The Knitting Pirate

Two days in a row, I’ve come home from work and been sucked into the glory that is the Stripey Striped Scarf. “Just a few rows,” I tell myself, “to see what the next colors will be. Just a few more rows before dinner.” Right now, pale pink is playing off of a beautiful fresh green. Was it coincidence that tonight’s dinner was salmon and sugar snap peas? Perhaps not.

When I was at Pennsic, I saw a woman using a spinning wheel, and now I’m not sure I want to bother with the drop spindle. It’s so slow in comparison! On the other hand, if I don’t use the drop spindle, I won’t have any handspun for quite a while. I’ve no room in the apartment for a wheel, and it will be at least six months before we move into a house. I think a great deal of my “woo! house!” excitement is that I’ll have room for a spinning wheel!

I guess it’s just a matter of buckling down and saying “Tonight I’m going to spin,” even though I think I may be frustrated by both my lack of skill and the slow progress. Hm, I have no plans yet for tomorrow evening… maybe it will be a spinning night.

This is just a few ounces of the eight *pounds* of fleece currently awaiting rotation through the freezer. I am thrilled to have it; I just need to decide what to make! Alpaca mittens would be nice, or maybe those fingerless gloves I keep thinking of – or maybe convertible fingerless glove mittens! Yeah!

Unfortunately, pictures of this green roving don’t do the color justice at all, though I tried and tried. I found two bags of the same color, but they were obviously two different dye lots, so I’m going to card them together and split the difference. It’s very tightly compressed right now and feels a little bit rough. Originally I was thinking of making a hat with it. If it still feels rough when I card it, I might have to change that idea, or make a lining so it’s not too itchy on my head. Here’s an older picture of me, from two years ago, but there are my eyes… and there is this roving. It’s incredible. I’ve never found anything this color before, so if I’m ranting a little, please forgive me!

Another thing I bought at Pennsic is this cobweb-weight silk/cashmere blend. It’s the same as the coppery brown stuff I already have, and bought from the same person. She says she keeps this and several other colors in stock, or I’d've been tempted to purchase two spools of purple as well. it’s amazingly fine. I spent a long time in front of the tent just admiring the different colors and gently touching the yarn.
When Pirate-Husband picks out a pattern of lace that he likes, I’ll put the project in my Ravelry queue. I’m certain that I will be able to make two cuffs for him by next Pennsic. If I make it three times the circumference of his wrist, it should ruffle nicely from the cuff of his shirt and look really spiff!

Speaking of lace, here is the Ostrich Plumes progress, gently pinned out this time so the pattern shows up better. I’m still not sure how long I should be making this, but I’m developing a reputation for dressing however I please and still pulling off the look – so I’m confident that it will look good whether it’s short or long. I’ll just wrap it around my neck and go. How could it be bad?

The Stripey Striped Scarf ought to be finished before autumn, since I really want to wear it with my gray coat. I am so pleased with the way the colors are playing out! It doesn’t seem like it should work, then for some reason it does. It may sound egotistical to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway: one of my motivations for finishing the scarf is to hear other people’s reactions to it when I wear it.

And now, the Jaywalker. By some miracle, I got the second sock to start in almost the first place as the first sock. I think the color is only off by two rows. I’m going to start the heel in the same place so that matches, because no one will notice if my socks are an eighth of an inch different in height, even me, especially if they slouch a little. I love that the tip of the toe and the tip of the heel have that tiny little bit of light blue in there. If both socks have that, I shall be very pleased indeed! Once the Jaywalkers are done, I’m going to go back to the Pomatomus sock and make a mate for it. After that… well, I really want to start designing my own socks. I’ve been really inspired by the patterns that Wendy has been coming up with during the Summer of Socks, and I’ve had some great ideas (at least, I think they’re great) for patterns of my own.

And I decided not to take any pictures of the Ninja’s Sekrit Yarn Gift. She’s just going to have to wait until I see her in person!

Yarn and knitting stuff and fluff everywhere. Alpaca on the floor, roving on the couch, lace on my desk, scarf draped over the basket, sock-in-progress in my purse, and a growing pile of finished objects on my end table (on top of unread magazines). This will not do. Tomorrow, I plan to take pictures of the progress I’ve made and the new stuff I’ve got:

There is the Jaywalker that I completed at Pennsic, and the first few inches of its mate. There is another inch or so on the lace scarf. The stripy scarf is nearing the end of the second two balls. I picked up 50g of a gorgeous silk/cashmere cobweb-weight in white, to make lace cuffs for Pirate-Husband. There is, of course, eight pounds of alpaca in various natural colors. There is the green roving which matches my eyes. Then there is the sekrit yarn for the Ninja – should I take a picture of that, or let it be a surprise to her?

There is also some guilt. I signed on to do four squares of a charity blanket, and I’ve not yet completed them. Fortunately, there will be a considerable amount of free time this weekend – I have plans for Saturday morning and evening, but not afternoon, and Sunday holds some tentative plans but nothing I can’t knit my way through.

It’s also over 90 degrees here and incredibly humid (feels like 103 degrees), so I have no desire to spend my weekend outside. The weather report says it will be just as hot tomorrow, with the heat index at 105. Hooray for air conditioning!

Ahhh, vacation. I finished one Jaywalker and am halfway down the leg of the next. Everyone who saw the socks-in-progress was impressed, which makes me happy even if it is a very simple pattern. I tried carding some of the alpaca fleece but I’m not sure I know what I’m doing – and mostly it was too hot and humdi to work with fleece, so I knit instead. I’m hoping someone at the SnB knows about carding alpaca fleece and can show me a trick or three.

Things I bought: 50g white silk/cashmere cobweb weight, to make lace cuffs for Pirate Husband’s SCA shirts. 8 oz or so of beautiful green wool roving that is exactly the color of my eyes – mostly green, with some orange and some flecky bits and some blue. Some SHH QUIET IT’S A SEKRIT yarn for the Knitting Ninja, partly because the color just screams NINJA and partly because I was drunk at the time, but sober enough to say “no no no I’m on a yarn diet… hey, that means I can buy it for someone else, doesn’t it!”

Thing I did not buy: A spinning wheel. But I really, really want one. I was mesmerized by it. Round and round and yarn twisting out of fluff and round and round some more. (This is when I bought the Ninja’s sekrit gift yarn. I’d been to a margarita party, see…) When I buy a house and have room for a wheel, it’ll be one of my first purchases. Again, I’m hoping someone at the SnB has a wheel and will let me try it. I hear that people can be picky about letting unskilled hands on their wheels, but maybe if I ask around someone will take pity on me.

The house is full of laundry, both washed and unwashed, but other than that we’re pretty well unpacked. Everything smells delightfully of woodsmoke, except the yarn and roving, which was carefully kept in an extra cooler, serving double purpose as packing materials for some pottery. And tomorrow, it’s back to work! Life is pretty damn good right now.