hmmmmm...

So that merino top I dyed

spun up into 256 yds. of 3 ply worsted-to-dk weight

I know I said I was shooting for fingering. Didn't happen. Mostly due to the nubbiness of the top, which is somewhat evident in the photos, which made it much less smooth to spin and control while doing so. I was picking off nubs every few feet. This was due to my forceful dye job on the roving several years ago when I was new at it and beat the daylights out of the wool, turning it into a near-felted dense mass which no amount of drafting could smooth out completely. I don't have carders. I need carders. No matter. It's spun. Not the greatest yarn in the world but I'm thinking it would make a lovely cowl or something where the individual stitches are not so important as the overall texture.

Anyone have a favourite neckwarmer/cowl/any other pattern that would work? I know that's what Ravelry searches are for, but I like getting recommendations. Next you can help me find something to wear to my niece's wedding cause that's killing me (just kidding :).

Have a great weekend!

by hand

I love owning things that someone has made by hand. They are the things I would miss the most if I were to lose all of my possessions. I love making things for other people and I love receiving things they've made.

These are some things I'm loving right now. I went to a craft sale the other night and found this wonderful little 'drawing'

I have also been irresistibly drawn to some wonderful (Cdn.) indy dyer yarns lately...Viola sock yarn, for instance:

'paprika'

and 'inky'

and Tanis Fiber Arts fingering weight

'jewel'

'peacock'

And I haven't wanted to take off this wonderful t-shirt my friend silkscreened. I love artichokes.

And my cousin makes these totally adorable guys. I had to defuzz him a bit for the photo shoot cause he has seen a LOT of snuggling action around here.

More knitting soon.

3 more sleeps

I'm trying not to hyperventilate about my vacation ending in a few days. I'm in full denial by staying up super late every night listening to knitting podcasts, catching up on blogs and knitting. (Oh wait. I do that all the time normally. But without the sleeping in part.)

I'm dividing my fibre time between spinning some merino I dyed a few years ago...

(I have 4oz and I'm shooting for a fingering 3 ply. Sorry about the blurry pic.)

and my incredibly fun and lovely testknit. (Should testknit be hyphenated? 2 words? I keep wondering)

It's as-yet unblocked and armless but I think you can see its charm. Thea is such a fabulous designer. You can tell I'm in the finish-as-you-go camp. It breaks things up a bit and I hate doing all the finishing at the end. Even with seamless construction.

I'm also doing tons of sketching and swatching for new stuff. I will eventually need testers, if anyone's into it.

Now I should probably go and round up something for supper, since I don't think slurpees count.

home sweet bed

Travelling is wonderful, but after 11 days of the four of us living together in confined spaces (tent, car, hotel room) it's really great to spread out again in our house. Here's a shot of the forest next to our campsite 2 nights ago.

Knitting-wise, this is my progress on the testknit. I'm further along than this now, even with some ripping back of a few rows foolishly knit in a too-dark tent. This is such a great design. (Yes. Both the other sweaters were dragged all the way there and back without being touched or needed. But I'm happy they came.)

I forgot to mention a bunny I made my friend for her adorable new baby before we left. I love this pattern.

I also got to run into one of my favourite yarn stores, Boucle, in Fargo. Such a sweet little place and I love the whole strip of stores on Broadway where it is. I got to feel up some yarns I can't get where I live and I bought just a few sock yarns (Madelinetosh!) since we had about 3 cubic inches of space left in the car.

Hope you're having a good summer.

windy city check in

I love Americans and I love travelling in America. I love the accents, the clean cities, the weirdness with tea (having to specify "hot" tea when I want tea, and remembering the iced tea isn't sweetened). We are having a fabulous time.

I always love Minneapolis and the trip to their zoo was great. It's wonderfully designed, and we didn't expect the dolphin tank. Very cool. Wisconsin Dells was OK. The waterpark was great. Lake Geneva WI is totally lovely.

I have wanted to visit Millenium Park in Chicago (above) for quite awhile now. It features fabulous public art and architecture and I'm so happy we got to see it today.

Knitting is happening, though the days are packed and end for the most part in a dark tent. I'm 1/2 done the body on the green cardigan. My fears about running out of knitting were, of course, unfounded.

Hope you have a great weekend, dudes.

load up the ipod

So today, Canada Day, officially starts some holiday time in the Doodle household. I don't have to go back to work for a whole 18 days and I plan to milk the restorative goodness out of every second of that time. In about 36 hours we're heading out on a road trip with our map, our tent and every hope that the wonder of modern technology that is the portable dvd player will help to take the edge off the sibling bickering that sometimes befalls us after more than 4 hours driving.

So I'm planning the knitting. I want things using a single type and colour of yarn, engaging and time-consuming without demanding every second of my attention, and preferably on circular needles. These fit the bill.

First up: a super cute sweater I'm testknitting for Thea. I am loving every second of this green moss stitchiness.

If I finish that I have this Grapevine (Rav link) going. Yes. That is more Hempathy.

And if I finish that (it could happen), I dug out this Coraline I started a billion years ago. It barely qualifies as a cast-on yet, but it fits the criteria and the yarn is so tiny it will pack small.

I realize my anxiety over what to bring to knit while camping is equal only to my delusion about my superhuman ability to knit massive amounts of sweater fabric in a short period of time.

Catch ya later.