FO Friday -- Hexipuff and Homespun

I don't have any big projects to show today, but I should be finished with the Kinetik shawlette in time for the next FO Friday.  Instead, I will show this little hexipuff, which will go into my Beekeeper's Quilt.

I am really excited about my hexipuffs lately because I purchased the Lorna's Laces mini skein kit from The Loopy Ewe. This gives me a greater selection of colors for my hexipuffs.  I put each individual mini skein in a ziplock baggie and put each leftover sock yarn ball into its own bag too.  I put all the baggies into a dark colored canvas bag, from which I grab a baggie at random to make a hexipuff.  I either get to work with either a whole new yarn or one with memories associated with it.  Fun times!

My other FO is my first ever handspun and first ever dyed yarn.  I mentioned on Wednesday that I had made my first yarn on a drop spindle.  Well, I decided to take it a step further and dye the yarn.  I didn't have any real dyes and I didn't have Koolaid, which I hear is a great introduction to dyeing yarn.  Instead I used the almighty Google to figure out if I could dye my yarn with food coloring.  I found this wonderful tutorial, which gave me the additional idea of getting preschool help for my dyeing project.

Here is the final yarn.  I love the colors, which were mostly Fee's doing, but I still hate the way it is spun.  I have no idea what to make with 19 yards of brightly-colored, poorly spun yarn.  Ideas?

Fee really liked helping me dye my handspun, and she's been asking to dye more wool.  I think I'll buy a few skeins of sock yarn, divide them into mini skeins, and dye them with Fee using food coloring or Koolaid.  It's a great way to get her involved with my knitting, and it'd be fun to add some Fee dyed hexipuffs into my Beekeeper's Quilt.


For more FOs, visit Tami's Amis.

Gratitude Journal -- 12

With tummy ailments striking our family, I'm glad I brew my own kombucha tea.  With kombucha on hand, we've been able to recover quickly.

WIP Wednesday (Kinetik Update and Ugly Yarn Edition)

My Kinetik Mystery KAL is almost complete, and it's clear that this is going to be a beautiful shawlette.

The picture on the bottum is more color-accurate, and the one at the top shows how the whole thing is coming together.  It is rather lovely unblocked, but I'm excited to finish to see the blocking magic unfold.

This has been such a fun and challenging knit. I will certainly be making more lace shawls in the future, and using Laura Nelkin's designs when I'm in the mood for working with beads.

In other news, I used my birthday money to purchase this drop spindle spinning kit from Maine Woods Yarn on Etsy.  I've completely spun the white roving to make some of the ugliest yarn I've ever seen.

Really fat, super thin, fluffy places--there is absolutely no consistency to this 19 yards of yarn.  I've decided to dye it let Fee help me dye it with food coloring, and probably give it to her for crafting.  I did learn a lot while spinning this ugly yarn, and I think I can make a much nicer and more consistent yarn when I get to the pretty roving in my kit.

As always, visit Tami's Amis for more WIPs.

Gratitude Journal -- 11

At 16 months old, Theo still falls asleep nursing.

Gratitude Journal -- 10

Theo has added the words "train" and "Thomas" to his ever expanding vocabulary.  It seems his older sister has passed along her passion for Thomas and Friends.  The two dance together when they hear the theme song.

Gratitude Journal -- 9

I am grateful for books that stick with me years after I have read them.  Whether they inspire me, disturb me, or just give me something to think about, there is a comfort to carrying the written word inside my mind.  Today I've been thinking about the Kristin Lavransdatter series.

Gratitude Journal -- 8

The kids are playing with trains together, as rain waters the ground.  I use the quiet time to organize my mini-skein collection.

FO Friday -- Birthday Socks Edition

These socks were more difficult to complete than they should have been.  I have difficulty gaining momentum when knitting any second sock, but this time the cord on my Knit Picks circular needles broke somewhere during the process of knitting that dern second sock.  How does the cord just break liked that?  Thankfully no stitches were dropped during the breaking of the cord or the transfer to dpns.  I'm not a fan of double points for sock knitting, and doing the second sock on double points was arduous.

Also, remember when I was bragging about being able to knit myself a pair of ankle socks with just 50 grams of sock yarn?  Well it turns out my calculations were slightly off.  I finished my socks, but I had to do the last couple of rows on my second sock using scrap yarn.  I was lucky.  I had some creamy color yarn leftover from making my dad's Christmas socks, two years ago.  It was a close enough match, and I'm happy with the final socks.I don't think I'll try squeezing another pair of ankle socks out of 50 grams.

I finished these socks on Sunday, February 12, my Birthday--a little hand-knitted gift to myself.  I like the texture of the basket weave pattern and the colors in the stripes.  I'm wearing these socks now, and they are warm, cozy, and wonderful.

And the broken circular needles?  I was telling the LYS owner the story of my broken needles.  She informed me that Knit Picks needles are guaranteed for life.  Unfortunately in my frustration, I

had already sent the broken needles to the circular files.  I ordered some Addi Turbo needles with some of my birthday money, as I generally prefer Addis anyway.

Now I'm trying to decide what socks to make next.  I'm debating between some simple chevron socks or the Rivendell socks, which I've been meaning to make since 2009.

For more FOs visit Tami's Amis.

Gratitude Journal -- 7

Fee pretended to build a garden today.  She said she was planting, "Fruits, and vegetables, and watermelon, and oranges, and kombucha, and honey."  She actually used some blocks to make a beehive, but I don't think she had a particular plan for growing kombucha.