llamas and mittens and bunny fur (oh my)

It’s been a tough week here are Chez Wiseheart. Doctor appts, driving into the city three days in a row, dogs and cats living together…Oh wait. Sorry. That’s Ghostbusters, not Wisehearts.

But never mind about that. There’s been plenty of yarn and fiber in there, too, so let’s get right to the important stuff, shall we?

LLAMA TIME!

That’s right, it’s time for the Giveaway Llama to make an appearance once again. I’ve been so busy after coming back from my trip that the bag of goodies I got for giveaways has been sitting there, quietly moping on my desk. Let’s make that bag a little lighter, shall we?

This is DA BOMB, people. It is 350 yards of merino/cashmere/silk yarn from Spirit Trail. I had the honour of assisting Jennifer from Spirit Trail and her crew of amazing helpers during booth set-up at Rhinebeck, and I couldn’t resist bringing home a skein of one of her lovelies to share with you all.

The standard rules apply: Leave a comment on THIS ENTRY to enter the drawing for the yarn. The comments will close on Tuesday, November 22, at midnight; on Wednesday AM, I will use random.org to choose one of the comments and thus the winner of the yarn! I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday.

I have at least two more goodies from my trip to giveaway in future posts, so no worries if you don’t win this time. (Maybe by the time I’m 100 years old, every single commenter will have won at least once. It’s important to have goals.)

Works in Progress

Time for a little update on the old WIP queue…

Knitting

I know, I really shouldn’t be starting anything new at this point…but I need mittens. Really I do. It’s Canada, and the first snow flurries arrived today, and I don’t like cold fingers. Last year, I knit Nicholas a really awesome pair of lined mittens, so this year it’s my turn.

The pattern is Lotus Leaf Mittens, and it’s brilliant. Just plain brilliant. I’ve done a very limited amount of stranded colourwork prior to this project, so I was a bit wary of trying this. But it’s me, so I jumped in with all five dpns.

The white yarn is Dream in Color Starry, the one with sterling silver bits in it. The purplish yarn is Fleece Artist Sock, and it has just a tiny bit of variegation, just enough to make the final effect a bit on the stunning side.

The second mitten is already well into the chart…and I’m doing it in the mirror-image colourway.

And, of course, the gauge is different. SAME YARNS, people, just switching roles from foreground to back ground and vice versa. Both yarns have similar WPI and similar grist-in-the-hand, but their behaviour as knitted stitches is quite different.

The white yarn, already firmly spun, compacts down even more when used as a background yarn. The purple yarn, more loosely spun, blooms when used as a background yarn. I didn’t figure this out until I had finished the cuff for the white mitten, and held it next to the purple mitten’s cuff to compare lengths. Ooops. It’s a bit narrower, and shorter, which means both the row and stitch gauges are different, just from switching the roles of the yarns.

I’m experimenting with needle sizes to get the white mitten to fit properly.

Honestly, the things you learn as a knitter. Something new every damn project!

There’s the Obligatory Doctor’s Waiting Room sock:

Yarn: I Had The Label Here A Minute Ago, Sorry. Some sort of merino/cashmere/silk.

Pattern: In Sandi’s Head. It’s kind of a variant on heart of the oaks lace, cast on and go.

And then there is the Blue Hoodie, the one which has been soaking in the Meditation Pond for the last week or so. It’s still meditating. (I can hear it chanting from here.)

Spinning

I finished spinning up the special Bunny Blend I came up with at Sock Summit in Sheila January‘s class. (Random bio from one of the classes she is teaching.)

Yes, in fact, one must have a cat tail in every yarn photo.

The focus of Sheila’s class was to help us design a custom blend of fibers that would make the sort of sock each individual wanted to make. I have Reynaud’s Syndrome, which causes a lack of circulation in my feet, so I need super-warm socks. I’m finding that the usual sock blends, even the cashmere ones, just don’t cut it for me; I am allergic to mohair, so I can’t use that at all.

The answer: Angora bunny fluff. Dude, I love this stuff. Warm, soft, fluffy! So I combined angora with Shetland lambswool, silk, BFL, dyed merino (that’s where the rose colour comes from), and a touch of angelina for sparkle.

Clockwise beginning with dark pink: dyed merino, Shetland lambswool, angora bunny, BFL/silk blend, angelina, dyed tussah silk. The bit off to the left is a wee sample batt.

Here’s what one of the batts looked like.

And close-up:

Spun into a singles:

And the three plies, ready to be plied.

Total yardage is about 386 yds, which I say is Just Fine for a pair of Sandi Socks.

Chispas

Fozzie the Bear at Mordor. Quite a literary moment, methinks.

Day of the Dead wedding. “Do you, Sugar, take Skull to be your lawful spouse?”

Best Halloween Costume, Category: I don’t know WTF this is. But gotta give it to her/him: She/he has STYLE.

Possibly the most unusual knitted object I’ve seen in quite a while. And I see a LOT of weird stuff, folks.

Take one last look. These are a rare species of black rhinos (I think). Or rather: They WERE a rare rhino species. They are now extinct. All gone. GONE. Humbles me to think of how many species we have banished in just the past hundred years or so.

Do we need a kitten picture after that? Sure we do.

And Dusty wants you to know he’s purring for all of you.