I'm back home now in the cold, rainy Northwest, and am finally organized enough to show off some of my finished objects. A bit of knitting and spinning has been done amongst housework, exercise, and reclaiming my house from the twenty-something who's in charge when I'm not.
My Vellamo socks were finished at the end of March, and they came out pretty well. I learned a lot from this pattern and will do some things differently (hopefully better) next time. They are made from two colors of Wollmeise loveliness and feel wonderful.
Speaking of Wollmeise loveliness, I have to mention that the laceweight cardigan I showed before is incredibly soft! The fine gauge merino wool didn't feel especially soft when I was working with it; it was nice but quite thin and stringy, but when this sweater was done and washed, it became super soft. I look forward to making a shawl out of the same yarn in the future. Thanks to Lori's trip to Germany last summer during Claudia's sale, I don't have to worry about supply for a good long time!
I finished my Cedar Leaf Shawlette out of Madelinetosh Pashmina. This yarn is also very soft and great to work with. I haven't worn it yet, or even woven in the ends, but it's washed and blocked. I think I mentioned before that I had just inches of yarn left when I was done; it was that close. It was an enjoyable pattern to knit.
I finally finished these self-striping socks out of Vesper sock yarn. This skein, that I got from a Ravelry destash, has bits of white at the end of each color and I'm not too crazy about that. I'm planning to make a kids' sweater to send to the current afghans for Afghans campaign (sweaters are especially needed) and thought I'd tuck these socks into the box to go as well. I'm sure someone with cold feet won't mind the little white bits here and there.
I learned recently that my hairdresser has cancer, so I decided to make her a couple of hats. Here's the first one; the Amanda hat out of Malabrigo worsted. This yarn is so incredible I can see how people get hooked on it. Right...I need something else to get hooked on. Anyway, I had half a skein left from another project and it was just enough for a hat. I have another skein of the same yarn in a beautiful dark blue and I'm going to make another hat out of that and give them to her on Saturday.
The next project isn't finished yet, but I decided I didn't like the sweater I was making out of my handspun. The pattern and yarn just weren't happy together, so I ripped it out and started a Pogona. I'm a lot happier with how this looks.
That's about it for current knitting. I have another self-striping pair of socks started and I think I'll try an afterthough heel on them. I've never done one but I like the way the stripes match up when you do that insead of a gusset and heel flap.
Spinning: I finished another project before I left the desert, but haven't washed or photographed it yet. When I get back there at the end of the month I'll do that. In the meantime, I've been participating in a Spinalong with the Knitgirllls (check out their videocast if you haven't). I bought 8 ounces of the fiber, which was dyed by Tempted in a surprise colorway. It turned out to be purple, blue, natural, and pink.
I decided to spin and ply it randomly and hope to get sort of a tweedy effect. Here are the four bobbins; it will really be a surprise to me when it's done; I hope it really mixes up.
I'm planning to make a Boneyard shawl with it. I've spun all of it; just need to let it rest and then ply. I'd like to make one big skein and hopefully will have the 650 or so yards that I need.
That 's it for now. See you soon.
My Vellamo socks were finished at the end of March, and they came out pretty well. I learned a lot from this pattern and will do some things differently (hopefully better) next time. They are made from two colors of Wollmeise loveliness and feel wonderful.
Speaking of Wollmeise loveliness, I have to mention that the laceweight cardigan I showed before is incredibly soft! The fine gauge merino wool didn't feel especially soft when I was working with it; it was nice but quite thin and stringy, but when this sweater was done and washed, it became super soft. I look forward to making a shawl out of the same yarn in the future. Thanks to Lori's trip to Germany last summer during Claudia's sale, I don't have to worry about supply for a good long time!
I finished my Cedar Leaf Shawlette out of Madelinetosh Pashmina. This yarn is also very soft and great to work with. I haven't worn it yet, or even woven in the ends, but it's washed and blocked. I think I mentioned before that I had just inches of yarn left when I was done; it was that close. It was an enjoyable pattern to knit.
I finally finished these self-striping socks out of Vesper sock yarn. This skein, that I got from a Ravelry destash, has bits of white at the end of each color and I'm not too crazy about that. I'm planning to make a kids' sweater to send to the current afghans for Afghans campaign (sweaters are especially needed) and thought I'd tuck these socks into the box to go as well. I'm sure someone with cold feet won't mind the little white bits here and there.
I learned recently that my hairdresser has cancer, so I decided to make her a couple of hats. Here's the first one; the Amanda hat out of Malabrigo worsted. This yarn is so incredible I can see how people get hooked on it. Right...I need something else to get hooked on. Anyway, I had half a skein left from another project and it was just enough for a hat. I have another skein of the same yarn in a beautiful dark blue and I'm going to make another hat out of that and give them to her on Saturday.
The next project isn't finished yet, but I decided I didn't like the sweater I was making out of my handspun. The pattern and yarn just weren't happy together, so I ripped it out and started a Pogona. I'm a lot happier with how this looks.
That's about it for current knitting. I have another self-striping pair of socks started and I think I'll try an afterthough heel on them. I've never done one but I like the way the stripes match up when you do that insead of a gusset and heel flap.
Spinning: I finished another project before I left the desert, but haven't washed or photographed it yet. When I get back there at the end of the month I'll do that. In the meantime, I've been participating in a Spinalong with the Knitgirllls (check out their videocast if you haven't). I bought 8 ounces of the fiber, which was dyed by Tempted in a surprise colorway. It turned out to be purple, blue, natural, and pink.
I decided to spin and ply it randomly and hope to get sort of a tweedy effect. Here are the four bobbins; it will really be a surprise to me when it's done; I hope it really mixes up.
I'm planning to make a Boneyard shawl with it. I've spun all of it; just need to let it rest and then ply. I'd like to make one big skein and hopefully will have the 650 or so yards that I need.
That 's it for now. See you soon.
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