Fibergal Fantasy

New Kittens slow my knitting

2009-06-06T17:54:00.007-06:00

Meet Lydia. Tiny new kitten. 1 lb 13 oz when we got her last week. Sweet and fast. The second pic shows a pen for scale but is blurred by her fast movement. She is about twice the size of her little sister.

Meet Mai Mai. Devil cat. So tiny she fits in a teacup. 1 lb 3 oz when we got her.

Neither cat can meow, they still just squeak a little. Play is furious for 3 two hour sessions a day followed by collapse.

And, of course, all kittens need toys. This is just after play has ended. Mayhem.

Some knitting happens during sleep. This is the last row of Aeolian.

I am really wanting to work on Mara, but that is too attractive right now for them. Cats like Shetland.

Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery shawl is so nice. But Zephyr yarn is easy to bite through.

So I shall be even slower than normal but happily playing with my new distractions. Today I shall introduce them to the looms and see what happens.

More Fair Isle tools

2009-02-08T00:59:00.004-07:00

I knit a lot in public, often at distracting concerts, and needed to simplify my process. When preparing for a long Fair Isle/stranded project, I start with pattern. I usually have charted in some software or graph paper, but after I settle on the chart, I move to excel. I make the color card and pattern bundle.

In excel, I chart by using very visible colors, not necessarily matching the yarns I will use. Then I break the chart down by inserting a blank row between each chart line. Glue these babies up to pre-cut cardstock, insert a banker's ring and off I go. I just flip to change the row. (Spinners will recognize yet another use of those wonderful black rubber bands.)

This is what excel looks like:

Notice that I add the color name and the count? The count has two forms, short and full. Short gets repeated across the row, counting right to left, just as you knit. Full give me the lead-in for a particular row. See row #25 on the second chart.

While I am not thrilled by the color choice on the top of the tam, this sequence doesn't come up in the sweater. The side of the tam has the XO pattern and is a fine gauge swatch. Of course, many of you recognize Mara.

Meanwhile, fiberguy has been very busy cutting away on a semi-secret quilt project. Huge amount of cutting, but he is very organized and chugging along. A nice block in the background is partially finished.

Fair Isle toy

2009-02-02T03:38:00.004-07:00

While working a sweater in Fair Isle or Stranded Knitting, one often has 15-20 balls of yarn to keep straight. Not only do you have to have the colors correctly identified for the different bands, but you also have to prevent tangling. Some wonderful blogger had this tool but I just can't find her blog's link. I had it on my 'wanted' list for about a year and a half and finally indulged. It is better than I could have ever imagined.

The original purpose is to store cups or other small items. It folds completely flat and I could have opened the last section for more yarn, but chose to unsnap it for my color card and notes.

Once closed, I can store it on the side or even upside down and nothing is disturbed when I reopen the case. I can't express my joy at this wonderful tool.

It is called a Canvas Storage Organizer and costs under $20.

Sweet Melodies Tam

2009-02-01T01:47:00.005-07:00

Mary Rowe's book Knitted Tams has long inspired me. But I never made anything out of her book. I used her methods and made many a tam. I have read my book so much, the pages are all bent and thin - well loved. So in my sock procrastination knitting frenzy, I decided it was time to pick a project.

I had yarn on hand, that is in stash, to make a charmer called Sweet Melodies. I had to guess at just what she did for ribbing, peerie and length. However, when I look at her blocked tam in the book next to my blocking tam, they are pretty close.

For those tam virgins, you will need a blocking board for this to make the shape stick. I use a very low tech item that I made 15 years ago or more when I first learned how to knit them. I got two disposable pizza tins from the grocer and a piece of cardboard. I cut the three to 11.5" and used masking tape on the edge. It works well and hasn't fallen apart yet. Fancy, eh? When I block, I first wash my tam to remove any hand oils and dirt from knitting and stretch it over the board. the ribbing will appear quite ruffled at first but I suspend the tam blocker over a can of soup and it pulls right in overnight as it dries.

One note, you will have ends to weave in, or at least, I will. I usually steek Fair Isle sweaters and hide my ends in the steek section. But here I weave into the floats. First, it is Shetland yarn, all clingy, and will hold the ends. Second, I don't weave as I go since it can show and the background is often dark. It only took about 45 minutes and I am so much happier with the product. I gently pull my ends to the left and right to see which way to darn them in that closes, not opens the hole made when I change colors. When done properly you will have a hard time figuring out on the right side just where the colors changed.

Slacker

2009-01-28T01:15:00.008-07:00

Nothing like a project (7 socks) to make me totally fuck off and make tons of other things. First, there were a quick 3 hats. [Gramma K's Tamm, 2 Turn a Squares]

Then we have some bracelets [2 of my own design and one Circle Get the Square, highly recommended]. Oh, and another cowl. [Good Luck Cowl]

I am also working on swatches for the Walker Treasury Project and did finish a project for the upcoming Spindlicity.

Oh and two more socks are coming along. One of these is hideously ugly. Almost like a bad B movie - so ugly I am compelled to continue.

It seems I have wicked startitis. Luckily, I also have wicked finishitis. Oh, and everything is from stash.

Socks, loom and electric wheel

2009-01-17T18:06:00.006-07:00

Well my socks went forward and then back again. I made this whole pair in the wrong gauge. I knew it was wrong but persisted. And I screwed up the tops. Oh, and the color - I got it for Steelers colors but there was green. It was too much.

Now, it is ripped and overdyed with some old koolaid I wanted to clear out of my dye cabinet. Nice and mottled, as I hoped. I like them now and am ready to reknit.

Lornas's laces Bee Stripe before and after.

I still have the same damn project on the loom, but I am not hating it yet. I made a huge miscalculation when I put on the warp. I used a different method of winding an screwed up so the warp was 4 times longer than I wanted. You think I would have noticed, right? But I was so thrilled to get the (new to me) loom setup that I just slapped that puppy on. So I am weaving and weaving and weaving. It will be very long and narrow.

Lastly, since someone asked me about it, I thought I might show one of my home made electric wheels. I have it set in bobbin winder mode right now, but I can just pop out the stick and pop in the flier. I have a folded loom behind it, and a yarn counter on the table in this rather poor photo, but you can get the gist. I built it on a really thick and heavy spiral staircase step of solid oak that a woodworker in my old neighborhood was discarding. My luck to find it as the solidity helps stability. Anyway, it has always worked so well that I never really prettied it up. It has been used very often since about 1993, I think. It lives in the corner next to my loom and I can change it for plying or spinning pretty fast, but I built another electric wheel for plying exclusively and so this is now one of my winders. Foot pedal. Reverse by twisting the drive band (on a drawer pull). In line with both swift, ball winder and cone holder.

Sock brat

2009-01-10T16:17:00.004-07:00

I admit it, I am a spoiled sock brat. As a spinner, if I want a luxury sock, I can just build it. Jacob combed with yearling mohair? No problem. Angora, silk, merino: easy. And we must not forget the lovely Romney/baby alpaca. But you know what these fine blends all have in common? They all get handwashed. Well, it is time for a change.

For my birthday, I promised myself 7 pairs of socks that I can toss right in the washer. Simple commercial yarn FROM MY STASH that are everyday handmade. And while I still use my fancy handspun joyful socks, at least I get a day off occasionally from handwashing them.

It has been fun. I discovered Kroy yarn - gee why didn't you tell me about that? And I am using up some dubious choices I made in the past. Like the bumble bee yarn that was to support the Steelers, only to find it contained green - the wrong color. Still the socks will be better than commercial white ones that never fit very well.

I have finished 3 pairs and have two more single socks done. I suspect I will go over my 7 sock goal too, and before a month has passed. Then I will have cleaned up my yarn storage area a bit, turned it into east care garments and can get back to some fancier spinning and knitting and spoiling.

Sock one is Kroy Cyan Stripes done at 64 stitches on 2.75 knitpicks wooden DPs.

Sock two may be some old Magic stripe at 72 sts on size 1 metal needles.

Sock three is interesting. It was from a massive cone of carpet yarn I bought on ebay for felting - kinda feels like a cross between Romney and Shetland, very pleasant. However this stuff won't felt. I am quite sure it is pure wool. I had intended to use it for some class I was teaching. Now, I toss a skein in every time I dye. The yarn has the most pleasing feel on the foot, which is good since there's about 10 lbs left. Anyway, 64 sts on 2.75 metal unknown needles. Ribbed.

Silver and speed

2008-12-28T02:25:00.004-07:00

I met this amazing jewelry artist while at the silver supply place today. Living in Albuquerque means that I am surrounded by artists and you become kinda numb to the whole scene after a while. So when I tell you that this artist has a unique look, it means he really stands out in a crowd of artists. He has both a website and Etsy shop which I strongly recommend, especially for those looking to burn through some holiday money. (His photo with permission)

Meanwhile, I have been catching up on some birthday knitting. I wanted a shawl, a wimple and 7 socks. It is the time of year when I toss out the old socks that can’t be mended anymore and need some quickie socks to fill in. I also want to clean up my stash of self patterning sock yarn since I don’t really use it as much these days. I am happy to blast through it with just plain old knit socks that can be tossed into the washer and dryer and used every week. When those are done, I get to go onto some fancier knitting.

But you know what? That stupid plain knitting in the round without thinking is bringing back my speed. It is like finger exercises when you were learning to touch type. Slow, boring, mindless and yet a skill is perfected. So I will get 7 pairs of usable socks and speed, baby, speed.

Sheep Cake

2008-12-19T01:13:00.004-07:00

While I am woefully behind in posting, I did have to share this special treat. Fiberguy really earned his name tonight when he came home with this:

Curly little sheep on my cake instead of the dreaded roses. Lovely and soft and tasty.

I have been beading since I tore my biceps tendon and only knit slowly right now. I would love to show you all photos, but I either sold everything or they are for upcoming gifts. I just have to make some more to show you all. Meanwhile, fiberguy is just pumping out the socks.

Cotton processing and insurance

2008-11-26T02:37:00.003-07:00

I think I was a little overwhelmed when I got back from SOAR this year. Between getting so sick there and losing my luggage with all my treasures, it was a bit much. Then having 6 socks fail for one reason or another, mostly user error and blind optimism, well, I was in a funk. However, now that the insurance check has come in and I can begin to replace those things replaceable, I feel less stuck. And finally, after 6 weeks, over the whole SOAR bug, I can see forward progress. I even finished 3 pairs of working socks. I did have to go back to the basics and work my way up. Still, I never did find that stretchy bindoff that I used to know but there is time to look around for it and use a sewn bind-off until then.

Meanwhile, fiberguy is processing cotton like mad this week. Most of it had to be put into the dehydrator since our freezing weather came very early this year. I am normally out in a tshirt still but it is full jacket, scarf and gloves weather. The bolls pop just like popcorn in the dehydrator and while the cotton is a bit more compresses coming out, it fluffs just like the good stuff. I am very behind in my seed deliveries this year, but they are still coming along.

I still want to start every project in sight, want to spin every fiber in my stash all at once (not actually acomplishable) and weave every pattern in every book all at once. I have a driving need to create. But I am plugging away on some holiday stuff and can't really branch out right now, drat. Being sick always gives me a wicked case of startitis. Lace looms heavily but, again, I think I need to start slowly and work my way up. Perhaps a simple Swallowtail?

For those waiting, there are still some SOAR photos that will come along, perhaps in the dead of winter to warm us all.

Oh, and one simple little thing that brings me joy right now. I know some make their own lotions and ointments, I am not one of those. But I often like to add stuff to commercial lotion to fix it up a bit. So Winter 08 healing lotion is:
1 large (580ml) Lubriderm daily moisture
1 small Peppermint essential oil (1/3 oz)
1 small Lavender essential oil (1/3 oz)
Aloe Vera gel - about 2 oz
Jojoba Oil (between 1-2 oz)

Mix the Aloe Vera 50/50 with water to thin it (or it clumps). Dump the rest all together and mix for a while - it resists incorporation but will get smooth with a lot of stirring. If the scents are too strong, and they may be, cut the essential oils in half. Fill small decorative bottles or plastic bottles for your purse and every room of the house. I get mine here.

I used to add a lot of other things, like tea tree oil and rosemary, but this mix suits me well and really has an effect on my hands. Immune issues mean that I was my hands over 30 times a day and I need the extra healing. I thought you might like a dry skin cure too.

SOAR 2008 part 3

2008-10-27T16:54:00.012-06:00

The Power Trio at the spin-in.

Carol and Jennifer are really splendid in these colors, don't you think?

Here Denny approaches the tricky Dino with her trusty hammer cheered on by Beth and Anne, who finally snatches a minute to join us.

I can't tell, but I think Abby is singing. What do you think?

Class samples from the review.

More class samples from the workshop review.

This is Charlene. She is the bravest person I know. She has ripped this sweater back at least 3 times. She was doing it there in front of all of us. I don't mean a row. She ripped it right back - a sweater's worth. Her yarn maintained integrity and it is now finished. She makes me have a little courage with my knitting problems. She makes me want to rip a project back to the cast on row right now and fulfill my knitting dreams. Charlene is my hero.

Here is Nancy Bush in the 3 day Estonian Lace with Judith MacKenzie McCuin.

Fiberguy and his friend Jodie from our home guild. She ties for second most SOARs.

Our friend Jeane stopped by to drop off some yarn at Carolina Homespun. She has lots of new colors. We used her yarn for Vivian Hoxbro's class and she liked it too. It is perfect for her patterns.

Wormspit was examining Jeannine's spendid bands during a demo of his band weaving setup.

And this is Elizabeth. She learned to spin cotton from the seed in under 1 minute and proceeded to spin a bag of it. She has amazing natural talent. Did I mention she was a SOAR virgin? She fit right in.

And I made the big 20,000 on my blog counter today, woohoo! Thanks all.

More to come on SOAR.

SOAR 2008 part 2

2008-10-27T16:13:00.008-06:00

And more pics in no particular order

This was a group gather, one of the first few nights. This location had some problems, but there were large areas in which to meet.

During one of these meetings, Marcy performed one of the funniest imitations of Lamchop I have ever seen. Kelly and I were screaming with laughter. If I could rewind my brain to play this again and again, I would.

Janel examines some Alpaca spindle spun yarn.

Beth fondles some yummy yarn that matches her beautiful shawl.

This is John's most seen expression - pure delight.

Here is Pete in Deb's class demonstrating, ah, what?

Sharon's class examine felted samples.

Abby's class

Pat dropped by to show some new goodies.

Samples in Sara's class.

Vivian's class tantalized us all with color.

I don't know what class Rita was in but don't the sample tables look great?

Amy and Karen squeeze time to have a laugh. These guys were everywhere doing everything. I don't know how they even had time to eat lunch. We are all so grateful for your hard work. Thank you to everyone at Interweave for the gift of another SOAR.

SOAR 2008 part 1

2008-10-27T15:04:00.021-06:00

Pic heavy post ahead to show you the wonders of this year's SOAR.

There was much celebrating to see each other.

That is Abby, Judith & Maggie

Abby, Shelia & Jennifer

Steph, Juno (C)

Rachel with her friend Angelina

And more joy to meet new people I have know online.

