The arrival of gorgeous yarn is always anticipated..

It came yesterday! I'm finding that capturing the true essence of yarn related items is very difficult to do at night. So the gorgeous yarn from Oriri Design arrived! It is somewhere between this :
And this:
I LOVE IT! So soft and pretty with its subtle variations; I think I'm going to bring it with me to Kansas and cast on for some toe up pomatomi as soon as I finish the Trekking socks. I'm hoping that the pattern will convert easily from top down because some of the ladies on ravelry said that they were having some trouble with it. If I can't convert the pattern, I'm sure that this yarn will look gorgeous just knit up with a general pattern.

On Sunday I did a little spinning since I had received some luscious brown alpaca fiber from the fiber club I joined earlier. I did not spin the alpaca because I had already started some camel/tencel that I got from the Estes Park Wool Festival and wanted to do a three ply which would use up 4 of the 5 bobbins I have. (Yes I went to the wool festival and yes I took many pictures fully intending to blog. However, those pictures of long since been deleted and I think I'll just blur over that blogerly indiscretion.)
Again, this picture was taken at night and doesn't capture the true essence of my yarn! The consistency is pretty darned good since I didn't put too much effort into it. Both skeins are from the same batt, just different ends and so one is darker than the other. The purple is truly more purple and the pink actually has some brown in it to tone it down. Both are quite pretty and soft and much less shiny than the flash would have you think. Also, I only had about 2 yards of singles left that I wasn't able to make into a three ply! I just split the batt into what I thought were three equal lengths and eye-balled the bobbins as I went along! That sure made my day on Sunday. I got about 200 yards of 3 ply that I would categorize as sport weight. I'm not really sure what I could do with that... One sock, a hat? Is that enough for a hat?

Speaking of hats, it's getting pretty cold outside and I didn't bring one! My ears are cold and I'm hankering to start a hat, we'll see what happens.

A miracle!!! A post!!!

Wow, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I had plans to finish another skein of yarn before posting and then I never finished it and the post never went up. So a lot of stuff has been going on around here. I think I'll limit this post to stuff I have pictures of and talk about my new job in a later post because not much has been going on on that front.

So.... I think I'll start with the rambouillet that I finished spinning up. I think it turned out WONDERFUL!
I don't plan to knit the pattern that came with it but I'm not quite sure what I should knit from it. I have a little over 600 yards of thin sock weight yarn. So, I'm thinking socks, toe-up and possibly little anklets. Then I was thinking that I should get a new sweater going because I scrapped the cardigan that I was working on and I was also thinking about knitting this up with that purple-y fiber that I bought quite some time ago. I thought that I should knit up a swatch of the rambouillet so that I could see what the gauge might look like with the purple-y merino if I modeled it after the grey.
I LOVED knitting with my own yarn. I can't wait to be able to make a whole garment out of my own hand spun yarn. Another thing I'm very proud of is this:
Yeah, the yarn has no extra twist at all! It's just laying there quite happily on the floor, in whatever shape I give it. All of this talk about my own yarn is reminding me of why I started this whole thing in the first place... I might just finish it up....

So that second skein of yarn I was trying to finish was the purple. That didn't happen. I have two full bobbins, I just need to ply them but I've really let it slip away from me.
Lets see... I finished the green ankle socks:
I really enjoyed the pattern and how quickly these knit up. But... I hate the yarn and the way these socks have hardly any stretch and the way they feel when I walk around. Apparently, I have sensitive feet. Huh. It's a superwash wool from knitpicks and has great stitch definition but I'm thinking that is it's only redeeming quality and it isn't enough to make me want to knit another pair of socks for myself out of this.
On the other hand, I am really enjoying knitting with the tofutsies. I'm also doing a toe-up sock and finding that I like it much more than top-down. I like how the toe looks and feels and I enjoyed knitting the turn of the heel much more than the other way and now this way I can see how much yarn I have to work with. However, I'm not sure how tall the socks should be so I think I'm going to have to go pick up another set of needles and knit from the other end of the yarn so that I can get the most out of my yarn!

