Sometimes I knit things...

I know the blog has been really spinning-oriented lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting! In fact, here's a list of my FO's, just for good measure (most of which you can see on this page by scrolling down).

- Mittens (from "how to make a mitten, part 1")
- Cable Luxe Sweater
- Baby Blanket (not yet begun - does that count?)
- Coffee Sleeves (you'll see these soon)
- Crescendo Socks

That's a pretty fairly good sized list, I think. I like to stay busy. I'm not as busy today as I'd like to be, though. Why? The area I attend school in is...unaccustomed to getting snow. It snowed several inches here over the weekend while I was visiting at Nathan's place where he attends college (about 40 minutes north of my school). I'm fine to drive in the snow - I've done it plenty of times before because my hometown gets snow fairly often in the winter. But the thing about living here is that when it snows...you also get ice because the climate is very very wet. Some people here call the rain "liquid sunshine". Interstate 5 this morning was like a sheet of ice.

I had two classes and a few hours of work scheduled...but...no. I'd rather not risk my life (traffic reports were saying that cars were simply "sliding off the road", and two semi trucks jacknifed in the southbound lane) for a couple of classes and some work I could do from home. Work ended up emailing me and telling me to just stay put where I am. I got a snow day, sort of. Hence, I blog. And show some "terribly exciting" FO's.

I finished Nathan's Shedir! I want to steal it. It's way better than mine.

I don't have much to say about this one. I had one repeat and the ribbing done on Saturday, and went a little crazy with working on it. I had it finished by 12:39 that night. I was so happy. The texture of the silky wool is wonderful and just the right amount of warm.

I've made a few of the little reusable coffee sleeves, too. With the weather getting cold out, these are great to use on a hot or cold coffee drink. I made the bind off edge a little tighter than the cast on to prevent any drinks from slipping away. The ribbing gets pretty stretchy. I made both of these with some leftover yarn bits.

Functional, earth-friendly, knitter friendly...what's not to love?

Lastly...you knew I was going to put up some yarn I spun. You knew it. I had to. Anyway, here's the result of my first attempt at plying with the roving I bought from pigeonroof studios on etsy. The colors aren't perfect, but they're pretty darn close. I have about 68 yards total of two ply.

(singles)


(plied skein)

This was a joy to spin. I can't wait to make some more. It's a little thick-thin, but I kind of feel like it's perfect the way it is. This is about a DK weight. I just measured about 11wpi. I'm so excited about that - I actually set out to make a DK or sport weight yarn with this, and succeeded! I feel so accomplished.

Now! I have to make some mittens. Wish me luck. I'm finding I'm not such a big fan of the cotton/acrylic blend. It's not "grabby" and "sproingy" enough for me (we like to make up words here at summer-wind.net). I'm not really enjoying the knitting process. But I must. Here I go!