sock prØn.

mittens mittens everywhere

2009-11-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

Long time, I know :) It's the strangest thing-- ever since my son started school I can't manage anything timewise like before, even with a huge block of time in my day. I have no idea what's happening and have no doubt that it'll sort itself soon, but yeah... hang in with me :)

I don't think I'd even knit if I didn't have a goal-- this past month I've been working on projects for Verb's "Smitten Mitten" contest. Kristine put out the call for submissions of mittens and armwarmers knit in Verb fibers and yarn, both in personal and published patterns, and I managed 3 out of 4 :)

My first was more accident than anything. I absolutely fell in love with zigzagstitch's End of May hat and knit it in Verb's sadly discontinued Yakkity Yak (50/50 yak/merino). I had a lot of yarn left over from the 2 skeins, and thought about reverse mirroring the MC/CC for a duplicate hat-- but then Mandy released an End of May mitten pattern with that prominent, striking flower and I was obsessed :)

End of May mittens and hat
Verb for Keeping Warm Yakkity Yak, "indigo blue sky" and "cafe au lait"
Hat: US 4, Mittens: US 3
Started and finished: October 2009

Can I tell you I'm also obsessed with matchy-matchy now?! I want to knit a bunch of matching mitten and hats-- I always thought it was scarves and hats to match, but mittens are f*ing brilliant. I've already picked up some Ultra Alpaca for another set :)

I *really* love this set though. The pattern reminds me of something vintage, and the color pairing of the blue and tan-gold do as well. (go bears!) I can't take credit for the colors working together though-- I went into Article Pract and these skeins were just sitting there next to each other like they belonged together :) I think AP is the only place you can get the Yakkity Yak now-- they had some and even in these colors last time I was there.

I did make the shorter hat version; this one fits me perfectly like I want a warm hat to (over the ears and forehead). Also fits over big curls :)

SUCH a hammy pie. I like the gold detail at the cast on edge-- I did use some waste yarn to make a forehead-length lining, but removed it since the yak really is soft enough to wear (and I hate extra finishing :)) I just used some extra gold to do a crochet chain around the picked-out waste yarn edge to secure it. I didn't know I needed the shorter version til I was halfway done (swatch? for a hat?! ;)) so I just shifted the chart and its top decreases over halfway for the same result. Easy really.

No mods with the mittens, except I used a 2-color caston for that same gold detail at the cuff, purled one row in MC, then started the pattern.

Speaking of mods, my next Verb mitt project was Gasteropoda by Kristi Geraci...

Gasteropoda by Kristi Geraci
Verb for Keeping Warm Creating Superwash Sock, "Wonder Boy"
variety of needles
Started and finished: November 2009

I fell in love the minute I saw this on Kristi's blog. Look closely-- it's a 2" spiral that winds its way around the hand and arm! I am a SUCKER for innovation, and this! is! OSSUM! Knitting these I kept thinking that I want a spiral knit sweater now :) I'm not a cool enough knitter to figure that one out, but seriously I'd make one.

I lengthened mine (Kristi's version is a more traditional armwarmer length), and chose a shorter dye repeat with "Wonder Boy" (original knit in Wisdom Yarns Poems sock, a long striping yarn like Noro). I chose to lengthen them because lately I've been wearing my handknit kneehighs under my jeans in the mornings I drop my son off to school-- quite warm and almost like secret garters under denim in highschool. I think these will serve under a jacket with a light shirt quite nicely with our cold mornings and warm afternoons.

I retained the original caston #s for my size and only used a change in needle size to add width and extra spirals for length-- a US 3 for the above and upper forearm, a US 2 for the middle arm and US 1.5 for wrist and hand. I think if you wanted, you could also decrease stitches while spiraling if you wanted to use the same needles throughout-- the nice thing about sock yarn though is that it is forgiving knit on a range of (small) needles when you're not worrying about abrasion and feet and shoes.

I want to knit another pair of Gasteropoda from a long-repeat handspun... I can't help but think how AWESOME they'll be spun/knit from a DyakCraft (formerly Grafton) batt. And what a great choice for small leftover bits of sock yarn?! But I do like these a lot... it's like a maybe-poisonous snake squeezing me.

Aside from the spiraling construction (which is effortless-- no finishing), what really got me was the gusseted afterthought thumb. I'm not familiar enough with mitten construction to know if this is new or not, but it's really cool. I want to figure out how to use it for traditional afterthought mittens now!

Yay for a nice shot of the colorway and sheen of the yarn too :)

For my last mitt project, I knew I wanted to use handspun-- specifically the baby llama from the Verb Ultra fiber club shipped in August.

There were three distinct colors so I sketched up a stranded design using 3 colors (2 colors per row), tetris stylings.

The baby llama on its own didn't have enough body to stand up to mitts, so I swapped in some Lana Cash (dark grey) for one of the colors. I'm glad I did-- when I saw this colorway it immediately reminded me of Bohus knitting for some reason, and I spun the llama drafting against twist for LOTS of halo. Paired with the matte commercial yarn, the halo pops off like it does in Bohus collars against the body yarn...

I love these... they may actually get the most wear for being practical. (Tho I'm sitting here wearing the Gasteropoda to type this ;)) They are super warm but very, very light-- the pair weighs one ounce (30 grams). The afterthought thumb I kept very short so I could grip things easily-- I can drive without taking them off, unlike the fullon lovely End of May mittens. I also loved using three colors-- I usually only use two, and while I'm not aching to start some true 20 color fairisle, three was nice :)

Phew. If you thought that was a lot of mitten action, be sure to pop over to Verb for Keeping Warm's Ravelry group to see all of the entries and vote-- the threads are all stickied to the top til next week.

And as if that wasn't enough self-promotion... brand new stitch markers in my etsy shop! Hubei turquoise, carnelian, peridot, lapis, coral, garnet in nugget shapes... I guess I have been busy ;)

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
zero.etsy.com

Still adrift tho. Til next time :)

Lambtown 2009

2009-10-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Another year, another Lambtown :) Just like last year, my experience this year was quite different from the last and also quite wonderful. I went more to be able to take my son and gander at fiber animals and the fair atmosphere than to purchase fiber and (...) -- mission accomplished.

still with the freedom bit?

Tika was able to join up with us and this may have been the best part of my kid's day :)

(my son LOVES her, can you tell?)

Well, minus the bouncy house and train ride... so number 3. Pretty high for a 5 year old surrounded by animals and food :) They had a lot of kid-friendly activities I never paid attention to before, including the sheepdog trials and pony rides (we missed both, but don't tell the kid, I think he's forgotten by now.) Lambtown was also moved from July to October, and it was SO MUCH NICER weatherwise than the past two years. More coordinated overall as well-- very nice to see our local fiber expo growing.

Lambtown had a large alpaca contingent this year with Calpaca running concurrently which was fun to see, including an alpaca fleece judging which I didn't watch. I did get to watch the fleece judging (of course!)... this year's judge was Martin Dally.

I have to say, he was the best judge I've had the pleasure to watch so far. It's not that the others were bad-- it's more that Martin is almost a showman in offering information about judging and buying fleece. I was also super impressed that he was the judge for the open and fiber sheep show (also missed). I took a few notes and am going to add them to the end of the post-- feel free to skip them, but I don't want to forget so it seems like a good place to store them :)

The judging this year was split into three divisions: 1) colored handspinner's wool, 2) handspinner's white wool, and 3) market (white) wool. The field was definitely smaller than Monterey's, and did not include breed classes. It makes sense for Monterey to have so many categories since they have so many to judge/for sale and want to accommodate as many as possible. Then again, the breed class judging is almost a... disservice to handspinners (reluctant to use that word) because of the issues Heather and I saw with it at the Monterey judging in 2009-- the fleeces in the breed classes aren't judged on external problems with the fleece (second cuts, VM) as it isn't not a fault in the breed standard but a bugger for handspinners buying fleeces.

The question of "handspinner's" wool came up during the judging-- to the eye, many handspinners and market wool fleeces can't be told apart. For example, the stunner I purchased...

cormo from cormo sheep and wool farm, market wool, fine 64s or finer (17-22 microns)

...doesn't really scream "market"/commercial wool, eh? More like a sheep that has never missed a meal and has a name, unlike others with numbers and that forage for food? (A distinction between the traditional market wool and handspinner's wool category, according to Dally.) I spoke to a shepherd who said that if it were done correctly, she'd only enter one fleece in the whole show since she only raises fine combing, coated handspinner's fleeces. As it is though, shepherds can choose to enter 2 fleeces into each class of each division (and rams aren't allowed in the market wool category).

Traditionally the market wool category was shaped around what commercial buyers of wool wanted-- big, productive, sound fleeces, not necessarily the showstoppers in the handspinner's class. We heard from another observer of the judging that fifty years ago shepherds used to select for heavy lanolin producing sheep to get the weight and placing up in the market wool category. This was the first time I saw an honest application of the category-- even though my "market wool" was silky and bright white, at only 5# it couldn't compare to the first place finisher at 8# that was less white and had a slightly shorter staple.

It has always felt a little sketchy to me seeing true handspinner's fleeces entered into the market wool category, even though the buyers at Lambtown and Monterey aren't industry but individual handspinners. It was good to see Dally making the distinction, and the winners of each division made sense from that standpoint.

You can see the differences here:

l to r: colored handspinner's fleece, handspinner's white fleece, and market wool white (champion in front, res ch in back for each)

The handspinner's category were showy but not necessarily large, and definitely well skirted. The market wool winners were definitely larger, and were discounted less heavily in judging for less dramatic skirting (though the winners were both well skirted). And the colored wool was just gorgeous as always :)

After the judging Tika, the kid and I went to see the sheep shearing competition...

...admittedly, we cringed watching blood be drawn several times. It would be interesting to see shearers work on handspinner's fleeces-- the shearing competition only judged on speed, not keeping them intact. I know Sue Reuser has invited people to come to the shearing at her farm at the beginning of the new year... it'll be an interesting trip.

Also interesting? Angora bunny shearing.

Much sweeter and with no complaints like the sheep. If only I were so easy :)

Til then!

***

Notes from Lambtown fleece judging, Martin Dally

- Wool over 30 microns will feel prickly to the skin because at that diameter, the individual fibers don't bend.

- Pick up a bag of fleece and drop it on the table. A "thump" means a less productive fleece that has a lot of dirt and VM. The dirt will add weight to the bag and make it fall louder and harder.

- Denser fleece will "hold" dirt and VM at the tip. Less dense wool will show dirt and VM further down the staple. Less dense, uncoated wool will be less productive as it will let in and hold more dirt/VM throughout the staples.

- Touch two different fleeces with two hands. If you can feel a softness difference between the two, that means there is at least a 3 micron difference between the two.

- Yellowish looking white fleece can sometimes be attributed to carotene in corn feed and soybeans; the yellow color comes out in the lanolin which coats the wool (and can be washed out). Not the only source of yellow, but a washable, non-staining one.

- The Japanese love the look of crimp in wool (hahahaha it's genetic!), Australians less so. The Japanese are also the buyers of the very finest wool produced-- they use it in undergarments.

- Fine wool fleeces that have a "shine" to them aren't "lustrous" (used exclusively for longwools), but are said to be "silky."

- A problem in uncoated fleeces is that the lanolin cannot travel to the very tips of the locks (coated in dirt/vm), and those tips will be less soft than the rest of the staple because it lacks the lanolin protection from the elements, resulting in uneven hand or broken tips in worst cases.

- A ram will produce a 10% heavier fleece than a wether as testosterone affects wool production and rams are generally larger bodied than castrated males.

- and more but my handwriting's terrible! :) next year...

(eta 10/6, found more notes...)

- Color banding within a staple (color changes that are easily delineated straight across a lock of wool) is generally a mineral issue, namely copper. Either the sheep was gestating or lactating and the amount of copper intake changes due to stresses of motherhood on the wool, or the copper supplements in the feed changed. Does not always indicate unsound wool.

- The term for uneven fleece growth in general is "cauliflowering" and should be selected against when breeding. [The term "quilting" is used for Jacob sheep as the black and white sections of wool may grow at different rates and different micron counts. --a.]

- "Crossfibering" is the term when a individual fibers cross when growing in locks. More of an aesthetic issue but non-crossed locks will show better and place better in larger competitions.

- 7 pounds of pressure is what is needed when "pinging" a lock of wool to determine soundness. If it can withstand 7 pounds of pressure then it is strong enough to withstand milling processes and spinning. Pinging any lock of wool too hard will rip it, even though it may be sound.

yvonne shawl from cocoknits

2009-09-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

It feels like no time has passed at all even though it had been too long. Same breath but it feels like ages, but really nothing's changed. Now it's only the distance without a foil.

My son started school and it's been a blur-- I didn't even realize I hadn't written until taking these pictures today.

Yvonne Shawl by Cocoknits
Handspun 3-ply from scoured, combed corriedale lamb (Tour de Fleece spinning)
Started & finished: after the TdF? srsly it's a blur :)
US 6 40" Addi Natura

I wouldn't have even taken pics today except for the fact I need to weave in one end and send this and the remainder of the skein to Schacht... I was thrilled to learn yesterday that my 2 handspun skeins as well as the tablet woven band made on my Flip were chosen as finalists for the 40th anniversary contest Schacht Spindle held. The actual entries are due in CO next week, and as distorted as I've been I need to get them out the door before I forget :)

I say one end to weave in because the whole shawl took under 2 skeins... two giant skeins. This is the big one I entered...

5.5oz, ~925 yds

That's my hand! That came out of one bobbin!

::blushing::

The skeins really did get this wonderful texture after I really aggressively fulled and shocked them-- hot water, cold water, hot water, cold water, agitateagitate, moremoredontstop... SMACK! against the walls. Too fun... and knit up into a beautiful, felted-tweed type cohesive fabric.

Looking closely you can see the hopeful shots of grey in the brown in the occasional one of three plies. The welt pattern gives this simple shawl a really interesting depth as well.

It really is a simple shawl, but so lovely. I know, I should have modelled pics :) but I really do like it on me even if I hate looking at myself. I'm ox-wide across but the exact same shawl looked just as great on Adrienne when she tried it on at the Workshop. On both of us there remained movement when worn, a hint of ruffle or grace at the edge echoing the staggered increases. A ridiculously simple and effective pattern.

I keep thinking that this would be a great beginner project, so much better than a scarf-- just knit and purl, with LOTS of practice. The first rounds would be closer to the body and hidden, the cast off edge is the display side and after so many stitches any new knitter would have to have improved :) Not to say more experienced knitters wouldn't enjoy it-- it replaced my walkaround socks/mindless knitting project for those times when my hands just couldn't be still and needed something to touch.

The real joy was the yarn though-- working with my handspun and in so visible a project, I can SEE how consistent my spinning was with every bit pf progress and it thrills me because that's just what I was trying for. A definite lesson learned that I am applying to my current fleece-to-sweater project...

I've finally picked it up again, my gorgeous, painfully true black sweater from trueblack fleece. Marble Peaks Ranch breeds for true black corriedale and corrie x rambouillet sheep (they show and win ribbons for both sheep and fleece, an anomaly among shepherds)... and I just love the black fleece I won at last year's auction. (The same one I used in the English combs combing post.) I didn't allow myself to buy another black fleece at Monterey this year since I needed to finish this sweater, but bet you me it'll be done soon cos I want another Marble Peaks fleece!!

The reason I stopped knitting on this was partly because I started spinning for the Tour, but also because the skein I'm knitting with is visibly lighter than the previous ones. I'd say "shaping!" and "design detail!" but it's 11" in from the bottom and at a weird spot on the bust... you can see I just crumpled the poor wip up in exasperation. I think I'll just set the lighter skein aside and start spinning again-- all of the yarn I need to complete the sweater. Even, consistent yarn... the lesson taken away from the Tour for me :)

Missed you!

Two new ways to use your Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom

2009-09-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Schacht Spindle Co. recently celebrated their 40th anniversary with a contest, both for spinning and weaving novices and experts. One option was to upload videos to youtube of Schacht products or weaving/spinning contest entries on the Schacht tools... so of COURSE I had to go that route :)

I've been thinking about the contest for a while and tho I didn't feel I had any chance against true expert spinners (I entered my tour de fleece skein and my mohair/silk I just wrote about in the spinning +2 years/expert category), I did think I should use the weaving contest portion as an opportunity to look at my Flip in a different way. You may remember I love using the Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle book as inspiration... hopefully these vids will inspire someone else :)

First, I used the Flip as a frame for tablet/card weaving, and wove a beautiful strap for a bag I wove. Originally I was going to enter the bag into the contest (handspun wensleydale warp and handspun supercoil weft, both dyed by Black Bunny Fibers, but I think the strap was more interesting to talk about in a video.

You may notice this looks nothing like "regular" tablet woven bands-- instead of using several colored warp threads and a pattern, I warped the Flip as if I were plain weaving using the direct warping method and let the pattern emerge from the beautiful yarn. If you look closely you can see the undulating wave pattern from when I turn the cards forward and back, it's even more striking in person.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight in Sunstone, if you MUST know :) I used about 1/2 of the skein for the band? I haven't weighed the leftovers yet, but it's enough for something.

I've always been tangentially interested in tablet weaving, but for reals... I am LAZY. I don't want to measure and wind warps (I know I'll get emails and I'll try it someday, promise!)-- but direct warping and relying on yarn for patterning made for a FAST project that was easyeasy. I love it, I think I'll make a camera strap for my Lumix later... and Kristine will have to make one for her new camera (i know you have some "sample sale" yarns to use up ;))

Speaking of easy... you may know I have a kid who is the apple of my eye :) We work on silly projects together like painting and drawing and those types of creating endeavors-- not really fiber. I always want to get him knitting and spinning and weaving, but his lack of any attention span coupled with his hardheaded nature (who knows where that came from!) means it's mainly been a short adventure. I have been thinking a lot about resist dyeing with wax for ikat-style patterned warp and decided I could modify the idea into something my son and I could work on together-- so I direct warped the loom with heavy sportweight non-mercerized white cotton and pulled out our textile paints. He painted the warp directly on the loom and then I wove it.

I used the same weft as warp-- I thought about dyeing the entire fabric with fiber reactive dyes via low immersion dyeing for even more interest, but haven't decided yet. The fabric will end up eventually as a bag for him, it's stiff but I think once the paints have been heatset they'll be a bit more pliable. I'll wash it in finishing and think the cotton will pull in quite a bit, if not I'll make a bag liner (yay for my sewing 101 class and Kira K! :))

The painting went well...

...we used 7 different colors, but with the "metallic" addins of the Jacquard Lumiere its a bit hard to differentiate metallic purple from metallic pewter in pictures.

I really love it. It was easy enough to do with the boy-- the paintable area of warp in front of the heddle was perfect for a short attention span that returned once I had dried and woven over the painted portion, and he loved being able to pick and choose his own colors and "designs." I'll definitely be thinking about direct warp painting as a "grownup" project-- eventually I want to use some soy wax and tjanting tools to paint soy wax onto the warp and cold water dye the resulting fabric, and use thickened fiber reactive dyes for a more wearable/less stiffened (read: scarves, etc.) fabric. Maybe even break out my vintage wood type ampersand collection and stamp a fine warp.

It was nice doing this as a jumping off point for more possibilities of direct warp painting, especially since my baby started KINDERGARTEN and I'm so ... oh, you know :) Everything! This was our last project before he started school, so even more special.

The videos:

Tablet weaving on the Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom:

Direct warp painting on the Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom:

(unfortunately the white warp is doing some weird psychadelic dancing because of the HD video being condensed down to nothing :( )

spinning mohair from attenuated locks

2009-08-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

I recently swapped with Adrianne for 3 oz of unwashed, very fine first clip kid mohair fleece on the Spin or Dye swap board on Ravelry. I really am not interested in buying a whole mohair fleece, but it was too pretty to pass up and just enough to do a good sample with.

photo © 2009 Adrianne L. Shtop -- washed kid mohair fleece
wakingthebones.com

I decided I wanted it to be VERY halo-y, and also not retain any of the curlylocks look once spun... so spun it from the lock. Instead of spinning over the fold, I attenuated the entire lock prior to spinning.

I started with an intact lock-- I scoured this partial fleece myself and maintained lock formation by washing in tuille.

Starting at the middle of the lock, I gently opened it up by teasing it open and separating the individual fibers apart but just enough, not to make the lock fall apart.

Aside from the other reasons for spinning the mohair this way, the other plus to attenuating the whole lock prior to spinning was that I was able to detect and shake out the small amounts of dandruff hidden in the fibers. It's a small amount, and not a dealbreaker for mohair, but still not something I wanted in the final yarn.

(look closely around the shorn end)

After loosening the entire lock up, I went back and separated the fibers even more. Starting from one end...

...and working to the other.

The small lock creates quite a long length of fiber. I made several of these long attenuated lengths, lined them up and started spinning.

My idea in spinning the kid mohair was to have as many ends (tip, shorn) sticking out from the single as possible. Initially I was going to do this by spinning from the fold, so that the middlemost section of the individual fibers would be the ones caught up in the twist and allowing the opposite ends to stick out... but I tend to grasp folded locks a bit tightly when spinning and wanted them to be as lofty and not-smoothed-down as possible (plus there was the scurf thing... ew ;))

So I took the lengths of attenuated locks, as if they were a commercially prepared long length of top/roving I was spinning from the tip of and feeding directly into the orifice-- but it was the middlemost part of the locks getting the bulk of twist and not the aligned ones of a top. This way both tip and butt end of the locks were free to be free... and I was able to loosen up quite a bit in my grip compared to my spinning from the fold (letting those ends halo even more).

You can get a sense of the amount of halo the single produced this way... I placed a white card on the mother of all to show you.

