Fiber Corner

Fini

2010-05-02T18:22:00.013-05:00

The Bohus, she is done.
It's been done for several weeks, in fact. Even managed to find two occasions when it was cool enough out to wear it.
Here are the stats.
Rose Spetskragen
Started 1/1/10
Finished 4/15/10
Needle sizes: 2.75mm bamboo for the collar
2.25mm Addi lace for the body
2.5mm bamboo for the sleeves

Modifications
Used a provisional cast and worked the entire piece in the rnd.
Added a few additional short rows after the collar.
Added an additional stitch on rnd 23 of the collar so the next set of patterns would mirror each other across the front bands.
Worked some short rows in the back of the body to avoid dreaded riding up syndrome.
Used baby cables instead of ribbing.
Worked a crochet steek.
Re-calculated sleeve decreases to lengthen sleeves.
Cast off with a combination Applied I-cord and Grafting.
Worked vertical button bands using the Sliding Loop technique.
Used Sally Wall's version of the EZ one row buttonhole.

I think that's all. Maybe next time I knit one I'll do it in a more traditional manner. But, I'm very happy with how this one turned out. Look at how the crochet graft looks inside. Very neat and tidy.Did I say the next Bohus? Uh huh, there will definitely be more of them.

Oh, look, here's some more Bohus knitting right here.
Anyone who has taken Susanna Hansson's Bohus workshop will recognize the class project--Blue Shimmer wristlets. Mine are waiting on threads to become gloves. Someday.

If you're a knitter interested in this type of knitting who hasn't taken Susanna's class, I highly recommend it.

Here's a pic of how the room is set up when we arrived, with examples of color combinations in various patterns.
For me, the highlight of the day was seeing the original Bohus garments she brought.

This is the Blue Egg. Various versions of the Egg pattern have been released as kits but not this one. Too bad, I love it!
The pullovers had this little keyhole opening at the back of the neck. A very nice detail.
And, this is New Azalea, a red version of the Egg.

Isn't this one gorgeous! Love that blue.
My very favorite of Susanna's garments--Green Wood. I wish, I wish they would reproduce this one.
And, lastly, the Red Edge. Rumor has it that this will be the next Bohus kit available.
It's one of the earlier examples and the more I look at it, the more I like it.

Lately there's been some lace knitting going on around here. Hopefully it won't take 3 months to finish it, either.

Oh, Bohus

2010-01-31T11:28:00.011-06:00

How the sight of you cheers me on a cold winters day.

The finished collar.
Remember, the white at the top are just holding sts and will be replaced with a band of the solid pink.

Yeah, you need a close up shot, too. I tried to get the purls to show up. These Bohus are amazing with color and texture all rolled up into one.
And, the Reeves (sans flyer) played model for me. As you can see, this is not the traditional way to knit a Bohus. I'm using steeks and am knitting the entire thing in the round. A traditional Bohus is knit flat after the collar and the cardigans are knit flat from the get-go with vertical buttonbands attached as you knit. Maybe someday I'll knit one in a traditional method just for the experience, but couldn't see a reason to this time around. Actually, these pictures are a couple of days old, I've finished the short rows (which drop the front neck down) and am almost finished with the raglan increases and preparing to split for the sleeves. Lots of tiny sts at almost 9 sts/1" but the yarn is so soft and pretty that it's a pleasure to knit every single one of them. So far, at least.

Oh, and there's FO pics, too. My Faroese shawl for everyday wear has been finished for a couple of weeks. Here's an ugly blocking shot showing the wingspan.
And, another showing the color and lace a bit better.
Design by Marilyn van Keppel found in Knitter's #48.
4 skeins laceweight Icelandic in sage
Size 8 needles
Measures 38"x 76"

And, one last pic for you. Since the monthly fiber clubs haven't been a big success for me, this year I decided to purchase something each month from one of the Etsy or other small vendors. First up was the highly recommended Corgi Hill Farms. My pics are a little washed out but the ones she posted were a perfect match for what I received. The batts are very nicely prepared; she includes a little mini-batt to practice with and even a few candies. I highly recommend her, too.
So, that's it from here.

Acquisitions and Updates

2010-01-10T16:49:00.007-06:00

How's this for a pretty flower picture to start off a blog post. Not real, of course, but ever so cheerful in the cold grey snowy landscape around here.

It's a .7 oz Millifiori spindle from Butterfly Girl. Such a sweet little spinner, too. With a short shaft it's perfect for sitting spindling. Look at the lovely little flowers on the shaft, too. So sweet.
She's sitting perched in the July Tactile club offering of Bamboo/Alpaca/Wool (49/28/23) which is a very pretty color but the fiber itself seems over processed as it's not soft at all. The color looks nice with the spindle, though. I may need to switch over to some white Angora/Merino from Toots LeBlanc which has been marinating in the stash for a couple of years since there may be a need for some shawl yarn.

You see, this arrived at my door yesterday.
The English version of Haapsalu Sall. Haven't had a good read through the history section yet but the stitch patterns are so inspiring. Unlike Nancy Bush's book on the subject, there are no actual knitting patterns included, but there are many lovely photographs of finished lace pieces. Interesting that she is listed as consultant and editor for this English version. The book includes a technique section showing how the shawls and scarves are constructed and finished. The stitch patterns are divided into sections: celebrity named patterns such as Crown Prince, Greta Garbo, etc., Lily of the Valley, Pasqueflower (my favorite), Leaf, Twig, Peacock Tail, Paw, Head of Grain (another favorite), Butterfly, Diamond, and other named patterns some of which are traditional and others which are newer, and of course, edgings. The swatches and charts are very large and easy to see which is good because you really won't want to have your nose pressed up close to the page as the ink used is one of those smelly ones--probably it's only downside. I predict there will be many happy hours spent with this book.

In other lace news, I was prepared to tell you that I'd reached the halfway point on my Faroese shawl and snapped this pic of the lace section.
Hmmm, what's this I see...a big 'ole mistake right in the middle of it? Looks like I repeated a row or skipped a row or something. Out it came. No whining, please. I knit because I like to knit and now I just have more to knit.

In Bohus news, I left those first rnds as they were. After threading it on another needle to lay it out and take the photo last week, I pulled it over my head, and don't think I'd like it any smaller around. So, on we went.
Doesn't look like that much farther but this shot was taken with the macro setting on my camera so those sts are quite small--the gauge is probably going to end up being closer to 9 sts/in. One major increase has been done and another coming up in a few rnds. Those rnds are getting long. But I'm loving every minute of it!

Spindling, Knitting, Shawl Designing...looks like this week is going to be busy.

New Year--New Post

2010-01-03T15:43:00.008-06:00

It's a brand new year. Have to start it out right with brand new knitting projects.

There's a Ravelry group doing a 10 shawls in 2010 challenge that I was just going to watch from the fringes, but at the last minute got sucked into. I may not even try to get ten done but it is fun to make up a list. And, really, it's not my fault, see how much I *need* a new shawl!
This is the second time I've completely worn out my daily workhorse Faroese shawl. It's difficult to look at--bigger holes are quickly growing across the back. But, it's the perfect weight and style to wear around the house in the winter as the tails can be tied behind the back and with the shoulder shaping it will stay on if it's just left open.

The design is by Marilyn van Keppel from an old Knitter's, also included in their compilation Shawls and Scarves book, and is being knit without modification. Lots of garter to start with--this batch was mostly knit during a trip to the movies on New Year's day.The yarn is Laceweight Icelandic in a sage-y green heather. It's starts at the lower edge and works up so these first rows are l-o-n-g.

Don't worry, even with some new shawl projects in the works, I've not forgotten my list of sweaters. Here is the start of my Rose Lace Bohus but I'm wondering if I should restart and take the gauge down a tad more. It's slightly tighter than the pattern states (I'm not worried about sizing--I know how to deal with that). What concerns me is how sloppy the purl sts look and general unevenness in the fabric. What do you think? I'm using a 2.5mm needle now, and could go down to a 2.25mm. The white garter at the bottom is what I used for a provisional cast on since it's easier for me to start stranding when there's some knitted fabric below the needles and not just a piece of scrap yarn. The borders are going to be baby cables.

And, I've been trying to keep up with another of my New Year's goals to spend some quality time with my spinning wheels and spindles. This is about 1.5 oz of newly spun 3-ply sock weight yarn. The roving is from River's Edge Weaving Studio and fiber content 60% superwash Merino/40% Seacell impregnated with silver.
It is soft and slippery with lots of sheen. This batch is slightly underplied but I think it will knit up okay. If not, it'll be fixed by shooting it back onto the bobbin to add a little more twist. It's kinda a different color for me, too, don't you think, it looks slightly darker in person.

So, that's it for this week. Be sure to let me know what you think about the Bohus.

A Lloie Cardi All My Own

2009-10-04T11:55:00.008-05:00

Last July at Knitting Camp, the sweater knitting urge took over. Really, how could it not when all of EZ, Meg and Joyce's sweaters are right there, available to try on and wear when the air conditioning gets cranked up. This is the sight of the tables after a day or so of camp.
One sweater in particular caught my eye--the Lloie cardi from last year's anniversary Woolgathering #79. It was wrapped around my shoulders so much I think some of the campers thought it was mine.

Well, now I do have one of my very own. Even though it's kinda unlike me to make a duplicate of the model, the colors of Lloie were so perfect that no changes were needed. The only different touch I made was to replace the regular ribbed borders with a lacy stitch pattern which reflects the colorwork at the yoke. It's also edged with a 2 stitch applied I-cord which gives a nice finishing touch.
Lots of different needles were used. Regular Addi turbos in size 3mm for the body section. Boy, how I've forgotten what it's like to knit inch after inch of St st in the rnd--the turbos give the speed needed especially with the stickiness of the Shetland yarn. The yoke was knit on Crystal Palace Bamboo needles in size 3.25mm. I like doing colorwork on wood needles as the stitches stay put when they're spread out and my tension stays even. And, my stranded st gauge tends to be tighter than my St st gauge, hence the need for a slightly bigger needle. The sleeves were knit on Addi turbos in size 3.25mm, just slightly larger than used for the body. That's because my small circumference gauge is tighter than when knitting a large circumference. Joyce Williams told me to watch out for this and when Joyce speaks, definitely listen! Yeah, it took me half a sleeve to remember that but once I did and checked gauge, out it came and reknit with the larger needle.

Since the body is steeked, but is a solid color, I wove a contrasting thread up while knitting to mark the beg/end of rnd figuring that it would make it easier to stay on track when crocheting the steek. Worked like a charm for these old eyes!
It's been five years since I've knit a sweater for myself and I'm, ahem, a different size now, so it took a bit of measuring to decide the proper size. Seems I miscalculated the length because when the yoke was finished and I tried it on (before the steek was cut), it seemed too long. What to do?

Well, perform some surgery.
I placed my needle through one side of the sts and snipped and unraveled a a thread as one would do for an afterthought heel. Then unraveled the requisite # of rnds and grafted back together.

You can still see the grafting line a bit here but a little steam works wonders.
Crocheted and cut the steek, applied some I-cord and voila, a finished Lloiecardi. It still hasn't been blocked in this pic. In fact, I even wore it to church this morning in it's unblocked state because the weather turned cold and it was just too fun to have a new handknit sweater.
Here's a close up of the yoke. I added more short rows at the top than specified in the instructions as the pic of Meg's sweater looked like it was done that way.
Besides, I hate when sweater necklines pull up and love how the white petals sort of get elongated.
Right here is where I should have a pic of me wearing it to insert. Maybe one of the knitters at Knitnight can take one of me this week.

Many more sweaters are in the works around here now so it definitely won't be another five years before another is finished. The sweet siren song of St st in the rnd, with a fun topping of stranding for a reward at the end is too strong to pass up. In fact, I'm thinking about always having a yoke sweater on the needles as a take along project.

Yoke sweaters--the new socks.

Fractal Socks

2009-09-13T18:33:00.010-05:00

This summer I completed one spin to knit project. A pair of three ply handspun socks.
The roving was from a Blue Moon Sheep to Shoe kit purchased at Madrona last winter. It's pretty darn bright!
But, the colors cross the color wheel so I figured it would tone down once it was spun and plied. Spun as a fractal; it's a true sock weight 3 ply. To get the fractal effect, the top is split lengthwise into three sections, one bobbin is spun back and forth across the top to make long runs of color. The piece for the second bobbin is split lengthwise three more times and spun end to end to make medium runs of color. And, the piece for the third bobbin is split lengthwise into six very skinny strips and spun end to end to make color runs that quickly change.
2 oz.
316 yds.
Turned out to be just enough for a pair of socks (and I really mean "just" enough as there were two small butterflies left of about a yard each). The pattern is my basic sock recipe
Toe up
Afterthought heel
Graduated ribbing
Gauge 10st/1"
No, they are not a perfect match, can you see me twitching. ;) But, the roundness of the 3 ply makes them so comfortable to wear. Still have 6 oz of roving left so I'm going to spin the next batch as a navajo ply to see how that compares.

Okay, that's all for now.

A Tale of Two Shawls

2009-08-16T20:11:00.013-05:00

This summer I knit two shawls. If you remember, one was the Indiski from the spring Piecework; more on that later.

But in July, one of my friends hit a rough patch and I wanted to make something bright and sunny to cheer her up. The night I heard her difficult news, I looked around for the perfect yarn and there it was. The Weld Angora/Merino handspun from Tactile.

The pattern was a natural, too. We used to joke about how we were the last two knitters on earth who hadn't knit a Flower Basket shawl--well now I've knit one and she has one so that's taken care of. During the knitting of it, I hummed every song with sunshine as part of the title or words. Looks like blue skies are heading her way now as she came through surgery with flying colors.
Flower Basket shawl by Evelyn Clark
Worked 13 repeats of the main pattern and a couple of extra rows in the edging so as to use up every bit of the yarn.
Size 4 needles.
Here it is being modeled on my wheel.

We have a much better model for the Indiski. All along I planned on making this for myself. But, from the moment the yarn arrived and every single time she saw me working on it, my little mom asked about who it was for, always reminding me how much she loved blue. Yeah, I like blue, too. But, the writing was on the wall, and I knew this one was fated to be a birthday prezzie for her.

Presenting, the Indiski.
ColourMart cashmere 3/28
Size 2.5mm needles.
1,056 yds
Rosemary's new nickel bluebird pin looks perfect with it.
And, here she is, the birthday girl. It probably wouldn't be nice of me to mention her age....but it ends in a 0. (*whispering* and starts with a nine)
Join me in wishing her many more returns of the day!

And, because I've been absent, it's only right to give you a peek into what I'll be knitting next.
This box arrived with some very pretty stamps.
Bohus!

A Good Day

2009-07-12T19:13:00.012-05:00

We have a small flock of Pelicans spending the summer here. It's always a good day when they're spotted in flight or on the bay during my daily walk. And, to be able to get a photo to share with all of you was even better.

It was also a good day because I finished spinning and plying my first fleece. This was a Perendale purchased from Treenway back in 2007. It was so very white that I nicknamed it Snow.
I combed it with my Forsyth mini-combs during the summer of 2007.And, started spinning it on my Lendrum Saxony during the winter of 2008. Spinning continued during the winter of 2009 and finished up last week.
Total yardage is 2,923 yds of fingering wt yarn. When I started I wasn't sure if I wanted to use this yarn alone in a sweater, in which case I could double strand it if I needed a thicker yarn, or use it with another of my fleeces in a stranded Fair Isle type sweater. The latter is what I'll probably do with some of it.

It reminds me alot of Satakieli so perhaps I'll dye some in different colors to use for Latvian mittens.
All in all, I'm very happy to have finished the spinning part of this project. I loved every part, the washing, the combing, the spinning and plying, BUT staring at plain white yarn can be a tad b-o-r-i-n-g. I feel a spinning explosion of color, color, color in my future. Please, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your favorite Etsy vendor. (Lisa S, you'll be getting my order this week!)

But first, to finish up some knitting. The Indiski shawl will be completed this week and when I attach the edging I'm planning on taking pics for a Russian grafting tutorial. So check back.

Indiski Shawl

2009-07-05T20:05:00.009-05:00

Progress has been made on the Indiski shawl since the last post.

After separately knitting both borders, sts were picked up along the straight edge of each one.
Want a closer look? First the sts are picked up (as opposed to picked up and knit, they're just placed on the needle) in the front loop of the chain selvedge edge. Placing them on the needle first lets you make doubly sure you've got the correct number and that they're all heading the same direction before they get stretched out in the process of knitting them.
Then, you knit the sts through the back loop which causes a little twist in them making a pretty join.

From the back you can see the twisted sts and the straight horizontal line is from the other loop of the chain selvedge edge.
The really important part when working the selvedge st on a piece like this, is that needs to be done very loosely; probably two or two and a half times looser than a normal edge st. This allows it to stretch along with the lace pattern during the blocking process.

After the inner border, the zig zag pattern, on each piece is finished, the miter is grafted together to join them together . Sorry no pics of this as it was an early morning maneuver without light enough for decent pics.
The inner triangle is then started, working from the sts on the left inner border and attaching them to the sts from the right inner border. There is a small error in stitch count in the pattern on the first row of the middle triangle but it's an easy fix.

For my peeve of the week, let me present my June Tactile club fiber. Isn't the color lovely. The solid is Osage Orange overdyed with Indigo making a lovely sage-y green and green aqua (not as blue as the photo shows). But...
the fiber content is Bamboo/Wool/Alpaca (49/28/23). Now, this is supposed to be a "luxury" fiber offering; you pay a premium for this fiber as opposed to the wool/wool blend club fiber. Never should bamboo, basically a rayon, be classified as a luxury fiber. Yes, there is alpaca in the mix but last month's offering was an alpaca blend and when I signed up, no where did it state that this was an all alpaca fiber club. Plus, I can get much nicer alpaca just outside of town. Last month we had to sign up again for the next three months and with this delivery of a pseudo-luxury fiber, I'm wondering now if I made a mistake. So, why does it matter? Just spin it up, you say? Well, bamboo and I are not friends and life's too short to work with fiber you don't like. If you'd like this fiber, just let me know, it's looking for a new home.

Wheel P*rn

2009-06-21T19:19:00.018-05:00

Two and a half years ago when I got this wheel I took a few rather dark indoor pics and since that time haven't taken any others that show off it's real beauty. So, when I gave it a fresh coat of wax yesterday, I rectified that situation. Go put the kettle on and make yourself a cup of tea while these pics load.
Lovely Lendrum Saxony in Black Walnut.
Lovely wood grain on treadles.
Lovely wood grain on wheel and elegant footmen.
Side shot.
Shot from above. Yes, I know, the lawn is filled with weeds, but I'd rather spin than deal with them.
Long elegant spokes and little orifice hook.
More lovely wood grain on wheel.
Lazy kate and extra bobbins. My pic of the under table storage for the extra whorl didn't turn out.
Lennox spinning chair.
Ready to spin away the afternoon.

