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iris finished

i’m so proud, i love this demi-shawl. this is my second handspun knitted project, and the first that’s 100% spindle-spun. yay! it’s funny, i don’t like knitting with variegated yarn usually, but i absolutely love spinning it. and in this case, i agree with others, the simpler the lace stitch is, the better it works with variegated yarn. here, the feather and fan stitch worked beautifully, if i may say so myself. ;) aren’t the colors amazing? and that last pic is kinda crazy with its super-saturation but it does show the pretty lace pattern.

i started out with the some blue faced leicester roving, in the colourway “iris”, about 4 oz of it. this resulted in about 300 yards of yarn in mostly dk weight. i doubled up the yarn, cast on, and three days later had a finished scarf. it bled a bit in the water, but i threw in some vinegar in the second wash, so that helped. then i blocked it pretty strongly, going back every few hours to re-stretch and re-pin it. as a result, it grew from 30 inches long to over 42 inches! hence the change from scarf to demi-shawl, since it’s so wide and really feels nice around my shoulders. more pics and info on the project page.

and that’s it. how satisfying! too bad it’s like 69 degrees outside. ah well, tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. good.

off to class ~ first week of school and last night’s class on “preservation of heritage materials” was excellent. i even figured out a way to bring some fiber research into my final paper, and maybe even some spinning. whatever works, right?

comment [16]

posted 13 January 06 & filed under iris shawl, knitting

spindling

hi there ~ not too thrilled today, but at least there’s interesting things going on, such as the roving i got this past weekend at the spinning guild meeting. it’s dyed by janel, a member and the editor of spindlicity, and isn’t it beautiful?

yarn was created, about 300 yards. considering i don’t do much spindle spinning, i was really happy with how the yarn turned out and it was largely consistent though they were some big old thick and thin bits. as soon as i finished spinning, i wound it into cakes using my new swift and ballwinder (yay) and then immediately cast on for a simple feather and fan scarf. i just finished it this morning but it’s blocking so i’ll post more info and pics of it tomorrow. i’m definitely pleased with it, gotta say.

now, some memes, one passed on to me by heidi and another i lifted from susan. heidi’s is similar to one i’ve done before, so i slightly modified it for fun..

Instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.

watching me grow
citymama
making (nee stitch marker)
step into my thimble
mellowtrouble

What were you doing 10 years ago?
i was living in italy with my older sister daniella in perugia, a beautiful city near florence. we were going out every night to clubs and dancing our butts off. i was really sad over a boy, but, thanks to my sister, usually too distracted to do anything but sigh now and then. i was getting into italian comic books and cheesy 70s italian music and, though missing home, really loving my life. and my sister! we still talk to each other in italian, and thanks to that time, we’ll always always be super close and just bonded, you know? sigh, love ya, bella!

What were you doing 1 year ago?
hmm, let’s see.. i had just finished my first sweater the day before and that night i would be stuck browsing the internet till late late at night and tomorrow, a year ago, i would be cranky, with unpacked holiday luggage, late library books, and feeling blah. huh, whaddya know, sounds a lot like today. ack.

What were you doing 1 hour ago?
i was re-pinning my scarf – boy lace stratches a llllllott. that’s satisfying. i was also drinking hot cocoa with marshmellows in it. one nice thing about having hot water that can scald you in a second is that you don’t really have to boil water for hot cocoa or tea anymore.

Five creative things you want to achieve this year.
get more flexible and strong (hey, that’s creative for me! swear it.)
dye well and often
be able to spin lots of types of yarn
cook some fantastic meals for friends
grow something besides my aloe and african violets
and, #6, write more.

Five snacks you enjoy
anything with cheese
anything sour and gummy
applesauce
bread dipped in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, yum
crunchy stuff, like trisqits and croutons and frosted sugar flakes

Five things you would do if money were no object
buy a big old farm in vermont or in the mountains of north carolina
go skiing and scuba diving often (i used to do both but haven’t in a long time), and drag my family along
hire physical trainer and nutritionist who would be just the right amounts of not pushy but encouraging, not too touchy-feely but just cool, etc etc
quit all my jobs
give a lot of this no-object money to friends and family, so they could do the same

Five bad habits
biting my nails
latelate night eating (like 2 am!)
accumulating fines, sigh
forgetting/repressing things
a tad flakey, ok, sometimes very very flakey, ugh
see meme #2 below

Five things you like doing
cleaning dishes (but i hate drying them, ugh)
creating things with my hands
making people laugh
taking showers (but i hate the feeling of my wet hair on my shoulders, shudder)
kissing

Three new things from this past year that you’re proud of
spinning!
quitting a job. nerve-wracking but once done, oh the relief!
becoming more social at parties, not just hiding myself with those i’m super-close with. who knows if that’ll last, but lately, it’s been really true.

One thing you really like about yourself
hmm, it’s a sad thing that this was really hard to think of. umm, i guess.. i guess it would be my ability to make a comfy place to live. i’m really good at that, my place rocks. it’s dirty, but nonetheless, hands-down, a great space.

ok, and meme #2..

Five guilty pleasures:

~ solitaire/mindsweeper/tetris on my computer: i remember in college, my roommate was just bewildered by my mindsweeper obsession, but really sometimes i just want to escape escape, and this is a very easy way..

~ cheesy fiction, both of the romance and mystery variety. very very guilty. tied up with my catholic prudishness, i know. but sometimes i just want to feel like those kind of simplistic lives are possible, so escape i go.

~ weird food combos, like rice/parmesan/ketchup all mied together, or cheese on crackers alternated with pudding every other bite. i love texture variations in food, like popcorn and ice cream, yum.

~ cheesy music, especially some 70s pop – like bread and abba – and some disco, etc etc. stop groaning. i can’t help it, my foot starts tapping and i’m a goner.

~ some reality shows, like wifeswap and, especially, all the various nanny shows. “that is unacceptable!”

hmm, no tags here, please take one, or both!, if you want. that’s it for now, happy day to you and yours ~ ~

comment [4]

posted 12 January 06 & filed under iris shawl, more me

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