Infinity Cowl Forever

This month has been packed with lengthy assignments, 7-8 hour lab days, and PhD level graduate school applications, but somehow I've been able to find some time to knit.

Considering how busy I've been I actually finished this infinity scarf fairly quickly!  I think it's because I knit when I'm super stressed.

I also must apologize for my crazy photos right now.  I cannot figure out the best light conditions in this dorm room and often don't have the time to mess with it a whole lot.  I also really need a better lens.

I'm not only excited by how wonderful this scarf looks, but by the fact that I was able to use up some yarn that I didn't really like that has been sitting around for a while.

The yarn is Berroco Peruvia in the most beautiful green color.  It is a single ply, worsted weight, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, which means that it is a little scratchy but very warm.  I tried to knit up two projects in this yarn before now and I really didn't like knitting with it at the time and it also didn't look great with those particular patterns.  My big problems were that it was single ply and curled up on itself, was splitty, and was scratchy.

The pattern used is 5th Avenue Infinity Scarf by Margaux Hufnagel and I must say that it is the perfect pattern for this yarn.  I don't think that I will ever knit a straight scarf ever again because I love the infinity scarf concept so much better.  You can also see from the picture below that this scarf really needs a serious blocking.

Is there anything more wonderful than finishing a scarf right when it starts to get really cold outside?

Finally a FO!

November is always one of those crazy months that flies by all too quickly.  Classes really pick up and Thanksgiving is near the end, which means flying home commercially (the horror!).  This November also got off to a strange, particularly rushed and stressful start due to the power outage that brought Massachusetts down last weekend.

So, November is particularly difficult for my knitting ethic.  However, once it started getting cold out, I decided that I needed some new fingerless gloves.  Even better, I wanted to actually use some of my handspun for them!  Two days later I was able to proudly wear these!

I improvised these fingerless gloves in a basic ribbing pattern, which worked really well with some bulky wool handspun I finished a few weeks ago. 

This is the first spin-to-knit project that I have ever actually liked as a finished product.  I've already gotten several compliments on them and I only finished them hours ago!

I'm also one of those crazy people that once I finish a project I HAVE to wear it as soon as I can (sometimes I don't even weave in the ends before I wear it because I'm so excited!).  I do block my projects eventually, but not until I take exhaustive photos and dance around with glee.  Today was certainly one of those occasions.

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!