i decided to make a gift of my stitchuary head cowl kit. However, it has transformed from a head cowl into a infinity scarf for mom. after all, a head cowl would barely make a dent in the skein, so why not knit it all up into an infinity scarf. the kit came with a skein of Dakota sport weight yarn. it is super soft Huacaya Alpaca. It is lovely. my only complaint is that i had a complete disaster with my ball winder, which made a real mess of the skein. yarn was a tad too soft and slippery for winding. i actually had to untangle it and wind it by hand into a ball. beware, when winding the skein, a surprising amount of plant matter fell off. thankfully, the plant matter almost completely fell away. as you may recall, i bought the kit at vogue knitting live in New York in January. i really wanted a skein of Sugar Ann Snap but it was sadly all sold out. i did get a free shipping coupon but i have not ordered it yet. i am trying so hard not to acquire anything new. as you can see, the scarf is coming along and is deliciously soft.

the good news is, i was not completely outside of the knitting world in january. i attended vogue knitting live this year. i came home with a bounty of new projects…which of course i have not cast-on yet…but i am so excited about them.

i bought two excellent books and two pattern kits. the one in the bucket is an absolutely adorable hat pattern with the softest yarn from stitchuary. the yarn is absolutely yummy. i am actually trying really hard not to go to their website to order more. i highly recommend huacaya alpaca sugar ann snap yarn.

my goal is to try and be better this month and actually post a new project that i started. ambitious, yes, but i think that i can achieve this. post a comment with a recent knitting project that you are excited about. perhaps, hearing about others knitting will motivate me. it is worth a try.

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.

my husband and i had such a wonderful time at Rhinebeck. we went to the festival on saturday only. i would have loved to have gone on sunday but i wanted to keep the trip balanced between things that i wanted to do and things that my husband wanted to do.

I took a picture of my Rhinebeck goodies. i bought yarn, fiber, a dyeing kit, yarn dancer, wood beams and a hat pattern. i didn’t get to see all of the vendors that i wanted because it was crowded and we arrived in the afternoon.

not pictured is my new full sized sunburst treadle robin wheel. it is such a gorgeous wheel. i didn’t get a chance to spin on it until i got home on sunday. it spins like a dream. i’ll do a separate post about it because it is so extra wonderful.

we had dinner at Gabby’s in Rhinbeck and drinks at Foster’s. the next day we had an amazing breakfast at Bread Alone. i order a short stack of pancakes to split with the hubby and they were perfect.

can’t wait until next year’s festival!

here are pictures of some of the many different breeds represented.

i bought three skeins of socks that rock yarn from blue moon cheap from a destash pile and 4 oz of fantastic coopworth kettle dyed roving in moss from winter’s past farm to spin. we left after i ran out of cash. we eventually made it to lambertville for a very yummy lunch at an old train stop. thankfully the rain had stopped, so we ate outside. eric did a scotch tasting and i bought some chocolate covered oreos from the local chocolate shop. i was disappointed that i didn’t get to stop at twist knitting and spinning in new hope. it got too late. rightly, eric reminded me that i went to a fiber festival and not to be too disappointed. next time.

i can’t believe that august is over. i have been meaning to post but i have been super busy this month. i went to california for a wedding. of course, i stopped in san francisco at imagiKnit. i got the most fantastic three skeins of yarn that are destined to be fingerless gloves. they were on sale too. fabulous! the biggest news is my new obsession with spindles. i got two bosworths! they are fantastic. i still need to practice using them but so far so good. btw, how do you like the new website and logo? i will post again soon with more dets about what i have been up to.

front

back

i couldn’t have expressed that sentiment better myself.  despite the insanely hot weather (100 degrees) outside, i had a wonderful weekend.

i have finally started knitting a sweater for my husband. i have been promising him a sweater for the longest time . i’ll keep you posted on that project. i am planning to use the rowan yorkshire tweed that i bought this weekend to knit a matching cable hat and mittens for the fall.

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 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.