The Gabby Knitter

Whriling Wednesday

To me it feels more like Thursday since the kids are off on Friday due to a teacher in service day. I do have a few new yarns to show and a handspun handknit FO.

First the yarns

From left to right is 4 oz. of merino dyed by Poppy flower fibers in Pink Sky which after spinning it I think it looks more like Purple Haze. Next 4oz. of merino dyed by Sweet pea fibers in Mango Daiquiri. Then there is 4oz of BFL that I bought at Rhinebeck. I think the colorway was driftwood but after spinning I think it looks like Chocolate Banana. Lastly in 4oz. of falkland wool dyed by Fiber fiend in the Reeds colorway. These will be going up in the shop sometime tomorrow.

Now for a bit of handspun knitting.

I started these two weeks ago and finished them up yesterday. The handspun is from CMF's superwash roving. I can't remember the colorway. It was about a sport weight and I used a size 2 Knitpick's fixed harmony circular needle. The pattern is one of my favorites, Math Whiz. With only 48 stitches cast on these were a quick knit. That's all for now have a great night all!

Cherie Amour

Well if you haven't guessed from the title Cherie Amour is done.

This is the fastest sweater I've ever knit. It took me a week. It would have been less but I had to put it on hold for a little while due to Thanksgiving cleaning and cooking. I used handpainted's bulky yarn in the amore colorway and size 9 and 13 Knitpick's harmony needles. I'm not one for bulky yarn and big needles but when I saw this sweater I fell in love and had to make it. I'm glad I did it fits great and hides those areas that after having 3 kids and an ice cream addiction you want hidden.

My little guy wanted in on the photo shoot too so I had to include this one. This is his knew pose, instead of smiling and puts his lips together like he's going to give you a kiss.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was good.The turkey came out good and all was well. Now I have more confidence and shouldn't be as freaked out about cooking Thanksgiving dinner next year. Have a great night all!

This and That Tuesday

Oh my goodness I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! A cold has run rampant in our household for the the last week or so. Yesterday my husband woke up with a bad back (he's much better today) and I've been trying to get everything ready for Thanksgiving which will be at my house this year. Cross your fingers all goes well because last time I had Thanksgiving here my oven broke and the Turkey was very nearly ruined!

Now for a bit a of randomness.

It snowed this morning. When all was said and done we only got like 1/2 an inch or so but just enough to make the roads slushy and make Thanksgiving grocery shopping a bit more challenging. It was pretty coming down though.

While recovering from the cold I managed to get 3 dishcloths done for teacher's gifts.

I started and finished the body of this sweater in 3 days. Don't be too impressed I'm making this sweater which is done on size 13 needles, bulky yarn, and fairly simple pattern. I really love this sweater and I can't to finish so I can wear it!

This is Blue Moon's new Raven Clan  collection yarn. It's their laci in the Rook-y colorway. I have to say when it arrived and I took it out of the package I wasn't too impressed. It looked mostly black and nothing like I had expected.

Then when I opened the skein there was all the beautiful color! I plan on trying this out right after Thanksgiving and I'll be making this drop dead gorgeous shawl. I swear that Anne is a genius! I'm in awe of her mad designing skills.

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm not ignoring you I just haven't been able to read to many blogs but I will catch up over this holiday weekend. I'm thankful for each and every one of you and hope you all have wonderful Thanksgiving!

Whirling Wednesday

After seeing all the beautiful spindles at Rhinebeck this year I caught the spindling bug again and decided to dig out my drop spindle. I figured I'd wait until the latest installment of the Spunky Club arrived. It came the beginning of last week and I started right away.

The fiber is called Goblin Eyes and it's Romney which is perfect as it's a longer fiber and isn't slippery like merino or your other finer fibers. I'm almost finished with the first 2 ounces (I"m an extremely slow spindler) and I love how it's coming out so far. I like using the drop spindle because it forces me to really enjoy the process of spinning. Not that I don't enjoy the process with my wheel but I tend to spin  faster on the wheel  and don't always take the time that I should to really enjoy the process. I also bought a new toy to help with plying from the drop spindle but I haven't had a chance to play with it yet so I'll share it with you next week.

