Snuggles Fit for an Empress

I've started the first rows of the Hinterland throw, based on the tiny ball of yarn that I started.  I need to get better pictures where the gold POPS better, but for now, this is the best I have.

Luxurious doesn't even begin to describe the yarn or the start of the throw. I am so in love with this fiber and the finished product that it starting to show. :)

Quick Update

First off, my apologies for the silence.  It's been a rough week for my sinuses and thus general ability to function.

Still working on Neptune's Tears, haven't been spinning (because it's been making me dizzy, see comments about sinuses above, I hate my sinuses).

Also, I will be a little quieter until the end of May, in addition to being a fiber junkie I have goals involving academics, and classes started up this past week, so much of the time that I would have been spending with fiber in my hands was instead spent with a book (or journal article as the case may be). 

But I will be updating projects as they go. :)

Two colors!

Okay this sounds totally silly, but one of the things I have never done, whether it's with knitting (I tried, briefly, to be a knitter) or now with crochet, is color changes.  Any color changes were the result of variation in the yarn color.

Last night I spent some time looking at methods to do two-strand crochet, and said "I can do this." 

And I did.  It's not perfect, in fact it is sort of wobbly on the edges, but.. I did it. :D

(I will add a pic to this post later).

I know this is a very little thing, but it's very exciting to me. :D

The muga silk is being spun up on my Ann Grout Turnip, and it's spinning up beautifully.  The color and softness of it are AMAZING.  It's going to take a while, but I'm REALLY looking forward to how it's going to work out.  I am seriously tempted to see about dying the center of it CRIMSON red in a way that will create a hombre style effect, going from crimson red in the very center to the soft shining gold on the outside, but.. I am not sure that I want to run the risk of messing up the amazing gold.. we'll see. :)

I plied up a small sample of the yarn over the weekend (yeah I need pics) and thus, I need to do the official... new project comments.. :D

Pattern: Hinterland Throw
Yarn: Handspun Muga Silk from FiberDyet (roving from FiberDyet, I'm doing the spinning)
Hook: 3.5mm

Four Roses

It's all done and I am so very proud of it.  :)

Busy Bee!

Neptune's Tears: Just started the last third of the solid repeat, then back to lace, I'm technically at the half-way point in terms of number of rows, but of course as the later rows are the long ones, that doesn't count for much. :D  It's looking lovely, and has been my travel project, which means lots of work on the bus.  :)

Four Roses: At the 75% mark for the whole doily, 4-5 rows into the last two roses.. I should be done by Monday, depending on how much I work on it over the weekend (as we will have guests, that will likely be less than it would be normally.. :))

Muga: It arrived, and is more ridiculously beautiful than I could have possibly believed.  But Wēland and I have decided that quite frankly it is far too beautiful a fiber to be used on something that will go into the kitchen, so I bought more (also from FiberDyet), and I think that it will be used instead for the Hinterland Throw.  I have been told that making a throw out of a silk that was once reserved for emperors is horrifying and insane.  I think making a snuggle throw for my family out of an amazing and beautiful fiber that begs to be touched is the only sensible thing to do.  But my concept of sensible has long been warped.. :D

2 and Some Change Roses

As promised, a photo.

Love filet!!!!

I need to upload a new photo this afternoon, but I wanted to take a moment and just say how much I've been enjoying the Four Roses Doily.  Filet is so much fun!

Neptune's Tears has taken something of a backseat (though it's still making good time), but I'm enjoying the Four Roses so much that when I get home, I want to work on it.  I should be done with that by next week sometime, I started it Sunday and am already at the half-way mark.   :)

Filet is fun, because at first it really looks like there is nothing there, but as you start to make progress, and then you step back, all of a sudden, there's a flower, or a vine, or whathaveyou.

It's sort of magical.

Though I feel bad, I know that I will not be working on it as much once the Muga arrives.. but maybe I can finish it in advance. :D *fingers crossed*


Also? I've decided I need this t-shirt: http://www.zazzle.com/clotho_shirt-235716924362333274

Needed a change

Okay, so the solid rows of Neptune's Tears getting kind of boring after a while, so I took a break to start a new project that is destined for my office.  The co-worker that I work closest with and I share a hallway window, that we have taken to decorating for various holidays, and she mentioned the other day that it was a shame that we didn't have anything to decorate the space with (we're going to do Valentine's day, but Christmas JUST came down, so it's a little early still). 

Obviously I took this as a sign from on high that I should do as I had been threatening to do for some time, and do a doily/fillet crochet project..

New project!

Pattern: Four Roses Doily
Yarn: Camilla Valley Farms 2/20 Irish Linen
Hook: 1.5mm

:)  It's coming along swimmingly and surprisingly fast, I'm already on the fourth row (first actual "pattern" row).. Can't wait until this one is done..  I admit that there is a part of me sort of hoping it will end up too big for the space alotted for it (the 2/20 is larger than the #20 thread called for), so it can stay home, but..  Either way I'll get to see it every day, so.. :)

Ready for it's Close-Up

I finally got a picture that really does the yarn justice, so wanted to post that.  The colors of this yarn are just gorgeous, and I am bummed that Spun Right Round doesn't have it in her web shop now... I need to call the store (thank GOD they're sort of local) and see if they have more of that colorway/roving.  I want to make something in a heavier weight yarn for Wēland* in the same colors.

