On Mystic Light Shawl, Optim and Rothenburg o.d. Tauber

Mystic Light Shawl, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 19th April 2008
Finished: 30th April 2008
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)

At last I got around to taking some photos of the Mystic Light Shawl. I surprised myself knitting this whole thing in only 11 days. Admittedly, the shawl's not that huge...but it's still a good sizes shawl.

I have problem with the colourway though. It is pretty busy that it obscures the lace pattern. But thanks to clever photography tricks, I can get the lace pattern to show on the photos.

I might knit this shawl again in a more solid colourway. I'll see.

All in all, I reckons that the shawl is beautiful and it wasn't such a hard pattern to knit like the Mystic Waters. The cables that run down the middle and along the top edge of the shawl as well as the true lace border add an interesting point in the knitting.

Mystic Light Shawl, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Mystic Light Shawl, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Mystic Light Shawl, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I was racking my brain trying to think of a nice setting to take photos of the shawl because I had to represent light somehow. I started out thinking about taking the photo of the shawl with a lamp post...but that was tacky and out of the question because I couldn't reach up the lamp post anyway to hang up the shawl. :-p I settled for the small park around my flat and hung the shawl up on the tree with the sunlight streaming through the shawl to represent the light. The branches of the tree created shadows and helped representing the mystical part of it.

It was so windy when I was doing the photoshoot that I thought the shawl would fly away. Alala reckons that the colourway reminds her of Superman. LOL, imagine if the shawl had really blown away and flew around in the wind. It's a Superman Shawl! Thank goodness the tree barks were so rough that the shawl hung on to it very well.

Anyway, I've also finished spinning up the Optim:

Chameleon Colorworks Optim: Tahiti, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Chameleon Colorworks Optim: Tahiti [97:366, 06.04.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 22nd April 2008
Finished: 05th May 2008
Yardage: approx. 412.5 m
WPI: 18 WPI (plied)
Fibre: "Tahiti", 4 oz/113 g merino optim from Chameleon Colorworks given to me by ClaudiaWarner
Wheel & Settings: Kromski Minstrel, spun worsted on 12:1 ratio in double-drive mode, navajo-plied on 16:1 ratio in double-drive mode.

There are some super thin parts on the finished yarn...I just hope it won't break because I'm already knitting with it:

Le Flambé du Pacifique [100:366, 09.05.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 8th May2008
Finish: WIP
Yarn: My own hand-spun - "Tahiti", merino optim from Chameleon Colorworks
Needles: Addi Lace, 3.5 mm - 80 cm (US#4 - 32")
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark from Interweave Knits Fall 2006

I'm knitting a Swallowtail out of my "Tahiti" optim hand-spun.

"Flambé" is French for the Scarce Swallowtail...it's native to Europe and not the Pacific. I chose the name "Le Flambé du Pacifique" (Scarce Swallowtail of the Pacific) because the colourway "Tahiti". Besides, I reckon that the colours on the Flambé's wings also reflects the colourway of this shawl.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Plönlein [95:366, 03.05.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Lastly, Dr. D and I went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber together last Saturday. It was our first trip alone together to somewhere, where both of us haven't yet been.

Nice picturesque hamlet....but it has unfortunately turned into such a tourist trap. Things are overpriced and everywhere there are only shops selling knick-knacks to fill the clichés but that nobody actually needs.

We went to two museums there: Reichstadt Museum and the Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum. Otherwise we just walked around town and looked at this and that.

Oh, and I got to try some "Schneeball" (it's a kind of snack and a specialty of Mittelfranken), which kind of made me sick afterwards because it's so fatty.

Very last thing though, I really would like to thank every single one of you who sent me words of encouragements and understandings concerning my last post. I'm feeling a lot better now that those things are out of my system. I have to make it clear though that when I talked about the negativity on Ravelry...or rather about HipKnits, it wasn't about the customers or something like that as some of you might have thought (well, those of you who knows the story wouldn't have needed any explanation anyway), but it's about the scandal that came with the shop's closing down a whole load of other things - no idea why I thought the shop had closed. I won't go into detail about it here since it doesn't really concern me (I never bought anything from there)...but if you're curious, I'm sure you can find information about it all over the net anyway. ;-)

ETA: Oh, dear Eru! Now there are even people copying spindles! That's getting kinda bad....if not very bad.

Well, so now you've caught up on everything. Have a great week, everyone!

Current Mood: Good
Food for the Ears: (If you listen to the Knitters Uncensored Podcast, you might remember this song....oh, and the video might not be very kid/work-safe.)

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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 I'm still here

Butterfly Girl Designs Spindle in action, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Wow, feels almost as though I've been unplugging from the blogosphere. I think I kind of lost a bit of my blogging mojo. But well, as the photos accumulated, I felt that I either need to blog off some of them or otherwise scrap a whole load.

