Fiber Friday

I’ve been sitting here most of the day (it’s Good Friday, no school) frustrating myself with money calculations. There’s no possible way to get an apartment and car to have in college while only working part time. I thought that maybe I could save money, but I really couldn’t. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that my school is in a very ritzy part of the town. I mean, I will be living there first semester, so I can’t change that, but man, $12000 in loans, it blows my mind. But there doesn’t seem to be a way around it unless I go to a different school.

So about that knitting.

After I finished that first cabled sock, I was so surprised that I sort of just stopped knitting on it. (I also had realized that my mom’s scarf was lonely)

And look at this weird obsession with cables I’ve got going on:

All of them have cables. I finally figured out the socks, and they’re going along quite nicely now. I haven’t knit on the Printed Silk Cardigan in a while because of the lack of wooden needles, but that has cables in it too!

On to the fiber.

This is that merino I thought spinning enough for a shawl out of, then I came to my senses. I wanted to spin thicker and this is what happened. Around 60 yds of sport weight yarn, Navajo plied.

I’m going to go torture myself with money calculations and hide from the looming shadow of the final draft of my research paper.

New and Cabled

So new… (I think I’m a little obsessed with cables as of late).

Boot Socks from Favorite Knit socks, in Shibui Sock, size 2 needles and the smallest size. Which will fit mike perfectly because it’s too big on me.

So, for this sock it was threedays = one sock! Fastest ever!

I recently found out that my aunt is five months pregnant (they tried to keep it quiet because of past issues), and of course, her baby needs a sweater! A Baby Surprise Jacket it is!

Remember that sock I’ve been designing? It’s in timeout – Yes, it is cast off. There is no toe.

FO: Mike’s Socks

Pattern: Jules
Yarn: Jawoll, Black
Needles: Size 2.25 mm, circ from knitpicks.
Mods: For once, none! I loved the pattern, it was interesting and easy at the same time (it had to be with the black yarn!), and VERY well written.

As for the Kangaroo Socks (Which I think I’m going to name roomate socks, because they remind me and might be gifted to my roomate), I added 4 sts to fix pooling, which I probably would have had to do anyways, because they’re rather tight now. I’ll get pictures with I finished the first, probably around tuesday, they’ve sped right past the heel!

Oh, and my computer. My god, I don’t even want to think about it. Well, being without it and having to sit here at my mom’s desktop makes me realize how much I needed it (well, my back needed it). We’re sending it away to get repaired, so we will lose all the files. And the same thing has happened to my cousin’s HP computer, because of the live update! So annoying.

GAH!

Sadly, my laptop now looks like this:(do you know why? A Windows live update. God I hate the world)

(no, that’s literally as good as it gets for the past three days!)

And here, look, here’s a lady bug!

(that’s to distract you from the lack of yarn/fiber/knitting in this post. I’m sorry, but since I’m losing ALL my files, including the beginning of a really bad book I was writting, you should pity me.)

Good news? I’m knitting alot. I finished mike’s socks and I’m fixing pooling issues with the Kanagroo socks. More when I can get to my pictures.

Nothing Interesting…..

I finished one – but not the other. Apparently I was supposed to have them done by tomorrow (he has a concert), but well, I only have the cuff of the other.

I also finished my handspun socks… Not too exciting, besides the fact that they look nothing alike!

Pattern: Toe up, short row heel and toe, over 50sts.
Yarn: My own handspun
Needles: size 2s
Mods: n/a

Nothing else interesting to show, I’m thinking about frogging Muir, and I’ve hibernated her…But I’ll probably work on her in the summer, so I don’t know. I haven’t knit anything on my sweater, besides about three rows this weekend (I had too much energy this weekend to knit). I figure I’ll make the body shorter. When I knit the sleeve, I had just finished decreases, then it said knit until it’s about 12″ – I was already there! The yarn must stretch out alot…

Maybe I should only blog when I have an FO? That would lead to less rambling.

Fiber Friday

Kangaroo Dyer Sock Yarn

Dream in Color Smooshy – Dusky auroa.

Just everything came at once this week…I need to start a “college stash”. Like a college fund, only yarn!

Ideas

I have two ideas – one’s fully-formed, and the other is still in the partial stage. The first –

It’s a beginning of a sock – my own pattern! The Kangaroo Dyer sent me the yarn and I started last night.

She also sent me this lovely stuff.

Lace weight – the same weight/fiber content as Kidsilk Haze, and such lovely colors. I’m thinking of several things – lacy spring scarves, cowls etc.