*Much as MB is the nickname for the daughter on here, Wēland is the hubby. :)

Spinning Junkie

So I realized that as I was setting this up, Neptunes Tears has been my big thought, because it was SUCH a pain in the butt in the start, but.. It is just one piece of what I wanted to set this blog up for (afterall, Clotho is not a hooker, she's a spinner, and that's my first craft).

I have finally accepted that the bus is NOT the place to spin cobweb silk.  As much as I pretend that I can spin cobweb anywhere anytime, the bus is a ROYAL pain in the ass to deal with fine silk.. Which is extra stinky since it delays the silk embers scarf spinning which was the next scarf I wanted to make a priority, and will delay the spinning for the Daisy Table Runner with the Muga (the bus is a surprisingly useful time for spinning, since there is no 8 year old, or dogs or cats to interrupt me).

The Muga is mostly why I wanted to post today though, I finally broke down and picked up 3 oz of Muga Silk from Fiber Dyet and I cannot wait until it arrives.  Muga is a very specific variety of silk that is the most amazing golden color, and is incredibly strong and lustrous.  I've heard all sorts of wonderful legends that only the Mughal of India was allowed to wear this style of silk, though I haven't done the historical research to confirm this as truth or not. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam_silk#Muga_silk).. I hadn't bought it years ago when I saw it at $7 per ounce, and have been kicking myself ever since, so when I saw that it was available for $8.25 at Fiber Dyet I had to have it... Now I just have to be patient until it arrives.  Yeah, patience, HAHAHAHAHAHA, whatever.  I WANT MY SILK! :D

But for the bus? I'll stick to the panda roving for the MB's scarf (merino/silk/bamboo in the Gummy Rainbow colorway from Spinner's Candy, pattern it will be for is: Monika)

note: MB is my daughter, no those are not her initials, they are the initials of her nickname, which to preserve her eventually realization that it's a horrible nickname even if it was given in love, I will not give here..

Making good progress

1st big lace panel done, moving on to the first solid panel... I admit I've stopped counting stitches, which I hope doesn't come back and bite me in the ass.. I figure as long as the center stitch falls in the right place and I am not dropping stitches constantly (which I don't tend to do) and I'm aware of what was tripping me up in the early rounds (hyper-aware even at this point) that it will be okay... Also, there are now enough stitches that counting them is a pain in the butt, so...

*fingers crossed*

This feels less like I'm losing my mind or out of my depth, which is a nice feeling.

Though it is amusing how much faster the first few rows go.. :D  Hehehehe

Smarter than the pattern

Annnnd I am on the third repeat of the lace panel, about halfway through the first skein of the yarn.  I am apparently neither crazy nor stupid, and am making good progress.
I have decided that I am doing 3 lace panels, 1 solid, 2 lace, 1 solid, 1 lace, then the edging.  I think this will be lovely and use the yarn I have well.  I am also treating 3 repeats of the solid as one panel (since it is only 2 rows).
I do have to laugh, shawls are amusing, every row goes slower than the last, psychologically and literally.  But I am loving this and cannot wait until it is done, blocked and wearable.  :)

Feeling insane

The pattern for this thing looks incredibly simple.

The reality is that I am having an INTENSELY difficult time keeping the sides balanced, and I don't know why.

I think I need to walk away from this for a day or two and then go back to it, but I finally managed to finish the solid section, and have it balanced, and I started the first lace section and it's gone wonky.

BLEAH

Note to Self

Do not start projects when tired and unhappy, you tend to make stupid mistakes.

Just saying.

I ripped out the stupid thing no less than 5 more times after that first post, finally figured out what I was doing wrong (putting the dc in the base of the ch3, then putting a dc in the top of the stitch next to it, as though it were not the base stitch of the ch3, so I kept ending up with too many stitches on the starting side of each row.

ugh.

I know better than that, but for some reason? Brain was not functioning last night.

Starting Neptune's Tears

Pattern: Neptune's Tears
Yarn: Hand spun merino/silk/bamboo blend, on a 1 oz bottom whorl spindle. 
           Colorway is "Ocean's Swell"
           Roving purchased at: Spun Right Round in Cortland, NY.

First off, starting this reminded me that I am still just an advanced beginner when it comes to crochet.  I had to rip it out a good 5 times before I really was able to start this.

My immediate thoughts:

Do not start row 1 in the 4th from the hook, start in the 5th from the hook.  If it looks like 3 dc / 2 ch / 2dc / 2 ch / 1 dc, you've got to bump it one.  It's 1 dc / 2 ch / 2 dc / 2ch / 2 dc / 2 ch / 1 dc.

For the first few rows, make sure to watch those double stitches at the start and end of each row, it's very easy to double in the wrong base.

All that being said, once I stopped being stupid and making stupid mistakes, the solid panel got well going. I do have to say that the colors are beautiful, and I can't wait to see this all done.  It will look like one big iridescent abalone wrapped around my shoulders. :)

Introduction

My name is Pei (peithecelt on ravelry) and I am first and foremost a spinner.  But I am becoming a fairly proficient hooker, and found that I wanted to have a spot to record my fiber work in more detail than the notes on ravelry's project pages need, including more emotional responses to the status of things.

That is what I am doing here. :) 

There will be updates on projects, rants about issues, and if I find something doesn't make sense in the pattern, I will make my notes here so that I can find them later. :)