Long Overdue Updates

It's been so long since I've posted, I had to go back and see what I've already mentioned!

Knitting
First up, some recent knitting:



This is the beginning of a scarf, knit the long way in linen stitch. I'm using this yarn that I spun a couple of years ago:


The yarn was spun from BFL top, hand-dyed by Sandy's Palette. I'm using US #4 needles and 400 stitches. The rows are long, but I only have to work 8".

Sewing
Earlier in the year I was in a fun swap group. We all agreed to make multiples of something and send them to the central organizer. We got back a box with at least 10 different things made by the other participants. I made these little zipped pouches:


Spinning
I've been puttering at spinning a bit here and there, too. This was a quick little skein from random fibers I kind of cadged together:

It's not really enough yarn to be useful for much, but if I combine it with other yarns, maybe it can be a fun accent.

Several weeks ago I went digging through my fiber stash. Some of you may recall that not too long after I started spinning I stumbled on an amazing Craigslist bargain. A local spinner was trying to liquidate her stash in a hurry. My friend Fern and I split the cost and the goods. There is a lot of natural colored wool in various browns and creams, but also, some odds and ends of more colorful choices. This is some kind of top from that lot:

The colors are certainly quite strident in the unspun state! I'm finding that as I spin, there's a bit of blending going on that's taking the edge off it in a nice way.

Singles of same:

There's very little of this: only about 60 grams total. I considered chain-plying to avoid muddying the colors any further, but now I think I want to buy some red top and ply it with that. Red would work with both the purple and the orange and not fight too much with either. Plying with something else would also make it go farther. Stay tuned.

Weaving
Back in the winter, I wove this length of cloth:

Valley Yarns 3:2 cotton, 12.5 dent reed. After machine washing and drying, it became incredibly soft to the touch. I like how the white flecks on the black ground look like a loon's feathers. I'm going to turn that into a throw pillow soon. It's been languishing unfinished for long enough.

Website!
This might be the most exciting part of this post! I finally have a separate site set up for selling my patterns. Visit Sweater Studio and take a look! Be forewarned: people who use IE8 or earlier for a browser might encounter some glitches and frustrations. If you don't see the banner, it would be a great time to switch to Firefox or Chrome. The pattern sales are set up through the Ravelry hosting and downloading service, but you don't need to be a Ravelry member to buy them. For my sales volume and the number of items in my shop, they give the best deal I've found for me as a vendor.

In Other News
We did finally find a buyer for our old house. We will close on May 26. It will be a huge relief to close that deal.

As we sail into summer my hope is to continue the process of purging our excess stuff, throw a big yard sale, and be inspired for lots of new patterns.