What to do when you're trying not to knit?

Trying being the operative word here...1) Finish some spinning (i.e. wash, thwack, dry)


2) Watch Game of Thrones (swoon).

3) Paint fingernails a color somewhere between purple and navy blue.


4) Do some writing.

5) Maybe a little something else on the side?

Uh oh. That there is a new design, a pair of lacy summer mitts, that I started knitting on Tuesday. They may be done before my doctor's appointment tomorrow (at which I fully expect them to say "Stop typing/knitting/using your right hand, you complete idiot!"). I hope so, cause I need to get them tested and published by the beginning of June. Thankfully they are somewhat addictive, so they knit up quick!

FF: (yet another) Weaving FO

An "ancient" but as yet unblogged handspun item for your Friday viewing pleasure: Boo's Overfond scarf.

Yarn: warp = handspun merino from Hello Yarn, colorway "Overfond", weft = recycled pale blue light fingering weight from a Goodwill sweater, 100% unknown wool fiber.
Start/finish: 17 January - 3 February 2012
Details: ummmm....I'd copy over my notes from my Rav project page, but I didn't leave any. Oops! But after I made Dev a scarf from her Christmas yarn, I had to make one for Boo.

Sproingy, boingy, bouncy merino at it's finest. Lovely stuff, and yet another example of how I should just trust The Adrian in All The Things Color: I was unconvinced by the colorway in top form, but adore the finished yarn.

I have made the unfortunate discovery this week that, not only should I avoid knitting like the plague, I should not spin. I managed to ignore this glaring truth long enough to spin up 8 oz of BFL/silk singles, but that will have to wait for a bath and a modeling session sometime next week before I can share. Suffice to say, it was not my best idea ever. Harumph. I do not like this situation one little bit, but I need to stop being a stubborn idiot and trying to do things before my hand has calmed down. Or else take myself off to the physio and start popping ibuprofen like candy. Ugh. Might mean a lot more weaving however...I can take care of all my Christmas gifts for the year! That's planning ahead for you.

The end of an era

Guys, you won't believe it, but check this out.

The world's my longest running UFO is now an FO. I can't even believe it.

Pattern: Sock Yarn Blanket by Shelly Kang
Needles: US 1.5/2.25 mm for squares, US 2/2.5 mm for I-cord edging
Yarn: sock yarn. Lots and lots of teeny balls of sock yarn. No earthly idea on the yardage, but I've still got a crap load left, so I'm not sure this was the ultimate stash buster I was hoping for!
Start/finish: this is where it gets impressive. I cast on for the first squares on 16 April 2008. I was originally intending to give this to Boo for Christmas in 2008. Then it was going to be for her second birthday. Then we moved and it migrated to the bottom of my laundry hamper of ongoing projects. And I tried desperately to forget about it.

Well, as I got to the end of the River Run pullover (I swear I will blog this soon!), I had a hankering for mindless garter stitch, so I pulled this out again. The last few squares didn't take all that long, and then I had to figure out how to fill in the sawtooth edges. I had grand designs on being really fancy and matching the mitering on the main squares. After much mental gymnastics I decided it was too complicated and I picked up stitches along one side of the sawtooth, and decreased/attached to the other edge on every other row. Easy peasy.

Then I picked up one stitch for each garter ridge along the edges, and worked about 3 inches of border, increasing two stitches at each corner to make a point. Then came the attached I-cord edging, which I thought would drag on forever, but actually flew by. I did a 5 stitch i-cord, which made for a nice ~0.5 inch edging.

Then came the weaving in of the ends. This thankfully coincided with my tendonitis flare up that meant I couldn't really knit, so those suckers took a couple of evenings and four episodes of "Game of Thrones".

I was going to put a fleece backing on it so I didn't have to weave in all the ends, but someone got impatient and didn't want to wait any longer. Fair enough. Final finished date: 15 April 2012. Yup, you're looking at a four year project. Seem's like maybe it should be a bit more impressive, doesn't it?

Done, dusted. Boo has named it "Colorful" and had to be distracted with TV so I could take it away for some photographs. I call that a success.

I am thrilled to be finished with it. And I love that we can spread it out and identify squares that are from yarn from socks that I've knit for the family. There's yarn from Nana socks, Grandpa socks, Mermaid and Koala socks, Uncle socks, Auntie socks, Mummy and Daddy socks, as well as handspun yarns, yarns from friends in Houston, and yarns from socks I've made since we've been in the UK. A whole (more then) four years worth of memories to keep her warm.

Devil will be getting a blanket as well, some time in the future, but it will be out of worsted weight yarn, if I have anything to say about it. It might end up being worsted weight handspun, but so be it! And my piles of sock yarn scraps are destined for some really entertaining mis-matched socks and some baby gear for upcoming sproglets (not mine). Hooray!

Things that make me smile

Two finished scarves, about to head out to their new homes in tomorrow morning's post.

An almost Britishly-ironic headline in the NY Times online Political Section (ok, this one made me laugh out loud).

One finished mitt that I couldn't put down, even though I really really need to stop knitting (my first ever Madeleinetosh and Oh My Bob is it nice).

And a kick ass, last minute spur of the moment trip to Wembley Arena on Friday night.

It's been a good weekend.

The new culprit: work!

After a long stretch of not very much actual lab work in the last year or so, I seem to find my butt firmly planted on a lab stool more often then not these days. Usually accompanied by one of these. Or one of these. It did not become clear to me until today that these dastardly devices are clearly the source of my wrist pain that has developed over the last couple of weeks. Not to mention hundred of little vials that need to have lids screwed on to them. It certainly couldn't be the hemp! Consider this my apology, oh lovely orangey-red Gemini pullover. Sadly, I still can't work on you.

Instead of knitting on my sweater, I've been doing some other stuff. Like washing fleece for the first time. I did my first trial batch on Wednesday, using a technique from Deborah Robson (she of Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook fame). For £10, I picked up five washtubs and five little storage baskets with big holes along the side, and away I went.

The set up: 2 hot (~50 degrees Celsius, which is what I get straight from the tap) rinse baths, 2 hot soapy baths, and 2 final rinse baths (also hot). All done in the bathtub. Here's what it looked like, more or less:

The first rinse bath was absolutely disgusting.

Clouds of brown dirt came off the fiber, even without any agitation. Yuck! The second rinse bath came out fairly clear, thankfully.

The soapy steps seem to have taken care of most of the grease, but I may end up needing to wash again - either with hotter water or more water. Sadly, this round of three trays of fiber used up most of the hot water in the tank, so washing the entire kilo is going to take a while!

Last night, in a fit of frustration because I didn't want to irritate my wrist, I sat down in front of the loom. About an hour later, I had this (small teaser photo only),

which, after a bath this morning, now looks like this.

Hopefully it will be on it's way to Switaly soon!