The Lost Geek Podcast

1. Sallah Cowl: a bit too tight
2. Rose Window Beret by Anne Kuo Lukito from a past issue of Interweave Knits. Have always been tickled by her name bcoz it's my uncle's family name. I think she must have an Indonesian background somehow. Frogged this yesterday after reading a listener's comment, KatyKittyJay, abt reknitting. I won't like wearing the beret, so why not frog it. Wrong edge.
3. Giant pie's Pixie Hat. My third Stella Pixie Hat project. So easy and satisfying! Matches with Andrew's smaller one. Have leftover yarn 36 grams, 166 yards. Will make mitts for timo. About the name: giant pie, little pie, mini pie

1. Hitofude: very clever construction!
2. Snapdragon Fliptop Mitts: Ysolda Teague pattern. Part of Loopy Academy last year.

1. Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl : do you have pattern suggestion for the leftover yarn? I might have 200+ yards of light fingering weight yarn.
2. Hitofude
3. Sallah Cowl by Bristol Ivy. First pattern by this designer. Wanted to knit Hanois Cowl. Designer notes on size and shaping.  Helpful notes by chromakate. Do you look for helpful notes before beginning a project?

I've received my November Yarnbox shipment (my second one): Outlaw Yarn's Bohemia Sport, a unique blend of 45% Polwarth, 45% Alpaca, and 10% Possum fiber.It comes with a set of fingerless mitts and beret with a knitted bow by Rhiannon McCulloch called So Boho. I'm still debating between the So Boho or the Mothed pattern by Mag Kandis, a pattern published on Knitty Deep Fall 2010.

Get Your Geek On!

December: Latin word decem.

Interesting name meanings of the months.

1. Saartje's Bootees: I like the end result of this pattern but it's so fussy!! It involves casting on in the middle, and making buttonholes, and seaming. It's a great pattern for teaching a new knitter how to do all those, but for all that fuss, the product seems just so.... Small. LOL.
2. Stella Pixie Hat: it ended up too big for Alicia's little newborn head--I was taking to heart all the saying that we always underestimate a newborn's head size, so I ended up overcompensating. Yarn: 3IG Adorn Sock in Sea Anemone.
3. Samadhi: cast off on the plane to Paris!
4. Honey Cowl: cast off on the plane home!

1. Samadhi
2. Honey Cowl -- I have 4 skeins of Rowan RYC Soft Lux (merino, angora, metallic) that's been in my stash for more than 6 years. 
3. Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl -- Pierrot Yarns Saratto Cotton. Indonesian Knitters Facebook KAL. Tutorials by Cinantya on her blog: garter tab cast on, Judy's Magic Cast On, chart reading, etc.
4. Saartje's Bootees -- no time left!

• Samadhi
• Fringetree
• Grove 
• Socks
• Swatch

1. Grove mittens: a tutorial I found online for a modified k2tog for twisted sts
2. Knit Your Love. 

Two yarn packages waiting at home:

1. Bare Naked Wools second shipment, Chebris lace, 700 yards of 60% fine wool and 40% yearling mohair in Creme. What's the difference between goats and sheep? Capricorn Triangle and Amalthea, a square version.
2. Strickmich club second shipment, Welthase fingering merino light, 400 yards of superwash merino in Blue Blessing. Pattern is Samadhi, a very meditational garter stitch shawl. 

• Hills hat: first time I tried blocking a hat with its ribbed hem tied by a hair band (YouTube video by knitsbythesea)
• Mitts

• Grove mittens by Jared Flood (Three Irish Girls Carys BFL worsted) Was going to knit Fallberry Mitts.

• Rhonnie Rivulets
• Knit Your Love--pattern attack! Strickmich! Club. Copyright issues: please be mindful of your purchases and usage.
• Hills in Jamul hat. Feel of yarn = feltableness and droppableness?

• jgailey4 for the iTunes review
• All of you who bought the Traipsing Vines pattern in January and February--the total sales is $302.50 and I will do a donation report once it's distributed.
• Forgot to say a big thank you to Audrey of OwlForU who sent me a thank you note and a gift: a drawstring project bag in matryoshka motif, with felt flower applique and fancy stitching. Also: a mini Yarnivore specially made for Timo! It is now officially renamed: Legovore.