Maia who spreads joy in her wake

And Jim

Lots of newbies that seem to fit right in:

Cosette who helped fiberguy in spinning class

Dana & Meghan, Ravelry friends showing off class samples. Oh and Pat with her camera behind.

And people that warmed my heart

Steve & Connie of Spindlewood

Carol & Pete & the wonderful Marcy showing off a strange spindle.

Two of my especially treasured friends, Jeannine & Denny. Here Jeannine is showing her amazing bands that she wove for this year's fashion show. Perhaps someday she will show them all to the world as they are astonishing. Marilyn M. said Jeannine is always the wedding dress of the fashion show. She always goes last and gives us all a jaw dropper.

OK, there is much more to come.

On Healing and loss

2008-10-23T03:57:00.003-06:00

… I put away old my old projects. I went through the house and all the travel bags and gathered up those started and planned, bagged with patterns and needles, poised for fibery pleasures. It was like burying a beloved pet. The container they all went into was one of those giant plastic bins; it almost looked like a coffin. I counted and cataloged them, photographed them all. Goodbye my little friends, time to sleep, all of you. I'll be back when my shoulder is fixed. A big box of stored potential, stored dreams.

Now, after almost exactly one year, I pull out my spindles and knitting needles. My first touch of fiber was at SOAR. It was both joyful and sad. I lost skills. I didn’t think that could happen. I had been in a groove. Now I had holes in the corner of my first sock. How could I forget the secret magic to not having those holes? It took me so long to learn those things. How can I forget in only one year? It was crushing to realize I had lost my chops. I feel adrift in a world that was so familiar, like looking in through a window at something I can’t touch.

I have to admit that it was difficult to leave fiber alone at first. I went through my fiber bins, both yarn and fleece. I photographed them all. I weighted them. I cataloged them in database after database. Now, if I want the green silk/merino handspun from MDS&W from 1997, I can just say to fiberguy to go to bin 6 in stack 2 and get the item in this photo; there should be 6.5 oz.
And those projects I so lovingly stored? The ones that held all that potential? Some are ashes in my mouth. A pair of gloves that I loved now are clearly the wrong yarn choice and will be remade properly. I am finishing up the tiny things and ripping out more. I want a fresh start. I lost a piece of luggage on the way to SOAR that contained my nearly finished Pie Are Square shawl in alpaca along with many other treasures. It detached me, somehow, from all the other projects. I loved that shawl. I invested hours into it. It was the perfect color/yarn and now, sadly, no longer sold. My favorite needles, too, all gone.

I know a year from now that lace will fly off my needles without thought and I will be back into the groove of knitting. Spinning will come first. But it seems like I lost a piece of myself when I lost the skills. Like forgetting how to talk English or how to walk. Some fundamental loss that was a surprise and rather deeply disturbing.

And I did gain something else during the time I was losing myself. I learn to bead more seriously. I applied myself. I went through hundreds of books. I learned project after project, technique after technique. I would practice until comfortable. I took them all to SOAR as gifts as if to say, ‘Here, this is my healing. This is what I learned. This is for you.’ Yet that, too, was lost in the same bag on the way to SOAR. All my splendid pretty things to give to those who inspire me and I treasure. I had my best efforts in there to payback special favors that meant a great deal to me (Deb M). Yet I went empty handed; felt ungiving. Somehow that seems tied to losing myself too.

So now, I have projects that are ashes in my mouth, diminished fiber skills, an empty feeling of loss. It feels hard to get over this hump with no fiber to make me whole. When knitting helps you heal from loss, where does one turn when knitting IS the loss?

Awesome Gifts

2008-03-08T03:29:00.005-07:00

6 weeks of flu left me weak and wobbly, but I do have energy enough to read. And just in time, some wonderful books have come into my life.

First from a friend:

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Ethnic Knitting Discovery and I love it. But I was surprised and delighted by the Priscilla Gibson-Roberts updates. I think that Knitting in the Old Way should be in every one’s library. And as a spindle spinner, I just loved Spinning in the Old Way. It was a thoughtful gift and I just love them.

The paperback of Victorian Lace Today came out finally and I am flipping through that too. I missed getting the hardback and then saw everyone’s nice projects and, well, was jealous. I wanted some nice lace too. The reprint is reasonably priced and fits perfectly on my shelf – two reasons why I didn’t select the hardback.

And lastly, out of the blue, a new and wonderful friend from SOAR sent me the best gift ever:

Isn’t it splendid? Oh, and it just sparkles in real life. The back is great too. I was mesmerized by this band. It is so precious that I am a bit afraid to use it. But it is so great that I will buck up. I feel like I have some museum quality piece in my hands and it was just a total surprise. Thank you so much, John Malarky.

Fiberguy has been busy too. Just look at these socks:

Gentleman’s Fancy Sock by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks in Araucania Ranco

He is on his third pair of socks now and the first written pattern. There are some mistakes, but he has chosen to leave them in as part of the learning experience. He is working on them concurrently so no second sock syndrome for that boy.

I have much more knitting that I've been working on, but I will save that for some photos. I can write, but I can't take many pictures yet, still too tired. Now I think I will go nap.

SOTSII clue 3

2008-02-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

I am still battling a bad flu and seem to be getting nothing done at all. While my head is too fuzzy to do anything, I find comfort in some types of knitting. I need 'stupid' knitting, mindless and fast. But there is one exception. I seem to be be doing ok on this project that would appear to be complex but is easy to read. The chart of SOTSII works up fast and is pleasant. I do count out all the spaces every row and write the numbers down before I begin - I am not crazy. But other than that, it feels like speed reading. It goes from my eyes to my fingers without stopping at my brain. That's good because my brain would just muck things up right now. I am not crazy though; that is a lifeline. I usually fly without them but I expect massive stupidity here and am putting in one about every 1/2 chart. Whew, this was enough for me -- back to my hot tea and lemon.

Stepping it up

2008-02-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Way to go Dover. You have always had some amazing titles at great prices. It is nice to fill in my library for books that were lent and never returned and I picked them up at less than $10 each. I have seen them on ebay for over a hundred. Happy girl to have some old favorites back home with me.

Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila McGregor
Fair Isle Knitting by Sarah Don

In addition, the new Drops designs are up. Boy, they are just steppin’ it up too, aren’t they? Lots and lots of great designs. Current stuff, lace, even Norwegian. Be prepared to lose a lot of time on this site if you haven’t been there before.

Blog-a-rific nominations

2008-02-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

I got a big double nomination from some of my buddies, so it gave me impetus to make my own list.

I have a long bloglines list, I will admit. I go through days when I can’t spin or knit and it kinda keeps me sane to read about all of you out there doing it. If you are writing regularly, I probably subscribe. For me, there are some blogs that are critical for my brain and they certainly MAKE MY DAY. In no particular order then:

Habetrot - It isn't just that she puts up tons of fiber-related photos. That would be enough, mind you. But the extreme quality of the finds, along with the witty commentary just puts her in the 'must see' list for me.

Yarn Harlot - ok, I am a groupie too, how could I not be? She reaches right through that screen and makes me knit things. She turns massive frustrations into humor and makes me laugh at myself and all the rest of the fiber world. What an amazing ability to see and to show us all. Thank you for sharing so much for so long.

Getting Stitched on the Farm - I first went to this site because I was most influenced by Kristin Nicholas designs from so many publications. But I got drawn in to the workings at the farm. Who doesn't want to look at all those great sheep? It is like a sheep soap opera, you just want to know what happens next.

The Independent Stitch - I have been a Deb fan from back at the CompuServe days. Her books are well thought out, aren't they? And I do so miss the editorial page from Spin-off. High fibery goodness here.

Enchanting Juno - Well, this woman is just a goddess, isn't she? Lovely, smart, very nice in person. I read every word she puts out. She has a brain in her head.

Knitting in Color - great patterns, nice technical two-color knitting, and another local.

Evilsciencechick - strange and funny. She should be writing for TV.

Maia Spins - great techniques from a very clever mind. And we know a lot of the same people. I wish she would show up at SOAR - perfect fit. Shouldnt' she be in the Swill group with the rest of us?

Carol's Blog - this one regularly makes me smile. And I get to hear about the other side of the pond. Both delightful people and wonderful photos.

Woven Thoughts - this is the most colorful, interesting place to explore. The tenacity to tackle those mammoth projects, finish them and with such style and especially grace. Whew, my head spins here.

Other category:
Cool Tools - I don't buy them; I just want to see what's new out there.
Stephen Fry - his charm comes through on posts dripping with wit.
Engadget - I can easily read a couple of hundred posts at a sitting.

Bloggers you wish posted more:
Nona Knits and Nona Swatches - The swatch portion might just be the most mesmerizing thing on the web for me. When she was posting every day, I would rush to the computer.

The Walker Treasury Project - my stitch addiction becomes clear when you go back and read all the posts. I can't get enough but again, there are no recent posts.

Beebonnet Report - Don'tcha just wish she would give us a daily update, especially with fiber pictures? Love her stuff.

Now, I have to go and catch up with everyone’s blog, I am behind as it was a heavy knitting day.

Organization Rant

2008-02-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

Well here at Chez Fibergal knitting interest has never been higher. Unfortunately, my shoulder is still not working for a while so this afforded me the chance to do some auxiliary work on the knitting front – that bad word – Organize. Specifically, the Shetland fingering yarns got a full cataloging with weights, all label info, etc. All while fiberguy knitted socks.

Of all my yarns, the ones most precious to me are my Shetland Jumper weight yarns. Classes in the 90’s with Alice Starmore at the Tomato Factory got me started on my mania. I have used them for so many projects. Nothing is as comforting on the needles or in a sweater than Shetland yarn for me. Of course, I get lots of leftovers, especially from my own designs. Many projects, like tams, require just a few yards of each color. And frankly, a new project can be so expensive by kit that it will be out of my range. Cataloging allows me to see just which yarns I have and which I need for my next project. I am leaning towards an oldie but goodie, the Mara vest. It is a little garish, it comes with a good story, it is almost a mindless knit and very nice with denim. Either that or some strange design of my own. And yes, I do spin a ton of Shetland. But I save it all. I hope to have a library of about 20 colors in jumper weight, several pounds each, and then start designing for that yarn. So everything I do with commercial Shetland is like practice, right?

The thing that has me in a snarl after all that cataloging is brand. I used to love the Jamieson & Smith. Especially after I couldn’t get the Scottish Campion. Now that a lot of my favorite colors were discontinued, I am making the transition to Jamieson. A wonderful yarn, but strictly speaking, not quite compatible ypp-wise. And then there are all those color translations. Geez, just getting a database that worked was tough. On my color cards, I have Russet 297. On my skein, the same yarn is Russett (2 t’s) with number 124. Half my skeins that still had labels didn’t show up on any color cards, purchased at the same time as the yarn. Ok, trying not to freak out, I turned to the net to get translation charts. There were so many mistakes on those that it almost wasn’t worth it. And lots of labels that I held in my hand were missing from all charts. Now with the discontinued colors it gets a bit worse. Most stores I have spoken to have switched from J&S to Jamieson yarns, so I have to figure them into my translation table. What I really need is a master list that has the full list of manufacturer’s numbers and NAMES and equivalents in other brands. For instance, FC43 in J&S is sometimes called Corn, sometimes Honey Beige, sometimes Tan. Well, crap, no wonder I follow my own patterns and not other people’s. How the hell am I supposed to figure out what color they are talking about anyway????
Ok, getting a little worked up there. That is what spending the weekend typing and not knitting does for me. The reason for it all, the reward that awaits me is some creation that has 30 colors with incredibly subtle shifts and all in wonderful heathers with 9 colors in each yarn. That dream is what makes all this listmaking, the massive database, worthwhile. You know how I know this? I made color cards of my own, well, am making color cards. The incredible shifts of color are so tricky, yet our eyes can distinguish all the differences.

On other fronts, a delightful treat came in the mail today. Why had I not used this all my life? If you are a snipper or shaver, I can't recommend this enough. Get a sweater stone and you will be set for life.

Lastly, I am off on the EZ Feb baby sweater on two needles. I am using Jamieson and changed it to be in one piece with the sleeves done after (on holding strings now). Knitting with Shetland has me all mellow and happy. It is just so fun.

Variations - Photo Heavy

2008-01-28T04:35:00.000-07:00

I can always tell when a new Fair Isle is coming. The color fever takes over. First I grab an image and manipulate the colors in Photoshop.

Then, if I own the pattern, I bring the graph into Design-A-Knit and use a tool that randomizes your colors. You can save as you go and lock in some colors. Whew, it can get strange.

Swayed

2008-01-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

What is it about mystery Knit-A-Longs that makes them appealing. Really, other people are picking your projects for you. Yet, I was really sorry when I missed the Mystic Waters Shawl and even sorrier that I missed Secret of the Stole. I did the Mystery Stole 3 and, very sorry, but I hated the asymmetrical wing. Now that is ripped back to the middle and sitting on my mantle waiting for SOME second half inspiration.

But missing some sweet shawl KALs really rankles. So I signed up for two recently and have really lucked out on the first one so far. I am in Secret of the Stole II (SOTSII) and loving it. Clue One was an easy, one sitting, almost mindless, pleasant knit. I had been working with the yarn and needle combo recently so I did not swatch but dived right in. What fun. Knitpicks Shadow in Redwood Forest on sale and from stash, Options #4 needles and my cd case to contain the yarn. Happy knitter.

I also signed up for Mystic Light KAL which I believe is still open. It doesn't start for a while. Even if I work on it late, I will have the files this way.

Between the shawl KALs and Selbu stuff, I feel like I am knitting flotsam once again. I almost fear reading what other people are blogging lest I look down on my needles and see it there. I do have a brain in my head, you know. I just wish my hands and needles could figure that out too.

NM yummies

2008-01-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

I popped my shoulder, so had to set down the knitting needles for a couple of days. Instead I have been cooking and boy, howdy, have I found a doozie of a cookbook. I was dubious when I opened it, but got kinda caught up in the descriptions. Fiberguy had to leave town and so I tried a simple recipe thinking I could dump it if it was terrible without him being subjected to another strange kitchen nightmare. Welllll, it wasn't terrible. In fact it was yummy. Really yummy. So yummy, I drove down to the store to get ingredients for another recipe.

Who knew that you could bake with tofu and have the dish come out creamy, moist and totally yummy? I tried the blueberry muffins and boy are they good. I made the chocolate frosting and it has the creamy mouth feel of the most over the top buttercream frosting. The flavor was spot on. (see the picture on the cover?) The cupcakes are tomorrow since the frosting needed to be cooled in the fridge. Now I just want to make everything from this book.

Speaking of food, if you are in New Mexico or travelling to here soon, I just found the best site for restaurant reviews. Gil's Thrilling Web Site is not misnamed. I stopped by for a quick look and 4 hours later I was still reading. He writes very well and covers a lot of territory. It is not a blog, just a collection of reviews. On the weekend we choose one from the list and it was great. This is a place I drove past twice a week for years now. I never even considered going in and it may be the best place in town. Places I thought were pretty good got less than perfect reviews so I am dying to try what he thinks is better. Frankly we don't eat out much but now, we have a long list to try.

I also found a little treat for my feet. Aren't these nice? They mold to the foot and are so comfy. I started to knit socks right away to match. So much of a sock shows with these that they are perfect for a knitter. Love my new Mary Jane Crocs.

