I think we can safely say he likes it.

There was much debate about the best way to felt things, and scary stories about how many hours it takes to handfelt something. I took the easy way out and sent the kitty pi through the washing machine, 2 cycles, including spin cycle at the laundromat. no complaints.

Specs:
Yarn: 6 skeins of Peruvian Collection highland wool, in Mesa Teal.
Pattern: Kitty Pi
Modifications: one extra row to use up all the yarn.

I recently started Eunny's argyle vest. I got quite far in the yarn selection process before realizing that my chosen yarn, Louet Gems Opal, is a superwash. Its not the greatest choice, using a superwash yarn for a steeked sweater because superwash wool doesn't stick together like normal wool.

Case in point, a swatch with a crochet steek:

It didn't fare too well under the pull test. See how the beige line of crochet is not attached to the knitting? yeah, its not supposed to do that. and I was so looking forward to crochet steeks! alas.

However, this yarn will work if I machine sew the steeks before cutting. So, I've started the vest.

So far, so good. I've gone up a vest size and down a needle size (to 3s) to compensate for the sportweight yarn. the yarn looks wonderful and is very soft. though I must say, the fair isle experience is not living up to my expectations. It would be better with nice sticky real wool.

Some quite good unraveling this weekend! A visit to the thrift store yeilded a few huge, nearly new sweaters. I do enjoy unraveling sweaters for yarn. Its not that I need the yarn, or need to save money on yarn, its more like the thrill of breaking down something unusuable (at least by me) into usable parts. Also, since the sweaters are so inexpensive, I feel more free to experiment with the resulting yarn.

First up, this humongous men's XL sweater from J Crew. Just a little bit worn, and nice bulky-weight wool. About 4 stitches to the inch, very soft brown wool.

Next, this brand new cotton sweater. It still had the new tags, and obviously never worn. dk-weight cotton. Maybe I'll try dyeing cotton, or maybe knit a white sweater from it.

Another new with tags sweater is this cotton/silk one. The yarn reminds me of Rowan Summer Tweed. Its a woman's XL, so lots of yarn there.

After a few hours, a new understanding of crochet seams, and some high-quality episodes of LOST later, a whole new yarn stash!

By the time I finish this entry, they'll probably be done. I'm working on the toe of the second sock right now.

I started these way back before Christmas, planning two pairs of socks, one red and one green. The red elfine socks are finished and now belong to my aunt.

These green ones had a cast-on and about 3 inches done until I picked them up again about a week ago. and now look! nearly done! amazing.

Tonight, while watching the finale of Lost (season 1, that is. I am way behind. holy, that show is intense. don't tell me whats going on in this season. not ready yet), I cast on and started a scarf.

The colors vary from orange to red to maroon and are very bright. Maybe not so bright as the photo, but close. Its like a signal flare.

I dyed the yarn a couple months ago. Unconvinced that true red can be had from drink mix, I left the partially-dyed yarn steaming for some time in a heavy mixture. Only parts of the skein actually touched the water, and that's where it got very red.

Its wool, knit together with some madil kid seta in the so-called scarf pattern. Absolutely unlike my normal color choices, but I must say, I do like it.