i have been really busy recently. I meant to post something new in November but just never got around to it. so, consider this is a quick catch up post before the end of the year. i have made some good progress on my christmas knitting. here is an unblocked keyhole scarf in rowan cashsoft yarn classic, which is a dk weight yarn. i cannot wait until i finished knitting up the other end and block it. i think that it will make a really great holiday accessory.

my husband has been asking me to knit him a hat forever. i finally got around to it. it is also knit in rowan cashsoft classic yarn but in a more manly colorway. it just needs to be blocked before christmas. check out the texture on the brim. it is super warm and soft. i was constantly trying it on as i knit it. i think that i am going to have to knit myself one.

i purchased a wonderful spinning wheel as a gift. it was an insane bargain (under $100) and i knew it would make the perfect gift my bestie. It was made by a gentleman named John Mortenson who lived in Berkeley, CA. His wife was a weaver and spinner. He made wheels for her and spinning guild members in the area. i believe that the wheel dates from the early 1970s. unfortunately, the wheel is unmarked. i think that it is an absolutely stunning wheel. it has a built in lazy kate and a long treadle that feels like you are tapping your feet on the ground as you spin. i love this feature. it really allows you to count your treadles easily. it spins very smoothly and is made out of super sturdy solid oak, which gives the drive wheel some real turning power.

i love this wheel. it is a real gem.

i am on the road to Rhinebeck today. i am a first timer to the mecca of wool and fiber festivals. it was a last minute decision, so i didn’t have time to knit a “Rhinebeck sweater.” however, i did manage to knit a hat out of leftover yarn from the baby cardigan that I knitted my nephew a couple of months back. i love this hat pattern by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. it is both simple and stylish. i have actually been trying to locate a copy of Jared’s book “Made in Brooklyn.” it is very hard to find. i made a list of Rhinebeck vendors that i must see. oh so many! Excited. of course, i will share my Rhinebeck booty and plenty of photos when i return.

i had such a wonderful time in Martha’s Vineyard.  i couldn’t resist posting this picture for july 4th.  while i was away, i worked on finishing the cardigan for my newest nephew. i decided to try a three needle bind off for the underarms.  i actually think that grafting might have been a better choice for this project. however, i had rather large holes on either side of the underarm stitches, so i thought that a three needle bind off might remedy the situation.  it did but i think that the underarms are a little puckered now.   i am absolutely certain that my nephew will not care.  he is only 3 months old after all.

btw, i love my new blocking board.  it was so worth getting one.

i did go to a couple of yarn shops in vineyard haven. i purchased two balls of rowan yarn on sale from one. i also lucked out and got two skeins of alchemy superfine merino on sale at the other. oh, i have to share with you two really cool things that i bought. one is a super cute hand painted drop spindle and the other is removable highlighting tape. the highlighting tape is a pretty clever thing to sell at a yarn shop. super handy too when you need to highlight something in a pattern book. so, i had to have it.

alas, i am back home. upon arriving home i had a bounty of yarn awaiting me. that is the great thing about going away. you have a big mail day to come back to. it is like christmas in july.

i have made significant progress with the baby cardigan. i have entered finishing mode with it. i am little nervous about one of the under arms because of an unsightly gap. i am going to have to investigate the best way to tighten things up under there. i absolutely love knitting with the yarn, the fibre company road to china. i have enough left to make some cute little baby socks too.

i am off to martha’s vineyard in a week. it is always such fun to go there. can’t wait to hit the beach. i am debating which project to bring with me. i will probably do the baby socks on the plane. i was also thinking of taking a spinning class while i am out there. we shall see.

so, i started a new project yesterday. it is a super cute baby cardigan for my sister-in-laws new baby boy. i have been really looking forward to using a few skeins of some Fibre Company Canopy yarn that i got on sale. finally, this is my chance. i love the color (Acai) and the feel of the yarn. it is a warm red with a fiber mix of 50% baby alpaca, 30% merino, 20% bamboo. the sweater has some colorwork around the yoke, so i also bought a skein of Riverstone and Blue Tourmaline.

the pattern uses 8 rows of seed stitch at the hem. it is worked flat. my goal is to finish it in the next couple of weeks, so i can gift it during my next visit.

it is a lovely day in NYC. i went for a run in Central Park this morning. my hubby purchased some really sweet tulips and placed them in a tulip shaped vase for me. as you can see, there were some easter egg hunting festivities at my place. my nieces had an easter egg hunt in my apartment. how urban of us, right? they both “won” a very large box of crayons. you might have noticed the insane stacks of books in the background. i am in the process of organizing my book shelves. right now, it is absolutely impossible to find a specific book on my shelves (even if it is right in front of me). i am thinking of organizing them by size and color. i know. weird. but, i actually know what all of my books look like, so it would be quicker to just organize them visually instead of alphabetically. it isn’t the dewey decimal system but i think that it will work better than the chaotic mess it is now.

