Spring Street

So the sun is actually shining today. There are birds singing. Okay, not here, but you know, they exist. The grass is getting green, and you know what that means - paying the people to mow my lawn again.

What I'm saying, basically, is that it's almost summer, and thank whatever gods may be for that!

Since I work in the school system, my work ends on June 3rd, and I get a few weeks to myself. Of course, I'm working summer school this year, but that's like 6 hours a week for five weeks. So this is going to leave me a lot of time for the knitting, spinning, and drinking. Also, SSK! WOO! I was too late to get in last time, and didn't have the money anyway, but this time, I will be there!

In the last forever since I posted, things have happened. Projects have been started and finished. I've basically stopped taking pictures of finished projects except for dyed fiber for my Etsy shop. That's going swimmingly, by the way. I love dyeing fiber, and apparently other people like dyed fiber. I figure it's a match made in... you know, somewhere with sheep and happy spinning people.

I made this for a swap:

It came out great, and I kind of want to make one for myself. Except, you know, toward the end it made me want to cry and throw it across the room in that special way that lace does. (have I posted this picture before? I'm just so darn pround of it...)

This pile of green is now an actual sweater that I have not bothered to take real pictures of. Or make a Ravelry page for. (That's two horribly composed sentences in a row. Count them, two! Wow!)

It's a Calligraphy Cardigan, in Madelinetosh DK Twist malachite.

Yes, that makes it the most ridiculously expensive, yet plain sweater I've ever made. But it's so pretty, and SO warm. Just in time for summer!

The Harry Dresden Fiber Club, heretofore unheard of in this place, is about to start its second incarnation. I'm pretty excited about it, since I really quite like the way the first one went. It's a little club, but so far that's allowing me to make sure all the details are perfect. Also, with work and school, a small club is all I could do, unless I want to go for an exended stay at the funny farm, which is neither funny, nor a farm. So, no sheep.

Graduating college (for now) on May 18th. Should be excited about that. More relieved, really. And not looking forward to school: the empire strikes back. I really do want that BA, though. The AA just feels a little like it qualifies me to flip burgers. No offense to anyone happy with their AA. I'm just a whiner who will never be happy with what she has. I could seriously have a Doctorate and be whining that it really should be two.

Anyway, before I let my rant take hold and go on about how a 33 year old woman should be finished with school years ago, I think I'll shut up and go knit for a while before tackling the last of my Statistics homework.

Insane in the membrane

So... yeah, people who know me know that I'm more than a little bit out there. If you don't know me, be prepared to be disillusioned.

At the start of Tour de Fleece, I thought to myself... "Self," I thought, "You can definitely finish processing a fleece, spinning 12 oz of Woolgatherings BFL, and a few Loop bumps during the TdF, right?"

"Right!" I heartily agreed.

And then my Etsy Shop did well, thanks to a mention on The Knit Girllls.

And then it did better, thanks to Leslie from the Knitgirllls, Dana from Just One More Row, Steve from Dramatic Knits, and always, Lemonhalf, who made my awesome logo.

And then I got a regular RL job, taking up 30 hours a week.

And the whole "I can finish things for Tour de Fleece" idea disappeared.

However, I cannot complain. I mean, I have a very early Etsy shop that's thriving, a brand new RL job, and I STILL managed to spin for TdF!

Here it is, my TdF masterpiece.

People on the Loop group may be unimpressed, but I am exceptionally happy with what I have gotten in the last month, so winning a prize is a secondary issue.

Miss me?

Okay, I'm sure none all of you have been wondering what I've been up to in the last month, so I figured I had better check in.

The shop is open and has been doing quite well, thanks to the awesome Beck - aka Lemonhalf on Ravelry, and Leslie - aka udontcallmeles. Beck not only made my awesome logo, but she's been one of the most supportive people ever. She even pointed out that I should have a presence on Ravelry so that people could enter their fiber in the database. Leslie kindly ordered something from the shop on the very first day, and then told everyone that I dye lovely fiber. Twice. The two busiest days the shop has had, can't imagine why...

Okay, enough shameless shilling.

In the knitting world, what have I been up to?

Well, there's this:

The Raspberry Dream Stole, by Dagmara. It was for the Schmutzerella swap, and while there were a few issues with my comprehension of the translation, it's a great pattern, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to knit a beautiful lace stole. And doesn't mind k7tog. I recommend doing at least one, probably multiple extra repeats of the lace pattern.

