Edward's Heart

I finished a pair of socks! They're done! I'm wearing them! Finito!The pattern was "Edward's Heart" from the Twilight-themed sock club at Knit Me Up. The sock yarn was lovely to work with although I'm not sure I liked the semi-solid color. It looks beautiful from a distance, but looks somewhat washed out close up. It also bleeds (which is fitting, I guess, when you consider the subject matter) but I'll definitely need to microwave these babies with some vinegar to try and set the color. They are beautiful and comfortable, and they're finished. Did I mention that?

The kids and I are all still sick with a sore throat and cold, but I don't want to dwell on that so let's look at some fibery goodness. I know it will at least make me feel a little bit better.The March selection from the Spunky Fiber Club arrived this week and it's called "Mud Season". I was pleased that it's 100% Merino because I've been working on a notebook with samples of different fibers I've spun and I haven't added that yet. However, it was also ironic because that's what I'd bought the night before from Kristin. I begged her to bring her fiber to the Monroe B&B so I could feel it before buying it - usually she just sells on Etsy. The top braid is actually Superwash BFL (Blue-faced Leicester for those of you who are non-fiber folk... I know, that really helps, doesn't it? It's a type of sheep.) The other two are also 100% Merino wool so I've got some pretty lovely spinning ahead of me. I keep meaning to share some other fiber I bought at the Board Meeting for NWRSA. I bought these both from Sarah Anderson whose awesome new spinning technique is on the cover of the new Spring issue of Spin Off magazine. On the left is some dyed Baby Camel Top called "Smoke Signals" and on the lower right is some Mongolian Cashmere. Oooh, cashmere... It's not enough to actually make anything but maybe a lace scarf, but I only bought it so I could put it in my notebook anyway. I also saw my new friend Nicole there and she and I swapped some samples: She gave me a sample each of Cashmere roving and (how exciting!) Bison which you can see there on the top right. Ms. Anderson also came to our last Valley Spinners meeting to demonstrate her technique using both a wheel and drop spindle to spin a wrapped core yarn - it was fascinating! She doesn't have a website, but if you're interested in ordering from her just email me and I'll send you her contact info.

This week (since we've pretty much been confined to the house) I spent quite awhile spinning and plying "Pie for Everyone" which was the November selection from Spunky Eclectic.

This was Falkland wool which I can only describe as "sticky" because it got all over everything I wore while spinning it. It's fairly soft and the yarn came out nicely balanced (not too much twist in either direction) so I'm pleased with this 302 yd skien even though the color makes me think of Barbie with varicose viens. I think I might try to over-dye it with some help from people who know how to do that...
Let's see, anything else? Oh yeah, I finally changed my profile pic on Blogger and Ravelry since I haven't worn glasses since last summer when Evelyn broke them. I probably should look into getting some new ones for reading and driving at night, but for the most part I think she did me a favor as I've been getting along just fine without them!