Am I doing it right?

This spinning stuff has been pretty much trial and error. I live in a very isolated place, and there is no way to take a class. So, what I have learned, I've gotten from the two spinning books in my library and the internet. Lately you tube has been a source of inspiration.

I've been gunning to try navajo plying. I like the way it makes the colours run together. But I'm not sure that I'm doing it right. It looks like I am. It feels like I am, but see! I have this little bump where the chain ends and another begins. Someone on craftster suggested maybe it was underspun. Not. It isn't under plied either. Its way over - on both accounts.



In anycase, I'm a process spinner. I'm happy enough with the final product. Those bumps won't be noticeable at all once knit up. Now, what it'll knit up to be, I'm not sure. I do know that I won't be wearing this next to the skin at all. It is so itchy. Someone suggested that it was a low grade fiber. I usually find alpaca so soft and buttery, so its either that or I'm like some kind of reverse rumplestilskin and instead of turning straw into gold, I've managed to turn gold into barbed wire. My spinning techniques could use alot of improvement, but I dont think its me. I'm not blaming the seller either. The dye job was wonderful. The colours are great and they didn't bleed at all. The seller had to have gotten this low grade fiber from somewhere. I wonder are there questions one should ask before purchasing alpaca? I thought it was all created equally, but I guess I have a lot to learn about fibre.

Pom poms

I've had this pom pom maker for over a year now. I got it from a swap on Craftster and seriously had not a clue on how to use it. I've waxed poetic about my clover pendant but I never realized how many crafty things clover is into. Imagine my surprise to discover that the pom pom maker is like clover's (maybe even is a clover) So I checked out their website and found this video.

http://www.clover-usa.com/videos_pompom.html

Great instructions on how to use the little chummy jigger.



Pretty isn't it?

I can do better toes now.

This post is a mish mash of things, but highlighted by this!



A perfect toe, I think. Its the fourth toe up sock, so I should be getting the hang of it now right. I really need to finish this sock before the end of the month. Its for the House Cup on Ravelry. Really, that's the only thing keeping me somewhat motivated and somewhat monogamous or at least its keeping me on track to a point.

I also finished this hat!



Sure, it doesn't look like much here, but it is gorgeous. Of course it belongs to Amy. It was a secret pre birthday gift. Actual birthday gift will happen when I visit at the end of the month. Whatch out yarn shops of Montreal! I will try to control myself somewhat as Kev is travelling with me. This pattern is by cocoknits and its called 'fleeced earflap hat'. It is a very unique hat which involved a sort of thrumming technique. I didn't quite get it right as the fleece was supposed to be invisible from the right side. You can see spots of it on my hat, but I didn't really mind too much as I'm sure Amy will be wearing it with the front bib and ear flaps up. (I hope).

And the final mish mashy part to this post is a follow up on that alpaca that I wasn't sure if I liked or not. So, I've spun all four ounces. I love the colours, but honestly it feels so scratchy. I can't imagine wearing this next to the skin at all. Usually I find commercially spun alpaca beyond soft, so I'm not sure if I've managed to take something that is usually soft and spin it into barbed wire, or if I bought a bump of alpaca that has a lot of guard hairs in it.



It is lovely to look at though. I will be attempting to navajo ply this. I've only done it once before. I can't even remember if I posted about it, as it was very unsuccessful. Or, it felt unsucessful as the singles kept breaking and I kept having to tie the loops together. I did rather enjoy the process though, hence I'll try again.

Ron Weasley

He is one of my most favorite characters in the Harry Potter series. I chose to immortalize him in fiber. He is needlefelted onto a knit and felted brown bag (pattern courtesy of knitty) I've given him to Amy because she is as much a Ron fan as I am, and I have no use for a brown lunch bag and she does. Or she might. This may be my last felted project because we bought a front loading washer. I love the washer. It takes a nice large load, but apparently one cannot felt knitting in a front loading washer. I'm sure I'll give it a go at some point. I have heard of successful cases, but I'm not sure if they are urban legends or not.

Just keep knitting

I've been knitting away trying to finish my symmetric cardigan. I've gotten to the sleeves and have finished one. But now, I've started the 'Owls' sweater for Amy. I got the yarn from Elann and I must say, it is quite nice and soft. Here is how it looks so far.


In other news, I've finally gotten the Webs order. This was placed before Christmas, but apparently they were waiting on a shipment of malibrigo. I told them to send the order on without the malibrigo. I did get Noro Kuryeon sock yarn that I've been dieing to try. Here is what I've done with it so far.



The jury is out on this yarn. It is much like the worsted weigth version, except sock yarn. I do love the colour transitions, but there are quite a few thick and thin spots. I'm not sure how that will wear with a sock yarn. By the way, the pattern is called 'Magic Mirror' and it alot of fun to knit and follow the charts.

Isn't this pretty?

I love Kool Aid. Its just so vibrant. The yarn is upcycled from that great Fisherman knit sweater that I bought for a buck at a flea market this past summer. I was itching to try the Kool Aid after I found this sweet pink kiwi at North Mart. It kind of reminds me of the colour in the Newfoundland Republic flag. This sweater is going to yeild me tonnes and tonnes of yarn. I may try dyeing it before frogging next time to see what the effect will be.

So, I've been working on this sweater

And I totally forgot to share it. It is a free pattern called the 'asymmetrical cabled cardi'. I am making this symmetric, well somewhat symmetric anyways. I have loused up the cable thinking I was making it symmetric and it appears that one cable is running up, and the other is running down. Oh well, its a happy accident as Bob Ross would say. I like it that way.

This is also for the Harry Potter House Cup on Ravelry. I am using it for my OWL. (thats ordinary wizard levels to the muggles) Well, it is keeping me motivated as there
are lots of points to be had. I also have to finish it by the end of March. Not a problem, right?