Then I made a few pair of socks, nothing amazing or admirable, just everyday wear socks.

Which brings me to the fact that I needed to make some non-pink socks. So I did, out of handspun. But I haven't taken pictures yet. Maybe I'll have that for next month...

Anyway, last and never least, I'm 3/4 done with my 2nd Camp Loopy project, and have bought the yarn for the third:

And wit the yarns, I will be joining the cult of the Color Affection. I would be ashamed, but... I like Vera Valimaki patterns, and I won't apologize for that. This will be my third pattern from her, and I expect to make more in the future. She is awesome.

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi...

So given the pattern name "My Hope", and the Schmutzerella Yarns Galaxy Far Far Away yarn club offering of "Into the Garbage Chute, Flyboy!", is there any way this particular shawl could not be named A New Hope? I think not.

For anyone who thinks it looks good enough to knit, go forth on Sunday when the pattern is available and buy! All proceeds for the month of July are going to the Make-A-Wish foundation, one of those charities that should be near and dear to everyone's heart. Let's all get together and help grant three wishes this year!

Camp Tikiha- I Mean Loopy

So I finished my first Camp Loopy Project, Veera Valimaki's Folded sweater. This is the second of her patterns I've knit, and I've found both well written, easy to follow, and with beautiful results.

I lowered the neckline by casting off after the folds and then working back and forth. I detailed better on my project page, I think. The alteration wasn't a failing of the pattern, so much as my dislike of high necklines of any kind. I know it's a lame picture, but here's the only one I've got:

So now that I'm done with project one, I'm looking to project two. I have about 1k yards of Malabrigo Rios in the Azul Profundo Colorway. At first, I was thinking I'd make Jared Flood's Hemlock Ring. Then, I started thinking... I could make a vest with 1k yards, even in my size. Yes I could.

So here are the contenders:

The Bramblewood Vest, by Christina Wall

Angostura, by Ysolda Teague

Now I know that not a lot of people read this - I haven't posted often enough to make it worthwhile for most people - but if you read this before the end of June and have an opinion, please take the time to let me know!

Here I Go Again...

After promising myself that I would NEVER, EVER go back into retail, here I am, starting my own Etsy shop.

Admittedly, this is different than working for 'the man', some faceless corporation in another state. On the other hand, it also means that I suceed or fail on my own ability. Scary. If there's a customer service issue, I can't just point at Minnesota and say 'my boss made me!'

Of course, this time I'm actually selling something I love and believe in.

Ahh well, I suppose we all grow and change, attitudes and opinions are malleable, and most of all, I need more money to feed my fiber and dyeing addiction. So yeah.

The First Draft

I know more people talk to me on Ravelry than here, but still. I have a store, and I'm going to shout it from the.... middle of nowhere.

What?

There are no mountains anywhere near me!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

So look at this, here's me.

Bet you thought I'd dropped dead, or been in a horrible accident, or... oh, you just thought I'd gotten lazy and stopped posting here? Hmm.. Okay, fine. Be that way. You know, correct.

My excuse, let me give it to you.

Between finishing my college program, looking for a regular job, and getting my new Etsy shop ready, life has been a little nutty. So yeah, pretty much no posting here at all. Not much more on Ravelry. Practically no spinning. I can see that I've touched you deeply. No no, please don't cry for me. I'll make it.

Anyway, let's see if I have anything cool for you...

Well, there's The Sock Report. This is Janel Laidman's recent work, in convenient online magazine form. There are not only socks, but lace shawls, and even cute little toys. You can buy the patterns seperately, or all together, and I fully recommend getting yourself these patterns.

Why am I going on about it? Well, because I test knit the Semadar Sock for it. Not only that, but my one finished sock picture is featured on the pattern page. Go me, right? Even if you don't want to buy the whole magazine, you need to knit these socks. They are awesome, fast and easy to knit, and... come on, guys, I test knit them. How cool is that?

Here's my picture:

And here's my project. I tried to give some helpful advice on the nupps, since people seem to struggle with them, but they're really not so bad once you get used to them. Despite a lack of time, I've already half finished the second one, because I adore them, and want to have a matching set. You know, like socks are supposed to be.

Doubtless, there's most for me to say, most times people wish I'd shut up more often, but I'll save it for another day.

