Digging Deep

Since my knitting time has been very limited these days, I decided to dig deep into the recesses of my closet to find an old project to share with you. Since I've been talking about adding a merino and tencel blend to my line, I decided to pull out a project made with just such a blend (although a sportweight rather than sock weight yarn).

This is a sweater that I knit several years ago, based on a pattern that I can't put my hands on right now, but that I think was from Gedifra.

The sweater in the pattern as written was much looser fitting and larger. It also had a boatneck of some sort if I recall correctly and there was no detail at the hem or neckline. I very much liked the basic stockinet body combined with the slightly bell-shaped openwork sleeves, but I tightened up the fit, switched the neckline and added the details to the neck and bottom.

It's one of my all-time favorite sweaters. It fits really well and is very comfortable and quite pretty. I wish my husband could have gotten a better photo, but we just couldn't seem to get the lighting to cooperate. We ended up getting the best shots in the dim lighting in his workshop (thus the lovely background of wood and a hose in the photo above).

With the bright, natural light today (yes, that's right . . . it's sunny today here in Oregon!), most of the photos came out with a bizaare swirling effect that looks a bit like a giant thumbprint across the sweater. Isn't it odd?

(And yes, that's me in the photo above, looking even more ghostly white than usual with the bright sun and strange camera behavior.)

Despite the bad photos, I think you can at least in the first two photos see a bit of how the yarn drapes nicely and has a very subtle bit of sheen to it.

Perhaps next time I'll have something current to share with you, but for today we'll have to live with these "past moments."

A Double Dose of Goodness

Before I dive into today's project features, I want to thank all of you for participating in my "new sock yarn" poll. Your input is very much appreciated! (If you haven't seen the poll yet, scroll down to my prior post for details.) Now on to the Monday projects . . .

I have two projects today, both made from patterns by the amazing Anne Hanson of KnitSpot. First up is the Hypotenuse Scarf knit by Kathleen using FF Sportweight Cashmere in the Endless Night colorway:



Isn't it glorious?! Kathleen is blogless, but you can get a glimpse of her lovely work on Ravelry. She's katrog. (If this project is giving you the urge for some FF Cashmere, I must warn you that my cashmere stock is almost entirely depleted right now. I know many of you are anxious for more and I do plan to focus on it again this spring.)

The next project is a pair of Rococo Socks knit by Mandy using FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Smoke colorway.



The socks look fantastic! Here's another shot so that you can see more of the lovely detail:



Take a journey over to Mandy's blog to see more of her work.

Thank you to Kathleen and Mandy for sharing their gorgeous photos! My knitting time has been sorely lacking these last couple of weeks, but these projects have me itching to do something about that.

Everyone have a fabulous start to your week!

Got Two Cents?


I've been keeping an exciting little behind-the-scenes secret from all of you that I'm ready to talk about today! Hold onto your hats. Are you ready?! Here goes . . .

I'm planning on adding a new sock yarn to my line! Now, before anyone gets concerned, rest assured that my current sock yarn is not going anywhere. I know some of you like to hear occasional bits of "knitty" gritty details that go on behind the curtain, so I'll let you in on a bit of my thinking about this and also ask for your two cents (see poll to the right, but be sure to read the details here first or scroll down to the middle of the post for the summary info on each yarn).

First of all, a bit about my current Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn. When I selected this yarn for my line, it was with a very specific goal in mind. I actually wanted to appeal to a segment of the knitting population rather than to the broadest group possible. This is somewhat contradictory to what most indie yarn sellers do, but it made business sense to me. My thinking was that it made more sense to fill an underserved niche than to appeal to as many people as possible. I didn't want to have just another sock yarn that was the same as all of the others.

I chose my current Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn specifically because it was a very lightweight, 2-ply sock yarn. The average sock yarn is a bit thicker. Although many knitters prefer a weightier sock yarn, both for the quicker-knit appeal as well as long-term durability, there are also many who prefer lightweight sock yarns. The fine gauge gives a wonderful canvas for complex stitchwork and the finished sock is also a "real" sock. Some heavier sock yarns yield a sock that doesn't fit well into tighter fitting shoes. I know this was a pet peeve of mine several years ago. Back when BMFA first started out, they had only one weight of sock yarn. I knit quite a number of pairs of socks with it and every single one ended up relegated to bedwear only because they were simply too thick to wear with any of my shoes. (This has long since been rectified with BMFA's range of sock yarns now.)

Anyhow, that's a bit of the story of the original sock yarn. It's worked out very well. I have a loyal following of fans of my sock yarn. There are also quite a number of indie dyers out there now who carry lighter weight sock yarns, so I think I was on the mark when I judged a couple of years ago that there was a need for more of these options.

