A New Era

I went, I learned, I spun. I am a spinner! Yarn School was fantastic, and I highly recommend it, for beginners and experienced spinners. There were even a couple of husbands there! Nikol Lohr owns and runs Yarn School, and the teachers were Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn, Sarah Ivy Kinkaid of Maisy Day Handpun, and Jennifer Schermerhorn of Whirled Yarn. In addition to learning to spin, we learned to prep fiber, make batts and combed tops, and dye the fiber.

The first picture is of my very first handspun, two-ply.

Up next are some singles on my bobbin. These were spun from two batts I carded on a drum carder. They were a mixture of blue, greens, yellow, some black... I think that's all.

After I spun both batts, the bobbin was pretty much full. Then I learned how to Navajo ply.

Finally, Adrian offered up some singles she had spun if anyone wanted to learn how to thread ply. I jumped on it, and learned how to make beehives as well.

Pictures of the roving I dyed and the other batts I made to follow!

Heels, Muscles, and Punk Rock Girl

Check out the heel on my current WIP! This is actually the second sock, so I hope to finish soon. This is Paddy's Lucky Clover Socks from Robyn's Nest March sock club kit. The yarn was dyed by Shelby B, who was my downstream pal in Secret Pal 9, and the pattern designer is Angela Dominey. This is the best picture I could get of the heel, under late night circumstances, but I think it's really pretty. It's basically an Eye of Partridge heel, but the yarn in held in front of the slipped stitches instead of the back. The photos on the pattern didn't really do it justice either, so I was really happy to see the way the color and texture popped as it was being formed :).

In other news, I joined a gym. Actually it's a very nice facility, one of the nicest in my town, and is affiliated with one of the hospitals. I won the membership at a charity auction a few months back, and finally bit the bullet last week. The gave me a stress, strength, and flexibility tests, an EKG, checked my cholesterol, etc. I met with my trainer (included in the membership!!) last week for the results, and for my first training session. It was brutal!! Actually, she probably could have been a lot rougher on my, but I am so out of shape it's not even funny. My endurance level is 30% below average for someone of my age. I scored good on the strength test - I was able to do 13 modified push ups before I said enough - that can be attributed to still lifting a 4o-something pound 5 year old once in a while, and a 29 pound 2 year old fairly often. Anyway, I am really committed to getting back in shape, and making this work. The facility is less than half a mile from my office, so I just have to block off the time before or after work to go. I'll see how far I can get during the membership period, and then decide if I want to continue. It's farily pricey, but I think it might be worth it.

And finally, speaking of the two-year-old in my house, she is nearly three, and is little Miss Independent these days. Case in point, she likes to pick out her own clothes. This weekend she chose the outfit as pictured, right down to the black boots. When BHE saw her, he grabbed the camera to get a picture of his "Punk Rock Girl." A few shots into it, he handed her his guitar, and no lie, this is how she posed, knee bent and everything. I'm a little partial to the almost-snarl :)

FO Report: Jupiter Red Socks

Pattern: My own

Yarn: Regia Galaxy, Jupiter Red #1559

Needles: US size 1 1/2 / 2.5mm

Started: March 21, 2008

Finished: April 10, 2008

These turned out to be really long socks, but I just kept knitting so I could see the swirls! They were knit toe-up, with a Turkish cast-on, short row heel, and EZ's Stretchy Sewn Bind-Off after a couple of inches of 1 x 1 ribbing. I think I have enough yarn for 3 more pair of socks in this series of yarn - One black with swirls, one navy with swirls, and one khaki with swirls. I'm too lazy right now to go look up the colors, but I will be knitting them up relatively quickly. I washed this pair yesterday, and they came out of the washer a lot softer. Not that they weren't wearable before washing, because I did wear them for two days, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much softer they did feel :) (I'm also too lazy to link right now, but I've used the Turkish toe and the Stretchy Sewn bind off in my couple of pair of toe-up socks - if anyone needs help with them, feel free leave a comment or send an email.)

I've already cast on for my next pair, and am just at the heel on the first sock. Pictures soon!

My Personality Type

This is actually pretty dead on:

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's" Your Personality Type?

Leave me a comment or send me a link to your results!

I'm doing much better now, thank you very much :) Sweetpea still says she doesn't feel good, and has run a low grade fever off and on. The nurse at the pediatricians' office said they want her to finish this second round of antibiotics and see how she does, unless her fever spikes or she has other symptoms. So well see.

I've finished the Jupiter Red socks (pictures soon, I promise), and cast on for Paddy's Lucky Clover socks. I was able to knit on the first sock for about 30 minutes today at lunch, yay!

Next up after those are the Rockin' Sock Club March kit, Leafling. After that, I just may cast on a for a summer cardi or two! The yarn is on order, and my office runs a little cool sometimes. I just checked by projects, and other than the Vogue Wrap cardi (which didn't work out), the last cardi I finished was the Debbie Bliss sailor collar cardi last November! I've done nine pairs of socks since then, plus a pair of Fetchings.

On a closing note, I was thinking this morning: I remember at one time saying I had no interest in knitting socks, and look at me now. I also remember saying at one time that I had no interest in spinning.....

Nothing new here

Knitting has been waylaid the last few days by Sweetpea's ear infection (going on 2 weeks and second round of antibiotics), and my "acute tonsillitis." We both spent last weekend in bed for the most part. I'm doing better, and she is somewhat, but not as much as I would expect. I'm calling tomorrow for another doctor appointment because she started running a fever again today.

I didn't feel like knitting (that's how BHE knew I was really sick) for several days, but now I'm back on the Jupiter socks. I should have a FO Report tomorrow or the next day!

WIP Wednesday

On my needles this week: my third, yes, third sock in Regia Galaxy Jupiter Red sock. I was so concerned about getting the yarn to actually pool the way it was meant to, to create the rings, that the first sock was knit very loosely. I actually started and frogged 5 or 6 times, trying different combinations of needle size and stitch count . When I finally found what I thought was correct, I continued on and knit the first sock (loosely). Then we took a road trip to Texas, and in the process of knitting the second sock, I went back to my normal gauge, and lo and behold, the stripy rings didn't go away, but the sock was nearly an inch smaller around, and fit much better. So I ripped the first one and started over with my normal gauge.

The green yarn is the March selection from Robyn's Nest sock club. I cast on and started the ribbing, but it seemed really small. Last night I started knitting in stockinette to check my gauge, and I'm getting 9 1/2 stitches per inch, instead of 8 as the pattern calls for! I was using 2.25 mm needles like the pattern calls for, as I can usually get gauge with whatever size is recommended. I'm going to check my gauge on 2.5 mm needles and see how it goes. I did like the fabric I was getting on the 2.25 mm needles, so if 2.5 doesn't work out, I may try to adjust the stitch count and use the smaller needles.

This is everything I received from Robyn's Nest. It is everything included in the March sock club kit, plus an ebony shawl stick I ordered to use with the Vogue Wrap Cardi. It didn't work out, but I'll definitely find another use for the shawl pin. Robyn was great - she initially sent my pin in February when I ordered it, but it was broken in half in the mail, despite the padded packaging she used. When I contacted her, she responded immediately and replaced it free of charge :) I just love great customer service!