Icosaball - repairs

Icosaball - repairs
Originally uploaded by Project Pictures

Some things you just hate to see.

Like this "little" hole that my dear son poked through the Icosa Welt Ball I knit a couple of years back. This "impressive" project was quite a lot of work and it looks really darned cool. It also gets a lot of attention from my kids. Unfortunately he tore not one, but TWO holes in my pillow!

As you can see, they're not very pretty. In both cases he managed to snap two strands of brown yarn, which raveled several stitches to either side. The repair was painful, but do-able.

My first attempt was not the best darning I've ever done. I managed to get things back into place, but I'm pretty sure I was off by a stitch or perhaps a half-stitch. It's a bit wobbly, but I dare anyone to find it without knowing exactly what they're looking for.

On the second, I took what I learned from my mistakes on the first hole and worked a bit more carefully. It may just have been an easier tear to mend, too. But I think I managed to sew it back up pretty seamlessly. I used two DPNs to hold things in place and duplicate-stitched back and forth until the hole was all gone.

Repairing is not my favorite way to spend my time. But it's good to know I can when I have to!

Wheel Spinning

Wheel Spinning
Originally uploaded by Project Pictures

I really loved having the wheel. Now that it's back at the shop, I miss it a lot.

It's proving to be a real damper on my fiber-buying habits because I know how much longer it will take on my spindle than if I still had the wheel. And without that instant-gratification, I'm just not as tempted.

This could be a good thing!

Into the Whirled - SAL

Robin nest enhanced
Originally uploaded by micamynx

I'll admit, I'm a sucker for joining the group. When Cris, from Into the Whirled, asked us all to submit pictures for a six-month Spin-a-Long, I submitted a few, but really wasn't going to join in. After all I'm trying to spin DOWN my stash, not add to it.

But when the pictures came in, it was awfully hard to resist. The first of the three was this lovely photo of robin's eggs in a nest. How could I resist?

I imagined a roving mostly in shades of brown with a bit of white and blue thrown in. What Cris gave us was a gorgeous braid of shades of blue-green with some brown and white. I loved it!

With the wheel, the spinning went quickly. I agonized quite a bit over how to spin this. It's not my usual colors and not something I'd consider wearing often, but I lean to spinning lace-weight because I love doing it. Still, a shawl I wouldn't wear is a total waste and instead I spun with the intention of making fingering weight sock yarn. This means high-twist in the single, and high-twist upon plying to make a sturdy, springy yarn that will withstand the abrasion of wearing it in your shoes.

I also wanted the two socks to "match" so I split the braid down the middle and attempted to spin the two halves in an identical manner.

I was somewhat successful. I'm off by about 20 yards, which could be a lot. We'll see in the knitting. Either way I have two skeins of really lovely sock yarn!