I mentioned yesterday that I got in a bit of spinning while on my weekend away. I get up early. Sometimes way earlier than the mister so I need to do something quiet to occupy myself. As quiet as wood needles are, they still make a clicking noise which causes the husbeast to wake up and make ninja knitting jokes… “By the time you hear the clack of the needles, you are already in trouble…. The Ninja knitters are out to get you”.

Spindling was my quiet activity. It’s much quieter and only caused the husbeast to make comments when he woke up….”Did you just hop out of bed and start spindling?” Of course I did.

I did the first batt from the Enchanted Knoll fiber I showed last Friday. This is the color accurate photo:

And the photo that’s pretty:

I’m half way through the singles on the second batt. I hope to have at least 4 ounces done by the end of the week. I was originally thinking of making a shawl with it, but it’s a little blue for me to wear as a shawl, but it will make great socks. It is superwash afterall.

No, I’m not channeling Dr Nick. He was just in my head and well, I had to write it or pay the consequences of my brain possibly going on strike trying to think of some other catchy or witty title. Not that you should be expecting witty from me.

My weekend away was freakin’ good. We did nothing. Or rather, I didn’t do anything. Husbeast couldn’t help himself and worked a bit. I on the other hand took all that time to knit and spin. Which is good because that gives me blogging fodder.

I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket for Baby Boogie. Of course, the second it was done, she had to immediately put it on. And show me her horses. They needed to be in the picture too.

You know, Baby Boogie, I can’t see the sweater very well with the horses there.

That’s a pretty good solution but I’d really like to see the front of the sweater.

Ok, how about you turn around and you smile. You know how to smile right?

At some point I’ll pry it off of her for more photos. I pretty much followed the pattern as written and it’s fun.  Really fun, even in garter stitch (which normally bugs me). The only change was that I didn’t add on the 10 stitches for back fullness. I don’t know if I’d make one with longer arms. This one is a perfect vest/springy type garment and it just looks cute the way it is. I need to dig out some chunky yarn and make another for the fall.

The next sweater is for 7goingon20. Together we decided it will be a striped Tomten jacket:

The decision has been to do Cranberry Red Wool Ease for 5 ridges and then one ridge alternating Ella Rae Amity in Purple and Orange.  I’m hoping that I get this “right” and she loves it as soon as it’s off the needles.

Every now and then I get questioned - How do you spin from a batt?
My answer: It depends on the batt.

Is the batt completely blended like this?:

Or more of a layered type batt like this?:

There are 2 main methods I use, stripping or rolagging (yes that’s my made up word, I’ve turned the noun rolag into a verb). For the blended batts, I use the method I feel like at the moment. For layered batts I usually rolag it.

You probably know how to strip batts, it’s the same as you would for top or roving. Just strip it. For rolagging the easiest way is to place a ruler or a piece of tile (something with a straight edge) about 3-4 inches down a batt that’s been opened up. Grab it and tear:

Ok, so here I’m not using a straight edge but it was hard enough to take this photo myself let alone try to control a straight edge.

Roll into pretty little rolags.

Then you spin from the end as if it was a real little rolag that you made on a set of hand cards.

**notes - The blended batt was from my own shop which I have at the physical location but have yet to list online. The Layered batt is from Enchanted Knolls Happy Hooves Batt club. They are a joy to spin. The spindle is a Cascade Baker.

Businessy note: I’m away from the shop this weekend. Emails will be answered and packages will be shipped on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!

Some of you may think that I’m the one that wears the crazy pants in my family. You would be wrong.

The pants themselves may not be crazy on Baby Boogie but the feet are. She’s had a thing about wearing her boots almost constantly. They are the first thing she puts on in the morning and the last thing she wants off at night. She scrambles and gets frantic if she can’t find a pair to put on. This is not the crazy part.

I’ve been sick of her wearing the boots on the couch. I pulled them off the other day and within minutes a fight ensued. Not a fight with me, but a fight of the feet. That’s right. When her shoes are off, left foot and right foot have an all out drag out argument included kicking.

Put the boots on and the fighting stops!

I would have thought this to be a silly one time game. Something the girl did just to occupy her bootless feet. Nope. Those little feet get near each other and they’re having an argument. How many people have feet that can’t get along with one another?

I feel for her having such a problem with her feet. I decided to cast on for her sweater. We sat down yesterday (boots on, so we wouldn’t be interrupted) and discussed what she wanted. Blue with Buttons. Then we sat with a few patterns and she chose the Baby Surprise.

I’m worried that summer sandals won’t be enough to keep the feet from fighting….

a book.
I finished a book.
Not a book I was reading to the girls. Not a fiber related book. Not a book I needed to read to teach anything.

I read a book for fun. Sure it was a “beach” read but I read it. It took me a week when it should have taken a weekend but that’s life around here. It’s a big deal that I was able to find the time to read the book. The book was “Nobody’s Princess” by Freisner. Certainly no great piece of literature but it was a cute story. A story of Helen of Troy as a young girl and what a little rebel she was. Or at least, what the author imagined she’d be like. While I’m on a roll I’ve picked up “No Country for Old Men”. We’ll see if I actually get to finish another any time soon.

I also finished a sweater.

I got lazy and decided to leave the bottom hem as it is. I still may change it but right now, it’s what it is. The bell sleeves are my favorite part and the sweater fits great… Which you’ll have to take my word for. It’s a little damp still. Though, I can’t guarantee I’ll take a photo of me in it once it’s dry.

If I was following my usual mode of operation I would have cast on for at least 2 more things once that sweater was done. I thought about it but I worked on Sprout instead:

I have just 1.5 inches left and then I can separate the sleeves and body. I’m looking forward to having a new spring sweater.

Though, I may just be casting on soon enough. Both girls have requested sweaters. 7going-on20 wants a new short sleeve sweater or a Baby surprise Jacket, or a combination of the 2 and if it could be in pink that would be really good but maybe you could throw in some red or purple and then I really do like the short sleeve sweater from last year and something like that is nice and I think I want stripes or some other pattern but the surprise jacket is good if I can have some really cool buttons…. I won’t go on further. Let’s just say it was a long one sided conversation.

The little one just wants all the sweaters that come off my needles but lately she’s been in love with a BSJ that’s on display in the shop. I’m thinking of using this for one:

It’s Ella Rae Amity left over from other sweaters. I’m going to dig around in the Cottonease stash before I start, just in case I want to change my mind.