Spoiler: There will be pictures of animals. Because animals are awesome.

bitches gotta eat: dear white people, i love you.

bitches gotta eat: dear white people, i love you.

There arew no words for how awesome this post is. I'm not a re-poster, but seriously, ALL THE PEOPLE must read this.

Ta-da!

My random post, just so I can put up yet another set of pictures of my finished Pogona. Yes, I am that happy with it.

Love the construction of the shawl, loved knitting it, and love wearing it most of all.

This is the definition of irony

I know that a lot of people use this word incorrectly, and I know how it annoys "English people" - that is, pedantic people who obsess over the usage of the English language.

Yes, I confess, I am often one of these people. Particularly when I see someone use 'too' and 'to' interchangeably. I don't claim to be the end-all, be-all superior source of English grammar knowledge, but seriously, if you've graduated American High School and can't figure out the difference between "too much of a good thing" and "to be or not to be", you deserve whatever insults you get.

Here's what I'm talking about, straight from Wikipedia, which you know is always right:

"Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance)^[1] is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. There is presently no accepted method for textually indicating irony, though an irony (punctuation) mark has been proposed."

So what is my irony?

Okay, so you know how I was saying that I would make the last bit of my Pogona in garter stitch? Yeah, The previous six sections of the shawl had taken a minimum of ten rows, and since I spun the darned stuff myself, and since the violet had seemed to take the longest, I figured it would be the biggest section. I never imagined that the violet would take less than eight or ten rows. So when I started the violet section, I went into garter stitch... and two rows later, I found myself running low on wool.

Buh?

I weighed, and made another row, and realized that if I made any more, I would definitely run out of wool. I didn't know why, but still, I started binding off. About 3/4 of the way through bind off, I ran out of wool. Wow. Okay, first of all, it's sad how much I overestimated this section because of being burned out on spinning the same wool. Secondly... I did NOT want to frog back and bind off earlier.

What to do?

I went through my stash and found that I had very little bright violet to finish with. However, on my second attempt, I found something: a mini-skein sent to me by play at life fiber arts when I ordered some rainbow sock yarn, that was a very close mix of the indigo and violet colors I was using. After finishing the bind off in this, it's quite hard to tell the difference. I know how awful this is to read without any pictures, but I swear, a picture will be up soon. It's just that my lovely finished pogona is blocking right this minute. It's exactly as I pictured it, if vaguely annoying in the bind off department.

The low road, it is where I live.

So I tried, really I did, to give my Pogona a highbrow name that reflected the source of its pattern. But as it knit up, the thing that kept running through my mind was that the specific hues were reminiscent of a cartoon that was on when I was a kid. I wasn't allowed to watch cartoons, but it didn't stop me from knowing of them, and well... My poor Pogona, named initially with the best of intentions, is now my Rainbow Brite Shawl, simply because I cannot think of it by another name any longer.

Here's where it is right now:

And I'm quite pleased with how it's going. As stated in the project notes, I found a missed YO early on, so my reverse stockinette sections are 19,19,18, and 19 stitches. Normally, I would have flipped out and frogged all the way back to the missed YO, but frankly, I can't be brought to do something so nutty just now. I mean, really, is anyone going to notice but you and me? Not a chance. Do either of us care? Didn't think so.

I'm planning on doing the whole violet section in garter, even though it'll be a little more garter than called for in the pattern. I just think it'll look better that way.

As for spinning, I finally finished the nearly month long project that was sucking up all of my time. First, I got myself some merino, 8oz. Non-superwash, because yes I am insane. And then I did my first acid dye job. Basically, since I had no previous experience, it was a matter of dumping a bunch of dye in with water, immersing the already wet fiber into it, letting it heat up, adding vinegar, and letting it cook for a while. (I did wear a mask and gloves, for anyone worried that I'm either stupid or suicidal) Then I let it cool on its own, put it through the spin cycle in my washer, and let it dry for a few days. And then, still being insane, I decided that I would spin it as thin as I could, and two ply it, trying for a lace weight. Somehow, I succeeded. I've spun up only the first 3.6 oz, so I have a lot more, but what I have so far is 700 yards of my favorite yarn ever.

Here it is, please love it as much as I do:

It's far from perfect, there are definitely thicker and thinner parts, but I adore it like I want to knit with it right this minute and I should drop everything to do so and let's see how long I can make a horrible run-on sentence... Anyway, it's super soft, and it bloomed like crazy after washing, and I'm disgustingly proud of it.

