So much has happened recently, I just don’t know were to start. I have yarn showing up on my doorstep almost every day. That’s good. Two more packages to go and that will be all. Well unless of course I go ahead and buy some superwash wool for the upcoming dye day. One package I won from eBay is wrong. What a pain. Right yarn wrong colors. Very wrong colors. Now I have to go through the hassle of shipping it back and waiting another 2 weeks for it to make the trip back.
The sweater that started all the crazy yarn buying is almost done. Along with 2 others I just started. It’s nice to be productive.
I bought Fishermen’s Sweaters by Alice Starmore. They are my favorite types of sweaters to knit. Cabled aran and gansey sweaters knit in the round seamlessly. While the photography is stunning nowhere can I actually see the sweaters very well. In one photo the model is wrapped in a woven blanket with only the neck ribbing of the sweater showing. Hello, how am I supposed to know if I want to make that one? Ok minnie rant is over and I have 2 picked out that I’m dieing to knit. Too bad they are both for large children. Since I don’t know any large children I will just have to wait until the babies I’m knitting for get bigger. There is one sweater I must make for me but it’s not knit in the round. Bummer. However I think I can change that. Oh and she tells how to make steeks that are finished without using a sewing machine. WooHoo! Fair Isle here I come!
In that note I also picked up Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified. I have a whole bunch of Romney Pollipay X wool spun up that I think will knit right to gauge. I will have to swatch before said upcoming dye day on the 22nd. I spun it all to knit a gansey (see above) but I think it came out too hairy. While doing the gauge swatch I should throw in some k and p designs and a cable too be sure.
I’m spinning bombex silk right now and pretty thinly too. I have been working on the same 2 oz for 3 weeks now. I have 3 days worth left and with today being a holiday (there are some advantages to my crapy job) I may just be able to get 2 days worth of spinning in. I’ve already finished one, lets just see if I knit or spin during the evening news tonight.
Now stuff that is getting in the way of my projects, Himself has a job offer. Right now things are very up in the air. We should know by the end of the week if we will be moving. In preparation I spent yesterday painting the bedroom walls. It’s amazing how many scuffs we have put on them in 3 years. If we move or stay they look so much better now.
And since said move will take us to the Big City, good by soap room. I have been making soap like crazy to use up all my supplies and to have a good amount of inventory, sine I still hope to be selling. Hopefully, I will have enough soap to last me a year or two. Lotions I can make in an apartment so I should be set. To top off a day of hard work the last two batches of soap were for fun. I made So much has happened recently, I just don’t know were to start. I have yarn showing up on my doorstep almost every day. That’s good. Two more packages to go and that will be all. Well unless of course I go ahead and buy some superwash wool for the upcoming dye day. One package I won from eBay is wrong. What a pain. Right yarn wrong colors. Very wrong colors. Now I have to go through the hassle of shipping it back and waiting another 2 weeks for it to make the trip back.
The sweater that started all the crazy yarn buying is almost done. Along with 2 others I just started. It’s nice to be productive.
I bought Fishermen’s Sweaters by Alice Starmore. They are my favorite types of sweaters to knit. Cabled aran and gansey sweaters knit in the round seamlessly. While the photography is stunning nowhere can I actually see the sweaters very well. In one photo the model is wrapped in a woven blanket with only the neck ribbing of the sweater showing. Hello, how am I supposed to know if I want to make that one? Ok minnie rant is over and I have 2 picked out that I’m dieing to knit. Too bad they are both for large children. Since I don’t know any large children I will just have to wait until the babies I’m knitting for get bigger. There is one sweater I must make for me but it’s not knit in the round. Bummer. However I think I can change that. Oh and she tells how to make steeks that are finished without using a sewing machine. WooHoo! Fair Isle here I come!
In that note I also picked up Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified. I have a whole bunch of Romney Pollipay X wool spun up that I think will knit right to gauge. I will have to swatch before said upcoming dye day on the 22nd. I spun it all to knit a gansey (see above) but I think it came out too hairy. While doing the gauge swatch I should throw in some k and p designs and a cable too be sure.
I’m spinning bombex silk right now and pretty thinly too. I have been working on the same 2 oz for 3 weeks now. I have 3 days worth left and with today being a holiday (there are some advantages to my crapy job) I may just be able to get 2 days worth of spinning in. I’ve already finished one, lets just see if I knit or spin during the evening news tonight.
Now stuff that is getting in the way of my projects, Himself has a job offer. Right now things are very up in the air. We should know by the end of the week if we will be moving. In preparation I spent yesterday painting the bedroom walls. It’s amazing how many scuffs we have put on them in 3 years. If we move or stay they look so much better now.
