From that to this

From 13 plus bobbins of singles to approximately 2000 yards of 2-ply. I started spinning this on August 5 and finished plying at about 11:40 p.m. last night. Two months to spin and ply the two pounds of top I started with. Before wet finishing, it comes in at 12 wpi, putting it in DK weight range, which was what I was aiming for. I'm going to finish it using Judith MacKenzie McCuin's method for finishing woolen spun yarns. In fact, I just bought a cute mini sink plunger just for this job. Of course, my daughter thinks I'm nuts to believe that a plunger is going to help me in finishing the yarn.

From this to this

This started as 2 lbs. of merino top.

It's now 13 plus a little more bobbins of singles.

Next step, plying.

Thoughts on knitting books

The number of new knitting books released each season is a good indication of the popularity of knitting. A few years ago, I felt that I was missing out on something if I didn't own all the new books as they came out. While browsing at Borders on Friday, I realized that I no longer feel that way. I was browsing through The Best of Interweave Knits, tempted to buy a copy when "Why?" popped into my mind. After all, the likelihood that I would knit anything in the book was zip. Did I really need to add a book to my knitting book collection just for the sake of saying I own it? After all, who am I trying to impress? And, don't I complain enough about having to dust as it is? I will buy some knitting books if I especially like the styling or photography. I'll also buy a book that uses a clever technique that I want to understand better. The sad truth is that many of the knitting books just set in the bookcase often overlooked as I search for an old favorite.

Last year, I gave away a lot of stash yarn and knitting books because the shear amount of stuff I owned overwhelmed me. Rather than feel motivated by the quantity around me, I was depressed and at loose-ends. Nothing appealed to me. The books included the likes of Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, Sally Melville's Knit Book and Color Book plus odds and ends of knitting essay collections. I wasn't the least bit sad to see these books go. They were serving no real purpose while in my possession. Most of the folks who claimed the books were relatively new to knitting and glad to have some reference material. The stash yarn went to a stay at home mom with two young kids, a few new knitters, and to a senior center. It was liberating to let go of belongings that I had held onto far too long. There was nothing in the books that will go down in history as classics or comfort knits that are timeless. (Well, maybe Sally Melville's Einstein jacket will become a timeless classic.)

I need to bear these thoughts in mind when I look at Kaffe Fassett's Kaffe Knits Again. Now, don't get me wrong, I love his color work. However, I don't like to knit intarsia. And, I can borrow Glorious Color from my mum whenever I want if I need color inspiration. Plus, I have Deb Menz's ColorWorks. Just because a new book is the buzz of the blogosphere or podcasting world doesn't mean that I need to own it. Just like when an indie dyer or particular yarn is the favorite of the moment, I don't need to add any of it to my stash. I never want to feel overwhelmed by my knitting books again. Leaving The Best of Interweave Knits on the shelf was one of the best decisions I've made lately.

Purchases from TKGA

I went to the TKGA show in Oakland yesterday. My promise to myself was that I would not add to the fiber or yarn stash. I kind of kept this promise.

I couldn't resist this skein of Schaefer Anne. I'm thinking it will become a Chevron scarf.

I also bought a new square mini featherweight SpindleWood Co. maple burl with Brazilian cherry shaft. It's so cute and that was a big factor in the decision to purchase it. I really enjoy spinning on my wheel more than on a spindle. But I don't have room to collect wheels; however, I do have room for a few more spindles.

Other purchases were 200 braids to twist, knot, loop, or weave, a copy of The Crystal Cove Pullover pattern from Just One More Row and a copy of Myrna pattern from White Lies Designs.

On the spinning front, I finished bobbin number 10 of the wine-colored merino yesterday and started spinning up the last 8 oz. bump today.

I'm off to finish knitting the ribbing on the first sleeve of the top down sweater. I'm really liking it. Oh, and to check on the bread in the oven.

