Handspun makes it better

Long overdo knitting update! I haven't been knitting much but I have finished a few things lately. I think almost everything I've been knitting lately has been with handspun. Will I ever be able to knit with regular yarn again!?


Most recently I knit this hat:



Stats:
Pattern: Wurm by katushika
Yarn: Handspun dyed by Woolgatherings
Needles: Size 4 and 6 US
Mods: Knit 2 purl rows and 7 knit rows instead of 5 and 4 and only knit 6 repeats.


I also finished this shawl:




Stats:
Pattern: Annis by Suzanna IC
Yarn: My hand-dyed handspun yarn
Needles: Size 9 and 10 US
Mods: none

Earlier this year I knit these socks:






Stats:
Pattern: Plain socks
Yarn: Fat Cat hand spun
Needles: Size 2 US


The one non hand spun item I finished are these Trekking socks:




Stats:
Pattern: plain socks
Yarn: Trekking
Needles: Size 2 US


I'm thinking about designing a shawl for this contest. I guess I have to get spinning in order to be ready in time!

Olympic knitting done!

I finally finished knitting my Olympic sweater! I wove in the ends on Saturday and didn't get a chance to take pictures until today. i love how it came out.

There's nothing like a handspun sweater!



Stats:
Pattern: Sweetgum Duncan by Meghan McFarlane
Yarn: My own Handspun from the following dyers:
-Pigeonroof Studios
-Dragonfly fibers
-Wool Gatherings
-Fat Cat
-Yarn Wench
-Hello Yarn
-Rhinebeck Mystery fiber
Needles: Size 9 US
Mods: I didn't knit the bottom ribbing the same way - instead I did about 4 inches




I especially love the neck of this sweater...



It was so much fun knitting with my own handspun and blending the colors. I'm thrilled with how it came out and can't wait to spin more!!!

Olympic knitting update!

I'm keeping up with my Olympics knitting so far! I'm so close to being done with the body. Out of 7 different handspun skeins I'm on number 6! I really hope I have enough - I don't want to have to spin more. I think I'll just make it!

Here it is so far:




In other knitting news - I participated in a sock swap on Sarah's blog. I got mine from Michelle and they are so great! She sent a sweet package of goodies too:



I was knitting for Jake - and here are the awesome socks I made for him:


Pattern: Guitar Man socks by Rebecca Mercier
Yarn: Happy Feet
Needles: Size 2US
Mods: I only did 5 repeats instead of 8 - because man these would have been huge!


It was also time for the doggies to get their haircuts! I love freshly cut doggies - and they are so exhausted after they get back from their haircuts they sleep the rest of the day! They both look kind of annoyed here because I woke them up to take their pictures!

As You Wish!

So last night I went to my friend Jolene's shop (Cloverhill) for an Olympic knitting party! All was planned out - someone brought a TV and we planned to watch the Opening Ceremonies over the internet via steaming video. We all brought our yarn and needles and were posed to cast on as soon as the Opening Ceremonies began.

Right before it was supposed to start, the video feed crashes and there's nothing! The computer types tried for a while to get it back or to find another site that was streaming it to no avail. I even tried going online on a different computer to find one but there were none that weren't either shady or required money. Sigh...

So - instead of sitting and knitting with nothing to watch on our lovely TV/computer setup - I logged into my Netflix account and started looking for a movie to watch. I was hoping to find an Olympic themed movie like Cool Runnings or The Cutting Edge... but alas they were not available over the web. I just started reading off the names of the movies that were available and finally hit on an all around fav...

The Princess Bride.

Who doesn't love a good love story! So with the princess on the tele and knitting in our laps we all cast on for our projects.

I am knitting Sweetgum Duncan - a top down yoked sweater. It was actually a last minute decision! I had my math all figured out for a top down raglan, but then the more I thought about it - the more I wanted a yoke instead of a raglan - round vs square. Ravelry saved the day and after a quick search - I found just what I was looking for.

I cast on with my handspun and have been knitting on it ever since. Here's how it looked earlier today:



I have several different skeins that I plan to use for this sweater.



So far I've finished one and started the second. I hope I can keep up my pace! What are you knitting for the Olympics - anything?

Spinning in the snow!

