So I'm terrible at blogging.

I mean, I didn't really think I'd be great at it or anything, but I figured once a week was a reasonable goal to aim for. Apparently that was far too high. Though it hardly excuses me, I have been insanely busy and haven't been getting THAT much knitting or spinning done. I got engaged on Halloween (!!!!) and have started planning for the wedding in late May 2010 (I know, a long way away, but what can I say -- I'm excited!). I've also been grappling with my senior year of college (just...one...more...semester...) and dealing with my depression, which has been unusually bad lately.

That said, I do have a ton of things to share with y'all from the past few months! Picture-heavy post coming, and I don't even know if I'll get through it all. Ah well, more for next time!

First, I finished up my first pair of socks in September, and they're perfectly warm and serviceable (if a little clumsy around the toes and heels). I wear them way too often and love them into little bitty pieces and they were enough to convince me I should knit more socks -- which I am currently doing. I'm knitting a pair of more complicated toe-up socks with a little cable on each side, out of my lovely handspun sunset merino. I have about one and 3/4 socks finished and I am extremely excited to finish them. They're so pretty, aren't they? I'm really proud of the way the yarn is knitting up, since this spinning was very early on in my learning. I also love the almost-stripey-but-not-quite effect going on there. I'm definitely going to have to spin up some more sock yarn soon. Toward that end, my mother got me a gorgeous Golding spindle for Christmas! It hasn't actually arrived yet, but I know generally what it looks like and that it's 1.7 oz, or something in that neighborhood. My old spindle was 4 oz and I had some trouble spinning yarn as thin as I wanted it, so this is a great development. In the meantime, I have a ton of other projects I've either finished or am in the middle of. There's this baby sweater I made out of bamboo for an adorable little boy named Charlie:


I know, I know, not super-complicated or anything, but my first baby sweater, and the bamboo was a joy to work with. That stripe in the middle is my favorite part about it, and it was totally a last-minute addition!

I also finished up my lace stole, which I'm so proud of I could nearly burst. It's made with Jaggerspun Zephyr, a wool/silk blend, in a soft green, and it has teardrop beads all over it. The pattern is the mystery knit-a-long 3 from pinklemonade, Swan Lake:

Just look at how all those little beads glitter! I could just eat it! I wore it for Christmas and got so many compliments.

I spun up some of that Calico Kitty corriedale, and it's looking lovely.

The plan is to knit it up into a scarf when I finish spinning it. I have 8 oz to spin; I probably won't need all of that for a reasonably-lengthed scarf, even though it's a heavy worsted weight, right? I'm not sure what I'll do with the leftovers.

I have also made my first foray into dyeing with this lovely angora. Ashford dyes in, I believe, purple and green. It was a little dyeing workshop two days after I got engaged, and it was so much fun. All the other girls were knitters, some pretty experienced and some very new. I never get to see that many knitters! The woman who led it owns a yarn shop about 20 minutes away -- if I had a car I'd totally visit her store. She offered me 10% off on hand cards anytime! I wish I could go. Maybe I'll get my fiance to drive me there when he's visiting sometime. I absolutely love how this yarn turned out; there's about 400 yards of it and I only had to pay $5 for the yarn and dyes! I'm thinking it'd make a lovely pair of lace fingerless gloves.

To be honest, this workshop has really funded my dreams of someday owning a fiber company. I'd love to sell yarns and fibers I've spun or dyed. Someday, maybe. My fiance has promised me a pair of alpacas someday, so I might even be able to sell some of that fiber, too! That's a long way in the future, though. In the meantime, I've been working on a bunch of other projects that seem to be taking forever to finish -- but I'm so in love with them that I don't really mind that much. Works-in-progress list next post! I'm excited to talk about them, so it should actually get me posting, right?

I'll leave you with this picture of my dog. He's about eight months old now. Isn't he adorable? If I had the patience, I'd harvest his fur and spin it -- it's the softest thing I've ever touched, and I've touched some pretty darn soft yarn.