Now...With 10% More Whining

2009-06-14T17:36:00.011-05:00

The blog. It's back open for business. It's come to my attention that some of the very popular blogs that get a bazillion comments feature a fair bit of whining. You know the ones--oh dear, I cast on the wrong number of sts. Twice. What to do, what to do. W-h-i-n-e.

Well, when we left off, I'd started working on one side of the border for the Indiski shawl. Just when I finished the last repeat, I looked down and noticed a mistake about 7 repeats back.

Oh, Woe is me! what shall I do!
RIP, of course. I've never quite understood this reluctance to rip out one's knitting. There was no deadline looming, the yarn is cashmere, and, after all, I like to knit. Just like that. It was knit back up and the second border done, too.
Once the inner borders are finished, the pieces will be joined at the center miter. The pattern calls for the yarn to be left attached at the corner and a new end started for the inner border with the top edging worked last. But because I'm working from a cone of yarn I decided to work it right away so I wouldn't have to estimate the amount of yarn to wind off and then deal with while knitting the middle section. It was either that or cut it and deal with another yarn end, which I'd rather not do.

In spinning news, I broke into the Blue Moon Sheep2Shoe kit I bought at Madrona. The color is called Dutch Canyon.
The colors seemed pretty bright, but alot of them cross the color wheel so I expected them to calm down once spun up. I tried Mel's trick of spinning a three ply fractal. For once I actually got a three ply sock weight yarn.
The singles were spun on the Joy and measured in at 57 WPI. It was plied on the Reeves. This is my new favorite handspun. Can't wait to knit with it.

Also, combed this delectable 2 oz of raw Peaches and Cream cria alpaca. It's a true gold color--think the color of a light Golden Retriever. And, seriously, it's as soft or softer than cashmere.Spun up into a heavy lace weight.

And, since this arrived while the blog was in limbo, I figured I'd post it now. The May/June Tactile club fiber. Club openings for the next three months are open until tomorrow. Just sayin', you might as well sign up. You know you want to.

Okay, that's it. Started out whining but it seemed to fade out at the end. I'll do better next week. Promise.

Yellow and Blue

2009-05-31T18:31:00.005-05:00

This week we feature yellow. Of all the Iris colors, the yellow gold ones are my favorite.

And, we have yellow yarn, too. This is the finished Tactile April club fiber shown two weeks ago. Definitely laceweight and soft, soft, soft.
No, you don't see alot of loft on it because I don't believe in yarn abuse and will not do the semi-felting business often suggested for short fibers such as angora. With enough twist in the spinning, everything should stay put and it will fuzz up once it's knit.

And, we have blue. A new project, Galina's new Russian warm shawl design from the current Piecework.
The construction of this type of shawl is different than most triangle shawls. This is one side of the border. Using Colourmart cashmere. Mmmm! You need some. Really! You need some!

Blue, too, about these socks. This was one of the Hawaii beach projects and only the soles are showing since they're slated to be a new Heartland Knits design (and I believe in keeping those things under wraps until they're ready for their debut).See how the colors at one end of the skein are more muted than the other end. This is Fleece Artist SeaWool. Doesn't look so bad in the St st sole, but the stitch pattern doesn't appear to it's advantage in the brighter sock. Disappointing.

Were you disappointed that there was no blog post last week? Yeah, the lack of feedback lately has left me feeling pretty disappointed and blue about the whole blog thing. Please consider commenting. It will make it much easier to set aside the time to write a blog entry each week.

Try, Try Again

2009-05-17T18:19:00.011-05:00

This time of year when the flowering trees are in bloom is so beautiful. Wouldn't it be nice if they could stay this way all the time.

Another type of bloom arrived this week. It's the initial offering of Tactile's fiber club. I know, after being dissatisfied nearly every month with the fiber club (which shall remain nameless) last year, I vowed never to join another one. But, I seriously loved all the colors at Tactile's booth at Madrona so figured chances were good I'd like their club fibers, too. Turned out I was right.
It's a nice set up. You get a solid in the natural dye of the month (this month being Weld) and then a handpaint using it and additional natural dyes (this month it's Weld, Indigo, and quebracho red). Also, you can choose between wool or luxury fibers. I choose the latter and this month it was Angora/Merino. Mmmm.

Also, the fiber comes with a couple of info sheets--one about the dye material and the other on the fiber content. Nice, very nice.
There was enough white space on them to put a little snippet of the fiber and some samples I made spinning each separately and then what they looked like plied together. You know how I love keeping records for stuff like this, so this set up is perfect.

Because I really wanted to get to spinning this right away, I didn't wait to think up some clever way to use both colors but decided to do the obvious and spin them very fine and ply them together.
Here is the handpaint spun on the Reeves measuring in at 72 WPI. The spinning of the solid is nearly finished so look for pics of the plied yarn next week.

This week the mailman also brought a copy of this lovely book. It's an English translation of a long OOP German book featuring lace by Herbert Niebling.
His stuff is so fun to knit. Plus, I seem to learn something about constructing lace in every piece.

The cloth on the left is one of my favorites in this book.
Hmmm, it might be very pretty in pink. What do you think?

Spring Blooms

2009-05-10T13:09:00.004-05:00

The spring flowers have started showing their cheery faces in the garden.

Also blooming this week is the Niebling doily from the Spring issue of Anna. It doesn't have an official name but I was struck by how much it mirrored the look of the daffodils.
This doily was started using Joyce Williams Eastern European cast on--the one for starting socks on two circs. It makes it easy as pie to get going, but I sort of miss the little gathered sts in the center of the doily.
The chain cast off was blocked by having adjacent chains sharing a pin--this seemed to take away the loopy sort of edge my other doilies have where I used one pin for each chain.

Other doily stats:
DMC Cordonnet #50 thread
Size 00 (1.75mm) needles
Finished size: 13" diameter

I've also restarted (again) my Jonquil Wensleydale handspun cardi. Third time must be the charm because this one seems to be through the swatching phase and already past the cuff. Yay!

Wee One

2009-05-03T18:53:00.009-05:00

A new spindle arrived this week. Just a wee little thing, smaller than I imagined it would be.
It's a Jenkins Turkish Delight. The wood is Pink Ivory and it weighs 1.3 oz.

Here it is all put together. Awwww. This thing is so cute it's impossible to talk about it without the pitch of your voice rising two degrees.
All filled up it looks like this. I'm spinning a wool/silk blend purchased last year at Shepherd's Harvest from Morning Sun Fiber Barn. It's a light airy roving. Since Turkish spindles generally spin slower than their top whorl counterparts, I'm finding it easiest to spin more of a woolen single. This little guy is completely mesmerizing to use.

Here's a shot of the underside.One nice thing about Turkish spindles is as you wind on, it forms a center pull ball. You wind over two arms and then under one arm.

In knitting news, I started another doily. This is the no-name Niebling in the latest issue of Anna.
It's very spiderweb-y and seems to be going together really quickly as I only started this on Friday night and am just about halfway done.

We'll see if that sort of progress continues now that the days are nice and the garden is calling.

Where the Redbuds Bloom

2009-04-26T12:09:00.016-05:00

That's where I was last week. Unfortunately, my pics of the Redbud trees didn't turn out so this shot of my lilac starting to bud will have to suffice--proof that spring really has finally arrived here in the upper Midwest.

My trip to the south was on account of a wheel. Not just any wheel, a Rick Reeves Frame wheel. My sister from a different mother (not really, it just feels that way) June contacted me last January to see if I'd want to buy it--she just had too many wheels and one of them had to go. I could hardly believe it. I had been very happy with my wheel family--the big Black Walnut Lendrum Saxony, my Ashford Traveller and little baby Joy. About the only thing that would tempt me to get another one was if a legendary Reeves wheel fell into my lap--and then one did!

Isn't it a beauty! (Please only look at the pretty wheel and not at the condition of the yard.)
The wood is Red Oak and it's a lovely warm honey color. I'm not sure when it was made, but it has the brass plate on the front, and is hand signed by Mr. Reeves on the back.

Oh, and I love the script R on the crank. The attention to detail is wonderful and the workmanship is absolutely stunning. I don't think I've ever seen anything this well made.
I love the on board storage for the extra whorls. Actually, this wheel came with two flyers (the regular and the large one), 6 bobbins (three for each flyer) and 6 whorls (again, three for each flyer). The ratios as I measured them are: 5.5:1, 6:1, 7.5:1, 9:1, 9.5:1, 10:1, 11.5:1, 12:1, 12.5:1, 14:1, and 15.25:1.

Another great feature of this wheel is that the mother of all can be placed at the center or to the right or left (or taken off completely when traveling).
As a left handed spinner it's great to be able to have the flyer on the right and be able to draft across my body instead of having to twist my body to the left when I want to long draw. Here's a shot of the bobbin in progress showing some woolen spun Shetland.
My first skein spun was this painted BFL roving. It shows the result of switching gears in midstream. This wheel has been very well cared for so wasn't in need of any special tender loving care to restore it, however, June had her set up for Scotch tension and I prefer spinning in double drive, so I switched out the drive band right away. It took awhile to get the hang of how it treadled (and we're still not totally in sync but I think we're definitely on the road to becoming friends).

The second skein was this laceweight Merino/Angora/Cashmere. Swapping out a second drive band with a softer cotton one made a big difference.
The first drive band I put on was some parachute cord that I'd gotten for my Traveller. It's a very tight cotton cord and has held up really well on that wheel, but on the Reeves it just made the take up too strong. So, thankfully, Roberta told me about the drive band material the Jensen wheels use (Strait Line cord--it's the stuff used for snapping chalk lines if you want to look for some) and it's much softer and more to my liking. I tend to spin with a very light take up, though, so YMMV.

A couple of people have asked for pics on how I sew a drive band on so even though this post is already picture intensive, I'm going to add on a bunch more to demonstrate it. This is something that Susan McFarland (of Susan's Fiber Shop) once showed me how to do.

First tie the new drive band on--you want to make sure you've got the right length and it will work with all the whorl/bobbin combinations on your wheel. Then, untie the knot and pinch that section tightly. Once you have it securely in your fingers, you can ease off the tension on the drive band so there's a little slack--makes it easier to sew.
Pierce both strands of the cord with a needle, wrap it around and repeat.
It's easiest to work from the middle out leaving a long tail. After you go one direction, thread the tail onto the needle and move the other direction. You only need to really sew through both strands for about a half inch total, then you can just wrap the thread around the two strands a little bit.
Once the band is sewn, you can cut off the remaining tail of cord and to keep the little ends from fraying, drip some candle wax on them.
It's a good idea to really get the drive band out of the way of the wheel when you do this because you don't want to drip hot wax on the beautiful wood.
Then, when the wax is still warm, rub the whole sewn section back and forth in the palm of your hands. This sort of melds the whole thing together and prevents it from getting stiff. Done. No knots to get in the way of your spinning--only smooth sailing...

...make that smooth spinning.

Renewal

2009-04-12T15:59:00.014-05:00

Renewal, it's in the air. The early spring bulbs have pushed their heads towards the sun and are showing their colors. It's amazing, too, what a few days listening to the ocean can do for one's soul.

Every trip to Hawaii seems to bring a few new surprises. This time around, it was delving into some of the more cultural aspects of the Hawaiian people. We learned to start each day with the Oli Mahalo or the Chant of Gratitude. You can see the words of it and hear the students of the Kamehameha school saying it here. It's very nice, I highly recommend.

I also took a short class in Hawaiian quilting. It had to happen eventually. Years ago when quilting classes first appeared on PBS (or I noticed them for the first time), the only one that ever appealed to me was one short series on Hawaiian quilting. It's different than regular patchwork where you cut up and reattach different pieces of material. In Hawaiian quilting it's all handwork, and generally only two colors.

Here's my class piece. The pineapple symbolizes friendship. The whole thing is appliqued as it is worked--just turning the raw edge over with the tip of the needle. And then, it's quilted in a series of waves around the center. Generally the piece is symmetrical with the pattern folded and cut out as we would when making paper snowflakes. It's then basted on the background fabric. My first small project is this eyeglass case. I figured it was the equivalent of a knitted hat and something small enough to finish before I forgot how to do it. The pattern is the Ulu or Breadfruit symbolizing happiness.
Next up was Lauhala weaving. I had never heard of this before and my teachers said it was something generally taught in an oral tradition. The Hala tree isn't really a palm but that's the closest thing I can think of to describe it. The leaves are dried and cleaned (they have pretty sharp barbs or thorns on them, too) and then woven into some of the most gorgeous products. The hats are absolutely amazing! And, the hand sewn feather bands used to adorn them are more beautiful than anything I've ever seen.

As beginners, we didn't do anything too intricate. Made a simple pattern for a bracelet.
The teachers were quite the taskmasters and insisted on precision. I'm really happy with how mine turned out. I would have loved to have made a fan. The examples of those were so beautiful.

In case you're wondering if I did any knitting at all, let me tell you, I did. Lots of it. But since I took so many different projects along, none of them are finished. I didn't want any technology with me so left my laptop at home but took my Knitter's Journal with me to record the new designs. It was with me every early morning as I sat on the beach and watched it come to life.
If you've not seen the inside of one of these journals, here's a couple of pics. Pages of graphs of different sizes are scattered throughout, and
many pages show lines drawings from Meg and EZ along with many of their quotes.
They're very nice books and I highly recommend them. Sometimes it's just nice to have a book in your hand and work things out the "old fashioned" way.

But, sometimes the old ways are the best ways. They allow you to slow down and stay right there, in the moment.

Aloha

2009-03-29T08:00:00.063-05:00

Enough of winter! We ran away for some sun and fun.

New knitting projects are in the works in fibers and colors perfect for Waikiki. Check back next week to see which one gets done. Will it be the Seasilk brought home from Madrona?

Or, my new spindle/wheel spun yarn shown last week. Mmm, SeaWool in sandy shell colors, too.

Spindles are packed and ready to go.

Ahhh, that's the sound of stress dissolving.

You Scream, We Scream,

2009-03-22T16:41:00.010-05:00

We all scream for ice cream. This isn't about the edible variety, though. Last year about this time I purchased some Superwash Corrie from Spunky Eclectic in what was her colorway of the month--Neapolitan.

Since it looked like it was dyed so it would stripe, I decided to try something a little different than fractal spinning for keeping the colors flowing. I split the top down the center into two separate halves. One half I further split down into pieces about a fingers width to use for spindling. The other half was to be carded together to form, as Patsy says, a perfect neutral to use with the painted roving. Since the neutral single has all the colors of the roving blended together, it should allow the striping to continue in a somewhat heathery effect. That's the plan, at least.

This fiber was perfect for spindling. It was wonderfully soft without that super slippery feel of superwash Merino.
I actually managed to fit 1.7 oz of fiber on my 1.1 oz Orchard Forrester spindle.
This may be my most perfectly balanced spindle. It was a complete and utter joy to use. Go get yourself a Forrester, you won't be disappointed!

When it came down to blending the roving, I opted to use the drum carder and added in a bit of Tussah silk for added strength since I plan to use the yarn for socks. The batts turned out a shimmery fawn with just a hint of pink in them. Lovely.
The blended batts were spun on the Joy.
And then, plied on the Joy, too.
I love how this is coming out! The stripes still show through the candy stripe effect in the pink and dk brown areas. Can't wait to get it off the wheel and start knitting it.

Winter into Spring

2009-03-15T19:00:00.012-05:00

This morning they were still ice fishing out on the bay. The ice must still be plenty thick to support all those trucks out there.

That's why when it came time to think of a name for my newly completely shawl, as Soo and Lacefreak did for theirs, the obvious winner was what engulfed me the entire time it was being knit.

So presenting, the Crown Prince of Winter. To solve the size problem, I extended the edging out.
It's the same one as in the book, just kept repeating two rows over and over in the middle until I got sick of it.

This design was constructed in the traditional Estonian way, with the edge made in two pieces (each piece for two sides of the square), sewing up two miters on the corners and around the entire perimeter. I like to try out traditional construction methods, but thinking about sewing on an entire border certainly held no appeal, especially when something like a Russian graft could easily accomplish the same purpose. So, that's what I did--made two borders but Russian grafted them to the center instead of sewing them. You need to think ahead and keep the center square edge sts loose to provide plenty of stretch, which is also why I did a provisional cast on and did not cast off the sts on the center square.

I did sew up the miters, though. Working the border in the round would eliminate the need to do it, but the thought of trying to ensure 800+ sts were not twisted when joining made that notion fly out the window.
The trick to sewing the miter is to do it very loosely so that it can be adjusted during the blocking process.

Okay, here's the arty glamour girl shot.
And, a close up. See, still winter outside the window.
But, just when you think the weather will never change. A day or two with temps above freezing can bring amazing results. Gail, this pic is especially for you because I know you remember the complete and utter glee when you see the first sign of spring.
Robins!!!

Uncle!

2009-03-08T15:27:00.010-05:00

Enough snow already! Bring on spring....Please!

When there's a blizzard going on, the best thing to do is stay home and knit and spin, so that's what I've been doing.

The Crown Prince shawl now has an edge on two of it's sides. Still looks a little ruffled because the middle has been blocked but the edging hasn't; it will lay flat once the whole piece is dressed out.
Onward to knitting the last two sides of the edging.

One of my Joy bobbins had some silk left on it from my Judith class at Madrona. Figured it might pay to practice more core spinning; with an added twist. Found these pretty pink flower shaped sequins at the craft store and threaded them onto some thread along with some beads. Held the thread along with the singleuntil I realized that the sequins wouldn't fit through the orifice of my wheel. Ooops.

So, then I threaded the beads onto the silk single and occasionally pulled one of them up where it was locked in place by the core spinning surrounding it.
The core used seems a little too thick; some size 50 or 60 Cordonnet leftover from one of my doilies might be better to use with a fine silk single.

In simple spinning news, I cracked into some of the fiber from Madrona. This is superwash Merino from Crown Mountain Farms in the Riders on the Storm colorway. Mel kindly split her batch of fiber with me after I saw it and they didn't have any more of this color. Thanks, Mel! It's just the thing for blizzard stress spinning.

Power Knitting

2009-03-01T13:24:00.004-06:00

Generally, when faced with the question of whether I'm a process or product knitter, I'll choose process. Process all the way. Occasionally, though, when a project has been hanging around a long time and it's at a monotonous point, the product mode takes over. The only way to deal with it, is power knit my way though.

