On Hey! What's the Big Ideaaaaa?!

First attempt at designing [105:366, 14.05.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 13th May 2008
Finish: WIP
Needles: 2.5 mm / 80 cm Addi Lace
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% superwash Merino Sockenwolle, "Frosch"
Pattern: My own, based on a stitch pattern.

I have been debating with myself whether I wanted to blog about this one or not...but I guessed that since the picture's public on Flickr anyway, I might as well talk about it.

Anyway, so this is "Salomé (Dance of the Seven Veils)". Since I've taken this photo, the sock has grown to the point where I'm putting in my own design. But it has already come to a halt due to the fact that I still need to work on my thesis.

When do you start calling a design your own design? At the moment, this is a modification or a put-together of a pattern out of a pattern book. But I have plans for this one.

What do you think? I think that if I'm successful at figuring everything out with this pattern, the biggest problem would be sizing, since I wear EUR 44 / US Men 10.5....and the stitch count for the pattern adds up just perfect for my size. This will mean that there will be problem with sizing for smaller feet. Or maybe I should just do this for men only. ;-p Although I already have some great ideas for sizing down...however, I will be able to work that out only when I've finished this sock.

You wouldn't believe how many times I've frogged and restarted the sock before I settled on this. I started off with another yarn, then figured I should just use Wollmeise. Chose the wrong colourway, then another wrong colourway before I ended up with this one. (Not to mention the first try with that other yarn....it involved about 6 times of frogging...now I know the pain of designing.)

I'm still not sure what will happen with the design, i.e. whether I'm going to submit it or sell it or publish it for free. I'll have to see.

The Yarn Wench: "Feather" [111:366, 20.05.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 16th May 2008
Finish: first bobbin of singles on 17.05.2008; second bobbin of singles on 18.05.2008; Plied on 19th May 2008
WPI: 15 WPI
Yardage: Bobbin: 304 metres / 82 g; Spindle: 48 metres / 13 g
Fibre: 3.3 oz / 95 g of The Yarn Wench Domestic in "Feather", sent to me by KnottyNaomi
Wheel & Settings: Singles spun worsted and two-plied on Kromski Minstrel, 8.5:1 double-drive. Left-over singles Andean-plied on Butterflygirl Designs 1.6 oz carved Agate top-whorl

Anyhow, since I have no real knit FOs to show, here's at least a spinning FO.

I'm really happy with the result of this yarn. It's my first real 2-ply using my wheel and tensioned lazy kate.

I got the bobbin so full while plying that it wouldn't take on any more yarn, so I had to break off and make an Andean-bracelet to ply on the spindle.

Interestingly, the spindle plied yarn seems to turn out differently...probably because the two-ply resulted from the same singles and not from two strands of different singles. The colours are a bit heathered and the yarn is fuzzier. Mind you though, it might be the fact that I hit the singles in the part where the colours are lighter than other parts, too.

All in all, I'm happy with the yarn. I could probably get a decent size anklets out of the skein.

Here are some more photos:

The Yarn Wench: "Feather", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The Yarn Wench: "Feather", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Anyway, it was my 4th Blogiversary on this past Sunday (18th May 2008). I said in a previous post that I would do some kind of contest. Well, I haven't thought of anything yet. So, it will be on hold for the moment until I can think of something. Then we'll have a contest. ;-)

Lastly, before I try getting back to my thesis, I'm going to share with you the real reason why I'm blogging right now instead of doing my thesis. Thing is, this morning, I heard a song that's been stuck in my head all day long now....and well, I can't concentrate because of it. Some of you might already have an inkling of the song from the title of the post...so be warned, you might get it stuck in your head, too. LOL. The song is at the end of the post. ;-p

Have a great week every one!

ETA: I might have a very exciting piece of news concerning myself soon. I don't want to reveal it at the moment - so not to jinx it. And just to be clear: No, Dr. D and I aren't getting married or anything like that. Just in case you were thinking along that line. :-p

Current Mood: Jiggly
Food for the Ears:

On Yarn pr0n!

