Archive for May, 2008
Oh, How I Love the Mailman no comments
Today was seriously an excellent mail-day…
Three packages worth of goodies!
The first package came from The Loopy Ewe. I managed to get some Yarn Pirate merino/tencel sock yarn. The color is called “Daisy” and I absolutely love it. I also ordered a big stack of patterns in preparation for Summer of Socks ‘08. I got a bunch of Wendy Knits patterns: Twisted Logic, Costa, Alana, and and St. Louis. I also got the Flambeau by Terry Ross and Lace-agon by Monica Jines. All those patterns should keep me busy for a while.
The second package contained three new yummy fibers from CJ Kopec Creations. The red is called “Secrets” and is a blend of merino, colonial and bamboo. The blue is 100% merino. The natural chocolate brown is… alpaca. (*SQUEE*) I’m excited to spin these up. I’ve never spun alpaca, nor have I spun anything blended with bamboo. So this should be fun. I think the merino will make for pretty sock yarn, and it will match denim jeans really well!
The last package was from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I got my very first skein of Socks that Rock yarn, which I’m so excited to knit up. I got the STR Lightweight in the Pond Scum colorway.
I also ordered one of their sock monkey knitting kits. It came in a cute package that puts me in mind of a time-capsule! The two yarn colors in my kit are “Typhoon Tina” and “Harlotty”. I’d love to start one of these right away, but I have far too many projects on the needles already. If anyone else is kniting these at the moment, be sure to check out the knit-along going on over at the Yarn Harlot Fans group on Ravelry!
*AHEM* Guess I have more than enough yarn, roving, and knitting projects in general to keep me busy for a long, long time. It wasn’t that long ago that I was a beginning knitter and “stash” was a completely foreign concept to me. Heh, that didn’t last for long…
My First Malabrigo no comments
I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I love my local yarn shop. It’s really my home away from home. I love the employees, the environment of the store, the people who come to sit-n-knit there, and of course all the beautiful products they stock. Every town should have a knit shop like this one, that’s an absolute haven for its local knitters.
Normally I go to my LYS on Saturdays, but occasionally I stop in during the week if I need to pick up an item or two. I stopped in last night to see if the Malabrigo Worsted they’d ordered had come in yet. I’ve never had the pleasure of knitting with Malabrigo Worsted. I do have a bit of their lace weight, and it is incredibly soft and luscious. So of course, I’ve been dying to get my paws on the worsted weight. I was so excited when I found out my LYS was going to start stocking it!
Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when I came in and saw that the Malabrigo wasn’t out on the shelves yet. But it certainly wasn’t a wasted trip (is a trip to a yarn shop ever really wasted, though?). I needed to pick up one more ball of Crystal Palace Kaya for a project I’m wanting to eventually work on. So I grabbed that.
But then Sharon told me that she had the Malabrigo in the back, and asked if I wanted to check it out. Oh, did I ever!
They got in so many beautiful shades. I had the worst time deciding which I wanted to buy. I felt bad because I think I ripped open 3 or 4 packages. Hopefully I didn’t make a big mess (sorry, Sharon!). I finally decided on the “Emerald”, which is really more of a deep teal, in my estimation. It’s gorgeous. I got 4 skeins, which are destined to be a Clapotis. (Or a “Cla-pootie” if you listen to Lime ‘n Violet, LOL — I can’t see the name “Clapotis” anymore without thinking of that!!)
Sadly, though, this morning I saw this via The Daily Chum, posted on the Malabrigo website:
Dear Customer,
Last night, on May 29, 2008, the building where we have our mill in caught fire.
The fire started in the floor below us and was bravely contained by the fire department of Montevideo . They were still fighting the flames this morning.
Even though our floor did not catch fire, it seems there is substantial damage on our mill and offices caused by the soot and smoke. We do not really know as the firefighters say that we cannot get into the building at least until tomorrow, if we can get in at all, as there is considerable structural damage.
As you may understand all deliveries are stopped until further notice, we hope we can resume our dyeing activities next week, probably in another location, but we will not know anything until we get inside the building.
Please note that as the offices were in the same building at the moment we cannot access any record for any order or previous communication so we ask for you to be patient if we do not reply to you fast enough.
