Last weekend I went to Boise to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew!

One day, my nephew and I happened to be wearing matching socks!!

My sister complained that my nephew needed mittens to keep his tiny hands warm, but he kept taking off the ones he had because he likes to suck his thumb.

So, what did I do??

Knit him some thumbhole mittens, of course!!  Out of my very own handspun!

What could be more fun?

All ready to go!  With handknit thumbhole mittens and socks!

And here they are by themselves.  I wrote up a pattern which I’ll post in the next few days, in case anyone else wants to knit thumbhole mittens.

I was also finally able to get a picture of my sister in the lace scarf I knit for her a year and a half ago.

And I was also able to finish up the due chine sweater with the yarn I had left, although it has a lower neckline than the final pattern will have.  This is the only picture I have so far… more soon.

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Not just yarn, there’s fiber!

Last Sunday I went to Carolina Homespun with Kristi and Abigail.  I picked up a skeinwinder and 2 kinds of fiber!

Pictured above and below is a 70% merino/30% tussah silk blend by Carolina Homespun.

I also got a mixture of wool and silk from Crosspatch Creations, which I’m very excited about as well.

Mmm…. fiber…

Then on Wednesday, I stopped by Yarn Place and picked up some more fiber to dye!

This is 5 pounds of 55% merino/45% tencel roving, soon to be dyed and available in the store.

And this is 5 pounds of tussah silk, also soon to be dyed and available in the store.

Lastly, here’s my progress so far on the merino/tencel fiber I got from Purlescence by Chasing Rainbows!

So shiny!

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I love yarn.  I know you love yarn too.  Otherwise, why would you read my blog? 

I suppose you could just want to see pictures of my dogs… Mojo is awefully cute. 

But this, this is 95% merino/5% cashmere wonderfully soft sock yarn…

So pretty too!  (Yes, I did dye it.)

And it’s all mine!

And this, well I dyed this wool with Kool-Aid a long time ago, but I didn’t ever really like it… until now.

Just testing out some colors…. there should be 2 more rovings in the store momentarily, and a bunch more on Monday, along with some sock yarn. 

I can’t wait to start knitting some more socks!!!  (I finished the first toe-up in Black Pearl…)

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So, here’s my first toe-up sock.  I’m making the pattern up as I go.  I decided to do an afterthought heel.  I’m a couple inches into the leg… 

The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Black Pearl.

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First off, I must look fiendish with the box…

for now, I am officially known as Fiber Fiend!

Siena wonders what on earth I am doing with this giant box…

So, I put her on top!

But she didn’t really like that, so I put her down.

Randall told me I should try lifting the box!

It was a really heavy box! (36 lb. of stuff inside!)

What are those 36 pounds of?  (And what smells so good on top of the piano?) I must open the box!

Aha!

Yarn!  A giant skein (3 lb.) and 3 cones (1 lb. each)!

Fiber!!!  (Am I looking fiendish again??)

30 pounds of Superwash Merino Roving!!!

Don’t you wish you could reach out and touch it?!  It’s soft.

So, if you couldn’t guess, I’m starting a business selling hand-dyed fiber and yarn, and original knitwear patterns.  I’ve spent the last month or two getting all the required permits and licenses, etc., and ordering fiber, yarn, and dye (and getting this website up and running!).  The box arrived about 2 weeks ago.  I started dyeing last weekend, so there should be a few items in the store soon, and hopefully a lot more in the next week or so.  If you’re interested, check it out.  If not, I’ll post a picture of my new sock tomorrow!  It’s my first toe-up sock, and I must say, I like doing toe-up so far.

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Here’s Holiday Scarf #2 in Moda Dea Tutu

It kind of looks like snow… it’s the same 20 stitch 2 x 2 ribbing pattern I used on the Aerie scarves.

And here, sound the trumpets, is my hand-dyed handspun soy silk entrelac scarf!

Yay! And a closeup!

P.S. I got some Lorna’s Laces in Black Pearl at the after Thanksgiving sale at Purlescence…

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Mojo turned 4 months old today. He weighs 25 pounds! That means I don’t think he’s going to get as big as I had initially thought and hoped. Jezabelle was 44 lb. at 4 months. He’s a sweetie though, and I’m sure however big he gets will be plenty big enough.

Since I last posted about Mojo, he’s been to the dog park a few more times, and he made some new friends…

He frolicked around with Siena…

He got a little muddy…

We all took a nap (Lilla was in her crate)…

We started putting him and Siena in the same crate overnight…

Mojo started digging in his water dish, getting quite wet, so we gave him a new water delivery system (like a giant gerbil feeder)…

I let him explore the empty dog food bag while I watched through the window, prepping his food (putting kibbles in chew toys)…

And he plopped down in the grass…

We noticed he has webbed feet, which probably confirms that he is part Yellow Lab. We had dinner with some friends for Thanksgiving, and one of their friends said he has Blue Heeler eyes, aka Australian Cattle Dog eyes, which could explain 3 other things: pointy ears, heel biting, and small size.

So, now I think he’s a Yellow Lab/Australian Cattle Dog/Rottweiler mix. I think he’ll be 50 lb. at 1 year and 60 lb. as an adult. Next month, I think he’ll be 33 lb!

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The sweater is almost done. You know what sweater I’m talking about. I absolutely love it. But, I’ve just about run out of yarn, and it’s not quite done yet. Since realizing I am going to run out of yarn, I have contacted 4 different online vendors to purchase one more ball. They all have websites that say they sell this yarn (Lana Grossa Due Chine), and they’re all out of stock in the color I need (and most other colors as well). I’ve posted on Knitters Review. It’s my last hope…

I’m in quite a pickle here, because 1) I wanted to sell this pattern, so I now have to find a new different yarn that will work at approximately the same guage and knit another sweater in that yarn before finalizing the pattern and putting it up for sale, and 2) I really really love this sweater and really really want to finish it and wear it!!!

Booooooo!

[Added later, but before posting]
OK, so I picked a new yarn and I’m excited to knit another sweater. I really love the pattern, so it will be awesome to have 2 sweaters in different yarns and colors. Plus this way I will follow my pattern directions (once I write them up in a bit more orderly fashion) and see if my directions are good or not.

In other news, I’m knitting an entrelac scarf with my handspun soy silk, which I will post a picture of soon. I started another holiday scarf, but put it on hold. I figured out what pattern to use for my nephew’s baby blanket. I haven’t spun anything in almost 3 weeks… and Mojo will be 4 months old tomorrow, so I’ll post more pictures of him then too!

Also, my mom loves her new socks.

(You see where I get my love of big dogs.)

And I did say I’d post pictures of Siena modeling my latest scarf, the only holiday knitting I’ve completed so far…


Doesn’t she remind you of Greta Garbo?
She’s definitely got flare…

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