Knitting all over the map

2008-01-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

My new SNB group met on Tuesday and I started this sock. Finished Thursday. Boy are these fast and fun. Just a bit of left over dyed Top of the Lamb sport singles which will be hidden under the haze of the mohair after the first washing.

Fiberguy went too and worked on his sock. He has turned the corner and done with his decreases. He is fascinated and thrilled with the magic of heel turning. Ah, what a wise man.

My favorite IV nurse is leaving and I am thrilled for him and bummed for me. He was sure to be the most gentle of them all. So, I am thanking him the best way I can, with my needles. He gets a Marsan Watchcap. I added a stitches to make it 96 around since a lot of people mentioned it being a bit small. What do you give someone that never has to stick you more than once?

And lastly, I have been spinning the same old, same old. My light green blend of superwash merino. Do you think I will end up with two or ten sweater's worth of this stuff? I have 2 pounds spun of the dark green alone and it is only one of many colors. I was thinking a raglan tshirt in stranded knitting. Just how big do I think I am??? I did really get into the blending part and still have two partial mixes to go. It is fun, mindless spinning, a bit finer than DK, 3 ply, maybe a light sportweight. The socks of the same ilk have been into the washer and dryer a hundred times or so and still sweet. All the time I was carding, I kept thinking of my old Starmore yarns and the magical blends of so many colors.

You guys...

2008-01-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, the response to the Quilted Leaf socks has be tremendous. I got more blog hits in 24 hrs than in the last few months combined. And plenty of you signed up on Ravelry to queue them. Gee, thanks for the great support. And all the tons of email on these.

Well, like so many others, I have fallen down the Selbuvotter rabbit hole and have 3 projects going and two more in travel bags. These gloves are Jamieson's Spindrift in buttercup and spagnum. Though the pattern calls for bigger needles, I am using #1 US double pointed. I have whopping big hands, but these fit me fine until I got to the fingers. For reasons I just don't understand, my tension got much tighter on the fingers using the same yarn and needles. And I have large and really long fingers. After ripping, I just had to think looser and got the gauge I sought. Why did it never hit me before that I can make gloves to fit my long fingers? All my other gloves were all fingerless and I feel like such an idiot. I knit, why didn't I figure this out before? Fiberguy is having a great laugh at my expense over this...

Lastly, I did finish the socks to show my team spirit to no avail. We lost in spectacular fashion and there was just no talking about it in the house for a while. The socks are my own dyed sock yarn and some alpaca/wool fingering blend called Alpaca Lana. Hmmm. I got a big bag of 10 balls for $5 and just love it, but noname describes it well.

Oh, for those who questioned the Amazon list in the sidebar, I am afraid it is staying for a while at least. It is for the SOAR fund for both of us. Travel and swill add right up. If you need to order from Amazon, think of us and click through. Don't worry, I will never bring this up again.

Another holiday gift for you - adjustable width socks

2007-12-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

You will find these in my sidebar as Quilted Leaf Socks.

You can adjust the sock's width by adding more or less stitches in the ribbed sections between the lace patterns. Visually, we don't usually notice whether a rib is one or two stitches wide. It is easy to stuff a few more in or just go down to one stitch each. Yet, since these are done in light worsted weight, those stitches can add up to a better fit. Download the pattern and see for yourself.

Enjoy your holiday present from all of us at fiberhouse.

And for those of you who are counting, fiberguy's socks are done and drying - more on them tomorrow.

Electric Ball Winder Repair Tutorial

2007-12-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Warning - this is a photo heavy tutorial on how to fix your broken electric ball winder.

Have one of these? Does it perform poorly or not at all? Chances are very good that the fix is simple. The original drive bands tend to crack, stretch, fall off or just not have enough power.

OK, we will take it apart and fix this sucker. It is fast and easy. You will need some stretchy drive band [I got mine from Babe's Fiber Garden], a phillips head and flat head screwdriver, flame and scissors.

Lay your UNPLUGGED baby down on its side. [Note, I am wearing gloves only because I have a boo-boo. Also note that I keep my extra fuse taped to the top of my winder above the switch.]

Unscrew and remove the white cone.

Remove the clip with the tip of your flathead. Lift off the black geared unit from the shaft.

Remove the 4 corner screws but NOT the flat screw near the power cable.

Lift off the top gently. It will remain attached inside by 4 wires on clips. If these become detached during the fix, simply re-insert them onto the clips before you end.

Ah, here is the problem. The belt has slipped the track and is cracked at the join.

Cut a length of stretchy drive band just a tiny bit smaller than the current one. Heat both ends in a flame and press together until firmly attached. It pays to practice this move ahead of time with a small scrap of band. When you finally get a join that you like, trim it down with scissors or an exacto-type knife. I snip with scissors and gently reheat, then roll with gloved fingers. It doesn't have to be perfect, just not lumpy enough to jump the track.

I stretched it a little to get it back in the track.

OK, let's put this baby back together. Check your wire clips and put your cover back on. Screw in place. Now, on the bottom of the black plastic geared part, there is a tongue sticking out. As you slide it down onto the shaft, line the tongue up with the slot until it is fully seated.

Your teeth will engage the black center shaft. Make sure it is all the way down and then put in the clip with the tip of the screwdriver. Go ahead, give it a good shove.

Say, while you are down there, make sure you tighten this nut a bit to save you some trouble later. Put on the white cone hat and you are ready to go.

Now my electric ball winder ZOOMS. It was easy.

I thought it was the gears from the grinding I heard, but no, it was just the belt. The drive bands from Babe's Fiber Garden (of the PVC spinning wheel fame) were exactly the right size for this -- perfect fit. It took a week to get the drive band, and 5 minutes to fix. Man, I have been winding like mad since. Alpaca cloud, 440 yds, in less than 1.5 minutes with no touching. Oh, and while I was monkeying around, I did open the metal loop guide closest to the white cone. That way I can easy thread it instead of trying to get a thread in the hole - I just loop it.

I have to tell you, I hated this winder when I got it. It cost a fortune and had no power. I have bad hands and needed help winding. I wanted a working tool. Now I have something I am quite happy with and it really saves wear and tear on my hands, so I have more knitting, less winding. It does help to have organized skeins. I had to rewind one that had become slightly fulled during the dye process. So if you were wondering if you wanted to add this to your wish list, I recommend it highly. In fact, keep your eyes open on the auctions. I always see non-working models go for a song. I just bet that it is only the drive band holding these back. Now you, too, can fix it.

Holiday gifts for all my buddies

2007-12-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

You know what? Mohair is hard to photograph. You know what else? These socks take about 6 hours for a pair by a moderate knitter. There is still time. You know what else? They are free. Here are my Superfast Socks.

First sock and no direction

2007-12-21T00:41:00.000-07:00

What we have here is a first sock. Complete by fiberguy, toes and heels grafted. Second sock is up to row three to avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome. I am really proud of him.

I only wish I was doing that well. I have ripped out my shawl three times. Apparently I can't count OR read directions. I don't follow patterns often, usually glancing at them and use them as a general guideline. So when I actually try to follow directions, I can't seem to get it right. On page 111 of Knitting Around, I am told to cast on 20 and knit two rows (one ridge). Ok, got that. Then place markers at 2 and 19. Good so far. That would mean I have 18 sts between the markers, right -- or am I reading that wrong? Anyway, I YO on each side of the marked stitch every other row until I get 3 ridges, then YO, knit 1 across between the markers. It should be 18 + 2 + 2 (for each of the right side increase rows)=22 *2 (for each yo) = 44 between the markers. Ok, really off at this point. The pattern calls for 16 sts, increasing to 32. It only gets worse the further I go.

Now I don't really care about the garment as I am sure mine will turn out swell and be warm and wearable. But, clearly, I need help reading directions. I seem to be screwing up royally and just can't figure out where. I think I don't understand HOW to read directions anymore. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Or maybe it is just a match for me with these particular directions. Did any of you read this and get it right? Not the garment, but the count? Even if I moved the markers to 2 stitches in from the edge on each side, it would give me 16 for the first ridge, but 2 more on each of the next two ridges.

Brain bad. Brain no work.

At least my fingers know what to do. I needed Steeler socks BAD. So my perfect gold and some new black went into a toe-up mucking about with peerie patterns. This is not blocked at all. I just noodled around until it was long enough. I don't know if I will do the second one the same. It made me realize that no where in my stitch libraries do I have anything organized by stitch count. Most have row count. If you wanted to search for all the peerie patterns you have that would fit into 64, 32, 16, 8, 4 or 2, how would you search except to flip through. I don't think I know of any site that organized this way either. I know that I can look at Knitting Fool to get stitch counts for some lace and textured patterns. But is there a book out there that would give me a chapter of say 16 stitch repeat colorwork?

[Washed out color on my first sock.]

What was I thinking?

2007-12-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

Complete denial. It will fit. Really. My heel is this pointy.

Thank goodness somebody's sock is going well. Fiberguy's blasting through his first pair of socks. He did the whole foot portion in one go. Afterthought heels are coming along well. Decreases, both left and right are all in line. I made a pair of socks out of the same yarn for him and frankly, it took longer. He is driven.

My birthday shawl has begun. The yarn is yummy baby alpaca and it was soothing during recent treatments. Nothing like 4 tries with an IV to make you grab your shawl. [Special note to Denny - I couldn't have done this last treatment without YOUR wonderful shawl. Thanks for wrapping me in love.] I think I will do the old fashioned all garter and not add lace. Sometimes garter is great.

Meanwhile, I had a ravelry thread going on what can you do with one ounce of really fine stuff? My answer for this one skein was the old feather and fan. I have only 1/2 oz but it was 290 yds. So that makes 9280 ypp, right? It was a lovely sample given to me by Rita Buchanan ages ago. Silk, cashmere, merino in Rose Quartz form Lambspun. Don't they have nice processing? It took two partial evenings to spin and will be much longer to knit. But the longer it gets, the more I want to keep it instead of my original idea of giving it away. Does that make me greedy? It is so soft and shiny and lovely and simple. And yes, my ballwinder for this project is electrical conduit. I cut a gazillion of these for a class I was teaching and they are so handy to have around. I prefer a pipe cutter instead of a saw since my edges remain nice and clean. Cheap smooth tools and soft shiny yarn. Can you tell I am having fun?

Any other suggestions for only an oz of fine stuff, usually laceweight or finer are gladly considered. I wind up with a lot of single oz skeins and am getting tired of multicolored lace shawls. I wish we could search on Ravelry by weight of finished item.

Birthday knitting and dye question

2007-12-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

This year I am giving myself a birthday gift. A Pie Are Square shawl from Knitting Around by Elizabeth Zimmermann. And since I am Always Cold, I am doing it in Moss Heather Alpaca Cloud from Knitpicks. And for that extra luxury and warmth, I am double stranding it. Even though my birthday is only weeks away, I will be knitting it for a long time and in my favorite color. Just the joy of that soft yarn running through my hands for some time to come is a great gift indeed. I feel so spoiled.

In addition, since there are always multiple projects going on here, we have some Steeler socks for a little extra support for the Black and Gold. I am woefully low in Steeler footwear, but alas, these are for fiberguy. Two mosaics with some strange bits between in a handspun sockweight superwash Merino from the Black Lamb. Very thick. My own Steeler socks come next and I am spinning the gold right now.

My current socks are green and just noodling around with a travelling rib. We dyed this last spring.

And last, for all you dyers out there, a conundrum. I have this color, which I don’t like.

It is DK weight, cabled wool yarn. I would love to hear from anyone, or everyone, about how to overdye this. I mean, what color to use. I know I can go navy, or black. But any other colors you suggest could really help me. I have a couple of pounds of it for a sweater and I just don’t think I can live through the experience in a color I hate, even with a yarn I love. I favor greens but this has a serious teal going on. Anyone ever overdye this color before? As it is winter and I dye outside, I really don’t want to be out there freezing doing dye sampling, so I am trying to save some steps and ask for help. For once.

Fiberguy’s First

2007-12-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

The magic of first knitting.
Buffalo Gals Yarn, garter ridge earwarmer, #10 needles.

This wonder taught him at SOAR.

For his next project, he selected socks, on a set of 5 #4 needles. First purling, first circular knitting, first time switching the yarn from front to back for the ribbing. It was going ok, lots of three stitches forward and two back for about 5 rounds. Counting to 4 was sometimes difficult.

We went over how to see the mistakes before I would fix anything, so he could ‘read’ his knitting. Then he had to fly out of town for work. He was obsessed with the knitting at that point. He took it with him and just had to figure out how to get around the circle without help. This is what he brought home!

Sure, there were a few mistakes early on, but he doesn’t seem to mind and left them be. He is not afraid to rip and has taken out 3 or 4 inches at a time – just pulls the needles out – fearless. Soon, about 5 rows from now we will deal with a heel.

Seasonal knitting

2007-12-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

Is it the season or the deadlines that cause us such a frenzy right now? I bypassed knitting pandemonium this year for health issues yet I am still knitting at breakneck speed, for me at least. This made me ponder about prior years. I tend to take up the needles in a big way each October. I turn out more finished objects during this period than any other, finishing UFOs collected all year long. Not knitting for the holidays has really made me productive.

In reading my old records, I realize, on average, that I can turn out a worsted or sport sweater in the same amount of time as a complex pair of fine socks. That startled me. Shawls equal ½ to 1 sock. Yet, I always have at least 5 pairs running at a time. I think I need to move onto something other than socks. As nice a package as they are for doctor’s offices or other long waits, I could be doing something more. I only own one pair of store bought socks. Fiberguy isn’t much different. He keeps finding socks that were hidden in a corner of the drawer that he hasn’t seen for quite a while.

Yet, we are still obsessed by them. We dye the yarn and ponder over patterns.

When I finally do other patterns, I am always startled by how fast it can go. I must have read and admired the pattern a hundred times for Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark from Fall 2004 of Interweave Knits. Yet, it took three evenings to knit it and I am slooow. That means that I should just cast on when I see one I like. What is the worst that can happen? I often use handspun, so yarn cost is not always a factor. I actually spent more time looking at that darn pattern than knitting it. The lesson? Cast on early and often.

Cotton crop is IN

2007-10-23T01:16:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note for those interested in cotton. My crop is in and blogged at Cotton Crop.

SOAR - workshop review and town crier

2007-10-22T16:38:00.000-06:00

So why is it that there are no famous spinners in Wikipedia? Shouldn’t Judith MacKenzie McCuin have her page? And Rita Buchanan? There are no wheel makers there either. No Alden Amos, no Ashford, no Lendrum. These are the people that influence our lives, yet knowledge of them can be lost so quickly. Deb Menz and color should be listed, surely. The thing is, as fiberists are we too silent? If we are not telling the world about these people and just why they are so amazing, will they be forgotten? I think that not mentioning them devalues us, what we do. Now I hardly advocate collaring some stranger and telling them all the details of a beginning spinning class you took 9 years ago. But if we all just added a paragraph, a phrase about some Ah-Ha moment that really moved you, perhaps the perception of spinning and other fiber arts would change for the positive.

