Inspiration Point

Winter here is my favorite time, but Yosemite never ever ceases to amaze me.


I can just feel the weight of these granite cliffs.


Lightened by the dance of water falling from the snowmelt higher up the mountains.


It was a little too warm for me to be comfortable spinning on my spindle, but I did get a little bit of knitting done. But not on the road to Yosemite! I had forgotten how very windy & high up certain parts of the road are.


One of two buttonhead hats I've been knitting. This one out of my very first handspun in avfkw superwash BFL in No. 9.


Just in time for the next Rockin Sock Club kit to arrive in the mail once it's off vacation hold, I finally finished the January kit. I had to rip back sock one though 'cause I realized not only did I do one round of cable decrease lefts wrong, but all the others were wrong. But in an entirely different way. I still have to knit up the May kit, but at least I've got half the kits from this year done.


yarn: STR lightweight in Happy Go Lucky
pattern: Cascadia in the medium size
needles: 2.25 mm KP circs - I always prefer to do toe up socks on circs
mods: none
bind off: Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind off - fun!

Ten on Tuesday

Nartian-style:


One, Two, & Three:
One more newborn sun hat & 2 pairs of coordinating baby booties for a couple California summer babies, all in need of a wash & block. (The almond sun hat's a previous FO, so I'm not counting it.) -
Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Almond & Stone - yeah, it's summer, but I am so over this yarn at the moment
size 5 & 7 KP circs
A Sun Hat & Waves of Baby Booties (seamless!)


Four:
A finished pair of Lindsays from Cookie A's Sock Innovation -
size 2.50 mm KP Harmony dpns - I broke one of them doing a k3tog
Hand Jive Nature's Palette in Medium Indigo


Five:
Cascadia Sock One (pardon the un-woven end)-
STR lightweight in Happy Go Lucky
Rockin' Sock Club Jan 2010 kit
size 2.25 mm KP circs
Finally trying Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off. Like!


Six:
My informal foray into Tour de Fleece w/my avfkw Polwarth on my Kundert spindle. Doing a 2-ply & it's coming out sport/DK-ish, but it needs to be washed & thwacked.


Seven:
Sunshine Yarns merino tencel roving in Stained Glass - pretty!


Eight:
Golding Cherry Tsunami spindle - Love!


Nine:
Navajo-ply on the fly using my new Golding & the merino-tencel - Going slowly since this is my first foray into a wool blend, though not my first wool blend roving purchase.


Ten:
3G Woodworks custom-requested Curly Koa spindle -
It has a larger shaft than I expected. I'm guessing the shaft & whorl shape makes it more center-weighted as opposed to the more rim-weighted Kundert & Golding. So while this spins very fast, it doesn't spin long. This will take a lot of getting used to. I think I'll have to go back to park & draft 'til I figure out a way to adjust my method so I'm happy with this. It's definitely a lesson for me to do a little more research (found a Ravelry comment after about the larger diameter shaft) and not be lured by my desire for a spindle made of koa.

Vancouver test knit

All done & Sam's got her pattern up on Ravelry.


Because BMFA's BFL Sport is out of stock while they wait for the mill to deliver more, I had to substitute my yarn. I was trying to knit from my stash which didn't quite work, so I ended up buying more yarn from a lys. Due to test knit time constraints, I didn't want to order online & be late in finishing.


Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh DK (formerly worsted) in
Nikko Blue (main color) - 2.2 skeins
Chamomile (contrast color one) - 1.6 skeins
Magenta (contrast color two) - 1.6 skeins
needle size - 9 & 10.5 KP Harmony circs to get gauge


Monkey2 loves the Nikko Blue so much that she's got dibs on her new "blankie." :D


I also finished another test knit, but its not shareable 'til I get the go ahead from the designer. So in the meantime, I have made progress on my Cascadia sock from the Jan 2010 Rockin' Sock Club kit. I'm doing the medium size on size 1 (2.25 mm) KP circs & it seems to fit well so far,


Love the color and going toe up keeps me on my toes (sorry, couldn't resist!) with my knitting.