Anyways, if you've been following, I've finished my Mystic Waters Shawl (yeah, that's the temporary photo. I still need to take an artsy one).

Apart from that, my birthday has been a kind of extended one. What's with all the packages that came in in a period of every couple of days. The photo above is actually the second package. A good friend who wished to remain anonymous to the net sent me my much coveted Butterfly Girl Designs paua shell mosaic drop spindle.

Another birthday present: BGD Paua Spindle! [44:366, 07.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I had been lusting after the paua shell version of her spindles ever since she made the first one and put it on the shop.

Apart from this, I also got the spindle with the new kind of swan neck hook, which really reduces the wobble when spinning to as much as none when comparing to the old style hooks that BGD used before (not that the wobbling ever bothered me at all).

Birthday presents from Alala [42:366, 05.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Apart from that, the first birthday package that came in the mail was from Alala, who got me my birthday presents from my Amazon Wishlist (English one here).

So, I got the European version of Brokeback Mountain (2 discs collector's edition) and Inspired Cable Knits (that book has been on my wishlist for so long now!)

More B-Day Gifts [48:366, 11.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

A couple of days later, I received the next package. This time from Charles. He got me a small vintage Kromski Niddy-Noddy, 2 mixed CDs of Indie music (not in the picture) and his own hand-made card. Thank you very much!

More belated B-Day Gifts [50:366, 13.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

The last package came from a collaboration between three dear friends of mine, two of which, I think, would prefer to be mentioned anonymously (but those in the knows can pretty easily guess who they are). Otherwise, the third one was BockstarkKnits. Thank you sooooo much!

So, I got the Kromski tensioned Lazy Kate with four extra bobbins. The Wollmeise Wellensittichvogelfeder in lace-weight for my Mystic Light KAL and a hank of worsted-weight each of Pfefferminz Prinz and Amazonas....and of course three test hanks.

That seems to conclude the birthday present bonanza.

I've otherwise been working on my thesis, as well as knitting and spinning.

Hemlock Ring Blanket, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 06th March 2008
Finish: WIP
Yarn: Gedifra Shetland Deluxe: 50% New Wool, 25% Baby Alpaca, 25% Mohair
Needles: 4.5 mm / 100 cm Addi Turbos
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood from Brooklyntweed

Midnight Stars, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Midnight Stars, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Midnight Stars, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 28th February 2008
Finished: Singles finished on 7th March 2008, Navajo-ply on 12th March 2008
Yardage: approx. 160 m / 50 g of light fingering-weight to almost DK-weight
WPI: n/a
Fibre: 50 g roving of extrafine merino in black with white mulberry silk
Spindle: Singles spun worsted on carved Agate top-whorl spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs, Navajo-plied on Kromski Minstrel on 12:1 ratio in double-drive mode.

I'm pretty proud of this spin! It was just a test-spin for the roving that I bought in order to see what it would turn out like.

I spun the singles on the spindle and navajo-plied on the wheel...and it turned out soooo perfect!

The tweedy effect came from the un-dyed mulberry silk, which also in turns lent a certain shininess and sparkle to the whole appearance of the yarn.

The yarn's not staying with me though, because I'm going to give it away as a prize for the contest over at Knitters Uncensored. You can enter, too, even if you don't listen to the podcast. Just go and read the show notes for the latest episode to see what you have to do.

Yarnwench: Galway [49:366, 12.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 13tg February 2008
Finished: First bobbin of Singles on 10th March 2008
Yardage: n/a
WPI: n/a (aiming for navajo-ply fingering-weight)
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.

I also got halfway on this one. The spinning is taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r.!!!! The singles is really time consuming and the prospect of spinning another full bobbins of singles and then navajo-plying two bobbins full of it is pretty hair-raising already. But I'll persevere. :-)

Spina di Pesce from Alala [52:366, 15.03.2008], originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Lastly, I also received my PIF from Alala.

I couldn't believe it, but she knit me a pair of Spina di Pesce from Yarnissima in the special Wollmeise colourway for the pattern!

I had been wanting to knit this pattern for myself for quite a while now (and yes, I'll buy myself the pattern...or the kit and knit another one). But WHOA, Alala used up th yarn and the leg's long. If I pull it up all the way, the cast-off edge touches the bottom of my kneecap! (You can see the curve of my calf covered by the sock...and I never had that before.)

Thank you so much!!!

And no worries, I've already started doing my first PIF project. It'll take some time though, because I've got a lot going on right now.

Well, that's all I have to tell you for now. Hope everybody's well!

