Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Catching up

In August, my mother came to visit. We had a wonderful time. We went to the coast and visited the Latimer Quilt and Textile Museum. It was a lovely day and we had lunch on the water. Mom was in search of the Boutique knits book, because she wanted to make the Side Slip Cloche Our travels took us to Knit Purl in downtown Portland where she purchased yarn for both of us to make the hat. More about this later...

September brought rain, fall leaves and my son back in school, while I started the job of packing up our house to move. I needed a break from my MSP so I did something for fun. I made these batts from a dyed roving of merino, bamboo and nylon. I threw in some brown Shetland roving and a chunky bits of soy silk top. Into the drum carder it went for one pass.
I made 4 one ounce batts and spun them into a thick and thin single.
Then I went back to packing, cleaning and moving.  As some of you know I over did it and hurt myself. My upper back inflamed, my left arm spasmed and my carpal tunnel flared.  Many weeks of doing very little and getting acupuncture.  To be followed by a whooper of a fibromyalgia flair that sent me to bed for days.  I admit I was grumpy and not fun to be around.  Thank goodness for comcast and a dvr, recording shows and watching TV was one of my only past times.  Recently I was able to pick up the needles again and started working on a sweater I started in February. 



I thought I would do a little book review here. Knits to fit and flatter by Jane Ellison is a lovely book. It is laid out well, with easy to follow instructions and ideas you can use to change the pattern.  She offers tips on how to customize the knits so they fit your body.  This is my current favorite knitting book. I highly recommend it.  I had wanted a basic cardigan and the twice as nice cardigan has been easy to knit.  The yarn I am using is Woo Bu by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. In the colorway  Oregon Red Clover Honey  I love this yarn.  It is a dream to knit. I love the feel of the fabric it makes and the slight shimmer the bamboo offers. I had purchased 2 skeins in January.  The pattern says I need about 200 more yards for the medium size.  Stubborn I am, I am knitting away.  I made the back and one sleeve out of one skein.  I have completed the second sleeve from the second skein, weighing everything as I go.  My calculations say I will have enough for the two front sections, but just in case I do not, I have a plan.  I'll keep you up to date.
If your wondering about this picture, it was not random. Hell child, oh I mean my darling kitty Leonardo da Vinci, or Leo as we call him, was laying all over my sweater and book as I was trying to take pictures.  I prefer to call him fur ball because when he is done torturing me, he gets up all casual like and as he walks away he swishes his fluffy angora tail from side to side.

1 comment:

DesertSageRat said...

OMG that yarn you spun is fantastic! My favorite colors!