"Spring Flowers", Navajo-ply lace-weight [84:366, 22.04.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

"Spring Flowers", Navajo-ply lace-weight, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

"Spring Flowers", Navajo-ply lace-weight, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 13th February 2008
Finished: First bobbin of singles on 10th March 2008, second bobbin of singles on 17th April 2008 - plied 20th-21st April 2008
Yardage: approx. 230 m / 50 g
WPI: 23 WPI
Fibre: "Galway", 3.8 oz/108 g Domestic wool top from The Yarn Wench given to me by KnottyNaomi
Wheel & Settings: Kromski Minstrel, spun worsted on 12:1 ratio in double-drive mode, navajo-plied on 16:1 ratio in double-drive mode.

Okay, seriously, what the heck is wrong with me? I seem to not be able to get fingering-weight. Either my stuff turn out DK-weight or lace-weight. I was aiming at getting fingering-weight with this one, and from my last experience, I knew that I had to spin the singles thinner in order to end up with Navajo-plied fingering-weight....but obviously, my singles was waaaaaaaaaay too thin. I mean, really: 23 WPI..plied!

Well, at least I get a good yardage out of these two skeins. Each of them has almost the same amount of yardage and weight, i.e. about 230 m / 50 g. That means, with the two skeins, I can make a small shawl out of it! Mind you though, the skein from the second bobbin was a bit of a hazard. Seemed like I got into spinning cobweb singles that the singles ended up breaking about 10 times while plying.

Oh well....overall, even though I didn't get fingering-weight, I'm still pretty happy with the result.

This is all Bockstark's fault. She got into spinning and has thus been throwing rapid fire questions about wheel spinning at me...and so that re-kindled my spinning fire. Otherwise I guess these two skeins would have just sat there for three more months or so. :-p

Last weekend was the Sauerlacher Spring Market, where the Wollmeise was going to have a stand to sell her yarns. So, what does a good Wollmeiseholic to do? Of course, go over and get yarns!! Here's my loot:

Wollmeise: Sultan, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Am Kalten Polar, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Brombeere, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Miss May, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Granatapfel, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Feuerwanze, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Kraeuterbeet, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Koralle im Meer, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Vergissmeinnicht, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise: Spice Market, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Yup, 9 skeins of sock yarns (I got 2 skeins of Koralle im Meer) and 2 hanks of lace-weight! They're soooo gorgeous!

It was such feeding frenzy at the market. We (me, Bockstark and a couple more knitting friends) got there and literally a minute afterwards all hell broke loose with all these people coming in all at the same time. I ended up standing in one corner and couldn’t get out and had to defend the skeins that we put aside because people were grabbing from that. LOL. It was fun and it was great!

Anyway, I got the 2 skeins of Koralle im Meer in order to re-start the Mystic Light. I originally got the Wellensittichvogelfeder in lace for it and have already started knitting it...only to be frogged after two days. The colourway was just too busy and it totally obscured the lace pattern. Wellensittichvogelfeder has four contrasting colours: black, yellow, blue and green. Whilst Koralle im Meer has contrasting colours on it, but it has only 2 main colours, namely blue and orange/red. I was skeptical when I was knitting up the Koralle version because it seemed that the colourway is going to distract from the pattern again. However, I thought that I would really give it a go, besides, the fingering-weight - which was originally called for the pattern - seems to work better than the lace-weight, since the cables seem more pronounced.

And I think that my perseverance with this colourway has paid off....it worked:

Mystic Light, 60 rows done [83:366, 21.04.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 19th April 2008
Finished: WIP
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% superwash merino Sockenwolle in "Koralle im Meer" (light)
Needles: Addi Lace, 3.5 mm / 80 cm
Pattern: Mystic Light Shawl by Anna Dalvi (aka Knit & Knag)

It's interesting that you can see the lace pattern quite well when the shawl's not too close. But if the shawl's close enough, you'll be distracted by the colours. ;-)

I definitely will stick with this one...it's really growing on me now.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everybody has a good week!

Current Mood: Good, but in need of some tea...

On Rolling in Yarns and Fibre

Wollmeise: New members, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Lawdy....this is what happens when I start saying that I won't have time to blog: I get an explosion of contents that want to be blogged about. So, I'm going to retrace my steps backwards.

