She spins, she scores!

At least that's what it feels like given the rate at which this bag of fiber got spun up (I didn't even manage to take pictures of the fiber before it got thrown on the wheel).

This past Tuesday was my monthly spinning group, and since I hadn't done any spinning since Wool House, I spent a fair bit of time on Tuesday afternoon frantically pawing through the fiber stash looking for something to play with. I chose this colorway (Fiber Club flickr group photos) on one of my favorite fibers, Shetland. I decided to spin this up super quick to get a bulky 2-ply, and boy howdy did I succeed.

Hello Yarn Fiber Club January 2013, Mouse Ears Shetland.
90 yds/4.2 oz, approximately 325-400 ypp, 3-5 wpi, 4 tpi, super bulky squoosh-gasm
Spun on Hansen miniSpinner.

Details: I split the bundle into two halves, and then split each piece in half lengthwise. Each half was spun drafting against the twist (semi-woolen), and the singles were about 10 wpi.

Started Tuesday night, finished Wednesday night, blocked on Thursday. I love these subtle neutral colors. Adrian doesn't often do neutrals, but when she does, they are absolutely spectacular. This yarn is going to end up as a cozy cowl somewhere along the line. For the moment, I'm just going to cuddle the skein to my bosom whenever I feel the need.

I'm off to Wonderwool Wales this afternoon, and may be enhancing my fiber stash dramatically in the shape of a fleece, if I can find one that I like. Keep your fingers crossed!

Finis

My first pair of socks in just over a year (last pair were finished 20 March 2012).

Pattern: no pattern used, just started at the toe, increased till it seemed about right, knit the foot for a while, did a short row heel over >50% of the stitches (for extra heel room), knit the leg until I ran out of yarn (Sock A) or it was the same length as the first one (Sock B).
Yarn: chain plied handspun, "Gobbler" Cheviot from the Hello Yarn Fiber Club, 95 yds for Sock A and 130 yds (not all used) for Sock B.
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm and US 3/3.25 mm. I should have gone down one more needle size for Sock B, as the fabric is a bit too loose for socks IMHO, but c'est la vie.
Start/Finish: 11 March 2013-20 April 2013.
Gauge: yes
Comments: so...I love this colorway beyond all imagining, and am very happy with the socks except for one thing: clearly my winging the pattern (i.e. not using the Sock Fitting Bible*) has resulted in socks that are too big for me. The heavier weight (thicker yarn) sock is better, but I got a bit too caught up in making the stripes line up perfectly (mostly) and ended up with a second sock that is just a hair too loose. So be it - these will be lovely around the house socks when the cold weather shows up again. In June**.


My next pair of handspun socks (handspun skeins in this post, also with a large edible bird-inspired name) will be done a bit more mathematically, and so hopefully will fit a bit better.

* any and all books about socks written by Cat Bordhi.
** a certain fatalistic British-ness is infiltrating my attitude towards the weather. I suspect this is completely unavoidable. My apologies!

One week later

I lived in Brookline, a town mostly surrounded by the city of Boston, from the ages of 8 to 18. Every Patriots Day there was a debate in our house about whether or not we should make the massive 5 block journey to Beacon Street to watch the Marathon runners go by. And for seven of those ten years, I went to Copley Square anywhere from two to six days a week to take ballet classes at the Copley Square Ballet Studios, which were located on Boylston Street, directly across from the Boston Public Library. And more or less directly above where the first bomb was detonated last Monday afternoon.

The events in Boston over the past seven days have left anyone with any connection to the city dazed and confused. My overwhelming question is Why? Why would anyone target a group of people at a sporting event? What exactly are you trying to do, beyond maiming and injuring as many people as possible? What could possible be the goal in this act? Two pieces in newspapers that have stood out for me in the past few days are this column by Richard Askwith in the Independent, and this one by Boston author Dennis Lehane in the NYT. I think the message that I've come away with from everything is happened is that even though some people are capable of huge, overwhelmingly evil acts, we have a duty to fight back by not fighting each other. By not making assumptions about motivation (as if any reasoning could even begin to justify what happened last week), or cultural heritage. By not making the kinds of broad, sweeping generalizations that make it too easy to dehumanize the people around us. By helping.