• Billowy Cormo Cloud: Mom saw the cowl and complimented the stitch pattern, and said she'd like something longer (infinity scarf) with buttons. Suggestions?
• Thinking of knitting 

Cirrus Mitts for Ravellenics 

Apologies: no errata for mitt pattern, I simply didn't switch to other chart 

On The Needles

Billow Cloud Infinity Scarf

Provisional CO: what do you like to use?

Review

Issue 4 of Amirisu--Spring/Summer 2014 architecture issue

Love their template, so easy to use (on iPad) and with links to patterns, advertisers.

12 patterns including designs by: Stephen West, Gudrun Johnston, Leila Raabe, Michele Wang, Veera Valimaki, Melanie Berg, Bethany Hick, Yuki, nest-design Laboratory, Reiko Kuwamura, Kirsten Johnstone, Kristin Ford.

• Cirrus Mitts (aka Ravellenics #1), HO! Very fast. Forgot how quick it is to knit with heavier weight yarn. Wrong turn with the right mitt.
• BFF cowl: decided to keep it separate, so using yarn until very last bit. Got back seat due to Ravellenics.

1. BFF cowl cocoon stitch. 
   • Need to plan for project when one ends
   • Spare project OTN
   • Yarn: Becoming Art Helios DK. 
   • Pattern stitch: easily memorized. Reversible.
2. Rushing Rivulets socks
   • Second sock classified
   • Recipient has large feet, 10.5" circ, so used cat Bordhi's trusty master numbers again

Special episode, special format interview with Audrey Ducret of OwlForU on Etsy.

Yarns Unlimited

TricObag

Yarnivore bags

Find her on Etsy, Facebook, or Ravelry.

s

1. Hitchhiker: cast off and blocked!
2. Nespelem: my first set-in-sleeve sweater! Wonky seams and wrong cable direction collar, still tolerable as a badge of honor for my journey. 

1. Milo Riverbed second sock
2. Kitted up commitment knitting: yarn, needles, and project bag for Billow Cloud, Cirrus Mitts, and a pair of socks (pattern yet undetermined)

Get Your Geek On! (13:35)

Zombie run 

News coverage: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/08/25/running-with-zombies.html

Recalculating Route (16:17)

Had to re record because I forgot to elaborate.... Since we go to Bali every year, sometimes more than once a year, I forgot that most people haven't been to Bali.

Just had a new airport, domestic airport still under renovation. Excellent architecture that combines Balinese structure style and modern. Also new: highway across

1. Milo-Riverbed second sock. I compare Chiao Goo red lace 32" circs and Jin Que 32" circs for magic loop.
2. Nespelem: my first time knitting a sweater in pieces with set-in-sleeves! Followed directions from Knitty and this tutorial from VK. Video tutorials on youtube from Turbogal: mattress stitch tutorial and start with figure 8 tutorial.

New obsession: paper crafts! Found this awesome free website from Canon Japan with origami, paper crafts, etc. 

While browsing for Christmas tree craft ideas (on Pinterest, of course) stumbled across a very cool site by Lia Griffith that has free downloadable label templates.

Japanese cooking class: learned that mirin need flambé first to make sure alcohol is evaporated. Basically the ingredients of Japanese stock and sauces: dashi, mirin, sake, shoyu.

Tadaima (18:59)

The Art of Felfs giveaway: number 5, desz72.

Prizes for KAL: papiput Eco bamboo pink and green, one skein from stash (dkknits technicolor smooth toes (100% superwash merino), cards.

Song credits: Coming Home by Adrina Thorpe from Music Alley.

Sock Classified #1: Yarn: my7kids on etsy. Pattern: combined Cat Bordhi's Riverbed Master Pattern and Cookie A.'s Milo. Absolutely love Cat Bordhi's sock recipes on New Pathways. It fits like magic. 

Jin Que needles from ebay arrived a week ago. First time using it for the BO.

Recalculating Route: KAL and Giveaway

Behm-along still going until end of December. Am going to wind my yarn and start hitchhiker, going to be a perfect mindless knitting.

Giveaway for The Art of Felfs: since I didn't record last week, I will draw a winner next time I record.

Tadaima

Cold Sheeping with the Stash and Burn podcast. 

What gifts usually for teachers? And when?

Timothy is picking up songs and rhymes a lot faster now, and he's singing songs all day. I had thought that he's not really a singer but apparently he just hasn't arrived there yet! Read a good article about competitiveness among parents when it comes to kids.

