Maybe I Should Stop Spinning

I really haven't been knitting much this year.  

 I think it is because I have been doing so much spinning.  

I want to knit with all this great yarn but I just keep spinning.  I have already spun over three pounds of fiber this year.

Wednesday on my Wheel

I have one more skein left to ply for my vest.  I am hoping I will have enough to make the vest I have picked out.  If not I will make something smaller with this yarn and try again.

I think this will be what I will spin next on my wheel.  I think it would make a great spring/summer scarf or shawl.

Polwarth/Silk How I Love Thee

Oooh Shiny!  Gale's Art Polwarth Silk in Blueberry Bush approximately 530 yards fingering weight two ply that is destined to become a Flower Basket Shawl.

Another FO and a Big Spinning Project

Well since I have been doing a lousy job of posting lately I totally forgot that I had a project I had finished.  I knit these socks for a lady that I work with. These are the Jeck socks and I used Socks that Rock in River Rocked.  These were a fun knit and took too long because I just messed around and wasn't in any hurry.

I have also started a large spinning project.  I am hoping I will have enough to make a Mondo Cable Vest or maybe a short sleeved cardigan of some sort.  I am using natural BFL and Wild Ivy BFL and I am going to ply the two together.

I have finished three bobbins of the natural.  I don't have enough bobbins to spin it all at once.  I have spun six of the eight ounces that I have of the natural wool.

Here is the first bobbin of the Wild Ivy BFL.  I am almost done with the first two ounces of the eight that I have of this.

Quick Knits

I knit a couple of pairs of Camp Out Fingerless Mitts since the last time I posted.   I knit the darker pair in less than a day.  Those were knit from some handspun.  

The second pair took me a little longer. They would have been done really quick as well but I didn't knit on them all weekend.  I just used some yarn from my stash to knit those.  I think the girls like them.  I am considering making myself a pair but I may tweak it a little to add a little shaping to the arm.

A Start

I have started on my 12 lbs of Crazy project.  I have really been "bitten" by the spinning bug lately.  This is the first yarn I finished this year, approximately 322 yards of heavy fingering two ply.  It was dyed by Wild Ivy and it is BFL.

My second yarn for this year is the December SAL from AllSpunUp.  It is approximately 332 yards of merino/tencel heavy fingering weight.  The colorway was Water Lilies.

Both of the yarns turned out really well and I am excited to knit something with them.  I just need to find the "perfect" project for them both.

New Year=New Yarn

Well it is a new year, and I have new handspun yarn.  This is some Wild Ivy Designs.  She doesn't always give them names so I make them up as I go.  I called this one Easter Basket.

This is the Polwarth from The Knitgirllls SAL/KAL.  I don't know the yardage on this one either but I am going to put it back on my niddy noddy to find out.  I had a little over 400 before I soaked it, but Polwarth seems to bloom so I will check it again before I decide what to knit with it.

My Last Finished Object of 2011

Well this is it.  This will complete my finished objects for the year of 2011.  (I don't think I can whip anything else out before midnight tomorrow.)

Sockhead Hat
Started December 22, 2011
Finished December 28, 2011
Yarn Handspun Wild Ivy in Hooligans
Needles Size 3 Hiya Hiya 16 inch circular.

I really like this hat and I eventually I will make more.  I didn't have enough yarn to do the whole 14 inches so I started decreasing at about 9 inches total.

Finished!

I finished my Christmas knitting.  I really don't knit for Christmas but someone asked me to make a pair of socks for her mom for Christmas so I said I would.  Her family does "special" things for Christmas and she thought her mom would LOVE a pair of hand knitted socks.  I thought it was a really sweet thing to do for her mom.

Hermione Everyday Socks
Socks that Rock Lightweight in Rocktober
Needles 1.5 Knit Picks Circulars
Started November 15, 2011
Finished December 18, 2011

I really enjoy knitting with Socks that Rock it is one of my favorite yarns.

I started a couple of new projects yesterday.  I am making the Sockhead hat out of some handspun.  The roving was dyed by Wild Ivy Designs.  I also started a pair of Jeck socks.  I am using Socks that Rock in the River Rock colorway.

I Have New Handspun

I finished spinning part of the Polwarth/Silk in the Tapestry colorway.   I have about 250 of a light worsted to worsted weight.  It is amazing how much this "poofed" up.  I had 300 yards before I washed it and now I only have around 250 yards.  I love this fiber and I think that it is one of my new favorites.

I am spinning some Polwarth now. It is the Haunted Vineyard from the KnitGirllls spin a long/knit a long.  

A Promise Kept

I told you I had a finished object and some new yarn to share yesterday, so I am keeping my promise to show it off. I finished the Noro Biased Scarf made from handspun Woolgatherings BFL.  It will be gift for my nephew's wife when they come to Kansas to visit for Christmas.

