Do blueberries have thorns?

While I was at my conference, I took a couple of projects to work on, but the one that kept me knitting obsessively between sessions was Brambler by Anne Hanson at knitspot.

This pattern is beyond addictive,as Anne kindly noted in her blog posts. It's a six row repeat, over 37 stitches, so it's pretty easily memorized. This is the first lace I've done that was worked on both the right and wrong side rows, but it's so straightforward that you don't need the chart after a while. And since it's done in fingering weight yarn, it is zooming along.

I'm at 33 out of 36 repeats when disaster strikes:

I'm going to run out of yarn. And I didn't bring the spindle and the rest of the roving with me. So this beautiful scarf, that I am having so much fun knitting and is going to be so fabulous once it's blocked, will have to wait until I get home and can whip up some more yarn. Damn! I am not into this delayed gratification.

Oh bugger, or: I should have believed in EZ

The sock yarn blanket has been limping along. Wait, no it hasn't - I knit six squares and then chucked the thing in the closet for a month. At my last Knit Night*, I brought it out again, since I got a pile of sock yarn scraps from various people. I looked at the "squares" I had (and by "square" I mean "oddly-shaped trapezoid"), and decided to try a garter stitch square just to see how it looked.

Oh, this is a whole 'nother ball o' wax kiddies

On Friday I was stuck at home with the AC guys, again, and I obsessively worked on garter stitch squares. So I went from this

to this

to this (!) in less then 24 hrs. Now I'm stalled out again working on other projects, but I'm much happier with how this is working out. And knitting every row is so much nicer then all that damn purling!

* we had a destash/swap party at Whole Foods and I got rid of a bunch of stuff, and ended up with much, much more. 2200 yds worsted wool in blue/grey/brown anyone? I sense a cabled Ironman sweater in my future. Assuming we do move across the pond that is, because I'm not actually trying to kill him by heat stroke.

Some tropical island vibes for Friday

Sand, turquoise blue water, green palm trees, fluffy clouds, stunning skies

Brilliantly luscious, 18 micron merino wool, colorway Maldives, handdyed by Adrian, for the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I think this was December's offering, and it's been hiding in the closet for too long.

When the latest issue of Spin Off arrived last week, I was suddenly obsessed with Theresa's lined mittens (Rav link). Devil and Boo need mittens. Clearly. So I pawed through the fiber stash and pulled out this stuff. I split the roving (more or less) in half lengthwise, spun it densely, and chain plied to maintain the stripes.
Stats:
Spun/plied at 10:1, worsted (short forward draw).
2.9 oz/81 g, 155 yds, 11 wpi post-wash (hot/cold/thwack fulling method)

I think I'll pair it with either some Nature Spun sport leftover from Turkish Walrus (the blue-purple) or with some superwash merino I got in Italy and used for a rollneck sweater for Devil (also blue-purple). It's either that, or break down and bust out the dyes to get some custom colorway for the lining. Probably faster to use the stash yarn...

I think it will match pretty well, and it should be the same weight. And there's still 2 oz of this fiber left to spin up. I'm pretty sure I can get a pair for Devil out of this skein, but two pairs is a bit dubious. The other 2 oz will probably end up as Boo mittens. And maybe they'll actually need them somewhere (not too far) down the line.

Hush hush hush hush (H^4)

Through the auspices of Ravelry, I've joined my first swap - the Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny (because how can any one resist a hootenanny?). I've got about a month to spin up 4 oz of fiber for my swap pal, and send it off along with 4 oz of unspun fiber and other assorted goodies.

In any event, in order for my pal to get some ideas about what to do for me, I've got to answer a questionnaire. So if you're looking for knitting/fiber content, come back later. If you're my swap pal, read on:

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?
I've been spinning about a year and a half, and I would classify myself as intermediate.

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?
Most of my yarns are 2 or 3-ply, but working with singles is definitely on my list. I'm not big on art yarns.

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?
Both, but mostly on a wheel.

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like?
I've liked most of the stuff I've tried, but particular favs are BFL, Shetland and Targhee.

5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?
My favorite dealer fiber provider is Adrian at Hello Yarn - I'm in her fiber club, and I've enjoyed everything I've gotten from her. I've also gotten nice stuff from Woodland Woolworks.

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?
Silk and Cormo.

7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?
Supported long draw

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?
I have done a bit of dyeing in the past, but I have small kids so anything too involved is out for the moment.

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?
I'd prefer ready to spin fiber.

10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?
After I'm done placing it at strategic points around the house and adoring it, I knit with it. I've done a pair of socks and a shawl, and I'm working on a scarf, but most of my handspun seems to be waiting for the right project to come along.

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?
Nope.

12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand?
The colors I usually gravitate towards are blues, purples, cool reds and greys. But I see this as a good opportunity to try some colorways that I wouldn't necessarily choose for myself, so go nuts. If I had to pick a color to avoid, it would be bright yellow.

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?
Left-over singles from this.

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?
I'm a triathlete, so I spend a fair bit of time swimming or riding or running. And I read a lot of science fiction. Other then that I'm chasing my daughters around.

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?
My family (husband, two kids) and my work (research scientist).

16. Do you have an online wishlist?
Nope.

17. Is there anything that you collect?
Besides fiber and yarn? What else is there?

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?
I've got subscriptions to Interweave Knits and Spin Off. I'm a big fan of Norah Gaughan patterns, and I'm coveting a copy of The Opinionated Knitter.

19. When is your birthday?
September 6

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?
No idea - anyone who knows me in real life want to pose suggestions?

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?
Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. Oh, and the humid. Unbelievable. So (sob) no chocolate unless you're shipping my package packed in dry ice.

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!
My many-times great grandfather was a buddy of Cotton Mather's.

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link):
Candy: dark chocolate
Food: see above
Drink: dark beer (I'm sensing a theme here...)
Movie(s): I have to pick just one?
TV Show(s):
Book(s): Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Guilty Pleasure(s): long baths

Packing list

We head off for Boston at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow morning, just the girls and me (pray for us! Or for me at least - they'll be fine). Since I haven't even begun to pack yet, I spent some time on the bus this morning making lists of what we need to bring. Here's the first few items I wrote down:

GP (Rav link)

Noro sock yarn for Koi

Brambler

I got tired of spindling at about 10 pm last night and decided to start plying. 80 min and two episodes of Buffy later, I have ~200 yds of gorgeous fingering weight two ply. The pattern calls for ~200 yds fingering weight yarn. I'm golden, and I still have some roving left if needed.

Project Spectrum Air project

Boarding passes/FF#s

Do you think there's something wrong with my priorities?