I have been a lazy updater, my apologies... here's a quick update as to what has been on the needles and out of the dyepot.

I finished the hat to go along with Callie's mittens a few weeks back and it fits her quite nicely, though she is a reluctant model of late.

Here, also, is a toque I am working on for Peter with a heavily modified version of this pattern. Really the only resemblance it bears to the original is the use of the twisted rib stitch. I turned the brim at a different spot, used different yarn and different needles, and am working the decreases differently. Still, it was solid inspiration and a great pattern, I just never follow my patterns. This is in a pima cotton/silk blend from Cascade that I picked up a few years back, and is working up with ridiculous softness.

And now a tale of woe turned to joy in the form of a botched roving. I was soaking 4 ounces or so of Blue-Face Leicester roving in the sink and tried to pick it up to drain it, but the stuff was so loose and fluffy, with not even the tiniest bit of fulling from the wash, that the weight of the water caused it to attenuate apart in certain places as it literally just slipped apart from itself. I wasn't deterred and dyed it up anyway, ending up with a pile of fluffy BFL bits that looked a little like this:

I decided to dust off my much-neglected but dearly loved Suzie and give it a spin. In the past I have defaulted on a solid bulky-weight yarn for speed purposes and wanted to practice spinning more finely, so I took this as my opportunity. I was rusty, but spinning is mostly muscle memory once you learn the technique, so it was akin to riding a bike and I ended up with great results with my singles. This was a solid 36 WPI or so in most areas, somewhat finer in others.

Unfortunately the plying was fraught with problems and it didn't ply nearly as firmly as I was aiming for. I suspect I underestimated how much twist the much finer single ply needed, especially given how active the single was, and didn't impart as much twist as I needed to get the yarn I desired, but that wasn't the only issue at play. The lack of a tensioned lazy kate was a much bigger annoyance than I had anticipated and my bobbins kept backwinding. Anyway, the plying was a bear but it DID get done and the finished yarn was pretty darn good and will work up very evenly even with some fluffier, lower-twist spots.

And yes, I am absolutely planning of buying a tensioned lazy kate AND a high-speed accelerator head for the Suzie, the funds (and time to spin) just haven't been there.

But without further ado, the final product, looking quite lovely and very much for sale (bigger pictures available in the galleries).

Not bad at all I say, and perfect for spring.

And now for a preview of the other items up for sale, with larger images being available in the gallery.

We have a beautiful mottled Wine/Periwinkle worsted weight, Peachy Keen handspun, and Merlot sock yarn that is full of the deepest, most shimmery purple shades ranging from Plum to Royal Purple to the deepest Violet. The photos don't do that beauty justice, it is so luxurious and saturated in hue.

We also have Wildflower Sky roving, which consists of Cornflower Blue, a touch of Turquoise, and Lilac shot through with a cool Cherry Red.

Last but not least there's Meadowfoam, which is a cheerful Apple and Seafoam Green worsted weight accented with a strong, mottled Mahogany and Tan stripe.

All these are going up for sale on Etsy within the next day or two, and I am proud of them all. As much as I love wearing subdued, peaceful shades I must admit the artist in me is ridiculously in love with poppy, punchy, bright color. Enjoy!