I broke my wallet at SAFF

My Saturday at SAFF was a real treat after several months of general blahness. But I'm going to be paying for it over the next month--between that and my upcoming trip at the end of November, I'm going to be left eating nothing but ramen noodles. Thank god I have a roommate now. ;)

Damage done (pics coming soon):

1 pair of Strauch fine handcards
a pound of undyed merino
8 oz bag of undyed silk noil
4 oz bag of dyed silk noil
3 oz undyed Wensleydale locks
5 oz undyed mohair locks
bag of dyed Cotswald curls
4 bars of goat's milk soap
2 small bags of angora fiber

Is there more? Probably. But the worst part is that the FLOW OF MONEY WILL NOT STOP. I am hemorraging cash, people! Someone find the vein and pull it out and clamp it, for god's sake!
This morning I signed up for a carding class at Knitch in order to learn how to use my new handcards, and then on my lunch break I stopped by Needlenook and what did I find? Handpainted numma-numma sock yarn, which Karen was flashing all over the place on the SAFF bus like some kind of shameless harlot. And the numma-numma lady herself was even on the bus with us--can't recall her name, but a woman who names her sock yarn after toast toppings? How can you resist that?

Obviously I need to be restrained at this point. But it was worth it, goddammit. Every last penny.

Now I get what all the hype is about!

It's official: Ravelry helped me find a sweater I actually want to knit. (Of course, if I'd picked up a copy of Interweave spring 2007, I would have found it a lot sooner. But let's give Ravelry the credit!)

I'm not a sweater knitter. I've knit a few, but nothing that I ever wear or really ended up completely pleased with. I've had the idea in my head for a while that if I did ever attempt another sweater, it had to have some requirements. First off--it had to be a top-down raglan. Second, minimal finishing. And third, some kind of interesting pattern to keep my going. Stockinette in the round just wouldn't cut it. And finally, it had to be a stash-busting project that would work with the yarn I have: Elann's Peruvian Sierra Aran, bought once long ago for a cabled vest that never came to fruition.

And folks, I've found it, all thanks to Ravelry. The Cable-Down Raglan from IK Spring 2007!

Now I just need to wait to get the mag in the mail (swapping for it) and get my gauge figured out. I can hardly believe I'm this excited to knit a sweater again! Maybe it's the cooler weather.

Oh, and if you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm Reporebo.

Gearing up for SAFF

It's been a long while since I took any pictures of my spinning. I haven't been incredibly prolific over the last couple of months, but I've spun a few skeins that I'm particularly proud of. Here's a line-up of what's come off my wheel.





(those first two in the bottom pic are up on my etsy shop. And there are tons more pics of the other yarns on my flickr.

But this is probably my favorite handspun ever to date, so it deserves some blogtime.



These are my babies. My BABIES!! I got a huge thing of BMFA merino-tencel roving, and spun some three-ply sock yarn. All for me. The little one on the left is navajo-plied from the leftover singles, and the big honker on the right is a real three-ply, as in three bobbins. I love these so much. Haven't counted yardage, but it's a real shitload. I mean look at this:



AHHHH! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

I'll be at SAFF next Saturday (taking the Knitch bus) so I plan to get lots and lots of fiber to feed the monkey. I'm also planning to get a pair of handcards. After spinning from a few batts, I've realized that I'm in love with the kind of yarn you can achieve with a batt. And I'd like to try carding up some of my own novelty blends, maybe even put a few up on etsy if I get good enough. Thinking way ahead of myself here, of course. Anyway, hope to see some of you at SAFF! Can't wait!