Power outage and falling trees!

I have so many fibery things to share with y'all, but in the past few days we've had a 30-hour-long power outage (my poor brand new milk and yogurt!), trees falling left and right (none fell on our cottage but one did almost fall on the place across the way), and I've had a mini-celebration of my birthday with my boyfriend. (He's at Notre Dame getting his Ph.D and I don't get to see him that often.) Not only do I have exciting new fiber-related projects, but I finally have my camera, so pictures of all these exciting things should be coming soon.

I never really understood the concept of fiber pets... until now.

Before I spun up my other oz of purple merino, I did some research. It's amazing what actually knowing what you're doing will do for you! I have about 20 beautiful yards of a two-ply worsted which is sitting on my dresser. I pet it every time I go by. It is a tiny little skein and I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm going to do with it -- but I made it and it's gorgeous and it's mine. I've been calling it "sweetie" and telling it what a good little skein it is. Does this mean I should be seeing someone in the mental health business? My camera charger was lost and a new one is on the way, so I can't yet show you pictures of the finished skein, but here's a picture of the fiber, a "Sapphire" merino roving from Paradise Fibers.

I also have (well, had) a lovely braided 4 oz of handpainted roving from Shivaya Naturals, a fiber company that I believe is only a few months old! Before I ruined the lovely little coil I was petting that every time I walked by too. I have spun about an ounce of it into a two-ply lace/light fingering yarn. I have no idea what to do with that either, but I think I'm going to spin more of it (I have about 85 yards right now). I am almost tempted to make a pair of socks, but I only just finished my first pair, and it nearly killed me -- those things really require some stamina! This lovely picture of my "Mountain Sunset" roving is from the Shivaya Naturals website. It spun up into a really gorgeous almost-but-not-quite-uniform orangish pink -- a color I have always loved but have been unable to find just about anywhere.


Sometime after September 11th, I will be receiving 8 oz of beautiful "Calico Kitty" merino roving from Maine Woods Yarn and Fiber. I miss my cat so much -- I can't have cats in my apartment, so she's living with my parents right now. I miss my doggy, too, but he at least has the whole family to love him; nobody but me likes my cat. (She's a one-woman kind of girl.) She's not calico but when I saw this roving I just knew I had to own it. So I will be receiving two braided twists of this gorgeous stuff. Doesn't it look just like a cat? Now I just have to figure out how best to spin it to make the yarn look just like the roving...

Also, today I received from The Sanguine Gryphon (whom I just cannot recommend enough -- seriously, everyone, go buy all her fiber; her customer service is amazing and she's so helpful) about 14 oz of beautiful alpaca. 11 oz are undyed and are a gorgeous red/brown that I just can't get enough of; the other 3 oz are slightly dyed a little darker. I love it. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I adore it. I can't stop petting it. It's actually a little disturbing how much I love this fiber. I packed it away in several plastic bags (I live in an apartment that breeds moths like rabbits, and while they don't seem to care for my merino, I fear for my alpaca's life) but I still keep taking it out to pet it. (I saw a moth as big as my hand a few days ago. I shudder to think what kind of damage he could have done to my precious yarn and roving). I don't have a picture of it but I'll get one when the camera charger comes. I haven't had my camera for about a month now because of this charger business, and I am hopelessly reliant on my camera. I really hope the new one comes soon.

Now, I have a ton -- a TON -- of knitting projects that are waiting to be knitted up, since I finished the socks like I promised myself I would before I started anything. I have a lace shawl (Swan Lake, Mystery Shawl 3) that I need to finish, and another shawl and a cardigan and a cabled cami I have yarn for -- and my apartment-mate really, really wants me to make socks for my teddy bear before it gets cold out. (Teddy bears get cold. Who knew?) All the prospective projects (except the teddy bear socks) are complicated enough that I'm probably going to need a chart while doing them. I need something simple and portable. I also need to actually knit instead of just spin. I fear I won't even remember how by the time I come off this fiber high. Ideas?

