It took a while, but I finally spun some yarn:


That's a nickle in there, for reference.
And a close up of the color:


It's 100% merino from Cloverleaf Farms, bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool. The merino was a little bit more slippery than the colonial I spun before, and while it wasn't too much trouble it did make me look nervously at my two pound bag of alpaca fiber (which is even more slippery).

And I learned a new spinning lesson! I have three bobbins, which means that I can fill up two and ply them together on the third. Unfortunately, I also have rather terrible spacial-relations skills. I tend to forget that if I fill (or nearly fill) two bobbins, it is not likely that the contents of those bobbins will fit together on the third. So next time I will be sure to only fill the first two bobbins about halfway.

Anywho, the Pomatomus socks are nearly done as well. And in an interesting turn of events, I'm keeping them. They were too small for Cass, so I was going to give them to my niece. But when I finished the first sock and tried it on, it fit. Despite the fact that I knit them to fit her much smaller feet, they fit me pretty well. And honestly they might be too long for her or Cass. Plus after further rationalizing, I decided neither of them can be trusted to care for lace socks properly. So now they're mine! All mine!!

Knitting Gloves Is Not That Bad, Actually

A friend of mine asked if I could make a pair of gloves for her friend's son, who was born with two fingers fused together (so he obviously can't wear store-bought gloves). I'd never done gloves, but agreed anyway. The whole thing was a lot easier than I expected, and the fingers were much less fiddley than anticipated. It probably helped that the boy is not quite five years old, so the gloves are small and knit up quickly. Here they are:

They are still damp from the wash in the photo. They're not bad... They're knit up with Austermann Step, which is a self-patterning yarn, and it makes the fingers look a little goofy, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I might knit myself a pair someday.

Still no progress on the Pomatomus socks, but now that the gloves are finished I will probably pick them up again.