Yarn Sprout Knits & Spins

Casting On…

I’m looking forward to casting on with this yarn today -

It’s going to be made into the On-Hold Socks from the Socks From The Toe Up KAL on Ravelry.  This is the July pattern.  The yarn is Shibui Sock in color #229.  Perfect black current color!

Shibui Sock

PS.  My photography skills are improving.
PPS.  Episode 36 of The Manic Purl Podcast will be recorded in about 2 minutes.  Hey – If you haven’t left an iTunes review of it, and you like it – then why not pop over to iTunes and leave a review?  Mwah!  Thanks guys!

Eye Candy!

Seeing that I start my new job first thing tomorrow morning, and have only had about 6 hours of sleep in the last 3 days, I’m going to let the pictures do the talking. I promise that details will be forthcoming.

Raw Targhee - My very first raw fleece (and it won a 6th place ribbon!)

My 2nd Raw Fleece - Suspected Corriedale (to be determined). Was entered in the Purebred Colored Fine Wool catagory.

My 3rd Raw Fleece - Corriedale/BFL cross. It's such a dreamy mix!

I can see why people get hooked on this stuff.

Oh and *ahem*…I have a little over 17 POUNDS of raw fleece in my living room right now.

Black Sheep Gathering – Day 1…

I’m sitting out in the little covered area by the motel office, drinking my coffee, and surfing the interwebs for information about raw fleeces.

It’s not even 7:00am, but I’ve been up for a couple of hours. Somehow it didn’t click for me that spending almost an entire day in a barn – among the sheep and goats – would trigger my hay fever. It was kind of a delayed reaction though.

I woke up super early because it felt like my sinuses were full of sand. And it was a couple of hours of contemplating where I could acquire some Claritin, while lying in bed and jumping up every 10 minutes to blow my nose, before I realized that I still had an unopened blister pack of Claritin Allergy & Sinus in my overnight bag (still in there from our trip to the cabin earlier in the week). Thank God! The sandy feeling is gone, but I’m still blowing my nose constantly, so I decided, out of consideration for my loving husband, to get my noisy nose-blowing self out of the room and let him sleep.

Yesterday was exciting and fun, and somewhat surreal, since I still can hardly believe we made it down to Eugene at all!

I walked to the Lane County Fairgrounds (a nice 30 minute walk) and left Stu in the room to begin his work stuff that he had to get done.

I spent the majority of the morning, and into the afternoon, watching the shows going on in the different rings. One ring had the goat judging going on, and the other ring had the sheep judging going on. I also managed to get a fair amount of audio for the podcast. Hopefully it’s clear enough to use.

This morning at 9:00am there’s another judging going on, and I’m hoping to get a bit more audio from that.

I had my recorder sticking out of my pocket, my dSLR for pictures, and my point and shoot to take some video. I definitely looked like “the media”.

I had so much fun visiting with the sheep – which I am still terrified of touching – but managed a few chin scratches when I headed back to the barns after lunch, with some coaxing from Stu.

We ate both lunch and dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, and it was amazing as usual. It’s conveniently located only a block from the motel.

Yesterday marked a big new experience for me, and I am still surprised at how totally exciting it was. I bought my first raw fleece! It’s about a 6 pound Targhee, and it’s super clean, white and beautiful. I washed a small lock last night so I could carry it around with me.

No matter what I tried though, I couldn’t get a couple of the other fleeces out of my head. I kept saying to Stu that I thought I might need another one, and then as soon as I said it I would say to myself that I should get thoughts like that out of my head. No matter how hard I tried, I just kept thinking I should get another one. Stu agreed, and so I’m going to be briefly heading back to the fleece pavilion to hopefully pick up another one. I’m crossing my fingers that I can get one of my 2nd choices.

After a brief stop over this morning, we’ll be heading home. I’m not looking forward to 8 hours in the car.

I’m really hoping I have some energy left for my first day at the new job tomorrow.

