bright colors for dreary weather

Recently I pulled out my holiday lights tam (which I hadn't touched in well over a year) and started working on it again. I had abandoned it because I wasn't at all sure if I was happy with the color combinations; I wasn't willing to pay for the yarn called for in the pattern, so I had substituted with my best guess as to the right colors--even dying some of my own with koolaid when I couldn't find anything to match what I saw in the pictures in the pattern. Anyway, I'm still unconvinced, but i'm going to keep at it a little longer. It's nice to have some color in my knitting, anyway, when all you see outside is white, gray and brown.

fo: rabbit

Started: December, 2009
Finished: February 12, 2010
Pattern: Last minute finished gifts
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Sportweight (doubled) 2 skeins
An early Easter present for my niece! He's not quite as cute as the picture in the book, but he's still cute. Took me quite a bit longer than I thought. The finishing was kind of a pain. I wish I had used angora for the ears, but I didn't feel like buying a whole skein of yarn for that, so I just used some pink alpaca that I had--but of course it doesn't have that fuzzy halo that angora has.

fo: raspberry beret

Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco (wool/alpaca/angora) 1 1/2 skeins
Needles: 3 and 5, I think? How do I forget so quickly which needles I used?
Pattern: Cabled beret by Ashley Hasse

I had to modify b/c I didn't get gauge at all--instead of 4.5 stitches to the inch I got 5.5--so I cast on 120 stitches instead of 100 and did 5 cable rounds instead of 4 before beginning my decreases. THought it would still be too small but I like the fit. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the scarf. It's quite skinny (less than 4" wide) so it really needs to be fairly long.

And, here's some of the Romney fleece that I'm spinning. It's coming out extremely noily and bumpy. I just can't card it enough to make it smooth. Hmmm. I think I'm going to have to join a spinner's guild soon so I can bring my questions to someone!

current wips

After finishing my few Christmas gifts (a hat made of my own home-spun yarn for my dad, and a very simple shawl for my mom) I started this very skinny cabled scarf for myself. I'm not following a pattern, just winging it, and I think it's probably too skinny, so it will have to be very long, which means I'm only about half done. The yarn is lovely, though, merino and alpaca with a touch of angora.

Then, I'm working on Ishbel, though I'm probably going to rip it out as the yarn (knitpicks shimmer, turqoise splendor) is just too crazy for it, I think.
And here's the first skeins of yarn spun on my own wheel--very homespun looking, but pretty.Which means I've been able to start spinning the wool my aunt and uncle sent me. Pictures of that in progress next time--for now, here's a picture of it keeping Clementine warm.

fo: serendipity sweater

yarn: Colonia 140 cuarzo verde from handpainted yarn, 4 skeins
pattern: serendipitous sweater from Hollywood Knits
needles: size 15

Modifications: My gauge was slightly off and the largest size was still a little too small for me, so I had to make some modifications--adding a few extra stitches to all pieces. Finishing this was a pain. I've decided no more seaming for me--I'm only going to knit sweater in the round! Still, this sweater knit up quite quickly with this fairly bulky yarn on such large needles....a pretty easy and inexpensive knit. The fronts seem to hang asymmetrically even after blocking and even though they appear to be the same length. Also, the neckline is so large that possibly this will end up slipping off my shoulders. And the sleeves are way too long after blocking, but I kind of like the look of it.

Here is a picture of some of the fleece that my aunt Carol and uncle Arch sent me to spin! They washed it once already before sending it to me, bless their hearts, but it still seemed quite greasy to me so I washed it again several times. It's drying on top of the washer/dryer and any place I can spread it out where it won't be too tempting to Clementine (she loves to eat wool.) Hopefully in another day or so it will be dry enough to start carding and spinning!

owl

I made this guy yesterday morning in about an hour. This is my first attempt to make a stuffed animal without a pattern. He was inspired by a dress that my niece wore on thanksgiving that had little owls all over it, and to be honest, he's nowhere near as cute as he was in my mind (or as cute as the dress.) I wonder if he would be cuter if he were smaller? Or in pink and green? Nevertheless, here he is.

Knittingwise, I had a productive day. My serendipitous sweater is coming along. A couple days ago I sewed the back and fronts together, having completed one arm which seemed way too long. Before sewing the arm in to see, though, I tried on the vest and found it too small. So today I reknit both fronts, adding a couple inches width to each, and adding about an inch in length to them and to the back. Tomorrow I'll seam them up, and if they seem to be ok, will knit the other sleeve and hopefully finish that sucker up! I'm eager to start a new shawl, Ishbel (so I can be like every other knitter on the planet) and I'm also trying to decide between several sweaters by Wendy Bernhard (aka Knit & Tonic)....I love all of her patterns!

spinning wheel

Well, here it is, my latest acquisition. It is an Ashford traditional wheel, bought used. A late birthday/early Christmas present to myself--but hopefully one that will yield some gifts for other people one of these days! Of course, I don't really know much about what I'm doing--right now I'm working with some merino/bamboo combed top that I purchased at my LYS, the Yarn Barn, and it's certainly trickier to spin than the wool that I prepared myself last spring. Still, I'm so happy to have a wheel of my own and am looking forward to seeing what I can do with it!