I will start myself, right here, right now. While in Margaret Stove’s Spinning for Lace class, she showed us a trick that was worth the whole price of SOAR. We grasped a lock and wiggled our fingers. Our fingers always ‘walked’ to the tip of the lock. Of course, it is due to the scales on the wool. Now this trick was so great that not only did we play with this during class, but several ran to the market to test other animal fleeces. Go try it right now for yourself.

Now, armed with this knowledge, don’t you think there is great value in lock by lock processing and spinning? Just think of the smooth yarns you can achieve for lace. It made me want to go out and take every class she teaches and reread all her books and articles. Because if this gem was in there and I missed it, what else have I missed? Margaret Stove changed my spinning life forever and I only took a 3 hour class. What about all the teachers you have known for years? Go, write it down. Blog it, wiki it, get it out there. Not their class content since we want them to continue to teach, but how they affected you and why. How has a spinning teacher changed your life?

And for those of you that haven’t seen enough of SOAR yet, we have pics from Judith’s class and the Wednesday review. Don’t you just want to dive into all that yummy fleece? Sorry if your class got left out; Fiberguy had the camera and was so busy looking at the wonderful results that he forgot to take photos.

Judith's Primitive Breeds class.

Class is over but the teaching continues.

There were just the most amazing samples from the classes. Margaret's lace shawl and Sharon Costello's Felted Animals class.

This is Abby, roping some strangers (golfers) into the magic of spinning for the first time.

SOAR - The Painted Skein with Janel Laidman

2007-10-21T22:51:00.000-06:00

I just loved my workshop class with Janel. I had read the cover article on striping and understood the words but didn't have a feeling for the project going into the class. I knew I did like to play with color and there would be great fibers. But this class hit me like a brick. Wow, did I have fun. And now when I read the article, it really makes more sense to me. The essence of the class was that you can control your own striping withing your yarn by selection from painted roving. In our first sample we spun a roving and plied it as a single unit (A). In the second section (B) we tore the roving in half then spun and plied it so my example goes yellow to red, red to yellow (C). I won't go through the whole class, but you can see from the samples that we were really getting some serious and interesting striping. And face it, any class where you can come out saying 'Undulating Palindrome Fractal Stripe' just adds to your geek level, doesn't it?

Needless to say, our class ran to the market to gather up all the linear and palindrome striped rovings we could find and I will bet there is a lot of dyeing going on around the country this weekend.

I am sorry to say that I don't have a good photo, but we were lucky in class to have the scholarship recipient Emily Goodling. Keep your eyes on this one, I tell you. She was 15 and spun circles around us all and wore the most amazing items, all hand crafted. She was sweet and modest and I am delighted to see such talent at SOAR - great choice by the scholarship committee on that one.

SOAR part two

2007-10-20T03:44:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't made it to the fibery goodness that were the SOAR classes and I promise that real content will appear soon. However, as we are learning, inside and out of class we are constantly surrounded by what you see here - smiling people. I don't think I have ever been to a place with so much laughter for an entire intense week.

I would like to point out Charlene's lovely tie-dyed top. When she isn't knitting the most fantastic items, she is wearing others. You can see some of her lovely beadwork, well, everywhere. You can even make it.

This is Mary. Seems harmless right? She has a razor sharp whit and will have you helplessly laughing in very little time. Always make room at the meal table for her - your loss if you don't.

I met Beth through Ravelry then face to face in my first 5 minutes there. Click and see her lovely shawl.

Look, the lovely Anne with actual fiber content. She was rarely seen without her spindles all week. Yet, she manned the staff table and still took care of everyone with that same big wonderful smile.

Yet more hand gestures from Abby & Shelia.

Wonderful Rita prepares for the retreat sign ups. I totally missed taking a photo of her shawl in the gallery. It was, as always, astounding. You can find a pic on Knitters Review.

There were serious moments - a meeting of mentors & workshop review. Even here there are smiles.

But these expressions are a more common site. John inspired us all the first day with his woven bands and we all had to go to the inkle class from Sara Lamb to see if we could make the round bands. One started it and it just spread through the classes like mad. And all week he wore this band. Man, I just wanted to swap brains there for a while.

Jeannine is my longest SOAR buddy and I look forward to this expression every year.

We suspect this might be Kim, but laughter has obscured their identity.

Fibergal's SOAR part 1

2007-10-18T23:54:00.000-06:00

This year was so good; I have to break up the telling. Here was the beginning of the week for me.

It wasn’t the first time that I met someone and knew in that instant that my life would be changed forever. My first words to Abby shyly standing in the wallflower position in the back of the room were “Come over here and sit with us. Welcome to the Vortex”. Little did I know it would be us sucked into the maelstrom of laughter and fiber. Abby’s roommate was so very fortuitously the magnificent Denny, hereafter known as “I’M”. You see, you have to be careful what you wish for at SOAR. A few years ago, a friend sat with us knitting lace out loud from Nancy Bush’s class. She kept repeating K K YO and it has been her name since. I have met total strangers that never met her refer to her thusly. Names stick. So when Denny requested a name badge that said “I’m Denny, who the hell are you?”, you could see where this was heading. She is now and forever I’M in our book.

Wow, not only was this the funniest pair I have ever met, but they were both scholarship recipients and well deserved. Funny and fiber-filled – what more could you want. The parts I liked the best came about 2 am (didn’t anyone warn them about no sleeping at SOAR?) when after laughing wildly at something, we would be deep into a discussion of woolen vs. worsted, then back to peels of laughter. Wicked sharp, too funny for words and the biggest hearts in the world. Oh, we absolutely just loved them.

Particularly note the hand gestures.

Yet, dammit, the Northern contingent claimed our I’M when they got there mid-week. Apparently they were afraid she might be shy or something. As if. They stole her away but not before an astonishingly generous and moving gift. Yes, I’M gave me one of her very meaningful shawls, and my favorite one too. It is not my tale to tell, but I will show the photos. I was so moved, am so moved, I can’t even write about it without a tear. So instead, I will leave you with some laughs. It is a rare moment when you meet someone that has such an affect and we lucked out and got doubles.

To those wise fellows from the North – we want her back next year. And Abby, you know you just can’t miss this event. EVER.

This must have been a custody discussion.

I am not sure I can identify these gestures. Anyone?

I'M is training for retreat signups while the wise Jeannine observes.

This was the most common site of the week.

Now Denny, try to get happy, ok?

Fiberguy's SOAR

2007-10-18T13:23:00.000-06:00

The unsuspecting SOAR attendee will do will to identify this man. He is a master of the long-arm self-inclusive picture and will get everyone he can in this position.

He can also be observed by other photographers. Notice in this sequence how he changes shoulders magically.

You can detect him by the expressions on the faces closest to him.

Vendors, Interweave Staff, Mentors - none were safe

With Morgaine above he is pointing out the fiber goddess of swill which he was awarded by our good friend Jeane.

He was with people we know well and people I never met.

'Say, whatcha got in those two glasses???'

He could be seen flitting around from group to group, often accompanied by the deadly swill.

Table devastation occurs in his wake. The poor staff...

His most frequent expression:

Gratitude and SOAR

2007-10-17T22:06:00.000-06:00

My photos are still on their way to me from SOAR, but that is ok since I have a tale to tell. I could tell you that SOAR is a state of mind, or an imaginary voyage, or a secret treasure in my heart that fuels me. All would be true, but quite a bit sappier than I am comfortable with. I will tell you that it is a place where we can walk among giants and often encounter a gracious giving of knowledge. But back to my tale.

I am grateful, so very grateful for the chance I got to go to SOAR. One example of generosity just typifies the spirit of the gathering. My friend and I had been shopping and got an extremely expensive little bit of fiber. It was in a slippy bag and she was also holding a bag with two firm weaving battens, kind of confusing to the underarm grip. When we discovered the small precious bag was missing we hunted high and low. We asked staff and vendors and anyone we could find. Well, we had come to the last little part of the search where hope was rapidly diminishing and next up was, well, not despair but extreme bumming. I was putting the final pin in the notice board telling of the sad tale when I hear a yelp behind me and much jumping for joy. The fine SueF had just approached the staff table and asked if someone was just there in tears. She had been driving along, spotted the bag in the lot and recognized it right away. She pulled over, parked illegally, and missed a spa appointment just to bring the bag in. What an intensely kind gesture. See, THIS is the spirit of SOAR. People with hearts wide open that make you better people just being around them. Oh, yeah, and there is fiber and learning too. One last thing and it just brings tears to my eyes. The wonderful vendor, Toni Neil of the Fold, was willing to take a hit herself and give back what was lost. This is why I always make Toni’s booth my first and primary stop and this is why I always will. Doesn’t it make you want to support your vendors at SOAR?

Gratitude. I am very thankful for the wonderful people, the wonderful vendors, and the wonderful mentors. I am especially grateful to Linda Ligon, Marilyn Murphy, my friend Anne and all the wonderful Interweave staff. Without their efforts over many years, we wouldn’t have this great resource. Thank you all so much.

Now how could I have shown all that in a photo?

Bandwagon socks

2007-08-15T16:14:00.000-06:00

The Bandwagon sock pattern is done and I have the go ahead from various contributors to post it here. Remember that NONE of my pattern is original except the selection of colors and techniques used.

Which brings up the idea of 'What is Original'? I see a ton of patterns out there that just grab a Barbara Walker pattern and stuff it in a sock format and call it their own. Is that original? Designing a new toe shaping or heel shaping, to me that is original new stuff. But matching from column a and column b is not so original. Am I wrong in thinking that? I have the Treasury patterns too and can combine them myself.

For that matter, does recharting the Treasury patterns to be used circularly make them original? Apparently I am not the only one thinking about this as we start seeing them everywhere. Barbara Walker tells us herself that she collected them from various sources. Yet they are her collections, not ours to change.

My opinion is that everyone should own, or at least get from the library, Barbara Walker Treasury books and any other stitch collections that they can get their hands on. We are knitters, these are our tools. If we were painters, our colors would be our tools. We get color + dimension or stitches. Get them, own them, read them, use them.

But in every pattern published in a magazine that uses the Walker patterns, they make charts for your use. If they are gracious, they site the reference; most do not. Just so, I present this file. It is the lace pattern used in my sock, formatted to use with my Palm PDA and Documents to Go. It is in excel format, so you can use it on the computer too. I use the first column to either track repeats or just to let myself know which row I am on by changing 0's to 1's and back again. It is the matching file to the Bandwagon Socks Pattern.

Alden & Stephenie, Shetland and MS3

2007-08-06T13:02:00.000-06:00

Have you ever used one of these?

Knitting Belt and needles, also called whisk, whisker and other names I have forgotten.

I like mine but could use it more. The long needles are harder to find than the belt. I see from other sites that there is a controversy about how many needles to use. I like 4, three to hold the sweater and one to knit around. The comments on other sites are heated, so I will leave that search to you all. But I do invite comments – how many needles do you use? In a dream world, I would find those nice, slightly bendy 18” steel needles that are not rusted. But Inox is also nice.

And as long as we are in Shetland knitting land, I have to mention this amazing photo tour of Purlwise’s trip to the land of wool. Her blog is splendid and this photo tour just can’t be beat.

Oh, and one last visit on today's Shetland tour.

It is the damn MS3 that has me blogging slowly these days. I just started a week ago and am so far behind. I blasted through clues one and two and am on three now, but quite shy about admitting to being two clues behind – well three today. Liking it though. Most of my spinning is lace weight when I am not paying attention or spinning for pure joy. Perhaps this is just the push I needed to return to lace. I really would hate to show a photo of the bins (yes, multiple bins) of laceweight. I swear that I could knit a shawl that could cover the house easily. It is a small house, but still…

I am using the steel sheet from my local lumber supply chain, along with super magnets and flat magnet strips as row holders. That way, not cat tail or clumsy human can disrupt pattern continuity. The yarn returns to a cage (dvd spindle) when not in use and stays nice and clean.

Meanwhile, for those who have expressed interest, I am putting the final touches on the socks with all the popular techniques built in. Henceforth called Bandwagon socks, for joining all those bandwagons on my favorite sites. They should be up very soon – just waiting for a sunny day to take the final photos.

Still recovering after last weekend’s workshop. Alden Amos and Stephenie Gaustad doing fiber prep. Extensive, wonderful, exhaustive and exhausting. Just wanted to sit at the feet of the masters and soak it all in. Ooh and we got to play with all those fancy tools. [Ropemaking, combing, wheels, ooh what fun!]

Knitting as music recorder

2007-07-24T17:13:00.001-06:00

You’ve seen those old wax cylinders, I guess they are the old Edison records, right? Those amazingly fragile tubes that somehow captured the sound? I never understood the mechanism that made them. Yet, I cannot help but think of them when I knit at a concert. Isn’t my tube, my sock, in this case, a recorder too? Every time I wear this sock, I will think of the concert and the magic of that night when I saw Dylan.

See that little section there – can’t you here the “Just Like a Woman”?

It wasn’t my first Dylan concert, but it was especially juicy. About mid-way through, two owls, one after the other flew out from the band enclosure. The first was quite large and the crowd gasped and oohed. It seemed, I don’t know, significant, somehow.

And another luminary comes to our town this week. Alden Amos gives a workshop for my guild on fiber prep. Isn’t he the Dylan of our spinning generation? And yet, I get to be up close and personal with both Alden and Stephenie Gaustad. What a delight she is, and I just can’t wait to see them both.

That is Alden at SOAR 2006 with the World's Largest Flyer.

Is Pattern just a Tool?

2007-07-16T16:59:00.000-06:00

Is pattern just a tool, a delivery system tool? A tool to deliver color.

For me, it is the colors in Fair Isle sweaters that ring my bell. When I first noticed them, just like many, it was the eye-opening Starmore. I knew I was in trouble as I crossed the threshold [more ways than one] at the Tomato Factory in Lambertville, NJ. While selecting different colors for a pattern and I got the first three easy. Then I was up to 6 with no problem. But when I was up to my 19th color, I was a little flummoxed. Or do I mean entranced? The blends, oh, those blends….

So here I am, stuck in the back yard on my carder. I am fighting those raindrops over the last few days and I am trying to finish the orange blend. For the last set, I am hoping I have enough left over for an Alpaca Legs mix. I have some light cadmium red that would go great. Looks like matching socks to me.

Something about this mix is just taking forever to spin. It is so light. I spin and spin and spin and only have 3 bobbins. Plying takes a long time too. I get a huge bobbin of 3 ply sport – fingering weight yarn. All excited I weight several batches. How can all that yarn weigh just 5 oz? The merino is very light and spongy but tightly plied. Now I will have to pull out my yardage counter and see just how big this is.

Gee, the merino has been fun, even if it is a sinkhole of time. Gotta be just me, I think. Logy with the heat and humidity? Playing with 4-way blends reminds me of the nights when I used to sit down with some Jamieson & Smith heathers and try to figure the percentage by taking apart a 3 in piece of yarn. All could be lost with a quick pass of a cat’s tail. I was mesmerized by the colors and just wanted to get a blend that was similar. I hoped for the relative percentage and base colors. I didn’t chart them all, but I do have about 20 of them. Sometimes, in carding the leftover superwash, I unwittingly match a color on my color card that I have admired. I would have to dig in the garage to come up with my list of all of them now, but I do have a couple that I use regularly. Do you all have a favorite Shetland color blend? I mean can you pick one, just one on the charts?

