Fiber Obsessions

How Did This Happen?

2011-01-15T00:20:00.000-06:00

I used to be a very organized, project-oriented person... really I did. I hear people describe me, sometimes, to others, and the 'organized' word nearly always comes up, along with some reference to completing so many projects. For me, being organized means that things have a place and they are there, to be found in that place... it means that when I go to reach for some piece of information, I know just where it is, I can locate it or tell someone how to locate it...it I means that I have an idea of the 5 or 10 things that need to be executed to make something happen and I know what's been done and what hasn't. And, well, completing projects has always just been highly euphoric for me.

These days, I've been doubting my organizational and project completion skills, not that I'm so attached to them or feel like they define me. But, lately, things happen that make me feel like my life must be in chaos without me even realizing. It's like suddenly 'waking up' while driving and wondering where I am... What are these projects and how did they get here?

Take my New Year's anti-UFO initiative. I spent time going through my UFO's, my WIP's, my soon-to-be projects and thoughtfully reviewed them. Why am I stuck? Do I like this or that? What should be done to fix those stuck and move to completion. I frogged some, fixed some, completed some. By Thursday evening, I was so damn proud of myself because I was down to 1 sweater in progress (Emerald), 1 sweater undone and reworked back to where I was and able to happily resume (Central Park Hoodie), and 1 pair of socks (I always have a pair of no-brainer socks going). The list of projects, of which I was sure, came from my certainty that I knew where everything was and how they were organized.

Fast forward to Friday evening... John has misplaced his glasses. We looked in all the normal places, then expand the search to the dining table, the bookcase and beyond. OMG... more projects... how did they get there? I don't even remember putting them there and have no idea why I haven't worked on them. One is a most lovely Helix Scarf with beads. It's not difficult and I'm pretty thrilled to have found it again. But why was it in this random location? Then there is the Scribble Stole out of Claudia's handpainted ribbon yarn and some gorgeous alpaca/tencel handpainted lace yarn. I think it was to be a festive holiday wrap, but for what occasion? And how did it land under the tv console?

I shouldn't leave out the Peak's Island Hood Scarf I rediscovered that needs reworking one end, and the woven jacket that still needs to have the finishing done, both tucked away on low bookcase shelf (well, behind some other things!).

All this brings me to the realization that I love to start things, but have become a lousy finisher, even when I think I'm highly motivated. And, apparently, I put them out of sight, out of mind, in pure and total avoidance. So, this week, I'm going to finish at least one of these newly rediscovered projects and maybe, maybe, well maybe, not start something new! This didn't use to be so challenging, but then again, I never had so many things to entice me!!

It's been too long

2010-12-31T21:16:00.003-06:00

Well, we're on the eve of a new year and I am reflective, as often happens at the end of a year/beginning of a new one. It's been too long since I've blogged and not for lack of things to say. We have had a very busy year and, by active decision, I let the blogging lapse to make sure I was taking care of in-shop business. But now it's time to get back to blogging.

This has been a year of transition in lots of ways.

For the shop, we've grown and grown and grown, to the point that I realized I needed more than volunteer help. That led to hiring Carol, who is a gem of a knitter, learner, teacher, beginning spinner and all round wonderful, caring human being. She has made all the difference in my being able to maintain my sanity when the UPS boxes mount up, the phone is ringing off the hook, wonderful customers are needing help and we NEED coffee! God bless her!!

Also, we've started giving lots more lessons in knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving, and renting of weaving and spinning studio space. Each class needs lots of prep and each student brings us new things we need to address, so it's all good. This has led us to think about and plan for a broader range of classes that go beyond the basics and help you all build skills that keep you going, a goal for 2011. Look for loads of skill-building classes this new year.

I've started focusing on building some weaving kits, too, so new and intermediate weavers can have all they need in order to be successful, while learning about a particular weaving structure. As much as I love color, there will be some really awesome handdyed kits to keep the excitement alive.

All the input from you has given me the opportunity to think about publishing more materials that answer all those nagging questions we get asked on a weekly basis. In 2011, look for us to start publishing some 'how to' materials, along with classes that will really help you continue to build your skills.

This all leads me to our most important evolving change, and that is our own online store where we'll sell kits, our handdyed yarns and fibers, including our colorway of the month offerings, and some new, exciting items, coming in Feburary. We'll announce when it's ready and hope your will provide your feedback!

Stay tuned and come love fiber with us!
Happy New Year,
Susan

Stasher or Collector?

2010-06-11T23:28:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, off and on. Am I a stasher or collector? Who cares? Does it make a difference?

I've decided that a stasher has the intent of using some of the items s/he acquires one day and often feels guilty when the stash grows beyond a certain personal limit, while a collector could really care less if the stuff is ever used, because appreciating the beauty of it in the moment is all important.

In thinking about this, I realized that I have some true stash, some guilty stash and some collection...

Since I have a thing about having 'no guilt' in my life, I decided to work through the categories to see what was what and maybe clean house a little, so to speak.

For years and years, I've purchased yarns and fibers that I love, with the idea that one day I will make something wonderful out of them. These are items that have a beauty that is indisputable... everyone who sees them feels that intrinsic 'Ohhhhhhhahhhhhh' (you know what I'm talking about, right?). They stand on their own, no project needed. I never get to have enough time to make something out of most of them... truth be told, I rarely find a project worthy of their beauty. They sit on shelves and in cabinets and bins, lovingly fondled from time to time and they always give pleasure to all who partake of them in those flitting moments. These will be with me, remain with me until I find a worthy project or they outlive me. There is no doubt in my mind that I will collect much more in this category over my lifetime.

I've, also, purchased yarns that I found on sale or bargain or other enticement, where the mass excitement of the deal performed it's magic and pulled me into it's web of project possibilities with the idea that I could 'make the yarn work' and transform it into gold, just like Rapunzel. Dang, I always know that the project will never materialize, once I leave the scene of the crime, and I may as well just turn the stuff over to someone who sees it as a beauty to behold, as in my first example. I've purchased tons of yarn in this category... probably thousands of dollars' worth over my lifetime just so far! (Interestingly, I can't think of a single unspun fiber that I have that falls into this category. wondering why...) This yarn just needs to leave my personal living space. Pronto!!

Finally, I've purchased and 'stashed' yarns that I use regularly... I call these 'utility yarns'. those staples that I know I will always need... weaving cottons and wools/blends, linens and blends, and a few oddball things, like mohair boucle. I sit at night and plan projects sometimes, and go to my 'stash of staples' and just am able to get started with something I know will work and I'll be happy with because it's exactly what is required... No guilt, no remorse, just my personal store. Is that a stash? I guess it is, in the truest sense.

So, there I have it...

I collect and admire beautiful yarns and fibers that stand on their own... for me, they can stay thay way forever, being their final state, without any guilt, just pleasure in fondling them at will
I stash junk... the gods know I need to stop this and get rid of what I have... (junk being only in the eye of the beholder, as it may be beautiful and admired in it's own right by someone else, or at least viewed as utilitarian)
I stash utility yarns, those that are workhorse staples... I stash them, then remove them from stash for projects. They are like my personal store of things like salt and pepper. I know I'll use them, just not all at once. My stash rotates.

When I look at who I am, overall, I'm a collector. I will get rid of those yarns I've 'stashed' but can't imagine using in real life, but feel no guilt acquiring my utility yarns or my beauteous array of yarns on which I love and fondle and qet exquisite pleasure in the textures, taking in the colors and harmonies and loving the feel. It feels liberating to be clear so I can get rid of all my 'non-utility stash'.

Are you a stasher or a collector?

Carded Batts to Finished Project

2010-06-03T22:17:00.000-05:00

Remember those carded batts from the May Colorway of the Month, "Under the Big Top"? Well, I've been having more fun transforming them into a finished project than I've had in some time.

I began spinning them as a very lofty fine singles with the idea that I would ply them with something else. But then I fell in love with how airy the yarn was as a 2-ply, so created another set of batts following the same progression, from brighter, deeper colors to lighter ones, spun them on a second bobbin and plied the 2 together. Normally, I'd have to split the plied yarns onto two bobbins, but I used my new Schacht Bulky Flyer/bobbin and got the full 8.2 oz onto it, no sweat. 843 yards total of 2-ply. Very cool!! made me sooo happy as I envisioned no extra ends to weave into my project.

I choose to knit a little short sleeve cardi called "Tappan Zee" from the latest Knitty.com patterns. It seemed perfect for this yarn as it's worked all in one piece from the top down. I envisioned the progression working it's way from darker to lighter, which is just what happened. Here is a progress pic:

The color transition worked out really well, I think. The yarn is super soft BFL superwash, light and airy. Knitting was quite the pleasure... so much so that I abandoned nearly all other projects while I worked on this baby.

It was all so worth it in the end. Here she is after being blocked. I added a few extra rows to the sleeves for added length and have made some Sculpey buttons that are curing and will add a little more whimsy to this.

I just love how it turned out and how it looks on, too. I may have to make another of these. I know I will definitely have to do more carding of progression batts! Yet another way to transform the handpainted tops... gotta love it! Oh, and yardage was perfect! I have 2 yards left, so no odd bits to add to my stash. Hooray for that...

When Good Knitting Goes Bad...

2010-05-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

I've been working on the Liesl top by Cocoknits. It's cute, it's a tunic style and something I'm sure I'll wear. I'm making it out of Allhemp from Hemp for Knitting, which is a 100% hemp sportsweight yarn, similar in feel to Euroflax linen, in an orangy color I like and it's a fiber that I'm really fond of, too. With all that love, this should be an easy project. But it's not going so well...

This is the second project using this yarn... actually the second project using this very ball of yarn. It started as a shapely tee that called exactly for this yarn. Still, it took me forever to get the right gauge. After I started on the second skein, I realized that I didn't like the feel of the fabric... wayyyyy too still and firm. So, after some confirmation with others, this top was frogged.

I had the Liesl in my queue with some linen in mind for it, and decided that I'd start it with the allhemp. Gauge is good, hand is good, or so I'm hoping if I can ever get past row 5! 3 times, I've miscounted my stitches in my cast on row or dropped a cast on stitch and had to start over. Now, on row 5, dear Finley decided he needed love and pushed my knitting, just enough for a stitch to come off the needle... I set it aside to love him and he sat on the piece. By the time he had wiggled little cat self off of it, the stitch was no more, run all the way to the cast on row again!!

So, this project needs a timeout! or I need a timeout from it.

