Recovery Completed!

Well, it did take me a while to recover; but, now I am back and better than before!  There is a lot to cover....

In my last blog post, I was working on my socks, Lurlene the Laundry Monster, and my sweater.  Lets start with the sweater.  I just could not get my gauge going, switched needles from the Signatures to my favorite Addi Lace and still just could not get excited enough about the Brea Sweater by Marie Wallin.  Simple solution- I switched over to the Aisling sweater, also by Marie Wallin.  Reason?  I have never knit from a Rowan book before and by knitting an easier version first, I can get the hang of how they write their patterns and how things fit.  I am using the same Lima yarn in the Macchu Picchu colorway, from Rowan.  What I have learned is that I LOVE this yarn!  It stood up to frogging, is soft and does not split.  I will knit with this stuff again!  I have completed the back of my sweater and have started the front.

I did complete Lurlene the Laundry Monster from the Book of Knitted Monster's by Rebecca Danger.  She is knit of my hand spun, which I call I am no Misty Mermaid Shadow colorway.  This is a combination of 2 of my favorite indie dyers. Fibernymph BFL in I am no Mermaid, plyed with Cloudlover BFL in Mist and Shadow. I was able to get a bulky weight yarn- perfect for my Lurlene Monster!

I just love her spots!   Now this yarn is a gradient; however, I did not get out of the purple portion- I still have a gradient cake of yarn leftover.

Since we are talking about monsters, I am reminded of my brother's twin boys, Cade and Kyle.  No, they are not monsters!  But, the do have a birthday coming up on March 25th.  They will be 5 years old.  My mother tells me they love stuffed toys.  So, I pulled out some leftover handspun from Highland Handmades- 100% Merino in the Sherwood colorway.  I also used the Bernat Alpaca in the natural color to create these 2 Rebecca Danger Monster Chunks, for them.  They are close enough that each boy will have his own and; at the same time, different enough that they will be able to identify whose is whose, thus, hopefully, eliminating the need for arguments.  Also, due to a recent swallowing of a toy incident, I stitched on the eyes and mouths rather than to use safety eyes or glue on the mouths.  I think they will like them:

Ok, so I did more than work on my sweater and the monsters....I always seem to have a pair of socks on the needles!  When I last posted, I was working on Wendy D. Johnson's Hearts and Flowers socks in the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Firebird colorway.  I easily completed these before Valentine's day: 

But these are not the only pair of socks I completed during my recovery time!  My next pair was for my husband, Jim.  He works hard and deserves a new pair:

I used the Cherry Tree Hill Yarn Fingerpaints in the Java Jive colorway to make him this pair of 2x2 ribbed socks.  I did not use a pattern but did make a short row heel.  They fit him well and he seems to like them....he has worn them, already.

And then, I made myself yet another pair of socks.  I did not have many pairs of brown socks, so this was a natural choice!  I used Blue Moon Fiberworks Socks that Rock in medium weight in the Fall on Tap colorway to knit Kristen Kapur's Ampersand Socks:

Socks, Monsters and sweaters were also accompanied by a few hats.  This started with my youngest daughter, Shanleigh.  She requested that I make her hat out of black, grey and red yarns.  She drew me a rough sketch of what she had in mind and here is what we came up with:

I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran for this project.  This yarn is so soft and knits up like a dream!  I did not have a pattern, just knit until it looked like we envisioned.  I loved the yarn so much that I used the leftovers to create the Baby Tassels Hat by Susan Flockhart.

But that was not enough!  When the 4th Super Summer KnitTogether challenge came out, I chose the Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Robbin Iufer.  I made this hat out of hand spun yarn I created from Fibernymph Dyeworks 100% Corriedale in the Butterfly Garden colorway.  Please see the spinning section below for more details.

Now let's talk about the projects that I really cannot say a whole lot about.  There is the baby gift.....it is completed.  Then, there are my swap projects.  I am about 70% finished with my scarf swap and I have a sock swap which is about 25% completed- and that is being knit of lightweight sock yarn on 2.25mm needles.  Pictures of these projects will appear in my Ravelry project page AFTER the gifts have been delivered.  I would hate to spoil these surprises for the recipients!

As my recovery progressed, I eventually was able to get back to my spinning.  I spun 4 ounces of the Fibernymph Dyeworks 100% Corriedale in the Butterfly Garden colorway.  I spun another 4 ounces of 100% corriedale in the natural undyed white color. 

Then, I plyed these 2 bobbins together, to create this yarn:

This was a fun, relaxing spinning project for me.  I also found it a little challenging to spin yarn thick enough, on purpose, to get the 8 WPI after spinning very fine yarns.  It was a good practice for me.

I chose my current spinning project in honor of St. Patrick's day!  This is Unwind Yarn Company's 100% Merino in the Grassy colorway.  It is soooooo soft and is spinning sooooo very finely.  Here is my bobbin of 2 ounces completed:

I have just started the other 2 ounces on another bobbin.  Here again, I plan to 2 ply this yarn.  It will be a fingeringweight when all is said and done.  I will put this yarn aside to see what my next Super Summer KnitTogther challenge may be.....

For the future, I have a coworker who is expecting a baby girl, this summer.  I plan to knit her a sweater.  I am looking at something in colorwork- to give myself some practice with this.  There are still another 2 projects coming up with the Super Summer KnitTogether.  While I wait for those challenges, there was an option, this time, which will be a great challenge for me.  Lynn Zimmerman, who is teaching spinning at the event, also gave the option for challenge #4 to spin at least 2 ounces of art yarn.  I have not spun art yarn, purposely.  I say this, because most beginners, and I was no exception, tend to produce a first result that resembles art yarn.  When I complete my current spinning project, I am going to pull out some BFL pigtails that I have from Greenwood Fiberworks which I will use to spin something that will hopefully be classified as art yarn.  This will not count toward the challenge as it was a choice; however, I am so intrigued with the idea of art yarn that I cannot pass up the challenge!  I have some beautiful, new fibers to spin, as well.  I received a shipment from Woolgatherings that includes 8 ounces each of Cheviot and Humbug Shetland wools, both in natural colors, to spin.  It is time for me to break down and purchase the Fiber and Fleece Source book by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson. 

My next blog will not be next weekend.  My oldest daughter, Nancy, is getting married in Milwaukee, on St. Patrick's Day.  I will not wait as long as I did between this post and the last, though, because it does make for a lengthy update!

So, until next time, keep the fantasy alive!