at cosymakes just finished one and I adore it. Also, I have some wedding gifts to knit this summer, and I’m thinking pinwheel lap blankets. I’ve given three as wedding gifts so far, and my friends seem to really like them. So, onto the eventual to-knit list: pinwheels for weddings, and a pinwheel for me!

Also, I said there were peonies. And there are. I clipped most of the blossoms that were starting to droop down over the driveway, which means there are small jars and vases of peonies in every room. I’ve had a rather exciting twenty-four hours in tenant land, as there is a new/substantial leak that has repeatedly filled my stock pot and prompted a ceiling tile or two to crumble to the ground in the middle of the night (hello, howling dog). I’m hoping the plumber will be here tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going to keep spinning and enjoy my peonies. Want to see more of those Corriedale Seasick singles?

Be still my heart. This will definitely be a shawl. But which one?

FO: wurm.

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Swoon. This might be my favorite hat ever: just the right amount of slouchiness, so soft, and of course, handspun that seems as though it was made for this pattern. I cannot stop drooling over these color repeats. I know I say it all the time, but Adrian over at Hello Yarn works magic. Seriously. Magic. I had 201 yards in the first skein of this stuff, and I managed to use what looks like about 195 of those yards.

I knit the pattern’s size M on US 5 needles. The pattern called for 10 sections of knit/purl ridges, but I did seven and it seemed deep enough, so I began the decreases. In order to get to the final bit of yellow in my skein, I stretched out the decrease rounds by throwing in a few extra knit rows between them, and when I had enough yellow (if there is such a thing), I bound off.

Also, I’m making progress on the Hello Yarn corriedale in Seasick that I showed you yesterday. I’m almost done spinning all 4 oz, and I’m starting to lean towards leaving this as singles and making a shawl. What do you think?

FO: shalom.

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Boh is anxious about button selection.

And here’s what I settled on. (Boh’s anxiety was completely valid, by the way. Turns out I made four buttonholes. Didn’t realize that until I sewed on three buttons and tried on the sweater. I’m not sure yet if I’ll move the top button down, leave it as is, buy another funky orange button, or swap the buttons entirely. Thoughts?)

Here’s a full length shot, even though the brilliance of the sunshine puts me (and shalom) in shadow.

Have I told you lately that I love this sweater? School and life got in the way of me finishing this earlier in the spring. Despite the fact that it took me a few months to knit, this is actually a super quick, super rewarding knit.

Yarn:  2.75 skeins of Cascade 220

Mods: I followed the pattern, but I used worsted weight yarn and size 7 needles (thanks to all the shalom knitters on ravelry for their detailed notes). To account for my smaller gauge, I added a repeat of the twisted rib yoke section, and then pretty much knit until it seemed to hit me at the right spot. Oh — and I added a fourth buttonhole, even though there is not currently a button to pair it with.

Even though all of my decisions about sizing occurred totally on the fly, this might be my best fitting sweater to date. Go figure. The weather around here is spring-y, and not too hot, so I should have lots of opportunity to wear my shalom this week!

lack of motivation.

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I snapped this photo last night. Boh got halfway off the couch, and then seemed to either forget what he was doing or lose the motivation to continue. Oh Boh, I can relate. I am having a hard time staying focused and motivated to work on many of the things on my plate right now — April is just crazy.

I’ve had a few skeins of finished yarn sitting here next to my computer, waiting for me to blog them. I might not be done reading, planning paper topics, or (ahem) writing that conference paper for next weekend, but I can blog these skeins and check them off my list!

This is that lovely blue-green merino/wool blend that my dear friend H. picked up at a Maine sustainability festival in the fall from Friends’ Folly Farm. This is 257 yards of worsted weight (maybe light worsted in some places), in 2 skeins of 181 and 76 yards, respectively. This stuff was beautifully prepped, almost batt-like, and I spun it in sort of a modified long-drawish kind of way, which seemed to allow me to get a more even single. I have no idea what this will become, but I absolutely love how the colors catch the light.

This is a scrappy 2-ply skein of all the leftovers on my bobbins — a mixture of Hello Yarn shetland in Sour Fig, the gorgeous green stuff I just finished, and Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino in Albatross and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. 68 yards of surprising prettiness.

And now, back to the pile! I’m hoping to get caught up on blog reading and comments soon. Apologies for the radio silence this week.

FO: tigerlily (and some shalom progress).

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In an attempt to hide from reality (spring break is over, I’m heading to campus in an hour), I spun up the second half of my AVFKW falklands fiber in the tigerlily colorway yesterday. This is 48 yards of worsted weight, navajo plied yarn, from 1.5 oz of fiber — exactly the same yardage that I got from the first half. This clearly wants to be something paired — fingerless mitts, perhaps?

And here’s where I’m at with Shalom. I knit all of that stockinette on Saturday night, at a knit-friendly dinner party, and I’m hoping that I can maintain my momentum on this sweater now that spring break is over. (Can you tell I’m still pouting about that?) Despite my lack of a gauge swatch, plan, or pattern obedience, it appears that this sweater is the perfect size. Thank you, top down sweater construction.

Boh and I are off to take a quick walk this morning before I head to campus, as Mondays are pretty busy days. Hope your week is off to a good start!

FO: bluestone.

