It's going to be EPIC

Eagleman 70.3 is behind me.

To make a long story short, I felt great on the swim, fine on the bike, and the run was a brutal slog through the sixth level of hell.  Even with temperatures relatively mild in the low 80s, the sun beating down on me for 13 miles was a killer.  And although helpful, it ain’t much fun trying to run with cups of ice bouncing around in your sports bra.  In the end, I crossed the finish line after 6 hrs, 10 min, and 50 sec of swim, bike, run, which was 41 minutes faster than 2012, so no complaints.  I think Mike and I are pretty much done with Eagleman though.  There are only so many times you can fork over money to race in misery before you start to come to your senses.

And now looming ahead is only the big bad of Ironman Mont Tremblant. Nine very short weeks away.  I am both super excited and scared out of my mind.  I've come a really long way in the last five months but there's still pretty far to go before I'll be ready to try to cover 140.6 miles.  Distance starting building this week, and 73 miles on the bike and 16.5 of running will take a pretty big chunk out of the weekend.  Vacuuming, laundry, walking dogs, and spending an hour tonight making stuffed cabbage (yeah, weird impulse for June cooking, no explanation) and there is little time left to relax with knitting.

So, in honor of big epic undertakings (and the fact that I've barely worked on any knitting in the past week), I decided it was finally time to update my progress on the handspun afghan. To give some background, I started this project in 2011. Over the years, I bought 15 4oz braids of blue faced leicester fiber, spun a worsted 2-ply yarn, and knit each skein into a log cabin square.  Sometime last year I finished knitting the last square.

I was so excited about finishing the squares that I shoved them in a drawer and didn't think about them for months.  In March, I finally dug them out, bought black yarn, and started knitting.  A couple months and a whole lotta garter stitch later:

All the squares are assembled.  Only the outer borders are left.  I'm so close and yet there is still a good bit of knitting to go.  Knitting that I have no intention of touching for months.  The blanket weighs a metric crapton and there is no way I'm going to sit with the whole thing on my lap to knit the borders until there is frost outside.  Since it's not even summer yet, that's going to be awhile.  Thank goodness I have hours of bike training to keep me busy.  To be continued...maybe in October...  

So it's been awhile...

Yeah, yeah, almost 5 months, yada, yada.   Kind of a lot has happened, both in the knitting/spinning realms of my life and the non-crafty part.  I’d love to write about all the details, but to quote a favorite character, “No, there is too much. Let me sum up”.  (And if that doesn't sound familiar, it's been too long since you've watched the Princess Bride.  I'd get on that.)

KNITTING:  Holy sock mojo, Batman.  I finished 4 pairs of socks in Nov-Dec of last year.

1.  Nutkin; Sweet Georgia Tough Sock "Tapestry"; project page

2.  Simple SKYP; Sanguine Gryphon Bugga "Oak Timberworm"; project page

3.  Improvised toe-up with 2x2 ribbed leg; My handspun (!); project page

4:  Annetrelac; Rainy Days Wooly Dogs "Flugelhorn"; project page

The autumn sock knitting mojo really came out of nowhere.  Stats illustrate this anomaly best:

Pairs of socks completed in 2012: 3

Pairs of socks completed Jan-Aug 2013: 1

Pairs of socks completed Sep-Dec 2013: 6?!

The sock obsession left as quickly as it swept in because the calendar turned to 2014, and I’ve got no socks on the needles and no plans to cast on any. At least a small dent was made in the sock yarn stash before the impulse wore off.

Only one other big knitting project: Trellis and Vine Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2009)

I can't even remember exactly when I finished this one.  All I know is it was after September and before Thanksgiving.  Here’s the quick and dirty about the sweater: 

• I ripped and reknit the bottom half after deciding to swap the lace/cable pattern for a hemmed edge. 
• I ripped and reknit almost an entire sleeve when I decided it was coming out too big. 
• All the reknitting must have been worth it because I wore it a ton this winter--it’s soft and super comfortable without being too warm and I adore it.  
• Soft yarn comes with a price--the sweater already looks a little ratty from the pills.  You can even see in the picture if you look closely, so, uh, don’t. (Yarn is Berroco Palace, 50/50 merino/silk.  Lovely, but pilly)

And that about wraps up the knitting.  I have absolutely zippo to show for 2014.  Not one thing finished (save a pair of sample/test socks that I can’t show off yet), and not really much started either.  Who has time for knitting when there’s….