Current Mood: Okay

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...ut aliquid fiat

Tiger's Eye, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Tiger's Eye, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Tiger's Eye, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Choco stat:
Started: 22nd September 2007
Finished: 25 g, spun in single on 11th October 2007
Fibre: Anettes Wollwerkstatt merino roving, 19.5 microns
Spindle: Anettes Wollwerkstatt Turkish Cross Spindle

Hokey Pokey stat:
Started: 11th October 2007
Finished: 25 g, spun in single on 27th November 2007
Fibre: Anettes Wollwerkstatt merino roving, 19.5 microns
Spindle: Anettes Wollwerkstatt Turkish Cross Spindle

Plying:
Started and Finished: 01st December 2007
Yardage: approx. 300 m
WPI: approx. 25 WPI
Fibre: See above
Spindle: Carved Agate top-whorl spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs

FYI, the title of the post means "So that something happens".

First, I've finished my spinning project that stretched over 3 months! What do you think of the Tiger's Eye? This yarn really made me work for it. The single took a long time in spinning, due to the fact that I got bored with it.

Nothing special about the plying. But when I went to re-skein the washed yarn, everything got tangled up so bad that I spent five hours playing kitty with it. I got really close to the point where I just wanted to throw the whole thing away. But I kept at it and the effort was well worth it!

300 metres of yarn is however not enough for a shawl...besides, I don't really think that I want a shawl in yellow either. Maybe I'll do a Tiger Eyes Lace Scarf (Ravelry link) out of it.

Anyway, there's something that really makes me feel elated today. I've been having some sleepless nights over the weekend due to my studies. Like I mentioned before, I was worried about my seminar paper marks not getting in to the uni in time for me to register for the diploma, which is this coming Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, I handed in my very last seminar paper and the prof marked it over the weekend. I got the result back and was already elated. I got 1.7! Now I have to explain the German marking system briefly here. Basically you can get marked from 1 to 5. With 1 being the best, like an A+ and 4.3-5 being the worst, i.e. an F. In my whole university career, I got another 1.7 only once before and that was ages and ages ago (yes, I've been digging around quite a bit). It's not so much the 1.7 for this paper ,"Defective Democracy: Theoretical Concept (with the example of Russia)", that got me in such a good mood, but the fact that I wrote the paper pretty much more or less in one single day....and I got such a high mark for it!

So, that was one paper down. I had 3 other papers that I handed in a semester before this semester, but I still haven't got the results for those ones back....until today.

I had been running around the past couple of weeks and had been trying to rouse the two profs who have my works (2 papers with one prof, and one more with the other). They both promised to get the markings to the university in time for the diploma registration.

It's just sooooo close to the registration now that I was getting really worried about it. Anyway, I had been at work all day today (early shift from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.)...and I got only two hours of sleep last night due to my worrying about what would happen if the my papers still haven't been marked.

Anyway, I made a bee-line to the university right after work. I got there and found the secretary and asked her whether she had got anything back from the profs. She told me that everything is there and that I can register for the diploma thesis and exams! *woohoo!* Then she told me that I could go pick up the two papers from the one prof, but the other one is still being processed into the system. Never mind that, it took a whole load off my heart to know that I've reached the next step.

That was one thing to be happy about.

I went to get my two papers, both in the area of political theory, and I almost dropped dead when I saw the marks:

"Theory of Power after Michel Foucault" - 1.3
"The Deconstruction after Michel Foucault" - 1

That's an A and a freaking A+! I've never got such marks before in my whole life! I just couldn't believe it! I guess that something did get stuck in my head after all these years of digging around at the university after all. I mean, I did go to all the seminars and lectures...but if you ask me whether I've been paying attention? Well, that would need a different kind of answer. ;-)

I just drifted out of the university with a stupid grin on my face. :-) Now, I'm just curious as what kind of marks I'd get on my last paper. But I can say that I'm really happy overall now. Things seem to be looking up with my studies. I had been digging around in the past two years because I just don't feel motivated any more and I started to dislike my studies. I felt as though I never could understand a thing they talked about in class....but well, my marks are showing me otherwise and now I'm feeling motivated again! So, diploma thesis and exams, here I come!

ETA: I thought I'd give you guys the marking system according to my university here:

1.0 - 1.3 = Very good
1.7 - 2.3 = Good
2.7 - 3.3 = Satisfactory
3.7 - 4.0 = Adequate
4.3 - 5.0 = Not adequate, i.e. failed

Current Mood: Tired, but really euphoric

On...Pumpkin juice? Treacle? No, it's Hokey-Pokey!

Hokey Pokey "Dental Floss", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Hokey Pokey "Dental Floss", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Hokey Pokey "Dental Floss", originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 11th October 2007
Finished: 25 g, spun in single on 27th November 2007
Yardage: n/a
WPI: n/a (but definitely more than 25 WPI)
Fibre: Anettes Wollwerkstatt merino roving, 19.5 microns
Spindle: Anettes Wollwerkstatt Turkish Cross Spindle

It has taken a while for me to finally finish up this batch of "dental floss". I usually don't like yellow that much, but this orchre is just gorgeous! And the softness? Absolutely nothing to complain about that. It's 19.5 microns after all. ;-)

There's a knot in the skein, where the yarn broke when I was skeining it. But that's not too bad....considering how thin it is at the place where it broke.