Mind you, all this work, this hair-brained scheme, was due to my love of the yarn. So when I try to make a blend like it now, it is as an homage more than an exact copy. Kind of like listening to a song you used to listen to in your youth. A remembrance, a quote to a past joy. I love making my own blends too. You are looking at one now.

Which brings us right back to pattern as a delivery tool for color. Pattern soothes our eyes and brain. Fine pattern, like the dots on your TV can deliver data, images, movement. But on sweater scale, is pattern a delivery system for the joyful Shetland colors. Wasn’t your enchantment of Fair Isle sweaters due to the soft and gentle blending of a bazillion shades so close you have to really search for the transition? Would you like the sweaters as much if they were bright primary colors? Or rich and complex blends of two, three, four, five, maybe more colors.

So many places for your eyes to rest.

Get some colors at Elemental Affects.

How Geeky is that?

2007-07-13T15:37:00.000-06:00

This week when the waiting room attendant announced an hour delay, most people moaned. Being a knitter, I was delighted. I could put away my ‘stupid’ knitting and pull out a more complex project. [One should always carry at least two projects in case of delays.] I grabbed my lace, pulled out my Palm for my chart and started knitting away. At that point a woman across from me said to her husband, “How geeky is that?”. Wow, I was thrilled. Not only was she not commenting on my collection of projects, or the fact that I was knitting, but she was talking about my tools. I took it as a compliment, suspecting that is was Not how she meant the comment.

What geeky tools do you carry in your bag? I love the Palm for simple charts. I use Documents to Go and an Excel file so I can just mark off the rows. Usually, I leave a column in front of the directions to mark a number to show my place in the pattern. Sometimes it is 1’s and 0’s and others it is the actual repeat. It can work for charts or words. The biggest limitation is that it is best for smaller patterns, not something that is a 200 column lace, for example.

Find the chart here.

It always has a calculator and that is nice. And of course, I keep a database of my yarn needs and knitting needles. The Palm in my knitting bag is an older used one that I picked up for $5 on eBay, a Zire 31. It also has the ability to play mp3s, so I usually have a book on tape and some music in there too. Now, while this is older technology, it is geeky for knitting. Apparently.

When I got to the top of the sock, I had a mental block and couldn’t remember how to start the sewn bind-off. Wouldn’t the woman across from me be appalled to see that I was playing the video of Lucy Neatby’s sock techniques? I own the video, so I translated it to my phone. I never subscribe to any of my phone company’s music or video services – why bother. They aren’t ever going to have the things I want to carry around with me. Knitting videos are a nice reference to have with me at all times for little weight.

I have to admit, I purchase my technology with knitting in mind and often at a serious discount. The phone was a free upgrade with my plan. Palms are cheap if you don’t want all the newest features. Whether you use one in real life or not, it is nice to have one for knitting. So use old tech to be geeky in your craft. It makes life so easy. Doesn’t everyone do this?

Return of the Giant Rolags

2007-07-06T16:46:00.000-06:00

Fiber preparation, more so than spinning, is frequently done in a vacuum. Since we work by ourselves, odd habits can develop unchecked that you don’t even recognize until you do them in a group setting and get those curious looks from your fellow workers.

See how the firm cardboard tube helps me to clean almost all the fiber from the drum?

Case in point: When drawing off your batts, do you a) lay them flat and pull into strips, b) lay them flat and pull across to make rolags, c) make giant rolags ro d)Batts? I only use prepared fiber.

Be honest here, I am counting.

The next question is DOES IT MATTER? Does the final yarn differ with the three methods and is one somehow wrong. Remember that any prep coming from a carder is essentially woolen, not worsted. Are there differing degrees of woolen-ness?

I am of the giant rolag camp, but I have never seen anyone else do this. How crazy am I, or is it lazy? My yarn is nice and even and I like it so I will probably continue with this method. I do think that fiber might have something to do with your choice, particularly fiber length. But I am not sure why I think that, perhaps it is just an instinct.

I am using superwash merino for this, incredibly clean and easy to card even on my Mark V. The fiber is already prepared so I am just color blending for this batch. Vote below and tell me what you think.

Color is also a strange thing. I got several pounds of a rather ugly 50/50 mix of navy and medium orange. The bag just sat there taunting me. I couldn’t picture what to blend it with to make this nasty mix nice. Sample time. I pulled out my trusty box of mixables and tried a few. I mixed it with pale yellow & green (fiberguy’s choice), red and Steeler yellow (my choice). The final ratio was 1 hot red, 2 Steeler Yellow, 8 of the nasty 50/50 mix. Now I have bucketloads of this wonderful orange heather. Yummy.

Of course, that worked so well that I am wondering what other crappy mix of colors did I buy and what can I mix them with. No good blend goes unpunished.

Curves Ahead

2007-07-03T22:29:00.000-06:00

Do you brake during a curve or speed into a curve? Say when you are driving on an off-ramp. Physics and angular velocity/momentum tell us that we will have much better control of the vehicle if we speed up a hair during the curve – we will hug the road better. Knowing this and doing this are two different things, though, as I see many people brake at the peak of the curve.

Same thing goes for knitting. Do you pull an increase tight or ease up during your increase?

With Judy’s magic cast-on, I find something new is happening during my knitting.

I loosen up. And I speed up.

Now I’m a wicked loose knitter and often have to go down 2 sizes when working someone else’s pattern. Except when I do increases or decreases near the toe. So much is going on in these areas that to avoid gappy bits later, I knit my increases tightly. They remain tight on following rows which often causes a slight cursing as I hit that spot. Bring on Judy’s magic cast-on and, lo, my fingers go all soft and want to hit the increase easy and quick. Sweet. This makes those toes go so fast. I get a deep knitterly joy. No gaps. These toes make me happy.

So, are you putting on the knitting brakes during the curves or giving it a little gas?

Wagons Ho!

2007-06-30T14:06:00.000-06:00

Like many blogophiles I have hopped upon the bandwagon for my projects recently.

It started small. Dear Yarn Harlot’s obsessive love of the Tulip Baby Sweater started it. It wasn’t the first post, but the one in which she was uneasy about trading away her last girly kit that did it. I too, had to have one and was so pleased I did. Fast, wonderful yarn, and I want to do it again.

Then came the Heartbeat Sweater Kit with Yarn Place’s Vivace Bamboo yarn. Beyond yummy, this just pleases the eye and hands so much during knitting that I have to be careful or I will end up with a huge size, distracted by the fun of the yarn.

And more Jaywalker Socks.

But the newest sock jumps on three, well four bandwagons all in one. First, the yarn is the amazing Panda Wool and I admit that I want to go out and buy binloads of this stuff. It slips through the fingers with such sensual pleasure that it should be done behind closed doors. I was a little intimidated by making socks at such a fine gauge as I usually prefer thick ones. But this project is flying along and makes a soft and supple fabric. Inspiration came from Smoking Hot needles Lacy Zig Zag socks. She didn’t give full directions but gave a lot of hints; however I didn’t have the pattern calendar she referred to in her post. I rooted through Barbara Walker and came up with the very close Herringbone Lace. Oh, and they are toe-up using two more bandwagon links. Judy’s magic cast on (love it, love it, LOVE IT and have used it so much that I have a stack of 20 toes sitting on my knitting table). And Maia’s Toe-up Gusseted Heel Tutorial, unusual and so far, appears to be working. I admit here that being struck with something new that I was dubious, but found, as usual, that I was wrong. This is quite a good idea.

Anybody want the recipe for these baby’s when done?

I wish I could say that was all, but with 4 sweaters and about 20 socks going right now, it is enough. In spinning I have become obsessed with The Black Lamb’s superwash merino. Man, this is just so nice (and inexpensive). I have been blending it to mix colors and to mix fibers. Pink Alpaca legs and black superwash are very nice. I thought I wouldn’t like the texture, but it is spongy and superb. She runs actions at quite a good price and I just can’t recommend this fiber highly enough. Over 20 lbs live here with me and I am not sure it is enough yet. I may need more colors…

Bendigo Woollen Mills

2007-06-17T15:28:00.000-06:00

Having scouted around, I realize that a lot of US knitters don't know about this great resource. The biggest comment is that many wished Bendigo Woolen Mills have a website. They *have* had one for quite a while. Don't people ever search???

http://www.bendigowoollenmills.com.au/

Their yarns are wonderfully inexpensive and extremely nice quality. Cables really pop on the Colonial wool. It is made from Merino and Merino cross sheep and is a very stable cabled yarn. Shipping is cheap and really fast.

While sampling, do not be discouraged at the hand until you wash it. This yarn transforms more than most yarn I have ever used. It just stands right up and will wear like Iron but remain cable perfect - no floppy cables here.

This yarn was one of my inspirations to learn to spin. I wanted to make cabled yarn. And now every time I do, I think warmly of my wonderful projects knit with this yarn. Gee, I am gonna grab my needles right now and swatch.

Wooly Board

2007-06-14T16:25:00.001-06:00

My first use of the Wooly Board. This was a delightful find. A 'new in the box' Tomato Factory blocker sold during the Starmore era. I think that makes it a Jamieson & Smith, but I am not sure. I am just learning to use it. The unit folds to get the sweater on and the arms and sides are adjustable. The sweater is quite damp and floppy, but I measured it dry and tried it on the board beforehand. I will not be using it in the sun, it was just out here for photos. Anyone have one of these? What is the rectangular wooden bit for? I have it sitting on the dowel that holds it open, but I am guessing.

And why is it wooly board instead of woolly board?

And another visitor. This time it was on my keyboard. New Mexico has some largish spiders. This one is about 3 inches across toe to toe. It could be a grass spider or hobo. Big and hairy with large sex organs (those lumpy bits that look like fangs). I still fight to not yell and run away. Spiders are my friend, spiders are my friend. Yeah and if I say it another thousand times it may be true. Primal instinct makes me wanna scream like a little girl, of course.

Garden visitors

2007-05-21T01:40:00.000-06:00

Bull Snake

Nice colors, eh?

(my first video here - let me know if you can't see it)

And Mr. Turtle

Carnations coming up well. Gee, I wonder if they are a dyeplant...

Life gets in the way again

2007-05-09T16:15:00.000-06:00

Lest you think I have been cavalier about my blog, I wanted to let you know what’s been happening. I have hundreds of photos ready, but not much energy right now. The blendalong only needs a couple more words; all the charts and photos are ready, yet I won’t get it posted for a little while.

Ok, the immune treatments are rough. Much rougher than I expected.

You know you aren’t doing as well as expected when they start using phrases like ‘She’s a real trooper’ and ‘keep your chin up’. I do my part; I drink 120 oz water/day and have been working out my arms with weights and using lotion to soften my skin in prep for the 5 hours of IVIG drip and shot. But the side effects are scary, dangerous and painful; screaming headaches, vision changes, breathing problems, and the very real possibility of stroke. And for those out there getting IL2, as a knitter I strongly recommend getting it in the tummy – see that spare tire really is useful for something, right? Last one in my arm gave me days of burning and no knitting.

The worst is that I can only knit for about ½ of the treatment. It is mind numbingly boring while struggling against the effects. I really need the soothing qualities of knitting there. I have gone so far as to learn to translate dvds to my phone for distraction. Too bad I have no knitting videos.

I will be back in blogland regularly in about 6 months, but until then the reports from this end of the spinning/knitting etc. universe will be a bit spotty.

Visitor and Promises

2007-04-29T20:54:00.000-06:00

First our visitor. Anyone know what kind this is? Look at that fat body.

And the promises:

Promise of chili peppers

Promise of carnations and pinks

Promise of my favorite yellow roses

And in the back yarn, promises of bugs to fix. Quite a collection, isn't it? Green & red aphids, white fly, baby aphids and some other critter.

promises of sachets with jasmine(?) and lavender

Promises of cardinal climbers and so many hummingbirds that I won't be able to stand the noise

Promises of pens to come

Promises of socks

Promises of lace, corralled on a dvd spindle to control the silk

Knitter call to arms

2007-04-21T01:31:00.000-06:00

Color knitters of the world need to please read this post on an urgent situation with Shetland Yarn. Then email and write every knitter you know that has ever had the notion to knit with real Shetland yarn. Mostly, you need to write to Jamieson & Smith and let them know how you feel. This affects so many of the known Starmore designs as well as many others.

E-Mail sales@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk

Healing

2007-04-18T02:14:00.000-06:00

Respiratory systems and big toes suck! Spinning and knitting content return soon.

Trash to Treasure in spinning

2007-03-22T05:54:00.000-06:00

Aw, come on – we all have them. Admit it. You save them too. Those trashy bits of the most perfect fleece. “I’ll comb it”, yeah, right. Alpaca tui so soft, but the poor little thing was a roller, wasn’t he? And that Cormo with the bits of hay. You already made the sweater, shawl, socks, hat, gloves, etc. The fleece has already done its job in other projects.

Well, I get out what trash I can and then card them. This is a particularly free fiber. How could I spoil it? And Frugal Fibergal just can’t throw that stuff away. Obviously, this should be done just before you clean the dickens out of your carder to get out all the trash.

See the neps and vegetation?

But look at what it becomes.

I spin a fat singles, uneven due to the junk, and ply with something clingy and felting like Romney. I use a strong dose of vinegar in the rinse water to help break down the weeds and wash very vigorously. I am trying for a partially felted yarn. [Read as I beat the crap out of it.] By the time it is ready for knitting, I feel few chunks, though a couple fall out while I knit – leggings in this case. Then the whole thing goes for a round in the washer, or two. By now, I don’t feed any chunks or sticks, just the haze created by the baby alpaca standing straight out from the static electricity of washing. (Sometimes drying too.) See the haze?

Even as I photograph this on my arm, my first though is ‘I wish I could afford a sweater’s worth of this yarn’. And then it hits me. This is my leftover junk and I have a pile of it. No problem! Ooh, goody.

And on a separate note, the first flowers of spring in our yard. Even the weeds look good close up, don't they?

Oh, and one last thing. You all know by now that I am MAD about swatch sites. I just love them. In case you might have missed it, I direct you to The Walker Treasury Project. Boy, what is not to love on this site? It is elegant and simple. It has rules which make things easier. Every swatch I see both educates and inspires me. I often have a page or two of the Treasury books with me for any given project, so I really enjoy seeing these in color. Who wouldn't want their swatch to permanently represent a pattern here?

Got dye?

2007-03-20T15:56:00.000-06:00

I hate color.

Especially sock yarn.

It was a day of dyeing using other than my normal methods. First the finicky self patterning yarn. I found a yarn I liked and attached it to my warping board, wound off way too much yarn and set it up. Most people would be a bit more fussy at this stage, but I loosely piled, applied, squished and wrapped. Then steamed. I have not wound it off yet. Dye ended up almost perfectly aligned with my markers - isn't it amazing with my loose technique?

And I tried something I really don't recommend in any way from an old dye book. This was to sprinkle dye powder on wet fleece and massage it in. This is dangerous and I was fully protected. The results were pretty splendid though.

The Homing Instinct

2007-03-14T01:01:00.000-06:00

My wheel has made the journey back to its birth pond.

It had a minor part that needed attention and got a general tune up. It is sooo smooth now. The people at Schacht couldn’t have been nicer. And I almost fainted when Barry Schacht himself took us on a tour of the facilities. I hope he didn’t notice how I was just floating with a big stupid grin. Have you seen the beautiful new cherry looms?

