So, I was knitting this sock...

A lovely sock.  A blue sock.  A sock for ME.  The thing with designing is that it really cuts into my selfish crafting time, so this was special.  It was nearly done when suddenly I realized I had an appointment in ten minutes.  No problem -- I tucked it away in it's bag, put it on the bed, and off I went.

I realized that something was slightly off when the bag was under my desk and not on the bed when I got home, but didn't think too much about it... I often put my project bags under my desk, maybe I just mis-remembered where I put it.  After dinner when I went to work on it again, though, I realized I had a problem.  The needles were gone.

Not just "pulled out of the stitches" gone.  "I can't find them anywhere" gone.  Initial inspection reveals one nearby on the floor.  Now I'm starting to panic.  I dig around under the desk and find what I'd feared -- a broken DPN.  Careful questioning however reveals that that one has been broken for some time.  Elspeth gets a chat (again) about not touching mommy's knitting stuff without permission.  This is the point where I basically gave up.  I could not find these needles ANYWHERE.

Which of course means my husband found them an hour later.  In the bath tub.  Why were they in the bath tub?  I don't even care.  I got my needles back, and the sock was saved.

Ah, handspun...

How many yards do I have?  Heaven only knows.

So I love spinning.  I mean, seriously, I'm one of those crazy spinners that buys raw, unwashed fleece and processes it myself, by hand.  What I have a problem with is what on earth do I do with the resultant yarn.  A lot of it is in small skeins (hey, I get distracted easily), and it's difficult to know exactly how many yards of the stuff I have.  Thus, most of my handspun has been relegated to sitting in my stash.  But, I've been thinking about it, and have some ideas to use the lovely stuff.

• Scarves and shawls.  If it looks like you're going to run out of yarn, you can just make them smaller.
• Hats.  Don't take much yardage.
• For my high quantity handspun, start with a sweater vest in mind rather than a sweater.  If there's still yarn when you've got the body sewn up, do your sleeves two at a time.

So yeah, handspun!  Hopefully I'll be able to stash down a little bit with this strategy.

Ok, so it's not so bad once all the cutting's done

Look at that.  A quilt top.  I feel bad about my last post now, as once I had it laid out and pinned together, it really wasn't so bad (the cutting was done months ago).  Here's my other now finished sewing UFO:

See?  Can sew.  But would still rather play with yarn than fabric.  It's much more forgiving.

I hate sewing!

I admit it.  I HATE sewing.  Seaming knit or crochet projects is ok... but cutting out fabric?  Making stuff out of it?  Despise.  This annoys me intensely, as I went through a phase where I thought sewing was so cool, because you could make neat custom stuff and OMG LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY FABRIC.  I never had much time for it, so I ended up with a fairly extensive fabric stash.  Now it haunts me, because I still want the things that I intended to make... I just don't want to make them any more.  I'm also very frugal (read: I hate spending money), and so I can't seem to justify to myself buying things when I have the stuff right in front of me to just MAKE them, making the item free as far as this month's budget is concerned.  On the other hand of course I would knit and crochet all day if I could.  Why do I do this to myself?  I have no idea.  But for whatever reason the half finished sewing projects are weighing on my conscious lately, so I guess I'll fire up the ol' sewing machine, if just to make them leave me alone.  And hey, who knows... maybe I just need to do MORE sewing, and I'll learn to like it, right?

Yeah, I doubt it too.  But hey, I'll have cool stuff.

Review: Spud and Chloe Fine

I have mixed feelings about this yarn, in all honesty.  But, the good stuff first.

It's a cable plied fingering weight yarn, 80% superwash wool and 20% silk. The yardage is generous, with each ball being 65 g instead of the more standard 50 g, with 248 yards per ball. That makes it a really good price, as well. I could knit some very tall socks with two balls of this stuff. I really like the way it works up, as well - excellent stitch definition, great colors, and a nice sheen from the silk. The cable ply means that it's going to be sturdy. In addition, this is not some softy lofty sock yarn - and that means durability! Some people might not like it because it isn't soft enough, but I like scratchy yarns, and scratchy this isn't. It's more like it's kind of hard, rather than being fluffy, and it does soften considerably with washing, especially if you treat it with conditioner or lanolin. No, I like the texture, too.

So what's my problem with it?In a word, splittiness. This is the price you pay for the durability of cable plied yarns, and is frankly exacerbated by my mirror knitting. That being said, also mitigated by my left handed crocheting. So if you're right handed, and a knitter, you probably won't mind this as much. It really isn't horribly splitty, but for something so fine gauge any splitting at all tends to drive me nutter butters.

So would I use it again? Yes. Definitely yes. But I'm going to whine about it being splitty.

Do you have something you want me to review? Needles? Yarn? Notions? Drop me a line! marusempai at gmail dot com. Put "Maru reviews" in the subject line.

New knit pattern!

Last month was wacky... but I did finish a pattern!  Sometimes as it warms up outside, it gets cold inside. A shawl is perfect to keep you warm in overly enthusiastic air conditioning, but shawl pins are fiddly and easy to loose. This lovely wrap uses small buttons to hold it in place, making it easy on, easy off for transitional weather and cold buildings. Worked from the small end, with decorative lace increases perfect for showing off self striping yarn.

Review: Cascade 220 Superwash Sport

I like Cascade 220.  I like Cascade 220 Superwash.  So when I found out it comes in sport weight?  Woo!  This is a soft and fluffy plied yarn.  I find the superwash softer than the regular 220, personally.  It's very smooth, and has nice stitch definition.  The only thing I don't like about this yarn is the slightly confusing yardage - rather than being 220 yards, it is 136 yards (in a 50 g skein).  That means a lot of ends to weave in in a large project, but I think its scrummy merino softness is worth it.  It comes in a great range of colors, as well... you've virtually guaranteed to find something you like, and the price is pretty good, too.

Do you have something you want me to review? Needles? Yarn? Notions? Drop me a line! marusempai at gmail dot com Put "Maru reviews" in the subject line.