SPINNING:

I suck at keeping track of spinning so I have no idea what I worked on at the end of 2013, but the first few months of 2014 were pretty productive.  I joined a challenge where everyone selected a "bin" of fiber to spin in 2014. 

The bin:

Progress to date:

If you want details, visit my handspun page on Ravelry.  If you’re not on Ravelry, you probably don’t care about the details anyway.   I'm a little over halfway through the bin, which isn't bad for only being a third through the year.  Except, like knitting, spinning has started to slow considerably too.  There's a good reason for that:

That “big plan” I really wanted my foot to heal up for?  Yup, an Ironman triathlon in Mont Tremblant (near Montreal) in August.  And if you're not big into the tri scene, that means a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.  Yup, I’m crazy.  And nope, my foot is still not totally healed,  and I started Ironman training in January allowed to run only 30 second intervals at a time.  Lucky for me triathlon encompasses 2 other sports that I can spend loads of time on.  But that pretty much sucks because I enjoy running and sort of just tolerate the other 2 because the events are fun.  Oh, yeah, and it’s good for my body to diversify. Or something.  

Training is 6 days/week, with double workouts now on 2 weekdays, and lengthy weekend workouts which are only going to get longer.  Currently I'm at about 12-13 hours/week of swim, bike, run plus more time for strength training, driving to the pool or wherever I'm biking, stretching, icing sore feet, etc.  So, yeah, I'm neglecting the blog, knitting, and spinning.  Along with cleaning, shopping, brushing the dogs, and any laundry that isn't workout related.   

I'd like to say I'll be back soon, but, well, I'm not making any promises.  That said, I do have handspun epic afghan progress to share so there is at least some hope I won't fall off the Internet for 5 months again. 

FO Friday: Mittens!

It started with pretty fiber.

Fat Cat Knits Variegated BFL in "Let's Go Crazy"

The fiber became lovely squishy yarn.

275 yards of 2-ply

An impatient knitter bored with all her projects combined with an impulsive cast on and a few hours of knitting, and you get...mittens!

Pattern:  Warmest mittens on Raverly

I know I said I would work on WIPs for the next couple of months, but I really think these mittens need a matching hat.

Happy Friday all!  Visit Tami's for more FO Friday!

Fickle

I got a flu shot last week so I'm apparently safe from the flu for the next year, but what I really need someone to invent is a cure for startitis (come on brilliant medical researchers, the knitters of the world need YOU).  I've got a wicked case.

One day I was happily knitting away on my new sock project, and then BAM, I hit the gusset decreases (my least favorite part of socks), and everything fell apart.  In two days time, I cast on three new projects.

In my defense, I did finish one of them the same day.

Pattern:  Calorimetry. Yarn is some of my handspun (Ravelry linky)

I'm not thrilled with it. It's a little big, the fit is awkward, and I'm fairly certain I will never use it.  It's probably only a day or so away from disappearing into a drawer for years.

Despite the finished headband, my flurry of new projects is still not a good trend.  Yesterday, I cast on a new cowl in the morning. I was unhappy about it almost instantly.

Yarn is a recent handspun skein.

Those few rows have already been ripped, the yarn is back in the closet, and last night, I started new mittens instead. Less than 12 hours later and already decent progress.

Also knit in some recent handspun.

Speedy project to be sure, and believe it or not, but that is actually an adult-size mitten.  Unfortunately, I'm not exactly in love with this project either.  I put it aside before starting the thumb and went back to the original sock.