That's what happened with the Crown Prince shawl this week. The only way to get through the inner square was to knit, knit, knit. Otherwise, I knew it would stall out again. So, one week later, it looks like this.
Figured it made sense to block out the completed inner square so I knew exactly where I stood in terms of dimensions. As hard as I tried, and this piece is stretched to the breaking point, the largest I could make it was 32" square. Gail suggested adding another inner border to make it larger. A very good suggestion; thanks Gail! My other thought is to redesign the edging and make it much wider. So, that will be my assignment for this week. After mulling it over, something tells me it might just go into time out again.

In other leftover news from last week, I finished core plying my wrap and roll skein.
It worked! Two days of plying and only about 20 yds of yarn. But, it's fun yarn; soft and pliable, and balanced.

Next up will be some relaxing knitting and spinning, I think, maybe even something to overcome the sweater drought I've been in lately. We'll see.

Wrapping and Rolling

2009-02-22T15:54:00.008-06:00

So, last week I mentioned the Wrap and Roll core spinning class I took at Madrona. Well, I've been playing some more with it and, by Jove, I think I've got it! Still haven't gotten it off the bobbin and won't really know for sure until I do. If the balance isn't right, gaps will form between all those little wraps.
Inside, is a crochet cotton thread and then the handspun single is wrapped around it. A spindle is needed to remove the twist the wheel puts in the thread. So, the wheel spins S as for plying and at the same time the spindle holding the core spins Z and the aim is for equilibrium. It's taking awhile to get this half bobbin of yarn plied up because there are so many things to concentrate on at once (is the spindle still spinning, is it moving the right way, wrap some yarn, push it up, slow down your treadle foot, wrap the single, quick push it up, is the spindle still spinning, on and on) that I can only do a little at a time before needing a break.

Now, why you may ask, am I putting myself through this? Well, it's good to learn new things. Keeps your brain working. And, it's a kick when you finally get it.

In simple spinning news, I've started working on my Perendale fleece again. It's white, don't know where that slight pink cast came from.
And, I picked up the Crown Prince shawl from Nancy Bush's Estonian book. Thought I'd give it a little test block because it was looking a little small. The yarn is some yak/silk I bought from Galina (but you can get it for less $$ from Treenway). It's knitting up nicely but probably won't be more than a 44" square by the time the edging is on, so I'm wondering if that will be too small to be usable.
What do you think? Continue on or cut my losses.

Madrona

2009-02-17T11:13:00.026-06:00

Finally. Finally, life worked out enough to allow me to attend the Madrona Retreat. Here are some snapshots of my time there.

Took two classes, the first was Wrap and Roll yarns with Sarah Anderson.
We had an awesome space for this class with scads of natural light. Sarah is a wonderful and energetic teacher. And, this was not an easy thing to teach; luckily, the class was small.

She had wonderful demo's of the technique, which is a particular type of core spinning using a spindle as well as a wheel.
Here one student was playing the wheel and the other the spindle
and Sarah showed how to wrap and move up the single.

And, she gave us a quick demo on how to spin this yarn on two spindles.
Amazing!

My other class was spinning silk with Judith. Here she is opening up a silk brick.
The whole room might look a little seasick green but I didn't bother trying to color correct it as it's exactly how I felt. There were still fumes left in the room from the dyeing class the day before (seems like people were still adding to the pile of dyed skeins on the table, so maybe there was another class going on, too), anyway, it made me sick and I had to leave early.

Friday I made a little side trip down to the glass museum in Tacoma.
Below that big cone is where they have glass blowing demo's. It would have been nice if they'd told us before we paid to get in that they were over for the day.
We missed the end of it by seconds. In the museum they did have some of the Chihuly chandeliers from his Venice show, so that was cool to see.

And, to get to the museum, you need to walk over the bridge of glass where these beauties look down on you.
If they look this good on a cloudy day, it must be mind blowing gorgeous when the sun is out.
There's a cupcake store just down the street from the museum.
Cute, isn't it. Had to get some, because it was someones birthday!
Here we are at our FT get-together dinner. I had to keep pinching myself that I was really there. From left to right, Angela, Denise, Naomi, Jen, and Laura.
The other side of the table shows, Sivia, Ellen, Kerry, Mel, and Roberta and you can just make out Angela's flame, Doug, at the end of the table.
There were so many great sweaters and shawls. But, Mel's Fern took the cake. It is a true sheep to sweater masterpiece!
And, Kerry finished her Casual Cables in the nick of time.
The birthday girl couldn't waste time eating cupcakes, she found her bliss in a wheel.
No new wheels came home with me, but here's my big ol' basket of loot. It was fun shopping completely new to me vendors. Except Ernst glass, they've had a booth at Stitches Midwest. It's always a struggle to decide on which of their beauties to bring home; at least it didn't take 3 hrs to make up my mind this time. Anyway, I found perfect buttons and inspiration (thanks to Mel) to finish spinning my Perendale fleece.

As at most of these events, the best part was meeting the people; new friends and old friends. Wish there had been more time with all of you!

Hothouse Flowers

2009-01-25T13:33:00.006-06:00

While the cold winter winds blow, hothouse flowers bloom.

The latest FO, my Bird in Hand mittens have already come in handy. These puppies are warm! Knit tightly on size 2 needles, the fabric relaxed slightly the first time they were worn but not so much as to make them too big.
Here's a shot of the braid join that I discussed last week. Not too much of a jog there.The second FO this week is my Mallins 44 doily.
The texture in this doily is wonderful and somehow unexpected in lace work. It ended up with a 14" diameter.
It's probably the smallest size thread I'm going to try, though. My eyes were feeling the strain near the end.

So, on the other end of the spectrum, I started spinning this.
It's some cloud prepped fiber purchased at Shepherd's Harvest last spring from Fae Ridge Farm in Iowa. At 15 WPI, it's a fast spin. Hopefully, that means a Bluebells and Perwinkle skein will be in bloom next week.

New Beginnings

2009-01-18T12:45:00.007-06:00

Started on a new project this week. The very popular Bird in Hand mittens designed by Kate Gilbert. Already finished the first one.
The yarn is Ultra Alpaca in Rose Spice and Winter White. I deviated from the pattern instructions in several places. First off, my mitten ended up way too short; my gauge was straight on and the width perfect. Hmmm. Ended up starting the decreases for the top a few rows later than charted and just worked the extra rows in white. Actually, done that way it gives a more balanced look with the hem, I think. Speaking of the hem, that was worked differently, too. To avoid having to sew it down, I used Joyce Williams Eastern European cast on (the one used for toe up socks on two circs) for the total number of sts needed and just worked the wraps on the first needle. Once the hem was worked and the number of matching rnds for the cuff, I knit the next rnd together with those remaining wraps from the second needle. I used size 1 needles for the hem, size 1.5 for the cuff and size 2 for the mitten body. The biggest change came in the placement of the beginning of the round. My preference is to place that at the karate chop (pinky side) of the hand instead of at the thumb side as shown in the pattern. It's easier to hide any small jog that way. There won't be much of a jog in the colorwork, but it's difficult to hide the one in the braid. My solution was instead of joining the braid as stated, to pick up the M1 stitch from the row below. The other big change was in the ending of the thumb. As graphed it made kind of a point and was too long for me, too. So, after working one plain rnd after the bird was finished, I K2tog for one rnd and then K2tog on a second rnd, ending K1. Still have to knit the second mitten. That may be my inauguration day knitting--talk about New Beginnings.

Here's the first 50 or so rnds of Mallins 44. As you can see, I did switch to working it with the #60 thread. It is small! Works okay in the actual knitting, but is a bear to see should any mistake be made and have to be undone. This is quite a different doily to knit with lots of design elements to watch for. On this go round I worked the inner petals with a twisted knit stitch and it shows up much stronger.

It's amazing how fast the mitten worked up compared to the doily. For the stitch count at this stage, 6 rnds of the mitten equal one of the doily. Which is good because with all the stranding, these mittens will be warm and it's cold out there! Forgot to mention how much I love this yarn, too. It's becoming one of my favorites. New Beginnings even among yarn.

Change of Heart

2009-01-11T13:04:00.011-06:00

When I left you last week, my readers, I was all enthused about knitting a handspun Round the Bend jacket. After finishing the first corner on Monday, it looked like this.
The contrast colors are some cochineal dyed Coopworth/silk from Stephania and spindled silver Shetland. I love how they look together, but alas, the cranberry keeps telling me that it wants to be a cabled sweater. So, this project was put away while I cogitate on the matter.

Instead, I took to organizing. Found a new storage/display option for my spindles. I hung them by ribbons in one of the wire cubicles.
And, found room for my niddy noddies on the side of it. There are a couple of spindles not included as they're residing in project baskets.
But, there's a new spindle to the collection that arrived this week. It's a Tibetan spindle made by Edward Tabachek. It's similar to a Russian spindle and was created by Mr. Tabachek after this video on YouTube was discovered of a woman in Tibet spinning.
My spindle has a Purpleheart whorl and Hickory shaft and is pretty heavy at 60 gm. The little pink ceramic waterlily bowl was something I brought back from Hawaii last year and has just the right amount of slipperiness.

The weight and length of this spindle is much larger than the Russian spindles I bought from Galina several years ago so it's taken a bit of time to get used to it. It wasn't comfortable to sit with the bowl on one side of me because the height the tip of the spindle ended up at was too high, so I put the bowl on a small box (the box it came in) in front of me and sat cross legged on the sofa. That solved one issue.

Then, there was the weight to deal with. It's slow so I started out using some pink alpaca from Spunky Eclectic which has a fairly long staple and doesn't need/want too much twist in it to keep it soft. Also, on their site, Joanne Tabachek recommends winding some of the spun single up near the spindle tip to keep it in from tipping over. That definitely helped.
To see spinning on this type of spindle in action, here's a video of Faina using one--she's much more proficient than I.

Next knitting project for the year is the Mallins 44 doily by Herbert Niebling. The Yahoo Niebling group is using this piece for a KAL and as I have no doilies on the needles, I joined in.
My first start was with some pink Omega thread but I'm considering switching over to #60 Cordonnet. Check back next week to see how many other changes of heart happen around here.

New Year, New Start

2009-01-04T14:33:00.005-06:00

It's a new year, but it looks just like the old one. Lots of snow, and now ice!

But, my knitting is taking a new (well, old) turn. I'm knitting a sweater! It's been awhile since I've made one for myself. And, this will be my first handspun garment.
This is the Secret Garden Coopworth from Hidden Valley Farm Woolen Mill that I spun last summer. The pattern is Meg's Round the Bend jacket from her little blue paperback book. It's long been on my "to do" list and I'm finally doing it! The piece begins with a sleeve and in place of the sort of full sleeve in the pattern, I'm making mine with a shorter cuff and more tapered instead.

In spinning news, I finished plying the Thermograph spun on my new Golding spindle last week. Originally, I was going to fractal spin this, but got a little mixed up on what on was doing and ended up just haphazardly plying up all the little cops from the spindle
BFL is my new favorite fiber. This skein is so soft and squishy. Think my next handspun sweater with have to be with BFL.

Done!

2008-12-27T13:28:00.007-06:00

Lyra. She is done! If it seems like it was started a long time ago, it was. However, there was quite a long time out period while I decided if the yarn was right for this piece. In the end, I'm glad I continued with it. To refresh your memory, this is Touch from Yarn Place with a fiber content of 85% Merino/10% Tencel/5% Cashmere. It is very soft and the tencel content gives it a nice drape and maybe contributes to it holding it's block nicely (hope so! because these Niebling pieces take forever to pin out).

A slight problem developed during the blocking process, though. One of those heart stopping moments when you peer across from the other side of the circle and see more open work than should be there.
Luckily I was able to catch this run before it escaped the solid area of the flower head. Out in the mesh section it would have been much more difficult to repair.

At first I wasn't sure whether it was caused by a join coming apart, a weak spot in the yarn, or twisted stitch that didn't get caught securely. It turned out to be the latter.
Took a few quiet moments to repair and it's not altogether perfect but will do. BTW, this is the most accurate pic as to color. It's what I'd call orchid and with the floral theme seems to be the ultimate shawl to wear in Hawaii. So, this one will be saved for a return visit to paradise. Ya'll keep your fingers crossed for me that it will happen next year. okay?

Oooh, looky here. I must have been good this year because this beauty of a spindle showed up under the Christmas tree. It's a Golding Art Nouveau--1.6 oz. Let me tell you, it spins like lightening. One of the reasons why I love the Golding spindles is because it's so easy to get them going with just a finger flick--some of my other spindles need a thigh roll to really give them alot of speed.
It's resting on the Sept (or maybe August) offering from the Spunky Club called Thermograph. Nice BFL fiber to put it through it's paces.
Here's a shot of the side of the spindle. These newer Goldings have more wood surrounding the ring. They also aren't set up to be made into a bottom whorl like the older models.

Hope you had a Happy Christmas and here's to a great New Year!

Miss me?

2008-12-07T14:34:00.011-06:00

It's been awhile, huh. I'll spare you all the ins and outs of the complications of life and just launch into showing you some of the fibery things I've been doing. Sorry, no nature pic to lead things off today. It's getting to be scary cold out there and everything just looks white (as in snow) anyway.

Fell in love at first sight with Nancy Bush's new book, Knitted Lace of Estonia. Wanted to cast on nearly every design right away but Miralda led the pack. And, I had the perfect yarn for it sitting on the shelf--Jade Sapphire Cashmere/Silk.
It's a fun pattern to knit. Lots of unusual stitch patterns that combine texture with lace.
All my shawl notes are listed in my Ravelry Notebook so I won't repeat them here. Interweave has listed errata for the book here.
Second shawl on the needles from the book is the Crown Prince. I'm using some Yak/Silk and size 3mm needles. This one will be a long term project.
Wanted to show you this fun little spindle basket I found at the WI Spin-in last October.
The basket holds roving and there's a special spiral on the front to hold a spindle. It feels sort of like a spindle holster.

Haven't been spinning much, but since October was breast cancer awareness month, I broke into the Superwash Merino dyed in Violet's Pink Ribbon from Lisa.
I was aiming for a fingering weight 3 ply and missed the mark again. Last time I tried it, I ended up with more of a sport weight. This time...lace weight--974 yds measuring 38 WPI from 4 oz.
Nice and springy but too lightweight for socks. Being superwash, it won't hold a block so a lace shawl is out. So for now, it's on the shelf.
More of a success is this little Niebling doily. Burda has begun publishing an English version of Anna and is including one Niebling design in each issue. This is the first one called Lily of the Valley.
Lots of nice little touches in it and it was quite fun to knit. To start the center I used Thom Christoph's circular start as shown in Gathering of Lace. Very nice. It's similar to Emily Ocker's start but doesn't use a crochet hook.

That's it for now. Hopefully posts will begin to show up in their usual weekly pattern.

Needle Review

2008-10-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

Ah, summertime has vanished into autumn. Time to get going on some winter projects.

But first, a little needle review. Most of the comparisons I've seen between KnitPicks needles and those of other manufacturers seem to concentrate on the shape of the tip or the smoothness of the join. But, when I ordered a couple of sets to try out, I found one of the major differences to get used to was the difference in where the needle started increasing in size.

Here's a pic of an Addi needle and a KnitPicks Options. Both are size 6.
See the difference? The Options needle rapidly increases whereas the Addi is much thinner near the join. I happen to grasp the needle with my little finger and this difference makes the Options more tiring to knit with for an extended length of time.

Here are size 8 needles in KnitPicks Options, Harmony, Addi regular and Lace. I was surprised to see the difference between the Addi Turbo and the Lace version. The Turbo shown is years old so it is possible that the new ones are shaped more like the Lace needle.
The Harmony needles are very nice to use, I knit Keegan's Wallaby with the size 8. The Addi Lace, even with the coating on them (why did they do that!), is nice to knit with, though, the price seems outrageously expensive, even for a knitting needle collector like me. Though, I remember when Turbo's cost $5.95 and that seemed like alot, so maybe it's worth investing in them now.

My few sets of KnitPicks interchangeables needed a case, and I found this in the box set aside to sell. It's a accessory case from Ashland Sky that I received for a door prize at some knitting retreat or other.
I cut off the top flap of plastic to make it smaller. And, now it folds up into a nice small package.
In spinning news, I finished a couple of skeins. This first one is some slightly underplied laceweight spun from Jean Womack's batts. The fiber is Angora bunny/Cormo/Silk (60/20/20) and is a lovely blue/purple.
The spinning of it was awful, however. I suspect the Cormo was the culprit because the batts were riddled with neps which caused endless frustration. The skein is in timeout until the memory of the unpleasantness fades.

Almost the same color is this skein of Wensleydale--Elektra dyed by Lisa. Spinning this was the total opposite of the bunny blend. Wensleydale almost spins itself.
Currently on the Joy, is another of Lisa's fibers. This is SW Merino that she dyed up in Violet's Pink Ribbon for me.
Since I'm planning on Navajo plying it, the singles are very fine--73 WPI.

And, next up on the needles is a handspun cardi that's been years in the making. The fiber is all dyed by Lisa with matching buttons by Sheila. The swatching for most of it was completed early this summer, I've just been waiting to finish spinning the Elektra to finish swatching the colorwork.
Let the knitting begin!

Road Trip

2008-09-28T15:28:00.016-05:00

Anyone familiar with southeastern Minnesota would know this landmark. It's known as Sugarloaf and sits on the edge of Winona, MN, the town where my mom spent some of her childhood years. I'd been promising her a visit back there all summer, and with a glorious late September weekend ahead of us, we headed off. If you'd like a sampling of the sights we saw, read on. The only fibery content in this post is the edible kind.

First we paid our respects to the relatives. The ones living in town--here she is with her brother, my Uncle Stan.
And, those only living in our memories. If you ever happen to be driving past this town, I highly recommend taking a small detour near the center to check out this place. It's the best bakery in the whole wide world!
And, a shot of some of the goodies. These are even better than those at the Dixie Cream Donut shop we used to have in my hometown.
Winona is a beautiful community scattered with churches, each with more unusual architecture than the next. Some of the most unusual include the Central Methodist church which has a towering tall steeple with little tiny windows at the very top and one which has parapet's and looks like a castle. But, my favorite is St. Stan's.
This white dome can be seen from the road as you drive the river road towards the town. It also has incredible stained glass windows and pink and white marble inside. Oh, and the stonework carvings inside are fabulous.

We paid a visit to the Watkins Museum and shop. Great fun and good to stock up for all that winter baking.
Watkins vanilla is the only brand I'll use.