Http://spudnsquishybabyshop.com/2013/09/15/raising-kids-is-not-a-competition/

Radiolab's rabies episode. Rodney versus Death (a Milwaukee doctor tries to knock death incarnate off its throne.

Quotes by evil people

• "It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own." (Attila the Hun)

• “Countless millions who have walked this earth before us have gone through this, so this is just an experience we all share.” (Ted Bundy)

Review and Giveaway (14:39)

The Art of Felfs

TKGA's Hand Knitting Masters Program. $120 includes one year membership ($30 separately + $15 SH) and Cast On magazine. Joined the TKGA group but haven't done anything past donwloading materials.

Recalculating Route (18:04)

• Finding the good side of our faces for the camera.
  
• Made sock puppets for Sunday School prop.. First time having a combined class from 1yos to grade 6ers.
• Indofest 2013: it is good, in whatever we do, to surround ourselves with people who are passionate in what they do and who shares their knowledge and skill set freely with others. One of the reason why I take this program. Is to be recharged, refilled. I mentioned the ventriloquist Ryan and friends.
• Grounded by Heather Ordover: paperback $14.95, e-book

• Swagger: decided to participate in the DAL. Simple mod: alternate increasing and plain sections per smock.
• Nespelem cardigan: working on the sleeves. Mentioned the Buddy KAL in SHK group, partnered with Lisa.
• Pompom attack.

Get Your Geek On!

When I took piano lessons, classical music, I need to read the sheet music first. Usually I read while playing, first using the right hand then using the left hand, then trying to play them both in a slower tempo. 

I think knitting is sort of like reading sheet music--you can either go with t

1. Swagger by Janice Hamby (twinsetjan). Knitting attack: forgot to smock the first smock. Interesting feature: the first slip stitch is always as if to purl (wyif), why? 
2. Cocoon cowl.

Love my Colours of Rain top, lots of compliments :)

Review

Patchworks by Debi: Deborah Tomasello's Wrapped in Color: Stranded Knitting in the 21st Century

Into The Blue

Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off: use a needle two sizes smaller to make it less crimpy (twinsetdesigns podcast)

• Colours of Rain (VK #29 Lace and Cable Top). Pattern grading not done very well: lace increases created plain sections. Stitch count doesn't translate well for 4x2 rib on edge. Re: yarn: silk-bamboo, probably silk noil because slubby.

• Nespelem cardigan by Norah Gaughan
  • Inspired by Lisa (Turbogal on Rav) for our buddy KAL (Swagger Momentum).
  • Selvedge edge for seaming: absolutely necessary? Missed and forgot lots of rows, due to losing momentum
  • Squirreled away KAL
• Cocoon cowl back OTN too, but back seat now

1. Swagger scarf for buddy KAL
2. Sock classifieds sock giver
3. Mitts for Ira

• Monkey sock #2: my gauge seems to be looser with this yarn. Can't wait to try new needle size 00.

On The Needles

• Colours of Rain
• Plain vanilla kid socks for Timo. Tighten up cuffs. Leftover yarn from Monkey (32 grams)

For me, there's no fall knitting season or gift knitting season... Inspiration strikes randomly.

Semi-serial monogamist: a knitter who work almost exclusively on one project but with many other queued up either on the needles or itching to go OTN.

I think the reason is momentum (Paula's ep 143 talks about the law of inertia) I think the hard thing for me is to maintain my momentum for the duration of the project from CO to BO. That's why I like socks and mittens because one HO makes me feel like one project is completed and I can wait until the momentum builds again for the other one, without feeling like I had left an orphaned UFO crying in my knitting basket.

Finds:

• Paula mentioned an ebay item called Jin Que that are essentially Chiao Goos without the red cable. $5.69 for 11 circs 32". Bought one. Also have pink crochet hooks that look like Tulip Etimo hooks (Japanese brand, very well known).
• Forgot to put the links to ebay stores where I bought the swift and ball winder:

On The Needles (01:40)

• One sock, Monkey pattern. Yarn: supersock select Rose. Needle: KP fixed circs size 0 (2 mm)
• Cocoon part of BFF cowl from knitty. Testing using dyakcraft needles. Yarn: Becoming Art Helios DK in colourway Marine Algae, 52 merino 48 silk singles. One indie dyer that I admire a lot with diff bases and vibrant colors. Feb 2011 (!!!) heavyweight club shipment. Bought this on etsy, she now has her own website. 

