Long awaited project status update

Hi everyone! I'm back, sort of, but good enough, right? :)

I'm in college. Yep, as everyone has probably figured out, I have been quite busy for not updating for months on end. So what has happened since my last post (from October)?


While I was in school, I took a ceramics class and completed some projects with the 25lb of clay I bought. :)


Hand built Chameleon (he's actually an upside down pot, haha)

A wheel thrown mug for Meow-Meow

Lots 'o wheel thrown pieces

Cute little cup and plate set filled with hot chocolate

Also, I was able to squeeze a couple of knitting projects (socks everywhere, lol) during Winter Break and Spring Break. 


"Wednesday Socks" using Fancy Feet Anklets Set pattern made with Knit Picks Stroll in Aurora Heather.

"Overly Due Christmas Socks" using Rose City Rollers pattern made with Red Heart & Sole With Aloe in Christmas.

"Guacamole Socks" using Picot Socks pattern made with Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce in Guacamole.

"Fishy Socks" using Simple Handspun Socks pattern made with my handspun yarn from Meow Brands.

"Curly Cat Cat" using my own pattern made with a combo strand of Vermont O-Wool Balance and Be Sweet Medium Mohair. 

"Twilight the Cat" using my own pattern made with Cascade Superwash 220 in 874. 

That's all for now! Until next time. :)

New life events

Hello Readers! Happy New Year 2015!

I apologize for the long and unexpected "hiatus" I've taken from my blog. Sadly I haven't had much motivation/time for blogging or knitting for that matter for a few months, but now, after Winter Break, I'm back in the groove! :)

So what have I been doing these past few months? Some (or probably most) people probably know that I'm a kid, but can almost taste adulthood. ;) I've been applying to colleges these past few months and have gotten into most of them so far, but I haven't made my final decision on which college I'll go to just yet. There won't be an announcement regarding where I am going due to privacy reasons of course; however, I will say if I decided to venture far away or not. Should be an answer to the college question before May. 

Into knitting news, I just completed a pair yesterday of thick socks using my handspun 100% Corriedale in the "Zoe" colorway by Woolen Mill St. The pattern used was "Simple Short Row Heel Socks" on Ravelry. 

I've also finished a sock using the pattern "Andromeda." The yarn I used for it, String Theory Caper Sock in Fusion (a skein I bought at Knitwit in Maine) is soooo soft and cuddly! I don't think it's meant for socks as it has cashmere, but maybe for a garment or accessory (such as a scarf, hat, or cowl/shawl) it would be perfect.

Okay and for in completely non-knitting news, I have bought some more ghost shrimp to fill my empty tank today! This is my third batch of shrimp and I've been raising them for the past four years. I've already taken some pictures of them and I'll show you guys the best ones:

Fishy fingerless mittens

Made available May 21st, 2014

PDF of pattern available

Supplies:

About 100 yards of handspun yarn (12 WPI) or a heavy and springy fingering to sport weight yarn. I used my special Meow brand "Fishy Blue" yarn, to be available for sale online in the coming months. 

US size 3/3.25mm DPNs or 16"-24" circular (whatever is most comfortable for knitting in the round)

Scissors

Yarn needle

Split ring or stitch marker (to keep track of where you are in rows)


Gauge:

9 sts/9 rows = 1 inch of k2, p2 ribbing (unstretched)


Notes and Instructions:

If you make the mitten larger or longer, you'll need 100+ yards of yarn, so please plan accordingly.

You can cast on any amount of stitches, but please make sure it's in multiples of 4. 

The thumb is added on after your mitt is done. It's completely optional. 



PATTERN:

Long-tail CO 40 sts, separate

Start k2, p2 ribbing for four inches.

Now, turn and start k2, p2 rib, going back and forth as if knitting "flat" for 8 rows.

After 8 rows of flat knitting, continue back to knitting in the round for 10 rows. 

Bind off using a "stretchy" bind-off (with knit stitches: knit bind off, with purl stitches, purl bind off). 

*Optional
Pick up 16 sts on the thumb hole, separate.

k2, p2 rib for 10 rows. Bind off with "stretchy" bind-off.



Repeat for the second mitt. 

Please do not try to steal and say this was your pattern, no profit for finished product or pattern that is FREE. 

Freshly Handspun skeins!

Time to catch up on my handspinning projects and what I've been up to! :) 

I have been recently, for the past month, been experimenting with dyeing yarn!   It has been an exciting adventure for me using professional acid dyes. I mainly started dyeing yarn because of a school project for inventing something. More on what I invented on a later post. ;) 

Remember my first handspun (blue/brown one) with my miniSpinner? I actually knit the yarn into something! I bet you'll never guess what..... Well it's maybe too obvious when the yarn is a Superwash BFL. What else would I make besides socks?!

Soooo pretty! :) They don't match but who cares? They're so soft and beautiful! :) I love the colorways that Sweet Georgia has. Every color is absolutely gorgeous. 

About a month ago, I completed a skein of hand-dyed Corriedale by Woolen Mill St. I started on after finishing my Sweet Georgia Coal Harbour skein.

It's in the "Rue" colorway. It's a 14 WPI yarn (yes, I finally got that WPI tool!) and 322 yards I also have the same exact roving in her "grape" and "Zoe" colorways that I'll be spinning up in the summer. 

After that skein, I dyed my first roving! Probably the ugliest thing I've ever seen. (Definitely NOT my colorway)

I mean it looks OK.... Well, I guess I have to agree that when I spun it up, it looked much much better:

Updating

Hello everyone! :) Sorry I haven't updated Imaginative Knits in a while. I've been extremely busy with school work and other things that I forgot to update my little blog. So here is a quick update!

Still on the bobbin :)

The finished skein

A close up

The day after New Year's, I completed a braid of Sweet Georgia Superwash BFL. The colorway is called "Coal Harbour," which is a mix of multiple shades of sea green which a light eggplant purple color. I started spinning the yarn around Thanksgiving time, and the singles came off my Hansencrafts miniSpinner quite fine. I have 475 yards for the 100 gram (3.5oz) braid. It's a light fingering-fingering weight yarn that I navajo-plied. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it's a light fingering weight or a fingering weight. After all these years of spinning, I still don't have a WPI tool! :( I do plan to get this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/62413600/sheep-spinners-wpi-gauge-bamboo very soon. :)

Anyways, before school started back up again in September, I finished a fox head from this pattern. I left it untouched for a few months, until I picked it back up during winter break, the end of December, and completed it a little after school continued again. :) 

So here's the end result!

Yay! :) I finally finished something, LOL. 

Some handspinning

On Sunday (last day of the weekend before school starts up again for the week), I finished/plied up 4oz of organic merino that had been on my miniSpinner for a few weeks. :) I didn't have the opportunity to complete my organic merino because of school. 

Here it is as singles on the bobbin:

I then plied it. The yarn came in at about 480 yards and a light fingering weight. 

Beautiful huh? I still need to get a niddy noddy. A 2yd one to be exact. This is the second large skein made by me that I've had to wrap around a chair. :( Maybe soon I'll be able to say, "Chairs no more!" :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this skein. I might make the second bump of roving (another 4oz) the same weight and do a large project, or just make the second bump a worsted weight so I can make more animals. I have no idea. I still haven't figured out what to do with the first skein I've made with my miniSpinner:

That's a braid (100g) of SweetGeorgia SW BFL in the colorway Cold Mountain. I think I'm going to do another pair of Let it Be with this striping yarn. :) As soon as I finished this skein, I started on the organic merino (in the pictures above of the white yarn). The merino is a huge improvement from the BFL pictured here. It's much more consistent.