Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Spin me right round

So I got suckered into this, I have to admit this. I was so sure that I was a total screw up, when it comes to the field of spinning. I had the urge about two years ago, so I built a little homemade spindle and got some fiber off of Ebay and off I went. I think I got the hang of it, but once I had a couple of balls of single done I was stuck. Now what? I wasn't to crazy about the whole concept of plying and setting a twist and heck knows what else is involved in the whole spinning action. So my little spindle and the rest of the rowing went into a bag into a box and mostly forgotten. Last weekend members of our local knitting group got together for a afternoon of spinning. Hey, I tried it, I didn't go crazy over it, but without anything better to do that day, I went to join the ladies (and gent) for the afternoon. As proof of my failure I brought along my stuff just to find out how badly I really suck at this. Well, everybody was amazed on how good I did (including myself) and instead of an afternoon of watching them turn fuzzies into yarn and me knitting, I ended up spinning up the rest of my roving and turning it into nice little skeins.
I still don't know what to do with it, but I ended up with 5 ounces of singles. I guess I could knit a hat out of it? Don't know yet. Worst case scenario I can always felt it, right? Like a good supplier Luna didn't let us walk out of her place without a little more fuzzy stuff, to keep us hooked. Reminds me of a dealer in some way. First she gives us a taste, so we'll have to come back for more. And she has more, trust me. After all she has her own sheep to supply her with the means to her addiction. The funny thing is, and I kid you not, she has a sheep with the same name as me, even spelled the same way. How odd is that!
Ok, enough said about the way I spent my weekend. I also have a FO to report. This is the boy's V-neck vest made from Crofter DK I was working on for RoLynn's store. This is the second project I've finished for them. One more to go and I can show my face there again and walk into her place, baring gift :) Makes me feel like I'm one of the three kings.
Now the next picture is what I treated myself with after a long time of arguing with myself. After all, I do need it and there is almost not a day that I don't have those needles in my hand, it's work related, it's a necessity and all of those above reason justified me ordering this set of pretty, pretty KP Harmony needle tips. Hmmm, gotta love them.
Too bad that even as a test knitter, I had to pay the regular price for it, but I think I'm worth it. Don't you? I'll surely enjoy them.
Now off to some more knitting and casting on something else. :) Have a nice and hopefully sunny day of knitting.

Friday, May 15, 2009

New KP Project

I've been lazy blogging again, but at least I do it once a month. Well, today is the day and I have something to show for. If you got the latest KnitPicks email yesterday, you got their new May Catalog online. Right there on page for is one of my projects. Well, it's actually three, but they were all knit as one project. It's the Circle Baby Blanket, Jacket with Mittens and the Chubby Bunny from the book Itty Bitty Nursery. Here are the pictures:




They were all made from their new organic Cotton yarn, which was pretty nice to work with.

It's always nice to see my stuff show up in their catalog or even in the IK magazine. Makes me feel like I'm a celebrity (which I'm surely not!). Last month felt kind of weird, because in the whole catalog there was nothing in there that I made and that is not normal, for me anyway. Just to let you know, there are three more in the queue to be published and right now I'm working on a super top secret knit for them, and that's all I can say about that. :D Sorry. But this ensures my job security.

I also picked up another knitting job. Go figure, right? So there I was strolling into RoLynn's and Ashley's yarn store (again) and ended up walking out of there with a bag full of gorgeous yarn and patterns to knit some samples for their store. Now how much cooler can that get. Now I have an official reason to swing by there and don't need to bribe my husband to swing by there. My kids absolutely love that place too and never want to leave. If it wasn't for my dogs waiting at home for me, I might just pitch a tent there and spend the night :D (just kidding). Do you get the idea that I really like that place. If I ever get a wish from a magic genie, I'll ask for a store just like theirs. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Ok, enough chatting, back to knitting. The needles are cooling down, the coffee is kicking in and I feel myself being able to knit 100mph again. Later.