Jim knows that my hobbies keep me entertained and happy, so he often buys knitting gifts for me.  He usually does an excellent job of gift picking, for someone not really interested in the knitting or spinning world.   This year was not an exception.  First up, I got a few knitting books.  He thought that Marianne Kinzel’s First Book of Modern Lace Knitting and Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting were a bit to doily-ish, but that I might be able to use the stitch patterns in them for other things.  I also got a stitch library, Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns by Mary Thomas.  Jim also tells me that somewhere, the new Nancy Bush book, Knitted Lace of Estonia is back-ordered and on its way to me.

For spinning, I got a few supplies too.  Santa did bring me some fiber, 24 ounces of 64-count Merino Top from Paradise Fibers.  Since it’s all undyed, I’m gong to have to do a little experimenting with dyeing (maybe Kate can show me a few tricks).  I already spun up a few ounces, just to try it out.  It’s definitely different than the corriedale.  I also received some supplies for my wheel.  The Ashford maintenance kit is nice, but I was really excited about receiving two additional bobbins.  It’s exciting to have a little more flexibility in my spinning.  Since I now have more than three bobbins, I don’t have to spin up two and ply them before I move on to anything else.  I’ve already finished them with a few coats of polyurethane, so they’re ready to use.

I also got two spinning books from opposite ends of the learning spectrum.  I got a beginning spinning book, Start Spinning by Maggie Casey, and a super technical book, The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos.  For now, I think that the Alden Amos book is a little over my head.  But, since I’m the type that needs to understand the how and why of everything, I think it will be a book I can grow into.

There may be a few more gifts to share at a future date.  Mom mentioned buying me some alpaca roving at an alpaca farm, but it shipped Monday, December 22nd, so nothing has arrived yet.  And, with all of the snowy weather in Portland, gifts from the in-laws of have been stuck at the Portland UPS facility.  I’ve received yarn and books from them in the past, so who knows what this box will contain.

I’ve been trying to work through some of my stash of yarns, and lately I’ve been making a lot of small projects out of my Peaches & Creme.  After finishing a few Christmas gifts, Jim commented that he’d like some new dishcloths.  They needed to be smaller in overall size, thicker than most of the ones we already had in the drawer, and have a texture suitable for scrubbing.

After a little experimentation, 7 Ridges was created.  It’s named for the seven ridges that exist in the cloth.  It’s nice and thick and works up very quickly because the yarn is held double throughout.

I made them in a few different colors.  In the photo below (from bottom left) I used 1 strand Daisy & 1 strand yellow, 2 strands white, and 2 strands yellow.

I decided to go ahead and write it up because the pattern was so easy.

7 Ridges

Gauge: 14 stitches to 4 inches in stockinette stitch with yarn held doubled
Suggested Needle Size: US8 (5 mm), or appropriate size to reach gauge
Yarn: 75 yards of Worsted Weight 100% Cotton
Finished Size: Approximately 7 inches x 7 inches

Ridges Pattern
Row 1 & 3: K3, (K3, P1) 4 times, K6
Row 2: K3, (P3, K1) 4 times, P3, K3
Row 4: Knit all stitches

With yarn held double, Cast on 25 stitches.

Rows 1 – 3: Knit
Rows 4 – 31: Work rows  1-4 of Ridges Pattern 7 times (28 rows total of Ridges Pattern).
Rows 32 – 35:  Repeat rows 1-3 of Ridges Pattern.
Rows 36 – 39: Knit

Bind off all stitches. Weave in ends.

Enjoy!

Last weekend, Jim and I took a drive northward to the Portland area to check out shopping and other goodness.  I convinced Jim that since we were close, we should stop Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks.  I was looking for more fiber, since I’ve steadily been spinning up the corriedale that came with my wheel.  The parking lot was packed, and there was no place to park, so Jim dropped me off and told me to call him when I was ready.

As soon as I walked in the door, the fiber area was just to my right.  There was fiber from a few major name yarn dyers, such as Lorna’s Laces and Ironstone.  However, most of the fiber was from smaller name dyers that I had not heard of (or maybe just because I haven’t really shopped fiber before).