Fourth time is a charm

Or, I hope so. The top down sweater is progressing nicely. Apparently, I had to have many duh moments for the process to gel for me. The Misti Alpaca worsted has held up well considering one skein has been re-knit four times now. I'm past the neck shaping; although you can't tell from the photo because being stockinette it is curling like mad. I've got the front, right sleeve and back holding on two 32" circular needles while I knit the left sleeve.

I started the left sleeve on a 16" needle and just changed to dpns.it's going pretty fast. I haven't fully decided on how tapered the sleeve will be. What I like about this method of sweater knitting is that I can make that decision later. Just I can adjust the body length based on how much yarn I have left to work with when I get to that point. I can see using this method with my handspun for that reason.

A vistit to the frog pond

My attempts to get the neckline right on this sweater haven't worked out so far. Last night I got as far as about an inch on the left sleeve and just wasn't liking what I was seeing. So the yarn and I took a little trip to the frog pond. Even though I said that if this attempt didn't work out I would find a commercial pattern, I just can't give up. So I am going to give it another try. If that doesn't work, I'm going to put this yarn in time out and start the Rowan Felted Tweed I bought at Stash today for Salina in Rowan's Vintage Style. The colorway is a dark plummy color called Bilberry.

I've been asked by one of my daughter's friends to knit her another pair of socks as the first pair I knit her no longer fit. She saw the Broadripple socks and decided that she wants a pair. I have some Cascade Fixation in my stash in a watery blue and will use that. Teenagers--when do they stop growing!

I'm a lemming!

Or, am I a sheep? I received my invitation to Ravelry a few days ago. Today I finally had an opportunity to poke around a bit. Like many people, I found myself sucked in. I've only posted my profile (marlowec) and a few of my finished projects. I can see how one can easily spend hours or days browsing and joining groups. However, this has brought up a question for me. Do I want to spend much time (any time?) drooling over other people projects or work on my own? I realize that this is not as ponderous as "to be or not to be?" and that the kingdom of Denmark or any other kingdom is not at stake. But it does present a conflict in my life and I probably shouldn't spend much, if any, time thinking about it. So tonight, I'm going to continue my quest for the perfect neckline for my top down sweater. (I would post a picture but it looks like all of nothing.)

Same lesson learned again

I cast-on the Misti Alpaca worsted again last night. Only to have to rip it out again; this time because I twisted the additional stitches I had cast on for the front neck. So, I ripped it out yet again. Cast-on again and got about three rows into it when I changed my mind about the front neck shaping (I know, I'm fickle). I'm going to rip out these three rows and try again. Hopefully, the fourth time will be charm for me. One of these days I'm going to really learn that I shouldn't try to knit a sweater that I mentally envision when I'm tired. If the fourth go round doesn't work, remind me to find a pattern and line by line instructions!

Boonville

Friday night before going off to sleep, I was quite undecided about going to the California Wool & Fiber Festival in Boonville. I really didn't need to add to the fiber stash and I really didn't want to drive by myself. After dragging myself out of bed and walking the dog Saturday morning, I said to myself "why not go? What have I got to lose? Besides, it will be pretty up there and you are most decidedly gloomy here." So hopping in the car, Peet's coffee in hand, I drove to Boonville. On the way, I listened to a few podcasts and some of my favorite music. The two hour drive when by quickly. And it was a really pretty drive; especially the last 27 miles once I turned off 101 onto Highway 128.

I visited with Brooke and Maia at the Sincere Sheep booth. Kristine was there also. I few minutes later I ran into Kristine again at the Carolina Homespun booth. I did add to the stash. Here's the haul:

Indigo dyed merino from Maia


Baby camel tussah top from Herndon Creek Farm


Targhee batts from Merry Meadows Farm


Finally, I rinsed my indigo dipped fibers this weekend.

The green is merino dyed with onion skins and then dipped a few times in indigo. The blue is merino tencel dipped five or six times in indigo. The purple-y is blue faced leicester dyed with lac and madder then dipped in indigo. The brown-y gray, which is more gray in real life, is merino that was dyed with fustic and then over dyed with logwood gray. I'm quite pleased with the results.