I finished the Woolgatherings October Fiber from the fiber club.  I got around 625 yards of a heavy laceweight to light fingering.  I love it.  The fiber was Polwarth/Silk blend and I don't think I could recommend it enough.  It was an amazing fiber to spin.

12!!!!!!

I made one of my goals that I set this year.  I have knit 12 pairs of socks.  I probably won't finish my other goals but I completed one.  I will probably finish a couple of more pairs before the end of the year.

Details

Pattern: Petunia Dursley Double Eyelet Socks
Yarn: Handspun UrbanGypz in Mr. Blinky
Needles: 1.5 KnitPicks Options circulars
Started: October 14, 2011
Finished: November 15, 2011

I love love love this pattern.  It is very easy to remember and goes pretty fast.  The yarn was a joy to knit with and spin.  I think these will be one of my favorite pairs to wear.

New Yarn and Progress

I finished spinning and plying half of the fiber from a couple of posts ago.  It is BFL dyed by my friend, Ivy.  She has been dabbling in dyeing and I think she does an amazing job.  I navajo plied this and I am thinking of either spinning some white or getting some white yarn to make a stranded hat of some sort.  I still have 50 grams of it left to spin but not sure how I am going to do the rest of it.  It is about 180 yards.

I am still plugging away on the socks.  The first one is complete and I am almost to the toe on the second one.  They need to be moving on so I can knit something else.  I am really wanting to cast on a shawl or a hat soon.

Will I Make It???

I have been participating in The Knitgirllls 5K Stashdown this summer.  I am currently at 5012 yards and I need 5460 to finish.

This yarn got me to where I am now.  It is 412 yards of merino that I dyed with food coloring.  It didn't really turn out the way I wanted to I am debating if I want to try to dye it again or just leave it.

I am currently knitting this pair of socks out of UrbanGypz Superwash Merino.  I am halfway done with the leg on the second sock and when I finish them I will have used a little over 300 yards for the pair.

I started a Noro Bias Scarf last week at Knit Night.   I am about a third of the way done with the yarn so I have used about 130 yards of it.


I also have some spinning on my wheel that I might be able to finish as well.  I am thinking I will make it but I am not sure yet.

Spinning Causes Knitting

I spun this mixed BFL from Woolgatherings.

Here is a bobbin of the singles that I spun.

The finished yarn is a fingering weight and about 420 yards.  

I started a Noro Bias Lace Scarf with it last knit at KniCroSpin night at my LYS.  I am excited to see how it turns out.

A Little Bit of Spinning!

I finally finished the shetland I was spinning. I had planned to knit a Shetland Pi Shawl ( Ravelry Link), but I don't have quite enough yarn.  I ended up with about 986 yards of a light fingering weight yarn.  I think it will still make a beautiful shawl and I might still try to use the pattern I had originally planned on using.  I might be able to take a repeat out or something.

At one point I got a little tired of spinning the shetland so I started this.  I have eight ounces of this Merino/Silk in the Down to Earth colorway.  

This is the first bobbin.  This picture really doesn't do the yarn justice.  I am hoping it will look better when it is plied and in yarn form.

Still A Success To Me

I didn't make the two miles like I had planned but I think it was a success to me nonetheless.   I was able to finish the Kick Sack yesterday.

 I was also able to finish my Electron Socks yesterday also. These two projects added 655 yards to my total. I ended up with 1021 yards knit in May, which is around .58 miles of yarn knit.

I got closer on the spun yarn.  I ended up with a total of 1356 yards spun including this Black BFL from Gale's Art.  I am planning on using this for another Forest Canopy Shawl I think.

652 + 340 = 992

I am still plugging away on my mile of handspun.  This is 340 yards of shetland that I plan on using in a shawl of some sort.  This brings my spinning total up to 992 yard out of 1760.

I am in the process of plying this up so I will have another finished yarn to share soon.

Make that 652

Yards of handspun total so far this month.  This is Two Windows Dye Company out of Hutchinson, KS.  It is 414 yards of superwash fingering weight.

I have already started a project out of this yarn.  I am making a Kicking Bag for the principal at my oldest daughter's school.  She is having a baby boy in August.

Maine Comes to Kansas

I was in the mood for a "quick knit".  I think these fit the bill pretty well.  I started them on November 21,2010 and finished them the next day.  These were made out of the Sea Dreams Handspun 2.0.  These will be going to live with my sister in law, Denise.

The first pair was such a fun and quick knit I made another.  These are going to live with the babysitter that watched the kids on Saturday last week while I took a Spinning Self Striping Yarns class.  I started these on Sunday and finished on Monday.