New FO!

My boss' birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I had no idea what to buy him. I decided to knit him a scarf and since he wasn't in town again until this week, I was able to get away with a belated gift.

I spun about 7 ounces of alpaca fiber for this scarf. It ended up about bulky weight in most places. I had a hell of a time spinning an even single with the alpaca roving I used. I think I'm going to have to blend it with some wool if before I use it again.

Anyway, here's the fabulous scarf:



The pattern is the Men's Cashmere Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. According to the book, it was supposed to take 4-6 hours. I think I finished it in 8, so it was pretty darn quick. The only gripes I have about the pattern are:
1. It rolls like mad
2. Her finished measurements and gauge don't add up

Other than that, it was great. I will probably knit another on from myself someday.

Oh, and the boss loved it. He nearly cried. :)

knit. knit. knit. knit.

This fraking scarf is driving me nuts. When I started it (IN JULY) I was all like "Oh it won't take me that long. I'll just knit 20 rows everyday and it will be done in 2 months". Whatever. It's getting cut down to the season 13 ish version because I don't think I can muster another 100 or so rows of boring ass garter stitch. If Rob says anything, I'll choke him with it.

Isis was trying to help me knit so I took a picture

And here's the stupid scarf on the back of the couch



I'm going to beg borrow or steal a knitting machine for Josh's scarf.

Drum Carder

So, I broke down and bought a drum carder. Hopefully, it will be here next week. I picked a Strauch Petite since it was the least expensive of the ones I was looking at and my DH nearly had a heart attack when I showed him the price tag on the PG carder I really want. I can't wait to play with it.

Dear Santa,

Let's skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point. This year for Yule I want:

An electric skein winder
A drum carder
a yarn meter thingy
Card weaving tablets
lots of fiber
An extra month of vacation time to play with my new toys

Thanks,
Kayla

Ravelry is the shit!

I freaking love it. LOVE IT!!!!

I'm going to start blogging my projects more. I'm a bad blogger.

So here's a couple of pics of the infamous scarf. I'm still not finished with #1 even though I have been knitting it everywhere. It's been on 3 planes, in 3 states, to my mom-in-law-to-be's house, to a smashing pumpkins concert, etc. I'm about 80% done now. Here's a couple of pics:

Yay! School is done for the summer! 3 weeks of freedom (sort of, I still have a job).

During this time I hope to:

1. finish the socks in progress
2. spin the yarn for alex's falls
3. finish the DIY combs
4. organize the stash

After this, my knitting/spinning priorities are as follows:

1. Tom Baker scarf for brother-in-law
2. Tom Baker scarf for hubby
3. Spin hot pink sock yarn for Angie
4. Knit socks for Angie

All of these must be done by Yule.

Customer's FO

Amanda from BrickMillStudio posted some pics of the socks she knitted with my yarn! I'm really excited about how they turned out.

This:


Became these:

I really love the way they look. I'm so proud! I'm always nervous about my yarn.

The wool I don't like

This is what my failed dye experiment ended up looking like:


Yuck. I now have 4 ounces of this. It's kind of a burgundy brown color, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

I have a speech due on Wednesday, and a presentation in my Econ class. So what did I do all night? Dye wool, of course.

Well, I ran out of syran wrap right before my last bit of wool, which was supposed to be red and black. I thought "why not just throw it in a pot and do that hot pour thingy?" Well, I did, and this is what I got.


Awesome! 4 ounces of failed dye experiment. My only hope is that the black ends up really black, since I have my doubts about black in a colorway. I don't know if I can make it black enough.

On the bright side, I HAVE PINK

Get it! Bright side, lol.

Thanks to LotusKnitter for helping me out with this color. I'm a very happy woman right now.

Sale!

I finally posted my wicked bruise roving. I didn't get as close to the actual colors of the epic bruise as I had hoped, but it looks cool as hell. If this doesn't sell soon, it's becoming the front flap of a purse.

Also, it's my Golden Birthday on Monday (25 on the 25th) so I'm doing a 25% off sale in my ETSY shop.

This one time, at Speech class

I'm finally taking Public Speaking. So far, this class hasn't been too bad. Especially because it gave me an excuse to show off my spinning wheel.

We had to give demonstrative speeches for the last class. I knew right away what I would talk about, but I had no idea what a hit it would be. I'm in a class with a bunch of thug guys, so I figured I'd bore the hell out of them.

I started off by talking about the historical importance of spinning and showing off a little bit of my hand dyed roving. Everyone was being polite and kind of paying attention. Then I busted out my drop spindle for a demonstration. I explained how to tie on a leader and the basics of drafting, then I went for it. The overall reaction was "woah!". Everyone was totally enthralled with my spinning. I had no idea that non-knitters would find this so interesting.

I freaking love wool.