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 174 yards of Wool of the Andes/Peruvian Highland Wool.

238 yards superwash merino and bamboo blend

92 yards silk

 Silk (white) and pima cotton (blue) blend

Merino blend

The yin of swatching

I hate to swatch. This should come as no surprise since I have mentioned it before. As have countless other knitters across the world. It's boring. It's tedious. It takes time you could otherwise use to be knitting your desired project.

I know it has a place in the great world of fibery things. I've been redoing all the ones for Master Handknitters because I realized...they could be BETTER so I very much know they are an important part of things.

But it's swatching and it's boring and it brings me to levels of frustration that I'm sure Kindgeraten teachers face every day of the year. I have plans though.

Lots of plans. These plans of mine have brought out a degree of motivation and thrill that not only have I started a swatch (more than once) but I've drawn specs and done a bit of math.

This will be good. And that swatch WILL get done and be blocked (correctly, not with a steam iron) and things will move forward.

Handspun swatch

One of my favorite parts of using my handspun is swatching (GASP! ).

Gauge: 24 rows, 15 stitches= 2 inches
Needles: size 2

Rolags and navajo plying

There are certain things about me as a person that roll over into my extra curriculars, like spinning. I tend to find a way that works and rarely deviate from that particular path. As I sat here browsing spinning groups late one night I decided to try something new. Enter this fiber: nothing new but it was about to be used in a new way. Both are merino. The red is about 6 years old at this point and the yellow is only slightly newer at about 2 or 3 years old.

I pulled out the hand cards and got busy making some rolags.

There was no pattern with color placement. I layered as I saw fit and in a way that looked pretty. "Pretty" was my motivating factor here. I watched a couple videos that showed me how to do it to make sure I was right and quickly had a pile of rolls.

Some came out bright and varied while others came out more muted and dull. It was a lesson in patience and remembering that you won't always get what you envision. Having never made or spun from rolags before, I wasn't sure what I would get. Some were dissapointing. Others I loved so much I wanted to hang them in a frame.

Last night, long after kids were in bed and long after I should have been in bed I finished my single (624 yards!), got it on the lazy kate, and got ready to ply. Since the single itself had a wide range of color variations (some solids, some gradual shifts from one color to the next, and some completely blended) I knew it had potential to be busy looking. I had planned on navajo plying it from the very beginning. Having only tried it one other time with horrific results, I wanted to make sure I got it right this time. I watched a few videos and read a few links. I ended up using this one as my go to.

I'd like to say it went off without a problem but I'd be lying. I had the yarn break on me a few times. I had yarn break and then refuse to rejoin more than once. I have a small pile of scrap sitting on the table in front of me that came from needing to break ends to get a clean start. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. Was it worth it? So very much. The key, for me (and Yarn Harlot apparently), was to keep my lazt kate in front of me between my feet and to constantly keep the tension on it juuuust so. Too loose and it kinked up on me and refused to accept enough twist. Too tight and it would snap while resisting being drawn in. If I had to adjust the lazy kate chances were that the wheel needed adjusted ever so slightly as well. Now that I have the technique under my belt (or in my hands as it were), I can't wait to do more. Such a satisfying way to finish off a yarn!

Cast on redux: Version 3.0

Sometimes falling in love with a pattern right away is a bad thing.

Black laceweight alpaca with a provisional cast on. For the third time. I can do this, I can do this.

With Love

The awesome thing about the way we use the internet is that we can find our groups, clubs, and various "hangouts" with ease. A bit ago I joined a knitting group on fb and have loved every minute of it. One of the perks is that it's a constant stream of "what I'm doing" that you don't get with blogs. It's a great way to see patterns you would otherwise miss.

Enter: From Norway with Love.

I'd seen mention of it but wasn't compelled to look it up. After a recent MBOY (magic ball of yarn) swap I had to. Someone had made one and sent it out and I loved it.

It was free (instant gratification!) and I had all the stuff I needed right then. I cast on that night. I finished the next day.

The pattern is fun. It's awesome. It is only free in one size at a time. Which can be a bit of a downside when it comes to making more than one for every possible person you come in contact with. I'm not sure what size I got (it wasn't listed) but it fits an adult human head so I'm guessing adult/large. I have some accidental mods to this which worked out in my favor quite well.