The Whirligeek (07:51)

• More stash, ze ro spinning
• Hobbledehoy nerd-along batt, Ygritte from Game of Thrones. Love the battlings included. Soft as all goes out!! I'm tempted to smell it. 
• Gourmet Stash order from way back in June 1st. Fibery Tribbles episode 11, punis sampler, and Spring Into Summer punis. 

Review: Dyakcraft Darn Pretty Interchangeable Needles (14:48)

Recalculating Route (26:49)

• Meetup with Sandy and Ina. Kindness of knitters. How we are really different people but brought together by knitting.
• Souvenir yarn from portable German LYS by Ina: Zitron Trekking XXL colour 550, self striping. 420m or 459 yds. Drachen Wolle by Christiane Schelling 70-30 wool and silk, laceweight, 600 m. 

Big thank you to Heather of Craftlit podcast, also Barb and Tracie from 2 Knitlit Chicks podcast, for playing the promo for my podcast. 

Also thanks to Knitting Podcast, started by Carla (1to1 on Ravelry). It's a great blog to catch up with your favorite shows (both audio and video) and also to discover new ones. Podcasters can also comment on the most recent post to have their show added to the list. When new episodes are posted, it will automatically be featured here.

Thank you to members who  introduced themselves either in the board or through PM: perfect-circle, Michelle from UK.

On The Needles (04:13)

• Timo's socks: SSS (Siamese Sock Surgery)
• Colours of Rain

Stash:

Barenaked Knitspot 2013. I review all 6 shipments and 14 patterns:

• Snow Leopard Trust Handspun Camel: blanket, scarf/wrap, mitts, and cap

• Simple Knits' 653 patterns to knit with 1-285 yards of yarn
• Leethal (Lee Meredith)'s Quick Knits--under 20 yards
• A magic ball. Tutorials everywhere, here's one from Fresh Stitches

1. Colours of Rain: frogged yarn from Arielle (not enough yarn, fell out of love with the pattern too)
2. Timo socks the second: very deep stash, Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in gold. Used it to make a pair of socks (Fox Faces Socks by Nancy Bush in 2009, and used a bit for edging on Aestlight Shawl)

Stash Enhancements:
Seabreeze Studios pleated clutch bag, single skein. Phone pouch, cosmetic pouch, and pencil case. Hedgehog galore!

The Whirligeek

• Finished plying Babydoll Southdown, used a makeshift lazykate to transfer the singles from spindle to a tennis ball, then plied it with a previous tennis ball on a Kundert spindle. 263 yards of heavy fingering weight yarn.

Alpaca sox mini socks: reinforced heel, but the slipped stitches are placed in WS, not in RS as usual. Don't think it makes a difference, but interesting. I've been MLing exclusively when I knit socks, and I usually convert DPN patterns into ML. I never move my stitches around, but I realize something. Usually the toe on cuff down socks have 8 sts left before kitchenering, and in all my previous socks, The graft is placed horizontally. Only in the socks that I knit for Timothy using Ann Budd's recipe did I realize that if I move stitches around so the 4 paired decreases face each other, I get a toe that looks sturdier. It's very hard to describe intelligently >.<

What I usually did was, my beginning of round starts on the beginning of heel sts. But the new-to-me method, the BOR is shifted to the middle of heel sts. So the 4 paired decreases face each other and I think the resulting toe looks sturdier.

This is one example that in knitting there's no black and white, and not grey either, there's only an assortment of colors.

Fun: 34 Adorable Things To Do With Leftover Yarn. My faves: pompom bookmark, yarn stamp, yarn ball collage, and the tiny hedgehog!

On The Needles

Colours of Rain top. Heard a very useful tip from Twinset Designs podcast, I think it was Jan... she mentioned that when knitting ribbing in the round, when she goes to the beginning of round when she purls after a knit stitch, it gets a bit loose, so she

• Episode 100.5 of The Savvy Girls: interview with savvy mom that mentioned early childhood education, arts and crafts. Loved it,

This week I interviewed (more like chatted) with Mel of Single Handed Knits podcast and blog. I had so much fun chatting with her, I hope you enjoy it too :) We talk about everything from knitting to spinning to sewing to foreign languages. Listen to it and get lost with us--me in Jakarta, Indonesia and Mel in Kauai, Hawaii, USA! 

