SAFF

I went, I saw,



I was very reasonable with my purchases.



Sugarbee Studios One night stand batt in Isaac. I don't know how I'm going to spin it up yet, but I'm totally looking forward to it.



ReadySpin (RealWool) 6-pack of rovings. This'll end up being some super stripey sock yarn, I think.

Now that I have new stuff I'm spinning the hell out of some purple roving so I can start spinning up the batt.

I didn't finish my sweater in time (the collar was still on the needles, and while I tried to wear it like that it was just too crowded and I was bordering on hurting someone with my needles), but it's just about finished now (after I fix the sleeves, re-bind-off the collar, and find buttons). Do I have pictures? Heavens no!

But SAFF was fun. And if y'all get a chance to hang out with Stacey you should, because she is FULL of win.

Isn't it nice...

when you get some help...



winding a particularly tangled skein of yarn?



(I let her play because 1. I didn't think she could make the tangles much worse, and 2. it was DAMN cute).

Olympics update: only 17 more edging repeats on the shawl until I'm done!

Maryland Sheep and Allergies

Before I left the house for the Maryland Sheep and Wool I saw a box of tissues -- the decent kind, with aloe and lotion -- and thought ah! I should bring those along, what with my heinously evil allergies, even though I have already had some benadryl, and have some extra in my pocket. Naturally, I forgot to grab the tissues on my way out. I stopped at the gas station, and there were no boxes of tissues, but they had a generic pocket pack of sandpaper brand tissues. I bought a roll of paper towels instead.

And what did I do? I left them in the car. A compacted nasal passage makes me stupid.

MDSW is pretty amazing. It's huge and confusing and there's wool and people and sheep EVERYWHERE. I had to walk around four times before I could actually focus on any one product. This is the line for Socks That Rock:



The weather was pretty good -- cloudy and cool in the morning. The afternoon got warmer and humid, and I started to feel badly for all the people who were wearing their recently-finished wool sweaters.

There was a Ravelry meet-up, and BOY was it crowded.





Being not so wild about big crowds I got my Official Ravelry Pin and took off for shopping. So here're my spoils:



Clockwise from that blue stuff on the left (or you can click for flickr notes): 2 braids Flying Fibers hand painted BFL; 1 oz Nono Cashmere; Socks That Rock (I had to see what all the fuss was about) in Purple Rain; more Cashmere*, this time from The Fold (aka the Socks That Rock booth); three small skeins of Koigu KPPPM which were 25¢/ounce which is actually not as good a deal as you might think, but will make good baby booties**; and finally, in the gold bag, an ounce of buffalo roving. I rave about it all the time and thought since I cause such a fuss about it (and since it was half the price that I've seen it for online -- thank you, The Fold!) I should have some to show off. This may never get used for spinning, but kept for fondling.

I wanted to go to the Ravelry party, but at around 4pm I got hit with some really bad allergies -- sneezing, itchy eyes, general misery, and I dealt with it for an hour, and finally decided it wasn't worth it and went home.

So! Project update. I blame this one on Grace. She was all talking about knitting baby sweaters, and then all of a sudden there I was, knitting a baby sweater.



It also hasn't helped that I've been lusting after colorwork knitting lately, and than it's looking like my nephew is going to be a hefty fella, and everything I knit him already is a little on the small side. But there you go. I'm still debating what to do for the neck. I like button necks but haven't done one before, and am not sure how they should work. Whatever. I'll figure something out.

I used the Yarn Standards website to try and get some sizing ideas, and y'all, babies are some weird-ass sizes. For a 3 month old the length from their armpit to armpit is 8", but the length from the nape of their neck to their waist is just 6".

That makes for a freaky looking sweater, so I'm just using it as a guideline. And if it doesn't fit, well, then I'll just cry.


*See, I stuck my hand into the cashmere bag at The Fold and was all NOM NOM NOM but ended up buying some from a different booth (the Nono cashmere), but then I got back to the Fold, realized THAT cashmere was 1. nicer, and 2. half the price, I bought some of that, and then didn't feel like I could return the first one, and can you really have too much cashmere? I didn't think so.

