Just couldn't wait could ya?

So, do you know how to take a Rubics Cube from this:

to this?

Well, I was going to post a video to show you, but the girl takes a little over 2 minutes to solve it and flickr will only let me upload a 90 second video. So you will just have to wait until she gets faster . . . sorry, I know you wanted to see that!

And if you remember that big knit 'bucket' I made from all the samples and handspun I made . . . .

Well, it felted remarkably evenly given the wide variety of fibers in it. It turned into the nicest (tho largest) Easter basket you ever saw. It's also quite sturdy - it's still a little damp in these pics, so isn't wanting to stand on it's own, but I think it will when it gets completely dry. Dunno what I'll use it for but I really do like it a lot. And now my first handspun looks an awful lot more even than it did a couple of days ago . . . .

What to do with all those samples?

First, take time to smell the roses . . .

Ok, so they aren't roses - those aren't blooming yet. But the magnolia that just four years ago was nothing but a branch I snipped off the piano teacher's tree is blooming. I'm not sure if it bloomed last year or not, but this year it has more than a dozen buds. It's gorgeous and was worth rooting.

The camellias are also blooming. This is the one on the side of the house - by the patio.

This is what I decided to do with all the fiber samples from the Phat Fiber box. First I spun them all up. Then I spun up some of the wensleydale roving I bought at SAFF. Ply the two together to make yarn. The pink on the bottom and top is the lovely roving that came with my wheel that I also used for practice.

I knit all the yarn into a huge 'bucket' for later felting. I was a little worried about how it would turn out since I didn't have a clue what kind of wool the pink was and I did know that all those samples were different types of fiber - everything from different types of wool to silk to alpaca and who knows what else. It's anybody's guess as to how evenly all those different fibers would felt.


Yes, that IS a large 5 gallon paint type bucket that the knit 'bucket' is draped over. And yes, it is too big for the plastic bucket. This thing is huge!

So, what happened when it went into the washing machine? Did it felt evenly? Or was it a huge mistake and waste of time?

Tune in Tomorrow for the answers to all your questions . . . .

Handspun

So first the April Phat Fiber fiber samples. I spun them all end to end and then added one of the single ply handspun yarns onto the end. Then I spun some of the wensleydale roving I already had and used it to ply with the samples. Came up with about 66 yards which should be enough to finish my sample bag.

Next, do you remember the lovely Mossy Glen roving I bought from Feeling Sheepish? Well I spun that up and then made it into a two ply and this is what I got!

and just so I won't be without anything at all to spin, I bought some of the lovely Sonata's fiber from North Star Aplacas! Can't wait to get that to spin!

Phat Fiber

So I got very lucky - my clicking finger was fast enough to catch a Phat Fiber box for March. I think they went in less than a minute, certainly in less than 3 minutes. It arrived Thursday (I think) but I haven't had time to do anything with the contents - yet.

First the non-fiber goodies. Starting in the upper left corner, a bookmark from Becky's Paper Creations. She has wonderful note cards, stationery, and best of all handmade books and journals. Then the strawberry notecard from Marlyn's Corner Store - very cute. Then there are lots of business cards and then over on the left, under the bookmark is the cutest little sheepy stitchmarker - but I think I'm going to make a necklace out of it - from Yarndemon Designs. Her etsy store is full of the cutest little critters made from polymer clay that you ever saw. I've ordered some special ones for necklaces for the girls for Easter - but I can't show those yet or say more cuz they are a surprise.

Open the box and just look at all that fibery, smooshy stuff! Very super cool!

Again starting in the upper left hand corner - the biggest bag of Shetland Fleece from Baa Hurrah - not sure, but I think it must have been one of the big surprise prizes that they stuck in some of the boxes. Next to that is the Altered Visions sample - lovely green/gold fiber with bits of glitter and sari silk waste. The green next to it is a Tracy Rios batt - angora and wool and very soft and nice. Below that is a lovely little mix of alpaca, merino and silk - very soft and pretty colors - from Whorling Tides. And the dark green naturally dyed merino roving to the left of that is the sample from Natchwoolie - she's got some lovely roving in her shop that I have had my eye on. And last, but certainly not least, on the far left on the bottom, from North Star Alpacas - some lovely merino/alpaca roving from her very own alpaca girl Sonata.

And then there is the yarn! I wish the colors showed better in this photo. The top left yarn from Sparkleshan is absolutely gorgeous - she calls it Saturday in the park and it's full of glorious greens and flowery rose colors with bits of golden brown tossed in. Check out her shop because she has some gorgeous jewelry there too. The orange/red next to it is from Bohemian Knitter Chick and next to that is some recycled yarn from Jag's Funky Fibers. Below that, the green sock yarn is from The Yarn Side. The yarn below that is call Fjord and is from Katsara Luxury Yarns. In the center on the bottom is Wild Hare handspun in gold and glitz - called Pot of Gold and absolutely lovely - would love enough to make something nice out of this! And the last little sample from Laura Murphy of Wild Thyme is gorgeous with beads and glitz plyed into the yarn. She is really an artist and spins some wild and beautiful yarn.

Inthe first pic of the bits, I didn't show the pattern - Mrs. Dalloway - from The Crochet Side - wish I was into crochet but she does have a couple of knit patterns. And the lovely lavender sachet from Ambrosia and Bliss - Miss S snagged that one and I let her because she loves lavendar and I really don't.

