A little bit of this and that

My Thanksgiving consisted mostly of knitting in front of the computer I was using like a tv. Did I mention how much I love Parenthood?  I like the characters, the amazing cast, the story line - I'm pretty much all about the Bravermans these days.  A friend told me about it and I started watching on Netflix from the beginning.  I am completely caught up now thanks to hulu, lots of knitting, and plenty of alone time.

I managed to do a little spinning too.

The spindle on the right has been Navajo plied into 88 yards of this.

I finished the second handspun/commercial yarn cowl.  Shorter than the first version, but equally cozy.

Here's a close up.

Chicky and a chicken doing some model work on the cowl.  (The chicken is a natural, isn't she?)

Here's a close up of the cowl without a chicken in the way.

I've also been knitting and felting small bags.  Here's the one listed on Etsy and I'm off to take pictures of the second.  They're turning out well - it's hard to list them.  I keep thinking they would make great gifts.

I have a freaky story of how I burned myself last night, but I'll save that for another day.  Today is all about the wool!

Running the gauntlet

The gauntlets are finished. Here they are, modeled by the recipient. First we have the back of said mitts.



Then the front, less seen, side.



And finally, full on "Oh!"



She likes them, I love them. We're happy.

There's still daily spinning. Here is some blue three ply - I'm digging the way the blues look all cozied up side by side.



And yesterday's spinning, that is today's plying project (one bobbin is done and having a bath as I type).



If the temperature stays lovely, and the neighbors don't burn any plastic today, I may head out to the patio for my spinning stint. The cooler temperatures are having a lovely effect on my sleeping ability and my overall disposition. Very nice.

Hand spinning

Now that all the yarn I have is dyed for Cozy, it's time to concentrate on spinning. On Sunday I dug an old roving I dyed (and didn't sell) and started spinning. Instead of filling two bobbins and plying them together for a barber pole effect, I decided to Navajo ply to try and keep the variegated colors more consistent. Before spinning, I divided the roving in half (cross-wise) so one gauntlet will have more blue than the other, but this is a girl that likes to wear different color socks so I don't think we'll have an issue. I was so pleased with the results I didn't even wash the skein before using it!

Chicky has been "borrowing" my mohair gauntlets for two winters. (Maybe it's time she has some of her own?) The other mitt is 3/4 done. I'll post a picture with a Chicky inside them when they're finished!





I've spun two bobbins of blue/purple roving and am letting them rest before Navajo plying them as well. I know it's not a true ply, but it's more efficient then traditional plying for me since I only have a few bobbins. And I don't have to be as methodical about spinning the rovings in the same direction to get the results I'd like. Sometimes the easy way is just fine!

Wheel's on Fire

Le Tour de Fleece has been inspiring! I finished Colorshow a couple days ago. It is spun thick/thin and it came out to 4 1/8 ounces, 166 yards, 11 WPI (average). I found it in my stash that I dyed a while ago. I'm fairly certain it's Falklands wool. I am not a novelty yarn kind of person, fluff, glitz, pom-poms, and ladders do nothing for me. So, it was kind of odd that I decided to ply my next spinning Monarch corriedale from http://pigeonroofstudios.etsy.com with gold thread. My first skein didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, I was trying desperately not to over-spin the single (I didn't), but when it came time to ply with the S-twist it fell apart occasionally. The second skein I ran through the wheel an extra time to make sure there was enough Z-twist in it before plying. I don't have the stats for skein two yet because it's still drying, but here's a picture. I took some of my superfine superwash merino (Spring Fling) out of the Etsy shop to spin. It is smooth, fluffy, and glides quickly onto the bobbin. Almost done with the first half of the top, and have had to push myself to walk past the wheel to clean and do laundry. Some dyeing happened this morning. I'm in the superwash corriedale right now. They're baking in the back yard sun - 86 degrees and in a black plastic bag should put the temperature up to a reasonable temp for setting the dye. I love opening up dyed wool packets when they're done - it's like gifts!

Do I have any idea how lucky I am?

Hell yea! I got a package today from Sarah! It included French lavender soap, the beautiful Mountainscape in superwash corriedale



Cheerful Ember, also in superwash corriedale,



and a sample of Squoosh in superwash merino



I haven't been knitting so much, and now I doubt I will for another few days! Here is the lovely, cabled Broken Yolks. It came out to 195 yards (would have been 390 as a two-ply), 14 WPI. I love it!



