Wolkig on the Needles

Sometimes a new project is just the thing to get you out of a knitting funk. Well, I decided that was just what I was going to do and a beautiful skein of yarn lying around with my stash happened to catch my eye.

It's a beautiful skein of Ella Rae Lace Merino. I realized I  hadn't uploaded it into my Ravelry stash yet so I did that first. That's something I'm trying so hard to keep updated and this was purchased in 2015 so that's pretty sad. Then, I wound it into a beautiful cake.

I just love how the colors look together and working with it reminded me why I love this yarn so much! It's round and bouncy and beautiful.
I decided to cast on Wolkig by Martina Behm. When I first saw the pattern I wasn't immediately called to it but seeing one in person at Knit Night that a friend was knitting convinced me.
So I cast on and got going. I knit what felt like a ton of rounds on it and it still didn't look like much.

Just a loop. But if I straightened it out, you could start to see how it was shaping up.

I think the way it curls really hides the amount of work you've put into it. Add that to the fact that the simple pattern is repeated 4 times around and it makes you feel like you've knit much more than you actually have.
I decided I wanted to make some serious progress on it so I sat down and really worked on it. Then it looked like this.

Now you can really see what's happening with it. Of course, after this I dropped a stitch and because of where it was and how far it went down, I couldn't get it picked back up and I had to take it off the needle and pull out about 5 rounds to get it back to a point where I could pick up the stitch. Super annoying but I've got it on again and I'm going again.
The pattern is really fun. I love how simple it is so you don't have to think about it too much but yet it isn't so simple that you get bored either. I hope I still feel that way in 100 yards.

Niggling Things

Oh hello there. I seem to have allowed my little blog to fall by the wayside once more. I'm sorry about that. Things have been so crazy and I've been struggling to hold everything together. Then our bunny died. Then our Guinea pig died. It's been rough. 

Honestly I often find myself coming home and just sitting there or playing with my phone rather than crafting. But I miss it. Just like I miss my little blog. So I'm going to try once more to pick this up again.

Since today is Tuesday, let's talk spinning. 

I recently went to a Knitting event put on by some of my local Knitter friends and sat next to a friend who was spinning the most beautiful fiber. It was from Pigeonroof studios and I just loved how the white spaces blended into the singles. It reminded me of some yarn another friend had spun that I adored. It had similar white spaces on the Superwash merino. The yarn came out mottled gray and beautiful with just a few spots of brighter color. I loved it.

Well, then an opportunity presented itself to buy some Pigeonroof studios fiber from a destash. I jumped on it. 

I got this one: whirligig and

This one. It's called Collusion and with the pops of purple I thought it would blend and smooth into a beautiful grayish yarn with pops of color. 

So, of course, I had to start spinning it right away. I chose to use my electric spinner because I know Superwash Merino can be slippery and I thought the even tension and intake would help me be consistent. It seems to be working, although it does want to spin very fine so I have had several breaks. 

I finished the first bobbin two weeks ago. 

I am loving how it turned out and I can't wait to see how it looks plied up. I've been trying to make an effort to spin the second half of the fiber. Now that Tour de Fleece is coming up fast, I'm hoping to get it done and plied before that starts so I can have the bobbins back.

I have 3 for my electric spinner and I would like to take it to our all day spin-a-thon kickoff party so I would like to have the bobbins cleared off and ready for it. 

I haven't set any specific goals yet but I'm planning to dig through my fiber stash and make some plans on what I would like to spin at least. 

I made a concerted effort to log in all my new yarn and fiber today too so that is all caught up and not niggling in the back of my brain. It feels good to get these things going again. Here's hoping I can keep it up.