I'm a bit far away to do any helping personally, as much as I might like to. But what I can do is give money. So, for the next three months (until 15 July 2013) all proceeds from the sales of Travelling Hats (or any of the patterns included) will go to The One Fund Boston, a charity set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to help the victims of the bombings and their families. I was going to do this for the Boston Toque pattern in particular, but Boston in the last week could have been any city in any part of the world. This is a tragedy that could have happened anywhere, so it seemed silly to limit this to one pattern.

So, to recap: 100% of all proceeds from the Travelling Hats ebook, or from the Boston Toque, Delhi Beanie, Copenhagen Hat, Paris Beret or London Slouch, from 15 April - 15 July 2013 will be donated to The One Fund Boston. And for ease of purchase, here are "Buy Now" buttons for all (you can click on the linked text to be taken to the Ravelry pattern pages for each, with more information about sizing, yarn requirements, etc). Thanks.


Travelling Hats ebook  ($20)

Delhi Beanie ($5) - an easy-to-knit beanie with a knit-purl stitch pattern.

London Slouch ($5) - cute and funky, worked in reverse stockinette with circular lace details and twisted stitch columns. 

Boston Toque ($5) - a textured, outer layer of aran-weight rustic yarn with a soft alpaca/wool lining for the coldest winter days.

Paris Beret ($5)- intricate lace worked in worsted weight yarn for a quick but satisfying chic hat.

Copenhagen Hat ($5) - i-cord cast on, and your choice of colorwork or knit/purl snowflakes. 

FO: Cornflower Grace

Now that this baby has been delivered to the recipient, I can finally blog about it.

Pattern: Cinnamon Grace by Katie Harris
Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art Forest, 70% wool/30% Tencel, 400 yds/100 gr - this scarf used about 80 gr, so approximately 320 yds total.
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm circulars
Start/finish: 6 April - 9 April 2013.
Comments/modifications: This is a very nice pattern, despite some issues that I will discuss farther down. The center panel is knit from tip to tip, then you pick up stitches along the long side and knit the edging downwards.


There is a large increase in the number of stitches for the edging within the first couple of rows, giving it a bit of a ruffled effect.

The final dimensions were 76 inches long and 8 inches deep (including the ribbing) , making it long enough to wrap nicely around the neck.

I did have a couple of issues with the pattern, however. Some portions of the directions were very confusing on first (or second, or third) reading, but I was able to figure it out eventually. To be completely fair, this is a free pattern, so I don't expect tech editing, but some careful editing and a bit of clarification would have been very welcome.

My only other issue was that I expected the scarf to end up a bit wider - the pictures in the pattern show it worn more like a shawlette then a scarf, so I was expecting a slightly wider final project. I did work the ribbing a bit longer then called for, but if I knit this again, I will keep increasing on the center panel until it's wider.

An aside: The events of the past week have thrown me for a loop, having grown up in Boston, so that's the reason for prolonged blog silence. I am researching the charities available, but I plan to donate 100% of all sales of the Boston Toque (Ravelry link), and 50% of sales of the Travelling Hats ebook (Ravelry link) from now until 15 July to a charity focusing on the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings on 15 April. I'll have a decision on the charity, and more information on Monday, but if you feel inspired to go buy either the pattern or the ebook right away, feel free. And thank you!

Because you can't have enough mini-socks

Same pattern/yarn details as previously. 

Wysteria, Rosebud, Birch and Lawn

Jade, Rockwater, Stormchaser and SitkaI can not get enough of this yarn. Which is, I suppose, a good thing, as I've got one more bag of mini-skeins to go!