Secrets and Sheep

My swatch for the Secret of the Stole Knit-a-long. I finally managed to get the needles today (even though Pearl's was technically closed, she sold them to me anyway), I picked up my beads yesterday, my yarn is wound. I'm ready to rock and roll.




I promised I would show you what I bought from the Wool Tour this weekend. I was a little nervous, because I brought my mom, grandmother, and my mom's friend (who all appreciate the fiber arts but aren't necessarily obsessed), and I thought I would take too long and they wouldn't have a good time, but we had a blast. One stop is a farm, and they loved that place. We bought pumpkins and gourds, and my mom bought currant jelly (for this amazing jelly and mustard sauce for cocktail wieners, and currant jelly is ridiculously hard to find at the grocery store) and sheep earrings for me from this great place that houses animals nobody wants anymore. My mom also bought a t-shirt that says "Stitch more, bitch less" (she's a cross-stitcher). My mom is awesome.



The dark roving is a wool and llama mix from Riverslea Farm in Epping, NH. (Blogger is being weird and won't let me add the link, Google it and you'll find the site). They had some beautiful colorways as well, and I love that they display their balls of roving in hammocks.
I'm not sure where the lower two balls are from (it was from the Mirage Alpacas stop in Washington), but they are a blend of wool, llama, alpaca, and mohair. I wish I could remember the name, because her prices were excellent. I have the Wool Tour guide still so I can look it up later.




I apologize for the pictures being so dark but it was rainy yesterday and so there wasn't much natural light. Hopefully they will spin or felt up beautifully and I can take better pictures then.




The two balls are from Brimstone Hollow in Hancock, NH. They were at the Sheep and Wool Festival this year so I'm hoping they are there this spring as well. I cannot put into words how much I love their colorways, and their prices are also excellent. Also, this is from a sheep named "Zachariah" which I thought was funny because my brother's name is Zachary. The two braids of wool (how much do you love that?) are from the Dana Basket Co. and the colorway is called "Mossy Oak."


Believe it or not, I didn't buy any yarn. I'm trying to only buy yarn that I have a pattern for, and right now I'm pretty backed up on projects. So now I just have to varnish my spinning wheel and have my dad tune it up again so I can spin (like it's that easy).

But seriously...

Enough with the snow already. We had another big storm (two weeks in a row!) and we are due for a huge nor'easter on Sunday. I am sick of being cold and really sick of my car getting stuck in the driveway. It's APRIL.
Okay, rant over.
The good part about the snow last week was that my Wednesday night class was canceled. We spent the night catching up on Netflix (Quills was excellent). And (drumroll, please) I finished my mom's birthday present. TWO WHOLE WEEKS before her birthday! I deserve a prize (more yarn maybe?).

Other FOs:

First two pictures:
Pattern: Scenester Hooded Scarf from Speed Knitting
Yarn: La Patrona Naturalana Esmerelda (100% Handpainted wool, handspun in Uruguay, 86 yards) 2 skeins color # 301-8
Source: The Yarn Basket (bought on my 21st birthday!)
Needles: Clover bamboo 24" circular size 15
Modifications: I cast on 12 sts instead of 10, then knit several inches longer than recommended for both scarf pieces, increased 8 more sts for the hood right at the beginning, and made the hood several inches longer than the pattern called for. I also used a three needle bind off to connect the two pieces of the hood rather than sewing them as the pattern recommends.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the hood comes to a cute little pixie point in the back. My hands are in the mitts that are folded up and sewn together at the bottom. It's very practical and I am all about practicality.


Middle two pictures:
Pattern: The Purl Beret from The Purl Bee
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino, (100% merino, ? yards) a little more than one skein (if you follow the pattern exactly, you only need one skein), color #? (light lavender)
Source: Stash
Needles: Addi Turbo 16" circular size 3, Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs size 3
Modifications: I knit an extra inch and a half before decreasing for the crown. The pattern recommends knitting extra if you want to make it floppy, and the first time I didn't knit enough and it looked like a beanie instead of a beret. It took a little more one ball, but if you only knit the recommended three inches (you might even be able to get four inches) you can do it with one ball.

If you want a beret with structure, I would recommend the pattern from the Winter '07 Interweave Knits. This one is floppy, but it's still fun.


Last two pictures:
Pattern: Silk Skull Caps from Alterknits
Yarn: Classic Elite Bam Boo (100% bamboo, 77 yards) 2 skeins color #4954 cerise
Source: Stash (from Patternworks a little more than a year ago, but I don't think they carry it anymore)
Needles: Susan Bates Quicksilver DPNs size 5
Modifications: None.

Don't mind the shifty eyed look in these (or the messy desk in the background) ;) This was tricky. You have to thread the beads on the yarn first, and let me tell you, a yarn with 24 seperate plies is not the yarn to do that with. It was also kind of a pain to knit with because it split so easily. Oh well, live and learn. It's really pretty and the beads make such a difference.


(At this point you're probably wondering just how much headwear one girl needs. A lot. Especially when you live in New Hampshire and it snows in April).

Whew. I feel productive. I actually finished them a few days ago, but I've been so busy with papers and other homework, not to mention going to the president's investiture on Thursday and to see Hillary Clinton last night (amazing picture coming soon!) that I didn't have a chance to post them. I haven't been nearly so productive the rest of this week. I do have these two lovely weekend days, so I'm off to get cracking.

Next up: Criss-cross shrug from Handknit Holidays. Also the Treeline Striped Cardigan from the Purl Bee.