the Akamai Knitter

I have two more skeins of yarn finished so today is basically a repeat of Friday. I’m just that exciting.

sangria

2-ply

173 yards – 14 WPI

3.85 oz – 109.15 g

100% Corriedale

roving from “Hungry For Handspun”

sangria

Jen is my favorite crack dealer and you can see why looking at those colors. Between her and a certain cranky knitter, I’ve been halfway cured of my allergy to pink. I’m still resisting adding any of it to my wardrobe.  Never say never though. It could still happen. Maybe. Possibly. Let’s not hold our breath.

tea garden

2-ply

173 yards – 12 WPI

3.6 oz – 102.06 g

100% Finn

roving from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club

tea garden

I have to say Tea Garden is my favorite of the two. While I love both colorways equally, the Finn is so soft and squishy. The Corriedale is just a bit harsh in comparison. I doubt I’ll be adding anymore of the Corrie to my stash, even though I think it would make fantastic outer wear knits.

This would not be a complete “Monday Repeat” without another picture of the Sammy. Here he is looking rather annoyed at being disturbed from his nap. Oh the sacrifices the kitty must make for the sake of the blog!

sammy!

Before I go, I just have to say that yesterday was an awesome football day. I’m ecstatic over the fact that the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history and I’ll be cheering for them all the way!

Happy Monday, folks!

The obsession with the heavier weight handspun yarn continues.

butterscotch

2 ply – thick and thin

148 yards / 8-10 WPI

3.9 ounces

100% Merino wool

roving from “Hungry For Handspun”

butterscotch

I got the roving for this yarn from my Jen as a birthday present last year. Her 80-count merino is one of my all-time favorites to spin as it’s so fluffy and soft and of course her colors are to dye for. (haha!) (Yes. It’s one of those days.)

deep forest

2 ply

140 yards / 8 – 12 WPI

4.1 ounces

100% Blue Faced Leicester Wool

roving from “Hungry For Handspun”

deep forest

I had a hell of a time getting the color accuracy right on these pictures. Apparently my camera hates green. I fiddled with them in photoshop, but they still aren’t very true. The actual yarn is much more olive green and has less brown in it.  The top picture is much truer to color then the above.

So the love affair with spinning something other then thread thin yarn continues. There are two other skeins of yarn waiting to be washed and photographed. I should have them ready to photograph on Monday.

I’m a bit worried that my shop is getting flooded with yarn though. Maybe I should take a break from the spinning? Is there such a thing as too much handspun yarn?

Sammy says, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” Or at least he would if he ever woke up.

sleepy sammy

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend!

Remember this?

stark

Remember how I went on about how ugly I thought it was? Well, you can all have a great big belly laugh at my expense.  Take a look at this.

incanto (color 08)

Yes. They’re the ame colors.

*blink*

My only excuse is that they’ve been spun very differently. In fact, I still think the Incanto is much prettier. Also in my defense, I totally forgot I had this yarn. You know how that happens. At least you do if you’re a knitter. ;-)

I unearthed the yarn after I finished the first Harry Potter sock. I decided I deserved some selfish knitting time. Instead of working on an existing project, I also decided I’d treat myself to something new. Since I had agreed to do a Clapotis KAL with Kim this month, I dug up the designated yarn for said project.

Imagine my chagrin when I saw the yarn I had lovingly chosen way back when was in the same colors I had just shunned the day before. I considered never blogging about the project. But really? I like to laugh at myself.

I’m not sure I like the mottled look of it, but I’m hoping the effect of the dropped stitches will break that apart into a more pleasing fabric. I start on that section sometime today or tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

As promised, here are the results of my experimentation with spinning bulkier yarn.

stark

2 ply

182 yards/approximately 12 WPI

4.05 ounces

“hand combed wool top” (that’s all the label said)

stark

Stark is actually my second try. The first skein is just too hideous for public consumption and will remain in isolation for the remainder of its life.

While I’m not pleased with how inconsistent Stark is, I am happy that I at least got past the fingering weight threshold. Achieving something like worsted weight in a 2 ply is cause for significant celebration in my book. :)

My second skein came out much better.

tutti frutti

2 ply

200 yards / approximately 14 WPI

3.85 ounces

100% Shetland

tutti frutti

Now why the fugly yarn title? Well look at them. Stark is black, grey, and yellow. Really, people,  need I say more? And the chartreuse? I know there are fans of chartreuse out there and I welcome them! Only I’m not one of them. Oh no. I vehemently oppose the color as it offends my senses. :-P

So why do I even have these rovings in my house? Because I was in a fiber club and you don’t get to choose what you get.* That’s how these babies weaseled their way into my home. I’ll probably throw these two up on my shop.**  Maybe someone out there will be able to appreciate them more then I.

I’ve finally moved on to spinning roving that are more color friendly to my delicate senses. They’ll probably be ready come Monday because I am obsessed with spinning the bulky yarn. Utterly obsessed. I even have a blister (although it’s a tiny one) on my finger from all the spinning I’m doing.

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a fun-filled weekend!

*I quit the fiber club. My money is too precious to waste on fiber that I don’t like.  Ya know what I mean?

**That is when I can get my lazy ass in gear and actually list the buggers. Today or Monday are the target dates. Or I could gift them to a color-blind knitter like a certain someone suggested.

On New Year’s Day I was lucky enough to have the company of two great people, Kris and Naomi.  They both grew up here in Hawaii and they’re visiting their respective families over the holidays but they managed to escape long enough for a mini spin-in.

naomi and kris

Kris and I particularly wanted Naomi to teach us the way of the thick yarn since the both of us tend to spin on the thin side.

Here’s Naomi going at it on my Suzie.

naomi, the spinnin' wizard!

I think some of what she did permeated through my thick head, because I’m spinning some thickish yarn on the Lendrum right now. We shall see what it looks like when I get it off the wheel. :)

I had a really good time with them while they were here. It’s too bad they both live so far away and that airfare is so costly. I could totally do this once a week. :D

There wasn’t much time for me to be blue over the fact that they live so far away as I got to go to a bead show on Saturday. I wandered around for over two hours and managed to snag some pretties.

I couldn’t resist these pearls. They have such an unusual shape and the colors are so vibrant!

funky pearls

I also managed to snag some glass briolettes for my earring obsession.

glass briolettes

The faux Opalite is one of my favorites.

faux opalite and faux smoky quartz

I couldn’t resist treating myself to some special semi-precious briolettes.  I got a strand of Tourmalated Quartz and Smoky Quartz.

tourmalated quartz and smoky quartz

There are a few other small purchases I made, but since I want to show you a couple more things I don’t want to break anyone’s computer with more images. :P

With all these beads in the house, I had to do some beading. So I made up a couple of earrings. I’m a little ambivalent about these, but here they are anyway.

black trumpet flower cascade

I really love the bead caps on the second pair.

purple trumpet flower cascade

I think it’s time to go play with my new beads and my wheel.  Happy Monday.  I hope I haven’t innundated you all with too many pictures! :)