Stockpile

With the wheel I'm spinning way faster than I can comfortably blog, so my stockpile of projects to share is building up.  Today's skein is superwash wool spun from part of a grab bag of brown sheep mill end roving I bought at DBNY.  There's 240 yards of worsted-ish blueness.  (I still haven't bothered with wpi...) It was my second attempt at navajo plying and produced a near commercial quality yarn... now if only any of these babies I need to knit for were boys!

March Madness

I spun up some scarlet and gray buckeye yarn for good luck in the NCAA tournament! O-H-I-O!

Pinky and the Brain

I ordered several kilos of undyed wool online, so I suggest you get accustomed to many pictures of hand dyed roving.  This is 90g of corriedale dyed as is my habit with Jacquard acid dyes.  After an epic quest for powdered citric acid yesterday I gave up and bought a big jug of vinegar at Kroger.  I'll have to just buy the good stuff online.  

First Skein!

This is the first skein from my Ashford Joy.  It's a 70% merino, 30% silk blend roving from KnitPicks that I dyed.  (see earlier posts...)  It's 300 yards of fingering weight yarn.  WPI - meh, I haven't gotten that far.

Ode to Joy

I finally got my spinning wheel.  It was my planned big purchase for when I got a "real job".  I've had the job for awhile now, but it took me that long to find a store/instruction locally.  Sure, I could have randomly chosen a wheel on the internet and ordered one, but which one?  And what if I get the thing and can't figure it out.

Upstairs Studio to the rescue!  It's a great place in La Porte, TX, not too far away from Houston.  They specialize in yarn, spinning, and weaving; and have classes to learn any fiber related arts.  I had a great instructor named Lizzie who got me started on the wheel and helped my explore my preferences.  By the end of our three hours session I had spun and plied a wee skein of yarn and decided on a wheel.

I picked up the wheel yesterday and have already been making some great strides in yarnery.  I can't wait to see what kind of trouble me and my new friend Joy whip up!

Jayne Hat

My cousin wanted a Jayne hat.  I harbor a strange discomfort with the concept of knitting such a thing.  Why?  I'm not entirely sure, but it might have something to do with my stubborn yet frequently yielding resistance to viral knitting trends.  Everybody has knitted a clapotis, a koolhaas, and a Jayne hat, therefore I feel the need to be the one person who hasn't.  I know deep down that the contrived bucking of fads is just as sheeplike, but the ego that generates my sense of personal special-ness wins every time. It's totally idiotic, I know.  I end up making a lot of those projects anyway because there was reason they became so popular.  Either they're cool, or easy to knit, or generally awesome.  So I sucked it up and knit the Jayne hat.

* Hi Mom - Firefly is a sci fi TV show that came out in 2002, made by the same people as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  It has quite the cult following and is now returning to TV on the Science Channel.  One of the characters named Jayne received a hat just like this and wore it on the show.  I suspect the re-airing is what triggered Scott's sudden hat lust.

* Hi Fellow Nerds - yes, I am aware the pom pom color distribution is wrong.  I redid it but didn't take pictures of the final headwear.