Sweet Nothings

I love a fast project. There's something magical about sitting down on the couch with nothing but sticks, string and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and getting up two episodes later with a new item.
I had leftover bits from various projects, and decided to get some use out of them by making tiny stuffed things. They really have no function, other than providing that rush of accomplishment in a way that only knitting tiny useless stuffed things can. The finished project really just takes up space--albeit in a rather adorable way.

The heart was adapted from this pattern, using much thinner needles and yarn than the pattern called for, giving the heart a more delicate touch. The pattern just creates a 2-D heart; I made two and sewed them together to create the plush heart here. The yarn is cashmere/silk handspun, which was such a treat to spin and knit. I also stuffed it til the stitches stretched, an effect I rather like.

These two lovebirds are made from this pattern. They are knit in the round, and although gauge technically doesn't matter, I would rather use a thicker (i.e. narrow worsted) than a thinner (sock, fingering weight) yarn. The thinner you get, the more you risk the stuffing poking through. The darker grey bird (handspun, although I don't recall the fiber content--feels wooly) didn't have this trouble, but the lighter grey bird (made from the same yarn as the heart) did--I needed to do a little embroidery work to hide the most egregious holes.

Both of these projects were quick and easy ways to add a little bit of whimsy to my day, and I plan on adding to my army of cute little creatures very soon.

Ravelympics Day 2

Beginning on Tuesday, I went on a trip to Ohio for school. On Friday, (the first day of the Olympics and the Ravelympics), we drove back. I got a good seven or eight hour car ride to work on my first project, fingerless gloves for my little brother. It was just the right amount of time. John loves them--and they fit. (Score!)I did the finishing today, and hope to go to a Michaels or JoAnn's this week to get the yarn for the other competition I am in: Baby Dressage. I also need needles for the gloves I would like to make for myself.

Unfortunately for my yarny plans, I have color guard (aka waving flags in pretty ways) all day, every day next week, and no planned long car rides till after the Olympics end. The knitting (and blogging) will be sporadic, but a little more updated than usual.

Stop Everything!

This is the second post in two days! Let's look at some yarn to celebrate!
Yay!
Now, you may be wondering where I got this lovely yarn. Why, the Party 300!
If you don't have a Ravelry account (and if you don't, go over there and sign up, NOW!) you won't be able to see this link. Party 300 was a raffle of sorts in the Teen Knitters and Crocheters group. It was lots of fun--I can't wait for the group to reach another milestone.
Anyway, one of the prizes was this fine yarn in the colorway "Into the Mystic". It's a beautiful purple, with overtones of red and deeper purple; I'm not sure how it looks on your screen.
The kind donator of this wonderful yarn was a Kris from Sonny and Shear. Fantabulous yarn over there, make sure and check it out!!
Now that my drooling is over, what am I going to use this great yarn for, might you ask?
Why, this lovely vest from the Spring 2008 copy of Interweave Knits! I was really looking forward to wearing something substantial knitting wise to a cello recital I'm playing in (I'm quite awful; if you're anywhere nearby northern Illinois around 2:00 central, be sure to plug your ears). My mom has made an unofficial bet with me that I couldn't get this done by Saturday.
I do love a challenge, and I have a free period on Tuesday and Wednesday at school this week-maybe I'll even knit in the cafeteria again.....
Perhaps this week I'll have a post a day, if only to keep ya posted!

In other business:
My lovely little brother, BowyerOyew, has started up a blog of his own, calling it Da bow spot. Could you give a little hello for me? Thanks.
(Oh yeah, and guys? I kinda lost 1/2 of the green yarn for his birthday present....anybody have any suggestions on what I can make with a skein of grey Cascade 220 and around 100 yards of alpaca green yarn? Thanks.)

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...