The Farmer's Market was great fun, too.
Unlike the one in my town where vendors have a little of everything, several of these growers specialized in just one thing. This lady had scads of different kinds of potatoes, another had more different types of peppers than I've ever seen.
So, that was alot of fun to explore.

On the way home we stopped at La Crescent, located just on the MN side of La Crosse. Why? Apples!
It's apple time around here and Bauer's is the place to get them. We bought Jonathon's, Empire, and Honey Crisp and tried samples of lots of other varieties.
Plus, they had Kohlrabi fit for...well, for a giant!
That's the foot of my in progress sock, for scale.

We spotted this beautiful paddleboat taking a trip down the Mississippi as we crossed the river back into WI. Hope you enjoyed the sights as much as we did.

Into the Woods

2008-09-21T21:00:00.013-05:00

As one can see from this photo of my backyard sugar maple tree, the typical colored leaves of autumn haven't begun to appear in this neck of the woods. But, it won't be long now.

Though, I recently finished Sivia Harding's Norwegian Woods shawl that illustrates another change of season, that of winter into spring.

First come the Winter Branches.
Then, the Budding Twigs and Emerging Leaves.
Ending in a shady leaf covered bower.
This is what I think of as a sampler shawl--several patterns put together, many times along some sort of theme. Sometimes they look rather disjointed, I know a couple of weeks ago at Wi S&W I saw several examples of a very popular design that looked that way. Not so with this design. Sivia skillfully has balanced the different stitch patterns--some with more openness than others. But, all of them with that nice rhythm that makes them fun to knit.

The only change I made to the pattern was in the working of the double decreases. Instead of a SK2P (slip one, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over), I worked a SS2K.

First Slip 1 as if to knit
Then, insert your needle as a k2tog but instead, slip them to the right needle.
Then insert your left needle into the front of all three sts on the right needle and knit them together. It results in a decrease with the same st on top as if you SK2P but is more efficient.
I also worked the S2KP in the same manner. One thing to always keep in mind about double decreases, the stitch your needle touches first, is the one that will lay on top of the others.

In spinning news this week, I spun up the Mountain Colors Targhee in Ruby River.
It's 575 yds, of a light fingering weight. This was very sproingy fiber to spin. Some gloves are definitely on the horizon.

Okay, a few more thoughts on Norwegian Woods. This was a very fun knit, and would be a very good design to work if you happen to have a problem with different size YO's in lace. These can happen when a decrease occurs directly before the YO or directly after it, depending on your knitting style and tension. Most of the YO's in these stitch patterns (until the last charts) are simple eyelets, with the corresponding decreases happening elsewhere in the stitch repeat.

The scallops along the edge are very cleverly shaped and not that difficult to block--took a little more time than just making points but is so worth it. The beads add a nice touch.
Shawl stats:
Blocked Dimensions: 66" x 33"
Yarn: 810 yds spindle spun mohair/alpaca/silk laceweight yarn
fiber from Persimmon Tree/spindle used .9 oz Golding Tsunami
Size 3mm needles
Copper 8/0 beads along edge

Update--Wi S&W and other stuff

2008-09-08T12:48:00.011-05:00

Last weekend was the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival. June told me to buy alot of fun stuff so I'd have something to write a blog post about. Ever obliging, here's goes.

First up, we have a braid of Mountain Colors Targhee in Ruby River.
This is absolutely my favorite Mountain Colors colorway, a little deeper and richer than the pic shows. I'm thinking mittens or gloves, maybe stranded with black.

One fiber I've been wanting to try spinning is SeaWool--70% Merino/30% SeaCell. Creatively Dyed Yarns had some at her booth. Her Ravelry id is Creative and a nicer woman you will not meet.
She brought scads of yarn and roving with her! Really beautiful colors.

I'd resisted the gorgeous Random Acts batts from Hooked on Felt at the MI show, but she had more and even prettier ones with her at Jefferson.
This pic shows both sides of the batt. It's Merino/silk/alpaca/angora/glitz. Very soft and sparkly and pretty. Don't know what it will be or how I'll spin it but it should be fun.

Also bought some luscious alpaca (from supermodel alpaca Brown Sugar's little one called Sweet Cheeks) and a Jensen Niddy Noddy.

Other pretty rovings which arrived recently include the August offering from the Spunky Eclectic club.
She calls this one Thermograph and it's BFL. There's pink in it, so you know I'm happy.

Also traded some of my April club fiber to June for this Feb offering called Think Spring. Oh, look, there's pink there, too. :)
Kerry gave me the nudge one night which prompted the arrival of these little bundles from Copperpot Woolies.
At each around an ounce, they're perfect little spindle projects.

And, a package from Lisa, arrived last month just before I left for MI. I needed some Wensleydale for my cardi project and she had a new colorway called Lake Superior. It's seen on the left along with Elektra on the right and some superwash merino in Violet's Pink Ribbon in the middle.
Let me tell you, spinning the Lake Superior was almost like spinning the sky. It's right up there with my favorite colorways of hers. Here it is all spun up.
BTW, Lisa has bunch of other new colorways. Be sure to head over to her website to check them out if you haven't seen them already. I feel another order coming on.

And, finally, I figured I may as well post a finished pic of these socks finished last month. They're from the spindled yarn shown in July from the Chocolate Princess roving. The colors are really off in the photo but are more browns and rusts.
It was a close call finishing with only a small butterfly of yarn left. I love how they stripe and really did nothing special in the spinning or knitting to achieve it.

Okay, hopefully soon I'll be back with more substantial posts. It seems so many have let their blogs lapse and I miss them. But also realize it's sometimes difficult to find the time to put together an interesting post. As much as I hate it when people beg for comments, they are motivating.

Seen any Pods?

2008-08-24T17:55:00.013-05:00

Long time, no blogging. My excuse? The Olympics, and the Ravelympics. My entry this year was a small one. I knew I'd be away for a few days during the middle of the games (backdated blog post explaining where/why) and wanted something that wouldn't need working on every second but just during the evenings while watching the events on tv.

So, I chose a little sweater for Keegan, my great nephew--a Wallaby from Cottage Creations.
The yarn was Encore from Plymouth. I'd much rather have used a wool, but since he's only two, figured it was more practical to use something a little easier to wash. It was fun knitting this piece and improvising details on the fly. I added a tubular cast on, jogless jog stripes with no color blip in the ribbing, cables, intarsia edging as well as intarsia in the round for the placket, and grafting in pattern on the hood.

Started spindling this big batch of Columbia fiber I got last year at Michigan Fiber Fest. I'm using my large Swan Lake Golding--1.9 oz and spinning a woolen yarn. Can't decide if I'll leave it as a worsted weight single or ply it to make a super bulky yarn. Both samples are so soft and airy.
Isn't the spindle pretty when it's filled up with yarn.
Also have been spinning this cranberry colored roving from Hidden Valley Woolen mill on my Ashford Traveller. It's called Secret Garden and is 100% Coopworth.
It's spinning up into big fat scrunchy yarn. Spun woolen to about a heavy worsted weight size.
Two spinning projects making fat yarn and a knitting project using it. I know what you're thinking...have the body snatchers been around. I promise, I haven't seen any pods laying about anywhere.

Michigan Fiber Festival--2008

2008-08-17T19:07:00.007-05:00

Braved the road construction around Chicago again this year so I could attend the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, MI

The Spinning Guru, Patsy Z, was teaching once again and this time I took her class on spinning Angora bunny.

Pictured here is fiber from four different breeds of Angora bunnies.
From left to right: Giant, German, English and French. All but the German are plucked fiber, the cut end on the German sample is clearly evident. Spinning samples from all four breeds really established their differences to me. The French and Giant definitely have more Awn fibers or the really long hair like fibers. The English basically had none and the German was somewhere in between.

Here are my class samples and a few more blends I tried after getting home.
A fun, fun class as usual, from a great teacher.

Didn't buy too much--guess going through and organizing the stash this summer helped after all.

Wasn't going to buy a fleece unless I saw one that stole my heart. And, this one, did.
It's a CVM from Moonshadow Farm of Chisholm, MN. Loved the two-toned quality of the lock and it's wonderfully soft and springy. Haven't decided the best way to spin it, yet.

Another stand out booth (for the second year running) was Yarn Hollow. She does wonderful hand painted yarns and rovings. This one is Alpaca/Merino/Tussah. Mmmmm! She has a shop on Etsy, but has everything down right now during fiberfest season. But, be sure to bookmark for later because her colorways are beautiful.
My other favorite booth for the second year running was that of a local shepherd. She raises Columbia sheep, dyes their fleece and then has it processed. This year she had pink!
She hadn't even had the chance to roll it into balls as the processor had just dropped off a huge bag of it before opening up Saturday morning. I happily waited for them to measure out enough for a sweater. Can't wait to get spinning on it!

Cardin' Party

2008-08-03T18:25:00.020-05:00

Took a little blog vacation last week, so here are the pics from our cardin' party at Fiber Camp.

The first day, Roberta showed me her method for carding Cormo.

If the drum carder has a brush attachment, it needs to be moved up and out of the way.
The Cormo, from Riverwinds Farm, was carefully washed to preserve the lock structure, so it just took a little teasing to get them ready to card.
Catch the tips end of the locks on the teeth of the large drum,
and, while slowly turning the drum, draft back to lay down a thin layer of wool.
You want to keep drafting back until there's almost nothing left to hold onto. This prevents the lock from springing back and forming a nep.
It's a slow methodical process, but doesn't need to be finished in one sitting. Also, this is the one and only time they're going to be carded.
When finished, remove the batt from the drum. Later in the weekend, my friend Patty stopped by and told us about a great tool to use for this process.
Take a wooden dowel and tape a long strip of thick plastic to it. The plastic prevents the layers of the rolled up batt from sticking to each other.

Here is our first Cormo batt off the carder. What few irregularities it had, spun right out. I found it a much nicer preparation to spin than my hand combed top.
Later in the weekend, we played with some blending.

Kerry had given me a sample of one of her dyeing experiments. I'm pretty sure it's North County Cheviot. We teased open the locks and carded a thin layer of them.
Then, we added some locks from Patty's sheep, Lucy (aka Dolly) which is a Dorset Rambouillet. Our aim was a sock blend.
For strength and a punch of needed color, we added some magenta silk.
We dubbed the resulting batt, Peach Bud.
As you can see, this isn't a totally blended batt. But, it's the start of a continuing exploration. Fiber Camp was so much fun. Can't wait for next time.

Fiber Camp

2008-07-22T20:32:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, my friend Roberta came up for a visit. We had both been wait listed for Meg's Knitting Camp, so we decided to have a Fiber Camp of our own.

We did the usual camp activities. Mini-workshops to learn new things, went to the obligatory WI Friday night fish fry, spent one night watching fiber DVD's--this time Patsy Z's, not one by Meg. And, we had show and tell.
You've already seen my Forest Path, DFS and Hawaii Charlotte. But Roberta brought her Douceur et Soie scarf from Victorian Lace Today, her DFS and gorgeous pink Hanami. Her Ravelry ID is Robedia--go check out her projects page for more lovely lace knitting.

Oh, and we went on a stash enhancement expedition, too. Found a lovely new knit shop up in Door County called Spin. Here are my purchases.Some Silk/Cashmere from Jade Sapphire, a skein of Jitterbug, Addi lace needles, Wallaby pattern all fitting nicely into this fun basket from Lantern Moon. Probably would have spent more at knitting camp, but definitely wouldn't have had more fun.

Watch for upcoming blog posts about our adventures in drum carding.

Flowers and Lace

2008-07-13T14:55:00.009-05:00

All summer I've been leading my posts with pics from my flower garden. It hasn't usually related much to the rest of the post. This week, my garden mirrored my knitting with the explosion of Queen Anne's Lace blooms.

You see, I finished my Birch Catkins doily. My first finished Niebling! The Niebling Yahoo group took this design on as a KAL. Without further ado, here's my finished doily.
All in all, I'm satisfied. I took a wild guess and matched up size 30 thread with 2mm needles. It makes a nice fabric but it'll be interesting to see how the other versions turn out. A looser gauge might make a gauzier effect. For the crochet cast off, I used 12 chains and wish I had backed off and used less. But, I was uncertain how the thread would block out and wanted to have enough leeway at the edge.

There were a couple of issues with rnds 89-93 as charted. On rnd 89, there is a difference in a st between the Burda style chart and the one in Diana magazine. The third inc on the Burda chart should be a K2tog. That makes the repeat have 51 sts in it instead of 52.

On rnd 91--make sure the last stitch is an K/P increase. It wasn't included on my Burda style chart. But, even including that, the patterning didn't work out right. So, I worked a K2tog on one side of that last inc, and a SSK on the other side. So, to begin the repeat, I worked SSK,OO,K, K2tog, and then the full first box only twice and worked the last box once and then ended it with--SSK, K, OO, K2tog. Stitch count of the repeat still 57.

Rnd 93 needed to have another shift at the beginning of the rnd so that the extra stitch from the KP inc was used up in the SSK of the first st. Repeat stitch count 60.

Doing the above got me to where the vertical patterns are undisturbed when worked across the entire repeat on rnd 95. This is a close up of that section.

The section I redid is shown at the top of the arch where one pattern changes to another. I'm not sure how "Niebling" like my fix is, but I'm happy with the look of it. There are a few places where the holes of my hex mesh seem larger than others, so there's definitely room for improvement in the working of these stitches.

Just one last shot of the doily as it was blocking since it looks so pretty on the blue towel. Next time I want to make a real blocking board with circles drawn on it so that it will be easier to keep it round. I had limited time when pinning it out, and it needs alot of pins, so it's not perfectly round. Finished measurement of the diameter is 19". Made from Cebelia #30 in White with 2mm needles.

All in all, it was a very fun project. Now, it will be back to knitting the famous Niebling design--Lyra.

Lavender Wands

2008-07-06T18:46:00.006-05:00

We interrupt the usual fibery blog post for this timely tutorial on how to make lavender wands. It's best to make them when the lower flowers just begin to open so the essential oils are at their peak. And, be sure to cut the stems in the morning when you have a few minutes to work on a wand right away, as once they dry out a little they become brittle and difficult to maneuver.

The ingredients needed to make a lavender wand are an uneven number of lavender stems, somewhere between 13 and 19 works best, and three to four ft of 1/4" satin ribbon (I like to use the picot edge type).
I usually purchase a few spools of ribbon when I see them on sale during the year.

Just a note about lavender plants, themselves. Here in the upper Midwest, where we range between zone 4 and 5, I've been able to grow three different cultivars of Lavendula Augustifolia. If you live this far north, it's probably best to give them a little winter protection. Last winter my plants were left to fend for themselves through a brutally cold winter but it also had an early and deep snow cover which helped to keep them insulated.
Shown from left to right are, Munstead, Hidcote, and Jean Davis. The Hidcote is probably the most tender of the three, but has a deeper color and more fragrant flower. My favorite has to be the Jean Davis which is a lovely light pink, not white as it appears in the photo. Plants need to be grown in full sun (at least, up here) in order to produce blossoms.

After you've cut the stems, strip off any lower leaves and lay them out so that the lower flowers start at about the same place. You want the stems to be about the same length but it won't make much if they're an inch or so different from each other.
These are some extraordinarily long Hidcote stems.

Now, gather the stems up in your hand the same way you had them laid out before you.
If you have any of those tiny rubber bands that kids use when they have braces (do they still use those? or am I dating myself), it's great to slide one up the stems. It helps to keep everything snug as the lavender shrinks up as it dries.
My supply of rubber bands is gone, so now I just proceed with the next step. Tie the ribbon around the bundle and try to hide the end in the middle of the flowers.

Tip the whole thing over so that you're holding onto the flowers and gently bend the stems down. If they're freshly cut, they shouldn't break off.
Then, you'll begin weaving.
Over, under, over, under. On the first rnd, I keep the over stems underneath my thumb so I'm sure to know they're place is taken. Otherwise, they tend to flop from side to side and things can get a little untidy.

After the second rnd of weaving, all the stems are locked in place.
And, round and round you go.
Once you get to below the flowers, just wind the ribbon around the stems. As it dries, you'll need to go back and tighten it up so there's no sense in spending time weaving them. Gather up any flower buds that drop off. They're great to use in an herb mixture for soup.
When finished, you have a nice little lavender wand to tuck in with sweaters, your fiber stash or anywhere you want a nice lavender scent.
Next week, it's back to the regularly scheduled fiber post.

Progress Report

2008-07-01T19:35:00.009-05:00

Just a quick post with progress pics to keep you updated on my fibery exploits. Finished another spindling project! I'm trying to get things completed within a year of starting them and this came in just under the wire.

This is Superwash wool (the stuff from the Sheep Shed) dyed by Liz, the Chocolate Princess on Etsy. Doesn't look like she's doing any dyeing anymore. Too bad because this was pretty stuff. It was the only braid of fiber she brought to knitting camp last July and that's where I started spindling it.
Shown with the Janet Yost Ebony/Redheart spindle I used. It was my take along/waiting room project so is a bit uneven. I thought it was a 3 or 4 oz braid so I might have lost some along the way as this skein is only 2.5 oz and 330 yds--might not be enough for socks.

Next spindling project to start will be my June Spunky club fiber. It's a lovely Merino/Mohair blend--very, very soft. The colorway is called Little Weeds.
And, doily fever is still running its course. Here's the progress of my Birch Catkins doily. I'm very glad I reworked those early rnds. This shows it about on rnd 65. The catkins are worked in a twisted stitch giving it a nice texture.
Doily knitting is so enjoyable as it's so light and small and the cotton thread stays cool in your hand. May be the perfect summer knitting.

Doily Fever

2008-06-22T15:08:00.009-05:00

Doily fever has taken hold around here. First it was Nieblings Lyra pattern. Still a doily pattern even though I'm using lace wt. yarn to make a shawl.

Then, it was the Birch Catkins Summer KAL on the Niebling Yahoo group. It's a small doily, so I decided to use thread. Here's my first weeks start.
I'm using #30 Cebelia and size 2mm needles. Used Emily Ocker's circular start and opted for two circs instead of dpn's. There's a rapid increase of sts in the first 10 rnds. Most of what you see is called Hex Mesh, a favorite stitch of Mr. Niebling. Some people hate it because it's worked with a double YO, but once you get a rhythm, it's not bad at all. Though, see those larger line of holes running between the two sets of needles. I stupidly used a double YO there and even though I pulled it as tight as I could, they're a different tension than the rest. RIP. Don't try to stop me, by the time you read this, it will already be done. Maybe my second try will be better because now that doily fever has hit, I'm not giving up.