And since said move will take us to the Big City, good by soap room. I have been making soap like crazy to use up all my supplies and to have a good amount of inventory, sine I still hope to be selling. Hopefully, I will have enough soap to last me a year or two. Lotions I can make in an apartment so I should be set. To top off a day of hard work the last two batches of soap were for fun. I made tiramisu soap. That’s right a bottom layer of kona coffee and vanilla chestnut scented soap with a white frothy layer on top. It smells wonderful! Wish I could eat it. soap. That’s right a bottom layer of kona coffee and vanilla chestnut scented soap with a white frothy layer on top. It smells wonderful! Wish I could eat it.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Mmmm....Yarn....
I have had a great bit of finishing going on here. I finished my fibonacci striped sweater that I dyed the yarn for last year. I started and finished my first sweater out of handspun. It started as a wonderful Shetland fleece in a natural caramel color. It matches a pair of my fall boots exactly. I’m very happy with how robust this yarn and therefore the sweater turned out. It feels like it can take some abuse yet isn’t unpleasantly scratchy. In fact it isn’t scratchy at all. I’m sold and will have to spin some more Shetland fleeces. I’m well on my way to finishing my first cabled sweater. I also knitted until I ran out of yarn on a childs hoodie…
Which brings me to what else I have been doing. Let me start at the beginning. 2 years ago I bought enough Mission Falls cotton yarn to make 2 baby sweaters. I finished one and loved it but decided I didn’t want to make it all over again. The yarn sat until I heard that Mission Falls would no longer be making any more. Yes, it has been discontinued. I found Child Hood and decided to make it. The idea was to use up the yarn in my stash and then forget about the brand. I carefully figured out the largest size I could make. I very carefully figured that out, and I was right on the money too. However, some sneaky casting on demon whispered in my ear that I had plenty and I should cast on for the next larger size. Well I did, and I’m sure you can see were this is going. ¾ of the way thru the second sleeve and the same amount thru the hood I run out of yarn. I sit on that for about two weeks. After all I can unravel the hood but there was nothing I could do about the sleeve. I start shopping around. I discover eBay. I called yarn shops. In a fit on OMG I can no longer get this yarn I am now the proud owner of 60 new balls of that stuff. Yes 60. The only thing I can say in my defense is that 40 are mill rejects and at a price I can’t pass up. We will see how bad (hopefully good) they are when they get here. 10 more were going at such a low price I had to bid on them. The last 10 were at regular price, 5 were to finish the sweater, the other 5 were to make a second sweater since I only need a few yards each of the first five to finish the sweater.
Did I end my buying there? No! Also wheeling its way to me is some more mill seconds from Brown Sheep. I LOVE cotton fleece and I’m trying for the first time some lambs pride. They messed up some seriously pretty colors. All different shades of purple and pink. I held strong and left the pinks alone but I did pick up 2 purples, green, and black. Once my credit card stops crying if there is any yarn left I’ll get 2 more purples and probably the pinks too. I think this comes from my not buying any yarn for a full year. I was strong for so long that when I fell of the wagon it was in a big way.
I should mention my spinning. I’m spinning white bombax silk fine so it’s taking a while. It also slips and clumps in interesting ways so I have to take my time and concentrate. I’m also spinning the candle light cotton. I don’t get to often but when I do it feels like butter and goes as fast as wool. I’m loving it. However, at the fine grist I’m spinning it still takes a good long while to fill a bobbin.
Which brings me to what else I have been doing. Let me start at the beginning. 2 years ago I bought enough Mission Falls cotton yarn to make 2 baby sweaters. I finished one and loved it but decided I didn’t want to make it all over again. The yarn sat until I heard that Mission Falls would no longer be making any more. Yes, it has been discontinued. I found Child Hood and decided to make it. The idea was to use up the yarn in my stash and then forget about the brand. I carefully figured out the largest size I could make. I very carefully figured that out, and I was right on the money too. However, some sneaky casting on demon whispered in my ear that I had plenty and I should cast on for the next larger size. Well I did, and I’m sure you can see were this is going. ¾ of the way thru the second sleeve and the same amount thru the hood I run out of yarn. I sit on that for about two weeks. After all I can unravel the hood but there was nothing I could do about the sleeve. I start shopping around. I discover eBay. I called yarn shops. In a fit on OMG I can no longer get this yarn I am now the proud owner of 60 new balls of that stuff. Yes 60. The only thing I can say in my defense is that 40 are mill rejects and at a price I can’t pass up. We will see how bad (hopefully good) they are when they get here. 10 more were going at such a low price I had to bid on them. The last 10 were at regular price, 5 were to finish the sweater, the other 5 were to make a second sweater since I only need a few yards each of the first five to finish the sweater.
