Stringcat Knits!

Wow.  It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  Well, I have some things to tell you about that happened… in the time my blog was… neglected. :|

Thing the First: I never finished my NaNoWriMo novel.  I stopped at just under 25,000 words on the 15th of November.  The novel will get finished, but I won’t be working on it until at least January.  I need a break from writing… and I got stuck in my plot.

Thing the Second: I started reading Twilight (you know, the book about vampires :D) and saw the movie twice.  It was a great movie!  I also read New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.  Those books are so fast to read.  Really, I finished Twilight in only two or three days! (Finished it the day before the movie actually)  Anyway, the books are really good.  You people should read them. :)  Oh, and for you Twilight fans, my favorite part of the movie was the baseball scene. :)  And I like the movie soundtrack. :D

Thing the Third: Knitting!  You know that Tilited Duster that I started knitting a few weeks ago?  I have the back, right front, and left front finished.  The sleeves will be started soon.  I’m knitting the whole thing mostly according to the pattern, but there are a few modifications that I plan on doing.  First, I will be knitting the sleeves in the round up until I have to shape the sleeve caps, because I hate seaming.  Hate it.  Hate it, hate it, hate it!  Second, I’m not using the recommended yarn.  This is hardly a modification because I almost never use the same yarn as the pattern says to use, but I thought I would mention it anyway.  The yarn I am using is a discontinued wool from Rio De La Plata yarn called Three Ply Thread.  I really wish it wasn’t discontinued.  I love the yarn.  Almost like a… a combination of Malabrigo and Cascade 220.  It’s so soft, almost rivaling Malabrigo, but it feels so strong and smooth like Cascade 220.  Best.  Yarn.  Ever. :)  When I started knitting, I expected the yarn to knit like a worsted weight, but it isn’t.  It’s a lot closer to aran or heavy worsted.  I was a little worried about the gauge, but it’s knitting up perfectly now.  Here’s some pictures that I took of it.  And yes, I did drag out my light box for them. :)

Thing the Fourth: More knitting, actually.  I got my issue of Spin Off Magazine a little while ago.  One of the things in it was about knitting with unspun wool.  Handcarded rolags actually.  There was a pattern for a lace baby hat that of course, I had no use for.  But on the next page, there was a picture of this adult size fair isle tam using .75 ounces of Shetland wool.  Really?  Only .75 ounces?!?  The tam was so pretty, but there was no pattern for it.  I searched Ravelry, looking for a similar pattern.  There was nothing.  Very disappointed, I found a pattern for a Lace Tam and Scarf set.  Okay, this would work.  I opened up the PDF and printed it.  I walked to my fiber cabinet and found some Columbia wool roving from the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool earlier this year.  That would work.  It was bouncy, fluffy, and still seemed sheepy, despite being washed before carding.  And it was this pretty chocolate brown color.  Soooo pretty!  I pulled out my wool carders and got started.  I carded three tiny rolags (the magazine said smaller sizes work better) and cast on.  Right now, I’m only about 8 rows into it.  Knitting with unspun fiber goes veeeerrrry slowly. :P

Thing the Fifth: This is actually old news… really old… a couple months old. :) I finished spinning that BFL roving from Spunky Eclectic.  This roving. It ended up being sport or DK weight, too thick for the fingering weight sweater that I wanted to make.  And I only have just over 350 yards, not the 450-500 that I needed.  Oh well, It’s still pretty and I can make something out of it.  I think the color looks even nicer when it’s spun.  Can’t wait to see what it looks like knitted up!

Thing the Sixth: Newer news, but still kinda old.  I spun some yarn out of a Corriedale wool batt that I bought at a Webs sale earlier this year.  First, I blended it with a little silk noil on my hand carders.  I wanted to spin the fiber so it would look somewhat like Manos wool yarn.  I think I succeeded in that, but I’ve never actually bought any Manos, just looked at it in stores.  Tell me what you think, oh Manos experts.  :) I have about 160 yards of it.  It actually seems a little softer than Manos (the reason I never actually bought any) but it looks pretty close to me.  But it has a little silk noil in it.

Thing the Seventh: Versatility!  I started this quite a while ago, but ran out of yarn.  I’m running a knitalong on Ravelry for the pattern.  I’m using two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in the VAA colorway.  Less than halfway through the scarf, I finished my first ball of yarn, so I knew there wouldn’t be enough to finish.  I’m going to wait until I can find some somewhat matching Malabrigo to finish it. :(

I think that’s everything!  I’ll try to keep up with my blog now.  I haven’t even read a blog in weeks! (Getting back to that now, actually…)