I've been making a lot of progress on my shawl:

I love the way it smells and the feeling of the yarn as I knit it up.

I NEEDED a new sock book... preferably a toe-up book, but that doesn't exist so I had to 'settle' for this magnificent thing!
The plants have been growing, but no blooms. Everybody else's flowers are blooming and mine are just growing taller and green... I'm not if this means I'm a bad gardener but I continue to water them and wait.
I bought a new purse, it's soo cute! And a perfect spring purse to transport knitting around in!
I got a new haircut in preparation for my new job. I thought that perhaps I should try to thin some of the bulk out and look like a person rather than a head with a mop on it:
The other day Michael and I were running errands and we saw this:
It's a little blurry but that's because we were driving and this man was driving his motor cycle and the two cars had a hard time working together. Anyway, strapped to the front of this man is a small dog with rider goggles. Now at first I was shocked and thought that this man must be doing something cruel to the poor dog. But then I realized, if the dog was really that scared he would probably pee all of this man so the whole thing took on a much funnier mood.

And finally, some cute pictures of Fez:

Picture-less update in bullet form

• I did, indeed, trash the white acrylic piece of crap, and had a wonderful time doing it!
• I finished my green ankle-high socks
• I've started a new pair of toe-up socks out of the peachier of the two skeins of tofutsies
• I plied up around 180 yards of the variegated yarn (it's currently hanging dry with a heavy weight - I got WAY too much twist in it and realized it after it was too late)
• I really haven't made too much progress on the shawl.... I can't exlain why. I think I was just in the need of something of the garter stitch nature (read, the new socks)
• I finished spinning up the first half of the Wooly Fiber club fiber and have to spin up the other half before plying.
• I received a bunch of benefit booklets and the like from my new job, I start work on June 4th and my position is officially called 'Research Scientist'!!!
  

Obsession + A Job = Trouble

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... I've been a little obsessed with my new projects. Plus, I had an interview with a company called Bionovo. The description of the position was too detailed for me to get a good understanding of what I would be doing and then they SHOCKED me with a group interview. I was so nervous I was damn sure I had failed the interview. Then I called them and harrassed them a few times because they were taking so long in getting back to me. I was certain they just didn't have the guts to tell me that I wasn't hired. The next day I got an email to go in for a second interview. Well when I got there one of my future coworkers said, "So I heard they offered you a position." Tthat was news to me, but it sure put me at ease! Woohoo!!! They're not sure when I'm going to start working because they have to get corporate in California to send me the necessary paperwork but it sure is a relief to have a job to look forward to. I'll tell you more about it later, perhaps after my first day. This post is dedicated to all my on-going projects.

First, I spun up some of that merino from morehouse. I'm not sure if you can tell the difference between this picture and the previous one but I really haven't put a dent in the fiber.
The wool actually has a little too much grease in it and I'm losing almost half of the fiber to preparations but its spinning up very strong. I'm forced to spin it a little thicker than I would like because it snaps on me if it's any thinner. But now that I see it in the picture, perhaps it's plenty thin. I plan to navajo ply it and knit up some socks for both Michael and my mother.
When I first got this wool I was using Fez's cat brush to prep the fiber and for some reason I decided that I needed something more appropriate for the project so I went out and bought this:
It wasn't until I got home that I realized this was a direct violation of the yarn diet... I really have no explanation as to why the diet completely slipped my mind. But I was VERY good in the yarn store, Michael was with me and he made sure that I only got what I went in for. I was sidetracked several times and each time he wacked whatever I picked up out of my hands. It was quite humorous and I'm sure the other women in the store heard my laughing.

