Aim High

I'm aiming high this year for the Ravelympics. That there is the yoke portion of my "Pallid" Bohus-inspired sweater. I'm hoping to complete the colorwork portion this evening. I've tried this on twice so far, and both times it fit wonderfully - why do I insist on doubting my math? It's MATH, I should TRUST it. I should trust IT more than I trust MYSELF.

Anyway - the sweater. I'm using my handspun HelloYarn "Pallid", and I split out the colors of 4 ounces of the fiber. I added a little bit of mohair before carding it, in hopes of replicating the fuzziness of the original Bohus sweaters (they used angora). I'm knitting this on US2 needles, and I'm making up the pattern as I go along. Soon it'll be straight stitch forever.



It's potholder swap time again, as well! Adrian, Maritza, Maryse and I are hosting the 2010 Potholder Swap. The rules, should you want to participate, can be found here. In awesome swap-admin fashion, I have no idea of what I'm going to make, and probably will end up sampling things until a week before they are due!



And hey! I put more yarn in my shop! Go go go get it while it's hot!

Paint Me A Swatch, Dear.

The cold - and impending Snowpocalypse - are making for very productive knitting. I've been test-knitting a few things, in between bouts of spinning:



This is Thea's newest pattern - "White Russian". It's a lovely and simple tunic that's knitting up pretty quickly. I'm knitting this up in some handspun from ages ago - a 2-ply merino that makes a delicious fabric.

I've also been testing some more mittens (surprised? Didn't think so.), this time, for Elinor - the adorable "Ladybug Picnic" mittens:



I snuck an extra ladybug under the thumb. I've only got this one done so far (in Reynolds Soft Sea Wool, which is wonderfully squishy), and I still need to weave in ends and block them. The pattern is well-written and makes for a quick knit.

There's also been a bit of spinning:



That's Hello Yarn Club Fiber "Pallid" in Rambouillet. I was lucky enough to score a sweater's worth of this stuff, and I have big big plans for it! It spins up wonderfully - I'm anxious to get it on the needles.

Of course, all this spinning and knitting seems perfectly NORMAL and USUAL. So I had to throw in what I've been referring to as my Second Stupidest Idea to Date (the #1 slot goes to this humdinger) -



You can't see much there right now, but the idea is simple enough: Reproduce knit lace swatches on a grand scale (the paper is 25" x 35") in excruciatingly detailed watercolor. The execution, however, is tough. We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it - I've been meaning to get back to some drawing and painting, and hopefully this will fill that void.

Kitteh, Knitteh, Etseh

This is New Cat - we picked her up last Tuesday, and she and The Mayor are adjusting to one another. She doesn't have a name yet - we're leaning towards "Juicebox". She's a feisty 1-year-old who trills when she runs, and is very affectionate. She's a great addition to our place.

Aside from kittehs, I opened up my etsy shop! It's chock full of handspun goodness, and I'm aiming to put up new listings on Fridays. Some Hello Yarn, some Spunky Eclectic, some Southern Cross Fibers so far - more to come!

I've also been using some handspun:



This is "Frost Forest", a Hello Yarn Club Fiber colorway from December 2007. It's Soy Silk/Merino, and I spun it as laceweight singles. I had about 660 yards, and I knew that it had these big bands of color. I'd been looking for a good pattern for this for some time, and then came across "Citron" in the latest knitty. It seemed to be just right for the yarn: simple, easy to add repeats, and would really showcase the yarn.



And it does! The pattern is fine, but the tedium of knitting so much lace stockinette on US5 needles nearly put me over the edge. I added an extra pattern repeat as well, in order to use as much yarn as possible. I blocked it quite aggressively, and gave it a choppy sawtooth edge. It's delightfully light and airy.