Progress on my socks

I am rather busy these days - a lot of things to take care of. But from time to time I grab my needles so now I have finished the foot of the first sock. I am very happy with how it looks and they feel so comfortable and warm. Most definitely I will be knitting socks starting from toe and knitting up again. It is great being able to try on the sock and then decide how long you want your sock to be, and how much yarn you wish to use on one sock.


I have bought some more books, too. This time it was three books about spinning, dying and socks. I like them all.
For a longtime ago I ordered some alpaca roving from Australia. Two white and one brown. 100 grams each. They looks nice, but are not as soft as my Norwegian alpaca fleece. So I guess the fleece I have is baby alpaca and this roving is adult alpaca. I look forward to spinning it. But first I will do some more practice on my less exclusive roving.

Washing alpaca fleece!

I am still knitting on my alpaca socks, but my knitting has been rather slow lately.

Yesterday I washed some more of my very dirty alpaca fleece. You can see the wool that has been cleaned and what has not been cleaned. I have tried spinning with some of it, and it spins very nice.

I have a secret... I have ordered my first spinning wheel ;-)

Time for knitting socks!

Yes!!! My mittens are finished. I only need to buy some buttons for decoration.
I think they turned out really nice, and I think I will use them a lot!
But I don't believe I will make another pair sometime soon. This is not a fast knit, and you really need to be in focus all the time.

I have also knitted up my first handspun yarn. I used 8 mm needles and I most definitely can see that I have been overtwisting when spinning it. This was sort of my first lesson in spinning.


I have started a new project. I wanted to make myself some socks out of my kool-aid alpaca.
As I was sitting in the sofa our cat, Exxon, joined me. He is into knitting as well.


I am knitting the Falling leaves from Knitty. This is the first time I am knitting socks from toe and up. It is also the first time I am knitting socks with one circular needle. I have started the second repetition of the lace pattern.

My first 15 yards of handspun!

okay, so I am not very patient. So I plyed my yarn last night. It was only 21 grams and 15 yards (14 meter), but I was very satisfying to see something that looks like yarn. My first handspun is probably very "first-time-kind-of-yarn". Very far from perfect. And I have learned a lot from spinning these few yards. One thing I learned is that I am overtwisting a lot, but with the plying I was able to remove some of it.

I will keep on spinning - that is for sure, 'cause this is fun!

Spinning to the next level!

I have done some more spinning, and I think I am doing progress.
The key to getting it right is getting good at keeping the twist away from the drafting-zone.
I also found it easier to get it right when dividing the rowing in smaller parts.
Now I am ready to remove my yarn from the spindle so that I can start on a new one. Then I will be able to ply!

A new hat for the new year!

Oh, yes. This is probably the last finished hat in 2005. I made this hat for my boyfriend on New Years Eve. And it was finished right in time for him to go outside watching the fireworks. At the very same moment it was exactly 6 years since I kissed him for the first time. The hat is made out of less than one skein Rowan Big Wool on 9 mm needles. He likes it, 'cause it is very soft and comfortable to wear.

Now my first finished object for 2006 will be these mittens. I have finished the left-hand mitten and are about to make the first finger on the right. But then I will have to go shopping for some buttons. They are turning out very nicely, and when my mother tried them on she was almost drooling on them. But, oh now....I am keeping these for myself ;-)