Gold Medalist!

I totally finished the Lace Leaf for the KnitLympics (TM). We went from ignoring the project on Saturday:



To crappy grafting (Knitty's instructions led me surprisingly awry...):



To finished product! (Albeit I finished during the closing ceremonies...):



Now, there are several things wrong with this sweater. The first was my choice of yarn. This pattern is way too structured for the drapey-ness of the alpaca yarn I chose. The lace leaf details pull in weird directions and the twisted rib just kind of pooches up. It's unfortunate, really, but I did learn a couple of things: how to graft stitches and how to make a raglan sleeve. Above all else, I finished my first properly-made sweater! Woo!

Now for another accomplishment this week:



My first plied yarn! This is the Blue-faced Leicester that I spun earlier this month. I'm really pleased with the color variation and it's soft as a cloud. There's not enough of it to make anything useful (maybe some baby boots or a baby hat), but I could not care less. I am completely ecstatic! WOOOHOOOO! :)

I've got about 10 pounds of raw fleece from the farm sale at Crossfire Hill from the weekend and another 3 pounds of washed Coopworth coming from Oregon. The hand cards are ordered and the tensioned Lazy Kate is on its way. The next project is a sweater from fleece to finished.