Friday, June 19, 2009

Fiber Friday

This Friday I don't have finished handspun yarn to show, but some lovely new fiber stash I'll be working on in the future. The top four are Kettle Dyed Shetland Humbug by Shunklies. I LOVE this stuff! I'm nuts about it. The second four are Kettle Dyed Jacobs Humbug. I'm working on Jacob Humbug right now and it's so interesting how the colors turn out. It's easy to spin, even though I find myself picking out guard hair throughout. Jacob fiber is a bit on the rough side. I don't want it anywhere near my neck, but I think it will be nice enough for socks.
The last two fibers are Sweetgeorgia's Fiber Club April and May. I'm looking forward to spinning that up as well. June Fiber is already on its way. Oh, and by the way. I've not renewed my Sock Clubs ( I never want to knit the patterns anyway), but/because I got into HelloYarn Fiber Club!!! Yeah! Thanks to somebody who did not renew there was an open spot for meeeeee!

Fiber stash 1

I'm also going to show you my WIP's. Here's the never ending twisted stitch sock(s). Twisting stitches all the time sure is slow going. The pattern was written for knee highs, but I didn't have enough yarn in my stash for knee highs, so I decided I really wanted to knit this pair, but only for socks. I'm further along than this picture. I finished the big motif you can see here, and the little bell underneath. There should be three or four bells, but for socks it's only got place for one bell. Good enough for me.

June 15, twist stitch socks take forever

Knitting, crocheting or sewing some shopping bags is an ongoing thing right now. Since they started to charge for plastic bags in stores, I've used these bags. We used to use the plastic grocery bags for dog poop removal, but we bought a bunch of biodegradable ones for that now. It's fun to have so many different and colorful reusable bags to go shopping with. I hope I have enough of this yarn left to finish the bag. It's Noro Sakura, left over from my Sakura shawl. I really would not know what else to do with this yarn. Here you see it bottom up.

Seaside tote bag, bottoms up

Believe it or not, here's my Oatmeal Garter Yoke Cardi, as far as I've gotten. I'm mighty proud of myself for starting it, and getting so far, because I had to make modifications to the pattern. I need a larger size as given. I did some mods at the underarm (will explain more in a later post). I had to do some bust shaping, which I had to figure out for myself. I haven't found a link to exactly what I was looking for, but I got some ideas here. You can actually SEE the bust shaping, don't you? :o) I'm using Patons Classic Wool Merino in Oatmeal. It's a nice enough yarn. I'm looking forward to this being finished and fingers crossed, it will fit too! I'm working on this instead of a new blanket for the time being. It should be ready for fall weather, well at least that's my goal. I do get sore shoulders working on this, or maybe I'll get used to it and it will go faster. Maybe.

Oatmeal Garter Yoke Cardi

Meanwhile I'm waiting for Bea's English version of her new sock pattern. I've chosen the yarn, needles are ready, but I don't have to be idle until she's done, as you can see.



***

Biko is fine according to the Vet. The bloodwork is fine, and she's in excellent shape. We all agreed, that the seizure was a one time event. She's enjoying her car rides, they can never be long enough.

June 14, Biko going for a car ride

***

21 comments:

hannah said...

That fiber stash looks so yummy!! I love the colours. The sock looks very promising.

The bag will be lovely too, nice colours are in this yarn.

The cardigan looks fine to me. Once you know were to use the bust shaping it isn't that difficult isn't it?

I am happy to read that Biko is fine again.

Alexandra said...

Wow that's gorgeous fiber! I'm so jealous, I want to learn how to spin too! Can't wait to see how you spin it!

The socks look great - what a pretty pattern! The cardigan looks very nice too! I'm sure your modifications will be perfect!

Wishing you and Biko a nice weekend! :)

Renata S. P. said...

Oh, I loved the second and the last fiber!! They are so gorgeous!!
I also liked the crochet bag you are doing, by the way, I like everything with many colors =D

I'm glad to see that Biko is fine =))

Have a nice weekend!

Dave said...

Lovely new fibre -- I'm looking forward to seeing the humbugs spun up!

lexa said...

Glad that Biko got a clean bill of health. :)

GoldenTracks said...

Your fiber stash makes me think of a summer flower garden.
What a great thing to make your own tote bags. I feel the charge for bags or the total outlaw of them is coming soon here in the US....We buy doggie bags by the roll but what will people with house cats do?
Glad to hear Biko is fine and enjoying the car rides. May the stress of the loss of Samson was the trigger.
Gonna have to check out that cardi pattern..
Enjoy your weekend!

Agnes said...

The sock pattern is looking very interesting to me ... though I don't really enjoy twisted stitch all the time!
Good to know Biko is doing well.
Nice weekend to you.

Frieda said...

The fiber stas looks luscious . you're going to be busy !

Love the socks and the cardigan too! I keep seeing all these wonderful market bags popping up all over the place . Gotta get myself better organized , my knitting queue is overun with ideas !

Glad to hear that Biko's fine . I wish Bingo was better in the car . He's so hyper , even a short trip is an ordeal .

Anonymous said...

what pattern is the socks? I LOVE it! The fiber flashing is super pretty! :)

Sharon V said...

I'm so glad you made the comment you did about Jacob fiber. With hand painted fiber and online shopping, I always get sucked in by the colors. And your color choices are wonderful.

I giving a sigh of relief that Biko is well.

Have a happy weekend.

knottygnome said...

wow, that is a lot of really pretty fiber! can't wait to see it all spun up.

nice short-rows. :-) not being blessed in the chest department i've never needed them but i've always wanted to try the technique.

Judy said...

Hi There, love the bottom of the crochet bag , is there a pattern? , looks like its a nice big size, Judy ~~~

Carrie K said...

Glad to hear Biko's okay.

The cardigan looks cute and not nearly as if it caused you that much trouble! Which is good.

All that gorgeous fiber!

I like how twisting the stitches makes the pattern & even the rib pop.

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of fiber! You'll have fun spinning it all up. That's good about Biko getting a clean bill of health. It was probably just stress.

Unknown said...

It's good to know that Biko is well and that a good car ride is still a good car ride. The sweater looks great too! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Anonymous said...

I like that Sakura - I'm tempted to buy some to make a bag, but I'm on a yarn diet, so I'll just admire.....
Margie in Maryland

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Wonderful news about Biko :)

So much going on in this post! First, I love HelloYarn and am jealous of your getting into her fiber club - personally I have my heart set on her Fiddlehead mitten kits so if you ever see those available let me know!!!

They don't charge for plastic bags down here but that is coming. Like you I use them for doggie droppings :) Your's is a lovely bag and I need to get hopping making one too!

Good luck on the cardi!

Kris B said...

Wow, nice variety of fiber. I really like the colors of all of them. I agree twisted stitches are a pain but boy does it make the stitches pop out at you, very pretty.

I really dislike making modifications to patterns. It makes me keep second guessing myself. I hope the mods work out for you and you get a good fit.

I'm so glad to hear that Biko is doing good.

Lu said...

Monika...
Que lindo teu trabalho!!
Parabéns pelas mãos abençoadas que tens!O colorido de tuas lãs me encanta
Aqui em minha região temos muitas ovelhas, mas só temos á venda lãs sintéticas, o que é lastimável.
Um grande abraço

2paw said...

I am so please to hear Biko is well and she looks very regai sitting there in the car: about to wave to the masses!!!

Monica aka Gloria Patre said...

Monika - we have a real problem here - I am in serious danger of running away from home and taking up residence in your fiber cupboard!!! Those braids all look good enough to eat - or just roll in for hours!! WoW!