Knitting, Spinning and a Mini Quilt

It has been a crazy knitty couple of months!

I wanted to make my Dad a pair of handknit socks for Christmas, but when I finished the first pair I liked them so much that I used the leftover yarn to make a 2nd pair. I actually have about 200 yards of the semi-solid brown yarn left! I stashed it for future toes and heels. : ) I named the first pair "Dad Doesn't Drink Tequilla!" because the orange yarn is Red Heart Sock yarn with Aloe in the Tequilla Sunrise colorway. The 2nd pair I named "70s Porn Star Mustache" because the orange/brown color combo reminded me so much of the 70s and until I was 11 my Dad had one of those HUGE thick BLACK porn star mustaches. Just a little twisted humor; he'll like it!

Then I finished the hat and scarf set I was making for my friend's mother. The scarf ended up being about 73" long and only 3" wide once the cable drew it in. Very nice tho! It's made from Lion Brand's wool ease which is supposed to have enough acrylic content to make it machine washable without felting. We hope!!

I spun a 3ply SUPER bulky weight yarn for my sister's shop (http://fluff4ewe.etsy.com/) the other day too. The white is corriedale wool from a local farm, the green is handdyed merino and the brown ply is natural "moorit" colored merino I got in trade for some walnut hulls. That merino is a JOY to spin! I still have a lot left; can't wait to come up with something to do with it!

I also spun myself 290 yards of what was dk weight yarn when it was on the spindle. When I soaked it to set the twist it bloomed to about worsted weight! Go figure! Anyways I still ended up with 290yards from a 4oz batt. This was that Grape Goddess batt Mom got me from Spincerely on etsy and is merino/tencel and L U S C I O U S! I think I'm going to knit myself a very wide scarf I can use as a hood/wrap and use the Elvish Leaves lace pattern everyone on Ravelry makes dishclothes out of. Unless I can do a lace pattern in a moebious, then I will do that. I'm not sure lave will work with the over/under way a moebious is knit in the round but can't find anyone who can tell me so I might just have to expirement.

I knit Hannah a pair of socks that were slightly too narrow, so when I tried them on her feet they drew up a little and got shorter. I figured I'd need to make them about 4-5 rows longer in the foot than I planned to allow for that, though on size 1 needles 4-5 rows isn't a huge increase! I tried them on her feet and was right; the sock was the exact length it needed to be when I started the heel. Finished the sock and tried it on her foot and darn if it's not 1/2" too long in the foot! She loves them though and wears them anyway! I will try again soon since I still have a LOT of this yarn left!

The N2Quilting list I'm on is going a Holiday Mini Quilt Swap. My quilt came out REALLY mini! I chose the traditional "Goose in the Pond" quilt block and used semi-solid, not quite traditional Christmas colors (the the back is a dark red Christmas print and the binding is a striped/gold metallic Christmas print). Using scant seam allowances I was able to get a 13" square quilt, LOL!! I love it though, I am thinking of making myself one.

I got this batt in the mail the other day, which I bought from ArtemisArtemis off etsy for the sole purpose of spinning these gorgeous peacock colored jump rings I bought from UnkamenSupplies into! I am thinking maybe of tearing off a handful of the batt, spinning it, then tearing off a handful of either the solid white or solid black merino I have and spinning it, and so forth just to make the yarn have more yardage. Haven't decided yet.

And last but certainly not least, there is a little girl in Diantha's modeling thing named Nia who so loved the fingerless mitts I made Diantha (orange) that her mother offered to buy them!! So as a favor to my Mom and hers a couple weekends ago I just about knocked myself out trying to knit her some little purple ones out of washing machine-friendly yarn (Diantha's are handspun). Nia is about Jeremiah's size so I was using his hands as a guide. The first mitt I knit, and finished, fit Hannah. Try again! The next one was the correct size and so I made it a mate. Hannah meanwhile feel in LOVE with the fluffy purple fancy mitt so today I have been working on knitting her a mate for it so she will have a pair. And wouldn't you know, Nia wasn't even THERE the next day at the modeling practice thing. I didn't have to stress over finishing it at all! ARgh! LOL!

And I finished Hannah's, but my brand new wonderful camera is aparently defective. Have to return it, darn it! It wouldn't even let me take pics of Hannah's but they look just like Nia's so you get the picture.