Lapis socks

Yay! I wasn't sure if I would finish these by the end of October, but here they are!

Yarn: 1-4 oz skein Lapis merino sock yarn

For more information on these socks feel free to drop by my blog.

More Bunny Spinning

I'm putting a lot of miles on the Lendrum this fall!



My first 'novelty' yarn I'm calling 'Satellite'.This is Falkland wool, 'asteroid' colorway from Black Bunny Fibers. Spun up thick and thin chaotic with some crystals and a few tiny little glass stars. Stay tuned for the reverse sockinette hat I have planned.

I liked the Falkland wool- it's a bit toothier then some of the really fine micron wools I've been using but still soft. I liked that actually. The staple was still good for a relative novice, too. It has a slight sheen too. I'm jazzed with trying more breeds of sheep!

Bad bunny

I've been a very bad bunny hopper. I've had no further progress on the Baltic Sea stole and both sock yarns have been languishing. The Starry Night made it on to dpn's before they were unceremoniously ripped out to be cast on using magic loop. But then I was trying to knit both socks from the same ball (I knew it was fast & wrong at the start but did it anyway as all fast & wrongs go). The socks were ripped out again, yarn divided, and now wait next to the needles while I try to remember how to cast on by magic loop again!

A hat

Another finished black bunny project.

This was supposed to be socks, but hubby wanted a hat, so I held two strands together, and a hat is is.



It's top down, with a plain crown and 'staggering fisherman' rib on the bottom.

Feeneeshed!

My BB Spice Cabinet socks are finished! I'm in bed sick today, so you will have to excuse the photo angle. At least I cropped out the pile of laundry. But anyway, the yarn is an absolute dream. I have two more skeins of BB sock yarn in my stash, calling loudly to me. I think I will call these the SLE socks (Sock Learning Experience). The sock on the right is my first-ever sock. I followed the Yarn Harlot's vanilla sock pattern. There are ladders, and a hole at the top of the gusset, and I cast on too many stitches. The sock on the left is my fourth sock (yes, another pair intervened). The ribbing is a little too short, but no ladders at all. Even better, no hole at the top of the gusset! I followed the instructions from Sensational Socks (p. 25) to pick up two stitches at the top of each gusset and then decrease them in the next round. It worked perfectly.

I did some KIP last weekend as I finished up the sock. Several people commented on the lovely colorway, and I may have found you another customer, Carol! Thank you so much for the lovely yarn. (I drool over the etsy shop on a daily basis). And thank you for letting me hop-a-long!

Charcoal F.O.!!!!!!

My beautiful Black Bunny fiber (Charcoal its very self) Has been transformed into delicious Eleonora socks (from Miriam of Mimknits and Icarus fame, recently interviewed by our very own Wendy).

Loooovely yarn to knit with, as I'm sure we can all attest, and really enjoyed the pattern, too. 3 pairs of socks, so far!


(I'm wearing my socks right now, and they are perfect!)


Oh, and I've shown a detail of the yarn for deliciousness-proof.

What next?

Black Bunny Meets Merike Saarnit!

Well, I'd started my socks with my Citrus Sock yarn, and well, the pattern wasn't working. So I frogged. Lucky me, my local guild brought in Merike Saarnit (former owner of Liisu Yarns) and not only did I learn how to handpaint my own yarn, but some stitch patterns to make it work. Here's my BBF swatch.

So, after an inspirational weekend, I have a few ideas kicking around and I do believe I'll be designing my own sock pattern for this yarn!

The Flying Bunny

I'm hopping again! This time I pulled out my Periwinkle laceweight in those gorgeous shades of blue. I never did find a shawl pattern I like more than Icarus, so I decided to try it out to see what happened. The BBF laceweight is perfect for my new project--all I did was graduate up from a U.S. size 3 to a U.S. size 4 needle. I think I'll make fewer repeats through the main body of the shawl to make up for the larger needle. I definitely want to have enough yarn to finish the border!

FYI, I'll be incommunicado for most of the next 3 weeks, because my homeroom class and I are going on a media fast which unfortunately includes the internet. I'll post updates when I can!

