Holidays

The last two weeks, I've been on holidays. The first paid holidays I've had for years! lol. That's the nature of casual work, I suppose, but I'm currently on a 12 month contract (replacing someone's maternity leave) and have therefore earned Leave :)

And so I finished the socks, firstly, and the things I showed you last time. Then I finished these socks, which took 11 days

as well as finishing a skein of "laceweight"

I call it "laceweight" in quotes, because I'm not sure if it really qualifies. Officially (for the Charms part of my NEWT) it has to be at least 20WPI, and this is about 25, but most laceweights you see on Ravelry claim to be about 40. Just can't do that, not yet.

Next, for the spinning, I decided to do the Navajo-ply spin, because it's what I normally do, and I wanted to do something relaxing. I have 200g or so of this lovely Southern Cross Fibres Polwarth, and the first skein is done.

Salt Collecting

I've been on the waiting list for David's fibre club for quite a while; I got this one from a member who didn't want it for some strange reason :) ... This one was spun from end to end (without splitting it lengthwise) so the color changes will be long. The second one, which I'm spinning now, I split down the middle first, so the color changes will be half as long. I'm thinking a hat and gloves, where the stripes will be about the same width.

Next, would you believe, I pulled out the Vivian I started in December 2008! It was up to the shoulder saddles, and I didn't know quite what to do, so I ignored it for a bit longer. But the shoulder saddles were kind-of fun

 Now, I'm doing a cable-and-rib collar, and when that's done, I have to block it and measure it for a zip!

And lastly, the Kathy's Fibre club fibre for Autumn, which is BFL, mohair and silk! I'm not allowed to post it on Ravelry until everyone has theirs (spoilers) and some people have to wait until after Easter for the post, but here it is, out next to the flower pots that the boys gave me for my birthday, which match. (Jasmine gave me pink flowers)

I love her BFL/mohair for socks, and I'm looking forward to trying it out with some silk in it. It's 120g, so it should be enough. Might be a project for June... frankly, it's going to be a perfect color to spin in the grey Winter.

3:30am, so I must hit the hay, now. I'm back at work again (just finished three nights, and this is my first night off, so the body-clock's out of whack again). 'Night!

In March

I didn't do much for March (having put most of my time into those socks, which I'm now wearing) but I did do a few projects...

Three spinning projects on the top (a merino-silk that I dyed a while ago, one by Shadawn called "Tonks" and a felted alpaca single that was quite quick). I overdyed some Socks That Rock mediumweight from "Pond Scum" to a nicer green, with flecks of the original yellow-green showing through, and specks of teal. I'm using that one at the moment to make some socks.

I wove a scarf for Jasmine with some of the leftover yarn from her rainbow jumper, and dyed some pale teal sock yarn. The hats were for Quidditch; I had to pair up with someone (hello GirlAnachronismE from Hufflepuff) and make the same sort of thing. I don't know if there are any baby girls in my future, but two of my sisters-in-law are pregnant, so fingers crossed. (Baby nephews would be good, too; I have some new blue yarn I want to use.... :D ) The little loom was a Headmistress Challenge.

It was my birthday this last week, and I asked my hubby for Bendigo money (for the Sheep and Wool Show in July). He obliged, and my Mum gave me the same thing :) so I can't show you that yarn yet. But I did get myself some yarn the week before, which obligingly arrived in the post on the exact day!

Malabrigo Rios!

Aguas. Probably my favorite Rios colorway.

Fresco y Seco

Niebla

Piedras

Archangel

Next term, since I'm not going to be able to cart my spinning wheel everywhere, I'm going to make hats for the chemo box, and this stuff is great for hats, esp if you have no hair. Warm wool, but not at all itchy.

The current things are green. Here are the socks I'm working on in the green yarn I overdyed.

I'm trying a new heel, called Fish Lips Kiss. It's a stupid name for a heel, but it's a kind of short row heel that seems pretty easy. I did another inch yesterday; they are thicker yarn (sport weight) and I'm using bigger needles (3mm ones) but now it seems so quick to knit socks one pair at a time!

And this is the laceweight, currently. I've done about 80g. This is made from the last Kathy's Fibre summer fibre club, where she made personalized batts (based on stalking us on Ravelry and finding out our favorite colors and things). This one is the darker, called "Shady Trees".

The rest of the month is looking green, too. What a pity! :)

Fourteen-at-a-time socks

I finished them in time, somehow!

Each had 20 rounds of toe, 50 of foot, a heel (a different sort for each pair) and at least 50 rounds of leg and 10 rounds of twisted rib cuff. Some had a little more leg. Some had to be taken offline to get them all to the right point to do the cuff together. Some got extra rounds because they felt too short. But they're DONE

Just before starting the cuffs

Curcurbitas

Sweet Tomato Heel

Glow sticks

This heel was the one from the pattern Scylla

Shadows

Pattern: Jaywalker. Heel: toe-up heel flap one I think I got from Swatchless long ago.

Sunleaf (3x2 rib)

with a Fleegle Heel.

Rowena

Jaywalkers with a toe-heel.

Mountain

Afterthought hat heel (with a small shortrow section for better fit (see the triangle bit)). I did reknit these before handing in, with 10 or 11 rounds before starting the decreases. Fits much better.

Unity

With a short row heel (Happy Knits’ No Wrap, No Gap Short Row Heel Tutorial) that worked on one sock, but not that well on the other. I had to close up the gaps. Think my attention must have wandered on that one :)

And now, NEWT number 5!

I was going to do an OWL this term between May and July, spinning laceweight yarn for Charms. But my Slytherin friends persuaded me to do a NEWT, so I'm combining the Charms laceweight with the Arithmancy spinning option: many yarns with different plies. I have 820g of yarn to spin up into 1ply, 2ply, 3ply, 4ply, nply and chain-ply. Well, no, the 2ply is going to be the laceweight, so it crosses-over with Charms.

I've started that one. I'm doing 300g of laceweight, hoping to get 1500y of 2ply and 30 WPI. That will be the thinnest I've managed so far, but it seems to be working. It's just taking about an hour to do 10g. LOL.

1100g is not too much, although I did promise to try and make the yarn singles at least 600y per 100g, which means I can't just do a thick, quick yarn. NEWTs are supposed to be challenging. All the same, a NEWT that is entirely spinning seems like a holiday! :)

Next time, the other little things I did last month... and the new socks I started! Hehehe...