Victorian Shoulderette and all that Jazz!

Hello! Sorry I haven't written in a while. I had a week filled with classes at work. I'm not sure why the mental thinking work is often more tiresome than physical type of work. Not that I don't enjoy a good mental workout, but it sure makes for one sleepy camper when I get home at night. I've been learning about this new software and how to create and run different reports out of the system. It's specialized and not an off the shelf type of program. This causes lots of turns and twists in the thinking on how to create something and link various tables together to pull the information I need to pull.

I found a pattern by Sivia Harding Knit Design called the Victorian Shoulderette at a local yarn shop, Village Tea and Yarn. I was so happy to discover this pattern that I can do without a lot of yardage (pattern calls for 250 yards) of yarn. I just so happened to have some handspun that I've been wanting to make into something special, and this will be it! I couldn't stand to wait and cast on the shoulderette yesterday. I have modified the pattern a little so I could put a button closure on the neckline. I did this by adding a few stitches to the cast on and working them in so the lace pattern would come out when I got to that point. It's also done in a heavier gauge yarn than the pattern called for, so it's being knit on size 8 instead of size 6 needles. I love how it's turning out. I just need to knit the outer edge on it, though I may decide to change over to a solid color handspun for that so the lace shows up better. Here's a photo of the progress made in just one day.


I have been working with Jazz's fleece again. I took her with me to Sam's home just to show her how cool it is to pull the two coats apart. I am hooked on how fun this is. I think Sam has fallen for the process as well. It's not fast, but it's very cool how the two coats just slide apart when pulled at both ends. We've made a lot of progress on the fleece so far. Jazz is owned by Misty View Farm in Newberg Oregon. Don't be getting any ideas though, I've already written her owner to see about reserving the purchase of the 2007 fleece from Ms Jazz :-o Below is a photo of the two coats that have already been separated. The outter coat is called the Tog and it is coarse. The softer undercoat is called the Thel. I'll have to remember which is which. I think Tog sounds like a rough and tough individual, if it were a persons name. That may help me remember. The lighter colored fiber is the Thel, and the darker fiber is the Tog in the photo below, but it's sort of a mix since not all of the Thel is light and not all of the Tog is dark. It may be my imagination, but I think you can actually see the difference in the texture in this photo. Double click the picture to enlarge and see if you agree.

I've been working on some socks for my Mom with the Elektra Lite (special request to leave more white in the fiber) superwash merino that I spun. This is some from Lisa Souza and it is so very soft! Mom loves blue, so these should be just right for her. I should have taken a photo for you all. Perhaps later in the week I'll get sock #2 done and can proudly show that I indeed finished them both :-)

I say to the Lorax, I have not forgotten Wayne's Sweater, but finishing it sooner will not mean it's better. (sorry, couldn't resist a little rhyme for Dr. Seuss) I'm working on it!!! Honest! :-) I've spun two more bobbins of singles for the project. One more to go before I ply it into a skein. Since I'm knitting and spinning on the same project, thank goodness for two spinning wheels! I like to keep a skein ahead of the knitting. In other words, when I am knitting on the last skein I have ready to go, I get worried and start getting the other skein finished so I have one in reserve so it can be washed and dried before it's started to get knit into the sweater. So far - so good with this method - I just don't have as much knitting to show for it.

Hey, I'm a new Aunt! Check out Stacy's blog and see a photo of the newest relation, Liam Alrik. Born November 8th, 2006 at 10:19 pm. 8 pounds, 15 ounces (4052 grams) 21.5 inches. He's a cutie!