I also received my first allotment of wool from my spinning club. It's 4 oz. of Rambouillet.
I've already spun up a decent chunk of the first ball before taking this picture.
Here's the yarn:
I'm quite enjoying spinning with this! I'm not sure if it's the fiber or the fact that I don't have to spend an equal amount of time prepping the fiber before spinning it. This I'm also having to spin up a little thicker because it's already been washed and doesn't have any grease in it to help hold the fibers together. But again, this is certainly something I love!

Last night I went to Michael's softball game and brought along my jaywalkers. The weather was a little chilly (even with me in my sweatshirt) so I thought that it would be a perfect time to get some work in. Also, I need to turn the heel on the second Hedera and I'm not confident enough in my skills yet to not keep referencing a pattern. Anyway, I was sitting there, watching Michael and his team warm up when I got recruited to play for another team on another field cuz they were short one girl. MAN I forgot how much I used to love playing softball. They said that they could probably use me every week so I'm thinking about doing that! The league runs through early June and then I'm thinking about joining a more local league in the fall (which is August through October)!

I made some good progress on the Jaywalkers last night while watching the X-files we received from netflix:
Since we're discussing socks, here is the progress of my second Hedera. And I really don't think I've got second sock syndrome with this. I've just been obsessed with other projects lately....
For example, here is the progress I've made on my shawl. And those of you who look close enough will notice that the pattern is not at all what I decided on in the last post.I was having such a hard time working out the way that it was supposed to look that I just gave up on it and found that I really liked the pattern on page 68 called 'A knitted veil in Pyrenees wool.' I like the fact that I don't have to think too much with it and should be able to have a nice end product. Don't get me wrong there is some necessary concentration when knitting the pattern, but it's not like I took several pieces of other patterns and tried to make them fit!

And last, but certainly not least, I treated myself to a visit to the yarn store in celebration of my recent employment! I got two skeins of tofutsies because they are quite cute and something I haven't knit with before. I was only going to buy two skeins of sock yarn, but then I spotted an older yarn harlot book and snatched it up!
This picture shows more accurately the peachy shades in the skein on the left.
Now I know that they are very similar in shades and colors, but they were really the only ones that I saw that I liked! Oh well, I'm quite certain that I won't be knitting them back to back. I really think that I'm going to just be knitting these in a simple ribbing or striping pattern as something that I can use to keep my hands busy when I can't fully concentrate on a pattern.

Also, I haven't done any more work on the two sweaters. I'm really contemplating ripping back the neck shaping on the front of the cardigan and making into something more 'me.' And I'm not too worried about finishing Rachel's sweater in time. I've just got the sleeves left and seaming, that shouldn't take too long with the way it's shaped and pattern for the sleeves.

Setting in sleeves has certainly proved to be a pain!

Well, my goal was to be able to set the sleeves in the cardigan today and finish up the ribbing around the neck. So I sat down with my yarn and needle and seamed and seamed. The armhole was matching up well, then on to the arm. I tried the cardigan on several times to make sure that everything was working out and looking ok. Other than being entirely wrong it seemed ok. :)
The whole thing looked too small and the buttons gaped when I buttoned everything up. I'm also a little disturbed with the way the shaping for the armholes was done up in the pattern.
Here, you can see what I mean. On the left side you can see where the armhole shaping begins and then there is a very steep 'ledge' of about 16 decreases to where the shoulder seaming occurs. What's up with that?! It makes for very odd cap shaping when the sleeve is set in, you can kind of see in the previous two pictures and this next one.
And then....
... if you look closer you can see that the sleeve is all wrong. It just isn't going to line up and give me a good sleeve. I'm going to have to rip it out and try to reset the sleeve. Bummer. Needless to say I'm a little aggravated and won't be continuing any further today. The fact that the whole thing just seems too small is not a motivating factor.