And up close.



Betcha' can't guess what I'm doin' tonight!

Weekend fun, fiber swap, and spinning

It's been quite a week. It started off at the beach (Wrightsville) with a little walking around and photography in Wilmington. There are old steamboat style houses, along with all manner of Victorian, and just some grand old houses. Almost every house down town has a plaque on the side declaring the year, style, and which person of importance formerly inhabited it. This tree is grafted and has two different flowers on it, I have no idea what they are, but they're lovely. (You can click on it to make it bigger.)



This house was for sale so there was some window peeping. Glancing up, here is some gorgeous design.



That gives way to some amazing cast iron around the porch itself.



Right next door is a Bed and Breakfast with garden. I can only imagine how enjoyable it will be when it's actually blooming.



Back here on the home front, Morgan's hand seems to be healing nicely. He has his check up tomorrow and another two weeks in the splint.



And some happiness in the fibery world, Sarah, and I are swappin' some fiber! My package arrived today:



The roving is superwash merino called Broken Yolks (LOVE IT!) and the yarn is her scrumptious handspun, Secret Garden. Plus, some Hershey Kisses and Peeps! The kids had no idea candy and fiber even existed in the same universe. They said that Sarah can come and stay at our house anytime.

Gratuitous Fiber shots ahead, avert the eyes of the young:



Broken Yolks up close and personal.



And Secret Garden. I'm giving some serious thought to what this should be knit into. The blues and purples are fabulous together. Can't wait!

In order to spin Broken Yolks, I have to ply some more random spun yarn. I've got one skein soaking and the other is on the wheel. Can I just tell you how much I love my tensioned Lazy Kate? Makes the whole thing so much easier, I can't believe I waited so long to buy it. I tried doing it myself on my old Kate and it didn't work out so well. Those Ashford people know what they're doing!

Dyeing, knitting, and spinning

I've got four more dry rovings - yea! More super soft, superwash corriedale! OK, so some of the colors I'm not so taken with, they look different wet and dry, so sometimes I'm not exactly sure how they'll turn out. "Flashback" I find the boldest. I still think the colors would be fabulous spun - not too overpowering, and great combos plied.



This is "Ruby" and is by far the most conservative color scheme I've ever done!



Mr Mustard. The yellow is actually more mustardy than pictured (that color is giving me fits trying to get it accurately).



Last is"Pam" - my favorite. If no one on Etsy wants it, I'll spin it up into something lovely for me!



I'm double knitting up some samples of the yarn I've been dyeing, so people can have an idea what the pattern will look like. That's the kind of thing I like to know when I'm looking at hand-painted yarns. Double knitting will imitate knitting in the round (I've only cast on 40 sts instead of the 58-62 I usually do for socks). It should give a nice idea of what will happen with color in the round.

There's more random spinning on the Ashford, but I'm contemplating cutting out one of the rovings. I hate "wasting" roving, but this one (I bought it) is pretty compacted and frustrating. I'm thinking of saving it for Chicky to spin, she tends to spin thicker and it won't bother her in the least, and she'll love the colors!

Morgan's finger is healing well. It looks a nasty shade of gray and we're de-funking it daily, but whooee! Stench! I'm glad we can take the splint off and clean it, or I think I would faint from the fumes by the time it had to come off. He's being very good natured about the whole thing. He thought it was cool until Day 2 and then he figured out he'd need to do some adjusting to basic daily tasks for a while. I tried to remind him that this was one of those times his stubborn nature should be helpful.

"Where is my mind?"

to quote The Pixies. Multi-tasking seems to result in lots of back-tracking because I tend to forget which task I was off to and start on another. Twice this week I've started the laundry but didn't put the lid down because I was going to make one final pass through the kid's rooms to make sure I had whatever I needed, got sidetracked by some other task only to find laundry that had been well-soaked and drained, but never actually washed. UGH!

The thing I'm having fun with right now is some columbia/dorset blend roving. The first is bright gold, red, purple, and plum. And the second is greens and browns. The idea would be to spin separately and ply together. I've been "studying" my random socks for color combos I adore.







