The sadness of moth-holes

Look at what some evil moth did to my lovely HANDSPUN Aeolian!

It may, in fact, be the saddest thing that has ever happened. To anyone. Ever.

I didn't care for detail in this pic, instead I focused (pun intended) on making sure that the big, ugly hole was visible.


So, what else was there for me to do but take up some of my leftover handspun and do my best to mend it as seamlessly as possible?

Below are two pictures of the finished mended section. I dare you to find the fix. Well, ok, you can find it, but it is at least a little difficult. Sadly, the reason for this being visible at all is that the handspun is not 100% even (my first time with this particular blend - includes tencel, etc.). But still happy with how it turned out. And have since spent some time moth-proofing my stash and closet.


After looking at the pictures below, I think you'll agree. The Aeolian is a gorgeous shawl, holes or not!

 

September 2012 1st half projects

Well, I hinted at it in my last post, so why not lead with it in this one?

BEHOLD, THE ICARUS!

And then, you know, behold pieces of it in better focus, which show more detail and are really better at getting across what it really looks like....

Something like that, anyway

Here is the famous Icarus. I know I'm making mine a good 3 years after it was a popular pattern, but I didn't have a reason to make it before. It's for my friend, the Sexy Scientist, who just had a baby (HURRAH!). This was my version of a nursing shawl.

This plus the money, the baby shower, and the other presents I simply HAD to give her goes a little way to showing how special she and her family are to me. :)

I'm hoping that you can see the detail in these pictures. The Icarus was a joy to knit, if a little time-consuming. It also has a really fun border which changes so often that it doesn't get boring until the very last row, the bind off, which is just a lot of numb repeating.

 But it looks really cool in detail, so that's why I'm flooding you with so many closeups. I'm always struck how textured lace is, and how it looks close-up. I still think of knitting as a 2-dimension thing - and yet, here it is being all textured and obvious.

Here are the finished stripey socks for my friend, Gloom Cookie. In case you can't tell, they are grey on darker grey striped. I confess, I probably should have laid them out for a proper picture. I was able to give them to her at her Bachelorette party last Saturday and they fit. Hurray! It was my first afterthought heel, so I'm happy I didn't miss the mark.

And this is the finished pair of socks to my Stepdad for Christmas (I believe in starting early).  Hopefully I remember them. I love putting socks for my family in their stockings. There's something so meta about that.

But what's this? This is a huge back of my Olmpic spinning! I had 73 oz of fleece spun in singles on these bobbins. I generally wind 2oz off on each holder-bobbin. Although sometimes I miss the 2oz mark and wind 4oz. That would be the bobbin sticking out of the bottom of the bag.

 This is all of the skeins after I plied it. (missing the one little mini-skein). Can you believe this? It's 15 skeins! It's probably enough yarn for a long sweater-coat. And I think that may be in my future. It's straight romney, so it's pretty darn itchy. But it's really gorgeous in terms of color and sheen. So definitely an outerwear show-piece yarn.

And because I can't resist, below you can see a closeup. I spin purty!

What happened to August?

 Ummmmm...What happened to August? Seems like I blinked and it was gone. I know that it happened, and I have the pictures to prove it, but where did it go? Above is a pic of my kitchen one Saturday in August after I had come in from picking tomatoes.....




 I think I spent my August with tomatoes.....eating them, cutting them up, cooking them, putting them in jars, handing them out to friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Believe it or not, I have finally been convinced that there is such a thing as too many tomatoes......not too many overall, but too many at a time. 


But having too much bounty (if that is actualy possible) forces you to be creative. I made blistered tomatoes in olive oil and spices for people and put them into jam jars.

I cut up tomatoes of all sizes and slow roasted them in the oven with a light coating of olive oil and nothing else and ate them with goat cheese on bread.

I put plum-sized tomatoes into egg cartons left them on people's door-steps. It was a good time. Even better, it was a delicious time.

And then there was the crafting.....

Do you keep a spindle in your purse or bag?

I do.

I had it with me as we waited for seats in our favorite cafe a couple of weeks ago. The day was so bright that when I took this picture it washed out all the colors. My purse spindle is covered with teal. The teal has moments of green, white and black, with a little angelina and magenta thrown in. When I do the other half of this bat....it's going to be magenta with the other colors making cameos. Whenever I get through both, I'm going to ply them on my spindle.

Purse spinning takes a long time since I only pull it out when I have occasion, which usually adds up to 30 seconds to 3 minutes at a time. It's an exercise in patience.

Speaking of which......want a little sneak peak on something else I finished in August? Well, here you go. This is the bottom of my Icarus Shawl - knit as a nursing shawl for one of my friends.