Catching Up: a four-fer

I have the most wonderful readers in the world.  Many, many thanks to the overwhelming number of people who commented on my last post about Tidget, my missing cat.  Quite a few of you have gone through the same thing, and some of you were lucky enough to have your cat come back, even after an extended period, which was wonderful to read.  I’m sad to have to report that I’ve not seen Tidget, nor have I received any calls from someone who might have found her.  I suppose it’s still possible that she will return – who knows?  On the positive side, my other cat, Muushuu, has had a dramatic change in personality.  I hadn’t realized just how submissive he was to the bossy Miss T.   He has blossomed in the last two weeks into a total love sponge. 

Meanwhile,  the fibery activity has continued, so it’s time to play catch up.  Sorry if it’s a bit of overload, but I seem to have fallen behind, so I’m going to a one swell foop type post and “git ’er done.”

I’ve been knitting.  :-)

Back in June of ’09, I spun a sparkly red yarn from a merino/silk/glitz batt from Enchanted Knoll.  It’s now become a Mirage scarf.

I love the texture in this pattern.

I’ve already given it to friend who fell in love with the yarn when I first spun it, and she’s already worn it at least twice in my presence.  I know it’s not necessary, and once you give something away you have no stake in it, but I must admit that I do love it when people appreciate and use gifts – especially handcrafts.

A more recent spin, this time a BFL/silk blend from The Thylacine, has become a 198 yds of Heaven shawl.

After blocking, the yarn softened up quite nicely and has a bit of shimmer from the silk.  I followed the same mods described in other Ravelry projects to make the edging line up better with the pattern.

I’m not normally one for lace patterns in multi-coloured yarns, but I think this stitch pattern is strong enough to hold its own with the subtle striping.  This will be a Christmas present for my new sister-in-law.  I know she wears shawls, but I don’t know she feels about handcrafts.  I guess I’ll find out.

The spinning continues.

  This merino/silk/bamboo blend is the first instalment of a new round of the Mixed Blessings club from Fat Cat Knits.  I love doing these, because it really gives you a chance to play.  I decided to rip the two braids apart and separate out the colours.  One I kept with all the dark purple and blue tones, and the other …

… I tried to gradate from yellow through orange to blue.  The finished yarn, 366 yards of two-ply at 15 wpi, came out like this:

   Since I seem to be in full-blown scarf mode, it’s already been cast and about half knit.  But more about when it’s done. :-)

Just one more:

This was my first try at spinning Rambouillet.  It’s from Hungry for Handspun in the Purple Dusk colourway.  It’s related to merino, and the fibre has that same spongy feel.  The finished yarn came out quite soft and really poofed up after finishing.

It’s a three-ply sock weight, 477 yards from 4.5 oz, and 15 wpi.  I loves it muchly.

There, all caught up.  If you made it this far, thanks for sticking it out! :-)