These are the finished yarns that will be going up in the shop either tomorrow or Friday depending when I can get some decent pictures taken. The top one is called Willow and superwash merino that I bought from Fiber Fiend, The brown is a merino/silk blend that I bought at Rhinebeck (sorry can't remember from who). It kind of reminds of maple so I named it Maple and Brown Sugar. The last one is from the merino/tencel that I bought from The Sheep Shed in  Caitlin's way. Please excuse my scratched table. Gabby (my dog) and Max (my cat) jump up on there and have scratched the crap out of it. However it's the only good place to take pictures because that's where the best lighting is.

Last but not least is my latest FO. This is the Corrugated Scarf. I had seen if first on Margene's blog and thought it would be perfect for the "Celebration" fiber I had spun from the July Spunky club. It was supposed to be socks but I had over plied the yarn and the sock were knitting up in way I knew would not be comfortable so I frogged it and the made the scarf instead. I used size 6 needles and cast on 37 stitches and made a skinner scarf. I liked how it came out but I wish I had blended the fiber better when I was spinning up. Oh and please excuse my scratched table. Gabby (my dog) and Max (my cat) jump up on there (even though I yell everytime they do) and have scratched the crap out of it. However it's the only good place to take pictures because that's where the best lighting is.

That's all I've got for tonight. I have good one!

Conquering the wip

I really did mean to post on Friday but I got a little sidetracked while fighting with my wip. I had finished knitting both pieces to  Morning Glory and I figured it would only take me about 20 minutes or so to kitchener the two pieces together and be done with it.

Boy was I wrong! In my haste to finish I had but a wrong side and a right side together and stitched it all up. Then when I laid it out I realized I had one wrong side and one right side showing. So I had to undo kitchener which is almost as much fun as the actually kitchener itself (yuck!) and redo. That wouldn't have been so bad but I put the two right sides together and stitched and then I had what looked like purl bumps on the right side. At this point I was ready to throw the wrap across the room! Instead I took a deep breath and undid the kitchener again and but the wrong sides facing each other and stitched again.

Finally it was finished and it only took me three hours! I've learned my lesson never rush to finish a wip and check to make sure you have the right sides facing each other. Once I block Morning Glory I'll take some better pics.

Now for one of the wips I was going to show you on Friday.

My daughter has been begging me to knit her a Dream Swatch head wrap after trying mine on. Last week I had decided it was time to cast on. I used my handspun and size 6 needles. My daughter had picked out this fiber at Ct. sheep and wool so I thought it would be perfect to use for her head wrap. I love how it came out and the colors are so fall. By the way like the leaves above her head? I was playing with photo shop this morning and thought the leaves looked better than just bare wall behind her.

Here's a closer shot. I had one wip to show but I think I'll save it for later. Have a great day all!

A Belated Thank You

Now that I have my computer back I can properly thank my Monkey Swap pal.

The package arrived the week before Rhinebeck and was such a surprise as I had no idea it was coming.

This is what I saw when I first opened the box. I read the hand made monkey card (isn't cool!) and found out my swap pal was Anne. Then it was time to dive in to all of the goodies.

There was some Shibui knits sock yarn and some Claudia handpainted, enough to make two pairs of socks! I love both colorways and I'm sure soon they will be knit into some really pretty socks.

She included some postcards from her state, some Soak which I've been wanting to try, and a K that I've hooked onto my knitting bag.

She decorated this box which has monkeys not only on the top but on the sides as well.

Inside

Were two pair of the cutest sock oh and there were chocolates too. The kids at most of them but I managed to snag a few.

Then of course the socks. Aren't these the perfect monkey socks, all banana colored and all.

Very soft and comfy as well! I really like the brown on the toes.

Oh I almost forgot about this little guy. He came in the box too and my oldest son named him George.

Thanks again Anne you are an awesome swap pal. I appreciate all the time and effort that when to creating this package for me and I'm truly grateful.

Hope you all have a great night and I'll be back tomorrow with some FO's.