....little sweaters for to knitty! (Hah, took me a while to come up with that!)
This is the yarn I have finished for the mini sweaters for my teacher's end of the year presents. I already have three done, two more to sew up. It's really nice to have some quick projects for a change; I knitted two up in one movie!
As you can see, they're larger than my prototype, but no biggie. They're still cute 'n' tiny, as you can see by how bitty they are compared to my lipstick (from the musical, I'm feeling a tad nostalgic).
I am sure I will have plenty of this yummy yarn left over, which means I'll be making something else for yours truly:
Wristlettos/Anklettos! I can't wait to start them; they'll be my first accessory in a while, other than socks. They'll be quite fun to knit (and wear!) at school.
Before I start anything for myself, however, I need to start my little brother's birthday present. He's a real gamer, so I'm going to make a relatively old pattern from Knitty: bmp socks. I'll be using this yarn I just got from this cool yarn shop right by my grandmother's.The grey is Cascade 220, and it'll be the background, whereas the green (which is actually multicolored-each single is a different shade of green) will be the little bad guys and high score and such.
I have simultaneously cast on a get-well scarf for my science teacher. She joked about me making her a scarf last October or so, she even told me she liked navy blue. Since it was a half-joke, I didn't really consider to make one until recently. I got some mercenized cotton, and am making her a simple cotton scarf with an edging of border lace. I'm running out of yarn, however--I probably should have gotten two skeins of the stuff--oh, well. I now have an excuse to go to my grandma's again!

Ravelry Really Is a Black Hole

-but a good black hole. One that's filled with yarn and friends.

Well, I got half of my homework done Friday before I succumbed to my curiosity. Then, about 500 clicks later, it was time for bed. Ravelry is like a MySpace (which I am not, and will ever be, affiliated to)for knitters, crocheters, spinners and dyers. I absolutely love it!

I am in a group for Teen Knitters-simply wonderful! It's so good to know there are people my age who are as crazy about yarn as I am. (Hi Sarah!)

I have a question for those "in the know.."

How do you interface your blog into your "About Me" page? I have teenspinyarn.blogspot.com/ in the little box that says URL, but I don't have anything in the RSS feed box, and I'm not sure what I should put in there...Any ideas?

Meanwhile, in the actual-knitting department...

I'm still stitching away on Mom's Phoenix Tears scarf. I didn't find the proper yarn for the "feathery" part, so I'm just going with the silk.

You can see on the left where the fire part ends and the garter stitch bit begins. There is also a much redder part right where I'm knitting. It seems I spun some parts with more white than others, which is making a sort of stripey effect. Neat!

I think I might change the pattern so that there's a fire part on both sides, and a garter-stitch strip in the middle. I just can't imagine my mom with lots of frills and fuzzy stuff on her accessories. She doesn't wear style scarves much anymore. I've seen pictures of her when she was in her teens/just out of college, and she wore a lot of simple, smooth scarves. I sorta want this scarf to go with that theme.

Off to post on Ravelry!

OH MY GOSH!

I just checked my email, and what did I find? Take a wild guess.
Yep. (!!!!!!)
Of course, this is the weekend where I have homework, and I have a playdate with some little friends, and I was planning on going to my LYS for secret yarn and Phoenix Scarf yarn, and I was going to give you all a list of my plans for this weekend....
But I can't, because I had tap right after school, so I need to work on my homework before doing anything more, and I promised myself I would go to sleep early tonight because getting up at 5:30 every morning takes its toll on you.....so it looks like no Ravelry for me this weekend!
WAAAAAH!
I'll live (somehow...)
Now, just a few pictures I've been meaning to post (you should be able to click for a bigger picture)...
My spanking-new tap shoes (another !!!!!):
The "fire" part of the Phoenix Tears Scarf:
Aaand the spinning I did at school today-everyone was just delighted to watch the whorl go round and round and round...

Lookie what I Got!

Last Saturday, DM and I went to a guild meeting, and one of the ladies there was selling the wool which her Rambouillette sheep had grown the past year. Well, I can't pass any spinning fiber, so I got this:
The darker colored roving is actually a bit more brown than black...I'm thinking of making some Knucks for my little brother for Christmas. The last time I made gloves for him, they kinda ended up a bit wonky. I hope this pattern works better! :)
Speaking of presents, I finished Mom's yarn for her scarf-I have finished the fire part of the Phoenix, but I am not sure how to go on. Should I add a fuzzy fiber for the feathers, or just let it be only silk and continue on? I'm leaning toward the adding a fuzzy yarn, but I don't really have any fuzzy yarn in the stash that goes with the orange, pink, yellow and red in the yarn. Hmmmmm....
And now, a Ravelry update!