Just in case you're not Kiwi and you're trying to figure out why I'm naming this yarn after a dance. Well, for us Kiwis, hokey-pokey's not strictly a dance, it's a kind of lolly...sponge toffee to be exact.

The yarn's only half finished though...because:

Choco-Hokey-Pokey: To be plied, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Yup, it's going to be plied with my choco dental floss. ;-)

So, not much to talk about otherwise. I'm a bit worried about my studies at the moment....all of my four seminar certificates are still not handed in to the university by the profs. I mean, I just handed in the last paper last week, so that's to be expected, but the prof said that it should be there by Friday. But the other three papers? I handed those in last semester. *sighs* And I need all those certificates for my diploma registration by next Wednesday. *meh* I mean, I rang up the one prof who has two of my papers. He said that he's stuck in correcting exams this week and will get to my papers over the weekend. He also said that he'll ring up the university and tell them that he has my papers but it will be after the registration has closed that he can give me the certificates...so I hope that works out.

The last professor, however, was a guest prof from the US. At the beginning of this semester, there was this notice hung up saying that the certificates should be in within a week of this semester. We're now almost four weeks in the semester and the damned certificates aren't there yet.

Frickin' hell.

On a lighter note: Did I mention that I went to a Rufus Wainwright concert on Monday? It was a total kismet. Yarnissima sent me an email a couple of weeks ago telling me that she's been to his concert in the Netherlands and she was asking me whether I'm going to go when he's in Munich. I didn't even get around to answering her because I just thought that there's no way I'm fishing out EUR 40 for a concert ticket while I can very sensibly spend that money on rovings and yarn.

Anyway, on Monday afternoon, a friend of mine rang me up totally out of the blue. I haven't been in touch with her for yonks and yonks. She told me that she's got two free tickets to the Rufus Wainwright's concert that evening and asked me whether I wanted to go. Hell yeah!

The first half of the concert was okay. It wasn't that exciting. But the second half was great. The ice totally broke when Rufus did his Judy Garland imitation of Get Happy (yes, the exact same thing, with the costumes, dancers and all). The crowd just went wild!

So, all in all, it was great. ;-)

Well, that's all I have to tell now...hope everybody's having a good week!

Current Mood: Okay

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 New Toys and Christmas presents

Butterfly Girl Designs: Carved Agate Top-Whorl Spindle, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Butterfly Girl Designs: Carved Agate Top-Whorl Spindle, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Carved Agate Whorl - 2.25"
Tapered Carved Dark-Wood Shaft - 10"
Weight - 1.6 oz

From Butterfly Girl Designs.

Butterfly Girl Designs: Lapis Lazuli convertible spindle, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Butterfly Girl Designs: Lapis Lazuli convertible spindle, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

A custom order from Butterfly Girl Designs: for me:

Lapis Lazuli Whorl - 1.5"
Dark-stained Walnut Shaft - 10"
Weight - 1 oz

Yes, I got new toys from Butterfly Girl Designs! LOVE both of them, especially the carved agate one. Both the spindles spin like a dream!

Lapis Lazuli is one of my most favourite stones of all time. The reason it is my favourite stone is because of its esoteric properties, i.e. it enhances your psychic ability. I used to be very into esoteric stuff...but not that much anymore. However, the love for this stone has stayed on...and I'm so happy to have Lapis whorl spindle now. The quality of the stone itself is pretty good: It has a rich dark but vibrant blue colour and it hasn't got too much impurities in it (the white part - calcite - of the stone)...and for my personal taste, I always like the golden pyrite running through it.

As for the Carved Agate one, I'd been drooling over that for a while and then just decided to get it anyway. ;-) Right now I'm spinning up a certain project on it:

Lace-weight singles: Midnight Sky, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Started: 17th November 2007
Finished: WIP
Yardage: n/a
Fibre: 50 g of 18 micron Merino from Wollwerkstatt
Spindle: Carved Agate top-whorl spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs

I'm definitely spinning THIS in to a lace-weight single and will be knitting a shawl with it....depending on the yardage I'm getting. If I get approx. 400 m, I think I'll make either a Swallowtail or Woodland Shawl...since the Flower Basket Shawl isn't available on the Knitting Daily anymore (unless one of you guys out there have it). OMG! Thank you so much to Jess, Chocolate and Knitting!!!

Anyhow, we recorded the 10th episode for the Knitters Uncensored podcast today...and since I wasn't sure whether I'll get to see Bockstark Knits and Cashyie before Christmas or not, I decided to give them their presents.

Cashyie got her Kolenyas: