More spinning fun

And more blues, of course.

Remember the blue roving and spun yarn I dyed in the same pot?

I finally spun up the roving. I manhandled the roving too much in the dye pot and it got a little matted so drafting was a little difficult and the resulting singles were not too uniformed. It's so interesting and very educational, thoug, how exactly the same amount of roving, dyed at the same time, turned out quite differently.

It is really a learning process. I have about four ounces of each. I think I will make Andrea's Shawl from it.

I also dyed two skein of sock yarn. One was done using Wilton food coloring colors. I was experimenting the the kettle dyeing method. Not bad.

The other skein was painted. I probably could have done the immersion dyeing and gotten the same result than the time-consuming painting it. On well, as I said before it is a learning process.

I like this one a lot.

And two more roving -- a corriedale and a cormo -- dip-dyed with Gaywool acid dyes.

Do you think I have a prolem with the color blue?

I am getting a head start

Let's see if I can keep this up.

Hey, I've got the first of the 2010 Christmas gifts done!

I decided this year I am going to give give of not only handknits, but handknits from handspun! How ambitious can that be.

Well, I am getting off on a good start.

Here is the fiber from the Yarn Side.


It's four ounces of 80% merino/20% cashmere roving that was just a dream to spin with. It took me no time at all to spin it up. I Navajo-plied it to keep the colors as intense as I could and to minimize barber-poling. It still barber-poled, but I was quite pleased with the yarn I got:

Only then did I realize that because I was doing the Navajo plying -- in essence three-plying the singles -- I ended up with much less yardage than expected! Well, what I got was about 120 yards of worsted-weight (12 wraps per inch) of absolute beauty and softness.

Now what to knit with it. I wanted something simple that would show off the beauty of the yarn. I spent hours perusing Ravelry and finally came up with this:

The Birthday Cowl.

Four stitches per inch on #10 needles. Cast on 77 stitches. I have about three yards of the yarn left. Perfect.

One gift down. How many more to go? I am on a roll!

An experiment in dyeing

A couple of weeks ago I took a synthetic dyeing class at the Mannings, a knitting, spinning, weaving shop and school in East Berlin, PA, just outside of Gettysburg. I learned how to use synthetic dye to dye yarn and roving. There are several methods -- immersion, dip-dyeing, painting. It was a lot of fun. It was amazing how a little bit of dye, vinegar and heat can transform a skein of yarn into some colorful hand-painted skein you could be paying top dollars for.

I decided to apply the knowledge I learned to my handspun and roving. I wanted to see how different dyeing spun yarn and dyeing roving and then spinning it would make. So I started with a skein of merino yarn I spun and the same roving.

After soaking both the yarn and the roving in a vinegar bath, I dunk both in the pot on the stove and pour in the dyes. I was using Gaywool dye colors Indigo and Cornflower.

I let the yarn and the roving simmer in the pot for about a half hour then turn off the heat and let them cool. Then I dumped out the wet matted blue wool in the sink:

Several hours later after they dried:

The roving is more verigated than the yarn. The yarn is more semi-solid. I think it was because the dye striked the roving more unevenly. I will spin it up and see what it looks like plied. More fun to come!

Blue

You can never have enough blues...

Honestly.

Have you seen the latest issue of House Beautiful magazine? It's called "all about blue." That's my next house. I am saving the copy.


In the meantime I am making all the necessary accessories:

A pair of blue socks:

This is Skinny Bugga! sock yarn in the colorway Blue Metalmark. The pattern is Loksins socks.

To go with a blue shrug/cardigan for the upcoming spring --if it ever gets here:

After the intensity of the cables of the Ravelympics cardigan I decided a plain stockinette would be a nice and easy knit, so I cast on the Whisper Cardigan in Madelinetosh Merino Light in denim colorway.

And to complete the blue package I picked up the Swallowtail Shawl that has been languishing in stash for some time.

The first part is now finished. I am on the border now, with the infamous Nupps... Can you spot one?

I did it!

