Some socks

Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to post a bunch of "Looky What I Mades," but I also said I was going to post every day. unfortunately, although I knit or do something else fiber-related almost every single day, that doesn't mean everything is post-worthy. In fact, most of it isn't.

Anyway, here is a pair of socks. Don't worry - I have another pair just like this one. Okay, that was corny.

The one on the left is made with Paton's Stretch Socks (41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% nylon, and 7% elastic). The one on the right is made with Trekking XXL (75% Superwash wool, 25% nylon). Both were done on size 3 dpns.

Although both are rated as lightweight sock yarn, the finished Paton's sock has a lighter feel - a nice 3-season sock, while the Trekking makes a nice, fuzzy, warm sock that will be best for cold winter days.

Flat Feet Socks

Thanks to my pal Dana for gifting me some Flat Feet. These socks are the result. This yarn was so much fun to work with, and I had no idea how the colors were going to turn out. The end product is nothing like the beginning. Should have taken some pics of the original yarn. I want to score some blanks from Knit Pics and play around with dying my own.

I'm Baaaa-aaaaack!!!!!

Hey, all! It's been way too long -- funny how time flies when you're having fun!! I can't believe it's been over a year. My craft room is a mess, but I have been knitting and, to a lesser extent, spinning.

I've started a little knitting group in my area. It started with a friend who wanted to learn, so we started meeting once a week at the local coffee shop. A few weeks later, another friend joined us. Then another, and another. We have three regulars and a handful who come when they can.

I'm thinking of starting another blog just for that group. What do you think?

Just Signed Up With Ravelry

I've been reading so much about Ravelry that I had to check it out: www.ravelry.com. It's still in beta and they've got a waiting list to join, but it only took about a week. I haven't really gotten into it yet, but I've created my account and I've been poking around and it looks fabulous. One of the features I'll use most is a database that allows users to keep track of their stash and tools. The timing was perfect for me -- I'm in the process of turning the spare bedroom into my craft room, which means a huge reorganization -- okay, it can't be an reorganization if it was never organized to begin with! :) Anyway, I can't wait to really get into using Ravelry!

Alan's Sweater

Another UFO finished! I started this yoke sweater last year for DH but when I got to the neck, I put it down. I picked it up yesterday and finished it. Unfortunately when he tried it on, we both decided it was too "girly", so now it's mine. Back to the drawing board.

I used Lion Brand Wool Ease with 2 strands together on size 13s. It's knitted from the bottom in the round. I used the methods in Knitting in the Old Way. Love that book! This was my first yoke sweater. Next time I'll be more adventurous with the actual yoke . When I was finished I could see why they traditionally have all of those colors! When it's in a solid color, the decreases are pretty visible. Not that I mind that -- I think it adds an interesting texture.

Shauna's Poncho

After three years, I finally finished it. It's been a joke between us -- it was a birthday gift, but it wasn't finished. I gave it to her unfinished and then said, "Okay, give it back so I can finish it." The pattern came from Sally Melville's book The Knit Stitch. I love Sally's books! Anyway, Shauna finally got her poncho. My New Year's resolution is to finish my UFOs! We all know how that goes -- at the end of the year, we'll see how I did! :)

Alan's Scarf

This is the scarf I made my husband for Christmas. Okay, it's not the whole scarf! I need to take some pics of the finished product. The yarn is alpaca and I sort of made up the pattern as I went -- it's just 1x1 rib with a cable down the middle -- 2 p st on each side of the st st cable. Pretty easy and fun to do.

My New Scarf

Okay, I know it's been FOREVER!!! I've just been way too busy to keep up. Anyway, this is my new scarf. I got the pattern from my pal Dana. I think she got it from www.knittingpatterncentral.com. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the pattern. The yarn was part of one of those felted bag kits from JoAnne Fabric. They had a bunch of kits on clearance -- didn't care much for the bag but loved the yarn, so I bought it -- 4 skeins of single ply bulky wool for $8 -- couldn't go wrong. I wear this with a black pea coat and get tons of comments!

Kool Aid Hats from Fiber Space Designs

Hats and bags are two of my favorite things to make with Kool-Aid dyed yarn.

This hat is a really simple, no-pattern thing I made up years ago. It's so easy to make and easily becomes as much a wardrobe staple as your favorite jeans. I've had strangers come up to me and ask where I got mine. It's an opp to hand out a business card!

Anyway, to make the hat, I CO 68 st on 10.5 circs and knit until I find a length I like by trying it on my own head. Then I k2tog once around, switch to dpns, and k2tog 2x until there are about 9 st left. Cut the yarn, leaving about a 6" tail and use a yarn needle to weave the end through the working stitches that are still on the needle. Tie off and weave in ends, and you have a rolled-brim slouchy hat that's nice and warm. There's no shaping on the crown and the fast decrease leaves an interesting star-shape on the top.