The wheel is a very happy camper tonight. Me too.

We enjoyed Boulder. We saw mountains.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research and obligatory rock shots.

Pearl Street

On the way out of town we got to visit the best shop I have ever seen. Maggie Casey’s Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins. Wow. And Wow again. This is like 10,000 square feet of glorious fiber. Her sale area was bigger than most shops. Oooh and the goodies she had. We escaped with a little silk, some needles and a few old mags. I had a feverish yarn lust there. Did I mention how nice everyone was? It was so nurturing that someone there was just cutting into the steeks of a Dale 2002 sweater that she finished since the end of January.

She has a great new article in the coming Spin•Off about double drafting.

Last but not least, have you heard the news? Our dear Eunny Jang is the new editor of Interweave Knits! Check it out.

Rant removed

2007-03-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the vehemence of my comments yesterday. I have removed them. You all have such nice fluffy yarn and mine was thin and wimpy. I was simply jealous. Any problems I have with a yarn are really between myself and the dealer. Her colors are lovely and some of the patterns quite nice. I hope you weren't put off too much.

I leave you with signs of spring and a little BFL.

Knitting for Therapy

2007-03-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

That’s *FOR* therapy, not *AS* therapy. Know anyone with arthritis in the feet? Or just unusually cold feet. As knitters we can help that. As spinners we can really help.

This all started as a discussion with Judith McKenzie about Angora and its properties. She mentioned that it was used by hospitals in blankets for therapy. I investigated this and found she was correct, of course. But beside angora, what can we use for socks that will help? After some experiments, this is what I tried:

For non-spinners, try Knit Picks Andean Silk twist. With 55% Super Fine Alpaca, 23% Silk, 22% Merino Wool, it is warm and reflects heat a great deal. At $1.99/ball it's a great bargain (3balls minimum per pair). You must knit in some structure to hold them up for all that slinky goodness. I added ribbing starting mid-foot up to leave room for swollen tootsies. Knit on #3’s and using my standard 52 stitches (think deck of cards), afterthought heel with white woolly nylon. At the moment, this is so soft and warm that it is in the running for one of the top 3 socks I have ever made.

For spinners, try blends. I used alpaca leg wool mixed with a crappy but crimpy and felty brown unknown wool. Alpaca for softness and felty wool to hold slippery ends in a bit. My foot area is made from 2 plys of recycled cashmere (each two ply), 1 ply woolly nylon, 1 ply crappy brown. That makes it cling and reflect heat. It gives me a chance to use recycled cashmere leftovers in a machine washable sock. The alpaca legs just fuzz right out when washed – yummy and soft.

During the stormy times when joints move poorly, I try to stick to simple patterns for ease and distraction. At the end of the day, I have a new hat. (original pattern photo - Magknits Fake Isle).

So that got me thinking about favorite socks. What is YOUR favorite pair of socks ever? They can be handknit, handspun or store bought. Now, the hard part; tell me WHY it is your favorite. I think I would have to say my fav is a pair that has sat in my drawer for at least nine years. I loved them so much, I let them take up space just so I can remake them someday. They were combed grey Jacob and multicolor Kid Mohair spun into a 3-ply sport. Sadly, they shrunk more than I planned and blew out the heel/leg. I will honor their existence by remaking them.

Hot sauce is good for arthritis too. Fiery foods booty (and today's pretty apple).

Sock Bra?

2007-03-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Does this sock look like it has tits to you? Crapity, crap, crap, crap. Well, gee, I was just knitting along following an alteration to the Jaywalker. I did run into some problems with the numbers, but pulled out the calculator to fix that. What I didn’t watch was that she started the pattern upside-down. And didn’t mention that little issue. I should have known better and stuck with the original or my own brain, as usual.

So merrily I go, knitting around on my sock when these *Things* appear. Wouldn’t they be great on a sweater? Or on me, for example. Sadly, my sock is more well-endowed. Isn’t it the perfect Barbie-shaped little bra-lette that you ever saw?

This isn’t like one of those ‘finding a face in your grilled cheese’ types of things, is it? I was hoping for some lovely pointy bits at the top of the leg, but, alas, it will soon be doomed to rip-land.

Also, the new Magknits is up and lovely as usual.

Fiery Foods and Famous Fiber

2007-03-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

We have been out gallivanting around. Today’s fine treat was the Fiery Foods Fest in Albuquerque. Yummy treats. I guess we prepared enough for the show since only one sauce kicked my butt. I wish I had gone back to get some. I prefer the habanero and a slightly sweet, not bitter sauce. I found that delight in several things, which you may see tomorrow.

In addition, we are getting ready for the Fiber Arts Fiesta in May. We are lucky, lucky, lucky. Janel of the fabulous Chameleon Colorworks is coming. She just announced that she is a teacher this year at SOAR. And Jeane of the colorful Elemental Affects will be there too. She carries Judith MacKenzie's dyes and fibers. I get to work with Jeane and am so happy to play with all that great fiber. And look at those colors - whew!

We get to have the famous felter, Sharon Costello of Black Sheep Designs, the week before for some great felt workshops. Boy, those should fill up fast. Especially with a devil like this.

And, it must be a little miracle, but Alden Amos, yes, THAT Alden Amos is coming this year. It is like a freaking vortex of fibery goodness here in the southwest, 'cause it doesn’t get much better than this. Do ya think I might be spinning this year at all….

Look at the size of that flyer!

Blendalong - Ply Blends part 3 Chart

2007-02-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

I had the hardest time getting photos this time. We have been cloudy here and I just took a bunch to give you the best color representative. Send photo/color suggestions anytime.

I presented the weavette squares in a 4x4 grid with one missing square to show the color progressions. In my chart, I list colors by the first letter only:

B=black, W=White, P=Purple, G=Green

Thus we get a chart that gives us the list of each ply by letter in our square.

And our photos:

And here, I give you the colors together:

This is the grid in different light and gives the truest color.

Blendalong tangent & What's Wrong with My Sock?

2007-02-23T00:15:00.000-07:00

Damn it all to hell. I did a swatch like a good girl. I cast on and my ribbing seemed to make a tiny little circle. I searched the web extensively. Artyarns Supermerino – lovely soft yarn. Socks. Simple equation, right? One of my favorites was Grumperina’s Paula socks. She cast on 44 stitches on size 3. I used a 3 also, but went up to 56 stitches to account for fiberguy’s freakishly large instep. I even planned to pick up as many stitches as I could around the afterthought heel for more room, right? I get about 4 inches down the leg and think this is really loose fabric for a sock. Everyone else’s Supermerino seems thicker. Iris Schrier was doing Modular knitting on Knitty Gritty today and she used it. It looked thick on her size 8 needles. Mine looked thin on my 3’s. And Hell’s Bells, it was too small. Way too small. What could I be doing that is so far off? Even in Knitty, the Thuja socks call for 44 stitches on size 6 needles. Her gauge is 5.5 stitches/inch 9 rows/inch in stockinette stitch; mine was 6 stitches/inch, 8 rows/in in stockinette. And though mine was tighter, it still felt so loose that I could put my finger through it. I weighed the skein and it was correct. What the heck am I doing WRONG???

To fix it, I ripped back to above the heel and laddered to make 2x2 ribbing for the stretch. I will increase a few for the instep and take away later. I tried not to growl at the cat.

I had more success yesterday. My mosaic sock is done and I start sock two tomorrow. Notice the arch ribbing to increase fit? I used a new sock blocker that fiberguy is making for me and it gave me a lovely round toe. It wasn’t finished yet, so I had to put a plastic bag over it to block the sock – no one is anxious here…

And the ply blend samples are done and I am just trying to get a better photo of them. The colors are very hard for me to capture and I may ask you all for help with this bit later. A few interesting things have come out of the ply blends so far. Please note in the samples below that one forms little diamond shapes and the other forms a more straight grid. I have seen this phenomenon before while weaving, but now I see what causes it. If I used a 4-ply of different colors, a barber pole yarn, I got diamonds. If I used two 2-ply strands, I got straight lines. Check out the threads coming off the samples to see this. Isn’t that interesting?

The two 2-ply samples were all a bit thicker, not wider, but puffier.

Lastly, I will show you my ply box that my good friend Harvey made me years ago. It was based on a design in Spin•Off and I use it all the time. While sampling for the ply blends, at one time I had 16 bobbins going. This was not necessary, as I saw later. In the next set, which I started today, I'm down to a normal set of bobbins and the ply box goes back to sleep.

Blendalong - Ply Blends part 2

2007-02-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

I have started with the Ply Blends portion of the blendalong. So far, I tried cabled yarn and didn’t think that worked to show the colors well. I have here some 4 ply and that may work for you. If so, you are going to need a lot of bobbins. I use weaving bobbins to hold singles and my drink mixer to wind them, with the critical latex band to hold the bobbins.

The choices here for me are a) making a 4 ply or b) making two 2 plyed yarns and holding them together.

Remember, by the end of the blendalong you will have lots of little bits of yarn , so don’t go crazy with quantity in this section. The exception might be if you are going to make socks, you might want the ribbing in one color, so more yards.

Weavette

For the mini weavette squares (2”), I am using 80” of yarn. I would overestimate here to save yourself trouble. I use 3.5 extra wrap-arounds at the end of base weave, before using the needle. It takes me roughly 6 minutes from start to finish for a weavette square. It will take longer to put them together, I think. There is a great site for weavette sewing.

Knitting
Well, I am a little behind here. I tried several choices and have ripped them all out. I will try again with larger needles. Since it is a 4 ply, it is close to a worsted weight and I think a size 3 needle might be more appropriate for socks. For a vest, I would go up in size.

Links for all my buddies
Some great links for today. Nona Swatches still is one of my favs. Who knew that just swatches could be so entertaining? I would love to see hundreds of sites doing this with both stitch patterns and yarns. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful resource? A massive internet swatch library. Oh, well, I can dream, can’t I? If you know of any other swatch collections, please let me know and I will be glad to post them.

Then this next one could take a few hours out of your life. On the left side you will notice a stitch catalog with 1371 stitches listed. She gives the books they came from and often has photos with her swatches. These are written out with good references. I don’t know whether to be thrilled or appalled. I love this resource, but am a bit iffy on the listing. On the other hand, we all use pieces of patterns from Barbara Walker’s Treasury series so maybe this is OK. After all, Barbara Walker collected this info from a lot of people too. How do you feel about this issue?

New Tools, back in the studio

2007-02-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am back in the studio for a little claywork. Most fiberworkers that know me face to face, met me through the tools I make. Mostly high end polymer clay fountain pens, well, pens of all kinds and rug / crochet hooks. I have been out of the studio for about a year due to health issues and, ah, grief. My best friend died suddenly and it really threw me. She was a studio buddy. It was hard to start up again.

I love color and really love working in a way to blend colors in many strange and wonderful ways. The blendalong has gotten me thinking about color again and the floodgates burst open. I have started a fresh new batch of tools for the Fiberarts Fiesta in May. I will be helping in the Elemental Affects booth and have some tools there.

Can you just see the colors swirling in the green/gold piece there? And the shine may be just visible to you under the surface. The process from raw clay to tool takes about a month since it is more efficient if I can do certain sanding levels all together. I can't wait to see this one shiny and glowing. I will do 3 bakings, 12 sanding levels and two polishing levels to get the finished pieces. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? Oh, but it is so worth it when you get fun things like this:

Blendalong continues tomorrow.

Darn socks & Blend-a-long part 1 -- Ply blends

2007-02-12T23:41:00.000-07:00

More things off the table today. 8 socks darned - yes I darn handspun, handknit socks. Usually though, I will replace heels instead of darning. This is not really picture worthy as they just look like really old socks and sometimes have heels of different colors.

Two second mousing gauntlets done. Again, no pics as you have seen these. Like second sock syndrome, SSS, I have problems with glove pairs. But I am all done but one.

The wonderful Habetrot has put up my humble little sheep on her famous site. Gee, I feel honored. It's like making the cover of Time Magazine for sheep paintings. I have been enjoying her many knitting and sheep graphics since she started her site. But she really blew my mind when she brought my attention to the Latvian mitten collection. Full of knowledge, fiber-oriented and a wicked sense of humor - any wonder why I love this woman?

Ply Blends
I have been getting a lot of emails to slow down this blend-a-long until people without an enormous stash could get some fiber shipped. Fair enough. No photos of finished blends for a few days until everyone can catch up.

In the first part, we will determine a personal unit length, then spin 9 unit lengths of each of our 4 colors. We will create our two-ply blends. Then either cable these together or just hold 2 two-ply strands together for a swatch. We will repeat these steps for each of 4 colors as per the chart below.

This is ply blending only. All of our singles will be a solid color. In part II, we will get to using carded blends. This is a great exercise for spindles.

Here is the chart for this first part. A unit is whatever you define. For myself, A unit will be 3 armlengths as I go into the wheel or about 2.5-3 feet. Remember that for my colors, I chose Green and Purple, but you substitute your own colors here. You will need the black and white.

I will ply 3 units with like color (BB), and ply 3 units with opposite color (BW). Repeat for each of 2 colors and 2 neutrals as per chart.

It may sound a little confusing, but you are only making 9 total blends in this section, as per the middle chart.

Tips
Try to spin evenly so your sample shows color and not size variation.

Instead of a swatch, consider making socks, fingerless gloves, or some other small project with our samples. This way you will see your results and be able to show them off at guild meetings. If you plan this, you might need solid black to separate your rows. And since ply-blending is 4 ply but everything else will be two or three ply, you might want to spin thinner for the ply-blends.

In the carding sections, you could also comb. If you don't own cards or combs, consider a set of cat or dog brushes, or dog combs. I will be using the dog brushes for the carded section as I only want a short stripe of two rows.

All FOs All the Time

2007-02-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

It’s freaking FOs all the time around here. Ha! Don’t I wish. But it is the end of a long project. What I present today is the music sweater. For those that know me, you have invariably seen me working on this sweater at some time in the last few years. Yes, years. This was knit mostly at concerts (we love the live music). I can point at a section and say, this is John Prine – it must have been a great show, my tension is all off. Oh here is where we saw Reeltime Travelers for the last time. Bob Dylan is in this section. So many concerts, several Durango Meltdowns, folk fests. In saving the sweater for only the special times, the concerts come to mind when we see the sweater.

It is unblocked and the big guy has lost about 30lbs since I started, so it is big. I should be able to block it down and fix that up a bit. I thought you might want to see it anyway. AND, it is OFF the living room table. Yippee.

Pattern: Rosemarkie from Starmore’s Celtic Collection
Yarn: A mix of Jamieson & Smith and Jaggerspun
Needles: #2 & #3 Addi Turbos
Started: Feb ‘03
Finished: Feb ‘07

I am so sad to see this project end. There is so much joy and laughter captured within. You know some people feel like their spirit is captured if you take a photo of them? Well, this sweater captured all that good music and fun.

And, of course, it is Shetland, so it is a joy in itself.