PS: I knit that crazy first attempt at spinning the sapphire merino into a skinny scarf on huge needles and I'm giving it to my sister. I think she'll like it. I'm not totally fond of it. Is that bad? Can I just pretend my lovely two-ply worsted sapphire skein was my first spinning and forget that first attempt ever happened? (Please?)

Next time, completely gratuitous pictures of my dog and cat, because we could all use a little more homesickness in our days.

When you wish upon a star

Apparently Jiminy came through for me. I've made a baby sweater and I'm almost done with a pair of socks. Thrummed mittens (and Latvian mittens) are in the works. I feel more and more like a "real knitter" every day -- and today I moved into a new realm: spinning. I have been tempted for ages, and on a rough day a week ago I finally broke down and ordered myself a drop spindle and some beautiful merino roving. (4 oz to start with, but don't worry, I have more on the way). It's handpainted and I got it from the lovely ladies at Paradise Fibers. The beginning was rough. I couldn't understand the directions very well and I just seemed to be making twisted roving, not yarn. I couldn't seem to get pieces to come out evenly and I was resigning myself to having to find a pattern that somehow could incorporate super-bulky singles and lace-weight singles without looking terrible -- when all of a sudden it fell into place. Now, I'm not claiming that the finished yarn is great, or even that it's anywhere close to all the same size... but the range is probably closer to dk up to bulky, and the changes aren't every single freakin' inch. If I had more of it, I could make a decent scarf. As it is, I'll probably make a hat. I still have an ounce or so of this merino, and a whole batt coming. Hmm. I'm lusting after some laceweight.

Jiminy, make me a real spinner?...

Jiminy Cricket, make me A Real Knitter

Having only recently discovered the Yarn Harlot, I have been, up until now, blissfully unaware of the fact that I am a poor excuse for a knitter. (What can I say? I love hats and scarves). In order to accomplish my dream of being A Real Knitter, I have decided to 1. make a baby sweater; 2. make a pair of Latvian or Estonian fair isle mittens; 3. make a real pair of socks; 4. finish my lace shawl (we know I can do lace, now we need to see that I can finish some lace).

The baby sweater is on its way. I'm using bamboo. It's gorgeous. I love it. I haven't quite brought myself to work on #4 or #3 yet, though I do have all the materials for both. #2... well, it may be a while before I'm a real knitter, all right?

Though I fear it may bore everyone but me to tears, I am planning to do a rundown of current projects soon. I really don't know if I'm up for this blog thing yet. We'll see.

Maybe I will use this.

I've never really had any desire for a blog -- it seems weird to talk about my life to complete strangers on the internet! -- but I already have a hard enough time sleeping at night without having to go over every project I'm working on seventeen times before I'm satisfied. (I suspect I may display some obsessive behavior here.) Who knows? Maybe telling complete strangers about what I happen to be knitting or sewing or cooking or planning will help. Or, you know, not.

I love to do most things artistic and/or crafty, although I'm pretty sure I'm terrible at pretty much anything that falls under the latter category. I'm also a pretty terrible musician, except when I'm singing. I think I'm okay at that. And, well, I can't promise I'm any good at writing either, really. Or knitting. Or sewing, for that matter. Whatever I cook usually tastes pretty good. One out of many hundreds -- not bad, right?

Lack of blogness

If you're here, you probably followed my profile from Evil Editor, or maybe Miss Snark. If you were looking for something interesting to read... I'm sorry, but this isn't it! I don't really plan to use this as a blog. I just created it so I could comment on other blogs without being one of the many anonymoi. I may decide to use it for something in the future, but for now don't hold your breath. (Not that you were anyway, I'm sure).

Just a few notes: kiss-me-at-the-gate is a colloquial name for spiderwort, a flower that I've always adored with a name I've always hated.

The picture is from a painting I commissioned a while back.

The blog name is from a quote by Kahlil Gibran (philosopher, poet, and all-around crazy person): "Do not the sprits who dwell in the ether envy man their pain?"

I love that man.