Spinning, on the other hand, made me happy. I finished spinning up 4 ozs of superfine merino on my new-to-me Rick Reeves wheel. I had painted it in Easter colors and spun it nice and fine, just the way the wheel likes it. Then I navaho plied it on my new-to-me American Traveler, using the bulky flyer and bobbin. What a dream wheel!!

Here is the result: 408 yds, 3.95 oz. Soon to be the Heart-to-Heart Scarf, with beads and all.

Knitting may have gone bad, but the spinning is ohhh, so good!!

Off for some more spinning for me :)

handpainted tops vs. carded batts

2010-05-07T00:17:00.001-05:00

Tops or batts, batts or tops... I find myself in a luxury position of getting to choose my favorite fiber prep for any given fiber any day. It's a new experience for me.

I used to seek tops because I felt they were the most versatile. You can create worsted or semi-wortsted yarns, thick or thin or any combination from them. In the case of handpainted tops, the choices and yarn results can vary even more just based on how the top is separated or spun up.

I've carded some tops and enjoyed the results, though it's lots of work to get a nicely blended product, particularly when I add in other things like silk brick or sparkles. I'm not a fan of the clumped silk or angelina batts, and so spend maybe too much time working to even out the luxury/sparkles so that a little bit shines through throughout the batt. In my mind, there is a difference between art batts where lots of different fibers and textures are thoughtfully blended and combined, and those that are sometimes called that but are merely the result of lack of skill or control over the end product.

For many years, my very favorite workhorse carder has been my Clemes and Clemes. Everything goes through it and blends nicely. From the shop perspective, the batts are wide enough to meet the expectations of most people when they seek a batt. It has been my 'go to' carder when things needed blending.

Then I got to try the Louet roving carder and I've loved the results. The batts are narrower but thicker and the results are spectacular! I have been a happy girl! When I need thick layers of color or a single fiber or fibers blended together well for myself, this is the one I go to. And because I've loved it so much, this past week, I got in the Louet Elite carder, a full-sized carder with more functionality than I've had time to try yet. And, OMG!!! I'm so in love! I wish I had had this available to me years ago.

Truly, I'm not trying to sound like an infomercial and I'm not a drum carder neophyte... I have been to workshops and conferences where I had the opportunity to try several of the leading brands. So I can't put my finger quite on why this carder has me so over the top excited! Except that the tops card with a minimal of effort, the drum carder's large circumference seems to help create large batts with the colors well dispersed, the cleanup is a Breeze, and the batts are so light, airy and without neps that I want to spend all my time spinning them.

I had a couple of COM tops that fell apart out of the dyepot and I would not sell as braids. With the new carder, I decided to divide them and spin them up. Here is how the 'Under the Big Top' looks carded as batts... can you see how light and fluffy they are??

I carded them in a sort of progression, from lighter to more colorful and have already spun one up. All this (plus one more) from one 4oz handpainted braid. The resulting yarn will be heathered, contrasted to the wide expanses of color that happens when spinning directly from the dyed tops. Heathered yarns are so comforting to me. They are so huggable! Why are there not more heathered yarns, huh?

It will be fun to see how they come out. I'm thinking of using a different fiber to ply them, maybe something like a fine bamboo or soy thread. What do you think I should do?

knitting and spinning and weaving, oh my!

2010-04-24T23:42:00.001-05:00

I have always had lots of hobbies, and have fluttered from one to another at whim until I have either outgrown the hobby, getting all I needed from it, or reached a stage with it where the effort to pursue it in more depth was greater than my interest in carrying on with it. When that happens, I move on to another.

Some hobbies have managed to hold my interest throughout my life. In the case of knitting, it is like a true soulmate... I understand it, I can read it's most every move and intention, and my fondness for it just grows deeper with time. What's not to love about making a web of fabric that stretches, can transform whatever it embellishes and molds to become one thing on me, another on you.

Spinning is another love that just deepens and becomes richer with time. There is something so magical about taking a handful of fibers and plant materials and having the ability to transform them into threads and art yarns with a turn of the wrist, a hum of a wheel.

And then there is weaving, the wondrous taking of spun threads to interlace into what often appears as just gauze and transforms through the process of finishing into integral cloth for garments, household items, art forms and more.

When you participate in these crafts, you learn that the possibilities are endless... in fact, it's often hard to decide on the final project because there just are so many options and creative choices.

For me, when I make some time to work on these endeavors that I love so much, it's often hard to choose which love to honor... will I knit, or spin, or weave or (felt or dye or...)?
So now, I just let the muses tell me where to focus my attention for that time. I no longer fight them or try to second guess which would be the better effort to work on.

Yesterday, then, was weave day. I had this warp measured from handspun for a couple weeks, and it hit me yesterday that I had the perfect yarn for weft to make a scarf. I couldn't wait to get to the loom! Here it is, all finished up.

Once around my neck, it realized it really needs to be part of a jacket...

that's what I mean... one thing just leads to another in an endless stream of possibilities!

Fiber Science is so Cool!

2010-04-24T00:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I talked about my scarf that was being made from 2 50-gram skeins of a beaded yarn and how it felt so much heavier than that. The mystery as to why...

So, today, I started working through the questions...

The skeins weigh exactly 50 grams, so the total scarf weights 101 grams. This caused me to scratch my head for awhile...

I took out 2 other 50-gram skeins and held them in my hand, eyes closed and they feel the same, so that pretty much confirmed the results.

Still, the beaded scarf has a weight when it drapes that another 100-gram wool scarf does not have.

So, here's my theory... silk weights much less per volume. 100 grams of silk at this size would have yielded many more than 200 yards of yarn. The bulk of the weight of the yarn, then, comes from the beads. The weight of the beads is greater than the weight of the yarn. As a result, the beads pull the scarf down and make it feel heavy...

Now, this is not a tested theory, but there has got to be something of truth in it. When I put on the scarf, it does not fly away as any other silk scarf I have/know, but it lays against my body like a coat of armor. With or without a closure or tie, this puppy is not going anywhere.

And here she is!

And the detail.

I'm working this up in Jitterbug, too, a really springy machine washable merino. I'll post that soon, and look for the pattern! This is a fun, fun, knit that looks so much more complicated that it is. Will I make this up in a beaded yarn again, probably not. Will I play with beads in knitting? oh yeah, because the theory has not yet been proved...:) and you know how it is with curious minds... we have just got to know!

50 grams is 50 grams, right?

2010-04-22T22:07:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting a beaded yarn project, in between other things. It's a scarf made from Artyarns beaded silk that I got on my little roadtrip to Comfort a couple weeks ago. The yarn is a very beautiful 2 ply silk, with one of the plies having little silver seed beads.

The yarn was an exceptional indulgence for me... at only 100 yds per skein at a luxury price. The scarf I'm making takes 2. Given that I no longer have a disposable income, it was more than over my budget. But I absolutely love the yarn, the color, the feel, the shimmer. and it was an impulse I couldn't resist. To be honest, when I grabbed the yarn, I thought 2 scarves, one for me, one for gifting (can you hear the justification?)... the 100 yd skein did not really hit me full throttle. Once it did, c'est la vie! And I don't really believe in buyer's remorse... if I love it, I love it. So a 2-skein scarf it is.

I have spend time thinking about this, though, as I've been knitting with it. I have thought of every justification that comes to mind for why this scarf makes sense...about all the sale yarn I've purchased that sits in personal bins and baskets and will probably end up being donated to someone else's project or will be just stash that outlives me ... yarn that, over my lifetime, has amounted to many times more than the cost of this scarf . I've thought about how much I envy this scarf for it's sheer beauty and anyone else who might wear it, I've thought about why I feel the need to justify this to myself, especially since I already own it and, finally, how much I embrace this scarf and how I long to wear it.

Which has brought me to thinking about wearing this scarf... I'm about 3/4 done with it now and it has hit me that it is remarkably heavy with all the beads. There are loads of beads. And this little 2 skeins of 50 grams of silk with beads feels so much heavier than that.

Really, think about it... skein of cotton/tencel is 50 grams and feels light and airy. 2 of them feels light, still. Yet 2 skeins of this yarn feels like there are weights on it (aka heavy glass beads). Is the yarn really 50 grams? is it the weight of the fibers without the beads? or is it a perception issue that transcends our norm? I'm so curious, now, I can hardly wait to find the answer, but have my perfecto scale at the shop, so will have to wait until tomorrow to actually weight the scarf and see what's what...

Interesting how a simple scarf out of yarns that I have lusted for, could lead to all kinds of interesting questions about life and science.

I'm hoping I can solve this final scarf mystery tomorrow.

Living in the Imagination

2010-04-18T23:53:00.000-05:00

I took a road trip by myself a couple of weeks ago, thanks to Carol, who took care of the shop. It was a gloriously sunny day, and I toured the hill country, visiting yarn shops and eateries along the way. I haven't done that in quite some time and it had the hoped for effect... I came back energized and with renewed excitement for all things fiber.

I love going to shops I haven't visited before and it was fun to get the chance to finally visit The Tinsmith's Wife in Comfort and Stonehill Spinning in Fredericksburg. Of course, I had to buy yarn, and even got some beads for knitting! It was a lovely, refreshing day, enjoying fiber and friends.

End result, I've just been going crazy with project ideas, imaginings of new colorways, spinning of designer yarns and planning weaving projects... so much that I've had virtually nothing to say. I know, it's hard to believe... but I've been so busy talking to myself and living in my own imagination, that my words to you all have been virtually non-existent!

That will not last for much longer, though. Why? I have been designing several projects, including a really cute scarf and hat pattern, and several woven projecs. Also, I've finally gotten myself set up as a designer on Ravelry under "Susan Fricks" and "Yarnorama", so you can find my patterns there. I've got 3 free patterns and the Love You Sweater available there now, with more to come. And I've finally gotten some ads done in Ravelry which allow you to see the yarns we have in stock. I'll have links to all this on the Yarnorama web site in the next few days, too.

The cool thing about living in the imagination for me is that I have a burst of energy that sooner rather than later comes out on the physical, tangible side as real projects and ideas to share with you all.

I think you will really love the things I've got in the works! At least they are wonderful in my imagination!!

Understanding the Concept

2010-04-05T18:06:00.002-05:00

I'm a 'needing to understand the concept' girl, rather than a 'give me the directions so I can be good to go' type. I'd love to be able to just follow directions, and I do follow them lots and lots of the time. But if there is something that nags me, I just can't let it go until I understand the 'why' or the concept.