Now, with my business two years old and going strong, it's about time for me to expand the options to a more universally appealing sock yarn. I've been on the hunt for a perfect yarn.

This yarn hunt is more challenging than one might imagine. There are so many things to consider that go well beyond the yarn itself. Of course, the yarn needs to fit the bill in terms of quality, weight, durability, softness, stitch definition, etc. But there are other considerations also. Price, of course, is one. (I'm OK with having a higher-priced sock yarn if needed, but there needs to be a reason. In my review these past few months, I've seen way too many sock yarns that are very nice merino, but nothing better or more "special" than what I carry now, but carrying a ridiculous price tag. This is not okay with me. A higher price is fine, but it still needs to be a good value in terms of what you actually get for the money.) Another consideration is the supplier. Can they deliver the goods on a consistent basis without frequent backorders and delays? Is the quality of the product consistent from the mill? You'd be amazed at some of the things I've learned in this process. One base yarn in particular that is widely known and loved yielded some interesting info. This particular yarn (which shall remain nameless) is a lovely quality yarn, although I always thought it was overpriced by indie dyers. I learned why. The quality of the end product is great, but the consistency from the supplier is not. Every batch, it seems, has several pounds that are full of knots or bad patches and end up in the waste pile. The time it takes for quality control with this yarn plus the cost of waste ends up driving the price up. Again, this is not acceptable to me. I'm OK charging a bit more if my customers are *getting* more for that price. I'm not OK with charging more because of supplier inconsistency.

Alright. Are you bored to death now? Let me get on with it and ask for your input. I've narrowed it down to three options, each with their own pros and cons. I do have a bit more research on the supplier issues and also some price negotation to make my final decision, but I'd love to hear from you about your preferences. I can't promise I'll go with your favorite, as there are so many factors that are important, but your voices do matter!

So here's the rundown, in no particular order:

OPTION ONE - Superwash Merino: This is a 100% superwash merino wool that is quite similar in terms of the actual fiber to the one I carry today. The distinction is that it is more tightly plied, which means the yarn is thicker. It knits comfortably on a size 2 needle (perhaps a 1 if you have a loose hand).

Pros of the superwash merino:

• In a sense, it's a known-quantity. If you like my current superwash sock yarn, this is just a nice alternative that will knit up quicker and have a bit more durability.
• The price is right. I can likely bring this yarn to you at the same price as my current sock yarns.
• The supply chain is solid. It comes from a supplier I've worked with and know that I can rely on for a steady supply of quality product.

Cons of the superwash merino:

• It's just not all that different. This isn't necessarily a con really, but I am of the mind that it would be nice to have something with a different fiber content and more differentiation.
• The tighter ply on this yarn may be just a bit too tight in my opinion. It's not a big problem, but it is really tightly spun and can occasionally have the tendency to want to coil in on itself while you're knitting.

OPTION TWO - Merino/Tencel: This is a 50/50 blend of merino and tencel. It's got a nice, firm ply but not so firm as to be overly "twisty." It will knit nicely on #2 needles.

Pros of the merino/tencel:

• It's just a flat-out nice yarn. If you've never worked with a quality merino/tencel blend before, it really is a nice yarn to work with. I went on a binge with the stuff a few years ago and made quite few projects, including two sweaters and a huge shawl.
• The yarn will yield a strong fabric when knit at a tight gauge and will have a lovely drape when knit at a slightly looser gauge. It also has a nice sheen to it. Overall, this makes it a versatile option for uses beyond socks. (Of course, all sock yarns can be quite versatile, but I think the sheen and drape make this option a little more of a standout for versatility.)

Cons of the merino/tencel:

• Price might be an issue. The base price is a bit higher, although not hugely so. My biggest concern is actually one that is behind-the-scenes and that is how the yarn is put up. If I have to buy it in cones and break it down into skeins, that will drive the labor up substantially and thus the cost. I'm accustomed to paying a bit of a premium to have my base yarns put up in the skein sizes I want, but this may not be a possibility or may be too costly with this supplier. Time will tell. If I go with this yarn, I would like to bring it to you at no more than $2 or $3 dollars more than my current sock yarn. Although this is still a solid price compared to some, it is still a higher price and that is always a con.
• Supplier uncertainty. Again, this is just a behind-the-scenes matter, but the supplier is new to me. I've done my homework and everything checks out very favorably, but there's always a degree of risk with a new supplier.

