Moses supposes his toeses are...

ROSES!! (ok, so I hope you know your Singing in the Rain songs or that makes no sense)



I felt really sorry about my comment about abandoning the little black socks. I really didn't, you know!! So here they are done in time for the springing of the roses (like I need black socks for June)...and in the middle of finals week too (ya gotta do something while they write:-)!

I've even completed some spinning (grading, schmading). I won't go so far as to say this is nice yarn but I will say it is "not nasty". This was the horrific pink intestine roving that I over-dyed at the class back in Feb. As I say, anything is better than pink intestines.


And here is the progress on the Fitted Knit.


It's really going incredibly fast considering how little time I give it. Perhaps I don't work on it as much as other projects because at this point, it tends to take on a rather disconcerting shape as it rests in your lap and I'm afraid it will only get worse. It is no longer my Fitted Knit Project and has become the Manhattan Project!! Los Alamos here I come...

WOOLVERINE



I know I already described to you guys, but it's really worth actually seeing. And since we are here, on the 2nd day of the world without Gilmore Girls, there might be someone who needs a smile.

Consolation Prizes

What to do when your friends are far away at MDSW without you? Go on your own yarn adventure of course. Saturday I attended a baby shower way out in the suburbs. Before I went out there I looked up a yarn shop not far from the hostess's house (thank you Google Maps!). I wished I had my camera when I got there because it is in a strip center with a big sign that just says YARN really big. They didn't have anything I liked for the baby blanket but they did have this VARIGATED mercenized cotton. So I think I will make another attempt at the linen weave belt later.




Then, as if missing MDSW wasn't bad enough, on Monday I find out that Gilmore Girls has been cancelled! Okay, I know it was time as the show was going downhill, but since they didn't make the decision until after the last episode was filmed I know it is going to have one of those no-closure post-modern type endings I hate. So, to cheer myself up I headed out to the Lamb Shoppe (thank you Dad the Babysitter!). They were most helpful and though I did not find a "print" to use as the contrasting yarn, I'm hoping the ends will be easier when I'm doing garter stitch instead of seed. Besides I just looooved the feel of this baby alpaca. I hope it wears well.

Let the photo speak for itself...

Even the crankiest can't avoid it



The actual message of this cartoon has nothing to do with yarn, obviously. But look what ol' Crankshaft is doing!

MDSW



Lovely, overwhelming, beautiful, inspiring.
I enjoyed MDSW more than ever this year. Every year just seems to get better. You'd think winning a ribbon and taking a class with Judith Mackenzie McCuin last year would have cinched it as "BEST YEAR EVER" but no. I think it's because MDSW is very much about just being there and experiencing the whole idea, so that the specific details of the years don't really define it for me. Although speaking of specifics, I will say that it was terribly sad not to have the third member of the trio there...

The purchases were perfect this year I must say. I went with specific wants, got everything I hoped for exactly, didn't spend more than my budget, and never once felt completely overwhelmed to do something foolish (although I did seriously start to take that gorgeous, huge, $90 corriedale fleece out of the fleece sale, yeah that was a bit close). I did buy some fiber, but only things I really wanted and that I know exactly what I want to do with. I'm mostly struck by how different the three fiber purchases are. The first is a wildly orange/red cormo roving which is really not conveyed in the photo although I'm getting better with the color thing. The next is a lovely rare breed called Manx Loghtan mixed with angora -so soft, calm and yummy. The last is a classy little lilac tencel/merino top which feels it a bit beneath her dignity to be seen with that rather common cormo.





The most exciting thing was getting a drop spindle. I don't know if it's an especially good one, but it was funny how quickly I became incredibly attached to it, defending it from the smug looks the splashy Golding spindles gave it. I can spin on it so I guess as a new spindler that's all that really matters. The most surprising thing is that I wasn't really prepared for how satisfying it is. I love the thought that I'm connecting to the earliest spinners, the ones that pre-date man's telling of our spinning story, the spinners that began the story.


Perhaps the most triumphant aspect though is that I was thinking about a bobbin winder. "Thinking" because this would truly be a luxury purchase, not something I need and that I will only use occasionally. Of course, the one I liked best at the festival was also the most expensive and by expensive I'm talkin' the corriedale fleece and substantial change! So I left it there...and then came home and won an ebay auction last night for the very same winder for HALF the price, HALF!! My first ever ebay auction and not only did I win it, I won it even though someone tried to snipe me right in the last two minutes. Very exciting and did I mention I got it for HALF the price of the one at sheep and wool. Of course the seller hasn't contacted me yet and it will probably arrive with some problem, but the picture looks good and the seller had great recommendations! I'll let you know if it ever finds it's way from Sweden!!



And to top it all off, I finished my socks from my own handspun last night waiting on the auction, probably the best handspun/knitting project to date. I love them...and so does Max.


cast on and on and on

So in addition to all having the exact same lunch order, Abby and I also bought the same book AND both started a new project from the book immediately!



But for me this was merely the continuation of my new found cast-on rampage. It all started...

Once again, the lure of the homespun calls me and I can not refuse!!


So the little black socks are left in the dust but it doesn't stop there. I also started a "reknit" project. (Did you really think the ripping would stop? But I did decide to spare you the carnage of the ripped yarn and just show the rebirth. This was that little tank top from two summers ago. You probably don't remember it because I rarely wore it! Much too big for me.)


AND cast on a surprise project that will not be revealed at this stage (since actually the appropriate term is really "potential project" not so much a surprise. In fact the surprise will be if it ever becomes a real project!!)