(still can spot a bit of scurf that shook out in plying)

As much as I wanted a halo-y yarn, I didn't want a 100% mohair one. So I dug out this precious bit of tussah silk, handpainted by String Theory Fiber Art, and spun two bobbins' worth of silk singles to ply the mohair with.

"kalapana," 2 oz tussah silk by stringtheoryfiberart.etsy.com

I spun the silk at a high twist (17.5:1) and the mohair at a lower one (9:1) to allow for more halo and a look that the silk was "holding" the mohair together, and plied with an even lower ratio (6:1) so I can knit something with drape and on big needles and not worry about it being too round for lace.

The halo is definitely there...

...and so is the yardage.

750yds, 105 grams 3 ply silk/kid mohair

Very, very soft and warm, and makes me appreciate mohair all the more. Probably not a whole fleece's worth... but maybe I'll change that tune when I knit this up into something simple for me. So many intentions...

birthdays

2009-08-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

My mom grew up poor, raised by a stepfamily who really couldn't give any shakes for her or my blood uncle. Consequently, she had to procure what I consider necessities for herself starting at a too-young age-- clothing, shoes, books, toiletries. There's a story my sister and I were told from that time... how mom worked and saved an entire summer for a snow white sweater for the coming school year, and how someone else in the household bundled it into the wash, ruining it before it was ever worn.

I can't say I really understand, sis and I were raised wanting nothing til the end. I can understand the resonance of destruction of work though, in a small way... cos mom keeps felting the hats I make her. Now they don't take me a summer and aren't even something I consider work and to be really honest I don't see them as 'same'... but as much as I love her am constantly amazed at how nonchalantly she tells me that she has another hat for my son since she's passed one of my handknits thru the wash and it won't fit her anymore.

I should have started ages ago but it's superwash all the time for mom now. She had a birthday and I promised to replace all the hats she's felted this year (3? 4?), starting with the now-felted Malabrigo Koolhaas.

Koolhaas hat by Jared Flood
Started and finished: two days in August
Elann Superwash Worsted in Espresso, 1.5 skeins
US 7, 16" Addi Natura

At least I really enjoy knitting Koolhaas. I know that it fits lots of heads (it fits my son's in width but not depth, I'm going to make him one with only 3 repeats and it'll be perfect if a little loose), is easy to read when knitting away from the pattern, and is interesting to knit. I don't know if she'll get 4 Koolhaas hats in different colors... maybe :)

She was kind enough to model the wrap I wove for my sister (ages ago!) who shares a birthday month with mom...

Warp: Tactile Fiber Arts Superwash Merino/tencel sock yarn, "orchid"
Weft: Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette superwash merino sock yarn, "odd duck 5"
woven on my Schacht Flip

The colors look as if they were made for one another, even from different dyers. I sought out machine washable for sis as well-- I wanted her to be able to use this as a nursing wrap if she wanted and know all too well how those can get messy. My Malabrigo Clapotis I used for a nursing coverup had to be washed much more than any other handknit I've made save socks :)

I also dig that both warp and weft are naturally dyed-- I have no idea if it will appeal to sis but it sure does to me.

So does the sheen of the tencel... I usually don't like tencel blends in sock yarns, too shiny and drape-y for my taste. Here as weft though it's really interesting against the more matte merino warp, and gives it a nice fall when worn. The wrap's one of those things you hope gets worn outside in daylight, but we don't have much control over these things once out of our possession... and I'm starting to accept that.

I double-threaded the warp edges...

(lower left corner)

...two strands on the beginning and end. I don't know if it makes it more stable, but at least it can't hurt :)

I also used simple overhand knots on the edging, but only 2 strands instead of my usual four.

I had planned to use one of the MANY beautiful warp edgings from Interweave's Compendium of Finishing Techniques, but decided against it since this was a gift and may have been too much for my non-knitting, non-weaving sister (who actually is always quite appreciative of fiber gifts, but there can be a taste/technique disconnect between fiber and non-fiber people...) I like how small the two-strand knots are, and the contrast between the color of pure warp fringe against the woven fabric.

One surprise was how little weft I used... I used the entire skein of Tactile's sw merino/tencel (412 yards) but only 222 (of 370) yards of Nature's Palette superwash merino.

No matter, the 40 grams will make a sweet cap for baby or maybe a tiny pair of socks for my bigfoot boy.

I also don't know quite what this will spin into, probably something for the holidays for sis since the colors match her wrap so well.

Tactile Fiber Arts Luxury Fiber Club, July 2009
15.5 micron merino, 2 oz
featured dye: logwood purple

I was lucky enough along with Adrienne to win a 3-month subscription to Tactile's fiber club thru PhatFiber (yes, that little box that causes so much fiber furor!) So nice! What to make is the question though-- socal's not really wrap yourself in wool weather. Maybe incorporate the leftover Nature's Palette in as well...

Oy! Am I talking about holiday knitting already?! :)

Til then, at least after weds. Miss you.

Grafton Fibers Colorways Fiber Batt Club

2009-08-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out on you.

I've been saving all of these lovely, amazing, beautiful batts for myself. They were too precious to even share pictures of, meant more than any photographs I could take. I have a down day and literally reach for one to hold and pet, take deep breaths of and into my happy place. The colors and the softness and the potential of each to be something great helps me pick up and go on.

Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club March 2009

You think I'm joking, to carry on about simple fiber like this. I'm not. I own many dictionaries but will never have the words, even though sometimes like tonite I just feel like trying.

I look at each, at the individual project patterns and notes Linda creates for every shipment, and lose myself in what I could make with them. She gives you a knitting project, a crochet, a felt, a DIY loom one and you believe in yourself, in your potential and what you incite.

"I can do this."

Grafton Fibers , Colorways Fiber Club June 2009

All at once within that last dimension; the initial loving gift, the fiber here and waiting, what it will finally end up as.

I've been holding out all over... I can't bear to spin them. Time's changed me from a simple yarn collector to a fiber one, each a souvenir of more than the gift. More than the anticipation outside the mailbox every month for the physical reminder, more than what was ever intended.

I can't imagine them not living in the perfect square boxes every month. I can't imagine moving forward.

Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club April 2009

That's not true. I can imagine a lot of things.

I can see an epic afghan, big enough for even a broken bed. I can see twelve yokes of twelve cardigans, bright collars solitarily worn on a black background. I can see sets of hats and mittens, waiting at the inner door for a family to choose from before venturing into the cold. I can see wee baby sweaters and booties, imaginary little ones swimming in and growing into rolled up wool sleeves.

And I can see them sitting forever stacked neatly in the closet, pretending they're holding the white boxes together from the inside. Meltaway-center Atlases, brightly festooned.

Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club July 2009

Colorful dreams nonetheless... Willy Wonka styles. (Wilder's of course.) Or Kurosawa's, I'm not picky.

Aside from the fact there's always a pattern included with the supersoft, ultrasmooth batts (and putting aside the nonfading limerence they stoke in me for just.a.moment.please.thank.you), what surprises me most is that I love each batt every month. I love that they always work. I play enough thought experiments getting lost in each to be able to see how each would spin and work up, even if I can't get past the daydreaming phase.

Doesn't mean I don't have favorites...

Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club May 2009

Inextricably linked purple, yours and mine. You'll always be my favorite.

Thank you, each month over. And twice for this.

Grafton Fibers, Swan spindle in "Winter Sky"

We should spin sometime.

Monterey wool auction 2009

2009-08-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

So now that I know you're reading, how to start?

The obvious... yesterday I attended the Monterey Wool Auction with Heather and Ayse. I really shouldn't have gone... I have several (seriously, several) fleeces I've purchased here at home in the past months, and even though I already dedicated a whole month to washing many, I still have more unscoured wool than I can reasonably handle scouring before the year is over. But really, after seeing all of the fleeces being judged and then all lined up in the lovely sun, who can blame me?

I blame myself. I know what I'm doing. :)

It always is a good time though, and I really really enjoy the setting-- so many spinners and fiber artists with their own criteria and sense of the perfect fleece, live bidding, the thrill of the hunt. Bumping into long losts. Even when not bidding I would get caught up in the back and forth, trying to guess where the bidding would end up at. Compared to last year, this year had many more high bids-- my $29/lb win for Henna last year was eclipsed several times over, with a $30 and a $32/lb bid for 2 of Sue Reuser's cormos (and a $28/lb for Kathy Varian's cormo as well). I love the breed-- long and soft... and I do love being able to positively support shepherds raising local sheep that grow excellent fleeces. My bids weren't as extravagant this time, even though I did manage to wrestle the Champion Market (white) Wool fleece I had been obsessing over since my trip with Heather to the judging...

...from "Chloe" the sheep :) I had a BLAST dyeing the white merino locks for my etsy shop and plan on dyeing many more... the the bright white of Chloe is just inspiring to me. She was also significantly less greasy to the touch than many of the other cormos there, so I'm guessing the fleece will be more productive in terms of weight/lanolin loss than others (we'll see if I'm right when I wash her up.)

One last peek at the crimp to come...

I also was the high bidder for her flockmate, "Hollyberry," a true mutt (cormo/corrie dad and corrie/romney x finn/dorset/targhee mom... sounds like me and mine :)) with a 5" staple and a nice bold medium crimp. I'm thinking it will be a good match for Ysolda's new Vine Yoke cardigan? I saw the new twist collective before going to the auction and immediately thought the color was spot on to the sample.

I didn't notice "Hollyberry" at the judging (she did not place highly in her category, solid other than black, 3/8 blood combing 56s-58s)... but her color glowed in the sun as I blushed, pretending to take a second look at fleeces recovering from the surprise. She imprinted on me while we talked, my souvenir of your words and the day.

I always enjoy the "surprise" of banded/multicolored staples once washed and combed... will it be greybrown or browngrey? Purple?

Aside from Chloe, I only had one other YES PLEASE! fleece on my judging notes-- a heavy steel grey corriexrambo from Nancy Burns at Marble Peaks Ranch. She is the shepherd who raised Kali, the true black I purchased last year at the auction and featured in my English combs post. Nancy raises true black to fading grey corriedale and corriedale x rambouillet crosses that have excellent crimp and retain that lock formation I love. This year her black-black fleece won the Champion Natural Colored category, beating out Sue Reuser's cormo. I passed on the grey since it was on Jasmin's bidding list (save me if I came up against her bidding card ;))... and because I've already reserved a grey from Nancy for 2010.

I usually write to the shepherds after buying their fleeces from shows-- they usually appreciate reactions to the day (they don't know how well their fleeces place, what judges had to say about them, etc.) and the more I talk to them, the more I feel like I want to buy from them directly as opposed to at auction. I know Nancy via email and we'd been talking about me buying a 2010 fleece-- so I was able to secure one and didn't feel pressured to bid. (Goodness knows I didn't need to bring another home RIGHT AWAY.) Merry Meadows said the same when I wrote to them, reminding me their fleeces are generally priced at $16/lb (I paid over that for both) and to contact them when I want more. On the flip side, I know that shepherds send their best to auction since they will receive the highest price the market will bear (as well as a coveted ribbon with premium monies), while only paying the entry fee ($2 + 4.5% of sales price) and shipping there... as someone who truly wants to support their industry I want to contribute to getting the best prices for their fleeces so they continue to offer them.

So of course I'll go again, how else will I see you and flirt with such loves?

summer fruit

2009-08-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Still stroking my love affair with dyeing superwash merino :) I'll have all 10 for sale in my shop tomorrow at noon pacstandard ($15/4 oz each). As always, if you see an individual one on my flickr stream before then you want me to reserve, just let me know.

Til then! If you can't wait, I've listed 2 separate batches of merino fleece that I scoured AND dyed in lock formation... perfect for starting your fiber prep adventures with :)

koigu is king (and a shipping sale)

2009-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

In honor of all those lucky souls cavorting at Sock Summit this weekend, proof I do still knit socks :)

Pomatomus by Cookie A
Koigu Painter's Palette Merino, p338
US 1, 2.25mm dpns
Started: January 2009 (!?)
Finished: July 2009

Even after all this time, my all time favorite pattern (excluding PGR's basic toe up recipe) remains Pomatomus. I think this is my fifth or sixth time knitting it and I still can't get enough. Looks good in color blocks, in variegated, in handspun... and now in koigu.

Seriously, I've been hoarding Koigu for years and I don't know why I don't knit with it more often. Maie Landra (eta:) and Rhichard/Koigu Boy are magicians with color harmonies and non-pooling colors that set any design off. I don't think any design would look bad in this incredible orange, but Pomatomus just sings in it.

I do have a few favorite patterns in Sock Innovation bookmarked with yarn all picked out... but overcoming Pomatomus' tower is going to be tough :)

Koigu does make everything easier though, new to me things...

Looks like a simple stockinette sock, eh?

Basic Shaped Arch Socks by Marlowe Crawford
Koigu Painter's Palette Merino, p7140D
US 2, 9" KA circular
Started and finished July 2009

Marlowe's written a fun, fitted pattern from the top down in her Shaped Arch socks. They also work as advertised; the shaping is not just a design detail but truly hugs the arch of the foot for a nice snug fit when wearing that doesn't bag or shift after a few hours of wear. I do love the lines of it though, and how the instep shift echoes the simple wedge toe decreases.

I also love how yarn movement looks in these, and moreso in the perfect purple koigu...

I forgot how much I like to pick up and twist the stitches of a heel flap, and how I like to imagine a pattern in another yarn even before the current one's finished (can you imagine how a self striping yarn would move on the foot in a fun way in this pattern)? I'm cheating a bit... I've already started another shaped arch pair in some Dyeabolical Yarns handspun merino and they do look super awesome :)

Further awesome and further new...

knitting the heel flap on 9" circular

I used a 9" KA circular needle to knit these instead of my default dpns. I have magic looped, knit on two circs, but always return to my double pointed needles for socks. They just *feel* like you're knitting circularly, celebrating the spiral... not the back and forth, turn and turn back of circular knitting. I do love circs for some sock things, colorwork is nice with only two angles to manipulate floats over instead of three or four, but otherwise I'm a socks on dpns girl.

All that said, these are pretty cool! They take some getting used to-- I made myself stick to using them even though I wanted to quit during the first few inches. The needles are SUPER short, 2", and since I usually use the inside of my palm to manipulate needles (dpns and circs) it meant I had to learn to use my fingertips to knit. These KA needle tips are very light though, and pivot within the cable joins, so learning was not too difficult. I did need to pay attention and not push the working needle down so hard and so often, I ended up with a sore spot on my left pointer finger after several hours of eyesfree knitting at the fleece judging.

That is really the plus tho-- I already can easily knit without looking at my hands, but always have to at least unconsciously glance downwards when switching to a new dpn or circular needle. With these you're continually knitting in that spiral, no need to look down at ALL. I was also able to do all of the knitting (minus the toe) on these-- including knit the heel flap and pick up and twist sts from its edge. I did have to use some stitch markers to mark where the dpns would be, but for me that's not a big deal :)

So much so I decided it's time to restock my knitting stitch marker etsy store as well.

smooth lava rock stone knitting stitch markers by zeromarkers

I've got over sixty sets to list (!!) -- so all orders from my shop of two or more marker sets will ship for free *worldwide* thru the month of August!

A Verb for Keeping Warm also has zero stitch markers (and copies of the Shaped Arch sock pattern) for sale at their Sock Summit booth this weekend (booth #503). Happy sock knitting everyone!

handspun ishbel

2009-08-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ishbel from Ysolda Teague
handspun merino/silk, fiber dyed by A Verb for Keeping Warm-- "sunny side up"
US 4 Addi, 24"
spun and knit sometime in May, June 2009

I started this blog originally to share photos and knitting projects with a single person, a non-knitter too far from me who indulged my itch to share the minutia of my life and obsession with sock knitting and yarn. For sometimes better and often worse, it has slowly changed to a true fiber journal. Unable to bring myself to write for several months has left me with lots of little and big projects that I feel strange writing about since they're not contemporaneous (the difference a day makes...), but I do want to record them because -- well, sometimes like Ishbel they're beautiful. Sometimes they're painful and sometimes they're just cigars.

My bumbling way of saying a few posts are going to be old-for-me projects over the coming weeks :)

This one started with a beautiful, single 2 oz bump of 50/50 merino-silk in "sunny side up" I picked up from the Workshop... Kristine only had one left, and being one of those transitory "limited edition" colors I had to have it, even if it was a much smaller amount than I'd normally be comfortable buying.

I always think in 4 oz quantities, assuming that I could never get anything out of 2. Surprise surprise...

I was able to get Ishbel out of one! One ounce. The scarf weighs 28 grams, and I'm left with another 28g of handspun for...? Something. There's magic in it, I'm sure. No magic left in me, no mods other than using a US 4 needle as opposed to the pattern's US 6 just because I wanted a denser stst and a smaller scarf.

I know everyone's knit one (I got my idea from hearing Nicole talk about it on Stash and Burn), and it is adorable! The reason I really like it? Wearing Ishbel makes me feel like some sort of knitting cowboy, sporting a handknit bandana.

So of course I popped back into the workshop and bought a few new 2 oz quantities...

Verb merino/silk in "indigo blue day"

Verb yak/silk in "crocodile tears" (?)

I had planned on making a few more triangle shaped scarves with these, but I'm toying with the idea of opening up my notebooks and spinning/pattern writing for Verb's "smitten mitten" pattern contest instead. My son's starting kindergarten in less than a month, and I've been kicking about the idea of starting to publish knitting patterns again in the time he'll be away from me. As always, we'll see :)

Miss you.

Judging fleece at the wool show

2009-07-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

I succumbed to a lot of distractions during the Tour de Fleece... hands down the best was attending the fleece judging prior to the Monterey Wool Show with Heather. She has a great writeup about the day as well. We met in person recently at Verb's Natural Dyeing 101 class, even tho I'd been reading her blog (I feel like I know so many people without ever meeting them in person, so it's always neat to get to do so.) She was kind enough to drive and we trekked it down early Saturday, coming into a room full of fleeces and a small clutch of attendees listening to (married) judges Wes and Jane Patton going over each.

This was the second time I had attended a wool judging, the first was at Lambtown last year with about a third to half of the number of fleeces that were at Monterey this year. In addition to blood classes (market/white and colored wool, ranging from fine combing/64-80s down to common/40s) Monterey has judging categories for breed as well (cormo, merino, cvm, etc.). For me, I prefer the finer end of the spectrum and am lucky that there were so many excellent cormo, rambouillet and merino cross flocks in Northern California represented for me to lose it over.

Goodness. Save me.

The thing is, I went to the judging because I had NO intention of buying more fleece and probably wouldn't attend the auction this year. (I can hear you laughing from here.) I went because I wanted to learn, and did... but fell in love left and right with color and hand while my brain was being stuffed with information. (too familiar, too soon)

Attending the judging does give a different perspective on buying the fleeces at auction later; I can also see a difference in the fleeces entered this year from last. Last year I fell for one of only three true black fleeces (not the dark brown tinted black, but honest to goodness black)-- color queens like me will flip seeing several up for bid this year. There were many more entries from fewer shepherds, and there seemed to be a lot of not for sale fleeces as well (several ribbon winners were shipped on back home and won't be at the auction.)

The thinking on this doesn't make sense to me, as the auction setting would provide the highest per pound price most shepherds could likely get (and they're able to provide the starting price per pound, so it could be returned later). I also didn't understand why several fleeces that were tender/had breaks were entered into the competition at all...

The up side of buying at a wool show that is judged is that these were culled and will not be available for sale-- the buyer knows that each fleece has been gone over and most likely will be sound. It's promising since you don't always know the shepherd or don't know someone who can vouch for them and you're not able to check the soundness of the fleece for yourself. For the seller who sends in a tender fleece though-- I just can't understand the thinking of sending them (unless they don't know they had breaks). There were a lot too-- maybe 8 rejected total? Out of 150+ fleeces that's ~5%, a HUGE number to me! Especially assuming shepherds intentionally sent the best of the best.

The judging was not the place to see messy, gross, mulch-pile fleeces, but the coordinators were awesome enough to set out several samples of flawed fleeces for the attendees to check out.

I'd seen some of these flaws before (mineral banding, vegetable matter/VM, breaks, center back weathering, cotting, leg/belly hair, breeding crayon) but had never seen bacterial staining, keds or a double coated fleece that had felted on the sheep in person before, so very very cool. They also had several excellent informational posters, my favorite being "notes on skirting":

(click for big, you can read the whole thing on my flickr stream)

Others were "Notes on Belly Wool," "Notes on Preparing Short Wools," and "Notes on Preparing Sheep for Shearing."

Overall, the judging was awesome. There was a bit of a disconnect for me though, attending this as a handspinner and not as someone buying large bales of wool for commercial spinning into commercial yarn. There were several items considered for each fleece during the judging:

1. Cleanliness
2. Fiber Length
3. Fiber Strength
4. Weight
5. Uniformity of Grade (fiber diameter)
6. Adherence to breed standard (for breed category, not market/colored wool)
7. Condition, including staining, VM/2nd cuts, etc.
8. Overall character

First, I was shocked to discover that fleeces entered in the Breed judging were not discounted for cleanliness (poor shearing jobs, excessive VM, or breaks/tenderness in fleece). There were some that were rejected for sale b/c of breaks, but the idea behind not excluding external factors when judging a fleece in the breed category is that it is not the fault of the sheep and that they do not affect its adherence to the breed standard. I can't remember a VM'y fleece earning a high ribbon in the breed category judging, but still-- interesting. And you know how I love interesting :)

There was also the issue of weight... It makes sense to judge a fleece more highly if it will have less loss (vm, lanolin) if you are a handspinner or a commercial buyer paying a set price per pound and one will leave you with more clean fleece than another. However, all things being equal (including assumed loss), several times Heather and I saw fleeces that were judged to be equal with one another in all other aspects and the fleece that was heavier would place higher than the lighter one. I understand needing a "tiebreaker" but being a wool show where most fleeces will end up in a handspinner's hand and not in industry's, I think many of us would prefer a 6# fleece to a 10# one :)

Thinking on it more, it does make sense in Breed-- you could skirt down a 6# fleece to 2# and have the nicest one in the bunch with only shoulder wool. In that instance weight would help keep judging apples to apples, offering the most fleece for judging. For market/colored though-- some breeds are just larger than others and produce a heavier fleece, and would have a leg up in this category even if all were equally skirted just by fleece proportion. I don't really find it bothersome, but just interesting when you think of the higher perceived value of ribbon winners.