I've been climbing the walls during the last week - want to be anywhere but here! One of the many things I've been doing is spinning. I spun up 3 different rovings over the last few days.

This is Fat Cat roving:



262.0 yards of 2 ply light worsted


This is Creatively Dyed:



90 yards of Navajo 3Ply bulky
Cornwall colorway

And this is Hello Yarn:



I just love the colors!


190 yards of 2 ply worsted weight
Vibrant Colorway

There's also been knitting! I'm almost done - so I wont show you yet but I'm knitting Kernel from knitty.com

Hope you are staying warm where ever you are!

Garter Yoke Photoshoot

Finished since November! I finally got around to blocking this sweater and having a photoshoot.




Pattern: #22 Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit 1 Winter 2008
Yarn: my own handspun - top portion is Dragonfly fibers and bottom is from Serendipity Farms.
Needles: Size 9
Alterations: I made the yoke much more rounded than the pattern called for - I cast on fewer stitches and increased evenly around the yoke to create a round neck instead of a square neck.







I had quite a hard time finding the right buttons for this cardigan. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted - or what I thought I wanted. I was looking for a natural wood button. But when I got to Joann's (the only place I know that has a wide variety of buttons!) I was so dissapointed! Most of the buttons I liked only had around 4 available. I needed 9! I kept on looking around and happened on these amazing leather buttons. I held my breath as I counted how many there were - Yes!! There were just enough. I love their deep brown color against the yoke.




I love my first handspun sweater and will hopefully have another one after my Olympic knitting!

Spinning up a sweater

I've been spinning up worsted weight yarns with an idea in mind... an idea to use them to knit a sweater. I wasn't quite sure what would work together but I just picked things I liked. I spun up about 2 pounds so far! Definitley enough for a sweater - now I just have to pick what kind of sweater. I'm thinking a basic top down raglan V neck.

Here's the yarn:



Click on the picture and go to Flickr for details on each of the yarns.

My favorites are definitely these three:


I recently spun up this Pigeonroof Studios


It was the first time I've ever spun Pigeonroof and I now know why so many people love it! It's a joy to spin and the colors are amazing!

I also had 4 oz of Hello Yarn's Turkey attack stashed away for a rainy day...



You may remember this as the same roving I used to spin and knit mittens last year.


Another fiber artist that I have fallen in love with in the course of this project is Wool Gatherings:
I found her on ebay and bought a braid - this one:




and after spinning it immediately went back online and bought a second one:




The before pics are quite interesting - the BFL fiber she used on these was two toned before she dyed it. It gives such depth to the colors.




I also spun up a bag of mystery fiber I bought at Rhinebeck. I really wish I knew what it was! I got a bag of pencil roving and there was no name or fiber content or anything on it! Of course I forgot to write down the name of the vendor - my bad! But it is beautiful:



I think this will be my Olympic knitting project. I can't wait to start!

Handspun sweater and 400 posts!

This is my 400th post! Who knew that I when I started this blog back in 2005 that I would still be blogging.... about knitting! I certainly didn't.

But here I am knitting and now spinning too! Thanks everyone for reading and sticking with me all these years.

Speaking of spinning - I started a handspun sweater on the road trip to Rhinebeck. I had lots of great knitting time in the car on the way. Thanks for driving Sarah! I got a TON done and used up all the yarn I had with me for this sweater.



I'm losely basing the sweater on the #22 Garter Yoke Cardigan from Knit1. I say losely because I've changed the yoke to be more rounded instead of boat necked.

The top is knit with handspun dyed by the fabulous Dragonfly fibers.




And the bottom is roving from Seredipity Farms.




I actually got it at MD sheep and wool TWO years ago. I started spinning it two years ago when I was still a very novice spinner. Then I promptly put it aside and forgot about it for two years. I only had about 400 yards spun up and when I used up that yarn - I of course went to spin some more. I finished another 150 yards and starting knitting... BUT it wasn't the same gauge! Not even close.

My spinning has improved and I can't quite channel my inner "beginner spinner" to produce the thick and thin'ish yarn that I originally made. I'm on my third "sample" skein and I think I'm getting closer....

Wish me luck!

Casting on!