Also started knitting some Misti Alpaca worsted into a sweater, using Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top as a guideline since I'm making this up as I go. I had knit almost two skeins before I had a lightbulb moment and realized that the neck as I had cast on wasn't right. In fact, it was downright funky looking. Once I understood where I had gone wrong, I ripped all the way back and cast on again. Lesson learned: don't cast on for a raglan as if it is a set in sleeve.

Finished!

I finished my Chevron Scarf on Wednesday. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Right after I wove in the ends, I started knitting a swatch out of Misti Alpaca Worsted to find the right needle size for the sweater I have in mind. I'm using Barbara Walker's Knitting From the Top to guide me in making the pattern as I go along.

Indigo dyeing

Yesterday I mixed up my indigo stock using indigo powder from Earthues. It turned the appropriate sickly yellow, which reminds me of clean motor oil. Needless to say, I was pleased. I had an irrational fear that I would not get this right without my spinning and natural dyeing teacher there to hold my hand. To riff Sally Field, it worked; it really, really worked. So just be sure it really worked, I let it sit overnight. I didn't want to be cursed and find out that it had re-oxygenated and turned blue. The dye fairy was on my side. It stayed motor oil yellow.

Last night, I set the fiber to soak. 2 oz. each of undyed merino tencel blend, BFL, and merino. I had previously dyed the merino with onion skins. While pleased with the color, it's not one that looks especially good next to my skin. The BFL was originally dyed with lac then over dyed with madder. I was feeling so-so about the color and thought a dip in indigo might help me get over it.

Today after my morning walk to Peet's on Piedmont, I set up my makeshift indigo dyeing kitchen, which happens to be my balcony. Last week I bought an inexpensive hotplate just for this purpose--I don't want an indigo kitchen after all! I'm using an old stock pot that I've had forever as a dedicated indigo pot. My black solar dyeing tub is set up to hold the fiber once I remove it from the dye pot. I knew it was a great investment when I bought it. I've got a tub of clean water next to the solar dyeing tub so I can rinse my gloved hands and not turn the handle of the sliding screen blue if I needed to go inside.

Each of these photos shows the result after one dip in the indigo pot. I ended up dipping the undyed merino tencel about five times. I dipped the yellow four or five times and the red around seven times. I didn't keep good track of the numbers of dips; I just went for color I like. Right now, the fiber is resting in a plastic bag. I'll probably let age a week before I rinse it. You may ask why I rest it, and it is a good question. The only answer I can give is that this is what Claudia told me to do when I learned indigo dyeing from her. So I follow her lead.

Muffins and knitting

I made Espresso Banana Muffins last night. The recipe is from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson. The recipe calls for toasted walnuts. So I dutifully got a bag of walnut halves out of the freezer and spread the amount called for on a rimmed cookie sheet and put them in the oven to toast. Only I promptly forgot about them until they smelled way too toasty. The walnuts went in the trash and I proceeded to make the muffins without them. These are really good--not heavy the way some natural foods muffins can be. I'll make these again. Definitely, yummy.


I started a Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I know that a lot of people have knit this and that I'm rather late to the game. I'm using some Twisted Sisters Daktari that I bought at the Knit Cafe two summers ago--the colors are less bright than in the close up photo. I didn't know what I was going to use it for at the time. It has kept a happy place in the stash waiting for the right project to come along. It didn't occur to me to use it for the Chevron Scarf until I saw some Daktari knitted up in a chevron pattern at Article Pract. I only have two skeins of this yarn so my scarf will not be mega long as the original but that is okay with me.

The end of summer

My firm was gracious enough to close early the Friday before Labor Day weekend. I used the few extra hours to go to Target and buy another storage bin for my growing fiber stash. Of course, I didn't reorganize the stash right away. I have a character flaw that will not allow me to make use of things like storage bins right away; I must contemplate storage for awhile, secure in the knowledge that the bins are waiting for me.

