Bellocq Stockings

The bellocq stockings are going really fast!! I had a bit of confusion once I got past the cuban heel, but Marnie and another raveler explained it very well and now I'm a few rows away from being done with the calf shaping!

After the calf shaping is finished, I'm going to put this stocking on a holder, and knit the second one to the same length. Then I'll know I at least will have a pair of knee-highs if I don't have time for more than that. If I do have time, thigh highs!


A new spinning project is on the bobbin as well. This is a 60% Merino, 30% Bamboo, 10% Nylon sock blend fiber. I needed a little yellow since we're so anxious for spring here but it just KEEPS SNOWING!
The plan for this is 3-ply fingering weight sock yarn. You should see it soon on the store.

I'm doing a bit of dyeing today as well. St. Patty's day is coming up fast, so I figured I'd best whip up some festive batts. In the pot now is 4 oz of BFL in all kinds of different colors...I have a fun idea for this batt, but I think you'll have to wait a day or two to see the outcome.

I'm also taking some undyed lace weight I've had sitting around, and dyeing it to start the Aeolian shawl from the new knitty. A friend from my knitting group started an Aeolian Knit A Long on Ravelry for it right away, and I had to join in. I'm going to have to order new needles for it though, I'm a little lacking in the lace weight sized circs around here.

For now, back to the dyepots!

Getting back to business...

Ack! I feel so far behind on everything, even the blog! So, to catch up...
The bain of my existance for the last few months is almost finished. The invitations have the picture and announcement, ribbons, all the required informational inserts, and almost all of the envelopes have addresses printed. Today I'm going to the craft store to get more envelopes (I ran out!) stickers to seal them, and the stamps I ordered online should be here in a day or two.

I feel like I'll be able to breathe again once I get these things out. After that we've only to get details of the ceremony and music in place.

In other wedding news, I've been working on knitting a few thank you gifts. My 13 year old cousin Chloe is my Maid of Honor, so I wanted to knit her something cute that she would love. So, I grabbed some purple acrilyc (Vanna's Choice, it's actually a very nice soft yarn for an acrilyc.) and whipped up a Brea bag.

This bag is way bigger than you think it's going to be!! But a very quick, fun knit. I finished both the front and back sides while watching 2 movies, and the gusset took me an hour or two on a Saturday morning. I definitely want to line this bad boy, which means I'm not going to sew it up until I get some fabric for it. (Don't worry, I'll take some pictures so we can all have a good laugh at my sewing skills.)



Chloe's mom, my Aunt Becky, is going to be coming along with her, and will be my personal attendant. While thinking of a project to make for her, I remembered that I have a large bag full of her grandma's (my great-grandma's) crochet thread. She used to crochet those amazing lace doilies, and my grandma had a stockpile of the stuff and didn't use it herself, so it was passed onto me. I'm knitting lace doilies for both Aunt Becky and Gram from the thread. (Note: not crocheting, my skills there are laughable as well.)

I need to order some circs to continue on this one, and I'm thinking I'll probably try a pair of the Knitpicks harmonies, since I'm not willing to pay $15 for a pair of Lace Addis, which is all my LYS would carry in a tiny circ. (They make my hands smell like pennies, and the brass tarnishes which felts my stitches. Not a good time.)

I'm going to have to prioritize my knitting 'chores' a bit, as it gets closer to the wedding. I have a number of projects that I'm basically committed to finishing before the wedding (or the honeymoon!). Here goes...
Before Wedding...
1. Line the Brea bag
2. Finish Becky's doily
3. I'd like to start/finish a thigh high pair of Bellocq to wear under my gown. I have two months...not SO crazy, right?

Before Honeymoon...
I promised Rick that I would have his University of Illinois sweater finished for him by the time we leave for the honeymoon. There is one sleeve left to knit, and a letter to attatch. We have 2 weeks between the wedding and when we leave for the honeymoon, so even if I don't get this finished before the wedding I should have time to finish it up.
4. Order a chenille sweater-letter for Rick's U of I sweater and get matching orange yarn
5. Knit last sleeve for U of I sweater, finish and attatch letter.


In non-wedding news...
I've been spinning my way slowly through a 4 oz bump of BFL that I yanked from the store. I spun it into a very fine single, and navajo-plied the whole mess and ended up with a good 480 yards of fingering/sock yarn! This isn't the best picture on the niddy-noddy, but I'm so proud of this. It's the best navajo plying job I've done to date, especially considering that the BFL required TONS of twist for the singles to not fall apart, and they fell apart alot while plying anyways.

You should see this up in the store sometime today.
As for my personal knitting, there isn't a lot going on. I started this sock out of some of my hand-dyed as a purse/bed project. It's kind of a treat because I don't knit with my own yarn as much as I should. I really like it! No ugly pooling at all.I'd better get going, the craft store opens in 10 minutes. Might as well get it over with!