Noolie Knits

Spinning & Knitting FO's

Spinning:

I finished spinning and plying some of the fiber I bought while at SPA last month.

"Necco Wafer"
1 pound Mohair/Wool blend from Friends' Folly Farm
328 yards, bulky weight, 2-ply

This was nice fiber to spin. I am pretty happy with the way it came out; this was just the yarn I was going for (except for the few under plied sections).   I'm not sure what it will become; for now it will sit in my handspun stash and look pretty.

Knitting:

I knit one of the projects that I listed a couple of weeks ago as one of the "10 things I want to knit RIGHT NOW"

Pattern: Lena Hat by Gina House
Yarn: Sereknity Sock Options Perfect Sock, color - Indigo-go and a bit of my
handspun Sereknity alpaca/merino/silk, color Beach Glass, for the flower
Needles: Size 4 16" circular

Mods: The only mod I made was to do two extra repeats of the pattern to make a longer hat.

This hat was a joy to knit; the pattern was well written and easily memorized.  I'll definitely be knitting it again.

Clover certainly likes it!

What's This? Knitting? On a Knitting Blog?

How unusual! 

I may not be posting much lately, but I have still been knitting.   Not making a whole lot of progress, but knitting, nonetheless. 

I'm still plugging away on Wisteria, but I'm going to save that sad story for another day.  Today, I'm going to talk about socks.

First up, a finished pair:

January socks

Toe-up, gusset heel, 3X1 rib legs
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Spunky Speckeled, DK Weight
in Mandy colorway
Needles: Size 3 dpn's
Started January 10, Finished January 24

I bought this yarn at Amy's a couple of years ago and just got around to using it.   It's awesome yarn, so soft to knit with and to wear!  I like a nice heavy sock in the winter but don't like it to be bulky in my shoes - this fits the bill perfectly.

When one pair of socks comes off the needles, another has to go on, right?  Right.

February Socks

Pattern: Cauchy by Cookie A
Yarn: Sereknity Yarn & Fiber Sock Options Good Harbor
in Secret Garden colorway
Needles: Size 2 dpn's

This is a fun pattern to knit, not to difficult and yet not mind numbingly boring either. It's an easy pattern to memorize and it creates a fun design. Working with Heather's yarn is a joy, as usual; this Good Harbor yarn is especially soft with a very lovely sheen. I can't quite capture the beauty of the colors - the green is much greener, not so much yellowish/green. When I first started knitting this sock, I wasn't sure how I felt about the way it was pooling, but the further along I get, the more I like it. I'm thinking I might do an afterthought heel just so I can keep the colors pooling in the same manner right down the foot.

Speaking of socks, want to see why I am wearing one of my socks rolled down this week?  Those of you who are friends on Facebook already know; for the rest of you, here's the reason:

My newest tattoo, done by the awesome Tattoo George.  This picture was taken right after he finished it.   I will, of course, post another picture when it is completely healed.  It's on the inner side of my left leg down close to the ankle (thus, the reason for rolled down socks).

That's it for today.  Have a wonderful night!

WIP Wednesday on Thursday

It's my crazy busy time at work and will remain that way for a couple more months.  Add to that the fact that I'm also very busy in my non-work life - knit night, spinning night, watching Clover on days Samm works (after I get home until Jay gets home from work), or just plain playing with Clover.  This makes it really difficult to blog regularly.  I've decided not to stress too much about it and stop apologizing for it,  but I would really like to get in at least one fiber related post a week. 

This week's post was meant to be a WIP Wednesday post, but I didn't finish it in time (see above) so you're getting it today. Just pretend for a moment that it's Wednesday as I show you my current WIP's. (The ones I'm actively working on anyway; like most of you, there are plenty more that have been stashed away to take a timeout and which may or may not be ressurected at some future date). 

SPINNNIG:
 

Sereknity "Beach Glass" 4 ounces of lucious Alpaca/Merino/Silk  

I'm loving the way this is spinning up.  I split the fiber only once lengthwise to get nice long color repeats.  I intend to navajo ply in order to keep the beautiful colors intact.  The singles should be finished tonight at Chicks with Wheels. 

KNITTING:

  This is the completed back of my Cabled Yoke Pullover.   

