This is really a quick and easy knit. I finished it up last night while watching Scrubs and House.

And I just love the little eyelet detail on the back. I’m trying to decide if I want to make them all different, and if so, what they should all be. The actual color of the sweater is somewhere between the two pictures. It’s not quite the grass green in the big picture, but it’s definitely not as pastel as the detail shot. Green Apple really is a good name for it.

OK, well, I should probably be off to (finally) finish my FYS pics. Once I get that done, I can attack the housecleaning that needs to be done before the Inspector General* arrives on Friday.

*My Mom. Don’t get me wrong - I love her and I am glad she and Dad are coming down for the weekend. After my grandmother passed away, my grandfather used to go to Florida with my uncle for baseball spring training. My mom always double-checked what he was packing, so he jokingly dubbed her the Inspector General. I only call her that in reference to my housecleaning. (And because I miss my Grandpa.)

Not of my fabulous spinning skillz (heh) - but of my new niddy-noddy that my darling hubby made for me last night.

See? Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s a one-yard size - he already has plans to make me a 1-1/2 yard one and a 2-yard one. =) There are a couple of tweaks that we need to make to the design, but I really like what he did.

Question for those of you who spin: if he decides to make some of these to sell, would any of you be interested, and what would you consider a fair price for one? (No, I won’t hold you to buying one, I’m just trying to get an idea.)

I’m also pretty happy with how I am coming along with my spinning wheel. It’s not perfect, but it is definitely getting more consistent. And it is definitely addictive.

My order from Knit Picks finally arrived yesterday. The first shipment must have vanished into the ether of the postal service, so they re-sent it to me last Thursday.

I started the Baby Bolero from One Skein last night, and I am getting very close to finishing it already. This one is for Steve and Mindy’s little girl Kylie. It’s a great pattern, and I love the yarn - the new Shine Worsted in Green Apple.

I also have the yarn to make 3 more of these in Crocus, Terra Cotta, and Reef for three more baby girls, all due to make their appearance between now and early June. Good thing I’m enjoying it, no?

I’ve also made some more progress on my Jaywalkers. Hopefully these will actually fit. They are striping differently, too. I think I like it, though.

I’ve gotten some work done on my Serena as well. Gorgeous yarn, and a wonderful pattern by a fabulous designer. It is really coming out well.

Interestingly, my good friend GretchenX (who vanished off the ‘net for a while) has returned to the world of knitblogging to announce that she had bought the same yarn (Schaefer Laurel) in the same colorway (Helen Hayes), also to make a wrap. Isn’t that a hoot? We are definitely some level of psychic evil twins.

Let’s see… what else? Along with the Shine Worsted, I got some Shimmer to make the tank top from One Skein (originally done in Helen’s Lace). I decided on the “Turquoise Splendor” to branch out of my usual green theme.

Kris and Jen and I went down to Springwater Fiber Workshop on Sunday to see what they had in terms of roving. I picked up two gorgeous things of hand-dyed roving (the two in the middle) in and orange and red combo and a purple and pink combo. I can’t wait to see how they spin up. (The roving on the top is what was sent from my faboo SP bylt, and the green on the bottom is the last of what came with my spindle kit, which is what I have been playing with so far.

I really need to finish up my pictures for the Flash Your Stash this weekend, since we’ve got out-of-towners arriving Thursday and Friday. I was planning to do some of that today, but Kris is having some major issues with his upper back and stayed home today.

Thank you to all of you who popped over to say hi to Kirsten. She’s on the Knitty Coffeeshop boards now (kstiirken), so you’ll get to know what an awesome person she is.

Wow, this wheel thing could be seriously addictive. I think I’m starting to get the hang of it, although I am definitely still having some overspinning issues (as you will see).

I spun this last night. It’s the big thing of roving that came with my drop spindle kit, so I even separated and teased the fiber myself! (And yes, I know that the camera focused on the lazy kate behind the spindles. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that until it was too late to take another picture.).

Then, I branched out into something new - plying! I had some… adventures with it, but it got a little better as I went on. I soaked it and hung it to dry with a little weight on it, and this morning, I knit it up into a little swatch.

Ta da!

The color is close to the swatch picture, although maybe not quite so bright.

So, this morning, I had to play some more (duh). I spun up some more of the roving from my kit, and I think I’m getting a slightly better grasp on the idea of pre-drafting. It makes a HUGE difference. I spun this up, and then decided to ply it, too.

Um, yeah. Oops. This would be that overspinning thing I was talking about.

