Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Oh, the sheep-y goodness...




The first picture is the sum total of my purchases at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival (and Alpaca Fest!). The second picture is a close up of the roving: 2 2 oz. hanks of hand-dyed Corriedale in the colorway "Summer Fields" (I couldn't resist) from The Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm; 2 4 oz. balls of hand-dyed Romney from "Maggie" (that's the sheep's name!) at Brimstone Hollow Farm (those are the green and yellow balls; Brimstone Hollow has the best colorways); and one 4 oz. ball of white Romney roving (I forget where I got that one). The last picture is a closeup of the amazing yarn I bought (and the roving kind of snuck in): from the bottom, one skein of hand-dyed sock yarn from Balland Skein; one skein of sock yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, and one skein of the "Bunny Blend" merino and angora yarn.
It might look like a lot, but I was very smart this year. The past three years I've gone kind of crazy and just bought whatever I loved, but this year I planned it out. The roving was Romney and Corriedale because that's easy to spin (and my spinning skills are still developing). The sock yarn was kind of expensive, but not too much more expensive than commercial sock yarn (considering you usually need two skeins) and socks take a long time to knit (I do, anyway) so it's a good investment. The angora skein was also kind of a splurge, but for a long time I've had this angora scarf planned in my head, like the one Rory wears in the fourth and fifth seasons of Gilmore Girls (it's white and lacy with a little bit of fluff). I've been searching for the perfect yarn for awhile and I hadn't found it...till now.

I've finally finished my senior thesis, and after I get through with packing and moving and graduation and about a million other things, I will finally be able to seriously knit again. I have been sewing, and my practice dress came out great (pics soon to come) but I miss knitting.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Whoops

So it's been awhile since the last post. This whole end-of-my-college-career thing is a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated. I've also spent a lot of time being antsy about graduate school financial aid (I haven't heard from anyone yet). Oh, there has been knitting, crocheting (!), and sewing (there's this whole graduation dress idea that I think is going to end very, very badly) but I don't feel like I'm getting anything done.
I did get done with working at the yarn store last Sunday. It's a little sad. I'm going to miss spending Sundays with Susan (although I won't miss getting up early), and the loss of the 40% discount is wrenching, but after three years of snobby novice tourists, being yelled at for not having a yarn in stock or not being able to magically fix things I'm ready for a break.
The in-progress pictures are pretty boring, so I'll just list what I'm working on:
Chanson en Crochet (from Wrap Style) (that's the crocheting)
Wrist warmers (from Hollywood Knits) (commissioned by someone my mom works with)
A fifties style graduation dress (actually there are two, because I'm making a practice one with cheap fabric) (yes, I am aware that graduation is less than three weeks away and that my sewing skills leave something to be desired but my stubbornness to wear a dress that I made under my gown is currently overriding both of these facts)
and still, the Treeline Striped Cardigan

But first:
A new poem and a chapbook manuscript for poetry workshop
and maybe some of the pile of other school work I have to do...