I managed to finish the gusset decreases, but I'm getting more and more concerned that I'm going to run out of yarn. The skeins from the ripped socks definitely looked small but I figured the leftovers I started the project with would make up the difference, and the plan was to stop knitting before the toe so that if I'm short on yarn, I can knit the toes in a different color.  I'm worried now that I won't even get that far. Impending yarn shortage and the possibility of socks with half the instep in different yarn makes me want to bury this project away and forget about it.  Forever.

So I've worked on four different projects in as many days, and I'm disgruntled with all of them for one reason or another.  I'm seriously considering forgetting them all for the night and cruising Ravelry for patterns because clearly if you hate all your projects, the only solution is to start MORE.

The practical side of me will probably win out and I'll go back to the socks or mittens.  Especially since I just remembered all the other languishing projects.

Uh, ops?  Not feeling proud of myself at the moment....maybe some finished mittens will help that?

December Catch Up

As usual, I have weeks to catch up on so let’s skip the whole 2012 year-in-review thing and the inevitable 2013 resolution post (at least for now) and go straight to the yarny stuff.

No, I have not been gone for weeks because I died under a pile of smittens, but I did keep going with them for at least a few more days.

After smitten #10, I was able to conquer the obsession  (okay, fine, I started running out of appropriate handspun leftovers).  A day or so after I cleared my head from the smitten haze, I started back on my WIPs and the rest of December actually ended up being rather productive.  First up, I almost finished a sweater.

Yes, it's an odd picture, but the sleeve cuffs (can you call 8 inches a cuff?) are the coolest thing about the sweater so there ya go.  I totally could have been wearing this one for Christmas had I planned a little better when I bought this yarn for a completely different project over two years ago and psychically realized I was going to change patterns and probably needed one more skein.  For a couple of nights, I played the "maybe if I knit fast enough, I can finish before the yarn runs out" game.  Then I came back to reality, weighed my yarn, and admitted there was no way that what I had left would get me through the second sleeve.  I hunted up and ordered an extra skein, but was forced to put the sweater aside to save my remaining yarn so that I could alternate it with the new skein.  MadTosh is not exactly known for consistent skeins even when you buy them together, and two years apart?  Yeah, I was just hoping it was still some shade of grey.

Forced to abandon the sweater, a funny thing happened.  I was hit with strange motivation to knit my heart out and finish a pair of socks that were intended to be a Christmas gift--an idea I had long ago given up on since the first sock wasn't even completely finished.  This motivation hit on Dec. 22nd.  Nice timing, right?  Here is what the next three days looked like:

Yup, I said it, BAM!  I knit the entire second sock in two and a half days.  Yes, I know there are awesome knitters out there that can bust out a pair in the same amount of time, and yes, I realize these aren't exactly tall socks, but whatever, a sock in three days is about as good as it's ever going to get for this fickle knitter.

With the socks finished, I had the drive back from Connecticut to Maryland free to turn back to the handspun projects.  Relaxing on the couch after we got home, I finished up the Lacy Baktus scarf.

 

A few days and three different bind-offs later, Mike's socks made their way to the finished pile.

Then I threw some handspun on the loom and busted out a scarf for no particular reason.

  

And yet, I still wasn't quite finished.  I managed to squeeze one more skein of handspun and most of a hat in before the calendar hit 2013.

I tried to spin bulky yarn.  I mostly failed.  And while I love, Love, LOVE the hat pattern (Squall by Glenna C.),  I do not love how it looks with the color variation so the yarn is destined for another project.  Still, I enjoyed the hell out of myself knitting it, so it's all good.

And there's the December crafting.  Phew!  I'll try to get January in before we hit February!

Finished Object Friday: Smittens!

That list of WIPs I wanted to finish before the end of 2012?  I should really stop pretending.  I’m considering abandoning the idea that I will ever finish any knitting project again.  Ever.  That is, any project that is not a smitten.  I’m having no problem finishing smittens. 