OPTION THREE - Merino/Nylon: This is a 75% wool and 25% nylon sock yarn that knits up on a #2 needle.

Pros:

• I know many folks prefer the nylon content in a sock yarn, as it does improve durability and long-term wear.
• I can bring this to you at the same price as my current sock yarns.

Cons:

• I'm not sure there really are any cons necessarily, but for me personally, I just don't care for the merino/nylon blends all that much. This is entirely a personal matter though and I'm open to considering this. I've looked at quite a number of different merino/nylon blends and the one I've selected as my top choice is pretty nice. It's just not so soft and luxurious as what I prefer in a yarn. It's more of a "workhorse" yarn in my view. I don't see this as a particularly versatile yarn. In my view, it's a sock yarn. Period.

And so there you have it. Care to share your two cents? Use the poll in the upper right to provide an answer. Comments are also very much appreciated!

A Twist for a Monday

For today's customer project feature, I have another version of the Cable & Twist Fingerless Mitts.



Cindy knit these mitts with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sportweight Yarn in the Imagine colorway. The pattern is from my shop, but Cindy chose to make them fingerless gloves rather than mitts. She also modified the thumb to a 1X1 rib. That's a modification that I think some folks would choose. For me and for my test knitter, the stockinette thumb fit well, but adding a rib to the thumb is an easy modification if you find the thumb too large (either because the wearer has a smaller thumb or because some folks will find themselves knitting at a slightly looser gauge when going around the small circumference of the thumb stitches).



Didn't Cindy do a lovely job?! You can see lots more of Cindy's knitting on her blog. Pop on by and have a look around.

This is an especially fun project for me to see, as Cindy is one of the few customers that I've had the pleasure of meeting in person. She lives right in the same town as I do and we met during a knitting meetup for Portland area bloggers at a LYS. Perhaps I'll have the chance to see her and the other grand gals in the Portland blogger group again in a couple of months. The Yarn Harlot is coming to town and the Portland bloggers are planning an outing. It should be great fun! It will be hosted by Blue Moon Fiber Arts (they're local here also) and will be held at our local Forestry Center. I've managed to miss the Harlot each time she's been in town, so perhaps this time I'll make it there!

A big Thank You to Cindy for sharing her project!

Everyone have a great day!

Happy Heart Day

For this post, I have two Valentine's Day projects to share with you. First, there's my "Be My Valentine" cashmere sweater. You remember this work-in-progress:

I got busy on it this week and finished up the front piece. Here's how it now looks:

Yep. That's right. I frogged it. The back piece is still in tact, but I had to frog the front. When I finished the front, I decided to seam the shoulders together right away, even though it really needed a good blocking. Since I had been a bit concerned about the size and fit, I thought seaming the shoulders would help me get a better idea about the fit.

The good news is that the overall fit seems fine. The only problem I found as I stood before the mirror with the pieces hanging from my shoulders and the sides tucked beneath my arms at my sides, was that it looked just a half inch or so too short. I want it to fall just below the waist, but not down near the hips. If you imagine the waistband of a pair of jeans, I want the sweater to end just at the bottom of the waistband. Any lower and I would run the risk of the cable and rib section expanding out further to fit my hips and ruining the slimming effects of the pattern. Any higher and I would run the risk of baring my belly button anytime I reach for something. That wouldn't be such a bad thing, except that . . . well, my belly just ain't what it used to be, ya know?

Anyhow, as I examined the fit in the mirror, I found myself wishing that I'd made it about a half inch longer. Then I turned around and glanced over my shoulder and saw that it indeed looked about a half inch longer in back. After removing the partially completed garment and examining it closely, I realized that indeed the front was about a half inch shorter than the back. At the very, very beginning of the cabled pattern I had left off one side of an X portion of the X & O cabled pattern.

Ah well. At least I can feel reasonably comfortable now about the fit. And I am very much enjoying knitting with the cashmere, so it's not such a terrible task to have to knit the front piece again.

My other Valentine's Day project was one in the kitchen. I was at the grocery store yesterday, surrounded by lots of Valentine's Day cakes and cookies and such, when I was suddenly struck with the bright idea that I would bake a Valentine's Day cake for my husband. I knew it would surprise him, since we don't celebrate any holidays. (Yes, you heard me right. No birthdays. No Christmas. No Thanksgiving. No Groundhog Day. It's just the two of us, with no family in the area, and we're just not the holiday sort.)

I quickly realized that it was not a very realistic plan to bake a cake. First off, I should mention that I don't cook. In fact, I'm a really terrible cook. I made something the other day that was so awful that I threw the whole pan of it out into the backyard. When my husband got home that day, he was very concerned and asked me if I felt alright. Apparently, he thought I had been out heaving in the backyard. This is the quality and visual appeal of my cooking. But I digress . . .

