Well 2007 is almost over and it's time to start all yearly processes again. But in the meantime I've collect photos of my finished knit projects for the year and put them together into a collage to wrap up the year. I thought aobut trying to type up a list of resolutions and goals for the upcoming year, but have decided against creating a list.
I did make a list up for myself last year at this time and unsurprisingly I didn't finished them all. So I'm not going to create a new list for 2008. I still hope to complete all the things on the list for this year and do some others too. I'm just going to keep everything a little less formal.
I've had a good 2007 and have a good feeling about 2008. I know I'll be working on my spinning skills. You may have noticed a spinning wheel under the tree in my Christmas post photo. If fact, I'm working on that today. I've spun up some singles that need to be plied together. So hopefully I'll have some photos of some finished yarn to post tomorrow. I've also been working on my Noro Sakura sweater. I'm not going to have it finished by year's end - but It won't be much longer.
I hope you all have a great time celebrating tonight and have a wonderful New Year.
The lining for the bag is constructed out of two colors of cotton fabric and interfacing. I'm lucky that my mom decided to visit us for the holidays and is a sewer to boot because she kindly agreed to use her skills to stitch this lining up for me. I'm so glad she did this because I don't think I could have gotten the lining finished so nicely.
I did add a bottom to the bag to help it keep it's shape. There is a sleeve in the bottom of the bag that has a piece of cardboard slipped into it, but I'm looking for something a little more sturdy. I'm keeping my eyes open for a piece of corrugated plastic. The sleeve is made out of the same fabric as the lining on one side and the pocket color on the other.
I also used different handles than called for in the pattern. I wanted something that could be carried over the shoulder. I think that it will make the bag much more usable than a pair of small plastic handles. My handles are some type of cord or plant material with some wooden bead detailing. I picked out a coordinating button for the flap to help hide the snap and add a little decoration.
I have been doing a little bit of knitting, but honestly not a whole lot. I had hoped to be a lot further along with this project than I am. This is the Portland Sweater I'm knitting out of Noro Sakura. I've been sidetracked by the holidays and this new interest in spinning. but I have made a little bit of progress on this project. I had hoped to finish this sweater by Christmas - but that isn't looking too good.
I have already been to two of the classes and the third session is scheduled for this Wednesday. The first two classes focused on spinning on a spindle. This yarn is a 2-ply Blue faced Leicester in it's natural sheepy color. By this time, I think that the spinning and drafting has gotten a little bit easier, but I don't think there is much improvement in the finished yarn. This time I ended up with under spun singles and in a lot of places the yarn is wrapped instead of plied. I think part of this is do to the under spinning and uneven thickness of the singles. I 'm still hoping the more I do it, the better it will get.
Our second week was spent trying out a new fiber, Corriedale. Part of the idea of the class is to try out new fibers and figure out the difference in spinning. I really liked working with the Corriedale. So far it is has been the easiest to spin in my opinion. Overall this yarn seems a little more even, but not a whole lot better. I still don't have any of the fancy little tools and gadgets for spinning so I can't tell you how many wraps per inch or estimate the yardage. Maybe Santa will drop some off under the tree this year. This week we get to sit at a wheel for the first time.
I have a skein of the sock yarn in this color too. I should have pulled it out for comparison here. The colors seem a lot brighter here in the worsted weight than they do in the sock weight.
I don't really have any immediate plans to start knitting this up. I'm still working on my Noro Sakura sweater. I should have an update for you on the sweater next week. I've also been using my spindle. I"ll show those results too. It is getting easier, but it isn't anything to jump up and down about yet.
But in the meantime, here is another yarn purchase from SAFF. This is TV yarn, aptly named since all the colors are named after TV shows. And of course it will eventually be knit in front of the TV. But I don't think that last bit had anything to do with the naming convention.
