30.3.09

What's New?

I feel like I haven't really done much of anything lately, spinning or knitting wise. I got all the fiber washed from my fleece sample kit, plus 8 oz of romney wool that I ordered from eBay. That one's taking forever to dry. I realized that I'm supposed to save some fleece for the sample card. Having never really done this before I feel like I keep missing important steps. There should be what? fleece sample, singles sample, plied sample, and knitted sample right? And as much as I feel like I suck at washing fleece (getting the tips clean still eludes me) I find myself combing eBay and other fiber sites for new sheep breeds I can try. I guess that's a good thing. I can start forming opinions about what fleeces I like or not, and what I think they might be used for. Not well informed opinions, but at least it's something to start working from.

Here's my plied romney, look how shiny it is!

romney 2 ply

Oh god the cat has decided to share my lap space with my laptop. :I

In other news, I finished my Bella mittens and worked on the hat. I had enough to finish, but it was way too short for my head. So I ripped it out, added a repeat, and then came up short 12 rows from the finish line. I was working from stash, and I don't have any more of that yarn. I don' t want to buy a whole skein for several yards worth of knitting. I seem to be at an impasse. No one in the de-stashing forums seems to have any to spare. :(
bella's hatbella's mittens

I suppose I should have knit the hat first, then omitted a repeat on each mitten, but that would have made too much sense. The mittens are top down, and I'm not cannibalizing them then re-knitting both of them. Grrrrr.........

Also I made a neck cozy (no photo yet). I don't like things around my neck, so this is sort of a trial thing. I was going to use the Morningside neckwarmer pattern, but It looked really messy in my handspun I was using, so I opted for a corrugated rib pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary and it worked out nicely (once I figured out how to translate flat knitting to in the round knitting). It feels OK, I might be able to live with it. And if I can wear this one, then I can definitely handle a smoke ring (which will also be from stash I'm trying to use up).

3 comments:

pique said...

omg I'm adding romney to my list, that is just gorgeous! I bet it shows die wonderfully. You can't suck too much at washing fleece, the yarn looks absolutely spotless. What do you think romney would be best used for, or do you have to do knit a sample first?

You're crazy, you got tons of stuff done. Love your mittens and nearly-hat. Don't give up, someone's got this yarn somewhere.

Angie J said...

Isn't Romney just dreamy. That and Shetland are some of my most fav wool fibers. The sheep are cute too. I haven't really done anything this past week, except stress over the not smoking thingy. I have my tibetan out and am spinning up some merino/bamboo right now.

Love those hand socks. They'd make great nice warm foot socks too.

Erin said...

The romeny was the only one that washed completely clean. It's a longwool, but it's soft, so I think it would be great for socks or mittens, or just about anything really. :) Maybe I'll do an Angie Experiment (TM) and knit a couple pairs of socks and see how they wear.

Angie-- good luck with your "not smoking thingie"! I've been trying to get Dad to quit for ages, but it's a lost cause. Every time you feel the urge you should spin a little. That'll keep your hands busy and your mind off the craving. Plus you get yarn. It's a win-win. ;)