Although I'm a terrible cook, I can actually manage to bake something successfully from time to time. Being much more formulaic, baking is more up my alley. In my current kitchen, however, I was not very confident with the idea. The oven is so old that it seemed a toss up as to whether it would maintain an even enough heat to bake something properly. My kitchen implements are limited (what would I do if I needed a sifter?!). And to top it off, I was in the grocery store at the time, without a recipe in mind or in hand, and had no idea what I should buy. I don't even keep flour in the house, much less vanilla, baking powder or any other more unusual baking ingredients.

No, a cake from scratch was just not realistic on the spur of the moment. And so I bought a cake mix. And I bought a can of cream cheese frosting. And as a last minute bit of fun, I bought a tube of red cake icing.

I got home to find that I have no cake pans. I cleverly used a fairly shallow baking dish and thought all was well. That is, until after it cooled and I removed it from the pan. Yes, you guessed it. I broke and crumbled my sad little cake from a box.

No problem, I thought. I'll cover up the mess with frosting. Of course, as I frosted the broken cake, little crumbs mixed in everywhere and spread around making the cake look even worse. I thought it would be fine, since I could slap some extra frosting on to cover the bad spots when I was done. Hmmm. It seems that one can of frosting doesn't go very far. I barely had enough to cover the cake, much less to repair damage.

Then it was on to the red icing. Hmmm. Apparently, these tubes of icing no longer have pointy ends to the tube so that you can apply the icing directly from the tube (that's how I remember them from 30 years ago!). Now, the top is flat and so without a cake decorating attachment, it's like trying to spell something out with toothpaste.

In the end, I wound up with this:

It looks as though a seven-year-old whipped it up in an EasyBake Oven.

When my husband came home from work last night around 8:30, he followed his usual routine, sitting in the living room for about five minutes before announcing that he needed a snack. I followed him into the kitchen and stood by watching as he stared at the monstrosity I had left sitting on the counter. He slowly turned to me with a puzzled look and said, "Is it a brownie?"

I was literally doubled over with laughter. "I made you a Valentine's Day cake," I managed to say with tears of laughter rolling down my face.

My husband slowly smiled and began to laugh as well. He was relieved, I think, to see that I found the whole thing amusing. I think perhaps he was wondering how on earth he could thank me for this lovely gift with a straight face.

Ah well. I'll stick with yarn in the future.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Three Little Scarflets and the One That Started it All

The title of this post is the title of an e-mail I received from Suzy, with photos of four scarves she knit with FF yarn. It all began when Suzy knit this scarf for her son's girlfriend:



It's the Falling Water Scarf, knit in FF Laceweight Merino Wool Yarn in Golden Olive, knit doubled with two strands. Here's a close up of the lovely detail:



When the recipient's friends saw this lovely scarf, they were all eager to have one of their own. Who can blame them, with such a pretty piece!

Suzy complied and knit three little scarflets:



These are knit with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Butterscotch, Sky & Clouds, and Prosperity colorways.

And another close up of the stitch detail:



What lovely work by Suzy (and what a great Mom to do all of that knitting for her son's friends!). You can read more about Suzy's knitting adventures on her blog.

Great Monday to all!

Argh!

I'm feeling a bit frustrated right now. I just wrote a nice long post and then Blogger ate it. It's gone forever and I simply don't have time to recreate it in its entirety. A condensed, quicky version will have to do!

First up, I wanted to share with you something totally unrelated to knitting, but too cute to keep to myself. This is my latest acquisition from an Etsy shop called Teresa's Ceramics:



Teresa pours and fires her ceramics from her garage studio and then handpaints them. Isn't this little leaf about the cutest thing you've ever seen? Well, perhaps not the cutest, because if you go to her shop you'll also find leaves with little faces painted in them, as well as various other creatures.

When we eventually have our house in order here (remodel and all that), I'll definitely head back to Teresa's shop to pick up a few more of these. They have little wire legs on the back, so they can sit happily on display on a mantle, end table or any other surface that cries out for a bit of something. I'm not usually much for doo-dads, but I really adore these little leaves. They fit in perfectly with the warm, autumn-leaf colors of my living room. Love it!

On the knitting front, I've been plugging away slowly at the red cashmere sweater and now have the back completed and the front almost done:



Terrible photo, I know. If you want to get a slightly better look at the stitch pattern, see my previous post about this project.

