the ball is rolling

Posted on annePosted in designing, lace/shawls, projects, spinning and fiber

well, it’s official then; we will be offering a knitspot project club! while we have tons of work to do before we can announce particulars, we got the ball rolling the other night with a meeting to divide up the work and figure out some of the logistics. david and linda will be masters of the universe, taking charge of memberships, website, packing, and shipping.

we’re pretty sure that signups will open around the beginning of may, barring any unforeseen circumstances. we’ll post plenty more information and details well in advance, so anyone interested can plan; right now we are still nailing down the particulars, so it wouldn’t make sense to release information til everything is in place.

i will be designing, organizing the lineup of yarns and dyers, writing patterns, and creating the monthly e-book chapter that accompanies each kit. of course, i couldn’t do all that without help; i’ll be assisted by our valiant majordomo, beckie.

she came over tonight so we could square away the yarn choices to the six we needed. that was the hard part (but hopefully, i can now put away that stack of yarn over the weekend. if i can find space for it).
ahhhh, friday night, a nice meal, my best friend, and yarn . . . what more could i ask for?

maybe wine?

wednesday evening we were back to our regular spinning class, joined by my friend kris with her knitting. and look who else joined us—my friend helena, who promptly put us all to shame with the speed at which she picked up drafting.

just look at her first ever singles, going onto the bobbin

i know veterans who can’t spin that evenly. we were all quite jealous, remembering OUR first encounters with the wheel (but amazed and pleased for her, too).

that was the easiest teaching i’ve ever done, i think—which left me time to get started on a new spinning project. i have a sweater’s worth of finn fiber in a medium brown/gray that i purchased with anne marie at the wooster fiber fair in 2009. seeing as it’s such a gorgeous color, i decided to start that now (but i forgot to get a photo—next time, i promise)

after everyone left, i finished knitting my dark green mink beret and wove in the ends. i washed it up yesterday morning along with the original apple green hat and scarf. now they are all fluffy and clean and ready for a photo shoot, hopefully this weekend.

after that, i picked up the last cabled toque on my needles in the hopes of finishing that too, but then horror of horrors, i ran out of yarn about six rounds from the end. oy! totally unexpected, as i was able to knit my first one in this size from one skein of yarn. i don’t have more yarn in this color, so i’m really not sure what i should do . . . maybe i have some handspun somewhere that would finish it off. hmmm.

with that project stalled, and a few pattens into the hands of the proofreaders, i turned my attention finally to moving on with the zigzag shawlette i started during my UK trip.

isn’t the yarn just gorgeous? this is the mink/milk/merino fingering blend from great northern yarns in colorway heathered merlot. it has the loveliest hand, this yarn—soft, but substantial for its weight, which is a fine 4-ply. the bloom is much less pronounced than in the mink/cashmere yarn, but still has enough presence to add a wonderful shading to the folds of this fabric.

the upper part of the shawlette is in garter stitch with shoulder shaping and a tiny standup neckband. i’ve just now started the lower patterned portion, which was on hold until i could chart it out for my use. i finally got to do that yesterday and now the project is moving forward. i love this piece; i can’t WAIT to see more of it . . .

the charcoal gray yarn that i’m using for the companion scarf is constructed very similarly to the maroon yarn—a fine, smooth 4-ply fingering weight, but from a completely different fiber mix—this time the yak/mink/merino/soy blend.

this yarn is a little smoother and offers a crisper stitch definition, but is appealingly soft as well. it reminds me of very nice suiting fabric in its surface and drape.

the difference between these yarns is hardly noticeable to the eye, but in the hand they are quite distinct, each offering a completely different knitting experience.

i’ve been putting a few more inches onto the scarf every night while i watch TV. toting it around on errands and appointments gives me the chance to add extra rows whenever i have to sit and wait—that can really help move things along with a scarf.

i always settle in to watch TV with needles in hand and until recently, david was happy to just relax and watch the screen.

all that has changed now, though—he knits a few rows every night too, on his wrap project. and look, it’s growing noticeably. we are way to cute for words, both of us parked on the sofa, knitting side by side. it makes me incredibly happy . . .

no pictures though, sorry—that would require one of us to put our knitting down and get up to snap the shot, haha.

well, this post has spanned several periods of the day and i’ve had to change the tenses twice since i got started. so before the clock turns to another day (just a few minutes til tomorrow at this point). i’m going to sign off. have a wonderful weekend.

