SPOILER: There is a photo at the bottom of this post, of the 50/50 cashmere/silk top colors mailed out to Spinning Club Members yesterday. So, don't scroll to the bottom if you don't want to see!

Ok, so last post I wrote about my Olympic projects. Of course, my plans have changed (I'm still suffering from KADD, apparently). I decided that a new sweater was in order ...

I finished my Porom Tam (started during the Opening Ceremonies, finished the next evening). This Great Northern Yarns Mink/Cashmere yarn is SO nice to work with, that I had to keep going with it (since what I would really like to do is roll around naked in this yarn, I am thinking the more practical and attractive thing to do is knit myself a sweater).

Here is my DD in the Tam (she's way cuter than me and takes a much better photo):

She wants a tam of her own now, so I've ordered more mink/cashmere in the bright blueberry blue color for her, and plan to go down a needle size or two to snug it up a bit.

Upon finishing the Tam, I just needed to keep knitting with this yarn. The Cormo/Silk and drumcarded batts just wouldn't do (they're both nice, but they're not mink OR cashmere, and they aren't ready to knit with yet, either). So, I searched out a pattern for a sweater, and came upon Baby Cables and Big Ones Too by Suvi Simola (or, as Clara would say, Dribbling Cables). Love this pattern, and cast on on Monday night.

I've gotten this far since then:


That's the cute little cable at the neck, finished. I really like this pattern, because it's top down (so I can try it on now and then) and no seams (I usually revise sweater patterns so there is little or no seaming, and was happy to find a pattern already written like this, since speed is important right now).

Will I finish this sweater in less than two weeks? Probably not, because I get hand issues when I knit too much without a break. But I'll make a valiant effort, and it is on size 6 needles which aren't too horribly small, so who knows, I may just get it done. I'll at least get it well on the way to being done ... and once I'm done with the cables, it should fly ...

In other news, the first shipment of the 2010 Handspinning Club went out yesterday. This first shipment was supposed to be 50/50 merino/silk, but that blend was backordered, so the club is starting off with a bang, with the 50/50 cashmere/silk instead. Clubbers got to pick a color from 5 color choices, and here they are:

From left to right: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Spirit. I *think* there may be extra of all colors but Fire. Haven't decided whether to offer them for sale (this is, after all, quite expensive fiber) or do some sort of Club Contest with them. So, stay tuned for that decision.

Ok, off to knit!

So, I blame all this on Clara and Jane. Because it all started off innocently enough with my plan to spin my batts during the Olympics.

Then came Clara's Woolalong Group on Ravelry and Knitter's Review. And you know, I'm a sucker for wool, so I decided to join up (even though I am so not a joiner of -alongs). Clara picked Cormo for February, and I just happened to have some Cormo/Silk Roving I could use. So, I pulled that out, put the batts aside, and started to work, planning a 2 ply DK weight yarn for some kind of soft and yummy top.

Then Shelia and I started talking about how it would be fun to do the Woolalong as part of the Knitting Olympics. And so the Woolympics was born.

Then Jane asked this simple question about a tam. And, you know, I've been wanting to knit a tam (insert the assertion here that, yes, indeed, I am totally Knitting ADD at the moment ... just call me a KADD). And I really liked the pattern that Jane picked, Porom by Jared Flood.

And so I've joined another -along: The 2010 International Woolalong Poromalong Woolympic Extravaguernsey Lusteriffic Crimpilicious Yakety Yak If-You-Have-It-In-Your-Stash Sassy Knack Don’t Talk Back Hat Along. With chocolate. which became somewhat official when it received its own button (see right sidebar) (and thanks also to Sniggle (Janine) over on Ravelry for the final name, in all its glory).

To cinch the deal, I just happened to have this yarn here in my stash (okay, enough of this yarn to knit an entire sweater, but that's beside the point), Great Northern Yarns' Mink Cashmere Yarn, that I purchased after Clara's review, which is exactly the right gauge for Porom:


The long and the short of it is, that I now find myself with not one, but THREE, projects to work on during the Olympics.

I think I'll go wind this beautiful skein of yarn into a ball right now. Before something else grabs my attention.

And thanks to all my Knitting Sisters for the inspiration ~ and ability to suck me in, at any time, to some fiberly fun and craziness.

(NOTE: Spoiler alert ... below is a photo of the February Knitting Club yarn, Sunna, on its way now ... so don't scroll to the bottom if you don't want to see it).

Busy times around here these days.

In between club dyeing, and wholesale dyeing, I started spinning the batts from my new drumcarder (see below), and am loving the fluffy fiberiness. But then I got sidetracked by Clara's Woolalong and the subsequent Woolympics project ~ spinning February's wool, Cormo, during the Olympics. So, now I'm going to finish this bobbin of batts, and change over to the decadent Cormo/Silk Handspinner's Sliver I purchased from Barbara at last year's Knitter's Review Retreat. I bought a pound (because my motto is Why buy a little, when you can buy alot?), and am hoping to spin it to use for a lightweight, short-sleeved sort of top that I can wear alone, or with a long sleeved teeshirt underneath. We shall see how it goes ... best laid plans and all.

Before I post the spoiler photo (because I want to make sure it's far enough down on the page that it isn't visible without scrolling), here are some photos of a few of the things I accomplished for Christmas last year:


Jackson and Caragh in their Kathryn Alexander hats. Love these hats.


Bruce's hat and fingerless mitts set. Knitted with Sunna in a non-repeating brown/blue colorway, held double, with handspun tan alpaca and green cashmere/silk. The hat design is my own (I love doing hats and just making it up as I go along, and have done so many of these, all different, that I've lost count). Bruce is an accomplished photographer, so fingerless mitts are just the ticket (especially with the winter we're having in Virginia).


Moebius and mitts for Bruce's wife, Susan. These are knitted in my yarn, Minerva (50/50 merino/bombyx silk), Antique Tapestry.

And last but not least, this is the Sunna yarn on its way to Knitting Club Members now:

It's a vibrant blend of blues and greens, with a hint of purple ... sort of a royal blue/purple, deep, vibrant green and softer, sort of slate blue. These colors are completely new, never been mixed (by me) before. It looks great on the shimmery Sunna yarn.

I don't have a name for this colorway yet, so maybe that will be the first club contest, to win some extra yarn in this colorway ~ name the colorway ... stay tuned to the STF Ravelry Group for more details. Once everyone has received their yarn I'll post the contest details to win more (I think I have 6-8 extra skeins here).