Last night, we recorded the new episode for Knitters Uncensored. So, keep your ears perked for the new episode on your iPods. After the recording, I also got to hand-pick the new Wollmeise colourways out of the tub over at Bockstark Knits. I kinda ordered a skein each of the new colourways but told the Wollmeise that she doesn't need to hurry them to me - I mean, I hardly have the time to knit anyway. At any rates, I got the following skeins (in order from left to right in the picture. Click on the name to go to individual pictures):

• Franz (light) in 100% Superwash Merino


• Vincent (medium) in 80/20 Twin


• Paul (light) in 80/20 Twin


• Emil (medium) in 100% Superwash Merino


• Boboli (medium) in 80/20 Twin Wild Thing

They're all sooo yummy. I'm in such a yarn and fibre overload right now that I don't know what to do. I really want to cast on for some new socks...but I have the dilemma with all the WIPs lying around and also I don't know which yarn to use. Wollmeise is always on top of the list, but I also want to try out some yarns I have in my stash.

Talking about fibre....going back even further, while we were recording, I also received my belated Christmas pressies from Bockstark:

Niddy Noddy & Alpaca with a Twist, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

She got me a much needed Niddy Noddy! Now, I still need extra bobbins and a tensioned lazy kate. :-p And along with that, she got me 200 g of 100% Baby Alpaca combed top from Alpaca with a Twist! And OMG...this stuff is gorgeously soft!! I'm already planning something for it...although it will be quite a while before I get around to it. Right now I have a bigger ambition in mind with my spinning. ;-p Won't be telling you about it just yet though.

That's not all. She also brought back this:

Hazel Knits: "Green Lake", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

It's the super squishy sock yarn from Hazel Knits, who Bockstark stalked during her visit back home.

From Hazel Knits website: "Inspired by a lake right in the middle of Seattle surrounded by a super bike/walk/run path. Greenlake is a beautiful blue with a hint of algae and lily pads caressing its edges."

Then there was also another gift from a listener:

Tofutsies (789), originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I'm not so sure about Tofutsies though. But I won't say anything just yet until I knit with them first. ;-) Thank you very much for the yarn!

Otherwise my weekend was pretty good. I got to spend pretty much the whole weekend with Dr. D. It's Fasching at the moment...not exactly my type of celebration (I don't really like dressing up and being silly). Anyhow, Dr. D and I were at his friend's place on Saturday night and I cooked. We had a bit to drink and they started with the Karneval songs....I got a good bit of alcohol in me and so I started being silly and danced around, too (on the table, that is). It was kinda funny. Not so funny however was the part when we went over to the neighbours to continue the party. Everyone except me were smoking and I just don't really have it with smoke. I drank a bit more and that just got me. I was feeling sick and had to run to the loo a couple of times. The last round ended my night, because I was on the real verge of throwing up (I was regurgitating already). So Dr. D took me home (very sweet of him - I actually told him to just stay and party on and I'd just go home by myself, but he said that that was a silly idea.)

I got better once I got in bed and got to lie flat on my back for a while.

Going back further on last Friday....I had been keeping this quiet....but guess what? I started work at the new LYS!!!! I'm doing this parallel to my reception job at the hostel for the moment. If the LYS really takes off, then I'll probably just work there. Anyhow, if you're around, come and visit me. I'm working there Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The place is called "Lanaiolo" in Grillparzerstr. 35 in Munich. I'll try taking a photo this Thursday when I go in.

And the last bit for this post? I have a spinning FO to show:

The Yarn Wench, "Grange", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The Yarn Wench, "Grange" (2nd bobbin), originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The Yarn Wench, "Grange" (1st bobbin), originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 22nd January 2008
Finished: First bobbin of singles spun on 23rd January 2008, second bobbin of singles on 28th January 2008; first bobbin navajo-plied on 28th January 2008, second bobbin plied on 29th January 2008
Yardage: 105 m / 55 g (first bobbin), 135 m / 55 g (2nd bobbin)
WPI: approx. 14-16 WPI (DK-weight to fingering-weight)
Fibre: "Grange", 3.7 oz/105 g Domestic wool top from The Yarn Wench given to me by KnottyNaomi
Wheel & Settings: Kromski Minstrel, spun worsted and plied on 8.5:1 ratio in double-drive mode.

I was originally aiming for sock yarns but ended up not having enough yardage for socks. However I'm happy with how the yarn turns out. The first bobbin has some inconsistencies but the second bobbin turned out pretty even.

I really love the colours. The photos are pretty accurate colour-wise (at least on my monitor) and I didn't tamper around with them much at all apart from turn the brightness up a notch.

So, that's all I have to report for the moment. I promise that I will get my survey out of the Pay-it-forward people this week. So, keep a look out for that!

