Bits & Pieces

Some of you may have noticed that waaaaaaaay back in September I won a contest on Mari's blog, and then never mentioned it here. I have good reason! You ready?

I won about a week before I left for New Zealand. The plan for me was originally to find a place to live in NZ, and so Mari was going to send the package to a friend of mine, who was going to add to it, then forward it on to me. Flawless, right?

Except that I never settled in NZ, so there was nowhere to send the package. Between busy schedules and life just being what it is, I didn't get the package until after Christmas. Which is fine by me, I'm happy to accept gifties anytime.

And what a gift! Check this out!



At the bottom and on the right are 2 skeins of Koigu KPPPM, in the middle is a skein of Sundara sock yarn (!!!), and the needles are, obviously Pony Rosewood. None of it is stuff I've tried before, but all of it is stuff I've wanted to try!

Needless to say, there was much prancing around when I opened the package.

Thank you Mari!

Someone on Ravelry asked in a forum how to knit faster. Here are my tips:

1. Don't have a job. Frees up lots of time for knitting.

2. Live with your parents. Without a job you have no income, but with parents buying food and paying for things like heat you can use whatever savings you might have for wool.

And, less hilariously:

3. Don't read blogs. It gives you a false sense of other people's speed, and seeing 400 FOs in one day makes one despondent.

4. Project monogamy. Sucks, but does make things go faster.

Look! I made socks!



Final successful cast on: January something.

Finished weaving in the ends: January something.

The originator: Basic toe-up pattern to 60 stitches (should've done 64) with a short-row heel.

The string: Schaefer Anne

The sticks: Size 1 dpns.

Pattern shmattern: I don't like short-row heels. They're always a little pointy until they get worn once or twice, and they're a little too small for my feets.

And I'm working on a scarf, because, as it happens, I don't have a decent one. Seems wrong, somehow, to be a knitter and not have a good scarf. But I brought out my cashmere (NOM NOM NOM) and have cast on for a brioche scarf.



Of course, immediately after casting on I learned that cashmere goats are super bad for the environment, but... you know. So is cotton. So I'm not going to worry about it right now.

The other thing I'm doing with my plethora of free time is teaching myself to spin. I bought a new drop spindle with part of my gift certificate to one of the LYSs here, read an article and watched some things on youtube.

I had some Merino 64 from The Yarn Tree last time I tried to learn how to spin. Turns out? Spinning is hard. My consistency leaves something to be desired, and I need to study up on some more expletives because I just don't have enough for this learning curve.



And I find I'm getting the beginnings of a blister on my drafting thumb. Is that normal?