Anyway, off to knit some more. Hope you've all had as good a week as I have!

Monogamy is for people who sleep.

So in the last few days, I've been working on that Pogona. I admit, the more I finish of it, the more of a convert I am to Stephen West's design style. I'm even considering making one or.... eight of his other designs. As said before, I dislike being a follower, but I have to give the man credit, his designs combine some of the things I like best: clean lines, simple but striking design elements, and the use of colour to its best advantage. I doubt I'll have time to even think about them in the near future, but if you're at a loss for what to knit and want a dynamic shawl pattern, I suggest checking his repertoire out before making a choice.

So here's how far I've gotten on the Pogona:

I'm about halfway through the yellow, which will leave me with four colors left. I suspect that the finished shawl is going to be considerably larger than intended, but this does not bother me.

In the meantime, I received the yarn and patters for Janel Laidman's March Knitterati club. I've decided to skip the club yarn for now, and knit the mystery project in a similarly colored cashmere blend, to spoil myself even more. This, of course, means that I am adding another new project to the needles. So...
4 pair of socks
2 shawls
1 sweater
1 8oz laceweight spinning project.

That seems like I'll be likely to finish it up soon, right?

Oh yeah, and I knit an afghan square yesterday.

I could quit anytime, I tell you!

Okay, fine, that's not true. I have to say, though, being able to flit from project to project helped keep me from curling up in a ball in the dark today and crying about how all the things stink. It's totally not true, and my life is great, but sometimes the little things can add up and seem like the end of the world until you can put them into perspective.

Look, look, it's me again!

Okay, so what have I accomplished in the last day?

This:

This is made from Kristen Kapur's (FREE!) Thorpe pattern. I dyed the fiber a few weeks ago, then spun it over the weekend, and between my last post and now, it turned into this, as if by magic. I'm disgustingly proud of the fact that I turned a hank of 3.5oz of ecru fiber into this, and am wearing it right now, despite the fact that it is 75 degrees farenheit outside. 

"But Lindey", anyone who's listening would say, "this isn't one of the things you were talking about working on at all!"

To these imaginary people, I say... "Look, I have another shiny yarn over there, let's start something new out of it, too!"

Seriously, though, I have worked on something I said I would. I've gotten this far on my Pogona:



Impressive, no? And now I'm working on a pair of socks.

Look over there, shiny!

February Who?

So yeah, February is all gone, with nary a single word from me. I'd say people wondered where I went, but for that to happen, you have to show up regularly first. To that end, I am going to attempt to start updating on a regular basis. I am notoriously unreliable on the intrawebz, though, so we shall see how this works out.

Anyway, you remember the wondrous shawl I was working on? Can you guess where it is right now? If you said on my shoulders, you're dead wrong. Yep, it's still right here:

"Why is this?", an interested party might ask confusedly. Well, the truth is that I sort of hit a wall. I'm near the end of the third chart, which is really pretty good. But then I made a stupid mistake, and was faced with the prospect of tinking an entire row. So it sat, unloved for nearly a month before inspiration struck. Leslie of the Knit Girllls has started her own Evenstar as a wedding shawl for a friend. She has been powering through it, unlike me, and I stopped by their forum to whine about my pathetic issues. Pretty quickly, they had me back on track.

Leslie suggested that I tink a few stitches at a time, while interspersing it with simpler knitting that kept me from going bonkers. (Ok, this isn't exactly what she said, but it's the essence of the matter.)

So the row is tinked, and hopefully, more will be finished in the near future.

In the meantime, I've become hopelessly addicted to spinning. It seems to take up more and more of what was once my knitting time, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I tend to burn out on everything, so moving back and forth will help keep me focused. Even if it doesn't, spinning has given me such gems as this:

A Fiber Fancy BFL/Silk mix that spun through my hands as fluidly as the ocean waves its colors represent. It is almost 600 yards of two ply laceweight from 4oz of fiber. I think it deserves for me to make it its own shawl pattern.

A small note: as of the time of this posting, Etsy seems to have lost Fiber Fancy's shop. I'm sure it'll be back posthaste, though, as she has years of good feedback, and is a wonderful seller. In fact, I just finished her Beatles Fiber club, and am now signed up for the next year of her 80's fiber club - thank you, IRS.

