Inspiration from the "squirrel"

Lazy, laid back Sundays are my favorite, and if it's winter, even better since there is usually a fire in the fireplace. It's not winter yet, but some of the leaves on my neighbor's trees are already starting to turn those beautiful shades of autumn. It could be from the lack of water due to the drought here in the west, but I'm going to go with the seasonal idea instead. Can you tell I'm very optimistic that we're going to have an above normal winter rainfall and snow pack? So optimistic in fact that even though I promised myself I wouldn't do any stash enhancement for the year (this was back in Feb. after Stitches West), I convinced my inner self that I'm going to need a lot of warm socks. I don't feel I'm to the point yet of being able to spin sock yarn, so I did the only thing a girl can do...I went shopping! Ok, I may have had some encouragement from AmyBeth of The Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast. Dangit!! She had to go and show some beautiful! socks she's working on this past week knit out of Opal. I have always been a huge fan of Opal, so it's no wonder I fell down that rabbit hole. I'm pretty sure my very first pair of socks I ever knit for myself were out of Opal, I'm guessing somewhere around 11 years ago. This is going to be my million and oneth time of saying it: nothing beats the luxury of a pair of handknit socks!!! And if you want truly beautiful ones that are so fun to watch the self-striping, go ahead and buy yourself some Opal. Plus, the stuff wears like iron. I wore that very first pair for a good eight or nine years before they developed their first hole. Anyway, AmyBeth's are beautiful, and I just couldn't resist! So, it wasn't stash enhancement just for the sake of having more pretty yarn to have just because I can, it's very useful and much needed stash enhancement that I will get started on very quickly. I mean, seriously, I can't even fathom not having a pair of socks to always have with me to work on for those bits of time when you can squeeze in a couple of rounds...
These are so pretty...I'm so excited!!! I'm thinking I'm going to use that skein in the very back for a pair of socks for my sweetie pie husband. He loves socks I knit for him!

 

I ordered these lovelies from Simply Sock Yarn Co., and I had my order within three days!! Definitely worth ordering from again!

 

Progress continues on my brother-in-law's socks. I will be so glad to get these off the needles, which I'm hoping will be within the next couple of days. I'm knitting these cuff down, and I'm about halfway through the foot on the second sock. They are so dense and a little heavier than what I would normally knit socks, but as I've said, he's a mountain climber and skier, so he prefers this type. I have to knit them a little tighter than what I would normally do in order to get the dense fabric, and since I prefer knitting with dpns, I do what I can to prevent laddering from one needle to the next. I could have gone down a size in needles, and why I didn't, I'm not sure.

 

 

 

One thing that has slowed me down a bit though is my nails have grown out, and it makes it a little too sore to knit for any length of time. I have never had a problem with growing or keeping nails, but I normally keep them more of a "sport length" so they don't get in the way of knitting, or playing my ukulele. I'm not sure why I let them get this length, and I am enjoying them, so I guess I'm going to have to get used to holding my needles a bit differently. I haven't even tried to pick up my uke this week, which might dictate whether or not a trim is in order.

How about you? Do you try to knit with nails of any length, or do you keep them trimmed shorter?

 

I finished plying the bobbins I spoke of in my last post, and while I'm not all that thrilled with the results, I knew it was an experiment and a risk I was taking. The burgundy Wensleydale "muddied" the beautiful, intense colors of the BFL/Seacell. I haven't given it a soak yet, so who knows, once it's thwacked and dried, I might feel different about it. And then, once it's knitted into something, it might end up with a completely different look altogether. This is how I'm learning with my spinning though, so now I know how to get a more muted yarn. I'm not sure of the wpi yet to determine what weight I've spun, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's more of a sport weight, and then again, a gauge swatch might say otherwise. Oh, and something else I wanted to mention too....I remember saying how the Wensleydale had a slight itch factor to it with a definite fuzziness, i.e., halo. That seems to have disappeared with the plying, which makes me very happy!! I don't mind the halo, but I can't deal with a scratchy yarn that doesn't at least soften a little bit.

 

 Before

 

                                                     After

 

 

With that being said, I'm not sure what I will spin next...if I will continue with the 1.5 plus pounds of Wensleydale, or if I want to try some of the fleece I purchased at Retzlaff...ooohhh, and then there's the pretty roving I won in the raffle there too!!! I might try doing some fractal spinning with this...I need to do some more research on that though...it all equals nothing but fun for me, and makes me happy learning new techniques!