Fiber Fool

Well, I had planned to get some post ready to go while I was gone, but I ran out of time. You can see some of this year’s top picks in books (fiber and non-fibery), music, and tech toys here if you need some holiday shopping ideas. I don’t own all of those things, but in most of the cases I’ve had quality time to browse through them and would like to own them some day.

I’m posting safely and comfortably from Chris‘ house. I had a decent flight and even landed 20 minutes early. Chaos has decided I no longer need watching over, though we are not fast friends, LOL!

When I stepped off the plane it struck me that I’m either *very* Minnesotan even though I’ve lived in Colorado for 7.5 years, or I have a very unnatural and possibly unhealthy attachment to my family… But you can bet the next twelve days will be enjoyed to their fullest!

I’m looking forward to a little knitting gathering tomorrow night and some shopping on Saturday, then I get to visit my cousin and meet her new little guy that afternoon. Sunday I get to go to Ikea where I’ll finally meet up with mom and dad and then head out to the farm. I finally get to see my sister’s house (she is renting my grandma’s house across the street from mom and dad and made some significant changes that I can’t wait to see), I’m actually staying there rather than in my old room at mom and dad’s. I hear tell that I get to have grandma’s turkey and mom’s spaghetti while I’m there. I think there was also talk of sauerkraut soup too (scoff if you must, but if you like sauerkraut it is AWESOME). I think I”ll be doing some cooking and baking in there as well. We will also be celebrating an early Christmas with a concert and some gift opening just before I head back to Colorado.

I just can’t get myself to commit to the no-handmade gifts thing, even when my plate is more than full and that is the last thing I need to add to the list. I’m just plain crazy, what can I say? But, due to this last minute running around trying to finish present shopping (anyone have a good idea for a 50-something farmer who has gotten into gardening as his only hobby, but for whom you had already given gardening books and such before and for whom you have boughten a couple pairs of good quality socks - any must-haves for young fruit trees? he planted several this last year) and doing some knitting and dyeing and getting some holiday music ready to take on the trip I just haven’t been able to put together much in the way of a blog post.

In my quest to formulate the required wishlist DH’s family I started thinking about the best fibery related goodness I could get this year - both very affordable and less affordable. It is a wishlist, right? You get to dream! I also thought about the best items I already have that I think would be well loved in most fibery homes. So, while I’m gone there will be a few posts with some suggestions for your holiday wishlist. I may also pop in from time to time, but as you recall, when I got back to the farm the Internet access gets spotty. I will be in the Twin Cities metro for my first couple of days of the trip. This is the first time in a long while (and possibly the only one where I was traveling alone) that I have gotten to spend more time than just dining in the metro and I’m looking forward to it. I also have a couple of great hostesses putting me up. I’m so excited!

I’m on the road late tomorrow morning, but I hope you enjoy the guides to fibery-gift buying or wishlist making while I’m gone. I *should* have some meatier content upon my return.

In honor of black Friday, but to encourage more handmade gifts and shopping from the comfort of you home rather than the craziness of stores and long check out lines, save 33% on all pattern purchases from the Designedly, Kristi Fiber Shop! Just enter 58506O94 for the discount code. This is good only for Friday, November 23rd.

All patterns are part of the sale, including the latest releases of the Archimedes hat which makes an economical and fun gift project and the Siren sock pattern. Just click on the large images below to purchase. Click on the smaller buttons to view more photos on Flickr or to see the pattern on Ravelry where you can queue it, favorite it, or cast-on. All patterns in the shop now include these icons to make viewing additional photos and queuing or favoriting at Ravelry quick and easy.

$7.50 $5.03*

$5.50 $3.69 (all sock patterns)*

* Prices given are approximate, as discount is taken on the shopping cart total rather than each individual item.