I got that untangled, and finished plying it. It’s now washed and hanging to dry. I’ll probably knit it up as soon as it is dry. It’s getting a bit more even as I work. Happily, I’ve got some more roving to work with, and I can keep playing for a while. I may see about going to Springwater tomorrow to take a look at their rovings and stuff.

At noon today, my UPS man brought me these:
I opened them to find this:
And an hour later:
Now to read the “how-to” paperwork and get started playing!!!!

Big thanks to zolzer for the sale. I know I will be picking up some of her awesome roving at some point - it’s gorgeous!

Well, I finally did it! I finally used the drop spindle kit that Kris gave me for my birthday (yes, way back in September. I’m lame.). You want proof?

Here is is! That was the 6 oz. “start with me” bundle of merino roving that Adrian sent with the kit. Some of it is a little less than neatly spun (ok, or spun at all), but some of it actually looks like yarn! Yay! I think I’m going to knit it up later today to see how it comes out. It ended up being about 13.25 yards when done.

And if you were wondering what inspired me to finally start playing with the drop spindle, yes I had an ulterior motive (OK, two, actually). My darling SP bylt sent me some gorgeous roving, and I want to play with it, so that was part of it. The other reason is that I’ve been really wanting to try working on a wheel, and being me this means buying one. So when one of my fellow Knittyheads posted that she was selling her wheel, and that it was an Ashford Traditional, which was the very same wheel that bylt recommended, yeah, I bought it. And per UPS, it will be here today!!!! So, I decided I had better start getting a grasp on this whole drafting thing. It comes and goes - I’m nowhere near consistent yet, but I’m getting better. Hopefully by not too long, I’ll be able to get it to work.

And the other thing about said wheel - I joked to Kris that since he had no interest in learning to knit, maybe he should learn to spin. He actually said he might like to do that! When I told him yesterday that the wheel should be here today, he asked if I had enough fiber for both of us to play with. Hee! I already was planning to ask him to make me a niddy-noddy - maybe he’ll actually be using it, too!

Oh, and my oldest dearest friend on the planet finally started a knitting blog yesterday. Go say hi!

ETA: SWATCH!
Interestingly, the part on the top of the swatch where the yarn is all skinny and even was the part I did Wednesday night. The bottom part, slightly (Ha!) more thick-and-thin, is from last night. I think I got a little overconfident.

Also, if anyone cares, I bought Lee Raven’s Spin It to learn from, because the instructions that came with my kit just weren’t quite clicking for me. It’s a great book!

So, the bad stuff first. As of yesterday morning, my Jaywalker socks looked like this———–>

I was happy, they were going well, and I had made some significant progress. I decided to try them on to see how they looked. And that would be when I discovered a small problem. As in, they were too small. I could get them over my heel, but just barely. I let them sit all day while I consternated - to frog, or not to frog. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was never going to be happy with them not fitting, so I should really frog them and restart.

Before I pulled the needles out, I took a quick measure of my socks. (Yeah, yeah, I know. If I had done a gauge swatch…) Anyway, they should have been 4″ across the stitches on one circ needle. Mine? 3.75″. WHAT? I was actually getting a SMALLER gauge? That never happens to me - I always have to size down! I think part of it may have been that the yarn is smaller, but I’m not totally sure.

So, I ribbitted my way through it last night while hubby and I watched Pirates of the Carribbean, and as of last night, I was here———————>
Slightly less thrilling, but oh well. I debated changing needle sizes, but I liked the fabric I was getting, so I stuck with the US1’s and opted to cast on 84 stitches instead of 76. Hopefully, I’ll get caught back up again soon. I also decided that I was going to skip that weird arrangement of stitches and just have needles 1 and 2 on the first circ, and 3 and 4 on the second. The heel isn’t going to be an issue if it is over needles 1 and 2 instead of 1 and 4.

In other news, we had a great weekend. Friday, my 7-months-pregnant cousin, her husband, and their 6-year-old son had come in to town, so we met with them and walked around DC and then had dinner. It was great - we don’t usually see them except at the holidays, so it was really awesome to just hang out for a while. Plus - really good dinner. We went to the Capitol Grille, and I had the most amazing steak - a filet mignon crusted with Kona coffee and topped with shallot butter. Yum.

