Return Of The Moleskine Passport

Well, today I start my first day of work at the Yolo Wool Mill. I sincerely hope it goes well (of course there is no reason it shouldn't, I'm just nervous). And I'm still hard at work at the Shipwreck Shawl. So in the meantime, I thought I'd post up another moleskine passport. My housemate liked my New Zealand one quite a bit, so I made him a Dutch one per request.

Law, Order and Knitting

Just a little update. I've knitted three tams this week for farmer's market. Unfortunately, I didn't see Jane. I guess this gives me more time to find a model. Anyone want to model a tam this week? I'll put you on the blog. Until then, here's what they look like sans model.

Now that I don't have school and my jobs are only part time, I've had lots of time to knit. For the past two days (maybe four... who knows at this point) I've been watching Law and Order: SVU and knitting. The Shipwreck Shawl is coming along nicely. I can feel my knitting skills improve. Today I was able to spot a mistake with the lace within ten stitches, which is much better than yesterday's, "Hmm, I have two extra stitches at the end of this round, I wonder what went wrong."

Another Scooter report for everyone. Usually Scooter goes under the bedsheets and sleeps all curled up. Today he decided that having his head outside of the covers made it easier to breathe. I managed to get a picture of his right before he noticed I had the camera and flashed an irritated "not another picture of me" look.

Once, Twice, Three Times A Spinner

I'm getting much more consistent with my spinning. This is my third try.

I love the colors. Purples, browns, and yellows all mixed together so beautifully. This particular color way is called Brew by Becoming Art.

I'm not entirely sure how many yards there are. I really could use a niddy noddy.

Yarn dog strikes again. This time he didn't roll in it. He only seems to like rolling in it when it is still in loose fiber form.

There's A New Puppy In Town

The puppy hat has officially been finished. It was "begging" for a picture.

Here's another angle because you are all "itching" for more.

All puns aside, today has been a pretty bad allergy day. But as soon as this lovely package arrived, all was fine in the world. It is called Brew and it is by Becoming Art. Mmmmm... fiber.

This one is called Koi and it is by Black Trillium.

Of course I haven't been buying fiber willy-nilly. I plan on spinning it all. After buying the better drop spindle as seen in this post, I was able to spin a much more consistent yarn. This one is the color way Rich by Becoming Art.

I Thought Graduation Would Be A Bit More Exciting

It is official. As of today, I have graduated. I thought it would feel a bit more exciting than "I guess I don't go to school anymore." But in honor finishing school, I am posting an assignment I am particularly proud of. It was done in 30 hours over five days last summer. The music is by a local artist called Nat Lefkoff. You should check out his other music. It is quite excellent.

In other news, I bought myself a ball winder and swift. I can't believe I didn't buy it sooner. I can wind piles of yarn so quickly. It use to take me nearly a whole James Bond movie to wind one ball. But now.... Zoom!

Scooter investigates. Seems harmless, but it takes the attention away from him.

I got rather addicted and wound all the loose yarn in my collection.

While I was taking the yarn pictures, I noticed some bees pollinating the flowers. Naturally I had to follow them around. A sort of bee paparazzi if you will.

Macro shots are some of my favorite to take.

New work in progress. I started on my first lace project. And by first, I mean the first one I intend to finish. There was the disastrous lace scarf incident that scarred me so badly that I haven't tried lace in four years. I knit faster now. I'm sure this will go better. The pattern is the Shipwreck Shawl.

Spinning and Sweater Licking

I bought myself a new toy today. I couldn't help it. This spindle just works so much better than my CD one. Plus, it is locally handmade. So I'm supporting local artisans. And it has a hook on the top and bottom, so I can use it as a top or bottom whole spindle. That's my justification and I'm sticking to it. And of course I had to buy some roving to go along with the spindle.

New work in progress. My mum wanted a scarf for her birthday, so a scarf she shall have.

I wouldn't make a scarf for just anyone. (I find them a bit too monotonous for my liking) This particular pattern comes from the book, Knit One Below. The pattern is called the Inside-Out Scarf. It is actually a pretty relaxing pattern. At least is was once I got past a few false starts.

Poor Scooter has been a little neglected for the past few days. I took him on a good walk this morning, but had a review session to go to later on (which took over three hours). He was spying on me while I was taking pictures.

Later on he jumped all over me trying to lick something I spilled on my sweater. Or, I assume I spilled something on my sweater because he was so insistent on licking it.

First Yarn

I have officially finished spinning my first ever skein. Gnome Running Through Yosemite has been conquered.

Plying it was a bit more fun than spinning the singles, but I'm so happy with the finished product. Not bad for a first try on a CD spindle.

Bits of it are over spun, bits of it are under spun. It is roughly 18 yards, But I can't believe I went from fiber to yarn. I'm not sure if I should use it or not. It seems to be structurally sound. But 18 yards isn't very much. Maybe I'll just have it displayed somewhere. Either that or a headband.

And now for the Scooter report. Since I bought a new couch from the thrift store, Scooter has decided that his spot is by the window on the large couch pillow. It is a little sad not seeing him at the front window (his previous spot) when I come home. At least he's happy.

Busy Bee, That's Me

I graduate from University in less than two weeks! Hurray. So I haven't had too much time to myself. In the brief moments between school, work, and homework, I've been attempting to spin "Gnome Running Through Yosemite" I wish I had a bit more skill. I suppose that will come with time.

I've also got a little knitted fan art for an online comic I like on my needles at the moment. I hope it turns out well.

Scooter is a bit miffed that I have been a bit too busy to hang out with him. Brennan and I shaved him and washed him a few days ago. We both managed to cut him a little, so he wasn't very cooperative half way through. After we finished his two least favorite activities, he ran around like a maniac until he got sleepy. Silly guy.

Bye Bye Birthday Money, Hello Fiber Riches

I have completed New Year's Resolution #5. Learn to spin wool.

I'm going to need lots of practice. But the lovely ladies at the Serendipity Spinners booth at Stitches West got me going. They sent me off with a spindle made of two old CDs.

Without them, I would have only bought yarn. After learning the basics of spinning I ended up buying much more than I should have. My first roving purchase was from Snicklefritz Yarn Co. Who could resist a colorway named, "Gnome Running Through Yosemite"

Right next to Snicklefritz was a booth called Becoming Art. I tried to only buy one thing, but the colors were too beautiful. The roving on the left is called "Outlaws" and on the right is "Rich"

I did get some yarn while I was at Stitches. Newton Country Yarns was having a 60% off sale.

Four skeins later I rushed over to The Village Spinning & Weaving Shop's booth. (The three skeins on the left are from Village. The four on the right are from Newton) I swear I have pattern ideas for all these skeins.

I should have controlled myself a little better. But I missed Stitches last year. On a side note, the day before I went to Green Planet Yarn. They give you a discount on your birthday month. You pull a chip out of a jar and can get 20%, 40%, or 100% off. I got 40% off.

After Stitches, I went with my Mum up to Hunter's Point in Fremont Older to see the full moon rise.

A storm had recently gone through, so there were terrific clouds. Definitely a good cloud day.

Unfortunately the clouds obscured the moon. But the sunset was amazing.