Possessed to Knit

Sock Club Exchange

Ann in Australia is now learning to spin.  I gladly traded her some drop spindles for one of her Knitting Inspiration Sock Club packages.  The beautiful yarn is Handmaiden Casbah (81% merino/9% cashmere/10% nylon) in the Berry colorway.   She also included her clever fimo row counter and a gorgeous knitting bag (with stitch markers on the ribbon) from her recent knitting retreat.  The Tim Tam cookies were a delicious surprise, too.   Thank you to Ann for all of her lovely gifts.  I have the yarn wound and ready to go.  This yarn is so soft, I can't wait to see how it knits up.  

Caitlin & Colin were still long enough for me to snap this photo.  They do a lot of cute things, but by the time we get the camera ready, they are off doing something else.  They do their share of playing & fighting.  It is nice to see them settle down together like this.

Never on Sunday Sheep 2 Shoe Kit

I've started spinning my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep 2 Shoe kit in the Never on Sunday colorway.  Tina recommends splitting the roving into thirds lengthwise before spinning.  I found this daunting when I spun my Lapis Sheep 2 Shoe kit.  I chose instead to split it crosswise into 4 matching sections, and I ended up with a good bit barberpole yarn.  I thought I would split the roving lengthwise this time.  I split it in half and then split the first half into half.  I will split the send half into half sometime later.  This is over 8 ounces of roving so it is a lot to split.  I have almost completed my first bobbin as shown here in my photo.  I am spinning the singles on my Wyatt wheel at the 1:12 ratio.

Caitlin & Colin celebrated their first birthday on Sunday.  Here they are playing with one of their new toys.  Caitlin really likes the plastic handle on it, at least Colin is enjoying the rope part.  They like to tug on ropes and run next to each other and I thought this would be the perfect gift for them.

Ostara Sock

I brought Lawrence's Aguona laptop bag to work with me, however, I forgot to bring my pins and needle and thread to sew the finishing touches inside the bag.  I worked on my Ostara sock instead and will hopefully be blocking the bag tonight.  Ostara is the new springtime colorway created by Eric of Cables and Lace.  I really like his Dragon Feet yarn which is 70% merino and 30% silk.  I'm using 64 sts and my Signature Needle Arts 2.25 mm 5" stiletto dpns following the same general pattern I used for my Samhain socks.  The bright colors in this yarn make it a lot of fun to knit and remind me that spring is actually on its way after our snow storm last week.

Here is a recent picture of Colin (left) and Caitlin (right).  They turn 1 year old next month.  It is a challenge to get a good picture of them together as they are always running around and playing.