My second pair of random socks are almost half done! I've been neglecting all my other projects for socks and I've been feeling guilty about it. They are just as beautiful as the first pair. I've scored some more fiber scraps from funky carolina! Psych! More fun for me! A co-worker wants me to make her some random spun mittens. So far, I've just kind of laughed to avoid having to take any kind of stand one way or another. Honestly, I don't think I'd even make them for my children (their feet grow too fast)! That sounds incredibly selfish, but since I'm not about almost everything else, I think I get to be about this.

There's some more roving cooking in the pot and I need to do a little more work on the last skein of yarn I did (looks too much like an Easter Egg for my taste), and then it is knit and read after the kids are in bed.

More random spinning!

My new random spun is called "happiness" because it is and I am! Heh. Next time, I'm not using the bright green, I like it mixed in, but no so much with the red. I love it with the blue and blue greens so I think I'll save it for that. In the end, both skeins total 370 yards and are 15 WPI. MORE SOCKS!




Here's a look at the first skein in "cake"form.



And the second.



I am overly tired today, but the parts came for the dryer yesterday and I got home early enough today to have a go at some home appliance repair. I replaced the heating element first and when I hooked it up cold air was still blowing. I decided not to get frustrated (and pissed) unless the new thermostat wasn't the solution either. It was the solution! There is hot air blowing in my dryer! YEA! I haven't been so happy about doing laundry in a long time.

Off to finish making dinner and do more laundry.

I heart mac

I have been a mac owner ever since I bought my first computer (all but my first were used). LONGING, is the word I would use to describe my feelings about this beautiful beastie. I have hoping for the past year my financial plan would allow the purchase - it did! I am typing on it this very minute! The things this computer can do!

I did manage to get some spinning done. Experiment number two in "random" spinning. The skein is still drying so I haven't measured yet. The weight is almost 4 ounces.



I'm in the middle of the second bobbin. I found some color pairings I really liked, so I'm thinking a little less random for the next venture. The rest of the evening will be devoted to more spinning, more iMac exploration (digging .mac and photobooth!), and drinking a Guinness or two. Cheers!

Fiber-luscious weekend

I have been up to my elbows in fiber this weekend. Almost no knitting and all spinning. I managed to finish spinning and plying my scrap bag from funky carolina.



They came out to about 634 yards, 17-18 WPI, and a little over eight ounces. I wish I had kept a better eye on Chicky - she took a lot of the lovely darker blue-green scraps. I love the random spinning and plying.



And a better picture of funky carolina's superwash merino "remand" colorway. This came out to 243 yards and 15 WPI after plying.



I found this picture of the kids when we were at the Outerbanks a few years ago. I wanted to make a card out of it or something, but never got around to it. It's still one of my favorites.



Chicky is in the middle of a tea party with all of her stuffed animals and Cocoa. The animals are all very well behaved and sitting quite proper on the edges of the blanket. Cocoa has a very special "chair"



I'll giver her credit, she is a very mellow guinea pig (other than her short track racing in the middle of the night). Sure, she's nocturnal, but when Chicky's around that pig has no rest during the day and she takes it well.

Waiting...

I made a purchase through Amazon on Saturday am. I wanted to buy it from a local store, but I couldn't get this with it at the same time. Well, it turns out it didn't work out that way though the internet either. According to the shipping predictions (something akin weather predictions), they would both arrive on Wednesday. Yesterday I came home and the lens was waiting by the door (yea!). Imagine my hope that today the camera would be here, too. Nope. I've checked the tracking a gajillion times and the camera is still in Greensboro. For those of us that live in Hillsborough, that is where our mail goes, so I was hopeful that if it arrived in Greensboro around 1 pm the much anticipated camera would be here this afternoon. It is still in Greensboro. Sigh. I wait very poorly.

The spinning is going well. I'm finally spinning up my "scrappy, happy love" from funky carolina. The bag weighed 8+ ounces, but I let Chicky spin some, and as I didn't watch her closely enough, she took a lot more than I had anticipated. I'm hoping it will end up being around 6 ounces in the end.



