Go see!

I had a VERY exciting day! Via modern technology I got to "see" our first grandchild. Wow! Absolutely amazing! We saw "it" (won't be told the sex until the next doctor's appointment) so clearly. He/she hiccupped, swallowed and "yawned" and smacked his/her lips and we could see it all.

I am SO glad I had the opportunity to be present. Live and in person you see so much more than the printed out scans can show. Our daughter has the scan photo up on her blog. The baby is even decked out in his/her first Hallowe'en costume. Go see!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!



For several years now my husband and I have not bothered to carve a pumpkin. We had a "flaming" electric pumpkin that skrieked "Happy Hallowe'en!" and we put that out each year, but with the "kids" all grown no one wanted to bother with the mess and fuss of carving a Jack-o-Lantern.

Now with a little grandchild on the way we have to get in practice for such things again. I picked up a pumpkin yesterday and gutted it while I cooked dinner. Funny how such things don't take nearly so long, nor seem quite as messy as I recall. Perhaps it's the absence of little "helpers"?

Shelby doesn't bother to help. She prefers to supervise.

Opinions Please

About a week ago I finished the spindled hat I am making for the contest. Actually, I "finished" it several times that day, and each time ripped out what I had done and tried something new. At various points it has had beads, a flared brim, a topknot, embroidery and "couched unspun roving". I keep coming back to simple. I guess I am just not into a lot of "bling" and fussiness.





So I'd like your opinion. Do you thing it still needs something? Should I lose the picot hem? Should I add on a few more inches to create a fold back brim? Any other ideas?

Progress Post

The spindle spun hat is progressing nicely, albeit slowly. It has occurred to me that I have never before spun for an article AS it was being made. Usually, so that I am sure I have enough, I spin the entire project's worth before beginning to knit/crochet. Hats don't take much yarn and I know I have way more than enough of the purple/pink rovings to make the hat so I am spinning as I go. One or two more cop's worth should just about do it. Cop #2 took me through rows 15 through 27 and I have about 10 more (ever expanding) rows to go.

My husband's handspun pullover is also seeing some progress. The front and back are complete. I'm working on the neckband now and it's looking really nice. I'll be working the sleeves from the top down so that I can customize the length to his preference.

So that the spinning of the grey NZ fleece can continue in the evenings, I have been combing the wool each afternoon for a couple of hours. I find that the combing and the spinning tend to take and equal amount of time. If I comb for two hours I will have enough wool prepared so that I can spin for two hours.

Big Belly Alert

If you're a regular reader here I'm sure you've noticed the grand-baby due date "ticker" at the top of my blog. Want to see how things are progressing? Check out the big belly picture!

One Cop Skein

That first cop off the spindle made a much larger skein than I expected......49.5 metres of 3 ply (Navajo plyed) worsted weight in a lovely soft variety of pinks/blues/purples.



I've got a good start on the hat for the contest. With that first cop's worth I got the entire crown and a few rows down the sides of a crocheted hat completed. Spindling up the next cop tonight.

Spindling Again

Maggie has inspired me to pick up my spindle again.



I only spindle for brief periods of time...usually while I am watching for a pot to come to a boil or something...so we'll just have to wait and see if it amounts to enough to enter this contest.

Charity Toque

For non-Canadians, a toque is "a close-fitting knitted hat, often with a tassel or pompom on the crown." At Rabbitch's request this one is destined for Vancouver.



The hat is not as big as it at first might appear. The model is a bit of a pin-head.

Lace Rides Bear Back

The last of the handspun, laceweight llama made into yet another "Modified Branching Out".





As you may recall I made the first in the natural butterscotch color. I then made some modifications to the pattern and overdyed the second (shown here on the left) scarf with "scarlet" dye. This third one has been overdyed with "black", but turned out the rather pretty chocolate brown you see here on the right.

The cute bear bench modeling the scarves was a joint effort of my mom and her husband. He is the woodworker and she does the painting. Nice pairing of hobbies hey? The bench is meant to be a patio item but it has been in the house ever since we got it. It is actually part of a set. There are two baby bear "rail sitters" but my husband has to do some modifications to the handrail of our deck before they can be displayed properly.

Going For The Masters

While on the surface it may not seem like a lot is going on around here,(no posts for five days, no news of finished objects) I have been madly working away behind the scene. I've been spinning, and knitting, and knitting, and knitting.....and frogging. A lot of frogging. A lot of reknitting. And frogging again. All that frogging doesn't leave a lot to take pictures of or blog about!

What have I been knitting and frogging? Swatches. The same ones. Repeatedly. I've begun my quest for my Master Knitter's Certification through TKGA and I'm not making it easy on myself. I start and restart, finish something then reevaluate and frog. Many, many hours later I still only have the first 3 swatches done and I'm still looking at those ones thinking I could somehow do better.

Even though I haven't taken the time to post about it, there has been ONE (non-Master's related) finished object in that time period. I finished yet another of the "Modified Branching Out" lace scarves, and with that came to the end of the laceweight llama I had spun. This last scarf was dyed black.....but came out a lovely, deep chocolate brown. I'll try to get a picture of that up soon.

I've also picked up my husband's handspun pullover again and I'm making decent progress on that. The front is done and blocked and I'm past the underarms on the back. It's looking really nice. Yes, yes....photos, I'll get to that...soon.

Definitely Biased

I've knit up a swatch of the handspun 3ply from the NZ fleece. Even though the finished skein hung in a very balanced and well behaved way, the swatch is showing a definite bias.



I didn't stretch it this way. I only pinned down the corners, as is, so that I could take the picture. Afterward it was tugged and pinned into submission.

I have my eye on an intricately patterned vest for this yarn, but it will have to wait. I have too many projects on the needles as it is.

First Skein

It's soft!

You may recall that I was a little concerned when the huge tsunami sized wave of wool I was given seemed to be spinning up rather coarse despite the "fluff" itself seeming nice and soft. Well lucky for me the coarse feeling in the singles goes away when it is plyed and washed. It's now quite lovely.



The first 3 ply skein weighs in at a whopping 165 g, is 301 m in length, and measures about 15 WPI, which is somewhere between a sports and fingering weight yarn.

This fleece has a beautiful sheen and subtle variations in color. Combing it seems to make the most of the color variation with the resulting 3 ply becoming a lovely merle. I think it will make a gorgeous, light weight sweater. Something quite plain perhaps to showcase the pretty handspun wool? For a start anyway. 5 pounds will go a long way.