KNITSTER

well, this month has been crazy. we all got sick, and are now, after getting better, getting sick again. not to mention the fun that was halloween. yep- life with two big kids can be hectic.

but- i have been knitting. designing more than anything, so most of what i have been doing are swatches. gauge swatches, pattern swatches, you name it. fortunately i have a husband who has been more than willing to model said swatches, and offer good advice on what does and does not work. in the midst of all of that i have been working on socks. i have a problem with sock yarn. a big problem. on a whim i bought some mountain colors bearfoot yarn. the finished sock is squishy and warm and wonderful. it seems the combination of lovely yarn and really nice needles- colonial, iirc- make sock knitting a dream. i have two skeins of pippi kneesocks yarn that are destined to become socks, and sountless skeins of cherry tree hill hidden around, as well as some trekking xxl. i do think i am going to have to grab a few more skeins of the bearfoot though, as keir is eyeing the lacey socks i am working on with a fair bit of green in his eyes. good thing our feet are so vastly different in size, huh?

the other thing i have got my hot little hands on are two skeings of sea silk- silk and seacell, a seaweed by-product. oh my. reainbow colored yarn, and it called to me. i am going to have to grab another skein of it for what i have in mind- a lovely loose and drapey cardigan, hopefully with either a bug or sea motif. that stuff is amazing- the feel of it is incredible.

and, no post here is complete without a bit of spinning content. i am going to pick up a drum carder and otehr toys tomorrow from detta’s spindle. she is having her yearly sale thurs- sat, so any of you who need spinning or weaving supplies- check out www.dettasspindle.com. tell her nicole sent you. i have been spinning some blue faced leister, and have 2 lbs of brown sheep superwash mill ends that is destined to be a sweater for keir. oh my is that stuff nice- it actually feels silky, and so far spinning has been a dream. we have been busy dyeing here- i have discovered that while i love handpainted rovings, i am much more fond of solid colored yarns to make every day things out of. except socks. so there we are- i am playing with dyes more and more- both on yarn and roving to come up with a technique that works for me. i have scoured that areathrift shops for pots and pans to use, and have been fairly lucky so far. good deals on big roasting pans, and then the house smells like wet sheep. what could be better than that, right?

Posted on November 8th, 2006 by Pickleboot
Filed under: Projects, Spinning