Pile on the Woolies!

It is cold. Beyond cold. Way beyond freezing even (heck, if it was 32 degrees, we'd be breaking out the shorts!). Yesterday was cold. Single digit temps, with a bit of a breeze. This morning, it was just brutal.

It actually dropped to -7, but my hands were too cold to get out the camera again. It hurts to breathe outside. The air is so dry that the snow is now "squeaky". I piled on all the fleece and handknits I have to make the trek from the parking garage into work (about a 6 minute walk). I was still cold. Luckily today there is no wind.

The dogs (except Ace, he is Arctic dog!) only go outside when they absolutely have to. Poor Otis - his paws were so cold yesterday afternoon, he plunked himself down in the snow and lifted his feet off the ground! He'll get booties on this afternoon. It is a big day for him - he gets his stitches out! He'll still need to wear the E-Collar for a bit longer, but I'm hoping he can get back to normal soon!

With the chilly temps outside, evenings have been confined to inside activities - like knitting and, for Naomi, spinning!

This is some superwash Merino in Blue Raspberry she got from Jessica's Esty shop! Since she has pretty much spun up all the fiber she had, she bought some different things to try. She also got some BFL in a beautiful yellow. Anyway, my holiday gift to my mom was a cowl. I wanted to let her pick the pattern, and Naomi offered to spin the yarn! This is her first attempt at spinning thicker than fingering weight. She's really, really good at spinning thin - she can spin cobweb weight if she wanted, so this is a great challenge for her! The thickness of Malabrigo is what she's going for, along with the same, single ply (it's the yarn used in the pattern my mom picked). I think it's coming out great, and the color is just amazing! It's a bluish-purple with hints of a dark pinkish-burgundy color. Dying genius!

Her sock is coming along well - I'm into the gusset decreases The last two socks I did had short row heels. Not my favorite. Heel flap, I have missed you! Short rows are just not my thing. Never have I gotten them to come out really nice. Many methods have been tried, there is just something about picking up the wraps and that whole second half of the heel. Just not pleasant for me. Give me a good 'ol heel flap any day!

The mittens I designed are another story. The corrugated ribbing was done, I had the pattern designed and tweaked and started knitting. Ick. Double Ick. Super Ick. It was just nothing like I wanted and it was not fun to knit.

The previous mitten and cuff are now two balls (beautiful center pull balls, may I add) of yarn again. The cuff will be changed to a ribbed cuff (better for keeping out the weather as my dad is a walker in all sorts of temps) and I have to re-work the design again. Back to the drawing (Excel) board.....

Spinning - and some Mittens!

My sister Naomi has really come a long way in her spinning. She is mostly, if not all, self taught and I think the yarn she has made so far is amazing! She started a year or so back with some Alpaca she got at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It was a very short staple, and that is what she learned to spin on. Not the easiest. Now, she is flying through ounces of roving at a crazy pace! In just the last months she has spun and plied both Merino roving as well as three hand dyed colors of Merino/Tencel. The Merino is beautiful. A pale light blue, it is super soft and springy.

The Merino/Tencel was handdyed by us at the dying weekend we had at Sarah's back in August.
The first is a beautiful steely purple color.

The second is a beautiful silver - it looks like spun metal!

The third is a great tone of blue. It is still on the wheel, so pics of that one to come later. Now, since she did the spinning, I get to do the knitting! Any ideas for these lovlies? They are all from 4 oz of fiber and spun to about a sport/heavy fingering weight yarn. I think one may become a Lace Ribbon Scarf for my mom. Naomi is also looking for sources for more fiber! Preferably Merino, BFL or blends. Anyone with great sources, let me know!

As for knitting, I had to keep up with her spinning! I finished a pair of Peekaboo Mitts (Rav link) for Naomi. She has long coveted the pair I made a while back, so I gathered together some scraps and made her a pair.

Not even thinking, I matched her Sherbrooke Cowl perfectly! The stripes are kind of hard to see, but there are light blue, pale pink and white in the middle as well as the green. They were a super quick and fun knit.

More snow on tap for us today mixed with some freezing rain and rain. Pretty much everything Mother Nature could throw at us! I hope everyone has a safe, happy and festive holiday, whichever one you celebrate!!!!!!!

Spinning Sister

With my knitting progressing at a snail's pace, and my true knitting mojo yet to return, I figured I'd showcase Naomi's spinning. She has really come a long way, and learned quite a bit. Her little wheel, bought a few years back from a friend of mine's mother for a song, has no brand name but is quite a workhorse.

This year, at Maryland Sheep and Wool, she actually bought some roving. Beautiful, light blue Merino. She finished spinning up the 8 ounce bag the other night.

It's so squishy soft. She is making it into a two ply and I can't wait to knit something for her with it! Something next to skin for sure. It is too soft to use for just anything.

We also picked up our CSA shipment yesterday. It seems like when we hit late summer and early fall, the deliveries get huge. Yesterday was no exception. My refrigerator is now bursting!

So as not to post without a cute puppy picture, here is Ace sporting his new goggles. He's ready to swim now!