Room for one more, honey

I forgot that I had taken a picture of this, it's my Katie-a-go-go:


I think I mentioned that it was made from ambrosia maple - isn't it pretty? I know, it's just a tool, but I think it's important to have the most beautiful tools you can afford. The key word is "afford." Several years ago when I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool, I was looking for a niddy noddy. Back then I was saving as much money as I could to just buy fibers, so I went cheap on my niddy noddy. I think it cost me all of $6.00. It's raw wood and completely butt ugly - but it serves my purpose and I'm happy to have it. Could I buy a more expensive, more beautiful niddy noddy now? Sure. Would it have a story behind it? Nope. Every time I pick up that niddy noddy, I think of Nancy and Dorothy and the time we had on that trip. This Katie-a-go-go (which I'm convinced I would have bought just for the name) will remind me of SOAR everytime I use it and it has the plus of being gorgeous. The blue yarn you see on it is my second cop of yarn from my Hatchtown spindle.

So, here's what I'm working on now:


This is my first efforts at spinning and knitting swatches for the Nut Border Cardigan I talked about yesterday. The bottom area of the swatch is 2 strands (plied) of the brown polworth. It's dense and cushy and I really like it. The cardigan shown in Knits is rather tweedy. Nancy suggested that I buy the cinnamon alpaca to ply with the polworth to give it a more tweedy look, rather than just brown. This is the brown and cinnamon part of the swatch on the top (1 ply alpaca/1ply polworth). While I like the way it looks, it's much more 'raggy' than tweedy. What do you think? I think if I carded the polworth with the alpaca, it would be much more subtle - but I don't have that kind of patience. I haven't checked the stitch gauge yet, but I think it's fairly close as the wraps per inch were spot on (14 wpi). I also prefer the hand on the pure polworth part of the swatch. I can't wait to have a sweater made out of it!

Here's where I'd rather be today:

That's the view from our room at Shanty Creek. It actually has a little balcony too - just perfect for a couple of chairs and a place to set your margarita.