2.25.2007
2.22.2007
Future Erin
I'm going to co-knit something for the first time in my life. A very nice man who lives in my apartment building in Amman is an amazing knitter, and we talked about making something together. We decided on the Erin sweater from The Celtic Collection. Since all of the yarn is discontinued I ordered a ton of Shetland wool over the internet (as in, without being able to see the colors in person). What could possibly go wrong? Here it is:
The yarn is in California, where I will be visiting next month. It is about the same cost to ship something to Jordan as it is to just fly home for a visit, so I'll pick it up in person. So, momkin, by this fall I will have an Erin:
2.21.2007
Ups and Downs; Strikes and Gutters
Well, I reckon I've spun about three quarters of the merino wool I brought with me and started in September. In that time, my spinning has improved so much that I know I won't use the first big batch of yarn I made; it's too thick. It's about fingering weight, and I want (and now have) lace weight for a grand Shetland scarf I've imagined. So, I thought I'd use the thick stuff to swatch, something I never do. So, here is an edging I made. I decided to turn it into a scarf. The brown is alpaca from Knit Picks that I've doubled up. When I'm out of alpaca, I'll knit another lace edging, and single crochet along the edges with the remaining blue merino.
Here is another sample. Again, this is in my hand spun that is fingering weight. I like this pattern so much. I've made two scarves of this pattern, and I think I will eventually make another when I'm through spinning the merino. I'm going to try and make myself finish spinning the merino before I begin knitting something out of it. I want a good idea about how much yarn I have before I decided on the width of a scarf.
Now for the bad news. These socks, that I just made in December, are khlass. I always prefer socks made of real wool, as opposed to superwash, but I think I may change my mind about that. I took good care of these, and I wore them only with shoes that are well broken in, or with my shoes that have no heel to rub on socks, and still! I love the color, and they are felted a bit and comfortable, but they are history after only about 2 months.