Case in point, the humble 'slip first stitch' in knitting of some patterns. I've followed this instruction since as long as I can remember following knitting patterns. Sometimes, the pattern says slip the first stitch, sometimes it says to slip the stitch purlwise. I may have even seen it sometimes written to slip knitwise. I'm asked nearly every week if it really makes a difference. I've, generally said to follow the pattern. And if I'm on a knit row, I would slip knitwise, if it didn't say, and slip purlwise on the purl side.

Well, today was my day off and I actually had time to spend doing nothing in particular... quite the novel experience for me these days. What it, also, meant is that I could play with some of these ideas and really see if there was a rhyme or reason as to which way to slip the stitch. And what I discovered was quite illuminating. There is a reason to slip the stitch purlwise, whether on the knit side or the purl side. There is truly a concept, a 'why', that explains why this is often explicitly spelled out and, if it's not, you want to slip purlwise.

When you slip the stitch purlwise, the stitch remains seated in the right position, front leg in front, when you turn your work for the next row, either a knit or purl row. Who knew, huh? It is, actually, a pretty important concept that keeps the edges or other like stitches from becoming twisted.

So, all these years, I've sometimes done this correctly, sometimes not, but only because I never understood why I was doing it. Now that I know, I can always know how to do it correctly.

I love understanding concepts! It means you just have to learn something once and can then apply it to countless examples. And now that you know the 'why', you, too, will want to slip purlwise, no?

When Yarn Mirrors Our Mind's Picture

2010-04-03T00:16:00.000-05:00

I've spent the past couple of evenings spinning a lovely norwegian handdyed fiber. It's been an incredibly easy spin and lent itself to lots of sampling. And sample, I did.

First, I had in my mind that I would spin yarn for socks from the 4.1 oz I had. I thought a 3-ply, actually a navaho/chain ply would be lovely to show off all the colors clearly. So that is how I started.

Not quite accurate... First, I divided my top into 2 equal pieces, each weighing 1.85 oz, leaving mw with .25 oz to play with.

So my n-plied sample was from this, and came to 22 yds. That meant (by doing all the math), that I'd only have 280-300 yds for my socks. I wanted more yardage, so changed plans to a 2-ply of the same thickness.

Here are the results. I love the finished yarn and can't wait to use it! Umm added to my project list...

(oh, and for those who remember my 2010 goal to use up my handspun yarn, I'm not doing so well, as I'm creating more faster than I'm using what I've already spun... ideas for solving this???)

Love how this yarn came out!

Have You Seen the Wildflowers?

2010-04-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

It's a new month and time for our new colorway! The original theme was springtime and I couldn't resist taking my inspiration from the amazing colors in the wildflowers. They are absolutely stunning and en masse this year. If you get a chance, take a drive up Hwy 21, where they are coming out everywhere, or along CR1440, between Hwy 21 and 77 in Giddings. I can't recall when I've seen them so abundant and varied!

So, without further ado, here is the fiber and the yarn. Fiber is corriedale cross, $15/4oz braid, and the yarn is 100% merino bulky, 110yds/100 grams, $13.50 (5 skeins make up into one of those "Baby Alpaca Vest" shrugs that we all love to wear.

Enjoy!

Spinning Again

2010-03-31T22:21:00.000-05:00

I know it hasn't been as long as it seems, but it feels like it's been forever since I've been spinning... at least a couple, three weeks. So I've set myself out to spin all week to get back into my zen spin groove, which I'm seriously needing.

I have a lovely 4oz of handdyed norwegian wool that I've set my sights on spinning into sock yarn. So, on Monday, I weighed and divided it out into even parcels, one for each sock. I had a little left over for a sample that I spun up immediately, into a 3-ply sock yarn size, about 22 yards. I used my Matchless with the 15:1 whorl and spun the singles into a fine, smaller than lace-weight singles and navaho plied it. And the resulting yarn is lovely. I mean, really lovely, with nice twist and a beautiful sheen.

But I'm a math gal, ... just drawn to figuring out the numbers...so I just had to do the computing to extrapolate the yards and ounces of my sample and figure out if I would have enough yards for my socks if I continued on with the plan. Turns out, if I spun up the 1.85 oz I'd divided for each sock, using the very same technique, I'd end up with less than 300 yds total for both socks. Not quite the weight of socks I had in mind.

So tonight, I changed my wheel whorl to the 17-1/2 ratio, high speed, and began spinning a finer yarn. It's fun because it's been a very long time since I've used my high-speed whorl and I can see how quickly the twist enters the fiber at the same treadling speed, allowing me to spin finer with virtually no extra effort!

I think I'll still do a navaho/chain-ply with this, and am really excited about how it's looking. Of course, it's so easy to amuse me with spinning!!

Once I get this done, I'm going to spin up the April fiber colorway. It is a fiber I think you will like and it's all about spring in central Texas. I love driving through central Texas in Spring... why? it's all about wildflowers, no??

For you non-spinners, don't worry about all the spinning technicalities... there is spun yarn dyed and ready to go in the colorway of the month.

(psst... take a drive up TxHwy 21 between Bastrop and Paige and you will see the colors bursting!)

Jubilation!!

2010-03-27T22:54:00.002-05:00

I made my way through my accounting woes and I am jubilant! So now I'm back and able to focus on fibery things.

First, let me show you what I've talked about having finished...

My 198 Yds of Heaven blocked. Yarn is Mirasol Tupa, a 50/50 merino & silk blend that has a fab sheen.
I'm pleased with the final results.

Next up is my Weekend Jacket. I started this a year ago January and set it aside when spring came. I'm happy that I pulled it back out and finished it. It has become my very favorite sweater jacket! Soft, cuddly and looks great dressed up or down. I use a shawl pin for the closure.

This was one big project off my list of WIP's... hooray!

Then, just tonight, I finished the Cabled Sleeveless Shell, the first of my spring and summer tops. I used the new Cotton Twirl, a variegated cotton & elastic yarn. The yarn is tightly twisted, which I really love, so knitting with it was non-splitty and totally pleasureable. I'm going to have to make another top out of this yarn, as it's super comfy and stretchy in just the right amount. Tomorrow this gets blocked and then it's ready for prime time. Btw, the color is called BBQ Sauce. Don't you just love that?

Finally, for those of you who may think that nothing much exciting ever happens in Paige, here's the turkey that ran up our street and up over the railroad tracks a few days ago. He certainly has some place to go, other turkeys to see, by the look on his face!

When Life Gets in the Way

2010-03-24T22:21:00.000-05:00

My blogs have been few and far between for the past couple of weeks because life has gotten in the way...

Every day, I think about posting pictures and describing what I'm doing. The pictures of my lovely blocked 198 Yards of Heaven shawlette are still on my camera, as are the pictures of my FINALLY finished Weekend Jacket (that I absolutely Love, love!, btw), and that I've worn a couple of times this past week. Even on my camera is a picture of the absolutely huge wild turkey that gobbled his way up the street and up over the railroad tracks, just as Rebecca's grandson, Kaleb, was looking out the window. It was quite the spectacle, amid all the WOW's!!

Why am I delinquent? It's my accounting woes... I've some software issues, some human errors, some lack of understanding and learnings with my POS/financial software integration that has taken over ever waking moment that I'm not with customers for the past few weeks. Deadline for getting this all done is Monday.

If you don't hear from me by Tuesday, send in the chocolate, wine and bandages!! I'm hoping for a good outcome, though... so close

Things finished

2010-03-19T20:31:00.000-05:00

I've been hunkering down this last week and finishing projects. First done, the 198 yards of heaven shawlette. I even blocked her and she is quite lovely, with a finished measurement of 45" x 21". I would definitely add another repeat if I do another because I had lots of yarn left over and it could use being just a tad bigger.

Next up, the Weekend Jacket. This is one I started in Jan 2009, but put aside when spring came, pulled it back out again this winter and have had it ready to put together for at least a couple weeks or so. Finally sewed it together... don't know what I was avoiding as it was really easy and only took a couple hours to get it all done. I love how this jacket came out! it's longer than I expected and I like that about it, too.

Finally, I'm nearly finished with the cabled shell out of Cotton Twirl. I should get the front done tonight, and maybe even sew it together so I can work on the armhole and neck finishing.

Aren't they lovely? don't you just love the colors and styles??

ok, I've once again left the finished pieces at the shop, while the camera is with me at home. Pictures of these beauties will come, I promise!

I do have one more little nugget that you will enjoy... I know I did!
Remember that lovely SOAR yarn I spun and finished last week? that gorgeous black blue-faced leicester/tussah blend that Morgan, our little cali cat was obsessed about? Well, I was diligent about putting the fiber up after that so she couldn't get at it any more before it had it spun up. And that worked swimmingly. After I finished the plying and photoed it and posted for you all, I set the skeins next to my bag that I take with me to the shop so I wouldn't forget.

The next morning, one skein was on the floor and we just assumed that the cats knocked it down when they were playing/tumblng. Silly me... Once at the shop, I started to steam set the skeins and one skein had this funny 'wobble' area where the threads seemed out of whack. Yeah, they were out of whack, alright! Morgan (I feel confident accusing her!) had chewed right through the skein! Not all of it, but enough that she had to have worked that puppy for some time, only stopping when the threads were cleanly broken, with sections out of the middle. yum, yum... I can just hear her...

I haven't checked to see how much of it I've lost... I guess I should just let it go... easy come, easy go, and she must have relished her fiber dessert.

So productive week, overall. Sorry you can't see it!

Maybe I'll wear the jacket tomorrow at the shop's 2nd anniversary so you can drool over it!

I'm a Magnet

2010-03-16T23:24:00.000-05:00

Ever feel like you are a magnet for the very things that drive you crazy? Like you can't stand the toilet paper roll paper unrolling over rather than under and you find a mate who puts it on the holder exactly the way that makes you want to bite your nails?

Well, thankfully, John and I both put the roll on the same way, but I'm finding I'm not so lucky with my knitting patterns of choice lately. I've written about the intuitive knitter/wannabe pattern designer and how they make me crazy when they write patterns as if the following of them doesn't matter. I thought I had it out of my system, but I was overly optimistic. And now I'm finding myself a magnet for them.

My latest misadventure is with the "198 Yards of Heaven", improperly named, but I don't want to get ugly. Actually, the finished product from this effort by the designer is quite pretty, and is what prompted me to attempt it in the first place. It is more than pretty!

Here's my finished piece... lovely isn't she?

She still needs to be blocked and will grow quite a bit in width and length, but I'm really fond of her.

