Have you heard of this stuff? I bought some Ingeo fiber to spin and my inner hippie is going crazy over it. It's a synthetic fiber made from 100% annually renewable resources. Here's a link to the Wikipedia page about it, and also another website that explains the process of making it. I have spun 2 small batches so far and had mixed results. The colorless skein I made was easy to deal with but the lavender was short-staple hell. I am hoping that it was just a crummy batch of fiber and not something to do with the dying process making the fibers break apart into smaller pieces. I am NO GOOD with short fibers and lace-weight yarn, which is what may have to happen to the rest of them if it turns out all the colored ones are difficult. But as soon as I get them all spun, I'll probably be selling them in little "veggie plate" sampler sets over in the store, along with some hemp, bamboo, and flax yarns.

This happens to me constantly: I come up with some knitting technique and start thinking, "Oh wow, I just invented something totally new! I am a genius!" Then afterward I feel silly because I realize that it's highly unlikely that it's never been done before by anyone in the history of knitting. It's probably already been invented and I just don't know about it yet. But there's no easy way to find out, because it would involve either reading through every book of obscure knitting techniques ever written, or google searching "toe up sock knitting cast on method where you alternately slip every stitch onto 2 double pointed needles and begin knitting in the round" and hope someone, somewhere has blogged about it. So... yeah. I "invented" a toe-up sock cast on method the other day, and I plan to post a tutorial about it later today when I get the digital camera out and take some pictures to go along with it. Be on the lookout!

The Plymouth yarn company must love me by now. I sold OH MY to no less than 5 yarn store customers yesterday. Every time I saw anyone wondering around in the baby section, I would casually walk by, grab a ball of it, and say "Here, feel this." Then later they'd come up to the register with a basket full. (It backfired on me because I ran us out of a color that I had wanted to buy for myself.)

My new favorite thing to do: Weave in ends as I go. Lately I've been bothered by the messiness of a bunch of hanging ends, especially when doing multiple colors. So I weave in everything as soon as I attach it and everything is nice and pretty. That's all for now.