Yarn! A contest!

Thanks for all the comments on Madge & Anastasia! I finally got around to setting the twist on some hanks of handspun. For your viewing pleasure:




100% Merino Wool, 2 ply (spun on Val's Joy), approximately 142 yards


100% Finn, navajo plied (spun on my precious Lulu), approximately 32 yards


50% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Silk, singles, approximately 140 yards

Onto the contest! My birthday is next week, so I thought I'd have a fun game. Because I did the driving to/from Rhinebeck, and we left so early, I brought some energy drinks with me just in case I needed them. Below is the pic of me and the energy drinks.


What you need to do is come up with a caption for the pic (Thanks Amy for taking a good pic of me!). The best one will win 3 skeins of this:


That's Alchemy Yarns Synchronicity in Texas Bluebonnet. It's 50/50 silk and merino, 110 yards per skein. So, put on your thinking caps, come up with a great caption, leave me a comment or send me an email (link in the sidebar). I'm really looking forward to the captions. Contest ends 11/6, winner to be announce on 11/7, my birthday.

Madge and Anastasia

As promised, pics of Madge:

Stats:
Pattern: Madge, from Knittyspin
Yarn: Handspun (by me!) New Zealand Wool in Lusty Lady (bought off Etsy)
Needles: size 5 Crystal Palace circular
Modifications: My yarn was a lot thinner than the pattern intends, so I cast on 10 extra stitches, and did chart A twice. I'm very happy with the results.

More spinning:
Merino/silk blend that Kristen sent me for the spinning sp. I love the way it's spinning up, love the pink color. I've just started on the second bobbin and should be ready to ply soon.


What do a rainy day, some movies, a cup of tea, needles and a new ball of yarn add up to? See for yourself.

Stats:
Pattern: Anastasia socks
Yarn: Intertwinement.com's Portrait of a Girl
Needles: size 1 Clover dpn's
Started 10/26, finished 10/28 (ok, so the second sock was the only one done on the rainy day....)

Next time, more handspun, and a blog contest!

No pics today

Been spinning. I've spun up a small amount of the Finn that came free with my wheel (who's name is Lulu, btw), and navajo plied it. I also spun up all of the alpaca/merino/silk blend that I bought at the Yarn Tree awhile back. It's going to remain singles, because there's really not that much of it to be plied. I have a lot of plied stuff that needs to have the twist set. I will definitely do that this weekend, as the hubby goes back to work this weekend and I will have more alone time than I really care to have.

Knitting has not been abandoned because I now have Lulu. I have finished one of two Tulip Toes for an ex-coworker's new addition. I'm finally using the one lonely skein of Sock Candy that I bought last year at Rhinebeck. I've also knit up Madge, copying my downstream Spinning SP Cathy, using some of my very own handspun. I, like Cathy, had a smaller gauge yarn, so I had to adapt the pattern. Pics to come.

Also to come, a contest for my birthday. Put on your thinking caps folks....I'm going to give you a photo, and you'll have to come up with a caption. The best caption wins a prize.

And yes, the background of the blog is now brown....It almost matches one of the cookies in the header, right? Right!? :)

Rhinebeck Recap

The day started at 4:15am, when I awoke to start getting ready to pick up three lovely ladies, Tamara, Amy and Val, for the ride up to Rhinebeck. We arrived before they were "officially" open, making The Fold our first stop. I did not purchase as much as I had anticipated purchasing, but was very happy to have been in the booth first to have a grand array of yarn for selection.

After wandering about for a bit, Val, who had wandered away to do her own thing, found us telling us she had found a Majacraft wheel 50% off. We all booked it back to the building and I tried the Suzie. It wasn't for me. They also had a Lendrum DT for a very reasonable price and I asked to try that one as well. The second I started spinning, I knew. It was instant. This was my wheel. So, by 10am, not even 2 hours into the festival day, I was the proud owner of a Lendrum. I'm still thinking of a name....any suggestions?


