musindigo

It is.  In May.

And I know other folks in different parts of the continent are guffawing about SNOW in May.  (Bad word, snow).  So I’m trying very hard to enjoy our heatwave here even though it slogs me out and makes me feel about as energetic as a snail.

However.  It has been too long since I’ve last typed so despite the heat I am typing.  And I also dyed today because it’s about time I do some of that too.  Especially since it’s nummy new limited edition mill-spun alpaca-merino laceweight I just retrieved very recently from a local mill.  They did a fabulous job and I can’t wait to get it up in the shop.  50/50 alpaca merino.

It’s gorgeous to knit with (I’m working on a pattern in it) and wonderfully soft.  Great for next-to the skin wear.  And it will be very pretty for lace knitting.

As of late it’s sort of been touch and go.  Physically, things are a little better due to new meds.  The trick is finding balance between meds and activity.  Sometimes the meds are the culprit keeping me from moving about and sometimes I overdo it and the meds don’t do as good of a job.  I’m getting there!  Just being able to get into the dyeroom is thrilling.  And I am quite happy to not have to deal with negative temps (again, my sympathies to those of you who are still stuck with frost and other bad words).

Otherwise, I’ve kept myself busy with my usual round of weekly startitis projects (see flyby photos below).  I did manage to finish a few things (or halves of pairs of socks, that sort of thing).  And one shawl is finished.

I don’t have pretty pretty pics of it yet - but here are a few pics:

Specs:  Daybreak by Stephen West.  Medium size, yarn is Oceanwind Knits Merino in various shades.  I think I used 3.75mm needles.  It’s gotten a lot of wear already.

Other bits of recent fibre-y activity (in no apparent order - just pretty fibre pictures :)):

hand-spun merino (Lakehouse Loft) - Wanida sock (Cookie A)

Sylvi

hand-spun corriedale (Lakehouse Loft)

wensleydale roving - potential spinning

wensleydale roving (more) - spinning in progress

Traveling Woman (in hand-spun corriedale from above)

And, due to aforementioned heatwave, plants are coming alive and blooming and just generally growing like mad.

I totally love poppies, don’t you?  This is a shot of the first one to open.

This last photo is Sam’s magic bean plant, which grew from ‘just popped out of the seed pod’ to about 4 inches, as you see, overnight.  Magic, indeed.  :)

So, there we are.  A sort of fly-by update but a blog post, nonetheless.

Hoping to post the new yarn by the end of this week.  :)

Tags: Canada, dyeing, finished, knitting, life, millspun, oceanwind knits, projects, roving, snow, wip, wool, work in progress, yarn

Any of you who have read this blog for a while know that I tend to have a lot of ideas and only two hands.  I’m betting you roll your eyes with some regularity when I announce a new project, especially ones involving the knitting of sweaters.  Never mind how you must chuckle when I announce I am spinning the wool for said sweater.

So, I am delighted to show you this:

I’m betting you thought it was languishing in the UFO pile.  In actuality, I’ve been wearing it since last October.  My tardiness in posting any FO photos was the result of not having the photos taken until a few days ago.  I happened to be wearing it when a friend came to visit, the weather was perfect, and hubby had a few moments to take the camera.

No, I’ve not completed a hand-spun sweater just yet.  But, I will.  Someday.

For now, I have this one to enjoy.  :)

Pattern:  The infamous Tangled Yoke Cardigan, Eunny Jang.  Yarn: Celestial millspun alpaca/wool/silk by Wooly Wonka Fibres.

So, there you have it.  A finished sweater, knit by myself.  :)  Total love.

99 (or so) to go.  ;)

Tags: finished, knits, knitting, millspun, projects, sweater, wool

After finishing the Solstice-themed shawl for Anne’s club (and it was a feat - nearly 700 sts to bind off at the end) I was finally in for a treat which had been sitting beside my desk staring at me innocently (seductively is more like it but I say ‘innocently’ because it was just helplessly amazing yarn in skeins which have no real physical power - how would they know what kind of an affect they were having on me?) for some time.  I resisted winding the yarn until the last stitch was bound off and the shawl was blocked to perfection.  I petted it regularly but I resisted winding.  I am pretty proud of myself, considering, this Celestial (Ravelry link) is the type of yarn you want to take to bed with you (and I am also probably the worst knitter around for constantly starting new things when I have no business doing so, so I am extra proud of myself).

See?

This is the type of yarn which comes into your life only rarely - mill-spun limited edition 50/30/20 alpaca/wool/silk, 400 yds, 3.5 oz, fingering to light sportweight.  Yummy.

Anne mentioned something (innocently?) about wanting to make a Tangled Yoke with it and well, I fell.  Hard.  I had to have enough for a sweater.

So, here it is as a Tangled Yoke sleeve:

Knits like butter.  It will have enough definition to show the yoke cabling but is lightweight and divine next to the skin…  I can’t wait for it to be finished.

As it is, however, knowing how my knitting goes, I doubt it will be ready in time for holiday wearing, so I decided to get back into the swing with my one-armed Kauni as a back-up - doable for the holidays if I want it to be (and although not quite as heavenly as the Tangled will be, still a fun and festive addition to a holiday wardrobe).  Here’s a shot of the one-armed version, steeked and hanging about on my dummy lady:

I haven’t quite decided how I will do the button band or the neck but I’m thinking probably a bit of a collar.

My track record for finishing sweaters is not great but I have high hopes with these two.

In other news, a selection of some new things in the shop (although the top one, laceweight, is gone already, sorry):

A lot of things in the shop are on sale until the end of Dec, so it’s not a bad time to pick up anything you may have your eye on.

And coming soon:

Isn’t it cool?  Tweedy Sock yarn (coming soon to Oceanwind Knits), Vinnland sock pattern.  I love it so far.  :)

I have some FOs, too (remarkable lol) - I will post those to Ravelry.

If you have snow, blame me.  I wished for snow to grace the photos of the Solistice shawl for publishing and, well, I got my wish.  Over and over again.  In November, no less.  We have about 2 1/2 feet accumulated (and it’s not stopping… urgh).

Tags: knits, knitting, life, millspun, oceanwind knits, socks, sweater