I do too do stuff, and oh, opinions needed

Spinning

First, something unexpected…a Christmas present I’ve been waiting to share until I had something to show for it. That’s right, a WooLee Winder! This post put the idea in my head a long while ago, and thanks to some good elfing by DH, my MIL caught wind of it, and that woman can put anyone to shame when it comes to buying for her children.

I love it. There it is. My bobbins always used to be awkwardly wound, and I never fit 4 oz. plied onto one bobbin before. Even though I spun this yarn in ten minutes increments over the course of almost 3 months (I am aware how pathetic that is, and I’m ok with it), I feel like I did achieve more consistency both in the spinning and plying

(Here’s the best part of this story: being a handmade product, it takes a little time for the WooLee Winder to arrive, not long as I understand it but long enough for my MIL to forget about it. My FIL happened to be the one to open the box when it finally arrived, and he called MIL at work to ask her why she’d ordered a bunch of miniature dumbbells!!!)

this kind of even bobbin distribution has never been seen around these parts

posed - it’s a navajo worsted-ish, and by now you know me well enough to know that I don’t do coins. Never can remember, plus I’d have to break into Hampton, the resident piggy bank.

In its natural habitat. I love winding yarn by hand. I have some special plans for this yarn, I hope.

Dyeing

Lately I’ve been in a mood to just enjoy yarn that I have. So when I got the inkling to dye, I had some perfect candidates–leftover K’picks Wool of the Andes (yellow and tan) and Patons Merino Wool (papRRRRIka!). Combine that with a crockpot, some Kr*ger brand food coloring, and BAM! (am I allowed to say BAM!, or do I have to ask Martha now???)

soaking in the sink

The colors were chosen for a friend who loves jewel tones, purples and blues. These were all dyed with only purple, blue, and a bit of green. Quick strike leads to pink, I reckon, and yet I’m rather pleased with the result. The above are the yellow & tan, below are the paprika skeins. Which I’m keeping for myself because, as affiknitty (how are you, doll?) would say, I luff them.

Knitting

Ok, studio audience! Here’s where you get a chance to participate!

Serpentine mitts: Cool or boring?*

I started these for my new SIL, and was intensely annoyed that the cables aren’t centered (I knew they wouldn’t be because of the size I made, but I kept trusting the designer. Why, why, why?). I almost ripped, but now looking at the picture, it’s really not so bad. Should I ditch ‘em, or keep going? Love the color.(PS Success story- this is my first time with Louet Gems Pearl When I first pulled the yarn out in December, there were no less than six knots in the skein. Unacceptable, says me! I took the yarn back to my LYS, and just when I was beginning to lose hope, Sally took it all the way to TNNA to get a replacement for me. Hurray for the Merc!)

Dropped stitch spring scarf- Cool or boring?

Bamboo yarn leftover from my Lotus Blossom Tank (what?? Two patterns in a row that used the recommended yarn? Unfathomable!). It’s been hanging around for awhile, and I thought dropped stitches would get me more bang for my buck. Now I’m thinking it is less bang, and needs to be bucketed.

Ok, opine away! Thanks all!

*unfortunately I can only explain the options of “cool or boring” in person, but WHEN we meet, I’ll be happy to explain such a strange dichotomy, and do my best imitation of the question as originally posed.

 

Wazzup Wednesday

…or, “I just got back from a great vacation and have nary a picture to show for it!”

DH and I took a trip to West Virginia to go horseback riding and rafting down the New River. We’re only about 4 hours away, and if you are anywhere close I highly recommend it! We went with the Rivermen outfit and had a simply fabulous time rafting the Lower New River. We are definitely going back to do the more intense Gauley sometime! It was an amazing time, but I have to say that (WARNING: SAP ALERT) the best part was being with the DH.

In other news, I finished the DH Notting Hill vest and I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll do a full write-up once I get my promised photo shoot…

If you come here for the spinning (heh) take a gander at these lovelies:

4 oz. bundles of merino & colonial blend from the CJ Kopec etsy store. You would not believe the self control I have displayed by not diving right in to these beauties. But alas, I have some knitting to do before I will let myself spin again. And I’ve also been hoarding the most amazing Cider Moon roving too. One of these days I’m going to go nuts and spin it all, and oh what a happy day that will be!

