Fiber Week in Review: February 23-March 1

Knitting: I finished my Arcite Cowl. The KAL runs through the end of this week. It's been so much fun seeing other people's cowls, and now I can add my finished version to the list. Although I still think this pattern is fantastic for variegated yarn, doing it in the more solid color isn't too bad. When I did the tutorial video, I used a grey color and although I rather like grey, it seemed a bit flat in the swatch I made for the video. I'm wondering, though, if it's less the color with this Arcite version and more the yarn, as it's a thick and thin yarn, so different textures also bring a dynamic to the finished object. I need a better picture, but here's the finished Arcite done in Round Table Yarns King Arthur in the Ganieda colorway.

After finishing the cowl, I decided to make the matching hat. I had to dip into a second skein of yarn for the end of the cowl (last 3 rounds plus bind off), so I want to be sure that both the cowl and hat can be made from two skeins of yarn before I start telling people that it is true. I took this picture yesterday afternoon and then worked on the hat more last night so I'm almost finished with the second section now.

And I got a little bit of work done on the baby blanket I'm designing. This has been a bit of a beast of a project. My original plan, once I started swatching, didn't turn out quite as expected, so I went back to the drawing board. My next plan, which actually got to the knitting stage, also didn't turn out as expected, so I ripped it out, and planned some changes. Now I think I'm finally settled on where the blanket should be so I should be able to make some good progress on it. But it is one of those things where the rows are long so even if I spend an hour or two on it, not much progress seems to be made.

Spinning: I looked longingly at my spinning wheel this week. Right now the bobbins are empty since I finished all the other projects that had been on it. I think what I need to do is go through my fiber stash and pick out something pretty and at least put it out next to the wheel so I can at least have the decision of what to spin next already made. One step closer to getting some spinning done.

Stash Enhancement: I was really good this week and resisted all fiber temptation. Actually, since DFW Fiber Fest is coming up in a few weeks, I don't anticipate having any stash enhancement until then. And I already have plans for things I want to get while there.

Designing: I hit a snag in my Brynhild Cowl which is currently in testing. The test knitters are using a lot more yarn that I used in my sample. I had wanted to release that cowl before DFW Fiber Fest, but I need to figure out what is going on with the yardage. Better to hold off on releasing the pattern than to rush it and have problems when people buy either too little or too much yarn for it.

I have a shawl idea percolating and have even picked out the yarn and wound it. I've sketched out the first section and just need to get started on it. I think I'll finish the Palamon Hat and then cast on for this.

In the latest issue of Cast On magazine, the technique section was about short rows. I've used short rows before and think they create really great possibilities. One of my favorite projects that I've made that uses short rows is 53 Moons. But I haven't yet moved that possibilities of short rows into my designs yet. And after reading that article I'm not sure why I haven't. So I'm going to ponder some ideas and see what I can come up with for some future designs.

Dyeing: I'm still working on getting inventory up for DFW Fiber Fest. My list of colors to dye on specific bases that hadn't been dyed yet (e.g., previously Excalibur had only been dyed on Lancelot, so I needed to dye it on the other bases) is getting smaller. I think there are only five more skeins to dye until I have an example of each color on every base. After that, it's working on more skeins so I have more than one skein of some colors (especially for Guenevere since using it for my Astolat shawl would require two skeins--I've actually been dyeing Guenevere in pairs to make sure of this).

Lots of reskeining this week and more still to do. And with the reskeining has also come a huge pile of yarn that needs to have glamor shots. This week has been our ice and snow week in Texas so I haven't been able to get outside to get pictures in natural light. Yesterday I finally broke down and opened the blinds on the back door, letting in the light and taking pictures right there. The shadows were a bit of an issue, and I don't think the pictures are quite as good as the ones actually taken outside, but they are useable so it's good to get something else checked off the list of things to do. I edited the pictures yesterday and will add them to the website later today or tomorrow.

Now to label all of those skeins!

Editing: One of the things that seems to keep happening in my editing business is that I go through dry spells and then all of a sudden it pours. I did fill in slots in January and February, but I also had about two weeks where no major projects were scheduled. I used those times to get ahead on the Round Table Yarns stuff. But I was looking at March with a wide open calendar. And suddenly that calendar isn't wide open anymore. In the past week, I've gotten three new projects and now I'm booked through March 24. And I have a returning author who hopes to be ready for editing at the end of March. It feels nice to be able to block out those spots on my calendar and also to block out the spots for projects that I'm excited to work on.