I'm enjoying this project, although I am still uncomfortable about the sizing. It looks so incredibly tiny! I keep stopping and measuring it and measuring myself, holding the pieces up to my body, and then starting the whole measuring ritual over again. Despite the fact that it looks so very small, I think it's going to work out. The edges are quite curled, making it look smaller than it is. The cable and ribbed portion has a huge amount of stretch to it. It's a fitted sweater, so should be small. The measurements really do seem right. But it looks SO SMALL. (Here's where I start my measuring ritual again.)

Only time will definitively tell how this one works out!

Alrighty. Enough chit chat. Time for me to get back to work. Great day to all!

Envy, Kindness and More!

I am pleased to introduce the next set of the Seven Holy Virtues sock yarns. “Kindness” is now available in my Etsy shop.

The sock yarn in the sin of Envy (from last year’s Seven Deadly Sins Sock Club) is also now listed and available.

Additionally, I’ve also listed a small quantity of Large Loop Mohair Boucle at an incredible price. This is a wonderfully soft and silky boucle, great on its own or mixed with other yarns to create visual interest and texture in a project. I used to have this yarn included in my standard line, but as the business grew I needed to narrow my focus to keep up with demand and so put this yarn on the backburner. I'm now slowly dyeing small batches and offering huge 1/2 pound skeins for $25. I need to make some room on the shelves!

Additionally, I’ve listed two Limited Edition colorways of Alpaca/Wool Yarn today. If you’re looking for something one-of-a-kind, there are only a few skeins of these Limited Edition colorways available and they will not be repeated again.

Everyone have a great day! Thank you for stopping by!

More Mitts

The fingerless mitts craze seems not to be slowing at all. Everytime I turn around, I see another pair of great fingerless mitts on someone's blog or Flickr or Ravelry. It's no wonder they're so popular, as they really are such a practical item for those of us with cold hands who still need our fingers free.

Today's project feature is - you guessed it - a pair of fingerless mitts:



These were knit by Melodie using FF Superwash Merino Wool Sportweight Yarn in the Deepest Forest colorway. The pattern is my very own FF Cable & Twist Fingerless Mitts Pattern, available in my Etsy shop both in pattern only form, as well as in kits with yarn and pattern.



What a lovely job by Melodie! You can see more of her knitting projects on Ravelry. She's "melthomas."

A big Thank You to Melodie for sharing the photos!

Lapping Waves Hat

Remember the cute little hat I made a few weeks ago?



I've got the pattern ready to go now and available in my shop. Before I finalized it, I wanted to first knit up another one in a larger size.



I wanted to knit the larger size since the crown and top decreases are significantly different in the larger sizes. This is necessary so that the stitch pattern flows nicely through the top of the head. I figured that I could still wear one in a slightly larger size, albeit the fit would be looser.

Well, I was right that I could get away with wearing the larger size, but my husband surprised me when he nabbed the hat for himself. The last hat I made for him is his "workshop" hat and so is usually too covered with sawdust to wear outside the boundaries of the workshop. He saw the brown "Lapping Waves" hat and immediately put it on and declared it his own.

I hadn't really thought previously of the hat as being a unisex hat, since technically one could consider the detail to fall into the category of "lace." Now that I've seen that my husband wears it without a thought or hesitation, I think it's fair to say that it's a unisex hat. (That's not really lace anyway. It's just a few little holes that outline the pattern, right?)

I've made some progress also on the red cashmere sweater that I started recently, but I'll save that update for a future post. Right now, my hat-stealing husband is cooking up a pasta dinner and I fear that I better head to the kitchen to lend a hand before something catastrophic occurs.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Congratulations to Anne!

Many of you have probably seen this already, but if not, take a peek at the preview of the Spring 08 edition of Interweave Knits. Scroll down and you'll find a design there by our beloved Anne Hanson (the Bleeding Hearts Stole).

I just wanted to step back today and offer up a "hearty" congratulations to Anne! I doubt anyone who visits my blog or my Etsy shop is unaware of the deep respect I have for Anne's work. It's been so wonderful to see her popularity grow and grow. This latest pattern in such a reputable and widespread publication is just the latest in a series of well-deserved milestones in her design career.

As I perused the photos of Anne's design on the IK site, I got to thinking about the internet and the knitting world. Before my Fearless Fibers days, I worked for many years for Intel. I remember the work the marketing folks there did on finding ways to show the human side of computing, how it touches our lives everyday in more subtle ways than just the obvious tasks we do at work or paying bills, etc. The knitting world seems such a good example of this.