Have a great week, everyone!

Current Mood: Good

On Yarn, fibre and more yarn

EGMTK: Bracken Ridge, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 14th January 2008
Finished: ca. 50g of single finished on 14th January 2008, second 50 g spun on 16th January 2008. Plied on 22nd January 2008
Yardage: 2-ply approx. 80 metres; Navajo-ply approx. 40 metres
WPI: approx. 10 WPI
Fibre: 22 micron Merino Top from Ewe Give Me The Knits, "Bracken Ridge"
Wheel & Settings: Kromski Minstrel, spun worsted on 6.5:1 ratio in double-drive; 2-ply (right hank) 6.5:1 ratio in single-drive using Scotch tension and Navajo-ply (left hank) 6.5:1 ratio in single-drive using Scotch tension

OMG...I just can't keep away from blogging, because otherwise my photos will pile up and I just won't be able to fit them all in one post. Especially now that I've joined the Once A Day group on Flickr.

Anyhow, I've already mentioned that I was venturing out to spin enough heavy DK to make a scarf. Well, the dorkiness that is me spun the second lot of singles thinner than the first and ended up with more singles yardage. So when I went to do a 2-ply, I ended up with left-overs from the second batch. So, I ended up Navajo-ply what was left. Luckily, I ended up with pretty much the same weight yarns.

I found that as long as I don't have a Tensioned Lazy Kate, Navajo-ply was the way to go. Making 2+ ply out of multiple singles will leave me to a swearing kitty, because the singles keep twisting on to each other while I'm pulling them out. Besides, I'm getting pretty good at Navajo plying. ;-)

And because I've got so many photos to fit into this post, I need to select them carefully. So I won't be posting every single one of them. You can always check the rest of them out over on my Flickr anyway.

That said, here's one with the 2-ply:

EGMTK: Bracken Ridge, 2-ply, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

And of the Navajo-ply:

EGMTK: Bracken Ridge, Navajo-ply, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

And talking about the fact that I'm getting good at Navajo-plying:

On the Bobbin: Navajo-plied, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 12th December 2007
Finished: single finished on 20th January 2008
Yardage: n/a
WPI: n/a; Single seems to be very light lace-weight to cobweb
Fibre: approx. 45 g of Merino batt with some sparkles (either nylon or Angelina) from Traveling Rhinos, sent to me by KnottyNaomi
Spindle: Lapis Lazuli convertible spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs, used as top-whorl. Navajo-plied on Kromski Minstrel on 10:1 ratio double-drive

Yeah, I kinda cheated. If you remember, I spun the singles up using a drop spindle. Granted, I could have Navajo-ply it on a spindle, too...but I was in for instant gratification and chose to ply with Valrainë. It's still on the bobbin...still have to skein it and set the twist, then I'll know the yardage.

Aiming for sock yarn, The Yarn Wench "Grange" [366:03, 23.01.08], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Working towards a sock yarn, The Yarn Wench "Grange" [366:04, 24.01.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 22nd January 2008
Finished: First bobbin of single spun on 23rd January 2008
Yardage: n/a
WPI: n/a, I’m aiming for navajo-plied fingering-weight
Fibre: "Grange", 3.7 oz/105 g Domestic wool top from The Yarn Wench given to me by KnottyNaomi
Wheel & Settings: Kromski Minstrel, spun worsted on 8.5:1 ratio in double-drive mode.

Yeah, seriously, it seems that I just can't stop with the spinning. The Bracken Ridge from above hasn't even been cast-on yet and I've got another project in mind already. ;-p

I'm really hoping to be able to get a Navajo-ply sock yarn out of this....enough for a pair for me, of course.

You might ask why I'm spinning like mad? Well, blame it the generous KnottyNaomi, who decided to support her fellow spinner (i.e. me) and lighten her fibre stash at the same time. So she sent me these gorgeous Domestic tops from The Yarn Wench:

The Yarn Wench: Galway, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The Yarn Wench: Bittersweet, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The Yarn Wench: Feather, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

She also inserted the last issue of the Spin Off Magazine with the package! (Well, I actually asked for it.)

Thank you so much, Naomi!

Then after an odyssey, I finally retrieved a package that was sent to me from the post today...and the content? Have a look:

Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn: S95, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn: S149, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn: S185, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Yup, three skeins of Kureyon sock yarn!!!

