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eggplanted (merino/bamboo) Archives

June 20, 2008

Supporting the local economy

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My mom and I are in beautiful Eugene, Oregon, to see the Black Sheep Gathering. It's a lovely event, not too big but not the least bit small, either. It was really hard to leave for the day, but most likely a good idea that we did. There were more than a few fantastically beautiful spindles calling my name, and trying the Louet Julia is going to haunt my spinning fantasies for a while. I should curse Wooland Woolworks for having so many wheels out for test driving. Evil temptresses, every last one of them. But they were so nice, I can't be mad.

The sheep and goats (Parenthetically, I have a hard time distinguishing certain breeds of sheep from goats and am not diligent enough to actually read the tags describing each animal. So if I call something a goat and it's actually a sheep, that's just my own flakiness.) were endearing though I was a bit started to realize how much like Babe, the male sheep were. Yowza! No, I didn't snap any proof, you big sicko.

Anyway, a cute sheep in a coat, makes googoo eyes at me.

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And two little goats snuggle up for a nap.

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A few more cutie pies over on flickr, if that's not enough.

And if you want still more livestock, here's a little movie I put together to give you a feel for how loud those goats can be.


I swear, some of them sounded like sarcastic older men trying to mimic the sound of goats. It makes me laugh. I'm easily amused.

I also got myself some damn fine roving. I'm so in love with this haul.

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And my mom treated me to a gorgeous new, hand blown, glass orifice hook.

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For those unfamiliar with the purpose of an orifice hook, I promise, it's not at all what you are imagining.

And of course, my mom got a few nice things too.

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All in all, a really fun day.

November 11, 2008

What I'm doing when I'm not doing thing I can't show you.

I finished spinning the One Wild Night roving I got from Mary-Kay last year. The 4 ounces yielded approximately 500 yards of 3-ply worsted weight yarn that I'm knitting up into a long skinny scarf. I will probably also make a pair of mittens to go with them, time permitting, and if I'm really motivated, a little hat to boot.

But first things first, the scarf:

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The piece is worked in linen stitch which is worked kind of like ribbing, only every other stitch is slipped. This results in a lovely soft transition between rows, as the color from the previous row is carried up into the next row, every other stitch. I thought that would be perfect for yarn that already had fairly subtle gradations between colors. This stitch would also work great in something like Noro.

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The final fabric has a woven look on the right side and a sort of seed stitch look on the wrong side. The seed stitch really highlights the unevenness of the handspun which might bother some people, but I'm going to consider it "charming" and "rustic."

I'll probably work a little i-cord edging around the piece to even off the edges, or maybe single crochet. I haven't decided.

Of course, the knitting pictures are boring without a certain you-know-what. This is for my friend Erica who always chastises me for draping stuff on Panda's head.

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Oh you can all just shush, she got so many kisses after that, she hardly remembers the embarrassment.

And seriously, look at what the rest of her life is like:

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Yah, life is tough, around here.

With all that I have on my plate, it doesn't leave too much time for other projects, but I did start some more roving on El Matchador.

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This is the absolutely exquisite bamboo/merino from Blue Moon, in colorway, Eggplanted. I kind of want to marry this roving. And yah, that's Thea's blurry butt in the shot. She's just checking to make sure there's plenty of dog hair on the floor. Wouldn't want to run out.

November 17, 2008

Eggplanted in front of El Matchador

I can't get enough of this roving.

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Love love love love love.

Love!

The colors are really rich and the way the two fibers (bamboo and merino) take up dye, produces a ton of depth in the singles. Also, I love purple.

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The first bobbin has about a sock weight singles on it. The second bobbin (currently in progress) has a much thinner singles, maybe lace weight. My plan is to ply the thick singles with two strands of the thin singles, fed from a center pull ball, though I might just do a single strand of each singles. I'm kind of on the line about it.

I love this colorway so much, it makes me sad I don't have more time to spin, but it's a nice little treat when I need to rest from my deadline work.

And since we're talking spinning, I thought I'd show you my pretty calendar from Spindlicity. Janel sent it to me along with my payment for the neck warmers I designed.

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This will be going up right next to my computer, in the office. It's a lovely reminder that El Matchador isn't my own spinning tool, in the house.

January 26, 2009

Wiiner

I had a damn fun weekend. My birthday came early when Leo got me a Wii. Before you say anything, yes, I plan to get the fit.

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Leo beat me roundly at golf. Our first game was somewhat embarrassing but I assure you that he now beats me by a much narrower margin.

But golf is for chumps, and I smacked his arse in boxing and bowling

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Heck yah!

Also, I've been spinning.

Eggplanted two-ply yarn
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Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

General Specs

  • Roving From: Blue Moon Fiber Arts
  • Colorway: Eggplanted
  • Fiber: Merino/Bamboo
  • Yards: 290
  • Ply: 2
  • WPI: 12-ish
  • Weight: 3.4
This is just over half of my total stash of this fiber.


February 9, 2009

Now I want to knit it

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El Matchador and I are spending a lot of quality time together lately. I think watching the videos on the new edition of Spindlicity played no small part in my recent spinning binge.

I was able to finish off all 7 ounces of Blue Moon Fiber Arts roving, and I'm already a bobbin and a half through some more of the creamy white Cormo I got a little while back.

Specs

  • Roving From: Blue Moon Fiber Arts
  • Colorway: Eggplanted
  • Fiber: Merino/Bamboo
  • Total Yards: 690
  • Skeins: 2 and a baby skein
  • Ply: 2
  • WPI: 12-ish
  • Weight: 7 ounces

I think I could make a little something fitted with this or get a little more mileage by using another yarn and working stripes. Or maybe I'll make a vest. Hmm. Whatever I do I want to make it something special. I just love the colors.

Also, I'm just wondering, is it just me or is this cute?

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About eggplanted (merino/bamboo)

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Marnie, speak! Good girl. in the eggplanted (merino/bamboo) category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

eggplant (pygora) is the previous category.

first love (pygora/silk) is the next category.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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