Catch of the day

   

Remember how we stocked our pond with brown and brook trout?

We sampled a few brownies the other night. Don't get me wrong: I am totally squeamish about a lot of things, including fishing. I hate the idea of fish dying by suffocation or whatever slow method it is when they suffer and flop around and eventually croak.

So I wasn't thrilled when my husband brought a in pail of three little trout (in water) and left them on the counter, where at first they thrashed around and splashed water on me as I prepared dinner. When he finally agreed to put them on the porch, they kept flipping out of the water on to the floor. I'm not sure why he wouldn't put them out of their misery, or how one even does that, so, sadly, they faded away over the course of the next half-hour. I tried not to think about it.

Eventually I got over it.

  

They were delicious.

On a less barbaric note, I knit a sweater for my sister-in-law.

  

  

Unlike my husband's handspun sweater, this wasn't started last winter. I think I cast on around the end of August, did the sleeves and lower hem and then put it aside for a few weeks. These Lopi patterns (knit on 10.5 needles with Lamb's Pride Bulky) knit up amazingly fast. I started the body above the hem pattern on Sunday the 21st and finished the whole thing on Sunday the 28th.

As you can see in the picture (compare the cuff pattern to the same motif on the body), I had some indecision about which color to carry in my dominant hand, and it does matter:

  

But overall, carrying a different color in each hand does make for a nice, tangle-free knitting experience:

The only problem with this pattern is because of all the colors, there were 6 rows that had 3 colors all going at the same time, and I lack the third hand that would have made it manageable. 

But, hey: Two sweaters finished in the same week. It feels good.

I have now cast on for the February Lady sweater, even though I meant to start something heavier for outdoor wear, not some feminine, probably-not-even-flattering little diversion. But Carole made one for her daughter, and look how cute. I'm just finishing up the garter stitch section (and Carole, actually I have plenty of room for the third button):

 

What about A Piece of Vermont Yarn & Fiber? I have just updated the shop with some more Real Vermonter yarn. I was hoping to "stitch" several photos together to show a nice collage of all the colors available. But I didn't overlap my shots enough so it didn't work. Here's the lame manual version:

I am trying to keep up with wholesale orders and still keep going online. I have just dyed up some bombyx/merino top in three shades, which will be available next week along with some BFL top. Two batches are 4 ounces, but one batch is 7.7 (!) and I'm torn between selling it as is (for a beautiful handspun shawl, perhaps?) or keeping the extra 3.7 ounces for myself. I knew I was going to love it as soon as I started dyeing it, so I took pictures of it in progress.

After dye applied:

"Smooshed" and ready to steam:

 

Dried and gently pre-drafted:

 

Oh, yes, I'm going to have a hard time parting with that. It wants to be my future neck warmer.

One other note of interest to spinners: I'm about to buy a Louet drum carder, and I can get you a deal on one if you're in need of your own carder. Email me if you want the details.

Other than that, life continues at the farm, where my 14-month-old niece gets a skewed sense of what is normal:

 

Have a great weekend. I'm either going to work on the February Lady sweater or make mitten thrums, a la Hello Yarn. 

Comments

[Jennifer]

Beautiful sweater! Your SIL is very lucky. The fish looks yummy.

[AnnaMarie]

Gorgeous sweater and very fast knitting! I'm lucky if I can get a scarf done in a week *lol* Maybe when the house is finally put back together than will be a goal, learn to knit faster!

[Elizabeth]

Very nice sweater.
Knit something warm, we are needing it right now!

We have trout in our pond , which was stocked by the last owner. She also left an enormous bag of fish food. At least six of these trout are huge and I keep saying, "GO fishing!" to anyone around but no one listens (as usual) I'm fine with the fishing part and the eating part, but the gutting ... not so much.

[Carrie]

Yeah, I don't do the fish either. It's why I love supermarkets - if it comes wrapped in plastic, I can deny that I'm eating something that was once frolicking in a field or swimming happily in a pond somewhere. Thank all the powers that I am a city girl...

[Carole]

I love the color you choose for the FLS! It's very flattering and will look wonderful on you. As for the fish, my BIL always wacks them with a big stick. He hits them right behind the head and they die right away.

[Helen]

My father, who was one of the gentlest men I've known, was a keen angler and he killed trout by putting a thumb in their mouth and snapping the head back, breaking their necks. I'm not saying you would want to try this, but your husband could: much kinder than leaving them splashing.

I'm glad you got over it :)

[Kristen]

Your SIL's sweater is so pretty, love the colors.

[Sylvia]

Somewhat gory comment sent privately. Those hanks of yarn look wonderful.

[gayle]

Oh, that top is making me drool... All my favorite colors, and so beautifully combined!
Gotta love the bulky for fast-knitting sweaters. Your SIL must be thrilled with the loveliness!
And turkeys on the porch isn't normal?

[Teyani]

I don't do any food with heads or tails on it... just sayin' (although I can gratefully eat it once the head/tail is removed) I have a bit of trouble with how fish find their demise too... silly, yet true.
Love your FO - stunning. I just took a refresher fair isle class, and am itchin' to get started on something -
and will, just as soon I finish the stealth knitting I'm working on.

[Doris]

What a beautiful sweater! Your sister-in-law is so lucky. There is a gizmo that I got at Joann Fabrics, that holds more than one yarn at a time, spaced so that you can work with them all. Clover makes one called a yarn guide and LoRan has one that is called a knitting thimble. Either is just a couple of dollars and both work well. It sure takes care of that "third hand" problem.