It Has Sleeves

I took a quick break from my current projects to knit up something quick to turn in for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. I had been wanting to try something similar for awhile anyway so in just a couple of days I whipped up this Starfish dishcloth.

I have a friend who we call Starfish and he's been frustrated with everything lately so I gave it to him to cheer him up, now I just need to turn it in for a class in the HPKCHC group.
I've mostly been working away on my Monday Morning Cardigan though and I love how you can actually see the progress now.
 
In the picture you can see where the skeins change but it's much less noticeable in real life and I like it quite a lot. You can't really see how far I've come though, how about now?

That's right! It has sleeves! I'm working up the yoke now. I took a short break from the body and knit both sleeves, then finished the body and last night I attached them and started working the yoke. I like it so far, although the rows are really long with the sleeves attached so I'm really looking forward to the decrease rows. Our knitter trip is coming up this weekend so in just a few days, I'm not sure if this will be done or not but I'm looking forward to trying. I'll also be processing some apples this week that my lovely husband brought home from my Mother-in-law. I'm so looking forward to the smell of delicious apple pie filling cooking and then canning. It's gonna be a great week!

Completed Contest

The husband brought home some cold germs last week and lovingly shared them with me so my knitting and spinning and general doing anything motivation has been really, ultra low. I started my October Vesper KAL socks but haven't been bothered enough to take a photo of them yet, I am working on my sweater but it doesn't look like it yet. All these things add up to nothing interesting to show here.
Yesterday the sun was actually shining and I actually felt motivated to do something but instead of taking all the wonderful pictures I've been planning and posting them here, I cleaned the house. Don't get me wrong, it needed it but it does not make for good blog fodder.
Instead I might as well share the yarn I spun for the Blog Contest from my 400th post. My lovely winner; Jenna said she would like a 2-ply sport weight to knit a shawlette. I did my best to oblige.

I got close to 400 yards and even though it plumped a little when washed, I think she should still have about 350 yards or more for her shawl. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope she loves it.

The colors were soft and subtle enough that where they barberpoled, it still looks soft and lovely and subtle. I definitely think I need to look for Falkland to spin more often.

Chicken Fashion Show

I'm sorry for the long blog silence. I have spent a good deal of time lately dealing with some family things that have come up. I did manage to attend an amazing knitting event that I'd like to share though. A chicken fashion show!
We found a pattern for chicken sweaters on Ravelry and some of our knitting group volunteered to knit them up. Another lovely knitter volunteered her lovely laying hens for the show. We all gathered together and started off with some knitting time and delicious soup.

Thankfully the rain stopped so we could have our outdoor show. We had all the fashions ready.

The models were a little nervous at first.

First came Lily in her Argyle.

This was originally knit for the rooster who was then dispatched because he couldn't get along with the lovely ladies but Lily pulled it off. She did seem to have some trouble tripping on it during her "runway" walk though. Her feet kept getting stuck.

She did look lovely strutting her stuff though.

Next, Benetta was bedazzled!

She kept trying to eat the beads off her sweater but she looked lovely doing it.
Finally Margaux came out in her flowers, joining the other lovely ladies.

They sure do look lovely don't they?


And in the end? No one was any the worse for wear.

Although their sheep did think we were a bit odd.




 Overall, it was a very fun time and I'm so glad to have such great (if slightly odd) knitting friends!

The Sweetness of Socks

As much as I love a good sweater knit and I'm enjoying my sweater knitting a great deal, I don't always have the mental capacity for a long row like that. Sometimes I just need something smaller, more portable, more wonderful.
Enter: The knitted sock. Anyone who has read this blog at all or knows me in person knows how much joy I find in knitting socks. I am rarely without a sock project and the few times I find myself without one, I don't know what to do with my hands. I almost exclusively knit them when out and about and do not hesitate to whip out a sock and knit a few rounds anywhere. In line at the grocery store, waiting for a train, almost anything.
Lately I've been pretty obsessed with Vesper self-striping sock yarn. I love how soft it is to knit but it gets even softer after it's washed. So far all my pairs have worn really well (although I only knit my first pair last October so that's not very long-term yet.)
This year I've been participating in the Vesper Socks KAL in the Vesper group. I am loving choosing a skein of Vesper to knit each month and earlier this year, it encouraged me to buy a few skeins so I was sure to have enough to make it through the year. I'm yarn/fiber dieting now until my local knitting group's retreat weekend in Duluth and it kills me a little bit each time she posts that new colors are going up. (I have barely contained myself when it comes to Sweater Vest and honestly, I'd love to collect all the pretty colors.)
I have consoled myself by knitting Vesper that I already own. This is Dragon's Blood. I honestly wasn't too sure why I decided to buy it but I'm so glad I did. I really love how these look.