Any disconnect with the above in judging was more than reconciled with the last judging factor... character.

selecting grand champion from all first place finishers

I'm happy that my internal barometer of awesome is actually a valid facet of judging fleeces. Jane Patton said something to the effect that a "champion should look like a champion." I'm a sucker for the look, the touch, the way I get excited over something even though I never meant to. And goodness knows there were a lot to get excited over :)

If you're interested in attending the auction this year and haven't before, you can check out my writeup about last year's auction and what to expect. Auction attendees do not have to pay admission (it's held during the Monterey County Fair), but they are going to have a guard at gate 4 with names (if you've attended in the past, you should be on it.) If you're new, you can email Claudia Ward and she'll add you. Even if you can't attend this year but want updates about future years (or about spinning in demonstration at the fair this year), drop her a letter and let her know to add you to their mailing list. Next year they're going all electronic, no more envelopes laden with awesome stamps :)

So see you there, and don't bid against me! ;)

crossing the tour

2009-07-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Approx 9 oz and ~1600 yards of 3-ply
can you believe how big they look compared to the matchless bobbin? like 3x+ as big...

Just off of the bobbins this afternoon with the twist not set, but yay! I finished my Tour de Fleece spinning :) You may recall initially I wanted to comb, spin and KNIT Yvonne in the 22 days... but I am pretty pleased to have apparently spun enough for the pattern (and to spec!) in the timeframe instead.

I do feel I've gained something over the past three weeks, even if it wasn't a yellow jersey or a finished shawl. Sampling for the grist and even the possibilities of the different plies in knit samples was a bit of a chore (and waiting for them to dry was !!!), but all said and done, as I spun my singles to a consistent 32wpi unstretched...

(don't you just love the barberpoling in the single?)
edit: my spinner's control card can be sourced from mielke's fiber arts, and Girl on the Rocks has acyrlic and bamboo versions as well

...I felt free knowing I was spinning something that would (knock wood) definitely work when I was done. It's a strange feeling for me, picking a pattern first and ALSO the commercial yarn to copy/spin to. Prior to TdF I was spinning and knitting the 50th anniversary WoolGathering cardi/sweater (WG 79) from my black RamboxCorrie fleece, and my previous comb-spin-knit-comb-spin-knit is without a doubt going out the window after this experience. (A too-late discovery, one of my RxC skeins was much lighter/thinner than the others and I've basically "lost" being able to use it in that sweater... but more on that project later.)

Having so many singles to ply at once (over the past 3 days with a break for the fleece judging in Monterey with FranticFiberFun) was also really good for me-- I managed to do a decent job managing my 3 singles *without* the plying guide/diz from GVPencheff I had made especially for the job...

(5.5, 6, and 6.5mm holes-- special order in red oak)

...I love the diz! But am happy I can probably move it from my spinning basket and into my spinning/fiber tool case permanently now.

Backing up! Since I combed everything at once (oy, I have a LOT of combed sliver left!) I was able to really focus both on the technique and the finished fibers in a way I don't think I have before. I probably will not continue planking the fibers as I always had before; I didn't for this project because of the time constraint and didn't really see a noticable difference in not doing so. I will plank for some things-- I have a fleece with cotted tips that leave lots of little neps and planking helps me move them about and to catch more of those in the tines, but for regular lovely fleeces? Prolly not.

I also had the new combs (Valkyrie minis, did you hear the maker is going to restart produx on them this year?!) to compare to the larger English set... to be honest I don't really have a conclusion as to favorites. Both produce beautiful fiber and have a place in my heart/toolchest. The minis left marginally more neps in the sliver but also less waste weight, the English produce a heavier sliver but need to be clamped to a table and stood in front of to work.

What was interesting was both still worked as combs should work, that is both allow the comber to draw off the longest fibers first and leave the shorter parts behind. I'm a bit compulsive when it comes to measuring staples and getting the same lengths lashed on the comb to begin with (I had jokingly toyed with the idea of tattooing a ruler on my hand but my twitter friends thought it may be a bit... intimidating outside the fiber world ;)) and this fleece was no different. You may remember how my half grey, half white stapled Romeldale lamb pulled off into a striping sliver? The half grey, half brown Corriedale lamb here did something similar.

I've laid the first end of the sliver (bottom) against the last end of sliver pulled off of the combs (top)-- it may be hard to see, but the first end is not only darker, but has more crimp than the lighter colored last bit. I could tell when spinning just by feel that the end of the sliver was approaching-- the last length (it was not very much for each sliver) was discernably softer, more downy soft feeling than the rest. I washed the fleece in lock formation and sorted for length, so I don't think this is an issue of sorting prior to combing but that each set of combs did its job in sorting the longest fibers out even though they were grown in and amongst the naturally locking staples. I also don't think it's a coincidence both were lamb fleeces that changed dramatically in color and perhaps type over the course of a year. Dunno, but it makes me love lambs even more :)

I'm not a purist in combing, I don't mind mixing staple lengths among the sliver and don't strive for a true worsted (that would require all fiber in the sliver to be the same length). I sort it to try and reduce waste-- which is why I didn't just remove the last few inches of sliver on each bit. I also like the idea of random shots of concentrated lighter grey the last few soft inches showing up in the 3-ply yarn... I spun one bobbin from only slivers from the English combs, one bobbin from slivers from the handheld Vikings, and one by alternating slivers... we'll see once I start knitting how those work up, if they stagger like I think they will.

So yay for TdF, and tell my yarn to hurry up and start drying! I can't wait to get knitting it up :)

weekend at brownies (day seven thru nine)

2009-07-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

day 7-9 of tour de fleece 2009
one lone bobbin down

A face only a mother could love? Cos really, not something that gets you all hot and bothered.

Like?

A Verb for Keeping Warm cashmere/silk, "Intergalactic Space Travel"
(June 2009 ultra fiber club)

Or maybe you go both ways. All I know is that I am itching to spin some color once Tour de Fleece is over.

Back to brown(/grey) :)

day six and finally spinning

2009-07-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

day 6 of tour de fleece 2009
finally spinning

Finally! :)

It is slow going for me so far... My short term goal is to fill three bobbins relatively full and ply them into however many skeins I need to to clear the singles, then start spinning again. I could spin all of singles at once and just do one straight shot at plying, but I'm reallyREALLY looking forward to plying as a rest in spinning. So, it'll be lots of brownish grey singles on bobbins for me over the weekend and beyond.

As far as my bobbin progress shot goes... spinning wheel cupholders are rad, but I think my spinning wheel tripod is pretty up there too :)

Joby Gorillapod-SLR
(there's also a newer gorillapod-SLR version with a bubble level)

It's a tripod with prehensile legs (doesn't that word just do it for you?!) that can wrap onto slim objects and hold my Panasonic Lumix (and any other camera with a tripod hole) in odd ways as well as traditional tabletop tripod ones. The clearance is also good enough on the Schacht for the flyer to turn and spin while the camera is attached... so of COURSE I had to take a video while spinning some (more) singles.

Don't you love the whoooosh? You don't normally hear that (or the taptaptapping of the camera strap against the footman's chamber door :)) It'll be fun to take another video of a heavier weight or multicolor single being spun so you can see it actually filling up on the bobbin... can't think about that til TdF is over though! :)

Happy weekend!

sample spinning to spec (day five times fast)

2009-07-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

day 5 of tour de fleece 2009
spinning and knitting swatches

Yesterday felt like a bit of a time suck projectwise... I spent the day spinning little samples of singles at different tpi/wpi, plying 2 and 3-way, and knitting them up into swatches. And watching them dry. :) I should probably have done this before the Tour de Fleece started (I did knit the alpaca/silk swatch before), but since it was such a last minute decision for me to attempt the TdF... hindsight and all :)

As I've mentioned, I am just in love with cocoknits' new pattern Yvonne and am spinning for it for the Tour de Fleece. The original is knit in Verb's Alpaca/Silk yarn, which I've actually used before (for weaving, the longskinnytextured scarf) and it's a *really* nice yarn. I frankensteined it (it's a 3 -ply), and used the bits and pieces and the original whole as my jumping off point in deciding the kinds of samples I wanted to spin. I decided on the 3-ply, tightly plied (relative to the original) sample with the 32wpi singles.

Aside from being a 3-ply, and knitting up at 5 sts/inch on US 6's, the corriedale and the alpaca/silk yarns are pretty different. Of course the alpaca/silk is going to be much drapier than the crimpy corriedale, and I could have spun and plied the corrie more loosely to try and mimic that effect of the original yarn, but decided against it. First, close but no cigar on that one-- my crimpy, sheepy fleece is just not similar to the alpaca/silk fibers of the original yarn to begin with. I chose wool and want that to be a highlight, not fought against. Next I'm worried about pilling, I loveLOVE my handspun Wisteria but have to give it a good shave before wearing. Maybe if I had spun a 3-ply worsted instead of two I'd have less of a problem (but it might have been less soft and huggy too, don't know cos I didn't sample). This sample feels like it will hold up well to abrasion and wear, and hold its shape. I'm also biased towards tightly spun and plied yarns because I like the way they look, sock yarns and no... and in this yarn the crimp of the lamb's fleece busting out from the ply looks as squishy as it feels, can't say no to that. All over in love with the wooliness of it all :)

This is all pretty new to me (spinning to spec, and not to the fiber)-- I've even strung up my spinner's control card on the wheel to spotcheck my singles as I go. (Have you seen girlontherocks' wpi spinner's gauge card? not to mention her owl needle gauge? too cool.) It's helping, but I hope by the time the project is over I hope I get a better sixth sense about knowing my singles are consistent and not having to secondguess as much as I have been. We'll see :)

Speaking of my Matchless... two nights ago I finished combing the wool kind of early in the night and I decided to get the wheel ready for spinning the next day. After oiling I pulled out my tub of Wood Beams (handmade oil/wax wood paste by goodies unlimited, smells so good) and gave him a rubdown til he shone. I know there are many lucky souls out there hiphoppity about the 40th anniversary cherry Matchless (and rightly so!), but sitting crosslegged on the floor in my pyjamas in the middle of the night, turning him over in my hands this way and that, I couldn't help but fall even more head over heels for my big vintage boy and his lovely darkening and flecked maple.

Definitely a nice way to start this project. Lots of love, for both of us.

Hoping to get some yardage under my belt tonite, the only thing.

comparing wool combs day 4

2009-07-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

day 4 of tour de fleece 2009
650 grams combed total
544 grams sliver (106 grams waste not pictured)

As usual, coke can for scale :)

The foam boxes my slivers usually hang out in were overfull twice over, so I'm storing the little nests in the cleaner's supply bags as they wait to be spun. Their tops are folded over to give you an idea of the color and variation in the fleece outside the plastic but are pretty much full to the top. I stored the original washed locks in one of these bags and it wasn't even halfway full, lots of air in the little bits! :)

I used my handheld 2 pitch combs all day yesterday like on day 3, hitting 13% waste yet again. Looking at my numbers above it seems I've averaged ~16% in waste fibers over combing the entire fleece, not bad at all. I went ahead and used one bag for the slivers I dizzed from the English combs and one for the slivers from the Vikings; I'll definitely be looking for differences in spinning them but mainly it's to try and break up any possible color banding/striping as I spin. If I can alternate or spin odd lengths I'm hoping to break any repeating color effect the finished yarn may have-- I'm also going to be spinning a 3-ply which will help as well.

I can't see any differences in the sliver from the different sets of combs by eye. There is definitely a weight difference-- I randomly pulled 6 nests from each bag and weighed them, 22 grams for the 2-pitch and 34 for the 4-pitch. It doesn't sound like a lot until you start thinking about that difference over a whole fleece's worth of fiber (and that you'll expend similar amounts of energy for each combful, assuming each took the same number of passes before a spinnable sliver was formed.) Also keep in mind that the sliver from 2-pitch combs is not going to give you a "true worsted" spinning experience if it's important to you (all lengths in your sliver will not be the same as they will with higher pitch combs), but for me that's not a big deal since I default to Paula Simmons' draft against twist/spinning for softness and speed spinning anyways.

I still don't have a preference for either/or, I think they both will have a happy place in my tool stash for a long time coming. I wanted to share comparison pics of the difference in size/tine spacing and circumference, just because I like these forest-thru-the-trees images :) I also am including comparison pics of the Valkyrie Standard combs, also no longer in production.

craftsmith 4-pitch "fine" English combs

valkyrie 2-pitch "standard" Viking combs

valkyrie 2-pitch "fine/mini" Viking combs

Note that the Valkyrie standard set has the largest diameter tines of all 3-- where the Craftsmith and Valkyrie minis are much closer in terms of tine size. There's also the issue of how those tines are spaced, not only next to one another in the row but how far the subsequent rows are spaced as well.

valkyrie standard (left) and mini

craftsmith 4-pitch fine (left) and valkyrie standard

craftsmith 4-pitch fine (left) and valkyrie mini

The rule of thumb is going to be the finer the tines and the more they're spaced together, the more appropriate they are for finer fleeces. (Think of the more teeth per sq inch in carding cloth/finer fibers rule, same idea.) The larger, wider set tines of the Valkyrie standard set (or other "standard" Viking sets) will be optimal for coarser fleeces... or other applications like blending, pre-combing, etc. I'll definitely be trying the standard set on some (more!) new fleeces... but that's enough for tonite :) I need to get spinning!

Miss you.

combing fleece on handheld valkyrie vikings, day 3

2009-07-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

day 3 of tour de fleece 2009
514 grams combed total
426 grams sliver (88 grams waste not pictured)

Yesterday I spent my Tour de Fleece time combing fleece (again), but this time on my new-to-me set of Valkyrie handheld 2-pitch Viking combs instead of the Craftsmith 4-pitch fine English set. I swapped for the Valkyries on the Ravelry Spin or Dye swapping board (along with a bunch of other stuff I should show you sometime, super awesome forum for spinners, dyers, and raw fleece junkies) for some of my unloved stash and I'm glad I did.

Don't get me wrong, I love my big combs! For a while now though, I've wanted to be able to sit and comb. It sounds silly, but the first day of TdF I stopped combing for the day not because of time or upper body fatigue, but because my legs were starting to hurt. I'm not used to standing in one place for a long time at this point in my life, and the time does take a toll when trying to comb for volume and not just the day's spinning.

So yesterday was all about the Valkyrie handhelds... their "mini" size. Valkyrie isn't making these anymore but sometimes you can find them used (their tines are not stainless, be sure to ask on their condition if you find a set.) They are great, solid tools. I also swapped for the "pad" that holds the combs so you can pull off the sliver with both hands, or I suppose use it more as a fixed station to swing at like a large set. The appeal for me with these was to be able to use them freehand so I use it to be able to pull sliver off more easily.

(sunlight's giving the fleece a gorgeous, not true color)

I've been weighing my waste fibers and finished sliver as I've gone along on the TdF challenge, more for curiosity than anything (I didn't plan on using the Valkyries for combing to compare.) It is worth noting though that yesterday I hit 13% waste using the handheld 2-pitch versus the ~20% when using the 4-pitch English. It makes sense, more tines catching more waste. The fleece is also a shorter staple than probably optimal for the English set (3").

I also was using one less pass on the Viking set than the English (3 vs 4)-- since I use the English as a "fixed comb" (the stationary comb never leaves its pad), I need to pass fiber by a multiple of two (taking off, putting on) before dizzing off. With the Vikings as handhelds, I keep the stationary comb in my left hand and the working comb in my right, transferring fiber from left to right. Once I'm ready, I just switch hands (the full fiber comb goes to the left, the empty/now-working comb to the right) so I can transfer fiber in any number of passes before I decide to diz off.

gvpencheff diz and one of my dining table chairs

It is nice, being able to comb anywhere I like. Here I'm set up on the couch, watching star wars with the kid and making sliver with the Valkyrie pad attached to a chair. Tonite I'm combing at my desk watching Hulu :) I think I'll be done with TdF combing tonite!!

I like both sets, English and Viking. (Really!) I think a truer test as far as waste production goes should be made using a slightly longer stapled fleece-- I think my numbers were higher than normal on the English because of the short staple. (I also did not plank on either set.) There is also the body tradeoff... I found standing for several (several!) hours with the English set to be tiring on my legs, but I never feel tired in arms or upper body since I let gravity do most of the work. With the handhelds I could feel my arms and hands get tired just from repetition and grip, not as much a strength issue. Keep in mind I'm also trying to power thru combing to get to spinning for the Tour; I'm not doing it to the point of exhaustion but it is probably more than I'd usually do any other time. I do get more volume off of the big combs with less effort (fewer passes for weight combed, etc.), but it becomes a cointoss with everything else considered.

The make of the handheld Valkyrie combs overall is very nice. Like I said the Valkyries are no longer in production, but the new sets designed by Robin Russo and manufactured by her husband Pat under the name "St. Blaise" are very similar and in several ways nicer (the pad can be used for storage/hackling across, finished cherry wood as opposed to unfinished, commercially available now etc.) You can order St. Blaise combs from your favorite fiber pusher; I just was drooling over a set at Verb (they'll ship if you're not local.)

Off to finish my tiny pile of locks and oil up the wheel for spinning tomorrow. Yay!

handcombing wool two and natural dyeing 1(01)

2009-07-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

day 2 of tour de fleece 2009
362 grams combed total
294 grams sliver (68 grams waste not pictured)

I had to start putting the sliver in cleaner's supply bags since my foam boxes couldn't hold any more after this picture :) (meghan, these are the boxes i was telling you about from a while back!)

Not a bad showing, especially since Sunday was my last installment of the 3 week "Natural Dyeing 101" class I've been attending at Verb for Keeping Warm's Workshop in Berkeley. In the two previous weeks, Kristine had taken us thru mordanting...

...dyeing and dyestuffs...

...and yesterday was washing all of the beautiful BFL we had created.

I knew how intense the setup and work involved in natural dyeing was, but didn't body-know it. It really did take us three weeks to get from white wool to color, which is just crazytalk to me when I think about dyeing with acid dyes and being said and done in a matter of days (drying time occupying most of that).

I'm glad to have taken the class-- Kristine is an excellent teacher who fielded our questions like no book ever could. I know she'll offer the class again in the fall (after the cakewalks of vending at sock summit and soar :))... and it'll be a prereq to further classes such as cochineal, natural dyegardens, and indigo (lovely indigo discussion on anne's blog here today) that I'm already looking forward to.

For me, I was mainly interested in natural dyeing as it would apply to dyeing fleece... it really has gotten out of control here again fleecewise and for some reason, dyeing fleece would make it somehow more acceptable to have a wall of fleece come avalanching down in my closet as a regular occurance. Anyhow, I was able to take away enough information about natural dyeing to actively start daydreaming about how some of these colors would look over fleeces washed in lock formation, naturally colored and no...

Back to combing :)

handcombing wool, day one

2009-07-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

day 1 of tour de fleece 2009
170 grams combed total
134 grams sliver, 36 grams waste

Have to admit, kind of pales when I already see others' finished yarns and full bobbins :) I do enjoy seeing the brown overtake the grey of the half-colored fleece, though it's a little less in different lights and makes me realize I was right... I have too few grey colored fleeces in the stash.

Sarah aK: (a) teleknitter helped me on that one, recently...

"Florence," CVM from teleknitter yarn farms

No, I can't believe the crimp either :) Flo's already been washed up and stored waiting for inspiration to strike; she's actually half a fleece, around 2.2# raw and ishouldhaveweighedherscouredbutobviouslylessthanthat and even less once I'm done combing :)

Combing for the tour is going to be a good way for me not only to work on building up more muscle memory with the combs, but also to be able to track where I'm hitting re: waste fiber. Velveeta is a shortish stapled fleece, 3"... so I'll see more than if she were longer and less likely to get caught in the tines. She is also a lamb's fleece so I'm getting the lamb tips in with the waste as well, but 20% loss isn't too bad. I'd like to get it lower but I also admit I'm working more for speed than cleanliness with the deadline ahead.

I am also still deciding on how much to comb prior to spinning. Yvonne only calls for a little under 1300 yards over 13 ounces, and I'm pretty sure I read Julie say that she didn't use all of the 3rd skein when knitting her sample. I don't mind combing, and part of me thinks I should just get it all done so I don't have to go back and stop to comb if I run out while spinning... but another just wants to get in front of the wheel right about now.

We'll see :) Off to finish more prep before my day is thru :)

tour de fleece 2009 day one

2009-07-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've missed you more.

I joined the Tour de Fleece this year (via Ravelry) because I can't live in my pyjamas behind shuttered windows like the past months anymore. I needed an intense distraction from the choke of my heart and the TdF was a last minute decision to get me moving and burying, or at least on my feet.

I'm not going to spin the whole 22 days-- instead I'll comb the latest lovely corriedale lamb fleece from Whitefish Bay Farm, spin it and knit Yvonne from CoCoKnits before the end of the challenge.

Ready to go. Or at least move.

(Not really ready. But still.)

halfway

2009-05-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Everything's halfway done 'round here (glass half full?)

warp: Tactile Fiber Arts superwash merino/tencel, "orchid"
weft: Hand Jive Knits' Nature's Palette, "odd duck 5"

This wrap has been done longer than it took to weave... I want to do something different (read: not overhand knots) to finish the edges but can't decide, so it's just been sitting around waiting to be fulled for almost a week. Really pretty though-- I think once done the tencel blend from Tactile will shine-shine and the Nature's Palette will puff up even more.

