Plying Chevoit ~

Spinning and plying this Chevoit fiber has been a learning experience for me. After plying, this yarn is beautiful and bouncy and still so bright white and creamy. I have not measured the yardage yet, so not sure how much I was able to get with this eight ounce bump of lovely fiber.  I am pleased with how evenly spun and plyed this fiber turned out. All my practicing seems to be paying off in that my "thick and thin" skeins have turned into more consistent plys of DK or sport weight yarn. Hurrah for my spinning! Hurrah for my Pocket Wheel!

I will have to wait to next weekend to do the measuring, unless I can be inspired to measure yarn after a day at the office....sometimes the day job gets in the way of all the fiber adventures I am planning!  As I was plying this yarn, I kept wondering if this is soft enough to wear next to the skin, or more rustic for outer wear? I will have to test this with my knitting friends and daughters to see how they vote!

Cinnamon Spinning ~

When I ordered this lovely fiber from Taylored Fibers in the fall of 2012, I asked Barry (one of the owners) if he had any of the lovely cinnamon alpaca that I had seen spun into lovely ginger yarn. He said he did, and he would mix it with merino to make it hold its shape when knit, plus add a shot of silk for strength, shine and softness. When it arrived, it was oh-so-soft, and so lovely in color, more of a dark cinnamon then a red ginger.

After finishing the spinning on the bright white Chevoit, I thought this would be the perfect change of spinning for me until I could ply the Chevoit. This cinnamon is spinning so smooth and soft, I can't wait to see how it plys!

Track Knitting ~

This weekend was the great regional invitational for high school track. Our youngest was fast enough to qualify for the 1600 (one mile) so we left early to be sure she had enough time to warm up with her teammates. As typically happens with so many heats of each event, due to the many many schools at the invitational, it takes longer to get through the races.

Her heat of the 1600 was almost three hours later than she originally thought. No complaints from me, as I sat on the grassy lawn, in the sunshine, knitting the cuffs on her socks. Perfect time for knitting!

Auditions ~

I have had this dream yarn since January, and I knit my swatch in February. So, you ask, "Why haven't you cast on that sweater yet?"  Well, that is a very good question....I thought I knew which sweater this yarn wanted to be.... Gwen...... and then I started thinking about Gwen, and why don't those models from Rowan ever look like they are enjoying their knitwear? So I looked on Ravelry and there are happy people wearing Gwen....so that was good news...... Then there was Maureen.....simple and oversized as a cardigan should be, and I could change the bottom and cuffs to ribbing......then there was the Moss Cabled Cardigan, which has always tugged at me as it is the Central Park Hoodie sans hood. Each night I look through my three books......Gwen?

Maureen?

Or Moss Cabled........

You might think that this sweater business is too much of a commitment for me....so I go back to knitting on socks.....and the auditions for "perfect sweater" continue......

Bears repeating ~

Using the purple no-name wool from our Seattle Knitter's Guild Fiber Frenzy last month, plus the yellow discontinued wool, also free from the Fiber Frenzy, I cast on the second Bear Sweater for charity on Easter Sunday - sadly I had to start over twice, as I was also listening to a great mystery, and at the M1 K1 for the sleeve, I just kept M1 K1 for the entire row for several rows before I had waaaaaay too many stitches on my needles..... I made the same mistake twice......finally finished the mystery, and then I could concentrate on this easy pattern!!!

It is an easy pattern for a great charity, so I hope to be able to knit a few more sweaters before the August deadline!

Easter Joy ~

On this day of blessings, I wanted to share how grateful I am to be a part of a church family that is supportive, positive and uplifting.  Our new pastor has been with us for less than a year, and I often wonder how it could be that we haven't been together for years!  She is positive and high-energy and cuts through issues with support and encouragement. She is a blessing for our kids and a super deluxe blessing for the parents and families too.

We thought our church was in for many dark days last year, and she has helped us focus on the light again. She is inspiring and motivates us by her caring actions and words.  I was so inspired by her Easter sermon that I came home and cast on my second Bear Sweater for charity. Love love love this delightful woman!

Two guesses ~

Finally, all the pieces are in place.  I have the pattern(s) and I have a baby-mac coming in May, and some of the yarn appeared at our Fiber Frenzy.  The rest of the yarn was purchased at the Webs sale.  I could cast on soon, except I could not finish it until I know the real name of baby-mac...but I do have a few months before it needs to be finished.

Can you guess what this project will be? (I do not think you will need two guesses)

Heel Turns on the road ~

While out running errands today, I was able to complete one of the heel turns on my youngest daughters socks. Her birthday in July, so I should have plenty of time to finish these, right? Heel turns used to make me a bit nervous, and I would need to have total quiet so I could work through the Queen Kahuna directions and be sure to get all the markers in the correct location.

Now I can do a heel turn in the car, during a road trip, as long as I have the directions and my little bag of colored markers. Practice, practice, practice!  Hurrah for turned heels, and on to the leg/cuff pattern!

Complete Orange ~

Done in plenty of time for that May birthday, I present to you these Orangeade socks! Hurrah! I could have used a bit more yarn, as the legs/cuffs are shorter than normal, but I knew that when I started these. They seem much shorter than the first pair I knit with this yarn. 

I knit those on size 3 needles, and these with size 2, so could that be part of the reason? I ran out of yarn on the second sock's cast off, so I used a little bit from her Strawberry Lemonade (Hazel Knits) socks. Very pretty!

My birthday girl will love them, as she loves all the socks that I knit for her. She knows that is a guaranteed way of getting more knitted socks!  Now she gets to pick out some sock yarn for her next pair of socks, hurrah!!!

Blocking Secrets ~

I have to admit to the secret of why my cowls and scarves have been looking so amazing lately. Well, it is not my knitting. No, really, it is not me.  My secret is Patti.  Yes, Patti.  She is a super blocker and has figured out how to block a sow's ear into a silk purse, or a long curled hot dog thingy into a lovely cowl.

I am not sure how she does it, as I have blocked many projects in my knitting career, yet none look so "display in a knitting shop" worthy as those blocked by Patti. Truthfully, we have seen displays in knitting shops that desperately need to be blocked by Patti.  Her blocked projects should actually be on the cover of Interweave or Vogue Knitting.  I'm serious, she is THAT good!
P.S.  She is Jitteryknitter's secret too....just had to come clean on that too...