Babette Inventory

I ended up missing the deadline for the current installment of the potholder swap (I’ll finish the potholders and show you eventually) but it did whet my appetite for more crochet. So for WIP Wednesday I’ll revisit a crochet project. What ever happened to Babette?

I haven’t touched Babette since August. I did a fair amount of crochet last summer, so crochet definitely feels like a summer activity to me. I guess it’s getting to be that time of year again!

When I was working on Babette last summer I put I lot of thought into making sure all of the colors were being used evenly, but I didn’t think at all about gauge, how many squares I had or how many squares I would need. So I decided to do a little inventory.

I have:

- one six-row square, one eight-row square, and one twelve-row square

- 24 four-row squares and three three-row squares.

I was surprised to notice that despite using Berocco Comfort  my gauge is just a bit bigger than called for.  OK, I can keep banging out four-row squares for quite awhile before I need to count again.  Good to know.

Green Stuff

I finished spinning that huge ball of green fiber that I got at Rhinebeck.

It’s a bit… rustic… but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

This is the first yarn I ever started, and I spun about 40% of the singles on my spindle.

I switched to my wheel a couple of weeks ago, and it went SO much faster. I haven’t mastered the coordination and timing required to balance the spinning of the spindle with the pauses to wind on. I love that the wheel deals with that for me.

The plying was a little painful, and I have not yet mastered the art of efficiently packing a bobbin. So I got 6 skeins, each of which weighs 2oz and change. The two-ply here amounts to about 475 yards of bulky-ish.

I also have about 1.5 oz of singles left, all on one bobbin. I haven’t decided what to do about them. Maybe I’ll use them to practice Navajo plying on the wheel.

Pretty much as soon as the yarn was dry I cast on for Shalom.

At Rhinebeck 2009 I vowed that I would return with a green vest. “Go big or go home” and all that. I would say that a green sleeveless cardi is close enough.

Spring Lady

Pattern: February Lady by Pamela Wynne
Dates: March 4, 2010 to March 24, 2010
Verdict: LOVE. Definitely popular for a reason.

I am so glad I took the time to frog my February Lady and start over. It fits perfectly now.

I absolutely adore this yarn, Seacolors by Nanney Kennedy. I’m glad I chose a simple pattern that really lets the yarn sing.

I also think the purple buttons worked out well, and if anything bring out the lavender tone of the yarn.

I’m pretty darned pleased with myself.

Springy

We had a gorgeous weekend here. The plants in my garden loved it. Even though the sky is gray today, there is finally some green outside.

All the spring green coming up around me has made me want to spin the green fiber I got at Rhinebeck.

There was about 16 oz total and I have about 3 oz of singles left to spin. I needed to ply some of it to free up some bobbins, and I love the way it is coming out.

It is very squishy and varies between DK and bulky. The coloring is working out how I wanted it to, with one strand a fairly consistent olive and the other much more variable. It’s still obvious that I’m a novice from how uneven it is, but I haven’t set the twist yet so hopefully it will get a bit better.

I think I can have this yarn ready to cast on within a week, and I would love to make a springy cover-up in this green. So what should I make with it? I was thinking Shalom, but I’d love other ideas. I estimate I’ll have about 450 yards when all is said and done, so a vest or similar is probably the way to go.

Obsessed

I spun my first 4oz on Penelope in just a couple of days.

It is BFL in “tranquility” by The Painted Sheep. It is beautiful!

OK, so parts of it are overspun, or underspun, or overplied, or underplied.

But it’s a pretty good yarn for a beginner, right? I think it’ll look totally fine in a rustic application like lacy baktus. And the color is amazing! It’s like Kris could read my mind and make my exact favorite color.

Meet Penelope

This is my brand new Kromski Minstrel. I named her Penelope after Odysseus’s wife, who wove by day and ripped out her work by night (you should scroll all the way down on that mythology page. I love that painting!)

She arrived on Thursday night while I was at SnB, wrapped snugly in Polish newspapers. I ordered her from Copper Moose and was very happy with the service.

I chose the Minstrel for a few reasons. For one, the look really fits in my house.

Second, I decided that I really wanted double treadle after playing with my husband’s drum set. It’s a lot easier for me to do something with my hands if both of my feet are moving in the same way, rather than moving one and holding the other still. Third, Dr. Al let me use her Minstrel, and I felt very comfortable using it.

I’m very happy so far!

(The pretty blue fiber is BFL in “tranquility” by The Painted Sheep)

February Fail

I had to frog February Lady. It was about 3/4 complete.

Sigh. Good thing I’m more in it for the process than the product.

It was just too big, there was no getting around it. There was way too much material under the arms. If I’m going to like a sweater made from heavy yarn, it has to have negative ease, and I forgot that somehow.

Take Two is well underway.

In case you missed it – February 2010

In honor of all the beautiful work done during the Ravelympics, this month’s “best of” post is a collection of gold-medal projects.

Short Track Shawl

Scarf Super-G

Sweaterboard Cross (love the red accents!)

Hat Halfpipe

Sock Hockey (her blog)

Mitten Moguls

Felting Freestyle

Designer Biathalon

Skelegurumi

Flying Camel Spin