The online knitting community is just that: a community. The popularity of knit-alongs is just one example of how knitters connect online and interact in a way that is not so very different than they would at a LYS. Online knitting and crochet forums provide inspiration, assistance, ideas, and motivation for many of us. There is always someone out there to provide guidance, share a laugh, or lend a sympathetic ear about a project gone awry. I think most of us who engage in this global online community recognize and appreciate this.

My interaction with Anne is another example of this "human" side of the internet. I first encountered Anne in Spring 06. I can't quite recall exactly how we got in touch, but I think it was one of her students who was a customer of mine in my old eBay shop and brought some of my yarn to a class to work one of Anne's projects. This led Anne to check my shop and ask me a few questions. In turn, that led me to her blog, which was quite new at the time. I remember sending her a note to let her know how much I enjoyed her blog. It stood out from the rest, both because of her amazing design work and also because of the quality of her writing and the fascinating insights into the mind of a designer, knitter, spinner, and overall fiber guru.

Thus began our relationship. I loved her designs. She loved my yarn. And we were also two women in a similar boat, both working on new ventures to translate our fiber passions into our livelihoods, and doing so primarily online.

Fearless Fibers has been an amazing journey for me. I sold my first skein of yarn in January 06, so I guess I've been at it for two years now (my "anniversary" passed without my even noticing it!). It's been equally amazing for me to watch Anne's journey. Anne had, of course, been teaching and designing long before I encountered her in Spring 06, but she was at that time just beginning to seriously branch out and focus strongly on her design work and the online world.

Although Anne and I have never met, she is still a friend and a constant source of inspiration. I feel extremely fortunate to have found her. Her work continues to amaze and delight me, and just knowing someone else out there who is successfully pursuing her dream in the vast cyber world is a steady reminder that the dream can be fulfilled.

A big Thank You again to, Anne ... and a hearty congratulations on the Bleeding Hearts Stole in IK!

Something Wonderfully Different

For this morning's customer project feature, I have something wonderfully different to share with you. Before you look, I must warn you that if you're anything like me, you may find yourself overcome with a yearning to take up weaving! Of course, this also happens to me when I see a great crochet project and am then overwhelmed with the urge to learn to crochet. And then there are the machine knit projects that get my fingers itching to dust off my knitting machine, despite the fact that the thing brings me close to tears every time I touch it. But enough of that. On to the project . . .

Elisa brings us this delightful woven scarf:



She used FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Deepest Forest colorway, with two strands used for the warp (long-wise threads) and one strand for the weft (side-to-side threads). Don't be too impressed that I know this terminology. I don't. I read it on Elisa's blog.

Elisa reports that the finished piece is very soft with a lovely drape. It certainly looks that way:



Here's one more shot where you can see the fringe and detail nicely:



Oh my. Weaving. Hmmmmm. Weaving. Oh Yeah! Ahem. No. Must resist the temptation! It is projects such as these that set me to thinking of how grand it would be to win the lottery. As much as I love my little business and would never stop dyeing yarn altogether, I have to admit that if I were to suddenly have some lottery-esque windfall, I would immediately set about finding the perfect home with ample studio space for me to set myself up to spend the remainder of my days not only knitting, but also learning to crochet, spin, weave, and machine knit. Until and unless that day comes, I'll have to be satisfied living vicariously through those of you who pursue these arts.

Everyone have a great start to the week! Please pardon my blogging silence last week. I actually did have a post up for a brief period, but I pulled it down pretty quickly. I'll explain that story soon when the time is right (teaser).

Monkey Monday

For this morning's project feature, I have a pair of the ever-popular Monkey Socks to share with you. These beauties were knit by Kristen.



Kristen used FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Chocolate Pink Cherry colorway.

Everytime I see a pair of the Monkey Socks, I think that I really must get with the program already and knit a pair. Kristen's socks are just so cute and look like such fun to knit that I'm thinking that once again! One of these days ...

A big Thank You to Kristen for sharing her work! Check out Kristen's blog to see more of her wonderful work.

If you have a finished project with FF yarn that you would like to share, just pop me an e-mail with your photos and any relevant details and I'll be happy to put your project in the queue for posting.

Everyone have a wonderful start to the week!

BRRRRRRRRRRRR

As my husband and I settle more and more into our new home, we are for the most part very happy with it, despite a huge amount of work looming in front of us for a long time to come. The one exception is that the house is just plain cold. Really cold. Apparently, the windows were installed by brain-damaged monkeys. At some point, something major will need to be done about that, but not now in the middle of winter. The house also has crawl space underneath, which makes for very cold floors. Then there's the hole in the wall in the kitchen that brings the cold air rushing in from the garage. Oh and did I mention that the kitchen and dining room are lacking any heat source at all? There's a vent between the kitchen and dining room, but it's just a vent that goes nowhere. What it's doing there, I just don't know. The house doesn't even have a central heating system, so why there is a vent there will remain a mystery.