There will be plenty of new doilies in the future, too. This book, newly reprinted by Lacis, arrived on Friday.
It contains many gorgeous Niebling designs. As soon as I saw it, I ordered two other doily books from Lacis. Yep, I've got the fever. Though, it may be in my genes. My mom has been telling me stories about the beautiful doilies in the parlor of her grandmothers house. And, the ones my great-grandmother made for my grandmother. Wish one of them would have been passed down to me, think how special it would be!

I recently discovered a long lost piece of my own handwork. Made a couple of years before I started knitting. It's called Hardanger and this was my first piece.
It's a type of embroidery and cut thread work. First all the embroidery is worked with pearl cotton and then areas of the fabric are cut and some of the threads are drawn out with the remaining ones being tightly wrapped.
No knitting projects to show, but I do have some handspun. First off, Wensleydale in Elektra dyed by Lisa. Despite my best efforts, this skein does not at all match the Jonquil skeins spun some time back. It's definitely heavier. Swatching will determine whether I'll be able to use it in the project or not. Lovely color, though!
And, I finished a spindling project! Always feels good when that happens. This is 596 yds of Merino/Silk spun from the ButterflyGirl Plumaria batt. It was spun on the spindle shown--pink Mother of Pearl, also from ButterflyGirl.
Originally, I had the intention of spinning sock yarn, but now I'm thinking it would be better suited for a shawl. It has that sort of crunchy silk feeling and seems like it will be nice and drapey. Am considering a Flower Basket shawl, or maybe Sivia's Norwegian Woods. Other suggestions will be happily entertained.

What a Week

2008-06-17T17:49:00.013-05:00

Last week was one for the record books. We started off Sunday, 6/8, with flooding rains. Received nearly 5". Unusual, but we've dealt with that much before.

More unusual, was waking up in the wee hours of Wednesday, 6/11, and hearing a strange sort of a cracking noise outside. People talking outside, at that hour, was kinda strange, too. So, I figured it was worth getting out of bed and looking out the window to see what was going on. Could not believe my eyes when I saw flames shooting into the sky--higher than the treetops.
The garage of the house two doors down and across the street went up in flames with both their vehicles inside. It was an incredible and scary sight! If you look in the upper right hand corner of the photo at the green house, you can see how their shutters were melted from the fire's heat. Luckily, no one was hurt and the fire didn't spread to their house.

Then on Thursday, 6/12, more storms were predicted for the area. Long about 3:30p, it started thundering and the rain started pouring down. The ground was so saturated from the previous heavy rain that it quickly started building up.

The elementary school across the street usually looks like this. They play soccer and there's a baseball diamond just to the right of this shot where they play little league games.
At about 6:30p, it looked like this.
The water was already up and over the curb. It poured down rain for 8 more hours! (accumulated to an additional 6") The streets started looking like rivers. And, the houses soon were surrounded with water.

The dirt and debris behind my car shows how high the water level got. You can generally park two cars in the driveway so it was way above the sidewalk.
I was really worried whether water would fill our basement. We were very, very lucky! When most of the neighbors had at least 6" of water and some had 10 feet (their entire basement filled!), we only ended up with less than an inch in one corner as a result of the storm sewer backing up. And, the garden, though soggy, was not under water.

The next block over has a huge pond covering all their backyards.
A couple of huge, probably 80 yr old trees were casualties as the ground around their roots was so saturated that it just couldn't hold them up.

The school yard looked like this. No soccer for awhile.
And, the playground submerged, too. Didn't stop the kids from playing in it. They put on their swimsuits and had a grand time.
None of this can compare, of course, to what is going on in Iowa. Or what happened to those houses down by the WI Dells when Lake Delton vanished and swept them along with it. But, we're still a little uneasy. We've had Fire...and Flood. What's next?...Pestilence?

The fibery delivery this week was a braid of merino from PigeonRoof Studios on Etsy. It's called Venetian.
Pretty colors, but it was so tightly braided when it arrived, that I feared it would get compacted. It did fit into quite a small package, so perhaps that's why she prepares them that way. Probably wouldn't matter if one was going to spin it right away, but it will have to wait it's turn around here so I quickly rebraided it.

And, what's this? a finished object to report! Nothing better for stress knitting than going around and around in circles on a sock so I picked up my second Blue Hawaii sock and finished it up.
Spindle spun in the fractal technique and knit with my basic sock recipe. Definitely fraternal twins. As Mel would say, the mismatched stripes make me a little twitchy. But, it was such a fun project from beginning to end, that's it's kind of sad to see it end.

Let's hope this week is a little calmer.

In The Pink

2008-06-10T09:18:00.002-05:00

It's official. The color pink has taken over my life. The above shot shows a little snippet of my pink border. Dianthus (commonly simply called pinks) and Cosmos. Other pink flowers included are: Delphinium, Petunia (regular and double), Primrose, Zinnia, Rose, Lavender, Alyssum, Snap Dragon, Vinca, Daisy (regular and African), Impatience, Foxglove, Hollyhock, Moss Rose, Baby's Breath, Dahlia and, of course, Pansy.

To expand out of my color comfort zone a little, I ordered this batt prepared by Abby Franquemont.
It was called Sunshine Sock so was expecting it to be slightly more yellow than this peachy color. The fiber content was listed as Superwash/Romney/Tussah. The batt was incredibly prepared. Very thoroughly blended and a delight to spin (aside from the color).
Worsted spun on my Ashford Joy, my 6 oz. turned out to yield 260 yds of 2 ply fingering weight yarn. The yarn will make nice socks, but will have to be overdyed first as I can't imagine spending knitting time staring at this color. Any ideas what color dye I should try?

Another arrival was my May batch of fiber from the Spunky Eclectic fiber club. Wasn't really what I was hoping for, especially after reading all the raving done by people on the Ravelry group. I feel like the only person on earth who hated it. Maybe it was just a bad batch and theirs are actually prettier, I don't know.
This photo does not accurately represent the colors. In real life it is lime green/Burgundy/Rust/Brown. Not really what any Rose Garden (the colorway name) I've ever seen looks like. Actually more like fall colors, sans the lime green. I'm going to stick with the club for one more month and if the next batch isn't more to my liking, I'll probably be a Spunky Club dropout. Now, if only Lisa would start a fiber club, I'd be assured of colors I'd love every month.

But, back to pink.

Through the deluge of rain we received last weekend, I picked up my Lyra and began knitting on it again. When starting it, I noticed that all the double decreases were charted as SK2P and since they were strong vertical lines, I changed them to S2SK. Then, as the rain pounded down (and the streets started flooding) and the patterns were developing, I failed to notice that some of the decreases finished off the top of leaves so would look better done with another decrease.
I was about 4 rows above this when I noticed. Knew I could just leave these as they were and keep a watch for the next batch of leaves, but also knew that wouldn't work for me. It was only 16 fixes and 4 rows. The above pic shows the centered double decrease (S2KP).
And, this pic show the fix. I simply dropped that stitch down, reworked the dec and then worked it back up. They're a little looser right there but when blocked won't be noticeable. And, I'm much happier with the look now, too--up to rnd 47.

Lots of pink fiber has been arriving. First up in some Apple Blossom roving from CopperPot Woolies.
It's Merino/Colonial/Tencel. Figured it would be a good sock blend, too.

Then, from Spunky Eclectic, some alpaca.
The colorway is called Pink Elephant. It is so soft and nice. Love it. I've taken to braiding all my fiber purchases as it's so much easier to store that way.

Finally, Kerry spotted this pink cloud fiber at her local shop and knew I had to have it.
Yes, I squealed like a 4 yr old when I saw it. Don't know what the fiber content is but it's very soft and stays that when when spun kinda thick and chunky.

That's all for now.

Summer Projects

2008-05-26T19:20:00.005-05:00

Summer. It's finally here! There were days last winter when I thought it would never arrive again.

Heading up my summer priority list is the garden. Besides the herbs and salad garden, I'm planning an all pink flower border. But, even all pink flowers have peeks of other colors. I love how these lime green buds look with the pink flowers on my fuchsia hanging basket.
And, one of the men in brown delivered this box last Friday. I've been wanting one of these for a long time and now that it's here, haven't had a spare moment to play with it.

Well, I did find time to unpack it.
A Strauch Petite drum carder. It was purchased from Copper Moose but came direct from the manufacturer. Such an excellent, quality machine and carefully packed. It's available as a kit but I opted to have it assembled. Can't wait to get carding.

And, the yarn for my first big summer knitting project arrived last week, too.
This is Touch (5% Cashmere/10% Tencel/85% Merino) from Yarn Place. This may well be my favorite yarn of all time. Absolutely perfect color! It's called Rose Pink and it's sort of an orchid pink. Very, very soft and springy with a slight shimmer from the tencel component. I'm hoping the tencel will give some drape, because I'm making a shawl with it.

Not just any shawl, a Lyra shawl.
This is my start. I used Emily Ocher's circular cast on but it hasn't been pulled closed yet. And, I worked the beginning section on 2 circs and have just gotten to the point where I can switch to one circ. It is a most fun pattern to knit.

Now, if the weather will cooperate so the garden can get planted, I'll be able to move on to knitting and carding.

Loot

2008-05-18T17:13:00.007-05:00

It's been fiber festival time the last couple of weekends. Here's the accumulated loot.

First, from Shepherd's Harvest where I got to see my fiber buddy Kerry, a trio of berry colored rovings--three bumps of Coopworth in the Secret Garden colorway from Hidden Valley Farm, 2 bumps of 60/40 Wool/Mohair (the wool is .75 BFL/.125 Romney/.125 Suffolk) from Morning Sun and one bump of dyed Tussah from Carpool.

Next up:
a couple of bags of Bluebells & Periwinkle from Fae Ridge Farm in Iowa. It's a cloud preparation composed of Wensleydale lamb/Mohair/Tussah/Silk noils. The cloud stuff from last year was so fun to spin; someday I want to send a fleece out and have it processed like that. The natural colored roving is Romney/Silk/something else I can't remember. It's from Morning Sun, too, and so very, very soft! Plus, I couldn't resist a painted roving from Rivers Edge Weaving Studio. Carol's fiber braids are absolutely scrumptious. Need to find just the right way to spin this one up, though. My first crack at it tended to look a little muddy.

Once again, I couldn't pass by the Tall Tale Basket shop without getting one of their baskets.
This one is called a bicycle basket (see the little loops meant to hang on the handlebars). Instead, I plan on hanging it from some of my wire storage bins for additional room.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a fiber festival without a little fleece.A very little fleece--just a one lb. bag of luscious Cormo from Riverwinds in Boyd, WI. This is from a girl named Alice and is delightfully soft and crimpy.
Kerry also surprised me when she handed me a bag of Cheviot that she'd brought to have processed. Yes, just gave it to me! Already washed, too! She'd just picked up the other half of the fleece (this was one she'd gotten in the silent auction last year and dyed one half--see her blog) and decided she'd had enough of it. I just filled out a new processing form and off it went to Morning Sun. Watch your mailbox, Kerry, fiber is winging it's way to you as I write. :)

Then yesterday, it was the very small Shepherd's Market at Whitefish Bay Farm up in Door County. The place was packed and much of the good stuff seemed to have been sold before I got there.
My main shopping was in one booth--Goathill Farm. Found some lovely soft wool/mohair roving in a plum colorway. Also, some natural Red Mohair locks (no, the locks aren't red but that's what the goats are called) that I plan to use for those Mohair mittens from the cover of a long ago Spin-Off. For kicks, I got a package from a Fiber Sandwich with mainly black/white/pink colors. Should be fun to spin. And, because I drove way up there, I ended up getting the little sample Niddy Noddy. It's Mahogany and has a stem on it so as to be easier to use. I kinda regret that last purchase because I already have 2 little niddy's so I'm putting it up for sale--$23 including shipping. If interested leave me a comment or e-mail me vsever AT mac.com.

Both festivals were much busier than they were last year. Don't know if it's an increase in spinners or chatter on Ravelry about some of the other festivals that have knitters searching them out. Either way, it's fun to support the local fiber folk and catch up with friends.

Fiber Delivery Day

2008-05-04T18:35:00.009-05:00

I love fiber delivery days. The mailman, probably feels differently after lugging the boxes around. This was a good week in the fiber delivery department. First came this smallish box filled with not one, but two Corrie fleeces from Whitefish Bay Farm. They always give the previous year buyers the opportunity to purchase the fleece of the same sheep this year. Fortunately, I contacted them before I left for Hawaii because their fleeces go very quickly once they're listed for sale and that happened while we were gone.
I loved Hope's fleece last year and at first I was worried that it wasn't quite as white this time around. Luckily I'd saved some raw locks from last year and it looks just the same. In fact, the staple length seems about a half inch longer--maybe it was that snowy cold winter that made her grow more wool to keep warm. It is extra fine and crimpy beyond belief.
And, half of Misha's fleece. This one looks even more silvery than last year. I love, love, love it!
Here's Hope's fleece all bundled up ready to be washed.

I also got a package from Lisa! Last Dec, I wrote to her to order some Wensleydale roving as I'd finally decided to make a stranded yoke cardi with my handspun Jonquil Wensleydale (spun in 2006). She said her supply was gone and she wasn't able to get any more. :( After swatching a bit with my yarn trying to figure out something else for it, I finally put it aside.
And then...Lisa wrote and said she'd found another source! So, we have Wensleydale in Elektra, and Wild Things! And a skein of Sock! in Wild Things for good measure. Let me tell you, that roving is as gorgeous as it looks in the photo! I could hardly wait to dive in and get spinning with it.

But first for a little non-fibery diversion, I took my mom to the African Violet show in town. They're big around here. When I was in college, I tried growing them in my dorm room, always nearly killed them and would end up giving them to my Aunt Vi. She had such a magic touch with them, (she would have called it benign neglect, though).

Anyway, I thought maybe I'd pick up one plant to see what happened nowadays--after my cotton growing success last year, maybe my thumb has gotten greener.

One plant...
turned into five! Who knew there were so many different kinds of violets. The large one was promised by the grower to never go out of bloom. We'll see! It has a really pretty pink blossom with violet purple around the edge. I also got a white/pink miniature (so cute!) and a deep purple double semi-miniature with leaves that will get ruffly. A tiny pot with a rooted leaf which will be a double speckled flower. The single leaf came from a prize winner and has now been potted up. All the baby potted plants have a piece of yarn coming out the bottom that's used as wick so they only draw up the amount of moisture they need. Anyway, the breeder that sold me the leaf, wanted to know if I needed a piece of yarn. No, I'm pretty sure I could rustle up a piece of yarn. ;)

In yarn making news, I've been spindling with my little shell spindle. This is the Plumaria batt shown last week.
Figured I needed to get going on some spindling (spinning and knitting, too!) as Shepherd's Harvest is only one week away. So, the post may be a few days late next week, but it's pretty good odds that they'll be some good fiber loot photos. Please c'mon back then.

Rest, Relaxation, and Spindles

2008-04-30T18:44:00.012-05:00

Ahhh, that was the sound of stress evaporating. Getting away and hearing the constant whoosh-ing of the waves on Waikiki Beach--a good thing. It was a most glorious trip to paradise which I knit into a shawl.

My Hawaii Charlotte's Web.I took a bunch of Koigu (and various clones from other hand-dyers) along with me and this was the result. The first three colors of various turquoise/aqua reflect the colors of the water. I especially like how the alternating sections between the colors expresses the breaking waves. The pink represents the Royal Hawaiian (which looks like a big pink sand castle) where we stayed. And, the green mix for all the various shades of green in Hawaii.

The first four colors were knit on Waikiki beach. Had alot of comments from people (not all favorable) about knitting on the beach. But, the best was one morning when a Japanese lady made a trek up from the water's edge and the rest of her family to see what I was making. As she knew no English and my Japanese consists of counting from 1-5, it was an interesting display of how knitting crosses all boundaries.

I also learned a new fiber craft--Hawaiian Quilting.
A sweet lady named Daisy came to the hotel and was willing to help anyone learn. It is deceptively difficult. And, I'm not a stranger to needle and thread work as the very first craft I learned was embroidery at the age of six. But, getting the edge to turn over on the appliqued pineapple with just the tip of a needle and even sts (Daisy was a perfectionist after my own heart) was easier said than done. Wish we could have stayed longer but I plan to keep practicing my hand quilting and maybe make a pillow top this summer.

Ah yes, I promised spindle pics. As it was my Aloha birthday, a couple of boxes were brought along. Kerry alerted me to this spindle maker, and I couldn't NOT get this spindle for this particular trip. A pink mother of shell spindle from ButterflyGirl on Etsy.
It's difficult to tell, but the whorl is only 2" and it weighs about 1 oz. Most of the ButterflyGirl spindles have quite long shafts, especially for the size of the whorl, so I had her shorten this one to 8". I'm very glad I did as it's a nice size to use while sitting now. About the same size as my Golding Tsunami. It's a very fast spinner since it's more center weighted and I was spinning 50/50 merino/tencel which was slippery and could take alot of twist. You don't even want to know the looks I got from spindling on the beach in the early morning.

The other spindle was a complete surprise to me. Sort of. I'd picked out a number of them that I liked on a couple of different websites and this is the one that I was given. A Forrester Tree spindle!! It has a Rock Maple whorl and Maple shaft--31 gms. Spins like lightening! Might be the perfect spindle.
Here they are together--it's a bit easier to see how really tiny the shell spindle is this way.
Also from Butterfly Girl--3 oz of merino/silk batts in a color she calls Plumaria. Because I changed my mind, these didn't arrive until after I was home. They're nicely prepared and I'm looking forward to spinning them up.
Oh, and the first installment of my Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club arrived this week, too. It's called Perfect Storm and is Wensleydale! Can't wait to dive in.
More Wensleydale is on the way, too. From my favorite hand-dyer, too--Lisa S. Photos of that next time.

A Room with a View

2008-04-20T09:44:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Paradise. (this post is pre-recorded)

We've asked for the same room we had last year, so hopefully, this is our view of the sunrise over Diamond Head. Next week, knitting/spinning updates and new spindle pics.

The End of the Road

2008-04-14T08:49:00.007-05:00

Err, guess that should be the End of the Path--Forest Path, that is. It's finished and it's huge! Still haven't found a satisfactory way to wear it yet.
Close up shot of the lace entrelac. Angela and Denise wanted details on how I changed the edge. It was mostly done in the manner of Orenburg shawls.
Here are my pithy directions.

