Vintage Velvet is at a pause. I finished the knitting of the 4th ball, and now I think it’s too short. so I’m undecided if I want to hunt down a 5th ball (finding the 3rd & 4th balls was enough of a challenge) or leave it as is and hope it stretches out a bit.

what kind of sock is this? where’s the toe? or the ribbing? nope, not a sock.

I’ve been swatching some Koigu and finally cast on a pair of socks (it’s been too long). Nagini (a Socktopia/Momma Monkey pattern) is now in progress using stashed yarn. They’re my current bus project. I did a provisional cast-on because I couldn’t decide what color to make the toe.

I also cast on a pair of fair isle mittens for myself Saturday evening. That one is using half-stashed yarn. (I bought the main color earlier on Saturday after a spinning meet-up)

In spinning news, I’ve started the second bobbin of the pewter. I have 6 oz of it and have decided to try a 3-ply. Only problem is, I only have three bobbins - I think I’m going to have to order some more.

oh, and I pulled out the beads and wire and made this:

granted, the Louet’s have a large enough orifice that you really don’t need a hook, but I wanted one. and it’s nice for adding an anchor when letting it ply up on itself to see how the yarn will look

a close-up of the beads

Finished size: Adult
Yarn: SWTC Karaoke (held double)
Needles: Size 10 (size 9 for ribbing)
Pattern: Sunflower Tam from Norah Gaughan’s Knitting Nature

Started: 24 January 2008 …
Finished: 9 February 2008
made for: me

I originally started with one strand of yarn on 7s & 8s and followed the kids size - and ended up with a kid sized hat. (I had a gauge mishap. well, more of a problem thinking about how the gauge I got would end up.) oops! went back and swatched with the yarn held double and got the book’s gauge for the adult hat. There was much paranoia over whether I’d have enough yarn to finish, but I managed to make it, with maybe a yard leftover.

I don’t like the little i-cord ’stems’ that are often at the center of tams, so I made it really short and tacked it down to the hat. Like many people who’ve listed this project on Ravelry, I found that it’s a bit large - the ribbing isn’t tight at all (maybe I should have gone down another needle size for that?).

perfect timing for finishing this up - we’re in another cold snap. (currently it is -8F, with the windchill around -28.)

Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool with a bad dye job (easter egg dyes)
Needles: KP 16″ circs sizes 6 & 8, size 8 dpns
Pattern: Binary Hat written for Hat Attack 2008

Started & Finished: 9 February 2008. 9am to 9pm (with a number of breaks in the afternoon. actual knitting time: about 8 1/2 hours)
Made for: Mullub (my Hat Attack target)

more photos

now, to get it in the mail… we’ll see how long I live

I joined Hat Attack. (the premise is the same as Sock Wars)

My target is in Canada. My assassin is in Massachusetts. eep!
on the possibly plus side, her assassin is also in Mass. - I’m hoping that works in my favor!

so, tonight I am swatching, gathering all necessary needles and supplies (stitch markers and the like), and hitting the post office for a flat-rate envelope and customs forms.

I am hoping that my ability to knit a project in a day will help me. I am also thankful for the 24-hour post office over by the airport, should I get done early enough to get the hat over there before the last collection on Saturday.

here’s hoping I make it past the first round. wish me luck.

yup, I’m making yarn. I’m taking a spinning class at The Fiber Studio with Virginia Parent. Our first class was last Tuesday - this is what I made that night:

I then went back on Friday to practice and created this:

I forget what fiber we used that night. I think it was a Corriedale cross.

in between spinning classes, I’ve been working on the sunflower tam, which looks like this now:

last night was our second class, and it went a bit better:

Coopworth

Corriedale

both of these fibers felt a bit ‘grippier’ than what we used last week, so I felt a bit better about letting it get thin.

we played with the hand-cards with the Corriedale, which is ok. I like the rolags you get, but not so much the act of carding. I tried spinning directly from the jumble of fleece (picked out a bit first) a little towards the end, and it went ok.

I’m tempted to see what I can do with the alpaca locks I bought ages ago (was going to be a SP gift, until I reread her info and saw she was allergic/sensitive to it. bah!), or maybe I’ll spin up the fiber I bought at Shepherd’s Harvest last year. I’m planning to head back down to practice some more before our next class - there’s a spinning group meeting at The Fiber Studio this Sunday (it’s the first Sunday of the month at 2pm, if anyone else would like to spin. are you busy Deb?)