Up to Date

I only have a few minutes but I wanted to show some updates of the projects I started with my handspun this weekend.

This update is about as exciting as broccoli.  I like broccoli and all but you're not going to write home about it, are you?  I feel like that with lace projects in progress.  They lay there and be.  That's all.  There's nothing about looking at them that's going to tell you how beautiful they're going to be when finished and blocked.  But I'm pretty much on track so I'm going to show it.  I have one more repeat of this section (16 rows) before I move on to the border section (that will be 42 rows) and then I have a short edging section (16 rows, I think).  The other thing you never quite count on is how much longer a row takes when there are 250 stitches in the row than when there were 50.  Gets me every time.

The thing that really caught my fancy this weekend was a project with recycled handspun.  I spun this a few months ago with 1 singles of mohair and 1 singles of merino.  The mohair was variegated and the merino a single color and they blended beautifully.  I started something out of it, not because it was the right project for it but I was just keen to get something started with it.  Needless to say, it wasn't the right project and I ripped it out.  Then I came across this "seafoam" pattern and it clicked.  I started it with 56 stitches across (10 + 6 for the pattern repeat) and headed off.  I wasn't sure how much yarn I had or where it was going but I was so entralled, it really didn't matter.  The stitch pattern is super simple:

Knit 2 rows (it's a garter stitch pattern).

Knit 6, yarn over twice, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1 yarn over 4 times, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1, yarn over 2 times, (repeat from the beginning to last 6 stitches), knit 6.

Knit across, dropping all the yarn overs.

Knit 2 more rows

Knit 1, yarn over twice, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1 yarn over 4 times, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1, yarn over 2 times, (repeat from the beginning to the last stitch),  knit 1

Knit across, dropping all the yarn overs

Knit 2 more rows.

Easy, right?  And I love the effect.  You can't see it here but I added a button and buttonhole to the corner there and it makes a right lovely capelet.

Knit Your Own

I've been spinning away and I've got a plan just as soon as I get the fiber I ordered from Pacific Wool and Fiber but it's a secret for now. 

I got on a start new projects jag yesterday and started 2 new projects with my handspun.  One is a scarf made from the mohair/merino handspun I spun from fiber I got at Bishop Hill last year.  The mohair top was dyed in a mediteranean sea sort of colorway.  I plied it with a solid color merino and I love the effect it has on this scarf being knit with an "ocean wave" pattern.  Can't wait to get it finished and blocked out.

The second project is very close to my heart because I fell in love with the roving (Frabjous Fiber blue faced leicester), then I went batty over the finished yarn and now I'm head over heels with the way it looks with this Wisteria Shawl pattern from the Homespun Handknit book.  It's a wonderful easy pattern and is moving right alongI'll bet I have a goodly bit of it finished by the end of the weekend.

Ask me what I did this weekend

Remember I was working on spinning some mohair and was wondering if it would work to ply it with the turquoise merino? Well, here are the results:

I love the way the solid colored merino toned down and grounded the colors of the mohair. I've got a couple more ounces of the mohair to spin and I'm waiting for more merino to come so I can finish. This skein turned out what I would call heavy lace weight, makeing about 320 yards (72 grams) so doing the rest of it should give me about 600 yards. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what the pretty yarn wants to be!

I had to do some traveling last week for my job. Actually, I should say I got to travel because it was the perfect opportunity to do some exploring. Of course, any trip requires the project search. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to take with me because I didn't really have a good project going to take. So I quickly grabbed this black wool that my friend Cindy gave me and the leftover yarn from some recent socks and started to experiment with it. I've been wanting to do some other projects using the Brioche stitch in preparation for our Heritage Knitting Retreat next June. I thought it would be cool to have the electric colors of the sock yarn against the black. The gauntlet is reminiscent of what you might have seen in the latter half of the 19th century.

The second thing I grabbed was some Fortissima Socka in white and the pattern for "Evening Stockings for a Young Lady to Knit." It's a sock pattern in the Nov/Dec 2009 Piecework Magazine, adapted by Nancy Bush from a Weldon's pattern. As you can see, it's a long sock and the lacy pattern is so lacy and so easy, you wouldn't believe. The shaping for the leg is done along the back of the leg so you have a seam running up the back and the pretty lace everywhere else. I know this looks like a sock to fit a child but that's only because it's not blocked yet and I have pretty small feet anyway.

I thought I would make this with the white yarn because it's the only sock yarn I had 3 skeins of (bought it for something else that I ended up not making) and I wanted to be sure I had enough. The thought was to make them with the white and then dye them but I like them so much that I've decided to keep them as is. I would definitely recommend these for sock lovers. Easy with a huge payoff!