The State of the Fibre

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Rayna

(I’d have said “The State of the Knitting”, as ganked from my friend Jocelyne, but it seemed more appropriate to include spinning in this update!)

I did a quick count this morning, and I completed 27 projects this year. That’s one shy of the 28 I completed last year. But when one considers that last year I did 12 cowls, and this year I did 15 pairs of socks, I am okay with that.

On quick count, those projects included:

the aforementioned 15 pairs of socks (7 of which were gifts, 1 of which was a sample knit for a the Rock and Roll Collection by Kate Atherley, and 2 of which were my own design which I published in December, Shireen)
3 cowls
5 hats
1 pair of mitts
1 shawlette (test knit)
1 TARDIS dishcloth
1 Calorimetry hairband

My goal had been to knit six pairs of socks this year…and I had exceeded that before the first of June.

Another goal I had had at the beginning of the year had been to learn colourwork, but realized somewhere along the way that I was not really all that interested in it just now, so I let that one slide.

I had planned on doing more spinning and started off the year that way, but the minute it got even slightly warm, the wheel got put aside. I am planning to start spinning again in January and am considering saving up for a Woolee Winder to make my spinning that much easier.

I have nine WIPs and four projects in “hibernation”, so I do need to get back at some of those. I am also planning to knit from stash a bit more. I added quite a bit towards the end of the year, factoring in several yarn-y gifts, and I have some great plans for some of those skeins.

My last goal of the year…to at least start, if not complete, my first sweater. I have two sweater quantities, a coupon for Custom Fit (kindly given to me by my friend, Jenn) and measurements taken for me by Kim. All I need to do now is do some new swatches and I’ll be ready to go.

What are your yarn/fibre goals for 2014?

25 days to the end of the year

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Rayna

It just crossed my mind that I did a year in review post last New Year’s Day where I counted the number of projects I completed in 2013. The final tally of 28 was, I thought, impressive. I always think I should do a calculation of yardage knit as well. (I will not be doing a comparison of what left my stash vs. what was added to my stash. Even though I was more selective in what I added to my stash this year, I still think I have more in the cupboard than this time last year. That’s ok, though…I am stashing for my retirement, right? But I digress.)

Out of pure curiousity, I just did a quick count and at this point, I am pretty sure I will complete at least 26 projects by New Year’s Eve. (I still have a few gifts on needles and at least one small project which can probably be cast on and off in a weekend.) Maybe I will do that yardage calculation after all.

Evolution

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Rayna

In my short time as a knitter, I have frequently noticed that I can see a design and think (if I am honest with myself) “Now why would anyone want to knit that?” I put the item out of my head and keep going. Then later, I go back to the item and wonder what I ever disliked about it.

The biggest example of this that I can think of: any object that fell into the entire category of cowls. When I started knitting, I thought they were the silliest thing in the world. After all, who wants to knit part of a turtleneck sweater? Funnily, years later, I haven’t a clue what I was on about. I knit a few early on for friends and remember thinking, “These are great! You don’t have all that fabric under the front of your coat. They can’t fall off and get lost…always a bonus. They take up less yarn and are faster to knit than scarves. And they are in the round, which generally means less purling.” As someone who is highly purl-averse, this is not something to be taken lightly.

Calorimetry seems to have fallen into the category of something to which I once didn’t give the time of day but is something I am now seriously considering. When I saw my friend Shireen on the weekend, she showed me one she had knit and it was pretty cute. Because I wear ponytails a lot, especially on weekends, hats don’t tend to sit right. (Plus I generally look like a giant dork in hats!) And weekends are the exact times I need something to cover my ears when I take my dog, Kayleigh, outside or I just want to take a walk in the snow. (Stop laughing…it could happen.)

And best of all, they take less than 100 yards of worsted weight yarn. So now I am stashdiving, as I know I have a couple of small skeins of worsted weight yarn that I remember thinking, “These are so tiny…whatever will I do with them?” Perhaps this is the answer.

I also found a small 50 g skein of single ply worsted that I handspun on my spindle. After I soaked it and skeined it, I recall thinking “The yardage of this skein is so small. Pity it’s never going to actually be anything”.

Fleece Artist BFL Handspun

Now, maybe it will.

FO: Hofner Socks

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Rayna

One day in August, I received a very flattering email from one of my knitting idols. The wonderfully clever Kate Atherley emailed to tell me she and Kim of indigodragonfly were in cahoots on a pattern collection, and might I be interested in knitting a sample for them? Gee, let me see, one of my favourite designers paired up with one of my favourite indie dyers…how could I possibly resist?

The collection included a hat, a shawl, fingerless mitts and lacy socks, all interesting, but still easy to knit. Kate asked if I might be up for the socks. I picked up the yarn from Kim at her annual Fibre Fling that weekend (Merino Nylon Sock in a heavenly orange called “Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss”) and cast on before the weekend was out.

The one catch? The whole project was sooper seekrit so my morning Starbucks ritual of tweeting my WIPs was out. No progress pics posted to Rav…nada.

