Twisted Fibers

So I got the camera!  Turns out one of the kittens (most likely Oliver) knocked it into the trash can.  Luckily it was just a paper trash can, so no unidentified food (rejoice!).

Here’s my progress after three days of working on the Halloween Afghan.  The colors are turning out just stunning.  I went to Michael’s yesterday to buy two more skeins of yarn for it, and they were having a sale on t-shirts.  It was 5 for $10.  So I bought ten.  A lot of them are humongous and I accidentally got one in a kid’s size.  That is going to be cut up for other purposes.

And, since it has been a while, here is a kitten pic!  They’re cuddling in the sun on the bed.  That’s Rocky on the left and Oliver on the right.  Rocky is becoming such a moose (that’s a good thing, I want a big cat)!

Ah, earthquakes.  Living in California means that I am well acquainted with them.  Last night there was a 4.5, which isn’t that big, but it still gets pretty shaky.  This earthquake happened at about one o’clock in the morning, so I was asleep.  You would think that waking up to the earth moving is obvious that it is an earthquake.  But in my half-awake state I had no idea why my bookcases were shaking back and forth.  Only a few minutes later did I realize what had happened when my mom came to see if everything was fine.  Seriously, I would have just thought it was an awfully strange dream or new kind of vertigo.

On another note, I have gotten a drum carder!  It is a Louet standard sized, the mother of all drum carders.  I have already made perhaps 15 batts and there is wool all over the place.  The Louet has 1/2″ long teeth, so it looks like some kind of torture device.  Rocky and Oliver just adore the boxes of wool that I have around and tend to burrow underneath.

Here is a picture of Rocky enjoying himself:

It has happened again: I have decided to knit a pair of socks.  This is my first time, you see.  Well, I have knit another sock, but never got around to making it a mate.  So I’m going to pretend that this was my first sock.  I’m using the Toe Up Formula on Knitty, which is very helpful.  I’ve got big feet, and women’s size socks are a little too small.  This was a way to get the perfect sized pair.

I’m using Lion Brand Magic Stripes in the Jellybean colorway.  So far so good, though it took a few tries to start out.  Kept messing up by not reading the pattern correctly, or reading it right and thinking I hadn’t (after frogging the whole toe again, I just about screamed in frustration that I had just pulled it out for no reason).

I’m at the point where I’m gonna work the short-row heel.

The past two days I have spent knitting for The Everything Harry Potter Swap over at Craftster, so I haven’t been spinning a lot. It’s ironic that no matter how much I spin, I still knit with commercial yarn. xP My stash is currently taking up four bins of varying sizes.

My newest yarn: Swamp Magic. I spun it from a batt I bought from hobbledehoy, which was the first time I have spun from a batt. It is so very sparkley and also squishy. A 164 yd single that is about worsted weight.

Kittens. Adorable. I swear that they only grow longer and fatter, and no taller. These kittens are so much fun, though we still have to keep them separate from the doggies. Oliver is fine with them, though Rocky (the bigger kitty) is scared witless of them.

From left: Oliver and Rocky

(I love how they seem to be wearing eye liner!)

So many good things! First, we got kittens! Yes, real, squirmy , cute kittens! I have grown up with cats, and never been without one until our dear Peanut passed away about a month ago. The family agreed that we were not ready to live without some fuzzy kitties around the house, so looked around until we got Rocky and Oliver.

(That’s Rocky on the left and Oliver on the right)

Just to keep with the theme of craftiness, this is a pic of Rocky exploring my spinning wheel! Let’s just hope he doesn’t do that while I am spinning…

Yesterday as I was on that kitten high, I sold my first yarn on Etsy! Shipped it off today - I’m so excited! It was my Summer Rainbow Handspun.

The kittens are calling to me (well, more like my mind is screaming ‘Pet a kitten!’) so I will find one.

A month or so ago I bought some roving online. At the time I didn’t realize how much a pound of roving actually was–and I ordered three of them! As soon as I received the box, I pulled it out and took a picture. Elli decided she wanted to see what I was excited about, so she’s in the picture too.

I’ve spun with it and dyed some of the white too (another first!)