A long strip of edging (I used one from Galina's book) is knit to the desired width of one of the short sides. Be sure to knit the straight edge of the strip with a slipped stitch to make the pick up easy. Then in the Orenburg way, turn the corner on the edging, pick up the sts and knit across. Place the sts from the cast on (I used a provisional cast on but it isn't strictly necessary to do that) on the needle and turn that corner (lower left). Then, knit back across all the sts (forming one garter ridge), decreasing so you have the starting 100 sts in the middle (20 sts each for 5 bottom triangles). Work the edging along with the side triangles. Because the edging is garter based, short rows are needed to make it lie flat. I did 2 sets of short rows (wrap and turn ones) for each 16 row repeat. It was fairly easy to remember to do them as you switched from the expanding to the contracting section of the points. I forgot in a couple of places but mainly tried to keep both sides even. Knitting karma worked in my favor as I ended up at the top at the exact row I needed to be to work the corners. You work the top edge as for the bottom. Work the top right corner, pick up and knit across the sts on the top triangles, then work the top left corner and knit back. This left live sts on the needle that were used up as the top edge was worked (in the same manner as lace edgings are generally attached).
Made from Suri Elegance (color 001 White House) from the America's Alpaca (still available but now the company is called something different). Used size 3 (3mm) Ebony straight needles. The yarn was soft and luscious to knit with and makes a wonderful drapey fabric. Would definitely like another shawl from it. Maybe one not so unwearably huge this time.

Finds

2008-04-06T16:52:00.006-05:00

Sometimes one stumbles upon something really useful or long forgotten. Thought I'd share a few of my favorite finds from the last couple of weeks.

Last week I happened by the book sale at the local library. Always hope to find some elusive and valuable Alice Starmore book, but no such luck again this time. Though, I did find a copy of the book that taught me how to design sweaters! It's A Knitter's Guide to Sweater Design by Carmen Michelson and MaryAnn Davis. I used to check this book out of the library for months at a time--devoured every part of it. It has lots of mathematical formulas for figuring out sleeves and armholes, and advice for every kind of collar or garment shape. Being a little math-phobic, the equations weren't so valuable, but just sort of inhaling the overall big picture helped me to understand and translate it into my own thought processes. This book helped me immensely. There's lots that I wasn't ready for at the time, or have forgotten, but it's been OOP and sells for $95 to $150 so never even considered trying to track a copy down and buying it. What luck...to find it for $1. Certainly not in pristine condition, but that doesn't matter.

The second item, the green Aqua Ball is something Dale Long was praising at Knitting Camp last summer. I admit not paying too much attention at the time, but became very interested as this winter my skin became even more sensitive than normal. There are quite a few varieties of these balls at widely varying prices. After finally tracking down the one he liked, I decided to go with it, even though it was at a mid-price point. These Aqua Balls are used instead of laundry detergent and will last for 60 washes. I've been using mine all winter and it's still going strong. Everything gets very clean and the colors even look brighter. Love it!

Finally, we have a superwash Corriedale braid from Spunky Eclectic in Neapolitan. June posted several times about the Fiber Club and it looked so interesting I took the plunge, too. The Corrie braid was my test purchase to see if I liked the way she dyed fiber. Figured the fiber club would be a good way to get outside my colorway comfort zone. BTW, June has a lovely new post with lots of pretty spinning and another great fiber source, so go check it out.

The next Find isn't something I found, but rather that Hollywood has found my hometown. Starting tomorrow, and for the next couple of weeks, they're using our downtown to shoot portions of Public Enemy starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Shooting is centered around the old First National Bank building built in 1928. Johnny Depp plays John Dillenger and at one point is going to rob it. All last week the movie set people have been here painting, changing signs, and even building additional buildings. This morning there were 30's era fashions in the windows along Main Street. This might not seem like a big deal to those of you who live in big cities where this happens all the time, but it's huge around here! They're also going to shoot scenes out at the EAA and the Pioneer Airport. Oh, and friends of my folks that own antique collectible cars are going to be included, too.

Still working on the Forest Path, up to Tier 23--the last tier! After that, it's just the top triangles to even out the rectangle and then the edging across the top.
Should be finished pics next weekend.

Tax Time

2008-03-30T18:09:00.002-05:00

The Forest Path is up to Tier 16. No time for a larger blog entry this Sunday; must finish the taxes.

Forest Path Progress

2008-03-23T13:04:00.009-05:00

Just a quick post today showing the progress of my Forest Path shawl. I'd hoped for a little knitting tutorial but my pics turned out too fuzzy. Must have been all those chocolate Easter eggs that made my hands shaky. ;) Tomorrow it's back to the all alkaline foods diet.

Up to Tier 7 now. Tried a little test block to make sure the short row ratio for the edging was working. Luckily it is! The Suri alpaca is so nice to knit--very silky and soft. And, nothing's better than when I get to use my size 3 Ebony needles. Even the entrelac isn't getting to me too much. It's the general untidiness of all those unfinished sts waiting to get used up that I hate. Only about 2/3 more to knit.

Robin!

2008-03-20T15:48:00.004-05:00

Today at 2:38p CDT, robins were spotted in Northeast WI. With my very own eyes! May not seem like a big deal to many, but after this incredibly l-o-n-g, cold, snow filled winter, it's huge.

Six inches of snow expected tomorrow. Happy Spring!

Beginnings

2008-03-16T16:13:00.006-05:00

This week I've spent alot of time looking back to early knitting projects; analyzing them and posting them in my Ravelry Notebook. This sweater was my very first knitting (circa 1983). No one was there to tell me that a mohair traveling stitch aran with bobbles, wasn't the usual beginner project. No one to suggest that maybe a scarf or a hat out of a smooth yarn would be preferable. Thank God!

It's always been a bit of a mystery, just how I learned to knit. Growing up, I'd done lots of needlecrafts--embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, hardanger, those felt/sequin Christmas stockings but the whole yarn section of the craft store felt out of bounds for me. Until I saw the pattern leaflet for the grey mohair sweater. I wanted to wear that sweater. And, when it comes right down to it, there were only so many cushions or framed stitchery pictures one could do--a wardrobe of sweaters, now that was something different.

Somehow, somewhere, I'd learned the basic knit and purl stitches. I've never been able to track it down, though. Maybe as a Blue Bird or Camp Fire girl, but none of my childhood school friends have memories of it. Only one Aunt was a knitter and she said she never taught me. Anyway, despite not knowing anything more of knitting (like how to inc or dec or even cast off), I barged ahead with my sweater. The library only had three knitting books and thank goodness one of them was Knitting Without Tears! What a blessing to have EZ's wit and wisdom on this adventure. And, y'know, I think she would have approved.

It's so fun looking back at this piece. The cast on and bind off are incredibly tight--I can barely fit my hand through the sleeve cuff. That front border is aching for some of EZ's Applied I-cord. I remember being mystified about how to determine where to begin the set in sleeve--the pattern just said 10" or desired length to underarm but I had no idea how to accurately judge it. Oh, did I mention that this was knit back and forth--yes, BTS worked flat so that you had to keep track of the pattern from the wrong side of the work. And, oh my, how the sleeve is sewn in! Absolutely no give, whatsoever.

Anyway, I do remember wearing this garment, even bought my first Bandolino's to go with it. :) The yarn was Thistledown (alpaca/mohair/nylon) from Brunswick and the pattern designer is listed as Jennifer Peacock Harper. Actually, I still really like it. Especially those very 80's puffy sleeves. Shoot! if I'd gotten into Oft-timers I might have remade it out of handspun and done a before/after for the contest.

On to current projects, here's a shot of my in progress Forest Path Shawl.
The pic was taken earlier this week so it's a little farther along now. But this shows how I'm putting a lacier edging on it than the plain seed stitch in the pattern. Also changed the seed stitch starter triangles to moss stitch--so much more fitting to the Forest Path theme. Since the garter based edging has a different gauge than the moss and St st based lace, I'm working some short rows into it. Sorta guessing on how many as I didn't do a whole lot of swatching but at some point soon, I'll do a little pre-block to make sure things are on track.

Opening Up the Mitten Drawer

2008-03-09T11:34:00.007-05:00

The last couple of weeks, I've been exploring Ravelry. At first, it was to just get my designer classification so I could take charge of my pattern pages; get all the designs posted with accurate information and photos. But the more I visited the project pages of various knitter's, the more advantages I could see in filling out my own. Looking through the project pages of a knitter is almost like seeing their knitting history come to life. Before the days my designs were published, I was a knitter. All these years later, it is still my passion. And, it seems like the projects displayed, or lack thereof, can speak volumes as to what style of knitter (or designer) you really are. So, in case anyone else saw things in the same light, I decided to start filling in my notebook--slow and steady--as I'm budgeting how much time I spend on the site. Pretty much all the lace projects are up and this week I'll be starting on the mittens/gloves, which is why I dragged open a couple of the mitten drawers and snapped a pic of them all laying on the dining room table. Of course, unpublished designs will not be posted--you'll just have to catch me wearing them at a knitting/spinning event to see them. ;)

Speaking of lace....I started a new project this week.
The Forest Path stole from IK Summer 2003. Or rather, I'm restarting it. I was up to about tier 4 a couple of years ago when the magazine first came out. Tired of it, so ripped the whole thing out. The thing that bothered me about the design was the plain seed stitch border so this time I'm going to work a dogtooth edge, instead.

And, in spinning news, we're in the pink! :)
This is another skein spun from a cloud preparation purchased at Shepherd's Harvest last spring. The booth was from somewhere in SD and I hope they vend there again this May as this fiber was even more fun to spin than the blue stuff from a couple of weeks ago. The fiber content is Icelandic X/Suri Alpaca/Mohair/Silk Noil/Mylar. It's a heavy worsted size (this is getting to be a habit); about 5 oz. and 168 yds. Love it! and not just the color.

Maybe I'll use it for Debbie New's Klein Bottle Hat KAL over on the Schoolhouse Press site here.

And, I finally finished plying the first three bobbins of Perendale.
Ended up with 5 skeins and they look as though they match up to each other. Now wish me luck so I get back into the groove and spin the next batch of singles up the same as these.

Off to give it a try...

Knitting Blue

2008-03-01T19:09:00.019-06:00

The blues that I've been feeling the last couple of months shows in my knitted finished objects. All blue!

First up is a Diamond Fantasy Shawl designed by Sivia Harding. It felt like I was the last knitter on earth who hadn't knit one of these and I definitely understand the appeal now. Wonderfully written pattern and very soothing, rhythmic stitch pattern. The yarn is Claudia's Fingering Handpaint in Sea Dreams. I added silver lined crystal beads to the middle of each diamond and sawtooth point. Made a size somewhere between the scarf and shawl which took slightly less than 4 skeins.

I omitted the I-cord cast off because I wanted the sawtooth edge to go around the perimeter of the whole shawl. At that point I made a long length of the edging and then did a modified Russian graft to attach it. The trick is to make sure you leave the slipped stitch edge very loose on the border so there is plenty of s-t-r-e-t-c-h in it.

When I started blocking it...uh oh...
Either I missed a Sk2p in the last row or a stitch while doing the Russian graft because a hole developed right smack in the middle of the top edge. I isolated all the sts I could find with safety pins so I could continue blocking it and when it was dry, I carefully reformed the lace pattern and tied off the st that didn't get attached to the border. Tried to get a close up so you could see but it's a little blurry and off center.
The cold weather hit just after getting home from Hawaii in the beginning of Dec, and since my mom has been used to spending winters in warm places I decided to make her a hat. The only one she had was a Packer hat back from when they had season tickets and when I *made* her wear it the day after we returned, she kept muttering that she felt like a freak (hey, the Packers were even playing really well this year, too!).

I've always loved the lace tam from Gathering of Lace designed by Lois Mueller and even had a skein in the stash of Kimmet Fairy Hare I'd bought my first year at Knitting Camp.
Was a nice quick little project and I discovered something I used to do but somehow forgot along the way. When you're closing up the hole in the top of a hat/thumb/glove finger by threading the remaining yarn through all the sts that are left, continue running it through the first one again. The hole will close up much nicer and tighter.

Also knit another camp shawl.
This one was out of another long marinating skein of handpainted yarn from Joslyn's Fiber Farm in my all time favorite colorway--DewDrops. It's what she calls Mohair Myst and is a dk/worsted weight Wool/Mohair blend.
Because the yardage was just under what I needed, I opted to do one less point so as not to run out. Because the vertical garter stitch is stretchy, it still fits nicely.

Next, my toes needed a little warmth.

Right after camp, I'd started a pair of felted slippers from Dale Long's great pattern. I used Briggs & Little Regal in a lavender/blue color called Fundy Fog. This yarn didn't felt for me very well but produced a nice soft slightly fuzzy fabric. They ended up a little wide for me but I'm using them for spinning slippers so it didn't really matter.
This in not the best representation of the pattern-- Dale's slippers out of Lamb's Pride were so much nicer!

My knitting project for the Hawaii trip was my spindled Blue Hawaii yarn using my basic sock recipe--toe up, short row soles, afterthought heels, and graduated ribbing.
It was fun to watch the colors come and go. This was the yarn I spun in the fractal stripes technique as illustrated in Spin Off last summer. It'll be interesting to see how the second sock turns out during the return Hawaii trip in April.

Finally, we have the Cherry Blossom shawl from IK Spring 2002. The yarn had been in my stash since that time and I wanted a lightweight cover to use on the plane to Hawaii. Let me say that these photos do not accurately represent the color at all. It is a very soft lt. blue, not aqua at all. I needed it to be finished quickly so went with a ready made pattern instead of spending time swatching and choosing lace patterns myself.
This is basically a Pi shawl with a swirl used in the middle. Going from one method of making a circle (swirl) to another (Pi) seems to create a problem.
I blocked this very hard--had to, to get it to lay flat. But, it seems to have developed a big poof in the middle as it has relaxed a bit again. Doesn't show so much when worn as I usually turn back one edge to form a shawl collar in the front and the weight of the bottom edge tends to straighten it out.
So, enough of the blues for awhile.

Stress Control Spinning

2008-02-24T16:57:00.009-06:00

The sun came out this week and I was finally able to snap some pics of the stress control spinning accomplished over the last couple of months.

First off is this unusual skein (for me).
It's a heavy worsted, spun from a cloud preparation. The color is actually deeper and darker than it appears in these photos. The fiber blend consists of mohair/wool/alpaca/glitz.
My first spin attempt was to just grab a handful and go but found better control and results when I pulled it into a roving as June suggests. Spun woolen and squishy soft.

The next skein is one of my all time favorites! Natural brown/black alpaca spun to fingering weight. The fiber was processed at Argyle Fiber Mill in Argyle, WI and they did a terrific job with it. Plus, I happen to know these happy animals personally and their fiber is soft as can be so it's a great pleasure to be able to turn it into nice soft yarn (without a hint of wiry-ness)
A couple of years ago, alpaca spinning gave me so much trouble, but this was such a complete and utter pleasure.

Next up, Cormo--roving purchased from Riverwinds Farm in Boyd, WI. The 4 oz. of white was bought at Shepherd's Harvest last spring and the oz. puffs of blue and yellow from WI S&W last fall.
Initially, I tried to spin this worsted but found that I could achieve a much more consistent yarn when it was spun woolen with a short backward draft. The final yarn is fingering weight--destined to be a stranded pair of gloves. Hopefully, they'll have more dyed colors at Shepherd's Harvest this year. (yes, I could dye my own but I'd much rather be spinning ;)

I also tried my hand at spinning Shetland. These were some bumps purchased from a vendor out in the Shetland barn at WI S&W. Lovely soft stuff. The brown roving had more neps in it but I didn't bother picking them all out. Both colors were spun woolen and are fingering weight.
Before I left for Hawaii, I started spinning the Blue Moon Sheep 2 Shoe kit I purchased at MI Fiber Fest. It's a 3-ply and spun worsted but it's apparent that I didn't get the top divided evenly as the colors didn't match up very well. It's a true sock weight yarn so that's what it will become--eventually.
The above yarns were all spun on my Ashford Joy. Last but not least is the first skein of Perendale that was pictured on the bobbin last week.
Spun on my Lendrum Saxony, it's also a fingering weight yarn. Hey, that's what I like to knit! It's almost an exact match in twist and feel to Satakieli.

You are now up to date with spinning projects. Next week I'll try to get knitting photos.

Fiber Corner

2008-02-17T14:19:00.010-06:00

Here it is, the real fiber corner. Still looks a little messy and disorganized but, oh so much better, than it used to look. No, that is not the extent of the stash, there are more than several big Rubbermaid bins of fiber and yarn stashed away in the back bedroom. Only the pretty stuff was left out to cheer away the dark days of winter. There's another bank of wire cubicles to the right of the computer holding mostly fiber, handspun, in progress spinding projects, knitting bags and baskets.

Speaking of computers...that's also a shot of my brand spanking new iMac! Ever since last summer when my trusty blue dalmation iMac died, I've been running on my little 12" iBook. I love the small size for it's portability but for everyday use, the screen is too, too small. At least, for these tired old eyes. So, now I have a super speedy big screen machine with a fast broadband connection. Which means you may be seeing more of me from now on.

It's been a tough road the last couple of months. The stresses of last year finally caught up with me and I needed time to find my way again. During that time, I've been knitting a little and spinning a lot.

This is a shot of my first big sheep to sweater project spun on my Lendrum Saxony. It's from the Perendale fleece purchased from Treenway last winter and combed during last summer. I'm maybe a third of the way through the spinning and this week will start my first plying.

I've been doing lots of little amounts of fiber on my Joy wheel. Cormo, Shetland, a Blue Moon Sheep to Shoe kit and a fiber blend of mohair/wool/alpaca/glitz in a cloud preparation. That last one was really fun to spin and is a very different yarn than my usual. I tried to take pics of them but the absence of any natural daylight made for some awful photos. We're in the midst of a real blizzard--started with an ice storm, on to 10+ inches of snow and 30 mph winds. When the sun shows her face again, I'll try again.

Hopefully, that won't be April. ;)

The Great Cotton Experiment

2007-12-28T12:24:00.001-06:00

Can cotton be grown in Northeast Wisconsin?

Follow along on my year long experiment from seed to boll. The idea and challenge germinated last February during my class at the John C Campbell Folk School. Seeing as the growing conditions it needs are hot weather and a long season, not really what we have this far north, the easy answer would be no. My teacher knew people in southern Indiana who had successfully grown it, but we have a much shorter growing season up here. In fact, even one of my fellow students from North Carolina hadn't had any success. It seems that the plant is easy enough to grow, however, the bolls need a long time to mature in order to open.

