Month: August 2011

As soon as I saw the name of this fiber I just had to have it: “Just Ducky!” It reminded me of my sister’s love of rubber ducks, so I was excited to get this colorway of yellow, white, black, brown, red, green and shades of colors in between. This was my first time spinning superwash merino, and I have to say that this was the easiest thing I’ve ever spun. It took me less than 8 hours in one weekend to spin and ply this lovely yarn.
This yarn also represents my first attempt at fractal spinning, which is a technique in color theory. Basically, you take the fiber and split it in half length-wise, and then spin the two halves at different color repeat length intervals. The first half you spin in one long color repeat, and then the second half you keep the repeats in the same order, but you split it in half again and then spin in chunks. This allows the singles when 2-plied to line up in a way that allows for a dynamic color explosion! In some places the colors will line up perfectly, and then in other places it will vary, creating an interesting color palette that’s just hard to describe in words.

Mallard

I have to say that this skein of yarn is my favorite one that I’ve spun to-date. It’s also my most evenly spun yarn, with the singles only having about 10 inches worth of difference, which is quite remarkable! This is also the softest skein of wool I’ve ever touched that didn’t have silk or alpaca or cashmere in it! The generous 424 yards that I have to play with now will become a lovely tam and hand-warmer set, hopefully to be knit this Fall.

Whenever I see this yarn, I can’t help but think “quack, quack!”

On Friday night while eating dinner, I got a phone call from one of my best friends saying, “pack your stuff, we’re taking you to Cali like right now.” So within half an hour I was on the road to cooler weather and a much-needed girls’ getaway with my two besties. Unfortunately it was too dark to knit on the way out, but I definitely got plenty of knitting time the rest of the weekend.

Knitting in the morning on the balcony, with a view of Long Beach Bay.

Knitting on Huntington beach.

I have always wanted to knit on the beach, and now I can say that I have. There were plenty of strange looks, but I’m sure it’s not the weirdest thing someone has ever done on a beach. Someday I hope to do it again. I’ve definitely become a beach girl, despite suffering from a sunburn (ultra-white skin and sun exposure don’t mix, even with spf 50 sunscreen). Next time I’ll take a chair and an umbrella, along with my knitting.

It’s no secret that I’m fond of using non-pastel colors for baby blankets, especially when it comes to boys (for example, I think bright red is a great boy color, don’t you?). When my mom unloaded some of her stash on me, I was thrilled when I found enough of this forest green colored yarn to make not just one but two baby blankets. Since most of my pregnant friends are having boys, I thought it would be a great boy blanket color.

Pine Forest Baby Blanket
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Forest Green; 2.5 skeins
US Size 7 needle

I just love when yarn color and pattern name pair up perfectly. How appropriate that this lovely free pattern was called “Pine Forest.” And I’m not afraid of using a masculine lace stitch pattern for a boy, as long as it’s just that: masculine. No frilly ruffles on this blanket.

And I especially love that this color green will offset the new baby’s bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde (probably will be red) hair.