Yarnaholics in the family

My godfather’s birthday yesterday, and while he and my dad proceeded to ‘sample’ the Hennessey he had around, his wife Gabi and I talked knitting, which was awesome. I forgot my sock bag and my shawlette from my first handspun (and it is gorgeous and bohemian, I tell you) at home, but she had stuff lying around that was really fascinating. One of them was a scarf with a pretty intrigueing, yet dead simple AND reversible pattern!

CO about 10
k one row
Set-up round: k1, [YO, k1] to last st, k1 (no YO before edge st)
All following rounds: k1, [YO, k2tog] to last st, k1

I’m currently trying to decide what yarn I should use to make a light scarf with this. I tried my Rowan tweed, but I realized that this was yarn to show off a pattern, while this is a pattern that shows off the yarn. Gabi gave me two balls of yarn (free yarn! yay!), one tweedy eggplant, one fuzzy light lilac, both about 50g (haven’t weighed them yet, but they don’t look much used) so I might try with one of those. Preferably the eggplant yarn. But it’s only 50g, and you can’t get a scarf from that. Unless I made another shawlette/neckwarmer… that would be almost ideal. I’d just have to buy a pretty button for it. Which, all things considered, isn’t a chore.

Speaking of buttons! I went through my mother’s button collection yesterday, looking for a toggle for the handspun neckwarmer, and found a handful of tiny autumn leaves! Someday I’m gonna use them to embellish something – I thought of putting them on the handspun, but it’s so nice and natural and bohemian on its own, and not worth using those on it :D And I found some other tiny buttons with silver ‘harem’ patterns on them. Ah. Buttons. Loved sorting ’em as a little kid, love using ’em now.

Grumble mumble

WWKIP Day (World Wide Knit in Public Day) on the 14th was something I’d been looking forward to ever since I knew there was something going down in Cologne. I looked for people, sort of organized going there together by train, splitting the cost to keep it low – and then, va-voom, tonsilitis. A miracle I made it through the 3 hour graduation ceremony on Friday and through the graduation dance on Sunday (drugged up this time), but Saturday was just impossible. Fever, shivers under three warm blankets, crippling headaches, the whole deal. -.- Let’s just say I’m really, really mad at my body.

I started spinning again on Tuesday or Wednesday simply because I could. not. spend any more time in bed. Really thin singles I’m pretty proud of, and they’re almost even :D I spun some bits of grey merino to try thin spinning, and now I got out a big ol’ thing of white Merino roving. I’m about half through what I assume is close to 100g, so I might actually be able to do something with it :D I spun and plied some pretty bulky, uneven stuff that ended up being about 44g, and I’m still looking for something to do with so little yarn – it’s only just over 20m (23yd).

Anyway, point being, I read about 4000 pages between Saturday and now, even with all the sleeping and headaches, I just needed to do something different. And knitting… my comp’s broken, so no music, movies or anything. And consequently no knitting. Knitting without anything on the side (music, movie, friends, family, whatever) is just not my thing. I hope it can be fixed, I signed up for a toy (sheep) swap over on Ravelry.

Speaking of music, the new Coldplay album Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends is the best album I have ever listened to. I’m serious. It beats Die Ärzte, they usually have one or two songs on an album I don’t like (13 is the exception), but Viva la Vida is brilliant. BRILLIANT. Go get it.

TRADITIOOOOON Tradition – Tradition!

Finally, I got around to charging some batteries for my camera! Yarnwhoring ensues.

Let’s just say it’s what is commonly called a crapload.

And that’s not even all of it, for some unfathomable reason I didn’t sneak the roving and the Drachenwolle in.

The yarn from the Tauschrausch swap Wollkiste 2. Rowan Yorkshire Tweed, Zitron Trekking XXL, and SuperSoxx.

Yarn I randomly bought because I felt like it. Regia 4ply sock yarn for a hat, Filatura di Crosa Oxford, and Schachenmayr nomotta Micro Bamboo Spray, which is even softer and shinier than it looks like in the picture.

Gorgeous, gorgeous handpainted Drachenwolle from Leipzig, turning into a rather decent Firestarter sock. Dragon yarn, Firestarter socks, get it? – Just kidding.

From four little balls to one sock – the first of my Whimsies (first sock on the KnitPicks, which are now occupied with the Drachenwolle Firestarters).

And some new ‘whoring. Spinning! (eek) The blue fibre I bought in Leipzig, and the full spindle :) I have dark brown wool on the spindle as we speak, and depending on how it turns out, I’m gonna ply it with the light one on there. If it’s too good, I’m gonna spin something different to ply it with, wouldn’t wanna ruin good thread :P

What the hell am I doing? I’m just starting to get a semi-regular thread off my spindle and I’m already hunting around Ebay for a spinning wheel.

I have a feeling I have a new obsession, and a thousand more options to spend money on Things I Don’t Really Need Except I Totally Do.

Den Dreh raus

Okay, I think I got the hang of it. YES!

I mean, the thread is still uneven, but not nearly as uneven as last night, and I’ve been drafting while the spindle was spinning for half the morning. And I’ve been prepping anal-retentively, and that’s probably what makes my thread so much better than last night’s, along with the fact that I’m getting more confident.

I think the problem with the spindle stopping after a couple of seconds last night was that a) the yarn was too bulky, and b) I wasn’t letting the twist wander up the yarn fast enough. Now I can keep it spinning for half a minute or so, which is plenty.