On the plus side, I finished the first 'anklet' sock Thursday night while I was waiting for Michael to get home from the midnight showing of Spiderman. From what he told me, I didn't miss much and had quite a bit more fun at home.
I love this sock! When I first tried it on after completion it didn't seem quite right for me. I've always worn those cheap white cotton socks that you get in bundles from the store and they're always a bit looser and breathable than the socks I knit up. But I think the stretchy lace and the ankle-height of these socks will allow me to ease into enjoying hand-knit socks, or at least I hope so.
Also, I've been getting a lot more spinning done than knitting. I've really been enjoying myself and intend to fill up this bobbin before plying. And, in case any are wondering, I've been not working on my sweater for Rachel. I told myself that I would only start the socks as a motivational project to finish this damned sweater. You know, knit a certain time on the sock and then an equal time on the sweater. That didn't happen and I've now got the yarn out beside me and have prohibited any spinning that I might want to do until I finish the front. Today is a less than fun day in lilac land.

Crochet?! What?

This is what my living room floor looked like Saturday night.
That blanket, it has been crocheted. I started it last summer after I did a little crochet experiment to see if I would like it. Apparently I liked it enough to go buy some cheap acrylic yarn and an afghan pattern book... I found the blanket with all the blue made up, just needing a border.
I realized that this would be a great house-warming gift for a friend that was moving to a new apartment on Sunday, so I finished it. Granted the weather is now consistantly in the 60s and 70s so she probably won't be needing the blanket, she liked it.

A little aside, I actually do enjoy crochet, just not with acrylic. I have a set of 5 hooks and a desire to produce more crocheted products. I've been toying with the idea of a granny-square afghan using just a few colors to match my living room. This would allow me to crochet a little bit every once in a while, just when I want a small change from knitting and granny squares are perfect for that! Does anybody think that is just incredibly dorky? Are granny-squares awful and not to be seen in a 20-something's apartment?

This same friend is getting married in late June and expressed a desire to knit up something to wear for her wedding. She's fairly new to the knitting thing (she didn't even finish her first scarf) so I said she probably shouldn't try to knit up a sweater and plan her wedding at the same time. Also, she really liked the whole idea of the lace hoodie I'm knitting for myself. Well, a little light went off and I decided to knit her a similar lace-y summer shirt. She's not a fiber whore like I am so she's perfectly fine getting acrylic knits. While I was looking through my stash on Saturday I found a whole whack of white acrylic yarn (don't ask) and thought there might be enough to make a sweater. If I run short I'm fairly certain I can run over to the nearest Walmart and pick up another skein. Anyway, this is the pattern. And here a shot of the finished back.
The pattern is knit on size 10.5 needles. That's HUGE! So while I should be able to crank this project out pretty fast, I hate it. I'm just slipping it in the knitting queue before my own lace hoodie.

I geuss that I prefer smaller needles, no matter the size of the project. Also, I HATE acryilic yarn! It's all stiff and scratchy and makes my wrist hurt to knit it up. Still, it'll be nice to get rid of all this acrylic. See, before I became a fiber whore I collected quite a bit of cheap acrylic yarn and this blanket as well as the white yarn relieves me of at least half of the acrylic cr*p.

Anyway, back to the picture of my floor Saturday night... You can also see my cardigan blocking. It took until Monday morning to dry because I blocked all the pieces in twos to make sure everything matched (sleeve on sleeve, front on front, and the back folded in half). Well, yesterday I set out to seam it and ... realized the eye of my needle was too big. I'm a little worried now because I've never seamed a sweater before and I think if I don't get started soon the sweater might be doomed to wander around in pieces forever! I noticed that my yarn store sells needles up by the register for 25 cents a piece. I'll pick one up when I'm in Boulder tomorrow for Wednesday knitting with Val and Maria.

Last night after binding the back off of Rachel's sweater, I was really craving some small needle knitting with something of more color. So, I pulled out my green sock yarn and swatched for Hedera.
I love this yarn! It's superwash/acrylic... But it's much softer than the 100% acrylic and the green is so pretty! I'll be knitting these up as ankle socks for some summer sock wear.