My next idea – my uncle wants some hand warmers – soft, deep red yarn is what I’ve been looking for. And then it hit me – I was spinning some UNDYED yarn that I could dye to whatever color I wanted. And it’s soooo soft! I navajo plied it today – so fun!

It’s only about 41 yards, but still! Tomorrow – I have to update about my fiber intake – it’s been very large lately, not purposefully, though!

Weekends

We’ve got snow again. It’s actually getting sort of annoying, that we keep having snow on days there’s no school the next day. But it provides a good opportunity for knitting, which, surprisingly, is actually being done. (but other than knitting, I’ve done ABSOLUTELY nothing this weekend, it’s been great)

We have a sleeve of the Printed Silk Cardigan! Now, I don’t what percent of the sweater a sleeve is, but it’s less then 25% right? More than 5%? I just don’t know.

(Making a sweater in pieces doesn’t make for very good blogging)

I started a scarf, for my mom. She lost her old a while ago, and offered to buy the yarn for new one. (of course I said yes)

Cascade 220, Shifting Sands Scarf, size 8 needles.

I haven’t knit much on these socks, but look how fraternal they are! They look nothing a like!

Oh, and spinning too, to the point where my left shoulder has been complaining loudly!

This is the roving I got Friday, but only about 10 grams.

Weirdly enough, the true colors only show with the flash. I have boring white singles from some superwash merino I bought on Thursday, but, well, they’re boring white singles. I plan on dying them with some acid dyes my school has.

(OH, and Muir? I’ve done nothing on her. I think I’ll have to steal the needles from her and put her on straights, because I need the circ for the sweater, so I think she’ll start to hibernate)

Pointy Toes and Fiber Friday

So, I guess my toes are pointy. Not as in each one individually is pointy, but they all slope together to a point. My father complains all the time that the socks I’ve knit him have pointy toes, and I’ve told him it’s only because it was his side of the family I inherited the toes from.

But this has a point. (hehe… Bad Pun!)I finished my embossed leaves socks today, and when i tried them on they looked like this. With normal people’s feet, the type of toe favored is a rounded one. So, with mine….I needed more point to it, you know?

Yes I know my toes look normal, but in actuality, they are very very squished.

Side by side for comparison – pointy on the right, rounded on the left.

The last 7 rows, the pattern says to decrease every row, so I decreased every other row until I have 12 sts, then grafted the toe together. It fits me better, not great, but thats all I can hope for with the pattern. If I wanted to make patterned foot longer, I would have had to knit another repeat, and that would have been too much length.

Pointy toes:

And the two!

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks, in Favorite Socks.
Needles: Two at once Magic Loop, 32″ size 2.25 mm circ.
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss (Love it, but I have to knit a swatch and throw it in the wash to see if it’lll come out fine, here we wash our clothes in cold water, so many knit things do fine in the wash!)
Mods: Instead of decreasing every row the last seven rows, I contuined to decrease everyother row, and then when I had 12 stitches, I grafted them together (don’t do that if you decide to use this mod – decreas until there’s 10-8 sts, then pull the yarn through the stitches).

I got some fiber today in the mail from here. It’s just so bright! (FYI from now on, I’m going to try doing a “Fiber Friday” where I’ll show new yarns and fiber, so I won’t have to bombard the blog with pictures every time I go yarn shopping!)

Superwash Merino Top, Green with Envy Colorway

My new Socks approve (I’m wearing them – very smooshy!)

Dyeing

Well, yarn.

My own handspun!

Koolaid Formula:
1 package of yellow, half a package of blue, and two tea bags.

I’m in love. This is for a ipod case for Mike, it’s only 15 grams!

I spun the Ashland Bay merino, plied:

And singles:

I’m planning on making a Swallowtail Shawl, so I’m test spinning – seeing if I want to knit with the singles or the plied. I’m thinking the plied.

As for actual knitting, I’ve gotten quite a bit done. Why? Because it’s looked like this for about three weeks (with small break in between).

I’ve knit quite a bit on the Printed Silk cardigan.

Quite a bit translates to about 5 inches. Not much in the prospect of a sweater.

I’m really excited, Gail, the kangaroo dyer for WEBs, pmed my on Ravelry and asked if I wanted to do a project with her. I’m not sure about the details, but I think I’ll end up designing and knitting a pair of socks (at least, that’s what I want to do!). I’m very excited.

I just want to address something about recent things on the blog. I’ve been spinning, alot, so I’ve been blogging about spinning. I’m sorry if that’s not your cup of tea (I personally think it should be, but hey, to each his own!), but I will be knitting it too. So please stick around! (Yarn pr0n will follow boring spinning posts, promise!)