Loving the Handspun

 

I have this real problem with knitting with my handspun.   I'm not sure what it is, but I'm really hesitant to knit it.  Its almost as though, once its knit, its potential is gone.  I know, weird eh?  I also feel that no project is good enough.  No project will really show off how beautiful the yarn is.  Also, I'm not sure that any recipient of a handknit item made from handspun, will really get how much effort has gone into such a project.  But, I really have to get over this.  My handspun stash is rapidly growing.  And with Distinctive Knitting (my LYS) starting to carry spinning supplies I suspect this situation will get worse. 

Nat came to the house on Friday and announced that she needed new mittens.  What selfrespecting stepmother would I be if I didn't help her out with this situation??  By the way, she also announced that she is expecting!!  Hurrah, another babe to knit for.  Can't deny the fact that I'm hoping for a little girl to knit for this time, but seriously, people always say this, but its true.  As long as the baby is healthy.  I can still put fuschia on a boy, right?

So, back to the mittens.  I quickly knit up some mitered mittens (curtesy of Elizabeth Zimmerman, knitting goddess) out of a heavey worsted weight handspun that I did a long time ago.  The colourway was called sushi.  Cute aren't they.  And I know that Nat will appreciate them - so she is totally worthy of a knitted project from handspun.

I have quite a few gift certificates to spend at Distinctive Knitting.  I had a pharmacy intern this summer that gave me a gift certificate as a thank you gift for being her preceptor.  So, I took a quick jot down to see Mrs March (owner) and I saw that she still had a shelf full of the Fleece Artiste Merino Slyver.  I quickly spun it into this lovely skein of yarn.  Actually, not quickly - I had to run it through my drum carder to get it to fluff out.  It had become quite compacted from sitting on the shelf in the store.  Since I was giving his mommy handspun mittens, I figured Morgan needed some too.  So, I knit up these little fraternal twin mittens.   I'm not sure how I feel about them being so different from each other.  I figure he'll wear them in any case.  Winters are long, cold and hard in these parts - and a two year old goes through quite a few pairs of mitts in a winter.   I had several yards  of the yarn leftover and this stuff is too precious to just toss, so I knit it in with an earflap hat for Morgie too.