Oh, and just a mention. I am working on a special group project that you may wish to join as a spinner. You don't need a wheel, a spindle will do, but you have to be able to spin and card consistently. You don't need a drum carder, you can use handcards, combs or even dog brushes as long as you can get an even blend. Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming post. It's a complex proposal, but really easy & fun project. I can't get out to teach this class right now, so I thought I would give it here in the blog. I shall work out the details and let you all know.

Handspun vs. Store-bought and yarn love

2007-02-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

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I love yarn, all yarn. I had occasion to do some serious stash digging today and made it down to the 1999 layer of fleece. I put a treasured shetland away and today, just because it had aged so nicely, it came to the forefront and gets to be spun. On the way down, I did make it through bins and bins of lovely handspun yarn. I was surprised and delighted that there was only one small ball in that stack of bins that was unknown to me. I remembered all the rest of the homespun. I am not sure I could say that on store bought yarn. It told me that, though I can't tell you what I had for lunch yesterday, I have an unusual memory for handspun yarns in my stash.

I love to spin. I spin without a project in mind regularly. I spin for the joy of feeling those fibers run through my fingers. I make fat yarn, skinny lace yarn, boucle, all types of yarn. This week I continue spinning the black superwash merino in a sock yarn. That means, to me, that I am spinning it with quite a bit of twist to get a yarn that will wear well. It is in a fingering or light dk weight in a 3 ply. Since it is more black yarns like I posted here several times this month, I will spare you another photo.

But back to yarn. Handspun always gets storage preference in the stash. It lives in the best places. I store skeins and not balls usually. It is well washed and labeled. There are mountains of it. While I have several piles of purchased yarn around the living room and kitchen, I find, upon digging in the stash, that this is due to storage issues, more than yarn love.

I have some new alpaca wool mix that is for a very special sweater. But I have this tiny box of alpaca merino handspun mix that is a treasured ball just to pat and enjoy. The difference is that the sweater's yarn is out because I am hoping it comes up soon on the cast-on list. The alpaca mix handspun ball is out just for the sheer joy of having made it and just to look at it. Organized joyful clutter? With the purchased alpaca mix, it is in my colors - orange and green with a black accent. The handspun is clearly not - shades of pink. But still, it is very soft and fuzzy and nice. Hmmm. And I will love the finished sweater in the purchased yarn.

Perhaps that is it. I will like the product of the purchased yarn. I delight in the joy of the handspun ball. It doesn't even have any friends yet, but it will. I won't start thinking about a project for this yarn for several years, most likely. I have to enjoy it now.

On a completely different topic, I have a special sock project done. My big brother has always been very special in my life. He always looked out for me AND included me. How do you show someone how much you care? I can't answer that, but I can say that I made socks that had good feelings in every stitch. I just love how these socks fit and feel. And don't you just love the cables? You have seen them before here, they might be my favorite sock right now.

Yarn: Cascade Ecological wool + white woolly nylon

Needles: size 6 dp

Pattern: Handknit Holidays' Log Cabin Socks by Anne Woodbury (you can find several kal's for this). Pattern as written except for longer ribbing.

Fearful Knitting

2007-02-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

In life, I am a fearless warrior. But in knitting, I admit, I am a scaredy cat. There are two techniques of knitting that I have never tried. Now, what in my past could be so bad that I am afraid of a knitting technique? What, did someone come at me with a sharp pointy stick? Did nuns smack my knuckles with a ruler for knitting in class? What could be so bad that after 46 years of knitting (I started early), I still haven’t done two things. I am ashamed to say that I am I total newbie at mosaic and intarsia.

Oh, here it comes – heaps of abuse. ‘But that is so easy’, yeah, yeah. Do you remember how awkward your were when you first learned to knit? And at that point, all you could think was ‘this is too hard, I will never be able to do that’. The first thing you said when you learned is ‘But that is so easy’, right?

Ok, ok, I give up; I did too. Well, not with intarsia, that still scared the pants off me. But mosaic – that is so easy. I have been doing complex two color knits for over 20 years. Mosaic really IS so easy. You only carry one color per row. Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me this? It makes great fabric.

Since I waited 46 years to try this, perhaps my enthusiasm at having the gift of learning something new within something so familiar is too great. Yes, I will probably spend years going after this simple technique and go way off the deep edge about it. But when was the last time you learned something new in knitting? It is so fun to tickle that area of the brain. Kind of a peaceful joy. I wish you joy too – learn something new.

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn some-thing." That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Look at what a lot of things there are to learn—pure science, the only purity there is. You can learn astronomy in a lifetime, natural history in three, literature in six. And then, after you have exhausted a milliard lifetimes in biology and medicine and theocriticism and geography and history and economics—why, you can start to make a cartwheel out of the appropriate wood, or spend fifty years learning to begin to learn to beat your adversary at fencing. After that you can start again on mathematics, until it is time to learn to plough.

T.H. White, The Once and Future King, 1939

One place for swoonworthy swatches to get you started is Nona Swatches. This woman is an inspiration to us all. I admire you from afar for your real and serious work for us knitters. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Every day’s entry is like a little present waiting for us all.

Trained to be fickle and true

2007-02-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Late for the silent poetry reading but there is this from Edna St. Vincent Millay:

Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow!
Faithless am I am save to love's self alone.
Were you not lovely I would leave you now;
After the feet of beauty fly my own.
Were you not still my hunger's rarest food,
And water ever to my wildest thirst,
I would desert you--think not but I would!--
And seek another as I sought you first.
But you are mobile as the veering air,
And all your charms more changeful than the tide,
Wherefore to be inconstant is no care:
I have but to continue at your side.
So wanton, light and false, my love, are you,
I am most faithless when I most am true.

Caught in the rainbow

2007-01-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

New blog look. Waddya think?

My other projects are all yelling at me, ‘Hey, what about me? You love me. What’s going on?”

But my swatch to test colors, that turned into a sock and is now becoming something else, a vest? takes over. The color changes are mesmerizing. Blends are just sucking me in and I have stopped all other work for this growing swatch, sock, sweater thing. I want to wear these colors on my body like a flag to say ‘I blended these. This is just my leftovers; you should see the other stuff’. But the yarn would be lying – these colors, these lonely leftover bobbins and yards are the growing story. The bits you pull out when you are spinning something nice or the big clump of a dirty twisted end. That’s what is blended into this yarn that has become magical. I am totally enchanted.

Merino, for me, was most often a yarn used for gifts. I can’t remember ever using straight Merino in a project for myself, though I did blend it into a few things. Even in my old professional wardrobe, I had a few purchased Merino sweaters and they were almost too good to wear. For a frugal person, when you have little extra bits of something luxurious, you use them up. This swatch thing has become a glorious colorful celebration of frugality and, in that, has its own beauty. You can see the knitting, but Oh, I wish you could feel the sleek but spongy tactile sheet of it forming under my fingers. You would see why I am swayed, nearly swooning over this.

Ok, maybe I have been finishing a little of my other projects. Check out the nifty decorative join on the side of the foot where the two layers come together. I just love a refootable sock, but these were nice. I would change the pattern a little however. I would go down the top of the foot, still in two strips joined, as you see here. Then the toe, then the bottom of the foot. Last the heel. Remember, this is Kureyon. That heel isn't going to last 5 minutes on me without reinforcements.

Oddly enough, I have searched and searched and found no one, that is NOT ONE BLOG that made these socks as called for in the pattern. Why do you think that might be? If you have blogged them, or even just knit them, I'd like to hear from you.

I would do 'em again, without the fussiness. In fact, I just purchased the Kureyon in a different color to work on just that thing.

Noodling around with superwash

2007-01-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

Boy, I just love superwash merino. I forgot how soft it can be. I have been digging into my new stash of it, and picking out a handful of this and a handful of that. It is all from The Black Lamb and you will be hearing Laurie's name a lot around here. Her stuff is great.
I haven't been carding it, just finger fluffing. I have carded the black and yellow, but I am still spinning. This stuff just goes on forever.

Now the leftovers are interesting too. You know when you are plying how you have just a tad left on the bobbin and perhaps a couple of yards left on another bobbin? Or on the carders, how you didn't really clean them fully and pile on another color? The little bits of mixed colors were very fetching and I had to get them on needles right away. So I am trying my version of a sideways sock - made up as I go along - striped periodically with the black. Inspiration comes from Magknits Bakerloo obviously, but I just looked at the photos and was off and running. I wish it were daylight so I could show these colors better, it is just so interesting. I switched to straight needles and it is just growing so fast. My preference is for tall socks and I could plan color changes if I wished. But I think I will just let this one go and see where the colors take me.

And today's question - how many blogs do you read on a regular basis? I would be embarrassed to show my full blogroll, as it is quite long. How about yours?

Gates of delirium

2007-01-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, I am back! Fever is a bad, bad thing. I did manage to knit and spin a bit finally, but I am weak and shaky still. The sock yarn is all drying now and will show up another day, but this is some silk, Rambo and yak down. The mousing mitts were for my DH but they ended up being a little loose. We plan to overdye them a nice rich wine color. So what you see below just got all ripped out and is being reknit. I want them perfect before dyeing. I want some serious blooming of the yak in the dyepot.

And I am off and running on some socks. I like the Ram's Horn, but the side gussets were just not wide enough for the big guy's freakishly large instep. Fitting socks on him has been a difficult task at the best of times. These socks are made of Romney and are made to stand a lot of wear, so knit quite tightly. I love them but I ripped out too and have restarted. Notice the subtle color change in the orange? It just makes them more lively in person.

So is it your instep that sits opposite of the heel? And when making an afterthought or peasant heel on a sock, should I pick up more than half or less than half if his instep is large? Oh, I just never get this right. Unless his socks are ribbed, he just can't pull them over his large heel/instep/ankle area. I am happy to take all suggestions. The area measures larger than his full calf, with slim ankles. How the hell do you fit this?

I added 1x1 gussets that I increased in this area and hope that works. This sock is in its third incarnation.

Moral: Knitting with a fever is a bad idea and will lead to much ripping. Drink soup, watch old movies and don't pick up those needles.

Out of commission

2007-01-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Too sick to spin, too sick to knit, too sick to blog. Damn, Damn, D A M N ...

Flitting badly

2007-01-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

I seem to be jumping from project to project. I am a glutton at the yarn feast on my living room table. It is a good thing for my arms too. I am stretching my knitable hours out by switching to smaller and larger projects. A few rows here, a few rows there and things are getting done. If I didn't switch, I would suffer the dreaded elbow tendon problems that had me out of commission for 4 months last year. Four months without knitting, spinning or anything fun. Four months not even being able to hold a book. Made me more than a little nuts.

So today's finished items are a pair of alpaca and wool gauntlets (the other one is drying) for mousing. The big guy also got a pair of silk, Rambo and yak mouse gautlets but they are drying too and you shall see them tomorrow. Think it's been cold here? We both have to wear gloves to mouse around.

I seem to be doing a lot of garter. I haven't for about 20 years, but here it is all over my current projects. I love the edge you get on two color garter when you (remember to) twist those stitches.

My socks are garter too. Oh, and had I read the pattern before, I would have known they were refootable. Actually a wonderful place for people to learn the technique. And yes, before you ask, I am purposely putting the corners at the top of the sock.

All this garter is really setting in. I was at Knitpicks and saw they had up the Einstein coat in one of their yarns. Then it hit me - you know the 'play the match game' moment. I had this great yarn in just about the right gauge. And I always wanted to make the Einstein. Got gauge, woohoo! And I was off before my swatch was even dry. I am using Atlantic in grape. And is it going fast.

For those unfamiliar it is the Einstein Coat from The Knitting Experience by Sally Melville, book 1. I think everyone has already made this coat, it was so popular. And I had swatched in the called-for lopi. But the Altantic is firmer and so much nicer. It won't seat out like some yarn. At first, I thought it was going to be only good for rugs - it was stiff and trashy. But once washed it turned soft and lovely.

Originally I thought about a felted bag and the swatch was just so soft after washing that it stuck around as a coaster because I wanted it to be a sweater instead. Not the match game worked and I have a jacket rapidly forming under my needles.

Snow on the Sandias

2007-01-14T00:20:00.001-07:00

Snow on the Sandias
Originally uploaded by scouts_swag.

I have been reading fellow Albuquerque fiber person Scout's wonderful blog for a while. She has great colors on her yarn and I so recommend her products. But today I have to show you a photo she took (one of many nice ones). Maybe this is why she has such nice colors, eh?

This is where I live. Isn't it lovely? We get great sky.

Spin, span, spun

2007-01-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Been a busy little spinner girl, I have. See that big basket of superwash merino? I have been turning it into lovely spongy twisted sock yarn. What fun. It comes out of the bag very dull. It is dull and, OK - a little clumpy, when I spin it. It becomes this fun shiny springy and surprisingly smooth stuff when it is spun. How cool is that? A magic eraser for quick bad spinning.

I have also been working on some soft Rambouillet. This just keeps going and going. I couldn't add my leg to the skein photo for scale, but if I had, you would see that skein is as thick as my thigh. And it is only 6 oz. I must have a gajillion yards there. I just love spinning with no project in mind. Makes me really have some great project dreams.

And my last entry for the day is a tiny little computer wristlet in garter of some baby alpaca leg wool and Nature Spun Fingering doubled. I am spindle-spinning this as I knit. I plan just to have a button hole thumb for best mousing.

Must Have Tools

2007-01-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

What fiber processing tool would be the last one you give up? You know, if disaster occurred and people were beating down your door begging for fiber tools and you were sharing, that sort of thing.

I could live without my ball winder as I could use a pvc pipe as a Nøstepinde. I could live without my carder, if need be, as I could hand card with dog brushes. I could live without my spinning wheels, if I had to, because I could make a spindle out of almost anything. We all have different physical limitations and strengths and some decisions would be based on that, of course.

The tool I must have, must keep above all others surprises even me, but it is my Babe's Electric Skein Winder. I just love this thing. It works just as well as you could ever want. And you can stomp down on the pedal and really make that sucker fly. Or not, if you want a soft and gentle winding. I know, you are thinking, 'PVC, who wants a big white thing in their fiber studio?', aren't you? Well, I do!

I love tools that work well. And clean up well. This may not be an issue for some, but have you ever wound off skeins of Angora? The haze can get everywhere. Wipes up with a wet paper towel. Or commercial mohair? I once wound 6 lbs of mohair that had been in 2 oz balls. Think about that for a minute - a mountain of fluff. It had all been in a musty basement and was stinky, but a severe bargain. How long would you have been winding it into skeins by hand? It took about 45 minutes by hand and would have been faster if I could have tied knots between balls any faster. Blazing speed.

You look at this simple tool and think that it will be too flimsy for use, but I beat mine to death and it works well. From spinning wheel, bobbins, yarn balls, or cones, it really flies. My biggest criticism is that it is just a hair larger, skein-wise, than my adjustable LeClerc winder that lives near my ball winder. That tool gets used less and less these days.

What is your must save tool?

The value of tools

2007-01-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

The thing I remember most about my Dad was that he always had a tool in his hand. He built things and fixed things and invented things when he needed them. As a consequence, I love tools. Good tools. The Right Tool for the Job.

Why is it, then, that I have such a collection of crappy knitting needles? I have dents and scratches, bad joins, lousy points and bent needles. Oh, I have some nice Addi Turbos, but doesn't it always seem like you don't have the size you need? Or length? I know a lot of you have moved on to sets like Denise, but I wasn't satisfied with the joins or tips.