Did I end my buying there? No! Also wheeling its way to me is some more mill seconds from Brown Sheep. I LOVE cotton fleece and I’m trying for the first time some lambs pride. They messed up some seriously pretty colors. All different shades of purple and pink. I held strong and left the pinks alone but I did pick up 2 purples, green, and black. Once my credit card stops crying if there is any yarn left I’ll get 2 more purples and probably the pinks too. I think this comes from my not buying any yarn for a full year. I was strong for so long that when I fell of the wagon it was in a big way.
I should mention my spinning. I’m spinning white bombax silk fine so it’s taking a while. It also slips and clumps in interesting ways so I have to take my time and concentrate. I’m also spinning the candle light cotton. I don’t get to often but when I do it feels like butter and goes as fast as wool. I’m loving it. However, at the fine grist I’m spinning it still takes a good long while to fill a bobbin.
Monday, August 08, 2005
the plying that never ends....
What a busy week. I had out of town friends visit for the weekend so I mostly cleaned house then had fun with friends. However, I did get some knitting done and am now working on the second front of child hood. I also tucked the end into a toddler and a baby sweater. While they were off the needles many months ago they are finally done. Right now I’m looking for a nice baby bunting pattern.
The plying of that cotton linen tensile blend took longer than I thought. I can usually ply 2 bobbins worth in an hour of my wool yarn. This was so much thinner it took me 3 days; I think about 5 hours just to ply 4 oz of yarn. However, yesterday I finally finished and I’m now happily spinning the cotton.
Weaving is on hold. I am thinking of buying a new reed and heddles this week so I can weave a color gamp. After all I have been weaving for 9 years now and I think that if a color gamp is completed by the 10th year you are drummed out of weaving groups. It’s something that beginners make and they do look pretty cool hanging on the studio wall.
The plying of that cotton linen tensile blend took longer than I thought. I can usually ply 2 bobbins worth in an hour of my wool yarn. This was so much thinner it took me 3 days; I think about 5 hours just to ply 4 oz of yarn. However, yesterday I finally finished and I’m now happily spinning the cotton.
Weaving is on hold. I am thinking of buying a new reed and heddles this week so I can weave a color gamp. After all I have been weaving for 9 years now and I think that if a color gamp is completed by the 10th year you are drummed out of weaving groups. It’s something that beginners make and they do look pretty cool hanging on the studio wall.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Fresh Sweet Corn
It’s been a full week of knitting. I have 2 baby sweater starts to be unraveled. One is the blueberry sweater of last Saturday. The knit purl design was killing my hands and the dark purple made it impossible to see the pattern in anything but noontime sunlight. I will try using that yarn in a different pattern. The other is Baby Ole in a cotton sock yarn that is poling instead of striping. It looks like a snow leopard. Nice enough but not what I wanted. I will put it away for a while or possible claim the yarn for socks.
Now a project that is going well is Child Hood out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. It’s going pretty fast now that I have gauge. It took 3 false starts and moving down to a size 3 bamboo needle. This is from a yarn that recommends a 7 needle. I know I knit a bit loose but really! I do love the way the yarn feels in my hands and on my needles. The yarn has been discontinued and I keep wondering if I should buy some more while it’s still available.
My spinning wheel has been humming away on my cotton, linen, rayon blend. Last night I divided the fiber I had left into 9 portions, thinking I could be done spinning in 9 days. As of this morning I only have 6 left. The hard part is deciding what is next on this wheel. Do I finish the mostly full bobbin of ramie? Do I start the cotton silk blend? The cocoon waste? Cotton Wool? Colored cotton? I have a soft pink beige called candlelight that has been waiting for 5 years now. I recently found it and it’s so pretty. Silk Top? SO many choices. If I was a good, dedicated, project finisher I would spin the ramie but right now I think not.
How did I get so much spinning done? After all those weren’t little hanks I had divvied up. Well Saturday morning I snuck out the back door at work to visit the farmers market again. This time I came home with a huge bag of sweet corn, seven pounds of peaches, and a watermelon. Himself inspired by the Iron Chef corn battle made a wonderful corn bisque with straw mushrooms, while I made corn bread, and a friend grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob. After a good and thorough stuffing with everyone saying we couldn’t eat even one more bite, Himself made a peach blueberry cobbler. Oh so tasty. It’s a good thing we took a mile walk while it was cooking since I don’t think I ate so much at THANKSGIVING! With all this cooking and eating taking well over 4 hours I had plenty of spinning time too. I just love summer food and some soft summer cotton spinning. Hmmmm… so good….
The little tid bit about finding the candle light cotton reminds me. I forgot to mention I cleaned out the fiber studio. I put all of my roving into my car and parked it the sun for an incredibly hot week while I deep cleaned and organized the room. Today I will vacuum everything, including behind the bookshelves and under rugs. Hopefully these preventive measures will keep the room m…. free for another year.