Can we tell that right now I have the attention span of a four year old hopped up on soda and Halloween candy? I swear I’m not hopped up on soda (well, not the caffeinated variety) or Halloween candy (I plead the 5th if you ask about pumpkin baked goods). But last week when I was at My Sister Knits I decided to knit my mom their version of Pidge. It was one of the best ones I’ve seen out there and they were giving it away with the purchase of yarn. I thought it would be nice to have one to go with my no-swatch beret and all I found that would add color to my charcoal gray pea coat was also Lorna’s Laces Douglas Fir, but in Bulky Superwash. I accidently didn’t pick up a copy of the pattern, but I knew the main stitch pattern and the stitch counts and buttonholes were not going to work for bulky anyway, so Thursday and Friday I swatch and frog trying to find the right combo of stitch count and needle size. It was done in no time and is super soft and warm. It’ll be the perfect accessory to fill that v-neck of my pea coats.

Pattern: Modified Neck Cozy from My Sister Knits, which I call Fidge (aka Fake Pidge)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Bulky, Douglas Fir (I had 24 gm left over)
Needles: US11 Turbo
Dimension: ~5 X 27 inches
Mods: I changed the stitch count to fit the bulky yarn and allow slipped stitches on each side for a cleaner look. I also chose to use a crochet cast-on so that the ends would match better when they are so close together.

Notes: Next time I would make the buttonholes a bit smaller for this sized button. I might also just consider not using buttonholes, but a shawl stick or pin instead. Other than that, I love it. It was an economical and quick knit, yet not too terribly boring. I think this version (which is ribbed, BTW) is one of the better non-loom knit knock off patterns I’ve seen so far. And, for this bulky of a yarn you wouldn’t want to double-knit (the other close version) it or loom it. It would be much too thick and inflexible to wrap nicely around the neck.

I hope those in the US have a wonderful holiday tomorrow! If you still need a dessert idea, don’t forget about the holiday cobbler recipe that was such a huge hit last year. Then come back on Friday for a Black Friday Sale. You won’t want to miss it!

I believe I mentioned when I shared my competed Urchin that I was hoping to use the other half of the fiber to knit some thrummed mittens. My original plan was to knit the mittens with the singles. Upon completion of Urchin I discovered I loved the 2-ply when knit up, even though I was only sort of ho-hum about it in the skein form. Given that I was underwhelmed with the skein and overwhelemed with the knit fabric on the 2-ply I decided I couldn’t make my decision for the mittens until I had evaluated the knit fabric. I didn’t want the singles to be the opposite. My fears did not come to fruition. I love the singles fabric as well!

I knit the singles swatch on US5 turbos while at SnB last night. At 6.75 sts/in I was thinking it might be a bit too light for thrummed mittens, but the decision was that it would be nice and should still be warm since that is created by the thrums. So, I figure I have about two hours or so of spinning ahead of me and then I should be ready to knit the mittens.

I still have a pretty nice bit of yardage left of the 2-ply so I’m thinking I’ll knit that into a sideways garter cuff, perhaps with a button. I like the contrast of the singles fabric and the 2-ply fabric and I think it’ll tie the mittens in nicely with Urchin. I’m sooo excited to work on this now! I’m almost sad that I was so put off by the swatching that I’ve wasted a week on it. *sigh* Oh well, maybe I’ll remind myself of this the next time I’m procrastinating on swatching.

I’m chuffed with my singles swatch! Look how darn consistent it is! The little inconsistencies will be unnoticeable once thrummed. Note, I must have gotten just the right amount of twist in there too as the swatch isn’t really biasing either! I even washed the swatch to see if it would waken the twist and cause biasing, but it blocked square quite easily.

This is my first real project intentionally using singles (i have one project that I did using some very early hand spun, some of which was singles) and I can promise it won’t be the last. In general I think I prefer yarns with more dimension than singles, and often even 2-ply. That said, I think there is a time and place to use singles and 2-ply yarns. In this case, the singles work because a basic thrummed mitten doesn’t need a dimensional yarn or the fluffy air of the plied yarn because the thrums will provide the insulation and the design appeal. And in this case, I think the less muddied colors of the singles will be a nice contrast to the 2-ply and will help the thrums stand out a bit more.

Now, to find the time to spin and knit the mittens. It would fabulous to have them to wear while in MN!