I've been almostthere with the "Sunny Side Up" merino/silk from A Verb for Keeping Warm for what seems like ages-- usually I don't want such a fun color to be over, but I was hoping to have something finished to wear to Keep the Fleece/Sheep to Scarf this weekend. Admittedly all my fault (again), I got sidetracked playing Jenga with fleece.

Very little makes me as happy fiberwise as arranging locks for washing when the fleece is as greasy and willing as this one. From Whitefish Bay Farm, "Velveeta."

Buying a fleece from Whitefish Bay Farm is a crazy ordering experience-- they publish their list of available fleeces (no photos) and a time they will start taking orders, and its off to the races. I was hitting redial on the phone for an hour and half trying to order (just!) one, and didn't get my first, second, or even third choice. Crazy thing is, I am always super pleased with what I do end up with. Maybe cos both times, the lamb fleeces from WFB were some sort of magic and shifted color midstaple.

Halfway indeed :)

Miss you, only thing more than half.

shetland triangle and verb for keeping warm retail workshop

2009-05-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

before i ramble on and on :) -- congratulations belong to barefoot rooster on random.org drawing your comment (#1!) and winning the aVfKW Ultra Club merino/silk! email sent :)

now, onto the on and on...

I think I love gift knitting because I get to make awesome things I wouldn't necessarily wear myself, and when it's a fit with the recipient everyone wins. I loved making this for my sister :)

Shetland Triangle
Handspun 2-ply tussah silk and sw merino/cashmere
Spun and knit over 4 days in April
US 10.75 needles (7.0mm)

The goal was to make something machine washable (or, at least spot washable/easy care) that she could wear easily as quick cover for nursing baby. I knit it on huge huge needles (7.0mm) to really stretch out the most fabric widthwise I could when knitting, but only lightly blocked it by shaping the edges with blocking wires and lightly stretching to dry. I worried a severe blocking would mar the pattern (already a bit indistinct with the huge needles)... and that my sister is smaller than me and I didn't want it to overwhelm her frame.

(our mom)

I think the size looks perfect when worn, and provides just enough cover to overlap in the front (and bonus-- be able to see baby at the same time.) I used my gigantic (8'+!) Mmmalabrigo Clapotis when I was still nursing as a cover, and my son loved the dropped stitches when he was a little older-- poking fingers thru, playing hide and seek behind the fabric. I am so happy my sister has so much ahead of her :)

While the goal of the project was met, it was really the yarn I was excited about.

When I spun the tussah silk I knew I was aiming for long stretches of color, but really had no idea of their impact when plied with the white until I saw the striping of the Shetland Triangle appear. They look planned... and how I love when the yarn does the work for me :) I also appreciate their subtlety; my sister isn't a knitter and what speaks to me isn't necessarily what'll float her boat. (Noro springs to mind-- I never really dug the color striping and coordination until I knit with it and saw it jump off of my own needles.) I think the white here offsets the striping impact, in that it's not the only thing you see.

For me, the only thing I see is the silk, and the baby indigo blue that looks white until you really look :)

I don't think my photos captured this shawl well at all-- big scale photos don't show the silk which for me makes my toes curl. (missing that)

I also really dig that I did what I intended to do-- spin and ply the silk tightly with the lower twist merino/cashmere, and have the white ply sort of jump out of the silk's grip in both yarn and finished object. The result is so soft and shiny... I hope she likes it too! What's great is she saw me spindle spinning during my last visit and was fascinated-- I think she'll be one who appreciates the start-to-finish of this project.

I couldn't resist showing it off before mailing, so when I heard that A Verb for Keeping Warm was having a celebration to welcome their new full time employee Adrienne, I packed it and the kid up and headed to the WorkShop where I got to show Kristine what her fiber grew up to be and see this ground-up retail store for the first time.

You walk in and immediately its spindles and fiber and yarn and wheels and gentle assault on the senses as you take it in and realize how much work is hanging on the walls around you. It still kneecaps me, knowing how much work (physical, time intensive work) goes into dyeing with natural dyes. I love acid dyers, love food grade colors, but also know the time it takes me to dye a length of roving doesn't hold a candle to maintaining an indigo vat, premordanting raw wool, all of the etc. steps. (I won't go on about natural dyeing and the steps involved, but you can hear Kristine talk about this a little bit on the YKnit podcast a 'cast or three back.)

With all the work and the subsequent higher cost these yarns and fibers have to fetch to maintain a living wage for everyone involved, I can't be happier that Verb's business is flourishing enough to hire a full time employee. Appreciation for handwork, handmade, slow artisanal crafts... sounds like what all knitters and spinners want :)

Another cool thing about the WorkShop is that its creation stayed true to the business' vision: it started with a small truly empty space that was insulated with recycled denim fiber, panelled with findings, windows and doors from Urban Ore, painted with remaindered paint from SFMOMA and floored with carpet from the same.

And it's just a neat place :)

I couldn't get away from bringing some stuff home with me. It didn't help that my son was with me, he was talking me into purchases all day :) We finally agreed on two (not eight like he wanted!) bunches of BFL for a special something for him.

I also picked up something special for me... merino/silk in "sunny side up."

SO much prettier than my overcast photos show... and the last bit :( ...an end run of a limited colorway. Ishbel maybe?

I also broke my not-a-real sock yarn fast after spying this beauty (and a sock pattern I've wanted since its publication)...

Creating yarn (Superwash Merino, 436 yd/4 oz) in "Tide Pool" and "Shaped Arch Socks" by Marlowe Crawford

I think I'll use handspun for the pattern and the yarn for a Cookie A Sock Innovation pattern (I love this book so much I should write a book report ;))... I'm obviously on a project-planning binge :)

If you're local/bay area, A Verb for Keeping Warm is hosting a "Keep the Fleece" event on May 16th, raising money for Heifer International by hosting a day of spinning and knitting scarves-- a "sheep to scarf" event in our own backyard. A perfect time to connect with local spinners and knitters, check out the WorkShop Studio in person, and raise some money to bring more fleece into the hands of the world. Again, just what knitters and spinners want :)

What we want and what we have... but as always, out of time. Til then.

crochet chain roving braiding

2009-04-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

the first time i bought chained roving i was !!! ... so much easier to pull open and start spinning than when its braided. i'm surrounded by a bunch of superwash rovings and barknknit asked how i was chaining them up-- a few pics of the steps (and a minipreview of the new dyeing idea i had to try out)...

take one end of the roving, lay the long end over the top of the short.

reach thru the loop, grab a length of the long end...

...pull thru...

...making another loop.

keep pulling the roving thru and making loops til you run out...

...insert end into last loop...

...pull taut and you're done!

yay!

this and nine other superwash merino rovings will be listed in my etsy shop tomorrow (may day!) at 9am (pacstandard). i'll have previews up in my flickr stream later-later today and can hold/reserve colors-- just send me a note.

[8pm: all photos uploaded]

happy spinning and dyeing!

fleece storage

2009-04-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

There is a monster in this house.

It is my utility closet, burping up fleeces.

(I told you it was bad Karrie! :))

It started out innocently, washed bags of lovely wool stacked in the back of the closet... there was space, and the fleeces filled it happily. Soon they started spilling out of their little corner and onto the floor of the closet between the shelving-- in boxes waiting to be washed, in oversized Ziploc XL and comforter bags, in shipping containers. It got to be where I was just stacking boxes on boxes, where I would forgo grabbing the toolkit or other non-fleece things that were TIC with the fleeces because it was too much of a hassle to reach them.

I know a lot of the problem was the boxes-- I have been storing unwashed fleeces and pindraft rovings in the cardboard homes they were shipped to me in, but still. So last nite, armed with an empty house and a bunch of new zippered storage bags from Cleaner's Supply, I went to town and repacked everything.

I feel a million times better! The bags from Cleaner's Supply (15x18x9 "blanket bag") are awesome. I read about them on Ravelry (mine are a different size) and bought 2 dozen-- they're on sale thru April but still at full price are a steal for their fiber possibilities. Yarn storage, anyone? :)

I repacked the pindraft fleeces from Morro Fleece Works...

(about 2# each with plenty of room to spare/squish)

Sidebar-- have I shared pics of the cormo I just got back from Morro?! I sent 2 partial fleeces for blending together, 2/3 weightwise was a steel grey and 1/3 weight a black brown and Shari sent back this amazingly heathered roving...

Eee! :)

Meanwhile back on the farm... I repacked all of the washed locks I had in the blue Ziploc XL bags too. The Ziplocs were great but too big and awkward, and these are perfect for being able to easily see the naturally colored rainbow at a glance.

(flickr has notes for each)

From the tops, too...

They're holding a good 4# of washed locks, the fuller bags. Unless they were monsters, I'd guess this size bag could hold most washed fleeces. They're a lighter gauge plastic than the comforter bags I've been keeping, but I'm really happy with these. They also have breathable side panels-- no squishing the air out of these and sealing, but I actually like the idea of a breathable bag (I'll be putting lavender/cedar sachets in each eventually as well.)

I even repackaged the unwashed fleeces, keeping them in their shipping bags and putting those inside a CS bag. (I want to be able to reuse the blanket bags for scoured locks... don't want suint and grease rubbing off on the insides.) I didn't realize how much washing I have ahead of me-- 4 fleeces! One new one came this week, over 3 pounds in this teeny tiny box...

Schacht Matchless bobbin for scale (with some gorgeous Dyeabolical Yarns superwash merino I can't stop spinning!). Inside...

Velveeta! :) Another lamb's fleece from Whitefish Bay Farm.

!!!

Off to go admire my empty closet... I'll pull a winner for the merino/silk Verb for Keeping Warm spinning fiber contest next Monday (5/4) since the project is done and should arrive by its destination by then (don't want to ruin the surprise :)) Miss you, til then!

ps, longshot but does anyone want to trade their copy of Aran Knitting for Poetry in Stitches: Clothes you can knit **AND** Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves? email/ravmsg me if yes :)

drowning in silk

2009-04-20T14:02:00.001-07:00

I applied for a SOAR scholarship based on the writings I've done on this blog, and Friday received a kindly rejection letter from Spin Off. Admittedly I was bummed, but by the afternoon it was time to get over and into something else. My heart's always reminding me of my ability to compartmentalize-- my foolproof method is to throw myself into something new, or at least really interesting. I grabbed my Matchless and 2 ounces of indigo dyed tussah silk from A Verb for Keeping Warm and went to town.

I'm not a really big fan of 100% silk yarns, to me they mean lace or summer. I didn't want to card the silk into a wool like last time, so instead I laid out the length of silk (dyed in large color sections) and pulled off lengths in color order for spinning over the fold. I haven't spun over the fold since first teaching myself to spin, and I do like the control it gave me in handling the silk.

I mention I used the Schacht Matchless (aside from Michael, the only one who's spent time with the Joy in a long time is my son) because I have wanted to try Irish/bobbin led on it-- another one of those new, distracting things. I've spun in hybrid double drive since its arrival, and used to spin in scotch tension on the Ashford, but had never tried bobbin led before. It was an easy setup and actually a lot better than I thought it would be-- I really like a strong takeup and I certainly got it this way :)

Originally I was going to spin another handpainted single of Verb's merino/silk for plying with the tussah, but went off the rez with a white merino/cashmere top instead. I think the white really shows off the long stretches of color Kristine dyed that I tried to keep intact.

Another reason I chose the white was because it is superwash-- my baby sister just had her baby and I wanted to weave her a large nursing wrap/coverup that could be easily washed when my nephew invariably does a baby blowup near or on it. I changed my mind though (like usual)... the yarn is just way too soft for weaving; not that it wouldn't hold up to it but that the crazy softness just wouldn't translate to a woven fabric like a knitted one would.

I kept trying to take pictures so I could choose the one that looked the softest :) I don't know if it worked but eh, I could look at the shine of the silk all day.

I ended up with about 400 yards of a light worsted weight and already started on a little something :) Any guesses? Leave me a comment on what you would make and I'll randomly draw a name once I finish the project and post pictures (a week? two?) The winner will receive the aVfKW merino/silk I didn't spin for this project...

3 ounces in the exclusive Ultra fiber club colorway, "Roman Numeral." Don't spin? Never a better time or better fiber to learn with ;) Or, tear it into strips and knit with the roving, use it as mitten thrums, make a CoCoKnits fleeced earflap hat, felt something beautiful, replace the pet rock on your desk... it's up to you :)

Miss you!

differences in carding and combing romeldale fleece

2009-04-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

This was going to be part of my last post, but it got way too long! If you hadn't seen it, I took this wonderful Romeldale fleece from Peeper Hollow Farm...

(actual photo of Hartley the sheep whose fleece is in the bag!)

...separated it into pieces and scoured it, intending to handcard the fleece for spinning into a heathery grey. I was hoping the handcards would leave me with a evenly colored, airy, squishy yarn to take advantage of the crimpy life in the fleece-- but I had a lot of problems with evenness and bumps. After a few rolags on the handcards I decided to comb a sample on the big combs, and unfortunately both cards and combs weren't quite right. I did find the difference between the preps interesting though and figured it's always fun to share :)

Rolag from handcards pulled into roving, left; sliver pulled off of combs, right

It's easy to see how clean the sliver is on the right with all of the waste fibers removed-- it's also easy to see the "jumbly" nature of handcarded fibers (along with shorter and longer bits and bumps) as well. I prefer a smoother fiber prep (using combs)-- but combs aren't always going to produce exactly what you want, either.

Notice how the sliver gets darker towards the center? The Romeldale staples were grey and white... apparently, the whiter fibers in the fleece were longer than the grey and pulled off the combs first. Even after I planked and relashed the straightening combing back on for additional combing, the fibers again pulled off white to dark.

I try not to buy variegated fleeces as it is hard to keep the colors consistent on the combs, but since the Romeldale staples were half white, half grey I didn't think I'd have that problem. Wrong ;)

So I ended up with a few rolag-to-rovings and a spectrum shaded sliver (five times fast!)... for fun I spun each on a spindle and navajo plied, just to keep the color gradation intact.

It's easy to see the difference-- the carded prep on the left is less smooth, has more bumps and neps where the combed prep on the right spun very evenly and at a finer weight (same spindle). Usually when spinning I would try and pull out large bumps in the fiber or try and even them out-- but kept them in the carded yarn both to show what was left in the fiber once prepped (vs combed) and also because I'm less able to stop and start when spindling :)

I honestly don't think one is better than the other-- I like how airy the carded prep spun and its rustic, evenly colored look, and I also like how smooth and effortless it was to spin the combed prep. It is just kind of fun to see the difference, same fiber in but two different swatches out.

I steamblocked these instead of wet finishing, I think the carded prep may look even more cohesive once wet blocked. Looking closely at the carded swatch, you can see towards the center where I changed rolags and one was browner/less grey than the other... small batch even blending can be difficult on both handcards and combs.

Best of all though is the light to dark transition the combed swatch takes, with the bulk a mix of white and grey.

Easier to see the difference with the edges folded together :)

I buy fleeces with the longrange intention of spinning for a sweater with them-- but not variegated sweaters. Sampling like this has given me a few insights: I need to practice more on the handcards because I don't know if it's me or the technique that is the problem when carding out a reasonably smooth rolag/roving from fleece. I also am now considering how to deal with spectrum colors in this Romeldale sliver-- I could separate the white from the grey when pulling off of the combs, leaving me with two distinct colors from one fleece. I could also try and handcard the slivers pulled off of the combs for an even color, maybe eliminating both the problem with waste/bumps and uneven color.

I actually love ending up with more things to think about :)

Til then, miss you.

kookaburra scour versus dawn in raw fleece wool washing

2009-04-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Lots of pics and words today, sorry! Cutting this post into two parts-- check back for carding and combing differences with the washed Romeldale later today.

So! There's a lot of raw fleece around these parts, and I get this little nervous feeling thinking about it. I don't like the idea of unwashed wool calling m@ths, lanolin hardening into crackly bits, all the spinner nightmares :) Coincidentally, Kookaburra Co. has been dipping into the social media fray and found my blog after a (positive) comment I made about their Wash product... I offered to test out their Scour fleece wash if they wanted to send me a sample and here we are :)

Kookaburra Scour (and sample sizes of their Delicate and Power washes)
"A natural, raw wool cleaner that is free of enzymes, phosphates, peroxides and alkalis"

As with the Unicorn Power Scour, I didn't pay for the product but was upfront that I would only review it fairly and honestly-- Kookaburra was adamant that I do so. Just wanted to be upfront about all those grains of salt :)

I had already decided to take the lovely Romeldale from Peeper Hollow Farm ("Hartley") and wash it in large pieces rather than by lock formation when the Kookaburra WoolScour arrived. For "in pieces" washing, I lay out the fleece, keeping it as intact as possible and separate large sections out, keeping those intact as well. They look like fleecy rectangles if it works out :)

I use my mesh laundry bags as a guide-- I try and separate a piece that is larger than the bag on all sides, so when it's squished in there and wet in the wash, it doesn't float apart or lose how intact it is. Being very careful when loading and washing means that the formation will still be there to separate locks from it I wanted to comb/flick card it later.

It is also very fast loading bags like this, especially with fleeces that want to stay together like the Romeldale does... I had these loaded in less than half an hour!

I put half of the bags to wash with the ultra concentrated blue Dawn-- same method as before (adding extra hot water, timing, etc.) except with 2 washes and 3 rinses. The Romeldale wasn't greasy greasy like the Cormo, but it was definitely more barnyard smelling :)

After the Dawn-washed fleece was dry, I set out to wash the remaining half of the fleece in Kookaburra Woolscour. Kookaburra's instructions are simple-- use 1-2 ounces of Scour per pound of raw fiber.

Kookaburra's excellent measuring tool built into their bottle
(their entire lineup comes in this handy packaging)

It was almost a little too simple for me :) since I feel most comfortable with my Dawn washing (several washes, several rinses)... and I didn't quite know how I could fit it into my washing routine. I had about 2 pounds of raw fleece left to wash, so I decided to use 1.5 oz of Kookaburra Scour total: an ounce for the first wash, a half ounce for the second, and two rinses.

first wash-- see the yellow water? lanolin!

I also decided to keep using an extra stockpot of nearon boiling water added to the sink for each Kookaburra washing-- I know from last time my tap gets to be about 135deg on its own, and I always use extra hot water with the Dawn and am happy with the result. I only used two plain water rinses instead of 3 I used for the Dawn-- Kookaburra says that rinsing is optional, but because I think the extra hot water of rinses helps melt any residual grease, I kept with it. Honestly I think even one rinse would have been adequate, the second had almost no lanolin clouding come off of the fleece at all, just clear water.

I did notice, after the first wash in Scour, that after draining my sink had a discernable bathtubish ring. I've never had that happen to me but it was neat-- felt like a very soft wax, wiped off easily. I'm guessing that it was some of the lanolin carried off and away from the fibers by the Kookaburra Scour-- really interesting! It didn't happen after the first wash, either.

The million dollar question-- how did it work?

Kookaburra Scour washed fleece on left, blue Dawn washed fleece on right

Perfectly! :)

My bar for how a wool scour works is how it compares to blue Dawn (that always gets all the lanolin out, and leave soft ready-to-prep fiber behind)-- and I can't tell the difference in cleanliness of fleece. I can tell you I used much more Dawn liquid by weight than I did the Kookaburra, like I said before I get the water bluish with Dawn (several ounces per wash) and used only 1.5oz of Kookaburra total for the same amount of fiber. I realized writing this I should have probably used at least 2 (an ounce for each pound of fleece), but I can't tell the difference :)

Going very carefully over the Kookaburra-washed fleece I did find one patch of locks that was slightly... draggy feeling, same as with some of the Unicorn when I did the same blind feel test. I am never so careful when going over dawn-washed fleece though-- I'm beginning to think there are a few locks that either don't get rinsed out totally or product is left behind when using any of them, probably including Dawn. It isn't enough to warrant rewashing, just a slight... drag and definitely not a dealbreaker (just honest).

I do appreciate that Kookaburra's packaging states I can use much less water than I'm used to-- now that I've seen Kookaburra work well under my normal washing methods (several washes, several rinses), I will need to try theirs (washing once with all the scour required and not rinsing). That'll be an interesting test for another day, and honestly I'm more scared of that one (not rinsing! don't know if i can handle it!), but I'll keep you posted :)

Kookaburra Scour's scent is really appealing-- I have no idea what it is ("all natural, plant-based") but it smells familiar and very clean. Since I rinse the fleece, no scent is left behind-- which is actually a plus because this Romeldale was so sheepy smelling and doesn't smell like ANYTHING anymore!

Would I use it again? Definitely. I really do appreciate the concentrated aspect of Kookaburra Scour since I can use much less product weightwise (and throw away fewer packages) compared to the Dawn. I know that I can use less water rinsing the woolscour out than with Dawn; I have to use SO much Dawn that it takes many plain water rinses to let the soap out of the fleece, and avoiding that is a good thing. Kookaburra Scour is also economical in actual product cost-- I used 1.5 oz for 2 pounds of fleece; the 16 oz bottle retails for $10.95 so it cost a whopping $1.03 to wash the 2 pounds clean. (If I used 2 ounces like I should have according to the package, it would have cost $1.37.) I didn't weigh the blue Dawn I used this time, but I'm 99% sure it was actually cheaper to use the Kookaburra as compares to the Dawn-- which I find mindblowing for a specialized fiber product.

Another plus is that Kookaburra is already widely distributed in local yarn/specialty stores (my favorite bay area yarnstore, Article Pract, carries Kookaburra Wash), so I'd guess that you could ask your LYS to order it for you and support them with your purchases at the same time. If you don't have an awesome LYS like I do, you can purchase the scour direct from Kookaburra Co.