Socky Goodness

I have 1 and 1/2 pairs of Black Bunny sock goodness.

Falling Leaves in Kiss are finished:


That's one of my dogs, Georgia, supervising the photography.

And here's a detail of Falling Leaves. I loved the pattern, but would use a more forgiving bind-off next time. The toe-up thing was fine, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm a cuff-down gal.



And here is 1/2 of a pair of Pomatomus (Pomatomi?) in Lagoon. As you might know from Cookie's description of the Pomatomus pattern, it fish-inspired, so I am going for a whole aquatic theme here with the pattern and the yarn. These are for mom for Christmas before she heads off to the Keys. I am LOVING this pattern. I would absolutely make these again.

For more, including a photo of Georgia shamelessly rolling on Falling Leaves, you can check out www.gonzoknitting.blogspot.com.

Black Bunny Sweater for Dulaan

I actually finished this toddler sweater two weeks ago but just got around to posting the pic on here. It's a romney blend worsted weight yarn in "Plum Jam" colorway that waited a whole month for me in the Black Bunny etsy store. As you can see, it's a simple roll cuff raglan, but I just love it. I didn't have any little ones to knit for, so I made it to send to Dulaan Project. I have enough yarn left over, too, to make a matching hat to go with it.

Finished My Hop Along Socks

My Pink Lemonade socks are done. Despite taking me over a month to complete they knit up very quick (I worked on other projects in between sock 1 and sock 2). I love the colors and the yarn worked up like a dream. Details are on my blog.

WIP: BBF HAL socks in Lapis

Look! Here is proof that both there was sun in the Boston area today and that I have been working on these socks. They feel like they are moving a little slowly since they are on US Size 0s. I liked the resulting fabric so much better than on the 1s I tried at first though.

They are such a joy to work on! I have decided the color makes me think of warm caribbean seas. The pattern is really a really simple stockinette one to highlight the great shade variation. I couldn't resist the cute little "seam" of increases up the back. I think I am just gonna knit until I run out of yarn, so these will be a little taller than most of my handknit socks. That will be perfect as the New England weather gets cooler though.

progress: the stash gets bigger, not smaller

Rewind: I had just finished socks in BBF the week this KAL started, and I'm working on my second BBF project. I'm the one knitting the "Stump Cozy Pajama Shorts" (I'm an amputee, and my residual limb gets reallllly cold at night). The socks and the cozy were both previously blogged about here.

Update: I've finished the left (regular) leg. The right leg's front panel is also complete from the waist down to the inseam and was just put on waste yarn. I've cast-on for the right back panel, and once that is knit up, the whole thing will be seamed up, waist to crotch. The unfinished right leg's live stitches will then come off the waste yarn, and the lower portion of the right leg (the amputated leg side) will be knitted in the round and decreased, almost like a hat--and that's what will keep my shorty-leg warm and toasty! Then I'll go back up to the waist, pick up the provisional cast-on, and work up some sort of waistband.



This knit has been slow going. I've never designed a garment before and I find that I get like a deer in the headlights whenever I am faced with a design descision (The hem: picot? garter stitch? folded?...The waist: elastic? drawstring?...The cozy decreases: linear? swirly? patterned?...Should I put in a gusset?...stuff like that). The project stalls for a few days every time there is a new point to ponder.

It's also slow going because I keep taking it off the needles and putting it onto waste yarn, pinning it together, and trying it on to check for fit (definitely not a carry along project).
The reward, however, is that it fits like a glove...and it shall make my butt look good ;-)
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Meanwhile, the BBF stash does NOT decrease as I knit. Ohhh, no. It gets bigger. I'm beginning to think that Carol's choice of the word "Bunny" in her business title had nothing to do with Charcoal, but rather was mojo to make her customer's stash multiply ;-)

A couple of weeks ago, Mexican Sunflower, a gorgeous laceweight merino arrived....



I'm leafing through patterns, and I think I've decided on Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl (Interweave Knits, Fall '06). I'm a little nervous, as I've never worked a lace pattern that has lace activity on the backside, but I am confident that I shall prevail.