Sunday afternoon, Jen and I decided to hop on the Metro and head up to Woolwinders, since we had not been there yet and they were having a St. Patrick’s Day sale (15% off any yarn or kit with any green or orange in it). It is a really great shop - very friendly owner and staff, and a great selection, including some stuff I had not seen before. Oh, and did I mention that they offered us some wine while we were shopping? =)

Thursday night, while Kris was introducing Jen to the joys of DDO, I had tried to use my Wool in the Woods Capri to start a Serena wrap, as planned. Unfortunately, the yarn and the pattern were just not working together. So, I was hoping to find something at Woolwinders that might word instead. That would be when I stumbled on the Schaefer Laurel. 100% Pima Cotton, in the most amazing colors. I am always drawn by interesting color names, so I took a look at the tag on one of the hanks.
These were part of Schaefer’s Color Concepts “Memorable Women” line. On the left in the picture is “Emily Dickinson”, a gorgeous combination of rose pink, sagey-olive-khaki green, and apricot orange. On the right is “Helen Hayes” - purple, blue, and sea green. Each of those are going to become Serena wraps. In fact, the Helen Hayes one was started last night. It’s a little hard to see the stitch pattern in that picture, but it is working up beautifully.

The center 3 hanks, I simply could not leave there. They are a vibrant combination of ruby red, bright orange, yellow, and emerald green (It reminds me a little of a parrot, actually). The name? “Judy Garland”. Seriously, do you remember the pictures of the cone of green Cascade? I’m a Wizard of Oz fan - no way could I not pick up yarn named for Dorothy herself! Plus, it is seriously gorgeous and is going to make an amazing summer top of some sort. As soon as I pick a pattern. =)

Some gratuitous yarn pr0n. Closeups of each of the colors of Laurel.
Judy Garland

Helen Hayes - first lady of the American Theatre. (Seriously, I can’t hear her name without immediately adding that in my mind)

Emily Dickinson

Sunday evening, we went into the DuPont Circle area so that I could deliver the Touch Me scarves to Hillary and Rick. We had dinner and then hung out with Hillary, Carl, Rick, Dave, and James at a bar called Halo. (Hillary wore her scarf the entire evening. Hee!) Halo makes the most amazing mojitos, including flavored ones like raspberry, blueberry, and pineapple (they also make a strawberry, but none of us tried that one). Rick made me a mix cd as a thank-you for the scarf, and it is fantastic. He and I only met a couple of weeks ago, but he either has musical-taste-ESP, or we have VERY similar tastes. Every song on there was either one I knew and liked, or a new one that I now love. And I have decided that I need to find the entire cd of a group called Pink Martini - they are amazing!

And my mail man brought me something special yesterday. Unfortunately, not the KnitPicks order I’ve been waiting on (grr… I’ll be calling on that if it isn’t here in another day or two), but my first Socks That Rock Rockin’ Sock Club package! That is the notebook for the patterns (with the Cedar Creek Socks pattern inside), a button, a hank of “Rainforest Jasper”, which is quite lovely, a mini hank of “emergency sock yarn” in the same color, and a bumper sticker. A very cute package, and I can’t wait to see this stuff worked up. It’s a gorgeous combination of colors. Plus, now that I have my grubby little hands on it, I can see why it is so loved. It has a wonderful “sproingyness” to it, sort of like Koigu, but it is still quite soft. And I am trying very very hard not to go order some of the “Ruby Slippers” color (see above re: “Wizard of Oz”). There is also an “Emerald City” color, but I haven’t been able to find it. That is probably a good thing, because I reeeeeally don’t need to order any more sock yarn anytime soon.

Wow - I had no idea so many people were interested in the socks on 2 circs method. I learned the basic concept of using 2 circs from (not shockingly) Socks Soar on 2 Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. I figured out the 2-at-once part from the Straight-Laced Socks pattern from knitty.com.

When adapting this method for the Jaywalkers, my socks are arranged on the circs so that circ # 1 (when facing me) has, from right to left, the stitches from sock1, needle 4 (as denoted in the pattern), a marker, sock 1, needle 1 (using one ball of yarn) and then sock 2, needle 4, a marker, and sock 2, needle 1. The second circ holds the stitches from the second and third needles for both socks. I arranged them that way because the stitches on needles 1 and 4 will become the heel, so they need to be on the same circ. I cast on all the stitches for the first sock on one circ, and worked the first row of ribbing flat, and then did the same on the other circ for the other sock. Then there was a lot of slipping stitches to get them all on the right circs. In retrospect, it probably would have been easier to just cast them on and split the stitches in half between the circs, and then worry about “naming” them according to which needle they should be on. I’m a little too anal-retentive for that, apparently. So, yes, this means that when I am working on the actual zigzag pattern, the stitches on the first circ are on different rows. It’s making me a little crazy, though, so I might grab some dpns and rearrange them so that they are split a little more logically.