**Although since I just found out it's not machine washable it'll only be used for knitters' babies. Shoot.

Fairly random

1. I have found an excellent use for car cup holders:



2. Reasons why it's good to have a friend with a wife who spins and who has just come into assloads of free wool:



That lovely person on the left is Marie, who also contra dances, spins, and knits. We get along really well, as you might imagine.

I suppose there's always shoelaces...

I am what you might call a cheap bastard. Not always -- when I buy things I tend to go for quality -- but if I have something that works then I won't replace it for nothin'. Unless someone else is willing to pay for it, and then I just feel guilty for being wasteful.

ANYWAY, this is why, for many years, I did not buy a ball winder. I used toilet paper tubes, and later my trusty nostepinde for winding. Also I didn't like the way ball winder balls looked.

A few days ago I was grumblingly winding another freaking ball of Lorna's Laces, wondering why they have to have so many stupid yards, and was reminded of some pestering gentle encouragement I'd received (coughGracecough) and broke down and bought myself a ball winder from KnitPicks. Actually I tried to get one from the local Michaels, but they're too suck-tastic to have anything I need ever. (Seriously, they have like 2 pairs of DPNs).

It's possible I re-wound every ball of yarn I have (there are some exceptions, like some souvenir yarn, and yarn I may sell). But OOH it's all so NEAT! ORGANIZED! CLEAN-LOOKING!

Pre-ball winding:



Post-ball winding (plus some reorganization):



(If you click on the picture you can see what all those yarns are).

I am addicted to the tidiness. Mmm.

So, um, does anyone else's ball winder create a terrifying amount of static? Because I'm pretty sure I could light up a house with the static I get from that thing. Look what it did to my Kid Silk Haze:



Also, I knit a sock, but got hit with some serious startitis and have ditched the second sock for something else. Stay tuned!

Welcome to my undersea lair, Mr. Bond.

Love those Hansi patterns. Made for Infant X (my nephew!) out of Cascade 220 superwash.

Only mod was that I used size 2 needles for the pupils. I think next time I'd try a provisional cast-on for the eyes to aid sewing it down. Sewing the tentacles together involved a large number of not-child-approved words, but it's still hella cool.

If you're knitting her tentacled patterns, slip the first stitch of the tentacles on the side where you'll attach them to the body. You'll appreciate it later.



And more spinning!



So my friend Lizza started getting into spinning with a drop spindle. She told her step-mom, and next thing she (Lizza) knows, there's an antique spinning wheel on her (Lizza's) front porch and a big ol' bin of fiber. When I went to visit her she said I could snag something, so I snagged a baggie of 100% (tussah?) silk. (Boy, that sounds like drugs, doesn't it?)

It was a real mess to Andean ply. It got stuck to itself and wound into infuriating snarls. But HA it's done! Ha. Don't know what I'll do with it, but that's okay.

P.S. It would've been Mr. Rogers' 80th birthday today. Are you wearing a sweater? I am. Speedy Delivery.

What?

This spinning thing? I can take it or leave it. You know. Whatevs. I have some roving in the mail, so I'll pick up some knitting until then.



I mean, spinning's neat and all, but it's not be-all-end-all or anything.

What picture? I don't know what you're talking about.



Oh. That picture. That's nothing. Just, um... some roving I found. At the yarn shop.

I JUST NEEDED SOME WORSTED WEIGHT SUPERWASH WOOL, OKAY? AND THIS JUST JUMPED OUT AT ME. IT WAS STRONGER THAN ME. NOT MY FAULT.

The fact that I'm spinning it up already -- also not my fault.

Oh yes

I like this spinning thing.



I bought this batt at SAFF in 2006.



I think it's BFL, and about 4 oz. I lost the tag for it, so I have no idea, really.



I also don't have the foggiest idea about yardage. My mom offered to buy me a niddy noddy when we went antiquing the other weekend, but I declined until I get more into spinning. In retrospect this was a poor move.



