My Socks Will Rock

I finished plying my STR fiber last night. I can usually get through two 4 oz bobbins plied together in about an hour or so. This took me almost 2 hours to ply 3 bobbins that only had about 2.6 oz on each one. I obviously spun it as thin as I was hoping for!

I ended up with 433 yards of three ply sock yarn.



Considering I took the pics with my iPhone camera the colors are pretty accurate.




Here it is drying by the fire last night.

Check out how much twist is in the plying.



The instructions say to do it that way even though it won't seem correct. It looks all good to me right now.

I am hoping it dries in time over the weekend so I can cast on!



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There is knitting - really

Despite the time change and the fact that it actually stays bright out till about 7 pm I haven't had a chance to take many good photos of my knitting and spinning. I have been able to work on my socks at odd times. I have also been working on Shawl That Jazz (sorry for the lack of links). I am happy with the progress and my goal is to have it finished by CT Sheep and Wool - which is only 4 short weeks away. There is the promise of sunshine this weekend so I will take some photos then.

I was going to to ply my Socks That Rock Fiber that I finished spinning last night. I brought my wheel downstairs to ply (becaause my Louet is THE plying wheel) and was getting ready to start. Then Nicole came out of her room in tears. Her hamster died. She had her for a little less than a year. And she was devastated. The rest of the night was spent sitting on the couch with her. There was nothing I could do but hug her and let her cry. It was "her" first pet that she had responsibility of. Nicole asked if I could "dispose" of the body in the morning, so Magnum and I gave her a proper burial at sea. Well, in the stream, or at least somewhere down in the valley where other wild creatures roam free. He sat next to me, we said a couple of words and off she went. Then a deer ran by. We hadn't seen one in months so I took it as a good sign.

RIP Mort the Hamster

10 On Tuesday Update

Last month I listed 10 Household Tasks I had been avoiding. My goal was to get 5 tasks accomplished by the end of the month. Do you think I met my goal?

Yarn room - cleaned out. I went through bins and sorted my stash a bit. Found lots of fiber I had forgotten about. It at least makes me less likely to buy what I don't need this spring during the fiber festivals. I was not organized enough to take photos of said stash for ravelry. I think what I might do is photograph what I spin from now on and add it to rav stash. At least it's a start right?

Bedroom closet - purged. I will do it again in a few months with the change in the weather.

Antique dressing table - cleaned out. It's still not being used properly but I got rid of alot of garbage that needed to go.

China cabinet - hubby stroked out when I started pulling stuff out and putting it in storage. He has no problem with the "cluttered" look. It makes me want to crawl out out of my skin. In the interest if marital harmony we will have to discuss this at a later date. I have storage boxes in the kitchen so it won't come as a total shock when items start to go "missing".

Paper - I cleared out every bag that had paper/bills/keepsakes from Nicole. I bought more storage bins to organize even more. But last weeks mail is still on the counter so I need to do it again!

I am pleased with the progress. I am determined to finish the list by April 15th. Now is the perfect time to get those things done. There is more light in the day and it's not so cold to encourage hibernation.

And speaking of finishing:




My rockin socks are done and ob my feet today! Just loving them!

And another finished project:



Baktus. Great way to use handspun stash.




It is actually too warm to wear around my neck but knowing how March is around here I am sure the cold will be back for one last visit.


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Olympic Sweater

Done in 18 days



The colors aren't quite as bright in this pic as they are in person. At first I wasn't happy with the striping but it grew on me. I did a light blocking on it. In my fear of running out of yarn I made it shorter than I had wanted. I have yarn left over so I will pull out the bottom and add to the length. Overall I am happy. It keeps me superwarm, it fits well (a bit big but I don't like clingy sweaters), and I know I will get lots of use out of it.


Here is a close up of the sleeve. I actually got them to match pretty darn close! Now back to knitting socks and back to my neglected wheel. I might even get to sit outside and spin today.

Silver Medal

For the last couple of years I looked forward to the winter Olympics for a multitude of reasons. First I love the sports - the snowboard cross kept me mesmorized as well as the downhill skiing, curling, and the mens figure skating. We just won't talk about the hockey. Actually - let's talk about that, shall we? I could not watch the game as Nicole had her hockey practice at the same time. I kept getting updates on my Iphone. When we finally arrived home we got the update that Team USA lost. But they didn't really lose. They failed to get the gold but they did get a silver medal. And while it takes some of the excitement out of the experience, they still won.

That was how my Olympic knitting went too. I cast on during the opening ceremonies and knit on my sweater at about every free moment. I wouldn't even stop to take pictures of my progress or update the blog. Must keep knitting was my mantra. The other mantra became, "oh my aching hands". And I had to take a break. Life had the nerve to get in the way - so much happened last week that I won't bore you readers with, but I did finish my sweater. On Monday - March 1st. One day after the closing ceremonies. So while I didn't get the Gold, I consider my award to be Silver. I have a sweater that I love and is comfortable to wear. And you can't see pictures of it yet because I am wearing it today! I will take some over the weekend when we have some sunlight (did I mention we have had almost no sun for 2 weeks?).