the Akamai Knitter

I’m not feeling so hot. I’m not sure if it’s the Thai food from last night or if I’ve caught some kind of bug, but the end result is less then stellar. So no photos of the handspun that’s dry today.*

Instead, I thought I’d share some fiber I got in the mail last night.

This beauty is from the magnificent Jessica‘s shop Zarzuela’s Fibers. The colorway is Seascape and it’s 100% Merino.

Isn’t it delicious?

Flu bug or not, I’m spinning today because I cannot wait to get this lovely concoction on the wheel!

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend. Go Cards!

*Also, no kitty photos as they’ve all deserted me to nap in secret places. Felines! Feh.

Here it is! My first knitting FO of the year. Woohoo!

Pattern: My own (cuff down 3×1 rib with round heel)

Yarn: Opal Harry Potter yarn in Ron colorway

Needles: size 1US/2.25mm

Started: December 6, 2008

Finished; January 25, 2009

For the most part these were a relaxing knit. The part that was not so relaxing was the yarn vomit. I think I’ll either rewind my sock yarn or work from the outside of the ball from now on.

In the end, I was saved from the tangled mess by my friend Mary (sadly blogless) on Saturday, when she kindly rewound it all by hand. Isn’t she a sweetie? But wouldn’t you know that I finished the socks the very next night. Ain’t it always that way?

Another little thing I finished is a necklace to match some earrings I made for a customer.

In my brain dead state, I couldn’t remember all of the crystals I used on the earrings. It turns out I didn’t use all the same colors as the earrings. It’s a good thing my customer is a sweetheart and loves it anyway.

I also finished plying all those singles yesterday. I washed them and they’re drying as we speak, so hopefully I’ll be able to blog about them, as well as two other skeins,  on Friday.

Speaking of fiber, I may have fallen rather hard during Hungry For Handspun’s shop update yesterday. I’m still recovering from the shock of it.

Even Quincy took to hiding from the impact of the fall from fiber restraint.

Happy Hump Day, everyone! Be good to yourselves!

This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity for me and it’s left me feeling quite wrung out. It was worth it though!

On Saturday, I got together with my beading friends for lunch then crafting time. Despite spending most of my time ooh’ing and aah’ing over everyone’s show and tell, I managed to make a pair of earrings. Only I can’t show them to you because when I went to my class on Sunday, Jamie and Jason asked me if they could use them as a store display. (squee!)

After class on Sunday, I went to Joy‘s house for some knitting time.  Kim was there as well and we all indulged in sushi, rice pudding (homemade!), and hurricane popcorn.  Hurricane popcorn has popcorn, furikake, and mochi crunch/arare. It’s really good!

Getting together with good friends in a quiet, tranquil setting was exactly what I needed to recharge my creative batteries.  I didn’t realized how chained I’d been to the spinning wheel. It was good to do something different for a change.

Like a good blogger, I took quite a few pictures and so did blogless Elaine. Instead of bombarding you with big shot after big shot, I offer you a mosaic.

I mentioned that I took a class on Sunday. It was the Big Wire 101 class at The Bead Gallery and I’d been waiting to take that class for months! Boy was it ever worth the wait. Jamie, the part owner of the shop, was the teacher and she is a wire goddess. (She’s been working with wire for at least 12 years, so I truly think she deserves the title ‘goddess’.)

My brain is just over-flowing with different ideas on how to put all these little geegaws together. If only I could find the time! I have a couple of custom orders to do and I also need to ply these before I can really start playing.

At the same time, I need to try and rest and be gentle with myself as my Fibromyalgia has decided to flare up. I guess it’s no wonder with the hectic schedule I put myself through over the weekend. It may not seem hectic to you, but my body is just not up to that strenuous a schedule.

Luckily, I have a buddy to cuddle up with when I’m in bed. Remember this guy? He hasn’t had much face time on the blog lately, but I managed to take a few shots of him last night. Thus the pictures aren’t that great.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I may post my first FO of 2009 tomorrow! Whee!

The obsession continues.

moss on the trees

2 ply – 110 yards

3.2 ounces

8-10 WPI (Bulky Weight)

100% Domestic Wool from The Yarn Wench

afternoon at the lake

2 ply – 200 yards

3.9 oz

10 WPI / Bulky weight

100% Merino from Enchanted Knoll Farm (colorway Wood Elves)

shamrock

2 ply – 195 yards

3.8 oz

14 WPI / light worsted weight

100% Merino from All Spun Up

I am so happy that I’ve finally produced some bulky weight yarn. I feel like I’ve finally broken free of the laceweight barrier. I only hope that I can still manage the laceweight as I’ve a friend that said once he started spinning thicker yarns, he couldn’t go back to the thin.

I think one of the things I need to do this weekend is finish up some of the laceweight/fingering weight projects I’ve abandoned in favor of the fun stuff. The heavier weight yarns are just so much more gratifying because they spin up so quickly.

Before I do that, I’d like to stock the shop with a few more heavy weight yarns and get that second Harry Potter sock (Ravel it!) done. I’ll have to squeeze all that in between meeting some beading friends on Saturday, a beading class on Sunday, and a get together at a friend’s house after the class.

I’m already a  little exhausted just thinking about it all.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I’ve been working on the Harry Potter socks (Ravelry) in bits and pieces, here and there, now and then. As you can see, progress is being made.

I have turned the heel on the second sock! *fist pump* Now there’s just 8 inches of foot left to do before I hit the toe.

Did I say “just” 8 inches?

Blargh.

My motivation is hampered.

Why? Because of this.

There we have Grade A yarn vomit. I keep meaning to wind that mess into a cake, but I am daunted. Daunted by the task of untangling the gnarly knots. So many gnarly knots! I cringe from them.

At least there’s the Clapotis. I worked on it during football Sunday and it’s growing at a decent pace.

Do you see it? There are dropped stitches going on! Want a closer look? Otay!

I’m still not sure how the overall effect will be like, but I’m really enjoying the process. I’ve also reconciled myself to the fact that it looks like snakeskin. (Hai, Becky!) In fact, I’m rather fond of the comparision.

I’ve put the Clapotis on the backburner until those Harry Potter socks are done. I’m hoping this will motivate me into demonic speed knitting. Beware my glowing red eyes.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!