The Wheel Keeps On Turning

Ever have one of those Autumns? I had big plans for this Autumn and for the most part I had to abandon and/or switch directions and just go with the flow. It's been a little while since my last post which was partly because we had another little round of illness in the Dreams in Fiber household - little man picked up this lovely little virus at school which turned into Croup and Pneumonia which was then passed on to little miss and myself though mine was just a head cold. That was a fun couple of weeks complete with an ER visit and everything! Good times. I'm happy to report that all is well now though and hopefully it will stay that way for a while.

My hands have not been idle during these past few weeks. My muse was VERY into crochet there for a while... I have worked on a few crocheted Holiday items when can't be posted yet and even made myself a little project bag inspired by the one made by Attic 24.

If you haven't popped over to her sight yet, please do! She does such fun and inspirational things using color and crochet. This one is a bit smaller than the one I really want to make but it will tide me over for a while. I also finished up my Nephew T's Holiday blanket. I figure it's alright to post this one seeing how he's not quite 2 yet and wont know the difference :)
A while back now, my Aunt K asked for an earflap hat. I ended up CO for a couple different ones and wasn't feeling them so I finally just made one up as I went.
Nothing too fancy, a few purl ridges here and there for some interest... Then I got the grand idea to make a matching pair of mittens that weren't too matchy and set about knitting them during our family's viral haze. Not a good idea. I haven't taken any pictures of that mitten yet so maybe I can post that mitten along with a completed different pair next post. The original mitten was modeled after a picture I saw in a book once and structurally it works out, but I wasn't paying close enough attention with it (little details overlooked and what-have-you which is terribly vexing) and although it looked like it would be too big for my hand (perfect when knitting for someone else) it ended up being a bit snug for me after I seamed up the top and it fit little man rather nicely. I've not blocked it out yet, so we'll see if it grows much in size.

I was intending to work on those mittens this week but my muse had other ideas. It was time to get back to Ingrid (new-to-me Ashford Traditional spinning wheel). The November shipment for the I Love the 80's Club was sent out by the lovely Gherkin. Her theme was Michael Jackson and I give you, The Funk of 40,000 Years.
She gave the option of receiving one of her handspun skeins or 2 40z braids of fiber. My initial thought when I opened my package was to spin one thick for a hat or mittens (for me) and to then spin the other thin for socks (for me 'cause I'm greedy like that sometimes). Little man also noticed the fiber... sitting there ever-so-innocently on the table...

Mom, as he brings me over one of the braids, Don't you think this would be great as a hat for me? Why don't you start spinning it now so I can have my hat? How can you argue with that?

I ended up with a bit over 200 yds worsted/heavy worsted 2 ply. I've not started knitting yet because the spinning wheel is still calling.

I finished up a green skein for a friend of mine, J, who incidentally, is doing the December shipment of the I Love the 80's Club so stay tuned for that, and had another 8 oz to spin up for her in a different fiber. To make sure I could get the desired weight, I started in on one of my hand dyed rovings that was similar in fiber to the ones I would be spinning for her.
After looking at the singles of the first bobbin, I named this skein Christmas Barf, but it does look a bit better after plying said Barf singles with the singles on the second bobbin which contained a good deal of brown. Now it's the Patchwork Skein because Gherkin said I couldn't call it Christmas Barf any more. This skein is half (2.35 oz) of my original roving, 2 ply, around 175 yds. I've started in on J's 8 oz and when I'm finished with that, I will finish up the Christmas Barf, I mean, Patchwork roving. I'll admit, I'm curious to see if the second skein looks like this one did.

I don't really have any new photos of the minions, the weather's been crummy and they've been ill... I'm hoping for some sun this upcoming weekend. I've also finished up some other sooper sekret projects that I can't show yet.

As usual, I had big plans for this upcoming Holiday Season. And as usual, other stuff has come up (friends, family, illness, people's jobs, drama, you name it) and it's gotten me thinking. It'll be an interesting Season. It's time to get back to basics. Ideally, I would love to show up to Holiday Gatherings with armfuls of handmade goodness but my arms aren't going to be as full as I would like them to be. The last few years I've skimped on some of the baking and decorating and other things that I remember being really fun as a child and I don't want to cut things out for my minions by being stressed about getting everything done and thinking I should be doing this or that instead of being present in the moment. I would hope that my friends and family know by now that they all have things coming to them, eventually. So I'm guessing I will feel like a heel when I don't have some of the gifts done that I want to have done, but knitting and crocheting and spinning and creating is really something to be enjoyed and I would rather take my time and do the best job possible than try to frantically whip something out.

Okay, off my soap box there. I'll have some pictures of some of the sekret patterns I've been working on through the year next post along with (hopefully) some pictures of the minions. Enjoy your weekend!