40 thoughts on “the ball is rolling”

  2. gorgeous knitting. Love the idea of you two knitting together. I got my hubby knitting on a holiday to Spain when we only had Spanish TV (it was too cold to sit outside in the evenings). He has never touched the needles since we came home. He keeps eyeing up my knitting machine though. So there is still hope. We want a pic of late evening knitting.

  3. Doing cartwheels here, I’m so excited at the thought of a Knitspot club! I just happened to mention it to Mr JK, who said ‘and how does this fit in with you being on a yarn diet and not buying any yarn?’ I told him the solution was simple – he could buy me membership for my birthday/Christmas!! Ha ha ha! Problem solved!
    Really impressed with your friend’s first spinning efforts – I hope she knits the yarn into something wonderful to treasure her first handspun!
    You’ve made my weekend! Thank you!!

  5. The club sounds so exciting . You have such good taste, I know it will be fabulous. Can’t wait.

  6. Yay! I’m so excited to hear that you’re doing the club! You amaze me with all the beautiful knit creations you come up with. Thanks!

  7. David’s wrap looks great! I love image of the two of you knitting together on the couch. Maybe I’ll make my husband learn to knit, too. 🙂

  8. Oops – not that you made David learn to knit. I’d just have to make mine learn because I don’t think he wants to. 🙂

  9. What a wonderful post! A yarn club and an image of you and David knitting on the couch. Thanks for it all.

  10. I am soooo happy you have decided to start a club.I will anxiously await sign up…..you may be overwhelmed by the signup for ALL us who LOVE you stuff girlfriend:o)

  11. I have been following your blog and love your work. I was so happy to hear about your upcoming club. Can’t wait!!!

  12. Looking forward to the club. I hope I get in. I think your club will be very popular. Hope you’ll consider pattern options for those of us who might not get in on a club with yarn. ( I have terrible luck getting in sock clubs.) I already have my mink yarn for the beret and scarf. I may order more when he gets the other colors back in. That mink yarn is great. I used it for the Leaf Prints set.

  15. Anticipation (ketchup ad subtext/tune, with chagrin that this has somehow lodged itself in my brain)….woohoo for us, congratulations to you and thank you! I can only imagine that pulling the yarn club together has been/will continue to be “a piece of work.” Your wonderful creations are always worth the wait.

  16. Oh, I am SO excited for the club! And the idea of you two knitting away while watching teevee is lovely. 🙂

    I’m a little envious of Helena’s rapidly developing spinning skills…good for her!

  18. I’m loving the zig zag scarf, Anne, and will be eagerly awaiting the pattern release. What kind of wheel is Helena using – the flyer looks suspended in mid-air?

  20. Helena’s spinning is beautiful. Tell her to keep up the good work. She has a great teacher and a lovely supportive group of ladies to help her.

  22. I’d love to get my husband interested in knitting. He can never understand why it’s impossible for me to watch TV without knitting in my hands. LOL!

  24. I love that you are starting a knitspot project club. I can’t wait till it’s ready. I wish you can teach me spinning, I just got my ladybug and i am not sure i am doing it right but i love it any way.

  25. Yippieee for the club!!!! And I see that the mink blends must now be added to the must-try list as SOON as my yarn diet is over:))) They are just gorgeous! Can’t wait to see the finished items.

  26. WOW! I hope, though, that there is a pattern only option. I’m such a slow knitter (with startitis), that I know I would never finish…

  28. Wow, that is one quick-to-learn spinning student. Beautiful drafting!

    I’m SO excited about the Knitspot club. Can’t wait.

    And I love the mental picture of you and David sitting side-by-side knitting. He’s a keeper for sure!

  31. OMG! Is Helena a natural born spinner, or what? absolutely gorgeous first yarn! I am sooo proud of her!

  32. yeah for the club! and yeah for David’s knitting. I love it – it has rugged, rustic, manly look to it (somewhat a la Brooklyn Tweed). Please post pics of David knitting in front of the TV.

  33. Like everyone else, yay for the club! But more importantly, you need to have someone get a photo of the two of you side-by-side on the sofa knitting. How cute would that be???

  34. Must go enable my knitting friends to join with me… it is always more fun in groups! I am anxiously awaiting the updates and announcements!

  38. Chipping in with my own “Yay!!!!! A Knitspot knitting club!!!” 🙂 Congrats, and I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.

  39. I’m kinda chuckling over Beckie’s new name. . . .it definitely suits her! Tell David I’m proud of him and his wrap!!! He’s made a LOT of progress!!

  40. I’m so happy to hear you’ll be doing a project club – I’ll be ready and waiting come May . . .

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