Kookaburra Wash has been my favorite woolwash for a long time, and I'm excited to have found another excellent specialty fleecewash from them I can continue to use and enjoy.

fleece parade

2009-04-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's kinda hard coming back and pretending everything is the same-- I had a really good driving trip thru Utah (stopping to see dad in Vegas), on which I got my rented 4x4 stuck in a surprisingly deep snowdrift and had to sleep in the 25deg car wrapped in a sleeping bag while preparing myself mentally for a 16mi hike back to the nearest smalltown the next morning. We made it 4 miles before being picked up by a set of kindly retirees from South Dakota-- and it's still very hard to wrap my mind around and talk about, the fear I had and how it was tied to my son. I don't want to talk about it-- but I don't want to forget either.

But that's where I've been! And I've been unpacking and washing the fleeces that were waiting here for me to try and bring me back to the real world...

I try and name all the fleeces in my closet (if the sheep didn't have a name), it's silly but I like when sheep have names. This one I've nicknamed "Mistake"...

I was sent this Polwarth on accident and decided with the shepherd to go ahead and pay for/keep it-- the chalky black color and crimp is beautiful! It is an uncoated fleece though-- and I'm thinking I will send it to a mill for carding since I just have an aversion to even innocous VM in fleeces.

Silly though-- I could easily wash this in pieces and just use the combs to get it clean, no skin off of my nose. Haven't decided yet... It is beautiful wool though-- from Nancy Ortmann in Montana (ad in spin-off, no website). I picked up the 3 partial colored cormos last year from her flock and they went out for blending/pindrafting to Morro Fleece Works. One batch came back while I was away, too.

It's a 55/45 cormo-baby alpaca blend, a little over 3#. Morro did SUCH a good job-- I sent 3 packs of dark brown baby alpaca Handspinner's Dream combed top from Alpaca with a Twist to be blended with the cormo and the resulting blend is just heaven-- spins both fine and to a heavier weight with ease, and is this rose-ish brown/grey color that is better than the parts put into making it.

I'm also really excited about this color...

When I opened up the box this fleece came in, my son asked if it was wool from a different animal-- he's used to the crimpy fine wools pouring out of the cardboard boxes. Instead it's a naturally colored Blue Faced Leicester, "Shelley" from Tumble Creek Farm. Yall know how I feel about colored fleeces, and that color is a recessive gene in BFLs/more white than anything to be found, so I was really happy when Robina from TCF let me know she had this one fresh off the hoof for sale. It is very different than anything I've tried washing before, so I'm not sure what I'll do yet-- but it will be fun! :)

I did decide to wash this Romeldale from Peeper Hollow Farm in pieces rather than by lock formation...

"Hartley" is a coated lamb's fleece, a big baby girl at around 5# and a gorgeous medium to dark grey. The fun thing about CVM/Romeldale (that I first learned from Sarah who raises covered CVMs and will probably be talking about HER fleeces for sale soon ;)) is that their wool gets darker with age-- not lighter like most sheep. Hartley here started out white with brown spots and over the year grew grey, and will probably result in a tweedy, deeply complex yarn once spun up.

The staples are more indistinct/don't fall into locks as easily like previous fleeces I've washed, and have so much more loft! Even though she has a long enough staple for combing (3.5-4.5"), I may handcard her to take advantage of the loft/life in the wool. Told you I really liked handcarding lately :)

That has to be it for now, I have no more storage for raw wool 'round here :)

Missed you.

on and off

2009-03-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about coming home from a trip* is the mail that's been piling up while you've been away. Who wouldn't love to find this beauty waiting with open arms? :)

Bosworth Midi spindle, .98oz in Bird's Eye Maple

Amelia at The Bellwether was kind enough to give us who haunt her Ravelry forum a heads up-- there were not going to be any more Bossies available for purchase from retailers (direct buy only from Journey Wheel), so if we wanted one we should speak up NOW before she sells out her remaining inventory to classes she teaches :) I love the tiny red cedar one so much that I know I'll love this too.

I'm sure spinning this month's Verb ultra fiber club shipment on it won't hurt with that, either...

Roman Numeral

So pretty. The spaced out dyeing has me thinking I'll try for some striped yarn when I get to spinning it-- I love when colors work together like this.

Also love this...

Handdyed Banana fiber from Blonde Chicken Boutique, 4 oz in "Leaf"

I had *so* much fun handcarding the polwarth/silk that when I saw Tara's banana fiber for sale in her shop I immediately thought of the possibility of blending it with a little naturally grey wool for an artier, bulkier, Spring-has-Sprung type yarn. Her post on the "eco-worthiness" of bamboo and soy in spinning fiber/yarn is an interesting, related read too.

I did manage a little fiber time when I was away, thanks to Tactile's Superwash BFL and my 2 newest spindles...

I slid both cops off onto drinking straws like before and plied them on the wheel when I got back...

...ending up with 3.5oz and 400 yd of sock yarn. It looks bigger than it is against my new HP Mini--

(Bosworth Midi spindle, not coke zero for scale!)

The HP Mini is a really adorable machine, perfect for browsing the web around the way since *my other portable networking device has gone on the haywire.* I opted for the solid state drive, not the hdd since I plan to carry it around a lot and don't want any parts knocking about inside. I also found out that Jetflash's T3K media is the same as HP's "mini mobile drive"-- half off HP's pricing and I can increase the drivespace by 50% (more when I add in a SDHC card... both are flush with the machine when inserted in their respective slots-- nice and no breaking off.) I'm going to take it with on my next roadtrip-- that I'm leaving for in about 24 hours!! A lot of movement lately for a sedentary creature like me. When I get back in two weeks I expect to have some socks to share (with all the driving ahead)... and probably a fleece or two will be waiting as well :) Unboxing at its best.

Back soon!

*another plus of family trips-- old pics to share :)

last call

2009-03-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on twitter, you've already heard that I'm heading out to my sister's for her baby shower tomorrow... part of the reason I've been cranking out so many projects and blogging every day for this past week (!!) Today was the day for my last hurrah with the wheel-- I finished plying the pygora from last month's ultra fiber club shipment from Verb.

pygora from "penzance" and "paper moon"
(twist not yet set)

This was the fiber I was spinning on my wee Jenkins Turkish Delight-- the Turkish spindles are SO fun since you end up with a center pull ball when you're done.

I admit I haven't even started packing for the trip yet-- day spent in front of the wheel and in trying to decide what spindles and fiber to bring with me. I narrowed it down...

Asciano cocobolo rosewood spindle with Tactile Fiber Arts superwash BFL in "lichen"

I promised some socks from this fiber, and am really anxious to start and finish :) Probably will use Marlowe's new arch sock pattern if I hit gauge. I'm also packing my new, ridiculously stunning Golding...

Seth Golding ebony twist with Blue Moon Fiber Arts merino/silk in "jubilation"

I was excited when I read that the Goldings' son, Seth, would be turning spindles and offering them on the site (just makes me happy, the passing on of the torch among artisans) but I had no idea I'd fall for one and so hard. It is an ebony whorl, 2.75" with a sterling silver ring that was tooled by Seth. It is also heavy-- 1.53 oz (Seth made a batch and some are over/under the 1.8 oz weight listed on the site), perfect for a worsted/aran weight 2-ply from the merino silk.

Also perfect for trying to learn how to ply on a spindle... eek! I don't know why it scares me so.

Alright! Tonite's agenda is sewing wee buttons on all of the nephew-to-be's sweaters, wrapping them in the Spongebob wrapping paper my son picked out... and actually packing the important stuff like clothes and kid :) I'll be away for a few weeks (don't know if I'll be blogging), miss you! :)

all about aran afghan

2009-03-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

...aK(a): grandma's 2008 holiday gift, finally done!

All About Aran afghan by Janet Szabo
Elann Superwash Worsted, 18 balls
Started: August 2008
Finished: March 4 2009
US 7 24" addi

This is the third year I've made gma an afghan (2006: Lizard Ridge, 2007: Totally Autumn Throw) for the winter holidays but the first I didn't have it done in time :( A little distracted with weaving, with baby nephew knitting... no matter. I'll be handing it over this weekend when I head off to my sister's baby shower and it'll be awesome. Grandma saw me working on it the last time I visited and made me feel like a rockstar for memorizing the (simple) cable patterns and not having to refer to a chart-- she said she never did patterned knitting (cables, lace) which surprised me because she did so much with color. I think she did a lot of feather and fan, but I can't remember and don't have any of her afghans left so I can't be sure.

All of the cables are really intuitive once you get going-- the pattern offers seven different blocks and I chose four.

rope cables

horseshoe cables

braided cable panel

moss diamond cables

I knit the afghan in strips-- 4 strips of 4-block squares each. I'm not a fan of the seaming although the garter st seaming of the panels was much easier than I imagined it would be. I *am* a fan of the fearful symmetry, so I staggered the positioning of the squares in the panels so they would alternate in a pleasing to me way :)

I will admit to not blocking the strips before seaming and not really blocking the blanket well at all-- just a onceover with my can'tholdacandletosteamy iron set to steam to try and get the edges to lay flat and get the braid panel to not pull in as much. No pinning, no measuring. It illuminated the only regret I had in not knitting the throw in squares-- it would have been far easier to coax the drawn in braid cable square out so it wouldn't pull its neighbors in as much if it had been blocked bdsm style on its lonesome instead of in a panel. Really though, I specifically chose superwash cos I know that if this gets any use (and I hope it will!), it'll be over a lap that is usually the sleeping pillow for a small dog and one of seven (!!) cats-- I'm not really worried about the blocking future of the afghan since it has washing machine written all over it anyways :)

I have no idea what next year's (this year's!!) blanket will look like... superwash again for sure, but otherwise? Maybe feather and fan, old school? I'll have to ask gma what patterns she did use in her 80million afghans served.

Just to give you an idea of the true color and lap-size...

:)

simple patterns on the rigid heddle

2009-03-04T23:38:00.001-08:00

As much as I loved using the pickup sticks for the float scarf, I think I like how mindless weaving is on the rigid heddle more right now. I set up the Flip with another longlongskinnyskinny scarf, direct warping just like usual but triplethreading random holes in the heddle (3 strands instead of one) for a slight textured effect.

A Verb for Keeping Warm alpaca/silk in Magic Bean

Another view of the overthreaded warp...

I like it so much, but am a little tired of taking pics of myself (even tho jen is rite and i should just get a proper tripod and be done with it :)) so there you go. I should try a little harder-- it is AMAZING how much length and just scarf I was able to get out of one alpaca/silk hank (4.5oz/422 yd). Even had a little golfball leftover!

It was fun (and mindless!) to add the little texture... the next time I try it, I'll also double or triple the weft threads at odd intervals, catching them on the ends and it'll look like a boxy, random plaid. (Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom has details on this.)

Another cheatsheet way for patterning is to use color-- I showed this miniblankie before but am chuffed to show off the satin blanket binding I sewed on it so here it is again, done-done and ready for giving.

Yay sewing!

I used 2 balls each of a lighter and darker blue, directwarped the loom with one peg pass of each color then alternated all the way across the length of the loom (so, one slot + one hole with one color then new color the same... it's terrible but I have no grasp on weaving terminology ;)). Then, the same with the weft in one up + one down shed in one color, then switch.

My sister and I both had satin lined baby blankets from when we were born-- hers was blue and I'm hoping she remembers when she sees this. I still sleep with mine :)

If you're thinking about weaving and you're in the bay area, Kathleen is teaching both a rigid heddle 101 class (where use of the schacht cricket loom is included!) and a textures for the RH class at the Verb for Keeping Warm Workshop this month. Bone up and get something entered into Schacht's anniversary contest! :)

thirty words or less

2009-03-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

handcarded polwarth/silk

excellent idea from diane

(need to fire my selfportraiteer)

pattern: cosymakes' pixie hood

love. way big.

see?

tactile merino/yak, "pomegranate"

more alike. same love.

(til then!)

:)

stitches west 2009

2009-03-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

...was awesome, as always :)
(almost as much as the company!)

Found myself buying silk blends again this year, weird since I never buy them online-- they must just not translate well across the computer screen because I jump at them in person.

l to r:
Blue Moon Fiber Arts 50/50 merino-silk in Jubilation
Pigeonroof Studios 80/20 merino-silk in Amazon
A Verb for Keeping Warm 50/50 merino-silk in No. 9

Also found a spindle I was hoping to find...

Greensleeves Damsel Monique in Masur Birch .85oz from Carolina Homespun
(I wanted a big Mjolinor in MB, but I think I may like this one more!)

...and a spindle I didn't know I was looking for.

Asciano Fiber Arts, "Mischa" in cocobolo rosewood 1.27oz
(website down?)

The style of spindle is not Mischa, instead the owner told me-- each spindle has a name. She was a real character, but I just couldn't walk away from that yellow/red combo (and that she knocked off $20 for the shaft having a warp-- don't mind a slight wobble for as beautiful as it is.) The yellow band is the wood closest to the bark side of the tree, alive where the red isn't. Neat.

Maybe not as much as the 'most interesting thing' on the market floor, as dubbed by my companion...

Tactile Fiber Arts Superwash BFL in Lichen

I can appreciate natural dyers staying as close to natural bases as they do for their dyes and superwashed fiber is just not it (you can't even make superwash wool in the US for the environmental hazards)... but I can't help but want a machine washable wool for socks. I'm really excited about this fiber base addition to Tactile's lineup.

I couldn't make it to the Knitmore Girls meetup at 2 at the Purlescence booth, but I stopped by early to say hi and Jasmin FORCED a swag bag on me ;)

(minus a KG button that went onto my now-vintage aVfKW/Tactile canvas bag)

I bought the Mini Mochi from Purlescence as a mini thank you for the shop sponsoring the Knitmore Girls podcast (I'm a fan! and won't the MM make an amazing woven scarf?)... but the rest was swag donated to the 'girls by Verena, Purlescence and others (!!) It even included a pleated scarf pattern by Chloe Sparkle/The Hundredth Monkey-- really nice and one of those 'great for handspun' options.

That was my favorite part of the market this year-- running into knitters and talking in person. Kristi's right that you kind of have to grab me because I am ridiculously shy, but it's great when it happens :)

Lots of awesome on and off of the floor this year. Thanks again :)

spinning to stitches

2009-02-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

The Stash and Burn ladies have inspired me to take a look at my past Stitches West purchases (and maybe get some worked up and out of the stash!) before heading back again for 2009. So, I'm spinning some Pigeonroof Studios Superwash BFL purchased @ Article Pract's booth last year (for a 4 ply, cabled sock yarn. goodness i love this spindle-- bosworth red cedar featherweight, 12g) and realizing I've done pretty good as far as using past purchases, not much leftover from past SW's. It's not a free pass to go nuts, but I can finally put together my 'must-see' booth list before I cross the stitches market threshold since I usually peter or paul out before seeing it all and I don't want to miss a select few.

My list starts with bay area handdyers at the top... There are a lot of excellent handdyers attending this year, but I have a real softspot for locals :)

A Verb for Keeping Warm-- free totebag + 10% next purchase coupon with $80 purchase (did you listen to the latest yknit, where kristine talks about how labor/time intensive natural dyeing is?) You'll also be able to find zero stitch markers here too, freshwater pearl/semiprecious stone lovelies made by my own hands :)

Tactile Fiber Arts-- free totebag + 10% online order with $75 purchase... and I heard Maia say she has naturally dyed superwash BFL and loose washed locks for spinning!! Excited about their "Amber" colorway too.

Pigeonroof Studios-- do I need to say more? (see above!) I wonder if there will be anything left, but a girl's got to try ;)

Fiber Fiend-- I am so there for the intense superwash merino and maybe superwash corriedale, if Margit has some left...

Urban Fauna-- I just received the nicest superwash BFL from Karrie's Girl on the Rocks online shop and can't wait to check out more here (and other local dyers!) at this new store.

Lisa Souza-- yall will probably decimate her handdyed spinning batts before I get there! Can't wait to see if they actually last past the market preview tonite :)

I also want to buy a few patterns this year-- CoCoKnits' new fleece thrummed hat (and I *will* use washed fleece!), Knit Whits' Elfin booties (Stanley is still very loved and I'm thinking the kid will dig a pair of felted boots), and I can't wait to thumb thru the sweater pattern books at Black Water Abbey. I'm sitting here with their worsted weight colorcard on my desk thinking I should buy a sweater's worth of yarn from them, the colors are just amazing and cables would sing in their yarn! Ergh... maybe enough for a hat til I get my other messes under control. And Cookie A's new book will be available for preview at Shelridge Farms-- along with their lovely Canadia goodness.

I'm also kindasorta looking for an 8 dent reed for my 25" Schacht Flip, but I know I can order one thru Verb (and have a good excuse to visit the brick and mortar store!) so it's not that big a deal if I don't find one. I'd love a new spindle too, but I've been a little nuts buying them from the Bellwether and others lately that I don't know if I'll find something I'll love as much :) We'll see!

If you're still figuring your must-see booths and haven't seen it yet, EGarcia has once again put together a map of the market that includes the names of the vendors (ravlink), and highlights those that have spinning supplies for sale. You'll also see that XRX has invited a Girl Scouts troop to man a donation-run bag and coatcheck-- no need to drag armloads around, or even wet umbrellas/coats if it's raining outside.

I would *love* to hear your booth suggestions-- I'm excited about this year and am sure I've missed some!

Til then and no fisticuffs over fiber on the market floor!

carding on handcards and grafton fiber batts

2009-02-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

[if you are a member of the Verb for Keeping Warm and/or the Grafton Fibers fiber club/s and don't want to see a February shipment spoiler, please skip this post!]

Yall who are obsessed with fiber prep like I am probably had the same reaction to the Yarn Harlot's post on loading fleece/fiber sideways onto a drumcarder-- namely, "dude, I need to try that!" Since I had sold my drumcarder I opted to try the method on my almost longlost pair of handcards instead... tools I don't usually use or reach for or admittedly even think about.

I started with the light brown cormo from Cormo Sheep and Wool Farm ("Henna")...

...trying to load the staples on the handcards in a sideways motion. Really though, I tried for a few passes and just gave up-- it is just not intuitive enough for me to drag a staple sideways across a handcard like it is to drag it longways. That's not the really interesting part-- instead of giving up the ghost and setting the carders aside, I continued handcarding a small mountain of flat cormo batts...

...that I rolled up and pulled into short roving lengths.

All said and done I had about 3.5 ounces of pulled rovings from rolags, which looked like a huge mountain even next to my relatively huge spindle I intended on spinning them on.

(the forrester dervish has an 11-12" shaft)

I had hoped to load more than the weight of the spindle onto it and managed just that (50+gm on a 45 gm spindle)...

I keep wanting to add more but get more nervous about dropping it as time wears on so I've stopped for now.

Yet again it's not the spindle spinning that's the more interesting thing to me (I'm on a bit of a spindle buying and spinning tear lately)-- but that I *really* enjoyed carding with the handcards! I had a few neps in the rovings, from a heavy hand before I found my rhythm, but all in all they stood up very well-- especially in comparison to how brutally I nepped another cormo fleece on my drumcarder. I think I enjoyed carding more on handcards than my drumcarder :)

As one good one always deserves another, I took this...

4 oz of naturally colored polwarth from aVfKW

...and this...

3 oz of tussah silk from February aVfKW Ultra club shipment

...carded them together on handcards for this...

...(closer)...

...and have used the handcarded polwarth/silk to spin a bulky single on the wheel and a very fine single on a spindle...

~~(terrible horrible no good very bad rainy weather lighting)~~
eta: much better lighting today :)

...that'll be eventually plied together into a bumpy textured but soft bulky yarn. I still have another bobbin at least to fill, but it'll take no time at all.

I really, REALLY enjoyed blending the fibers on my handcards-- using commercially prepared fibers (as opposed to raw fleece) seemed to help me in not nepping them, and it was just effortless! I love combing, don't get me wrong-- but I can't put my feet up and watch episodes of Firefly on hulu (new to me!) while wielding them like I did with the 'cards. Blending on combs isn't really a great proposition anyways (fibers generally need to be the same length on the combs or will pull off sooner/later than the others you're trying to blend with, making homogenity difficult)-- but I can't wait to try this again with more luxury fibers and utilitarian wools.

Speaking of utilitarian and carding-- my son and I went to the Oakland Museum of California a few weekends ago (second Sundays free admission!) and found this super great reproduction display in their "Art and History of Early California" collection...

Handcards made from thistle heads, and a big old (supported?) spindle.

I think its so cool, coming so far but still being very close to the techniques of a hundred years ago.

On the other, far end of the cool carding spectrum, I was gifted a membership to the Grafton Fibers "Colorways" club from my secret santa this year (!!!) and have been hoarding the stunningly beautiful color batts and petting them when I need a shot of color and love in my life.

January

February

I have no idea what I'll be making with these... part of me wants to spin each batt to the same weight and end up with 12 skeins to knit into an afghan, an amazingly colorful block afghan. The other part just wants to hoard them; I can't believe how soft and perfect the batts are and it makes me happy that colors like this exist in the world.

I read that Linda is still accepting memberships into the yearly club (she has a monthly one you can sign up for as well, both include a pattern and spinning tips with the fiber)-- the yearly enrollment includes bonuses like Grafton spindles and Darn Pretty Needles (my new favorite dpns!)

Made in the USA by hand, they are sharp and solid-- these are the 2.25mm (US 1) size and I am not afraid in the slightest for snapping or bending them. See?