GOLD

And I couldn't be happier.

Seventeen days from cast on to bind off.

Pattern: Fiona Ellis' Gathering Intentions from the book Cables Untangled, with modifications.

Yarn: Have You Any Wool Luxe Worsted, 7 skeins

Needles: size 7

I have about three yards of yarn left.

It's blue; it's cable; it fits.

What more can I ask for?

Another gold medal, of course!

Five days to go

Will I make it?

The back and the two fronts are done and blocking.

And I am half way up the sleeves.

I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

First medal

I just had to make this.

I had to stop my Olympic sweater and knitted this hat:

This is the hat that the US atheletes wore on the opening night. It was designed by Ralph Lauren and sold for $69. Well, they were sold out within minutes after the ceremony.

No sweat for us knitters. One knitter charted the pattern and posted it on Ravelry for free. Need I say more.

It looks a little dorky, but I just had to make it.
Now back to the project...

Day Four

Moving right along.

I finished the back of my Ravelympics Intentions! yesterday:

This is really fun knitting. It is eating yarn like crazy though. I used more than two skeins (370 yards) already for the back. Good thing I have another skein coming from the dyer (Have You Any Wool).

Now on the the fronts. This is where the real challenge begins. I am alternating skeins throughout the project. I was going to knit both fronts at the same time but juggling four skeins at once might not be a great idea. One at a time.

On to day four.

A sweater worthy of the Olympics!

How many days does it take to knit a sweater?

I hope 17 days. As long as the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

I am taking up a challenge organized by the knitting communiy Ravelry called Ravelympics. It is simply a knitting olympics. You pick a pattern. You cast on as the Games open and you finish before the flames go out.

Sounds like a piece of cake, right?


But this is the Olympics. You don't do something simple. You challenge yourself. You go that extra mile. You push harder.

So I am attempting to knit a sweater in 17 days.


Here is the pattern:

It's called Gathering Intentions by Fiona Ellis in her book Inspired Cabled Knits.

I am knitting it with Have You Any Wool Lux Worsted yarn in colorway lone star. You can swatch to get gauge before the event started.

I got gauge on size 7 needles. Perfect.

But this is the Olympics. You just don't follow the set pattern. You challenge yourself. You go that extra mile!

So I am making some moderations to the pattern. First I am making it into a cardigan. With a zipper.

Then I added two inches ribbing to give it a finished look.

I am also mirroring the side cables.

So far so good. Here is how far I got on day two:

285 yards knitted. Moving right along.

Back to the needles now. Cheer me on!

Storm of the century

Fifty inches of snow.


Let the pictures do the talking.

This is the most Washington DC has got in recorded history.

It snowed more this winter in Washington than in Michigan!

The federal government was closed for four days -- that was a record too. We spent the four days shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling.

Finally, clean.

I had enough snow to last another century! But we are expecting "another system" next Monday!

It's very pretty, I must say...

But I'd rather not see another flake for a good long while...

valentine's is just around the corner

And I am ready!


Or at least my sweater is.


Proudly present my Valentine's Cassidy:

Yes!
My first sweater of the year. Madelinetosh Tosk DK. Six skein. Colorway is Tart. On size 8 needles. The pattern is Chic Knits Cassidy. It is a hoodie but I didn't have enough yarn so I knitted a collar instead. I took the collar pattern from another Chic Knits pattern -- Twist Cardigan. It matches perfectly and I am very happy with it.

I like Tosh DK a lot. It was originally classified as a worsted weight yarn and I knitted it as such. It felt a little loose. I am glad it got reclassified as a DK. I think it knits up much better as a light worsted/DK at 5 -5.5 stitches per inch.

Now I am inspired to finish my Twist, which has been languishing in hybernation for over a year.

A new year's resolution

Or not.

January is almost over and I have yet to come up with a new year's resolution or two.

But then again, why bother?

This year I am going to take a new approach. I read earlier that for the first time in a long time the number one new year resolution for Americans for this year is not to lose weight but to save money. Well, I am doing okay in the weight department and I am financially responsible, I believe.

