EOM Catch Up

I'm such a big procrastinator. (I'm admitting it to myself more than anything). I've been meaning to post my other January projects but at least I'm getting in under the wire!

My Easy Neckwarmer/Headband by Jessica Bolof on Ravelry. I made it for my cousin who I know is in a deeper freeze than I am here in the south. (She's pretty far up north in MI.) This was made out of Noro Silk Garden in color 232. If I made it again I'd cast on less stitches as it grew when soaked. The Silk Garden will stretch with wear as well, so I threw it in the dryer for about 20 minutes and it scrunched up again nicely.

I also finished another pair of socks made out of Desert Vista Dyeworks Viso base in the Mona Lisa colorway:

Not a big "gold" lover here, it doesn't quite match the colors of others on Ravelry, but overall I loved the base so one day I hope to have more from this dyer. (I'm a sucker for self-striping, it always lures me in). I can honestly say these practically knit themselves, the yarn was a real pleasure to hold and knit with.

I have to get busy and photograph my spindle projects in the works, but yesterday we did do some over-dyeing of some sock yarns I had in the stash.

Both of my daughter's helped me (snow days from school, gotta keep them busy). My youngest is doing Independent Study at home now so we counted this as a Home Ec project. I love the colors we created, we weren't exactly scientific about it, we totally winged it, but we did get the deeper saturation we were after in the end. I finally used up all my vinegar as well, I can FINALLY use my citric acid in that jug and not have to deal with the smell. I can't wait to dye some more someday.

All in all, January was productive knitting-wise and a great reason to use all the woolies we already have in the house! We don't have the inches of snow and minus degree temps, but for us, it was pretty darn COLD, not what we're used to as much. Still, Mother Nature has her beautiful moments:

P.S. Thank you Word Lily and Anna for actually reading my ramblings! :)

Handspun Socks

My husband has some very warm toes now.

My first time knitting with something I've spun myself.
This was a 3-ply done on my Ashford Joy.
4 oz of Into The Whirled SW BFL in the Bird Girl colorway.
I got around 350 yds. Approx 114 g
Size 1 magic loop, 3 x 1 ribbing over 68 sts

No, they don't match at all, and that's what sort of cool about them.

He had them on before the ends were even woven in, it's been pretty cold around here. I see more handspun socks in my future, it's fun to see what the colors are going to do. "Surprise" knitting if there ever was such a thing.

A New Yarn-y Year - Welcome 2014

I've been a lazy blogger (a few years worth it seems). Life gets in the way, yada, yada yada and I lost the mojo to blog when I got my MAC and had some trouble figuring some things out. But this year I hope to at least keep up with my knitting and spinning projects again. 

I've been hearing so many resolution "plans" people have that I've gotten down to:
Resolution #1: "I just want to be happy". My head is cluttered enough, life is busy for everybody, but I want to just feel relaxed and not as anxious about things this year. I realize a lot of what I worry about is about choices I make, things I have no control over, and natural life events. I need to be more in the moment and let life take it's course and trust that God has my back. Accepting changes is a lot easier than fighting them. Frankly, it's just exhausting. 

New Mantra: Relax, and BREATHE. 

On to stringy things! My first project this year will be some handspun socks for my husband. I'll be posting a picture and giving details in my next post because I'm working down the foot on the second sock right now. They don't match at all, but
they're the first thing I've knit out of any of my handspun and it's been exciting.