I mentioned in one of my posts last year that I would love to try them out....and what do you know? N., a blogless reader just wrote me an email offering to send me some and told me to go choose the colourways. That's just an offer you can't turn down.

She refused my contribution to the cost....so, I've decided to just add her to my PIF-list! So, N., please keep a look out for my questionaire. You don't have to make gifts for anyone, because you're not officially participating in the PIF. And you can't avoid this gift from me either, since I've got your mailing address now. ;-p Thank you so much for your generous gifts!

So, are you guys getting sick of me yet? Last thing though:

I was nominated TWICE for this "You-Make-My-Day-Award"!!! Wow! I'm really honoured! I've never really been awarded anything out of the blue before. (The Rocking Guy Blogger Award was kind of collaborative.) Thank you sooo much to: Malin Knits And... and Smoking Hot Needles, who nominated me for this award!

So, here's the rule: “Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

And I would like to nominate the following bloggers:

1. Lolly from Lolly Knitting Around
2. Alala from Alala
3. Debra from Cashmere Dreams
4. Erin from Damknit
5. Mandy from Ewe Give Me The Knits
6. Peachy from Peachy Knits
7. David from Cabin Cove
8. Dickie from Cashmere Blend
9. Stephen from hizKNITS
10. Mike from Socktopus

The very last thing: I finally joined FaceBook a couple of days ago. So, please add me. If you don't know how to find me and want to get my full real name, then please email me. You can find my email address towards the end of the "about me" section on the top left of this page.

Well, that's all for now. Hope you have a great weekend!

Current Mood: Itching to spin
Food for the Ears: "Vincent" - Don McLean:

On...Life is extremely good!

Wollmeise Christmas Gifts, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I was woken up when my doorbell rang this morning. At first, I considered not opening, because there had been incidents where some brats from the first floor was using me as their portier. But then i thought better of it and opened the main door to the building.

The mail man was there and he handed over a 5 kg heavy box to me. I was still a bit dazed from sleeping and was pretty perplexed about the package. I didn't order anything and wasn't really expecting anything to come in either....well, I know that eventually there will be a package coming in for the Knitters Uncensored from Socktopus Mike...but I wouldn't have thought of a package in that dimension.

I opened up the box and was then wide awake. It's my Christmas presents from Claudia, aka the Wollmeise!!!!

I was so shocked because I ddn't expect anything at all...besides I wasn't even doing any Christmas present this year either...that package contained some yummy stuff...and full of FIBRES!!!!

And so I rang up Claudia immediately to thank her and had a chat....

Thank you so much Claudia! You're such a wonderful person! Take good care of yourself and get some rest over the holidays.

And now on to the content:

Wollmeise Christmas Gifts: Yummies!, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

She sent me a Christmas card along with some stickers (not in the photo), a box of French truffles, a bag of different sorts of Elisenlebkuchen (gingerbread of sorts) - three of which are already gone - and lastly: Absinthe! I've always wanted to try out absinthe!!! OMG....I'll have to find an evening to try it out with Dr. D!

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 60 g Gottland Lamb's Wool, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 250 g Hand-dyed roving, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 530 g Baby Yak, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 400 g pure Linen, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 520 g Silk-Merino, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 1 kg combed rovings, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollmeise Christmas Gift: 700 g rovings in assorted colours, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Now, that's A LOT of fibre! I think that I really to consider the possibility of getting myself a wheel soon, because my arm's going to fall off if I ever want to spin all of this. I don't even know what it's going to be like trying to spin 100% linen on a spindle. That'd be quite an experience....especially the Baby Yak!

Thank you so much Claudia!

Then I was downtown before and went to the LYS (Wollkorb at Sendlinger Tor) to ask them whether they will ever get the Noro Sock Yarn in or not. Apparently I wasn't the first one who asked. :-p But they said they don't know yet. Anyway, I also asked whether they've got the new issue of the Filati Men's Special or not. They did. I was going for my wallet and she just handed the magazine to me and said that it's a gift and Merry Christmas to me. It took a couple of seconds for that to register and I just had to beam. I just thanked them, wish them a Merry Christmas, too and hop out of the LYS.