The pattern is aptly titled—I am completely smitten with the smittens.  My WIPs?  Haven’t touched them.  Holiday gift knitting?  Not happening.  It’s all about the smittens.  It all started earlier this week when I stumbled across pictures of handspun smittens on Ravelry.  I imagined a garland of adorable mini-mittens hung up on my fireplace mantle, rejoiced at the idea of using handspun leftovers and single skeins, and it was all over.  I started knitting a smitten Tuesday night and haven’t stopped since. 

3 days, 6 mittens (I finished another after taking the above picture).  I originally figured I would knit 2 per month so as to have 24 by the 2013 holiday season.  It looks like that might have been too modest of a plan.  At this rate, I could have 24 finished by the end of next weekend and have a garland in time for this holiday season.  Too bad my fireplace is in pieces, and I don’t actually have a mantle at the moment. Mike has agreed that if the fireplace isn't fixed by next year, I get to strangle him with the smitten garland.   

Visit Tami's for more FOs!

Liar!

I totally lied in my last post.  Okay, not really lied, just avoided the whole truth.  Like the fact that in addition to the new scarf I cast on, I also spent most of last weekend knitting a new sock instead of Laika.  It would be one thing if I was taking time away to work on other WIPs on my list, but noooo, I'm casting on new projects.  I blame the handspun.  My desire to knit with my handspun clearly trumps my desire to finish WIPs.  Not to mention, I really need to start making a dent in my stash.

A couple of months ago, a nice fluffy package arrived filled with all sorts of fibery goodness.

Hey, when I'm lucky enough to get in on a Bee Mice Elf co-op, I'm going to make the most of it.  Mike had a good ol' time teasing me about the new fiber, and I admit, even the dogs are aware that the stash is starting to overflow.

In trying to defend my fiber acquisition, I reminded Mike that he picked out one of the braids for me to make him socks.  After I listened to how he suspected that he'd never see those socks, I marched straight to the wheel to start spinning his braid.  I suspect he might have been using a little reverse psychology. It worked.

Mike's chosen fiber (apparently Hartford Whalers' colors circa 1985):

The fiber is superwash BFL.  Soft, fluffy, drafts-like-butter BFL. I seriously loved every minute of spinning it, and not being able to tear myself from the wheel, it only took a couple of days.  I was aiming for yarn that would be around DK weight after I chain plied, and estimated that I should be able to get around 225 yards of yarn to use for An American in China socks.

Plan:  Good.  Execution: FAIL.

I divided the fiber evenly and spun 2 separate skeins. The thickness looked and measured about right, but then I checked the yardage.   Each skein was only about 80 yards for a total of 160.  It was about DK thickness but dense.  Really dense.  F*&^%^K!!

On the positive side, the yarn did come out super pretty, and there was only a 2 yard difference between my 2 skeins, so I think I'm getting better with the consistency thing.

Consistent or not, 160 yards was not nearly enough.  There went my pattern idea, and Mike nixed the idea of ankle socks. I thought about knitting him a hat instead.  Thought about begging Ravelers to sell me some more of the colorway.  Thought about ordering fiber to spin heel/toe yarn. In the end, I just chucked the yarn angrily into a bag.  Perfectly understandable.

But then I went to the LYS to buy needles for Laika, which gave me a good excuse to look for some coordinating yarn to use for heels, toes, and cuffs.  Superwash Cascade sportweight was the only yarn I could find in decent color, and since it's lighter weight than my handspun, I've had to knit the heel and toe on smaller size needles and then do some funky increasing and decreasing to get the size right.  There has been a good bit of ripping and making Mike try on the sock 500 times to make sure it fit.  Even with all that adjusting and ripping, socks with heavier weight yarn go FAST.

So they won't be tall socks.  But they will be finished, wearable, nice thick house socks for winter, which I can point to as tangible proof that packages of fiber tumbling into the house is a GOOD thing.

And see, Laika is right there with me and not being neglected at all.

Laika sleeve update: I'm almost finished with sleeve #1 and resisting the temptation to turn this into a sweater with 3/4 length sleeves.  Despite sock and scarf knitting, I have been working away on it every night this week. It occurred to me that I listed 3 sweaters I wanted to finish by the end of the year, and they all need full sleeves.  That's 5 more sleeves!  Groan.  I figure if I can finish Laika by the end of the month, I should be able to finish Low Tide in November, and can battle Vivian in December.  Yes, I'm back to my old tricks of knitting schedules and deadlines. It's who I am and I'm embracing it.  Or something.