And my favorite thing I've spun yet:

That's 550 yards of navajo plied fingering weight yarn, spun up from a Loop batt. If you don't know of Loop from Round the Twist or The Knit Girlls, your probably don't spin or knit, so I don't know why you're here. But in all seriousness, if you haven't checked out Steph's shop, do it. I know the bullseye bumps seem a little expensive, but they're well worth the price. I'm just waiting for the 15th to re subscribe to her bullseye bump club.

I've started a Pogona from this, and so far, it's knitting up very well. This is my first Stephen West pattern, but I'm enjoying it so far. I usually try to avoid knitting the same thing as everyone else, but the shape of this shawl just sucked me in. The yarn is the softest thing I've ever spun by hand, so I'm excessively proud of it. I suspect this shawl is going to get worn to death.

Okay, that's all for now. Hope everyone is having a lovely spring!

It's a good thing elves are immortal...

At this rate, my Evenstar Shawl might get finished before the entire species becomes extinct. Wait, maybe not.

I started strong, what with the choosing and buying of items to make the shawl. Then waiting for them to arrive is always convenient for me, since it involves me doing nothing but whining about how I can't start the project yet. Then, when all had arrived and the time came, I pounced! I pulled out my size 4 DPNs and made the called-for swatch. Yeah, I jumped up a needle size from the recommendation right away. That's how this tight knitter rolls. Oddly, the swatch came out a teeeeny bit smaller than guage. So this left me with a choice. Do I knit it on the 4's, and end up with a slightly smaller Evenstar? Or do I go up a size, and risk making a very expensive mess?

This, as always, is where things always go ugly for me. Technically, both answers are right. According to my math, making them on a size 4 would make the shawl something like 58" in diameter instead of 60". Using a size 5 will make it a little bit more than 60". Is either bad? No. Can I make this very simple decision that makes no difference to anything at all? Nope.

So here's what I have, and have had for about a month now:

More than 100$ in yarn and beads, a lovely swatch, and a beautiful project bag that is languishing with no knitting being done.

For anyone who knows that they could do better than this given the same lovely items, here's where to get them:
Evenstar pattern, by Susan Pandorf
Silk Thread II in the colorway Ravenscroft, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Metallic Teal Green Iris 8/0 beads from Earth Faire
and last but most definitely not least,
Gorgeous black and toile project bag from Buttermilk Cottage on Etsy

No, you can't have mine. I am getting out the size 5 needles, and I am casting on for the actual shawl tomorrow. Then I'm going to stamp my little (shuh, size 10) feet and complain that I should have used the 4's, and it still won't make a difference.

As a side note, Susan's bags are AMAZING. I have two bags and a matching case for my DPNs, and one of the bags has been used as my everyday purse for a few months now. Also, Susan the person and business owner is a lovely human being to deal with. She made my first bag as a custom order with exactly the fabrics I wanted, and in this era of nonexistant customer service, she has been accomodating, kind, and all around wonderful to do business with.

For the record and as always, I am receiving no kind of compensation for shilling talking about any item or business. But go buy a bag from Susan anyway.

Anyway, I did promise last week that there would be an update that included a Loopy Ewe order. And the order was made, sent, and received. Why am I late? I am a klutz who tried to kill myself by doing a faceplant on the ground in the garage. Fortunately, I am again walking and no longer dizzy and lacking in focus... well, no more than usual.

So here are the lovelies from the Loopy Ewe:

Handmaiden Sea Sock in Topaz, Malabrigo in Aguas, and String Theory Caper in Periwinkle. They are all lovely and will make beautiful socks. Yes, I am going to make socks out of them. Yes, I think that would be considered a crime in some countries. In this house, though, we call it 'YAY, SOCKS!'

I exist outside my own mind!

What am I so excited about that I had to post in the middle of the night?

The lovely and personable Mary from America's Knitting contacted me yesterday to ask to post my Stripe Study shawl as an example of their shawl and beading projects.

After nine months of occasionally being convinced that I was largely talking to myself here, I have proof that there is life in the universe! A picture of my shawl has been posted, along with some of the loveliest things anyone has ever said of my crafting ability. Personally, I blame Madelinetosh, who makes incredible vibrant colors that are impossible to dislike.

