Wollmeise

Okay, folks, I had my doubts about Wollmeise. I thought.. maybe it isn't all it is cracked up to be. Maybe everyone's just going crazy and it's not THAT nice. I mean, at least half the people who are buying it are just buying it because it's popular... right?

Well, when these babies came in the mail I remembered that things get popular for a reason...


Sonne


Lowenzahn


am kalten Polar

Wow. Just wow. At this point, I don't even CARE how the stuff knits up. I just love the colors THAT much. It's completely a different experience from Dream in Color, which I still ADORE of course.

Also picked this up...



From ebay.

Today was a good yarn mail day, though my makeup from Everyday Minerals still has not arrived and I'm getting a bit frustrated.

Freakin' A

I just scored 3 skeins of Wollmeise. GO ME.

I'll post more about actual knitting later. Right now I'm going to go, like, do something useful.

Book Rant

I'm totally not into knitting right now- oh, don't get me wrong- I'm still into yarn and I even still want to knit, but it's more like I can't decide what to knit. It's a little insane.

Anyway, today I'm going to blog about something I dislike in books and magazines; POORLY FINISHED SAMPLES. Seriously. I think if you are going to publish something in a knitting book or magazine you NEED NEED NEED to properly finish it. I should not be seeing wavy zippers, ugly seems, or ANYTHING that hasn't been blocked and neatly put together. If you are making something for a publication and you don't know how to finish it properly, for god sakes take it to someone who does and get it finished RIGHT.

What brought this on? Well, two books: Big Girl Knits and More Big Girl Knits. Don't get me wrong- I adore the books. There are designs in there that I love (even if I happen to be on the high end of their size range and am still unable to make all the patterns out of hand), and a LOT of good information about fitting clothing for larger ladies.

But damnit, I just CANNOT condone the poor finishing on some of the items in these books. It seriously drives me batty to see it. No, I'm not going to point fingers at particular members of the author team but let's just say I've seen poor finishing sneak by somewhere else, too. You may be saying that the finishing does not take away from the fabulousness of the finished item but, well, yes it does. And in a book that I'm paying money for it's just disgusting; If I want to see what it looks like with flaws and mistakes and crappy finishing I can log onto ravelry and see what people there have made (Thank god for Rav). In a book, magazine, whathaveyou- especially one that's published by reputable sources- I expect to see FLAWLESS finishing.

/rant

New Yarn

Ok guys, I'll admit it- I've not bought from this person yet- I only just found them. But they're having a contest and their product is TOTALLY worthy so go check it out. For reals, yo. It looks like good stuff.

My Baby

As life goes on, I begin to suspect that I'll never give birth to children; instead, I will have toys that become my children.





Yes, that's right. I got the spinning wheel (Schacht Ladybug) from The Loopy Ewe and it got here today. No, I haven't spun with it- I'm just taking a little time to analyze the scotch tensioner thingie it came with to make sure I'm using it right.

I really love it. I don't think I could be more happy with it, honestly. It's gorgeous, and it's fun, and cute, and they put a little ladybug on it just for me and I am just IN LOVE. And that's beore I've even spun on her! I need to give her a name- but I'm not sure what I'll be naming her. She's definitely a HER, though.

I'm trying not to feel guilty about this purchase. Truly, it was hard for me and I thought about it for a VERY long time. I got some inheritance money from my grandfather's estate in January and I decided that even though I am trying to make it LAST as long as possible, if I do not buy the spinning wheel NOW, when I can afford it- later on I will always wish I had. I know this because once when I was younger- about 5th or 6th grade- I ended up with about $3,000- a lot of money for a little kid. And I frittered it away, taking out $100 here, $200 there- buying silly things (makeup, clothes, etc). And afterwards I always wished I had bought a sewing machine. So, there you have it. I've made a big purchase, and it's one that I'm going to love for YEARS to come.

In other news, we're going to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival, and HOPEFULLY to Rhinebeck as well - eee!!!! I'm very excited. And Jeremy's coming at the end of this month and we're going to get to spend our birthdays together and I'm just feeling SOOO good about it.

:)

Taking the Plunge

Well, I took the plunge. I haven't tried the wheel I've bought, but I'm enough of a beginner that I'm certain I'll work it out and if I don't, I'll sell it and get another one. I'm trying to take the easy-going route on this. Here's what I bought. The Schacht Ladybug. Not only adorable, but portable, and practical. I have no doubt that I'll love it and that I'll get spinning in a major way. Eventually I'll pick up a kate for it, and stuff.. but for now I'm just gonna fool around and get my spinning under wraps.

Other than that, I've done absolutely NO knitting. There's just too much I want to work on!

I'm doing OK mental health-wise, just a bit stressed. Trying to get everything in order and whatnot, but we'll have to see. My dad's supposed to be bringing some more stuff down to me this week some time but he hasn't called to say when, so I dunno. Meh.