FO: Strangling Vine

Finally.

After many stops and stops, a lot of procrastinating and even more T-Pins, I finally blocked and finished my Strangling Vine scarf. I unpinned it before Chicks with Sticks at Bluebonnet tonight, so I could take it in for a proper FO photo shoot.

I used US size 2 aluminum circular needles from my Boye Needlemaster and less than one skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in "Capri." I used more than half the skein, but I still have enough left for a small project.

If you look closely, you can see little irregularities around the edges from the T-pins, but it's not very noticeable. In fact, it looks like I did it on purpose to add some sort of semi-picot edging.

The pattern is free, but the designer asks that you perform a Random Act of Kindness in exchange for using it. For my RAOK, I donated a small amount to the Night of Too Many Stars telethon to benefit the New York Center for Autism. It's a good cause. (And Comedy Central has Jerry Lewis beat when it comes to telethons.)

I hope it stays this well blocked. It stayed pinned down longer than it had to, because I was procrastinating on taking out all those pins.

I got plenty of compliments at Bluebonnet, and Suna even took some pictures for herself.

I can't wait until it gets cold again, so I can actually wear it.

WIP: Strangling Vines Scarf (and some spinning)

Are we there yet?
I think it may be time to bind off Strangling Vines scarf. I don't want to make the classic mistake of binding off too soon because I'm anxious to finish. However, it's about 60 inches as is, and will probably grow when blocked. (Keep in mind, it will also be less puckery after blocking.)

My "method" for measuring scarves is to hold them near the top of my head and see how far they are from the ground. I'm about five feet tall, and 60 inches seems to be a good length most of the time.

Being so close to finishing seems almost too good to be true. And I have a lot of Sea Silk leftover. I'm already scanning patterns on Ravelry, but I'm envisioning something simple, lacy and beaded. I think I can do that without a pattern.

Blocking is always a road block for me (no pun intended. Or maybe I should intend it.) And I've never blocked lace before. I'd really like a Knitter's Block and some lace blocking wires. I want to do this right, but all I have for now are T-Pins and old towels.


Spinning Update

In a recent comment, Titianknitter asked about getting together to working on spinning the merino. Actually, it's going pretty well:

I'm getting the hang of it, and I'm almost done with the periwinkle and ready to move to the indigo. The real test will be seeing how it plies.

The yarn is starting to stack up on my Mom's Niddy Noddy. I need to process some of this yarn soon:


Thoughts on Outsourcing
A little while ago I got a call from the third party company that was recently hired by my job to handle some of my job's benefits stuff. It was survey. They wanted my opinion on the ease of the insurance enrollment process. I found myself struggling to remember what parts actually had to do with this company, and what parts had to do with other companies. Because this is how it works (I think):

1) My company has this third party company handling benefits.
2) That company works with other third party companies to provide benefits.
3) The company that does my 401K has another company that's handling the management-it-for-you option.
4) The company that provides the debit card that I can use for my FSA is different than the main company that handles my FSA.
5) The person who called with the survey was probably with another third party company.
6) Keep in mind, my company is a third party company that does lead generation for other companies.

When we think of outsourcing, we imagine Americans losing their jobs, but outsourcing doesn't always mean jobs going overseas. It's confusing, but in this case, outsourcing is allowing my (relatively small) company to offer FSAs and other benefits we wouldn't normally have. On the other hand, half the time I don't know who I'm supposed to talk to when I need something.

Yarn Pr0n: Silk is the Bacon of Fibers

I'll get back to the title later.

Being single and living alone means that I live my life with a certain degree of selfishness and abandon.

For example, yesterday I got paid and decided to celebrated by going to the Mr. Gatti's pizza buffet for dinner. I arrived 45 minutes before they closed. (Hey, they had enough stuff out for me.)

I was so stuffed that I didn't eat much for breakfast (except a nibble here and there) but by about 2:30 today, I was ready for another meal. And what really sounded good was, well, Mr. Gatti's pizza. If I lived with someone, they'd probably say "we just had pizza last night." But I don't live with anyone.

So I went to Mr. Gatti's pizza again for lunch. This makes two meals in a row, and two trips in less than 24 hours. (Fortunately, I don't think any of the staff from last night was there today.)

Being all pizza-ed out, I decided to make my second trip to Gauge in less than 24 hours. Last night I picked up some stuff that was on sale. Today I returned for something that called for a waiting period.

This is Handmaiden Silk Cotton in "Paris." You say you didn't know Handmaiden made Silk Cotton? Until last night, neither did I. In fact, I suspect much of the knitting world is not aware of it. No one on Ravelry has cast on any projects with it, there are no pattern recommendations and it has only been stashed five times.

Gauge also has Sea Silk (the same stuff I'm using for Strangling Vines) and Double Sea Silk, a DK version of the original Sea Silk. I don't think Double Sea is even listed on the Handmaiden website, and there are only three projects listed for it on Ravelry.

It was a hard deciding what to buy. The Handmaiden stuff wasn't on sale, but I knew it would go fast. And because it's hand dyed, it takes a long time to get a shipment. The Handmaiden that came in at Hill Country Weavers last summer went fast and to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been restocked since. Also, Carly said the store has already sold out of a couple of colorways.

