As The Yarn Turns

A Tour of Projects

I've been taking a tour of various projects lately. Over the weekend, I took a tour of some of my artwork and found some long forgotten pieces. Today, I took a tour of my knitting projects. Fortunately this is a much shorter tour. I like to have a few projects going, but if I get too many, I start to get nervous.

At the top is the Ramblin' Rows Afghan. I started it last winter. Then the weather got warm and I quit working on it. It's about one-third done. Judging from our weather lately, I think I need to start working on it again. On the bottom left are the Bearfoot socks. I've been working on them steadily, so they haven't been forgotten yet. Next is a mohair scarf that I knitted off and on during the summer. Once it started getting cold, I stopped working on it. Go figure. Next is the Shapely Tee, mostly a warm weather t-shirt. I only need to weave in the ends and block it. That may wait until we have warmer weather. Of course around here we could have warmer weather next week or sometime next year. This doesn't include yarn that I've bought but haven't started knitting and it doesn't include my spinning projects. I don't do much Christmas knitting. I've already finished one Christmas gift long ago. I may do a couple more small gifts, but I don't plan on frantically knitting Christmas gifts.

Fingerless Mittens

I put the Fingerless Mitten pattern up on the side bar in case anyone is interested. It's an easy pattern. There's nothing earthshaking or novel in the design. Feel free to use it for your personal use.

I'm off to do some knitting before bed.

by Sydney  |

Spinning Books

While I was in Atlanta over Thanksgiving, I broke down and bought a couple of books that I've been wanting for a while.

The first one is The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos, of course. This book seems to generate a lot of controversy on the lists, but I like it. My only regret is that I didn't buy it when I first started spinning. The controversy usually revolves around the fact that Alden Amos comes across as very opinionated in the book and that the book has a lot of technical details. The technical details don't bother me and I see a lot of humor in his opinions. Others find his style annoying, though. Take that as a warning. You may want to borrow the book before you spend the money to buy a copy. The book has a wealth of information. I may not use all of it but I know where to find it if I need it. The book covers fiber preparation, spinning wheels, various aspects of spinning, a glossary, and a bibliography. It also has a fairly large section on building your own tools.

The other book is Color in Spinning by Deb Menz. If you are interested in dyeing your own fiber for spinning, it's worth the purchase. Again there's lots of information on dyeing, dye formulas, and blending. Most of the chapters have self-study exercises at the end, a lot of exercises. It's a good basic reference book.

Sock Progress

Yes I have been working on my Bearfoot socks too, but progress has been slow.

I've finished turning the heel so I'm heading for the toe now. For some reason, the knitting always seems to go faster once I've turned the heel. It's certainly not because it's more interesting. I think it's just because the end is in sight.

Ferrets

Gray la gran asked if the ferrets get into my knitting. It only takes a second for Katie, our cat, to chomp through a piece of yarn or suck down a bit of fiber. The ferrets haven't been interested in the yarn or the fiber. That's a good thing because ferrets are thieves. Any pretty little thing is fair game - knitting pouches, containers, circular needles, point protectors, stitch markers. More than once I've had to chase my sock knitting pouch down the hall. The plastic container where I keep my crochet hooks is another favorite target. As for allergies, some people are allergic to ferrets just like some people are allergic to cats.

Back to knitting. I'm determined I'm going to finish these socks before the end of the year. Then it's husband socks.

by Sydney  |