Birthday Yarn for Jackie

Last year, for Jackie's birthday, I had the inspiration to spin her some handspun yarn as a gift. I'd just bought some beautiful alpaca/merino/angelina batts from Loop (in the Lavender Mint Tea colorway) and Jackie had mentioned how much she liked the color. So....I thought, since I had time, and Jackie is totally worth it, I'll spin it up for her.

Come to find out, it was the BEST spinning I'd ever done (probably because I was thinking such lovely, friendly thoughts at the time) and the finest yarn (in wpi - wraps per inch) that I'd ever made. It came out to a fingering weight, 2 ply yarn that was perfectly balanced (that only happens to me 1/3 of the time....I tend to overspin and underply) - it was a MIRACLE!

She loved the yarn (which made me soo happy), knit something almost immediately with it (The Montego Bay Scarf....which made me even happier) and then even wore the scarf a lot (which caused me to have gleeful, handspun-ery hallucinations)!!!

To see this yarn, go here to my Flickr account. It's the last pic in the left hand column.

Fast forward a year....

And Jackie's birthday was coming up quickly. Having recently purchased some Spritely Goods fiber - which was HIGHLY recommended by the Spinning Goddess Cayli - I thought....this is perfect for another Birthday Spin.

So, I frantically used all my spare time (that I wasn't cleaning, cooking, working or with the kids) to spin this yarn. I didn't knit all those days....eeek! The fiber (a luscious mix of soft merino, angelina and firestar) was a dream to spin and the color truly cheered me on....she calls it, "Globe Mallow"...and it's a limited edition colorway. I'm SO glad that I picked it up. It was wonderful.

So, here's what I did:

Step 1: Take pics of fiber BEFORE ripping open.



and a close up:



Step 2: Draft Fibers (30 minutes).



Step 3: Spin on my Ashford Joy (5 hours total...not all in one day)



Step 4: Take WPI gauge before Plying...28.



Step 5: Ply (3 hours), Soak (overnight), and Dry. Take Picture of Finished Yarn (over 300 yards).



And then, I decided to rename the yarn, since it had a different (but lovely) look and color after finishing. It was inspired by jokes I overheard Tim and Ben saying to each other while I was spinning:

"Cantaloupe-I'm Already Married!"

I can only hope that Jackie likes this yarn half as much as last year's. I'm dying to see what she'll knit up with it.

And I'm trying to decide (early) what I'll spin for her NEXT year!

Can I sleep now? (zzzzzzz..........)

Frantic FO Friday!!! (and fiber!)

Whew!! I can't tell you how absolutely friggin relieved I am that the center panel of my "Large Rectangle" lace stole (from Victorian Lace Today) is done!!!

THANK, THANK GOODNESS!!! I thought I was going to go insane knitting those 10 rows over and over. I have some serious knitter's elbow and I was thinking maybe I'd snag Sarah and see if she'd work her magic on it. (Pretty please, Sarah??)

Here is just some idea of the agony of my lace knitting (though I did enjoy it overall...just not in parts here and there):

1. 360 ROWS!!!

2. Such fine, fine yarn (have I mentioned this already????? LOL!)

3. 18 non stop hours of lace knitting (approx. 1/2 hour per repeat)

4. There is one horrid mistake in the whole thing that I just noticed and it's near the beginning....and, no, Laurin, I am NOT frogging this baby!

Am I happy with it? Yeah, I have to say that it is incredibly soft and really beautiful despite the agony I mentioned above. If I can figure out the knitted on lace border and blocking, I'll be good to go. (I think.)

So, what else have I finished, you ask?

Well, I finally finished my Wavy scarf!!! (It only took 9 months to finish....nothin' to it! LOL!) Here is Tim modeling it for me:



I'm super happy with the outcome, but not sure if I'd ever make another one. If I did, it would be for some kind of payment (money or yarn) and definitely in a different color. Not sure how lovely Blogless Amanda has knit 3 (!!!) of them, but she must have nerves of steel or something.

Also, I dyed some Knit Picks Bare Laceweight yarn in a slightly varigated purples/blues/lilac colorway and will be using that for a special project soon. I was thrilled with this yarn! It is super, super soft and dyed very nicely. Only $3.99 for 880 yards!!! I'll definitely buy more. (one tip, though....this yarn is slightly thicker than laceweight, but not quite fingering.)



What do you think??

Here's my progress on spinning the bamboo I got from Cayli, who bought it from the fab-u-lous HollyEEQ. I WUV BAMBOO!!!



I can't believe how wonderful it is to spin...when they say it spins like "buttah"....it is SO true! It's like spinning tencel, but without the burn....shines brighter than silk and is so much easier to spin than silk. When drafting, it just floats out of your hands like ribbons of shiny clouds. I'd love a bed lined with bamboo fiber! Mmmm.....



I've only spun half the fiber so far, but I'm planning on spinning the other half and making a 2 ply fingering/sportweight yarn. If I get the yardage I think I will, I'm thinking of making a lace shawl out of it or mini Clapotis.

Hmmm...what else am I up to?

Oh, guess what I bought from Loop? An absolutely BREATHTAKING fiber called, "Kimono"....it's a handcarded 3 oz batt of alpaca, merino, sparkle and silk. You would not believe how gorgeous this is from my pic...click HERE to see better pics. It's driving me crazy....I don't know whether to just admire it, spin it or marry it. (I would. I really would.)



Oh, before I forget, my TWO NEW PATTERNS are now available in pdf form (free!!) on the right sidebar under Sleepy Eyes Patterns. Please check them out and print them out (full color makes them look REALLY awesome) and tell many, many people about them, okay? It's the "PicSock"....a cozy for your small digital camera or cell phone... and "Sweet Leaf" toddler hat. Comments?? Hugs??

Since Ian is still away in New Mexico, I am trying not to go insane. Tim is out of school now and....he is bored. My sons are both driving me to drink (well...just maybe some tonic water with lime).....all day long is bicker, bicker, bicker. No matter who I put in which room, how many hours they are out playing, or swimming or eating. Ahhhh!!!! (Jackie knows my pain.)

Speaking of Ian....

well, he loves geocashing. And he brought his GPS to NM with him. He tells me this morning that he went out after work yesterday TO THE DESERT with only 1 bottle of water and his GPS to hike.

No buddy, no extra food, no cell phone, no hat, no sunscreen, no first aid kit or supplies and.... no one he knows for hundreds of miles knows where he is.

K.

He tells me that he didn't really feel like following any trails (UM....am I the only one who thinks he is more insane than me?) and might have gotten lost for a bit. Um...yeah.

Luckily, he found a trail and was able to make it back without dying and raced into a Subway to get some food and water. He was so dehydrated that he could barely talk to order his food.

OMG.

You know, I TRY not to be a worry wort, but when he tells me things like this, I can only think that I may have to kill him for doing such dangerous things.

(sigh)

Anyone wanna trade three fertile males for a female alpaca or llama or something??