Ladies and Gentlemen, yes, today has been a very good day and I'm still extremely happy about things. Now, I have to get ready to go see Dr. D. Poor thing has a cold sore...I wonder if I could still kiss him. :-p

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Current Mood: Fuzzily elated
Food for the Ears: "Santa Claus is coming to town" - Frank Sinatra, listen to the song on my Vox

On Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 17th November 2007
Finished: 20th November 2007
Yardage: approx. 500 m
WPI: n/a, but definitely lace-weight
Fibre: approx. 60 g of 18 micron Merino from Wollwerkstatt
Spindle: Carved Agate top-whorl spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs

I seriously should be finishing up my seminar paper right now, but I'm too excited about this to sit still and do anything else! (And I'm sure you would rather exchange writing about "Defective Democracy: Russia" for drooling over beautiful hand-spun any time, right?)

The name of the yarn actually has nothing to do with the book or the movie of the same name. I just like the name and didn't want to call this just "Midnight" or something like that. The garden comes in to play because of the very subtle green in the midst of dark navy blue, indigo and black.

I'm soooooo very proud of the result! And the fact that I've even got enough to make a small shawl like Swallowtail or maybe Flower Basket (without doubling the yarn)...oh, all the wonderful possibilities!

Even better, the yarn is soooo very soft and squishy!

I'm also very fond of half-fulling the yarn now, especially yarn that I'll keep as single. This is great because it will help felt the yarn a bit and thus keeps the integrity of the single. It certainly adds a little halo and fuzziness to the yarn, but it's still sooooo beautiful!

Anyway, apart from that, I also received an extremely generous package full of spinning fibre from KnottyNaomi yesterday (go visit her Etsy shop!).

Zenstring: Gaia, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

4 oz. of Zenstring's 50/50 Merino-tencel.

Fun with Yarn: Chilly, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

4 oz. of Fun With Yarn's South African Fine.

The Yarn Wench: Pinwheel, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

4.4 oz of The Yarn Wench's acid-dyed Romney wool top.

I also received some great samples, too! There were some yummy Japanese jelly lollies included, but they didn't survive for the photo shoot.

Thank you so much, KnottyNaomi!!!

And now back to my paper. Have a great week, everyone!

On definitely a good day...

...why?

One: I'm going to go meet up with Miriam from Knit Science...then meet up with probably both Alala and Projektleiterin to knit.

Two, the weather definitely has turned cold, this means: Time for all those hand-knits!

And three, these came in the post:

Ewe Give Me the Knits!: "Sugared Violets 1", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

100g, 14 micron Hand-Dyed Merino Optim

From Ewe Give Me the Knits

This is pure heaven! It feels like butter!

Ewe Give Me the Knits!: "Bracken Ridge", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

And 100g, 22 micron Hand-Dyed Merino Top...and super soft!

Can't wait to spin these up!!!

On Forgetfulness...

Today didn't start out so well. Things chugged along well enough...up to the point when I was going to leave the house to become EUR 400 poorer due to the university tuition fee that they've just introduced this semester. *Urgh*

Anyhow, I put my earphones in with my iPod as I usually do when I leave the house...but the sound only came out of one ear-bud. Bloody hell, does that have to happen now?! If I remember correctly, I bought these new earphones back in April...and guess what? I can't find the receipt anymore. *sighs* And because I just paid for my tuition fee, I don't have any money for a new earphone either. So, no podcasts/music on the road for me for a while.

But well, that seemed to be just it. The day could only get better, right? And it did. First, I received an Amazon package. I was pretty perplexed at first...until I opened it up and saw my copy of Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning! I heard Kelly reviewed this book on her podcast a couple of weeks ago and I just went straight to order it....and I promptly forgot about the order. And so it was a bit of a surprise at first.

Anyway, flipping through the book quickly, I really have to say wow! This book's really good for comprehensive information! I'll have to go through it thoroughly though. I really like it because it offers both hand spindle as well as wheel techniques. It also talks about fibre preparation, different types of fibre, plying techniques, making novelty yarns, dyeing, etc. etc.! GREAT book!

Then as I was just about to make my way out again, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, I was greeted by the hottest delivery man EVER! Seriously! I was considering putting down my phone number on the signed slip for him, too....but I thought better of it. :-p

Anyway, I got another package...of which I had absolutely no clue about. I looked at the sender's name and it rang some kind of bell...then I caught up with the facts and just ripped the box open to find these:

Handgefaerbt.com: Winter '07 Abo, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Handgefaerbt.com: Winter '07 Abo, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Handgefaerbt.com: Winter '07 Abo, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Handgefaerbt.com: Winter '07 Abo, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

(I might be replacing all the photos again when I get natural light) (Photos are replaced)

Yup, I got my Handgefaerbt.com yarn subscription for Winter.

