In It To Spin It and Knit It

I'm not generally a impulsive when it comes to knitting.  I have a routine, a ritual so to speak when it comes to knitting.

1. I see something in my stash, scour Ravelry and the internet looking for a project to make with it
2. I find something I want to make, but not with the yarn I'm holding in my hands, a different yarn
3. I find the yarn I want now in my stash, but it's not enough to make the pattern I found
4. With the new yarn in my hand, I scour the internet looking for a different pattern
5. Repeat steps 1-4 over and over ad nauseum

Not this time, though.  I joined a knit along with the Must Stash Podcast ladies (Steph and Staci), and I have to use  handspun, in this case Masham that I spun up during the Tour de Fleece.  I got an unknown amount of yardage and started to make the Eleanor Cowl (Ravelry).

It was going along wonderfully until I got to the really lacy part when the hairiness of the yarn was killing the lace.  My second problem was that the yarn would be touching my face and it's just not so 'next to the skin soft'.  So I ripped it out.

As the requirement for the knit along is that I use my handspun, I had to find something to go with this yarn!  Dang!  I really want the Eleanor Cowl, but it won't work with this yarn and I can't pick another yarn because I already committed with this one.  Oy! So ...

I needed something that would require an unspecified amount of yarn (knit until you run out of yarn), and something that I don't have to wear against my face, and I only have until the end of the month to get 'er done.  So I settled for the Lava Flow Cowl.

You knit it flat, then twist it once and graft the ends together - I think.  I'm not even halfway, but it's a quick knit and I should be able to finish it by the end of the month.

My other commitment for this month is a Halloween knit along with The Knit Girllls podcast.  If I can find a reason why this yarn reminds me of Halloween (or Fall), I can enter it into the contest.  Does this yarn look like Halloween?  This same project will be entered into the Must Stash Podcast contest for their 'Rhinebeck or Bust' contest.  It will become the Willow Cowl.  It'll be all the rage with the knitting ladies, I hope.  Vesper superwash sock yarn in the Twitterpated colorway:

Since the Eleanor Cowl was a bust with the Masham, I decided to try another yarn.  This is some Rambouillet from Widdershin Woolworks:

And I got 334 yards of mostly fingering weight yarn which is close to the skin soft:

I'll give it a go and get back to you on the verdict.  It would help if you would say a little prayer for me!  My only fear is that this handspun will swallow the lace too.  We'll see.

Lastly, I stalked Lollipop Yarn for months and never scored a skein.  Until now:

I love their packaging, and inside the bag is Life is Beautiful sock yarn, 75%/25% superwash merino/nylon.  Isn't it lovely?  There are 8 stripes each of colors called Health, Happiness, Prosperity, Love, Friendship, Blessings, Laughter and Vitality.  How inspiring is that?!

Lastly, I joined two spin alongs.  One of them is with the Yarn Raising Podcast.  This spin along requires I spin a yarn that is new-to-me, and I just so happen to have a lot of new to  me fibers in the cabinet.  I settled for the 8 ounces of Cheviot that I purchased from The Woolery back in May:

It's not that appealing to me visually, and it certainly isn't soft and I'm doing the fiber and myself a favor by getting it out of the fiber cabinet.  After it's spun up, I'll probably find my dyes and dye it.

So that's it.  I'm a very busy knitting (and spinning) lady!