Snowed In

It actually has nothing to do with the snow that I was home all weekend. That was my big plan anyway, never leave the house, never get dressed, stay home all weekend. It worked. The snow was just an added excuse to the thing.

I did make stew, I made rice pudding with brown rice which turned out amazing, and I experimented with English Toffee in preparation for Christmas candy making.

I ate all 3 items to excess.

I spun 2 skeins of yarn and plied a 3rd.

Suffolk Yarn, so pretty but I have no idea what it's destined to be.

 

Handspun Art Batt

I finished a scarf and did 1.5 drop stitched scarves. I like this, pretty, fun, and I love the first one I did out of Araucana yarn. The 2nd I'm doing out of Cascade Pastaza in Forest, I love the look of this yarn, it's partially llama but I don't thoroughly enjoy knitting it. I have an amazingly cute hat made out of it though and the scarf will match.

Drop Stitch Araucana Scarf

Cabled Handspun scarf Merino/angora

Cascade drop stitch

Now it's the start of another week, and next week is Thanksgiving how did that happen?!

And here beginneth the sock quest

First let me say I am a spinner. My knitting is simply a way to utilize the yarn I spin. Spinning is relaxing, spinning is a way I keep in touch with the earth. After all, the earth spins too.

Knitting was a rebellious thing. First see above about utilizing yarn. Second, I came from a crocheting family. A conservative crocheting family. I am a liberal knitter. It was my version of mild rebellion. Besides, crocheting involves counting. Inevitably when I crochet my straight lines become curves, knitting I don't have to count - as much.

So I am a champion scarf knitter. Thick scarves, skinny scarves, short ones, fat ones. My scarves are a veritable Seuss book of variety. I never wear them, I simply gaze at them where they sit in a drawer interspersed with hats, and crocheted items done by my fiber talented mother and sister. My knitted scarves simply exist to be.

And then there is the sock dilemma. I have no interest in championship fair-isle knitting, or in learning entrelac technique. I am quite thrilled with my knit and purl stitch. But I posses a burning desire to knit a sock. Actually a pair of socks. This has sat in the back of my mind for 2 years now while I churned out yarn and scarves. Just a basic sock is all. I did attempt it once.. I got about an inch in, realized it was too small and set it down never to find it again.

But lately, I have refocused and resolved to knit a sock. Actually a pair of socks. Socks that I will wear on the cold frigid Minnesota winter nights. This is late April. That means I have approximately 4 months or 16 weeks before winter nights are here again.

And so begins the sock quest..