Now a project that is going well is Child Hood out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. It’s going pretty fast now that I have gauge. It took 3 false starts and moving down to a size 3 bamboo needle. This is from a yarn that recommends a 7 needle. I know I knit a bit loose but really! I do love the way the yarn feels in my hands and on my needles. The yarn has been discontinued and I keep wondering if I should buy some more while it’s still available.
My spinning wheel has been humming away on my cotton, linen, rayon blend. Last night I divided the fiber I had left into 9 portions, thinking I could be done spinning in 9 days. As of this morning I only have 6 left. The hard part is deciding what is next on this wheel. Do I finish the mostly full bobbin of ramie? Do I start the cotton silk blend? The cocoon waste? Cotton Wool? Colored cotton? I have a soft pink beige called candlelight that has been waiting for 5 years now. I recently found it and it’s so pretty. Silk Top? SO many choices. If I was a good, dedicated, project finisher I would spin the ramie but right now I think not.
How did I get so much spinning done? After all those weren’t little hanks I had divvied up. Well Saturday morning I snuck out the back door at work to visit the farmers market again. This time I came home with a huge bag of sweet corn, seven pounds of peaches, and a watermelon. Himself inspired by the Iron Chef corn battle made a wonderful corn bisque with straw mushrooms, while I made corn bread, and a friend grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob. After a good and thorough stuffing with everyone saying we couldn’t eat even one more bite, Himself made a peach blueberry cobbler. Oh so tasty. It’s a good thing we took a mile walk while it was cooking since I don’t think I ate so much at THANKSGIVING! With all this cooking and eating taking well over 4 hours I had plenty of spinning time too. I just love summer food and some soft summer cotton spinning. Hmmmm… so good….
The little tid bit about finding the candle light cotton reminds me. I forgot to mention I cleaned out the fiber studio. I put all of my roving into my car and parked it the sun for an incredibly hot week while I deep cleaned and organized the room. Today I will vacuum everything, including behind the bookshelves and under rugs. Hopefully these preventive measures will keep the room m…. free for another year.
Fresh Sweet Corn
It’s been a full week of knitting. I have 2 baby sweater starts to be unraveled. One is the blueberry sweater of last Saturday. The knit purl design was killing my hands and the dark purple made it impossible to see the pattern in anything but noontime sunlight. I will try using that yarn in a different pattern. The other is Baby Ole in a cotton sock yarn that is poling instead of striping. It looks like a snow leopard. Nice enough but not what I wanted. I will put it away for a while or possible claim the yarn for socks.
Now a project that is going well is Child Hood out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. It’s going pretty fast now that I have gauge. It took 3 false starts and moving down to a size 3 bamboo needle. This is from a yarn that recommends a 7 needle. I know I knit a bit loose but really! I do love the way the yarn feels in my hands and on my needles. The yarn has been discontinued and I keep wondering if I should buy some more while it’s still available.
My spinning wheel has been humming away on my cotton, linen, rayon blend. Last night I divided the fiber I had left into 9 portions, thinking I could be done spinning in 9 days. As of this morning I only have 6 left. The hard part is deciding what is next on this wheel. Do I finish the mostly full bobbin of ramie? Do I start the cotton silk blend? The cocoon waste? Cotton Wool? Colored cotton? I have a soft pink beige called candlelight that has been waiting for 5 years now. I recently found it and it’s so pretty. Silk Top? SO many choices. If I was a good, dedicated, project finisher I would spin the ramie but right now I think not.
How did I get so much spinning done? After all those weren’t little hanks I had divvied up. Well Saturday morning I snuck out the back door at work to visit the farmers market again. This time I came home with a huge bag of sweet corn, seven pounds of peaches, and a watermelon. Himself inspired by the Iron Chef corn battle made a wonderful corn bisque with straw mushrooms, while I made corn bread, and a friend grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob. After a good and thorough stuffing with everyone saying we couldn’t eat even one more bite, Himself made a peach blueberry cobbler. Oh so tasty. It’s a good thing we took a mile walk while it was cooking since I don’t think I ate so much at THANKSGIVING! With all this cooking and eating taking well over 4 hours I had plenty of spinning time too. I just love summer food and some soft summer cotton spinning. Hmmmm… so good….
The little tid bit about finding the candle light cotton reminds me. I forgot to mention I cleaned out the fiber studio. I put all of my roving into my car and parked it the sun for an incredibly hot week while I deep cleaned and organized the room. Today I will vacuum everything, including behind the bookshelves and under rugs. Hopefully these preventive measures will keep the room m…. free for another year.
Now a project that is going well is Child Hood out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton. It’s going pretty fast now that I have gauge. It took 3 false starts and moving down to a size 3 bamboo needle. This is from a yarn that recommends a 7 needle. I know I knit a bit loose but really! I do love the way the yarn feels in my hands and on my needles. The yarn has been discontinued and I keep wondering if I should buy some more while it’s still available.
