Fun with dyeing

I was a little scared when I dyed my first roving but......not too bad. I did two 4 oz rovings and some sock yarn in "glitter" as well as a sock blank from knit picks

One side turned out perfect, the other not as much but either way I'm hoping that it will look good on the sock itself. I also think that I have found a new use for my knitting machine, after all the yarn to make the sock blank costs 5.99. The sock blank cost 11.99. It would take me about 10 minutes to knit it up on the knitting machine, so I think I will do that from now on. I really like the dye effects that you can get out of the blank though.

Off to do some work now....

Needle collecting and other fun stuff

First off, I have 5 new colors at Threads, all are 70% merino and 30% silk fingering weight (sock yarn!!) In the chaos that is my life I forgot to take pictures, but since I am at the shop every day I promise I will take some tomorrow and post them. Anyway the new colorways are....

Hammer Pants--fluorescent green/bright purple

Hunter--green/yellow/hot pink/bright purple

Pickle Barrel--green/ecru/brown

Tonya--pink/ecru/brown

Beetlejuice--violet/black/white

These are $20 each for 440 yds (enough for a pair of socks + extra). I was planning on selling some cobweb merino in the zen colorway, but it breaks to easily when balling it up ( has to be hand balled very carefully) so I decided that I would be responsible and keep it to myself.

And more excitement.... My momma is the best. The greatest gifts always come from someone who truly understands you, and since we might as well be the same person, I can honestly say she understands me. I have been craving Sox Stix from Lantern Moon for a while now, and in the mail today I got some, as well as a few other goodies.

Let me explain something about my knitting habit. It's not just that I love knitting, and I do, it's also that I love collecting anything involved with knitting. I have a penchant for 5" dps and if manufacturer makes them, they will end up in my needle collection. I think I have a problem. I have been knitting for ~2.5 years and my needle collection rivals that of lifetime knitters. We won't talk about my stash (Ravelry shows about half of it, I have yet to get into the boxes of embarrassing yarn and stuff that has only been recently purchased).

The rest of the package included some buffalo down for spinning, a couple balls of Panda Silk, my signed copy of Maggie's book and Arctic Lace. Can't wait to delve into that, although I really should be reading books relating to school....nyahh. But really thanks for the early B-day Mom, I love it!!!!!!!!

I've also decided that I truly have lost my mind because I'm giving up on the Heather shawl in favor of something that I actually have yarn for (the merino that couldn't make it to market). I also chose a new pattern, circular, written in German, although it is charted , and beautiful!! Of course I decided that a size 1 needle would be best (what is wrong with me?) and I am wondering if maybe a size 15 and worsted weight yarn might be a little more feasible. Okay how about I move up to size 3. Maybe then I can have it finished by her 3rd wedding anniversary. Again pictures tomorrow this time cause I don't believe in flash photography with a point and shoot, it never turns out well.

New colors!!

I spent several hours deciding on the perfect color ways, and the local dye guru (stop laughing and get back in your chair) has come up with some fabulous colors for spring lace! I wanted to do something with subtle color changes so that when knitting the lace, the pattern shows through and the colorway doesn't take over. After all, why spend all that time on k2tog, ssk, and yo and not even be able to see it?

Left to right: Horton, Zen, Tallulah, and Pushing Up Daisies

















I had to monkey with the picture to get the colors true to life, but voila, there you have it!

So this is the time of the year when people often ask me, "what is that intoxicating scent you are wearing?" To which I reply, "Why it's Cutter Deep Woods." I have 6 mosquito bites from standing outside for 2 minutes with out bug spray. Those of you who know me personally know that I don't get along with bug bites very well. Only time will tell exactly what species of mosquito bit me by how much pain and swelling shows up in the next few days. If it's those little black stipedy ones then I'm screwed. I think the common name is Asian Tiger Mosquito or something cute like that.

I have also decided that I no longer want to be a biologist and that I should follow my true calling. I have shunned the idea (or rather DH has) for over a year now because it is not "practical." Hopefully this summer is a turning point for either direction that is either my research takes a turn for the "this is valuable research that will actually work" (the better) or my fiber arts career takes off like weeds in my front yard. I'm really hoping for the latter. Okay enough complaining for the day.