Wow! I had no idea so many people read here! Thanks to Chris too, for directing some traffic my way!
Comments are now closed! Stay tuned for the reveal!
Comments on my 200th post are still open, so get in while you can, and while I’m at it, another first has been reached, most comments EVER on any one post! So, to mark that occasion, I’ll be drawing TWO winners tomorrow!

Mmm, Blue Faced Leicester!

Today, I’ve just updated my shop with Vesper Sock Yarn, and a TON of Superwash Merino Roving (perfect for spinning sock yarn!) and everybody’s favorite, Blue Faced Leicester Roving.

Mmm, Superwash Merino!

I’m planning on keeping alot of stock of Roving in the shop this year, and I’m hoping to always have a pound or so available of each colorway, so there will be enough for larger projects. Enjoy!

Filed by Julia at 10:44 am under Get Your Yarn!!
12 Comments

Okay, now is it more obvious? (Hint: Not a tea kettle cozy!) I’m really having so much fun with this! I’m up to the decreases now, hopefully they work how I want them to. After I finish this one, which is knit with my handspun, I’m going to knit another out of a commercial yarn, and then I’ll post the pattern so you can all have just as much fun with the Chevron Love as I did!

People, I’ve reached another bloggy landmark! This post you’re reading right now is my 200th (!) post!! To celebrate this occasion, leave me a comment, and with the help of a random number generator, and on Friday, I’ll pick a lucky knitter to receive a great fibery gift! Thank you all for reading, I love being here!

Filed by Julia at 12:37 am under Chevron Love,HandSpun,Knitting
167 Comments

I bet you can guess what this will be now! I’m loving knitting it, it seems to be working up very very fast! I’m using so many colors though, I doubt it’ll be a huge stash buster, but that just means I’ll have to knit more with fewer colors. It also has a facing-

The facing is Baby Ull, not handspun, I definitely wanted a soft, less scratchy facing. No promises, but if I can get this to work out the way I want, and write it out so that it makes sense, I might just have to post the pattern!

Filed by Julia at 6:44 pm under Chevron Love,HandSpun,Knitting
6 Comments

If some of you handspinners out there are anything like me, you’ve probably got a whole whack of handspun sitting around because it’s pretty, or because you only bought 4oz to begin with, spun it up, and don’t know what to knit with it. Yea. A good bit of my stash is handspun, some that has been around since I first got into spinning, and got my Joy, 3 years ago.

Welp, the time has come to take back my handspun. I went stash diving and raided my stash for handspun in similar weights, and that wee little swatch up there is the makings of a something grand that has been bouncing around my brain for months. A small something grand, but wait til you see the FO!

I’m very itchy to start my next sweater, but I have a queue full of small projects I want to tackle, so I’m going to make a dent in that first. Sweater monogamy be damned!

Also- There will be a big shop update today. Both Vesper sock yarn, and thanks to the help of my lovin man, a huge amount of Superwash rovings. The Shop is Updated!

Filed by Julia at 3:09 pm under Chevron Love,HandSpun,Knitting
8 Comments

I *heart* this sweater.

Pattern: “Aftur” from Lopi Book 25. I knit the 3rd size, and with my smaller gauge, the finished sweater measures somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd sizes.

Started: December 25th 2007
Finished: January 10th 2008

First Fo of the year! I am on a roll with the sweaters. Who knew I had sweater monogamy in me?!

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, 4 skeins Color 6282, Cranberry Mix, which I think might be discontinued, this is the main color. Just a wee bit each of the 4 yoke colors, which are, Pea Soup Mix, Potting Soil Mix, Lavender Mix, Fuchsia, and Brown Rice. Brown rice is the main color of the yoke, this is the color I used the most of. Really though, some of the colors, you only need a few yards of. So I have a lot left over.

Needles: Us 7 (4.5mm) Knitpicks Circs. My gauge with the Ultra Alpaca was just a wee bit smaller than the pattern gauge. The pattern is written for Lite Lopi, after all. I love the fabric that the Ultra Alpaca knits up to on 7′s, so I went with it. I just made sure to check my measurements, and I compared it frequently to a hand knit sweater that I love to death, and everything went well. Also, I tried it on a lot, just to be sure.

Mods: A few. I knit ribbing instead of seed stitch for the hem, and cuffs, and collar. Love the ribbing. I added waist shaping. I have a waist, I like fitted sweaters, I added shaping. Also, I added a few short rows to the back in about 3 places, so the hem wouldn’t annoyingly ride up, and so the back of the collar would be a bit higher, and not pull down. Worked like a charm.

After I saw Lolly’s version of this sweater, I knew I had to have one too! You know I love the greens and blues, I decided to knit outside the box, and go with a nice plummy maroony purple. I also didn’t really choose my yoke colors until I got to the yoke, because I wanted to knit, not so much to agonize over how the colors would look. I think it worked out very well. I’ve worn it a lot since finishing. A lot. It’s so warm, and the 50% merino really adds a lot of bouncy wooly qualities to the 50% alpaca. I want more!

Filed by Julia at 10:17 pm under Aftur Sweater,Knitting
29 Comments

The Shop is Updated! Enjoy!

(PS- Aftur FO post tomorrow!!)

Filed by Julia at 7:26 pm under Get Your Yarn!!
1 Comment

I’m in the home stretch now! Half the yoke and a collar to knit, under arms to graft and ends to weave in! This sweater went so fast, it practically flew off the needles. This is the first of the progress shots I took of it! It’s Berrocco Ultra Alpaca, and it’s very nice to work with, the 50% Merino content really helps the 50% Alpaca be bouncy. Plus it’s super soft, and probably super warm. Which will be good if winter every really gets here. Seriously. 65 degree weather in January?! I wore flip flops today!

Filed by Julia at 9:13 pm under Knitting
13 Comments

Hey, Happy New Year!! In the end, this will probably be like any other year, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to make it a great year. So let’s start things off with a good dose of Random.

*Last year, on January first I ate my last bit of chocolate. Intending to make it one year without, cause seriously, I couldn’t go with out it for very long, I am now 369 days chocolate free. Now I have a dilemma. I made my one year goal, so now do I start up again? Or do I keep the streak going? I think I might just eat chocolate when it’s in ice cream. I like my ice cream to have a lot of stuff in it, and I found out only too late that all the good ice cream has chocolate in it. Go fig.

* On Christmas Day, I started my Aftur Sweater, from Lopi #25. It’s a fairisle yoke sweater, and just now I joined all the parts into one big ass round. I had a goal of 3 weeks for this one, and I think I might just have it done way sooner. Yay.

* Before I left for Michigan for Christamas, I dyed up some very pretty superwash merino roving to spin into sock yarn. It’s so pretty, I intend to start spinning it this Sunday, to celebrate Rock Day. I’ve been itchy to spin this!!

Maritza, these are for you!!!

* I’m trying to get back into the swing of work things. I’ll find the motivation eventually. Today I did quite a bit, but get this, I cleaned today, as a way of putting it off. I keep things pretty tidy around here, but to take a day and clean alot is rare. Also, shop update sometime at the beginning of this week, superwash merino baby!!!

That’s all for the moment, hope you all had a great start to the New Year!

Filed by Julia at 10:20 pm under Knitting,Spinning
11 Comments