But.... for all who want to do this and create their own very lovely version, DO NOT follow the written instructions!!! just Do not... You don't know how much it pains me to say that I have encountered yet another intuitive knitter who has written a pattern following the successful completion of her own project, but it's true. In this case, it's even documented how the pattern was tested by Ravelry test knitters. Alas, that can only be part of the story... they could not have used the written instructions as part of their test, only the charts. The charts are correct, with some adjustments following tester comments. The written pattern should just be deleted.

So I won't rant about how intuitive knitters need to write patterns that are correct and can be followed explicitly by someone coming behind them. I won't moan about how it cost me 2 evenings doing and undoing the 22-row repeat to figure out where the problems were arising, and I won't even comment on the fact that the pattern has this goofy switch from a 2-stitch rib to a knit pattern in the edging, which can only be interpreted as not paying attention to pattern. Why? Because, at the end of the day, this is a lovely piece when you go with the fabric flow that I'm thrilled to have worked through.

Want to make one? Follow the chart only, do not follow the written row instructions, change the lace edge stitches to follow the pattern as in 'continue in pattern', and well....
Maybe you want to forget this one, unless you like reinventing the wheel... because, you will need to do and undo many times to get this to look right. Now that I've done one, though, the second should be a piece of cake!

Nope, I'm not really a Slug!

2010-03-11T00:16:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, I feel like a slug... I get others, like my DH, to make meals and clean around us, and generally hold up the fort. He doesn't mind, really. In fact, he likes that he is so appreciated doing things he, at best, totally enjoys (cooking), and at worst, knows needs to be done and that he's supporting our larger goals. Still, I oftentimes feel a tad guilty that I really should be 'doing my part' around the place.

John is a dear and assures me, when I show him what I'm getting done instead, that it's totally worthwhile. I love him madly for that! Here's what I've been working on over the last few days with his support.

I spun up the SOAR comemorative fiber (black blue-faced leicester and tussah silk, 75%, 25%). I managed to spin up 806 yds of 2-ply out of my 4 ozs and so have enough for a shawl. The finished color and sheen is amazing. Now that it's done, I'm fantasizing about overdyeing it for a woven shawl. It's so beautiful, I can hardly keep from petting it.

Then there is the Cotton Twirl Shell I started a couple of weeks ago. See how lovely it is with it's soft cable? I'm nearly through the front (and the back), so should be done in just a few more hours.

Next comes the Spunky Eclectic fiber for February, a Superwash BFL in a colorway that is totally not my colors, yellow, orange, burgundy and turquoise. It's sort of a southwest colorway, though she calls it "oh la, la, tropical". I decided to go outside my norm and comfort zone with this, since there was really nothing to lose... I divided up the fiber into long strips and wound them into cakes for spinning, each in sequence, keeping the colors intact. I married the yellows up with the burgundies, the oranges with the turquoise.

I am spinning the singles as a somewhat uneven yarn, with the idea that it will result in a worsted weight, uneven 2-ply. Here is the yarn as a singles. More to come on how it will look plied up!

You Know I Couldn't Resist!!

2010-03-08T22:08:00.000-06:00

I have been hearing about the shawl called "198 Yards of Heaven" for a few weeks now and finally relented (that's my excuse, and I'm stickin to it!). What is so wonderful about this shawl/shawlette is that it's made using a worsted weight luxury blend of your choosing, doesn't use much of it, and produces a nice-sized shawl/shawlette. From all accounts, it's a speedy knit, too. So I started one... yes, I did! Mine is in Tupa, the lovely Mirasol merino/silk worsted weight yarn and I'm so loving knitting with it and how it's coming out. I've finished one repeat of 22 rows and set it aside for tonight so I could work on another project. I think this is probably just a 3 or 4 evening effort at a nice, casual pace. I'm loving how the leaf pattern shows up and will post pics to show you mine, maybe tomorrow!

My other project for the evening? Spinning!!! Have I told you how I love to spin?? I'm finishing up the last of my SOAR commemorative fiber, the black blue-faced leicester/silk blend that was made specially for the participants. I'm hurrying to get it done because Fischer and Morgan, 2 of our family cats, have declared their passion for this fiber, too, and plan, plot and excute how to chomp on it every waking moment when I don't have my eye on them, which is most of the time. They are fascinated by the smell of it and I can only hope I can get it to a safe place, as I have visions of the resulting shawl being eaten up by them... what's so up with that??

See Morgan's razon-focus as she watches me spin that fiber? "I want it!!" And Fischer, below, is just waiting for his moment to pounce.

March Colorway of the Month

2010-03-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's ready... the March colorway, "The Ah Ha Moment!". The fiber is a soft falkland top, 4oz and the yarn is a squishy, tight-twist sock yarn. Here it is:

Purples and pinks, a bit of coral and sometimes a green where the yellow meet the dark blues. I can't wait to see your spinning and finished objects in this!

I haven't been busy, oh no... not me! :)

More on Organizing Life through Cubies

2010-03-03T22:15:00.000-06:00

I spent much of my free microcycles today thinking about compartments and fitting life's projects/to do's into them. The more I think about compartmentalization, the more I know that I must be an expert at it. Case in point, house cleaning is necessary and done by most rational, 21st century woman beings. I have managed to put that into a cube that doesn't apply to me. When the vacuuming needs to be done, I am always surprised, because it can't be ME, can it that needs to do it? John, DH, accepts this about me and he, magically, vacuums when the need arises. This allows me to avoid the subject altogether.

What that does for me is it allows me time to work on my other cubie projects... spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting (less crocheting, but I do have a couple projects on my list for 2010). If DH loves me, why would he not want me to work on these things, and he loves me more than I deserve!

So he's cleaned the house in a manner beyond anything I can comprehend today, and I'm sitting looking at my spinning, weaving and knitting... actually admiring it, if truth be told. It's liberating, sinfully freeing to work on projects in exquisitely clean and lovely surroundings. Tomorrow, I will proceed to fill the space with fiber dust balls again as I fill bobbins, and shuttles and needles with all I do... happiness for me and smiles from John as he gets pleasure knowing he's enabled me yet again. Life is grand!

Letting it Go

2010-03-02T23:06:00.000-06:00

I always have lots of projects going at a time, and I am really good at compartmentalizing... I mean, if truth be told, I only have 4 knitting projects in the works - socks, my hoodie, my shell and my weekender jacket that just needs sewing up and final blocking.
Of spinning projects, I have 3 wheels going (and my charkha with my home-grown cotton), but these are my stress-relief time chunks and when I get an 'I love to spin' energy burst. I just have 5 weaving projects in the works... my Cricket washcloths, my bamboo warp, gifted Noro weft scarf project, my handpaint ikat-like fabric I'm set to weave for a jacket, my pomagranite shetland handspun warp for the ultimate scarf that will also use up some of my handspun stash (one of my three 2010 fiber goals), and my towel warp, yet to be completed... I won't even add the handpainted warp scarf that I'm hoping to become a kit, my silk and vicuna scarf... Let's not forget my crocheted wrap or the socks I have as another 2010 goal.

Compartmentalizing is so useful... it means that we never have to look at the whole at any one time and can rationalize why the compartment (3 or 4 things at a time) is the only thing that is important (vs. saying that I have 20+ projects going on simultaneously, all needing my attention). This is a mental health issue. It's how to cope with an imagination gone wild and a desire to try everything one can get his/her hands on without any reasoning on time bounds or responsibilities.

But every now and then, we find that this justification bites us in the behinds. And today was one of those for me. After a long day at the shop working non-stop on random, but important projects, I came home to work on something to get it done or approaching done. I sat, and pondered, and sat, and had a glass of white wine and looked around me at all of these things to be done with the idea that I would just reach for one and begin knitting, or spinning, or weaving, or crocheting... and here I sit. The more I think 'outside the box/compartment' the more overwhelmed I've become. I'm exhausted just thinking about which thing to work on next. Know what I mean?

Usually, when I feel this way, I start something new, but I've decided to give myself permission to just accept my project overload and let it all be... I acknowledge that I'm a frantic fiber project freak. But I'm holding back starting anything new. Tomorrow, I'll figure out which 2 or 3 things I'll focus on til completion. Which compartment shall I focus on?

Finished Project!

2010-02-28T22:31:00.000-06:00

I finished my stealth project this evening, a submission for the Handwoven contest, 'Not Just for Socks'. As usual, I was at the 11th hour working on it to get it done in time... last night I completed the weaving, late afternoon today I finished twisting the fringe and then washing, drying... nearly... (if truth be told, it's still slightly damp, but it was dry enough to do the photos). It took me nearly an hour to submit it through the contest form because the pics from my camera created files too big for their requirements. Geez I wish there were some standard sizes that people wanted that would make that part easier... what a time sucker to resize images, test, upload, find they are not right, repeat ad nauseum...

Anyway, here is a brief glimpse of my Antigua Bay Shawl... all out of sock yarns. Even if it's not accepted as an entry, I love, love, love this shawl. The drape is luscious! I can really see this a a wonderful wearable.

Now back to working on my shell, my hoodie, my socks, my 2nd bobbin of SOAR fiber spinning, my remaining 3/4lb of other SOAR fiber I'm spinning, my mittens... there are more. If I think about them all, I won't be able to work on anything!!

Mum's the Word

2010-02-27T20:15:00.001-06:00

Well, no surprise to you, I've been quieter than usual lately. That's because I have a couple stealth projects I'm working on, both to deadlines. But tomorrow, I should have my weaving project done and, on Monday, I'll have the March Colorway of the Month ready for unveiling. The weaving is one of the nicest I've done, unless I mess it up at the final hour, and I'm really happy with the colorway for the month and just chompin on the bit to share... but that wouldn't be fair.

More on Monday!

Intuitive Knitters Make Lousy Pattern Writers

2010-02-24T23:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, talk about a wild generalization, I admit it... But here's why I say this.

Intuitive knitters design wonderful pieces based on their experience and what they feel in the moment. They 'go with the flow' and modify existing designs or create new ones on the fly. If they look at their sweater, or cap, or scarf and think, 'gee, this really needs a color change, or a cable, or ___________", they just do it. They tell themselves that they'll write it down later (if they remember) because they don't want to break the wonderful rhythm and creative flow they are feeling. Why do I know this? I am one of those, by nature. Before I opened the shop, this is how I worked most all of the time.