The rest of the day was just as fun, fondling the many, many different types of roving and oohing and aahing over the different colors. I sort of missed everyone who showed up for the Knittyhead meetup (sorry folks), but got the chance to catch up with one of my favorite bloggers, former downstream SP, and recipient of the mystery socks (hopefully she'll post them soon, as I forgot to take a pic), Sarah. Sarah, as I have said before, has an Etsy shop, and I bought the coolest roving from her. It looks EXACTLY like a sno cone, and makes me wish Mr. Softee were still out and about so I could get a sno cone.


The trunk filled up quite quickly, what with my wheel purchase and Val's warping board....this is what it looked like sometime in the middle of the day.


I got everyone home at a reasonable time, and I was home taking my haul pics and itching to play with my new wheel by 9pm (yay for parking spots directly across the street from the house!).

My haul, minus the lovely wheel:



Gypsy Girl Creations in Angela


My only Socks that Rock purchase, medium weight in Beryl


The Sheep Shed's Merino/Tencel in Sunrise


The Sheep Shed's Merino/Tencel in Autumn


Cloverleaf Farms Wool/Silk in Dragon

Now, I have to figure out a way to not work so I can spin, spin, spin!!

Rogue

Rogue is finished. It's a smidge short, but I like it. It fits well and I have no complaints. Bad photos of me:



I am most proud of the set in sleeve seams....I always seem to mess them up, but this time, they are near perfect. See?


All the stats:
Started: 10/7/06
Finished: 10/17/06
Pattern: Rogue, 39" size
Yarn/needles: 11 1/2 balls of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Addis size 7

Still working on the mystery socks...but here's a peek...


I got my last Spinning SP box the other day. Kristen sent me a great package, take a look.

I have to remember to bring the cookies and the tea to work with me tomorrow. Mmmm.

And for all you fiber pr0n fans....merino/silk fluffy goodness....

Socks, socks, and an almost sweater

I completely forgot to take pics last post of the wonderful socks that Tamara made for the little guy for his birthday. He loves them immensely.



I signed up for Sock Wars a while back. I got to kill two targets and when I received my next target's socks, I got killed. I love the 2 toned colors.


My mystery sweater? Laura guessed correctly. It's Rogue. I finished the body of the sweater in 3 days. The sleeves took some time, as I did them both at the same time. And the hood. I started the hood this morning. And I got cranking on it this evening.....and then I realized I forgot to do increases. I only have to rip back about 15 rows, but it's enough to make me want to cry.





Some time ago, I went to the Yarn Tree and bought some merino in colors that the little one picked out to make him a scarf. Now that it's getting colder, I thought it was time to start spinning it up. I took some time out of knitting Rogue to spin up 3 oz. of the red merino. It's all spun up and plied and waiting for the twist to be set.



I should still have Rogue done by next Sat., as well as some mystery socks. More on that later

"If you love me and you know it...

clap your hands!" Ok, you don't have to clap your hands, but do go vote for me. I joined the Knitflix swap, and my package to my pal is a finalist for a prize. Go here and vote for me....I'm package #2.

Pics of Sock Wars socks, cute little boy socks and the new sweater to come. Go vote! Please? :)

Six

Thank you all for the wonderful compliments on the shawl. It's one of the few things I've made that I'm head over heels in love with.

Shortly after the shawl's completion, I put the needles away and started to clean house. Clean house for the annual birthday party for the little guy. He turned 6 last week, and it's been difficult for me. His two requested birthday gifts were not baby gifts, or even little kid gifts. They were truly big boy gifts and I've had to come to terms with him getting older. The two gifts? A guitar and Lego Star Wars. He got the guitar from us, and he will get the video game next weekend from his aunt.

The party on Saturday was fun. I've got pics, but as they have other kids whose parents may not want their faces plastered all over the net, you get only a couple. But they say oh so many words:




That's Tamara's littlest one, by the way. Right after everyone but Tamara and her kids left, I broke out the needles, swatched and cast on for a new project. I'm hoping to have it done by Rhinebeck, which is in two weeks. Any guesses on what it is?


Off to keep knitting.

Icarus

I present to you a finished Icarus! Valerie lent me blocking wires, and I must say I love them. Icarus measures 67" across and 37" down the center.
Preblocking:


After blocking and close ups:




Now, what lacey goodness shall I do next?