I think there must be something about that first hint of Fall in the air. I have an indescribable urge to cast on for new knitting! My queue on Ravelry has grown this week as I gaze at hats, and cardigans that I just have to cast on RIGHT NOW!!!

I finally decided on the Garter Yoke Cardigan from knit 1 Fall 08.



It gives me a chance to use my handspun too!

The turquoise is Dragonfly Fibers Handspun and the brown I got at MD Sheep and Wool Festival two years ago from Serendipity Farms.





I only have two balls of the brown right now so I need to spin some more! I just love the brown and turquoise combo!

Can't wait to cast on!

Grafton Batt Spinning

I love Grafton batts! They are a joy to spin. I spun up my latest one last week:



I got this at MD Sheep and Wool from the Cloverhill booth.



It came out to be about 233 yards of worsted weight 2 ply. I'm not sure what it will become - maybe a hat?

This weekend was beautiful! I spent Sunday helping out at another wine festival for my friends. This one was in St Mary's county - so quite a haul. It was worth it though because my friend Kim came along to help and we went to her parents for dinner. They live down that way and it was nice to get a good home cooked meal.

The wine fest was held at Sotterley Plantation. I took some pics of the grounds that I haven't uploaded yet. Pics coming soon!

Happy WWSIP day

Today is World Wide Spin in Public day! Several of us from my spinning group decided to go to Baltimore to celebrate the occasion. We met in Mt Vernon and sat outside in the perfect weather for a day of spinning.



At times - we gathered quite a crowd! We were apparently the attraction of the day.



Jen was wonderful at explaining the mechanics of spinning to everyone who came by with questions...



It was a lovely day to be outside! Just look at those blue skies!



I ended up with 200 yards of worsted weight Navajo 3 ply:



It was hand-dyed by Woolarina and I think I may make a top town raglan sweater with it.


What a great day!

Spinning!

I've been spinning a lot lately but I don't have too much to show for it! The reason I guess is that I've been obsessed with spinning the finest yarn possible!

Here are my latest two skeins:



The blue is roving dyed by Jolene. I spun it into extra fine singles and then Navajo plied them. My friend Larissa has been telling me about how she has been trying to acheive 400 yards of three ply out of 4 oz. It's her holy grail in spinning. She always came close but never quite got to 400. I thought - hey! I'll give it a try! Um... Larissa don't hate me - but I got 528 yards of three ply out this baby! It is a very light fingering - and will make wonderful socks. I love the subtle variation of blues greens and teals that this yarn ended up with.




The orange/yellow one is about 450 yards of 2 ply spun from a Grafton Fiber batt. I may not have initially gone for the batt myself because unspun it looked mostly yellow, and I'm not a huge yellow fan, but when I saw a fellow spinner's results at my Spinning group at Cloverhill I couldn't resist. It's like liquid gold! I love it.



I am not quite sure what it will become - maybe socks or maybe a scarf. I have my eye on this lovely scarf from the latest knitty patterns.


The color is almost identical and I immediately thought of my handspun when I saw the scarf on knitty.com. Any other ideas?

Long overdue Shetland Triangle Photoshoot

I don't know what took me so long to get my act together to actually block this shawl and take pictures. But I finally did!!

I finished this shawl back in March and set it aside to be blocked and promptly forgot about it for months! Not sure why...




Stats:
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style
Yarn: I used about 400 yards of fingering weight handspun made from Corriedale roving I bought at Sheep Shack at Mountain View Farms booth at Rhinebeck last year.
Needles: Size 9
Alterations: None

I love how the yarn makes the stitches and pattern really stand out! I knit this shawl incredible fast too - I just couldn't put it down. It's a bit small to wear as a shawl, but I think I'll wear it as a neck warmer in the winter.












In other news - last weekend I threw my parents a surprise party for their 40th anniversary! I'd been on pins and needles for months trying not to say anything that may give it away. It turns out someone told my Dad - I was so mad!!! But he was awesome and kept it a secret from my mom. So she was definitely surprised! I was afraid I was going to give her a heart attack! When we walked in and everyone yelled "surprise!" her heart was beating so hard I could see it in her neck!

There was also a second surprise - my brother and his wife had flown in from Minnesota - so that was awesome too! That was actually a surprise for them both. I'm so glad I was able to (almost) pull it off. It was a lovely day!