Living with this constant chill has put me in the habit of wearing a hat indoors much of the time. I now have permanent hat-head. It's quite sad really. I decided to let my short hair grow out again several months ago and I've been trying to hold off on getting a haircut as long as I can, so that at least there will be a bit to work with when I finally go in for a haircut. It really looks quite awful. Add to that the constant hat-wearing and my oh my, I'm quite a sight!

Rather than lamenting my hat-head woes, I decided to focus instead on making myself a new hat to match the fingerless mitts that I made a couple of months ago. I used the same yarn - my FF Sportweight Superwash Merino in the Butterscotch colorway. Only the yarn and color match. The stitch pattern is entirely different.



Now before you go thinking that this hat looks pretty small, keep in mind that my head is the size of a peanut.

This was rather fun to knit. I've used this stitch pattern a few times before and I really like it. It's very easy to memorize and track, and has a nice flow of undulating waves. The fun part was figuring out how to handle the shaping at the crown while keeping the pattern flowing as long as possible rather than simply switching over to stockinet.



Here's another shot where I tried to capture the stitch pattern a bit better by stretching it a little so you can see the yarnovers. It's not a great photo, but the best I could do while using one hand to stretch the hat over a bowl that's even smaller than my peanuthead and using the other hand to take the photo.



Now that I look at the photo above again, it really makes the hat look quite funny! Imagine if my head were that small?! Obviously, that's just an illusion. I'm stretching a small portion of the hat around a small bowl, to try to show more of the stitch detail.

All in all, this was a fun little quick-knit project that yielded a hat that will get plenty of use.

Hope everyone is having a great week and staying warm!

A Touch of Spring for a Cold Winter's Day

For today's Monday project, I have a lovely lace shawl knit by Judi. Just looking at this lace piece on this cold winter morning brings a bit of the warmth of Spring to me!



This is Judi's version of Eunny Jang's Print 'O the Waves Stole. Judi used FF Laceweight Merino in the Hush colorway. (If this looks vaguely familiar to you, it may be more than just the lovely pattern that so many have knit. Last spring, I made this stole in the same yarn and same color for my niece :)

Here's a work in progress shot that shows a closer view of the lovely stitchwork.



You can see more of Judi's wonderful knitting in her Ravelry projects (she's Tootsiemama) and on her blog. You really need to pop over to her blog just for the fun of scanning through pictures of the darling knit pants she's apparently been cranking out by the gross for her daughter and other wee ones in her circle. They're so cute and funky it makes me want to run right out and make a pair, despite the fact that I have no little girls in my circle to wear them!

Everyone have a wonderful start to yet another week!

The Thrill of the New

In spare moments here and there for the last couple of weeks I've been playing around with stitches and swatching and plotting and measuring and swatching and planning for my next larger project.

Before I dive into the new, I suppose I should give you an update on the two other projects that I tried to focus on finishing in December. Unfortunately, I don't have much news. The knitting is done on the zipper-front sweater and the sleeves are now seamed in. I need to do a crochet edge before having the zipper put in, but for the life of me I can't locate my crochet hooks. I don't crochet, but I know that I bought a whole set of a range of sizes of hooks about a year ago when a local Joann's Fabrics was closing up and had a big sale. Where I put them, I have no idea. The funny thing is, I'm not all that concerned about finishing it. I think I'm going to like it very much, but I guess in the end this proves that perhaps I am not much of a "product" knitter. Now that the end is right there before me, all of my motivation for the project is gone.

As to the ripple stitch afghan, I did get a good bit done in the first part of December, but I've barely touched it lately. My excuse is that I've been too busy, with my time split between Fearless Fibers and working on getting my former home ready to go on the market. (We are finally ready to do that and are sitting down with our realtor tomorrow.) If I'm entirely truthful with myself though, I must admit that being busy is really just an excuse for not working on the afghan, because somehow I have found the time to plan and swatch and begin my next new project. It's the thrill of the new enticing me again!

The new project is a cashmere sweater. Yep. Cashmere. Sweater. For me! I've wanted to make myself one for some time and finally decided to do it. I'm using my sportweight cashmere in the Promise colorway. (Don't go searching my shop for it, because I have none in stock. In fact, all of my cashmere stock is pitifully low right now, but I'll find time to do something about that soon, I promise!)