Despite my misgivings about how close in color they are to last month's socks, I'm not finding myself dragging my feet on them at all. I've finished the first sock and I'm working away on the second now. Right on schedule and if I focus on them for the weekend, I could probably finish the second sock.
I'm doing another toe-up sock pattern. This time the toe-up sock with Slip Stitch Heel (scroll down to help and download the Sock Templates.) I can't say why I've been drawn to toe-up socks lately. It's not as though I'm trying to use up as much yarn as I can but I don't mind them toe-up with these patterns and I'm actually enjoying them so onward I knit! Maybe it has actually converted me to a toe-up sock knitter. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, I'll just be over here with my stripey socks.

Actual Knitting on a New Sweater

This may sound silly but I've been spending my knitting time actually knitting lately. I decided to cast on a sweater and I'm working away on it in the hopes that I can actually get it done in a reasonable amount of time.
Since I finally finished Spoke, I felt like it was okay to cast on a new sweater  I recently cleaned up the stash also (which is really still in-progress, it's not completely organized) but I discovered I have quite a few sweaters worth of yarn. That makes me want to get to it!
I thought about the swatch I knit awhile ago. A nice, big swatch and I dug it out. I knew it was too loose so, as crazy as it sounds, I knit another swatch. I also washed it and laid it out to dry before making a decision about my sweater. My gauge wasn't perfect, it didn't match the intended gauge exactly but it was much closer so I did a little math (I know, this whole story sounds like some other knitter doesn't it?) and figured out that by casting on a smaller size in the pattern, I would get the intended size of finished object. So I did.

I'm knitting the Monday Morning Cardigan by Laura Chau and I'm loving it! The body is cast on at the bottom, you knit upward, with waist shaping, and then knit the sleeves and join it all together. I've really focused on it the last week or so and I'm making good progress.

I love the slipped stitch pattern too. For one thing, I think it can be slimming and it's fun to knit. The wrong side row has more knits than purls so it goes fast and the right side row, while it's mostly purling is broken up enough that it doesn't drag. The yarn I'm using, Arucania Nature Wool, isn't super soft to knit with but when I washed the swatches, it softened up quite a bit so I'm really looking forward to having this finished sweater.

I Think it's an Illness

Lately I've even surprised myself with my ability to focus on a project enough to get it done, it's almost eerie.
That is to say; I've been very good at finishing things lately. I finished my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. I knit this out of handspun and used a smaller needle than the original pattern called for because I was using a thinner yarn.

I'm so happy with the result though! I got 4 total eyelet rows and a full set of increase rows before the edging. I also knit an extra two rows in the edging to make the most of the yarn. I have just a small ball of this lovely handspun left.

I love the size and shape of this shawl as well as the colors. I'm such a purple person and it goes so well with my personality that I see it being a huge staple in my winter wardrobe. As a matter of fact, I intend to carry it around with me at all times. It's perfect to wrap around your neck if you're just a little cold or need something to accent your outfit. This yarn was handspun out of Cloudlover 80/20 Merino/Silk in the Ligeia colorway. I chain-plied it and came up with over 500 yards. From the beginning, I knew this lovely purple would be great as an Age of Brass and Steam and I'm so happy it's done and I love it as much as I had hoped. (The colors in the photos today aren't the best. I blame the grey and rainy weather, check out my edited Flickr photos if you're interested in what these really look like.)
I've also been focusing very well on my sock projects. Don't worry, I'm not done with those Vespers I posted about the other day, although they will now be my main focus, instead I focused on a pair I had hoped to turn in for the Harry Potter House Cup.