Fast forward to today, when I follow patterns to the letter in order to be able to teach others and share important tidbits to make the designs successfully. I find that I understand more and more the challenge that newer knitters or knitters that prefer explicit directions have with so many patterns. Example: A few months ago, I started a cute little cardi by one of our vendors. I got about 2/3 done with it when I noticed that the lace charts did not reflect the armhole decreases and the pattern just said, "Continue in pattern." This required some rather unintuitive counting backwards to figure out what the first stitch of each row needed to be and where it was on the chart. I called the designer, who told me in no uncertain terms, that she is an intuitive knitter, writes the pattern after the design is done and assumes that others will just be able to figure out what she is intending because it's all "pretty obvious based on the pattern". I consider myself to be pretty darn good at recognizing patterns, but dang, this just seemed harder than it needed to be. She was very nice about it... that's just what she believes is the approach to design she chooses to embrace. I ripped out the cardi and made something else with the yarn. Why? because, while I knew I could figure it out for myself, I no longer knit just for myself and could not reasonably pass this confusion on to others.

I had nearly forgotten about that episode until today, when I began the decreases for my very lovely Mini Mochi Fair Isle Hat. It has a really simple 8 stitch, 6 row diamond fair isle pattern that is repeated throughout. When the decrease rows began for the crown, I was expecting some clear directions about how to maintain pattern while working on fewer stitches. But there it was... "maintaining diamond pattern, do thus and such decreases!" Ok, I admit that I thought, no problem, I'll just count and figure it out. After a row or so, I realized that I had no idea what the designer had in mind regarding maintaining the diamond pattern. I mean, it was morphing down to nothing with each row, so what part of the pattern did she want me to maintain? Then it dawned on me... ahh, yes, another intuitive knitter who made the hat, then wrote the pattern!

I decided to proceed without the diamond fair isle pattern. How bad could it be? And the hat turned out just fine!

Here it is in it's unblocked state. Tomorrow, I'll block it, which will only make it nicer.

So, lesson learned? When you find directions that suggest that you just continue on 'in pattern' while making numerous alterations and expect that you figure it out, assume it is not you that is lacking. Think that you may have encountered an intuitive knitter that has written a pattern from an already-produced design. Don't give up, don't give yourself 30 lashes and throw it in the wip basket. It can be worked through or modified so that you will love it and it will be just your own! It's just that the pattern doesn't have the roadmap to get that done.

Note to self... make sure all of my written patterns give step-by-step directions...

What to Do with Odd Lots

2010-02-21T00:14:00.002-06:00

Today, I spent a bit of time talking to Dawn and Judy about what to make out of Judy's special beaded stash yarn. It is a gorgeous multi-stranded luxury yarn that just begs to be wrapped around the neck over a black simple top, but there was not enough for a scarf or shawlette, or so they thought. What to do, oh what to do...

Beware, when you ask me for ideas, you will get at least one, and today was no exception. In fact, I was pretty proud of myself because not only did I have an idea but I had a pattern ready and waiting. It was the Marvelous Mobius Scarf.

Believe me, if you have never tried one of these, you need to. They are truly a marvel. Why? because, apart from the novelty of making a scarf that is circular (with a twist) and lays perfectly flat and never goes flying off your body because of wind or other mishap, you can use up all those lovely odd ends of handspun or handpainted yarns to their best effect.

Case in point, here is the one I made today to demonstrate the process and overall coolness of this technique... (did I also mention that they are fast, fast, fast to do?)

Look at how the colors shift due to it's being worked from the center out. I would venture to say that there is really no other knitting technique that will give this kind of look. Wish you could see a closeup of the stitch, too, as I was able to build in a chevron pattern that is really attractive. All in all, this took maybe 100 yds on a size 4, 26" circular needle. A perfect way to show off small amounts of special yarns, no?

Coco says, "Oh my... that looks good enough to eat! kissy, kissy!"

Fair Isle... why do I love thee?

2010-02-19T00:32:00.000-06:00

Have you noticed how many magazine and book patterns are done using stranded colorwork or intarsia these days? So, it did not surprise me when, a couple or so weeks ago, the Wednesday morning intarsia class said they wanted to learn more colorwork techniques, as in fair isle. And being one who is ever ready with ideas that I never have time to execute, I thought this might be just the opportunity to make a fair isle hat using a Crystal Palace pattern I had seen out of mini mochi. So we set the class date for this coming Tuesday and I made a note that I better get on it...

Today, I realized that the clock was ticking and I better get a head start on this to make sure I was at the top of my game with all the techniques. As luck would have it, this morning we got the first copies of the reprint of Alice Starmore's Fair Isle knitting book, the classic that was used eons ago to make those fabulous ski sweaters and such that were popular back so long ago. But, leafing through it again, it was all fresh and new!

Tonight, I turned on the Olympics on the tely and began the hat. It has a corrugated ribbing, which is a marvel. I had forgotten how much I LOVE this ribbing. It's not the stretchiest, but is it ever beautiful!

Using one ball for the knits, one for the purls, it creates a very impactful edge. In this case, what is even more fun is that the yarn is variegated, so each set of knits and purls unfold the colors in different sequences. What a pleasure!

One of the things that this project has driven home is how wonderful fair isle is when done with finer yarns. The fabrics are soft, supple, drapeable and artwear like.

This project has reminded me of so many reasons why I love fair isle. Maybe by the time I'm done with it, I will list and count all the ways!

The Best Spinning Gadget Ever

2010-02-14T08:32:00.000-06:00

Some of you may know that I'm a gadget girl. A serious gadget girl. I think I have tried nearly every spinning, weaving, knitting tool or gadget out there. So when Sherri came into the shop yesterday talking about her desire to spin a more consistent yarn and asking for help in understanding her new iPhone spinning app, I was excited. What in the world could a spinning app do for you on the phone?

To my surprise, the app is fantastic! It's called iSpinToolkit and has a wraps per inch gauge where you just lay your yarn over the screen and you can size it exactly to determine the wpi, there's a twists per inch gauge, too, and a tool for determining your twist angle exactly, Z or S twist. And there's more that I haven't had time to play with yet, including explanations of how these are all used. What does this mean? You can spin your yarn and recreate it exactly for a large project or just because all with one tool on your phone that you are already always carrying around. Pure genius!! I downloaded it as quickly as I could! You spinners will want to try this out. Now I'm imagining a weaving app that would show you the sett of cloth based on different threads you lay over the screen. Wouldn't that be the greatest?

When the Yarn Knows Your Name

2010-02-13T00:09:00.003-06:00

I finished my Weekend Jacket... well, not exactly -- it's not blocked or sewn together. I remind myself of my corp life when I used to admonish my team members who said their software programs were finished when they hadn't been tested or through quality control. I can't call it finished, dang it, until it's really FINISHED, as in ready for prime time wearing.

Still, I can now understand why they wanted to call their work finished... it means you can give yourself permission to move on to start the next shiny, exciting thing that calls us. And for me, it's been a lovely yarn called Cotton Twirl in a color called BBQ Sauce. Ever since it arrived, it's been calling out to me. So, with the jacket project off the needles, and the new project needing just those same needles, I used the lame excuse that it makes more sense to start the new project than put the needles back in their case. I'd only have to take them out again in another day or two for the very same project, so why not just try them out, right?... nothing serious... just a swatch!

Here's my 'swatch' with the needles and the Cotton Twirl... looks like the start of a shell to me... 10" done just in sitting watching the opening Olympics ceremonies. This one might get done under the radar!!

The yarn is even nicer than I imagined it would be. No splitting, colors are pretty without pooling. I even found myself plotting the making of something else with it as I worked on this, and that's rare for me...

We won't talk about the Central Park Hoodie... we don't want her to get jealous!

Simple Can Be Wonderful!

2010-02-10T21:20:00.000-06:00

I love to weave (don't tell spinning...), as I adore the wonder of making cloth - all aspects of it! So you would imagine that I, also, enjoy all those intricate patterns, drafts, treadlings and threadings that make up remarkable fabrics that make us all oh and ah...overshot, crackle, all kinds of lace, doubleweave fabrics and more. And I do, most days.

Still, when I want to calm my heart and soul with the making of cloth, I am drawn, seriously drawn, to simple, simple weaves in beautiful yarns and organic designs. This scarf that I just finished is one of those pieces. Started some weeks ago on a simple rigid heddle loom, then set aside for more pressing projects, I returned to it this week and found that feeling of serenity once again through simplicity. On one end, I wove a two-pick stripe, on the other end, a 4-pick stripe... no symmetry at all, which was part of the beauty and joy of working on this. I love how it turned out!

It's made from the wonderful Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, plain weave, threaded as 'color and weave'. When finished, it's soft, amazingly wrinkle resistent and comfy. For those who have said they want to make one, too, I'm making up kits with the draft and yarn so you can make one just like it, or in a different colorway and striping, following your own organic vision.

Did I say that I seriously love this scarf? (as does every man who has seen and felt it!)

Ishbel is Real!

2010-02-08T22:16:00.002-06:00

Some of you had said that you are questioning if the Ishbel shawl is real... because, yes, I started it, and yes, I showed some progress, but then I was nothing but excuses!!

Well, let me unveil the lovely Ishbel, in all her splendor!

I wish you could feel the fabic... it's soft and comfy, a perfect little wrap for a chilly mornng or a day when you need just a little extra.

This is a lovely pattern, too, and one I want to make again (and again!). Ysolda is so very clever with her designs.

I, also, finished a woven shawl in charcoal and brown. Just need to even out the fringe and trim it and then it will be ready for presentation :). This one is a perfect rigid heddle project and I'll be making up kits to keep things simple, with the yarn and the draft all ready to go, so you will be all ready to make one just like it in the colorway of your choice. The Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool makes a yummy, velvety texture that I love.

As you guessed, no progress on the luscious Central Park Hoodie, but I do take it out of the bag every day just to admire and pet her. I know you understand what I'm talking about! She just purrs!!! I'm thinking I won't be working on her until next week, as I'm trying to finish up my boat anchor project, the Weekend Jacket.

You've all had one of these types of projects, right? There is absolutely nothing wrong with it... the yarn is nice, the pattern is nice, there aren't any mistakes in it (that I know of). But, I'm so over the top bored with it. I've finished the fronts, the sleeves and am on the back...that's it! Lots of stitches, just enough of a pattern to be less than mindless... I've so lost my momentum of this one and just have to push my way through to finish it. I won't allow myself to start another sweater until I finish this one, so that is my goal for this week! Nothing else matters!! (nearly...)

Chanel is not buying it... (can you hear her?? whaa, whaa, whaaa)

On Making Promises...

2010-02-05T23:39:00.001-06:00

I know better... really I do. I know not to say that I will do something when it's dependent on me having time and all to complete the promised task. So I went and promised a pic of my loverly Ishbel shawl which I had completed. All I needed to do was take a pic of it and upload it. How hard is that?