My spinning wheel has been humming away on my cotton, linen, rayon blend. Last night I divided the fiber I had left into 9 portions, thinking I could be done spinning in 9 days. As of this morning I only have 6 left. The hard part is deciding what is next on this wheel. Do I finish the mostly full bobbin of ramie? Do I start the cotton silk blend? The cocoon waste? Cotton Wool? Colored cotton? I have a soft pink beige called candlelight that has been waiting for 5 years now. I recently found it and it’s so pretty. Silk Top? SO many choices. If I was a good, dedicated, project finisher I would spin the ramie but right now I think not.
How did I get so much spinning done? After all those weren’t little hanks I had divvied up. Well Saturday morning I snuck out the back door at work to visit the farmers market again. This time I came home with a huge bag of sweet corn, seven pounds of peaches, and a watermelon. Himself inspired by the Iron Chef corn battle made a wonderful corn bisque with straw mushrooms, while I made corn bread, and a friend grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob. After a good and thorough stuffing with everyone saying we couldn’t eat even one more bite, Himself made a peach blueberry cobbler. Oh so tasty. It’s a good thing we took a mile walk while it was cooking since I don’t think I ate so much at THANKSGIVING! With all this cooking and eating taking well over 4 hours I had plenty of spinning time too. I just love summer food and some soft summer cotton spinning. Hmmmm… so good….
The little tid bit about finding the candle light cotton reminds me. I forgot to mention I cleaned out the fiber studio. I put all of my roving into my car and parked it the sun for an incredibly hot week while I deep cleaned and organized the room. Today I will vacuum everything, including behind the bookshelves and under rugs. Hopefully these preventive measures will keep the room m…. free for another year.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
blueberry summer day
It’s been so long since I posted and I have done so much it’s overwhelming. So I will skip it all and just start with now. Yesterday I slipped out the back door at work to go the farmers market across the street. I was hoping for some corn but it’s still too soon. Instead I bought a gallon of fresh blueberries.
After work I turned into the LYS since I hadn’t visited it in months. I was looking for easy care yarn for a baby sweater. I picked up a deep purple the color of blueberry pies. Once I got home I spent the afternoon making and freezing blueberry waffles while casting on the purple yarn. A baby sweater is now well on it’s way and those blueberry waffles are the best I’ve ever tasted.
After work I turned into the LYS since I hadn’t visited it in months. I was looking for easy care yarn for a baby sweater. I picked up a deep purple the color of blueberry pies. Once I got home I spent the afternoon making and freezing blueberry waffles while casting on the purple yarn. A baby sweater is now well on it’s way and those blueberry waffles are the best I’ve ever tasted.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Busy Week
It’s been a busy week. I spent all of last week moving the loom and yarn room from the small upstairs bedroom to the larger basement bedroom. The new room looks great and there should be room for the loom I’m buying Saturday. The down side was to make this move Himself wanted all of my wool out of the other basement bedroom so he could set up his new computer. Well even though my new room was larger than my last it isn’t big enough to hold all of my fiber from both rooms. The only thing I could do was to send all of my raw fleeces off to Wooly Knob to be professionally washed and carded. I sent off 3 boxes the largest of which tipped the scales at 30lbs. I will get them back mid April all clean and fluffy ready to be spun.
So did you notice that I’m buying a new loom Saturday? It goes with the new computer himself bought. We brokered a deal. It was time for us to upgrade but he really wanted a top of the line gaming computer, more power than our little family needed. So he got his top of the line computer and I get a new loom. Now shhh don’t tell anybody I think I will be coming home with 2 used looms on Saturday. Don’t worry I’m not being sneaky. The two looms cost less that himself and I agreed that I would spend on one. The sneaky part is where will I put this other loom. The living room? the bedroom? If both come home with me I will have jumped from only having one loom for 7 years to 4 looms in 2 months. Not bad. Actually it worked the same way with my spinning wheel. I had the same Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel for 5 years and when I finally let myself buy a second wheel it was less than 6 months before I had my 3rd. However, I did end up selling my Kiwi and I find 2 wheels to be a nice even number.
Even with all this talk about looms I’m not weaving much. I’m still working to weave off the yardage that came on my table loom. My Norwood still stands empty but I have measured half the warp needed for some kitchen towels. I have spent all my weaving time moving my fiber room. I’m still spinning. I’m back to going full force on that cotton linen yarn to weave into clothing cloth. I may be able to finish that by June, I hope.
Knitting is stalled. Although, I did finish knitting my odds and ends vest and I finally tucked down all the ends in a sweater I knitted last spring so I could finally wear it. Of course I spilled some soup on it right away but it should wash out fine. And I finished a pair of socks and I started working on one of my UFO sweaters and I’ve started the hers in the his and hers sweaters I’m making. But really not much knitting the last two weeks.