Saturday I was busy. I finished my Monkey Socks. I really like the way they turned out. I would knit this pattern again if there weren't so many other sock patterns I want to knit. I really just used the pattern for the lace pattern and followed my standard sock recipe. So the Monkeys helped make a small dent in the yarn stash. Yeah!

I spun up about 4 oz. of the wine colored merino sliver, which means I have a little less than a pound left to spin. I'm really enjoying spinning this. I just have to figure out what sweater pattern I want to make when I'm done.

I painted some merino tencel sliver to solar dye. At the right is my solar dyeing set up. A black plastic tub from Ace Hardware, a piece of plexiglass and c-clamps. I left this out until late Monday afternoon.

Sunday was a mellow day. I drove down the coast with a friend. We stopped for a few hours at a beach about a mile below Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It was windy but the sun felt really good. Plus, it was fabulously clear. On the way home, we stopped at Duarte's Tavern for pie and coffee. I love the pie there; the crust is the best.

On Monday, I got out the dye pot to overdye some sock yarn I was no longer happy with. The orange was originally a hot pour of burnt orange leaving sizable spots of white. So I overdyed it with aztec gold and got this almost solid orange. The brown was my very first experiment of dyeing with KoolAid--originally, I dyed it with orange KoolAid. It was a bit too candied colored for my tastes. So I overdyed with brown. Now it is a lovely brown with hints of reddish brown. I'm really happy with how these turned out.

I also started knitting a Chevron Scarf using some Twisted Sisters handpainted Daktari I bought at the Knit Cafe two summers ago. I've been waiting for the right project to come along for this yarn, which is slubbed cotton. I love how it is working up. I don't have a photo yet; I'll post one soon.

This is how the solar dyed handpaint turned out. I'm calling this Spring. The colors are so much softer than if I had steam set the dye. The green broke a little bit, but I'm fine with it. This is going to become sock yarn. But first, I am going to finish spinning the wine-colored merino.

Cupcakes

Sunday I made cupcakes. I used a yellow cake recipe from the Fanny Farmer Baking Book. It called for shortening; I used butter instead. I overfilled the baking tin and got giant cupcakes. They smelled so wonderful. I could hardly wait for them to cool so I could frost them.

The frosting is the recipe that comes off the box of powdered sugar, not a true buttercream, which is fine because cupcakes are comfort food. In the spirit of Magnolia Bakery, I tinted the frosting a pale blue. Since my daughter is not fond of really sweet things, I didn't put a lot of frosting on each cupcake. For a final touch, I sprinkled them with "wild flowers". These were good and met with my daughter's approval of being good without being too sweet.

I finished the first monkey sock. I really like how this turned out. I've tried this yarn in other socks and always ripped them out because I haven't like the way the color has worked out. This was the right pattern for it. I'm more than half way done with the second sock. I don't know whether I'll keep these or put them in the gift box. I made these to fit me and that is a bit of a problem for gift giving since I have the smallest feet besides my mum in my family. I'll see if my daughter can get them on without over stretching them. If they fit her okay, then I can give them to one of my sisters-in-law.

This is the fifth bobbin of wine-colored merino singles. I have two pounds of this and plan on knitting sweater with the finished yarn. It is really lovely to spin. I'm spinning it over the fold, which is one of my favorite ways of spinning. I have about a pound and a quarter left to spin before I ply it. This will be good yarn for a Bay Area winter, where it can get cold without being bone chilling cold. Plus, it will be a good weight to wear indoors in Tahoe. Off to finish the second monkey.

Back from NYC

My daughter and I are just back from a wonderful trip to NYC. We could have spent a lot more time there but work and school called us back. In three days, we crammed a lot of shopping in (which, truth be told, was the reason for the trip). We stayed at the Lucrene Hotel on the Upper West Side.

However, we probably spent the most time in the Village. The only cultural site I was able to get to was the New York Public Library. I love it there. We arrived on Monday evening and had a wonderful dinner at Nice Matin, which is next door to the Lucrene.