So I found that my camera battery needed a recharge... no prob. Then I forgot that I was doing that as I moved on to my next project on my list. Early this morning, I remembered... briefly... only to forget to grab the charged battery on my way to the shop where the shawl is.

I've spent the afternoon repeating... "don't forget the battery, don't forget the battery". I got home and got the battery and inserted it into camera first thing. Yay!! Only to remember that the shawl is, YES, at the shop!

I'm not promising anything, but tomorrow I am intending to have the shawl and the camera in the same place, taking a pic of the shawl's lovliness, and posting here. Week's karma is going to get back into a very good place... I can just feel it!!

Meanwhile, I finished weaving one of my WIP's, a shawl made from Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. Tomorrow morning, it gets finished in the washer/dryer and it may make it to the photo shoot, too.

No promises, though...

On a Roll!

2010-02-04T00:05:00.000-06:00

I finished the Ishmel shawl this evening... one more WIP from my rather long list completed.

That sounds like I'm not really enjoying myself, and that is so far from the truth. This shawl is a particularly lovely knit. The pattern has some interesting design elements, like an ingenious 3-stitch edge that makes a perfectly finished neck line, and a new (to me) bind off done on the reverse side that is flexible and stretchy, yet looks properly finished. Overall, this is fairly easy and I'd like to do another in 2-ply yarn. This was done from my handspun singles, and it gives a rustic look, that I really like, but it will be fun to see how it comes out in a smoother, more evenly spun and dyed yarn.

Normally, finishing one project would mean I could give myself permission to start another, but I allowed my WIP's to get just a BIT out of control! Right now, my WIP's include 2 weaving projects, 2 spinning projects, 1 knitted bag, 2 knitted sweaters, 2 pairs of socks. Hmmm, that actually doesn't sound so bad when I list it out! But it feels a little schizo when I get home after a hectic day to work on my calming activities and try to decide what to work on next. So I'll be working down my queue for the next few days and then will launch my next round of projects I've been planning. Maybe that's why I'm so anxious to finish up the already started ones... I'm just chomping on the bit to start the new ones!

Pics tomorrow... (camera ran out of battery... isn't that the way? :).

I so love to spin!

2010-02-01T23:11:00.000-06:00

I've had a bit of a stressful week... I'm totally bogged down with accounting and tracking down an error that is more than a year old that has things out of balance. And being a libra, it drives me crazy to have my life out of balance! Add to that the fact that I have wayyy too many wip's going on at a time, I was needing to finish something BADLY!

So, imagine my glee when I got some more fiber in the mail this past week. It was some of Spunky Eclectics Pomegranite dyed on a brown shetland. And that's all I could think of doing in the little bit of time I had on Friday evening. I was too tired to deal with numbers, too bored to work on my knit jacket, too anxious to work the chart of my Ishmel... but never too tired, bored, anxious, lazy, crazy to spin. It calms me... it makes everything right with the world... it is my yoga!

I spent maybe 4 hours spinning and plying this into the lovely 2-ply, 352 yds of sportweight yarn. It wasn't a dream spin. I found I had to stop and start often to remove felted wads, lots of guard hairs and some vm. It probably took me 1/3 longer than it would have without all that gunk in there. But the colors are lovely and it was fun to watch as the spots of color became more. Here is the final product, which will probably become a manly man's scarf.

Also, I spent this past week testing colors and finalizing the February Colorway of the Month. Here it is, "First Sunburst". The initial inspiration came from the theme "Grace" and lots of input from you all. I really love the way the yellow/gold/reds pop out of the darker base, like when the sun is just bursting through the darkness on the horizon on a cloudy morning.

I kept admiring it today and came home to test drive some of this to show you all how it makes up... (not that I was wanting any of it for myself, you understand!).
Here are two samples... the bottom one was spun long draw and then 2 plied from a center-pull ball, to a very light, airy worsted yarn. I knit up the sample on size 9 needles. The top one was spun as a fine lace-weight using a forward worsted draw, and then navaho plied to keep the colors clear. That was knit on size 5 needles for a light shawl/scarf or cardi. Both are soft and nicely drapey.

See how dramatic the sunrise sections are against the darker contrast? I love that!

Tomorrow, I'm back at finishing the projects, I hope, as my goal is to get my accounting back to good and have my stress level return to my normal zen level!

Central Park Hoodie Progress

2010-01-29T23:08:00.000-06:00

As promised, here is my progress on the Central Park Hoodie!

The yarn is incredibly yummy (what's not to love about suri alpaca and merino?) but the cables are still not all that visible. In person, you can see more of them, but then again, I'm biased and believe that I'm seeing them. Maybe they are not even really there!!!
I'm at 9", so just another 5" before the armholes and my goal for the Sunday knit group. I'm such a sucker for driving myself to self-imposed goals!!!

Progress is Good!

2010-01-28T23:35:00.002-06:00

Tonight I was able to add another 20 or so rows to my Central Park Hoodie and the cables are really beginning to show up. The yarn is so variegated, that I'm beginning to question if they are really showing up or if I'm just adjusting my vision to be able to see them more. In any case, I'm so loving this pattern. It's all that it's been billed to offer... simple, stylish, easy to follow charts. I'll post a progress photo tomorrow, I promise!

Meanwhile, I wanted to introduce you to my two best critics, Coco and Chanel, our shop bunnies. They are English Angoras that are full of personality and bragging rights, because they are not only our mascots, but working bunnies. I spin up their wool and have been known to make luscious, fluffy, luxurious things from it.

You might want to let them know what you think of them and their little attitudes!

Chanel says, "Hello?? you keep saying how lovely your projects are... have you looked at me, me, me, lately???" Ok, Chanel, we know you are the queenie (and not at all full of yourself!).

Coco says, "ok, I'm so over her!! and you all! I am so over seeing her knit and spun up in that little mobius scarf! What about me?? Am I chopped liver or what?""

Another Diversion - the (Marvelous) Central Park Hoodie!

2010-01-27T23:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, I could not stick to my plan to complete something before starting yet another project. But I have a good reason! A week or so ago, someone mentioned how much she wanted a KAL, and I couldn't help but think about my long-time desire to have a Central Park Hoodie.

I had wanted one before the shop ever opened, and even came very close to having one as a shop model, but a sad finishing mishap morphed a beautiful malabrigo hoodie to a felted mass of fiber that will one day become a handbag... a very lovely one, but still not a hoodie.

As with all things that are meant to be, no sooner had this gal mentioned KAL, and I mentioned Central Park Hoodie, we had 6 or so people who also wanted to make one. What could I do, but start yet another project??

I decided to make it out of a suri alpaca/merino blend that I had hand dyed, in a colorway I call "chocolate blueberries". It's kettle dyed, so there are variations between skeins. This means I'm alternating skeins, and the dyeing is more prominent than the lovely cables, at least for now.

Here's my progress.

You can barely see the cables with this yarn, but that's ok by me. It might not be for everyone, though. We'll see how it shapes up, huh?

Starter or Finisher?

2010-01-22T23:17:00.000-06:00

I've been struggling a bit this week because I've been mentally bogged down with unfinished projects. See, I agonize over having loose ends. Now these projects are all things I would like done, just not by me. I started each with the enthusiasm with which I begin every new project, but each of these began to bore me, at some point, and then were set aside for the next new shiny idea or project.

Has this happened to you?

Most times, when I realize that I have gotten to this state of inertia, I can look back and see lots of signs of what got me there. And each time, I vow that this will not happen to me again. This time, I even went so far as to decide I would frog all of the unfinished projects just to clean the slate. That was merely a mental exercise, as I just couldn't do that when it came down to it... why? because I really Like the projects, just had become bored with the final bit required to get them to their end state.

So, thinking about all of this today and thinking about my next project I'm excited about (the Central Park Hoodie KAL we are starting at the shop), I had this flash of insight/rememberance from my prior life as a corp exec. I tend not to think about that life much these days. But a smile came to my face when I remembered a workshop I participated in some years ago in the workplace. The question we needed to answer was if we were a starter or a finisher. In other words, if we could spend our days doing all the things we love most, would we be idea machines, trying out new ideas, starting projects to test them out, get the thrill from learning the next new thing, or do we most enjoy taking what others have created and making it our own, following their lead, but perhaps personalizing it and getting satisfaction and pleasure in the process of doing, learning from beginning to end, and enjoying the finishing.

I'm definitely a starter... I've abandoned at least as many projects in my lifetime as I've finished. The cool thing, though, about knowing which type you are I learned, is that you can push through to the other side :). So, in my case, I've decided to actually finish all these projects and get them off my plate rather than frog them, and free up my mental space to work on new things.

Here's one of those I hope to finish in the next couple of days:

This is the Weekender Jacket I started in January of 2009. The sleeves and fronts are done (and have been since last March), and so I started on the back tonight. I know I'm going to really like this when it's finished... as much because it will be FINISHED as the fact that I pushed through my boredom and disinterest to get it done! Meanwhile, I'm ho-humming rows... and imagining having a team member to turn over the project, at this point to finish it out. Ah, those days are gone, and that is a good thing!

Drumroll, please, I present to you the Aestlight Shawl!

2010-01-18T21:06:00.001-06:00

She's blocked (I used the steam iron) and at a final size of 54" x 22", just the perfect wrap size. Isn't she lovely? I am just going to have to do another one of these.

Aeslight Knitting is Done!

2010-01-17T23:24:00.001-06:00

I couldn't wait to present this to you all as I'm so loving how it came out. If this doesn't make you want to spin your own yarn, I can't imagine what will (especially after you feel it)! You just can't buy commercial yarn like this.

The pattern really lends itself to handspun made from handpainted top because of the construction and way it shows off the color variations in different ways in each section. I eliminated one repeat of the lace because I was worried I would not have enough yarn. I had 532 yds of 3ply fingering/light sports weight and have probably 20+ yds left. I'm glad I didn't do the number of repeats in the pattern because the shawl is about 44" across already without blocking, and the pattern says that final size is 45" wide after blocking.

It will be interesting to see how this blocks. More on that once I find a spot to block her that will not be a magnet for the cats. As you can see, Fischer is just waiting for his moment to lead the charge.

Make Sure You Read the Pattern!

2010-01-17T00:39:00.000-06:00

I never cease to surprise myself with the things I need to learn. Today it's all about assumptions.

If you've been following, you know that I have the Aestlight in progress, and then began the Ishmel last week after spinning up some lovely merino singles that just couldn't sit still. I usually do a really good job of alternating my projects so I'm never working on 2 at the same time that require following detailed charting. So all was good on these two as I had set aside the Aestlight to work on the Ishmel lace border. Until this evening...