Back in April, I was egging on Bockstark Knits to do the subscription with me to try out the Handgefaerbt.com yarns. We sent in the order...and again, I totally forgot about it. :-p

I have to say that with the exception of the very first one, I like all the other colourways. The first one is just not very me...although it's very Christmasy. ETA: It's growing on me though...

So, yeah, that's all I have to share...two packages in a day really made me happy (I'm still waiting for some rovings to come in from Australia, as well as two new hand spindles I ordered from Etsy - yeah, I know, I went on a bit of a splurge there).

Before I go: Swallowtail is finished and blocked. Hopefully I'll get some nice photos tomorrow. ;-)

On Chocolate....just add caramel

"Dental Floss" single, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 22nd September 2007
Finished: 25 g, spun in single on 11th October 2007
Yardage: approx. 225 m
WPI: n/a (but definitely more than 25 WPI)
Fibre: Anettes Wollwerkstatt merino batt, 19.5 microns
Spindle: Anettes Wollwerkstatt Turkish Cross Spindle

Yes, I finished spinning my brown dental floss....and now the yellow one is being spun up.

I can't wait for the yellow one to be done and then I can ply it together with this brown one. Really curious as to what it will look like.

"Dental Floss" single, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

"Dental Floss" single, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Anyway, on Thursday, I received two packages full of rovings that I ordered last week. I still have one more package to come though...but I'll keep quiet about that last one for the moment.

The first one that arrived was one kilogram of 100% Australian merino rovings I got from Wollknoll (in German). It's a huge ball of roving...and just for sizing, I put a skein of Wollmeise sock yarn beside it for you:

Australian Merino Rovings, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I'm thinking about spinning a (semi-)worsted-weight single out of about 150-200 g of this and knit up a My So-Called Scarf...although I'm not sure whether I would be able to wear the colour or not. We'll see.

Then the second package come...and OMG this one:

Ashford Corriedale-Alpaca mix, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

This is 500 g of Ashford Corriedale-Alpaca mix I got from Wollinchen (also in German). The percentage of the mixture wasn't stated, but I'm guessing something around 80/20 or 70/30.

Anyhow, this stuff is super soft! I can't wait to spin this up. I'm not so sure how I'm going to spin this one up though. Any suggestion?

Wollmeise Sock Yarn: "Fratello", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

So, before I go over to Vaterstetten, I better show you this. Yup, it's the "Fratello" colourway from Wollmeise. It isn't available at her shop though, since it's a special colourway for the sock kit in co-operation with Yarnissima. I've had this one for quite a whiel now, but I never blogged about it because it wasn't announced yet. I was supposed to test-knit for Yarnissima, but I never got around to it. Bockstark Knits did though. Yeah, I know, bad knitter, no cookies, right?

Wollmeise 80/20: "Tiefer See", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

So, Vaterstetten.

Yesterday, I went to the wool market in Vaterstetten with Alala and another girl from the SnB...and no, I didn't take any pictures. :-p

I fully intended to go and get myself another spindle (with the weight in between the two that I have, which is 40 g for the Turkish cross spindle and 120 g for the Ashford classic low-whorl). Unfortunately, there wasn't any shop that sold spindles at all. This was quite a disappointment for me since it said on the back of the flyer I got at Benediktbeuern, that the supporting programme included "wool carding, hand spinning". I totally thought that the hand spinning part would mean there will be spindles on sale. Bummer, eh? (Okay, maybe there might be some today...but I'm not about to go over there again today. Besides, I spent all my money that I allowed myself for the market yesterday already.)

Anyway, the picture above is part of my haul from the market. Obviously, the Wollmeise was there. I originally intended to get one hank of yarn for a specific project from her....but since I couldn't get any spindles, I had some allowance for something else. And of course, I just had to try out the new "80/20" sock yarn. And what a coincidence that she had "Tiefer See" there! I had been dying to get my hands on this colourway for a while now but never got around to getting it.