One bobbin from the Ashford is full, and I've started on the second. This yarn will be a two-ply because I want all the random spun colors to pair willy-nilly! I'm sure this weekend my hobbies will be competing for my attention. I may need to "schedule" my spinning, knitting, and photography.

Wish me luck!

Holy shit...

you really can find anything on the internet! Last Friday, before my sons went to their dad's house they told me they wanted to be Jawas for Halloween. They showed me a picture from a Star Wars library book. It was barely helpful. Today, after a trip to the fabric store and a guess-timation that six and a half yards would get me two costumes I was at a loss for how to proceed. After some grumbling I thought I would google it and dudes here's a website
jawa robe pattern. Google and ye shall find! After that I sewed two costumes in less than two hours. They are not fabulous, but since I had no idea what I was getting into, I am pleased.

I am knitting like a house on fire over here! I've solved my co-worker holiday gift giving dilemma and am feeling pretty confident that I will have the time and energy to accomplish my goals. I'm behind on my socks (three pair - half done - no, not SSS, just startitis for other projects). Those projcts are: the frogged first smoke ring and am doing it in the Old Shale pattern (a.k.a. feather and fan) and another pair of socks to be gifted.

Oh, and there is more spinning in the works. Some of my fiber from funky carolina is on the Louet bobbin right now...and calling to me... Maybe some pictures tomorrow.

Beautimous fiber

After a week from HELL I am finding solace in the quiet house through cleaning and fibery pursuits. Work had some very sucky moments, my daughter had three very sucky days with me (which, her teacher informs me, are a window into her future being as an adolescent - I'm scared already), and I accidentally burnt rice one night while being distracted by needle felting my Loopy Ewe woolpet and my house still smells like burnt rice. Wah.

In the peaceful world of spinning, I think I've spun about half my sunset batt and have started the second bobbin. I love how the colors have worked out. Plying will be very cool with this one!



My first STR chickabiddy monkey sock is finished! I'm working on the second - YEA!



And the first of Roza's socks is finished as well. This sock is very comfortable, I can see it fast becoming a favorite.



I am continuing my laid back day with a night of more of the same. Hopefully, next week will be better.

Steve Earle and still socks

I realized I have not been effervescent about Steve's new album. I am quite pleased with it. It is good to hear a love song from him about someone he still loves. Most of the time they are, "I love you even though I treated you badly and you're gone." I have the CD with the bonus DVD and let me tell you, that man would be a HANDFUL! I knew he seemed kind of hyper, but now that he is drug, alcohol, AND nicotine free - Holy Hannah! The man barely pauses to breathe. Steve had a radio show called The Revolution Starts... Now on Air America for a while. His show had other musicians coming on and sharing their favorite music; problem was Steve would barely let them get a word in edgewise. I haven't heard the new show, so I don't know if his interviewing skills have improved (and I still adore him even if they haven't).

I was a little disappointed in the drum loops and the lack of the Dukes on the album. The Dukes rock so hard live. My favorite songs right now are: Tennessee Blues, Down Here Below, City of Immigrants, Oxycontin Blues, Red is the Color, and Pete's Hammer. Almost all of them. Next week it will be the other songs not on the list this week.

Intercession break is over so the children are back in school - yea! - and happy to be there. The great thing about their charter school is that, in most cases, their only homework is reading for thirty minutes a night. Chicky has spelling every week, but that is so doable. I am worried about next year for the boys, I need to go out and start scoping out the middle school situation. Scary. I can't believe they are so freakin' old already.

My love for monkey socks is extreme. I got four rounds of the pattern off yesterday, and am waiting for the kids to go to bed so I can work on them some more.



Roza's socks by Grumperina are coming along nicely. I love Cherry Tree Hill yarn, it is so sheeny, soft, and bouncy. Of course, they will look better when blocked, but they have grown on me. Now I want to do her Odessa hat next.




I'm almost finished with Nancy Bush's Welsh Country Stockings! Right now, they are a little large, so I might try felting them a wee bit if blocking doesn't help the situation.

Chicky is spinning on her drop spindle. She's using some funky carolina scrappy love to spin, and hopefully knit a sweater for one of her dolls. I would've bet good money she would have chosen all the pinks. I was dead wrong. She's going for the greens. All. of. them. It's so hard to share.



She's pretty darn cute though.