Fleece Fectival

Yesterday was the Fleece Festival at the Prospect Park Zoo. About a dozen of us my knitting group went. After checking out the sheep we went searching for the fiber demos. IThe Brooklyn General Store ran the fiber demo and the woman from the store seemed a little overwhelmed. dont think they were prepared for the knitters, who seemed to descend on the table at the exact same moment. Everyone grabbed a spindle and started spinning. Those who knew how to spin taught those of us who didnt. I had an immediate dislike for the bottom whorl spindle, not enough to grab onto to make the thing spin. I found atop whorl, ahhhh...this was fun. Then onto the spinning wheel. Alexandra showed me how to draft the roving and time the drafting with the spinning. I kept overspinning the yarn, but I was mesmerized. I want one.

No time for pictures. Off to the sheep shearing.
There wasnt much else to see at the zoo. I was hoping to buy a spindle and some fiber, but there was nothing to buy. However, the Brooklyn General Store was having 25% off sale over the weekend on practically everything in the store. I managed to convince a couple of the women from the group to go with me. We werent disappointed.

I bought a spindle, some cream colored fleece, blue faced leicester in brown, and merino in fuschia. As tired as I was when I got home I had to start spinning before I forgot how. Its pretty amazing.
In other news, I finished the Embossed Leaves socks.

Patches is such a good sport.

I cast on the 2nd Monkey sock and started on the heel flap. There was also an incident on Friday at the LYS. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the blue Berroco Softwist they had on sale. I bought 8 skeins. So much for my rule to only buy one skein of yarn to swatch before committing to a project. After two attempts at swatching I still dont know what I'm going to do with it. I love the sheen but it splits like crazy. Maybe a shrug, though I doubt I'll ever wear it.

Gatsby Girl

I started making the Gastby Girl Pullover IK Fall 2006 in August as soon as the magazine came out. LYS had a sale on Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK, which is almost identical to the Rowan Cashsoft DK in the pattern. Great yarn and no yarn substitution!! I made the front and back up to the shoulder decrease, the measurements didnt quite seem right. The pattern has zero percent ease which didnt seem very forgiving so off to the yarn basket it went. I've been trying for months to find another pattern that was worthy of the yarn but nothing worked out.

Today was the last straw. I thought I found the perfect shawl for the DK yarn but the microfiber made it too stretchy. I sulked. Then lightening struck. JUST TRY ON THE SWEATER. duh.


I basted. I tried it on. Its a little snug but should be fine when I lose the weight I put on over the winter. Besides the microfiber is very forgiving. At the rate I've been knitting I'll have it done in time for the next heat wave.

My first post!!

After much soul searching and reading countless knitting blogs I finally decided to create one of my own. I dont know what it is about pink yarn, especially something soft. I go into a trance and end up with more yarn. I also keep buying the same shade of royal blue over and over. I think I need to broaden my horizons a little.

This is the current pink yarn project.

Subway socks: Embossed Leaves IK winter 2005, Koigu yarn.

Started first sock 4/9, started second sock 4/16.

Emergency socks:

Last weekend I went up to my mom's house to help her finish packing up the house and move all her stuff into her new apartment. I was planning to cast on the second Embossed Leaves sock, but when I got on the subway I realized I forgot to pack my needles. Its an hour train each way to Rockland and I couldnt imagine traveling without something to knit so I went to the LYS closest to the train station and bought the #0 addi turbos I have been eyeing and some new yarn. I keep a collection of sock patterns on my Palm T/X so I started right away on the monkey socks . This is how far I've gotten since Friday. Did I mention that I knit a lot?

After days of rain it was invigorating to finally see the sun. The trees are in full bloom now and they're absolutely gorgeous.