Pattern: From Norway with Love
Mods: size 8 needles (accidental), worsted weight yarn (on purpose), 4 heart repeats (on purpose), decreased down extra stitches (accidental)

I did have a hard time keeping it loose enough to not pucker. There is some still there post blocking but once on, it isn't noticeable. I'm not sure if it's the pattern itself or if it was me. I'm guessing me as much of this was knit late at night with minimal light.

A little bit French

Very rarely do I come across a pattern that moves me in such a way that I have to do it right that very second. Even more rarely is it not in English. Being interested in other things during high school (debate!) meant I skipped language classes. DO NOT SKIP LANGUAGE CLASSES.

A couple weeks ago I found Châle "Gaufrette" . It was such a simple design but the yarn, the color, the simple lines of it all. It wormed it's way into my heart instantly and took hold like I imagine a leach to an open wound does. It was fierce. And then I saw it. It was in French.

The wonderful thing about the internet is that we now have quick access to people who have skill sets and experiences that we do not. I went to a forum and asked for help. Within an hour I had the pattern in English. Within a couple minutes an error was spotted and corrected with the help of a second person. I was excited to say the least.

As soon as I saw the pattern I knew I wanted to use some of the lavender laceweight I spun back in November. I am so very glad I did. The drape on this is unbelievable. While I was blocking it I wondered if it would be stiff (this particular yarn is a single and semi-felted). As soon as it was unpinned and lifted off my board my worries vanished. It hung in such a way that I wished a breeze would come in and lift it. It has that kind of hang to it.

It's not very large (at least not compared to Color Affection) but it gets the job done. It's 49" across and less than 20" long. It's size does not limit it though. The lightness in it's final weight lends itself to a casual draping as a scarf or just across the shoulders.

If I were to change anything about it it would be blocking of the points. I may very well end up getting blocking wires and redoing it at some point. This will end up in the shop as a display so I'm not too concerned about it for now. The translation of the pattern into English wasn't perfect so the end of one side took some fiddling to make it right but it was easy. Just a matter of switching stitches around a bit.

If there was ever a shawl to convince me to become a Shawl Person? It would be this one.

I don't do shawls

Have I mentioned that before? I feel like I must since I'm pretty much the least shawl minded person on the planet. I should clarify that though because really? I'm not a non-shawl person. I just don't wear them. I don't know how. It's true. Do I wrap? Do I fold? Tuck? Tie? There are so many options and sizes that the thought (plus my short neck and lack of shoulders) is overwhelming.

I do knit them though. Boy, can I knit them. I even have one hibernating. It'll likely be taken out of hibernation and redone as something else at this point. The yarn doesn't fit. That's neither here nor there though. You know what is?

Color Affection

A couple months ago this seemed all the rage (and still is...I hear there were quite a few at Stitches West) and it was talked about everywhere I went. Knitters were loving it and non-knitters were wanting it. One such non-knitter REALLY wanted it. She wanted two actually. One for herself and one for a gift. We got to talking and soon enough I had the pattern and the yarn in my pretty little hands.

 The colors were, no ARE, amazing. When I first opened the package I was doubtful. I'm so glad the intended person was not.

Yarn:
Knit Picks Palette: I've never used this yarn. It is on the thinner side of fingering and it can rub your finger a bit rough but overall it wasn't bad. It is a bit hairy so if that bothers you, pick a different yarn.
Main color: Coriander Heather
CC1: Hollyberry
CC2: Sagebrush

If you go through the gallery on Ravelry you will notice a lot of folks did a mod for the edge. That's because that sucker is tight.

 Between the many increases (all 2 stitches from the edge) and the carrying of more than one color (3 in the 3rd section of stripes) it can just get tight. It does block out but it can be a hard block. This one kept a bit of ruffle. I was worried about overblocking and distorting the garter so I shot the person an email and asked which they would prefer. They loved it as you see it there so it's been folded and packaged and is ready to ship. There ARE ways around that ripple and if it's important to you to not have it, browse the gallery. There are a lot of helpful suggestions and formulas for avoiding it.

I guess I can figure out how to wear one afterall. The size of this particular one is...well large. It's a shawl and it's meant to wrap around you in the best possible way. It's possibly convinced me to cast away my issues with them and give one a go. It's convinced a couple others to try one themselves. It does get repetitive and if you aren't paying attention you can mess up. I did (misread the pattern and plugged along pretending I was in charge of my knitting) and that's frustrating on a row that's 300+ stitches but it is totally worth it. It's a keeper.