I decided my yarn diet was officially over this month and that buying a new loom needed to be commemorated with some new ½ priced yarn. However, in moving all my yarn to a new room I realized that after working nonstop for 6 months and giving over 20 fiber gifts at Christmas I still hadn’t touched the surface. So I called the fiber diet off as pointless. Seeing as how I still shouldn’t be buying more yarn I just declared 2005 the year of the book and equipment. This year I have given myself permission to buy the books and equipment I always thought was too expensive. Well No More! Now I just have to save longer between purchases but I think it will work out well. It will also make driving home from fiber fairs easer. Instead of spending $50 on wool fleeces and not being able to see out the back window, I can buy $50 in books and it will be a little stack on the front seat.
So did you notice that I’m buying a new loom Saturday? It goes with the new computer himself bought. We brokered a deal. It was time for us to upgrade but he really wanted a top of the line gaming computer, more power than our little family needed. So he got his top of the line computer and I get a new loom. Now shhh don’t tell anybody I think I will be coming home with 2 used looms on Saturday. Don’t worry I’m not being sneaky. The two looms cost less that himself and I agreed that I would spend on one. The sneaky part is where will I put this other loom. The living room? the bedroom? If both come home with me I will have jumped from only having one loom for 7 years to 4 looms in 2 months. Not bad. Actually it worked the same way with my spinning wheel. I had the same Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel for 5 years and when I finally let myself buy a second wheel it was less than 6 months before I had my 3rd. However, I did end up selling my Kiwi and I find 2 wheels to be a nice even number.
Even with all this talk about looms I’m not weaving much. I’m still working to weave off the yardage that came on my table loom. My Norwood still stands empty but I have measured half the warp needed for some kitchen towels. I have spent all my weaving time moving my fiber room. I’m still spinning. I’m back to going full force on that cotton linen yarn to weave into clothing cloth. I may be able to finish that by June, I hope.
Knitting is stalled. Although, I did finish knitting my odds and ends vest and I finally tucked down all the ends in a sweater I knitted last spring so I could finally wear it. Of course I spilled some soup on it right away but it should wash out fine. And I finished a pair of socks and I started working on one of my UFO sweaters and I’ve started the hers in the his and hers sweaters I’m making. But really not much knitting the last two weeks.
I decided my yarn diet was officially over this month and that buying a new loom needed to be commemorated with some new ½ priced yarn. However, in moving all my yarn to a new room I realized that after working nonstop for 6 months and giving over 20 fiber gifts at Christmas I still hadn’t touched the surface. So I called the fiber diet off as pointless. Seeing as how I still shouldn’t be buying more yarn I just declared 2005 the year of the book and equipment. This year I have given myself permission to buy the books and equipment I always thought was too expensive. Well No More! Now I just have to save longer between purchases but I think it will work out well. It will also make driving home from fiber fairs easer. Instead of spending $50 on wool fleeces and not being able to see out the back window, I can buy $50 in books and it will be a little stack on the front seat.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Blaa
It’s sort of a blaa day today. A paid day off and I’m not motivated to do anything. I did spin for an hour this morning along with going through my stash for tomorrows Shop and Swap. It turns out that I’m too emotionally attached to my yarn to get rid of much. I went in with good intentions of doing a slash and burn. Instead I dusted the shelves, rearranged the balls and put all but the most hideous back. The yarn I am willing to get rid of is so ugly that I can’t put a price on it. I think it is all yarn I got free at a Swap & Shop when I was a new weaver.
On the knitting front- I started the aran sweater but disliked the back and forth knitting. I pulled it off the needles to knit it in the round. However, since it was the same set of needles to finish my odds and ends vest I went back to work on that instead. All I have left is the neckline and armhole ribbing. With some work I could finish tonight. I will then be down to two unfinished sweaters and one hat. 3 UFOs! That number is so low I may decide to keep up the trend and finish them all before moving on. Or back to that aran. We will see when the time comes.
Spinning has been on hold. However, this morning I plied up some odds and ends. The now finished skeins of yarn will be easier to store than the energized balls of singles. I have a few more to go before I’m finished. I think I may work on that this afternoon during the news.
Weaving has been on a bigger hold than the spinning. I finally decided what I want to do with the wool tweed for my Siberian parka. I’ll weave it on the larger table loom, hopefully in a hounds tooth pattern. However, the table loom came with a project already on it and the floor loom still sits empty. The last thing I wove on it was handspun so up next needs to be commercial yarn and cotton too since that is what I have so much of in my stash. I could use some towels to match my kitchen. I have been living here for two years now and still using my perfectly functional old towels. However, the late 80’s colors of teal, burgundy, sage, and pink aren’t quite right in the 70’s brown and gold kitchen I have now. I’ll think on it for a while and see if any inspiration hits.