An update on my spinning activities. This is the variegated merino that I navajo plied.
I quite enjoyed this method of plying, especially when compared to triple-plying with three seperate skeins of yarn; trying to keep every single seperate and unknotted really stressed me out. While this skein is a little over-twisted, it is still quite soft and the overtwist really isn't a big deal. The thing that really gets me is the way all the colors were distributed after plying. I originally did not like the way the singles were spinning up when I pulled out the various colors and spun them seperate. So I switched to just spinning up a piece of the fiber, letting the colors do what they wanted. I think I've changed my mind again, the navajo plying would work best with the first method. I've started spinning with the first method again and hope to have another skein to show some time next week.

Also, I bought 2 lbs of black merino fleece from morehouse merino. I hope to see it in the mail soon!

Also, I've been really bad with Eye Candy Fridays, so here is a picture that I took at Rachel's new place. Such pretty blooms!

Progress..... if you want to call it that

Well, first things first. It's been raining ALL DAY!
My little seedlings love it, but they are not getting the brunt of the storm quite like the grass is.
I'm not too worried, that's the view from my second story apartment... the people below me however... They are sitting at the lowest point in the complex! And.... here come the big huge snow flakes!

I've been working on my cardigan quite diligently today.
I finished the button side of the front last night and cast on for the other side this morning, challenging myself to see how far I could get in one day. This is all I have to show.. I really think it's kind of pitiful!
And you know what could make it even worse? Maybe you could see it in the picture... What about now?
That's right the button band is on the wrong side! Oh the agony. I had even taken a small break to work on plying my variegated yarn. I finished the plying, skeined it, and set the twist all before realizing this horrible twist of fate.
I was clearly tempting the knitting goddesses when I realized that I was on the home stretch with my cardigan and thinking that I might be able to get this thing done by the end of the week. How frustrating. I think I might have to get started on some more spinning to relax me after this incident. I might also be going to a new yarn store tomorrow!

Weekend Update

Friday night Michael and I went to see Trace Bundy, he plays acoustic guitar (and quite well I might add). He and Michael know each other quite well for a fan and a musician and I think it is due to the fact that every concert we go to Michael finds something to talk to Trace about. It's cute really. This concert was a benefit for Justice for Children International. It was quite an eye opener but I'd had a long day so all I wanted to do was knit and listen to some nice music.
Good news! I finally looked up the correct decrease for the jaywalker pattern and was able to knit some more on the socks during the benefit. I've still got quite a ways to go but I think I'm getting ready for the heel flap here.
I got a little work done on the cardigan since I last posted, just a few more buttons worth. My mom and I have been a little excited about wedding planning so not a lot of knitting has gotten done.
A little seedling update. They've grown! As green things tend to do. I'm a little worried though, not all of the pots have sprouted. The lavender hasn't but that's to be expected because it is a bit more substantial than the flowers. The other pot is just some posies I think. I've been treating all the pots equally so why this one hasn't sprouted is beyond me.
I'm not sure if you can tell in this next picture but someone (or something) has been digging in my pot! That 'big' sprout has been uprooted and the shadow is covering a small divot in the soil. Also, some sprouts on the right side of the pot (out of the picture) were covered in loose soil. I think the culprit could be some rascally squirrels! I knew there was a reason I didn't like them!
Today I had an interview for an entry-level position with Array Biopharma. It was my first interview since I graduated from college and I really think that it went well! While the position itself does not interest me, the company does and this company would much rather promote from within than hire from without. Also, I think that I would feel better about a higher up position if I really knew what the underlings were doing. If you are interested you can go to the website for more info on the company. I met with 5 people: The boss and 2 superiors as well as 2 people that I'll be on a little more equal footing with. I really liked all but one guy and he is the GMP guy... the one who is paid to be anal and psychotic about all the products that leave the building, so I geuss that is to be expected. I sure would like this position since A) I haven't had any other interviews, B) I am interested in the company, and C) this position would allow me to work a little bit with the various groups in the company and see what should be my next step in the corporate world.

I also experimented a little with navajo plying and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. More in the next update.