Tangential Progress

Well, things are poking along on both of my blankets. They have reached a place where there are many hours (days, months) of work left, with no end in sight. This of course makes me dream of other projects and want to work on anything with a little instant gratification. So I present to you a pair of fingerless mittens, made in about a day for a coworker who requested a pair. These are made out of one of the self-striping yarns that I hand dyed and used for Portland Socks. I had lots of yarn left over at the end of those socks, and wanted to see for myself how adorably this yarn would stripe, if used on its own. So cute. They are totally basic mitts: I just did some 1x1 rib for a couple of inches, then switched to stockingette for a while. For thumbs, I cast off four stitches in one row and cast on another four in the next row, then at the end, did a single crochet around to finish that edge. Of course, at the top edge of the mitten I did another inch or so of 1x1 ribbing. So easy, so satisfying, so cute when they are worn. And instant gratification.


Yesterday, I went to the post office and picked up a parcel, which contained my birthday gift from my sisters (thanks girls!) They gave me an online gift certificate to Pick Up Sticks, which was brilliant. I promptly used it to get some yarn and a *cough cough* yarn spinning kit. Here is a photo of some Louet Gems Fingering Weight quietly sleeping in its natural habitat. It is destined to become a really cute chevron hat. (ravelry link)



Okay, so I admittedly have been tempted for a long time to try spinning my own yarn. Recently everyone in blogland is flashing around their gorgeous rovings and beautiful yarns and incomprehensibly beautiful Baby Surprise Jackets made with their own spun yarn. I resisted the urge for a long time, since I have so many time- (and money-) consuming hobbies already. What can I say? Like Oscar Wilde, I can resist anything except temptation. So I bought myself the book on my trip to Portland (already knowing I was giving in to the Dark Side) and then when I got the gift certificate, I promptly ordered myself a Louet Learn to Spin kit, which contains the pretty rovings and very plain drop spindle you see. If I can manage to do it at all well, I will probably go crazy and start ordering fancy spindles and fill my house with rovings. I will then give all the yarn away because I won't have any more time to knit, with all the spinning to do. Such is life.