*Bwee-ooo*

We interrupt these wool reviews with the following news flash:

This is an awesome pattern. It is just the right amount of fiddly to demand your full attention until you get the hang of it, and has a few bits that are quite clever. It's a chatty pattern, but I had a heckuva good time knitting this today. The end result is super cute and squooshy. Hopefully the little person it is intended for likes it, too, or at least said wee person's parents do.

...I might have to make one of these in a Wendi size. The pattern could be translated into socks, too, for extra warm socks...ponder ponder.

Anyway, back to wool soon enough. I've stalled out on the fleece processing, as I'm spinning up some stuff I dyed last spring. I need to get back into that before my time is no longer my own again.

Review 3

Icelandic: This was an enjoyable chunk of fleece to process, but, hoo boy, is the reward limited. Half of the fleece is the hair, and the undercoat is very soft, but not much fun to spin. I wouldn't turn this down if it presented itself, but I don't think I'd actively seek it out again.

Welsh Mountain: Black and scritchy. This was ridiculously easy to process and it was begging to be spun. Pity about the scritchy aspect. This is also the sheddiest fleece I've worked with thus far. *shrug*

Romney: Oh, I am in love. I really enjoyed flick carding this long staple; taking something that looked ropey and tragic and making it giant and floofy was really fun! Once I figured out the trick of spinning this (which took a bit, and I finally broke out my drop spindle to get a better idea for how much spin vs. uptake was needed), I really enjoyed myself. The colour is shades of heather gray, and the end result of the yarn has a good squoosh to it. I will be on the lookout for a Romney fleece at MD S&W in May, as this would make a beautiful sweater.

Next in queue: Wensleydale. Curly, white, and somewhat filthy.

Review 2.0

East Friesian: Nice dark colour, amazing amounts of crimp, but, ugh, so crunchy. This was not a pleasure to spin, and the end result is a resounding "meh". I think I can skip this in the future.

Icelandic: De-haired it pretty easily, which cut down the volume of the actual fleece by about half. Also, I need to pay better attention to doing a final skirt of fleeces before washing them...I missed a few organic bits that...uh...melted. Ew. I haven't spun this, but the undercoat is amazingly soft and floofy. As an aside, the tip about feeding fleece into the drum carder so that it is perpendicular to the teeth really does create amazingly fluffy batts. I'll spin this up soon and give a final opinion, but this has been pretty fun so far.

Currently on the drying rack: Romney

And in knitting news, I finally cast on a sweater for Daven that I started plotting out...uh...a long time ago. I've had this yarn for quite a long time, and it was just waiting for me to get the bug to knit it up. It'll be a gansey'esque thinger, and I'm swapping out the XOX's that ran up the front and centre with some knots that Daven preferred. Yay for cabling! It pleases me. I'm attempting to knit this in the round again, as I am full of hate for seams.

With that in mind, I finished knitting my black cardie a while ago, but it's been waiting on me to finish all of those ends. Poo. I've got the finishing about half done, with just the back and one more sleeve to sew in. Le sigh. Maybe I'll do that today, if I get the motivation.

First in a series of wool reviews

These will be rather random updates as I review the process of cleaning and spinning samples of various sheep breeds that I got via The Spinning Loft wool sampler. (Disclaimer: the box I got has more varieties than the one that is currently offered. Oops.)

On to the reviews!

Finn: Two toned grey shades; a charcoal and a silver. It was very easy to separate the two colours so I could spin them individually. Washing was pretty straightforward, and though it took a bit to pick, it wasn't too terrible. Ran it through my drum carder to make two big fluffy batts, then had a really enjoyable time spinning the two tones. My always favourite navajo plying resulted in a yarn that is right around worsted weight. The yarn has a bit of a sheen to it, and a teeny bit of a halo; it is soft, but has a bit of a bite to it. It might be a little harsh for garments that are worn against the skin (sweaters and such) but hats and such would be quite lovely. I really enjoyed working with this, and would seek it out again.

Southdown Babydoll: Oh, I am so sad. This is also two toned, a light grey and almost-black. This was a simply filthy sample, and had so much lanolin that it was chunky and disgusting. I washed it repeatedly and still didn't have a workable fibre to use. The grey may possibly be usable with a lot of work, but the black had the texture of a brillo pad. This is really disappointing, as I find babydoll sheep to be adorable and was considering having a couple. Well, bucko, if you can't do anything but look cute, you're no good to me. I demand usefulness, dammit! I might look at a fleece in the future, but this sample was horrid.

By the way, this is mostly for my own records. I lose papers, but hopefully I won't forget how to access my own damn blog.

Currently in the sink: East Fresian. Nice dark colour, we'll see how she works out.

Random update

I decided to knit Amber for my cardigan. I knit the back and front together, and have one sleeve done. It is progressing reasonably well, though I still need to knit the little finishing part of the front. Knitting pure black things is a challenge. You can't see what the hell you're doing, and there's no pretty colour changes to distract you from the four hundredth row of stockinette stitch. I shall slog on, though, I'm nearly done! I think I'll block this bugger before seaming it up, as the cotton/bamboo blend seems to like curling in on itself and looking sullen.