Speaking of which, I think I need some more Madtosh sock yarn.Maybe some green. And purple. And blue.

Catch a Falling Star

We're going to try a little time travel here.

First, this is what I unpinned from my impromptu blocking area (read empty carpet with a sheet spread over it) this morning:

It is the Yvaine Pattern by Liz Abinante, whose patterns I wholeheartedly recommend. Even this, a free recipe for a very simple shawl, was written out in an easily understandable way. The original pattern was named after the main character in the Neil Gaiman book, Stardust. If you have not read this book, I strongly recommend that you do so. The movie is good also, but as in nearly every case, the book is superior. Especially when the book is by Neil Gaiman.

I followed Liz's instructions for the first section, then when the color repeats started, I began each color repeat with 4-8 rows of the seed stitch, then stockinette until reaching the next color shift.

A few weeks ago, this bit of lovely was this yarn:

This yarn is possibly my favorite thing in the universe. It is 550 yards of navajo plied polwarth that contains a total of nine stripes of color, from deep purple/red to grape green and back again, with dark, almost blackish shades in the color shifts. I also made it. It used to be a beautiful braid of polwarth fiber dyed by the most excellent and skilled Cloudlover.

This is a picture of a braid of the fiber in question:

I apologise that this is not in fact a picture of my braid of fiber, because the genius that is me forgot to take a picture before starting. This is the picture that I totally stole from Cloudlover's website, sorry about that. It's pretty well representative of what I spun, but really, stealing pictures is bad! I was so impressed with the fiber, that immediately after finishing spinning it, I ran out and signed up for the Cloudlover fiber club.

I got my very first braid from her a few days ago, and am very pleased. It's not a color I would have ever bought, but I'm completely in love with it. I really want to spin it next, even though I have other plans for my next project.

Next up, hopefully Thursday or Friday:

~I have once again expanded the stash by making an order from The Loopy Ewe, and I suspect it will be here by then.

~I have my very own spinning wheel, who is so beautiful that she deserves to be spoken of.

~There is more knitting to be discussed, as I am taking on the project of doom: EVENSTAR.

What about torture?

Okay, I'd like to preface this entry by saying that I love this knitted item, I'm sure some people would enjoy knitting it, and I have nothing but respect for the designer. The pattern is pure elegance in its simplicity.

Here's my finished project:

Beautiful, no? Not to toot my own horn at all; I honestly don't think it took any effort on my part to make it lovely. The yarn is Madelinetosh Merino Light from The Loopy Ewe, for their 4th quarter project. The pattern is the Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Välimäki. The yarn is a stunningly dyed multi-dimensional single-ply, but quite sturdy - case in point is that it was supposed to be a Catkin. When I got to row seventy of said Catkin, I realized that I'd made a mistake early on and would have to start over. Needless to say, I was not keen on starting the same pattern over. I'll go back and make a Catkin someday, but I think not too soon. So I frogged the whole thing. I decided that since I was going into finals week, I needed something simple to take my mind off tests. This pattern fit the bill and then some. During finals week, it was amazing and meditative. Afterward, I quickly lost patience with garter stitch over and over and over and over and... you get the point.

It turns out that eight hundred yards of garter stitch is not for me. So much for my plans to make a log cabin blanket. (disclaimer: I love Mason Dixon, but I honestly never had plans to make one of these after watching Carin from Round the Twist working on the same project forever. I am so impressed that she just keeps going on it. I'd be in a fetal position crying about how my brain has abandoned me in rebellion.)

I don't know why the Yvaine I'm currently working on isn't making my brain melt, but I really want to get back to it now. Hopefully, there will be a long post in the near future about the adventure it has been.

Spinster!

I know, I know. Spinster is a slang term these days, for a woman who never manages to get her evil claws into a male of the species and proceed to force him into marriage, followed by the running of his household, the spending of his money, and occasionally 'the vapors'.

Why yes, I did grow up in the south, why do you ask?

Anyhow, I have recently become interested in spinning. (Jasmin of the knitmore girls, I blame you for this.) I started by ordering a cheap spindle from etsy, and buying some fiber from my LYS. This turned out to NOT be the way to get into spinning, as the fiber was insanely hard to work with, and I ended up with a nasty tangled mess instead of yarn. I complained of my woes at Hogwarts at Ravelry, (yes, I know I'm a nerd, thanks), and a lovely member there, Raederle, suggested that perhaps I should seek local spinning classes. I started looking around, and then as if by magic at my local Celticfest, I met a spinner who recommended that I join the local craft guild for help. After one session at their spinner's group, I suddenly 'got it'. Needless to say, my dues check was in the mail the next day.