In the middle of the chat we got disconnected and then when we reconnected I forgot to record the call halfway...

When I forgot to hit record button, we were talking about how Mel's Polish parents emphasize reading and learning, and that was a big part on how Mel loves learning and imparting that learning to others. Two of her proudest teaching moments were when she saw one of her dance students named Chloe who used to have a hard time connecting with the dance, got to enjoy and bloomed as a ballerina. The other was Natalya, her oldest, whom she taught how to knit. Natalya was just sitting and knitting on a new project and Mel was feeling powerfully touched to see that what she had first taught her has grown and expanded and has been changed into Natalya's own passion.

We also talked about what's in Mel's knitting bucket list and she mentioned knitting with beads. Which is challenging primarily working with small objects. We mentioned Fleegle beader. Mel would try it out after I give it a review (and before that I'd have to buy it and use it first). Another goal for Mel was that she wants to knit items with smaller gauge and smaller needles. She's also just enrolled for a sewing class (for dresses and adult garments!) by Deborah Moebes of Whipstitch--also a Craftsy teacher!

Then Mel went on to talk about learning spinning on a wheel, and I complimented her o

1. Low tide cardigan by Tin Can Knits.
2. Kid socks. Recipe from Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. And my knitting attacked. In stealth. Dropped st that I just found out three days after I bound off. Venn diagram of knitting life and regular life. Timothy as the connecting bridge like spectacles. I feel like a double agent sometimes.

On The Needles:

1. Gobi fingerless mitts.
2. VK Lace and Cable Top (Colours of Rain) which I'm hoping to finish by the end of this month.

Get Your Geek On!:

Curious Collective shawl project by Helen Stewart (Hellsbells on Ravelry) of Curious Handmade. First post about the shawl here. Over 5 weeks starting May 20, 2013, each week she posts a poll on her blog asking for choices on specific design features of the shawl. Final pattern will be released in early July. The price is currently $3, but will be increased gradually to $6 when it debuts as a full pattern. Check out the Ravelry pattern page here. Week 3 poll for weight of yarn to be used has been closed and I'm waiting for Week 4 :)

Whirligeek:

Big thank you for iTunes rating and review for the show! There's a review by kreyoli (Kim of Craft Stash), simonamaloney, and Silkystar. Thank you everybody for the lovely reviews!

Also thank you simonamaloney, jsandss (who designs the pattern Stormy Seas in Amirisu, which is in my favorites!), rox54, VirginiaTx, lmecoll, cperrine, knittincrazee, purlabelle, k8erpillar, FaireAttention (Kate of Gourmet Stash), and katepricey who replied back to my welcome note.

New "what do you want to hear about?" thread  and "Pimp Your Stuff" thread in the Rav group.

Off The Needles

• Low Tide cardigan by Tin Can Knits. Love the pattern. Mods: added garter border for the sleeves. 

On The Needles

• Gobi mitts by Anne Hanson, from Barenaked Knitspot 2013 club.

I interviewed Meri, one half of the brain behind Amirisu Magazine--Tokuko Ochiai, the other half, was unfortunately unavailable as she had just moved.

This interview was originally planned to be a short one, but I had a lot of fun talking with Meri, time flew and it's almost a full podcast episode length, so I decided to make a separate episode for the interview (taking a page from Subway Knits podcast and her In The Conductor's Booth series). I had so much fun doing the interview, I already have a few others planned for the near future, so stay tuned!

I also would like to thank Paula Emons-Fuessle of Knitting Pipeline who mentioned me on her podcast and sending new listeners to the podcast :) Thank you, Paula!

1. Low tide cardigan.
2. Gobi mittens. Finally decided to frog Arden and cast on for Gobi instead, making it fingerless mitts instead of mittens.

Whirligeek (02:59)

• Finished plying half Southdown. Decided to do a 2-ply. How I finish the yarn: soak it with mild shampoo in hot water, rinse with cold water, thwack on my bathroom floor, and hang to dry. Smells very sheepy.
• Ordered a one yard niddy noddy from hilltopcloud on etsy.
• Need to fashion a homemade lazy kate. Sp far I have been using a box padded with foam and just let my spindle roll freely there while I make a plying ball, but it's too much hassle.
• If you are a spinner, you belong to 0.7% of the Ravelry community... According to a post in the Spinner Central board on Rav. I thought I am just practically, positively surrounded by spinners, but apparently it's just me adhering to the saying "birds of a feather flock together", even subconsciously. Before I started spindle spinning I don't notice that many spinners around me (virtually, that is) but leading to the moment where I fell and joined the bandwagon, spinning gathered momentum and I keep hearing, seeing, reading anout spinning! Eventhough I wasn't consciously looking for spinning-related stuff. So I guess it's inevitable serendipity? Or kismet?

