Too many WIPs?

(click for larger)

Of course not!

An epic quest

All right, guys, I have decided...

*drumroll*

To spin a sweater.

...I know, right? "You fool!", I can hear them yelling at me. I want to make Bad Penny and I just ordered up the last of Spunky Eclectic's amazing wool blend - a pound and a half of it, to go with the roughly half-pound I have here with me at the moment. Because you can do Bad Penny in two colors, I figure if I do run out I can just spin up something else to go with it.

It didn't really take me all that long to make a more-or-less worsted weight 2-ply out of this same wool for my Newsboy cap - which was about 160 yards. I'll need, like, 7 times that, at the most. I'm confident about this.

Well, seeing as I'm currently working on my first sweater*, what makes me think I can knit this?
Well, it's a top-down raglan, and I just did an Anthropologie Capelet. It was dead easy and turned out great. It's also in the round, and in the round is nice and easy and no seaming. So I like that a lot.

*This depends a lot on what you mean by "first" and a lot what you mean by "sweater". The first project I cast on was Stargazer, in an awful awful mohair, but I only finished the front piece of that and then put it into semi-permanent hibernation. I'll pick it up when I have the time, which might be never. Then the first garment I finished was Askew, a tank top in wool, though I've no idea if that counts as a "sweater". It's warm, but... it doesn't have sleeves. And then there's my Anthro Capelet which I love and everything, and it's got sweater construction and it's more like a mini-sweater than anything.
And then there's my dear Cherie Amour which I'm working on right now and totally love.

Wish me luck!

~Joy

Knitting goals

1. Knitting budget for the quarter: $10/week on yarn, $5/week on fiber.

2. I just finished my pair of Regia Bamboo socks, so I am allowed to start on my second "knee-sock" (1 ball of Knit Picks Felici makes a sock that only reaches my mid-calf. :\). However, I really *ought* to be working on my socks for Jacqueline.

3. Upon finishing *both* my socks for Jacqueline (not one, but both!), my size 0 needles will be freed up and I am allowed to cast on the Noro sock yarn that is sitting in my drawers looking very, very sexy.

I will not buy any sock yarn until I am working on said Noro socks. At that point I still probably shouldn't... but it isn't like I'm working on anything *but* socks nowadays anyway... Hm.
Except Cherie Amour.

4. Upon finishing Cherie Amour, I will cast on Lelah with Shine Sport. Yummy.

Tiny pretty things: Recent FOs.

I like making tiny pretty things. I like quick projects from beautiful yarn, for instant gratification. Here are some recent things I've done.

Socks - Beginning of December to Today.




Anthropologie capelet - Took me two days. The vintage pin is in the shape of a roadrunner.

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Whatcha doin'?

The college quarter has started, which means of course, sadly enough, a drop in knitting and spinning productivity. I am working on a little bit when I can, now and then, but mostly small projects. Well, all socks at the moment. I really, really like socks. You know.

-
On the spindle:

I'm working with some orange wool right now... and it is not a fun experience. The stuff I'm creating looks about the same or worse than my *first* spinning project!

I got the wool for super-cheap off Etsy, so I know I should complain too much. It's mill ends, so that might have something to do with it, and it was squeezed quite a bit to get into the bag it was shipped in.



More below

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I hate Navajo plying and it hates me back

I love spinning. Sadly my spindle is packed away at the moment, as I'm leaving for Columbus this afternoon to go back to my dorm and start winter quarter tomorrow. x.x;

It will be interesting seeing what reactions I get from people who see me spinning at school. My room's door is almost always open, and occasionally when people walk by seeing me knitting they will comment on it. I know just how strange my spinning must look to someone who's never seen it before, because that's how I was just last month!

I'm still not very good at using my spindle. I tried Navajo plying a few nights ago... it was not pretty. I'm fairly sure I put plenty of twist in when I'm spinning, but whenever I'm plying, or winding my singles into a hank, or anything afterwards, my singles will come unspun and break (as illustrated above).

I'm still having fun, though. I bought a half-pound of black wool and 4oz of white wool from Windy's World, a cute little shop about 15 minutes east of me in Williamsburg, OH. They sell all sorts of things, including roving, sewing supplies, handspun yarn, and handmade candles. I picked up a big bottle of Eucalan and a little votive candle when I went as well.

Part of the black wool I plan to ply with something else, the rest I'm not sure what I'll do with yet. The white wool, however, would not stay white for long. It was sacrificed at the altar for my first dyeing experiments. *grins*

I'll have some photos later on... Alas, my camera too is packed away at the moment.

~Joy

The story so far

(I'm not really an artist, as you can see - but I enjoy doing my doodles.)

I'm definitely a relative newbie when it comes to knitting. However, I have become enchanted with the craft so I've made a lot of progress in a small amount of time. Here's a rundown of a few of the things I've made in the past six months.

Doctor Who Scarf (pictured above) - A giant, long garter stitch scarf made with 8 skeins of Wool of the Andes between September and November. Christmas present for my boyfriend. Upwards of 8 feet long. Ravelry page

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Hello, and welcome

First day of the year, so here's me beginning anew.
Seeing as everyone else in the entire knitting universe has a knitting blog, I figured I'd have to add myself to the "blogosphere", as the cool kids like Cory Doctorow call it.

So, hi. My name's Joy, and I've been knitting since July 21, 2007. I've been spinning since December 8, 2007, or about three weeks ago. I've been dyeing since a couple days ago. I fear where my fiber obsession may lead me next.

Here I plan to write things about knitting, spinning, dyeing, and related things. I don't have many techniques to share, so if you're seeking help I'm afraid I can't help you much. But I'll share my experiences, and keep you updated on my various projects if you care to see them.

My Ravelry ID is Joyuna, and elsewhere on the Internet I tend to go by that name. If you find me, please do comment if you have some things to share. :)

Until later!

~Joy