Christmas Yarn Part II

Dear Blog, 

Santa was good to us this year, check it out! First, not photoed, was a gift card, promptly used to purchase a set of lace blocking wires. I've been desperately wanting some for (what seems like ) years now, and now I will have them. Bwahahaha! This combined with the knitting book I got, Finishing School, means I'll be able to conquer next-years uber lace and sweater knitting goals!

I've wanted this book for awhile, it's got all sorts of neat tips on how to add those professional last touches on projects, and it has the habit of ending up on the recommended reading lists of all my favorite bloggers. A must for any knitter's library!

Today I went over to the Post Office to pick up a present from my Sister. She's been dropping hints for awhile now so I was super excited (and a little scared) when I opened it. It's a hand painted braid of BFL for spinning, and it has all of my favorite colors in it!!
I've spun BFL before and it's true that not all BFL is the same. This stuff is considerably softer!  I'm really excited to start spinning this.

 The artists who does these braids also included a red hot-flavored lolly pop which I'm a little scared to try. Anyway, I was petting the fibre and smelling it (it's been heavily perfumed) and just generally drooling all over it when I noticed this tiny piece of paper.

I unfolded it and :

I must admit I squeaked a little. Loud enough to make Aaron come running to see if I was ok. Of course I'm ok, but I'm still wheeling from shock. It's a three month fibre club! I really don't know what to say. Of course I've tried calling (no answer), and I've texted. But how does one convey really and truly how they feel when confronted with so much fibery goodness?  

I'm still holding my breath, just in case it's just some kind of cruel joke or ill-fated mistake. But I think not.

Good thing I snagged the drop-spindle from storage the day I left Maryland ;)

Thanks Bri, you win again, what an awesome sister! 

Christmas Yarn Part I

Dear blog,

One of the most exciting times of the year, Christmas, is upon us. Or, I should say, was. I'm feeling pretty good about the fibrey part of this year's Holiday celebrations. Starting with a short little field trip to Fibre Space.
 My BFF and knitting co-conspirator Jeanne, planned for and financed the whole trip, and we ended up making a day of it. Commuting by Metro and walking five blocks in (sort of ) snowy weather definitely got us into the Christmas/yarn shopping mood. But first we ate at my favorite burger joint : Five Guys.  You can sit inside and stare at the yarn store as you eat, as I did.






Inside, Fibre Space is pretty awesome. There are two couches for sitting/purse storage. Yarns are organized by weight, the shelves are labeled with estimated cost per X yardage (to help those who want an idea how much a sweater in said yarn would cost them. ) And there were some pretty awesome locally produced and American grown yarns as well, something I always love seeing in a good Yarn Store.




They also have a freaking amazing logo and set of T-shirt and Bag designs. I think our favorite is the yarn planet + Rocket design. But I also love the Space Chick one. Couldn't resist nabbing it.



Not pictured, they also had a pretty sweet selection of fibre for hand spinning, as well as some hand-crafted drop spindles. Yummy! I resisted though, and satisfied myself with a Shawl's worth of Shelter.



Jeanne scored something Chunky in a delicious green color, also for a shawl, but in my excitement I forgot to note the brand name. Needless to say it was soft and squishy :)

Five Horned Sheep

Hello blog,

A few days ago I was curled up in bed reading a few pages from the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook. (I only read a few pages at a time as a way to relax before going to sleep.)
And I got to the section about the Manx Loaghtan breed. This breed caught my eye immediately because they commonly have four horns.





Now, I don't like to think of myself as an 'ignorant city girl' I have seen loads of sheep in person, and as a knitter preparing to get into spinning and fiber prep, I've read a fair bit about sheep. I know that sheep can have horns (though I've never personally met any of that type) But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine their horns could look like these!





According to just about any source you read about the Manx breed, they can have anywhere from 0 horns, to 6 horns! On reading that I spent several hours trying to find a picture of a sheep with six horns, but the closest I got was this five-horned one.

 

Bottom line is, the Manx breed just made it to my must-spin-fiber bucket list ^_^


WIP Progress:

- Working 1st rep of chart A for Nereid glove
- FO Glow hat
- FO Monster hat

Queuing :

- Zombie Vixen mitts
- Turn a square hat (2x)

WIP Wonderland

Dear blog,

I continued to chug along on all of my WIP projects this past week. The completion rate has slowed slightly due to the sudden transcription workload I've had lately. I am sorry to confess that I still have not mastered the art of typing and knitting simultaneously. However progress is still being made. I finished the base hat for Monster last week and made a pit stop at Hobby Lobby on Saturday for supplies.

Only one earflap and some glue keeps this hat from being an FO.







WIP Progress:

- The Frosted Glow hat is growing steadily. About two inches into the stockinette portion
- BO first Nereid glove, CO for second.

Queuing up :

Zombie Vixen Mitts
Turn a square hat.

Frosted FO

Dear Blog,


I started knitting Frosted on Sunday. And let me just say this first: I've only knit one, but it's my new favorite hat pattern and I've already got it memorized.

Went to the Big Yarn store on Saturday and got some last minute acrylics. My favorite being Red Heart's Shimmer. Worsted acrylic with shiny tinsel mixed in. It's surprisingly soft and held up well to frogging.

Had to frog the headband part because I was tragically misreading the instructions for the spiral rib.  I was reading the part that said:

K2TG But do not drop stitches from left needle knit first stitch again 2X

So I was knitting the first stitch a total of three times, creating an increase, when instead your supposed to knit it just the once, and then do the whole thing again starting with the K2TG. DOH.

Tuesday I knit the 5 inches of stockinette and today I did the decreases and bound off!





Yay, this is a spur of the moment totally un-planned x-mas knitting thing. ^^;;

I also finished a second pair of the good time mitts for my boyfriend, so now we both have gloves we can get away with wearing in uniform.

WIP progress :
- Getting ready to start the thumb gusset for Nereid
- Casting on a new hat
- Swatched the Tanis blue fingering for the zombie vixen mitts

Hibernating :

Endpaper mitts due to sudden x-mas knitting

The beaded lace cowl, because lets face it, I should probably frog it and join without twisting.