Into The Blue (06:56)

This is a new segment where I talk a little bit more in depth and technical.

Knitting is such an evolving, ever-improving skill set. I never stop learning, and with every new stuff I learn, I reali

• Low Tide cardigan by Tin Can Knits: finished lace bodice and working on stockinette body. I talked about frustration that centered around picking up stitches. Part of Tin Can Knits KAL with Kim of Craft Stash.
• Arden fingerless mitts by mikka (The Wayfaring Knitter). US size 4 (3.5 mm), Snow Leopard Trust handspun camel yarn. I don't enjoy knitting this for some reason...
• Nespelem cardigan. Finished collar, sleeves left. I want to convert the pattern from flat to in the round, but don't know how.

The Whirligeek

• Caravan Scarf by Anne Hanson from her Bare Naked Knitspot club (February 2013). Used SOAK wool wash. What do you use for your knitted items? I've been wanting to try Eucalan since MamaOKnits interviewed Eucalan owner. Might knit Arden with the remaining yarn.
• Regina hat by Carina Spencer. Gifted to a friend's daughter.

On The Needles

• Nespelem by Norah Gaughan. Still working on collars.
• Low Tide Cardigan by Tin Can Knits. Knitalong with Kim of Craft Stash. Yarn: Louet Merlin sport, US 3 (3.25 mm). First time knitting with linen! Hopefully my mods will work. Mentioned Laura of The Knit Girllls podcast's advice about shaping.
• Hankering to CO for a plain vanilla pattern.

Recalculating Route<

I'd like to thank Kristin of Yarngasm, Kim of Craft Stash, Ray of Podcasters' Studio, Martine of iMake, Paula of Knitting Pipeline, Steph and Stacie of The Must Stash Podcast. I will keep improving content and quality of the show, so stay tuned!

Off The Needles

Damson by Ysolda Teague. Yarn: Three Irish Girls Kinsale Merino Tencel. Lovely pattern, love the magic of blocking that opens up the garment. I mentioned blocking wires by inspinknitty. You can buy from her Etsy shop or direct from her website (and she has a coupon code for 10% off until April 30th 2013: "save10now").

On The Needles

• Caravan Scarf by Anne Hanson. Yarn: handspun Mongolian Bactrian camel from Snow Leopard Trust. I complained about the veg matter on the first skein. Bits and pieces of veg matter and hair would fall off to my lap when I wound the skein into a ball, and even when I was knitting. Can't decide what to do with two skeins (one heavier than the oth

• Nespelem cardigan by Norah Gaughan, Berocco Pura Pima as suggested, US 5-3.75 mm Hiya Hiya Sharps interchangeable needles. Finished back and two fronts. Working on the collar, and still have one collar and two sleeves, AND seaming to go. A lot of ribbing and stockinette on the cardigan. Meant to be worn open. Love the yarn, but feeling the FO of a friend, very heavy.

• Damson by Ysolda Teague from Whimsical Little Knits 2. Three Irish Girls Kinsale Merino Tencel, colorway Serenity blue, a shipment of Sharon's Pick of The Knitter club, which is currently unavailable for new subscriptions. US 5 -3.75 mm Knit Picks nickel. Construction: garter tab, simple garter body, a stockinette edge and loops on the very edge. Working on the stockinette edge, seemingly endless. Thing about triangular shawl: easy breezy beginnings and a long slog in the end.

• Caravan Scarf by Anne Hanson, from Barenaked Knitspot club. First February shipment, Snow Leopard Trust handspun camel from Mongolia. 2 skeins of brown undyed Bactrian camel fiber (two-humped camel). First time ever knitting with handspun. Love the variety of texture in the yarn. Some (actually, a lot!) of vm (vegetable matters) in the yarn, but easily taken out. CO using US 4 -3.5mm, realized I was wrong about gauge. Went up to 6 halfway through the ribbing and switched to 7s for the body. going to be for dad. Hard to knit for guys especially those who live in a tropical climate like Indonesia.

Off The Needles