Still No Photos

Still no photos.

1. I finished the giant granny square afghan mentioned in a previous post. And then I crocheted yet another. I think I'm done for the moment. I do like this style of lap blanket (or whatever you call it). It's good travel knitting, it's nicely mindless, and the results are pleasant. After three of them in a row, though, I'm taking a break.

2. The Opal socks mentioned in a previous post are almost done. These are what I use as travel knitting in places where dropped dpns can be easily retrieved. I have a couple of inches to go on the second sock, and then it's on to the next pair. I like these. The pattern on the yarn consists of narrow stripes in three different colors, separated by stripes with a speckled pattern.

I have whittled down the self-patterned yarn stash, finally. So, soon I get to decide whether to do another single-strand pair of socks, or if I should make some two-stranded socks. It might be heresy to some, but I actually prefer wearing the thicker socks. Most of the sock yarn I have left is either a single color, or consists of harmoniously-colored stripe patterns and thus could easily be knit double-stranded.

3. The Ashland Bay mystery roving I referred to in a previous post turned out to have something very, very slippery in it. I am spinning it up and doing a lot of cussing. I don't have a lot of experience with spinning slippery fibers on a wheel. It doesn't help that my brake band decided to be annoying. It either doesn't pull in at all, or it yanks the yarn out of my hand. I did some cleaning, adjusting, changing brake bands, etc., and it has helped somewhat.

The yarn has a nice sheen to it. I'm sure I'll like it just fine after it's done.

I'm also spindle-spinning various blobs of dyed roving whenever I'm in the mood. The blobs are all about 1-2 ounces each, a good size for spindle projects. I'm being very, very careful to wind the yarn on the spindle the correct way.

4. Next up has been a lot of little projects -- hats, mittens, scarves, etc. No doilies, alas. Nor have I finished my sweater yet. I did a bit of braiding and wove some narrow bands. I've also been starting to catch up on the sewing backlog.

My current travel knitting project is a plain black hat. It will be finished today or tomorrow. Sure, it's fairly nondescript, but that's by request. The recipient will like it.

5. I'll need a new semi-large travel project soon. Perhaps a lace shawl, quite possibly from handspun...