Clever Crafty Foxy

Might be a little hard to see but these are washed skeins of my hand-spun yarn drying on hangers in the basement.

Projects are planned for most of these lovelies and there will be better-lit photos to follow. Fibers represented: merino/tencel by FatCatKnits, shetland from Spunky Eclectic, alpaca/silk from Gale’s Art, merino from Sue’s Luxury Fiber, and super wash merino from Happy Hands Yarn.

There is some 2-ply, chain-ply, and singles that were fulled. So much goodness!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted! It’s mostly because I’ve been a lazy, lazy photo taker. I’ll work on that. In the mean time, here’s some news for you: Signature Needle Arts sock blockers! YAY! Just unveiled at Stitches East (I’m not there…just caught the tweet). Lookie!

Their knitting needles are heavenly. I can only imagine what it would be like to block socks on their sock blockers. WEEE!

They are not for sale yet. Keep an eye on the SNA online shop. And for goodness sake, if you don’t have some of their needles, you really ought to try some. They are a very special treat.

And here are the silk hankies, spun, and plied with Art Yarns Silk Mohair that I picked up at Needlework Unlimited.  Oh, this is such a lovely skein!

Art Yarns and hand spun silk ready to be plied

Finished skein

A new adventure in spindle spinning: hand dyed silk hankies! The hankies are from the Fiber Studio in Minneapolis, but purchased at the Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival earlier this month. I’m planning on plying with Art Yarns Silk Mohair.  There is an excellent article on how to spin hankies on knitty.com.  Try it, and have fun!

Hand dyed silk hankies

Hankies on the spindle

So I am married to a very intelligent, handsome and generous man who knows me well. He saw how much time I was spending with the spindles and so…he thought it would be a good idea to give me a spinning wheel for my birthday!! Oh, he was so right.

Below you will see photos of Twyla and the first few skeins to come off her bobbins.

The fiber is from The Fiber Studio in Minneapolis, MN.

YAY!  LOVE!

Twyla the spinning wheel

Twyla is actually the Louet Julia

Navajo plied yarn made from hand-blended batts

Beautiful black alpaca and silk

It all started when one day I said to myself “Michelle, you can figure this out, just do it and get over it!” I had a student 2.8 ounce Ashford bottom whorl spindle, a pile of inexpensive roving and just went for it.  Now you know the rest of the story.  I got a Kundert 1.2 ounce, top whorl spindle  and some Targhee wool from The Fiber Studio in Mineapolis and fell IN LOVE with spinning. Here’s the Kundert in action, and the resulting skein.

Kundert 1.2 ounce spindle, Sarge asleep on the pillow.

2 ply spindle-spun Targhee wool.

The pile begins to grow.

Plying on the Asford spindle.

It’s done!  And here are a few photos to show the finishing of the sweater and the beautiful dye job which yielded results that, to me, are spectacular!

The first sweater before finishing.

The first sweater in the dye pot.

Beauty! Dyed, blocked and drying.

This first sweater taught me a lot of things:

1. Knitting gauge swatches (yes, plural!) is an essential step in making a sweater that fits. The swatch also helps to figure out  if the drape and structure of the fabric works for the garment you are making.
2. Miles and miles of stockinette stitch, knit in the round, broken up by one cable is not boring.
3. Measuring the weight of your fiber to figure out how much dye you need creates beautiful color saturation.
4. Throwing an entire garment, the first garment you ever knit, into a pot of hot water is not scary.  Honest!  OK, just to be safe I used Bare superwash merino, from KnitPicks.

Next sweater on my needles is a top-down raglan for my sweet husband – with colorwork.  Yay!

Did I mention that I love knitting?

So, I am not…and never will be…a monogamous knitter. My attention span just won’t accept thinking about one, and only one, project at a time.  So here’s what’s on the needles right now:

• A lace scarf in delicious Malabrigo lace-weight, Mariposa colorway
• The Mystic Meadows lace stole in delicious hand dyed yarn from Brooklyn Handspun, in the Rusted Root colorway (I’m a little behind in this KAL)
• A Pie Are Square shawl
• 2 bags meant to be felted
• A pair of socks
• A sweater (the first sweater!)

And a week ago I cast on a new project, a blanket.  I can’t feel too bad about this one because it is meant to be a gift for a friend.

And there’s a drawer that’s full of queued-up projects; a hand bag (complete with a pattern *and* handles), a feather and fan shawl from A Gathering of Lace, a triangle shawl that I dreamed about a while ago, socks, socks, socks, and a sweater.  And another lace scarf.  And another scarf of the non-lace variety. And fingerless gloves.  And socks.
I’ve got my work cut out for me!

I knit a little while on the Pie Are Square shawl tonight.  Now I’m at the point where I need to decide on a lace pattern for the border. It’s never been done by my two hands and I’m sure that the right border can be found … it’s turning the corner on the square part of the shawl that’s causing me pause.  I’m sure the answer is out there. Just need to keep looking.

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino/modular knitting
Shadow/illusion knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Knitting with your own hand-dyed yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable/aran stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit/crochet
American/English style knitting (throwing)
Continental style knitting
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Felting/fulling
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public
Met knitterati/famous knitters

List plucked from The Knitting Dude’s Guide to Knittng. Thanks, Dude!