From the initial petting, I can say that the yarn is very squishy comparing to the 100% merino sock yarn. It's also very soft....not that I'm saying that the 100% merino isn't soft. The 80/20 just has a different kind of softness to it. I can't say which one I'd prefer until I've knit the 80/20. So, be sure that I'll get back to the review again.

Wollmeise Lace-weight: "Pfefferminz-Prinz", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

So, originally I wanted to go get a hank of the Wollmeise lace-weight specifically for the Mystic Waters KAL (yeah, I finally caved in for one of these mystery KALs). Originally I wanted the "Tiefer See" colourway, but the Wollmeise hasn't got any left in the lace-weight, but she suggested the dark version of "Pfefferminz-Prinz" instead....and OMG! It's even more perfect than "Tiefer See"! "Pfefferminz-Prinz" doesn't have a "water" name, but thinking of water, the colourway is perfect...the darker green/teal/black part really adds to the "mystic" part of the KAL. And it really gives depth to the water itself!

Wollwerkstatt Roving: Navy-Green, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wollwerkstatt Roving: Green-Brown, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

And to make for the market not having any spindles, I found some gorgeous rovings and got these two for myself. They're both 50 g of 100% merino with 18 microns...so they're super soft. They're both from Wollwerkstatt (in German yet again).

The top one has some very deep green interspersed with the dark navy. You can't see any of the green in the photo though, but believe me, it's there. ;-)

So, that's my haul from Vaterstetten. Before I finish this post, I have some story to tell from yesterday.

When we arrived in Vaterstetten, we had to still walk to the market itself. We asked for direction a couple of times. The last time though, I went up to these three ladies and asked them whether they knew where the market was. Turned out they were from Nuremberg and didn't really know either. However, they had directions from Google with them, so we tagged along. At one point, one of the lady turned around to me and asked whether I'm on the internet (i.e. this blog here). So, OMG, someone recognised me from my blog! So, here's a shout-out to the lady from Nuremberg!

Then when I was petting some pretty lace-weight over at the Wollmeise stall. There was another lady who was browsing through. I was talking to the others, but I noticed that this particular lady kept looking at me. At last she seemed to have plucked up enough courage and came to ask me whether I'm one of the Knitters Uncensored! Turned out she's Shaun (Ravelry link because she's blogless) and she's a listener and also member of the Uncensored Knitters Group on Ravelry.

It's just so funny that I got recognised twice on the same day. But well, we were at a wool market after all. ;-)

Well, that's all I've got right now. Wishing you all a great Sunday and a good start to the week!

On Bit by the Spin Bug

"Forest Moss", rovings, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I was feeling so down yesterday because of some thing I don't really want to talk about here....and I'm pretty sure that I'll feel like a total jerk when I discuss it with someone and it'll just turn out that I'm being plainly stupid.

So, what else to do when I'm feeling down? I wanted instant gratification...I didn't want to buy yarn (although I was extremely tempted to buy a whole load of Noro Cashmere Island...but thought better of it, since I think that EUR 16.95/hank is going to get me the kick-start right off in the deep-end of depression)....so that left me with making yarn myself.

"Forest Moss", on the spindle, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I had been wanting to spin something thicker now, just to know that I can still spin thicker singles. I was a bit afraid, since I've been hearing stories of how when you can spin very fine singles, you don't seem to be able to get back to spinning something thicker again.

So, I ended up just getting 100 g of the rovings at Roedel (I know I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I couldn't wait for shipping - remember: Instant gratification). And set about my evening to spin with some DVDs (FYI: The Day After Tomorrow and The Incredibles).

I set out to spin and was working through the 100 g very constantly. I knew that I wanted this as a single, so it took out the time-factor of plying.

I finished some time after midnight last night (and I had to work at 7 a.m. this morning), washed and hanged the yarn with some weight to set the twist....and here's the result:

"Forest Moss", single worsted/DK weight handspun, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

"Forest Moss", single worsted/DK weight handspun, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

"Forest Moss", single worsted/DK weight handspun, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 02nd October 2007
Finished: 100 g, spun in single on 02nd October 2007
Yardage: approx. 150 m
WPI: approx. 9-11 WPI
Fibre: Wolle Roedel "Filzwolle", Colour: Green-Brown, 100% wool
Spindle: Ashford Classic Drop-Spindle (low-whorl)

Am I allowed to feel proud and smug of myself?

Current mood: Proud, but *meh* nevertheless