Ouch Redux

Last night I had to admit something very difficult: I couldn't knit. My sore wrist has expanded in scope to include most of my hand, such that opening things is becoming difficult, I'm losing a bit of hand strength, and any motion involving twisting of that particular appendage is a big no no. It finally sunk into my thick skull that maybe it was time to put the needles down for a few days and let those tendons and ligaments have a break*.

But...it was Friday night, The Matrix** was on TV, and I had to do something with my hands - Gourds forbid that I just sit there idle in front of the boob tube. What to do?

I'd had a brief chat with Alisha early in the day about spindles, so I decided to pick up my long-neglected Bossie and get reacquainted.

The end result of which was finishing off half of the superwash merino/alpaca that Morgaine sent along when I bought the spindle and starting on the second half. I even figured out what I'm going to do with it: plied with some undyed nylon, this yarn will become the toes/soles/heels (if needed) of the cabled socks I'm going to knit (someday) out of my Peat superwash merino. It will be 1 ply of nylon with the 2 SW merino/alpaca singles, and should make for some really warm socks.

The only question now is who will get them? The front runner is me, but Ironman has really bad circulation in his feet, so making them for him might be in my best interests. We'll see. Given the long queue of Christmas knitting that has now been put on hold, it might be next winter before these socks even get thought about, much less cast on.

*My hand definitely feels better today, so we're making progress.
**I had a sad moment last night when The Matrix ran smack dab into the brick wall that is neurodevelopmental reality*** at 75 mph. The problem being that if Nemo**** Neo really has never used his eyes when he gets freed from his little battery cocoon by Morpheus et al, then he wouldn't be able to see. No input to the visual cortex during the critical developmental period early in life means no vision. Just ask the cats.
***Yes, I am overedumacated. Why do you ask?
****True typo. Really.

Fiber Friday: Homage to Adrian

It's getting to be that time of year...

Yup, time to take stock of the available knitted holiday gifts, and set out a plan for the fall. My attention lately has been mostly taken up by knitting for me me me, but with the end of September rapidly approaching, I spent some time making a list of what needs to be done.

Here's the general list:
4 pairs of mittens
2 pairs fingerless mitts
2 pairs felted clogs
At least two hats, one in this and one in something yet to be determined.

I've also had stranded knitting on my mind in a major way. I'm not so good with the color choices however, so today I'm casting on for a project that will be Hello Yarn from start to finish (except for the spinning/knitting parts, so really the colors and the pattern are Adrian's genius).

Fiber: Hello Yarn fiber club BFL in the "Norway" colorway, 4 oz split in half lengthwise and spun on to seperate bobbins, then chain plied to create skeins with (hopefully) matching stripes, plus some gorgeous grey-brown BFL from Halcyon Yarns for the contrast.

Like all of Adrian's fibers, this was lovely to spin. The colors in the original top didn't really grab me,

but boy did it turn out nicely in the finished yarn.

I have no idea as to wpi or yardages. I spun up 4 oz of the Norway, and maybe 2.5 oz of the brown BFL to start with. I have another 4 oz of Norway in reserve, if needed.

Pattern: Snail Mittens by Adrian Bizilia (aka helloyarn).
Recipient: TBD. Anyone want to chime in as to why they should get this FO? I'm open to bribes...

FO: Sunset Aestlight

Pattern: Aestlight, by Gudrun Johnston, size large
Yarn: Corriedale handspun, dyed by Adrian, colorway Thrive, spun by me, ~500 yds/121 gr of fingering weight.
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Start/finish: August 20-September 1 (knitting)/September 15 (blocking)
Comments: This shawl was a joy to knit. I've blogged about the yarn already, so I won't go into details of the spinning, but the knitting was lovely. The only real modification I think I did was to use a smaller size needle, in the hopes of being able to knit the larger size and not run out of yarn. Finished, blocked dimensions are 21 inches deep and 51 inches wide.

It starts off with a big garter stitch triangle, with yarn over increases at the start of every row. These loops are then picked up to knit a garter/lace/garter border around the long sides of the triangle, and then it finishes with a lovely pointed edging that is knit sidewise and attached to the live stitches as you go along.