Teh Crazy – I Haz It!

I’m sitting here in the little outdoor breakfast area – which is quickly filling up – at the little Broadway Inn in Eugene, Oregon.

A couple of guys who remind me of my younger brother just sat down at the next table over. They just met, and are talking sports. Another table has 3 people – two middle aged married people, and one who appears to be in her mid-twenties. They’ve been having a heated discussion about racial disparity among many things, among those, Starbucks workers.

I’m drinking bad coffee. Actually it’s not too bad for hotel coffee, but I put one little packet of creamer in it, just in case.

My lumpy cold oatmeal is sitting beside me. No surprise I’d rather be typing than eating.

It’s just about 9:00am. Stu’s still sleeping in the room.

We pulled in at 2:00am this morning. Google maps claimed it would take us 6 hours 45 minutes, but it actually took us 8 hours. Fortunately, we were let through the Peace Arch border crossing without our passports. We originally weren’t going to chance it, but at the last minute we thought we’d give it a try.

Of course we’re here for the Black Sheep Gathering. An annual gathering of fiber enthusiasts. Mostly spinners, but a fair number of knitters, weavers, and other fiber lovers trek to Eugene as well.

We don’t usually take trips like this on such short notice, but I really wanted to come down for the Black Sheep Gathering this year. We had such a great time last year.

Eugene has a pretty well-known farmers market on Saturday mornings, and I’m contemplating that. It is Saturday, isn’t it?

Part of me just wants to get out and go see the sheep.

I’ve got my little mini-recorder with me, so I’m hoping to get some audio for the podcast. I’ve also got my good camera with me, so I’ll be sure to snap lots of pictures.

It looks like I’ll be heading to the Lane County Fairgrounds by myself. Stu has impending work deadlines that are tied to government regulations, and has to work this weekend. He brought our other laptop (he needed a pc for it), and has volunteered to work from the room today. Not much fun for him, but it also means that he’ll be kept busy while I shop. Mwah ha ha ha ha ha.

I am really starting to wonder if I’m loosing my mind, since I’m starting my brand new job on Monday at 8:00am.

This little breakfast area is really filling up, so I should stop monopolizing this table.

Back to the cold oatmeal.

We’re Back…

…We decided to head up to the cabin for a few days of R&R and celebration, after word that I had been offered (and accepted) a new job.

Even though the job was finalized on Thursday, we decided to wait until after World Wide Knit In Public Day on Saturday, before we left.

Redd On The Rocky Beach

We headed out bright and early on Sunday morning.  A lot earlier than we planned, since we originaly thought the water taxi left the dock at 10:30am, but learned late Saturday night that it was leaving at 9:00am.  This wouldn’t be so bad, but we’re a 45 minute drive away from it, and had to get parked and all our stuff lugged down to the dock before 9:00am.  This “stuff” included both the cats.

The Cat Exploring The Rocks

The cats love going up to the cabin.  Well, not so much the going up, but the being up.

The weather seemed to refuse to cooperate, as usual, but we were happy that rain didn’t pour down on us the entire time.

The cats explored and ran around, Stu fished, and I knit.

Redd Approaches The Ocean

I’m about 4″ through the Miss Honeychurch sweater out of 100% hemp yarn.  Pretty good, since I didn’t start it until late Sunday afternoon.

The hemp isn’t even hurting my hands that much, and it is making a really cool fabric.

Miss Honeychurch Progress!

I’m still in post-vacation-zombie-mode.  I’m hoping my brain and energy check back in with me in the near future.  Until then, I’ll be knitting.  Or maybe spinning.

I had a scary thought this afternoon that included the idea of acquiring another wheel.  Possibly a Schacht Matchless.  Somebody save me from myself!!

The Cat Walks The Rail

I wish I was heading down to The Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon this weekend.  I didn’t get my passport in time.  I am bummed.  I’m definitely going next year!  Come hell or high water, I am going to The Black Sheep Gathering next year!