There were a few things I would have loved to have gotten that I didn't get - two different and very nice shawl pins, needle felted mini sheep and alpacas, some lovely row counters and bracelets, etc. But all in all, I'm very happy with my box - again. Think I will try for another one in April. But for now, I think I'll just go spin some fiber up and see what it does.

Toasty Twist Socks Pattern Published & Available

Finally! I had a tough time getting it up on Ravelry but it's done! Available for free download is the pattern for my Toasty Twist Socks. (This is the pattern that won the NeedleNook sock design contest last year.)

So, for the specifics:
Toasty Twist Socks
take one skein of Numma Numma Toasty sock yarn (440 yards, but you'll have leftover).
Size 1 (2.25) and 2 (2.75) circular knitting needles - pattern is written for two socks at a time on two sets of circs.
Gauge: 16 sts & 22 rows to 2" in stockinette stitch.
Two sizes in pattern - women's M and women's L

A little bit of this, A little bit of that . . . .

Remember those socks I designed? The ones that won the contest? Well, I've worked on the pattern and all I need to do is add pics and it's ready to publish. Should be available tomorrow sometime if all goes well.

And Ishbel is finished, ends worked in and blocked. It's lovely and that girl of mine likes it. It looks good on her too, so I might let her borrow it a time or two . . . .

Here are the socks I'm knitting for the sock-a-long. They are a little big around the foot, but not too much and I am not planning to rip them back again. Haven't figured out a pattern for them yet but I figured we'd add that to the cuff and leave the foot plain . . . . also need to figure out what kind of heel we want to do. Do you want to try one you haven't done before?

This is why I'm not getting my knitting done very fast . . . . having way too much fun with the spinning wheel. This is the Mossy Glen spun as a thin single. I'm on the second spool of it now (half done, actually), so should be able to show you the plied result tomorrow or the next day. It's very pretty up close - sort of twists of two colors alternating . . . .

Will also show the contents of my Phat Fiber box tomorrow.

Spinning 'round in cirlces all the time . . .

So now I'm spinning again after all these years of not spinning. First, I spun a spool of the pink wool and then a spool of the natural colored wool that I picked up at SAFF. Then I had a blast spinning all the samples that came in my Phat Fiber box. You cannot even begin to get an idea of how cool these fiber bits were from these pics or from this yarn. They were gorgeous and spinning them was a treat - lots of different fiber types and blends and differnt put ups too. It was a mini education in itself. I learned some things I liked and some things I did not like.

After I spun them all up, I plied the sample spool with the natural spool. I did a very bad job of it - not nearly enough twist, but it's still yarn. I ended up with about 120 yards of yarn and I plan to make myself a hat out of it. I will supplement with the pink yarn if need be to make it loose like I want it.








Then I spun the rest of the pink wool onto a second spool - there was less on the second spool. I plied them together and when I got to the end of the shorter spool, I used a paper towel tube as a nostepinne and made a center pull ball. I had to gently help the yarn pull from the center and had to turn the tube to keep the outer yarn from tangling so it went slowly, but I got it done. It made a pretty nice hank of yarn. Not sure what I will do with it now.



In all this spinning, I was deliberately trying to make a thicker yarn than I usually do, and I was pretty successful.

Then this stuff came out of the bag. It's a little sample - probably about a half ounce - of 'domestic top' that Silverstah of Feeling Sheepish sent in with an order I placed with her. When I pm'd her, she said this sample was her 'domestic top'. It was an absolute dream to spin - almost spun itself. I spun it fine because that's what it seemed to want to do and it did it beautifully. Its fibers slipped along each other like they were sliding on a polished floor and the colors (which are hard to see in this pic) were gorgeous going by - a burgundy color with a fair amount of blue and a bit of turquoise. I really loved spinning this stuff and I will definitely order more as soon as I can afford to - lots more!

I ordered some of her hand dyed Corriedale wool roving in a color called Mossy Glen which I haven't spun yet. The sample was something she threw in the box because she forgot my box at home - and I'm so glad she did. It didn't matter in the least because the box came the morning after the girl and I got home, and would have been no use to me before that anyway.

So next I spin Mossy Glen . . . .

Spin, Span, Spun!!!

So now that I have figured it out, I've gone plumb spinning crazy! I started with this pink roving and spun all of it - probably about 5 ounces. Then I spun 4 ounces of natural white wenslydale that I bought at SAFF - still have 3 more 4 oz balls of roving to spin. Then I spun all the small samples I got in the Phat Fiber box and a few that I had before that. Then I plied the samples and the white wensleydale together (it's drying now - pics of it tomorrow). I'm going to knit a hat with it so that I can have something from my first decent handspun.

I've got the wensleydale balls, some white unknown fiber that I bought a long time ago, some lovely white that I think is merino and a braid of handdyed that I bought. I may never get my knitting done now . . . .

Done and Blocking

There is still a mistake and people who have knit Ishbel will be able to see it. But I knit the stupid thing three times almost to completion and then ripped it back to nothing on each. The fourth time was quite enough for me. I could try to go back and fix the mistake, but I'd likely end up ripping the whole thing out and I am not knitting this pattern with this yarn again. I might make the pattern again with another yarn if I like wearing the shawl tho because the pattern is relatively easy even if I made it difficult.

I'll take a less blurry pic when it's dry.

Testing Only