I’ve been test-driving my new Grafton Fibership and it’s spinning up my new fiber quite nicely. This is the Cloverleaf Farms Merino/Tussah in Seamist. It’s looking really beautiful. Very heathery. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to make with it though I’m thinking maybe a hat. I only bought 4oz. so something small.
I went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival last weekend to see my friend Janel who was a vendor and to do a bit of animal petting and to do a bit (well, a lot) of shopping. I had no idea just how bad my fiber addiction was. I had a great time and bought way more than I should have… The sheep dog trials were so fun and amazing to watch. Oh, and I really wanted to get an alpaca! I wonder how that would work in my small Manhattan apartment.
So here are tons of photos of stash and fiber critters.
From Chameleon Colorworks – Spindlewood drop spindle in purpleheart and beautiful natural black baby alpaca fiber:
From Chameleon Colorworks – Hand dyed boucle yarn:
From Chameleon Colorworks – “Bambino” bamboo/merino superwash sock yarn
From the Yarn Barn – Chasing Rainbows silk hankie in Juniper Berry colorway:
From the Yarn Barn – Chasing Rainbows bombyx top in Abalone colorway:
From the Yarn Barn – Bonkers Tencel ‘n Merino in Funky Green:
From Cloverleaf Farms – (l-r) Merino/Tencel in Peacock, Merino/Tussah in Seamist, Merino/Tussah in Green
From Brooks Farm Yarn – (l-r) “Acero” superwash wool/silk/viscose, “Primero” 100% kid mohair
From Seaport Yarn – Grafton Fibership spindle
From the extremely generous Sheila and Michael Ernst – a stunning glass button
From Carolina Homespun – a fun little sheep needle size and guage check
And apparently it is not permissable to leave until you’ve stood in line forever and purchased some of the festival merchandise which is actually quite nice!
And now a few of the cutest fiber animals ever!
Sheep (of course!):
Sleepy angora goat:
Fluffy bunny:
Sheered alpacas with fancy hairdos:
Lovely llama:
Happy sheep:
I’ve decided to start my sock over from the beginning. My knitting guru guide Janel had gotten me started, but without a pattern, and she sadly lives 3,000 miles away so I really needed something to follow if I wanted to get any further with this on my own. So I found this fun Nancy Bush pattern “Rib and Cable Socks” from the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits. It seems pretty simple but the cables add a little zing.
And can I just say that I love cables – they are easy and look like you’ve done something fancy!
For those so inclined…
This is Alchemy Haiku (40% silk, 60% mohair) in amethyst. Purchased at Purl Soho – a very dangerous store for any yarn addicts. This store is very small but they have only the most exquisite yarn. I consider it an “artisanal yarn store”. As mentioned in my previous post I was going to get some more of the Rowan Kidsilk Haze but since the dye lots were so different, I decided to get something completely different and now this is going to be for my next lace project. All of the Alchemy yarns are heavenly. This one is so soft and the color is so rich. I can’t wait to use it!
Now on to a new project. I’ve been drooling over everybody’s lace projects from Victorian Lace Today so I finally got myself a copy of the book and now I want to make nearly everything in it! Unfortunately, I’ve never knit lace before but now’s as good a time as any to start! I actually have nearly an entire skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze left over from the embroidery on my Shriek sweater so I figured I’d use that for my first lace project. I tried to get a few more skeins but the dye lots were just too different so my first project is just going to be a long skinny lace scarf. I’m using the diamond pattern in Victorian Lace Today with far fewer repeats. Here are my small beginnings:
I’m using the new Addi lace needles which I really like. Having never knit lace before I can’t really give any authoritative review but I can say that the very pointy tips do seem to be very helpful.
PATTERN: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath from Knitty Summer 2006
YARN: Knit Picks Andean Silk in Sangria
NEEDLES: Takumi Bamboo DPNs, US size 6
I loved knitting this pattern and I’m really happy with the end result. This was my first time knitting with double pointed needles which is a bit like wrestling with an octopus especially when you add in a cable needle but I more or less got the hang of it and it was a quick and easy knit. The Knit Picks yarn is nice and soft and, of course, very reasonably priced.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be making a few more pairs of these as I’ve already had several requests for some Fetching gifts!
PATTERN: Shriek by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan #32
YARN: Rowanspun DK in #747 “Catkin” (4 skeins), Rowan Kidsilk Haze in #592 “Heavenly” for embroidery
NEEDLES: Addi Turbos US size 6 & 3
Finally finished! I blocked this sweater with my fancy new blocking board and put it together this weekend. This is a perfect beginner’s sweater and no sleeves meant it was that much less work. I used the spec’d Rowan yarn which I was not crazy about – it wasn’t very soft and broke easily. And I ran out of it only to discover that it had been discontinued – no surprise. Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful place and I just did a google search and quickly found myself another skein.
Now, we’ll see how long it takes me to finish my Union Square Market sweater… I am almost done with the body but this sweater has sleeves and I know those take a long time!
While I was visiting family and friends over the holidays in Los Angeles, my pal Janel took me to a wonderful yarn store called A Mano. The two women who run this place are the greatest and the store had the nicest vibe with people sitting around chatting and knitting. It was the friendliest yarn store I’d ever seen. So, of course, I had to buy something! I’ve been wanting to learn how to make socks and Janel was buying some sock yarn so I did too. Now I’m making these socks with Lorna’s Lace’s sock yarn.
And here’s a quick progress update on my Union Square Market sweater. I’ve just gotten to the armholes and have divided the front and back which means I can now lay it out flat. Do you like my method of blocking with crap (post-it pad, battery charger & container of binder clips) sitting on my desk???
So I’m pretty late in sharing my total score of Christmas loot. My friends and family completely spoiled me and I got some great fiber/knitting stuff over the holidays.
I can finally block things with this great blocking board from KnitPicks.
I can now knit the Lace Leaf Sweater since I got Teva Durham’s book “Loop-d-Loop” which has that and several other groovy patterns that I hope to make someday when I actually know how to knit better.
My good friend Janel who runs Chameleon Colorworks overwhelmed me with spinning supplies. I got a pound of this luscious Blue Faced Leicester fiber in the black cherry colorway as well as this beautiful bottom-whorl spindle.
And then she also gave me some super luxurious samples of exotic fibers – baby alpaca and baby camel with silk! I wish this blog had “touch-o-rama” capabilities because these are like buttah!
As I’m slogging away on the many rounds of stockinette stitch required to finish my Union Square Market sweater, I am already wistfully thinking about all the other things I want to knit. Here are a few of the patterns I have discovered recently that I can’t wait to get started:
Teva Durham’s Lace Leaf Sweater
French Girl’s Isobel Sweater
French Girl’s Violette Hat
Interweave Knits (Winter 2006) Wine and Roses Mitts
OK, maybe I should get back to knitting rather than looking at all these fun things to knit…