Both of the Sea Silks came in some great metallic colorways that I found myself gravitating towards. (Which is unusual, because I normally go for brighter colors.) However, I finally decided to get the Silk Cotton because:

1)I'd never seen anything like it. There are other cotton silk blends, but none quite so....silky.
2)I could only afford one skein, and the next time I buy Sea Silk, I want to buy two skeins for Hanami.
3)I decided I could blaze a trail and be the first person on Ravelry to cast on Silk Cotton. In fact, I plan to design something for it. (Of course, now that I've posted this, someone will probably beat me to it. But I'm ok with that.)

Speaking of silk blends...
When I came home and checked my mail I had a small envelope that baffled me. It was too small to be my Knitters Scavenger Hunt package. And who did I know named Becca?

I remembered when I opened it.

This bit of orangey goodness is 8 yards of Artfibers Kyoto.

Nicole from Stash and Burn started a post in the Stash and Burn Ravelry group entitled "Would you like to try..." The idea was to offer up your little leftover bits for others to swatch. I jumped at the chance to swatch some Artfibers yarn, since it is only sold through the Artfibers store in San Francisco. After hearing about Artfibers on Stash and Burn, I want to visit San Francisco someday, just to go to there. I hear they offer up a few swatch-sized bits of yarn there for free. (Don't quote me on the free part. I may have that wrong.) You can buy some yarn "samples" online, and someday I intend to do that.

But now I can get a head start with my free little bit of Kyoto. I've learned something new about it already. I thought it would be an even blend of wool and silk, like Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb. But in person, I can clearly see it's one ply of silk and one ply of wool. Thanks Becca.

And back to the title, I read on the J-Walk Blog about the Atwood Tavern Bacon Eating Contest. In the video of the contest, a contestant says "Bacon is special. Bacon is sacred. Bacon is the kind of thing that you wrap other food in to make it taste better." I think that's what silk is. You wrap it around other fibers to make them taste better. Or to just make them better. Not that I licked my new yarn...much.

Pre-Oscar Post

I'm heading to Lyndsey's house for a small Oscar party, but first I have pictures from yesterday.

Mmmmmmm....Handmaiden Sea Silk. *drool*

Mom has an old ball winder, but no swift. So we struggled to wind the 437 yard hank, and had to take the thing apart at one point because the yarn got caught. But what can I say, a yarn this nice deserves cake. (*grooooooaaaaaannn*)

I finally settled on the Strangling Vines pattern. Here is my crummy swatch. (I was impatient.)

Despite my hasty swatching, I'm happy with it so far.

Mom got her Spindolyn this week, and I got to try it out. I was tempted to buy one when I was struggling. However, now that I'm getting used to the drop spindle, the Spindolyn seems more difficult to use. There isn't much weight on the fiber, and I had difficulty getting enough twist in the yarn. It's definitely for spinning fine yarn.

This is a very unflattering picture of me using the Spindolyn. (Try to ignore the fact that I look like Jabba the Hutt.) I posted it because it does a good job of showcasing the Spindolyn itself.

Restless

I think it must be from being cooped up sick half the week, but I'm restless and bored. I know all the northern knitters are ready for spring, but I feel like I'm running out of winter. Pretty soon the cold fronts will end, and I'll be hiding in the air condition from the blistering sun.

Belated Valentine's Day
I got my Valentine's Day gift from Jules in the mail today. It actually arrived yesterday, but I didn't get to pick it up from the office until today. I'm sitting here with my stuffed cat right now, and most of the peanut butter cups in the heart shaped box are gone.

Yes, that's the Rasta Beanie that he is wearing in those pictures. Eventually, I'll scan these in and post them properly.

Jules said when you give your girlfriend a Joe Cool keyring, you know it's serious. I need to make room on my keyw. Maybe it's time to get rid of my broken Austin skyline, or my poor, dilapidated My Little Pony.

Battle of the Bamboo Silks
I was looking at an e-mail I got from Webs and noticed that one of their new yarns is Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. The name caught my eye because I've been drooling over Love from Southwest Trading Company's Vickie Howell Collection. I would love to make an entire top out of it, but it's so expensive. (I have also considered making this pattern because I could do it with only two hanks.)

When I took a closer look at the Ella Rae yarn, I was surprised at the stats:

Ella Rae Bamboo Silk
Content: 70% Bamboo/30% Silk
Care: Hand Wash
Weight/Yardage: 99yd=50g
Gauge: 5sts=1" US 7
Knitting Weight: Worsted
Regular Webs Price: $6.95

Vicki Howell Collection Love
Content: 70% Bamboo/30% Silk
Care: Hand Wash
Weight/Yardage: 99 yd/50 g ball
Gauge: 5 sts/inch on #7
Knitting Weight: Worsted
Regular Webs Price: $12.99*
*This yarn is currently on sale for $9.75

Very interesting. (And the Webs price for the Love yarn is similar to the prices I've seen at several LYS's.)

Sea Silk Time

I've decided it's time to reach into my stash and knit up something yummy. Last August I bought some Handmaiden Sea Silk. I'm saving the Blackberry color for Lacewings, but I think it's time to get out the Capri.

After much time on Ravelry I'm looking seriously at Strangling Vine scarf and the Lacy Serpentine Scarf. The Montego Bay scarf seems the most obvious choice, but I want something with a little more substance. I also may try to do my own thing. Either way, this begs to be a silky, drapey, lacy scarf that will rival my one skein mobius. (Maybe I should get a few beads?)