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The Problem with February

denisemor 0 February 18, 2018

Is that you can have days like last Sunday

that really get your hopes up, and then out of nowhere, get hit with this

Ugh.

I knew winter wasn’t over, but I was kind of hoping we might just stick with our usual sogginess.
Somehow I can handle that better. Snow kind of gets me down.

So I’m distracting myself with a little sampling.
I decided the time was right to blend and spin up some Sadie fluff that I have been holding on to.
I only had a couple of partually filled ziplock sandwich bags, but a little dog hair goes a long way 🙂

I decided to make this a double tribute project, and selected some 2017 Edgar to blend with my Sadie fluff.

I’ve only spun up the two rolags so far, as a trial run to see how much twist/ply I’ll need.
My resulting sample is pretty fine, and very fuzzy. I about .1 oz, and 13 yds.

I think I’m going to work up a little swatch in a to-be-determined pattern. I might get as much as 280-300 yards of yarn out of the two batts I carded up, so it will be a small project. Maybe a lacy cowl. Something I can wear often, and feel next to my face.
I like the thought of Edgar and Sadie being close by. A couple of the sweetest four-legged friends a person could have.

I’m also making pretty good progress on my SuperGreen sweater.
With any luck I’ll have the raglan increases done and the sleeves separated from the body before I head back to work on Tuesday, as It’s getting a little crowded on my circular needle!

Pretending it’s Spring

denisemor 2 February 11, 2018

The sun is shining, the air is fresh, and spirits are high out in the pasture today.

Frank even came out of his shell a bit

Amazing what some sunshine and “falfers” (alfalfa pellets) can do 🙂

For as wet as it’s been, I was pleasantly surprised that Dottie doesn’t seem too felted

I got a little bit of quality time with her and Chone , who is sporting a mighty nice-looking fleece himself

Esther’s fleece looks kind of messy on the outside (tips are pretty weathered, and some chicken keeps pooping on her!)

but I think it’s still really nice underneath. One thing’s for certain, there is lots of it!

I’m still not officially done with the argyle socks, but I’ve given in to the the green and cast on my cabled sweater-

I know it doesn’t look like much yet, but I’m really excited about how it’s coming along. The fabric feels great, and it’s fun to work on. I’d almost forgotten how satisfying this kind of textured work is.

Here’s a better look at how the cable panel on the back is shaping up.

All Spun Up

denisemor 2 February 4, 2018

We have gotten 3 inches of rain this weekend, and
it is mighty gray outside.

But inside, it’s Super Green!

I have hit the sweater-yardage threshold, and just in time, as I’m coming down the home stretch on the argyle socks. (and I really hate being between projects)

That’s 1080 yards of worsted-weight two ply yarn (approximately 870 yds/pound)

So as soon as I can get the foot of my second sock finished up, I’ll be casting on!
Woo Hoo!

Swatched!

denisemor 2 January 28, 2018

I finished knitting argyle sock #1 on Friday,

and gave myself permission to swatch for The Green Sweater project

The swatch is in “Spot Stitch”, which is kind of a variation on seed stitch, and it looks like my gauge is pretty close, so I shouldn’t have to do any pattern modifying. That’s cool because I really want to just cast on and get started! I still have one more sock to finish up, so I got the heel underway today.

(I’m a one-project-at-a-time kind of knitter)

Not much other news, but the sheep and chickens say “hey”- everything seems pretty copacetic out in the shed right now. Esther is generally acknowledged to be in charge, and Dottie seems ok with that (as long as there are enough treats and scritches to go around). So glad they worked it out amongst themselves.

And I wanted to just throw in a note about the chickens- I’m really pleased that both girls who were wearing the little jackets have healed up and regrown their feathers! So no chickens in khakis anymore, and the jackets are washed up and standing by in case we need them again in the future.