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It’s official. I’m obsessed with navajo plying. And with Southern Cross Fibre. This merino might well be the squishiest thing to ever come off my wheel. 148 yards of plump worsted deliciousness, navajo plied, in the Bluestone colorway from the March 2010 SCF Fiber Club. I love this so much that I want to wear the hank doubled around my neck…and I’m thinking it should probably turn into a cowl, ASAP.

I went looking for something else to play with, and decided on this falklands wool from AVFKW in the tigerlily colorway. I split the roving lengthwise in half with the idea that the colors would repeat twice. And when I finished the first half, I decided to go for two mini-skeins so that I could navajo ply some more (instead of waiting until today).

I wrestled with this in places — in some spots, my singles were slightly overspun for navajo plying, and my lack of patience meant that in those sections, I had to deal with energized singles that hadn’t been given any time to rest. That said, I love these colors, and am psyched to spin and ply the other half of this fiber. What you’re seeing here is 48 yards of worsted weight yarn,  from 1.5 oz of fiber.

And here’s another shot of Shalom — I slipped this on yesterday to see if I wanted to add a fourth button hole (I do), and had to laugh at the exact matchiness of my t-shirt and yarn.

Alas, spring break has come to a close — and the grey skies are echoing a bit of how I feel today. I wish break lasted a bit longer, as I am just starting to feel caught up on a lot of of work, sleep, and play. I’m going to let myself do a bit more knitting and spinning today, amidst prep for the week, but I’m not going to lie: I am feeling a little bit pouty, and it will be hard to head to campus tomorrow morning…

FO: magic chip.

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121 yards (from 3 oz) of navajo-plyed worsted weight superwash bfl in the magic chip colorway from the AVFKW Woolly Wonders Fiber Club. So, navajo plying a whole skein’s worth of yarn isn’t as scary as I thought it would be! Despite the occasional wrestling I did with this bfl and my not-always-consistent singles, I’m really happy with how this yarn turned out. Now, what should I do with it? (Do we think 120 yards is enough for toddler legwarmers? I know a 4-yr old who would love some.)

Also, last night I did this:

And I decided that I liked it so much that I shouldn’t risk it, so I ordered 2 more skeins of Cascade 220 in Caribbean. Fingers crossed that they match what I’ve got, or are at least close enough. I’m doing this sort of by the seat of my pants, after reading through lots of notes on ravelry. I’m using worsted, instead of heavy worsted weight yarn, but I’m not really changing the stitch count. I figure I’ll try this on once I’m through the yoke, and if it isn’t long enough or big enough, I’ll add another repeat of the pattern before binding off (or separating — I haven’t decided) the sleeve stitches and continuing on with the body. I want this to be snug, and I’m adding a few more buttons (3? 4?) than the original.

I realize that I have a gazillion things on the needles right now — but all of my sweater projects are in muted colors, and spring break demands something bright (and instantly gratifying).

I did manage to get through a fair amount of grading today, and Boh and I romped through muddy fields and meadows with our friends D. and Coltrane (the greyhound) this afternoon. There’s an apple crisp in the oven, and a pile of knitting awaiting me on the couch (next to a loudly snoring dog). These are the makings of a good, quiet evening.

FO: loch (and more spinning).

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Swoon. 506 yards of laceweight/light fingering in a stunning mohair/nylon/merino blend from the Hello Yarn Fiber Club, colorway Loch. I took A LOT of photos of this stuff, which are all on flickr, if you want more. See, I was feeling so pumped about how these singles turned out that I just had to get something else on my wheel.

I decided that I wanted to try navajo plying a whole skein of something. I mean, I practice navajo plying with my leftovers every so often, but I haven’t put the time in to really get comfortable with the technique. So I dug through my fiber stash, and pulled out Magic Chip, a lovely pastel colorway from the AVFKW Woolly Wonders Fiber Club in superwash bfl.

Here’s the bobbin in the afternoon sunshine.

And here’s Boh, resting in one of his cutest positions: legs out straight in an X.

And here they are together — Boh snored right through all of my navajo plying.

I wound this onto my niddy noddy, and marveled at how different navajo plyed yarns are before finishing — way more balanced, because the twist can’t travel the length of the yarn, only the length of the loops.

I showed it to Boh, and after giving it a good sniff, he decided to snuggle it, eyes closed. That’s my dog. Now it’s hanging to dry.

Next up? Well, tell me if I’m crazy, but I found these two skeins of super happy turquoise Cascade 220 while I was digging through my fiber stash, and I would love to have something like Shalom to wear as spring approaches. Some knitters have managed to eke out a short-sleeved cardigan in 450 yards or so, and I’m tempted to try it. Other thoughts on patterns? I’ve moved these skeins to the kitchen table to keep me company while I grade.

FO: patchwork (future legwarmers).

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Three skeins of worsted weight 2-ply — 150, 140, and 80 yards, respectively, for a grand total of 370 yards of Hello Yarn Fiber Club merino in the patchwork colorway. (Also known as future legwarmers. I can’t wait to cast on.)

I know it doesn’t look like it, but Boh is hard at work in this photo. Boh is breaking in a new, better-fitting slipcover for the couch — this small change makes me feel so much better about my space.

And this is warming in the oven. I have managed to make a peck’s worth of apple crisp in the last few weeks. Clearly, I am in the midst of a scientific experiment to test the following premise: apple crisp fixes everything. (I have not yet disproved my apple crisp theory.)