checkout the socks that i started knitting last week. done. they are super soft and perfect for lounging around the house. yeah!

it was another overcast cold day in New York City yesterday. winter just does not want to leave the tri-state area. i spent yesterday knitting a pair of house socks by the window. i am using a couple of random balls of Rowan Cashsoft yarn that i have had forever. the socks knit up quick, which is exactly the kind of project that i needed on a rainy day.

last week, i was fortunate to find some like new knitting books on sale at my local library. $3 each! fantastic deal. i am super excited about the Ohio Knitting Mills book, which has some very cool retro patterns. apparently, OKM use to make Mr. Rodger’s red sweater. that is enough to impress me. wink.

it looks like today is going to be immensely sunny, so i plan to take full advantage of it. no knitting today. i am going out to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

ok. i have to admit. i didn’t really get the whole lace knitting thing. it just looked too involved to me. when i think about knitting, i think about making something to keep me warm. knitting something with a bunch of holes in it always seemed a little counterintuitive to me. well, for some reason the other day, i picked up a pair of needles and a random ball of yarn. i started following a lace shawl pattern chart that i found online. i ended up knitting more of the pattern than i thought i would. i really enjoyed it. could i be a lace knitting convert? perhaps.

in other non knitting news, i went for a walk in Central Park today. it was rainy and overcast. it has been such a long winter here that it was a bit shocking to see flowers and blossoming trees. FINALLY. spring is here!

so, i was able to take a crash course in spinning. i didn’t expect “drafting” to be so hard. it was a one-on-one session, which was very fortunate for me. we started with the drop spindle. it was difficult to get the hang of drafting, stopping and wrapping. we tried two different methods. the first was rolling the drop spindle on my lap. the second was holding the drop spindle vertically above the floor and spinning the spindle clockwise and stopping it between my legs before it started to spin counterclockwise. my major challenge was drafting quick enough with my drafting hand, while not allowing the twist to get into the drafting zone with my fiber hand.

once i got the basic idea behind drafting with a drop spindle, we moved onto a single pedal Ashford spinning wheel. clearly, i am too much of a newbie to go for uniformity in the yarn. i just wanted to get a feel for treading, drafting and accelerating the yarn onto the bobbin. i kept having to repeat in my head “draft, slide, draft, slide, draft, slide and accelerate.” i got an A+ on the accelerating, my drafting and sliding needs some work. next, we did a quick lesson on hand carding. i got to mix different types of fibers into rolags. i made a dozen rolags, which i spun onto the bobbin with the top fiber that i had been spinning on the spinning wheel. i then took the single plied yarn off of the bobbin and wound it around a niddy noddy. once i finished winding the yarn off the bobbin, i wound the yarn that i had spun on the drop spindle onto the niddy noddy as well. next, i tied the start and end of the the yarn together. i took four pieces of ribbon and tied a figure eight on each side of the yarn on the niddy noddy.

when i took the yarn off the niddy noddy, it was pretty curly because some of the twists were coming undone since there was not a uniform twist throughout the yarn. the instructor told me that i should take it home and soak it in skin temperature water for 20 minutes. I weighted the yarn down with a half full spray bottle to take the curl out of the yarn. after letting it dry, i twisted it tightly into a skein.

voila. here is the finished product. it looks like a chunky art yarn. it was a fun first lesson. it was great to get my feet wet. I really really want to be able to spin lace weight and sport weight yarn. i am super excited about my new hobby.

well, today, i have an update on what i am going to knit next. i am knitting a pair of wristlets. i have been wanting to knit a pair of wristlets forever. so, i was super excited to have a very good excuse to purchase the pattern that has been sitting in my Ravelry queue. i am substituting yarn. not only did I promise myself that i would make a dent in my Ravelry queue, i also promised myself that i would make a dent in my yarn stash. fortunately, i have a skein of Classic Elite Fresco in white that has been languishing for over a year. i purchased it at Knitty City when one of my knitting friends came for a visit. it was so soft and pretty (60% wool, 30% baby angora and 10% angora) that i bought it without having a project in mind for it. always a big mistake for me. alas. the day has come. it is perfect for this project! now, i just need to wind the yarn into a center pull ball and i am ready to do a gauge swatch. yes!

i will share photos of my progress and an update on the other projects i plan to cast-on.