Monday, June 20, 2011

Knitting OCD

I've been knitting like a mad woman; going from project to project (socks, to cowl to cowl to shrug) and putting them in my winter knits bin when I'm done. I guess I'm stocking up for Christmas or Maine?

The reason I decided to learn how to knit socks was a pair from Cookie A that I saw in a magazine (Knit1) and became obsessed with their gorgeous flowing ribbing. I finally knit that pair, and am even more in love. For the first time I can say I've found a pattern I will gladly knit over and over because of how fun it is! They look complicated, but it's all just  well patterned ribbing. Cookie A is a genius.

Meet my Marlene Dream socks (knit in Tidepool Heather Essential Sport by Knitpicks)

They are a bit thicker than regular socks because they were knit with sport weight, but I absolutely love them! I can't wait for a Maine winter to try these puppies out. Maybe I'll order a bunch of sport weight so I can knit more.

Why yes, my handspun super big thick and thin cowl is finished!
 Defying gravity! I just draped it on the tree and thought that was pretty nifty.



 You can wrap it around a few times and keep super warm. It's pretty thick as well. Can you be in love with a cowl? Because if you can be, I am with this one. Right up my ally with the texture and super over sized.

Then I cast on for another cowl right after. I won a Madison Cowl kit from The Sweatshop of Love  which came in a cute project bag with: laminated instructions, a hank of Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn (in black, the colour I picked) and 4 great hand made buttons. I really enjoyed this knit! It was fast, but just enough not to get boring. The buttons, seed stitch border and adorable leaf lace print make for a fun cowl.

Kind of a poopy picture, I apologise. It's a lovely cowl though! Check out better pictures on the ravelry pattern page here.

Now I'm knitting a small shrug with some Bittersweet (dark brown) Wool of the Andes I have left over from my Ingenue Sweater (which coincidentally is about to be frogged since it's HUGE on me now. Such a great feeling!) Nothing exciting, it's just a rectangle with the edges sewn up as sleeves. I'll be sure and post photos when there is something to show.

Now I'm feeling the spinning urge and may pull out my Burns Bog batts. I'm really curious to see how all the sari silk sandwiched between mohair and fine wool will spin up. I'm hoping it makes for an exciting yarn!


I miss dyeing more than I can express. I still see colour combinations and fibers that make me giddy and give me the urge to pull out my dyes again. Thank you to everyone who has been mentioning Dyeing For Ewe on social network sites! Part of me was worried that I would drift out of peoples' minds and fade away. It's nice to know that my work was memorable and missed. I'm still concentrating on working out daily (Les Mills Body Pump is amazing. If you have that program at a gym near you I highly recommend it! I'm also a huge fan of pilates. Netflix instant view has some decent videos streaming if you're interested.) and in additional personal news I'm working on getting my driver's license. I haven't driven since I left Canada, but I'm picking it back up pretty quickly. I'm hopeful I'll get my full license soon! My fiber stock is pretty much all gone, and I didn't replace it before my hiatus. Hopefully I can do a bit of dyeing before we move to Maine in September. But if not, I'm definitely going to get the pots, stocks and carder ready when we get to Maine.

2 comments:

  1. Nice rich colours in the Burns Bog fibre! I still recall walking there many years ago.
    I really like that you keep calling the dyed fibre after places here....

    Yer dear ole Mum

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  2. Every time you post about spinning it makes me want to spin like crazy!!! :) So beautiful!

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