by this afternoon when i left the house to head for classes, i felt an almost belligerent need to get out from behind my desk. the sky was blue and the sun was warm for the first time in months—i wanted badly to ride my bike in, but i am nursing the tail end of a cold i caught last week.
it’s been years since i had one, and it grabbed me kind of unawares. not being familiar with the oncoming symptoms, i did not catch it in time to stop it. so i spent the weekend feeling simultaneously restless and lethargic, like i was thinking from inside a bottle—not the most coherent state of affairs.
but after a few doses of something called “cold calm” that i found at the health food store, i am feeling almost as good as new, and craving fresh air. seriously, that stuff is amazing.
the nice light all morning made this a perfect day to prowl the house taking pictures of the few things i’ve had the time and energy to work these days. some newly-spun and washed yarns
these are all romney wool that was produced locally—that dazzling white is from beckie’s flock, and the tweedy brown and tan is the yarn i spun at SPA, from louise’s flock. here’s a closeup
the white is especially soft and cushy; i like romney when spun in a loftier yarn—it’s great for cozy hats and mittens. the tweed is finer- and tighter-spun, so not as soft. but it’s strong, and will make nice, sturdy socks for david.
speaking of socks, i’ve made headway (or treadway) on several different ones. i’ve gotten past the heel on the pink ragg sox. they are knitting up fairly quickly, being a little bit heavier yarn on size 2 needles.
they’re so cute, and the fabric is softer, both to the eye, and to the hand than i’d expected. i’m liking them a lot. and my navajo sox are rolling off these tiny needles at a surprising clip, too
actually, i finished this one in class this evening—yay! i think the constantly-new landscape that unfolds with each inch is a big motivator here. i can’t WAIT to get these done and wear them. they may never even see the sock shelf . . . the spunky eclectic BFL is making me veddy happy indeed.
i need to pause here and say a HUGE thank-you to my buddy elizabeth, for sending back the navajo yarn i gave her, in order that this sock should have a mate. though deeply embarrassed to beg for such a favor, i nevertheless sighed with relief when she willingly sent it back, and with such timliness too. hopefully my offering of the winnipeg sock yarn in return was enough to say
“i heart you elizabeth!”
and wait . . . what’s this? can it be that in the course of the week, while printing and updating files, i have actually progressed to the toe of this brown sock that sits on my desk, seemingly ignored?
well, i’ll be. it just crept up on me, this one did. last thing i knew i was rounding the heel. i picked it up almost every time i hit update or print this week, and one needle at a time, i put on seven inches. amazing.
i managed to write two hat patterns over the weekend which debby and debbie are test knitting. i decided to write them for a range of sizes and yarn weights, so that it would be easy to use stash yarn or handspun to knit them. i made one more stocking hat for a birthday gift to a special friend, again out of handspun.
apparently, i’m not the only one who was craving one of these. it’s a fun knit and a good way to use sweater leftovers or handspinning experiments.
as i reflect on the knitting i’ve done this month, i notice that i’ve been using a lot of handspun, which is immensely satisfying. i’ve said before that knitting with handspun is like eating food from the garden—the yarn is just so alive and responsive that each stitch is filled with flavor, and every row is like a good meal. i’ll take my fill and clean my plate, please.
21 thoughts on “rattling my cage”
That is the PERFECT spot for the sweater:)
LOVE the hat and he asked to go read “blogrolls”? I have no idea where he heard THAT word but I knew what he meant, I played him several fast games of checkers instead heehee…shhh, don’t tell Steve where the Winnipeg went. I am thinking of spinning up mine, I have dark,dark,dark fiber on the wheel right now but I’m bored with it. LOVE the hanks hanging too, they look so pretty!
Such lovely yarn! Wow look at all the sock progress you have going there. They are all so pretty and look very comphie.
The Navajo sock is gorgeous! I like your tweed handspun also. Grey tweed is a favorite of mine. I haven’t seen stocking hats for years, but I like them. I may have to knit one even though I live in Zone 9 California!
How incredibly cool to spin your own yarn, knowing from who’s flock the wool came from! Even more ecstatic if you knit it up in something (you designed yourself)!
Fabulous…
I have never knit with handspun yarn, the way you describe it makes my mouth watery 🙂
What beautiful pics again 🙂 Hope your cold will go away very soon…
Your new handspun yarns are gorgeous. And you’re right about knitting with the handspun – it’s immensely satisfying.
Handspun is nothing but good. That Elizabeth sounds like quite the friend – I’m not sure I woulda given the Navajo handspun back, I’m afraid.
On a small note, I think I’ve gotten a lead on cormo laceweight. I finally talked to the farm last night (they’ve been shearing and lambing – I totally zoned that’s the time of year!). Stay tuned…..
Your handspun is lovely. I’ve been resisting trying spinning because, OMG, do I need more stash? But maybe spinning is the new knitting 🙂
Haha, I agree with Margaret – spinning IS the new knitting! I plied over the weekend so I’d have free bobbins but haven’t had time to spin anything new. Work, class, and knitting deadlines all call.
that is so great that you are using your handspun! I see so much out there in blogland that just ends up sitting. it’s nice to see it knit up! glad you are feeling better – I rarely get sick also, so when a bug finally gets me, it’s usually pretty hard!
That white handspun is brilliant! It’s just gorgeous.
Your current projects looks great!
And I am in total agreement about knitting with handspun – there is nothing quite so wonderful, is there!
I’m in love with the white hand spun. It makes me think of “Mary had a little lamb…” and spring. So pretty.
You’re really moving along there with the socks. Not bad for someone overwhelmed by work.
I have to put in a word for the tweedy handspun. It’s just as pretty as the white! 🙂
I HEART YOU TOO, ANNE! You more than made up for the navajo with the winnipeg.
We’re having tornadoes and other nasty weather today, so ya’ll think good thoughts for us and hope we get through all the storminess.
The handspun looks lovely, and I’m really digging the navajo sox! Now, riddle me this, how do you keep such a clear table surface???
Hi there, I stumbled across your blog recently, but I’ve been lurking. I just wanted to say hello and say that I adore your navajo socks. The color is terrific. 😀
“Knitting with handspun is like eating food from the garden”… What a great analogy, I *love* it!
All the socks look so wonderful Anne! You’ve tipped me right over the edge, and I’m gonna go for it and start knitting socks. Just today I got some lovely handpainted merino 100% superwash wool I’ve had my eye on for a couple months or so. Seeing your post for today reminded me why I want to start knitting socks. Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!
I love your handspun-garden analogy…sadly I haven’t knit with any handspun yet! I better learn to spin! 😉
And those Navajo socks? So lovely.
Reading you is so dangerous. I’m starting to want to learn to spin now. Although I think I would want to primarily spin laceweight and fingering weight for socks. It’s all b/c of you and your luscious spinning talk. I’ve resisted it for ages, actually it wasn’t hard to resist, I was good with never wanting to do it. But just seeing all the handspun for socks, now that looks like fun. Stop it, evil enabling woman! 😉
OMG I so agree with Wanda, you evil enabler you *grin* I say you let all of us have a crack at shopping in your handspun closet!! I have seen it guys and lemme tell you, it is nothing short of spectacular!!!
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