Clean cup, clean cup,

Move dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!

Spinning!

I've been spinning a lot this last week. It's been so nice to be behind the wheel again!

Last summer, a friend of mine gave me some fur she'd brushed off her Golden Retriever. I finally broke into that bag and was delighted to find that it was super easy to spin!

Here's the finished yarn, plied with a creamy alpaca.

I got about 268 yds of a sport/dk weight yarn. The Golden Retriever didn't spin quite as evenly as I would have liked so I decided to just go with it and spin a more rustic looking yarn. I'm pretty pleased with it. The mini skein in the back is a 3-ply of Golden Retriever, alpaca, and angora.

Today I have been working on some Sanguine Gryphon that I've had in my stash since I bought my wheel two years ago. I have two very different 4oz bumps from her "Ravenswood" colorway.

The one on the left is the one I'm spinning right now. It's so pretty!

This fiber is a blend of 65% Superwash Merino and 35% Silk.

I plan to spin them both and then ply them together. I think it will make a gorgeous 2-ply yarn.



This was my progress as of this afternoon. This bobbin is almost full now - I hope to finish it up by tomorrow afternoon so I can start right away on the other one.

I'm so anxious to see how they'll look together!

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As far as knitting goes, I'm working on another Cassidy (ravelry link) sweater. I'm using Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a turquoise color. It's so soft and looks beautiful with all the cables of that design.

Back to the wheel!

Medal!

I won two Ravelympics medals for my Catriona: one for Sweater Board Cross and one for Cable Cross Country.

Even though it sometimes got a bit hectic (my own perfectionist and picky-ness issues bit me in the bum quite a number of times), I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this year's Ravelympics.

Whew! Now to take a bit of a break and work on low-pressure/no-deadline projects. :)

2010 Ravelympics Catriona

I finished!! It turned out perfectly, I'm so happy with it.

Pattern: Catriona (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto DK
Needles, US 2, 3, 4, 5 Addi Turbos, various lengths
Started: Feb 14, 2010 (2 day late start due to change of yarn)
Finished: Feb 26, 2010
Team: Team Knitter's Palette

I love it!

It was so fun knitting while watching the Olympics and to also see all of the many beautiful things that others were making. What a fun event to be involved in!

I finished with two days to spare. Yay!

Can't wait to wear it!


PS - Here's a picture of my "assistant" who was by my side during the knitting and photographing of this vest: my Golden Retriever, Jackson. He's 13 months old now and SUCH a sweetheart!

Drive-by posting!

Literally. ;)

We're in the car on the way back from Wisconsin. Lots of nice knitting time on my Ravelympics 2010 project!

I changed my mind about the red Kathmandu DK I originally chose. That yarn is lovely, just not lovely for this particular pattern. I'm now knitting it with Debbie Bliss Rialto. I love it! The stitch definition is amazing and those cables just *pop*!

Back to knitting...

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Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

2010 Olympics and Ravelympics

It's almost time! Coverage starts tonight and I'm so excited. I don't get too jazzed up about the Summer Olympics but I adore the Winter Olympics. I just think the events and the sports are more exciting.

And this year there's the added bonus of competing in the 2010 Ravelympics. The LYS I work at has a team, Team Knitter's Palette, and a bunch of us who work/shop/gather there are "competing". I'm so excited about starting tonight!

For my project, I went around and around on choices before settling on something. I thought about the Fireside Sweater (ravelry link) and bought the yarn (yummy Malabrigo!), but then thought that might be a bit overzealous a goal. Then I thought about designing a sweater that has been kicking around in my head for a couple of weeks. That still seems like a lofty goal as there's always a bit of ripping reknitting with designing. Finally I decided on Catriona (ravelry link), a Debbie Bliss design. I love the unusual yet gorgeous cables!

I'll be knitting my vest in Kathmandu DK, color Ruby. It's a beautiful shade of red, slightly muted, and tweedy. MMmmmmmm tweed. I swatched a couple of days ago and recalculated measurements for my gauge. The Kathmandu DK is slightly heavier than Debbie Bliss Rialto (pattern yarn) but from my math, the XS should come out to fit a 34-35" bust. Just right!

I also charted out the cable panels. They're written in the pattern only - who wants to knit cables without a chart? Not me. I hand drew the chart - thought about doing one in Excel, but this one's already done and I've got it printed on the back of the pattern. Good enough.

Now to just wait until 8 p.m. tonight to cast on while watching the Opening Ceremonies!

OMG OMG!!

I've been nominated for a BOBBY! (Ravelry award.)

I didn't even know!

CLICK HERE to go to the page. Mine is the white skein of Alpaca named ".Handspun: Alpaca / by myyarns"

SOOO EXCITING!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a wonderful year in 2010. May it be the best yet.
--
Sent via T-Mobile BlackBerry.

New Spindle!

Happy December! I hope this month finds you happy and warm. (Because it's not warm here - it's absolutely freezing.)

Anyway, I've got a beautiful new spindle to show off! A friend of mine is a spindle maker and has an etsy shop: The Dragonfly Workshop. He also sells his spindles locally at Knitter's Palette where I work.

I asked him if he could make a spindle for me out of Amboyna Burl. He didn't have any and hadn't come across any in shopping for supplies, but he did find some Big Leaf Maple Burl, which has a similar look.

He made this beautiful spindle for me out of Big Leaf Maple Burl (whorl) and Kingwood (shaft). The Kingwood is a member of the Rosewood family and has a lovely aroma. My birthstone is the Opal and the character of the Big Leaf Maple rather reminds me of a good Opal with lots of fire.

And did I mention it spins beautifully?

Pics!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful Turkey Day!

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Blogged From My iPod Touch

Grr

Ohai, Insomnia. Back so soon?