And since I don't do shawls, stay tuned for tomorrow. Where I have another shawl. This time in some handspun of my own.

Bee Keeper: part 2

*** Part 1 can be found here ***

This is going to be more technical. And short. :)

Pattern: Bee Keeper Quilt
Yarn: 10 colors, 27 skeins total (30 purchased)
Lorna’s Laces: Patina, MonkeyShines, The Bean, and Magnificent Mile (all Shepard Worsted)
Madeline Tosh Vintage: Ginger
Madeline Tosh dk: Dusk
Malabrigo: Butter, Rich Chocolate, and Applewood (all worsted)
Araucania Coliumo Solid: Color 24
Needles and Hooks: US 8 (knitting), 0 (crochet: seaming), and J (edge)

Modifcations: Hexagons were knit flat and in strips. Each hexagon was separated by a row of purl stitches. Each strip had 15 hexagons. 14 total strips were made (but only 13 were used). All hexagons started at 14 stitches and increased up to 28 except for those done in Araucania. Those were increased only to 26 stitches. Seaming was a basic single crochet seam (vs. ties at the corners). Entire blanket was done on bigger needles and with thicker yarns.

Total strip count: 13 strips out of 14
Total hexagon count: 195 (used. Including the 14th strip it was 210)
Total weight: 3 lbs
Total knitting time starting at the last restart: 7 weeks.
Total starts: 3 times
Final size: 60x65

BeeKeeper blanket- Part 1

*** Part 2 can be found here ***

This is going to be a huge post. Huge. In the end, I decided to split it into 2 posts. This first one will be the process, including details on modifications. The second will be more of a regular "stats" type post. The bulk of the info will be here, today. Tomorrow will be more focused on the tools (the yarn (again), the needles, total time, etc.), more of a summary. Less process rambling and more specifics for basic questions.

I have so much to say about this blanket that I'm not sure where to start honestly. I started it back in Sept. 2011.

My original colors including a gorgeous blue. It was the first one I had on hand. The actual colors at this point were only 6.

That would soon become 10 total colors (with no blue). They were:
Lorna's Laces: Patina, MonkeyShines, The Bean, and Magnificent Mile (all Shepard Worsted)
Madeline Tosh Vintage: Ginger
Madeline Tosh dk: Dusk
Malabrigo: Butter, Rich Chocolate, and Applewood (all worsted)
Araucania Coliumo Solid: Color 24

This was a lot of yarn. A LOT. I don't think I realized just how much it was until I got knitting. This was restarted three times. The first was done as written with a modified stitch count. I started with 14 and worked my way up to 28 (each side). I had opted not to stuff them since the change in yarn weight would make the blanket thick enough.

After a skein or so of doing it that way I knew there had to be a better way. And there was. Sort of.

I started to connect them into one strip with a purl round between each hexagon. This required some surgery though.

I needed to undo an end on each hexagon already finished, work a purl round on which ever one had the longest tail, and then kitchener them together. This took a lot of time. A lot of time. It worked though and soon enough I had a nice long strip of hexagons.

Seaming everything together seemed like it would be world's easier (and less time consuming). There was a problem though. It took a ton of yarn and was heavy. Each strip, on it's own, weighed half a lb. I was planning on a 14 strip blanket. 7 lbs seemed a bit excessive. I kept at it though and worked until I was near the end of my yarn. By this point I was almost 30 skeins in. Moving and life worked a way into my knitting plans and the blanket was set aside until recently. Laying in bed one night the thought hit me that was an even smarter way of doing this. It would result in a lighter weight blanket and if I was lucky, I wouldn't have to buy more yarn (which was nice because certain colors were proving hard to get).

Near the end of November, I started reknitting thins thing for the 3rd time. I kept the same idea (strips with purling between hexagons) but made it a single layer. I reknit all the strips I already had and got 2 strips out of every one.

It meant more blocking and an edge due to curling. In no time at all though, I had my 14 strips.

I steam blocked everything and accordian folded them into piles.