To be honest, I had been eyeing the Aestlight while working on Ishmel and suddenly had this wild hare that I could get the border all done tonight so that I could take it to knit group tomorrow in a near-finished state. It's only a 12-stitch border, for god's sakes. I failed to let it register that it's 16 rows of the pattern that repeats a bazillion times. But what the hey!

I started back on the Aestlight border and wizzed through a few rows, with every other row having an extra stitch. I frogged and restarted... then another 3 or 4 times...by now, John had started staring at my work, saying, "Wow, that must be REALLY complicated!" and then took off to bed as he wanted to avoid any throwing of vocabulary or knitting objects.

Finally I realized that I was not even reading the pattern, just assuming... which pattern was this again?? so k in the back of the stitch became knit in front and back.

When things don't work out, Susan, READ the Pattern!!

Once I got that worked out, progress was pretty fast and I got one whole side completed. Tomorrow, I hope to complete it the final side of border! Will post pictures then.

Ishbel Has Captivated Me

2010-01-13T23:49:00.001-06:00

Work continues on my Ishbel out of the merino handspun singles I finished during the Saturday spin-in. It's a really easy pattern, so it's going pretty quickly. I finished the center garter stitch section and did one repeat of Vine section A. I have 40 rows left before the edging if I do the large size. I think I have enough yarn, but probably just barely... we'll see.

Progress, slow but sure

2010-01-10T21:47:00.001-06:00

Progress continues on my Aestlight shawl, slowly, more slowly than I'd like but some of my project time has been taken up lately with other domestic activities due to our record-setting cold temps and annoying little things like pipes freezing, cats who are stir crazy and an endless pile of year-end paperwork. Still, the end is in sight! and I'm lovin how the colors show up in the edging and how this yarn feels. I can't wait to have it all finished and blocked!

Lucky for me, I got in a solid couple of hours spinning yesterday, as a result of the Yarnorama spin-in. I was able to fill up a bobbin of singles from some of the merino top I had hand dyed at SOAR in what seemed like no time. The top was perfectly prepared and easy to spin into a fingering/light sportsweight singles.
The 3oz I had of it resulted in 648 yds of loveliness. I set the twist with my steam iron and wound into a ball.

It wasn't long before I was itching to start a project with it. I'd steal a glance at it every so often as I knit Aestlight and imagine what I'd make. Then I remembered that the Ishbel shawl has been on my project 'to do' list. This yarn and pattern seemed the perfect pairing. So here she is! I think I'm really going to enjoy this pattern and hope I have enough to make the larger size.

Wensleydale Singles Ain't Gonna Lie Flat

2010-01-06T23:02:00.001-06:00

Someone asked me recently why I had said that the wensleydale singles were round, round, round and would not really show stitch definition in lace patterns well. I, rather assuredly, said that they would do what they wanted to do and would return to their desired state even with blocking. Well, I had some experience with similar fibers, but it was cool that she questioned me, because I realized that I had been making some assumptions... I had my woven scarf on which I based my comments, but hadn't sampled it with knitting... Her sample, she said, blocked out perfectly and didn't have any issues with the sample not showing stitch definition in her desired pattern or wanting to round out. So why was I saying what I was saying? That led me to re-question why... why, indeed?

I decided to do an experiment... 2 samples of a simple lace pattern, both with the same size yarn, needle size and pattern, one the wenleydale singles and one a recently spun merino 2-ply. Both yarns have had their twist set and are balanced in the hank.

Here are the results.
Can you see how the wensley- dale singles (at right) don't lie flat and are 3 dimensional, while the merino just sits down flat, 2 dimensionally, and shows off the lace? In the wensleydale, where's the lace pattern? These are not blocked yet, but I would betcha lots that it will not make much difference.
Here's a closer look at both:

This exercise confirmed that the wendledale singles retain their own form, not 'molding' to the lace pattern. They create their own unique look that is very attractive on it's own. Simple patterns, like garter stitch, really show off the beauty of the yarn without fighting it's desire to form pronounced loops. At least this is the case for my fingering to sports weight singles. Perhaps with finer, lace weight singles, this will not be so pronounced. That is an experiment for another time!

Working Down the WIP List

2010-01-05T23:17:00.002-06:00

I've had my hands/head/feet...whatever the phrase is, to the grindstone the last few days. I hope it's not my head, as there would be nothing left. That's because I've been working on year-end paperwork to the point that I end each day with a brain freeze nearly incapable of creative anything. So I decided to work on my 2009 WIP/UFO list. Here's one of my WIP's that I've been working on and need to finish so I can start something else:

This is my Akapana Scarf, a shop model I've been working on from the yarn by the same name, a sinfully luxurious baby llama, merino yarn in a super easy seed stitch. I love this yarn because it looks like handspun, in addition to feeling like something you want to wrap up in and never take off. I've just been working on it in 'free' moments here and there, which is why it is taking me so long to finish. That's why I just decided to bite the bullet and focus on finishing it. And then there is the very self-serving reason... it's still quite chilly out and how I'd love to have an excuse to wear it! Maybe it will be done tomorrow... we'll see.

On hold for a couple days is my Aestlight Shawl. I made some progress, as you can see:
It's coming along nicely, but I do need to have a clear mind when working on it so I don't screw up the lace. I'm really thrilled about the feel of this one and how my handspun worked up. I don't think I'll get back to this one until Friday though because of all the other things on my plate.

I lament never having enough time for my projects and ideas, but then it occurred to me that I will never have enough time because I'm a mad woman who dreams of more things to do than I can ever achieve.
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?
—Robert Browning
Or a woman's!

Aestlight Continues

2010-01-02T21:09:00.000-06:00

I finished spinning the rest of Walk on the Wild Tide for my Aestlight Shawl today. All navaho (chain) plied and ready to go. This gave me another 214 yds. I was expecting more because I thought I had divided the fiber up evenly, but apparently not. Or maybe I'll be surprised to find that the grist is not the same. As it stands now, the yarn looks the same as the original one, so I'm going to assume I just took an extra stipped ball in the spinning of the first bobbin's full. I hope I have enough to finish this!

One of the highlights of my spinning today was that John, upon seeing me plying with a smile on my face, as is often the case when I'm spinning, said, "I Love it when you spin! It makes you soooo happy!". I hadn't realized I was smiling, but yes, it does make me incredibly happy. Why is that??

I'm so pleased with this yarn and shawl, and can't wait to get more done on it (maybe tomorrow?? as my reward for completing year-end inventory control!).

Cold Front Fever

2009-12-31T19:03:00.000-06:00

Every time I finish a weaving project, I'm in love! The whole process is magical for me, from the planning, to the warping, the weaving, and the finishing. In the end, I've created a beautiful textile that no one else has, I've learned more about fibers, weaving, techniques and I get to experience the wondrous transformation that occurs between the time the fabric comes off the loom and it's final finished state. Then there are times when I'm just over the top excited. The Cold Front Scarf is one of those projects!

I finished the weaving of it today on the little Cricket. Weaving was straightforward and easy, without a single broken thread, though I did have a couple that fuzzed up along the way that I had to tame. The 8-dent reed was just right. Not much abrasion on the threads and it produced a very balanced fabric. On the loom, it was 8-3/4" wide and there was virtually no takeup along the way. The wensleydale singles needed help staying in place because it was as though they just wanted to spring into some form of their own. I worried about the selvedges because the yarn hugged them, but never really laid flat. So I did more than my regular amount of fussing to make sure they were as nice as possible. It was clear that the handspun irregularities were going to have an effect on straight edges, and I decided that would be just fine with me.

When I took the scarf off the loom, I was surprised to find that the width was 8-5/8" and that I had only about 2" of loom waste, not including my fringe. The edges had rather round loops that hugged the edge thread. The yarn was just super round... I mean really, really round!

I tried twisted fringe, but decided that it took away from the scarf, as the handspun looked really nice on it's own. So I knotted the fringe, thinking I would just trim off the frayed edges once I had wet finished it. Then, into the warm, soapy water it went. I rubbed the scarf a bit because I wanted the nap to come up and then I did it!! I was so wanting to see this beauty finished, I popped it in the dryer for a few minutes.

When I took it out of the dryer, it was still slightly damp, still 8+" wide, but it had even rounder edges that look like I have badly woven edges. The selvedge warp thread is there, hugging it tight, but the weft are just big loopyloos. I decided to love them.

The next thing I noticed was that the nap was wonderful... fluffy and soft like those luxurious mohair throws you find at designer showrooms. And then I saw that tracking had occurred! Now this is my very favorite plain weave occurrence that happens sometimes. It makes the fabric look so much more complicated and beautiful.

Finally, this most amazing thing happened with the fringe. It reverted, through the wet finishing and the dryer, into the form of the wensleydale locks. They actually look just like locks. So I decided not to trim the ends, but leave all the soft curls hanging loose.

How cool is this? Fun and funky, the colors are great, I love the stripes that happened as a result of stiping the top and the feel is oh so much softer than the singles were. So, yes, this can now be worn against the neck.

I so much love this one!

Cloan me please!!

2009-12-30T22:37:00.000-06:00

My Aestlight shawl is coming along nicely...

and I nearly ran out of yarn so back to the wheel to spin more. That will probably take me a couple days or so as my attention has shifted a bit to yet another project.

Recognize this yarn? It's my Cold Front wensleydale singles from the Spunky club. I was dying to see this made up so decided to leave the shawl for today and test my spinning skills by warping the Cricket. I figured that loom would be the gentlest on this yarn, and with its 8-dent heddle, I had the best shot of getting the scarf off the loom with a minimal amount of yarn breakage or fraying. So far, so good! I find it so interesting the way the yarn lined up in stripes. Guess all that top stripping really worked.

Another Monday Shot to Heck...

2009-12-28T23:30:00.001-06:00

Every week, I look forward to Monday. Not that I don't love everyone, but it is my one and only day 'off' during the week. I dream of having that day to play in the garden, knit or spin or weave and give my mind a reprieve from small business ownership. Instead, I end up packing it with all my errands, dr's appts, paperwork.

Today was no different, except that I planned to spend my day doing year-end accounting and coming home so relieved and happy to have it all done and ready for the new year. I was confident when I set out this morning because I had all the docts printed, organized and ready for me. What was I thinking??

One accounting snaffo when I checked a box in POS that I shouldn't have, and I'm still tracking down the transaction trail hours later. I think I've figured it out, but now I'm off my timetable until I get with my accountant. Without that resolved, I couldn't go further. Sheesh!