Yarn Details
I'm in the process of felting the bag now. I have washed the bag a couple times and have it drying on top of the washer to check when I get home from work. I think I'm going to go ahead and run it through a couple more times before calling it quits. I think it will turn out okay.
These photos were from Thanksgiving and you can see we had good weather. We spent our time playing keep away with the Frisbee - that is Sherman's favorite game, watching movies, eating, and of course I knit. We had a great time. 
This is Silk Garden I have stashed away for a couple different projects. The nice red color has been put aside to knit 
The other color is set aside to knit 
I'm really liking both colors together and have decided any and all leftovers from these two projects will be combined in a scarf. After putting these skeins together for photos; I've decided that I really like the combination.
It doesn't really look like Kureyon to me any more. The striping seems a little bit lost. I do like the variegated color though and I imagine that I'll like it even more after the bag is felted. I'm expecting to finish the knitting of this bag over the Thanksgiving weekend coming up. I plan on spending a good part of the weekend knitting.
I also got a little jump start on my Portland Sweater using the Noro Sakura. It's more of the same, just rounds and rounds of garter stitch. The good thing about this one is that I'm really excited about the colors and texture of the yarn all knit up. It is going to be an excellent light weight sweater, great for spring. It has such a different feel than the Kureyon I'm using for the bag. I'm hoping to make some more progress on this sweater this weekend
With a little help from Dave, I was able to see that I was actually slipping a stitch purl wise that the pattern calls for slipping knit wise. Slipping the stitch knit wise will cause it to tighten up and line up in a straight line. Slipping it purl wise leaves it a little loose and open to form the V's. I like how the V's look though. So my mistake has now been upgraded to a modification. I like it when that happens.
This is my first time actually knitting with Cherry Tree Hill yarn. I must really give it a big thumbs up, two snaps, and a twist. It was really a surprise to me how much I enjoyed knitting with this yarn. I mean it feels nice in the skein but I'm just surprised and how soft it knits up and just the overall look and feel of the finished project. I must thank my mom for this. She picked it up as a surprise at a local shop sale. 
I actually have yarn for three sweaters sitting in the queue waiting to be started. The one last week, this one, and one I'll show you next week. All are scheduled to be made from Noro yarn. The good thing is I bought all of the yarn on sale. My goal is to get all three finished this winter.
I had been looking to expand my knitting needle selection and was considering buying some of interchangeable needles. 
I usually use addi Turbos and didn't want to go that expense for needles I probably wouldn't use again - so I decided to go for the Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable needles and ordered a few needles and cables. I ordered 4 60"cables not realizing that 2 cables come in each package. So now I have a total of 8 60" cables. I need to read a little more carefully before hitting the order button.
But my favorite new knitting toy is my spindle. I haven't done a lot with it yet. I did spin up a 2oz ball of unknown pink fiber that I got at SAFF. The picture above is my first spindle full. I've taken this off the spindle and it is waiting to be plied with the results of my second attempt - pictured below. I've thought about just tossing this out and starting fresh - but I figure I can make an attempt at plying anyway. I'll be sure and post the results.
I've been using the park and draft method while sitting in a chair. It is slow going, but I think my second attempt, while still fairly thick is at least a little consistent. I've ordered a book by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts about spinning on a high whorl spindle. I'm going to try plying this weekend and hopefully I'll have a chance to try spinning something else. If you've got a favorite book or website about spinning - please share. I'd like to read more.
So, first up is Noro Sakura. I bought this yarn while it was on sale and ended up with three different colors of it in total. I used the pink color (#6) to make a 
I've even gone ahead and done up a guage swatch for my sweater. I am right on target accorfding to the pattern at 6 stitches per inch. The sweater will be the 
This first example was knit with the colors matching for both strands as close as possible. I like the way it came out and the stripes are easily discernible. I think it might be important to note that the individual stripes of color will not be as thick on the sides of the bag. There are a lot more stitches in a round as I knit the sides than there are on the bottom of the bag.
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