Since taking this picture, I've completed the front up to the point where I need to begin the patterning.  It's now on hold until I finish this next item:

 

   Spring Savasana Socks (Ravelry link) by Gina House  

This is Gina's newest sock pattern (the one she gifted me last week).  While doing a partial stash organization on Sunday, I rediscovered this yarn that Patti gifted to me quite some time ago.  It is Dream in Color Classy and it is perfect for this pattern.  It's very soft and squishy and feels wonderful on my foot.  The pattern is great; it's very easy to remember the 4 row pattern repeat and it's quick.  I started this first sock Sunday afternoon and finished it on Monday!  I've started and completed the ribbing on the second sock and plan to finish that by the weekend. 

CROCHETING: 

Warning - Very Bright Photo Ahead - Use Caution when Viewing!

I haven't shown you any progress on my Crocus Wrap for a while and since it was a beautiful sunny afternoon after work yesterday, I decided to snap a picture on the deck.  Immediately after taking the picture below, my camera battery died.  Had it not died, I would have attempted to get a better photo for you.  

Crocus Wrap
My handspun Louet Northern Lights yarn in the Burning Bush colorway (which is much pretty than the picture would lead you to believe; check it out here.)

I'm enjoying crocheting this wrap;  I don't need it until mid-September so I'm just taking my time and working on it when the mood strikes.  It doesn't look so hot unblocked, but when I stretch it out to get a preview of how it might look when finished, I'm very happy.  Now I just need to lose enough weight to fit into the dress I want to wear with it!
(I should be able to do it - I've lost 11 1/2 pounds since mid-February;  just have to keep my motivation up to lose another 10.)

Unintentional Break

I really didn't mean to take a blog break; it just kind of happened.  When I realized that it had been over a month since my last post (other than the Friday with Clover posts), I was shocked.  I kept meaning to blog; as a matter of fact, I wrote many blog posts in my mind.  Those don't really count though, do they?  Unless you can read my mind, I need to make the time to actually get those posts from my head onto the blog.

Making time to get things done just hasn't been working out very well lately.  When I have had the time, I haven't had the energy.  I'm going to make a serious effort to change that. 

Even though I haven't been around blogland very much, I have still been knitting and spinning; there's even been some crocheting. Granted, not nearly as much time spent with the needles, hooks, and wheel as I'd like, but some. 

As you can imagine, there has also been a lot of new and exciting changes with Clover.  You got a glimpse of one of the changes in the last post.

 I don't want to bore you to death with one very lengthy post filling you in on everything at once, so I think I'll break it down into several smaller posts. 

Tonight's post will be all about the FO's (don't get too excited, there aren't very many).

First - A Sweater for ME:

Pattern:  Metro Pullover by Oat Couture Yarn:  Plymouth Yarn Galway Colornep (the color doesn't show very well in this shot; it's a lovely olive green with flecks of red, yellow, and blue) Needles:  Size 8 and 9 Mods:  The only modification I made was to knit this in the round to the arm holes.
I picked up the perfect buttons for this from the Malabar Glass booth at Harvestfest, which was held last month outside my office.  I wasn't sure at first, but once on the sweater, it was obvious that they were made for it! 

I Love this sweater; it fits perfectly and I've already worn it a few times since finishing.

Second- I hope you're sitting down for this one:

Samm's Sweet Socks   STARTED:  February 20, 2008 FINISHED:  November 11, 2008 (yep, you read that right - February to November for one pair of socks) Yarn:  "Sweet Clover" bamboo/merino, (dyed by the fabulous Heather of Sereknity and Serenkity Boutique) Needles:  Size 1 1/2 dpns Pattern:  Standard cuff-down sock with eye of Partridge flap heel
I honestly didn't think I'd finish a single pair of socks this year and then I suddenly felt the need to finish these. I'm glad I did. They are beautiful socks (thanks to Heather's beautiful dye job) and there's enough yarn left to make some matching socks for Clover. Just have to get around to starting them.

Third: Two FO's in one.

Part One - Clover's Hat

Pattern:  Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur Needles:  size 9 Mods:  Added a chin strap with button instead of the braided ties Yarn: My Handspun, which brings us to...   Part Two - Neapolitan

4 ounces "Neapolitan" Merino/Silk 80/20 fiber from Spunky Eclectic Spun 2-ply - approximately 66 yards bulky weight (well, actually it's a little thick and thin, but mostly thick)

This spun up so incredibly soft that all I want to do with it is snuggle it. But, I decided that a nice warm hat for Clover might be a more appropriate use for it.  I think I made the right decision; the hat is incredibly soft and fits her perfectly.

I think that's enough for one post. More catching up next time. I promise I won't wait another month; I'm going to shoot for at least one more post before the next Friday with Clover.

Goodnight!