My Achilles' heels, as we well know, is yarn.

My name is Aporanee and I am a yarnaholic.


There. I said it.

I have more yarn than I can knit in my lifetime. Worse, I cannot stop buying more.

However, this year I am determined to do something about it. No I am not going to stop buying yarn. That is a hopeless cause. It will never happen.

Since I joined the "stashdown" effort in the Yarn Snob group on Ravelry last year I have been looking at my stash differently. It is not that I have way too much yarn. I have way too much yarn that I will never knit. It just sits there. It doesn't call out to me. It doesn't inspire me. It just sits.

Those yarns need to go. And they have been going. I have been selling them on Ravelry at cut rate prices. I couldn't care less. Somebody else wants them. Somebody will enjoy them all the more because they are getting a good deal and I am getting rid of them.


I am stashing down. And it is working. I have been sorting out yarn and setting aside those I will keep. A lot I will try to sell. A lot I will give away. Like this:

And this:

They are going to Interim House knitting group in Philadelphia. A short-term facility that treat women with drug and alcohol problems. They have a great knitting program. Read about their knitting program here. Boxes of yarns are going their way.

Now that's the yarn. Then there is a second problem

I keep casting on a new project. A bad case of startitis shall we say.

Here is the solution. I have been looking at my work in progress (WIPs) and sorting them. Those that are more than half done are set aside for serious consideration. Do I still want this? I look at them again and again. If for two weeks they still don't inspir me they will be set aside for the frog pond and the yarns reclaimed. I have no problem frogging at all. Rip, rip, rip. Those that I still like will get knitted. One by one. As I cast on a new project I will work on a WIP at the same time.

So far so good. I finished a blanket for my stepdaughter that was meant to be her Christmas present.

And I have not even cast on a new project, as I have two pairs of socks I need to finish within the next two weeks. I am swatching though.

Next to finish up is my Cassidy cardigan. This also was meant to be a Christmas cardigan. It will now be a Valentine cardigan. It will be done. I have the back, fronts and the sleeves done and blocked. I will now put the pieces together and do the band and collar. I don't have enough yarn for the hood so it will have a collar instead.

Then I will cast on.

Looking forward

Oh what a year it was.

I think it is fair to say that 2009 was one of the most interesting years of my life. It was a very sad year but it was also a very happy year.

In May I said a final goodbye to my late husband Bill. He is now a part of the Eternal Reef.

The concrete ball containing his ashes and those of his mother was placed in the Chesapeake Bay as a part of an artificial reef. It is a man-made habitat of all sorts of ocean life out there.

Bill was an avid diver. He will be happy there.

A final resting place. At last. Goodbye, Bill.

There is no more sadness. There is no more pain and misery. Whenever I think of him now I remember the happy times we had together.

For the whole year I felt a chapter of my life was drawing to a close. The final curtain was drawn November 30th when we said goodbye to Runty.

Runty was diagnosed with stomach cancer earlier this year. He was responding so well to chemotherapy until November when the disease took over his body and there was nothing more we could do for him. It was a very sad goodbye but I felt I was doing right by him. After all, we had 17 years together and he had brought nothing but pure joy into my life.

And now Runty has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He and Bill are together now.

That chapter of my life has finally drawn to a close.

I have no regrets. I wouldn't have asked for anything else. It was worth the ride.

And it was also in 2009 when I entered a new chapter of my life. A new beginning brought on by a man named Carl Vercio.

I am so happy. I learned the hard way that there was happiness to be had, that you could love, and be loved again if you would open your heart to it. I am glad I did. A happiness named Carl.

I am looking forward to our future together. I am ready!

Happy New Year

To you and yours.

Aporanee and Carl

My angel

Runty.

Runty

Mommy loves you.


We said goodbye to Runty yesterday. The cancer won. But he is not hurting anymore. He is my angel now. It's been 17 good years and I will have lots of memories to remember him by.