...I have 6oz of new roving on the way...

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?

Iceland, some geekery, new toys, a FO, and a problem

Iceland was great. It's a major knitting country, and was all kinds of easy to find yarn. My folks and I were wandering the Main Shopping Street in Reykjavik (you could tell it was the main shopping street because it had a big sign that said "Main Shopping Street."), when I saw this:


(Útsala means sale).

And I thought to myself, huh! That's a nice knitted shawl! ...Wait a second... That's Birch! And there's yarn! I looked up at the second floor of the building and saw this:


(It's the Storkurinn, not the Bonus (which appears to be a poorly stocked grocery store))(Bonus does not have yarn).

I can't believe I found a yarn store because I recognized a knit shawl. I'm such a nerd.

(I'm not even going to mention how, when we were walking past a shop, I heard a "clang!" from inside and recognized it as a dropped dpn. It totally was).

I wasn't sure how to get in there, and managed to find it by walking through a restaurant (I was a woman on a mission). They had only Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns. Sigh.

ANYWAY, let's get to the goods, eh?

First up, some merlot colored merinould (merino) called Lucca (it's Danish):



Deeeelicious!

And now -- the really good stuff! Check this out:



That's nine discs(?!) plates of unspun Icelandic wool at about 100g each. I don't know the yardage, but it's a lot (ETA: they're probably around 300 yards each, for a total of 2700 yards -- thank you, ravelry!). It's around dk/sport weight, and I learned after I bought it that they use it double or triple stranded, but whatever whatever. This has sweater written all over it. I'm not even going to tell you what it cost as you would die with envy. (I'll give you a hint: it was $37). I'll post the link to their store when I find the receipt.

Speeeeaking of sweaters, I bought a Lopi book, and it had these tasty items in it:


(the one on the left)




(Okay, I don't usually wear skirts and the thought of a wool skirt makes me want to cry, but it's still cute).



But the real reason I bought it is this:



I mentioned to the woman I bought this from that I thought it was hilarious and awesome, and she agreed, and added that someone else who worked in the store had actually knit it for her horse.

No, really.

For the record, if I decide to knit anything from this here's what I have to deal with:


(For the record, that's from the horse jacket).

IN the meantime I finished the Gusset Heel Gansey Socks by Katherine Misegades:



I love the heel on this:



It reminds me of stockings from the 50's.

The problem is this: I knit them for my dad for his birthday (they're a smidge long for me), but he's cranky about wool (they're merino), and they're not really stretchy (a little snug, even), so it's a bit of a trick to get them on. I just don't know if this particular pair is right to convince my dad that knit socks are the way to go. His birthday's soon, so it's this pair or no pair. Thoughts?

Final successful cast on: August, um, something.

Finished weaving in the ends: Er. I might not have finished that part yet.

The originator: Gusset Heel Gansey Socks by Katherine Misegades, out of Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar 2007.

The string: Debbie Bliss Merino DK

The sticks: Size 1 addis.

Pattern shmattern: I made them a little longer, but otherwise, no mods. I know!

Mutual Corruption

You remember the scarf of bad timing? Well. We --one of my nearest-and-dearest and I -- had decided to give each other some space. There was drama and things weren't going well (even with the underlying love), we were taking a break.

You know how that goes.

The weekend before the decision was made I bought yarn to make him a scarf. I'd be all sneaky and send it as a surprise (which is easy when we live well over 700 miles away). Eight days later I finished it, and then upset, crying, and the break.

It was sent because when all is said and done he's still my friend and I still love him. When he received it he immediately wrote to me.

He gets knitting. He honestly understands what a hand-knit gift means, and we decided to talk more, to work things through together rather than give each other space.

We're still struggling, but damned if the scarf didn't help with the repairs.

------

I wrote that a while ago. Since then I've dragged him into a yarn store (the same one twice -- heh!), and he has been raving about the smell of his scarf (he sniffs yarn! Come on!). The yarn, she is capturing him. Are you ready?

He went into a yarn store. Without me. Because he saw a sign for it when he was driving.

