Fiber Friday: Merida Merino

Welcome to the first weekly Fiber Friday. Say it. It's pretty fun, but what does fiber have to do with a Disney movie? Color sets. Look at those beautiful teals and blues. Then there is the splash of blaze orange.

While the story of Brave is great, it's just a beautiful movie. I love the look of celtic things and while my hair grows brown - my complexion is that of a red head.

One of the things that drew me to spinning - color ways. It's kind of amazing how colors can make you feel. I remember seeing this fiber braid before I was spinning. It made me want to try so one day I could have this sitting in my house.

This is from FashionTouchSupplies Merino Wool Roving. Since it wasn't named. I've decide to call it Merida Merino.

 Fiber braids are really just a long crochet chain that you do with your hands because it's so thick.

Tell me these colors don't scream Merida.

 I haven't picked a project for this yet, but that is mostly because of all the projects I need to finish first.

I can hardly wait.

Do you spin? Let me know in a comment below!

NaKniSweMo: Sweater Update

You may remember me mentioning NaKniSweMo. If you are anti-link clicking, I'll sum it up. Knit a 50,000 stitch sweater in a month. I started with my sleeves because my style of sweater required I get them done first so I can join them back in for the color work portion.

Now look at it. Oh My goodness. It is nearly complete!! This is at 42,455 stitches. I'm getting concerned about hitting 50,000 but we will see.

Look at this yummy color work. You'll see that the light purple doesn't fade in like the rest of the colors. It's because I'm using yarn from a different sweater kit and basically had to half the length of yarn because I'm using two strands at a time. It makes the yarn the thickness I need but also uses it up much quicker. I had picked out this light purple if the light green did run out. I REALLY like the way it looks. It will lead in great to my next color.

Here it is a little more close up so you can see the stitch pattern even better!

I'm hoping to have this done by Thanksgiving. We will see.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and a productive Black Friday! 

Review: Audible

I've mentioned several times that I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and I've also been knitting  fairly often as of late. My eyes may be preoccupied but my ears are not. It's next to impossible to read and knit but listening to an audio book isn't hard at all.

I started listening to books on audible and I have to admit I really like it. This is my first favorable audiobook experience. I remember thinking they were pretty dry as a kid. I suppose that has a lot to do on what you're listening too.

I've signed up to get one credit (one book) a month. I listen to them here and there and still had a few hours left on my current book when my new credit came out.

Their selection is massive and now so is my wish list. Most podcasts have a code you can use to get your first month free. (That is how I got hooked).

Do you listen to audio books? What is your favorite to hear spoken? I hear autobiographies are pretty spectacular.

Knitting: Operation Sock Drawer

The Knitmore Girls (one of my favorite knitting podcasts), started Operation Sock Drawer. While I don't have many socks under my belt. I have made 3 single socks (because I don't wear matching socks anyway.

The purple one is just a plain sock that I made for Andrew. He isn't taking it home until it has a second.

The middle one is my Collywobbles. This was a pattern given away by the Fibre Town podcast host for her birthday. It was probably my favorite sock to knit although I had to stop and make a few fixes several times. If it's worth knitting, it's worth knitting correctly.














The last sock is a Clandestine Sock. It was the first thing I knit after college and it took me FOREVER. It was a little to snug when I finished it and this is it's first time being stretched on a sock blocker. I recently had to fix a hole on the pad of the foot. I even used a darning egg! It was knitting exhilaration. Hopefully this will improve how I feel about this sock in general (and fix the fit a bit.)

Knitting: Collywobbles

I really started knitting again when I moved. I don't know if it was because I REALIZED how much yarn I had or if I found a few things that I had misplaced. It could also be that I was now without a roommate and had a living room all to myself. Since I found a place to knit I've been seeking out people who knit (mostly by watching podcasts.) One of them is Fibre Town. She is who wrote the Collywobbles pattern and who gave it away for her birthday!

I had just purchased this Imagination yarn by Knit Picks which just so happens to be sock yarn.

I wanted to take you from skien to sock just so you non-knitters will understand what the process is like.

To make sure the I don't have to deal with knots during my knitting I spin it from what is called a skien on to a ball winder. Once it's taken off there it's called a cake or a cake of yarn.

Check out those pops of red. Mmmm dreamy! I'd actually been looking at several different yarns with similar color splashes. This one just happened to go on sale.

This was my second attempt to get the pattern correct. It creates very simple versions of butterflies. Collywobbles is word for the butterflies you get in your stomach.

See where the red is grouping? That is pure happenstance. When it happens by accident it's called pooling or color pooling. If you do it on purpose it's called planned pooling. If you have a moment google planned pooling. People use variegated or multi-colored yarn to create all sorts of effects.

Same yarn, different lighting.  I had just just really gotten started on the foot. It was so exciting.

I try on everything I knit a hundred times. It's half impatience and half wanting to make sure it's the right size. This sock was perfect. Now to knit the toe!

This is a sock blocker from knit picks. Why block socks? It can help spread the pattern and spread the stitches so it will fit like a perfect sock. It also makes socks easier to photograph.

