Yarn for Mama

This week started out colder than... a very cold thing and I was glad to have my Man Sweater and Nymphalidae to cuddle up in, among other things. I think I've worn the Honeycomb mitts that Bekah made for me more than I've worn anything else this week. Most of it is kind of a woolly blur, though. That, and the ripple afghan, which seems to be plugging along. I'm about halfway through the yarn I have for it, which should make it a goodly couch-sized blanket.

"This is a tag. It says, 'Yarn for Mama.'"

I'm already plotting other afghans (all the afghans) because the weather has just been that way. That and knee warmers and/or leg warmers, but there's some waffling about how I'd wear them: under the jeans or over the jeans? Both?

Color Affection has also been wafting in and out of my yarny fantasies. I already have the yarn and Bekah and Koren and I are going to do a little along using the same colors in several different yarns. I don't remember how that happened, exactly, because I bought the yarn some time ago before Color Affection was on my radar. It could be Fate or serendipity or... the Universe's odd sense of humor. IDK, man, I just work here. Anyway, I'm at the point where I want to finish some stuff up before I go casting on a bunch of things.

Movin' right along.

The EZ sweater is also plugging along, but unless you're interested in miles of stockinette, there's really not much to report there. I do love the color, though, and I don't mind having some knitting I don't have to think about.

It's also been rainy, which is pretty great for any dyeing shenanigans I may be getting up to. Rain water, while the slight acidity might affect the color, won't affect the color quite so much as our hard water. Certain minerals will sadden, or darken, the dye and I don't particularly want that. It's going to be an adventure since I only kind of know what I'm doing.

Between the many several books on dyeing with natural dyes and the internet, I think I can handle it. I am a scientist, after all, and we're trained for this sort of thing.

In Project Make news, I'm spinning the most fabulous of singles out of the most fabulous of happy warm colors (see above re: weather). I'd been saving it for when I needed a break from browns, blacks, and greys and the middle of a rainy January seemed like the exact right time to pull it out. I'd meant to do some fractal spinning, but I had a derp about how much fiber actually goes on my bobbins and ended up filling the whole bobbin entirely up. I don't have bigger ones, so I'll probably Navajo ply it to preserve the color gradation. I could do the second half of the fiber the same way or I could try something else with it. I'll likely end up doing it the same way so they can be yarn friends.

This Week's Technique:

• Invisible braided join: I've been looking for joins for yarns that don't felt and came across this little gem. As far as I can tell, it really is invisible and I'm very pleased with how easy it is to do, requiring no spit at all, and it's very very strong. 

I've been working on:

• Fork in the Road socks in Andey Originals sock yarn

• Baby Sophisticate in Plymouth Fantasy Naturale multi

• EZ's Seamless Saddle Shoulder pullover in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Superwash

• Neat Ripple Pattern in Knit Picks Brava
• Solar Flare batt in WTF IDK fiber