The pattern was very well written and presented, and Gudrun also has a group on Ravelry, with a KAL thread and lots of helpful tips. I had some issues with the last of the border sections, mostly because I was being an idiot, so there are no issues that I could find with the pattern. In fact, if you're new to lace knitting, this would be a great pattern to start with. Since it's largely based in garter stitch, there is almost no purling at all. And the lace patterns used are fairly straightforward once you get through a couple of repeats.

When I got to the edging, I had an OCD moment and started weight remaining yarn. I made it through 2/3 of one long side before I finished the first ball, so I started with the greeny-bluey-yellowy stuff for the section around the point, and then switched back to the yarn I had set aside partway up. In the end, I had plenty of yarn.

These are going to end up in the Sock Yarn Blanket

The transitions are somewhat abrupt on both sides, but so what. My OCD moment has passed and I'm happy with it.

As always the transition from blob,

through blocking,

to finished object is so, so satisfying. I got some blocking wires while we were in Maine, and this was their maiden voyage. They worked pretty well, although I chose to thread them through the shawl before soaking it, and then had a devil of a time trying to squash the thing together enough so that it would fit into the sink and actually get wet. Never mind, it all worked out well in the end.

It's definitely my favorite part about knitting lace. Devil showed continued interest in photography, and insisted on taking some of the FO photos. Girlfriend definitely needs her own camera.

Holy fuck I'm getting grey...

The colors of this shawl make me think of Arizona sunsets, and are sure to be a huge hit on those cold, grey London winter days that I know are just around the corner. I can't wait.

Fiber Friday on a Monday

I think this is the shortest period of time that any fiber has sat in my stash waiting to be spun up.

Blue Faced Leicester Galaxy in the Jupiter colorway, from Spunky Eclectic's brick and mortar store.

Spun up woolen-style at 9:1. I went down a few ratios because I wanted to experiment with "real" long draw. What I ended up doing was more like double drafting - using long draw to get a single, then going back and drafting out the lumps. I predrafted the top along the whole length, pulled off chunks and fluffed them out a bit more, then folded them in half and drafted out of the middle of the chunk. It was very much like spinning from the fold, but the fibers got a bit more disorganized as the chunk got smaller.

I ended up with some light and fuzzy, but pretty uneven singles! After a few days, the singles were plied at 9:1. One bobbin had a lot more on it then the other, so I waited a bit to let the twist calm down before I plied. This was my first time trying to ply from a center pull ball, and it worked out ok. The final yarn ended up overplied by about 2.5 twists/skein. After a soak in warm water with a bit of wool wash, the skeins were balanced.

This is probably the best representation of the colors

Final stats: 9-14 wpi (mostly 12-14), 258 yds, 3.8 oz/107 gr. A good fingering-sport weight. I think this, knit at a tight gauge, will make some good gloves for someone.

Fiber Friday: Stash enhancement

Before we moved last spring, I sold my old tri bike for $500. When we came back to the States for this vacation, I still had $200 left, and I had grand plans. On Monday, those grand plans came to fruition.

The first stop was Spunky Eclectic, which I now know is only 30 minutes maximum from where my parents now live. Hallelujah! I managed to fall down and divest myself of half of my cashola in not very much time. Some superwash merino came home to live with me,

Emerald Isle

Thunderstorm

and then I was swept away by some Shetland and a couple of braids of BFL.

Tundra Shetland

BFL Galaxy Jupiter

BFL Autumn

The final keeper from the vast selection in Amy's shop was a braid of merino/bamboo/nylon. I think this is going to make some unbelievable socks for someone. Probably me!

Blue Moon

The shop was lovely and chock full of gorgeous stuff. Including a circle of wheels and more spindles then I've ever seen in one place. And Grafton batts. And natural colored fibers. And, and, and...I can't even begin to list the stuff that was in there, but if I ever end up living near my parents, I know where I'll be spending large chunks of my time and (non)disposable income.

But we weren't done yet. We (me, my mother, and my non-napping children) headed to Bath and Halcyon Yarns. I was looking for some grey BFL to pair with this to make some stranded mittens. They didn't have any grey, but they did have some brown that looked like it would work.

I also got some brown Coopworth and 4 oz of merino/cashmere for something really special.

Now the problem is figuring out how to get it all back to London. I think I may need an extra suitcase. But it should keep me busy for a while!