She is intelligent, easy to read, descriptive in the most appealing way, motivating, and so genuine.  She is brilliant!  I know virtually nothing about her, and yet I know that her writing is that of one of the most intelligent and insightful women I’ve ever read.  Seriously, take a moment.

I need to step back for a minute here.  I read her earlier works because my mom enjoyed them. I loved them and couldn’t wait for more.

Then, there was more.

If you know me, then you know that if I want something, I just buy it.  However, sometimes I can be a little silly about spending money on fiction – and then, not so much.  However, her new book was released and I couldn’t imagine spending $25 for the hardcover edition.  I waited a couple of minutes and was still really unsure about spending that much… and then, this appeared:  Kindle for iPhone.  I was one of those dorks that really wanted the first generation Kindle, but didn’t think it was a good way to spend my cash (instead, I got an iPhone – you can decide for yourself whether this was a good idea or not )

I LOVE this app.  I can read Kindle books on my iPhone – sure it is small and all, but I have relatively young eyes and the thought of moving all of my heavy books makes it all the more appealing…

I got the app, bought the book… and guess what.  I absolutely NEED to have this actual book.  It has been so very long since I’ve loved a book (not a classic) so much that I longed for the smell of that book.  I feel like I am missing out on the experience of these stories by reading it on my phone (and I love this app, don’t get me wrong).

I want to smell paper and glue and chemicals and that smell that makes me happy and a little nauseous at the same time.

Check this book out from your library, buy this book, do whatever you need to do – but read this book!

Really.  No, really.

(I guess I should have finished the book before I said this, eh?)

At any rate, I will be returning soon (if all goes well, that will be Monday).

For now, here is some roving I dyed in a range of colors.  I’m thinking to ply each color with the same solid color, but I can’t decide which solid to use.  My initial thought was black, but I am starting to wonder if that might not be too rainbow-y.  White would definitely wash out the colors, while a neutral like brown or gray might just look poorly planned.  Any thoughts?

Here are the colors (the black is in there because I was think of using it… try to pretend it isn’t there, please):

Wow, these really look overexposed.  Sadly, I am kind of excited by this (given the usual darkness of my house).

I’m thinking to use the yarn I spin from this for a vest.  I’d really like to hear thoughts about colors I should consider using as a second color for plying (Mom, that especially means you – comment already )

Back soon, I swear.

An Easter treat?  A rather large pack of birth control pills?

Oh, silly me, it’s a knit kit.  The all-in-one tool for knitters.

Check this thing out, it has all the emergency knitting tools you could ever need.  (If you think the idea of an emergency knitting tool is silly, this may not be an appropriate purchase for you to make).

A counter and a thread/yarn cutter:

A crochet hook on the side for any number of tasks:

A 60″ tape measure (two sided, with metric on the back):

Here’s the back with a little storage area for stitch markers, point protectors, and a pair of folding scissors:

These little scissors are actually pretty comfy to use and are apparently TSA-approved so you should be able to take them along on your next flight.

I’m thinking I’ll keep this in my purse and then it will be handy whenever I need it (theoretically, at least).  I have a feeling I’ll use it for lots of non-knitting things.  How great to always have a pair of scissors and tape measure in your purse.

The little counter could be a great aid to those of us who tend to be a little OCD with numbers and counting (or maybe just a big problem, only time will tell).  Maybe you should take up knitting after all, Laurie?

For the low price of about $20, I think this will be a purchase I’ll use almost every day!

The blues were so much more visible in the singles.

As a two-ply:

The tomten jacket was a really quick knit – and surprisingly not boring (as I expected all that garter stitch to be).  I’m really excited about making another one, maybe even Jared’s adult version of the jacket.  Have you seen that?  Seriously, go take a look – it is unbelievable!

I followed the instructions for the jacket in Knitting Workshop and Knitting Without Tears (they are quite similar).  I started and finished knitting this project while I was sick with that horrible plague of February – the spinning was done in December and January.

Here’s the finished jacket:

I had a little bit of extra fun with the zipper.  No idea why I made such a big deal about putting it in, it was quite easy (once I just put the dang thing in).  I basted it in by hand and then machine sewed it using a slightly longer than normal straight stitch.  Easy as pie.

It’s a little big for the boy right now, but he’ll grow into it soon.

See those little remnants of birthday cake on the cheeks and eyebrows?

After the first batch of fibers, I wanted to try for some lighter colors.  I think this is potentially going to be difficult for me – for spinning fibers, I am very drawn to the natural fleece colors and deeply saturated jewel tones.

I used a pretty simple immersion technique (more about this soon) for the first fibers I dyed and was able to create deep and somewhat saturated colors:

I wanted to be able to dye some fiber that would have a little more variation to it when it was spun.  The easiest way to do this (or so it seems to me) is to leave some undyed areas in the fiber.  Instead of using an immersion technique, I painted the fiber and used an oven steam method.  I used wool rovings this time (instead of superwash).

Here are some of the results:

As you can probably see, the purples and blues seem to be my favorites right now…

I added some orange-red to this one, hoping for a sandy brown and I actually had pretty good luck.  This roving is very reminiscent of summer to me, very beach-y.

I also dyed this roving using an immersion technique similar to my first try, but using slightly less dye and I applied it in a somewhat different way (more on this soon, too):

I can’t seem to get a photo of this one that really captures the colors.  It is definitely mostly purples and greens, but there are also many, many shades of gray in this roving.

That’s all for now.
Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day (have some green beer or something).

Here it is as a finished 2-ply yarn:

Both of these photos are overexposed, but the color is pretty close.  There is a little more contrast within the yarn than there is in these photos.  All these darned cloudy days here and I can’t get good light for anything.  It feels like spring, but it sure doesn’t look like spring!

This is about 340 yards (310 meters) of about a heavy-ish sockweight yarn.

It is pretty bright, but I am really liking how it reminds me of spring and new plant growth – really bright greens with hints of yellows and blues here and there.

I had a little trouble getting my twist right on both the singles and during plying.  As always, I spun lively singles and then added a LOT of twist when plying.  Unfortunately, I think a bit more twist was required during plying.

Ah, well.  Lesson learned.

It looked so, so lonely sitting there all naked and alone:

I can’t decide what I think of the finished products, but it sure is fun!

I just tried this and that and didn’t worry too much about my technique.  Instead, I just tried to get colors that I would actually use (or at least enjoy petting – did I mention this is some soft roving?)  Additionally, I really wanted to avoid getting too much dye and having color seep out of the roving/yarn forever.  So far, I think I was successful.

I have a pretty limited set of dyes (a cyan, a magenta, and a yellow), and I am pretty new to mixing these particular base colors.   Using citric acid crystals is also new – I love that it hardly has any smell at all this way.

Here they are.

First, the dark blues and deep purples:

The pinks and oranges:

The blues and greens:

and finally, the lighter blues and purples:

In case it isn’t obvious, I’m a bit of a fan of bright and cheery colors.

Because I am the most incredibly impatient person you’ll ever meet, I had to start spinning some of this.

Here is the first bobbin of the green singles:

I think this will be really pretty when it is plied.  I might actually end up with a sockweight 2-ply yarn- yay!

On a completely unrelated note, I am loving how easy it is to post using WordPress – I’m afraid that Blogger made me a little crazy sometimes.  This is just so easy and so quick – it really only takes a few minutes.

Okay, that’s all for now.

I thought the box was stuffed full for that first order… well, that was nothing like this time.

This picture really doesn’t show just how round this box was.  I actually snorted when I saw it.

16 lbs of fiber crammed into a pretty small box!   It just popped right out at me when I cut the tape.

This is my share of the Superwash wool.  I spun a little sample that Carol sent last time and just loved it.  With this roving, I am going to try a little dyeing myself.  I just want pretty deep colors for making socks.  There are so many patterns that I want to make that need a solid or semi-solid yarn (and I very rarely see the colors I have in mind in yarn shops).