Finished Object Friday: Helm

What does everyone need in August?  A winter hat, of course.  Duh.

Pattern:  Helm by Stephen West
Cast on:  Can't remember...a few months ago
Finished:  August 22, 2012
Yarn:  2 ply handspun from Fiber Optic superwash merino fiber, "Peacock"

I cast on this hat when I needed a break from a cabled sweater I was working on.  Note to self:  when taking a break from a sweater because you are tired of the cables, don't cast on a cabled hat.  A few rows into the cable pattern I realized my mistake, and Helm was tucked into the bottom of the knitting bag for awhile.  A few rows here and there over the last few months and ta-da, finished hat.  In general, a cool pattern (but really what Stephen West hat pattern isn't?), and it's perfect for showing off nice squishy semi-solid yarns.  I can see making this one again.  When my hands recover from the cables that is.

The only issue I have with the pattern is the sort-of earflaps, which are both my favorite and least favorite parts of the hat. The earflaps are awesome because they create a shape that completely covers ears, but they are shaped with short rows.  Everyone says not to pick up the wraps when you use short rows in garter stitch, and while this worked on one side, on the other, not so much.

 

Uh, yeah, the wraps always disappear in garter stitch and never leave holes.  Sure. 

But whatever, nothing a few stitches can't tighten up and with Helm, another skein of handspun bites the dust.  This was my third attempt at knitting this particular skein.  I was about to declare it cursed after knitting almost the entire skein twice only to not like the pattern on attempt 1 and to run out of yarn on attempt 2.  Helm to the rescue!

Visit Tami's for more FO Fridays!

Finished Object Friday: Starling Citron

Recent epiphany:  the amount of time it takes me to post a finished knitted item is directly related to how I feel about said item.  Jordan, which I was thrilled with, I posted within 2 days.  Citron?  It was finished over a month ago.  I could drone on that I was on vacation, or just too busy lately, and the colors weren't coming out well in pictures and I wanted to wait until I got better ones, but really, those are all just excuses.  The plain and simple truth is that my feeling on Citron is best summed up in one word:  meh.  And it's not that easy to motivate to sit down and write about something that you are not excited about.

The crazy thing is that it came out almost exactly as I envisioned and planned.  Apparently I had to see the actual item and not just the picture in my head to realize it is so not me.

Example of color wonkiness

I do not do bold stripey shawls. Unfortunately I had to make one to realize that.  So I'm chalking up these few weeks of knitting and over 700 yards of handspun (those runched sections absolutely devoured yarn) to a lesson learned.  I will be trying to remind myself regularly as I drool over gorgeous handpainted braids of fiber that solid colors are my friend.  Or at least slowing transitioning gradients.  And maybe variegated braids that aren't as vibrant.  Or I could spin the fiber differently to give it a more heathered appearance. Or....yeah, I don't see myself passing up all variegated braids anytime soon.  How about just:  choose wisely?

The good thing is that I adored every minute of knitting Citron.  Even those beastly 700+ stitch rows (I seriously think it took about 90 minutes to bind off).  The handspun came out so well that I think I just liked knitting with it no matter what I was knitting, even endless rows of stockinette.  And talk about utilizing every last bit of handspun--I had maybe 2 grams left.  So while I am firmly in the "product knitting" camp, even I can't regret all the happy hours this shawl provided.  You win some, you lose some--I'm calling this one a draw.

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Decisions

Have I mentioned that I love my Jordan top?  Love. It.  I’ve worn it twice in 4 days and not because I neglected the laundry or something.  It goes with everything, is super comfortable, and I adore it. My next project has a lot to live up to, and with Citron finished (pictures and details on Friday!), I’m on the hunt for patterns desperately hoping to repeat some of my Jordan success. 