We thank you for your continuing support and we hope to be up and running soon
At least it sounds as if no one was injured. How unfortunate though! And slightly ironic, that on the day I finally get to buy the yarn Ive been lusting after, that their mill catches fire. I hope that’s not a bad sign, or I might be banned from buying yarn! I think I’ll go home and hug my Malabrigo a bit tigher tonight. 
Knitting Up Handspun 1 comment
I finished this handspun over the weekend…
It’s 100% merino, single-ply lace weight. I spun it from roving dyed by The Dyeing Arts, which I purchased from The Loopy Ewe. It was an absolute dream to spin. I’ve spun merino-blends before, but never 100% merino. I really think I’m in love. When I pre-drafted it, I couldn’t get over how incredibly soft it was. I just wanted to curl up in the basket of fiber.
There’s just over 450 yards on the skein, so finally I have enough yardage to actually knit something! I washed it Tuesday night to set the twist, and tonight it was finally dry enough to use. I decided to cast on a new project with it, even though I have tons of other projects on the needles already.
I didn’t even have to debate or search for a pattern: the yarn immediately told me it wanted to become the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery. The thought of having this super-soft merino knitted into a simple, airy lace scarf to drape around my neck is just heavenly. It seemed the perfect match-up of yarn and pattern.
So I wound a center-pull ball. It was exciting to wind my own handspun for the first time. It’s far from perfect; as I wound it, I could feel occasional lumps and bumps sliding through my fingers. It’s okay though. I’m hoping it will give my scarf some unique character.
I only knit about three rows on it tonight, so unfortunately I can’t see the pattern taking shape yet. I’m really eager to see how the yarn and this pattern interact. I’ve already ripped it back once because the recommended size 3 needles were a bit to small for my liking. (I tend to be a very tight knitter too.) So I cast on again with 4’s and that seems to be going much better.
I think this will become the next project that travels with me. I’m almost done with the socks I’ve been knitting during lunchtime at work, so this will replace them, I think. But unlike those socks, I think I’ll bring this home with me everyday rather than leaving it in my desk drawer. I want to finish it as quickly as possible because I can’t wait to wear it!
And don’t think because I’ve cast on some of my handspun that I’ve abandoned spinning more. I got an entire pound of natural dark BFL fiber in the mail from Hello Yarn today. I’m thinking perhaps it will become a shawl or maybe a project from A Fine Fleece. I’ll have to see how it spins up. Here are a couple other skeins I’ve spun recently…
Secret Pal 12 Questionnaire no comments
The following questionnaire is for Secret Pal 12…
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I’m definitely a wool-girl. Especially since I started spinning, I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for all the different types of wool. I like natural fibers in general. The only yarn I’m not especially fond of are the “squeaky”-acrylics, but I’m sure I’m not alone in this!
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Right now, my strait metal needles are in a needle case (which is full), my strait bamboo needles are displayed in a vase, my DPNs are in gift boxes that were meant for wine bottles, and I have a zippered-case (from KnitPicks) that holds all my circular needles.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I’ve been knitting since fall of 2006. Though I haven’t been knitting long, I’m always eager to tackle a new skill and I love learning. I also love helping others and have found that extremely rewarding. I think I’d say I’m an intermediate knitter.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have wish lists at The Loopy Ewe and on Amazon.
5. What’s your favorite scent?
I like most scents — almost anything tropical (mango, orange, pineapple, etc.), anything berry-scented (strawberry, raspberry, etc.) and I’m an absolute fanatic for anything scented with lavender, hyacinth or lilac. The only scents I don’t care much for are cherry and coconut.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I enjoy sweets, though I am trying to lose a little weight at the moment! My favorite is dark chocolate.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do spin! I love to spin. It’s my new obsession. I also sew a little bit and do some papercrafts (scrapbooking and card-making mostly).
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
That’s a difficult question. I like a lot of different songs but there aren’t really any particular artists or genres that I follow closely. If I had to label myself, I’d say I’m mostly a classic-rock sort of gal.