Surviving being my walkaround knitting, stuffed in the bottom of a bag while I wait in line at the post office and chase after my little one, jumping in rainpuddles :)

Til then and thanks again Santa :)

best intentions

2009-02-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Almost everything I knit has a mistake in it. Usually not glaring errors, something easily fudged in finishing-- but it doesn't bother me to know that there are small imperfections in a piece of work. Most of the time they're trivial, I wouldn't even tell you what they were or how I fixed them because it isn't important and unnoticeable. For big stuff, I have no qualms ripping out projects (usually just let them sit around for a month so my heart's not as tied to them...)

And then sometimes there are just hot messes I can't let go.

A small one...

Pea Pod Baby Cardigan (pattern no longer available)
Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere
US 5, 3.75mm 24" addi
Started: January 2009

SO cute. I've loved this pattern for forever (and yes I'm sad it's not around to be downloaded anymore but I believe Kate Gilbert has said she'll re-release it sometime in the future), and even bought the pattern's yarn when I found this beautiful grey. My sister is expecting a boy in a few months and I figured that the leaf lace panel wouldn't be turned up at on a tiny, newborn boy (honestly I don't know how my sister/brother in law feels about lace + boys, but everyone's different and that's okay with me)... so I started the 3 month size.

I ass-u-med that my gauge would be close to the yarn/pattern, but oy. My 3 month directions are working into the 18 month size, literally. I've also only cracked the 3rd ball of yarn so that's not the worry-- it's just I don't know about a toddler boy + lace.

I worry too much. I'm going to finish it, and offer it. It is really adorable.

I also finished, mostly, the asymmetrical cardigan from months back...

Beautiful! I love the color (saffron), the yarn (Vermont O-Wool), the idea of the pattern. What I don't love? My own mistakes that may have made this unwearable.

First... the two front panels are knit seperately and then joined as one piece for the arms and the back (this post has a photo of what I'm trying to describe). I managed to knit the left panel a half repeat longer than the right and the back...

Yeah, it's not THAT asymmetrical.

Another view...

Ergh.

Now, I'm no knitting doctor but thinking about this mess... I think I can undo the longer panel at the CO edge, rip to the point where the ribbing should start, put the front panel sts on a holder while casting on and knitting a seperate ribbing and then seaming that to the sts on the holder. I don't know... I know you're never supposed to rip a caston edge but there is no fix in ripping back (the construction means it'd ALL be ripped out).

Have I mentioned I'm pretty disgusted with myself?

Here's another reason: I modded the arms to be longer than the 3/4ish the pattern originally calls for, and also upped the increase rate so that the arms would have less of a "wing" at the back... now? They're way too wide for the body, swimmingly so.

To fix this? Scissors.

:)

Kidding.

Maybe.

The only thing I can think of is instead of seaming at the edges, to fold the edges inside somewhat and seam so that the edges fold inside the arms. And maybe cut them off after some rigorous machine stitching.

(You can tell how mad I am, wanting to cut this poor thing into pieces.)

Aside from these GLARING errors, the cardi is really actually nice-- you can see where I've safety pinned it together to try it on :) I think I'll bury it for a bit, let other idea fixes marinate.

Whew. Just talking about this stuff has me all !!! :) Almost as much as last nite.

Til then!

fleece intentions

2009-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

I keep collecting fleeces and with each passing one I try and figure on what I'll be doing with them project and prep-wise (probably will change, but fun to plan for!)

This one arrived last week, a variegated white/silver/brown Polwarth from NZ via Treenway Silks...

I have to admit, I'm not in love. Not for any rational reason-- I've washed up samples that are silky soft and check out the length of these staples...

You know me, size queen.

It's a combination of things-- one being I know I can't reliably blend a variegated fleece on the combs (I could, but it would mean combing it all and then blending and goodness patience is not one of my strong suits.) Another would be the cleanliness of the fleece.

I'm spoiled. I know :) I seek out super clean, coated fleeces since I wash here at home and anything washed off goes down my sink-- so I try to keep the dirt down the drain to a minimum. The fleece overall is very clean, but its tips are gunky and opening them up means more dirt inside.

It's really not that bad, but I know that unless I open each caked tip by hand before washing, the dirt inside will still be trapped after I wash (water won't magically open up caked tips full of dirt). Even though I comb and those monsters will easily open up and let fall the dirt of war, it'll make a NZ sandy mess all over my floor and... again, spoiled. I could comb outside like a normal person I suppose :)

So I'm not sure what this fleece's future will be. Part of me is tempted to wash in large chunks then space dye it-- then comb it (or flick card and spin from the individual lock). The resulting colors would probably be amazing if my dye job were up to par... but 2# washed, dyed fleece would be a lot. Another part wants to ship the 3# off to Spinderella's and have them deal with the washing and blending-- I know that I'd get back a beautiful, oatmeally-colored roving of wonderfulness. For now? Packed back into the closet!

Since I was going over the fleece for pics and maybe for mailing, I pulled off a few samples that may be interesting to yall.

Second cuts:

(above and below the staple)

These happen when the shearer goes over the same spot on the sheep in more than one pass-- sometimes you'll find little short-short bits of staples (1st pic) and sometimes you'll find a staple shorn in half or less (2nd pic). It's a hard job, shearing... and I don't think I have seen a fleece with NO second cuts (these were the few I found in this one). Left in when carding they'll turn into little neps in your batts, left in combing they'd get combed out but there's no reason not to pull them when you see them.

Variation across a fleece:

The staple lengths can vary across a fleece, but the crimp can as well. Here, it's fun to note the whiter portions have a bolder/stronger crimp (less crimps per inch) than the brown portions which have a finer crimp (more crimps per inch). Also, more finely crimped fleeces generally grow at a slower rate than a less crimped fleece-- here the stronger crimped staples are longer across the fleece. A Fine Fleece had a really interesting tip-- not only for spinning to the crimp, but using the crimp to determine the size needle you should be using for the fiber you're spinning into yarn (by laying a needle in the crimp itself!)

I love that book.

Anyways, a closer look at fine vs bold/deep/strong crimp in a lock:

When I say 'fine' here, it's not the fineness of the fiber (micron diameter, fine wool like merino etc.) but how many crimps there are per inch. You can see that the darker staple has more crimps per inch and the whiter staple has fewer-- fine vs strong *for this fleece and breed.* A finely crimped Romney may have as many crimps per inch as the stronger crimp of this Polwarth.

I've seen lots of online sellers of wool take the time to describe the type of crimp in the fleece they're selling and how even that crimp is across the fleece; here you can see a fleece that has a variation across the fleece (but not the staples themselves).

Now, for an even across the entirety, so clean let's have a picnic or a bearskin romp on it Polwarth (also from Treenway Silks!)...

Meow.

Random staples, slight variation in color (some are a bit silvery, some are a warmer/cooler brown) but overall very even in length, color and crimp:

Intention? No question-- next in line for washing up here at home and eventually handcombing.

As for a fleece with an actual project...

raw merino x from mmfwool/Merry Meadows Farm (only 18 oz)

washed in lock formation

To be used with the black-black corriexrambo for this...

50th anniversary Wool Gathering sweater (WG #79)from Schoolhouse Press

I'll blend my own two shade of grey from the black and white-- this small amount of blending I don't mind and is actually pretty fun.

One more, not a fleece anymore...

3# of 65/35 merino-yak down, pindrafted by Fibers 4 Ewe

Remember I had taken the shorter staples of the brown merino and sent it away with a pound of yak down for blending/carding into pindrafted roving? It just came back and is really, really great.

I've been spinning for a bulky weight yarn...

I think a merino/yak o w l s converted into a cardi would be awesome. Maybe would have enough leftover for an Estes Vest, too.

Whew.

And if you're still in the mood and have eight minutes-- check out this Serbian vid on wool processing and spinning. Rad :)

get well soon!

year of the class

2009-02-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

I really like the end and beginning of the year on blogs, not just for holiday and new year cheer but to read about past year roundups and new year goals (resolution seems to be a bad word this year!) For me, mine's not so much a goal or resolution but something to work thru... I've decided to not shy away from taking classes when I want to learn something new.

I have nothing against learning from a book or teh internets (I learned almost everything fiber-wise that way!) but there are several things I'd like to learn and learn among the company of others. I've already started-- I enrolled in a digital photography course at the local city college, and just completed a sewing 101 course offered at Knit One One by KiraKDesigns.

In Town Bags by Amy Butler
(only one is mine! these were finished by everyone in class)

I've never touched a sewing machine before in my life, which is nuts in a way because my mom gets all breathy talking about sewing the way I get talking about knitting and spinning. My little sister sewed all of the linens for her wedding (omFg srsly if only I had a pic of the tablecloths and chaircovers and and and...), my grandma was an amazing quilter and made zakka toys and housestuffs before I'd ever heard the term, and even though I was never interested in the tomboy phase lately I've felt like there was a hole in my knowledge base that would actually help in the fiber world (machine steeking! lining bags! finishing woven fabrics!)

After my four week class I'm not so afraid of the sewing machine :)

I couldn't help but make another-- I had the fabric left over and since I'm using them to hold spindles + fiber I *needed* them since my spindle stash seems to be growing while I'm not looking.

Okay, I was totally looking.

Jenkins Turkish Delight spindle in spalted tamarind with Pygora from A Verb for Keeping Warm

And it sort of kind of fits into the new year and learning new things! I never thought I'd want a Turkish spindle (or even a bottom whorl) but seeing these wee loves at The Bellwether I couldn't help it...

Turkish spindles are usually larger (9-10" shaft, 2 oz weight) but mine is tiny-- only a 5" shaft and weighs 0.7oz. My son loves taking it apart and putting it together...

..and I have to admit I fell for it not because it was new to me (bottom whorling) but because the wood is amazing.

I like the Turkish Delight so much I'll probably add a big brother in regular size to my spindle stash sooner rather than later-- but for now I am just in love with this lovely creature that I can demonstrate sitting in bed. And pygora...

2 oz of naturally colored pygora, January 2009 aVfKW fiber club
from penzance and paper moon (the names of the goats!)

I've heard Kristine has some pygora for sale at her brick and mortar store in Berkeley-- totally worth the trip, or stopping by her booth at Stitches West* to see if she has any left. The Verb for Keeping Warm's Workshop is also a good place to start class-wise if you're looking to expand your fiber knowledge, along with Article Pract and Knit One One for fiber + knitting/crocheting. Me? My next class will probably be to learn how to crochet! :)

Happy belated new year!

*...ps, say yes!

tis the season

2009-02-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

...to take this

and this

add water and soap to get this

choose your own fiber prep adventure for something like this

plan something special

and spin for it.

handspun 2-ply Jacob, separated into white/colors

I am pretty proud of myself, waiting all the way thru January to get excited. About what you ask? Spring shearing! Is! Coming!

:)

I shouldn't be excited. I have an inordinate amount of fleeces on hand, have at least 3 reserved for 2009 that I can remember (2 from Little Meadow Farms, where the above Jacob fleece is from), and literally no space to store them... but still!

I decided that I needed to actually try to work thru some of the fleeces before I could justify buying more. I finally spun the black and white yarns I've meant to for almost a whole year-- intended for Haavisto or Selbuvotter mittens for me.

The dark skein is a heavier weight than the light... I was originally planning gloves but think the fingers may be too skewed for the gauge change. I'm still going to try and use them together-- I just think it's too cool, 2 distinct colors from one sheep!

Off to wash (more) wool... I also promised myself to have everything on hand scoured before any new wool arrives :)

...waiting anxiously,

another (handspun) thorpe

2009-01-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

I know some people don't like popular knitting patterns, but I get excited seeing new ones just explode. Especially when they're something I'll wear and have excellent yarn on hand for :)

Thorpe
handspun baby alpaca and alpaca/silk, A Verb for Keeping Warm-- "Witchy Woman"
US 9 (5.5mm) and US 8 (5.0mm) dpns, 5 (used 8's for the garter)
Started and finished: January 2009

The fiber for the yarns was from the October shipment of A Verb for Keeping Warm's ultra fiber club-- 2 oz of baby alpaca dyed in "witchy woman," and 1.5oz of black alpaca/silk. I spun each into a bulky soft single...

...and was just too impatient to actually wet finish the yarns before knitting them up.

(late in the day flash picture, black not so true black)

It was actually kind of fun knitting from the bobbins like this! Wondermike had twittered (or asked on ravelry? can't find it now) about combating bias in singles... I guessed that in addition to purl sts, stranding might work.

Maybe not? :) I can't really tell if its the fact I didn't block the hat or not making it slant. I'm not going to wetblock the hat-- I'm worried that the alpaca with grow and outgrow my already huge head :) Mom's alpaca Thorpe may already be too large for her... I'm avoiding asking if she wants me to reknit it on smaller needles for now.

In addition to the fact the hat takes on a faux fair isle look from the long stretches of "witchy woman" colors, I also really, really like the halo.

And that you think I look Tibetan :)

Thanks again!

Zimmermann Surplice Baby Jacket

2009-01-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

I'm still on a baby knitting jag-- my sister isn't getting any smaller and time still keeps marching on :)

EZ Baby Surplice Jacket
Vogue Knitting, Sp/Su 2007
Knit Picks Cotlin, Moroccan Red-- 3 sks
US 4, 3.5mm 32" addi
Started and finished: January 2009

For those of you familiar with the in/famous Baby Surprise Jacket, this is another EZ garter stitch origami construction that doesn't look quite right til you're just about done. Not as blobby as the BSJ, but still I was scratching my head on how the construction worked til the last minute :)

(the sts between the increase lines becomes the armhole)

I knit the pattern as written (I think this is my first time knitting a pattern from a magazine?), using the 2nd type of increase in the pattern for the arms (lifted bar plus purl on WS for a stst "seam")...

I like the line it makes... if this was for a girl baby, I may be tempted to use a more lace-y increase instead.

I did add length to the arms after the body was seamed together (using 9R of garter st in the round then k2p2 ribbing)... they seemed too short for a baby as written but now I worry they're too long.

My kid always grew out of everything arms and legs first, so it may not be too bad a thing (also, they easily roll up pretty far). You can see I maintained the stst increase "seam" from either side of the arms and kept another stockinette stitch between them, that one sort of flowed from the 3 needle bindoff I used at the shoulders. Can't see any of it when the ribbing is rolled up :)

The only change I made to the pattern was Becky's mod of slipping the last st and knitting the 1st st tbl... it looks really really good and eliminates the need for any i-cord bindoff or finishing.

If you take a look at the very bottom few rows here, you'll see where I didn't slip the sts-- they look bumpy and not bad, but not as good as the rest.

I have to say I really like this little sweater. When I first found out I was pregnant, I went a little crazy at a Tea Collection sample sale buying up wee sweaters for my son-to-be and this one reminds me a lot of one of those, both in color and in garter.

I bought 5 different machine-washable yarns from Knit Picks* to try out for baby knitting; this was my first time working with CotLin and I like the feel of it a lot. I don't think I have a good idea about what cotton *is*-- I've used dishcloth cotton and I've used Rowan Calmer/RYC Cashcotton but they all feel like extremes where CotLin feels like a nice middle ground, really perfect for warmer weather baby knitting. We'll see-- I'm wetblocking each sweater as I go, but I'm planning to throw each in the washing machine/tumble dry low before gifting just to see how they hold up (I'd rather them shrink now than the first time being washed by sis and getting one wear out of them).

I've also decided to do all the button-assembly and shopping at the same time for all the baby sweaters... I have no idea where I'll be shopping for them (bay area suggestions? BART-able?) but I'm counting this one as done for now :)

Til then, never soon enough.

ps, Speaking of EZ, I was linksurfing and found a new copy of Meg Swansen's Fair Isle Vest DVD on Amazon for $4. I bought one and have been watching it... my first knitting dvd! :)

*Swish worsted, Comfy, Risata, Shine Sport and Cotlin

club roundup

2009-01-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

I am a little embarrassed and don't share yarn purchases lately (really, do I need five MORE sweaters worth of yarn?!) but am always compelled to share fiber. Have no idea what that's about... :)

Black Bunny Fibers superwash merino-tencel, 8 oz

Not only do I love Carol's colorways (custom fit for every member) and the honking giant batches her fiber club comes in (8 oz!!), I love that they *don't* come every month. I think I'd just feel just feel drowned :) Not a bad way to go though, eh? Can't get over that color.

Black Bunny Fibers is opening up spots in the club again (actually all clubs-- fiber, sock yarn and yarn), so you can jump on the awesome fiber bandwagon too :)

A Verb for Keeping Warm merino-cashmere-angora-- "Lamb's Ear" (December)

I can't keep up with Kristine's club. I try (I'm actually spinning January's fiber now, wish me luck!) but it doesn't really matter. For as much as I have felt... constrained by having too much fiber stash, I don't worry about stashing aVfKW. I don't know why, doesn't make sense... but there you go :)

For one I *have* been keeping up with (or, actively trying!)... the latest Rhyme Times fiber sampler from The Bellwether.

Rhyme Times sampler #7 (I think?)

I've kept to spindle spinning the 1/2 oz samples up and plying them on my wheel-- good practice. I've amassed a few more since last time.

11 1/2 oz skeins (individual pics and colorway names available here on my flickr)

I really love the blended creations by Three Bags Full and Crosspatch Creations-- every colorway isn't necessarily "me," but 1/2 oz isn't that big of a deal to get thru and I'm often surprised about liking one more spun up than in fiber form (and the other way around). I found my newest favorite colorway thru the club--

"Aurora Borealis" by Three Bags Full

Merino and bamboo dyed deep, DEEP blues and carded with lime colored silk noil. I don't really ever embrace blues but wow-- spun up it is just shockingly beautiful. Aside from the discounts sent in every package (I'll have to show you what I got next time!!) another great thing about the club is knowing about the colors before they go live on the site... I think Aurora may already be sold out.

Off to go play with this month's aVfKW fiber club shipment-- can't keep my hands out of it :) For those of you local (bay area), there's another spinning meetup at Knit One One (BARTable) this Friday between 7-9pm. We split the cost of renting the space (usu. $5-6/pp), and there's plenty of space for wheels or whatever. Fun times! :)

this is why i wanted to spin in the first place

2009-01-19T23:37:00.000-08:00

Dyeing, spinning, and knitting a pair of socks for someone who gets it and gets as excited in receiving as I do in giving.

Gentleman's Fancy Sock stitch pattern, toe up PGR style with a short row heel...

...and a non-patterned sole that won't quit.

Love.

(Almost as much!)

knitting community crossover

2009-01-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

Do you think Eunny knows she's even more famous? :)

Jamba Juice in-store flyer sporting Anemoi mittens.

(And in good orange measure, Pomatomus in Koigu p338 and Crosspatch Creations triple play roving in Rhiannon's Fire on my Forrester Dervish.)

Welcome back, have a good weekend! :)

Combing with English wool combs (pic heavy)

2009-01-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone has their own rhythm to combing fleece, and there are excellent youtube vids and blog posts and magazine articles already covering the subject. I just wanted to throw mine into the mix, not as much for technique but to show yall that the big English combs AREN'T SCARY. Totally accessible. Cheaper than a drumcarder. Make the most beautiful fiber prep. Easy to learn. And fun, fun, fun :)

Most of the technique and terminology I'm using comes from reading Peter Teal's Hand Woolcombing and Spinning-- it's a really excellent book on the history and technique of combing wool as well as techniques on spinning a 'true worsted' yarn. I've also learned a lot of great tips on Ravelry and across many, many blogs out there.

You may remember this heartstoppingly black fleece purchased at the Monterey Wool Auction, which actually probably wasn't the best choice for illustrative purposes but eh :)

"Kali", ramboullet x corriedale

I'm using my fine 4-pitch Craftsmith English wool combs-- aK(a) The Big Combs. The pitch is how many rows of tines/poky things there are. The more rows, the more chaff removed by the combs (and the more waste wool) and the more appropriate for fine fibers. The rows on my set are more closely spaced together than on the 'regular' wool combs made by Craftsmith, more closely spaced tines also being ideal for finer fleeces.

The combs are secured on the 'pad', locked in place with a removable pin. The combs can be held upright with the tines facing the ceiling, or on their side parallel to the worksurface (tines facing the walls).My combs didn't come with c-clamps, you'll need some sort of sturdy clamps to hold the pad onto the table/worksurface.

I still wash all of my fleeces in lock formation, so I lash the butt end (cut end) of my washed locks onto the first and maybe second row of tines of the stationary comb (the one locked to the pad), about 1/3 of the way up. It isn't necessary to arrange all of the cut ends together, but I choose to keep them flowing in the direction they grew off of the sheep when spinning (equivalent to spinning from the tip end). Some people prefer spinning from the butt end of the locks-- all personal preference (and easy to accomplish by just turning your top around after pulling it off of the combs).

Combing is going to add a lot of air and volume to the fibers, and more fiber on the combs can be exhausting/take more passes than if you split it into smaller amounts. The last row of tines on my combs only comes up halfway to the length of the first row of tines-- you need all of your fiber to remain across each row, so more than a third will usually lift up to about the top of the last row of tines when combing.

I use a 1-2% fabric softener (ultra concentrated brand) to water ratio in a spray bottle, and give the lashed-on locks a few squirts of this to control static a minute before combing. Too much liquid means combing becomes difficult and wet... Teal has you use an oil/water mixture applied to all of the fleece you'll be combing before lashing on, but this way has worked for me (I never know how much I'll be combing that day and the idea of oil is unappealing to me). It's important to only spray your fibers-- spraying the wood on your combs isn't a good idea, and if the tines of your combs *aren't* stainless steel, take caution to really clean and dry them thoroughly before putting away for the day (rust + fiber = not natural dyeing ;))

Lift the locks up about an inch or so from the bottom of the stationary comb and spread them out-- this will help as the bottom of the working comb (held in your hand) will not be able to get close enough to the tines as you work your way in. (See photo below-- the wooden head of the working comb would knock against the wooden head of the stationary comb otherwise). Spreading out the fibers will also help in transferring them.

