Christmas Knitting

I had resolved not to do any Christmas Knitting this year, mostly because my family lies in one of two extremes: Parents/In-Laws: Crafting is to precious to wear and BIL's: Lets just stuff it away and never talk about it again (in the not so precious way). I've finally decided there are only two family members worthy of my knitting- my husband and my daughter (mainly because she can't speak against it yet!).

Unfortunately my husband didn't want anything. It's not that he hates my crafting, it's more that he already has two hats for winter and it doesn't get cold enough here for him to wear sweaters/scarves/mittens. He's one of those guys who hardly ever gets cold which is annoying and amazing at the same time. So, I made the one thing he would actually wear... another hat.

"Barley" in Madelinetosh Pashmina Worsted

One of my daughter's first words was kitty (we do have four cats...) so I made her a little one out of my handspun yarn. I was fortunate to have some leftover yarn and found a pattern for matching ears!

"C is for Cat" and "Wow Meow (cat ears for costumes)" in my handspun 111 Stories and Malabrigo Twist

Overall I was successful in using partial skeins from my stash as well as continuing to knit with my yummy handspun yarn! It's a great start to my Stash Down of 2014 (more details to come!).

'Tis the Season... For HATS!!!

With the changing of the weather also comes my need for knitted accessories, and my continual need for  handknit hats. It helps that one of my favorite designers Woolly Wormhead has an annual mystery knit-a-long for hats in November. This is my fourth year joining in, but I have actually knitted hats from the first two years that I wasn't able to participate in. I'm currently working on this year's mystery hat, with clue 1 already finished, but I'm already planning on casting on my next hat!

Here are two of my favorite hats I've made that I don't get to wear nearly enough:

"Limpetiole" in Knit Picks City Tweed DK

"Star Crossed Slouchy Beret" in my handspun Whale Barnacles

My Fair Ribbons Just Aren't Fair!

I've been entering items into the North Georgia State Fair at least since I was in middle school. It's nice because I get a free ticket into the fair and a ribbon if I place. A few years back they even added prize money to help encourage entries.

This year, as always, I scrambled around last minute to find something worthy of entering and finally pulled out two of my more recent finished objects- my Caladan and my Sproutlette Dress. Here is what I found on Sunday:

Truthfully, I was a bit saddened by the second place win on my handspun/handknit dress. I put so much effort into that dress; it deserved a blue ribbon! Unfortunately, I don't know what it was up against in the same category because the Fair is highly unorganized on how they display entries. Well at least I'll have a little extra spending money this week!

"Caladan", Dream In Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Black Parade
"Sproutelette Dress", Hitchhikergal's Handspun in Pink Fantasy No. 65

Catching Sock Fever

I really shouldn't have included fever in the title... Way too soon to be making references to this past week.

Anyways, it seemed like everyone was making socks: a friend had ordered 40 skeins of sock yarn while her kids were away at camp (that's a lot of socks!) and my co-workers started up a knit-a-long. So I peered into my stash and found some sportweight Malabrigo. Turns out it makes some lovely socks... even if the same skein doesn't end up matching!

"Jeck", Malabrigo Arroyo in Piedras

Tour de Fleece 2013

This year I managed to accomplish all that I had set aside for the Tour! It's all Edgewood Garden Studio Fiber, which is absolutely wonderful to work with!

Wow, eight braids of fiber in 23 days! Oh, wait, I also spun some silk hankies:

I only had 18 yards, but I did manage to make a little bracelet, "Odd Ends" by Carina Spencer:

Overall I managed to spin over 1,580 yards and 914 grams of fiber, knit a finished object, and work! Phew, no wonder I'm sick this week!

Photoshop!

So I got a new computer (along with Windows 8...) and found a free version of Photoshop. I love it! It can't do too much, but it's all I need to make things look a little more like they do in real life:

Before:

 After:

Zebisis Designs 19 mic Merino, Kid and Yearling Mohair, Mulberry Silk, Cormo/Merino X and Targhee/Merino X fleece, Milk, Soy, Angelina

Taiyo

Noro, you either hate it or love it. I happen to be part of the group that is addicted. Even when other brands have softer and more consistent (I've never had a problem with any of my skeins, but I have heard of others who have) yarn bases with long color transitions, there is something that draws me in with the rustic look and feel of the Noro bases. I had only worked with the Silk Garden before, so when the opportunity rose to work with the Taiyo, I knew I wanted to try it. I'm generally not a huge fan of cotton/cotton blends, but the additional silk, wool, and nylon content makes the Taiyo great to work with. I can't wait to finish up this cowl!

Noro Taiyo in 01