On Tuesday, we hit Canal Street. My daughter learned about negotiating for the knock off D&G bag she wanted. Then we headed off to Soho--or so we thought. I am clueless when it comes to direction. We ended up in Tribeca before realizing that we were off track. It didn't matter though because I was enjoying just walking around and taking in the City. Finally, we got pointed in the right direction and made it to Soho. I stopped by Purl because I thought I might as well since I was in the neighborhood. I knew that it was a tiny shop; I wasn't quite prepared for just how tiny it is. They were putting out fall yarns and there wasn't any room to move easily--not that I imagine that is easy to move around without boxes of new yarns in the middle of the shop. From Soho, we walked to the West Village and paid homage to the cupcakes in the window of Magnolia Bakery. The line was long and we weren't in the mood for sweets. From the West Village, we walked up to School Products and Habu. Where I bought nothing. That's right, nothing.

Wednesday we went to the emporium of discount designer clothing, Century 21. Letting a 14 year old girl loose in such a place is interesting to say the least. She found a few things that she really liked and that fit--quite a feat when you are 5'10.5" and wear a size 2. So being a good mother I got out the credit card. And yes, I found a skirt for myself. From there, we headed back to the West Village and The Point. On the way there we had lunch at Moustache, a funky little cafe with handmade pita bread hot off the grill. The chicken sandwich I had hit the spot; my daughter had one of their "pitzas", which is really a small pizza on handmade pita. Feeling full and re-energized, we continued on our way to The Point.

I was feeling rather doubtful that The Point would really be a "knitting cafe". After all, I had been fooled by the Knit Cafe in LA. There I had expected at least coffee as well as yarn. The Point proved me wrong--it really is a knitting cafe. There was a menu posted above the bar and an expresso machine. You really can order food and drink here. Best of all, people were sitting at their tables knitting, eating, and drinking coffee and tea surrounded by yarn on walls. It is a small place with great light. I bought 4 skeins of Punta Del Este Mericash Solid to make their fishtail lace top. It is wonderfully soft yarn. I will go back next time I'm in NYC. (I also want to have a place like this in the East Bay.)

From The Point, we took the subway back to the Upper West Side. On the short walk from the subway station to the hotel, I stumbled upon Knitty City. It was the largest of the yarn stores I visited. They had a fairly large selection of knitting books and nice variety of yarn. This store was more like the yarn stores I'm used to compared to School Products and Habu, which are in office buildings and not at street level. I bought a skein of Fleece Artist Merino Sock and a copy of Cookie A's Thelonious Sock Pattern. I've never seen Fleece Artist yarn in any of my local yarn stores. I just want to pet it.

After a short rest, we headed to Central Park and Strawberry Fields to visit "the bench". (I first saw a picture of this bench on the Harlot's blog. So I am totally stealing the idea of posting a picture from her, but it is my own photo. ) It was really nice to sit in the park and people watch. New Yorkers seem to appreciate and use their green spaces differently than here in the Bay Area. The parks and squares seem to be an extension of their living space, much like people in Europe use their squares. Or, perhaps it seems that way to me because New York actually has summer in summer. When I lived next to Golden Gate Park, it was never summer in summer. I just remember being cold all the time.

Thursday we just had to have cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery so we traveled back to the Village and bought an assortment of four cupcakes and a copy of More From Magnolia so we can have Magnolia inspired treats at home. We headed back towards midtown and Bryant Park. In a very New York seeming moment, we found a table and chairs in the park and realized that an Opera in the Park sound check was taking place. It was the right moment to break open the box of cupcakes and eat one--really yummy. Next we headed to the NYPL and then back to the Upper West Side. We got caught in a rain storm on our way, ducked into a Starbucks to wait it out. As soon as it looked dry enough to go out again, it rained even harder. So we ran for the subway station and took the subway back to the hotel to grab our umbrellas (this is what happens to me when I don't listen to the local news or read a newspaper--I get caught in weather). Of course, as soon as we had umbrellas in hand it stopped raining. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the Upper West Side and the Park.