I was looking for some fiber to play with.  I want to see a variety of colors on my wheel, so I didn’t want to focus spinning another pound of one color.  That meant that the giant bags of fiber were out of consideration.  In the smaller quantities, there was really only one color that spoke to me, the purple braid centered in the photo below.  However, it was corriedale.  Since the pound I’ve been working on was corriedale, I was looking to try a new fiber.  While I really wanted to come home with new fiber, I ended up walking out empty handed.

After the quick visit to the yarn store, Jim and I decided to take a leisurely drive home through some areas we had not been to.  We got off of I-5 and drove down the eastern side of the highway.  When we got to Silverton, we realized that it looked like a quaint little town, so we stopped to walk around and check out the downtown.  We parked the car on the street, and walked back into town.  As we walked, we passed the window below.

Invest in Socks, not stocks?  A clothesline full of socks in the window?  It wasn’t until we had walked pass that my brain actually processed – those are handknit socks!  A quick look in the window, and sure enough, it was a yarn store.  I grabbed Jim and headed back to the entrance of the store.

The Purl District was a cute little store.  They carried a mix of both yarn and sewing equipment, but no spinning fiber.  Since my focus of the day was fiber, I only glanced at some of the yarn they carried.  However, I did notice that they had a display of yarn from Habu Textiles and some from Mission Falls.  I also was stopped by some alpaca yarn from Silver Falls Alpaca that I remembered from Oregon Flock and Fiber this summer.

Unfortunately, I came home empty handed.  Maybe Santa will bring me some spinning fiber soon.

It’s another project from the backlog!

I started this pair of socks back in March, when I needed a new project because I was taking a cross-country plane flight.  I took that flight to get to Oregon for a job interview.  I got that job, and finished this pair of socks on the drive from Illinois to Oregon (I wove in the ends in a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, ID).    So, I guess you could call these my “new job socks”, or maybe my “cross-country socks”, or perhaps just my “I must be totally crazy to pick up and move socks”.

Pattern: Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL)
Quantity: 1 skein (459 yards/100g)
Color: 69
Needles: KnitPicks 2.0mm 32″

Started: March 13, 2008
Completed: April 14, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• Cast on 72 stitches
• Knit 2.25 inches of ribbing
• Knit leg to 9 inches before starting heel

Yarn overview:

This was the first time I’d used Trekking XXL.  It was thinner than most of the sock yarns I usually knit with, similar in weight to Opal or Lorna’s Laces.  After quite a few wearings of this pair of socks, the yarn is still holding up well.  There’s some slight fuzzing on the bottom of the socks and in the heel, but it seems to be holding up well.  Overall, I think that it’s a great deal for it’s yardage to price ratio.

I finally got around to knitting up the Artyarns Supermerino that I’ve had in the stash for a while.  I picked it up as a gift to myself when I was in Fresno, CA as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding a few years ago.  During a break between running around doing bridesmaid tasks and the rehearsal, I snuck off to the yarn store, Ancient Pathways.  It was a really nice way to treat myself in a weekend that was all about other people.  I was lucky and found two skeins of this yarn in the sale bin, and got it for a steal.

I finally decided that I wanted to use the yarn, and went searching for a pattern to use with it.  I came upon Thuja from an older Knitty issue.  I decided to give it a try.

I forgot how quickly a heavier weight sock can knit up.  I finished these in a matter of days.

Pattern: Thuja
Designer: Bobby Ziegler
Source: Knitty, Winter 2005
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino (104 yards/50g)
Quantity: 2(208 yards/100g)
Color: 101
Needles: Addi Turbo US4 (3.5mm)

Started:  June 7, 2008
Completed:  June 15, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• I cast on 40 stitches instead of 44
• Knit the foot as 21 stitches on the top and 19 stitches on the bottom so that I could center the purl stitch in the center of the foot, so the pattern on the top of the foot became
  Round 1: K all stitches
  Round 2: K2, P1, [K3, P1] 3 times, K2
• Decreased toe until 8 stitches remained

Yarn Overview:

This yarn is super squishy, which is one of the reasons I purchased it.  It washes well, no signs of pilling so far.  However, I’m not sure I’d use this yarn for socks again.  While the socks are soft and warm, they are showing some significant signs of wear after just a few wearings.  In the future I’d use this yarn for sweaters or hats or anything else that doesn’t get as much wear and tear as socks.