Nine Things I Did In 2009

but didn't blog about until now. In roughly chronological order:

1) Spun (from the fold) some Pigeonroof Studios Romney in Twist. The colors and the fiber made this such a pleasure to spin.


2) Finished a pair of toe-up knee socks (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Edgewater, 2 skeins). I really like how these turned out, but need to add elastic to the cuff so they stay up better.


3) Made an apron for my mom, based off the generic craft store-type apron she already had. I followed Amy Karol/angry chicken's No Swearing All by Machine Bias Tape Tutorial. Highly recommended - I barely touched my seam ripper.


4) Did some sample knitting for Melissa Leapman! This is a detail on the Springtime Hoodie, knit in Kollage Temptation in Lagoon.


5) Knit most of a Veste Everest (using Black Water Abbey Yarns 2-ply worsted weight in Moss). I finished the front and the back (sorry, no photo of that) and seamed it up, but haven't gotten around to doing the neck and arm bands.


6) Intended to work through my stashed sock yarn, but didn't make much progress. I started a pair of Jaywalkers (no photo of this either), and have been knitting these on and off for the past 6 months or so. There's always next year...

7) Spun 2 oz of A Verb for Keeping Warm 50/50 Silk/Merino in No. 9. I got approximately 400 yards of laceweight/light fingering weight yarn. I really, really love how this turned out.


8) Went to Stash's moving sale. I got four skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Eden (a purple, and, for the record, I'm really into purple this year). I'm still not sure what I'm going to make with it. Maybe a vest?

9) Learned that unwarping a direct warp is time consuming and a potential recipe for tangles. (I only wanted to use one skein for the warp, and it was narrower than I wanted. I knew I'd prefer my scarf to be a little shorter than to have it too narrow.) Somehow it all worked out in the end, and I managed to get the warp off without needing to cut the yarn at all. Now I have a nearly complete Koigu scarf - just a few more inches to go!


Wishing you a happy new year!

Splash of Blue

September is almost over, and Project Spectrum 3 is coming to a close. I really enjoyed this version with the "elemental" groupings of colors.

It was especially easy for me to find things to make for the current Water group, because the color triad includes blue, one of my favorites.

Though I started quite a few things, my only FO from the Water element was a box bag. I made the same modifications as I did on my first box bag (tabs on the ends and covered seams), and I also decided to make the handle a bit narrower.



I started a few knitting projects. Two of them are scarves (a Lace Ribbon Scarf [picture] and a Trellis Scarf [picture]), but at the moment my favorite WIP is a Butterfly Moebius (from The Knitter's Book of Yarn). There's something so satisfying about knitting with your own handspun. (The fiber, naturally dyed merino, was from Tactile.)



I'm also enjoying using this stitch marker. I had a "thing" for ladybugs when I was little, so it makes me smile.



In other news, this past weekend I joined my local spinning guild, Spindles and Flyers. I think it will be a great opportunity to learn more about spinning, but it may also tempt me into weaving! (Not that I haven't considered it before.)

Shifting Elements

March is coming to a close and April is about to begin, which means Project Spectrum: Elements is changing from Fire to Earth. I've been playing with both elements.

Here is a fiery FO that was for both PS3 and Malabrigo March (Ravelry link).



Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Geranio (44), one skein.
Pattern: The Amanda Hat (pdf) by Gina House. I used the same modifications as I did for my first Amanda Hat.
Needles: US 8 (5 mm) for body of hat, US 7 (4.5 mm) for decreases.

With the leftovers, I'm making Evangeline (fingerless gloves) from MagKnits. I hope I have enough yarn!



I'm carrying around this project in my new box bag. It's the perfect size for small knitting projects (7 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 3.5 inches tall).



I chose brown and green fabrics for the Earth element of PS3.



I used Drago[knit]fly's box bag tutorial, with a couple of modifications. After reading around on some blogs, I decided to add tabs to help make zipping and unzipping the bag easier.



I also concealed the raw edges with the extra brown fabric. I love how the inside of the bag turned out.



Making this bag was a bit more time-consuming than I had anticipated, since I ended up ripping and redoing a number of the seams (my sewing skills are a bit rusty), but it was worth it!