Two finished objects ah ah ah

I am very happy to report that my spending spree is over and I am committed to taking pictures of finished objects. That of course, means I need to actually finish projects that I have started. Here is finished object number 1. Dye Version BFL/Nylon in Pendragon. When I finished sock #1, I thought for sure there would be no way they would fit Ry's foot, so I closed the toe early and decided I would find a girl that liked the boyish colors. Not sure why I didn't just get him to try the sock on before I closed it up, since I determined later it fit just fine. So I finished sock #2 at the proper foot length and then ever so carefully undid the toe and started over on sock #1.

Next up, my new Berrocco yarn that I picked up at Janie H. knits a couple weeks ago, evolved into mitts. I didn't take time to find a perfect pattern. I simply used the "Teach yourself visually knitting design" book and threw a pair of mitts together.

I notice it's been a few posts since I've added pics of our newest puppy, Sydney. Here she is...a rare occurrence....sleeping on her bed.

Fortunately for us and Sydney, her mom lives just down the street and pops by for pippy playtime every now and then.

I've been pretty preoccupied with knitting the last few weeks, however I do have a skein of yarn that I am spinning right now. Hand dyed by me on the April 1st dye weekend. 80% BFL/20% silk. Love it.

My stash took an unexpected growth spurt

I certainly wasn't expecting a weekend like I just had.  Alpaca shearing both days, and a quick trip to Perth, ON to check out the huge sale at Janie H. Knits.

My neighbour told about this yarn store around Christmas time, but with my work travel schedule, I hadn't found time to check the shop out....until this weekend.

What a great yarn store.  I absolutely love old farm houses so it instantly had a great appeal for me as I drove by.  Then, as I approached the driveway I realized there were mountains of yarn on the front lawn.  When she said HUGE SALE, did she ever mean it!  I walked around outside for it bit then made my way inside for a sensory shocker.  So much yarn!  The colors, the smells, the textures....WOW!

I felt very good about my selection, and then I overheard Janie tell a lady that all the Fleece Artist yarn was 50% off.  Back to the drawing board and back inside for another round of debit!

The question is now...what the heck do I start first? 

Just a quick recap of what I have on the go right now, for a little perspective.

1.  Abandoned crochet hat
2.  Almost finished second sock (this is what I am desperately trying to finish this weekend)
3.  Cabled sweater (Huggable Hoodie)
4.  Poncho (really...this shouldn't count as it's been on the same needles for 4 years)
5.  Fleece Artist Scarf (this one really doesn't count...just a filler project with left over yarn from a cowl)
6.  Half of the first bobbin of hand dyed BFL/Silk is on the wheel
7.  Freshly sorted Alpaca

and now, here's what is making me nutty to just knit all night long....

1750 yards of lace weight Merino (2 skeins)

197 yards 50% Peruvian Wool and 50% Tencel

197 Yards 50% Peruvian Wool and 50% Tencel

450 yards fingering weight hand painted self striping yarn from Turtlepurl Yarns

Cascade Yarn in South Frontenac Fibres in Lime Green and Chocolate Brown.

Silver Cloud Alpaca Day

Yet another fantastic day helping out at Silver Cloud Alpaca's.

I was a helper again today and yesterday.  Yesterday we did three boys on the table and today we did four girls on the floor.  Paul M had his mat to shear the girls on the floor.

It was pretty cool to see both techniques for shearing.  It all happened so fast today I didn't get any pics.  Whoops!  Maybe next year if I am invited back.

After all was said and done, I was offered a pick of fleeces for my services rendered, which is freaking amazing!  I love the rich colors, so I opted for a dark chocolate fleece, Maggie. 

I would also like to say, I'm glad the Black Rattlesnake story in the hay loft where the fleeces are stored, was saved until I was sitting down in the rocking chair with a rice krispie square in my hand.

Since I have my own Strauch Finest Drum Carder, I'm pretty sure I will make amazing roving from this fleece.

I couldn't stand waiting to sort the fleece, so I decided to just sort is before it even makes storage.  I separated the locks with guard hairs (the more coarse hairs that are higher than the fleece locks).

Then I sorted between soft locks roughly 2-3 inches and crazy soft locks a little longer (3-4 inches).  It's hard to determine between soft and crazy soft, so that was a bit tricky.  Finding the outer locks with guard hairs was a lot easy to do.

I'm pretty happy with my sorting...now to process through the drum carder.  The plan is to card before washing.  Since Alpaca are not like sheep with heavy lanolin, it's more just dust that won't harm the carder nor the wheel.  I remember last year, maybe the year before spinning dusty roving and then washing and the difference was astronomical.  Beige fleece came out sparkling white.

Can't wait to see this fleece spun into yarn.  I wonder what my first project will be?