Friday morning we had time to go to Zabar's and to walk to Barnes and Noble on Broadway and W. 66th (I think it's W. 66th) to buy books for the flight home. Our shuttle picked us up on W. 79th, then drove to another hotel on W. 52nd and then headed uptown again to yet another hotel two blocks from where we had started. I figure we could have spent another hour walking around the UWS if we had been picked up last. Go figure! After going through security, we found out our flight to Chicago was delayed about 20 minutes, which ended up really being 4 hours and 45 minutes. The last hour and half of that was spent sitting on the runway. At one point, the captain announced that if we didn't take off within the next 14 minutes work rules required him to return to the gate and cancel the flight. Two minutes before the 14 minutes were up we were taking off. Of course, we missed our connection in Chicago and had to rebook for the following day. So it took us about two days to get home. But it was so worth it.

And I did get some knitting done while in New York. I finished my shaped arch socks out of Sockotta and started a pair of Monkey Socks in some Lorna's Laces that I've had for a very long time--the label is the original Lorna's label; the colorway is "whitewater".

Even more catching up

Here are the photos of recent projects.

This is merino/tencel solar dyed with Jacquard violet and black dyes. The black broke and looks more copper in real life. The colors are much softer than if I had set the dye on the stove.

This is the Three Bags Full fiber. It's two ply and I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. It is 4.4 oz. and just shy of 600 yards. Because it is textured I don't think it will make good socks.

This is Henry's Attic Kona dyed with cutch. I love how soft the brown is. It reminds me of carmel or a dark honey.
The finished Broadripple socks on a chair and modeled by my daughter.


We are off to NYC on Monday. Definitely going to hit School Products. If there is time, will visit a few other yarn stores.

A sad thing, a bad thing & a good thing

The sad thing. Deep Color is closing in September. Our spinning group will meet for the last time this Thursday. I've been so honored to be a part of this group of talented women. I've learned so much from Claudia and been inspired by others in the group. I've become a better spinner, learned to use natural dye stuffs and gotten brave in experimenting with acid dyes.

The bad thing. Last month I attended a conference in New Orleans and I was mugged on the last night I was there. It was scary. The man that grabbed my bag pulled me down in the process. I skinned my shoulder, hand and knee. I bruised the palm of my right hand and my right knee cap. The next morning when I started to absorb what had happened I was worried that I might not be able to spin because my knee was about twice it's normal size. I was more worried about that than anything else. The NOPD was quite understanding and tried to be helpful. They managed to recover my cashmere wrap, which had been wrapped around my bag strap. A street vendor in Jackson Square found some of my stuff including my house keys, office key cards and my business card case. He was kind enough to send these back to me--fortunately my key card has the name of my employer and address on it. He apparently contact my office and got the mailing address. However, he didn't include any way for me to get in touch with him to thank him and offer a reward.

The good thing. I was invited by Brooke to a spinning potluck at Maia's this past Sunday. It was so nice to get together with a lot of other women who share your passion. I met Rachel, Lala, Janine and many others. The was plenty of yummy food, good conversation, spinning and knitting. I started spinning up the wine colored merino top I bought from Julia for a sweater. I'm shooting for a dk weight 2-ply. It is a lush fiber and I'm really enjoying spinning it.

Some other good things. While in New Orleans, I finished the Broadripple Socks for my daughter--they remind me of Mardi Gras colors.

On Saturday, I solar dyed 4 oz. of merino/tencel with violet and blacks, trying to capture the colors I see in my neighbor's sweet peas. The black broke and gave a nice gray and copper. Despite not getting the colors I envisioned I'm really pleased with the results. Most likely I will spin this up for socks. (I rigged up my solar dye oven with a black utility tub, plexi-glass and c-clamps. I borrowed this idea from Spinning Spider Jenny.) I also plyed up the singles I spun from the Three Bags Full fiber. I got approximately 590 yards 2-ply out of 4.4 oz. of fiber. I'll post pictures later as it has been gray and gloomy in these parts the past few days.

Last night, I dyed some Henry's Attic Kona with cutch. I really love the color--a warm brown. Once it's dry, I'll take a picture. This yarn is for my mum to knit socks for my dad.

