Knitting Done, Spinning Begun

It started with two skeins of Wandering Wool, one skein solid, one skein (ball) a gradient, and ended up with these Stitch Surfer socks (Knitty, Deep Fall 2012):

Not very impressive.  That is, until you turn those same socks to side B:

Obviously the serious part of these socks will be in my shoe, but the party will be on top!  Oh. My. Word.

The gradient yarn has very, very long repeats so I only used two of the four colors.  What I should have done (and didn't do), is use the inside and the outside of the skein at the same time.  That would have made the socks more similar.

Ultimately, I don't care that they don't match in color.  Heck, I've been known to walk out of the house with two hand knit socks that only matched because they were both hand made.  I think it's only fair to flash as many of my knits as I possibly can, if for no other reason than to make the people who see them ask about them. Then I can induct them into the world of knitting.  I call that a win/win.

After the socks were done, I realize that I needed a wee break from knitting, so I started spinning.  There's just something appealing about spinning in my living room when it's warm and the sun is shining through the vertical blinds (as much as that's possible).

I have two bobbins waiting to be wound off onto a niddy noddy, and some fiber from Crown Mountain Farms (now out of business, but you can read all about it here) on the wheel:

Can I, just for a moment, sing the praises of the WooLee Winder?  It winds the yarn on the bobbin into a perfect form so that all I have to do is watch my hands while I draft.  I have five bobbins and the plan is to fill them all, wind them, wash them and get some great yarn.  That's the plan, while I wait for my knitting mojo to come on back.

I have fiber in my one cabinet, but I ran out of space so every time I open the door, fiber falls out.  The Crown Mountain fiber fell out and that's why it's being spun up.  However, the next time I went to the cabinet, three braids fell out!  What the heck is going on?

I have fiber in the cabinet, fiber in boxes that have been opened, fiber in boxes that have never been opened, and some fiber that's been screaming 'pick me' for years.

I have got to make a dent.  Or buy a bigger fiber cabinet.  There's a thought, another piece of furniture to hide my hoarding.

So it's a toss up between two fibers as to what to spin next:

Some fiber from Creatively Dyed that I purchased from The Loopy Ewe:

Or this fiber from Sunset Fibers:

I also have mountains of undyed fiber.  I'd like to make the Tweed Baby Blanket for a baby gift and it's OK if the center is white.  I have a five pound bag of merino in the fiber cabinet.  Yikes!  I don't remember buying it but I must have.

For now, I'm going to go back to my pattern search for my next big thing.  I still have to make 8 pairs of socks, and I want to make two sweaters and one hat before the year ends so there's no shortage of things to make, just a lack of desire.

At least for the moment.