greens and blues

Green and blue, that seems to be the theme of my fibery stuff right now.

Above: Dream in Color yarn (Smooshy sock yarn) in the Beach Fog colorway. Because Lucia practically forced me to buy it. (At the Woolpack in Littleton, in case anyone local is looking for a pusher ...)


Spey Valley socks for the father-in-law Christmas gift. Regia 6-ply. Size 2 needles.


Thom modeling the socks for me. The observant among you will note the funny position of his toes. He was eating breakfast in his skivvies this morning, minding his own business, when I made him try the socks on. I told him that if he let me take a photo, I promised not to blog him in his underwear. Again. The photo above captures him flipping me off with his middle toe -- because his hands were busy with breakfast, and I was only looking at his foot anyways. Yes, we believe that he is part monkey.

Some spinning. Yarn that was labeled "50% mohair, 50% sheep". I got it with my drop spindle 2+ years ago. I dyed it with food coloring earlier this month. It's not terribly fun to spin! The fiber is not easy to draft. It might have felted slightly while dyeing. And it has bits of straw, etc. in it. And little fibery clumpy bits (neps?). But, I love the colors, and I want some more practice navajo plying on something I don't particularly care about. So, I'll finish spinning this, and then ply it.

*****

FYI -- I have not received my Sockapalooza socks yet, although I'm happy to report that my pal got the ones I knit for her!

*****

I still have some stuff left in my stash sale. There are two ways to check out the goods --
Click over to my stash sale set
or
check out my trade/sell page on Ravelry

End of story for today.

of spinning and sales

I've gotten pretty hooked on this spinning thing. Lots of fun, turning fluffy stuff into yarn.

(Roving from the Sheep Shed. Two-ply in the center, navajo plied then knit on the right.)

One small problem. I don't have a spinning wheel and I really want one :) (Julia has been kind enough to loan me hers, but it is high time that I think about returning it!!)

Unfortunately, as a new home owner and part time grad student, there is no spinning wheel budget at the moment. What's a girl to do?

STASH SALE!!!!!

Yep, I'm selling some yarn. I love all my yarn. But I have to admit that I have far more of it than I will ever knit. So, my loss is your gain!

Good stuff, too ... a couple of kinds of Rowan, some Fleece Artist sock yarn, Ultra Alpaca, and more. All at 25% off retail rates :)

There are two ways to check out the goods --
Click over to my stash sale set
or
check out my trade/sell page on Ravelry

If you are interested in anything, email me at aswiminknits AT yahoo DOT com, or message me on Ravelry. You can leave a comment on Flickr too, although I don't check it as obsessively regularly as I check my email and Ravelry message box.

If you know anyone who might be in the market for some new yarn, feel free to send them this way :)

on vacation

I've been on vacation this week, but not away. I got lots of stuff done, but I didn't feel like blogging, though I've got stuff I could talk about. Next week, I guess.

In the meantime, let me at least post a photo. Baby socks, in Socks that Rock. Does the colorway look familiar? Yes, these are made with the leftovers of the socks that Ruth, my Sockapalooza pal last year, made for me.

Since Ruth is expecting a wee one next month, I thought that this might be a fitting gift. I didn't know Ruth before sockpalooza, though she lives near me and I read her blog. We've now gotten to know each other better, and have actually spent time together in person, which is great fun.

(I actually made the socks quite some time ago, but Ruth and I got together yesterday, so now I can post the photo!)

Helleborus is finished

I finished my Helleborus scarf a while ago, but never got a good photo. So, I might as well post a bad photo.

Project specs:
Pattern: Helleborus, from mustaa villaa
Yarn: Shimmer, from Over the Rainbow Yarns
Gauge: eh, it's a scarf!
Needles: Addi turbos, size 9
Size: Absurdly long (72? inches)
Posted to Ravelry

I think I'll really enjoy this in the cool weather.

checking in

Yo. I'm still alive.

SCHOOL:
I finished class and turned in the paper. (For those of you who inquired about the results of the survey ... not surprisingly, alumni who were satisfied with their college experience are more likely to give money to their alma maters. It took us 5 weeks and many hours, but we have now "proved" that what seems like common sense is indeed true.) Also, Turtle won the blog contest. I'm still putting together her prize, but I promise to send it soon!

FRIENDS:
My best friend from college is here for a visit. We've shopped, visited our alma mater, shopped, eaten, shopped, watched TV via Netflix, shopped, and tomorrow night, we're going to see baby Liam. Oh yeah, and we even went yarn shopping at Windsor Button. (4 skeins of Baby Cashmerino, for another new baby, in case you were wondering.) And, in further proof that I pick friends with good taste: Rosie knows nothing about yarn, and immediately walked towards the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and fondled it.

KNITTING:
Yep. Still doing some of that. Socks. Picture the same but longer.

SOCKAPALOOZA:
Still need to ship mine out. They've been done forever, but I can't seem to get my shit together to get them mailed out with pressies. I heard from my pal, and mine are still being worked on. It makes me feel better that I don't yet have mine, or I would feel really bad about not having mailed the ones to my pal yet!! (P.S. -- Pal, no hurry to finish mine! You kindly offered to send a little gift with the socks. Really, I'm very easy to please, so I'm sure anything you want would be great. Of course, knitting and sewing doo-dads are always fun. I also love little food gifts. Local foods, different types of jams, gourmet goodies like what they sell here, etc.!)

PHOTO:
And, because no blog post is complete without a photo, here's a cute one of my niece Jane that was published in her local newspaper (some library event thing, I think).

in the presence of genius

To riff on Caesar ...

I came.
I saw.
I threw panties.

Last night, I went to hear the Harlot speak at Borders. I got to meet new people and hang out with Frecklegirl and Casey, the brains behind Ravelry, and a whack of other fab knitters, including some with wee babes and slightly larger babes. I was in heaven.

I did NOT do a bit of work on my research paper which is due on Monday. Apparently, I also didn't think to take photos either. Luckily someone else did.

Much fun was had by all. Now I'm back to homework.**

** More linkage is in order, but I am already waaaay late for a group meeting for class. Argh!

bye-bye, Dulaan

I've knit a good bit for charity over the past few years, mostly hats, scarves, mittens, and an occasional vest. Many of these items have been sent to Mongolia. So, when I read today that the (official and sanctioned) Dulaan project is closing its doors, I felt a touch of sadness. But, since the reason behind the closing is a good one -- Mongolia has developed to the point of requiring technical assistance rather than the most basic clothing needs -- I'm pleased.

Of course, there are still many charities who collect knitted goods, so I'll still be knitting! Most of what I knit is from leftovers or scraps. However, some of the items are made from nice stuff, like these Noro hats below.

For some time now, I have been kicking around the idea of selling some knitted items to raise money for charity. (It came up again recently, when a member of my SnB raised the idea in another context.) While warm knitted goods are nice, what most nonprofit groups really need is cash -- money to keep the lights on, pay the people who do the good work, and implement programs on the ground.

I was thinking of an Etsy store, as that seems to be the quickest and easiest way, with little up-front work or cost. I'd list things only when I felt like it, with no real pressure to sell them -- if they didn't sell, I'd donate them as I would have anyways. (Note: I know that there are copyright issues with selling items made from others' patterns -- the Fake Isle hat above is just an example of yarns I have used for charity knitting in the past.)

What do you think? Is it a good idea, or more trouble than it's worth? Let me know -- especially if you have bought or sold on Etsy before.