I'm still working on the socks I started in New Orleans. They are plain vanilla stocking stitch with a shaped arch made with Plymouth Sockotta that I bought two years ago at Lofty Lou's in Placerville. I'm not crazy about this yarn. It a bit to splitty for me. I want my plain vanilla socks to be mindless knitting, which means only glancing down at it every once in awhile. I have to look more often because of the splittiness. Fortunately, I like the colors--a few blues, a light green and light brown. These will be good socks for clogs.

I should have plenty of time to finish the second sock this weekend because my daughter is modeling in Teen Vogue's fashion shows in San Francisco, Sacramento and Concord. There is a lot of waiting time before a show starts and I must entertain myself.

More catching up

I've been knitting but have nothing to show for it. I used scrapes of Cascade 220 to knit a buttonhole-type bag for felting. It looks like a blob of black, purple, and red right now. I have to felt it. I'm in no hurry to do so because I think this will become a Christmas gift. I'm working up a pair of Broadripple socks in some Fixation that I've had in my stash for a few years. This should be a really fast knit--socks on US 3's. It is going slowly though. I don't know if it is because it is summer, and we are actually having summer weather in the Bay Area. Or, if I've just lost my interest in knitting this particular pair of socks.

I haven't lost interest in spinning or dyeing though.

The single is spun from a batt by Three Bags Full in Dragon's Fire I bought from Carolina Homespun last summer. I'm almost finished spinning the second bobbin. It is American Romeldale, tencel, and silk noil. I let this marinate in the fiber stash for a year because I changed my mind about liking it once I got it home. Now that I've spun most of it up, I really like it. It is a lovely color and I like the texture that the silk noils add. Once this is plyed, I'll figure out what to make with it.

I dyed this a few weeks ago. It's 4 oz. of merino/tencel. I was inspired by the Tidepool roving in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. This is destined for sock yarn. I plan on spinning this next.

Kinda, sorta catching up

In my last post, I wrote about this sweater. It's Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere from my stash. I haven't gotten around to sewing the buttons on yet even though I've worn at least three times. If I were to make this again, I would lower the neckline about an 1" to 1 1/2". I learned a lot about knitting pattern composition, like not be scared of the math. I use math everyday in my professional life, so why be scared of it in my knitting life. I'm not terribly happy with this yarn though. It kind of itches; so I don't consider it terribly next to the skin friendly. You would think that a yarn that is primarily cotton would be comfortable next to the skin. It has made me wonder if the cashmere content is really cashmere, perhaps it is mohair? Which would explain the itch factor.


This poor yarn has been three different sweaters--really, two sweaters. I knit the first one a second time because I didn't like the fit. I decided after the second go-round that I really didn't like to sweater on me. So before I even wove in the ends, I unraveled it. It was liberating to do so. I was not going to let the yarn defeat me. Then I found the slouch sweater in Greetings from Knit Cafe and knew that this yarn was going to be happy as a slouchy, casual sweater. When this is on, the fronts curl onto themselves making a spiral, which I like. I like that it is casual without looking like a "mom sweater" or something that is better suited for my daughter.

I recently finished the "Indigo Ripples Skirt" from IK Spring 2007. I knit it in black cotton so it doesn't photograph so well. I wore it for the first time today and felt very girly--in a good way--in it.

Here is some recent spinning. The green is spun from a roving from Chasing Rainbows colorway "More Teals" 80% merino 20% tussah. I got 330 yards two-ply out of 2 oz. I'll probably knit a lacy scarf. The multi-color is from Nancy Jane Campbell and is 80% cormo 20% soy silk colorway "Floral Suite". I bought this at Lambtown last year. I gave about 1 1/2 oz. of this to my daughter, leaving 2 1/2 oz. for me. I got 576 yards of two-ply. I don't know what I'm going to do with this.