 

Here is this week’s (I guess last week by now, sheesh) handspun: superwash in Lemon Zest from Abby again. Sock yarn, of course! I’m a bit puzzled with this one. I don’t feel like I did such a great job spinning it, but the final result is still rather pleasing. Granted, there are still Those Spots that make it my handspun, but overall I think it will work up ok.

 

As far as knitting is concerned, I’ve started a new sweater. Thanks to the drive time I’m a good way into Road to Golden from the last Knitscene, but again no pictures to show! What a slacker!

I did notice something rather interesting, though, that I’d like to hear from you all about. I noticed that Annie Modesitt’s Twisted Float Shrug was in the Vogue anniversary issue. I fell for that pattern when it first graced the cover a few falls ago (2005) and fell hard. It was the first sweater I ever made for myself.

 

I had this idea about a progression of color for the back. Being a non-spinner, I figured the only way to get it was to dye. Being a cheapskate of the first degree (aka, a grad student) I used Kool-Aid. This part actually turned out kind of cool.

fall 2005 adventures in Kool Aid

 

What didn’t work was the shape of the garment. No matter which way I wore it, it looked huge and felt silly. Some have made it work for them, but it didn’t work for me. I still think it is a great pattern, and that the twisted floats are beautiful, so…

(in progress, with only an inkling that something was amiss)

Finally one day after I’d tried to wear it several times I got brave–or angry, same effect–and sliced it. I cut away a piece at a right angle above each armhole, then crocheted the thing back together. Then I felted it. I know, I must have been really mad brave!

The end result is that now to my eye it looks like a fitted garment rather than a knitting experiment. I enjoy wearing it, and don’t feel like I need to fuss or readjust every minute. I need to find some kind of cool closure for it, as classy as the safety pin currently in use may be. I also eliminated the fuzzy edges. I’m warm & fuzzy enough on the inside (DH and Juli, two people who have watched movies with me and seen my cold heart firsthand, are laughing to themselves right now).

What do you think? Still a knitting freak show, or wearable? The pictures are all crazy, sorry about that!

 

 

Three bags not yet full

The Christmas bags are going well. I’ve finished the knitting on two of them, and started the third. I’m sure the handles and finishing will be more work than I expect, but I’m feeling pretty good about the state of things for right now.

 

And finally, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty my bag yarn looked in my yarn bag!

I finished my laceweight (ish) singles this weekend. I am anxious to swatch this one up as well–sometimes yarn speaks very loudly, and sometimes you have to coax it into beauty.

 

little things

I tend to be more on the self-conscious side of the spectrum (which can, at times, lead to an extraordinarily loud internal monologue), and thus when I encounter an opinion that is drastically different from my own my first instinct is usually to question myself. Such a reaction, I’ve learned, can be dangerous, but as I become more and more aware of it, I learn to use it to my advantage.

That said, it always surprises me when someone does have a bad reaction to something that I am very fond of–the knit/blog community for example. To combat this negativity, I am going to show you pictures of cute cats and handspun yarn and finished socks. Don’t worry, I am careful when wielding such powerful weapons.

 

Yarnzombie said it best: what’s more fun than a cat in a box??

…maybe a cat sleeping?

This handmade travel spindle was a gift from a classmate whose wife is an accomplished spinner and weaver. Actually, you might recognize her. She is absolutely delightful, I promise! I am touched and delighted at the gift. It reclines oh-so-gracefully in my bowl-o’-homespun for the photo, but I’m sure will go with me many places. Anyone else think it is easier to spin extremely fine on a spindle?

 

 

DH socks- Lorna’s in Aslan on size 0, basically Wendy’s toe-ups with gussets. I was very happy with how little pooling there was, just a bit about the ankle, as shown in the second picture.

 

 

 

Finally, more experimental handspun. These are both domestic wool in Deluge from Abby’s Yarns. You can probably tell just by looking that I’m still experimenting with the navajo ply. I wanted to experiment with the perfect ply, especially give the poof factor of this yarn, so I overplied the top yarn and underplied the bottom yarn. Then I decided that the underplied yarn was ugly, so I felted it a bit and I’m more happy with the filling out it did after the abuse. A bit rugged, I’d say. I’m anxious to swatch these up and see what kind of differences there are in the knitted fabric. Spinning could seriously take over my life.