Here's a rather terrible photo of the work in progress. Please pardon the streaks of light interfering with your ability to see the pattern.



Now before you go looking all confused and concerned, let me explain. You're correct if you think that the bottom portion of this looks way to small to be a sweater. It's very narrow when left unstretched, but the pattern intersperses the cables with ribbing from the bottom right up through the torso. When I stretch it out gently, it grows tremendously. It looks odd and the whole thing may not work, but for now I'm just trusting in the process and that all of my planning and swatching and calculations will work out in the end.

I'm thinking of this as my "Be My Valentine" sweater. Take the red tones of the yarn, the "embrace me" call of cashmere, the colorway named Promise, the X & O cable pattern, and the timing with Valentine's Day looming ahead, and it seems to me that this sweater is destined to be my Be My Valentine Sweater.

Only time will tell if it all works out. I want the cabled section to gently hug and skim the torso before the sweater fills out in stockinet for the bodice. It will likely have short sleeves (I love a sweater that works in the springtime). I'm still vascillating on whether to do a little mock turtleneck, perhaps with the X & O cables repeated and the mock turtleneck knit the shortway and attached to live neck stitches, or whether to stick with a crew neck but with some added stitch detail to liven things up.

That's most everything I've done on the knitting front lately, except to add a bit to the simple scarf that I'm making for one of my friends. In fact, I think I'll go try to finish that up right now so that I can bring it to him tomorrow when he'll be having dinner with me and my husband. Time to sign off and knit now . . .

Mmmmm ... Warm Shawl

For this morning's customer project feature, I have a lovely shawl to share with you. This was made by "Samtosha" (aka MFS on Ravelry).



The shawl is a Catharina Shawl with garter stitch for the yolk and a stockinette ground for the lace. The yarn is FF Worsted Weight Merino Wool in Hendrix. At first glance, the shawl may appear to be made with a lighter weight yarn, but as I looked at the specs on Ravelry I saw that it's labeled as made with the Worsted Weight. When you click on the closeup photos, you can see that it is indeed the heavier weight yarn. I really love this! So nice to have a warm, cozy shawl for cooler weather.



For more of her great projects, check out MFS on Ravelry. She's also just getting started with a new blog.

What a lovely project to start the week! Thank you for sharing the photos!

Sin, Virtue, and Lace

Those of you who are on my mailing list are probably aware from my last update that rather than offering another sock club with the "Seven Holy Virtues" theme as originally planned (a follow up to my last club with the Seven Deadly Sins theme), I have instead decided to introduce one new "virtue" yarn each month for the first seven months of 2008. At the same time, I will release the corresponding Sin yarn from last year's sock club.

I am happy to report that the first of the Virtues yarns is now available in my shop. It's Chastity:



(Notice the new "ice cream bowl" photos? I haven't converted all of my shop photos yet, but I am in the process of doing that. It's a new look for the new year! You'll still find a closeup photo within the listing. You can also click on third photo in each listing to expand to a full view of the skein.)

The Sock Sin of Lust is also now listed and available:



As if all this weren't exciting enough (hee, hee!), I also have five new colorways of Merino Laceweight now available. You'll find those in my shop section labeled Laceweight Merino. Here's one to whet your appetite. This is Infinity:

As always, initial quantities are somewhat limited, but never fear! I do have a fair amount of each of the new items and, of course, if they're a hit there will always be more available in the future.

Now I'm off to send a note about these new additions to my mailing list. If you are not on that list and would like to be added for future updates, just send me an e-mail and ask to be added to the list.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Is it Monday Already?!

I was happily beginning my morning of dyeing when it suddenly dawned on me that it's Monday already and I hadn't yet posted my Monday project features. Monday again -- How did that happen?!

I scurried back to my office to rectify that and now have these two great sock projects ready to share with you.

First up I have a pair of gorgeous socks by Kelly made with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Sublime. The pattern is Interweave Web Socks, with a mock cable seed rib.

Aren't these great?! I love the photo also. You can really see the stitch detail and the color variations. "Sublime" is probably the single most popular sock colorway I carry and I don't know that I've seen such a good photo of a finished project before that really shows the color variation.

Although Kelly doesn't have a blog, you can see more of her work in her Ravelry projects. She's "beanstealer."

Next up are these cuties by Jinann:



These are made with FF Classic Merino Wool Sock Yarn. The colorway is an older one that I no longer carry in the sock yarn.

You can see the lovely stitch detail in this closeup:



For a look at more of Jinann's wonderful work, pop on over to her blog.

Now that the projects are posted, it feels like Monday again! Great week to all!