Well at lest I have one thing finished today. It’s only 1:00 and already supper is done. Tonight Himself and I will be dining on home made hummus and fresh baked wheat bread. It may be time for me to go take a nap.
On the knitting front- I started the aran sweater but disliked the back and forth knitting. I pulled it off the needles to knit it in the round. However, since it was the same set of needles to finish my odds and ends vest I went back to work on that instead. All I have left is the neckline and armhole ribbing. With some work I could finish tonight. I will then be down to two unfinished sweaters and one hat. 3 UFOs! That number is so low I may decide to keep up the trend and finish them all before moving on. Or back to that aran. We will see when the time comes.
Spinning has been on hold. However, this morning I plied up some odds and ends. The now finished skeins of yarn will be easier to store than the energized balls of singles. I have a few more to go before I’m finished. I think I may work on that this afternoon during the news.
Weaving has been on a bigger hold than the spinning. I finally decided what I want to do with the wool tweed for my Siberian parka. I’ll weave it on the larger table loom, hopefully in a hounds tooth pattern. However, the table loom came with a project already on it and the floor loom still sits empty. The last thing I wove on it was handspun so up next needs to be commercial yarn and cotton too since that is what I have so much of in my stash. I could use some towels to match my kitchen. I have been living here for two years now and still using my perfectly functional old towels. However, the late 80’s colors of teal, burgundy, sage, and pink aren’t quite right in the 70’s brown and gold kitchen I have now. I’ll think on it for a while and see if any inspiration hits.
Well at lest I have one thing finished today. It’s only 1:00 and already supper is done. Tonight Himself and I will be dining on home made hummus and fresh baked wheat bread. It may be time for me to go take a nap.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Pretty Good Year
Today I have a sore throat and I think I’m coming down with a cold. What a way to spend my day off. However, last week was a good one. But with everything the bad comes with the good. My Giant Angora Kisses broke her back in the cage. The vet said that sometimes happens to domestic rabbits and we had her put down. Sad but she didn’t seem to suffer.
However, there was plenty of good last week too. I finished my child sweater at our monthly knitting gathering. Then this morning while drinking hot cranberry juice- that’s a dangerous combo- I finished my alpaca seed stitch poncho. I designed it all myself and it looks it. However, it’s soft and warm so it will do. The angora trim I added to make it longer really added and improved the piece greatly.
On Saturday himself and I went shopping. One of his friends took us to O’Fallen outside of St. Louis. Right off the highway is this little shopping Mecca. Right next to Pet Co- the whole reason for this trip is that Joey won’t eat regular dog food so twice a year we dive an hour to get his special chicken and lamb blend. Right next to Pet Co was a Borders so we stopped for gingerbread mocha and I picked up a knitting book, The Best of Lopi. I like the patterns and the seamless knitting in the round. All I have to do now is buy a ball of lopi yarn so I can spin something similar. As we got to the counter himself with his own book suggested we spend the family money instead of our personal dollars for the purchase that day. Well anytime I don’t have to use my money for a yarn purchase, even a book I’m happy.
We then spent the rest of the day buying shoes and looking for work clothes. However in that shopping area there were 3 craft or fabric stores and an art supply store. If a fit of generosity himself suggests I shop in the art supply store while he browsed the fantasy shop near by. Then I looked at yarn in one of the craft store. Some of it was very nice but I didn’t feel the urge to buy any. All and All a very good shopping day.
On Sunday I picked out by e-mail a little English Angora doe. A beautiful blue eyed white doe that also caries the chocolate and tort genes I like so much.
So now the child’s sweater and the poncho are done I can start on the two aran sweaters with a clean conscious. However, I’m strongly thinking of finishing my odds and ends vest first. If I finish it I would only have 2 sweaters left in my UFO pile, and they can easily wait for later. I had hoped to clear out the yarn room today, after all the shop and swap is only one week away, but this cold is keeping me down. Maybe I will feel up to it this evening.
However, there was plenty of good last week too. I finished my child sweater at our monthly knitting gathering. Then this morning while drinking hot cranberry juice- that’s a dangerous combo- I finished my alpaca seed stitch poncho. I designed it all myself and it looks it. However, it’s soft and warm so it will do. The angora trim I added to make it longer really added and improved the piece greatly.
On Saturday himself and I went shopping. One of his friends took us to O’Fallen outside of St. Louis. Right off the highway is this little shopping Mecca. Right next to Pet Co- the whole reason for this trip is that Joey won’t eat regular dog food so twice a year we dive an hour to get his special chicken and lamb blend. Right next to Pet Co was a Borders so we stopped for gingerbread mocha and I picked up a knitting book, The Best of Lopi. I like the patterns and the seamless knitting in the round. All I have to do now is buy a ball of lopi yarn so I can spin something similar. As we got to the counter himself with his own book suggested we spend the family money instead of our personal dollars for the purchase that day. Well anytime I don’t have to use my money for a yarn purchase, even a book I’m happy.