 

 

Have you ever seen such an earnest face? aka, the Ravelry trance

 

 

the spinning post

Like other two-timers that we know and love, I also have a lust in my heart for more than knitting. I’m still very much in the learning process, and besides the many wonderful things I pick up from many of my fellow spinbloggers, my belief in regard to the acquisition of this skill is quite old school: practice makes perfect!

(of course it really doesn’t hurt that “practicing” begins with buying beautiful hand-dyed fibers and such, and ends in unique and thrilling yarn…)

My big summer spinning project: almost 2 lbs. of a mystery merino blend that I’ve mentioned a few times here and there. The subtleties of the colors in the chunky 2 ply are hard to portray photographically, but I’m pleased. Its destiny (at this moment) is the Diagonal Twist Princess Seam Jacket, from Loop-d-Loop. Can it really be true that only one other person has made this jacket? My gauge seems to be just a bit off, but the pattern is just a bit big so it could be good. I’ll let you know when I actually swatch…

Something I’ve noticed about spinning is that it can be so exciting when I’m not exactly sure what the finished yarn will look like. This is a 2-ply superwash, for socks. I noticed that the thicker spots are where the color is the most intense, also where I had the most trouble drafting. I wonder if the dye made that much of a difference on the fiber. See? Learning!

This one is just a totally for fun: my first Falkland (got a great woolly feel to it) and my first navajo ply. Can I just say that this technique is absolutely addicting? I got up this morning and could not stop thinking about how much fun it is to ply with chained singles.

So I made this.

Don’t be impressed, really it is just this big:

Just a sample because I had to finish some homework. This is from a Louet pencil roving, and to be honest the color runs are really not long enough to justify a navajo ply, but it was fun! I spun as thin as I dared to get the most color, and the teeny swatch tells the rest of the story.

I love it. Wish I could spin all day, but I can’t and the backdrop for these photos is the reason why. Any other Vergil fans out there?

 

Summer spinning

Here’s my swatch from the summer spinning project–a two ply of some unknown fiber. I’m totally digging the texture of this yarn, and the resulting fabric (I would show you the yarn, but I can’t get a good picture of it). I was knitting my Leyburns at the time I started spinning this, and was going for the pebbly-ness of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn. There are so many other colors in this brown, I wanted to make a yarn that would be interesting in plain stockinette. So far, so good, I think. I’m sure you’ll hear more about this as the process continues, including how I’m processing it––hint, abuse!––and figuring out what to make with it. It’s going to take awhile. In a stunning revelation (wait for it…) spinning takes time.

And for Specs, I give you Vince vs. the needles, part 453:

Phase 1: I’m just a nice sweeeet putty tat.

Phase 2: I’m playful, that’s why you love me!

Phase 3: Attack cat!

(the phase 4 picture is not here because I suddenly became more interested in snatching my precious needles away than in obtaining photographic documentation of a sadly all-too-common event. Note that no harm was done to the options cords, or as they are known to the cat, Red Vines)

 

PS Wendyknits gave me permission to post the numbers for using her toe-up gussets & heels with the Swirl socks! I think I’m going to make up a separate patterns page, but for now if anyone is interested, I’ll post it here and to the original swirl socks post.

Gusset:

Rnd 1: Maintain pattern on needles 1 & 2. Needle 3- K1, M1L, k to end of needle; needle 4- K to last st, M1R, k1.
Rnd 2: Maintain pattern around (swirls on needles 1 & 2, St st on needles 3 and 4).
Repeat these two rows until you have increased 9 (10, 11) sts on needles 3 and 4 for a total of 40 (44, 4 heel sts.

Heel:
Worked across needles 3 and 4 (or you can transfer all of these sts to one needle, and then separate them again to work the leg). You may prefer to substitute ssk for the k2tog and p2tog for the ssp, depending on your preference for the look of your heel. This version minimizes the line of the heel.

Row 1: K 22 (24, 26) sts, K2tog, k1. Turn.
Row 2: Sl1, p5, ssp, p1. Turn.
Row 3: Sl1, k6, K2tog, k1. Turn.
Row 4: Sl1, p7, ssp, p1. Turn.

Continue in this manner––slipping the first st., knitting or purling to 1 st. before the gap and closing the gap with a K2tog or ssp, then k or p one more st––until all heel sts are worked. 22 (24, 26) sts for the heel. Resume knitting in the round. You may find it worthwhile for avoiding holes to pick up an extra st between the heel and instep and then decreasing that st on the next round.

