Wednesday, December 25, 2013

My side of the exchange...

The exchange started out as a stole exchange, but those with a foresight knew that many wouldn't be able to finish a big sized stole this close to Christmas... Viki kind of joked, that she wants a Clapotis for so long, how about if he joins the exchange, but knits it for herself... I kind of jokingly replied, if I get her, I will knit a Clapotis for her. From haddyed, handspun yarn..Then loo and behold, when the organizers paired up the participants, I did get her...
I started out with a bunch of fibers, of which I dyed several different shades and combination until I came up with the one I was satisfied with.
Then I halfed the roving lengthvise and spun slightly thicker than my usual lace, as I wanted to get a light fingering thickness.
Knitting a Clapotis not that challenging, its knit, twisted knit, purl, increase, decrease ...
In fact it is rather boring after the first few dropped stitches. Thank god I have a few proffessors at my uni who do not mind if I knit during a lecture or class.So this one has about a 1000 km in it (on the train) some Literary Fantasy, some digital culture and fandom, even a bit of academic writing...
When dyeing/spinning I wanted to achieve a stripy, effect, with long color repeats, much like Noro, except that my yarn is two ply, and somewhat more uniform than Noro. (I have a love and hate relationship with Noro)
The final result was a big sizeable stole.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Neck-thingie exchange

On FB I am a member of several fiber related groups, and even a few of Hungarian groups. Gift exchanges are more or less regurarly organize, but I approach them rather carefully, meaning I rarely participate, if I do is because I want to give something, and do not really care, don't have any expectation what I get. This is how I approached this round.
Turns out I should not have to take that stance. I got my present from my Star (whose real name is Erica, but since she goes with her nickname on Facebook, I keep calling her that in person too).
It took me a god while to actually manage to shot some pictures, end of semester rush, awfully dark, cloudy weather and short days made it difficult. We did try to shot a couple of pics indoor, but they were just useless, and my Present (yes, whith a capital P) deserve to be shown in the best possible light. because it is perfect. Exactly what I wished for. I love the colors, the pattern, everything.
Thank you.
I will show what I made in a separate post.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Jazzy

In the name of stash-burning and giving handmade gifts...
My friend Timea, told me, she lost her hat...so I dug a lonely ball of dark grey yarn and a deep red one out of the stash, and printed out the pattern for the Escargot hat...
But what is a hat without a pair of mittens? So time fo the boxes that hide all my sockyarns...
The new owner seems happy with her xmas present for this year. :-)

Thursday, December 19, 2013

weekly spinning

I received two handdyed,  2.6-2.7 oz. handcarded batts.

Which became two 430-450 meter hanks of three (navajo) plied beaded lace yarn...