Carol also sent me a sample of a tweedy sort of fingering weight she is testing, so I swatched it for her and returned my feedback. This Kelly Green BBF will more than likely become a scarf of a kid's hat.




So great.
I now have both a Latin and an Irish bunny frolicking amongst my stash.
Who knows how many bunny babies will be there the next time I check ;-)

A Little Progress

Here's what I did during the Giants game yesterday. Progress, slowly but surely!

And Someday, I'd Like to Spin Some

I finished the unspun roving hat:

(That's not me wearing it. That's Courtney.)

It's very warm and soft and fluffy--given how much roving I've got left, the hat probably weighs a little more than two ounces. Compare that to 100 g (3.5 oz) for the typical hat made at the same gauge from one skein of Rowan Big Wool--and no one thinks of Big Wool as dense or heavy. It's not very durable, of course (for those of you who don't spin: in general, the more tightly twisted a yarn is, the more durable the knitted product will be, and vice versa). But considering how quick it was to knit, and that more Black Bunny rovings catch my eye all the time, I think I'm probably willing to knit a new one every year or so.

Orangina done!

I guess this is half of a Black Bunny project. My Orangina scarf is done.

The ruffle and edging is my handspun from Black Bunny fibers. The orange base yarn is stash alpaca I dyed.

In case you are wondering what's up with the two stitch patterns, it's convertable. It has a button in the center, and you can wear the ruffled side around your neck, or the lace side. Clever, I thought.

Pre-coffee, wet hair, blotchy morning face! You local folks are lucky you only see this once a year on the bus to Sheep and Wool!

Fickle Hopper

When I last posted I was going to create a shawl out of an acorn pattern using "Acorns"- a beautiful brown/green autumn blend. I couldn't get the pattern to do what I wanted it to (actually, I think it was the math that wasn't doing what I wanted it to) so I decided to set it aside before I got too frustrated. I had banished Traffic Cone back to the box it was mailed in, but somehow it got itself to this form:


















Then, before I knew it, this happened.

















It is "Faun's Eyes" from one of the Barbara Walker books. Hard to tell pre-blocking, but the pattern should form little deer-like faces.

I had also been wanting to spin and this Finn Top she called "Tomato Sauce" was callling to me. I've almost finished the first bobbin- I was afraid I would be ready to ply too soon. The spring on the brake band of my lazykate has been sprung- courtesy of my 2-year-old. Luckily, the MontPelier Fall Fiber Festival is a mere 20 minutes from me (see, there are some things in the middle of nowhere) and less than 48 hours away- yippee! I'll find a new spring there, and this time Sat. night I'll be back in business.









Oh, and about Baltic Sea. It's still here. Same 2-year-old got creative while I was in the shower and tore the yarn- in multiple places-yikes! I'm just glad he didn't pull the thing off the needles. I'll get a picture of it soon.

Sarcelle C'est Fini!

Please ignore the rat's nest on my head (what's up with the dreads in the back of my head!!!! - I swear I showered this morning!), and my butt - but here is Sarcelle, blowing in the wind -





Isn't the Bunny beautiful??? Brandon Mabley, who happened to stop by Rosie's tonight during knitting circle, certainly thought so - he loved the pattern, he loved the yarn, and hmmmm... you think our girl Carol has a future????

Thanks so much Carol for the beautiful yarn!!!! I can't wait to get my next fix - a special order of Mindy's Acorns for the Forest Path Stole from Interweave Knits.

My first (definitely not last) BB project is complete

...Two perfectly unmatched socks! I decided to begin the second sock (left) at a different point in the colorway and loved the effect. I had also grown to loved the way the first sock had developed a striped effect. The result is my first Black Bunny project complete - AND they are my favorite socks that I have ever knit.

I will post some other photos on my blog - http://thekniterella.blogspot.com

This colorway - Cornucopia is amazing! I tried to make sure the pic represents the true colors.

Carol - you are definitely my dyemistress of choice!

Progress is made

I'm now up to row 50 of the Feather and Fan. It started with 8 stitches, was 160 at row 30, is currently 258 on row 50. Time to put it down for a while and work on the other WIPs.