Uber Productive

I have finished an insane amount of stuff in the past month. The biggest thing from start to finish is the Revontuli shawl I did out of Kauni. The yarn was pretty interesting. I was expecting not to like it because there are so many complaints about it being scratchy. I did re-skein the ball and wash it several times before use, which seemed to make a pretty big difference. I think there is some kind of spinning oil or sizing on the yarn from the factory, since the first two washes were pretty grimy. I tossed it into a vinegar rinse afterwards and it came out much nicer. Its not merino soft by any stretch but its actually quite nice for a Shetland yarn.

And damn but you can't beat those colors.


I also finally finished the dead-mitts. They've really been done for about three months now, which makes me feel a little (a lot) like a slug. All that I did to complete them was finally get around to sewing in all the ends. They are extremely badass even if to date no one has gotten the reference, and shame - SHAME on my fellow knitters for not being sufficiently geeky. Also shame on everyone else in the wide universe that has seen me wearing these and hasn't been sufficiently geeky. And also shame on Disney. You touch my mouthy merc I will so gouge that mouse's eyes out with crochet hooks.

Seriously.

Just try me.

My second pair of hand spun socks from the red/orange/fuschia yarn I spun up early this year are finished. Yes, with contrasting heel/toes on the second pair 6oz ended up being enough for two pairs of socks. In hindsight it was enough for the first pair to have been knee-highs or if I'd made them shorter (they're quite tall anyway) for both pairs to be completely of handspun.

I do rather like the contrast of the black though. It makes me want to dye up something similar and do some kind of witchy stripe thing.

In less successful, but still finished knitting I finally completed the red sweater I started earlier this year. While I feel sort of accomplished over the finishing it part I have to say....

Its pretty wretched.

Its too big. The yarn is too heavy. The shoulders sag, and even if they didn't there are too many ragalan increases and the arm holes are too large. The sleeves are enormous, the yellow yarn is not remotely the same weight as the red and it shows.

Also its really really hot. Sweaty, WhyDidIPutThisOnILiveInTexas?, hot.

I haven't decided yet what to do with it. I think... either frog it and weave a throw blanket or weave in the ends and give it to charity... Or maybe stuff it in the back of the closet and pretend it doesn't exist.

Something like that.

On a more positive sweater note, I've since cast on for a Tempest out of Wollmeise. Its lightweight and soft and pretty. It will be awesome.

Or I will swear off sweater knitting for another three years... one of the two.

We had the yarn crawl a few weeks back and it was quite fun. I was pretty restrained with my stash acquisition but I did come back with some more sea silk in a charcoal silver and some other small goodies (lace & sock yarn... because what I really need in my stash is more lace & sock yarn). My favorite new shop we stopped at was the Tinsmith's Wife in Comfort. The people there were great and the yarn selection was very impressive (its where the sea silk came from). They do have shop cats, which is kind of a pet peeve of mine, but they were at least very sweet clean cats.

We had lunch down the road from the shop at a cafe called High's (which was very nifty, they had quite good food and we sat outside at tables with plush blankets to wrap up in and watched the rain) and then went on to get lost in the hill country for about an hour when one of the main roads was closed.

The only shop on the crawl I don't really need to go back to was Ewe and Eye, which felt less like a yarn shop to me and more like this toy store my grandmother took me to once as a child where the owner yelled at me for touching one of the toys.

I think my favorite giveaways were from Hill Country Weavers (a hank of Happy Feet), Yarnivore (a knitting tool & a Yarn Calc booklet) and Old Oaks Ranch (a ball of Sugar Rush) and most of the goodies were nice and reflected the shop that gave them away in some way.

Coming up next month I'm hoping to check out the Fiber Festival out in Bourne (Kid & Ewe). Perhaps I will even manage to wear my Tempest there...