And then it happened. Knit Picks Options came out and I had tool lust. The tips were pointy without being sharp and the joins were smooth. I had wicked tool lust. I waited to see if people said bad things - did the plating flake? No. Did they become unscrewed? No. Were the cables difficult? No, they seemed to be even better than my Addi Turbos.

So when my birthday rolled around this year and my very sweet MIL sent money for tools, I jumped. This was a tool set that I would touch every day, thinking of her fondly. And it is a set of needles that should last for life. I love my drills and grinders, but a set of tools to use every day for knitting - now that is true luxury. Why did I ever wait so long to do this?

The needles are better than I expected. They are really smooth and nice. The biggest criticism is that the double pointed needles are a little too short and I would like to see them longer, especially in the bigger sizes. I am tickled. I had a lot of fun putting them all in their little pouches. I have tried them all and really like them.

Birthday Swag:

Of course, I did need a little yarn to go with it and Renaldo is helping with display. I was thinking of making the Saguaro from Knitter's 78. I got gauge with the Connemara.

Refootable Example

2007-01-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

The emails have been building up for an example of refootable socks, so here it is. The top is a delicate kid mohair, Romney lamb and Angelina blend. It is knit in a loose gauge to let the mohair bloom. This wouldn't have stood up very well for a sock bottom. So I found a matching sock yarn with some percent nylon and knit the foot bottom for strength.

In this case, it was knit from the top down and when I got to the heel, I just continued the top ribbing until it came to my toes. Then I switched to sock yarn and shortrowed a toe. The bottom of the foot was knit back and forth, picking up a stitch from the ribbing on the edge and knitting the two stitches together. Short row heels brought me up to grafting the two open ends together

I also knit these with just the foot portion to start, including toes and heels. Then I add whatever handspun fluff on top. I have a box full of foot bottoms in Knitpicks dye your own sock yarn. I toss them in a dyepot along with whatever top yarn I like at the time and always get them to match. These can be prepared ahead by hand or machine and keep me from darning.

Lost in socks

2007-01-05T01:47:00.000-07:00

I have so many socks on the needles right now that, just for comic relief, I have spent some time cruising to get away from them all. I found a nice site that has info on creating your own walnut needles and a wire gauge / needle size conversion chart.

This lead me off onto a Japanese short row site with great photos.

After quite a bit more time lost on sock sites, and there are too many to mention, I went back to my drudgery. How is it that the second sock always takes 3 times longer than the first one? Especially in the inch before the toe decreases?

Most of my socks these days are refootable. I love the book SWAN socks - Socks Without a Name by Lucy Desgrey. Though this is for machine knitting, you can easily adapt it to hand knitting using a short row technique. The book can be hard to find - try eBay. The colors in the sock pic show each section and they can each be a different color or technique, such as mosaic on the top and ribbed on the bottom. Great concept. This is especially useful if you have a soft and delicate yarn or stitch, such as cashmere lace, but want them to be worn with Birks and not wear out the heel.

Year end tally

2007-01-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

I live with a man who understands fiber. He weaves, dyes and actually spun a few times. He learned to crochet from his French Grandmother at a very young age. The day he learned to weave, I knew that 1/2 my stash was his. Kinda like the division that occurs during a divorce without the pain of separation. So between us, we have a LOT of UFO's around the house.

But I don't know if I could list them or even count them. Can you? It would take me hours of valuable knitting time alone to mention those in the living room, let alone the loom room (major fiber storage area) or machine knitting room (formerly painting studio).

I see a lot of people count their ufo's and I think "Pikers". These people don't know what it is like to be swayed by that pure angora, then called by my handgrown colored cotton or my best friend's Rambouillet. I don't think I want to be numbered among the counters who tally for the new year.

Ok, I am fickle. I LOVE fiber - all fiber. I am a fiber slut of the greatest magnitude and I am not ashamed. I spin without a project in mind most often. I swatch for the pleasure of the alpaca running through my fingers and not necessarily for a project. I knit for others, but also for myself and 95% of my socks are handknit. Only 10% use commercial sock yarn and most use handspun at some outrageous gauge. Fiber that leave this house in a project is rarely the color that it came into the house. I don't care if my dye spots. God, I am all that you all don't like about fiber people, right?

The thing is, I don't see why counting all those UFO's matter. I don't see why I can't knit with 8 strands of cashmere yarn or one ply of merino. So many people have fiber rules, and I guess that there are reasons for them. I just don't seem to care. I don't mind pills if I can get loft. For years, silk neps were BAD BAD BAD. Dye them and toss them in with some wool and you have a lovely tweedy yarn. Last year bad, this year good.

I think this all comes from the fact that I haven't stepped foot in a mall for over 5 years and even then it was only to get my driver's license renewed. I don't have a clue about fashion. As a geologist, I was taught to examine life in Geologic Time and fashion doesn't mean anything if you are looking at 10,000 or 10,000,000 years. I am here for the pure sensual pleasure of fiber passing under my fingers and don't mind who knows it.

So if I don't have a roll call for projects finished this year, or last, it is because I am so fickle. But also because I treasure them all so much. My husband's vest is done after 5 years. It was his music vest. 'Here you can see where we were at the John Prine concert'; 'Here is Bob Dylan'; 'This section is where we saw Reeltime Travelers for the first time - I must have liked them a lot - look how my gauge changed'. His music sweater was not due to be done for at least 5 years of concerts and all that great music is in there. It is harder than you think to save a lovely project that long and only for music. To finish it was so sad. I really love my knitting projects and how they fit into and capture our lives. I love to hear the big guy say 'This sock was made from the first Indigo dye class that I had with Judith MacKenzie McCuin", or "I dyed this with a plant that Rita Buchanan pointed out to me". The joy that I learned some technique in a class with Stephenie Gaustad or Alden Amos means so much more than any label from any designer out there today.

I give up a nice neat house for a lovely pile of fiber near me. I relinquish my hopes for order in order to wallow in interesting fiber. If you ever visit - good luck on finding chairs without needles protruding or tables without a spindle. I forever give up all chance to count my ufo's and give to to the fun of fiber.

My new year's wish to you is to do the same.

Records break

2006-12-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

24" of snow. So far. I know you may be from a part of the world where this is nothing, but I am in Albuquerque. Records of all time are being set. Cars don't move at all. It is so quiet here. No one owns shovels. Our street hasn't been plowed yet since before the holidays started and the BIG one is due on Monday. Not even sure the city owns plows.

Good time to hunker down with my knitting and spinning and a ton of movies.

Before and after today's snow - another 10" or so.

Eco Cabled Socks

2006-12-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

I just finished up a pair of cabled socks loosely modeled on Handknit Holidays' Log Cabin Socks by Anne Woodbury. I added an extra repeat of the cable to the top to make them longer. I used a strange yarn combo for these: Ecological wool in gray and on the foot section only I added white wooly nylon. While I intend to dye these a dark burgundy in the end, I wanted to see if the wooly nylon would take up dye differently than the rest of the yarn. I tossed them into a leftover dyebath that didn't exhaust fully and they picked up color beautifully. I can't see the wooly nylon at all.

The strange thing is that the Eco wool suggested a 10.5 needle and I used #4 double pointed for these. I do knit a little loosely, so a #5 would work for most people. I just love this wool. I thought it might blow up a bit in the washing, but the cables are firm and not a bit floppy. Actually, this makes such a splendid sock yarn that I think I will knit several other pairs in different designs using this yarn. Big skeins and cheap - my favorite combo.

Square Feet bind-off practice

2006-12-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

To get over my nervousness about 3-needle bind-off, I am practicing on Square Feet by Stephanie Stock in Knitters #83. I am using Noro 102. And for a Noro spinning discussion, check here.

Modular Strips

2006-12-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new modular jacket. I am apprehensive about joining the strips. The basic plan is based on De Colores from Ginger Luter's Module Magic. She uses a knitted bind-off to join, like you would if you were making reinforced shoulder joins. But I don't care for the ridge it creates at this point. Any suggestions?

This is Polworth from Rovings spun to bring out the color changes. I plyed it into a fake boucle, one ply thin and one ply thick. The strips are unblocked, but wonderfully soft.

2005-02-05T02:40:00.001-07:00

Face detail

2005-02-05T02:40:00.000-07:00

Just random noodling around.

2005-02-05T02:39:00.000-07:00

I am working on a locker hooking rug using the recent leftovers from spinning. Some is Columbia, some Corrie, the rest is unknown. A little lumpy, but so squishy.

Drive it into the ground

2004-12-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

You know the commercial where that guy says "I want my hard drive to make the sound of a Yetti"? Yepper, thats the one. But warranties can be great and a new one is flying here during the holidays - it is a race for backing up 160 gig before death. So I won't be knitting, so much as backing up for the holiday. Ah, but it will still be a fiber filled treat. This is why you should have your printer on one side and your spinning wheel on the other side of the computer. While the system does crap, like write DVD's, you play. Just no angora near the unit please. I will be spinning some SOAR treat, maybe yak down? Yes, on the coldest day of the year some Yak down from Toni at the Fold sounds warm and soft. Doesn't she have the fluffiest stuff?

And then I get to go to Old Town to see the luminarias, eat hot tamales and drink steaming cider while listening to the bands. This is such a nice tradition here in town. Not very many tourists, but a lot of locals come out to see this spectacular display. When you live in tourist town, it is nice to see the locals gathered for such a spectacular sight. Happy Holidays and safe travels my fiber friends.

2004-12-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

A new felted bag test - sort of. This is unknown ebay yarn, hopefully wool. It was not nice for anything, but the old knitting machine liked it. My SK-860 used it up. Even if it doesn't felt, it will be a nice bag for projects. Roughly 16" x 16" x 2.5". The ruler is 15" for scale. Tomorrow we will see what happened in the washer.

2004-12-10T02:56:00.000-07:00

Philosopher's wool cardigan coming along.

Remembering Tricks

2004-12-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't the web wonderful? You go and search for some technique that is driving you crazy. In this case, I was having problems with a circular cast-on for machine knitting. Anyway, I am out and about hitting lots of good info, but none to solve my dropped stitch problem and I run across this juicy site. She has great hints and lots of fun things, but mostly she has this join (Russian Join). Gee, I knew this yarn join 10 years ago. What happened to that knowledge? Why did I forget and stop using it?

I am knitting a sock with some really fat yarn that was naturally dyed by my guild. It is Tomato Vine, Madder and Chamisa. And though it is a basic stripe, I forgot how to make a smooth join in big yarn. I didn't want ends. I spliced several different ways, but got nothing but little ends hanging out. Then I see this site and remember why I thought it was the perfect join in the first place. It is like an old friend coming home. I will have to carry a needle with me, but that isn't so hard to get the join I want in this sock.

Thank you web fairies for bringing back this lovely trick for me to enjoy.

The socks in Tomato Vine, Madder and Chimisa.

The yarn is logwood=purple, cochinille=rose and purple plum leaves=green.

2004-11-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

Fuzzyfeet from handspun wool/mohair mix.

Free pattern from Knitty.com. This is the same as Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride that I got as roving. I tried to leave the mohair a bit thick in places so that it was a little fuzzier. One big difference was that this felted so much faster and tighter than the Lamb's Pride. I spun fat yarn and plied it. It was quite thick and thin, but it didn't matter one bit. The slippers are firm, fuzzy and warm. It did take less time to knit these than it did with the store bought yarn, but I can't image why. This was fast and simple and DONE. We love those finished projects.

New Project Joy

2004-11-03T02:05:00.000-07:00

The beginning of a new sweater is always full of promise. I started a kit I got last year at MD Sheep & Wool as a special treat. The Philosopher's Wool Alligator's Teeth in Night Sky colorway. A lot of my friends think this wool is kinda crappy, but I like the springyness and I love the look of their sweaters. They wash up all soft and snuggly. I have wanted one since I first saw them at Stitches in the early 90's.

I normally knit at a much finer gauge, so this is going quickly - except for one thing. The directions call for #4 to rib and #8 for the body. In whose dreams were these needles recommended? I ribbed with #4 in 1x1, and it was huge. I tried 2x2, nope. Then corrugated rib; it was worse. I went to a 3 and tried them all - bad, bad, bad. Finally, I was sick of ribbing and did a provisional cast-on and started knitting. Wrong again. I ripped and went down, ripped and went down a size. I am on a size 5 and still a little big, but I think it will draw in a bit when washed. When they say don't swatch, just start knitting - don't do it. I couldn't believe the needle change. However, having found my sweet spot, I am blasting away.

The pattern looks complex but is stone easy and I won't look at the chart again until I start the next piece. You go up, you go down. And for the larger frame, such as mine, the vertical points are pleasing, I think. Luckily, my LYS carries this yarn. I wasted a bit with bad cuffs and will use that for socks now. I added a pale lavender to the mix and another pale plum.

The kit was cheap, as today's yarn prices go. And the gauge was my fault for not swatching. If asked, I would buy this kit again, and plan to get a 'fire' one for Dano. I gotta say for all the yarn snobs out there, this is really fast and fun and will suit me perfectly. You don't know what you are missing. After doing so many fair isles in AS classes and books, this is really so easy.

Chenille disaster

2004-10-26T01:56:00.000-06:00

I never realized that chenille could give problems weaving. I have only used one color from a single cone in the past and had great results. This time, I used 5 colors and two thickness' for a mixed warp. This was from 2 sources - one reliable and one unknown. Lables both said rayon chenille. Bad bad bad. One was cotton and finished at a different rate than the rayon. Don't believe labels.

I sewed the ends with zigzag and straight stitches. I knotted the ends tightly. I dampened it and tossed it in the dryer, as I always do. Threads broke, threads came out. The cotton hung didn't change much but the rayon ends tangled and shed - that was ok, since I was going to sew my sample into a vest. But I have these stiff pulled threads the whole length. After trying to untie my knots and work the ends so the tight ones loosened and the loose ones tightened, I still have a mess. the areas in between are this lovely velvet - good color, just a wonderful feel. So tantalizing.

The lesson here is know your sources and always test the yarn. I have plenty of the good stuff and, undaunted, will put on another warp soon minus the thin cotton. I was sampling to make a jacket. I wonder if the seams will ravel with rayon chenille. I have only used it for scarves. Can you tell, I am not a very experienced weaver? I nearly ran to the knitting machine with my chenille when I first saw what happened. But I will get back on the horse and try again.

Send advice, if you have any. I am always willing to listen to the voice of experience. Help me get this dunce cap off my head.

Cotton Finally

2004-10-23T03:47:00.000-06:00

This spring my cotton plants were hit by a late frost and died. So in mid June I put in a few green cotton seeds hoping to at least have seeds for next year. I knew my crop would not have a long enough growing season to produce a full set of cotton.

Well the bolls formed, but wouldn't open, except for one. I have been worrying over the coming frost, so I took matters into my own hands. The technique I settled on was to use a table knife and slice along the natural spines of the cotton bolls. I sort of pry the sides open and wait a day. Finally, I pop the inside supports so the bolls curl back and fluff the cotton. The sun will bring it to full color.

I don't know if I will get any viable seeds, but the bolls do seem to be opening and drying out. I can bring them in to a windowsill to finish off, if I must. We must wait until spring to see if my seeds work.