the Akamai Knitter

On Day 12 of the Tour de Fleece, I spun up some Supercoils from some of Jen‘s nifty fiber. The colors are as far as  you can get from my normal color palette, but when it comes to art yarns I like to stretch the boundaries.

This is a Superwash BFL yarn and it was so much fun to spin. Take a closer look.

Once I was done with the coils though, I felt it was time to get return to my roots. So for Day 13, I unearthed a project that has been moldering since October of last year. This is what I had already finished.

This projec is so old, Jen and I can’t even remember what kind of fiber it is. We’ve narrowed it down to either Merino or Rambouillet.

Once Day 14 (yesterday) was over this is what I had accomplished.

Now that Day 15 is here, I’m wracked with indecision. Do I ply the two laceweight singles? Or do I ply these singles I had finished before the tour started?

Maybe if I kick my ass hard enough I could ply both of them today.

o.O

Or I could do an art yarn with this beautiful batt.

I’m thinking beehives/granny stacks like these.

Or I could start spinning another 3-ply.

Or a squishy 2-ply.

Or a puffy single.

Or more coils.

I am overwhelmed with the choices.

o.o

The boy-cats have abandoned me and have become camera shy. Instead, I give you Saturday Sky.

I love it and I hate it. On one hand, I’m praying for rain. We need it. On the other hand, I’m hoping it doesn’t because it’ll turn up the humidity knob to some kind of unbearable level that I’d rather not deal with.

Happy Saturday, people! Rock on.

In preparation for the Tour De Fleece (Ravel it!), which starts tomorrow, I’ve been getting some spinning projects out of the way. I managed to get two of them done and they’re out on the lanai drying.

I still have a 3-ply to actually ply, but I’m hoping to get that done today. *fingers crossed*

Since the plan is to produce some art yarn for the Tour, I thought I’d practice some coiling techniques yesterday. This is what I came up with.

I’m not sure I like the finished product, but I had a lot of fun making it. What you can’t see is the spots where the crochet threads is showing.  Nor can you see the knots where I had to tie the crochet thread together because I held it so tightly it snapped.

So I’m going to try and practice a little bit more today and see if I can adjust my tension.  Again… *fingers crossed*

With all this spinning going on, it should have been no surprise to have gotten what I got in the mail yesterday. But it really was a big surprise.

It all started when I bought a green opal spindle from Zebisis Designs. Unfortunately, when Maiysha was testing the spindle the whorl broke.  The sad part of this story  is that she didn’t have any more green opal whorls nor could she get a hold of any more.  I was sorely disappointed.  :(

But! Maiysha went above and beyond the call of excellent customer service. Not only did she refund my money, she also asked me to pick out whatever I wanted in her shop free of charge. I picked a spindle and much time has passed since.

Then it arrived yesterday with a note that said “I didn’t forget!”

Not only did she send me that gorgeous blue agate spindle, she also sent me that lovely tussah silk! Now that’s customer service for ya.

Thank you, Maiysha. You’re a gem!

Also, I’m having a sale over at my Artfire shop. Everything there is 30% off. You don’t need to sign up for an account there, you can just dive in and have at it.  Here’s a sampling of what  you can find there!

Finally, I think Scheyer is a little tense about the possible firecrackers about to be set by my yahoo neighbors over the weekend.  He sure doesn’t look very happy.

Happy Friday, people! Be safe this weekend. :)

I want this week to be over. My email was down for over 12 hours .  I’ve been having annoying health issues.  AND I’m still not sleeping well.

So lemme just say that I got my crankypants on.

It’s a good thing too, since I happened to have joined Team Crankypants on Ravelry for the Tour de Fleece. Apparently I’m also to blame for this as well, but that’s another story.

My goal for the tour is to experiment with some art yarn.  I want to try spinning some coils and corespun. I’m mighty afeared of these techniques, but I think with the help of my teammates, I’ll be able to conquer that fear and Just Do It.

In an effort to free the spinning queue in preparation for the tour, I have some yarn to show you.

Stormy Skies

400 yards – 2ply

14 WPI – 4.4 oz

I spun this up from some lovely batts gifted to me for Christmas by the lovely Jen of Hungry For Handspun. It was so much fun to spin. This one has alpaca, merino, sari silk, and sparkly angelina.

I’m already plotting to acquire more of her lovely batts.

Midnight Desire by CJ Kopec

386 yards – single ply

18 WPI – 4.4 oz

100% Corriedale

Let me start by saying that I hate Corriedale. I hate it hate it hate it. I just do. BUT, I could not resist this color! Look how rich it is! It’s to die for.  Yes?

So although I wasn’t thrilled with spinning it, (it was just too harsh for my delicate hands. What?!) I love the yarn that came off the wheel. I’m keeping this one for myself and I plan on making a shawl with it.

Here’s one little guy who obviously has no problems sleeping and doesn’t own a single pair of crankypants.

Happy Wednesday, folks! Do you own a pair of crankypants?

Remember the sock that I started? Well, I was merrily knitting my way along until this happened:

I’m not sure how this came to be.  All I did was pull out a little bit of it to untangle. Then a huge chunk of it came out. That’s when it all went to hell.

It’s so bad, I had to send it out of state for help.

/sigh

So what’s a girl to do when a sock project is in crisis mode? Start another sock!

I pulled out another bag from the PSC and came up with this gem.

My dear friend Becky sent it to me ages ago and I’ve been saving it up to knit for my Mom. It’s just the perfect colorway. Not only is it in Dallas Cowboy colors, it’s also the Duke Blue Devil and Orlando Magic* team colors.

Becky must have put some really good mojo into this yarn, because it’s knitting up pretty fast.

I wasn’t too thrilled with the way the colors were playing out at first, but it’s growing on me. The more I look at it, the more I like it.

Regardless of whether I like it or not, my mother loves it. That’s what really matters here.

I have to say the yarn is really nice to work with. It’s soft and buttery and there are zero tangle issues. What more could a girl ask for?

Meanwhile, we’ve been having a heat wave here. Last week we broke four or five record high’s.  The air conditioner has been cranking and still, the cats continue to bask in the overwhelming heat instead of resting in the cool air.

Cats are nutters.

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend!

*I don’t want to talk about them or the NBA Finals. /sigh

1. i was up before 7am. this is not a good thing.
2. i will most likely run out of yarn before i finish the swallowtail shawl. there’s an emergency plan in place. we’ll see how it works out.
3. my living room is a wreck due to the havoc created while trying to find a matching yarn for the swallowtail. i have serious creative differences between myself and my organizational skills.
4. sammy is back in my good books. he’s just too adorable for me to hold a grudge.
5. RuPaul’s Drag Race is making me happy. “Lip synch for your life!”
6. i’m happy that matt giraud has survived another week. although i don’t think he’ll make it to the finals, i hope he’ll make it to the top five.
7. the final four is tomorrow. i’m excited and sad all at the same time. soon it will be the end of the college basketball season.
8. i have new stitch markers in the shop.

i have no 9 and i have no 10. all i have is the happiness and relief that today is friday. have a great weekend, folks! happy friday!