May I introduce the Ostrich Fantasy socks. I dug out all my nom from Gritty Knits last weekend and chose a skein to knit into a pair of socks. I originally thought to enter them into the Solid Socks group as well because their sponsor for September is Gritty Knits but a reread of their rules told me I needed to match the color they chose for the month as well as make them solid to semi-solid although I can't double-dip by turning them in the Harry Potter group and the Solid Socks group, I'm still thrilled to have them done. I chose the most recent nom of the month; River a very nice semi-solid greenish-blue and while I thought the pattern was quick, it was not easy. There was some finagling to get it to work out, it did not work with the directions as written in the pattern. There was also no chart; even after creating a chart for myself I still found I had to change a couple of things to get the stitch count to work out. While I enjoyed it, I won't be knitting these again soon. I think a good blocking of these socks will help the pattern to even out and hopefully make them a little easier to get over my heel. There's a little struggle with that at this point although they fit very well once they are on. For full notes about the modifications I made to this pattern, you can check out my project page on Ravelry.
See what I mean? All the finished things are a bit odd. Don't expect it to last. I've started a new shawl on the needles used by the Age of Brass and Steam and I've swatched for a sweater. I also have plans for a hat. I should really go wind that yarn and decide on a pattern as a matter of fact.

A Short Week but Lots of Progress

These short weeks definitely throw me for a loop but I have been making some progress on things.
I had made a sweater pact with a friend to finish our sweaters before Labor Day. I realized it was sneaking up fast so I dug out the sweater I was working on and got going. The design is Spoke and for the most part, I enjoyed knitting it. I spun this yarn from two 8-ounce braids of Frabjous Fibers BFL in the Chocolate Cherry Colorway. I actually ran out at the last and used about 10 yards from a different skein of handspun for the bind-off and button loops. To be honest, I should have read the directions more carefully before I started this sweater. It has a lot of ribbing which was not the most fun to knit and I wasn't all that pleased with the way the front, which on the pattern page comes all the way across, does not come all the way across. I love it anyway though and rather than sew it shut as the pattern calls for, I crocheted button loops and sewed on 11 buttons! So they would go all the way around the circle part.

Overall, I'm very happy with how it came out.

I finished it up on Sunday meaning, I did finish in time! My friend sadly did not have enough time to finish her sweater. Maybe now that the weather is turning colder, she will be motivated. I definitely feel; now that this sweater is done, it's time to cast on another. I'm thinking of that lovely purple swatch from a few months back. 
I also worked on my Vesper KAL socks. I knit these for the month of August and finished them partway into September. I believe on the first, although I did weave in the ends the following morning.

As I've said before, I knit these toe-up with Wendy Johnson's Toe-up Gusset heel. I will be very interested to see how this heel wears. The colorway is Monet's Garden and I like it but I'm not in love with it, I love my Vesper socks though and I know these will get lots of wear as the weather turns colder.
Of course I had to figure out what colorway to cast on for September and settled on Dragon's Blood.

It seems a little similar to the Monet's Garden (with the chartruese replaced with orange) but the purple is more plum than purple and the pink seems a little lighter so hopefully I won't get bored with them. I started these toe-up again and I haven't decided what heel I will work just yet. Since I just finished the toe increases, I have some time to decide.
I love a plain sock knit so much. Especially while I'm reading and as I've started rereading the Harry Potter books, inspired by the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup, I should have lots of time for that!

August Endings

The crazy month of August is almost over and I'm so thankful. It's been fun and a wild ride but I'm going to be very happy for things to slow down for awhile now!
We spent last weekend camping with my in-laws, it was fun but coincided with a major heat wave so the heat was miserable. Not miserable enough that I didn't want to knit though. I finished the first of my Vesper Monet's Garden socks and started the second.

I decided to knit these toe-up and used the Sock Template (which is a PDF download from her Free Patterns tab) from WendyKnits blog to do a Toe Up Sock with Gusset. I like how it turned out but without the slip stitches on the heel, I am curious to see how it wears.
I've also been working away on my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. So far I have 4 eyelet rows and I don't think I will get another. I've taken to weighing the yarn in between rows to gauge when to start the rows of garter edging. It's going to be soon. I'm still in love with the colors of the yarn and excited for this lovely thing to be finished.

The yarn is still so difficult to photograph though and at least here you can see the subtle shading of purples although it's darker in real life.
The sorting for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup has taken place now too. I was placed in the Not Quite First Years (NQFY) group, which is totally fine as I haven't played along before (hence my low priority on sorting) so I will be over there plotting how to fit the projects I'd like to knit into the classes once they're posted.  (You can still join us as a NQFY, check out the group, it's gonna be a blast!)
I'm pretty sure I will be knitting a Solid Sock for the Solid Socks group as the September sponsor is Gritty Knits. If you've been reading for awhile, you know I'm a big supporter of Gritty Knits so I have tons of her lovely yarns on hand to knit into solid socks. I may even do their Mystery Sock for which all the clues are already posted and spoiled (I'm totally okay with that).
It's also about time to start thinking about Holiday Crafting. I have one knit done and several others in mind so I'll be starting those soon.