Wait wait -- it gets better. He bought me a present.

He bought me yarn. He bought me cashmere yarn.



Good. Lord. I immediately stuffed it into my bra. It's a kit and comes with a pattern and (oh, the weakening of my knees!) three skeins. *sigh!*

But the name of this post is Mutual Corruption, so there's more.

Having some time to kill yesterday Blogless Kate and I went to Knit One, Smock Too. I was being all good, just looking at pattern books since I should probably think about finishing some more projects before I buy more yarn. But then we went to look at yarn, because I am only human, and a weak one at that when fiber is involved.

The store itself isn't terribly exciting (lots of nylon ribbon yarns), but they have some decent Rowan/Noro/Debbie Bliss. Right. We wandered. I laid my hand upon some yarn, and... and... I couldn't let go. I clutched. I squoze. I'm pretty sure there was a choir of angels.



I checked the content. Cashmere and silk. OH.

Yes, it was costly. Yes, it came home with me. Because, you see, now that I have cashmere in my stash I'm free to get more plush yarns. I've realized that the gift of cashmere was a gateway fiber.

Hee! Paying bills is for suckers anyway. Ahem.

I've been tagged for the first time by Kiwi Knitter! Yee haw. As a result all you unsuspecting folks get to learn:

6 Weird Things About Me!

1. Most of my friends are older than me. Ranging 1-20+ years. Generally, people my own age drive me crazy. It also has to do with the fact that my main source of entertainment (outside of knitting) is contra dancing, and the median age of the dancers in my area is, oh, 45. Ish.

2. I firmly believe that salad is a finger food. Maybe not dressed salad, but I prefer to have the dressing on the side and use my fingers to dip leaves. Trying to eat salad with a fork is unnecessarily difficult.

3. I prefer lovers to boyfriends. I have no intention of settling down anytime soon and with my travel plans (back abroad in Septemberish for... some months) it seems futile to initiate a relationship with an expiration date. Besides, I like my time alone, and I like jaunting off for the weekend without clearing it with someone else (not that I'd have to, I'm just sayin'). Also, I'm too busy for a relationship, I l-o-v-e flirting, I'm wild about my lovers, and I get all the emotional lovin' from my friends.

4. I create wild scenarios in my head all the time. One cross word with someone and my mind goes off on an imaginary argument with them, sometimes making me even more annoyed than I already am. Or I'll hear a creak in my room late at night and all of a sudden I'll be envisioning a guy with a hatchet or similar, and I'd ponder what I'd do -- play sleeping? Jump up and scare him? Sneak my phone under the covers and call the police? And sometimes I'll see someone cute and my mind really takes off.

Maybe I should've stuck with writing fiction...

5. I'm the only person I know who can go on a diet, follow it (fairly) strictly, and gain weight. Yeah. THAT feels good.

6. I can't remember names. I have some kind of freaky mental block where I barely even hear the names anymore, it just comes out "Hi, I'm KSSSHHHHHH." And I'll smile and say, "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" and they'll say, "It's KSSSSHHHHHHH." And I'll smile broadly and never use their name again. I have a lot of conversations with my friends that go as follows:

Them: Is Martin single again?
Me: Um! Which one's Martin?
Them: That one, [pointing to someone I've danced with for years].
Me: ...His name's Martin? Really? ...huh...

Same goes for place names. Street names. Dates. Birthdays. Even things I've known forever gradually leak out. My best bet is to associate that person with someone of the same name. If their name's Brian then I'll associate them with my friend Brian, or with the dog from Family Guy.

This was actually kind of difficult because everything I do seems normal to me. I had to keep reminding myself that just because I do it doesn't mean everybody does it.

And since this is a knitting weblog,

7. I buy roving even though I don't spin. Yet.

Quick like bunny

If you want 12 skeins of Dale of Norway Sisik then you should act soon! The bidding ends around 1pm today!

SAFF play-by-play!

My first Fibre fair. Oh heavens.