Turn the stationary comb onto its side, and using your working comb, pass the tips of the comb thru the tips of the lashed on locks ('jigging'). You start gently in an arcing motion, the movement is from the elbow, not the wrist.

Some people like to comb side-to-side (keeping their stationary comb upright/perpendicular to the worksurface, and swinging the comb from left to right or reverse). I understand the safety aspect of combing this way-- there's no way you'll stab yourself in the leg going side to side when combing. For me, I prefer turning the stationary comb to its side since I am putting gravity in my corner-- the weight of the pound and a half comb heading down and into the fiber helps my arm not get as tired in combing as it does when I have to use my own power to go side to side (and fight gravity's downward pull at the same time). Teal keeps the stationary comb in the sideways position, and lashes back on in the side to side motion. It is a personal preference, no right or wrong. :)

You'll want to choke up on the head of the comb, both to get better leverage/make it part of your arm and also to fight the temptation to swing with your wrist. One smooth motion, down and into the fibers into an arc, and pulling out-- all in the arcing motion. Start from the tips of the fiber to tips of your combs, and work your way slowly in repeating the arcing motion.

After transferring all of the fibers from the stationary comb to your working comb, and removing any waste left behind on the stationary comb (neps, jumbles of fibers caught between the tines, etc), turn the stationary comb upright/perpendicular to the worksurface. Again, turning the working comb in your hand perpendicular to the stationary comb (the combs will always work perpendicularly to one another), begin to transfer the fibers from the working comb to the stationary comb.

Once again, start from the tips of the fiber and work your way in and down with the arcing motion, transferring the fiber from the working to the stationary comb.

The fibers are already starting to really open up just in this first pass. Once all of the fibers have been transferred from working to stationary comb (and chaff left behind on working comb removed), turn the stationary comb to its side and again work your way in, moving fibers from the stationary to working comb.

Notice how I've moved the fibers upwards from the base of the tines? Still need to do that on every pass so that the wooden heads of the combs can pass close when combing.

After again moving fibers from stationary to working comb and removing chaff left behind, turn stationary comb upright and transfer fibers back to the stationary comb.

You can see that after working your way in to transfer the fibers, you'll move the combs/tines closer and closer together.

When moving fibers from working --> stationary, I'll often turn my wrist and comb from the opposite side to get all of the fibers from both sides of the comb intermixed. You can easily switch hands to accomplish the same effect.

Finally, once you've made 4 passes (stationary --> working, working --> stationary, stationary --> working, working --> stationary), gather the fibers on the stationary comb together into a cone shaped tip.

Working hand over hand, gently pull the fibers off together into a long strip. This is what Teal calls the 'straightening combing.'

Go slowly, and pull less than a staple's length at a time for an unbroken fiber mass. Don't pull too much without attenuating though, it won't come off at all and just bend your tines. Whenever you're pulling fibers from off the combs, try and alternate the pinching of your fingers so that one pull is from the sides and the next is from the top-bottom (see above)... this will help in pulling fibers from all places of the comb off evenly and together.

It is generally the case that the longer fibers will be pulled off into your rough/'straightening' combing first, and get shorter as you pull. Keep this in mind for blends; by pulling off the rough combing from alternate directions you can help make the rough combing homogeneous.

Pulling the rough combing from the combs in large pinches results in a thick mass. You can always pull off a smaller diameter mass, up to you. Teal's is definitely thinner :)

You can always use a diz, but since I'm not done I just go hand over hand like above.

When you've pulled off all the usable fiber, you're left with more chaff on your stationary combs.

Removing it, you can see what's left behind in the tines--

Small neps and short fibers. The "problem" with combing is the waste fiber* removed, you do lose a significant percentage weight-wise. Lots of people will say that you don't want this in your fiber anyways, but it's not always *just* neps, sometimes its unaligned fibers that get trapped in the tines, etc. The more you practice (and the sounder quality of the fleece to start with) the 'cleaner'/less wasteful your waste fiber will be. There are other options for waste fiber as well (recombing it, carding it, felting it...)

So now you're left with a thick rope of fiber, Teal's 'straightening' combing. Now, you can easily spin this! I continue on though... already come this far :)

Knowing that the first fibers pulled off of the combs will be the longest, and having a goal of evenly mixed lengths of fibers in the finished product, I split this in half at the middle of the rope, lining up the first pulled off tip (longest fibers) with the first torn bit of the second half (midlength/shorter fibers), 'planking' them. I hold these two lengths together on my hand, maintaining the direction by which the fiber grew off of the animal, and lash the ends onto the stationary comb's tines. It is ends of these lengths I'm lashing on first, ending with the tips (one of which was the first length I drew off in the rough combing.) The result is fiber flowing in the same direction as you lashed on and pulled off.

Instead of lashing onto the first and second rows, you want to get the fibers across the back tines as well. Otherwise, they'll just sort of float away, as airy as they are now. Move back to front with the mass of fiber in your hand, twisting your wrist so you get an even distribution of fibers from both halves of your rough combing onto the stationary comb.

You could always split your straightening combing in half and place the first and last ends drawn off together for an even more homogenous mix of fiber lengths, but then the fibers won't flow in the same direction. Again, personal choice-- I prefer to start with staples that are similar in length to begin with and work as above.

Once again, turn the stationary comb to its side, pull the fibers up from the base and spread them out, and starting at the tips, begin to transfer the fibers onto the working comb with the arcing motion.

Once all the fibers have been transferred and the waste left behind removed, turn the stationary comb upright and begin to transfer the fibers from the working to the stationary comb.

Again, when I am transferring fiber from the working to the stationary comb, I turn my wrist to move fibers from both the left and right sides of the working comb. I will turn the stationary comb in the pad when transferring from the stationary to the working, but mainly to just get all of the fibers off of the comb (and not as much for trying for a homogeneous mix).

So, now that I've done two passes of the rough combed fiber (stationary --> working, working --> stationary) I am left with nicely combed, hopefully evenly dispersed lengths in the fiber on the stationary comb. Again, I draw the fiber into a cone shaped mass, but instead of pinching the mass and pulling off with my thumbs like the rough combing above, I draw a small amount of fibers from all over the tip of the 'cone,' twist them into a short length, and pull this fine gathering of fiber thru my diz.

Lately I use the 2mm hole on my diz (still love it); even though the hole is small, you can see how much fiber you can draw thru it. Again, I use the top/bottom and side/side pinching described above when drawing off fibers from the comb and thru the diz.

Since most of the chaff and vm in your fleece will fall to the floor when combing, I set out a chair or box to catch the fibers as I'm drawing them off to keep them clean.

At this point, Teal calls this fiber 'sliver'-- instead of 'top.' According to Teal, "[i]n the days of a the professional hand-spinner, the combed sliver was made first into a top and then into a roving." "Top is a collection of slivers wound into a convenient shape for storage and/or transportation," and "[a] roving is made by lightly twisting a sliver to form thick, soft rope." (p 72) I use one sliver at a time instead of several for fiber storage.

I locate the last bit of fiber pulled off of the combs (representing the butt end of the locks, the shorn end), lightly hold it in the palm of my hand and I twist it gently around my hand into a spiral nest. The wrapping motion adds a slight amount of twist to the sliver, helping it stay together. The last end of the sliver is the tip I first twisted together and pulled thru the diz-- I tuck this end into the center of the sliver, and when spinning look for this end to spin from (so, spinning from the tip of the fiber.) For those that prefer to spin from the butt end of a fiber, you can just reverse the order in which the sliver is balled into a nest.

easy to locate over-twisted tip that was used for initially drawing thru the diz

Combing is addicting. Lots and lots of slivers all ready to go!

There you have it! Not exactly like Teal, but even when you try it your method won't be exactly like mine either :)

I know this was long, but I just wanted to show yall the wonders of the big combs. I dig combing a lot-a lot, and cringe when I hear people talk about how scary English combs are and how it's an inaccessible thing to try just for their tine length and size. I was hoping that seeing the simple steps would help alleviate some of the unfounded fear surrounding these tools.

I find it easier and less tedious than carding (both on handcards and a drumcarder), and I like the prep more. I have but don't usually comb outdoors-- starting with superclean, mainly vm-free fleece means much of the combing is for pulling into sliver and not dropping dirt onto my floor, so even for apartment dwellers this is an accessible prep. I do have a young child and neither of us has ever been injured by these tools (but we do use caution and care when they're out)-- along with ALL of my fiber tools, we learn that they are not toys early on, and someday will enjoy them together :)

I'm not knocking carders or even the smaller mini-combs, all of which are great tools! I think that there is a misconception about the big English combs though-- that they're not for everybody. They can be!

Happy combing!

* More on waste fibers...

sliver, left and waste, right

same fiber rolled into a nest, same waste

These fibers were produced combing as described above (4 passes in straightening combing, 2 passes after planking and pulling off).

When I first started combing, I'd get a lot of waste and much of it looked useable, if it weren't jumbled in with the neps and the trash. Practice has really helped; I don't get as many tangled (usable) fibers caught in the tines as time goes on, but still there is the issue of loss. It isn't negligible... Teal says he has 5% waste loss (!! p 69) and I'm closer to 15-20%. Rita Buchanan in the Winter 1999 issue of Spin Off says "[i]n my experience, lossed between 10-20% count as normal." (p 26), while the roundtable discussion on "wool combs and combing" in Spin Off Summer 1991 ranged in answer from "should be less than ten percent" ,"...but most of the time I'd say it's more like 15 to 20%", "[w]ith a weak fleece, you might lose as much as one-third", "[w]ith English combs, I average about 15% waste" (p 58). Using carders you wouldn't see that kind of loss, and for fleeces you intend to comb it's important to remember not only to figure in the lanolin/vm loss when washing but combing loss when figuring how much raw fleece you'll need for a project.

June left a great tip in the comments-- "To really, truly minimize waste - try "precarding" before combing. Drag the butt and tip ends through a handcard (tines up) until the lock is open and airy, like flick carding but easier, it gets the crap out. It makes combing much easier, too."

Again, a personal choice of acceptable losses in fiber preparation-- but I will say that practice has really made a difference in the amount of waste fibers I'm left with after making piles of fiber nests :)

purple holiday gifts

2009-01-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Strangely, all of the last minute holiday gifts (actually finished before the holidays) were purple. Lucky color?

Stanley the Penguin
knit from KnitWhits kit, pattern by KnitSonya
US 8, Louet Riverstone kitted yarns and yardages

I *love* this toy. Not just because my son picked it out himself and asked me to make it, or that it took just a few late nites after he'd gone to bed to finish, but... it's just so cute and round :) Doesn't hurt that he loves it, too.

I like toys a lot, but it's always the finishing that gets me. I really think the make or breakness of a good looking knitted toy is the finishing-- too often mine are weirdly stuffed, unintentionally akimbo, an eye higher than the other... So I was a little nervous when I found out the front (white) belly panel wasn't intarsia, but knit separately and seamed on. Not that I look forward to intarsia or anything, but more than finishing :)

Happily though, the belly panel seaming went okay (at least for me!) and gives the penguin even more of a 3d feel. The only other parts added on were wings and feet (and how cute are those feet!!)

the beanness of the body makes me ridiculously happy

The pattern had a good tip for adding weight to the bottom of the body before seaming closed-- since I had a good amount yarn left over from the kit, I used it for weight and the penguin stands on its own.

Overall the pattern is great! Since there is no intarsia or anything difficult, I don't think anyone would have a problem making their own Stanley (finishing notwithstanding!) :)

My son's also gotten to that age where if he asks for something handknit outright (read: not 'do you want me to make you a new sweater?'), I need to make it because unless its socks or toys, he's not having it. I'm glad he likes mittens (and that I actually had one done from last year when I tested out the then-new Noro Kureyon sock yarn via Article Pract).

Sorenson Kauni cardi-inspired toddler mittens
Noro Kureyon sock and Louet gems pearl

I have a crazy amount of that little ball left-- you can see the purple fading from dark to light, but the other colors were untouched (and still, more purple remains). I think I'll use it again for more wee mittens, stranding it since I think the straight Noro Kureyon sock will be too scratchy for little hands. Paired with the Louet Gems and fulled in hot soapy water, the mittens are nice and soft-- no excuse not to wear them aside from the beautiful weather lately.

And for those who can wear handknit (socks) in any weather...

PGR toe up socks
Ellen's Halfpint Farms sock yarn, US 1's (2.25mm)

I'd forgotten how amused I am seeing my feet look like a camel's when I take these pics :)

holiday projects

2009-01-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

Projects, projects... things to do when everything else crashes down. :)

Child's placket neck pullover, one of many (MANY) intended knits for my nephew-to-be...

Child's placket neck pullover, errata here
Knit Picks Swish Worsted, 3 sks-- delft heather (darker than pictured)
US 9, 5.5mm 24" addis
Started and finished: 3 days in January

I can't remember if I intentionally purchased worsted over the dk Swish, but since my gauge was way off (4.5 sts/inch, instead of 5.25-- both "soft" fabric gauges) I used the smallest size directions and the 3rd size lengths for torso and arms... I ended up with a sweater sized for a 1-2 year old.

It was a nice mistake, seeing as I used less than 3 skeins of Swish for a relatively large size-- I used LMKG's suggestion of knitting the fabric softly and a little more open and the sweater is definitely next-to-skin soft (but a little airy, I'd not use the gauge in a sweater for myself but a toddler it'll be fine for pulling over something). Decided against buttons, partly b/c I hate finishing but also because mom insisted I send this one *right away* (so sister has something now, instead of a pile of sweaters later...) I don't get it, but it's just easier to acquiesce than to pick it apart and try to understand.

I also finished another baby project-- this time a small 20x30 woven blanket. I still need to twist the fringe (takes forever!) and wet finish it-- but I'm pleased with my first attempt at using color for patterns. A pic of the edges-- you can see the lower edge where I carried the colors alongside, and the upper 'plain' selvedge edge. They'll look better once washed up.

I had 2 balls each of Lana Gatto Wool Gatto in blues (4 total). I used 2 to direct warp the 25" length of the loom-- one slot in color a, the next in color b, the next in color a, etc. Then for the weft I used one up-down shed in color a (2 passes), one up-down combo in color b, one up-down in color a, etc. The effect is almost houndstooth-- I am planning to do this color pattern again in some contrasting yarns to really have it set out. (More pics of this little blanket to come after edges and washing done).

I also got a little spinning in, haven't spun much lately but Kristine gave me a gorgeous gift of mushroom-dyed fiber and mycophile I am-- couldn't resist. I alrernated spinning lengths of Finn and yak/silk into a soft single, and then warped my Flip with some white Henry's Attic Carrera (silk/wool). I practiced some pickup stick techniques from Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom and came up with a pretty float pattern that really shows off the mushroom-dyed weft...

(left and middle "right side", right "wrong side")

I love how the same dye looks against the 2 different fibers, how they shift. My favorite though is how the yak/silk glows in the sun, and how you can see the energy of the single held in place...

I also couldn't resist weaving another simple scarf for myself. This time, I went skinny and long-- WAY long.

Wrapped 2x around my neck, the fringe still falls to my knees. I dig it a lot, it's really different. The color gets me too-- I used 2 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed in "ginger", warping 12' long (!!) and 4.5" wide. I'm already weaving another (same dimensions) in A Verb for Keeping Warm's alpaca/silk... SO nice. I love the tweed though, orange always has me in its corner.

til then, weaving to keep the world away! :)

saved by stash

2008-12-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Amidst secret and not-so-secret holiday knitting (grandma afghan status: 2.5 panels of 4 done)... I managed to forget to make something for mom. Now, okay... see, last year she asked for (and received!) the merino-silk Hanami stole I knit, so I wasn't really thinking as far ahead as having a gift this year, just slipped my mind. She doesn't know I forgot, and she's one of those that would be aghast that I "forgot her"-- so stash diving I found some yarn that could be knit up in two days...

Alpaca with a Twist Big Baby-- 100% baby alpaca, bulky wt

...a really great pattern that would make a bulky alpaca hat even warmer, some gigantic needles, and yay!

A bulky baby alpaca set in two days with room to spare :)

For the scarf, I used 3+ skeins of Big Baby, doubled and knit in garter st over 12 sts on US 17 (12mm) needles. The hat is Thorpe, a fun top-down earflap hat that comes both plain and stranded. I knit mine using a skein each of 'natural' and 'harvest' on US 10's to give it more room (coming from big-headed stock)...

See?

I probably should have knit the headband/earflap panel on smaller needles, it is a bit larger than the stranded portion but still okay. I am hoping the stranding will help the alpaca keep its shape and not grow too much-- used garter for the scarf for the opposite reason and hope it will stretch even more than the 6' it's at now. I just discovered I like long scarves :) It is *crazy* heavy, and thick... warmer than Hanami for sure.

And mom will never know I forgot :)

Have a good holiday! And if Santa's listening-- what I *really* want is a year membership to the Grafton Fibers Colorways fiber club... 2 Grafton spindles plus a Grafton Fibers batt a month for a year! (I have not wanted to join a club so badly since... well since aVfKW, since Black Bunny Fibers, since the Bellwether's Rhyme Times... but still!! :))

Miss you!

or, how to avoid holiday deadline knitting

2008-12-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to make it. However much you make me grin saying I'll make it, I won't... Grandma's afghan has 2 panels done and I need four. I could blame the hand and loom weaving obsession cutting into knitting time, but really, it'll be okay and no worries (she's already seen it in progress and is excited, which makes me excited, even if it'll be a week late :))

Lots of other little things done, but lots of little distractions as well. After coming home from a short holiday with family, I popped in on the Knit One One craft fair last weekend-- scored exactly what I went looking for too!

Girl on the Rocks merino-bamboo roving, 4.2oz-- "Fancy Luggage"

I haven't been buying fiber lately... I have some wonderful stuff waiting for me to spin in the fiber closet, belong to some awesome spinning clubs, some new partial fleeces *may* have stumbled their woolybullies into my house and are calling to be washed (why do I love washing fleece so much?!)... But! I was browsing Karrie's flickrstream via twitter and saw some beautiful fibers... she told me she and be at k11, and when I went browsing her etsy store saw this one and was like-- I'm going there for THAT.

I didn't plan on this though...

Stanley the penguin knitting kit from KnitWhits

SO CUTE!! I brought my son with me to k11 and he beelined to the KnitWhits table, *loving* this penguin designed by KnitSonya (hi!). So of course, sucker I am, promised to finish it for him by the holiday. (I'm hoping he forgot about it-- I stashed it and have been working on it when he goes to bed.)

This is the first kit I've ever knit from. Admittedly, I've always felt a little averse to kitted projects-- 'I could use stash yarn!' 'I could pick better colors!' 'I could dye better colors for cheaper!' etc. I have to say it was REALLY satisfying to just open this adorable box (perfect for gift giving, btw), and knit from already-wound skeins of coordinating yarns. I will be making at least one more for my sister's baby-to-be (!!) from stash yarn... but liked working from the kit a lot.

I should have picked up the kitted Elfin booties KnitWhits had as well-- ADORABLE. I know I'll be buying the pattern if I don't find a kit before my sister's baby shower.

Really though, you don't really need to leave the house to avoid the deadlines. You can just blame Kristine cos you're surrounded by amazing fiber you just can't keep your hands off of.

A Verb for Keeping Warm yak/silk, 2 oz-- "Capitan Pink's Lost Pearl"

Since this last aVfKW ultra fiber club shipment arrived, it has been just sitting on my desk taunting me with its loveliness. I told Christina I am besotted with angora lately-- it's not true. I'm head over heels for all soft, fuzzy fiber blends and my friends? Yak is amazingly soft, and halo-y, and gosh I shouldn't feel this way about an animal let alone its fur.

I've already spun up some yak/silk in another colorway, but I was impatient and already have it headed for the loom so no pics. Yet. :)

I do have some in progress pics of the last-last aVfKW club shipment though (I always wait to photograph them, hoping not to ruin anyone's surprise but then forget to take them at all :))...

aVfKW 2 oz baby alpaca-- "Witchy Woman" and 1.5 oz alpaca/silk-- black
(both fibers sent as club shipment)

Another soft soft soft fiber. Ultimate goal-- 2-plying the different colors into a super fat drapey yarn. For...? A cowl? Something to be snuggled in for sure.

MORE soft/fuzzy? Can't be.

Lavender sachet from spindlespun 70/30 aVfKW baby camel-silk-- "Succulent"
doubled and woven on the Weave-It

This was some of the first yarn I spun on a spindle. I still am, having 6 oz of the stuff...

Golding Tsunami spindle, .75 oz

Time flies and all that :)

I decided not to ply the singles before weaving, they look really cool doubled instead as woven fabric. The fuzz factor is super high and good too-- I'd be rubbing this all over my cheek if not for the super fresh lavender in a mesh bag I sewed up inside being way too strong for that. I'll make a bunch of these (lavender packs, not just in camel/silk) for little gifts and also perfect for slipping into the yarn and fiber stash, I'm thinking.

Aside from fiber, and spinning, and weaving away from meeting my handmade holiday goals, I had a hair to sort thru the large lots of Spin Off Magazines I'd been accumulating. And apparently duplicating all over the place!

just.the.duplicates

I'm destashing them, more info on specific issues over at Ravelry (and here at my 18+ tumblelog for non-ravellers).

Okay! Best of luck to all of you still racing towards holiday knitting deadlines :) Best wishes and thoughts if I don't see you before then, miss you!

up and then down again

2008-12-01T01:19:00.000-08:00

Not for nothing, but my Flip has stolen most of my blogging thunder :) I sit down to write and am like-- I used to write about knitting, then spinning... but maybe weaving is too large a leap to make here? Still, the worry hasn't slowed me much and I have a grip of new scarves to show for it.