Found you!
You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
1285 people are ahead of you in line.
17140 people are behind you in line.
48% of the list has been invited so far.

Hoy es martes, el veinte y cinco, de septiembre del dos mil siete.
Spanish speakers out there: Did I write that right?

So Close-

-and yet so far.

As you can see from this shadowed picture, I have the body of BBR's cardigan finished, and one sleeve. The other is about halfway done. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it this weekend or next week. It would be nice to start a new project and check an old one off the list.

I don't have the yarn for the super secret projects for my friends, so I'll have to prep for the third project next: the Phoenix Tears Scarf.

I'm planning on using the silk caps that were off-limits until school starts. Remember? It will be only part of the project, though. The pattern asks for a ribbon yarn as well. Perhaps I'll get fabric to cut into strips, or maybe I'll actually buy some novelty stuff. I'm not sure yet. I could just do an interpretation of the pattern, and not use ribbon yarn at all!

It's a debate on whether or not to dye the caps and spin them, or spin the yarn and dye that. Either way, it would be fun to test out the dyeing technique for my blanket; granted, the blanket won't be out of silk, but still.

Now, for a Ravelry update:

You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
7146 people are ahead of you in line.
12850 people are behind you in line.
36% of the list has been invited so far.

Last time we checked, there was 3,000 more people in front of me. I'm moving up!:)

Lotsa Updates

Sock update first:

I have knitted together the squares for one sock, and I'm as far as I can be without using the yellow yarn, which is a work in progress, still.

I weighed the already-done thirds...and they're the same weight as the third I hadn't started at the time. Huh. I guess I made thinner yarn on the bigger spool. Like I said before, however, I don't think I will even out any spools until all of the roving has been spun.

Aaand here's the info on Ravelry:

You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
10495 people are ahead of you in line.
4980 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far.

10495 people--hmm. Shouldn't be too long now!

OK, now for the baby cardigan info:

The bitty sweater has been started, but I will need another ball of Bernat pink to finish the one for the girl. Since I'm using this pattern, I am also debating whether I should add the flowers (for the girl)/snakes (for the boy). I have A LOT of little bits and pieces of yarn I could use, so that's no problem. What do you think?

I am also being crazy and REALLY thinking ahead-to when I have finished all of these projects, and I need something for 4-H next year.

I've decided on a lacy shawl made by the late owner of Copper Moose. The pattern is in the book Spin To Knit, which I recently checked out of the library. I am planning on dyeing my own roving, then spinning it, then knitting it. If I get started soon (as in in November or December), perhaps I will be able to steal enough time to start the knitting in, like March.

Before I finish, or even start, any of the above, however, I should probably get my summer homework done, so in the next week, I can at least say I have some sort of FO!

Ooooh!

No, the "Ooooh" is not about the baby sweater (which will be done this week, I promise...), nor does it have to do with the fact I am finally posting early in the day. In fact, it is about more fiber to spin! Yay!!!
Please excuse the bad pictures--I tried to get good ones, I really did...
At the county fair (where I entered my shirt and skirt, the American Girl Doll clothes, etc), a nearby spinning shop had a booth. Our family looked around, and this

is what I found. It's unwashed (though still soft) alpaca. I got an ounce for 3 dollars, and brought it on my "playdate" with a friend of the family. I showed the 2nd grader how to brush the fiber, and we ended up with about 3/4 of the ounce looking like this:

However, there's still little bits of dirt and stuff, so I'll probably rebrush everything. Next time I see my friend, I'm going to bring a drop spindle, and show her how to spin the yarn. Perhaps we can make something together for her from the yarn!

Next order of business (see if you can guess what it is):

You signed up on July 19, 2007
You are #18748 on the list.
10986 people are ahead of you in line.
3505 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

Yep! I'm in the Ravelry queue! I was going to post this sooner, but I sorta got distracted! :) I can't wait till I get my invite, although that will probably be when Ravelry is open to everyone....