First off, here is a taste of what I'm after. The photo below shows a nice fluffy cotton boll in the top right corner. If you open that up and break up the mass, you find lots of individual cotton seeds covered in fiber. Once that fiber is taken off the seed, you have the furry little seeds shown in the bottom right corner.

The seeds shown (and used for my test) were samples of Pima cotton that Patsy used to teach us how to spin cotton. Spinning off the seed is the easiest way to spin cotton (at least for me) because there's something to hold onto while learning to deal with the small staple length of the cotton fiber.

Since cotton needs a long growing season and I live in the north which is frozen over when it ordinarily would need to be planted, I started my seeds indoors in peat pots. I chose a largish size pot and opted not to go with plastic ones since the long tap root of the cotton plant dislikes being transplanted. With peat pots I could just pop the whole thing in the ground when the time came causing the least amount of stress on the plants.

My seeds were started about the 10th of March and within a couple of days, they had sprouted. Without a south facing window, I placed them in an eastern window to get the most sun possible. At first they were fine as we had an extended stretch of sunny days. But after a cloudy spell, the seedlings got a little leggy--growing lights would have been much better to use.

This is about how much they had grown in 2 months time. Our last freeze date is usually the 10th of May, however, because cotton doesn't even like temps near 40 degrees, and we were having a coldish spring, they stayed indoors (with a short time outside each day to harden them off) until Memorial Day weekend.

The roots were just coming through the sides and bottoms of the peat pots so it seemed like the perfect time to get them into the ground.
So as not to put all my eggs in one basket, I split the group of 18 plants into several sections. Just in case disease or a bug problem developed in one area, then the others would be safe, and also, there were varying amounts of sunlight in each section. The largest number of plants went into a space where a rose bush hadn't survived the winter. This spot received the most sun each day and these plants ended up doing much better than those in the herb and flower gardens.

For fertilizer, I used worm casings and made sure they had plenty of water. This is the size they had grown by the 4th of July.

I watched them carefully during July and near the end of the month was rewarded with this bud.
Which turned into this lovely bloom.
The cream colored flower was tinged with pink by the second day and then it was gone. I carefully watched again and the boll started to form. It grew and grew,
and grew, but never opened. Lots of other buds, flowers and bolls formed, too. Pretty soon, the warm summer weather started to disappear. There was talk of an early fall frost. After babying these cotton plants, I just couldn't give up so easily. But by now they were about 4 ft tall and they would never survive being transplanted. What to do...

why...build them a greenhouse, of course. :)

The frame was made from tomato cages,
and the walls and removable roof were made of bubble wrap. This kept the plants nice and cozy through Sept and Oct.
But still, the bolls didn't open.

Finally, the weather turned so cold that even the makeshift greenhouse couldn't protect the plants. It looked like the experiment had ended.

But wait, Patsy had told me that if the bolls got to a certain point in their development on the plants, then they could finish ripening inside. Sort of like how you can get a green tomato to turn red, I guess. Anyway, I chose the largest bolls to pick. Some of the very largest ones had been taken by a squirrel when the green house was open one day. I guess he thought they were some sort of nut.

I placed the bolls on the window sill once again...and waited.

They sat there for about three weeks, and then it happened!
The boll started splitting open and showing it's downy interior.
Cotton grows in Wisconsin!

Mele Kalikimaka!

2007-12-25T16:28:00.000-06:00

Bet you thought I completely forgot about this blog! Let me tell you, it's been a long and winding road since I last posted. In late summer/early fall, it became apparent that my mother was ill. It was quite a roller coast ride filled with ups and downs--first cancer, then not cancer; tons of tests; would it be a big surgery or a smaller surgery; could she survive any surgery at her age at all. (this is only a quick summary but suffice it to say that the stress level was monumental) In the end, it all worked out well, no cancer, and a heroic effort by the surgeon to keep the surgery small.

But, through it all, one worry simmered on the backburner--would she get well enough to be able to go on her dream trip to Hawaii. It was the one place she'd always wanted to go and for some reason my dad had something against the place and wouldn't take her (he did take her, and the rest of the family when we were kids, on lots of other wonderful vacations, though, just wouldn't go to Hawaii) We'd intended on a getaway from the snow and ice this winter and had just begun the planning stages when she became ill. As soon as she got the green light from her doctor, we ramped up the timing on the trip because the worry had just been too much and we strongly felt there was no time like the present. Managed to plan the whole thing in two weeks time--everything fell into place, from airline and room reservations at just the places we wanted. If you feel like reading all the details of the trip, I posted a trip diary. Since returning home, I've been trying to play catch up with everything. Lots of stuff got thrown on the backburner, not just the blog. It's times like this that the priorities really get crystallized.

But, wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my blog readers a wonderful Happy Christmas! I have been knitting--a couple of shawls before the trip and a few smaller projects, even some gift knitting. Hopefully, I'll get a couple of shots of them to post in the coming days. But, until then,

Mele Kalikimaka!

Loose Ends

2007-09-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

It dawned on me as I gathered up these flowers from the garden before the predicted early frost the other night, that there were several loose ends of a fibery nature left from the summer. So this post contains a mishmash of photos taken during that time and will try to bring you up to date.

First off, I did finish the Mystery Stole 3.
Instead of a beautiful swan, mine is more of an ugly duckling. The asymmetrical ends don't bother me so much as I would much rather have the entire wing on the other side of the shawl. Plus, I wish I'd added extra length to make it longer, so it will be ripped out and the yarn will take flight again as an Icarus shawl.

Ah, here's another shot of that Ingeo/cotton skein from the last post.
I certainly didn't want to respin the whole thing right away, but I was curious as to how it would look with Patsy's suggestions implemented. So, I un-plied it, gave more twist to the singles and re-plied. A terrific learning experience! If I'd been thinking, I would have saved a portion of the first one in order to make a side by side comparison. Enough of Ingeo until next year, I think. ;)

After all the accumulated fleeces from the winter and spring were washed, it was time for some processing.
First up was the white Perendale from Treenway. I love this fleece! I used my Forsyth mini-combs and these nice little bundles are waiting to be spun on my big Lendrum Saxony.

One summer day I decided to play with the dyepot.
This is Hope, the extra fine white Corrie from Whitefish Bay Farm after she had a little dunk in it. Processing is on hold until I save enough pennies for a drum carder as I'd like to blend back in a little white, maybe even some silk.

Okay, and there have been 2 more fleece acquisitions.
Velvet, a bottle fed Friesan/Polypay lamb from Debbie Bender. Debbie has a great reputation in the area for fleeces and I picked this small one up from her last week at WI S&W. There are some sunburned tips but it is so very soft, I can't wait to make some mittens with it.

And, from a sheep I know personally...
Dolly, a Dorset/Rambouillet. Dolly lives at an alpaca farm so her fleece isn't highly valued there (in fact it was simply given to me!), but in her younger years she won ribbons in the fine class at fiber events and still is very, very soft. I'm thinking it will make terrific socks! Her fleece hasn't been skirted, so that should be a new and interesting challenge.

In other handspun sock news, I did finish spindling the superwash merino (Blue Hawaii colorway) from Gypsy Girl and it is plyed and ready to be knit up.
I used the Avi spindle pictured for one single and spun the other single on the Joy. The reason behind wheel spinning one of them, was because I used Janelle's recipe for working with handpainted color as shown in the summer issue of Spin-Off (where one single is spun from narrow strips of roving and the other is spun from a wider piece). I didn't think I would enjoy spindling from that wider piece. Because so often I relate being dissatisfied with my spinning, I loudly proclaim; I am very happy with this skein. Can't particularly pinpoint why, it just pleases me very much.

The next spindling project that has risen to the top of the pile, is this Merino/Bamboo dyed by Tracy Bunkers.
It's every bit as pink as it shows on my monitor (hope it shows pink on yours, too) and the colorway is called Flamingo. Love it! I'm using my first spindle, a Mielke Emily and the two paired together is just about as good as it gets.

So, all loose ends should now be tied up with a big bow and we'll be ready to move forward into autumn with a clean slate.

Scrambling up the Wall

2007-09-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

Last winter I wrote a post about hitting the wall--the Ingeo wall. Sooner or later, I knew I'd return to the subject because that's just the way I am. No PLA (Polylactic Acid) was going to get the better of me!

All the necessary materials for my second run at Ingeo are pictured above. This time I took the Spinning Guru's advice to blend it with cotton. To reduce the take up on my Scotch tension Ashford Joy (bobbin pictured on the left), I decided to use one of my double drive Ashford Traveller bobbins (shown on the right). The groove for the brake band for both bobbins is at the top of the photo. Since the diameter of the double drive bobbin is smaller, there is less surface space for the brake band to cover and the pull isn't as strong. You would think that it would be possible to simply turn the Joy bobbin around and use the smaller end, but no, the flyer is tapered and the large end of the bobbin is too big to fit on the small end of the flyer.
To blend the fibers and make puni's from which to spin, first the two colors of Ingeo fibers are placed on the cards--Strauch half size cotton cards.
Then, ginned cotton lint is added on top.
Since I was aiming for a textured yarn, I used a couple of carding techniques. First, a couple of strokes across. Then a quick doff. Stroke, stroke and doff again. Then, I began using Patsy's nibble carding method.
Which lined up the fibers along the bottom of the card.
A very smooth dowel is used to roll the ends of the fibers around...
and, up the card.
Finally, a little burnishing at the curve at the top of the teeth.
When the puni is removed from the dowel, one end is drawn in and the other has more stray fibers which can be used to begin spinning.
This is the singles on the bobbin. It really wasn't as bad spinning these fibers together as it is spinning them alone. The cotton gives the Ingeo added strength (maybe by absorbing any of the extra twist the Ingeo doesn't want?) and the longer Ingeo fibers added to the cotton make using a double drafted long draw easier, too.
A close up of the skein. It is definitely under plied but I was nervous about sending it through the wheel again to fix it up. I wasn't sure just where the line between "texture" and sorta crummy spinning lies so I asked for a opinion from Patsy when I saw her at WI S&W yesterday. She very nicely (may I say again, Very Nicely) told me that, indeed, besides being under plied, the singles themselves needed more twist. And, that where it would be a perfectly acceptable yarn with which to knit, it didn't really have enough texture to be called a textured yarn and, of course, had too much to be a smooth one. I so value this review because it gave me some things to work on the next time I venture up this wall.
So, what would I make with this skein? I'm thinking it would make a nice chemo hat, especially for hot weather; maybe with a ribbed pattern to give some elasticity. It's definitely a soft yarn and the Ingeo with it's moisture wicking qualities would be beneficial on hot days. Plus, it's about a sport weight yarn so it wouldn't be too heavy. What would you make with this skein?

Knitting Minutiae

2007-09-03T23:10:00.000-05:00

Here's my version of the little garter shawl that was all the rage at Knitting Camp this year. Cheryl Oberle handed out copies of the pattern last year and several knitters had made and were wearing them this July. And, I watched as flying fingers Marge knit hers in two days flat and was able to wear it home. More copies of the pattern were made for some of us first time Oft-timers. I cast on the night I got home, but obviously, mine took awhile to finish.

The yarn is Meg's new alpaca/wool blend in a heathery purple mix color. It is very soft and even though I'm not ready for summer to end just yet, I'm looking forward to wearing it on the first crisp fall day.
The shawl has a very clever way of fastening--a tube of ribbing that allows for one of the shawl ends to slip through.

It's knit from one shawl end (or tail) to the other with some short row shaping around the neck garter edge. The original version was more of a shoulder shawl. It only reached about elbow length and had more of a straight edge across the back as the stitch count didn't change once you got into the body of the shawl. I made mine according to Marge's modifications (with some input from Charlie Hada, I think) and the gentle sloping shape are formed by making additional increases across the back.
The additional increases were made with the new unvented increase that Meg showed us how to do. She said she learned it from Shirley Grade of the Yarn House in Elm Grove, WI--a long standing Milwaukee area knit shop. As with any increase, there are certain instances it will be more useful for than others, but it's just another example of the knitting minutiae that campers partake in. If you've no interest in technique, then read no further.

I'm not sure just who named it, but several campers were calling it the Wisconsin increase, I guess because that's where it was unvented. As an aside, I love that word--unvented.

It's worked similarly to a bar increase. You know the one--Knit into the front, then the back of a stitch.
For the WI increase--Knit into the front of the stitch, then places the tip of the right needle into the back of the stitch (or as to purl, it will turn out the same) but instead of knitting it, just slip the loop off the left needle and onto the right one.
On the next row, you'll need to work that increase part of the stitch (the loop you just slipped over) through the back of the loop. Otherwise, it will look like a big mistake in your knitting and you will be unhappy.

If worked properly, the increase is hidden nicely behind the stitch it is made from as you can see on the swatch on the right. I'm not sure I would always use this increase, but it does eliminate the purl looking blip which occurs with the bar increase used in the swatch on the left. So, in some instances where that specific increase is called for, the WI inc would be a good substitute.

Since the shawl was only increased along one edge, it didn't need a corresponding mirror but this is how I'd work it if I wanted one. It's a little different than what I have written down in my camp notes, but it's a definite possibility that this is what was said at camp and I just wrote it down wrong. :) For the mirror of the WI increase--Place the tip of the right needle into the next stitch as if to knit and then keeping the right leg of that stitch on the right needle, rotate the tip around and insert it into the stitch again and knit it. Of course, do not exaggerate the motion this much or you will have a very distorted stitch.

My notes say to go into the back of the stitch twice and then knit it the second time, but this leaves a twisted stitch in the row below that doesn't make me happy. Of course, a mirror isn't always needed, and if it is, there are other increase options.

And, isn't it always good to have options.

Color Festival

2007-08-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

It was actually the Michigan Fiber Fest. But, for me, it was a festival of color.

Since first thinking about attending this event last April, it's been an ever present wonder if my eyesight would hold up. Just being there felt like a gift and I indulged in all the glorious colors presented by the vendors. It wasn't as costly as it appears, as most of these things are small amounts destined to feed my spindles.

However, I did get enough of the big turquoise-y green bump of Columbia X to make a sweater. The color just called to me. The apricot/pink is Coopworth/Mohair from Hidden Valley. Their displays are always so appealing, someday I'd like to make a Fair Isle out of all their colorways. A Sheep 2 Shoe kit in Lapis, some Ashland Bay Merino/Silk in Sea Mist and several skeins of Claudia's fingering handpaint in Sea Dreams rounded out my visit to The Fold's booth. I have a few more skeins of the Claudia yarn from my visit to her shop in July and these were the same dyelot so I'll have enough to make a shawl now. I also bought two batts of Angora/Cormo/Silk from Jean Womack--there was no way to resist their softness and from Tracy Bunkers, some Merino/Bamboo and Merino/Tencel in Flamingo and Dragonfly. My new vendor find was Yarn Hollow. She had the most incredible handpainted rovings and yarns. Most of the roving flew out of her booth early on Friday. I was lucky enough to get that gorgeous braid of BFL and some 100% Bamboo rayon during the morning break from my class. They are almost too pretty to spin!

The class was taught by Patsy and was all about Spinning the Silkies or the manmade fibers made to imitate silk. We spun Merino/Tencel, 100% Tencel, Soy Silk, Rayon from Bamboo, Ingeo, Silk Latte, Optim and Black Diamond. We also spent over an hour conducting burn tests on these and other fibers. It was so interesting and a real eye opener! Definitely makes one thing twice, even about the fiber content of ready made clothes.
Did you catch that we worked with Ingeo? Yes, that evil "I" that caused me so much difficulty last January. Patsy and I had a long talk about it over dinner during the Folk School class in Feb and she was prepared for the possibility of me tossing the samples right across the barn. ;) But, she found a way to make it behave a little better. First, to get around the very blah look of the solid dyed colors, she suggested blending a couple together to give them a little life. And, to make it behave; blend in some cotton! It's sort of like putting together the two things I dislike to spin the most, but it certainly did improve the strength of the Ingeo so that it didn't snap just by looking at it (well, you know what I mean). She has hope they'll continue working on improving the fiber as they did with Nylon which she found also had problems when it first appeared on the market. Actually, that's one of the great bonuses when taking a class with Patsy. She's been spinning, and writing about spinning for so many years that she can easily relate how things have changed over time. But, it never comes off as being a know-it-all. As always, I highly recommend her class.

The other fibers in the class were fine to spin, except Silk Latte--that one is almost as bad as Ingeo. But, can we talk about Optim?! I think I could be happy spinning Optim, forever! A one lb. amount would probably last that long, too.This is the rest of the little sample amount I received in the class that I've been spinning since returning home from Michigan. It's 120 yds and weighs .2 oz; the single measured 88 WPI and the plied yarn comes in at 53 WPI. I wasn't trying to spin fine at all, just letting it flow through my fingers at a comfortable pace. But I imagine I could go finer if I tried. I love this stuff! So smooth, soft and and silky and makes yarn finer than laceweight. Yep, I could be happy spinning it forever!

Okay, I'm betting you want to know if I bought a fleece. Well, I sure did! When I was at the festival 2 years ago, I remembered an outdoor booth that had big brown paper bags containing fleeces. It wasn't at all tempting then, but this year was different. Turns out, Moonshadow Farm bring their fleeces all the way down from Chisholm, MN! That's w-a-y up in northern MN.

And, I found one I loved!A CVM/Lincoln in a deep charcoal color with silvery highlights. It has about a 6" staple length and is very, very soft. They didn't say it was a lamb fleece but sometimes I wonder since it has a sort of little lamb curl on the end in addition to the softness. It's from a jacketed sheep and makes a wonderful yarn when flicked and spun with a worsted draw. It also makes a very lofty thick woolen spun yarn. I'm also thinking about trying to blend it with some other fibers, maybe silk or alpaca. Time will tell what it will become.

My last purchase was another set of buttons from Jenny the Potter (another MN native). The red ones pictured with the St st pattern are the ones I bought at camp and the blue garter st patterned ones are from Michigan. She's even making me a few additional ones of the latter so I'll have enough for the cardi I want to use them on.
The buttons are laying on a hand woven cotton towel from Centennial Farms. I've never had the least desire to weave, but think if I could learn to make something as lovely as this, it would definitely be worth it. Anyone know anything about looms? specifically, what type is used for something like this?

Knitting Camp Wrap-up

2007-08-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Seems impossible that it's been over a week since knitting camp wrapped up. I've been hard at working finishing up the project started there--a Tomten for my little great-nephew Keegan's 1st birthday. His big day is Saturday so it'll be heading out the door this afternoon.

