Don'tcha think? I petted this bamboo roving almost daily since I received it as my March shipment of the Zen String fiber club. I knew what I wanted to do with it as soon as I first saw it, both how I wanted to spin it and what I wanted to knit with it. This is about 800 yards of laceweight singles, with long color shifts. What nice drape it has. Now I'm petting the skein every day. I need to finish another project or two before I get started.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Panda food makes pretty yarn.
Don'tcha think? I petted this bamboo roving almost daily since I received it as my March shipment of the Zen String fiber club. I knew what I wanted to do with it as soon as I first saw it, both how I wanted to spin it and what I wanted to knit with it. This is about 800 yards of laceweight singles, with long color shifts. What nice drape it has. Now I'm petting the skein every day. I need to finish another project or two before I get started.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Coffee Scarf
Back in January, I was shipped some batts called "An Open Window to a New Opportunity" for my Flawful Fibers club membership. We've made some pretty big changes starting in January, starting with me getting out of a very bad (for me) job, my husband finding a great job in a new town, and us getting the heck outta Dodge, er, Dallas.
So I had some special feelings toward this fiber. And it had a few things to teach me. I spun it up as kind of a thick and thin singles yarn. I wanted it to be more even, but due to the nature of the batts, it just wasn't possible. Sometimes you have to give up a little control. Then I began to stress about what to knit with it. I cast on for a project, but it just wasn't working. I finally ripped it and tried a crochet pattern, and it worked. If at first you don't succeed, don't be afraid to try something completely different.
The pattern is Tea Scarf by pixeldiva, but I was drinking coffee when I finished mine, so it's a coffee scarf.
I made it a little longer because I had a little more yarn to use up, and use it up I did. This is all that's left:
See that other thing in the picture? The mouse? It's attached to (well, wirelessly attached to) a shiny new Mac that uploads my large photo files in the blink of an eye and lets me edit them on its big shiny screen. Since I don't have to sit around waiting 15 minutes for iPhoto to load anymore, y'all can probably expect more frequent posting. After this month, anyway. I'm going to be busy doing some home improvements and preparing for another move over the next few weeks.
So I had some special feelings toward this fiber. And it had a few things to teach me. I spun it up as kind of a thick and thin singles yarn. I wanted it to be more even, but due to the nature of the batts, it just wasn't possible. Sometimes you have to give up a little control. Then I began to stress about what to knit with it. I cast on for a project, but it just wasn't working. I finally ripped it and tried a crochet pattern, and it worked. If at first you don't succeed, don't be afraid to try something completely different.
The pattern is Tea Scarf by pixeldiva, but I was drinking coffee when I finished mine, so it's a coffee scarf.
I made it a little longer because I had a little more yarn to use up, and use it up I did. This is all that's left:
See that other thing in the picture? The mouse? It's attached to (well, wirelessly attached to) a shiny new Mac that uploads my large photo files in the blink of an eye and lets me edit them on its big shiny screen. Since I don't have to sit around waiting 15 minutes for iPhoto to load anymore, y'all can probably expect more frequent posting. After this month, anyway. I'm going to be busy doing some home improvements and preparing for another move over the next few weeks.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Humdinger
Last weekend we made an unscheduled trip back to West Texas, braving thunderstorms threatening golf-ball sized hail and tornadoes during our late-night trek across the state. Thankfully, we made it just fine. I got some knitting done, but I ripped it all out. I think I have to finish a thing or two before anything is going to go right on the needles.
My father-in-law is a bit of a bird watcher and puts out five gallons a week of sugar water in his many hummingbird feeders. They attract quite the crowd.
I stood out on the porch for a long time and got some pretty cool shots.
I also finally got a chance to take a picture of some long-finished knitting. I made this out of Cascade 220 a while ago, but it took me a while to block it and then it sat around for a while before it got photographed. I got it in just under the wire, though, before dropping it off for its recipient.
I made up the pattern myself, and I think I'll make another one out of the llama I spun up. I'll need to make a few modifications, since the original is already on the large side and I think the llama may be heavier than the Cascade 220. And I'll be doing some kind of contrasting softer lining on the second hat.
My father-in-law is a bit of a bird watcher and puts out five gallons a week of sugar water in his many hummingbird feeders. They attract quite the crowd.
I stood out on the porch for a long time and got some pretty cool shots.
