New tools, new projects, new stash

Sometime in February, in a fit of online shopping enthusiasm, I found myself at Hulu purchasing some Knit Pro (aka Knitpicks) interchangeable needles. Now, to be fair, I have quite the supply of needles already, and I'm not at all sure why I thought I needed some interchangeables, but there I was. I was in enough control of myself not to blow a ludicrous amount of poundage on the full set - I tend to use the smaller needle sizes (less then a US6 for the most part), so the full set would have included a bunch of needles I wouldn't have used very often. So I got the starter pack. And some smaller tips (US 3, 4 and 5s). And three extra cables. Etc, etc, etc.

I've now used them in 1.25 projects, and I really like them. The wood feels nice, they stay screwed in as long as I make sure to tighten them with the provided cute little wire thingy, and the tips are nice and pointy.

So pointy in fact that I now have a small hole in my left index finger that makes knitting a bit/a lot (!) painful, depending on how much attention I'm paying to my finger/needle tip contact point. I'm pleased with them.

And the 0.25 of a project that I've done on them that you can see there is the first 20-something rows of the Gemini pullover from the Spring/Summer 2012 Knitty. The yarn is some Hemp for Knitting Hempwol in "Ruby". It's mostly red, but in some lights it looks pretty orange. A bit stiff to work with, but I think it will be a good fiber for my current climate.

Now for the stash enhancement: last Friday I had a real treat - I got to go yarn shopping with a good knitting friend formerly from Houston, who now resides in the ~~Land of good chocolate~~ Switzerland. We went to Loop, which continues to be a trial to my bank account. But I was really good - I came away with only two skeins, neither of which was the £40 lump of Wollmeise lace (orange, of course) that was serenading me. She was equally restrained, and we retired to the local pub to drown our regrets in beer.

These are the babies that came home with me: two skeins of purpley DK/sport weight for mitts. I think the Madtosh will become some Fallberry Mitts, but the Canopy is for another (yet another!) design project, also mitts.

In any event, the day and the company inspired me to another new project: last weekend I spun up this,

and yesterday it got thrown on the loom as warp - C, I'm going to need your snail mail address in Switaly, OK?

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A glutton for punishment? Or just plain crazy?

I finally managed to take a browse through the new Brooklyn Tweed pattern collection, Spring Thaw, last week. I always like looking at these just for the photography alone, but the patterns are usually pretty nice, and the yarns are gorgeous. This time through I had a sudden brain wave that pretty much guarantees many future post bewailing the drama of knitting handspun colorwork sweaters (cause you guys haven't had enough of those, right?) (No, I haven't finished weaving in all the ends, thanks for asking) (don't ask again, ok?).

I was very taken with the Stasis Pullover in my initial look through. And I must have been in a somewhat weakened condition, because I suddenly found myself thinking "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to spin up the yarn for that?" Quickly followed by the sound of the clue by four hitting me smack upside the head with "Hey! I've got raw fleece that is the exact right colors for this!"

One kilo of Gotland, purchased at the iKnit Weekender 2010.

And some lovely dark brown/black Hebridean fleece (organic!) that I received in a Secret Santa swap this past Christmas.

What I really need is someone to follow me around when I have these ideas so they can smack me and say "Get a grip woman! The last thing you need is a raw-fleece-to-hand-cards-to-yarn-to-sweater project! Lie down, have a cider, and get back to us when you've renewed your grip on reality." Sadly, such a guardian angel has not seen fit to grace me with her wise presence, so here I am, frantically finishing off my secret knitting so I can begin washing fleece. And getting the handcards ready to go. All the while ignoring the fact that there are two sweater lots of handspun yarn waiting desperately for attention, and at least two more sweater lots of fiber begging to be spun. Denial is my friend, while also being a river in Egypt.

The only upside to this whole plan is that I only need to come up with 1200 yds of fingering weight for the main color, and about 200 yds of the contrast. Totally doable from over two pounds of raw fiber, right? And I don't have to do any dyeing of anything. No problem...(those of you with comments about famous last words can just keep them to yourselves, ok?)

So, the girls get out of school on Thursday, and then it's washing fleece time! I will be sure to document the process for your ~~edification~~ never-ending amusement at my folly. Enjoy!

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The sock drought

It's been almost four months since I knit a pair of socks (that I could share on the blog). That seems like a very long time for someone with the sock yarn stash I've got hiding upstairs. If we're going by that metric, this pair of socks barely count in the grand scheme of things (given that they are a) handspun and b) worsted weight yarn). However, I'm the one keeping score, so we're not going by that scale thankyouverymuch.

Toe-up socks with 2x2 ribbing at the cuff, Riverbed sockitecture a la Cat Bordhi, finished last week, but ends woven in yesterday. I split the roving (a gradient dyed superwash Corriedale from Spunky Eclectic) in half lengthwise, and then split each half in half again to spin two skeins of (mostly) matching two ply yarn. Started with red at the toe and kept going until I ran out of yarn (thus explaining the short-ish leg length).

I like them. G-man likes them too. They are just the thing to cure the winter blues, which is unfortunate since spring seems to have finally sprung. Guess that means it's time to weave in some ends on Himself's sweater, and finish the secret knitting.

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Sixty months, three weeks and two days

Hey Boo! Guess what?

...

...

...you're five! I know you know this (and are most gleeful about it), but I still have to remind myself that it's been that long since you were a wee pink wriggling slug-thing.

This past year has been a big one for you - we got a dog, so you're no longer the youngest. You started school, and are thrilled beyond belief with being in a real class. You are picking up reading and math like, well, a sponge - you are reading well ahead of our previous experience with Reception (which I suspect is due to a combination of your brains, exposure to your older sister, and an absolutely spectacular teacher who lets you progress at your pace, not the pace of everyone around you). You came home a few weeks ago and informed me you had finished all the Reception maths books and were now doing Year 1 maths. I didn't think much of it at the time, because, well...sometimes a firm grasp on the strictly factual is not your strong point. But then I went to a conference with your teacher and she confirmed that yes, you zoomed through the first two maths books saying "My sister taught me this!" and were now zooming your way through the math for next year. Clearly, this is an area in which you take after your ~~logic-obsessed~~ ~~physics-major~~ father, not me.

It's also been a big year for you socially. You've always been more comfortable playing by yourself, doing your own thing, but this year you've started actually asking for playdates with classmates, and engaging with your peers when we happen to see them around town. It's wonderful to see. To be fair, you are following in Dev's footsteps in making all the boys fall in love with you (there are currently three potential candidates for the future Mr. Boo). I'm just hoping it doesn't come down to drawn swords on the playground at lunchtime.

You adore your sister. And your parents. And your dog. You skip your way merrily to school and are entirely too sunny and cheerful, except when you're not. You are warm and open and loving, and even the tears and tempests are (mostly) short-lived and the sunshine after the rain is as bright as ever. Sometimes there's even a rainbow.