A Little Askew

I've been trying to be organized and get some things finished. I have some brown natural wool on the wheel that I want to get done so I can start Jenna's prize spinning and I can't seem to motivate myself to work on it. I did spend all day Sunday at the Forest City Stockade working on it though, in between explaining spinning to passers-by. I even got the husband to dress up with me.

(All the pictures today are sideways, I cannot for the life of me get them to straighten out and I'm sick of trying. I may be a little too sleep-deprived to care right now.) Yes, that's a bonnet, what can I say, I couldn't wear my sunglasses and it definitely helped. What it didn't help with was the super heat. It's been very hot the last couple of days.
What does that say to me? Apparently knit a hat.

I couldn't stop thinking about the lovely, drapey 50% Merino/50% silk yarn and I decided it did need to be knit into a slouchy hat, whether it would look good or not. I cast on last night and finished it today. I love it a little bit, even though it's not very flattering on me.

It turned out so pretty though. I fiddled around with the stitch count to make sure it didn't pool. It still pooled a little bit during the increases and decreases but I love how it striped with the little blips of blue in the other places on the hat.
Now I'm absolutely not allowed to cast on anything new until I finish something else though. I've been working on my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief again and it's slowly growing. I've also been working on my Georgia on my Mind socks and I'm at the heel flap on the second sock. The end is in sight on these two projects so it shouldn't be too hard to finish something.
For the most part I'm getting ready to go camping though! This weekend we're going camping with my in-laws near Richmond, MN. I hope it doesn't rain as much as the weather report is predicting because we are tenting it! I've aired out the tent and started to assemble camping supplies. It's gonna be a great time and I'm hoping I will get lots of knitting done.
Not only for my own sanity do I want to finish something, I signed up for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup sorting. I haven't played along in the past so it's very possible I could get placed in the Not Quite First Years group and not get sorted into a house but it's going to be fun anyway and they require you don't cast on for you projects for classes until the start-of-term. That's September 1. (Although previously unfinished items can get turned in for Detention if finished for some points.) Come join us and play along, it's going to be so much fun!

Contest Winner (and some other stuff)

This has been a somewhat odd week. I can't seem to remember what day of the week it is at any given time. That's partly because I was up all night on, I think, Wednesday night for no apparent reason. I just couldn't sleep. I did get lots of spinning and knitting time because I wasn't asleep though.
I've been focusing on cleaning off bobbins this week because I will be demonstrating spinning at Forest City Stockade this weekend! I will be there Sunday, in costume, spinning so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of cleared-off bobbins. As part of that, I thought I could get something finished so I really focused on my Targhee, it was taking up multiple bobbins.
Now, however.

I divided this fiber by weight to spin a traditional 3-ply. I have no idea if my scale malfunctioned or if it was just me not doing it right but the second bobbin ran out long before the first and third, since the singles were pretty consistent, I don't know how that happened. I wasn't sure about doing a center-pull ball with one and plying from inside/outside and using the other bobbin so instead I just chain-plied the remaining singles. It was a lot more singles than I would have thought it would be! I ended up with about 180 yards of chain-plied yarn and about 290 yards of the traditional 3-ply for a total of 470 yards. I wound it all into one skein so I'm not sure how I will knit it when I decide to work with it. I'm really happy how it came out though! It's very even and consistent, not over-plied or really over-spun.

Even immediately after removing it from the niddy noddy it didn't twist very much at all. I love how squooshy and bouncy it seems too. I think this will get knit into something beautiful in the near future.
I'm really trying to focus on finishing off some projects because I feel like I don't get things done if I have too many things to divide my time between but a new pattern was released today. It's called Cursed Cable Mitts and a dear online friend really wanted someone to KAL it with her so she gifted me the pattern, leading me to decide the lovely Malabrigo sock that wasn't working in the Lohengrin socks should become these lovely mitts.

Isn't it lovely? I think the subtle color changes, that were too much for the very complex Lohengrin pattern will be just right for this slowly shifting cable. If you decide to knit this pattern too, let me know so we can KAL together!
I'm also starting to daydream about another shawlette. I found this lovely skein of yarn the other day (unlabeled, for shame!)