In case you can’t see how soft this roving looks, here’s a close-up:

Tracy and Emily both ordered this black-mix wool.  I think it will spin into such a nice yarn (now I am really regretting not ordering any – I think I always feel that way).

We all ordered the white roving.  The selection that Carol sent all looks like this.  A little predrafting (I wouldn’t even go that far, just a slight stretch seems to do the trick) and soft, soft, fluffy whiteness to spin.  It, too, is very soft.  I can’t even explain how excited I am to have 5 lbs of this!  I’ll be busy for a long while.

Just so you can get an idea of how much fiber was in that little box – here it is all sitting behind my couch.  It looks icky because it is in plastic bags (had to divvy it up so I could start playing with my parts).  This is so much wool, I am a little giddy.  I’m sure Tracy and Emily will love this!

(Pay no mind to the grubby looking carpet

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock (colorway: Gold Dynasty).  It is an 80/10/10 blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and nylon.  I really can’t explain to you just how soft and super smooshy this yarn is (just the way I like it).

The color is somewhere in between these two photos, much more golden orange than true orange.  While it isn’t a colorway that that I would buy, I must say I really like it.  It is very fresh and spring-y.

Jen always sends the best goodies with the club shipments, but she absolutely outdid herself this time!  Look at this gorgeous silk project bag from Lantern Moon!  I’m almost afraid to put it into my bag – I don’t want it to get snagged (this will make sense if you’ve ever seem my bag).

The other treats are equally as exciting:  A Queen of Knitting pen, body mousse from Rachel Rene (I think this may become a staple around here), chocolates dusted with gold and silver luster from Gayle’s Chocolates, a really cool calendar magnet with all of the club’s shipping dates, the cutest little sheep note card, a pretty stitch marker from Mama Llama, and special limited edition SOAK.

And… two patterns!  I was super excited about this because the thought of making socks out of this color yarn made me a little sick.  I have seen that horrible red clay in South Carolina and they’d be ruined in a second.  I will definitely be making these socks, though (maybe in a deep blue or red).  Here’s the Ravelry link for the Majestic sock pattern (by Elizabeth Warner).

The other pattern is for a really pretty (and easy) scarf, Alexandria (by Lisa Dykstra).  Ravelry link is not available yet.  I cast on the other night and this thing flies!

It really seems like I had more to say… hmm.  Maybe later.

I ordered some fabric scraps from someplace that I can’t remember.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember when I ordered them, either – sad statement about my stash organization.  I do remember that it was a really good deal and I got a bunch of small pieces of all kinds of different fabrics.  Not having a plan for them, I just tucked them away.

Anyway, I was cleaning up in my office/craft room the other day and found them and decided they’d be perfect for making some little sample quilt blocks.  Having seen some really pretty (and simple looking) whirlygig-type quilt blocks here and there, I thought I’d give it a try.  True to my standard form, I didn’t print out a pattern.  Fortunately for me, it was just a little simple geometry/arithmetic (what quilt block isn’t, right?).

This was really quick and really fun.  I machine quilted around each block and then added little squares and rectangles of quilting here and there.  Far from perfect by normal quilting standards, I still really like it.  It has that homemade look, I think.  It really isn’t quite as wonky as it looks in these pictures.  Something went awry when I took them – could be related to the speed at which I rushed through the task.

Because I had such fun with this first little guy, I had to make a second one.  This one I just sketched out and made up.  It turns out that it looks like a bunch of little windows.  I really like the sashing – I used a linen blend (as suggested by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson!).  The difference in texture isn’t terribly visible in the photo, but it looks and feels really interesting in better light and in person.

I do think I went a little overboard with the color.  Oh well, these things happen, right?

I wish I’d had a dark solid or pattern for the bird, but no such luck.

I think I’ll be trying another one like this soon – maybe with slightly different proportions.

There would be more (and better) photos, but I am having trouble uploading pictures from Flickr again.

(I can’t believe how terribly Flickr has been acting lately – just awful.  Very frustrating.  I always thought the Pro account was worth it – definitely not feeling the love these days).