After this, I went out and looked for some natural coloured fiber, something that they recommended because of the way that dye affects fiber, and got to work on the first thing I found, some oatmeal coloured CVM. (That's California Variegated Mutant, a breed of sheep, for anyone interested)

Now this was the experience I'd been expecting out of fiber spinning! I got myself two spindles: a greensleeves barebones spindle and a mid-sized ashford spindle, and it started spinning up beautifully. Then, I made a Woolery order for another 2 greensleeves spindles, and they were out of stock. Oh no! But Nancy from the Woolery called me and asked if it was acceptable for them to substitute a different spindle for the greensleeves. Well sure, why not? What do I know about spindles?

Let me tell you, I knew a few minutes after the other spindle arrived that we were going to be very good friends. It spins smoothly, and for longer than the greensleeves. Absolutely perfect. After finishing one ply on the ashford and one on the greensleeves, I plyed it all up on a Ky spindle, and then skeined it on my swift, as I hadn't yet gotten myself a niddy noddy.

After that, I washed it in warm water with a bit of Eucalan, and wound it into a proper skein.

Yep, it's uneven and overspun and a bulky 2-ply, but it's mine, and I made it from fiber. Me! Now, to knit it into something that I can show off... but what can you do with 160 yards of bulky 2-ply? I know I can do a Rav search, but the results aren't terribly impressive. I wonder if a Starcrossed Beret would work....

Ahh well, I'm sure I'll find something to do with it. Either way, I'm inordinately proud of it. I'm also now the proud caretaker of my local craft guild's Lendrum single treadle, which is growing on me like a welcome fungus. I've started saving for a wheel, but on the salary of a starving student, who knows when that will happen?

As in all posts so far, I have been paid by no one, nor given anything in compensation for any reviews I've offered. Nonetheless, buy a Ky spindle as a starter, they are awesome. Go to the Woolery, their customer service is some of the best I've come across after years of working in the field myself. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Shipwreck!

OMG, look, it' me! It's a good thing I don't blog for a living, I'd be broke. School has been nutty as ever, but I have no complaints. Amazing, no?

What I have is knitting. Yes, knitting. Since my last blog post, I recieved my first gradience set from the Unique Sheep:

It's the Eos base, colorway Jack's Beach. It took about three weeks between order and receiving it, so order early, but it's well worth a little wait if it isn't available in your local LYS. Eos is 50% Merino, 50% tussah silk, and it's absolutely wonderful. Given the color options, I think the prices are quite reasonable. It's definitely a luxury, though.

I proceeded to knit it into a shipwreck shawl, complete with eight thousand beads pre-strung onto the yarn.

Yes, I'm three-giant-pictures proud of it. Those beads took hours of stringing, and hours of sliding beads further down the yarn, and slowed the actual knitting quite a bit. I'm OCD enough that I did not string the beads in a random way, I put a bead on every third YO in the netting. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. For the edge, I put a bead on every single YO in the next-to-last row, to add some extra weight. These beads rolled up nicely in the edge, and I love every single thing about them.

For the actual knitting, I started out on size three (3.25 mm) DPNs, mostly because I did not have size fours (3.75 mm). Before starting the madeira lace, I switched to my circular, and at every needle switch, I used one needle size smaller than called for. This turned out quite well for me, because I was using lace yarn, and only had about 1250 yards of it; I knitted one less row of the netting than the pattern called for, and only have a few extra yards. This taught me something very important about this pattern. I was using a lace bind off, and that combined with the fact that the next to last row increases to 1100-ish stitches meant that the last two rows took a TON of yarn. I was convinced I had enough to finish the called for 58th row of netting, but didn't want to take ny chances that I would be frustrated. In the end, I was so relieved that I hadn't done that last row, I could have cried. Also, I was that sick of k2tog, yo netting that I could have cried anyway.

The madeira lace was an enormous pain, and there are a few issues with the madeira lace pattern, so before you go knitting this pattern, look up the fixes!

Curlycat's explanation for the beginning of row 16
Nurse Ratchknit's fix for rows 30 and 31