I seem to have the best luck with lacey lightweight tops.  Something light I can throw over a camisole with jeans is pretty much my work uniform.  Conveniently, I have 2 sweater quantities of laceweight yarn waiting in the wings for just such a project.

Option 1 is Mithril from the Verdant Gryphon that I picked up at MD Sheep and Wool, intended for Laika.

Option 2 is the laceweight yarn I whined was taking forever to spin a couple of months ago.  It did take forever, but the end result was over 1500 yards of my first laceweight.

I’ve been going back and forth over patterns for this yarn, but I think I’ve finally decided on the Barton Cottage Shrug (Ravelry link) from the Interweave Jane Austen Knits 2011 magazine.  While I’m not thrilled with the idea of buying a $14 magazine for one pattern, I really think has the most potential of all the laceweight sweater patterns I’ve poured over for the last several weeks.

Knowing myself, I would likely dither over which to start for days, possibly weeks, then decide, but change my mind and start from scratch searching for new patterns.  Since I’m heading out of town on Wednesday, I need to have it figured out and ideally swatched (yes, I’m really going to swatch this time) by Tuesday night.   Perfect timing to post the new project for this week’s WIPW.  See you then.

On a side note, WTF is up with me and pink lately?

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Starling Citron

This post should also be titled "duh", because really, there was pretty much no chance I would be working on any other project.

Citron is moving along quite nicely.

I'm completely enamored with this project.  I haven't knit a stitch on anything else since I started it.  It requires almost no thought, and I'm getting huge kick out of knitting with the handspun. This might be the closest to knitting monogamy I've been since....well....ever. If I were sticking to the pattern size, I would only be about 10 rows away from the ruffled edge--not bad for only casting on Friday night. 

Since I want to make the shawl larger, I'm still far from the finish line though.  I've never been a fan of projects with super long rows (pretty much the only reason I've been able to withstand the Color Affection craze), and I realized pretty quickly that the rows for this are going to get insanely long.  For the runched sections, you basically  double the amount of stitches, knit 5-6 rows, and then decrease back down.  My current row has 444 stitches, which is tolerable but approaching my patience limit.  As written, the ruffled edge has 540 stitches, but since I'm going to add a few extra sections, I'm thinking that by the time I get the ruffle, my rows will have 700-800 stitches. 

I really wish I hadn't just worked that out.

Visit Tami's for more WIPW!

Timing is Everything

My timing is impeccable.  I busted my ass all last week to finish the Starling yarn so that I could kick off Tour de Fleece 2012 on Saturday with new and shiny fiber.  So far, TdF is not exactly going according to plan.

On day 1, I spent almost no time spinning yarn.

Instead I spent hours at a different type of spinning--74 miles on my bike.  I feel like 5 hours on my bike in close to 100 degree temps was a valid enough excuse for my poor showing on day 1 of TdF.  Especially since the bike ride required a 4:30am wake up, and when we arrived home at 4:30pm, it was to a house without power.

I have no such excuses for days 2 and 3.  It's not that I've done nothing.  There has been at least some spinning each day.

Sunday:

Monday:

But I'm underwhelmed with my progress and particularly with my lack of enthusiasm.  I'm just not in the spinning mood right now.  Terrible timing since the next 3 weeks are supposed to be a crazy spin-a-thon. 

The upside though?  I'm totally stoked about my new knitting project.

Yup, I did in fact cast on Citron Friday night, and I've been knitting away furiously and loving every minute of it.  I have a sneaking suspicion that my love will wane once the rows get up to 500 stitches, and I'll once again want nothing else but to sit at the spinning wheel.  With my timing, though, that will probably happen the day after TdF ends.

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Square #9

And WIPW returns!  It's amazing what I can keep up with when you take endurance training out of the mix.

I haven't posted anything about the epic handspun afghan in awhile and since I actually have been chipping away on it, I thought it was time for the squares to make a reappearance.

Progress to date:  8 squares

And today's WIP:  square #9

Only a few more rows to go thanks to an hour wait at the podiatrist this morning. I think this is my favorite square yet, although I also think I've said that about every square I've knit.  But I really really mean it this time.  No, really.

