Thursday, March 22, 2012

Somehow, we missed Winter

In fact, I am not sure we will even have a Spring. It has been in the solid 80's for a week.

The official harborer of Spring was the arrival of the first month of my Nerd Girl Yarns fiber club subscription. Here she is, in all her glory. I am hoping she motivates me to finish plying the singles I have been staring at on my wheel for a month.
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For the record, I really love Nerd Girl Yarns. Probably because I am a fairly nerdy girl.

The braid of fiber came with some stickers. They made me happy.
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In other news, I planted my Spring garden last week. Sweet peas, kale, spinach, chard, greens, parsley, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, and carrots. I also put in grapes and a few blueberries. It seems like every season I wage war on one creature or another. The cover over the garden was to protect the young plants from my enemies the wild rabbits. By wild, I mean completely habituated to humans to the point that my children can nearly pet them. What the netting does not protect the plants from is slugs. I have a series of beer traps set up, and I think Joe is getting a huge kick out of me going outside with a flashlight several times a night to hand pick them off. I am not sure who is winning yet. Probably them.
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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

shawl neck baby cardigan

I have a very sweet, dear friend who is pregnant with her first child (another boy!). I went to graduate school with her, and she is just a wonderful lady. Her mother in law was, ironically enough, the person who first introduced me to weaving as something people could accomplish in their homes.

She and her husband are so special to us, that I wanted to knit her baby a sweater that would be easy-care and as sophisticated as I imagine her entire nursery will be.

Here is what I came up with:
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Here is the pattern. It was a quick and easy knit. I did kfab's as the increases, and picked up a few extra stitches under the arms instead of seaming. On the second arm round I knit these extra stitches together with the stitch on either side. I used a cotton acrylic blend, for ease of washing in their household. I have already run it through the washer and dryer, and it came out beautifully with light blocking.

Friday, March 2, 2012

acquisitions

We went to a local maple syrup festival this past weekend, and I was unable to resist this:
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What fiber is that, you wonder? Maple Cotton Candy. Delicious, but alas, not spin-able. I was sorely tempted to try.

I did run into the folks from Rooster's Run, who have started phasing out their Shetland sheep in favor of Finnsheep (a hornless breed, which will help prevent them from spending a fortune on fencing repairs). I purchased 4 oz of a finn-shetland cross to try. It has a medium staple, and is quite soft.
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I also went ahead and bought 2.5 lbs of the Gotland I had been considering. Given that I spin about 2 oz a week, on average, this pile will take the better part of a year to spin. It sure is lovely though. Though the farm this came from isn't local (Shepherd's Lane in Oregon), her sister is, and raised the lovely Wensleydale I knit up last week. What a small world.
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