I also finally got a chance to take a picture of some long-finished knitting. I made this out of Cascade 220 a while ago, but it took me a while to block it and then it sat around for a while before it got photographed. I got it in just under the wire, though, before dropping it off for its recipient.
I made up the pattern myself, and I think I'll make another one out of the llama I spun up. I'll need to make a few modifications, since the original is already on the large side and I think the llama may be heavier than the Cascade 220. And I'll be doing some kind of contrasting softer lining on the second hat.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
More spinning!
Are y'all getting tired of this yet? Because I'm not. And I haven't much else to show you. I've started a new lace project, and it's coming along, but it doesn't look like much and I've got it all bunched up on a 24" needle, so I can't really spread it out and show you. No nupps on this one, but it is Estonian lace and uses a lot of the same k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 in the same stitch maneuvers. And, I gotta tell ya, I don't know if it's that or the crocheting of dishcloths or both, but my right shoulder is really taking a beating. So every day I tell myself no crochet or lace, and every day I sit down and think, "well, just a little," and then the next morning I wake up and can't turn my head to the right and swear I'll take the day off. But spinning still doesn't hurt, so that's a good thing.
Here's the first fiber to come off the new wheel. It's the llama that I purchased at the fiber fest. In retrospect, I should have started with a more familiar fiber on the new wheel, but what's done is done. I'm not entirely happy with it, and I don't know whether it's the fiber or my growing pains. All I know is it's not an airy woolen-spun and it's not a smooth worsted-spun and it just feels kind of heavy and lifeless. DH still likes it, though, and still wants a hat. I suspect it will look a lot better when it's knit up.
It's a three-ply and I should have just about enough for a hat. I got myself in one of those awkward positions when I was plying where the wheel just wouldn't take up, so I'd pull out more singles and let the twist flow up, adjust the tension and try again, and still, no take up. I was completely tangled up in yarn before I realized that the drive band wasn't over the bobbin. (Doh!) I don't know how it happened, but I think it means that spinning four ounces of fiber and trying to ply it is perhaps a little more than I can handle in one day.
For my second try, I chose some BFL I had purchased from AllSpunUp on Etsy (I like how she doesn't name her colorways). I think this was still the day of the wheel's arrival and my husband and I had gone out for dinner and margaritas and we came home and I was all, "My spinning wheel! Let me show you it!" So I pulled out the fiber and split it in half and spun a little bit for him. I chose the high speed whorl to see what it would do. Then later I was kind of stuck with that decision.
I decided to do the fractal thing and spun the one bobbin I had started from the end and split the other half several ways and spun them on the other bobbin. Because of the way the yarn was dyed, though, I didn't end up with a whole lot of solid-color portions. You can't tell in the skein, but the beginning is mostly green and the end is mostly the red/rose colors. I could use it for socks, but they'd be fraternal in the extreme.
I have about 520 yards of 22-wpi 2-ply. I'd call that a light fingering weight. I'm not entirely sure what I'll do with it just yet. I'm tempted to make an EZ garter stitch moebius, but I kind of also want to branch out from scarves, hats, and socks for my handspun. Any other ideas? There's not much on Ravelry for 500 yards of light fingering that isn't socks.
The ply twist might be a little funky on this as well, because about the time I was halfway through plying, I found (gasp! horror!) dirty footprints on my treadles. The Schacht is oil finished, not varnished, and my bare feet were leaving some grime behind. I cleaned it off and switched to a socks-for-spinning policy, but the ones I chose were slippery on the treadles and it was a completely different feel.
On the wheel is some bamboo from my Zen String fiber club. I'm spinning laceweight singles straight from the roving for really long color shifts, and I think I'll make a Montego Bay Scarf with it.
Here's the first fiber to come off the new wheel. It's the llama that I purchased at the fiber fest. In retrospect, I should have started with a more familiar fiber on the new wheel, but what's done is done. I'm not entirely happy with it, and I don't know whether it's the fiber or my growing pains. All I know is it's not an airy woolen-spun and it's not a smooth worsted-spun and it just feels kind of heavy and lifeless. DH still likes it, though, and still wants a hat. I suspect it will look a lot better when it's knit up.
