Ready to Ply

I finished my singles and am ready to ply the merino/angora/silk. This will be my first plying attempt on the new wheel. I've never used a tensioned lazy kate before either, so this should be fun.


I also managed to put buttons on the sweater I knit for P-Girl the week before she was born. And in good time too, because it is a good fit now, which means she'll have outgrown it in another two weeks time most likely.

How I've Missed the Wheel

I finally sat down at the wheel for the first time since November, and man, did it feel good! I knew I had missed it, but I didn't know just how much until I was doing it again. I've been waiting for some extended window of free time to magically appear so that I could spin for a while, and then it dawned on me that that is not going to happen any time soon, so if I want to spin, I'd best get used to doing it in the short stolen moments that present themselves in the course of a day. So 10 minutes here and there really add up and I've only one more ounce of singles to spin of my current project (merino/angora/silk from Kim) before I can ply it all up. The short intervals of spinning are marvelously relaxing, like getting a quick shoulder massage after being hunched up working for a while. I can certainly get used to spinning this way, although I wouldn't turn down an offer of a few hours to myself to just spin and spin and spin.

I am also knitting along on Ariann. Here is a shot of her from about a week ago. She's grown about 4 more inches since then, but she doesn't inspire me to post for some reason. I love the knitting - it is an easy pattern, interesting but not so interesting as to be unknittable in my current hormonally lobotomized state. I'm making good progress on it, and hope to have a finished piece in time for my return to work in another month or so.

One More Left

I am now the only member of my household who does not have a hand knit hat.

Project Specs:
Pattern: Top Down Baby Bonnet by Adrian at Hello Yarn
Yarn: Merino 2-ply handspun, leftover from this project
Needles: #3 DPNs
Notes: I never ever make hats for my kids the right size the first time around. Their heads are always so much bigger than I think they are. Both this hat and the one I made for my son earlier this fall (also out of handspun, but never made it to the blog, you can see it here) I had to frog back from the bind off and knit several more inches. You'd think I'd learn, but no.

I have started in on Ariann, and it is the perfect sweater project for me right now - interesting to knit, but does not really require much concentration. It will get its own post later this week hopefully.

January 007

Stephanie and Margene thought up an "along" that I can actually commit to and one that gives me an excuse to use my snazzy new camera. So, I bring you my January installment of:


While we New Englanders are accustomed to the typical "January Thaw", the very warm weather we've had this winter has precluded any actual lasting freeze, so I don't think the 70 degree temps we saw on Saturday can count as a thaw. All I know is that my poor spring bulbs are mighty confused and I've been noticing more and more of them venturing out over the past weeks.

I remember reading somewhere that the cellular structure of the leaves of early spring bloomers like daffodils and crocuses are designed to survive the freeze and thaw cycles they are likely to encounter as they do their duty as the heralds of warmer weather. I just wonder how many cycles they can take, as these little guys are a couple months earlier than usual.

Birthday Wishes

A little birdie whispered in my ear (and some others, as i see via bloglines) that a special someone is having a birthday today. Drop on by and give the very special Etherknitter your good wishes.

No More Po-Mo

Hooray, I finished something! When I last put this down, there were probably only about a dozen more rows to knit, but I just wasn't in the mood while waiting to deliver, and finally picked it up again this week and just did it. (click photo to embiggen and really see the colors in this!)




Project Specs:
Pattern: Half-Pi Shawl from Rosie's Yarn Cellar - they seem to no longer have it for sale on their website, as the link I had for it is dead now. Odd.
Yarn: Handspun singles of "Black Magic" Polwarth/Mohair from The Spinning Bunny
Needles: #7
Notes: I was wanting to use up every last inch of this yarn so I could get all of the colors in there, and I pretty much did - I had maybe 2 yards left after bind off. This is decent sized shawl - it is 56 inches across and 28 deep, and the half circle shape sits nicely on the shoulders. I could probably get it bigger, but I only gently blocked it for fear of breaking some of the super thin spots in my uneven singles. I am really happy with how this came out, it is a very simple pattern (just strips of stockinette interspersed with rows of yarn overs) and lets the color changes be the thing that makes it an interesting piece, which is just what I had in mind.

All that is left on the needles now is a pair of Trekking socks that I started 2 days before I gave birth, and the sad and lonely Mariah sleeve that I started in October, knowing that odds were I wouldn't finish it. Despite all my rationalizations that it would not be stupid to start knitting a sweater while pregnant, reality has hit home. There is no way the size I chose will fit me in the forseeable future - I truly forgot just how well endowed I become when I am nursing an infant. Mariah will be frogged, and I will use her yarn to knit myself an Ariann, which I can knit big for me now, and should be a forgiving piece if when I thin out a little as time passes.