* ssp: slip 1 st knitwise from LH to RH needle, slip a second st knitwise from LH to RH needle, slip both st together back to the LH needle without changing their orientation, then p2tog through back loops.

 

 

 

I’ve found the underbelly!!! (ie, you guys are the best)

When the “7 weird things” meme came my way, I revealed that

2) I read knitting blogs for almost a year before finally jumping in and getting my own. I was convinced that there had to be some dark underbelly to all of these people posting pretty pictures of yarn, it couldn’t be that good!

Well, I’ve found it! The dark and unspoken underbelly of the knitting blog world. Are you ready?

It is that good, and even more amazing than the yarn is the people.

I really can’t tell you all how grateful I am for your willingness to give me a shot, and for your incredibly kind words and bursts of enthusiasm for my lil’ patternish sort of thing. Every so often I realize exactly how much being a part of this community brings to my life, whether in learning about new techniques, yarns, or patterns; giving recipes, books, and well-wishes; or the simple but necessary (as is oft forgotten) act of sharing lives and stories.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Oh, and the other, secondary fabulous thing about this community is that everyone is talented and I get to partake of that talent daily!!!! For example, take a gander at the goodness below, from Franquemont Fibers by Abby of Abby’s Yarns. Abby writes with humor and an inspiring level of attention to detail, and her blog is a treasure of knowledge. She is extremely generous in sharing her expertise, and does so in a manner that makes it extremely accessible and exciting.

And she makes pretty things. Enjoy! I figure that a little stash-flashing is truly the best way to express my appreciation for and to you all…

 

Falkland top in Spice

Romney top in Sea Foam

Superwash top in Lemon Zest

 

 

Domestic wool top in Deluge

 

 

 

 

Merino/tencel top in Maize

 

Superwash top in Oak Tree

 

 

This one’s for my brother…

Who is really a very cool person (in the real sense of the word cool, not just my generic everyday use) that just can’t wrap his head around the idea of his blogging sister who knits socks.

So now I knit dishrags too. Diggs, eat your heart out!

specs: 4 complete dishrags–pictures lie, you know–from the Mason Dixon ball band recipe. Size 5 needles, Lily cotton. For my mom and grandma.

 

 

Other summer fun: I’ve decided to undertake the big ball o’ fiber (these pictures together = the big ball o’ fiber. See here for original size. Oh, and the original plan for it which has long since been abandoned). I divided it into these little handfuls and am slowly working my way along to about a 2-ply worstedish weight. I’ve added a skein count in the sidebar for my own amusement. Don’t hold your breath, especially since I’m expecting a package from Abby!

 

 

And did you notice anything new in these pictures? Don’t be alarmed if you didn’t, the Knitpicks Options blend in so naturally with their surroundings of yarn. I’m a spoiled spoiled knitter, but I have to say I love these needles with a love that is usually reserved for Cider Moon colorways.

 

 

 

My love affair with alpaca- a story in pictures

…and some sheep for good measure!

(left: alpacas I happened upon at random–at my best friend’s wedding! right: visiting a local alpaca farm. Too excited to take good pictures.)

Mom and me leaving the Great Lakes Fiber Show 2006 with the haul (and random guy in red shirt who looks like he isn’t having nearly as much fun as we are.)

 

Washed & waiting. Really, if I could wear it just like this I would. It is so so soft and fluffy! I had no idea what I was doing (that sentence is misleading–it implies past tense).

 

First hank, posed with more fluff waiting to be carded. Not my best spinning effort, but the squish factor makes up for it! Can’t wait to get into this project again!

 

Hollyhocks and Monkey socks

Newly-transplanted and already-blooming hollyhocks are enriching my gardens this morning (thanks Mom!).

 

Another crop for the year was entirely unintentional. Some spry (and I suspect furry) little thief took off with my baby tomato plants a few weeks ago. I found out a few days ago, however, that he did not steal but traded. In their place he planted…a peanut, which is growing rapidly. Just call me Jimmy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other finds for the day include…

Louet “Northern Lights” roving in Toffee and Thunderstorms. Pretty fiber turns me into a little girl.

 

 

I spun an experimental few yards, and though I’ve been away for my wheel for quite some time, it still ne’er fails to please!

Isn’t it fantastic when your snacks match your socks?