Miss Kate was supposed to join me, but couldn't at the last minute. Since I couldn't get in touch with MattAndJulie to see if I could stay with them on Friday night (because I'm a chicken and didn't call them but rather sent emails) and hotels = expensive, I decided to head out on Saturday morning.

Stupid early on Saturday my alarm went off (getting up at work hours on the weekend?! Sinful!) and I showered, pulled on my Lace Leaf Pullover for her debut, forgot to get breakfast, packed my camera, checkbook, and two (why two?) notebooks. Into the car, off to the gas station for brekkie (pound cake... it's almost nutritious!), and then!

A million miles to Asheville. Meaning 180. Which is plenty, thank you.

Some bad mapquest directions later (apparently "right" means "left") I found a parking spot and walked up to building number one! To my left was a building that had a sign saying "ALPACAS." Heep! Omg.

I walked in, and saw this:



And I believe my heart exploded just then. Two! It-- two floors! Of YARN! And FIBRE! I've never seen so much yarn in one place at one time. I've never seen so many knitters in one place! And spinners! My stash runneth over!

I started walking around the top section in a daze, fondling fibres and yarns as I went. How, I wondered, does anyone ever decide what to buy? There's just so much that the thought of settling on any one thing is completely flabbergasting. I'd set a basic budget, but was willing to overlook it if need be (how many fibre fairs do I go to? None. Well, one).

Clearly the best course of action was to wander the whole place, get an idea of what's around, then go back.

Hello!


Oh BABY...


And I made it through the whole top floor and about 3/4 of the bottom floor before my hand fell upon some merino/silk. I squoze. I loved. My checkbook quivered in fear. A round rack of the softest, squoziest, most buttery, delicious yarn that I've ever felt. My knees went weak and I wrapped my arms around the rack and hugged the yarn.

Dignity? Overrated.

But this! This place! They understood. The vendors giggled at me and got it. Oh. Heaven! I eventually settled on a skein of fingering-weight variegated red/black/pink/gray yarn ("Power colors," the seller called it). "I don't care how much it costs," I declared to myself. "Wait, how much is it? Yeep! Um. Well. Whatever! Fibre fair! Gimmie gimmie gimmie!"

Ahhhhhh...


A few booths down I spotted some batting. Purple mixed with hot pink. Oh, it was sexy. Yes it was. I touched it. Soft! I picked it up and hugged it, ready to growl and snap at anyone who came near me. The vendor -- she and I chatted every time I made a lap around the bottom floor -- asked if I was ready. Oh! I'm just going to look around. I settled on just the batting. While I haven't, um, had much success with spinning yet I think proper motivation will really help. So pretty!

I ended up watching someone spin on an Ashford Joy -- the very wheel I've been thinking about getting. As I stood, mesmerised, the spinner's friend, Grace, started chatting with me. And hoo boy she was cool! Elizabeth spun away as Grace told me that she'd decided she was going home with either a rabbit or a spinning wheel.

Of course! I love it.

Then she let me know that there was a knitblogger meet-up.

!!!!!!!



I knew I started this for a reason. I tagged along and oh!



Oh. It -- oh. I have found my people! (well, my fibre-related people). They get me! They're just as obsessive as me and they speak my language!



Someone said "flash your stash" and my heart skipped a beat.



And I learned that apparently people read my blog! That is really exciting.



Hello, people! Leave comments!



And the Lace Leaf debut?



It shed all over my bag and bunched around my chest, but I've never been so proud of something I've knit. And that picture makes me so happy!

I ended up being very reasonable with my purchases. I got two more skeins of the merino/silk in a slightly heavier gauge in a stunning antique rose color.

I tried to find little gifts for my two local knitters, Kate and Andrea, but I just couldn't find anything. "Ah!," I'd say, "a little skein! ...of $20 silk. Right." I love them both, but in this instance it's not $20 worth of love.

There was a blogger meet-up at a pub at 7:30, but I was done by 4:45 and had nowhere to hang out before the meet-up, so with a heavy heart I went home. Good thing, too, because 8:45 rolled around and I went to bed. And slept for 13 hours. Heh.

More to follow!