Tour de Fleece: Day ???

Ok. I'm lazy. Sure I could go count, but that would be too hard. I'm also way too lazy to go take a bunch of pictures of what I've been up to, so today it's just the spinning. Wool: "Crabapple" BFL from Hello Yarn Stats: 172 yards, chunky weight Fiber: "Royale" Superwash Merino from Funky Carolina Stats: 310 yards, sportweight This will become a pair of socks no doubt. Fiber: "Feelin' Pretty" Finn wool from Flawful Fibers Stats: 190 yards, chunky to sport weight Wow, Finn is nice! As soon as I can justify another wool order, I'll be including alot of this to play with. I really wanted this to be a nice thick yarn, but it kept telling me to go thinner. I managed to force it into submission for the most part. Also, the color is way off. It's much softer in natural light. Funny, it looked great when I saved it, but who knows what happened. I promise to include some knitting next week, since there has been a little. See you then!

Handspun Happiness

It's all about the spinning right now. Yet as much as I'd like to all day long, other little people have other things that they'd like to do. Since the sun has finally decided to visit Germany this summer, the playground and parks beckon. I needed some nice mindless project that would be easy to tote around as I wander behind them. Socks are out right now since I'm having a bit of boredom with them. These came into the picture as the next best thing: All were knit from recent handspun and all followed the basic pattern, Hot Head from Stitch n Bitch. All had different gauges than the pattern suggested, but were an easy enough modification. They also look adoreable on the boys, but pictures were out of the question. It's simply too hot for them to leave on for more than a quick try-on. Now that the required blue hats are finished, I can make some fun ones. There'll also be matching or coordinating mittens in the future. I just am not in the mood for thumbs. Being the true sports like person I am (ha ha, not really), I've been busy doing my pedaling. Fiber: "Hibiscus" 4 0z. merino/tencel from the Susan's Spinning Bunny Stats: 658 yards You may have remember me mentioning that I was going after fingering weight with this one. Oops. Well, it's my first laceweight that hasn't sucked or fallen apart during plying so I'll take it. The colors are bright, so I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm thinking maybe a very simple lace scarf. Well, we'll see. Fiber: superwash merino and nylon with angelina Stats: 468 yards That's better! I'm glad that I decided to test the blend out before selling it. Not only did I have to up the nylon content, but I got to see how much sparkle the angelina adds. Although I wasn't going for alot of bling, I would add more in the future. Speaking of sock batts, they're up for sale! I only managed to get two different ones done, since I haven't had much time to play this week. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to. Here's what I've come up with so far. Oh, and just so that y'all know how bad the sickness is, these were in my mailbox this morning. Yum.

Le Tour de Fleece: Day Seven

In my wanderings across blogland, I noticed that some people that are spinning along in Le Tour de Fleece had set some pretty big goals and challenges. Me, not so much. Here are mine: 1. spin something boy appropriate 2. spin one new fiber to me 3. finally finish that merino/tencel that's been in the works for way too long 4. not buy any new rovings That's it! The best part is that I've already knocked off two of them. I've already broken Goal 4, but it was all things that were on sale and I would never dye myself... Okay, I'm just weak. Goal 1 Fiber: "Summit" Falkland wool from The Yarn Wench Stats: 242 yards, 3.3 oz., bulky weight Although there are streaks of purple, which I consider more feminine, it blends in very nicely and I think this will become a nice hat or scarf. Goal 2 Fiber: "Kimono" merino, alpaca, silk and angelina from Loop Stats: 256 yards, just short of 3 oz., mostly fingering/sport This is what the batts looked like prior to spinning. This particular blend was a challenge to spin. At times the fiber spun so nicely and flowed through my fingers, and then it would just clump up and not budge. It also drifted apart causing my pants to become quite red. I'll have to remember this next time I use such a blend because I've got a few others that are quite similar. This is what I'm working on now. I'm testing out a blend of my own that are going to be for socks. Right off I know that I need to add some more nylon because I screwed up my calculations. Really, this is basic math and shouldn't have been messed up. Oh well. I spent all day yesterday dyeing over two pounds of solid colored superwash for these blends. Once they're dry and I get to blending, I'll be sure to let you know. In other shop related news, I did a HUGE update this past weekend. Since I have limited space for storing stuff and need to make room, I'm running a special on shipping (see store announcement for details) and to sweeten the deal, I'll even throw in a special offer for my blog readers. Just mention "knittinmama" when you pay and I'll take off 10% one item (highest priced and offer expires 7/20). You can either request a revised invoice or if you don't want anyone to snatch it from under you, just pay and I'll refund you. Okay, self promotion over. I've got to go get the boys ready for some errands. Have a great weekend everyone!

Boredom Busting

For the last three weeks, it has rained pretty much every day. This means alot of inside playing and lots of downtime for me. I'm running out of interesting activities that are appealing and have begun to resort to new Leapfrog cartridges and marathon movie sessions. I picked up where I had left off in pre-move activities when the extension was announced and have been cleaning like a madwoman. (not that you'd really be able to tell, since the boys tend to follow me around and undo everything) When I can't clean anymore, I turn to the fiber. This week, more so than ever. I've gotten ALOT done. Pattern: Whisper Lace Socks from Have You Any Wool Yarn: J. Knits Superwash Me in New Jersey Love these socks! They're the first pair I've knit for myself in awhile, since it's been all about the holiday gift pile. I can't recommend the pattern enough, they're so delicate and feminine. Just what every girl needs! I had been merrily knitting away on the Wollmeise socks until the heel didn't quite work out as planned. Rather than redoing it, I casted on for a pair of Monkey. Don't worry, I've begun the heel again, and if it ever stops raining they'll become my playground project. The Tour de Fleece starts this weekend and I've been busy warming up. Wool: Superwash merino dyed with spruce green and vermillion Stats: 322 yards, sport weight Wool: "Tulip" BFL from The Spunky Eclectic (June club offering) Stats: 278 yards, dk weight Wool: black corriedale with purple and teal colonial from the following batts Stats: 176 yards, dk/worsted weight These batts were lots of fun to make. They're three layers total. One black, then wide strips of the purple and teal and then another black. Then I pulled them into roving so that the three colors would mingle nicely. Then I made another two to put into the shop. Afterwards I went digging and found some roving from another Etsy seller that almost matched these colors. Heh. I guess I'll get a matching set of mittens and hat cuz it's just screaming to me mittens. When the yarn screams at you, you just gotta listen!