I think there must be some force in the universe that is actively preventing me from making any knitting project progress. (I suspect that force is Time, or The Lack Thereof… perhaps with a healthy dose of Indecision.) Here’s what I accomplished (ha!) this week.
Spindling:
Three little spindles L to R: Capar Large, Jenkins Aegean, Enid Ashcroft Mini
I’m enjoying playing around with my three little Turkish spindles. On the Capar to the left is some Louet Merino/silk, on the Jenkins Aegean in the middle is a BMFA yak/silk blend, and on the mini Enid Ashcroft is Miss Babs Merino/silk. I’m amazed at how differently they each spin! The Capar feels slow and steady. The Jenkins is flighty and needs lots of attention (i.e., multiple flicks per make). The EA is easygoing and a real pleasure to use. I pick them up here and there throughout the day. I have not yet made a habit of spindling for long, productive lengths of time nor have I gotten comfortable spinning out and about (like, say, waiting in a doctor’s office) which is when most of my crafting time occurs. Do you spin in any unusual places?
Simply Royal:
BMFA BFL superwash, colorway Royal. Click for project page.
You’ll have to pretend like that’s a current, decent picture of my sock project… because it’s not. The purple area is meant to represent the length it is at the moment. Some progress, yay!
The Project That Isn’t:
Cephalopod Yarns Traveller, colorway Hobart, IN.
Just before we left for Costa Rica (like the night before), I went crazy (“I won’t have enough knitting, OMG!!!” ha) and wound up two skeins of CY Traveller for an emergency airplane project. I had decided I wanted to knit a Brickless shawl, but then I noticed how different my two skeins were. The top skein has a much bluer/greener cast and the bottom skein is more on the orangey-brown end of this colorway’s spectrum. (In case you’re wondering, the skeins were split in half so I could force them to fit into my bursting carry-on. See: crazy.) I tried alternating skeins while knitting and it just didn’t look tidy with the way this pattern incorporates bound off edges into the design. I knit the tip of this shawl about 4 times, each time second-guessing myself and wondering if it wouldn’t be better in a thicker yarn with some silk in it (my original plan) or at least some better-matched skeins. Then I remembered the other projects I had wanted to knit with the Traveller yarn:
Photo copyright Hunter Hammersen. Click for pattern page.
Like the Chrysanthemum frutescens hat…
Photo copyright madelinetosh. Click for pattern page.
Or the Honey Cowl. I think if I use half of each skein for each project and alternate for a bit in the middle, the color differences shouldn’t be too noticeable, more like a gentle fade in tone. I should have enough yarn for the hat and a small version of the cowl. A fun and easy fall accessory set should be just the thing to get my knitting mojo back. Have you ever had a project that just did not want to be?
Check out Tamis Amis for more WIPs!
Woolen Diversions 
The honey cowl is fun to knit, great texture to it. I’m really loving the pooling on that pair of socks. So many cute little spindles!
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um, every other project I’ve worked on. I texted a friend in a panic the Saturday before I left for Ireland bc I was all stressed about what knitting to take. I was going to do loads of knitting on the bus tour. she said throw a couple balls of sock yarn in your bag and call it good. I threw in 3. I did not finish a single sock on the trip.
and I have no regrets. 🙂
That Traveller is YUMMO!
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I love how travel-induced-knitting-panic is a real, widespread thing.
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For me, spinning is usually just an at-home activity; even when I was spindling, the weirdest place I did so was in the car on a road trip. But I don’t think I’d bust it out elsewhere, and with a few exceptions, I really haven’t taken my travel spinning wheel out and about. If knitting in public attracts strange questions, I can only imagine what spinning in public would do!
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That’s how I feel about it. I’ll spin at a friend’s house on my spindles, and I tried spindling while taking a walk (disastrous), but I’d feel pretty strange spinning in my office or while waiting for an appointment, while I don’t think twice about knitting in those situations.
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Yea, I have a couple that are hibernating right now that i feel that way about. I like the hat and cowl though, I am sure you will get your mojo back with those!
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I also prefer to soon at home, and take my socks to knit when out and about. Socks, hats, mitts or scarf. Something with minimal directions to refer to.
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Agreed! Having easy knitting with no charts or a simple pattern is ideal for traveling.
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Brickless is a perfect pattern for that dilemma. I am making one now with yarn I used in another project and it turned out hideously. The current Brickless is so stunning that I often just stare in amazement at the ability of one pattern to make the yarn sing!
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OOOOOPS!!!! I didn’t enter in my blog address before hitting send. http://knittinginbeantown.blogspot.com
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I will definitely be giving Brickless another go in a different yarn, I love the look of the pattern!
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The strangest place I have spun is probably the movie theatre (much easier to do supported spindling in the dark versus drop spindling :P). While I love the portability of spindling right now I am more afraid to dropping my spindle on the concrete and damaging it, and bus rides mean sitting in close spaces where people would not appreciate my supported long draw :D.
I had the same problem with yarn when it came to this bright neon sock yarn I wanted to knit up into socks for myself. After casting on 4 times, it just wouldn’t fit right so I decided to simply make small socks for my younger cousin. It fits her and it was still fun to knit so a win-win 🙂
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Spinning in the movie theater, there’s a thought! I could see supported spindling being better suited for that. I feel like I still have to look at my spinning too much to risk doing so in such a dark place.
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Projects that just don’t want to be? Boy do I know about those! Aside from two pairs of cursed socks, I think pretty much every project I’ve tried to knit with variegated sock- or sport-weight yarn has turned out terribly. Finding the right project and stitch pattern is hard enough – matching skeins is worse!
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It can be really hard. I’m dealing with a cursed sock now myself. Those are NO FUN.
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The merino silk looks so pretty and pink!
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It’s not my usual color but it is quite a happy one!
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Ooh I think that hat and cowl would be gorgeous in that yarn.
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