I came home and decided what the hey... let's knit! so I continued working on my Aestlight shawl, to the point that I need to get busy and spin more yarn for it. This is such a fun knit and I'm loving the yarn. More on that tomorrow! I never did spin, as my spinning chair was occupied all evening with Fischer, who was not willing to budge one bit as he was studying the spinning wheel and fiber rather intently. He really likes the colors and I think he was trying to figure out how to do some spinning for himself... I just didn't have the heart to interrupt his intense focus.

He's such a sweetheart and sometimes too smart for his own good!

Isn't he adorable?

Spin Happy!

2009-12-27T19:52:00.004-06:00

I'll bring up SOAR again... I became a fan of Spunky Eclectic's (Amy King) hand dyed roving after spending 3 days in her workshop there. It was quite the education! I decided it might be fun to join her fiber club for awhile to see what all the excitement is about for the clubs. It didn't take long for me to find out...

First, it's the anticipation of knowing I was going to get 4oz of mystery wool/fiber in a surprise colorway that was only available to the club members. Members spend lots of time anticipating it, trying to guess based on the month's theme and sharing in the fun.

I got my package on Friday morning and here's what was inside -

This is 4oz of handpainted Wensleydale top called Cold Front. Rich, deep blues, a touch of green and occasional white areas should produce a lovely yarn with sheen and the characteristic halo of the wensleydale.

I've been itching to spin it ever since. So this afternoon, during knit group, I sat and spun it up as a light worsted singles. I chose not to ply because I wanted to keep the colors clear and just to play with spinning a thicker singles than I normally spin. It was a great way to spend time with friends and have something wonderful to show for it!

Here is the resulting yarn:

I prepared the roving by dividing into 2 pieces, one of which had much more deep blue than the other. I then divided each piece into 6 strips and spun this using a worsted method and a long drafting zone on my Julia with the largest whorl. It was an easy, quick spin.

I set the twist with the steam iron and it relaxed nicely. It's 296 yds at 1200 ypp. I suspect this will develop quite a halo once it is made up.

Now to find a project... suggestions?

When the Knitting Muse will not Shut UP!

2009-12-26T22:49:00.003-06:00

I had found a lovely shawl pattern, Aestlight, that I decided was just perfect for my Walk on the Wild Tide handspun... well, I didn't find the pattern, it rather found me when I viewed the beauty of a shawl a gal in Australia had made using it with her handspun. So, after finishing the plying of a lovely skein, I proceeded to spin the second half of the top onto a new bobbin.

And then it started... the knitting muse began her murmurings, and I began my own rationalizations about how I would only take a few minutes out to test the gauge, read through the pattern.

Witness here the results of my digressions. I've knit about 10 inches or so with this simply lucsious yarn. I can't stop... I was up until 1am last night because I just couldn't let her go, and I raced home this evening to do some more.

What is it about the combination of gorgeously fine yarn and a lovely pattern that makes us lose all notion of doing what we are supposed to with free abandon? I may lose all sense of responsibility for a few days more until this is finished!

Wonderful Way to Spend a Day

2009-12-25T17:27:00.000-06:00

We awoke, rather lazily, this morning to messages from friends/customers so excited about the gifts from the shop that Santa had brought them... spinning wheels, looms, swifts, gift certificates... it put smiles on our faces, truly, to be Santa's helpers!

It's rare when John and I have a day to just do whatever we please, and today, Christmas Day, we gave that to each other as our gifts. So, while he read and cooked and enjoyed the cats, I spun more of my Walk on the Wild Side roving (see yesterday's post). I finished filling one bobbin with thin singles, about 2oz worth, and then navaho-plied. Here are the results...

I'm loving it! 318 yds, so about 3800 ypp for the singles. I was waffling as to whether to do a navaho ply or a 2-ply, but I knew I just had to make Aestlight after I had seen the version below.

One more bobbin's full to spin up and I should have enough. I may just have to start knitting this before I finish the spinning... breaking my own rules about finishing all the yarn for a project before I start it, but what the hey... rules are meant to be broken, right?, and this yarn IS Walk on the Wild...
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/franee/aestlight-shawl

Hope you all are having a glorious, happy holiday!

Dream Spinning and How I Got My Groove Back

2009-12-24T22:15:00.001-06:00

Attending SOAR was a great way to get reimmersed in fibers and spinning. Without family (as much as I love them dearly), phone, business and other interruptions, I got to play with different fibers and techniques for nearly a week. I've been jazzed to the point that I have been spinning every day ever since, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

I brought home lots of braids of handpainted tops and roving, some I had dyed myself and some I purchased from other vendors. My personal new favorite spinning fiber has become BFL... it's easy to spin, the preps have been nearly perfection and it takes dyes brilliantly. The resulting yarn is soft, lustrous and a bit of fuzziness, making it a nice choice for those for whom mohair is too scratchy.

That was, until this past week, when I started spinning this amazing pile of dreamy goodness...

This is Walk on the Wild Tide by Blue Moon Fibers and is described as 15 micron Merino. Best as I can tell, that's Optim, the mechanically stretched merino that makes it incredibly fine and without much crimp. This is a fiber prep that's new to me, and it will definitely be on my list of things to do more with and to bring into the shop. I could spin this into a fine singles in my sleep, my definite 'in the groove' spinning!

I have to say that this is the stretchiest merino I've ever spun, unbelievably soft and the drafting is smooth and effortless. Colors are different... on the wild side!, so I can't wait to see how it works up. Here are my singles on the bobbin -

I haven't decided yet if this will be a 2-ply or a navaho-plied yarn. I think I will use it to knit a shawl. I haven't used by handspun to make a knitted shawl in quite some time, so this will be fun. Now to decide on the pattern... oh, maybe I should wait to know how much yarn I am going to have, huh?

How to Cook an Egg!

2009-12-23T18:57:00.000-06:00

I know... this doesn't sound like a fiber obsession, and it's not. But believe me, I do get hungry during the day at the shop and sometimes have to forage with cold cereal or other similar treats. So today was one where I had a really fun, cooking learning that I just had to share.

I had some fresh eggs in the fridge left over from when John (DH) made hard boiled eggs for our party and had some cheese slices that I sometimes enjoy with crackers. And suddenly it occurred to me that I could try having a hot/warm breakfast for a change.

I look around and find my holiday coffee mug, break 2 eggs into it that I lightly beat with my trusty plastic fork, 2 slices of cheese slices broken into pieces and there it goes into the microwave on the baked potato cycle. Phone rang... on my return, 2-3 minutes later, I had a souffle... I mean, REALLY, puffed eggs with cheese coming up to the top of the mug.

Out it came, light and delicious! Who knew?? This could be the start of something wonderful for breakfast on a regular basis.

When it all comes together and other pastimes

2009-12-22T21:18:00.000-06:00

I had this lovely alpaca sox yarn, kettle dyed I think, in reds, that I had snagged during a little road trip to Woolie Ewe in Plano with a couple gal pals a few months back. I decided this would make a lovely woven scarf. I had in mind that I would use a much thinner bamboo yarn for the weft, a combo I had used many times before.

Once the alpaca was on the loom, though, the bamboo seemed oh so thin and I wanted to try something different. Lo and behold, I had a skein of Malabrigo socks yarn in the colorway Archangel from the shop (Yarnorama) in my stash. Love, love, love!! This was an 8H twill blocks pattern, and the Malabrigo was in just the right colors to show this off with the red alpaca.

Weaving was a dream... and then I came short of the Malabrigo sock yarn. I called my friend who had a skein that she was willing to trade out for the cause. But when I saw it, it was different... different enough that it would have shown miserably and I just didn't want to unweave. So I rechecked and found that there was enough for a 'just right' neck scarf. That was the end of that! I'm thrilled with the results, as the hand of this is just so squishy wonderful and the colors have so much depth and interest.

What else could be so fun to work on, you say? Well, I've started spinning some Blue Moon Socks that Rock handpainted 15micron merino I got at SOAR... it's in greens, purples, blues, browns... omg, it's like sitting in a vineyard at grape harvest season! more pics with that tomorrow!

Weaving on the Emilia

2009-12-20T22:48:00.000-06:00

During the shop (Yarnorama)'s holiday party, we set some new fiber goals for 2010. Geesh... 2010! something about those even numbers makes the time passing seem to fly at jet speeds. Anyway, I had done really well at meeting my 2009 goals, which seemed like stretch ones at the time (make friends with my 8H BW loom again, getting comfy spinning tailspun yarn and knitting 3 pair of fine socks). I was really proud of myself, because I also finished 50+ projects over the year, not counting any handspun I had made.

But, for this coming year, I was ready to set some goals that weren't such a stretch, like make a doubleweave blanket, crochet a pair of socks and something else I don't even remember now until someone pointed out that I have bins and bins and bins of handspun created from 1984 forward. What was I going to do with it all? Silly me... I decided then and there that a goal for 2010 would be to all but eliminate that stash of handspun, one way or the other (no, throwing away those beauties is not an option!). No problem, I figured... I counted the skeins, and there are nearly 200. Definitely doable, right?

So on Thursday, I warped up the new little Emilia RH loom for an 11-1/2" width of handspun alpaca, merino, silk, 3yd length for a scarf. This was a newly spun skein from fiber that I acquired at SOAR this year, so it doesn't really count. But then I found a nice skein of cotswold singles spun in maybe 1988 and handpainted earlier this year. It was a nice match and off I went.

Here is the resulting scarf:

I really, really love the crispness that the Cotswold wool gives it and the luxurious softness from the alpaca, silk and merino.

Had almost no takeup or shrinkage, which was unusual but, again, I think this combo of cotswold weft and high percentage of alpaca resulted in this lovely drape.

Joke is on me with this, as I did not even use one whole skein of my cotswold singles (and I have many more of these).

I can see it's going to be a very busy, busy year!!

No time like the present!

2009-12-15T22:15:00.000-06:00

Blogging... I've realized it's time for me to actually do it. I write every single day, about my projects, about life's events, but never as a blog. But it's time... I realize it... so here we go!!

I've been weaving and spinning ALOT lately. I went to SOAR in October and got totally rejuiced with the spinning bug. Then, I got a new Schacht 8H standard loom for my own home space and have found that I just can't keep it naked. So from here on out, I'll talk about what I'm working on and some of the fun, frustrating, exciting, sometimes offbeat projects that make their way to my looms and wheels.

On the loom right now? a scarf in alpaca sox handpaints - reds/oranges for warp, tied up for an 8h block twill. Going to use Malabrigo socks yarn in archangel for weft.

I can't wait! Stay tuned!!!