Same thing again

So. Yeah.

Today was, like most other days recently, a knitting and spinning day. I spun two bobbins of singles, and i'll ply them tomorrow. I started a pair of wristwarmers from the chunky alpaca, and deemed the alpaca too delicate, unfortunately. Really, I'm slightly sensitive to alpaca(when it's up against my neck it makes me itch) but this stuff felt so wonderful to knit with. It doesn't have the "give" required of wristwarmers, though, so this weekend it's back to the yarn store to find something more suitable.

I got this far on the Noro Silver Thaw scarf. It's a feather & fan lace pattern, and I am loving it. It's interesting enough so that it's not boring to knit, but simple enough to knit mindlessly. It's also impressive looking, but not so visually complicated that it takes away from the Noro.

In lieu of the wristwarmers as a(nother) current project, I started Noah's Mittens. Here they are.

What are Noah's Mittens, you ask? Well, he asked me a while ago to make him "really tough" mittens. Mittens that could withstand a day of snowballs and fort building and being pulled on and off with teeth, mittens that would keep his hands very warm. Mittens that would be able to keep up with the kind of things a 9yo boy does outside, but still be thin and flexible enough to allow for a full range of hand movement. Can such a pair of mittens be hand-knit? We shall see :-) I'm using Paton's Classic Merino, in a colour that is supposed to look like camouflage when knit up(to go with his Camo hat, of course!)

Simple treasures....

Sorry for the lack-of-updates...I've been playing with my spinning wheel(still haven't gotten any usable yarn, but I'm getting there)and starting and ripping out several dozen possible patterns for the Noro Silver Thaw I have(50%wool, 25%angora, 25%nylon) the colours are stunning....greens and purple, with occasional bits of pink. Oh, be still my heart!! If I get too frustrated trying to find the perfect pattern, I have also three skeins of a heathery rose pink 100% llama, and some bulky forest green alpaca(which is intended for some wristwarmers for my doctor, who is more like an uncle, really. Hence the random handknits.)

*cough* lack of visible fibery progress aside, I had my first knitting class on Friday, and it went beautifully. eight girls and one boy. After the first fifteen minutes everyone had pretty much caught on and there was nothing else for me to do! But the fun part will come when the knitting is done and we dye and felt!! I'm very excited!

I also had my first real Sunday School class this week.(I feel like a real Sunday School teacher now. Know why? Dude, i've got flannelgraphs!!) My class is adorable. Two boys, both 5, and a 3yo girl. All are exceptionally well-behaved and really freakin' CUTE! I love everything about this!

Lastly, look! Want to know why this roughly cut, crayoned block is the picture of the day? Well, the little girl in my Sunday School class made it for me. She coloured it in my favourite colour(purple) and hers(pink) and wrapped it up to give to me yesterday. Oh gosh, I feel so special now!!

Well, maybe that wasn't quite lastly....Phase two of the surpise is starting *squeeee* This is all very exciting!!

Good news and a crappy picture

The good news being that the Hufflepuff scarf is *finally* finished! I finished it Saturday, swatched for my current project that evening(I only swatch when the gauge is crucial....heresy, I know!) I cast on Sunday morning, and I'll probably bind off this evening(while watching the second season of SNL-Hurrah!)I needed a quick knit to recoup from the scarf, and Calorimetry is perfect.

The picture is crap, but as there is no decent light to be found anywhere 'round here at 6PM, it'll have to do. I'm using Green Mountain Spinnery yarn, 45% wool, 55% mohair, in a lovely heathery, tweedy purple. I'm knitting it on 8's, incidentally, a pair of Knit-lite knitting needles, that light up at the tips so you can knit in the dark without bothering anyone(like in the car at night) and they work very well for this purpose. I cast on 108 stitches instead of 120 as well, to remedy gauge issues. I can't wait till i'm done!

Oh yeah. I ordered a spinning wheel!! A lendrum folding double treadle. And it comes with 2 1/2 pounds of wool....It should be here Thursday-Yipppeee!!

My kind of world!(sorta)

Further proof that knitters are taking over the world!

(Who else would want free wool? Srsly)

BTW....10" left on the Hufflepuff scarf....freedom is so close!

Noro is teh awesome

So, today, to distract you from my pitiful lack of progress on the scarf(4'10 *sigh*. I'm a slow knitter *and* I spent most of the day out. That isn't conducive to getting lots of knitting done) I'm going to talk about pretty yarn!


This is three skeins of Noro Blossom. It's about a worsted weight, 40% wool, 30% kid mohair, 20% silk and 10% nylon. It's also been discontinued for, I believe, about a year.

I went to my LYS Friday, to spend Christmas money on, what else, yarn! I took the opportunity to dig to the back of their highest shelves, and lo and behold, I found three skeins of Noro Blossom in this gorgeous colourway. I just want to look at it all the time, it's *that* pretty. It has an amazing texture, too. According to the LYSO, she never really carried this, so it must be leftovers from a special order for someone. With the three 70-yd skeins, I think I'll make a scarf(I love scarves, and wear them often as accessories) ...a simple stitch pattern that shows off the texture...perhaps the Yarn Harlot's One-Row Scarf on 9's? Something to muse on while working on that Hufflepuff Scarf(I'm way too instant-gratification for things this big and simple)

A question for anyone who comes around...Which do you think is better as a lace weight yarn...silk, Alpaca, or Merino? Is any fiber functionally better for lace than any other fiber?

Post Christmas Christmas knitting

As this was my second Christmas knitting, and having learnt from my first Christmas knitting(planning to knit Christmas gifts for everyone in your family plus some of your friends when you only learned to knit in the last two days of October is a distinctly *bad* idea)

But, I survived, and this year was much less knit-o-centric. Two pairs of mittens for my Grandmother, and a Hufflepuff year 3&4 scarf for my sister, with the matching beret. But, alas, 6'8 of 1x1 rib is terribly boring. And it's also hard to knit something in secret when you spend so much time with the person.

So Christmas came...and went, with a beret and a partially finished scarf(the mittens were finished long before Christmas). It's currently at 4'6, and the finished scarf will be 6'8, plus fringe. For the yarnies amongst you, I'm using the pattern from "Charmed Knits", except I cast on 50 stitches instead of sixty-some(she wanted a narrower scarf). I'm using Encore Worsted (Colour 1382 for the yellow, and...whatever their black is. They only have one black). It's my first time using Encore. I have a good opinion of it as an acrylic blend. It feels nice and wooly and soft, and is pleasant to knit with, but I have found multiple knots in every skein I have wound so far. *sigh* Stupid knots. But if it turns out as sturdy as I've heard, I'll certainly knit with it again.

I went to my LYS and bought gorgeous new tempting yarn...but I'm not going to knit *anything* else until this is done...Wish me luck!!