Socks that Rock lightweight, "Fred Flintstone"

I had slowly started getting rid of many of my multicolored sock yarns, opting to stash the semisolids instead. I held onto this skein for a while, being an orange and red girl, but I just didn't feel the pull of socks in its destiny. I think it does look fun woven up though...

6.5" width, ~60"length excluding fringe
10dpi reed, 72 ends, 9rpi

A random plaid in some places. I think the tight twist sock yarns make it harder to make a neat selvedge than a softer yarn might... I have some beautiful Zen Yarn Garden sock yarn that I want to test that idea with in a few. As much as I like the colors, I don't know if I like the scarf (I'm leaning towards slightly thinner, slightly longer ones lately)... I see myself accumulating a pile of these scarves, destined either for gifts or my etsy store.*

A fun experiment with this handspun cormo...

Hester, fleece from Cormo Sheep and Wool Farm
spun from batts, 2-ply heavy aran (90 gm, 88 yd)

I originally spun this testing for a heavy yarn for one of the Fine Fleece beauties... I later decided that I didn't want to card the cormo for that project, and still had this really soft, squishy, super fat yarn that seemed maybe even too short for a hat. Enter the loom and...

5" width, 57" excluding fringe
10dpi reed sleyed every other (so, 5dpi), 42 ends, ~7.5-8rpi

This one was fun for a few reasons... first, I can use handspun as warp! Everyone always tells you to be super careful about it, but this heavy 2-ply did well (and I put it under extreme tension to test the question out). I also was excited that alternating every other slot/hole on the heddle essentially "gave" me another 5dpi heddle-- I have been thinking about buying new heddles for heavier handspun yarns in the stash, and will eventually, but being able to use the 10dpi with the loom means I can put that off a little longer (they're expensive at $46/each, and can't be swapped with the less expensive Ashford heddles like they can on the Kromski Harp...)

Also, it was neat to see how the yarns reacted differently under tension and not-- the warp on the loom looked like an entirely different yarn weight than the weft as I was weaving, and I could see the warp gain some of the bounce when I was finished and cut it off of the loom. Fulling the scarf gently to really make the yarn pop and puff seemed to work as well.

This is easily the softest scarf of all-- maybe not just for the cormo content? The fulling? The heavier weight yarn? Dunno-- but I really like it. I found several batts of the same fiber I had carded up a while ago stashed in the back of my closet that I really wasn't interested in spinning, now I think I may spin up a few more heavy skeins of yarn for weaving.

This one was the most fun...

Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette, granite and medium indigo (naturally dyed)

I bought this pair of skeins as a baby boy bootie project at the same time I bought the twin bsj yarns-- never got around to knitting them, even though they are really nice. I planned for a colorwork project... til my son said *he* wanted a scarf. The idea of weaving a 4" project on the loom didn't really appeal... til I wondered if I could do two of the same scarves at the same time. And I did! :)

Oh, my odd stick shuttles? Thomas the Tank Engine train tracks. My shortest shuttle is 15", then 21" so no way was I using those at the same time :) I had planned on letting my son weave one and me the other at the same time... but honestly couldn't stop once I had them warped after his bedtime and had them done by the time he woke the next morning.

The fabric on and off the loom is beautiful. But I don't really like the solidness of the color... I keep looking at the loom as the beallendall solution to "my! yarn! is! POOLING!" of multicolor yarns-- maybe I need to open up to the possibility that solids on the loom will be okay too.

As much as he protested he wanted one, no TWO and swore up and down he'd wear them...

4" wide, 44" long
10 dpi reed, 44 ends, 9rpi
(staged for your benefit :))

...he has worn one once and said "no thanks, maybe tomorrow" every day since. Oh well. Mine now.

Seriously though, these little-length scarves are cool for tucking into jackets where you don't want a bunch of bulk against your belly trying to keep your neck warm. Doubling up in two different colors is really pretty too, if I say so myself. The Nature's Palette is also really great feeling woven up-- not a super tight twist but really soft.

Well, there has been a little knitting (who forgot to tell me the holidays are coming and I needed to get cracking on my grandma's afghan?!) but it's just not as interesting as the fun I'm having weaving... so those pics and details will have to wait.

Til then! :)

*I'm heading home for a week or more and will be putting my etsy stitch marker store in 'vacation mode' while I'm gone-- no orders and no shipping during that time. I'll be shipping orders til this Wednesday and have added gift certificates to the shop with free shipping if you're looking for holiday gifts for the knitters on your list (and I can ship directly to them!)... If you're local, you can also find zero stitch markers at A Verb for Keeping Warm's retail store, The Workshop, starting Dec 6th (the day of their grand opening!)
Yay! :)

Rigid heddle weaving on a Schacht Flip the Folding Loom

2008-11-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

I've been dancing around buying a rigid heddle loom and finally succumbed to the 25" Schacht Flip folding loom. Mind you, aside from weaving on a weave it I'd never touched a loom before, nor seen the one I wanted in person. If you're thinking about the twentyfive incher, it's big. With a 7"+ scarf in progress...

Okay, instead of a coke zero can for scale, how about my Schacht Matchless?

Coolest thing about this picture? My Matchless is 20 years old, and made from the same wood as my new-to-me Flip. Excited thinking it'll honeypot up over the years :)

As with each of my tools it seems, I bought it gently used with the stand. I wasn't planning on buying the stand, but am glad I did-- the loom, like I said, is huge! It really would be unwieldy on my lap leaning against a table's edge, and takes up more than half of my already-taxed dining room table. I thought to myself that I really would like the Flip, one of the reasons being I could fold it to put it away. Honestly I haven't in the week it's been here-- the loom's attached to the stand by four screws, two of which need a screwdriver (read: I'm lazy) and I'd still need a place to store the stand. So, it's been out and about, enjoying the living room instead.

For the size, perhaps if I saw it in person I'd have bought the 20" size instead. No matter... I've already found a creative way to use the length up (for a later post). I really do like the loom, no matter the length. Like I said, I was looking (erroneously?) for a folding version, and was torn between the Flip and the Kromski Harp. Initially I wanted the Flip, just for my happy relationship with my Matchless and the whole made in the USA thing... but I did ask opinions on Ravelry and got several good answers about the differences, including a link to a very helpful blog post side-by-siding the nonfolding Schacht + the Flip. Finding this one used sealed the deal for me, and I'm glad I went with my gut.

I love it. (Did I say that already?)

Sheep and Wool Co. Plain and Fancy Sport, "Fall Foliage"
(a gift from Margene I'd been hoarding!)

used and warp and weft

for a scarf.
7" wide, 6'+ long not incl. fringe (76 ends, 10dpi reed)

leftover waste, reminiscent of that shaving time

I immediately warped (using the direct warping method, no need to fear warping time w/ a RH loom) after cutting that one off...

Regia Bamboo, another gift! from retroknit

detail of fabric

another scarf. 7.5", 6'+ excluding fringe
(80 ends, 8 rpi, 10 dpi reed)

I love woven scarves so much. Too much. Committing stuff white people like atrocities like scarf + tshirt much. They're just different from handknit scarves-- thinner, not squishy, have a body and hand that wants to stand and be molded. Oh, did I mention they took me about 2 days each?

!!!

I'm really enjoying the loom though. It's very plug and play-- with a single copy of Hand on: Rigid Heddle Weaving (only reading the first chapter ;) I was impatient!) I was able to crank these, plus more, out. Weaving won't replace knitting for me, though-- it's not portable, limited in fabric shaping and items able to be made. Still, there are a lot of exciting options out there with a rigid heddle-- using pickup sticks to create patterns like in Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom, or patterns with more than one heddle like in The Xenakis Technique I don't see myself outgrowing the rigid heddle anytime soon.

If you're in the Bay Area/East Bay, both A Verb for Keeping Warm and Article Pract can order the Flip looms for you :)

Off to warp for some more scarves :)

ps... Schacht is doing so well with their folding rigid heddle Flip version that they're discontinuing the 25" non-folding model... so there are a few retailers out there discounting them for sale (from $199 to $140-159-- here's one, here's another, here's one on SF craigslist with a stand...). It doesn't fold, isn't equipped with the second heddle block standard, a few other changes (Schacht can tell you exactly the differences), but still-- buying it + a stand at $160 would be $300-320, $35-55 more than the 25" flip with no stand. I might have gone this way had I realized I wouldn't be folding Flip up much as it is :)

catching bullets

2008-11-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

my brain's all over the place the past week, i don't even dare try to number these :)

* the asymmetrical cardi grows.

norah gaughan has created a super interesting construction here-- you knit the two front panels separately, increase on either side for the arms, work out the neck opening on either side, then join for the back and knit on down. fold at the shoulder, seam up the sides and under the arms for a non-interrupted pattern (and no need to set in sleeves when seaming.)

i've modded the arms to have more pattern and less cuff (and under the arms for a faster increase rate), we'll see if it works when its time to origami this thing up.

the color in both of these is really off... but who knew a cable could pop so much?

yay o-wool :)

* i went to the bay area bead extravaganza and brought home fistfuls of new pearl strands for my knitting stitch marker shop. my new favorite? biwa stick pearls. paired with other pearls and semiprecious stones the stitch markers look like little surfers on surfboards...

biwa stick pearl knitting stitch markers at zero.etsy.com

less valleygrrl but still fun...

sample of what's to be added to the shop over the next week

* i warned christina. when i went to this month's tahki stacy charles yarn tasting at article pract, i warned xtina i'd sit up at night and weave all of the yarn samples when i went home (i took my weave-it instead of knitting needles). which wasn't bad...

top left and clockwise: takhi tweedy alpaca, filatura di crosa zara, loop d loop moss, s charles trapper

...because, oh do i love stacy charles collezione trapper. 70/30 merino-cashmere, very reminiscent of felted tweed. but cashmere. oy. i want to marry it and have red tweedy babies. or a sweater. or knit it a sweater.

filatura di crosa superior may object though. i can't tell who's been leading who on.

i think there's enough squares to tack them together tip to tip (five times fast!) and end up with a cravat. of brushed cashmere and silk.

!!!

absolutely gorgeous woven up, the cashmere just fills in the blanks.

doesn't it always?

seriously, superior is the most decadent feeling yarn i've ever, ever encountered. thinking hard about making mary-heather's lace capelet with it (only one skein of superior! and i have a 25% coupon from the yarn tasting for as many tahki yarns as i'd like!)

* speaking of weaving, while at article pract (best yarn store in the bay area), i fell down on the no more yarn oh goodness no the boxes are still overflowing sort of not announced diet i've been on.

a verb for keeping warm 70/30 alpaca-silk

don't tell anyone, but i think kristine sold her soul to be able to dye such glorious colors using only natural dyes.

:)

how could i help myself though? it is an article pract staff pick for november (20% off!) and can you imagine what a great scarf it'll make? i'm really drawn to green lately too. weird.

* if you're in the bay area, this wednesday (11/12) there's a spinning meetup at knitoneone in berkeley between 7 and 9pm. well lit studio space (plenty of room for wheels tho i'm bringing a spindle) and BARTable via ashby. it's really neat sitting in a circle of spinners. tactile fiber arts' trunk show will still be on display, if you need a fiber/yarn fix mid-spinning :)

more info here on ravelry in the bay area spinners forum. we're renting the space ($60) and splitting the cost amongst us-- last time we had about ten people? good times! i'm bringing wisteria for show and tell :)

photo by wondermike-- header for the fabulous yknit podcast re: knit one one!

* did you have a good hallowe'en? we did. yes we did ;)

i think i'm all caught up :)

miss you!

in case you were wondering (no knitting content)...

2008-11-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

oh, and...

Fingers crossed. I'll be spinning some baabaablacksheep to keep my nerves still til then. You?

In any case and in any choice you make, yay for this country!! :)

handspun wisteria sweater from twist collective

2008-10-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Umpqua, superfine Corriedale lamb fleece-- silver to steel grey with taupe tips
from Whitefish Bay Farm

scoured in lock formation

handcombed into sliver

spun worsted (short forward draw)

...all for Wisteria by Kate Gilbert from Twist Collective, Fall 2008
Started: August 25, 2008
Finished: October 17, 2008
(spun yarn during same timeframe)
US 8 needles, variety of lengths

Yay!

I really like this sweater. The idea, the shape, the silhouette. The top down yoke! More than just on me, from browsing finished Wisterias on Ravelry I really like how well this sweater seems to fit a huge variety of sizes *well.* I tried and tried to take a picture of myself in it and nothing worked (not used to taking full on body shots and not feet, I guess), but I like how it looks on me-- a rare thing. I knit the 47" (!!) size, giving myself 3" for the bust for ease and relying on the gentle shaping at the waist Kate provided to give me some shape (illusion with my linebacker frame) and it worked. I guess I'm just surprised that a sweater can really fit a range of body shapes and sizes in a complimentary way :)

I'm also surprised I managed to spin an entire sweater's worth of yarn as I knit... I'd comb-spin-knit, comb-spin-knit... I spun 1355 yd over 7 skeins and 500 grams (not including combing waste) and really, IT WASN'T HARD. If I can do it, anyone can :) Now, was each skein the same yardage per gram? Nope. Should I/could I have spun all my singles at once and mixed older and newer bobbins when plying for a more even end yarn? Probably. But I was impatient to knit, as fast as this sweater knits up I wanted it done. I'm not entering it into a wool show, I'm not asking for curious viewers to turn it inside out and look for irregularities where I added in a new skein*... I just wanted and got a really nice sweater that I'll wear and wear and that I am thrilled I took from fleece to finished object.

Speaking of wear and wear, I've worn this sweater a lot over the past few days... at least five. (Yay for cold weather and putting off turning on the heater!) I'm already seeing pilling wear at the underarms and across the lower part of the body.

Aside from needing to buy a sweater shaver, I don't really care. I do find myself thinking about it though... I intentionally spun the combed sliver with a short forward draw (inchworm) for a "true worsted" yarn (inchworm from fibers all the same length and combed in one direction), so I was a little surprised to see it appear so soon since a true worsted yarn should be smooth and dense. The more I think about it though it makes sense... the lamb's fleece was very, very short (2.5") and extremely crimpy/lofty-- not really the wools "meant" for combing and smoothing down into worsted yarn. I did remove a lot of waste from the fiber when combing, but maybe the prep and spinning method couldn't overcome the nature of the fleece itself.

Too esoteric.

As you may have guessed, I find myself locked in a love affair with raw fleece lately... I actually take a lot of enjoyment from every step, and really dig the individual characteristics of each greasy beast as I wash, comb, and spin them. This one-- the color of the fleece was what had my toes curling, pale to deep grey all tied together with the taupe tips made the color change on how you looked at it. First it was grey, bands of grey where you can see each little puff of sliver spun and run out...

...where a different angle brought out the warmth of the light brown shades mixed in during combing.

And another.

Definitely not a brown sweater, but not just a grey either.

As happy as I am (and that those who love me think it's spectacular, too)... I'm thrilled to be finished combing this fleece so I can start on another. :) Big plans!!

Til then, moo!

*one more idea i had spinning and knitting this sweater... i've seen designers use a smaller needle to achieve shaping across a garment where a pattern would make it difficult to insert traditional shaping. what would be cool is to think about spinning different weights of the same yarn from a single fiber to achieve that effect-- slightly lighter weight yarn at the waist/lower sleeves for a clingier effect, slightly heavier when incorporating cables and don't want to do increases to compensate for the pulling in, etc. lots of possibilities where shaping is concerned. i can't think of any commerical yarn where it comes in weight/grist gradation across the same colorway (much less dyelot), but for spinners! kind of a neat thought experiment, anyways :)

new obsession: weaving on a weave it

2008-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I blame Karrie.

I should really, really be working on this...

Asymmetrical Cardigan from Knitting Nature
Vermont Organic Fiber Company O-Wool in saffron

...but this little demon child Karrie sold me at Color Fiber Festival has been taking over the waking minutes around here instead.

vintage Weave-It, 4"

I've admired Karrie's weave it squares and projects for ages now-- but having this in my hot little hands and a huge (really, you don't want to know) bag of sock yarn scraps within easy reach means this...

and this...

The handspun I listed in my etsy shop? Pulled for weaving.

My son's getting in on the act, demanding a blankie for his bear, Bear, out of this ball of mystery yarn.

Even my bead and wire stash is getting into the picture...

woven square pulled into diamond shape and secured at wrist on itself

Reminds me of the wire bracelet I knit a while back (I like that one better, just for the seed pearl details. Weaving with wire again will have me adding pearls and semiprecious stones, no doubt.)

Woven fabric is a totally different animal than knit-- not as soft when worked tightly. I'm still learning, but decided to not double the sock yarn for weaving squares so they're left openish...

koigu

...but have much more drape and let the softness of the yarn still peek thru than when doubled. In a far off galaxy I'd plan to make a million of these little less-than-5-yards-of-sock yarn squares and seam them for a blanket (a 4x4 square on the loom is SO MUCH FASTER than a 4x4 square handknit by me)... in this one, I'm content with making them and not really-really having a project in mind yet.

It's not to say there aren't any-- Karrie has a whole host of idea from her "week of weaving" on her blog, eLoomaNation has vintage Weave It booklets in pdf form, Hazel Rose has a bunch, there is a whole book dedicated to projects for small hand looms (Weavies One), and Spin Off even published an article in Winter 2005 with an accessory project-- "loom blooms". And as with everything, there *is* a Ravelry group :)

Me? Aside from the very vague idea of seaming the drapey sock yarn squares into a blanket (and the hotly demanded baby bear blanket), I was driven by circumstance to make a few things myself. My mom recently adopted a shelter kitten (aw...) and I figured handmade is in order for all new arrivals, furry or not.

Single and double dumpling woven cat toys

The one on the left, one square of doubled Lisa Souza Sock! that had a single bell inserted in the center and seamed like a flower dumpling. The one on the right, 2 woven squares of mediumweight Socks That Rock seamed flat with two bells inside. Mom had bought a bunch (and I mean, a BUNCH) of plastic ball cat toys with bells inside, and the little monster (whom she called my brother!!) has already rolled them under immovable dressers and places where mom or kitten can't rescue them. Apparently, these don't get as lost as easily-- although I've already fielded requests for more (and with catnip)... oy.

But how can I say no?

Larson likes 'em.

:)

color fiber festival fall 2008

2008-10-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

An excellent weekend! How could it not be... it was Color Fiber Festival! :)

i also took way more CFF pics than i could fit here... you can find them here and the flickr color fiber festival group is here if you have some of your own to add. i'd love to see them! :)

Once again held on the Pacific School of Religion campus (many, many kudos to Sara for wrangling and orchestrating this beautiful scene)-- a breathtaking place with lots else going for it.

I didn't take any classes this time around, but instead hit the market and spun with a great circle of fiber lovers. Some market pics:

Tactile Fiber Arts (mid-set up)

I bugged Maia away from setting up her booth to find her Spindlewood stash since Malia has almost converted me... I barely escaped the clutches of a ebony/ebony square whorl. BARELY. I was heading back in to buy it when I realized I was a whole five minutes late-- turned on my heel emptyhanded :)

Handsome Books and...

...Pigeonroof Studios. With lots and lots of stock ;)

Krista's booth had her gorgeous Luminosity Project yarns on display-- they look so great in her pics, but in person?! Amazing. She also hinted at a fiber and yarn club in the nearish future. I'm a brat, I was thinking I'd not say anything til I'd already snagged a spot :) She has a mailing list that I'm sure she'll dish more on when the time comes.

Girl on the Rocks and abmatic

I finally met Karrie! We've been joking the other must not exist since we never seem to be in the same place at the same time :) I was bummed not being able to take her weaving on a hand loom class, but more than made up for it by purchasing a vintage Weave-It from her.

Don't tell anyone but instead of my two front teeth, I've been lusting over a 25" Schacht Flip. Still thinking, but the hand loom has taken the edge off for at least a week. Some things don't change :)

A Verb for Keeping Warm

Another almost falling down experience here as always :) Receiving the second shipment of the aVfKW fiber club a few days back helped... but Kristine had batt rolls! in PURPLE!! (I'm trying to actually whittle down the stash, both yarn and fiber. I am afraid of the 15# of roving I'm expecting from 2 mills in the too-near future. Serious nightmare scenarios about woman living in a shoe, having so much roving she didn't know what to do...)

Ceallach Dyes

A stunning booth. Where Tactile and Verb both use natural dyes-- Ceallach uses a solar dyeing process, the heat of the sun setting the dyes to be fast. Stepping back to think how much energy is used in heating water and that she avoids this while producing beautiful, huge skeins of color is jawdropping.

Flynn Creek Churros

A really neat booth. I had a chance to spin some Navajo Churro locks Maia brought for the class I took at Color in the spring, a dual coated sheep. I especially loved those little boxes of colored roving Flynn Creek had for sale-- I'm big into the natural colored fleece gradation colors right now.

You should be proud-- they had fleeces, and I didn't buy one! :)

Pan's Garden Yarns

Pan's Garden had a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL booth with handspun (true) art yarns. The kind where it's okay to buy them without a project in mind because you just want to admire them and be happy they exist and were made by hand and it feels good to have them near. Really.

For all of the amazing (local! woo!) vendors, my favorite part was the spinners and knitters who came out. Oh, well maybe my favorite was Susan and her og Columbine wheel...

The bobbin on this thing! Size doesn't matter my...

Anyways.

I started here under one tent, before the fog burned off...

...and eventually, another tent and a bunch of spinners and knitters appeared to just sit and be excellent in each other's company. And ogle the wheels and spinning and yarns and purchases and and and... :)

Fun-fun :) A good start to a great day-before-turning a year older*.

That's right, not a brain but still...

Made my wish and didn't share :) No, I don't feel any different! Not about my birthday, anyways.

Til then!

*last day for free shipping in my shop! :)