Spinning Shetland ~

Still working on this 8 ounces of Shetland wool from Woolgatherings, purchased at Madrona this year. One of my last spinning projects on bobbins that I'd like to finish before starting the 28 breed sampler. This is the second bobbin for my 2 ply.

Cast on handspun!

So excited to cast on my own handspun for socks! Very exciting that there is enough yarn, and hopefully the yarn is consistently thin enough to work with size 1 needles. The sweet little sheep is part of my Rock Flock my daughter painted for me for Christmas - I love them!!

Merino bamboo blend ~

Back spinning this 50/50 merino bamboo blend. The fiber is a bit felted so it is taking a bit of time to pull apart the fiber before spinning. It looks lovely once I've spun it, just a bit of prep time needed. Love the colors!!!

Handspun Sock Yarn~

So excited to get 304 lovely yards of sock yarn out of this fiber! My first spinning with nylon in the blend, so I really wanted to spin thin enough to be able to use for socks. Can't wait to cast on, but first this needs a relaxing bath, as I spun this superwash with a lot of twist!

Plying Neon~

 Love how this plying is working out! I wonder if the yarn will be thin enough for sock yarn? I wonder if I will have the yardage for socks? Questions, these are my questions!!!

Right Front~

Started the right front of my custom fit sweater today. A little worried about the gauge on the sweater back, but I have hopes that all will be well if I keep knitting according to the pattern. Right? The yarn is beautiful and the Signature needles make this such fun to knit! Great way to spend the day after our lovely Christmas!

Neon Christmas!

They love their Christmas socks of neon! What great knitted surprises we found under the tree!!! They loved them all, cowls, socks and a beaded scarf.

Spinning Eve~

This is the fiber I won this fall, need to get this spun and off the bobbins to make way for my 28 breed sampler!! Since all 28 breed samples are natural colors of cream, grey, brown and black, this orange and neon green is a good transition!!

Fiber Score!

I have wanted this 28 breed sampler since I saw them at Madrona. Love Woolgatherings, love Kate and Chris! These samples are so beautiful, I can't wait to start spinning them!
PS this is a gift to myself to celebrate my 25 years at my job - wait until you see the other little gift I chose to help me celebrate!!

Sweater back ~

Armhole shaping! This is my custom fit pattern, yet I'm not getting the exact gauge, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will all work out!

On deck!

Yarn to wind for next sock projects! Can't wait to cast on!!!

Cuffs Too ~

Neon Cuffs ~

First bobbin ~

First snow!

Back to Sweater ~

Both heels turned~

Looking good!

Time to spin~

Another Cowl~

Chunky cowl~

Custom Fit Progress ~

Wow!  I love knitting with this Elsa Wool and following the very detailed instructions for my custom fit sweater. This will be the ultimate mystery knitting, from the Custom Fit program to see if the sweater really fits me when I am done knitting (and blocking, and assembling...). Part of our wonderful retreat at Fort Worden was measuring ourselves and measuring our swatches. I know all this preparation "up front" will ensure that this sweater will be a success for me.

So far, I am having a blast with the knitting as the wool is so soft and firm and the Signature Needles are always perfect. I am feeling a wee bit guilty that I am not knitting for holiday gifts while I knit on this sweater... but, I'm worth a bit of holiday knitting for myself, too, right?!!

Cast on Custom Fit ~

Second Bobbin ~

Cowl progress ~

Casting on soon ~

Power Outage Plying

Nice to know that my Pocket Wheel still works when there is no power. Big storm last night, but did not hamper me too much as I was able to finish plying this wonderful experiment of medium wool.

I think it turned out really well - soft and even two ply yarn, not much "thick and thin" in these skeins. I believe a hat can be knit with 142 yards, total. As my daughter said of the yarn, "You are getting better!" Well, I am having fun with all the practice!

Spinning Medium ~

Can you not resist a deal of lovely soft fiber?  I cannot resist a screamin' deal.  Especially when I can call it, "educational experience" and then learn from the spinning. I am still so excited about all the mysteries to solve through spinning.  Today I started to solve this one, "What is "medium wool" going to spin into."

So far, the pink wool has a bit of texture to the single, a bit of a bump here and there.  The green and cream is slicker with no bumps, so not sure if this is really the same wool.  Both singles seem to be thin, so far. Only three ounces total, so I should be plying soon! Stay tuned!

We have a winner ~

Fiber Fusion was such a blast, and the fun just keeps going!  I found out that I won the $50 raffle prize!  How exciting for my first Fiber Fusion ever!  Of course I will be going next year to continue all this good fiber Karma!  Wait, there's MORE!

I found out that I won one of the individual raffles for a super bright neon fiber too! This blend from Star Eagle Farms is superwash merino/bamboo/nylon, so it would be best for sock yarn if I can spin it thin enough!  There are five ounces, so we'll see how thin I can spin and if I can spin enough for a pair of socks!  Challenge is ON!!!! (Debi, I am posting this for you!  Thanks for the nudge!)

Fiber Fusion, too ~

There were so many booths full of natural fibers and lovely hand dyed fiber. Overwhelming with colors and softness, and seeing all the spinners and wheels was inspiring. We stopped at Abundant Earth Fiber and purchased some mill ends of medium wool and English Leicester Longwool, both being part of my "educational experience" of new spinning fibers.

 

Can't wait to try spinning these! Jitteryknitter says the medium wool "yarn" would make a great hat, so we will have to check that out!

