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I really like spinning. It’s one of those things I wish I had more time to do. Specifically because I have a strong weakness for hand spun yarn. Spinning is highly relaxing to boot.

So recently I’ve been working through two braids of roving, one on the wheel and one on the spindle. The wheel I mostly use at home when I know I have a few hours to myself (so very rarely!) and the spindle when I have a bit of time, or when I go to spin night (the 3rd Friday of every month at Wolseley Wool).

The SweetGeorgia BFL+Silk (which was a present from Corie, who informally runs spin night) in Maple is my wheel fiber. I originally was thinking of plying it, but I find myself unusually attracted to singles lately. It must be knitting with Malabrigo Lace and oogling Madelinetosh Merino Light that is doing that to me. So yesterday I decided to skein and measure what I had already spun. What I have is 290y and 1.3oz of beautiful yarn. I have a project in mind for around 200y (mittens, duh!), so once I spin the rest, I will still have a fair amount to do something else with. It’s really pretty and I love the autumnal colors.

The SweetGeorgia BFL in Coal Harbour is my spindle fiber. I have a few mini skeins now, as I just get to a point in spindling where the spindle gives up (usually around 100y) and I have to stop. So in total I have about 300y and 1.9oz. As this is enough for what I want to do with the yarn, I might reserve the remaining for some thrummed mittens come winter (because hello! the colors are so great!), but we’ll see as those things often can change with the wind. I am also debating spinning up the rest and making a pretty wrap. Can I say I don’t understand why I am all about the imperial measurements in knitting when otherwise I am metric all the way? It must have something to do with learning all my knitting from American magazines. I’ve also found myself spelling more American lately and I’ve always said zee instead of zed (I think it sounds better aesthetically because I am a dork like that) so maybe I am a secret agent.

I am about to start on a shawl with a striped section in the main body. So after going through all of my suited yarn, I decided on a ball of Tanis DK in Deep Sea as the main color, and some stimpylab Warm DK in Ophiuchus (which is a mottled pink/blue/purple/black colorway with bare yarn peeking through). So I sat down yesterday to test their stripeability. I should keep a list of all of the silly knitting terms I make up.

So I cast on a handful of stitches and changed the yarn every two rows. The difference between the two is even less obvious than I thought, but I like it. It almost looks like one self-striping yarn instead of two different yarns. And the different colors all complement each other really well. Now I have to decide if I am going to use a pattern or go rouge.

I had this skein of handspun (from a batt that I bought from spunrightround) that did not match my other skeins. While they read white or black with neon, this one read blue (and neon). I wasn’t sure if it would work in my Cria, so I decided to start knitting it. And knitting and knitting until all 137 yards were gone. Finding a good way to use such a small skein is hard especially when there are SO MANY colors in it. And glittery bits. It’s pretty awesome (or pretty horrific if you are one of those people who wears brown to be colorful) I figured a very loose gauge lacy scarf (with 7mm needles) was just the right way to use it. I added some fringe on at the end because my favorite way to wear scarves is to put it around my neck backwards. Then I bring the ends to the front and tie them under the middle letting the fringe peek out. It’s about as tall as I am post-blocking (5’6) which is a great length. I am going to take a better picture later, it’s fairly overcast and gloomy here today.

And this is some Malabrigo Worsted in Coco, Lettuce and Forest for another project I am working on. I started with a different yarn, but when I had to restart, I figured if it was going to be a handwash garment anyways, I might as well knit it in Malabrigo, right? Sooo soft and pretty. I really like almost-solid yarns because they give that much more drama to a project.

We had a BBQ with my sis&bro in-law over the weekend. They brought very belated birthday cupcakes from my favorite bakery, Sweet Impressions. Is there anything funnier than watching a crazy baby try to eat a cupcake? Well the icing at least. Probably his even funnier mom trying to sneakily eat cupcakes without the babies noticing so she doesn’t have to share. Tee hee.

The wonderful people at Interweave sent me their two latest eMags to have a look at yesterday. Before this, I had not given eMags a chance and I regret that. They are really well put together and super fun. When I imagine online magazines, the sort of interactive content packed into these is exactly what I hope for. So the two I was sent were EntreKnits which was my favorite of the two and Colorways which spoke to the color/art techniques nerd in me.

I’ll start with EntreKnits. First of all, the patterns in here are gorgeous, my favorite being the Hexagon Cowl. I need one. Seriously. Focused on modular/mitered/mathy/piecey/quilty knitting, this mag is a knitting nerds dream. And the interactivity is awesome. My favorite part, as silly as it seems, the section on storage which when you clicked on the bag/case/whatever it opened up or showed how it worked. That is why the internet exists. Ha. And now I want 5 new knitting organizers (such as these adorable pattern wallets). Oops.  I also liked how when you clicked on a  swatch in the yarn review section it took you to more information on the yarn and what it looked like in the skein.

The articles in this issue are crazy informative. The eMag format really allows for more indepth study of particular areas of knitting. In particular, Meg Swansen’s Entrelac tips are going to help me with an in-the-near-future project.

The second eMag, Colorways was a lot different from the first. It had more of a general fiber focus, so instead of patterns it’s packed full of information on dyes. Natural dyes in particular. When I was in school I took a class on historical art techniques which was so great, so this  expanded (and recalled the rusty bits) the things I had learned. I did not know that there are so many natural colors of cotton (especially sage) and really enjoyed the look at A Verb for Keeping Warm‘s outdoor dye studio. So jealous! All the integrated video and downloadable tutorials were a really nice touch.

Disclosure: I was sent promotional copies of these two eMags by Interweave, but all of the opinions are my own honest feelings about them and I was not required or asked to talk about them in a positive manner and was not compensated for this post, I just happened to like them so I wrote it. Just thought you should know that.