Red!

I never wear red. If you know me in person you probably see me in black, grey, brown and blue. I don't have a lot of color variation in my wardrobe. I don't really like to stand out and bright colors make me feel like I am trying to stand out. (perhaps I should see someone about that.)(hmm)

So, this sweater is a real switch for me. And, most shocking (to me): I really like the color now!



Pattern: I used my notes from modifications I made to Knitty's Mesilla and added long sleeves.
Yarn: Bernat Lana that I over dyed in order to make a Christmas present (which didn't work out and I was left with this RED yarn!) (Also, the yarn didn't all dye evenly, which I knew but didn't realize it was so noticeable until I was done the body.)

I love this sweater. I hope it's cold enough this week to wear it!

Seven (and a half)

I finished a pair of socks today. I now have made myself enough socks to go a full week. (there have been socks made and given away also)















Then there is this one lonely singleton sock. I'm not sure why I never made the 2nd. I had forgotten about this one until I found it in my sock yarn leftovers basket.


And, my next sock: (my own) handspun.


I think, from this photo line up, we can deduce the following:
1. I like me my socks.
2. I like me the self-patterning sock yarn.
3. with very few exceptions, I stick with a plain ribbed cuff sock.
4. I have more time on my hands (see: the photographing of my socks) than I should.

(is "photographing" a word?)

daydream knitting...

Three mornings a week I ride my stationary bike at 6 AM. (I know! how athletic am I?)(answer: not very) Anyway, the point here is this: My bike is in my bedroom and it faces my yarn shelf. I often find myself daydreaming about projects and the yarn I see there. This morning I planned out the colors to attempt a circular yoke fair-isle sweater, and a cardigan I'd like to try. It was while on my bike I thought of the project I am currently working on (the brown cabled cardigan is boring on a temporary hold).



I'm using my modifications to Knitty's Mesilla and will add long sleeves. I'm about 1" into the ribbing at the bottom of the body. The color is a big change for me. I don't normally wear red, but I kind of like this color. I had initially dyed this yarn to use for a Christmas gift, but that didn't work out, leaving me with RED yarn. I hope to finish this one in the next few days. We're about to get more snow, so I'll definately be glad for another sweater!!

I've been spinning, trying to acheive a slightly thicker yarn. I seem to have a tendency to spin fairly fine, and haven't had much luck in spinning a consistent thicker single. I finally managed to do 2 skeins of a worsted weight, each approximately 3 oz, navajo plied.



I dyed 1/2 pound of BFL roving on the weekend:

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I was a little worried that the colors would just end up muddy. I borrowed from directions I saw on someone's blog (i forgot to bookmark it. oops) and just kind of winged it. I sprinkled the dye powder on the roving rather than mix it up first, which I had never tried before. I really like how this turned out. The colors seem to have saturated well without becoming muddy.

I've started spinning some Fleece Artist Merino I got at Gina Brown's on the weekend. I'm attempting to spin sock yarn.


I am not very good at this whole naming-your-yarn thing. Anyone have any ideas on names for the yarns up there? I kind of like the idea of naming the colorways, but I seem kind of stuck on the ones I come up with.

brrrrrrr. and also: brr.

We've had snow. And cold. Not nearly as much snow as some areas of the continent, and not as bitterly cold as some areas, but still. Snow. And cold.

The view from my living room window

So, I'm glad that I have these to wear:

Pattern: Using the directions that I got from a friend (the same directions as the pair for my friend Cobi) and a chart I found online (can't remember where. Possibly here).
Yarn: Sirdar Country Style DK (45% Acrylic, 40% Nylon, 15% Wool)
They're a little bit big on me (skinny hands apparently). Ever since I finished them I've been thinking about another pair knit on smaller needles with the same yarn (or similar) to reduce the overall size and make them a little denser and more wind resistent. Still, I do love them. New mittens!

I'm working on a cabled cardigan based loosely on Knitty's Starsky. (different cable pattern and different yarn)

(the color seems difficult to capture. It's a rich brown with flecks of color)
I think I'll quite like this when it's completed. I've sort of stalled out after finishing the back. I need to get back into it. I'm about halfway done one sleeve at present.

I'm also working on a top down sweater based loosely on Knitty's Mesilla (using the mods I came up with in the summer for this sweater). I don't have a progress shot of it. Light is sometimes hard to come by right now...

I spun up the roving I got from Erynn at Twist of Fate

This monster skein is 190g and comes to approximately 1300 yards. (yikes). It's about a sock weight I think. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. Ideas? It has mohair so I don't think I want it to be socks. I was thinking a sweater knit on larger (well, a US 7 or 8) needles so that it would be loose and a bit drapey. Or lace possibly.

The forecast is calling for a chinook this week. At present the roads are terrible. The city doesn't plow any residential streets unless they're leading directly to a school, so the drive to/from work is, well, interesting. If the chinook hits it will be like driving through a city wide slurpee. Fun.

Thanks for all the nice comments on the Mystique sweater and the Endpaper mitts. I'm sorry I've been so lax in commenting at all of your blogs (I wonder how many times I've made this apology? hmm.). I need to get back into the regular blog habit.

Stay warm, wherever you may be.