Sunday, October 25, 2009

Knit Candy

Miss E in her new Handspun Pixie Hat!

Sometimes, you just need some quick projects to come off the needles. Lately it seems like I've been slogging away on some bigger projects and I needed a break. Enter three really adorable kid knits!

Miss E in her new Flamingo Ruffle Scarf.
If you ask me it looks like it belongs to Cindy Lou Hou!
And look at how long and thick her hair is getting!

This yarn was leftover from the girls Flamingo Hats that I knit last year. I don't think I ever blogged about them. A friend sent the yarn with solids dyed to fit my girls personalities... matching, but not quite matching. It was in my cabinet with my patterns and it kept falling out. Finally I'd had it with the yarn falling out on me and decided to just knit the darn scarf I'd been thinking of! I don't know why I waited so long!

And last but not least, Miss E modeling Issac's Hat knit with Handspun.

Issac is the son of a good friend. Not only does this friend go to our church, she is also a nurse in the peds oncology unit where we have literally lived for almost a year. Her son turned two this week and he has a nice big round head... this kind of hat looks completely adorable on such a boy!

I knit Miss E her new Pixie hat after Issac's hat. I used her head to base the sizing on and she really liked the hat. She wanted one with "piggy tails" too!

Two of these projects are knit with my own handspun. I learned that it's important to do that because you really don't know the quality of yarn you are getting until you actually knit some. Lately I've been thinking I was getting great yarn... it turns out I've actually been over spinning my singles a bit. There are rough spots in the yarn where it's got too much twist in it. Lesson learned: Knit your yarn!

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Fresh off the wheel...




This is Selah, Over Coffee on Superwash Merino. She's very beautiful. I wound her into this crazy unruly hank though so she isn't shown to her full beauty.

There are things good and bad about this spin. Good... I got the yardage I wanted - 7.5oz, 438yds. After many tries I CAN get something near a 2 ply worsted weight! Bad... this fiber was just plain weird. It wasn't combed smoothly... or something. Drafting was tricky and I really had to pay attention. As a result it's not nearly as even as the last yarn I spun. I'm not sure yet if I'll try to use it for the project I had intended. I think the uneven qualities might make it more suitable for something else. That's always the gamble with spinning your own yarn. And quite honestly, isn't the unknown part of the fun?!

Psst... I FINISHED Miss N's blanket! And yes... over a month before her birthday! I have to weave in ends and then sneak it out for some pictures. And... I bought a zipper for my sweater. I just have to get up the guts to sew it in. Nothing like a nip in the air to motivate you to finish long languishing projects!