Cassingle Revival

I've been busy! Lots of spinning and knitting as of late. I'm working on a top-down raglan in which the body is already finished, but the one picture I have of it isn't so hot. I'll try to get a good one up soon.

But yarn! Oh my! The yarn! I've been making lots of that!

This is up in my etsy shop, as is this:

On the post Christmas, knitting for me front, I took some handspun and made myself a cowl yesterday, while recovering from a migraine.

This:

became this:

It's the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb neckwarmer! I cast on 35 stitches, and probably would have been better suited to cast on 30, as this is snug, and not too drapey. But it's warm and it does its job for these freakishly cold days here in Tennessee. I thought I escaped days of 7 degree temperatures when I left Buffalo! I shouldn't complain, though. Any excuse to wear lots of hand knits is a good one.

hooray beret, take 2!

Quick update:

I think I may have perfected my pattern for the perfect amount of slouch. After a few missteps of not decreasing properly (does anyone want a beret that comes to a gnome-like point?) and re-reading some Elizabeth Zimmerman, I figured out how I wanted to do my beret, and here you go!

(don't mind the photo - it was midnight and I was paler than usual, but thrilled with my completed hand knit in all its slouchy glory)

I have another on the needles right now for xmas presents! Hooray!

hooray beret!

Hello my lovelies!

I've been doing a fair bit of dyeing lately, but I must get myself in gear for Christmas knitting! I think I've fallen head over heels in love with the beret. I started knitting up Le Slouch, but I wasn't sure I wanted something that drapey. I had seen the lovely Miss Click Clack's beret's on Ravelry (and her blog) and I am inspired! So great! I knit one up last night, and I'm not totally in love with the Le Slouch decreases, and have decided to stick with EZ's Tam O'Shanter's decrease instructions.

Hooray Beret!

Also, if you're in the Greater Nashville Area, you may want to check out my friend Ruth's trunk show at Queen Bee this Thursday!

	Thursday, December 4, 2008
Time:	5:30pm - 8:30pm
Location:	Queen Bee
Street:	1200 Villa Place STE. 110 Edgehill Village @ Music Row

And now here are some pictures of fiber!




Happy Christmas Knitting!

PS - I'll be back with photos of the poncho my mother requested that I knit her, and pictures of BERETS!

pressure drop

I love dyeing! I can't stop! I got 2lbs. from Ms. Hello Yarn, 2 pounds from the fiber fest, and I've been going to town ever since. I love it! Oh, and I ordered another pound of BFL yesterday, and more dyes.

This is what I've been up to recently:


I think this one is by far my favorite. I'm calling it "Pleased as Punch"! I dyed 8 oz of it (South African Fine Wool) and kept 4oz for myself. The other half is up on etsy. Part of me doesn't want to part with it, but I need funds to keep this addiction going. South African Fine is really nice! It was really nice to spin up.

Here's some more South African Fine, which you find on my etsy shop:


I've also been spinning what I've been dyeing too. Yeah, all my free time is pretty much consumed with spinning, dyeing and going to Trader Joe's (which just opened up here - I'm completely smitten).

This is some Corriedale I dyed and spun up (the first test run in my new, well, old, Crock Pot):


And here's some hand dyed and spun Shetland which is delightfully soft (and will probably be a Christmas present for my knitter sister-in-law):

Oscar the Yarn

Hello, all!

More spinning up in this piece! Seriously, I'm addicted to novelty yarn. I didn't think I would love knitting with it, but it was a lot of fun! I took the Peas and Carrots and made a GIANT cowl for myself (pictures to follow). It's neat, even if it is the color of dinner's vegetables.

Here's the latest installment of Molly's Wild and Crazy Adventure with novelty yarn:

It's about 37 yards of beehive and coiled goodness! I have another skein of this too, which is very similar (I added some natural romney rolags to the mix). I really don't know what do with it, now that I have made myself the cowl to end all cowls. So, I've taken Rachel (aka Porpoise) and I'm throwing it up (metaphorically, not vomiting) on my new Etsy shop to see what will happen! Go and have a look!

mellow yellow

Help! I think I'm addicted to spinning beehive yarn! It's so much fun!

I learned how to do these fancy tricks at Yarn School (I even dyed some of this roving there, the more orange stuff was kettle-dyed at last year's Dye Day). My wheel is not loving the new techniques immensely (the orifice is a bit small and the hooks, oh, the hooks). But, no bother. I keep going and making the fun beehives.
I'm pleased as punch with this stuff. I really have no idea, though, what I'm going to make with it. Suggestions appreciated.

