WIPs & Spinning

I cast on the Brigit socks by Monkey Toes/Gigi Silva last night. The February Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL choices are Socks for a Cause or Gigi Silva or Entrelac. I like the patterns Gigi created. There are some really nice ones. Despite how much I swore at the Kaylee socks, I do like them. *chuckle* (With those, it was just about having difficulty visualizing how to do a certain stitch that is unique to that pattern, not a badly written pattern.)

I have been wanting to do something with an interesting cable design for a while. But I tend to skip it as I am more drawn to handpainted yarns that really don't show up patterns well. So while looking through Gigi patterns, I recalled just how much I wanted to try the Brigit socks.

I remembered I had the Colinette Jitterbug in Vatican red. It isn't solid, but has some subtle color shifts. But I think that will work well with the pattern.

I can't recall where I heard that Jitterbug is kinda short on yardage. So I decided to do them toe-up. The pattern isn't directional, so it should be fine. (Of course, I checked Ravelry and someone else did them toe-up. *grin*)

Here's a pic of the pattern in case you don't have Ravlery:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitmommy/2624287935/

The woman who designed the patterns passed away last year. Luckily someone in her family was kind enough to post the patterns on Ravelry. She had posted them for free on her own site. But when she passed away, the website was closed.

I think they will be really lovely in the red.

I am not sure what heels I will do. I need to look at the Kaylee socks to see if I liked that heel. But I might use the one from the Toe Up Feather and Fan Socks by Wendy Johnson. I really like the way those came out. She does this neat wrap while picking up the stitches so there aren't any holes. I like the way it looked for the other socks. Not sure. I figure I can see what I want to do when I get there.

BTW, if anyone is interested in some heavenly fiber in purple & red, winderwoodfarm.etsy.com listed the remaining fiber that he made.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20473704

These pictures really do not do it justice. It is a deeper purple and a nice red. It looks really pink in the pics and it isn't at all. I am sorely tempted to grab the rest myself. But I am resisting.

I did however decide I need to get the gauge card. I have been saying I would get one for a while now. So I broke down and ordered one. I went with the Woolery.com. Their price was good. I also broke down and got an umbrella swift. I adore the ones my darling hubby made. But the wood wasn't very hard and they have warped. When I was winding my yarn last night, the cross piece kept hitting the upright. It is chipping the wood. The Woolery had a nice wood one for $65 which is a good price. And I realize that given just how much I use the ones I have, it is well spent money.

Of course, I do know in my heart that the money would be better spent on new tires for the car or taking the cat to the vet. And I also know those are $500 and $350+ respectively. (It stuns me that the vet costs more than my doctor's appointment even if I didn't have insurance!) So they will wait a bit longer.

I have been plying the Twisted Fibers Roxanne colorway. It spun up nicely. Though I suspect I really should have spun it thinner. But I wanted to keep enough loft in it to make it nice to touch.

I am Navajo plying it. I did it on my lowest ratio bobbin & have been going slowly with the treadle. I don't want to overtwist it so that it loses all the soft goodness. I think it is going pretty well. It is always hard to tell while on the bobbin. I will have to see how it comes out.

I don't really think it is thin enough for socks. Given it is 80% superwash merino/20% cashmere, there was some hope that might work. I will see what I get for WPI after I have set the yarn. But I really suspect that it will be too thick for anything except house yarns.

I feel like I have learned a trick/technique to avoid the bumps I had been getting while Navajo plying. If I pull the yarn back & taunt when I am transitioning from one loop to the next, this smooths out the transition. In many cases I can't feel it at all. The exception is really when the thickness of the single at the transition point is is thicker than the yarn that is coming up. Then I get a bump. But I think with the slow treadling and all that the yarn won't be too harsh.

I am hoping to finish spinning that this weekend and get it soaking. *crosses fingers* With President's Day it is a 3 day weekend for me, so that may actually happen. Woohoo!