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Blogged From My iPod Touch

A Knitting Post!

For the past couple of days I've been working on this gaiter/cowl. It originally started out as another pattern but as I was knitting I decided to go ahead and design something. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out so far. I can't wait to get the buttons sewn on!

I'm working a Kitchener bind off right now then will wash and block it. I'm anxious to see how this yarn blooms.

Details:

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Rowan Lima, col 888, lot 2G0657, 1.5 skeins
Needles: US 7, 16 and 24" circulars
Started: Nov 10, 2009
Completed: Nov 12, 2009

PS: please excuse the photo. Phone camera is clearly not as good as a real one.

PPS: Wow, I didn't think my BB's camera was *that* bad. Hmm, maybe I need to clean the lens. :-/

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Test Post

I read this very cool thing (that everyone probably already knows) about emailing a post to your blog. I thought I'd give it a try!
--
Sent via T-Mobile BlackBerry.

Note to Self:

Close bedroom windows at night. It's November. *In Minnesota.*

Thanks,
The one who has woken up nearly frozen for three days straight.

-- Blogged From My iPod Touch

Yikes!

I haven't posted on here in almost a year. Eeesh.

Anyway, I kind of felt sorry for my little blog. It's dusty and feeling unloved. With facebook, ravelry, and twitter (not that I post to twitter much either, just sayin') my blog gets put on the back burner. It seems I think better in small spurts of random thoughts rather than long attempts at well thought prose.

(*pause*)

"And I'm spent." - Austin Powers

Seriously, though, I do want to try to post here more often, but it might just be small posts more than anything.

Colorwork & Spinning

I had to push that vote sticker down. Sorry it's taken so long to do so. We've been busy here and have had a very rough couple of weeks.

However, to keep me busy and to quiet my mind, I've been working on some demanding knitting.

Enter in Eunny Jang's Ivy League Vest. A couple of friends and I are all doing this as a class at the LYS I work at. The class is more for the steek lesson, which I'm a little apprehensive about. I understand the logistics of it, but I guess I just won't totally believe it really works until I've done it. Eeee!

Steeking aside, this is a great pattern and I'm really enjoying the colorwork. I love watching the pattern form so quickly!

I wish I would have taken another photo before I started blogging. I'm one section farther than this shows and the one I just finished is my favorite part of the pattern design. I love the swirls and the relationship of dark to light and back again. The ribbing is also like that and that's another favorite part. Eunny really knows how to use shading in color to draw attention to and from areas of importance.






Speaking of color, I chose dramatically different colors for my vest than the pattern called for (and different yarn.) I love my color choices but after seeing my friends' vests, I may have to do another in softer shades of blues. Theirs are gorgeous!

We all decided to use Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. This yarn is a 65/35 blend of wool and silk that has an interesting texture when knitted. I really like the feel and the bit of rustic air it gives to the fair isle patterning.

Speaking of fair isle - I am totally loving it. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say new obsession, but I will point out that three of my most recent projects have been stranded colorwork and/or fair isle. Just sayin'.





...Anyway...

My colors, clockwise from top, are:

Chalk, Eggshell, Flax, Dark Coffee Brown, Claret, and Golden. A very Autumnal palette which represents the colors I seem to gravitate to: warm, earthy shades.

The vest's original colors --> my substitutions:
Oatmeal (MC) --> Eggshell
Sandalwood (CC) --> Golden
Woodsmoke --> Claret
White --> Chalk
Pearl --> Flax
Loden --> Dk. Coffee Brown

All right, enough of that. I've got some spinning to show and I'm quite proud of it.

Earlier this summer my friend Nancy brought back this beautiful white alpaca fiber from Idaho where she and her daughter had traveled.

It was lovely to spin! I wanted a very fine lofty lace weight yarn and I'm pretty pleased with my results.

This is a little more than half out of four ounces. I'll spin up the rest sometime soon - I had to stop so I could spin some color. I got 670yds from 2 5/8oz. I haven't officially measured wpi yet, but if I had to guess, I'd say between 38-42wpi.

That's the last of anything interesting I've got to update with. Guess I'd better get knitting/spinning!

I Voted

I hope you did, too!

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween for my husband and I is like our Christmas. We have such a good time!

Hope you had some great treats!

(And maybe a few tricks. *wink*)

GO SOX!!

I don't have much time, but I wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS WHITE SOX!

Their amazing win last night over the Minnesota Twins put them into the Playoffs.

Being a Sox fan in here in Minnesota in Twins' Territory has been ruthless the last few weeks on my husband and I, but now we get to be bop and scat all over the place.

Here's to a great October!

Thanks, Everyone!

My first day went well!

I was nervous to start but soon got over that. K (the secretary who's going on maternity leave) was really patient with me in as far as teaching and my questions. I made all kinds of notes, she showed me where her "cheat sheets" are (there are so many - LOVE those!) and I did pretty well on the dictation. I was able to keep up nicely, though my anal proof-reading (twice) habit slowed me down in actual start to finish time. I'll have to learn to get over that.

K and I went out to lunch and had a nice time chatting and getting to know each other a little better. It was fun and she's a lovely person.

There's so much to learn that I offered to come in next week for more training (one day is just not enough.) We decided on Tuesday and Thursday. Then the Monday after that is my first real day.

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I haven't touched my spinning wheel in over a week.

My goodness, I miss it. Maybe tomorrow I'll have to dedicate some time to spinning. I've been working on this beautiful alpaca my friend N got for me. I'm spinning it into a thin lace weight and I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's done.

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My head is still spinning a bit. I spent some time tonight going over my notes and re-writing some of them to go into more detail while it's still fresh in my head. I hope I don't forget anything before Tuesday.