Yeah, some of you noticed the “#1″ in my last post about the sweater… at least this one has the right gauge…

I seriously can’t believe I did this. And didn’t notice. Kristi pointed it out to me at Bobaknit. You’ve GOT to be kidding.  I practically cried.  Especially since that morning a customer emailed me to inform me their shipment of 4 rovings had not yet arrived, when I had sent it 3 1/2 weeks prior, via Priority Mail.  It ended up being a delayed notification from the dorm mail room, so that’s good, but I didn’t know it at the time…

Maybe, in these two sweater attempts, something like 9,414 stitches were ripped out. Just maybe.

What do they say?  Third time’s a charm?  Better be.

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Some of this fiber may be a peek at what will be available in the store in a few months… and some of it isn’t…

First up is 8 oz. of super deliciously soft 95% merino / 5% cashmere in the Reeds colorway…

I got this fiber at Yarn Place, and I haven’t decided yet whether or not I want to carry it… what do you think?

Next up is some superwash wool I also bought at Yarn Place. This is the same red stuff I spun my first sock yarn out of, but I decided to overdye it for more variety. I have 1 lb. of it, and I’m considering making a sweater out of the resulting yarn…

Next up are the Louet fibers Kristi & Cookie gave me for my birthday…

First up is 8 oz. of cultivated silk in the Reeds colorway…

Oooh… shiny!

And last but not least is 8 oz. of 70% merino / 30% silk in a new colorway, Swamp!

I LOVE how the silk took the dye differently than the merino! Swamp will definitely re-appear in the future…

I can’t wait to get spinning!!!

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It’s dry! It’s been photographed, and it’s available in the store!

Much of the fiber I dyed last weekend was experimental or a gift and thus is not available in the store. I will post about that fiber separately in a few moments.

There are 5 new items in the store, well, actually 4, since once has sold out already.

First up is Falkland Roving! This soft fiber is a Corriedale wool with a staple length of 2.75-4.5 inches. I have four bumps each in two colorways that sold out in Superwash Merino:

Mars

And Reeds

Next up we have Texas Yearling Mohair! This soft and lustrous fiber has a great halo. It has a staple length of 3-6 inches.
I did dye some in the Reeds colorway, which sold out already…

And I dyed some in the Mars colorway…

Last up is Camel Down! Camel Down is a great stepping-stone to cashmere. Super soft with a staple length of 1.25-1.5 inches, spinning camel is a great way to practice your woolen spinning technique and get you ready for the next step — cashmere (which will be available hand-dyed in a few weeks as well).

This colorway is called Chameleon…

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I still spin.  On occasion.  Janice blogged about our semi-monthly spin-in at Spinnity’s last weekend, during which I finished up spinning the yak and bison from the spinning intensive and worked on the Chasing Rainbows merino/tencel. 

 I finished up the singles when Kristi came over for our weekly spinning get-together on Tuesday, and I started plying!  I finished plying on Wednesday during breaks from re-knitting the sweater. 

I really like how shiny merino/tencel is… I bought this roving to try it out to see if I liked spinning it and should carry it in the store, and the verdict is… it’s good stuff!

I decided to make a 2-ply laceweight because I didn’t come up with a better option for 2 oz. of thin merino/tencel singles — and I got 367 yd!  This yarn will probably sit in my stash for a while, because I have so many other projects going on… but eventually it will probably become a lacy scarf. 

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Perhaps I started the summery sweater.

Based on my gauge swatch, which had 5 purly ribs and 4 knity ribs. Perhaps I thought my gauge was 6.75 sts/in.

Perhaps it really is 5 sts/in., and my sweater turned out to be 46″ around instead of 34″ around.  Perhaps.

Perhaps my shadow, projected onto my knitting, is really larger than I am.  Perhaps the sweater’s a wee too big.  Just a wee bit.

Lesson Learned: Never knit a gauge swatch in a ribbing-like pattern with an odd number of ribs.  Be suspicious if your stockinette stitch gauge is 5 sts/in and your pattern stitch gauge isn’t anywhere close to that.  Proceed with caution.  And try things on often.  Especially things knit in bamboo.

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What will these transform into?

A summery sweater, perhaps?

The pink you see is Eden Madil (100% Bamboo). The green is Cascade Pima Tencel. Both are knit on size US6, at a gauge of about 5 sts/in…

Also, Pauline made my day by calling me her knitting sensei. She’s so cute. [That’s camel you see me dyeing on her blog.]

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And it smells like wet sheep!

After a much-needed hiatus in dyeing, Fiber Fiend is back in action!

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Here it is during blocking…

It took forever to dry… but it did!

[Added Later]
Pattern: Super Spiral shawl from A Gathering of Lace
Needles: US13
I worked the pattern until I had 32 sts per section, then I worked the border
Yarn: 640g of Sari Silk from Yarn Place

Someone had to check it out…

I got Randall to take some pictures of it on…

While I was entertained…

By the antics of two furry ones…

Gotta love the furry ones…

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A new sock pattern! Available exclusively in the Fiber Fiend online store!

I knit these socks with some of the gorgeous Brooks Farm yarn I purchased at Stitches West. The name for this sock comes from vitis vinifera, the European grapevine. I am so in love with this vine lace pattern!  It’s the same one in the scarf I started during the last few hours of Stitches.

The lace pattern features twisted stitches that zigzag in a vine-like shape, while in between the lace panels lay meandering cables that echo the shape of the twisted stitches.

The pattern uses the Eye of Partridge Heel.

I finished the pair and Siena had to have a good sniff…

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I know some of you are thinking, “huh, that bag looks familiar…”

Well, it’s bigger. Much bigger.

Knitting Arts was having a sale last week… 50% off a bunch of yarn! Yes, 50% off!!

I got 2 bags full!

In the first bag is 12 balls of Filatura Di Crosa Zara Plus.

In the second bag is 4 balls of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK.
Mmmm…. I really love both of these yarns!

I also picked up a Tunisian Crochet hook (or afghan hook), because after seeing Bella Knitting’s 3-Color Tunisian Crocheted Pillows, I’d like to try out this technique.

Also, at Bobaknit today, I finished my Sari Silk Super Spiral Shawl!!!!!
You can see ends in this picture that need to be woven in…

After I came home I wove in the ends and wore it out to dinner! I will block it tomorrow and take more photos when it’s dry!

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