It's sort of a brown and green with hints of purple handspun 2-ply and I have a little over 500 yards. I am thinking of knitting Multnomah again. It's such a fun knit and turns out so pretty. I think that little bit of extra yarn might make it that little bit larger that I'd like. I'm not sure what yarn this is, I need to find my spinning journal that's full and look it up, but I'm pretty sure that it has silk in it because it has a lovely shine. I plan to finish my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief before casting this on so it's not too much of a rush yet.
One last order of business, the thing you really came for right? The blog contest from my 400th post is now finished! I selected the winner via Random.org and the winner is: *insert drumroll sound here* Jenna! Jenna is a real-life friend so I am very excited to spin this lovely Falkland just for her!

Congratulations Jenna and thank you everyone for entering! I love doing contests so I will probably do another one soon.

I Think it's an Improvement

It was a busy weekend. I traveled down to Litchfield for a wedding on Friday, it was an adorable outdoor wedding. Very much like the people who got married. I managed to wake up from sleeping on a strange bed with more pain from my pinched nerve though. That part of the weekend was not fun at all. I did manage, with a great deal of alternating heat and cold and ibuprofen to make it through the weekend and finish a sock.

Last week, in order to keep myself from casting on something new, I dug out this project. I was about halfway through the first sock and decided it was too loose and ripped it, went down a needle size and cast on again. I managed to finish the first sock and start the second. I really like this pattern. It's called Georgia on my Mind by Leslie Thompson and it's like a plain stockinette sock with a seed stitch panel to break it up and keep it interesting. I really enjoyed knitting (and reknitting) the first one. The yarn is some Three Irish Girls I purchased from a destash. It's Adorn sock in Lucerne and I love how it's basically a plain grey with pops of color. I had to do a little fiddling to keep the sock from pooling the same colors together and I love how it came out.
Last night I was frustrated though. I was sick of being in pain and not getting enough sleep because of said pain and I had argued a bit with the Handsome Husband so I needed something new. Something pretty and shiny and wonderful so I cast on a new slouchy hat.

What's that? It doesn't look like a slouchy hat? That's because it isn't. I ripped it out. I just don't think it will look good on me and I love this yarn so much, I want it to be something so awesomely amazing! Maybe I will decide on something soon.
The thing is, I'm having a hard time knitting today. My neck/shoulder area is somewhat better but unless I sit just right, with arm propped up just right and neck supported, I can't do anything. It hurts too much, sadly this is an improvement over yesterday when I couldn't do anything at all, including breathing, without pain. My wheel and I are disagreeing too so spinning is out and I just need to find something to do to keep myself from going crazy and watching too much Netflix

Quicksand

I finished my test-knit well in time for the deadline. I really love how it turned out but I think I should have knit it on larger needles to make it bigger. It's about 13" deep and I like it but I wanted it to be big and cozy and it's not quite there. I love it anyway.

It's knit from some handspun Merino from Gritty Knits Merino-of-the-month. I had one braid and purchased a braid from a friend when she didn't love the colors. They really aren't my colors either but it was just so compelling, I couldn't resist! I spun both four-ounce braids into a lovely squishy two-ply fingering weight. I had about 530 yards and this pattern didn't take the whole 8 ounces so I may pull out the edging and knit it larger. I haven't decided yet.
I definitely recommend looking for this pattern soon though, it's wonderful and a quick, easy and customizable knit! It will be up on the Simple Knits design page soon!
Unfortunately, I haven't had a whole lot of knitting though, have a pinched nerve in my neck/shoulder area. Mostly I've been medicating and sitting propped up with pillows so I don't move and it doesn't hurt. Not very realistic for life though. Hopefully with a trip to the Chiropractor, I will be back and moving (and knittng) soon!
P.S. Remember to enter the giveaway in post 400! The contest ends 8-15-13. 

Decay is Done

It was a busy weekend with a trip to South Dakota, church and Knit night. I did manage to get a few things done though. I finished my Vesper KAL socks for July. I decided to knit the Arch-shaped socks from this lovely skein of Moondance.

I'm not too sure about the fit of these but they look lovely. I love the colors.
I also finished spinning some Cloudlover Shetland in the colorway Decay last week so I finished plying it today.

I absolutely love how it turned out. I decided to chain-ply the singles and it became a lovely worsted-weight skein of yarn, about 234 yards.