Fiber Fusion ~

My first time attending our local Fiber Fusion and it was grand! There was so much to see, and one of my favorite fiber vendors was there, Barry and Linda Taylor of Taylored Fibers!  I was able to find some new fiber that I need to try spinning for "educational experience" as we all need to practice, practice, practice!  The educational spinning will include my first rendezvous with silk noil, in hopes that my yarn will not be too lumpy-bumpy.  The colors of this fiber are so lovely!

Also delving into some sparkles of firestar to see how difficult (or not!) this spinning will be.

Of course I had to get more of Barry's super soft blends of merino/alpaca/angora in grey and dark grey as one can never have too much of the super soft yarn this spins into.  More tomorrow of the other treasures we found!

Matching Thumbs Up ~

I am thrilled that these thumbs seem to match on these mittens. Even my daughter, of the "unmatched thumbs" was surprised and pleased when I showed her the two thumbs.

Perhaps I have time to cast on another pair of mittens before the deadline for the kids at Detroit Achievement Academy!

Socks or Mittens ~

The more I look at these mittens, the more they still look like socks.  I thought I should knit some color work into the top so it will draw attention away from the thumbs.

I am still a little worried about matching thumbs.... you can see in this picture where the thumbs will be, someday soon. Would a second grader notice if the thumbs don't match?

Special Mittens ~

It turns out that we have enough hats knit for the kids at Detroit Achievement Academy, however we need a few more pair of mittens. I have not knit many mittens, as the two I have knit had some issues with matching thumbs, yet turned out well in the end...

So I cast on two mittens, as if they were toe up socks, and hope that they will turn out to look like mittens instead of socks...and I'm already worried about those thumbs....

Vacation Treasures ~

A great part of vacation is finding a great yarn shop or two. A bonus is when said yarn shops have great yarn and fiber that one doesn't find at one's local yarn shops.  The super deluxe bonus is when your great friend, Jitteryknitter, goes on vacation and gets the most wonderful and bright fiber and yarn and brings it home as a gift!  Yes!  I am the luckiest, ever!!!

Who else would pick up this lovely jeweled toned fiber from a quaint little shop?

Who else would find this amazing Jitterbug, one of my very favorite yarns, and bring it home for me?  Have you ever seen such lovely colors!!!!  Thanks for being such a great friend!!!

Happy Pocket Wheel Anniversary ~

On this day, back in 2011, Jitteryknitter and I picked up my oh-so-special Pocket Wheel that was made specially for me.  Has it really been three years with my special wheel?

With lessons and lots of practice, I have enjoyed all the time spent learning and improving my spinning. I have a long way to go and a lot to learn, yet I know my wheel and I have many many great years ahead to grow and learn together!

Twilight Knitting ~

One of our favorite cross country races happened tonight at twilight, and our varsity girl ran really fast.

We surprised her by bringing college daughter to the race so there was a wonderful reunion as younger daughter sees older daughter and can't believe she is HERE AT THE RACE!  It was a wonderful fun time for all of us.

Bonus for me is that I was able to get some road trip knitting of socks on the way there!  Hurrah!

Plyed Hand dyed ~

Finally time to ply my lovely hand dyed hand spun from the Dye Day at the Barn. This fiber has been such fun, from choosing colors to dye with at the Barn, and having help from friends and rock star dyers, to getting it home to start spinning.

I think it is turning out to be oh-so-lovely as a two ply.  I wonder how many yards there will be?

College Road Trip Knitting ~

As we take our oldest back to college, we are a bit sad that our summer together is over. It was a short summer together since she spent the first seven weeks in Madagascar, yet we were able to get some camping trips squeaked in upon her return.

The only good part of taking her back to college, other than her great apartment, a funny grocery shopping trip and her great roommates was road trip knitting for me....

Island Knitting ~

Another one of our favorite cross country races today!  Oldest daughter and I went to see younger daughter, and it was the perfect day for a road trip!

The race was a great one, and our girl was super-fast today.  So were the rest of the girls - check out these strong legs and fun spikes!

This road trip includes a ferry boat ride, so I was able to get some road trip knitting done while on the boat!

Casting on another hat!

Hat #2 Finished ~

Yes, the second special hat flew off my needles, partially because the pattern is so great, and partially because it is a wee hat that will be given to a special kiddo in Detroit.

I'll be casting on Hat #3 soon!

Camping Hat ~

One of the best parts of camping by the river is all the knitting time! For me this is a relaxing time to sit by the river, or in the river and knit knit knit.

I made great progress on the second of my special school hats, the perfect size project for river knitting!

Mum's Christmas Socks ~

Time for another Christmas cast on! This one is a pair of alpaca socks for my mum. She can't wear wool next to her skin, so alpaca is a perfect yarn choice for her. She is always cold as well, even in the summer, so alpaca is also good for keeping her toes warm!

These socks will be a fun knit, and my main knitting during our upcoming camping weekends!

Wild West Knitting ~

For those of you that have not seen this amazing artist, Suzanne Tidwell, at work, you really should try to see one of her fabulous installations. They are magical in color and texture and location.

I have seen several in our area, and even was able to help with the knitting on one of them here, here and here. This one I only viewed on her Facebook page and wished I could see it "in the wild" as it is truly spectacular in its color and location. Check out other pictures of this installation at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana. Major Creative Kudos to Suzanne!  Keep up the great inspiration!