Yay, beehives and coils!

Yarn School!

So, I've been meaning to post about Yarn School for some time now, but things got in the way, like illness (stomach virus THEN sinus infection), but I'm back in business now!

Yarn School was absolutely fantastic! I had the best time! Everyone was so lovely and I learned so much. Kansas! The town of Harveyville (pop. 250) was really great and we were treated to the Spookyville parade!


The Harveyville Project, run by Nikol and Ron, is really quite awesome. The school itself was just completely badass and really just amazing. I'm so happy I got to go!

So, the first day we arrived we had a meet and greet. The next day we split up into 2 groups (the Sharks and the Jets - a certifiable knife fight!) and my group went off for dye class; crockpot dyeing, microwave dyeing, handpainting, you name it. It was fantastic.

For lunch, we took a field trip to Wildcat Hollow Alpaca Farm to meet alpacas and buy lots of wonderful alpaca related goodness. I ended up buying some raw alpaca fleece that I ended up washing, carding and spinning (which Deb named Chewpacca, as it really looked like I skinned Chewbacca).

The next day was spent learning spinning techniques, relaxing, carding, etc. It was grand. I had absolutely the best time. I learned such fun things as Navajo plying and spinning novelty yarns, and seriously, I haven't been able to stop since. I'm not kidding. I'm addicted.

I cannot stress how lovely everyone was and how much I learned. The food was absolutely fantastic and I'm already scheming to see how I can go again next year.

I have plenty of more pictures from the event on my Flickr page!

Motor Away

We're having a little problem here in Middle Tennessee with a gasoline shortage, so my trips outside the home this weekend have been severely limited. 50% of the gas stations in Nashville are without gas, and those that do have gasoline have lines down the street. I've always been one to stay out of a panic, so I've been home this weekend knitting THIS:



I love this pattern! I'm using Spun 2 Ways : Socks at Any Size and Any Gauge from Spin-Off magazine! Yes! This is the 391 yards of handspun I successfully spun up! I'm so proud! Thus far, it's smooth sailing. Also, I love this pattern because if you're like me, and your yarn has some unsightly unevenness to it *cough cough*, it magically hides it!



Yarn School is in a couple of days, and I'm so giddy I can't believe it. Seriously. I'm like a little kid.

A Summer Wasting

I'm still alive! I promise! I've been swept up in a world of presidential elections, spinning, knitting, and cleaning my house. Truth be told, I'll be happy if I don't have an aneurysm by the time this election is over.

On a happier note, I'm going to Yarn School in a next week! It starts on my birthday! I'm thrilled!

On the project front, here's something I have been working on for a friend's wedding. It's gotten considerably bigger, but alas, I don't have a more recent picture. It's a log cabin blanket out of Cascade Ecological wool.

I've also been knitting the Morning Surf scarf from SpinOff magazine for my sister's birthday. I just finished it last night, and will be blocking it soon! Obviously, dear reader, her birthday was last week, and in Read It and Wheeze form, I am terribly late.

And hooray me! I successfully spun 391 yds of sock yarn! YES! That will cover my gigantic lady feet! VICTORY! I shall take pictures of that soon!

Who knows where the time goes?

Hello all! I'm back from wedding celebrations and drives across the country! I'm now officially Mrs. Wheezy and all is well! The wedding went off spendidly, and I'm happy to announce that both celebrations in TN and Buffalo are over. HUGE RELIEF. Things on the knitting and spinning front have been relatively quiet as I try to regain some composure to my life. I'm working on some socks for my dad, that were a belated Father's Day present *cough cough* (the man has size 13 feet-- they take a while!).

On the production front, however, I've made some amazing BREAD from a recipe given to me as part of a wedding present from my friends Mark and Amy. It's absolutely stunning bread! All you need is a large dutch oven (5.5 L or bigger) to bake it, and you're good to go!

The dutch oven keeps the bread so nice and moist, and you get to put your choice of flour, whole wheat or corn mean on the outside to give it that nice artisan glow on the outside. Give it a go! You won't be disappointed! Delicious fresh bread without all the crazy preservatives that only costs you about $1! Less than that! Insanity! I actually made bread with my amazing new bread machine this morning for Mr. Wheezy, as per his request (he's getting his wisdom teeth out today), and I have to say, it's not as good as this stuff! No way!

And there are all sorts of ways you can mix it up! Add some beer! And some whole wheat! Go nuts!