Knitting today

My knitting for the summer has been fairly prolific! I finished a scarf for my daughter-in-law, 4 felted purses, one little girl's sweater, my daughter's rollneck and started a cha-cha scarf. I've read lots of knitting books, magazines and blogs of others. I've done a bit of spinning and have plans for more. I've begun carrying my knitting into restaurants when I anticipate a wait. I've even moved all of my yarn stash and knitting tools and books upstairs away from the sewing room. I anticipate a small knitting oasis here on the third floor. It needs organization, but that's coming along as well.

I don't know what got into me...I did decide that all of my obsessions center around fibers and it's all about them. My hair has even grown out a bit and the texture of that fiber has changed to a bit of a curl. Strange! We've talked about getting an angora bunny as a pet/fiber source for the family and have discussed outlandish dreams of buying a farm and stocking a few sheep. When an obsession strikes, it strikes hard!

Sadly, much of this will come to an end on August 30. School will restart and make the scope of these activities shrink drastically. There will still be weekends, though and I can work on reading nonfiction. I've got a new Elizabeth Zimmerman book and have ordered Annie Modesitt's Confessions of a Knitting Heretic.

We will be making a journey to Burlington, VT tomorrow and I've read about lots of sheep farms there. I'm wondering about finding some roving before we come home to spin in odd moments. That spindle is mesmerizing.

I've been having thoughts lately about the "correct knitting philosophy." It seems as if many sheep raisers are rather snobbish about folks who knit with anything other than wool. I've caught myself having similar thoughts. There are so many wonderful features of pure wool and the felting process has just captivated me. On the other hand, I committed a felony I read about on the Spin-off list serve. I made a yarn purchase at JoAnn Fabrics! The shame. But who can resist Cha-Cha yarn? The colors, the textures. I guess there are some personality types set up to be single-minded in their outlook on the world: only use natural fibers, only eat plant related foods, only attend certain churches, purchase clothing from a few sources and wear only a given style. In a way I envy them and their simplicity of life. But I don't have that tendency myself and I wonder why I feel that I should sometimes. Why should that old guilt habit persist and even become enmeshed with my purchase of fiber types? And how does one get rid of it? Hmmmm...I'll keep working on it. The trouble with trying to be a purist of any kind is that it's so darn rare to find true purity in any practice, substance or thought. Do the best you can and move on. My advice to myself! Goodnight.

Here is Emily's cotton angora sweater nearing completion. It just needs the ribbing around the neck and down the fronts to be finished and it will be ready for fall wearing. 

Here is Nicole's completed rollneck sweater. It's a Yankee Knitter pattern made with Lamb's Pride yarn in the chianti color. 

Knitting in August

I've finished my second felted purse and am about to start on my third! I've almost completed the luscious cotton angora little girl's sweater as well. Just the ribbing around the front remains. What a pleasure that has been to work on! That's a photo to post for another day.

I'm afraid I've found another obsession. That seems to be the theme for this summer. I've always wanted to spin yarn and decided to start doing just that. I've got a small amount of roving, a drop spindle and a fabulous new spinning wheel. After watching the video and trying the wheel, it was a bit fast for this beginner, so I started with the spindle. I have a few feet of rather uneven yarn, but it did seem to get more smooth as I spun, so I'm hopeful. I've located a local guild and plan to contact the people involved and see about joining or at least finding a class. How much fun can I have this summer? Well, since it's nearing the end, I may just have to let it spill over into the fall!

Here I am knitting at High Falls Gorge. 

This is the first one I knitted in red, orange and brown. Yummy! 

Here is a brown version of the felted knitted purse as shown in Knit One, Felt Too.