Posts from the ‘Uncategorized’ category

Revamp

As you may have noticed, I’m working furiously on the website. I’ve decided to make some big changes around here, namely to the shop. I really hope this leads to much more fiber, yarn, and patterns for my customers, much more sanity for me, and much more blogging for all of us.

Fiber club will continue as always and shop updates will be big and a heck of a lot more often. This change had to be made for a couple of reasons and I feel really great about the possibility of spending my days in my little dye room, making fun colorways.

As far as the shop itself is concerned, gone are the bulk fibers and spinning supplies. It’s going to be all hand-dyed all the time. There’s a brand new shop and everything (bookmark it!) and it’s a lot simpler than the old shop. There are no accounts and all payments will come through PayPal. You can pay by credit card as well as bank-funded PayPal. See here for more information. Some things of beauty are: items put in your cart stay there for an hour so there’s no rush to check out, there’s a product RSS feed so you can be notified when I add items, and the shop is simple to run and not hosted by me so I really think it can handle some serious abuse.

I’m going to have a sneak attack update in the very near future. Subscribe to the feed, keep your eyes peeled, and let’s give the new shop a workout, shall we?

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Finished Object: Handspun Knee Socks

I know. Two posts in as many days. Believe me when I tell you that there is a backlog of completed knitting here that is bordering on shameful. I’m going to try and knock out a bunch of posts. :)

modeled

Pattern: You’re Putting Me On Socks by Judy Gibson (rav link)
Yarn: worsted weight 2 ply spun from Spunky Eclectic’s hand-dyed Corriepaca in the Mountain Majesty colorway. 387 yards/ 8 oz. I used all of the yarn.
Gauge: 5.5 sts. per inch.
Needle: 3US/3.25mm

modeled

What a super pattern! I know it started as a joke, but a pattern for super plain toe-up socks is exactly what I need when knitting with handspun. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and it would stink to not have enough for that one last toe.

I followed the pattern exactly for the foot, then increased up the back of the leg, 2 sts. ever 5 rows, to 54 sts. Decreased to 52 at the top and finished with 2×2 rib. They fit like a glove. I don’t know if it’s the yarn weight, the dense knitting, or the shaping, but these socks crack me up- they look like legs!

modeled

I loooove the fiber I spun the yarn from- Spunky Eclectic Corriepaca. It’s an 80/20 blend of Corriedale wool and Alpaca fiber and mmmmm, it’s strong, shiny, and a delight to spin. It should make for quite sturdy socks, too.

Mountain Majesty Corriepaca

I’d make these socks again in a heartbeat. In fact, I am.

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Finished Object: Northman Mittens

Winter is such a wonderful time to knit mittens, isn’t it? It makes more sense to knit them prior to winter so that they’re put aside, ready for use, when the cold comes, but I find myself thinking of them only when the cold hits. After knitting my squirrel mittens (many times over), I was ready for some fat yarn. David’s pattern was ready right when I was.

carrying wood

DK weight yarn is a favorite of mine, so I had quite a stash to choose from. After some swatching, I settled on Rauma 3 ply Strikkegarn, a Norwegian yarn that, if it isn’t made for mittens, certainly seems like it is! It’s got that crunchy, crispy feel and deep sheen of a long wool, along with a long wool’s strength. The colors are absolutely striking. I doubt these mittens will ever wear out. One of my testers of the Fiddlehead Mittens pattern used Blue Sky Alpacas’ Brushed Suri for her lining and I’ve been wanting to use it myself, ever since. It’s soft as can be and amazingly warm, and a perfect weight for lining DK and worsted weight mittens.

the lining

Pattern: Northman Mittens by David Schulz (PDF may be purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Rauma 3 ply Strikkegarn in colors 141 (purple), 198 (lime green), 155 (blue), and 127 (orange), with Blue Sky Alpacas’ Brushed Suri in Gingersnap for the lining.
Needle: US 1.5/ 2.5mm (I am the loosest knitter on the planet.)
Size: medium
Gauge: 28 sts. = 4″

full view

I used:
MC (purple)- 42 grams/ 97 yards
CC1 (orange) 12 grams/ 27 yards
CC2 (light blue) 26 grams/ 60 yards
a smidge of the lime green

Almost all of the skein of Brushed Suri- there are only a few yards left.

The mittens are:
9.5” long
9” around above the thumb
8” around the wrist

The pattern was an absolute pleasure to knit. The charts are clear and large, so knitting just zipped along. The linings make the mittens into cozy little pillows for my hands. It’s just what I needed during these cold months.

full view

Fiber Club:

The fiber club renewals are up for February – April. If you’re a current member and would like to join again, go get ‘em! I’ll leave this up until the 26th, then start emailing people on the waiting list to invite them, if there are any slots left. Please note: I sent out a newsletter today and, as usual, about 20 were returned. Please add adrian at helloyarn dot com to your contacts. Please also note that the waiting list for the club is closed. If I ever manage to get through the current one, it will be so long from now that people’s email addresses will have changed. Starting a fresh one at that time seems like the best plan.

Stuff I Love:

* Woodstoves- As you might guess from the first photo above, there’s wood to be hauled around here! We installed a very beautiful woodstove this winter and have switched to heating with wood. Our lives very much revolve around chopping wood and feeding the fire, as well as enjoying the wonderful heat the stove provides. I’ve even bought a book on woodstove cookery. We’ll see how that goes! So far, it’s been fantastic to proof and raise bread dough by. I can’t recommend Morso stoves highly enough, if you’re in the market. This little tyke is heating our home wonderfully.

* Peanut Butter- My life is changed. I’ve never had Hell’s Kitchen’s peanut butter before, but the recipe is online and holy doodle, this peanut butter is beyond imagining. Caro pointed out the recipe to me, as she is a fan of the restaurant’s peanut butter, and she also advised that the peanuts would be better roasted at 275F. Caro knows of what she speaks, so I did what I was told. The recipe makes about a liter, so I shared with 2 neighbors, who called last night to ask me to marry them. It’s that good.

* The Outlander Series- How did I miss these books all these years? I am angry at every person I know who read this and didn’t command me to. A couple of friends and I are reading them now and giggle like schoolgirls over Jamie. The fact that he knits only adds to his charms. If you’re going to be kept indoors by the frigid weather, you might as well have a giant redheaded Highlander to entertain you!

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