The yarn used was Cascade 220 Superwash--every bit of 3 skeins. It gave me migraines! This has happened to me before with superwash yarns (Mission Falls 1824 wool) but I absolutely hate using worsted weight cotton and knew it would be better to send a washable garment if I wanted it to be worn. And, I hope this one will fit and be worn alot.
Here's a shot of the back. With all garter stitch, it was a good thing to knit on at camp and still be able to take in all the glorious show and tell.

I wasn't a very good blogger because I didn't take pics of many of them. But, here are a few. Mary A (who has 150 spindles!) with a very pretty sweater. We'd met once before through our mutual friend Kerry. Now I'll envy every time she talks about visiting her as she's one of the nicest ladies ever!
Betty wearing her Circumnavigated Cardigan along with Medrith Glover, who designed it. I ordered this pattern from Medrith as it looked like it would be great to use with handspun. Betty was so interesting--she's played the bagpipes for years, and Medrith has one of the all time great laughs as well as being a great designer.Debbie New in her Ouroborus jacket. She gave a quicky little seminar on the construction and after 4 classes of hers at Stitches East a couple of years ago, happily, I was able to follow it. She is such an inspiration (as were many of the campers) in that she's always wanting to explore and learn more.

There were so many campers I didn't get any pictures of at all. I didn't even get one of Liz who sat right next to me. Let me tell you, she has more energy than anyone I've ever met! And talent just oozes right out, I predict big things for her! Didn't get shots of Sara, or Carol, or Nina, either! But they all made my camp experience so much better than I'd imagined.

Okay, so what am I working on now? I hope to complete some little samples using techniques we learned in the mini-workshops, mostly so I can remember what they were. And, I'm up to date with the clues in the Mystery Stole 3.Don't think I've blogged about it before, but I fell down that rabbit hole when it was the topic of conversation on my favorite knitting discussion group. I ended up dyeing some Zephyr (it's actually a much darker color than shows in the pic) and am using silver lined crystal beads. And, I'm knitting the wing! Despite the lack of symmetry, I like it.

My next two projects from camp yarn are shown here. The darker purple is Meg's new alpaca/wool yarn and I'm making a little garter shawl thing that many of the campers were wearing (Cheryl Oberle gave them the pattern last year at camp). Heck, I watched with my own eyes as Marge knitted one in 2.5 days! It is soft and cushy yarn and I'm not usually a purple lover but this one has lots of heather in pink and blue shades.

The lavender yarn is destined to be Dale Long's Felted Footed Slipper. I loved this color (Fundy Fog) of Briggs & Little Regal as soon as I saw it, but it would look horrible on me as a garment, so at least I'll get the pleasure of knitting with it by making his fun slipper design.

Not too much spinning has been going on, but I'll try to catch up with that in my next post.

One of These Things

2007-07-31T15:38:00.000-05:00

Is not like the other. Can you find which one?

Last weekend was a much needed trip to Knitting Camp. It's been five years since I attended. This time I joined Camp 3--the Oft-timers groups. I was a little nervous about it as most of the participants have been together for 30 some years. But, there really was no need as they were a most warm and welcoming group filled with some of the best and most distinguished names in the knitting world. I hope I managed to leave a favorable impression as I tried very hard not to gush too much over their accomplishments nor try to monopolize the proceedings. My aim was to be quiet and listen to soak up as much as possible.

Alot of times, people ask why one would want to attend something like Meg's camp. Especially the 2.75 and 3 groups because there isn't a set type of instruction or anything for them. Besides the few new and different unvented techniques I learned last weekend, the knitters in attendance are the real draw. Such a wide and varied group of people with really important life lessons (not just knitting lessons) were there. The whole energy of the group has left me so enthused about knitting and getting on with things which is exactly what I was hoping for. So, all in all, I'd call the experience a big success.

Every year there is a contest on Monday and this year's theme was Totally Useless Knitted Items. Did I mention that Debbie New was in attendance? Yes, she completely stole the show with her entry. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen knitted! A still shot simply doesn't do it justice because you need to see it moving to get the whole effect. She brought a knitted kaleidoscope! It started with 10 identical knitted intarsia hats. The patterns in the hats were very small and she told me that she couldn't cut any corners with them but had to weave in all the ends so they would look smooth enough and the patterns would match up. The hats were mounted on individual cone shaped pieces that each rotated around so that new patterns were formed when she turned a handle. It was astounding to watch! One of the campers took video of it and I'll try to post a link when I hear that it's up on the net somewhere. My entry was the item in the top pic. It was useless because it won't hold liquid. But it certainly wasn't useless to spend the time knitting it. Some of those little knitted experiments have a way of mushrooming, which is exactly what happened with a little teddy bear sweater which became my Diamond Patch mittens/socks and led to Heartland Knits. No idea what will happen with this one, but it was good practice in inc/dec within a lace pattern.
So, I know you want to know what I bought! Here's the loot. A couple of Dover books filled with charts which can be used for knitted motifs, some Icelandic laceweight for a Faroese shawl, some Briggs & Little for a pair of Dale Long's felted slipper pattern, a hank of Joslyn's silk/wool, some of Meg's new alpaca/wool yarn for a little tied garter shawl, some Satakieli, and a gorgeous roving that Liz dyed. Forgot to get a shot of the buttons from Jenny the Potter that have little knit sts embedded in them. I so wanted to get a big bun of unspun Icelandic but with all the fleeces around here, it could wait until another time. Plus, Michigan Fiber Fest is in 2 short weeks!

I have a few more shots of different campers that I'll try to post another day. I hope to be a more consistent blogger in the weeks to come and share pics of the things I've been knitting and spinning. Ta, 'til then.

Oh, Joy!

2007-07-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

A baby Joy all my own!

As soon as I borrowed a friend's Ashford Joy last spring, I knew I wanted one for my own. I've been scouring spinning ad sites and put the word out that I was on the hunt to spinners in different parts of the country. Every time I came across a used wheel, it seemed it wouldn't work out for one reason or another. I was on the verge of buying a new one. In fact, I did check some out at shops but they just didn't feel right.

Then on a whim last week I called Susan's Fiber Shop to see if she had any in stock. No, she didn't, but she did have a friend wanting to use one as a trade in order to get a Lendrum wheel. It was an up again, down again transaction but Saturday afternoon I drove down to the shop to try out the wheel. The price was right so home she came with me. :)

It's in wonderful condition, a few minor scratches and a little oil stain on the footman. Neither one bothers me much. I'd rather see an oil stain because at least that shows it was oiled instead of used without any. tI've never bought a used wheel before and it's kind of nice adopting and giving it a home. I'm thinking it will fit in nicely with my other wheels. Gads, I never thought I'd have more than one!

The seller wanted to get down to one wheel after having collected a few. I'd sort of been feeling that way about my spindles. Then, completely unlooked for, a new spindle ended up in my lap and spindle fervor was restored.

This is an Avi Wasserman. The whorl is Maple with Wenge and Ebony inlay and a Mahogany shaft. At 40 gm, it's a little heavier than most of my spindles but oh, what a sweet spinner it is! The fiber is superfine superwash Merino from Gypsy Girl Creations in the Blue Hawaii colorway.
One of the best things about Avi spindles is that the inlay goes right through so they're lovely from the bottom, too. This may just be my favorite spindle ever. The workmanship is impeccable and the finish on the shaft is just right--smooth but not too slippery. It doesn't have a notch but I learned I didn't really need one. And, that for this spindle I needed to adjust the way I wound on a a beehive shaped seemed to work best. Yes, this was discovered after the photo was taken.

I'll leave you with one last photo. This is of the Moody Blues Coopworth/Silk shown on the bobbin last time.
Let the knitting begin!

Breed Sheets

2007-06-14T22:45:00.000-05:00

Not too much spinning for projects has been going on around here lately. But, I have been filling out breed sheets for all the accumulated fleeces. Breed sheets? It's a way to document the different ways to process and spin the fleece. I can't take credit for it at all, as I'm just following Patsy's advice and using the form she gave us in her class. Quite honestly, I didn't fill out the card last year on the 2 fleeces I had--did the sampling but didn't write anything down and now can't remember a thing about it (except liking the results of flicking the Perendale). So, this year I decided to get busy so I could document the "year of the fleece".

Here are all the basic supplies used--handcards, mini-combs, flicker, a mini-niddy, crimp counter, notebook, WPI gauge and hole punch.
A dirty lock is saved so it can be examined and compared to the clean lock. Then basic measurements are written down. For each method of processing, at least 6 sample yarns are kept (2 ply--soft, average, and hard twists, 3 ply, 4 ply and cable). Sometimes I like to add a 2 ply in a different grist, too, just to see the difference. The WPI of the single is recorded (you can see I forgot to mark down what it was for the flicked locks) in case you want to duplicate a particular yarn. It usually takes about 1.5 hrs to fill out one of these sheets and I've found it a helpful exercise. Generally, one method of processing and spinning is clearly the winner. The only time that hasn't happened is with the long wools like the Gotland. They remain an enigma to me.
When I'm finished filling out the card, I usually spin a mini-skein with what's left on the bobbin. Here they are wound on a ring (another Patsy idea). From left to right are BFL/BL/Icelandic, Cheviot (this is really Kerry's fleece but she gave me a few ozs to play with), Corriedale (Hope), 3 skeins of Corriedale (Misha--unfortunately, the color didn't translate at all well because it's very, very silver grey and not brown at all. But, you can see the variation in the fleece, the first large skein is just randomly spun from all the shades, the middle one is the lightest silver, and the 3rd one includes the next darker shade), Gotland lamb, Icelandic/BFL, Perendale, Polwarth, Shetland from Shetland, Wensleydale.

Currently on the Traveller is some 80% Coopworth/20% Silk from Hidden Valley in a color called Moody Blues. This stuff is so nice to spin. I'm making a woolen singles (28 WPI) to use for a remake of the Faroese shawl I knit last winter.
Anybody know the name of the flower at the beginning of the post? It was a volunteer in my garden this spring. Guess the seed must have been dropped by a bird or something. It didn't have the look of a weed so I let it grow up and flower. Boy, am I ever glad I did.

Coming out to Play

2007-06-03T14:33:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, but Mel tagged me for the 7 random things meme 'cause she said it was time I came out to play. I'm pretty boring and uninteresting, but, here goes.

1. I am a self taught knitter and though I can use (and have taught) many different styles of knitting, the one most comfortable and fastest for me is my original method which could probably be termed throwing with my left hand. It's been called bizarre, and painful to watch; but it works for me.

2. Even though I live in the middle of the country, I have a deep love for the ocean. There is a physical pull I feel every few years that drags me to a coastline, an almost spiritual call that needs to be answered in order to fill up the well.

3. I am a pansy fanatic! probably planting close to 9 or 10 dozen every spring. No matter where I am or who I'm with, I can't pass by a bed of them without exclaiming in a loud voice "Pansies".

4. I was born on the day I was due. My parents were shopping and it must've sounded so great and something I definitely wanted to partake in, that I made an almost immediate appearance waiting only until my mom was inside the hospital doors for about two minutes.

5. I am probably one of the shyest people you'll ever meet.

6. It can take forever for me to make a decision!

7. I've worn the same necklace every day since receiving it in college (or maybe it was before that, it was so long ago that I can't even remember). It's has a cross, anchor and heart which symbolize faith, hope and love. It serves to remind me that even when there are days without faith or love, there is always still hope.

I think every blogger I know has already done this meme, but if you're reading this and would like to play, consider yourself tagged.

Another Weekend...

2007-05-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

Another fiber market! Last weekend was the Door County Shepherd's Market hosted by Whitefish Bay Farm. It was very small but nicely organized and put together with a nice assortment of vendors. I was looking to try out my fleece buying skills and didn't have to look far before finding a beauty.

This is Misha. A silver Corrie from Whitefish Bay Farm. I really wasn't looking for another Corrie as I already had Hope, the white fleece purchased from them in April, but this one was too beautiful to pass up. It's what they call a "classic" fleece as opposed to Hope's which was "extra fine". Misha is not quite as soft and is less crimpy than Hope. Actually, the shepherd had recently had the fleeces micron tested, and said the extra fine measured in at 23 microns whereas the classic fleeces were more like 28 microns--still plenty soft. I actually think I may like working with this one more than the other. And, apparently this sheep carries a "blue" gene so the yarn spun from it won't end up on the grey/tan/brown range but will stay nice and silver. At least, that's what the shepherd claimed.

The only other purchases were some Corrie batts from Whitefish Bay farm. It's a preparation I haven't had too much experience with and these looked really nicely done so I couldn't pass them up. The white has 10% angora added and the blue was dyed with indigo. I'm thinking something stranded would be nice to make out of the yarn. The mohair locks are from Goathill Farm (no website). No idea what I'll do with them, but the color was so pretty it was impossible to not get them.
In knitting news, I finally finished one of the front sides of Mediterranean Lace. This shawl has an interesting construction as it looks like a triangle shape in the back and has rectangle pieces in the front to make it like a stole. It should be fun to wear but those long front rectangles are worse than making sleeves! One done, and one to go. Sorry, no pics yet.

But, I do have photos of the skeins made from the bobbin photo last week.
It surprised me, how different the two skeins turned out. It wasn't apparent in the roving stage that one end was more saturated than the other. When spinning them, I tried to relearn my original way of drafting which is a sort of a short backward woolen method and as it's Corrie, it poofed considerably when I washed them.

This week it's all about the garden. Summer seems to have kicked in early around here. Hope you enjoy sunny days and starry nights, too!

Whirlwind weekend

2007-05-15T15:11:00.000-05:00

It was somewhat of a whirlwind weekend as I took a road trip through the upper Midwest. Trying to be two places at once involves lots of driving but was so worth it because I was able to take in the Shepherd's Harvest festival in Lake Elmo, MN. And, even better than that, I got to see my friend Kerry and have her teach me how to pick out a fleece.

Let me tell you, Shepherd's Harvest is quite a fleece event. It seemed more than half of the vendors had a couple of fleeces for sale. It's about the same size as the WI S&W but didn't seem to have as many people attending; nothing like the crowds at MS&W or Michigan Fiber Fest. But, I loved how virtually all of the booths were small farms; no big booths of transplanted knit shops. It truly seemed a spinners event. An added plus of attending with Kerry was that she seemed to know everyone in the place. I got to meet several knit-bloggers and see their newly finished shawls as well as see several of the spinners I met last summer at her monthly spin-group. What fun!

But, what you really want to see are my purchases. Yes? Okay, at a fleece event in my Year of the Fleece, I had to buy a couple of them.

This is a BFL/BL/Romney from Lamb Lane in Iowa. My jaw dropped when I saw it's aura. And, it passed the "Kerry" test, in fact, she dubbed it Frizzle because it had such crimpy-ness.

The second fleece I was lucky enough to find is an Icelandic/BFL cross from River Winds farm. It's actually a much deeper charcoal color than this picture shows.
River Winds also has gorgeous Cormo. They had little 1 lb bags of raw fleece that were very tempting but I resisted. The other items I bought were:
A basket from Tall Tale Basket Shop of Tufte, MN (no website), the pink cotton candy looking stuff is called Spinner's Web and made up of Icelandic wool, mohair, Suri alpaca, silk noil and Mylar. I guess it's called a cloud preparation and I'm thinking of spindling it. The blue fiber in the basket is some super soft mohair from Morning Sun Fiber Barn that I'm going to use to try to replicate a KidSilk Haze kind of yarn. To the right of the basket is a crayon box bag of Corriedale from Mielke's as I've been wanting to explore color blending but didn't want to dye all the colors myself. A bag of Cormo top from River Winds Farm and 2 bumps of Coopworth/silk from Hidden Valley Woolen Mill round out the purchases. The color on the left is called Moody Blues and the one on the right is Just Before Dawn--one of these may be heading off to a friend but Hidden Valley vend at all the local shows so I'm bound to see them again this summer and will undoubtedly add to my collection of colors.

Joyful spinning is still occuring. Here's my latest bobbin with some fiber I bought when I visited Roberta's spinning guild last February. I think it's Corriedale and was dyed by the shepherd who was a part of the guild. It wasn't rinsed very well because it was very sticky and the color got all over my hands when I drafted it. A little soak in the sink pretty much solved that problem and I love how it's spinning up. I'm thinking, perhaps, socks for this yarn.

And, last but not least, the other place I had to be this weekend was at my niece's graduation from Loras College. It completely amazes me that little baby Katie is all grown up now.
Some elementary school class is going to be very lucky to have her as their teacher.

May Day

2007-05-01T18:21:00.000-05:00

It's May Day today but no one left a basket of flowers at my door. However, the mailman brought me a box containing Hope.

Hope, meaning the name of the Corriedale sheep that grew this lovely fleece. It was much crimpier than I expected and oh, so soft. Kerry suggested I check out the fleeces from Whitefish Bay Farm and when she gives you a tip, I suggest you follow it. The Year of the Fleece rolls on.

Not much knitting has been happening, but I have been spinning. This is a skein I spun on the little Ashford Joy wheel I borrowed from a friend.
The color is way off--it's more of a burgundy color but it's my first 3 ply skein. I've been inspired by the ones I've seen on several blogs lately and thought it was about time I tried my hand at it. I used 2 singles of a superwash Corriedale and one single spun from some Tussah dyed by The Silkworker. At first I considered making socks from it, but think it will be a little too thick for that. I prefer my socks to be fingering weight and this came in closer to sport weight. So, now I'm thinking more of a hat/glove combo.

Okay, enough blogging, I must go wash that fleece! Mmmm!

Tying one On

2007-04-08T18:24:00.000-05:00

It's another dark dreary day, so once again I've no decent pics of what I've been spinning. Instead I thought I'd share something I learned last February from my fellow Folk School classmate Joan. It's a nifty way to tie a leader on a bobbin.

First off decide what material you want to use for a leader and cut a long length of it. I prefer pearl cotton and quite a long leader so I use a piece that's several yards long. Using a long leader is helpful when adjusting the tension before attaching your fiber and the pearl cotton doesn't stretch and holds up well.

Fold the piece in half and knot the two ends together.

Then, hold the knotted end on top of the bobbin core and wind the rest of the leader completely around it, passing it to the top of the knot.

Wind the leader around the bobbin core a second time and pass it to the bottom of the knot this time.
Wind the leader around the bobbin once more but this time place the folded end through the two strands of the knotted end.
Snug it up tight to the bobbin core and you have a leader that is secure and won't spin around the bobbin needing a piece of scotch tape to keep it put. Plus, the folded end provides a nice loop to use when starting to spin. Simple and elegant--love it! Thanks for teaching me this Joan and giving me permission to pass it on!

Edit: Joan has told me that she learned this bobbin leader tying idea from http://www.textilelinks.com/author/rb/980712.html