9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
There are very few colors I dislike. I actually tend to fall in love with really odd shades of colors (particularly those “yucky”, strange olive/army-green tones). Red is my favorite color but I have very little red yarn strangely enough. I love green, blue, purple, and pink a lot too.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I’m recently married. My husband and I live with our dog (a pug/beagle-mix named Gracie), a cat (a tortoiseshell named “Gidget”) and 2 ferrets (”Bink” and “Shenanigans”). I also have an aquarium with some fishies. I’m a huge animal-lover.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I definitely wear scarves and mittens! I’ve never owned a poncho, but something tells me I’d probably not look good in one (then again, ya never know…). Hats are a possibility too.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m sort of “known” at my LYS for being a sock-knitter. I definitely knit a lot of socks and enjoy it very much. Just recently I’ve really gotten in to lace knitting — unfortunately I haven’t had the time, patience, or skill to finish any of my lace scarves or shawls yet, though. Not that it stops me from collecting and stashing lace weight yarn to use “someday” (ha ha). I also recently learned to knit fair isle and I really, really enjoyed that and would love to do some more projects (hats, mittens, etc) using that skill.
13. What are you knitting right now?
The list is always growing, it seems, and changing. The most up-to-date list would be on my Ravelry project page (or see the progress-bars on the sidebar of my website). At the moment, though, I have 3 pairs of socks on the needles (2 for me, 1 for my husband), a sweater, a shrug, several scarves, and market bags.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Absolutely! I’m a total fiend for shopping on Etsy. I love handmade jewelry, bath and body products, purses and bags, etc. I grew up in a family of talented women who crafted all sorts of things, so I certainly have an appreciation and love for all things handmade.
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I like both strait and circulars, though I gravitate toward circulars (particularly for sock knitting — I always do those on 2 circs). I like aluminum needles most of the time except for some yarns or for intricate patterns when I think the yarn will slip too easily off the metal. Then I go for bamboo. I’m not much of a fan of plastic. I also enjoy having needles that are just pretty as well.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes and yes!
17. How old is your oldest UFO?
My oldest UFO is a simple drop-stitch scarf that is almost done. It’s been on the needles since Jan. 3rd of this year. That’s not that bad, is it?
18. What is your favorite holiday?
This will sound odd… but EASTER! It’s been my favorite since I was a little kid. I loved getting all dressed up in a brand-new, frilly pastel dress. I love the colorful eggs and the ducklings and baby chicks. I just love all the “spring” in the air that Easter brings. A close second is Halloween — I don’t enjoy being scared, per-say, but I think dressing up is a lot of fun!
19. Is there anything that you collect?
Other than yarn? Ha ha. I don’t really “collect” them, but I do have some of those Webkinz stuffed animals and think they’re super cute. I also like things with sheep or other fiber-animals on them (like little figurines or stitch markers or whatever).
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I have subscriptions to Interweave Knits, Spin-Off, and Knit Simple. I can never use enough stitch dictionaries. And because I’m new to spinning, any books about spinning or knitting with handspun yarn (such as Spin to Knit) are definitely on my wishlist!
21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
I can’t think of anything in particular, except that I really need to learn some better finishing techniques. I recently learned to do fair isle and that was a big technique-goal I had and achieved!
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes, yes, yes! I love hand knitted socks! I’m a US women’s size 6.5/7-ish.
23. When is your birthday?
My birthday is February 24, 1982. So I’m a Pisces. 
24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID?
I’m a Ravelry-addict, so you can always find me there! My ravelry ID is mandi (all lowercase). Pretty creative, eh?
Moo Cards no comments
If you’ve been a member of Flickr for any length of time, you’re probably familliar with Moo Mini-cards. They’re tiny little cards — only about 2 3/4″ x 1″ — and come in packs of 100 for $19.99. You can import photos directly from your Flickr account to have printed on the front. You can use as many or as few photos as you’d like, and they get divided among the 100 cards. The back can be printed with up to 6 lines of text.
There are so many potential uses for these little cards, but I never found anything to do with them — till now…
I had the front side of all my cards printed with various close-ups of some of my handspun yarns. Please excuse my photo; I promise the quality of the printing is fantastic! I just had bad lighting to photograph these with.
The back is the fun part — I had it printed with my website’s name, my e-mail, and websites’ URLs, as well as spaces to write in information about fiber and amount. So can you guess what these are for!? I’m going to punch a hole in the corner and string them on to my handspun to label each one so I know what the fiber and number of ounces/yardage of each one is! I think it’s a super fun way to label them!
What d’ya think?
What’s on my Needles and my Wheel no comments
I’m rather behind in reporting this, but I’ve been “assassinated” in Sock Wars. But “dying” has never been so good. Take a look at the beautiful socks I received:
This is my first pair of socks knitted from TOFUtsies and they feel fantastic on my feet. I may have to knit another pair for myself at some point.