I used almost all my yarn. I wasn't done yet. I still needed the edge and seaming. Anyone who has handled knits (whether fabric or otherwise) knows it stretches. Sewing knit fabric is a pain and I knew that wasn't going to work for seaming. I didn't want to tie corners (like the pattern originally said). It needed stability and durability. I opted for a simple crochet seam. I think it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the overall blanket.

There were some bad times with seaming. The more strips I added, the easier it was to overstretch and introduce puckers. The night of my last one, I laid it out to steam block a batch of seams and noticed some major puckering. With only 2 days left to work on this (it was a birthday present) I was upset. I had to undo 4 strips. I managed to get them back on in record time only to realize, the final strip was NOT going to work. While I intended to make it 14 strips wide the end result is only 13. The final strip was too much. It was stretching the fabric and no matter how hard I worked at it, the puckering was too much. The edge would never have worked.

There was no pattern when it came to what strip went where. The strips were done with a random number generator and done in sets of 2 (so only 7 pairs of of unique placement). I picked based on what looked nice next to each other.

Are the seams perfect? No. As you can see between the strain of being heavy and the increases, there are spots that appear more open than others. That's ok though. I tried to avoid it only to realize it wasn't happening.

The day of the person's birthday, I was still working on it. I was weaving in ends and reblocking 10 minutes before leaving to gift it. The edge was the fastest part (and this is a genuinely crappy picture).

I went with the shape of the blanket and kept it simple. It was just enough to keep everything from curling and added that final detail that made it look finished.

It's big. Perfectly size. End weight was 3 lbs. To say it was well received would be an understatement. It was a labor of love. Would I make it again? Not on your life. Am I glad I did? So very much. Now that's it done my knitting basket and my time seem empty. I didn't realize how big of a project it was until I was done and it wasn't in my possession. I have other things to work on knitting wise (Color Affection!) and shop wise but this took up a lot of mental space and a lot of physical space. And I'm damn proud of the entire process.

Busy with finishing

And I am so excited to share all the details and final pictures.

HoHoHo!!!

As Christmas draws nearer (only a month away!), gifts are going to be on the mind of many. From now until Christmas you can get 15% of anything in the shop with the code HOHOHO. Use it on yourself or for a friend!

Head on over now!

Catching my breath

Whew! The last month has been a bit hectic for me and my spinning wheel.

Last month, I noticed a sign at the grocery store for a Christmas Festival the weekend before Thanksgiving. I decided to give the person a call and see what it was about. What better way to get mine and the store name out there. I got myself a booth and said I'd bring some handspun yarn. I had exactly one month to get totally prepared.

I spun some aran weight 3 ply. I broke the skeins down into minis and bundled them in sets of 3 (later named Petit 3).

Merino top bought at the same time as the fiber for the Ill-Received Blanket. Going from the top clockwise:
Lavender
Lavender and Multi-Purple combo: 2 plies multi, 1 ply lavender
Lavender and Multi-Purple combo: 2 plies lavender, 1 ply multi
Multi-Purple (though I think Alpaca Direct now calls it Amethyst)

I was able to break down the skeins into 13 bundles. A bit more than that but I kept a bit aside for swatches. I wanted to see what the difference would be in the combos and they came in handy for the people browsing.

Since that didn't use all the fiber from those two colors I also had:

A sport weight single in the multi purple:

2 lace weight lavenders:

And a worsted multi:

That was just the beginning. I still had a yellow and daffodil ball to get through.

Worsted Daffodil:

And sport weight yellow:

And another beaded yarn (this one dyed with coffee):

There were times it didn't feel like enough. I wanted more. I wanted more variety. I also wanted sleep and a bit of sanity. :) I took some knits and a couple crochet hats (more on all those in the next post since I made quite a few things) and in the end made a name for myself. Did I do as well as I had hoped? No, not really. It was my first festival/booth and I had a lot to learn. Did I do better than I expected? Absolutely. I made some sales, some friends, and had a blast.

I'm not sure I'll do another one before Christmas. I found this one on a fluke. I'm not 100% sure I won't either. I still have a good amount of things left (yarn is up on Etsy right now). It's something I'm pondering right now. For now, I'm just sitting here and working at a pace that doesn't feel break neck. I'm not spinning! I have a couple knitting projects going (mainly a Color Affection) and am hoping to finish one of them in time for Christmas.