Wheee!!!

Ich glaub’, ich spinne…

So, the spindle.

I kinda fucked up, I guess. I should’ve pre-drafted more than I did, all my prep was pulling a piece off of the roving and just going on with it. Not the best approach, I guess, and the roving kind of balled up behind my hand. Accordingly, my single went from bulky to laceweight and back to worsted within a couple of inches, though by the end I felt like it was becoming more even. Probably because by the end, I was spinning what had balled up behind my hand, which I’d eventually ripped off and then carefully untangled and pulled to a thinner strand.

The thickness of the yarn is probably what makes the spindle stop so soon, which is quite annoying.

So I’ll try again tomorrow, when I have more time, prep the roving to a nice, thin strand, and give it a proper go. And wrap it around my wrist to keep it from tangling with the already spun yarn.

The already spun yarn.

Holy moley, I’m making yarn. From wool.  Crazy.

I’ve also already started to research natural dyeing methods. I mean, the color of the roving is a gorgeous creamy white, but… ya know. Birch leaves and onion peel appeal (haha, get it? appeel!) to me the most, so I guess I’ll have to force my family to collect their onion peel now. :P

Splurging

Now that I have money to spend, I do. A lot. On knitting, unsurprisingly.

I don’t even have all my new purchases stashed away, let alone photographed or organized in Ravelry. (I think I might do that tonight though, at least cataloging it, my camera’s broken)

I bought some plain yellow Regia sock yarn for a hat, and some Filatura di Crosa purple yarn with teal bumps in it because it was cheap and has 7% Mohair, which I’ve never worked with. It’s very intriguing though, and I might do a hat or gloves or something out of it.

And then, when I just got back from yarn shopping, a huge-ass box was waiting for me – the Wollkiste from the German swap comm Tauschrausch on Ravelry. Yay! I took 300g out total, two balls of sock yarn (Trekking XXL in subtle shades of red and orange, and SuperSoxx in stripey orange, red, white and brown) and *gasp* Rowan yarn. Yorkshire Tweed in Barley. I have no clue what to do with it, except it’s gonna have to be a pretty intricate pattern considering the yarn is rather plain. Well, not plain. It’s a creamy-brownish color and pretty structured for a 4-ply, but it just screams for some lace. And it’s in 25g balls. oO Weird. But all the more reason to treasure it. Rowan!

Anyway, so I put the gold-purple shiny yarn in there, and the teal version of the purple wool/mohair yarn. And then I went bra shopping with my mother, and got so frustrated that I went up to Karstadt’s yarn section, which isn’t too bad considering its location, and bought 4 50g balls of Regia Micro Bamboo Spray in a light brown variegated shade. 2 for the swap box and two for me. Sigh.

And then the bottom whorl spindle plus 100g of roving I ordered off of Wollschaf.de on Thursday arrived.

So basically, it’s the 10th, and I’ve spent a total of about €65 on knitting and/or spinning this month.

Goddamn.

Erstes Leipziger Wollefest

I went to Leipzig over the weekend, and managed to drag my girlfriend (also a knitter, but not nearly as obsessed as I am) to the first Wool Festival there.

It was in the yard behind the Kreativ- und Strickcafe, a spot of luscious green where I wouldn’t have expected it at all. All in all it was pretty small, yet very interesting and I spent the rest of my money there.

On what?

First, I finally, finally found 15cm Knit Picks Harmonies in 2.25mm, and sweet-talked them off the vendor who’d just gotten them for herself. To make up for her tragic loss, I purchased a 100g skein of handpainted sock yarn off her in orange and turquoise. I noticed how soft it was, but I didn’t really pay any attention to it until I read the label later – instead of your ususal wool, it’s 75% Merino!!! And for €6.50, too. Those are going to be luxury socks. For me. Me, and me alone. Probably the Firestarter socks. I’ll have to knit up a swatch to see how thick the stripes are.

And then I bought some turquoise roving, though I still don’t have a spindle. As soon as work pays me, I’m gonna order one off Wollschaf, but until that, I suppose I’ll just keep stashing up on roving? :P

I wasted so much precious time winding that sock yarn into a ball, I’m kind of mad about that. I was originally planning on starting a pair of socks with it on the train, and my gf certainly seemed to enjoy my legs being spread for an extended period of time (I loop the skein over my knees for winding balls out of skeins, and I had also lost my jeans prior to winding because of the stifling heat). But then I realized I wanted a really good pattern to go with it, so instead I started leftover socks (Whimsies) on the KnitPicks.

The KnitPicks. Harmony is just the right word to describe them. They’re warm and smooth, but they’re not as bendy as the bamboo needles, and that was what annoyed me about those. Kind of unfortunate now that I just bought a 15cm bamboo DPN set the other day, but I’m sure I’ll use them again. The tips are also nice and pointy, yet not too pointy, and I have a feeling they’re going to stay proper and sharp longer than the bamboos.

Also, with the 2.25mm, I’m pretty much down to a perfect 30sts/10cm. My gauge is off by 3 stitches on 2.5es (27/10) and the fabric is much tighter and smoother than with the 2.5es. It’s ridiculous how much a quarter of a millimeter can matter. So with the Harmonies, no more shuffling around with patterns!

I mean… I still want ebony sock DPNs eventually, just to try them out. (Wollschaf has some, but only 20cm and 10. I’ll just have to keep looking for a place that has 15cm 2.25 ebony DPNs I guess…)