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Knitting and Spinning

What's that, you say?  A knitting blog talking about knitting?  I've had time enough to pout over the ignominious defeat the Seahawks brought upon themselves, so it's back to the other stuff.  I've been knitting and spinning along as usual here in the lovely desert, where it was 89 degrees F two days ago.  Like last winter, we have had unseasonably warm weather just when so much of the country  is facing unusual cold and snow.  Sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it!

After showing you the sweater that I made for the Princess, I've slacked off on updating anything, so this will be a show and tell.  I also knit a cowl for her out of The Plucky Knitter Single in the color Rachel.  It was exceedingly soft yarn and very nice to work with.  She probably hasn't worn it since she posed for the photo, but oh well.  She picked out the pattern and seemed to like it.



Then by request I made some USC themed socks for Ms. Hollywood as a surprise for her and she liked them very much.



In January I volunteered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and it was a little chilly here then, so I decided I needed some fingerless mitts to wear while waiting in line or working outside.  I used some cashmere/mink yarn that is so soft and light; they are warm and almost weightless.  Very nice.



One of my spinning projects was a combination of fibers.  I spun a gradient bump by Loop! and a braid of ultrafine merino from JulieSpins and plied them together.  It came out nicely and I knitted it into a shawl, Aeris by Hillary Smith Callis.




I finally finished some socks, thanks to working on them during waiting time and speakers at the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival.  Nothing like having a sock to work on!



I also just finished a sweater; Shaken or Stirred by Thea Colman.  I used Wollmeise DK for this and it was my first time using this yarn.  It's blocking now so I don't know yet how well it fits or whether it grew.  I laid it out pretty carefully so hopefully it will be just right.  I'm going to look for buttons when I'm at Stitches West (yes, I get to go this year!).



Those are all the things I've finished recently.  Yarns I've spun additionally are:

woolgatherings Superwash Merino:



Some OLD angora/merino from Tactile: A Fiber Arts Studio:



woolgatherings Merino/Nylon/Sparkle, which I separated and spun into a three ply gradient and have started knitting socks with it.



And some pretty rolags from Bohoknitterchic:


Whew!  It's easier to just keep up.  Now off to Vegas tomorrow to see the Princess.  Have a great Valentine's Day!




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