We then spent the rest of the day buying shoes and looking for work clothes. However in that shopping area there were 3 craft or fabric stores and an art supply store. If a fit of generosity himself suggests I shop in the art supply store while he browsed the fantasy shop near by. Then I looked at yarn in one of the craft store. Some of it was very nice but I didn’t feel the urge to buy any. All and All a very good shopping day.
On Sunday I picked out by e-mail a little English Angora doe. A beautiful blue eyed white doe that also caries the chocolate and tort genes I like so much.
So now the child’s sweater and the poncho are done I can start on the two aran sweaters with a clean conscious. However, I’m strongly thinking of finishing my odds and ends vest first. If I finish it I would only have 2 sweaters left in my UFO pile, and they can easily wait for later. I had hoped to clear out the yarn room today, after all the shop and swap is only one week away, but this cold is keeping me down. Maybe I will feel up to it this evening.
Monday, January 03, 2005
New Year
We made it home safe. Even with 9 days of traveling and passing 4 known yarn stores without one stop I still did pretty well this holiday season. I came home with a table loom, a book on sewing hand woven fabric, a book on designing weaving drafts, 2 bags of yarn, and a book of aran and cabled sweater knitting patterns.
The giving of Christmas gifts went well too. With plenty of furious yarn tucking and burring I was able to finish all presents the night before opening. The handspun scarf did have to make a trip through the washing machine after it was open but everything else made it in time. I am very happy with that scarf and may ask for it back this summer to enter in a few shows
I can’t wait to begin the New Year and the new projects. The aran book has a sweater pattern that the cables interlock in a basket weave. While the sweater is knitted I like how it conjures up images of weaving. I just have to show it to himself to make sure he would wear it before I start. I like it so much that mine will be the same sweater in a different color instead of a different sweater in the same theme as I had envisioned.
The table loom is wide enough that I can finally start weaving the cloth for my jacket. I just have to decide if I want to weave the entire yardage on the table loom or only the front and back panels. Weaving is quicker on the floor loom but warping two looms with the same fabric seems wrong, so very wrong.
As soon as I got home from traveling I pulled out my spinning wheel and started on the second 4 oz of lyocell, cotton, flax blend. This one is bleached white and so much softer than the natural I’m sort of regretting my decision to ply the two together. I have added too much twist to use them as singles so when I get this spun up I’ll do some samples with the plying to see what I like. I can’t wait to warp a loom with the commercial cotton linen blend I have and start weaving the cloth for a shirt. See that is why I don’t want to try up booth looms with the same fabric.
However, before starting new projects I want to take some time and finish some (but not all) of my old. I only have half a sleeve on my child’s guernsey left and my odd and end vest is knitted up to the armholes. Both of those need to be finished before I forget what I’m doing. However, my two other unfinished sweater will have to languish a while longer. Maybe I’ll pick them up next fall.
The giving of Christmas gifts went well too. With plenty of furious yarn tucking and burring I was able to finish all presents the night before opening. The handspun scarf did have to make a trip through the washing machine after it was open but everything else made it in time. I am very happy with that scarf and may ask for it back this summer to enter in a few shows
I can’t wait to begin the New Year and the new projects. The aran book has a sweater pattern that the cables interlock in a basket weave. While the sweater is knitted I like how it conjures up images of weaving. I just have to show it to himself to make sure he would wear it before I start. I like it so much that mine will be the same sweater in a different color instead of a different sweater in the same theme as I had envisioned.
The table loom is wide enough that I can finally start weaving the cloth for my jacket. I just have to decide if I want to weave the entire yardage on the table loom or only the front and back panels. Weaving is quicker on the floor loom but warping two looms with the same fabric seems wrong, so very wrong.
As soon as I got home from traveling I pulled out my spinning wheel and started on the second 4 oz of lyocell, cotton, flax blend. This one is bleached white and so much softer than the natural I’m sort of regretting my decision to ply the two together. I have added too much twist to use them as singles so when I get this spun up I’ll do some samples with the plying to see what I like. I can’t wait to warp a loom with the commercial cotton linen blend I have and start weaving the cloth for a shirt. See that is why I don’t want to try up booth looms with the same fabric.
However, before starting new projects I want to take some time and finish some (but not all) of my old. I only have half a sleeve on my child’s guernsey left and my odd and end vest is knitted up to the armholes. Both of those need to be finished before I forget what I’m doing. However, my two other unfinished sweater will have to languish a while longer. Maybe I’ll pick them up next fall.
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