Blurry Bing

Here it is, one warm blurry boyfriend scarf. Better photo to come. But he did model :P

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

I've been looking for nice "Handmade by" tags for a while now. Something simple, minimal and clean, and yesterday I stumbled on these from Charm Woven.

Nice variety, cheap, and they also have stock care labels which are good for knitted gifts that might wind up in the hands of someone who wouldn't know how to care for handknits. ($3 for 25 I think).

And while I loved the big tags. I have to confess that I opted for the smaller ones, as I make a lot of baby stuff, and some people find tags annoying and want to cut them out.

Progress (whew)

Let's see, yesterday it was almost 50 and sunny, a perfect day to walk around in a freakishly warm January.

But, nooooo. Someone on the verge of finishing her bada-bing scarf had to do the extra push to finish it. (Knitting is complete, it's been fulled, and is drying, still needs blocking). The recipient will model it for the blog — he's not aware of that yet.

What better to do while finishing a scarf made out of a llama nammed bada-bing? Of course, catch up on the Sopranos seasons you missed from your cheap days as a non cable subscriber.

Then, because you're almost done with season three, what better to do than ply that baby alpaca yarn on your spindle. Four ounces yeilded a LOT of yarn, the fiber is so light. This is a full plied skein, I can't imagine what would have happened if I had intended to keep it as a single. I still have enough for a whole 'nother skein.

Then your boyfriend returns home to find you still in your Pajamas watching Tony Soprano reluctantly bump off every member of the Aprille family and says, "YOU STILL HAVEN'T LEFT THE HOUSE?".

Uh, what gave that away? the pj's, the bed head, or the fact that I am talking like a Waste management consultant from North Jersey? Maron!

Is it okay to drool on silk?

We learned how to spin silk in last weeks spinning class. Check out these silk hankies that "accidentally" came home with me. (*sigh) This stuff has to stop jumping in my bag, seriously. This is a silk hankie from Chasing Rainbows, the same hankies mentioned in knitty article here — and here (this also gives instructions on how to spin silk, do not ignore the advice on moisturizing your hands — trust me.).

Cheesy Goodness

Little miss muffet, and mr.muffet (mostly mr.muffet) made cheese. One big ball of cheese! Mom got us a cheesemaking kit for christmas, and as I write, our mouths are full of fresh mozzarella. That was surprisingly easy. mmm. tasty.

Gotland Skein

Yey, It's done! The yarn spun "in the grease" went super fast, it didn't yeild a lot of yarn, and it's incredibly uneven. The fiber is Gotland, and they're really really long. I plyed it to help even it out. This was my first time on a bottom whirl spindle, but I still think it's pretty. Even if it does still have a little “eau-du-barnyard.” Think it needs to be washed one more time.

:)

mmmm...barn-y...

Spin classs was last night, we learned carding and brushing — and like the purist I pretend to be—I spun wool "in the grease" (unwashed locks from the sheep). It's greasy, and well, kinda stinky, but it's so fun, the fibers litterally just fall through your fingers. Tonight I'll finish and ply. It sure did leave a lot of waste after combing it out. But if armegeddon were to happen? — I am finally useful.

We also learned about VM, Vegetable matter, guess what that is (hint, it's not brussel sprouts)

Bada Bing

My poor cold boyfriend still does not have his scarf. Can someone please anybody remind me NOT to knit a scarf on a size 7 again? That's what they make 10s for. 11s, 19s! This is made of Bada Bing (Bada Bing is the name of the llama, who's wool was sold at rheinbeck) — bada bing did not come cheap, this is his natural color — unlike my hair color — But If I run out, they promised to shave more of him and spin up more wool SWEET. It was lightweight, good for a 5 or 6, screw that, I went up to an 7 with a wool alpaca blend. Progress:: It's a good 50" long, only 30 more to go, That's a lot of trips to the laundry mat.

You spin me right round baby right round.

Behold I have made yarn. It's low tech, and tricky if you're type-a. I love to knit, so like, duh. Skein #1 is merino, Skein#2 alpaca wool blend, Skein #3 is baby alpaca—grey, and alpaca white. (must be from a non baby alpaca). Whatever, still so soft. Going to varigate this one, and then ply it see what happens. Time to start spinning and stop writing about spinning.