I’ve been working on knitting my socks from the first (March) shipment from The Loopy Ewe sock club. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill and the pattern is called “Swirls” by Monica Jines.
One down, one to go. They’re quite lovely! I’m saving the second shipment (which included Wollmeise!) for Summer of Socks, which begins June 21st.
To be honest, I’ve been neglecting my knitting somewhat. I’ve been spinning instead. I’m finding that when I don’t spin for a few days, I really miss it.
I just finished spinning 8 ounces of Sakina Needles corriedale (in “Yellow Peony of Arkansas”) this morning. I have it divided on two bobbins to be plied together tonight or tomorrow.
I also got my first shipment from CJ Kopec Creations‘ fiber club earlier in the week. Take a look — isn’t it fantastic?
It’s a 2/3 merino, 1/3 colonial blend. I love the rich jewel tones. To be honest, I just plain love all of Coby’s fiber. If you’re a spinner and haven’t ordered from her, you need to go to her Etsy shop and place an order now! I could seriously spend my entire paycheck in her shop. Not to mention, Coby is one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.
My fiber stash is slowly growing, but thankfully unlike my sock yarn stash, it hasn’t yet started growing far beyond the speed that I can use it. I feel like I’m keeping up pretty well. Then again, that may not be the case for long.
In addition to the fibers I’ve already mentioned, I also got some Sanguine Gryphon roving (Sheri from The Loopy Ewe was the enabler in that case) the other day. It’s a merino/silk blend, which should be interesting to spin. AND I just ordered an entire pound of Dark Bluefaced Leister wool from Hello Yarn. Take a look(link) - isn’t it absolutely beautiful?
I guess I’d better get back to my spinning (and knitting)…
More Handspun Eye-candy 2 comments
What I’ve been working on…
“Dreamy” — Fiber: 2/3 merino, 1/3 colonial from CJ Kopec Creations
“Feelin’ Peachy” — Fiber: 2/3 merino, 1/3 tencel from CJ Kopec Creations
“Bad Robot” — Fiber: 100% corriedale from Sakina Needles
“Rose Garden” — Fiber: 100% black BFL from Gale’s Art (via The Loopy Ewe)
I just started spinning some more Sakina Needles (BFL in “Algae”) on Monday night. I’ve been putting too much twist on my singles, so I’m trying to concentrate on treadling a little slower and drafting a bit faster. I also spent a little more time pre-drafting the fiber than I have in the past. At the same time, I’m trying to focus on spinning a more even single.
Eventually I also want to work toward thinner singles. The two 2-ply yarns in the photos above are somewhere around bulky/super-bulky weight, I believe. I’d like to be able to produce some 2-ply worsted weight, so I need to spin thinner singles.
There are so many variables in spinning. I think that’s part of what makes it so fun and challenging. When you’ve mastered one thing, there’s always some other aspect to improve upon. However, with every ounce of fiber spun, I can see overall improvement. It’s very gratifying.
I’m starting to get excited at the idea of actually knitting with some of my handspun. There’s something about that moment after you’ve washed the hank, waited for it to dry, and then twisted it up into a skein — suddenly it’s yarn. Real yarn, but made with my very own hands. It’s a really, really neat feeling.
Impending Death in Sock Wars III no comments
I haven’t been knitting all that long really, but I think I’m pretty descent at it. I feel like I’m particularly pretty good with socks; they’re kind of “my thing”. Yet for some reason, the pattern for Sock Wars III is kicking my arse.
Over the weekend, I cast on and ripped back at least three times. I think I’ve lost count now, actually. I’m still on the first sock, about 4 pattern-repeats into it, and it still doesn’t look right to me. It may just be the busy pattern of the yarn (TOFUtsies) — I’m hoping that’s the case — but I don’t see the rippling pattern taking shape as it should. ARGH!
I got an e-mail from my “assassin” Sunday and she informed me that my socks are done and in the mail as of Monday morning. So I’m as good as dead, probably tomorrow.
I’m not that sad though. To tell the truth, I’m excited to get the socks my assassin knitted for me in the mail! I spend so much time knitting for other people, it’s fun to get some socks knitted for me by someone else. I’m so anxious to see them and try them on!
