In the Nick of Time.

After a marathon of flicking, carding and spinning over the past few days, I am done. Actually, I should probably restate that... I am as done, as I'm gonna be. I have only today to pack for me, the children and the dogs for a lengthy trip to BC, clean my house and do all the little things around the home that need to be done before I go.

First of all, I want to say that I'm pretty damn proud of myself. I took a fleece... straight off the sheep's back (The Sheep and The Process) and transformed it into yarn.

Unfortunately that yarn, did not fully meet up with my expectations:

A) It's under plied (you can see this quite clearly in the pictures below). This is a problem which I might be able to fix, if I had more time, but I don't and I still want to bring the yarn with me on my trip. However, if I manage to do all of my chores today, I might run it through my wheel again, to somewhat fix that.... we shall see.

B) It's too thick. I had planned on a laceweight yarn, but my finished yarn turned out to be fingering weight.

C) My dye job.... Actually, the colour is PERFECT. Exactly what I had in mind.... regrettably, the areas where the yarn was tied, did not dye (there is a reason that it's called Tie Dye, after all).... so there are lighter and whiter patches in the yarn in these spots (you can see this in the last dye picture). I knew this was going to happen, but in my rush to finish last night, I forgot to check...... I could dye the yarn again, but as I mentioned already... I am out of time and so, I will knit the yarn as is and if the whiter spots bug me, I'll attempt to over-dye the finished shawl.




D) I have 1300m. The pattern calls for around 1350m. I am taking a big risk here. I did a Ravelry search for a new pattern, but I have my heart set on Evenstar. And so ..... even with the problems mentioned above, I am going to use my yarn to attempt to knit it..... and hope for the best..... if worse comes to worse, I guess I will have to finally admit defeat and use a mill-spun yarn for the shawl... because I WILL knit this shawl.

Stay tuned for THAT adventure...... although blogging will be limited to non-existent while I travel.....

And for a final picture.... Look at my cutie doggies.... they had a fresh haircut yesterday. I LOVE it when they're newly clipped, they look ridiculous.....

Infinity.

Will it ever end? To paraphrase German philosopher  Friedrich Nietzsche "I have stared into the abyss and it has stared back." I've been flicking and carding and spinning (Oh My!) for days and it feels like I've barely touched the pile of fleece at my feet..... I would REALLY like to have this yarn finished for my big trip to BC next week, but I'm starting to think that's not going to happen....

I started with this:

Did a whole bunch of this:




I've spun this (I'm guessing it's about 150 grams, hopefully close to 2500m of singles, if it's less, I'm in trouble and probably won't be able to finish this yarn for my trip... I still have to pack for me, both kids and the dogs for a 4-5 week journey. Plus, I need to clean my house, take the car in for a tune up, check out Stampede, deal with Chey's last week of pre-school, keep both kids occupied AND knit my stripe of the latest WCOBBS blanket that I've volunteered for... this means that  I need to finish spinning this by tomorrow to have any hope of dyeing and drying this yarn to go. Yikes!):

and I still have this:

I had no idea........

Green Tee

This just in... my latest finished project... My own pattern, knit in Mirasol Nuna (40% wool, 40% silk, 20% Bamboo). I think it turned out very nicely, but I also think that it could have been better.... it needs a tad more drape to achieve the look I was going for. I knit the top at a tighter gauge than recommended for the yarn, as I was unsure of how the yarn would stretch when washed and worn, particularly with such a high silk/bamboo content. As it turns out... it didn't stretch much at all... a bit in width and a small amount in length..... I think I will knit this again, but in a slightly looser gauge for more drape and/or in a full silk (or soy or bamboo). I must say that I love the little ribbon through the neckline... very pretty....

Temptation

I am, basically, a monogamous person. I don't have the time or the energy to expand my focus and attention in a multitude of directions.... I like the peace and quiet of a singular relationship. The steady monotony and security appeals to me. Perhaps part of the issue is that I don't like to lie.... and I am a rule follower to the extreme and often to my own detriment. That's not to say that I am not occasionally tempted. Something periodically captures my attention and I waiver, ever so slightly, in my determination to remain faithful..... But.... I can normally reign in the wanderlust and refocus my attention where it belongs..... that was, until a few days ago, when Evenstar caught my attention...... I was immediately captured, enthralled, enraptured and beguiled.... caught up in the elegant beauty of the design and I felt something move, deep in my soul.....It was my moral knitting compass and it had shifted, ever so slightly (yes, I said knitting.... perhaps you thought this post would be more titillating than another post about knitting??).... It wouldn't be SOOO bad to start another project, right??? I am "almost" done my current project and it wouldn't hurt to have a slight delay in its completion, would it??? Maybe not for most people, but for me..... a delay in my internal knitting timer, sets off all kinds of alarm bells..... and yet, I am still tempted... I was mulling over the issue in the shower this morning, when the solution occurred to me.....

Spinning....... spinning is NOT knitting and therefore, does not fall under my weird internal monogamous knitting clause........ Take that! Justification as a workaround.... I wonder if anyone has ever thought of that before...... ;P

I plan to use the fleece that I purchased in April.... It's already been washed and a few locks have been carded (the staple length is too short for combing, which I prefer)..... 1400 meters of 2 ply lace weight should be just about right....  stay tuned...

PS... I know the side bar says that I have 3 projects on the go, but let me explain.... one is hibernating until the fall, when it will be more appropriate to finish it.... One is my travel project, which is rarely worked on at home... and one is my MAIN project.... my singular project that must be completed before new projects are started...... more justification, I suppose...