Electricity

The electricity in my entire neighborhood was out this weekend, so I got a fair bit of knitting, spinning and reading done :)

First of all, I finished my mom's shawl...just in time to give it to her for her birthday on Sunday :) She LOVED the colors and put it on right away and was just thrilled :) See what a few skeins of cheap Lion Brand Homespun and some big needles can do, lol....



I also finished my partner's second slipper on Thursday night, so her toes are being kept warm and cushy as the Bay Area slips into fall and cool, rainy days :) I just LOVE this pattern and can't wait to make my own slippers!



Here's one mid-knit, so you can see why my partner dubbed them "Foot Canoes" LOL





Finally, I spun up the remainder of this sample roving for A Little Quacky and plied it...my first time Navajo plying and I LOVED it! I need a lot more practice to end up with an even, not overspun yarn, but yay! What a fun technique :P



Above is while spinning and below is the plied yarn :)



Then, I decided to start a small project this weekend because the yarn for my FIRST SWEATER hasn't arrived yet (hopefully, it will today!) and I needed something to knit while the power was out, lol.

Enter wristwarmers in Plymouth Baby Grande Alapaca :) I'm just sort of making them up as I go along and I LOVE them. They're soft and delicious and sproingy and soft and warm and did I mention soft? hehe.



I don't like the increases I did for my giant palms, so I'm gonna tink back a bit and try a different increase, then try to recreate another matching one, lol.

This Saturday is The Knit and Crochet show and I'm SUPER excited to go and buy delicious yarn and fondle everything :P I'm also going with my new fibery friend, so it's a double good day!

Knit Picks Needle Nirvana

*sob*

I just wrote a HUGE GLOWING review of the new Knit Picks wooden needle tips and accidentally lost it!!!! *sob sob sob**

Quick re-cap because I need to get back to work.

Ordered them they day they were on the website. Got them yesterday :)

They're amazing. They're beautiful. They're the perfect needle. I am never using another needle again. So smooth they are almost laquered feeling, but not sticky like laquer. The yarn moves effortlessly along the needles, but also stays put enough to not have them all slide off when you aren't looking. Colors aren't as garish as they look on the website...more a muted, wooden colors. They're stunning to look at, warm in the hands, super soft and just a dream to hold. I didn't want to put them down.

Knitting with them is amazing. Stitches glides effortlessly with no resistance. The points are really pointy so they get under the most stubborn stitches with ease, almost as if they're reading your mind. Yet, they're not so pointy that they hurt when you press on the ends...much less so than some other needles I've used in the past.

Perfect smoothness yet clinginess.
Perfect pointiness without causing injury.
Perfectly smooth join that lets the yarn glide effortlessly around the cable.
Perfect weight and warmth.
Perfect colors and beauty.

PERFECT needles.

I brought my camera to take pictures for y'all but I forgot the card reader *duh* so you'll have to make due with an inferior camera phone picture :) This is some dusty green Wool of the Andes wool on the needles :)



Everyone should run out and buy these now!

Disclaimer: I'm in no way affiliated with Knit Picks...just a fellow fiber whore who know y'all would want to hear about the tips as soon as I used them :)

We now interrupt this program....

for something slightly different :)

Decided to whip up a quick K1, yo, K to end of row shawl for my mother using some pretty and soft Lion Brand Homespun yarn I bought for just this purpose.

I'm using 11 needles and the resulting fabric is coming out so light and with a fantastic drape to it, but not holey at all. It's really warm and I see my mom using it around her shoulders a lot this winter :)





I am so perplexed by Homespun. Some of the skeins are soft and delightful, while others are stiff and plasticy and I feel like I can hear them squeak when I touch them. Even within the same color...it's a mystery. SO, I mostly buy it by feel at this point and hope that I like the color of the softer skeins too :) This was is really great colors for my mom...she'll love it!

Foot Canoes

I am making a new pair of cool, kick-ass slippers for my partner, Scot. I got the pattern from Cocoknits....her website will be up soon at cocoknits.com! They're supposed to be knit in Malabrigio, but I decided to knit my first pair in something a little less spendy to see how they work out and so I don't use the Malabrigio on mistakes. I ended up using the Vanna's Choice acrylic I had in my stash. So soft and knit up surprisingly springy and warm...I am falling in love with this yarn!

I knit both of the soles first, then picked up the stitches on one sole and knit that upper. As I was knitting the sides, Scot claimed that they looked like "foot canoes," so that is what they're now called around my house...although someone a little less silly might call them Loafer slippers :P

On to the pictures!

First, you knit a sole like this. I did both the soles before I tried making the uppers :) They're quick and easy to knit.

One foot canoe in all its glory :P I didn't plan on the two yarns to pool that way and would have rather they didn't, but it doesn't look bad so *shrug*

Where the foot canoe actually looks the cool, kick-ass loafer slipper that it is supposed to be :P You can see all the crazy ends inside I still have to weave in. *sigh* I hate weaving in ends, lol...but don't we all? You can also see the holes and crazy twisties next to the ridge on the right. I obviously screwed up somehow, but I was so careful in following the pattern! Ah well, I still love them, even if they're flawed :P

Foot canoe in action...being worn by my size 11 feet. Scot's feet are size 6...but they fit her as well. Amazing, that stretchy yarn!

The money shot! I love how the cast-off looks and the little loafer curved bit on the top, even if mine is (for some unknown reason) lopsided.... Yay!

Now on to knitting foot canoe #2 :)