On niddy noddies and lace

I finally got my niddy noddy that I ordered awhile ago and got my first spun yarn onto it and ready for washing!  As you can see, it is kind of small, but should be big enough for anything I do.  I just need to remember to keep my spinning to around 100g per skein and I should be ok.  I really liked the way it turned out.  A proper lumpy homespun.  I am going to try and be a little thinner and more consistent with my next skein though.  It is a merino and silk blend and is crying out for a dk or fingering weight, which is probably a bit ambitious for only my third drop-spun handspun ever.  But hey, gotta have goals!

I blame Mary for my current lace binge.  My first scarf, which I made for my sister after she dropped some hints that she could really use a non-white scarf (she NEVER wants knitting!), took about 7 tries to get off the ground.  I was about ready to give up, but Mary made me keep to it.  We both bought this LOVELY multicolored silk, but unfortunately is was a very small skein, only 126 yards.  I finished the scarf and it is a little shorter than I would prefer but I think it will turn out all right.  It was very quick!

I just started the Nightsongs shawl on ravelry with my bright orange yarn.  I think it will look lovely with a black dress.  I have already ripped it out once.  The yarn isn't lace weight like I thought it was, it is cobweb weight!  I feel like I am knitting with sewing thread.  The pattern is a bit confusing.  I think I worked out how to increase as I go but I really wish the pattern had one more repeat in the chart so I could get the pattern.  A pattern requires 3 repeats!  2 repeats is just a coincidence.

I was away this weekend for a weekend of gaming 

which included two 4-5 hour bus rides.  I got a ton of knitting done.  I finished that multicolored scarf (which I had barely started) and my second sock from Mary's pattern.  I have a bunch of the yarn from the socks left, which I have decided I am going to knit into a klein bottle dice bag!  One of the guys in my group had a crocheted one and pfft to crochet.  I totally think I can make it quite easily.

Stupid crochet is beating me.  I am trying to teach myself and failing utterly.  I am obviously missing something basic as I cannot keep tension (I need an extra hand) and I keep catching the stitch I am trying to go through.  I think I am going to have to break down and actually take the class at K1 this summer.  Blarg.

One thing I have to say is that all this far more complicated knitting really is slowing me down, which my budget is thanking me for.

A knitting blog is a good thing...

So I decided to start a knitting blog as I often have a lot to say about it but I think my lj friends are a bit tired of reading about it.  I went to John Lewis today (department store) and found that they have a HUGE craft section including quite a few yarns.  It is by no means the biggest selection ever, but it is definitely different than what my local yarn store has.  I wanted to stop by to see if they a needle case I saw online thinking it must be something they just have online since there is no way a department store would have yarn, right?  Boy, I was wrong.  I am kind of excited.  The needle case was a bust (they were hideously ugly) but I was very pleased to find the other stuff.

I also finally bought a crochet hook to fix my sock.  I had it in my purse and half the stitches on one needle fell off.  I failed at picking them back up with just the knitting needles so I needed a crochet hook.  I finally got one today and managed to fix it, huzzah!  I also bought these awesome point protectors that work brilliantly with socks.  They have two holes on each so I can use them really well with doublepointed needles (Pony is the brand if you are interested).  I was excited.  So yay knitting!