I was hoping to knit some heavy-weight socks for winter from this skein but I'm not sure this would be enough so it might become an awesome hat instead.
I love the colors in the braid of Decay and this skein shows them off so well, I'm absolutely in love with it. I think as soon as it gets its soak, twack and dry it will be knit.

Just a Quickie

I thought I'd do a quick post, even though I'm leaving in about 15 minutes for a trip. The other day I signed up for a new test knit. The pattern will be called Quicksand and it's designed by Vicki Mikulak. I've knit for her before, her patterns are called Simpleknits designs. I really love her patterns and I don't have deadlines right now so I decided to go for it.
I got her permission to use some great handspun.

Wound it up so I was ready to go and cast on.

I've got a fair start and I love how it's working up. I think it's a very fun knit and I'm taking it as a great travel project. I'm knitting version 1 and there are 3 so definitely look for this pattern soon, I think it will be worth your time.
Don't forget to enter the blog contest on my previous post, it's open until the 15th of August.

Four Hundred and a Giveaway!

This is my 400th blog post! I feel like it should be epic. It really isn't though, just everyday knitting stuff.
My Vesper KAL socks for July are on a timeout because I managed to completely snap one of my needles. Really I can just swap out another set but I was kinda annoyed so they're taking a short break.
I've started a few new things recently. I started a baby sweater for a friend who is having a little one in January. She adores the color green (especially this bright, lovely green) so I cast on a green baby sweater.

So far it doesn't look like much of anything but it will knit up quickly if I actually work on it. The yarn is nom from Gritty Knits in the colorway Brazil and the pattern is Maile Sweater by Nikki Van De Car. They don't know the gender yet (although we have suspicions) so I'm hoping the color and pattern won't look too girly in case it isn't a girl.
I also finally started my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. It's knit from my Cloudlover handspun Merino/Silk in the colorway Ligeia. It's beautiful and over 500 yards of chain-plied yarn so although I'm knitting it on size US 3 needles, it should be a decent kerchief.

I cast this on then promptly went to a family reunion bringing ONLY this project. If you know me in real life, you know that's odd. I knit on it a lot in the car since my husband drove and while visiting with family. Then we went and hung out with our gaming friends and I knit on it some more. I got a good distance on it since it was all I had to knit! 
I also decided that my lovely little French Press Slippers, which I adore, were too worn out to repair so I had to knit another pair. This is my third pair! I just love them because I can wear them everywhere.
They're not too heat-inducing for the summer and they're great for spring/fall/winter too.

Hard to believe these will fit my feet soon isn't it? They're in felting right now though. I started these last night and finished them this morning. I only took so long to knit them because I spent a little time reading last night and also I really took my time sewing up the outside edges, reinforcing it because that's where the other two pairs have worn out. I don't bother with the strap part of the slippers, it's purely decorative and they stay on fine without so I just keep them as they are. I am hoping to dye these some other color but we'll see. The white might be cute.
The Garter Monster Shawl Take 2, Mini monster is finished too!

It's one of the three projects I finished knitting while visiting with family. I really like how this one turned out too and I'm going to be writing up the pattern (then looking for test-knitters) so I can release it as a pattern! You may remember the original Garter Monster knit from DK/worsted yarn. I wanted to knit it again to make more detailed notes about the pattern so I used a fingering-weight handspun. I think it turned out beautiful.

I'm going out of town again this weekend so I will probably take one or both of the Garter Monsters to wrap up in if the Air conditioning is too chilly.

The month of August is coming up fast and it's set to be very busy so there will be lots of running here and there. Hopefully it won't affect the blogging schedule too much because the travel will be mostly on the weekends.
In the meantime I really need a travel sock so it's time to dig out some other needles for that Vesper sock. It can't hide in it's project bag forever.
Also, since it is a special 400th Blog post, let's do a giveaway! 

This is a 4 ounce braid of Zarzuela Fibers Falkland. The colorway is Cinnamon Stick and it was part of her fiber club for September 2012.

I'm going to give this away as a custom-spin! You tell me how you'd like it spun and I'll do my best to comply! Two-ply lace? Chain-plied worsted? Let me know what you want! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this blog post. I'll leave it open until August 15th to be sure everyone has a chance to enter. At that time I will close the comments and draw a winner! We will communicate and I will spin it up for you. (Please note, I hate that I have to say this but nasty and negative comments will be deleted and not considered for the drawing.)