Kiss My Knits!

flames, monsters, double entedres… this session has it all. And it’s LONG, people, so get a drink and settle in.

Had a lovely time yesterday at Jetsyknits’ home, where a group of us got together to sit by the fire and spin wool into yarn. Meanwhile, the menfolk went out and hunted bear for the coming winter. Okay, maybe not, but it does sound rather colonial.

I hadn’t spun in a while, except occasionally on Pat’s fiber. I think it’s because I can’t bear the thought of actually finishing that fiber up. So I decided instead to start fresh with a bag of fiber I got on the way back from St. Louis in 2007. If you were around then, you may remember the post about Murfreesboro, TN and the wonderful people I met and the great time I had during my oh-so-brief trip through town. This was the Three Bags Full wool that I got from The Knaughty Knitter.

This spun up quick! After about an hour and a quarter, there was only about 1/3 of the bump left. There are a few reasons for that.

One, I always find myself spinning up about dk weight. That just seems to be what my hands go to by default. This time, the fiber had such a rustic quality that it seemed to want a little more heft to it, so I tried to spin thicker. Naturally it went faster. It’s mildly uneven in thickness, since if I let myself stop thinking about it, I started pulling less fiber into the yarn and it thinned out. Fortunately, the fiber has so much character that it doesn’t really matter.

Two, this fiber had a lot of silk noils and bits of tussah. There was really no point in going for a nice uniform texture, because it was going to be bumpy no matter what I did. Might as well go with it.

I also have a tendency to underspin, so this time I cranked up the twist, which may not have been so necessary with a thicker yarn, but was still fun to do.

Here it is spun up. After this photo, I sat down and spun up the rest, and it pretty much filled the bobbin. It’s still on the bobbin, because I cannot decide whether I should ply it or not. Opinions?

I also can’t decide what I should knit with it. It’s got such a great rustic character that it could go a lot of ways. You really wouldn’t have to design a busy stitch pattern to let it shine, this yarn would do a lot of work for you.

I should also mention that Jetsyknits’ husband sells gorgeous drop spindles on etsy and I look forward to seeing him put some new ones up. But no pressure. Ahem.

Anyway. Jet, I had a great time. Thanks for having us over. I think this got some of my spinning mojo back. And that’s good, because I don’t have enough other things to do with my time.

Oh, wait…

I never had that hair, but I did have those glasses in the 80s. Now I may have to buy some gold pants. Or better still, CRAFT some gold pants!

Last night at about 9pm, we heard Em talking up a storm in her room. My husband snuck back to listen to what she was saying, to be sure she wasn’t upset or crying.

He heard Em gleefully exclaim, “Ryan has carrot sticks up his nose!” We recognized this at once. It was from Mrs. Roopy Is Loopy by Dan Gutman, one of the My Weird School books that she keeps on her bedside table. She also has a little flashlight there that she uses when she’s pretending that all her dolls are lost under the blankets.

She was sneaky enough to get out the flashlight and read in bed with the lights off, but not sneaky enough to read quietly to herself. I have no room to talk – I used to do the same thing, but silently. What a great age she’s at.

Since I started making Jayne hats, I have met some of the nicest people in the world. And one of them is , also known as Wendy from Alaska. First she sent me her Jayne hat order in the form of a letter from Patience (Browncoats, this is the lady on Whitefall who had previously shot Mal). Then she became a regular reader and commenter on this journal, and her responses have brightened up my days. Then, upon hearing that my daughter and I had birthdays coming up, she really went way above and beyond.
More shininess behind the cut!

Hey, I need a couple of pieces of photo paper for my printer. Does anybody in my local Charlotte group have a sheet or two they can spare? I don’t want to have to buy a whole box.

The Birthday Snuggie!

I’ll post later, but the party was a resounding success. Those who were around for the kindergarten party fiasco will be pleased to hear that everybody came, even those who didn’t RSVP, and a good time was had by all.

I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, it’s just been busy hereabouts. Today I am cleaning like mad in preparation for having Em’s party here tomorrow. It’s like bailing out the Titanic with a Dixie cup. Still, I persevere.

It occurs to me that I haven’t shown these. These are Ann Budd’s Flame Wave socks from Interweave Press’ “Favorite Socks” book. 56 stitch caston, Cascade Fixation. I’m using size 4 and 3 needles instead of the recommended 5 and 4, as I am a loose knitter. It’s going quickly but the bulk of my time is still taken up with Jayne hats.

Speaking of, if Brown Sheep doesn’t ship out their yellow yarn soon, I’m going to road trip to Nebraska to dye it myself. The lack of yellow yarn is officially holding up the works now. Fortunately I have four acrylic hats in a row, but I’m on number four, and then I’ll have to resort to calling all over the state and driving hither and yon for odd skeins. It’s not an efficient use of resources, but time and Jayne hats wait for no man.

Okay, cleaning calls. If I’m not back by tomorrow, call the Coast Guard.