As with my yarns, you can find them at The Pen & Thread, local arts and craft shows, or directly from me.

Mixed Up Scarf

This scarf sparked my love of mixing things up. I bought the wool several years ago from a woman on Ebay who had run a natural dye workshop. She had small amounts of wool leftover from the workshop. There was about a thousand different sheep breeds, plus llama, alpaca, mohair and animal fibers. Each little bit had been dyed with about a thousand natural colors. I loved them all but couldn't begin to think what I would do with them. So I just carded random handfuls together and spun them. I liked the yarn, but I loved the scarf. This one is mine -- not for sale! The pattern is simple -- it's just garter stitch from a point at one end to a point at the other end with a YO eyelet edge all around and a nice fat, fuzzy tassel at each end. I just fell in love with the colors and the texture. The yarn seems to self-stripe all on its own. And it's very soft and warm, too!

Handspun, Handknitted Hats

So I thought you might like to see some of my finished products. These hats are all handspun and handknitted.








This hat above is made from mystery wool.






The gray part of this hat is Jacob wool and the white part is Karakul. They are both primitive breeds and the textures are very different. The combination made for an interesting end product.






This hat is 100% Jacob.

Latest Kool Aid Skein

This is the latest batch of KA yarn from Fiber Space Designs. I don't have a name for the colorway yet. Suggestions?

Why I Knit

This is another essay assignment for the Pen & Thread fiber newsletter:

Why I Knit

By Fiber Maeven

When I was given this assignment, I jokely responded that I knit because it keeps me from inflicting bodily harm. Although that’s not entirely untrue, it’s not the only, or even the biggest reason.

It all started because I needed a hobby that would keep me from snacking in front of the TV in the evenings. It had to be something that would keep my hands in perpetual motion but that allowed the rest of my body to relax. It had to be repetitive enough that I could still pay attention to CSI, yet interesting enough to keep me . . . well . . . interested. What were my options? Hmmm . . . solitaire . . . jigsaw puzzles . . . juggling chainsaws . . . and all fun things to do, but not one of them quite fit my criteria. Oh, yeah, I forgot . . . my holy grail of hobbies had to be creative and constructive.

I seemed to remember that my mom had attempted to teach me to knit when I was a child. I hadn’t been very good at it. But I’d been seven. Twenty-five years had passed. Surely I had acquired some dexterity since then.

Let’s explore a knitter’s psyche, shall we? I, like so many of my sisters, learned to knit as a child. My mother used to knit sweaters and doll clothes for me. I’m not sure who taught her, but she tried to teach me. Of course, she tried to teach me lots of things, but I was a typical kid who would have none of what the adults were selling. Later, much later, actually, when I was in my 30s, I got the urge, for no reason that I can readily identify, to learn the craft. My mom hadn’t knitted for at least 20 years, so I decided to take formal lessons.

My first project was a 2 x 2 rib scarf, but it quickly grew tiresome. I moved on to a baby afghan, which was actually good enough to give as a gift, and that is exactly what became of it. I made several more of those, and then decided that I was bored with making squares and rectangles, so I learned to knit hats in the round on circulars. Next came socks on dpns. Eventually I tried sweaters. Interesting but boring. And the finishing . . . my word . . . the finishing!!!

Apparently I have an issue with finishing anything, actually. My house is strewn with project bags containing UFOs. A sweater in the round for my dh that begs me to finish the neck; a poncho desperately in need of fringe; a plethora of other projects that only need to have the ends woven in. But it’s not knitting!

Knitting has a rhythm all its own. It has a feel and a mood. It puts me in a trancelike state of solitude. It’s Zen.

And did I mention that it keeps me from inflicting bodily harm?

Some Close-Ups

Even though you can just click the pics to get a better look, I enjoy posting. Humor me! The first three pics are close-ups of different batches of my Chaos yarn. That's what I call my random Kool-Aid colorway. The other pic is my yarn label. Oops! I see a mistake -- I should have deleted the bottom sentence for a label on a natural skein! Think anyone else will notice?

Ready for Market

Another load of yarn ready to head off to the Pen & Thread for sale. I don't usually have this much at one time, but I destashed some of my commercially dyed stuff. The top row is all Kool-Aid dyed. The middle row was commercially dyed roving and the bottom one is natural .

Jacob Lace Scarf

This is one of the first things I made with my handspun yarns. A friend of mine here in central PA who raises Jacob sheep gave me some fleeces. In return I spun and knitted scarves for his wife and sister-in-law. The picture looks like b/w but it really is a color photo. I spun the black and white wool together to get varying shades of gray. I spun it to to something between a lace and a sport weight and knitted the scarves in feather and fan.