I've got lots of ideas for hats for people, but I'm trying to behave and knit just the cardigan. I had a brief fling with a sock, but the gauge was off, so, back into the stash that yarn goes.

I also decided to pimp my loom a bit. I just bought a sectional warp beam and a new 15 dent reed (I have a 10 dent currently). For those who are blinking and going "huh?", that means that the string I put on the loom will be more easily corralled and I can have a finer weave result. Just smile and nod, ok? :)

Other exciting things are in the pipeline, though they have little to do with current projects, and more to do with long term plans. I'll talk more about 'em when they're more solidified.

Funny how that works.

Huh. Swatch, work on project, it gets done.

Wild.

Piratical hat for nephew is finished and ready to go zooming away. Whee!

Maybe I'm doing this wrong.

I've been thinking about my knitting, as I am wont to do.

I realized that once I knew someone else knit, I haven't really given any handmade gifts to them (aside from the handspun to Laura).

I think this is the wrong approach. After all, who better to appreciate a well-made item than someone who actually understands what goes into making it? My reasoning has always been that "they can probably make it themselves, and probably would want to."

Well, everyone is good at different aspects of the craft. Personally, I love cables, socks and two-strand colourwork really seems to blow my skirts up. I can do lace, and can enjoy it, but I'm not totally in love with it, as evidenced by my half-finished shawl that I wandered off from sometime in May. Since that time, I've tended towards comfort-based projects; things I can knit on in the dark, or without being glued to a pattern. I tend to knit as a means to keep my hands busy whilst being social, when I'm on the road, or with my yarn shoved into my bag as I wait for someting. You know, activities that involve being distracted and interrupted a lot, which lace has no patience for.

Maybe this winter I'll have some time at home where I'm sufficiently relaxed to be reabsorbed into fiddly projects.

And in the meantime, maybe I could think about actually making gifts for my crafty friends. Just because you can do it yourself probably doesn't mean you wouldn't enjoy the occasional pressie. Just a thought.

And the number shall be three!

For I've just finished knitting the third Baby Surprise Jacket.

I'm a woman obsessed.

But who is about to be distracted. My sister and brother in law both have this hat. Jen has it in purple, Brian has it in black. They've requested it for Gavin in navy. What kind of a doting aunt would I be if I were to ignore this request?

(Never you mind how I heartlessly gave up on the duckie blanket. I just haven't felt like crocheting for the last couple...years.)

I'll be modifying the pattern a little bit, to make it a little less...tall. Just trust me on this. Unless you happen to be a conehead, there is no call for having that third layer so damn tall. Maybe I'll even remember to take a picture, though I'm not holding my breath on it. I suck at remembering to actually photograph things before sending them off into the wild.

Cardigan Ideas

So, I know that we are all loath to comment, but I'm looking for input. As I said yesterday, I am not in love with my knitting project. Maybe if it wasn't in black, it wouldn't be so damn boring, but I want a black cardigan.

Thus, I have found options. Please to be making with the voting.

Nifty circle cardigan. It would be fiddly as hell, and I'd have to mess with gauge a little, but it's interesting.
Honeycomb cardigan. The sample colour is quite dark, so hopefully it'd work in black. I like the shaping. POCKETS! I friggin' love pockets. I have a rant about how corporate America is actually trying to kill off all female workers by not enabling them to have pockets to carry cell phones in, so we'd never get those nifty "the world is ending, duck and cover!" messages that get sent out. ...Maybe this comes from me working with the gov't too long. Anyway. Pockets are good.
Lace. Would work with black, though it would still be fiddly, as, well, LACE.
Cross-hatch cardigan. Similar to the honeycomb, but no pockets.
Feather and fan. I'd make the sleeves longer, as I do not want 3/4 sleeves for my cardigan, dammit.
More lace. This is actually the correct gauge, and intended for cotton, so there are two points in favour of it. I'd have to make it shorter, as I don't have as much yarn as they want me to have.
Pointy lace. It'd work in black.
Amber. This is pretty much exactly the shape I'm looking for, though I don't know if I'd dig out beads for it or not. Beads are fiddly, but...shiny!

Oh, dear.

Between a flurry of hats, and the third incarnation of the Baby Surprise Jacket that I've made in the last month or two; I've been trying to work on a cardigan.

It is a very practical cardigan. Because my prior work cardigan finally gave up the ghost, I decided to replace it with a handmade version. Thus, it is black. Cotton/bamboo blend, which is nice and soft, and not too oppressively warm for the workplace. As I know myself pretty darn well, I know that where my creative impulse dies is when I have to actually hem up projects. Thus, I've decided that knitting the thing with as few seams as possible is a good idea. And it is a good idea.

The problem is that it's deadly boring. I knit one impossibly long row, sigh, and put it down. There is a bit of lace, which means that I'm failing to memorize the pattern entirely, and it necessitates actually looking at my work. It isn't as fiddly as cabling, nor a totally lacey pattern, and it has a lot of working through the back of stitches. It isn't hard, but it isn't really fun, either. Again, practical.

Either this will be a long-term project, or I need to find a different pattern that grabs me a bit more. This has the finished look that I want, but dear gods. Just shoot me.