The fiber is superwash BFL dyed by Woolen Mill St. Yarns.  I admit the major factor that pushed me to buy this braid was the colorway name: "The Shire" (yep, total Lord of the Rings nerd here--and you guys thought all I watch/read is vampire crap).  Cute name aside, I was thrilled when it arrived.  I love the color variation, and the fiber was fluffy and soft, and I adored spinning it.  I actually had a bit of a hard time convincing myself to wind up the squishy skein.  

But I'm glad I did since now I have a soft squishy blanket square.  I think I've settled on a 15 square afghan, so in theory, I only have 6 squares to go.  I'm having serious doubts about the colors though (Who me? Stressing over color?  But that never happens).  Since I am buying fiber as I go for this project, I never devised a clear color plan except to use relatively monochromatic fiber for each square and to have some variation.  I really didn't think through what I meant by "variation", and I'm not sure I like the mix that I have right now.

The earthy-tone squares seem to stick out to me.  I'm not stressing over it yet, but I can definitely see getting to 15 squares and feeling like I need to replace a few because of the color issue.  I've already put aside some  of the finished skeins that I originally intended to use for the afghan.

Like this one.  Just seemed too bright.  Although with the current green one in there, maybe not?

And this one.  I adore how this skein came out, but I'm thinking too earthy.

Sigh.  Color, you remain my nemesis.

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Finished Object Friday: Diagonal Top

Yes, I crapped out on this week's work-in-progress Wednesday.  Sheesh, it only took until week 3 for me to get behind.  I thought I'd last at least a month.  To make up for missing WIPW, I'm giving the whole "finished object Friday" thing a shot.

I'm ridiculously excited about this finished project. Like crazy giddy excited.  So excited I couldn't even wait around to get decent pictures but instead set the timer in the backyard.

At least that's my excuse for washed out colors and why I look like death in the picture.  Mom, I swear I had makeup on.  But let's forget about my zombie complexion and instead remember:  CUTE WEARABLE TOP FROM HANDSPUN!!  Totally worthy of shouting.  I mean the top started as this:

Another crap picture--sorry, but my camera hates purple.
And that's sparkle, not dog fur.  At least most of it.

And today that bag of fluff is a wearable garment.

Cuter from the back

Given my history of disappointing handspun projects and the long list of doubts I had about this top, I'm pretty stoked it didn't end up a total disaster.

Pattern:  Diagonal Pattern Top
Fiber:  Bullseye bump from Loop in Kaleidoscope Eyes spun into a single-ply fingering-sportish weight yarn. This fiber was created for a spin-along on Ravelry.  I didn't have much interest in these Loop bumps before the SAL, but it was so much fun to spin, I'm totally hooked now.  A couple more are already stashed from MD Sheep and Wool.
Mods: Well, except for using a completely different yarn weight and fiber type, not much.  Since my yarn was thinner than the pattern yarn, I held black elastic thread together with the yarn for the bottom ribbing, and I did 1x1 twisted rib instead of the regular ribbing in the pattern.  I was afraid that it would sort of just hang without the added stability, and since the top has no shaping, I at least wanted the bottom to be fitted. I feel like I should have more to say, but really, that's it.  The pattern is easy-peasy so long as you're okay with "yo, k2tog" around and around and around for eternity.  And while this may seem obvious to everyone else, I had to screw up a couple of rows before I realized, "k2tog, yo" is NOT the same thing.

This top was definitely a gamble.  I did everything I could to thwart success:  totally different yarn substitution, no swatch, risky stripey colors, and yet the knitting fates smiled at me and granted me a top I'm pleased with.  Of course, this just means that the next sweater I diligently plan out and swatch is going to be too small on me or something.  I can already feel a bit of the knitting karma balance coming back to bite me since seaming up the Jordan top could definitely be going better.

Visit Tami's for more finished object Friday posts.  If I manage to wrangle Jordan into shape, I might even be back next Friday.