Reasons to blog

On Mother's Day, I attended Fleece Day at Deep Color Studio. We learned how to select and wash fleece. We washed an Icelandic fleece as well as a fleece from a sheep that had escaped being sheared for a year and half. Julia of Knitting History and I got to talking about blogging and why she started. Julia told me that it was a way for her to keep track of what she was knitting and how it grew into something bigger, a part of a community.

I realized that I hadn't kept up with my blogging in part because I believe that I can keep track of everything I knit and spin in my knitting journal. Then I realized that I don't write about the nitty gritty in my knitting journal. In fact, my journal has become a record of completion dates and what yarn I used. No notes about what I learned or changed. The only exception being the sweater I designed myself. And, even then I started with a formula from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. So really, all the math was done for me.

I recently knit a sweater from Greetings from Knit Cafe, blindly following the pattern without really thinking about it. Once I laid out the pieces to block them, I noticed that the sleeve cap looked too small for the depth of the armhole. All of my training in flat pattern making kind of kicked in--the eye saying to the brain that is too small. I, of course, chose to ignore this. Instead, I found myself thinking that the pattern can't be wrong (despite knitting for decades and knowing that it is universally true that many, many knitting patterns are, indeed, riddled with errors and in search of errata). Once I tried to set the sleeve in, it didn't fit--by several inches. Rather than feel defeated (as this was the third time I knit a sweater from this particular yarn), I sucked it up and put these flat pattern skills to good use. I consulted Maggie Righetti so that I would know just when to calculate the decreases for the perfectly shaped sleeve cap. And, it worked. It really honestly worked.

So back to the topic of this entry--reasons to blog. I realized that I do want some place to write about my knitting and spinning. I don't have to be the Yarn Harlot or Wendy or anyone else. I don't have to join a knit along or secret pal swap or anything like that. I can just be who I am; and maybe this will become something more, something bigger, a part of a community.

Life is full of surprises

Two weeks ago, my universe went wonky. Wonky in a good way. My daughter signed a contract with a major modeling agency. She had been thinking about giving modeling a try. This agency has an open casting call. So I drove her into San Francisco on a Wednesday afternoon for the open call. Once we were there I watched them say thank you, but you're not what we're looking for at this time to quite a few girls. When it took more than two minutes for my daughter to come back to the lobby, I thought one of two things is happening: she has broken down in tears because they're not interested; or, they really like her. As it turned out, they wanted to sign her! She couldn't believe that this was really happening to her. Several hours of squealing later, she was still over the moon.

Last Sunday she had her first professional shoot--she had taken in pictures shot by her father to the open call. I asked if the photographer would mind if I knit while I waited. I got a good 6" done on the back of a slouchy sweater I decided to knit the day before. I am making this out of Cascade 220 heather that I had originally knit up as the Simple Knitted Bodice, which looked awful on me. So instead of throwing it in a drawer and forgetting about it, I snipped the binding off and turned that baby back in yarn cakes. I've never done that before. I used to live with the disappointment. Rewinding that sweater into skeins was one of the best things I've done recently. Yes, indeed, life is full of surprises.

Away too long

I've been busy with work and fiber fun and posting to the blog is the far from my mind. Currently, I am knitting up a sweater of my own design (relying on Ann Budd's book for basic guidance) using some Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere from my stash. Up until the last two weeks, I've been spinning quite a bit as well. I love to spin, but knitting has grabbed all of my attention lately.

My goal this year is basically the same of hundreds of other knitters: to knit from the stash as much as possible. I'm also spinning from the stash, which is taking some time since I tend to spin fine. I currently have some Corriedale that I am trying to spin into singles that will work up as a dk-weight two-ply. It is slow going because I really have to pay close attention to my drafting so I don't end up with lace or fingering weight.

Some of the fiber stash will become felt since I learned how to felt earlier this year. My daughter and I both took basic felting and numo felting classes at Deep Color Studio. We had a blast. Felting is fun, wet, fast and fabulous!

Saturday I got another rabbit. Moon is a six month old Holland lop ear. She is white with blue eyes. Boy, is she ever bossy. Will post a picture soon.