holiday crafting update

darn those stupid final exams. getting in the way and mucking up all my good crafting time! luckily, my last exam is tomorrow night. Then i can get back to whats really important. hehehehe. clearly, i'm a VERY dedicated grad student.

Here are some snippets of crafting i've been doing over the last few weeks:

I spun up my blue/green wool from Sojourner Sheep that i bought at Fiber Twist. I have a mental image of a new hat/scarf/mitten set for myself. I need a new winter hat... but i've got over 8 oz of this, so the project may morph into something bigger when all the yarn is washed and set.


The Big Orange sweater is very close to completion. sleeves are done, back is done. I'm ready to decrease on the front. i'm about 2 skeins short of completion, so i need to spin some more. A smart girl might've kept track of how much yarn this sweater took... but that's just not me. I do know that i've used 8 skeins, and they ranged from 150 - 200 yards each. i may, also, have misplaced a skein or two in the horrible mess that is supposed to be my craft room.


I made two pairs of fingerless mitts / wrist warmers. One i traded to the fabulous Lindsey of Yankee Girl Designs. The other is a gift. The wool came to my house as washed, white Polypay fleece in the summer time. I slowly dyed it, carded it, spun it, and eventually knit it. I have several piles of dyed fleece in different colors and I'm playing with blending colors in the drum carder, a la "Color in Spinning" by Deb Menz. Its really fascinating to see the change from individual colors to the blended one. I wish the colors in this picture had come out better, but the gray new england weather just wasn't cooperating that day! The overall color is sort of pinky/brown, but the individual colors that i blended were sky blue, a bit of magenta, and just a touch of darkish gold. so cool!

FO: Rosedale

Its finally complete!


I think this sweater is a serious improvement on the previous use of this yarn.


I've worn it (completely unblocked) two days in a row now. Totally loving it, its so warm and cozy. I wish i had knit it 1 or 2 inches longer. (I always forget how much the boob-ular area takes up the length of sweaters. grrr.) I'm also not loving the neck. I already ripped the collar out and reknit it once. I'm wearing it to see if it will still annoy me. i might rip it again and try it as a turtleneck.

What i learned from this sweater: how to knit corrugated ribbing.
I wasn't sure i'd like this, but i really wanted to try it. I love the end product. i think its a really nice detail and it makes the cuffs extra warm. (a nice bonus, since apparently Brandeis doesn't believe in heating the buildings in the winter! brrrrr!)