It's a three-ply and I should have just about enough for a hat. I got myself in one of those awkward positions when I was plying where the wheel just wouldn't take up, so I'd pull out more singles and let the twist flow up, adjust the tension and try again, and still, no take up. I was completely tangled up in yarn before I realized that the drive band wasn't over the bobbin. (Doh!) I don't know how it happened, but I think it means that spinning four ounces of fiber and trying to ply it is perhaps a little more than I can handle in one day.
For my second try, I chose some BFL I had purchased from AllSpunUp on Etsy (I like how she doesn't name her colorways). I think this was still the day of the wheel's arrival and my husband and I had gone out for dinner and margaritas and we came home and I was all, "My spinning wheel! Let me show you it!" So I pulled out the fiber and split it in half and spun a little bit for him. I chose the high speed whorl to see what it would do. Then later I was kind of stuck with that decision.
I decided to do the fractal thing and spun the one bobbin I had started from the end and split the other half several ways and spun them on the other bobbin. Because of the way the yarn was dyed, though, I didn't end up with a whole lot of solid-color portions. You can't tell in the skein, but the beginning is mostly green and the end is mostly the red/rose colors. I could use it for socks, but they'd be fraternal in the extreme.
I have about 520 yards of 22-wpi 2-ply. I'd call that a light fingering weight. I'm not entirely sure what I'll do with it just yet. I'm tempted to make an EZ garter stitch moebius, but I kind of also want to branch out from scarves, hats, and socks for my handspun. Any other ideas? There's not much on Ravelry for 500 yards of light fingering that isn't socks.
The ply twist might be a little funky on this as well, because about the time I was halfway through plying, I found (gasp! horror!) dirty footprints on my treadles. The Schacht is oil finished, not varnished, and my bare feet were leaving some grime behind. I cleaned it off and switched to a socks-for-spinning policy, but the ones I chose were slippery on the treadles and it was a completely different feel.
On the wheel is some bamboo from my Zen String fiber club. I'm spinning laceweight singles straight from the roving for really long color shifts, and I think I'll make a Montego Bay Scarf with it.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Lily of the Valley still isn't done.
In fact, this morning I shoved it in the storage ottoman. I don't want to look at it for a while. The thing is so huge, I'm not going to be able to block it on our queen-size bed, and seemingly no closer to completion after several days' work than the last time I showed you. So I'm giving myself and the huge knot in my back a break from all the nupps. We're closing on a house May 1 and doing some painting and improvements to move in June 1 or so, so I think I'll try to finish it sometime in there so I can block it in the empty house. And then we can drape it over the roof and use it for insulation or something.
Luckily, it has not killed my lace mojo. Last Monday, I decided I couldn't stand it any more and printed out a pattern and cast on with my handspun laceweight. It was so refreshing to start at the top of a triangular shawl and increase four stitches every two rows and see quick progress rather than start on one short side and decrease one stitch every two rows. So I'd work a repeat of Lily of the Valley and then a few rows of the new shawl.
Before long I was at the good part, and started working on the new shawl full time. [Does it mean I'm crazy if I still think nupps are the good part?] Anyway, I cast off on Saturday and by Sunday morning it was blocked and ready for a photo shoot.
Spring Things Shawl by Susan Lawrence
2 oz. of my my handspun laceweight yarn (1134 yds/4 oz, 42 wpi, 2-ply) from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club - Think Spring South African Fine (February '08)
US5 KP Harmony needles
Ravelry project page
I still can't believe I made that out of a ball of wool.
Luckily, it has not killed my lace mojo. Last Monday, I decided I couldn't stand it any more and printed out a pattern and cast on with my handspun laceweight. It was so refreshing to start at the top of a triangular shawl and increase four stitches every two rows and see quick progress rather than start on one short side and decrease one stitch every two rows. So I'd work a repeat of Lily of the Valley and then a few rows of the new shawl.
Before long I was at the good part, and started working on the new shawl full time. [Does it mean I'm crazy if I still think nupps are the good part?] Anyway, I cast off on Saturday and by Sunday morning it was blocked and ready for a photo shoot.
Spring Things Shawl by Susan Lawrence
2 oz. of my my handspun laceweight yarn (1134 yds/4 oz, 42 wpi, 2-ply) from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club - Think Spring South African Fine (February '08)
US5 KP Harmony needles
Ravelry project page
I still can't believe I made that out of a ball of wool.
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