Inspiration…

I’ve finished 2 pairs of socks in the last 2 weeks, and I ended up with quite a bit of leftover yarn – like almost 50 grams from each pair. Just when I was trying to figure out what I could do with 50 grams of brown sock yarn and 50 grams of pink sock yarn, it occurred to me that if I put them together, I’d have enough for a full pair of socks! So, I’m going to make myself some pink and brown striped socks.

Leftovers

I think I’ll do them toe-up, so I can be sure to have enough yarn for the pair. I have a total of 87 grams, and a regular sock usually takes about 84 grams, so I think I’ll only put a 4″ or so cuff on it. Since it’s toe up, I don’t have to decide right now.

Good News!

I have a new job!   I start a week from Monday.

Geranium Buds

And the garden is doing so well.
FYI – Episode 33 of The Manic Purl Podcast is available for download on iTunes (links in the sidebar).

Garden Update…

There’s lots going on here right now, but I can’t quite talk about it yet, so I was going to tell you guys about the knitting I’ve been working on, the successful turn of 2 toe up heel flaps, etc., but I made a discovery about 15 minutes ago!

Zucchini!

I was poking around in the garden, and I found zucchinis on the zucchini plants!  If you remember, I started the zucchini from seeds in March, and I wasn’t really expecting anything from them, but voila! I was out there today and managed to spot 4 of them!

Zucchini Close Up

Our pumpkin plant, which you’ll remember I planted from seed in March as well, because I was trying to prove that you can too grow pumpkin on a balcony.  It’s got a little teenie tiny baby pumpkin on it!

Itty Bitty Pumpkin

And I can’t forget the teeny scarlet runner beans that have emerged in the last two days -

Scarlet Runner Beans!

I thought this would also be a good time to share my sanctuary with you —

My Sanctuary

I’ve been spending many hours out there knitting, and sometimes I’ve even been dragging my spinning wheel out there too!

Beginnings: Lacy Rib Socks…

I started on another pair of socks -

Progress...

They are the toe up Lacy Rib Socks from the Socks From The Toe Up book by Wendy Johnson.  I’m using the magic loop and 2.5 mm needles.  I’m knitting them at the same time, but not on the same needles, so I basically go back and forth, doing one pattern repeat on one and then one pattern repeat on the other.

A view from above...

I used the Judy’s Magic Cast On for the toe, and then knit front and back (kfb) on each side of the top, and each side of the bottom.  The way I place my increases is I kfb in the first stitch, and then kfb into the 2nd to last stitch on the needle.  This makes the actual new stitch appear one stitch in from the edge on both sides.  I speak about this in more detail on the latest podcast (Ep. 32).

A closer look...

Speaking of podcasts – I’ve been on a bit of a roll this week, and managed to put out a few new episodes.  I’m almost shocked that I’m at Episode 32 already!

Back to the socks – I’m knitting them out of the Yarn Sprout Superwash Merino in Warmth that I talked about a few posts ago.

This is a nice pattern – easily memorized but still interesting.

FO: Diagonal Knit Dishcloth

I found a cool new dishcloth pattern a week ago.  It’s called the eLoominators Diagonal Knit Dishcloth, and it’s a variation on the grandmother’s favorite dishcloth, except this one has a cool latice-style insert in the middle.

Dishcloth: Allhemp 6

As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew that the Allhemp 6 I had in my stash had to become one.  So, I cast on using 3.75mm needles, and started knitting.  It was a fun and easy knit that was easy to memorize.

A warm weather project...

I’d been working a couple of rows everyday, but yesterday I got quite a bit done on it, and I finished it off this morning.  We’re having a heatwave right now, so hemp really hits the spot to get a knitting fix without the heat and stickiness of wool.  Note: I only put the wool down when it is above 30 celsius, which it most certainly was yesterday.