Eyes Too Big

Eyes too big for my mouth. Seem to be forever taking on more than time will allow. Spring is here, the grass is literally as high as most of the rose bushes I have neglected to prune. And I sit inside on these sunny days, knitting. Felted slippers for friends of friends, as a barter for a new diz, as auction items for Scholarship Fund at the May Mensa RG in Portland.

Really, this morning I just completed my 13th pair, and have two more to do. I may be done with this particular pattern for a while!



My new Forsyth Combs are sitting at the PO waiting for a pick up, and this last week has brought three fleeces, a lovely mixed grey CVM as well as two icelandic, a black and an off white. Where is this time gonna come from?

On a more fun side, the fibonacci shawl is done. I added a lace edge to it, now I have to block it. Of course, that will entail moving Diva off her favorite snoozing spot, the bed in the front room.



My good friend Melody drug me thrift store shopping and and scored this cotton sweater for 99 cents! I am gonna try to decipher the pattern and maybe knit a blanket with it. It is very fine machine knitted, but with all those full-fashioned details a knitter loves.







Off to do a gauge swatch for the black cashmere scarf I am doing for my brother. Trying to simplify, simplify (and have something I can knit without actually having to constantly read the pattern!

Little knitting

Found this on Ravelry this morning. Good fast project, I can use leftover alpaca from previous cardigans, shawls and scarves I have knit. Started it right off:



Smarty pants that I am, I decided to use a modified applied I cord method on the the edge stitches, but am knitting them on as I go, with a width of 3 stitches on each side. I forgot that this really ends up being essentially all slipstitched every other row, so now the middle section with the argyle features is really "poofing" up. I will have to decide what to do, it is sorta interesting.
The other day I saw another item on Ravelry , and was inspired. So - I spent some time with my Walker books, found a suitable lace edging altered it a bit and graphed it:


I used the "Double Edging" on page 375 of her second book, got rid of the middle and smaller lace section and decreased repetions to 24 from 30 to make the actual design a comfortable "scarf" size. I also added my favoirte "YO, K2tog" loopy edge to each right side.

I had to change some of the K2togs to SSK to make the scarf lie flatter and have more of an equal pattern on both sides. And, as indicated by the two pink lines in the middle of the pattern, I decided to have a gradation of triangle sizes (1 small, 3 middle sized), though to the main part will be all large size. Easy pattern to get in the swing of. The yarn is heavenly, "Mountain Goat" by Mountain Colors out of Corvallis MT. It is a 100 gm. skein of "Winter Sky" in a worsted wt. I am using size 8 needles and plan to use the whole thing!

















The color is absolutely fabulous, and the slight sheen from the mohair seems to deepen the depth of the colors.

Here is a pair of pre-felting "Felted Clogs", lying atop the wonderful suede I bought on eBay for soles. It is wonderful heavy suede, all one needs is the patience to punch the holes. I have made many many pairs of these clogs, and the suede bottoms really do make them more functional. These are you the Mensa scholarship auction in May.
But I am happiest that I am gradually cutting down my spinning stash. And using the old Ashford with the bulky head. I really tried to use my Schacht Matchless to spin bulky yarn, but the Ashford is simply easier, with much less frustration. For all the bobbins/whorls I own for the Matchless, it really seems (for me) to have a limited range of yarns spun to my satisfaction.