blue moon new year's eve

so whilst i was visiting my favorite blogs, i noticed that those blue moon fiber artists were finding a way to end the decade in style. i find it fascinating the there is a second full moon, blue moon, this month. end of month, end of year, end of a decade.
so i took the challenge and tossed the stash to find some socks~that~rock lightweight yarn. i decided to cast on the jaywalker socks {that i've been meaning to do} in this colorway that reflects blue moon to me. i'll nestle in with bubbly and let the celebrating begin......
happy new year!

holiday knitting

well, as fate would have it ... i am doing some holiday knitting. and being me it can't be just holiday knitting, but spinning too.

it all started with cc. her honey requested a neck warmer for the holiday. knowing that i'm always looking for a gift to bestow on him ( and she had already knit..... nine) she sent the request my way.

so i went through my yarn. nothing that suited the project or recipient was found. now, i'm reluctant to share that info with my partner ( there's so much yarn here, you could open a shop), so i went through my fiber stash. what should jump out but some delightful alpaca/ border leister blend that amythefibergoddess had gifted me with. i divided it into two - 2ounce balls and spun it with my wooleewinder.

it was awesome!! i went thick and lofty, limiting the amount of twist so that it would stay soft. i took the fiber off the bobbin ( bummer, i only have ONE) with my ball winder, then plied them again with my wooleewinder. i love it! i thought that my yarn was much more consistent and i had a blast just spinning away.

cast on the darkside cowl adding and additional 8 stitches to accommodate a man-sized neck.it will be ready to gift on friday when we celebrate with them. oh and my honey? thinks he wants one too!

fiber break

part of our holiday fun is gingerbread houses. i can't remember the year i started creating these (more than 12) and i've got it perfected. i make my own gingerbread, have the templates at the right sizes, use cake boards from wilton and my own frosting recipe. we buy lots of candy for decorating and, well here they are.
i do five each year, three of which go to the same recipients. the other two are gifted to folks that have wandered through our lives. new friends, a thank-you for an act of kindness, or just a way to say hello. this year all of the elves in my home decided that they needed to help. it is a statement to my constitution that i made it through the process!
we are off to deliver them today, and i'll be dragging along the last 'fun-fiber' scarf that needs to be completed. i'm planning on having those slippers ready to felt.

honey, do you think you can....

knit me a scarf? for a holiday gift? that i need tomorrow?good thing i saved all that fluffy novelty yarn. every year i'm so tempted to send it off to auction (or the trash) but something stops me. this must be why. i dug out the #17 needles, cast on and away i went. it was ponderous! i never thought i'd get this done. the needles were huge, making my arms and hands contort weird ways. remember when this was the type of knitting for fun? i started twirling yarn at the beginning of the craze (hence the leftovers in the stash) and i would make zillions of these, thinking that it was the best time.

it's a charming scarf and will look lovely on the recipient. and the stash is nearly depleted. so, when i'm out yarn-crawling i'll need to restock for that snowy day!

tempting sales

i love a good sale. give me a percentage off, buy one get one, or free shipping and i'm there. so when i happened to wander over to the blue moon fiber arts website and saw a sale, i was intrigued. no, i did not need any more socks-that-rock yarn (and it was tempting) but it was the roving that captured my interest. i love her colors, they always seem to speak to me. so i treated myself to handpainted bfleicester roving. it was dyed over 75%white and 25%black. it is lovely. now that my wheel is ready to go, i'll be putting this in the cue.

the long version

so, back in the fall i was gifted with a woolee winder. it has been a niggling desire to add it to my collection and those in my family chose to meet the desire. i eagerly unwrapped it, slid on the bobbin and the flyer would not attach. no way, no how. so after calling the maker, i returned it to have the threads 'stretched'. when it returned, again i eagerly (but with some trepidation) sat at my wheel. would not attach. thinking that this had to just be a defect, i tried it on another wheel, just like mine. it slid on like perfection! now the story gets interesting. my calls to the maker have not been returned. at all.

i pondered my dilemma, and decided to try another route. a phone call to woodland woolworks to find out about replacement parts had the gal offering me a 'used' head at a very reasonable price. it arrived two days later, and was in excellent condition. so, out came the owners manual and with minimal fuss on went the 'new' part. this time there was no eagerness as i attempted to attach the flyer..... we held our breath...... it fit!

so this leads up to why i was spinning crappy fiber. i wanted the woolee winder to ply with and i needed fiber to ply. i sat down last evening and it was the smoothest process ever. i love it! my only complaint is that it only holds about 2 1/2 ounces of fiber. i'll live with it!

so here is the end product.... can't wait to spin more.

sticks and stone

while i was spinning away at the guild meeting (my favorite day of the month), it would seem i was commenting rather viciously about the fiber i was spinning. it was nasty, full of noils, just terrible! amythefibergoddess finally looked up and with a sincere tone, informed me ' you're a fiber snob'

i couldn't have been more complimented. having only been spinning three years, i was thrilled to hear that i could actually possess the ability to be discriminating. what i'm spinning is crap! and i know the difference!

it is very pretty fiber, in batt form, that i had purchased shortly after i started spinning. it was sitting in my stash all five ounces of it, so when i needed to spin something quickly to ply on the new woolee winder (tomorrows post) i grabbed it. i was attracted to the colors and obviously did not know what to look for in fiber prep. so as i'm spinning away, i realize this is not what i've become accustomed to. i'm doing lots of drafting and picking and b%&*^ing about it. i decided to throw all attempts at 'good spinning' out the window and just go. that has been liberating too! i don't need this to look good, even or special.

now it's becoming fun. and yes, i'm a fiber snob!

catchin up

well, the eyelet cardi fits m a r v e l o u s l y!! i couldn't be happier with it. i was quite disheartened when the bands went awry. then i didn't think my fix would work. i'm really to cast on another. but then i looked at my to do list and had a moment of sanity.the socks that i started for amythefibergoddess are completely done! i finished sock one in time to be a sample on display at the fiber fest, but it has taken me forever to finish the mate. since these were going to be a bit long on me, she gets them. i have it on good authority that there is another skein headed my way!
does this not look exactly like autumn leaves? loved this fiber. i purchased 8 ounces ( i know, always get a pound) at rhinebeck 2008, and wanted to get a feel for it before i went this year. it is lovely. it may just look great in the yarn basket without becoming something, but hey, you never know.

my niece. never asks for anything. hands me a (yes, as in one) skein of joanns brand yarn to make a fun scarf to go with her new jacket. hmmmmm, i stewed about it....even stopped to try to buy more at my tiny joann's. no luck. tossed the stash and found great yarns to compliment the 55 yards i had. i kept altering the yarns that i was holding together and it came out exactly as i had envisioned. that's two for two, so i may be at the end of my good*fiber*karma. hope she likes it.

so now i've just got the february lady on the needles, wheel is empty and i'm addicted to knitting those wee little mitten ornaments. can't stop. yikes.