The project that dragged on and on and on...

It is finally complete and I'm very surprised to say that I love, love, love it.  I proudly wear many of my knit creations (those that I don't end up spontaneously gifting to people), but this particular project feels like one of those favorite outfit additions that will always live on in my closet.

The reason this took so ridiculously long to complete is because I have this irrational hatred for projects with mostly garter stitch.  I need a stitch pattern to keep things interesting or it will always be the project I put aside. Also, this pattern features ribbing (shudder).  But the pattern Mara by MadelineTosh, is wonderfully simple and makes for a lovable finished product.

I've talked about the yarn here before, Tosca Light (Lang Yarns).  It was another reason why I had some trouble with this project.  The colorway is so beautiful that I have yet to take a photograph that can show the colors properly.  However, it is partially acrylic, which I don't enjoy knitting with most of the time.

Hooray for FO!

Great Balls of Fiber

I had a difficult time last week  and so I did what I do any time I'm frazzled and in need of a mini vacation.  I went to Webs to stroke all the fiber I could get my hands on (if you have ever been to Webs then you know that is a lot of fiber).

I have come to realize that I have now graduated from moderately obsessed with fiber arts to really obsessed because I'm now buying fiber in the form of huge balls, as you can see below.

For reference, the purple ball (of lovely, lovely silk and merino) is about the size of my head.  The brown ball of Jacob wool is certainly larger than my head.  I'm excited to use these materials to craft truly handcrafted gifts for people I care about, but at the same time I cannot believe that people used to use similar materials to spin the yarn to make clothes with.  Between me and my spindle,  it's going to take forever just for a simple project.

This fiber is all destined to become Christmas presents for some lucky individuals, who lucky for me likely don't read my blog.

Thus begins my first spin to knit adventure!