Yarn

(Sometimes good post titles escape me. This is one of those times.)

Another activity during my hiatus was knitting up some of my handspun yarn into presents. That was a lot fun and deeply satisfying. It tickles me to no end to know that I took some lovely colored fluffy stuff and turned it into something durable and fun (I hope) to wear. So, let's see, what did I make...

My Sonoma yarn spun from roving from Maine Woods Yarn became these mitts, modeled by my pal (and mitt recipient) Case. I used Midnight Knitter's Potluck Wool Mittenettes pattern.

My Hyacinth yarn, also from Maine Woods Yarn, became a scarf for one of my sisters-in-law. The pattern is Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf - a quick and fun one to knit!

I had a lovely time spinning a chunky yarn from Knitspin's Felldew roving, which I knitted into wristwarmers for my other sister-in-law. I made up the pattern as I went along.

I also got my invitation to Ravelry which I am slowly updating. I'm MaiaL there (good user names escape me even more often than good post titles!) if you ever want to visit.

And before I forget, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fun and safe one. We spent our New Years watching bits and pieces of the fireworks show at the Space Needle from our upstairs window. There was a computer glitch, so it was a haphazard show.

Crafting in Colorado

One of the stops on my big trip was a visit to my hometown of Boulder, Colorado. I got to spend time with my family, eat lots of my Mom's delicious cooking and see my best pal who recently returned from a Foreign Service tour in Sudan.

And I got to try something new! My mom, who is a crafter extraordinaire, had her spinning wheel out and I got to spend some time with it. (Do you know how hard it was to not type, "take it for a spin"?)

I've always been fascinated by spinning wheels. I remember watching Disney's Sleeping Beauty with rapt attention when she was inexorably drawn toward her slumbering fate but I was much more interested in the spinning wheel than the princess. And spinning wheels have such lovely anatomical names like "maidens" and "mother-of-all" and "the footman." So after finally figuring out the scotch tensioner, I sat down to spin. It was quite tricky and an awful lot like learning to drive a stick shift (although I didn't crash into a gas pump my first time out alone-TRUE STORY!)

Here's my results:


Definitely what on author diplomatically called "novelty yarn". I'm not sure it is knit-able but it was delightful to spin. I think I need to practice more with my drop spindle before my next trip to Colorado.