Does this make any sense, or am I babbling gibberish again?

zib - The smiley was a total accident, although I did notice it after I took the picture.

turtlegirl - I am very glad that you were able to find those padded crochet hooks easily. I’ve been considering trying them, mostly because I get a sore spot on the side of my hand where the hook rubs. It’s kind of annoying. =)

Oh, and the crocheted bolero is finished. I finished it up last night have it pinned out on the blocking board today. I’m quite happy with how it turned out. Again, modeled pics as soon as I can get hubby to take some. (I see a picture-heavy post in my future to catch up on all these promises.)

And just because this stitch pattern is really neat, a closeup.

ETA: The Bloom shawl, by our newly blooming rhododendron!

… to the crochet side.

OK, so I’ve actually known how to crochet for a few years, but I haven’t done it in quite some time. Then I picked up the new Stitch ‘n Bitch Crochet book, and I really liked some of the designs, so I decided to pick up the hooks again. This is the Short ‘n Sweet bolero from the book, done in Halcyon King Tut Cotton in Turquoise. I really like how it is coming out, not least because crochet moves so freakin’ fast. =) I’ve got about 1 repeat left around the bottom of the body, and then the sleeves and the edging to go. I’m going to look at it once the body is done according to the pattern and make sure that it isn’t too short on me. I have some extra yarn, so I should be fine to lengthen it if I need to. I love this stitch pattern - it’s really textural and just nifty.

I’ve also started another project. (You know, because I don’t have any waiting over there in my list that have been sitting there for months or anything) Aren’t they awesome? What do you mean, you can’t tell what they are? Isn’t it obvious? =) Anyway, these are my Jaywalker socks, being done in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the “Happy Valley” colorway. This is my first time using LLSS, and I freely admit that I ordered this color not only because it was pretty and springy, but because Happy Valley is the nickname of both Penn State (where hubby went) and Westminster College (where I went). So far, I am loving the yarn, although getting everything cast on and arranged on the circs was an adventure, for some reason.

And lookie here - I got a package! My awesome, lovely Knittyboard SP bylt (whose identity I figured out by complete accident of fate) sent me these goodies. (The postcard actually arrived before, but I forgot to post it. She sent it to me from her trip to Hong Kong.) On the right of the picture (and in the picture to the right, opened) is a gorgeous green case to hold all sorts of life’s (and knitting’s) little necessities, and on the right are 2 balls of Elann’s Sock It To Me Esprit in a lovely purple and turquoise combination that I am looking forward to playing with. In the middle - check out that label. Yes, folks, that is Hello Kitty yarn! She found that in Hong Kong, and tell me that is not the funniest thing ever. It’s a really pretty bright navy blue, and is quite soft.

I’ve got a good part of my stash photographed for the Flash on the first. I just have some oddballs to put together yet.

Oh, and thank you for your kind words on my Bloom shawl. Honestly, it’s a very nice, easy pattern - who doesn’t love garter stitch short-rows on US15 needles? =) And I know, I still owe you a modeled shot. It’s a crazy week for hubby at work, so I haven’t managed to get him to take a picture yet.

I needed to do something after finishing Hillary’s scarf on Friday, and my order from Little Knits arrived, so I decided to go with that. I had gotten 2 balls of Noro Blossom in the red/fuschia mix, and hadn’t decided what to do with it yet. I was flipping through some patterns that I had printed, and I came across the Bloom shawl from the Fall issue of Knitty. It called for 5 skeins of Blossom, so I ordered 3 more hanks from Little Knits in the same color. I started this Friday night, and finished it a few minutes ago:
The colors are a little hard to see on the blocking board (my new one - yay!), but it is really pretty. The Noro striping works wonderfully in this pattern (as intended). Kris keeps oohing and aahing at it. (And yes, I know that there are a couple of ends still to be woven in.)

Now I just have to wait for it to dry. Which is why it is propped up in my craft room with a fan pointed at it. =) Modeled pics will follow when it is dry, hopefully tomorrow.

I finished the Wyvern Socks this morning, and I’ve been wearing them all day. They are wonderfully comfy, and I can’t wait to make another pair of socks out of the other 2 hanks of Koigu. So yummy!

This is also the fastest pair of socks I’ve ever made - 11 days, interspersed with Rick’s scarf, which I finished on Sunday, and Hillary’s scarf, which I started yesterday. I’m about halfway through Hillary’s scarf, and just need to decide what pattern I want to use on the other Koigu. (I’ll post pics as soon as there is reasonable light.)