This is very desaturated, but You can really see the little butterflies. How cute! One sock down. Now I have SSS (second sock syndrome). It's when you knit a sock but don't have the will to start the second sock just yet. One of the reasons I haven't started knitting the second sock yet, is because of NaKniSweMo.

Have you ever knit a sock? Do you have any other knitting projects? 

Fiber: Purple Punis

I recently received a package from Gourmet Stash. I decided to try them out because Fibre Town talks about them a lot, punis look like fun, and I received a $5 etsy gift card.

This package was PACKED! I only bought one set of punis so I was really shocked.

For those wondering, punis are just another style of processed fiber ready for spinning. Processed fiber comes in so many forms. Punis are just one more way to get it off the combs. It's a little tighter wound than some other methods of fiber. It's also in many separate punis rather than one long chunk of fiber.

The punis were wrapped in this lovely black tissue paper.

These punis are much darker and not at all pink. Today I learned that purples are hard to photograph.  For a more accurate representation of these colors check out this.

There are a lot of different sources for this fiber. It feels so soft.  I couldn't keep my hands off it.

Almost as soon as I opened it, I had to see how to draft this new perplexing form of fiber. Drafting or pre-drafting is when you pull the fibers apart to make spinning easier.

Turns out you can just pull from one end and it works out beautiful. It drafts so crazy fast compared to some of the other fiber choices I have.

So lets get to the other stuff on the table. There was so many extras in this package. I got a little handwritten note letting me know about the color way and where it came from. Very nice touch!

I got a little postcard sized comic cover card. The boyfriend was impressed when I sent him a pics.

Here is the back.

Another card explained about her Puni Club.

It's a subscription to fiber!!! Crafty people are so smart.

This was the most amazing happenstance add in to my package. I had just listened to a really old podcast that was an interview with the Soak creator. I had been checking out the site and considering a try.

Soak lets you do just that. You add some to water and soak your hand wash only items Then you just let them dry. No scrubbing and no rinsing.

I had just done a sock wash with a similar product that I had received for christmas awhile back but heard Soak has a better smell.

I'm very much looking forward to Soak-ing some finished projects.

I've already spun over half my punis. I'm considering using it in my NaKniSweMo project This is much more accurate representation of the purple and silver colors. It's so soft!

I have my spun fiber wrapped around a piece of wood about a yard wide. 

Do you spin? How do you spin? Would you like to spin?

Knitting: Store Sadness

So I guess this is a new style. I really hate it. My friend had to drag me out of the department. It's a sweater but instead of being worn with the pretty parts on the outside it is MADE inside out. WHAT?! That beautiful pattern on the left? That's the inside. I really don't understand. 

Would you wear your sweater inverted? Do you think this trend will last?

Also I post something better in just a minute. This was just so distressing.

Knitting: NaKniSweMo

November is a odd month. It feels like the thursday of the year and I think that's why so many things are set for November.

1) Movember aka No Shave November - to bring men's heath into the light (and also bring out the winter beards)
2) NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month - Write a 50,000 word novel in a month.
3) NaKniSweMo aka National Knitting Sweater month - Knit a sweater that is at least 50,000 stitches.

I am not participating in 1 or 2 but I am all over that sweater knitting.  I am knitting the Hiro sweater.

I already have both sleeves done! Here is a picture of one. The blue is really a navy. It's dark enough that my phone thinks it needs to lighten it.

The sleeves aren't knit at full length because you add them back in when you do the neck so the color work all matches.

If you want to see my project page you can see it here - but only if you have ravelry sorry.

Now I'm working on the body. I have over 6 inches of the body and did my first knitted hem on the bottom. I have over 22,000 stitches already.

For those that don't, my other yarn colors are both from the knit picks palette yarn. They are actually all fingering weight which is half as thick of a yarn than I need, so I am holding two strands together. It sounds like it would make it more complicated but it really makes it extra squishy and soft. I love the way it feels when I knit with it.

This yarn was actually part of a kit to knit an entirely different sweater. I wasn't blown away by the pattern but LOVED the colors. I've had this yarn since I was just out of college.

If you are a knitter (or crocheter) but aren't on Ravelry you need to up your game. It's kind of like facebook for knitting + any pattern you could ever imagine cataloged and searchable.

You can also see a little widget on my sidebar for progress on this or any other project on my needles.

Do any of you knit? Would you want to knit together or learn to knit? Let me know!

I'm trying to work up the courage to join my local yarn shop's knitters. They are just so intimidating.

Knitting: Lunch and Shopping

One of the reasons I am blogging about my knitting is because of this picture. I posted it on my facebook and I had a few friends who seemed really drawn to the idea of knitting while out to lunch. What sounds more delicious than a coffee in one hand and some soft fiber in the other. Mmmm. You can see the sleeve I am working on, on the right of the table.

We were out and about so I could pick up this skien of yarn for a gift I plan on knitting as soon as I finish the sweater I'm working on. I can't tell you more because it's a gift and I don't know if the person receiving it will be reading.

I got this yarn from my LYS (local yarn shop).  It's pretty divine. I'll be using a handspun yarn for the second color. Get excite for a preview of that.

Are you excited to see more knitting on this blog? Do you knit or would like to learn?

Just a heads up