Spinning

I've been spinning more, almost every day again, and it feels wonderful!  I've finished spinning the Antelope Canyon Gradient from Fellview Fibres, and have just barely begun spinning the Peacock Feathers Gradient from the same dyer.   Above, you can see the finished bobbin end of Antelope Canyon.

The Peacock Feathers Gradient is the third gradient set I got from Fellview Fibres (but I'll definitely be buying from her again - lovely colors, flawless prep) and the last I'm spinning in this batch.  The finished yarns won't be combined (although they easily could be), but since I wanted all three to be spun to the same weight and plan to chain ply them all, it just made sense to spin them all together as well.

This final gradient is 100% Merino, just like the Antelope Canyon (the Mohave Turquoise is a blend of Merino and Tussah silk).  Also, for some reason, I spun the first two gradients ending with the purple colors, so I'm doing the same on this one - starting with the teal blue-green.

Finally, in unrelated news, Newton seems to have some wool issues.  I've already put away all the blankets I've knitted or crocheted and my projects in progress are kept in project bags while my spinning fiber is put up so he can't get into it.  He found a hat of Caleb's the other night though and brought it downstairs to kill it.  Last night he found the Baby Groot amigurumi I made and brought it downstairs - with Caleb chasing after him and laughing all the way.  Anyway, I've heard of some Siamese having wool issues, and Tonkinese genetics definitely include Siamese DNA.  I'm hoping he grows out of it, but I'm not sure that's a thing.  He has gotten to the point where he can sit with me when I knit and can control himself enough to not attack the yarn, so that's something at least.  Crazy little guy!

A Sock

 I've been knitting again (and spinning, and basically doing everything except crocheting suckers and tentacles) lately.  When I finished my last pair of socks I immediately cast on for another pair, but they didn't get very far before I realized I needed to get a move on Leviathan.  So they've been patiently waiting in their project bag for me to come back to them.

 Now I'm back!  This is the first of a pair of Knotted socks I'm knitting in Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Magician.  The colorway reminds me of Abalone shell, which is fitting because the pattern is from Hunter Hammersen's Shoreland sock book.  It's mostly a ribbed sock, but there's some large cables also to make them a bit more interesting. 

It feels good to be knitting again!

It Is Finished

 Leviathan is all finished.

When the time came to sew the eyes and eyelids on, Newton generously assisted.  With his help, I was able to get them sewn on in twice the time it would have taken if I had been forced to do them alone.

I am really happy with the finished project and can't wait to give him to Caleb for Christmas!

Have a great weekend!  I'm going to go knit something!

Progress!

Once I finished the suckers, Leviathan has really flown off the hook!  I got this picture yesterday afternoon and this is before I stuffed the body and closed up his underbelly side.  (Unfortunately, getting a photo this morning isn't working because it's so dark in the mornings here.)  If you've ever made a stuffed animal, you know how they can take an insane amount of stuffing before they feel firm.  I felt like the body was never going to be full!

Today I will be starting the eyes and, believe it or not, they're the last part of this project!  I'm really, really hoping I can have a finished octopus to show you Thursday or Friday!  As you can see, Newton is really excited about my progress too.

On a completely different topic, we've done something here that we NEVER do - we got the Christmas tree up.  I usually wait until after the first week of December, but this year we decided as a family to put it up early.  Why?  Because Professor Newtonium is crazy.  We decided that it might be better for him to get used to the tree for a couple of weeks before we put ornaments on it.  Also, I can decide if we're going to actually use ornaments or if I'll just decorate with the big ribbons, pop the angel on top and call it a day.  I usually use just the ribbons when we have baby animals, but since Newton will be almost 10 months old by Christmas day, it's possible that we might be able to have ornaments.  I put it up yesterday afternoon and so far he's been very impressed that I can make a tree in the living room, but otherwise hasn't really messed with it.  I wasn't sure what he'd do overnight while the rest of us slept, but it was still standing this morning. 

50% More Tentacles Than Two Days Ago!

I have finished half of my tentacles!  Actually I've finished half of Levi's* tentacles, and I'm almost finished with tentacle number five!  I hope to get them all finished this week and start joining them and working on the body.  I've had to be very careful to keep the tentacles put up when I'm not right there watching them.  

Someone (who happens to be the color of hot cocoa) is really interested in them.  He showed up to "help" me with blog photos this morning and I'm pretty sure if he had a chance, he would absolutely steal one or more tentacle.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure that the finished critter is going to have to go back to college with Caleb for it's own safety.  Newton likes to steal things he can drag around the house.

He has also been helping with laundry around here.  I went into the laundry room to get a load out of the washer and put it into the dryer, flipped on the light, and saw this.  I screamed (as you do).  He didn't really care, and wasn't concerned about me starting the dryer either.  He's a different sort of cat!

Have a great weekend and I hope you have laundry help too, if you want it!

*I've given the octopus a working name of Leviathan and have been calling him Levi for short.  I have no idea what Caleb will name him.

Tentacles!

I've finished all of the suckers on all of the tentacles, woven in all of their ends, removed the markers for the suckers and added tentacle markers!

I've also started to finish my first tentacle!  The black poly stuffing I ordered for this project was definitely worth it just to prevent show through.  I am now in tentacle finishing mode and it feels much faster than suckers!