Fleece Binge
Today I've been thinking about Romeldale fleece, in particular, the one recently shorn from this sheep. I don't know his name, but his owner tells me that his is the fleece of my dreams!
I'm also looking at this fleece from Moonbeam: four pounds of brown, grey, and creamy variegated goodness. I've never played with a variegated fleece. I see marled yarn in my future.
Decisions, decisions.
Black and silver
First, the black, as in black lace. Sockotta is one of my favorite yarns. Part cotton, part wool, part nylon, part indestructible. Imagine my delight when I discovered that it comes in black. I've been thinking lately about making a lace pullover--the sort you could wear all the time. Sockotta will be the perfect medium, and vine lace the perfect pattern (easy, fast, and finishable....)
There's not much happening in my metalsmithing world lately. My bench is set up in the new studio, but I've just been too distracted with my day job to get over there and create. Then again, maybe my metalworking malaise has been brought on by the exhorbitant price of gold. It spiked to $725 and ounce last week, but seems to have dropped to $663 today. What a deal!
So I've been thinking in silver lately. It's only $14 an ounce (which is still exhorbitant compared to the $6 it was not too long ago), and it's nice to work with. It also pairs nicely with black. Perhaps I'll knit a black lace cabochon and forge a silver ring to set it in. It could be the start of a new trend...
What's your favourite colour?
With all due credit to Monty Python, my 'favourite colour' today is not yellow or blue, but green. Green as in the gecko who let me photograph him in Hawaii this past winter; green as in the plant that Mr. Z is daring me to shoo him away from; and green as in the lawn that's growing an inch an hour due to all the rain. Have you ever noticed how rain brings out the green in green? Even though it was soggy outside today, I still enjoyed walking around the garden soaking up the greenness.
Thankfully, we're not suffering any negative effects from the weekend's deluge other than a trickle of water in the basement. Our house is an antique with a fieldstone foundation. When it rains hard, we know it. The cats come up from the basement with wet feet. The puddle may be tiny but they'll find it and play in it. Fortunately, my yarn is safely tucked away in bins above the waterline.
Speaking of green, I finished the first of my Fixation "Effects" socks in color 9205, which is green. Fixation is interesting stuff. In general, I hate knitting with cotton; it's too much like knitting with string. Fixation, with its elastic core, has lots of give. It works up more like wool than like cotton. I'm not sure I love Fixation as socks, but I do know that I'll love it as a sweater. (Already got some on order in a nice winey red.)
As soon as I finish these socks, I can move on to another of my vast array of UFOs. Perhaps I'll reacquaint myself with the Princess Line from Norsk Strikkegarn (the chart is monumental and unmemorizable). Or maybe I'll pick up Leaf Lace shawl number two (I finished leaf lace shawl number one, thankyouverymuch). Or maybe I'll dig into my Hunt Valley cashmere. What color is it? You guessed it: Green!
Maryland and ever after
Like most of the rest of the knitblogging universe, I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. My in-laws live in Columbia, MD, a short hop from the festival, so the first weekend of May is a very convenient time to schedule a family visit. My step-mother-in-law is also a rabid fiberholic, so we left for the show early on Saturday and left the menfolk at home to entertain themselves.
At the show, I immediately pounced on a small Border Leicester fleece from Betty Levin and Ellen Raja who, ironically, live less than 10 miles away from me here in Massachusetts. I have a long history of buying fleece from these ladies. They and their fabulous fleeces are responsible for my Border Leicester lust. This fleece will soon be mixed with a lovely alpaca fleece from "Mr. Wotes" of Red Barn Alpacas.
I maintained control until nearly the end of the day, and then I went whole hog: a sweater's worth of cashmere (Oh my!) from Hunt Valley Cashmere, and some handpainted 65% wool, 35% camel from Just Our Yarns. Very yummy. See photo.
My step-mother-in-law outdid me, however. She bought a beautiful custom-made tapestry loom from Fireside Fiberarts. It makes the Schacht spinning wheel that I finally ordered to replace my 20-year-old Lendrum seem modest in comparison!
A great way to use up those leftovers...
Spotted this pink tank cosy while browsing Flickr. What a great way to use up your collection of oddballs. Here's the Flickr link.
First, the black, as in black lace. Sockotta is one of my favorite yarns. Part cotton, part wool, part nylon, part indestructible. Imagine my delight when I discovered that it comes in black. I've been thinking lately about making a lace pullover--the sort you could wear all the time. Sockotta will be the perfect medium, and vine lace the perfect pattern (easy, fast, and finishable....)
With all due credit to Monty Python, my 'favourite colour' today is not yellow or blue, but green. Green as in the gecko who let me photograph him in Hawaii this past winter; green as in the plant that Mr. Z is daring me to shoo him away from; and green as in the lawn that's growing an inch an hour due to all the rain. Have you ever noticed how rain brings out the green in green? Even though it was soggy outside today, I still enjoyed walking around the garden soaking up the greenness.
As soon as I finish these socks, I can move on to another of my vast array of UFOs. Perhaps I'll reacquaint myself with the Princess Line from Norsk Strikkegarn (the chart is monumental and unmemorizable). Or maybe I'll pick up Leaf Lace shawl number two (I finished leaf lace shawl number one, thankyouverymuch). Or maybe I'll dig into my Hunt Valley cashmere. What color is it? You guessed it: Green!