As a result, pics like this one taken at 30,000 feet got tweeted:

Flying the friendly skies…in seekrit!

As with all of Kate’s patterns, it was easy to follow and I encountered no issues. Once they were completed, I was in love!

Completed Hofners!

Awesome colour…adorable heart-shaped lace pattern down the outside of each sock. People stopped me when I knit it public and asked to see them. It pained me to turn them over to Kate when I was done. I am seriously considering another pair in a skein of the same base I have in a special edition, charity colourway called “Canoe Up To The Beer Store”.

The rest of the Rock ‘n Roll Collection is great as well. I have at least one other item planned from that collection. So many things to knit…so little time.

Pattern: Hofner Socks by Kate Atherley

Yarn: indigodragonfly Merino Nylon Sock in “Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss”

Who Was It Made For? Sample for Kate

Were There Changes Made To The Pattern? None – that would defeat the purpose of a sample knit.

Did I Learn Anything New? No

Anything Else? Not that I recall.

Would I Make Another?: Definitely…finding the time is another story.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Rayna

For the past few months, I have been valiantly chugging away at two pairs of fingering weight socks, one for my Mom and one for my Dad. It all started when I was at home in Newfoundland this summer. Mom decided she liked the pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks I was working on, and because she had caught me at exactly the right point in the process and I was not all that enamoured with them, I offered to finish them to fit her. Once she had them, she told me she loved them and would really love another pair to go with her brown jeans. My parents have never asked me to knit them anything, ever, so I thought that was the least I could do.

Now, there are two things you should know about this. My mother has a size 10.5 foot – I have a size 7 foot. So as you can imagine these socks require an awful lot more stitches than I usually have to knit to finish a pair of socks.

The bigger issue: I loathe brown. With the fiery passion of a thousand suns. (That’s a slight exaggeration – indigodragonfly makes a Captain Tightpants colourway that I like, and I don’t mind it in variegated colourways like the ones in my Stillwater scarf…but that’s about it). So it should be telling of how much I love my Mom when I tell you that I knit a pair of size 10.5 brown socks for her.

It gets better. I cannot knit my mother two pairs of socks, and not knit any for my father. That just won’t do at all. This necessity for equality is come by honestly. When my brother and I were children, Mom kept a running account of what she spent on each of us at Christmas to make sure the numbers were even. So I ask Dad what colours he would want, since of course I need to knit him two pairs as well. His answer? Dark blue and….brown. Normally, being the dutiful daughter, I would have asked him which socks he wanted first; I skipped that step and cast on the Sweet Fiber Seastorm ones. Because one more brown pair of socks might have killed me. He’ll get the brown ones in the spring. After which I will be declaring a moratorium on brown knitting for a minimum of six months.

I am at the gusset decreases of the second Seastorm sock. It’s not brown but it’s still not exactly colourful. Last night, out of pure desperation, I cast on a Reunion Cowl. In indigodragonfly MCN Lace. In the most stunning red in the world, made even better by being named after one of my favourite TV characters…Inara from Firefly.

indigodragonfly MCN Lace in “Only The Exact Phrase I Used Was Don’t”

This is my cheering antidote against the current winter blahs.

It has been pointed out to me….

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Rayna

That I really should pay more attention to my blog. I currently hit it in fits and starts…partly because I get busy and have little time to post, partly because the only computer at home is my husband’s and he’s a student, and partly because I feel like my pics are so bad that I have no right to be putting them anywhere.

It’s been a busy autumn…where by busy I mean that I spent a lot of time knitting. Not sure why I don’t feel like I have the FOs to show for it. I am knitting a lot of socks that I am giving away, which is completely new for me. More on that later. I have completed 12 pairs of socks this year, which upon counting and discovering that, I will admit to being a touch shocked. One of those pairs was a test/sample knit for Kate Atherley, over at Wise Hilda Knits, one of my favourite sock designers. Those need to be their own FO post.

Another thing I have put some time into and have hit the 50% point on is the scarf I mentioned in October. It’s as awesome as I thought it would be and frankly, if I wasn’t trying to finish up a few things before Christmas, it would be done by now.

Zigzag Wanderer in Stillwater

I cannot wait for this to be done!!

This past weekend I spent a huge amount of time either brunching or hanging out in yarn shops. (What? Both are completely valid lifestyle choices.) Lovely visits to Eweknit and The Purple Purl with my friend Shireen netted both Christmas gifts for others and belated birthday gifts for me.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I am looking forward to Christmas in Newfoundland, which we do every second year. We won’t be decorating or anything, as hubby is in his very last set of final exams and I really can’t be bothering him to help me do things right now. As a result, to put me somewhat in the spirit, I have been trying to find a good gingerbread recipe. Last night’s was a spectacular failure (my fault, not the recipe’s!) and a teensy bit too gingery for me, I think. Half a cup of real ginger and no cinnamon or cloves wasn’t really the taste I was after. So my search continues. Got one to share?