HatboxRose

Striped Socks

2012-01-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

Self striping sock yarn is so much fun to knit, all the work of changing yarn is gone and it's fun to watch it knit up. I got this yarn from a destash on Ravelry, it's Rainy Day and Wooly Dogs Gothsocks in Green Eyed Monster. I used black Wollmeise Twin (merino/nylon) for the cuffs/heels/toes for contrast. The pattern is the same one I used for my Confetti socks, a simple cable down the outside of the leg. These were made in a size 11 which meant endless knitting, it was a long way from heel to toe. These fit perfectly and the recipient is very happy with them.

Victorian Candy Cane Slouchy Hat

2011-12-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

Another hat for the season, this time for me. I spun a three ply yarn using JulieSpins Alpaca/Merino/Silk fiber in the December Dusk colorway for two of the plies, and one ply from JulieSpins AMS Rose of Sharon colorway (bottom left bobbin). I knit it into a slouchy hat from a free pattern on Ravelry. I like the way it turned out. I liked the singles very much, the resulting three ply not as much but the hat worked well with the yarn. The jury is out on whether I like Alpaca or not. I'm not allergic to it, but I'm aware of it flying in the air as I spin and equate it to the same feeling when I'm brushing the cats with their hair in the air. I prefer all wool and then wool/silk blends for spinning, I just like the spring that wool has in it. This yarn with the alpaca and silk fibers grew quite a bit when wet, so I threw the hat in the dryer to tighten it up, no felting at all. This hat is really cute with the i-cord.

Tweedy Goodness!

2011-12-16T10:35:00.002-05:00

A Jacque Cousteau hat knitted out of Southern Cross Fibre November batt selection is for Blaine's Christmas present. He loves rustic wools and the tweed in this is perfect for him, plus the pattern is named after a sailor. The fiber is Corriedale wool with flax and tweed accents and was fun to spin, although it was difficult to let the tweed slubs go by, I'm so used to pulling out slubs from my fiber as I'm spinning. This was a fast spin and a quick knit, I really enjoyed this project.

The CPW Grand Dames Meet Up 2011

2011-12-12T16:51:00.001-05:00

I went to a meet up Saturday to spin with other CPW (Canadian Production Wheel) owners. We meet at the Athens, NY Cultural Center. There were six of us with different wheel: Bisson, Lawrence, Paradis, and Vezina wheels. Seeing the different wheels with tensioning that is different from my wheel was interesting. My wheel is 27 inches in diameter and most of the others were 30 inches, that 3 inch difference is huge! The owners are all on Ravelry and were a nice group of women. Tina, RowsRed on Rav, organized the gathering, she lives close by and has organized other spinning/knitting/CPW get togethers, it's something she enjoys. We all brought along something edible to share with each other. The time was from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Susan took some great pics and posted them in the CPW group on Ravelry.

There was spinning, chatting and the enjoyment of being with other spinners and even better, other CPW spinners. I picked up from Jenny how to put my non-treadling foot up on the wheel table, beside the MOA and under the drive band as a great place to rest it and change leg positons. It was one of those things that needed to be seen.

Using a random number, Tina gave away two bags of Romney locks she had dyed, they were lovely and I was lucky enough to win some. We were invited to a bar in Coxsackie for some good bar food. Four of us went and Tina picked up her husband to go along with us. Hot chicken wings with blue cheese, fresh celery and carrots, crinkled sweet potato fries and huge sweet onions rings were awesome. Valerie and I split a dark beer flight, quite good, but we both agreed the smoky one was a bit much. It was nice to relax and wave to Santa as he went by riding on a fire truck. One and half hours down the Thruway and I was home again. I definitely want to do this again.

Journey Wheel

2011-11-22T00:34:00.001-05:00

The Bosworth's Journey Wheel Booth is the first one we visit at the NY Sheep and Wool in Rhinebeck every year. I love their spindles, they are my favorites with beautiful woods, a great design and they spin forever. I've always admired the charkas they make and the Journey Wheel, the craftsmanship is superb.

I attended a spinning retreat six years ago and sat next to a lovely woman who owned one of the JW's and I've wanted one ever since. New, they are very expensive and there is currently a two year waiting list for them, so I never considered getting one. Then Ravelry happened and besides the great forums, there is a marketplace/swap area where all things are sold, including wheels. I almost bought one two years ago, I had answered the ad first and then decided it wasn't the time to do it. I have regretted that decision ever since until today.

Today, I got a new-to-me Journey Wheel from an eBay seller. A member of the Journey Wheel group on Ravelry spotted an ad on eBay that had a buy-it-now price and no bids and posted the link to it in the group. I clicked on the the link to find many photos of a wheel made in 2000, in perfect condition with the exception of a stain along one of the joins at the back of the wheel. I thought I would bid and let things take their course, if I got it, great, if I was outbid, well, that was the way it was meant to be. Then I came to my senses and hit the buy-it-now button. I have not seen one of these at this price in a long time, most used ones are going close to the new prices because of the long wait list.

After communicating with the seller, I found out she is/was the original owner and had never used it. She told me she was going to the UPS store to have it packed and would email the tracking number. She had listed the shipping cost at $20. I posted about my wheel in the Ravelry Journey Group. Sheila Bosworth posted that she was concerned about the low shipping quote and posted how to safely pack a Journey Wheel for shipping. I copied it and emailed the seller with this information. The seller emailed me the tracking number for UPS 3 Day Select shipping and she had packed it herself instead of them. I was worried, what condition was it going to arrive in?

The box was delivered this afternoon and the seller had not followed the Bosworth's directions. She packed the wheel in a large box with empty boxes to take up space, and get ready for this: she had put 73 skeins of yarn packed all around it as packaging. The seller said she was going to donate the yarn and I could do whatever I wanted to with it. The wheel arrived in perfect shape swaddled in yarn. I laughed so much once I figured out how she had packed it.

The wheel was unpacked and put through it's paces. I had a few questions, even with the instruction sheets the seller had sent. I called and left a message with the Bosworths. Jonathan called back a bit later and answered all my questions and more. He is such a kind and knowledgeable man, I asked everything I could think of. He told me to call back if I had any other questions. This is true customer service when a second-tier buyer is treated like a new customer.

The design is ingenious and the workmanship is superb, it is cherry and maple and beautiful. It folds in half and has a leather strap to carry it with, a portable spinning wheel. I'm so happy I was able to get one of these wheels at a good price. My Christmas came early this year, there's nothing else I want, besides maybe a padded cover and an extra bobbin or two. ;-)

This looks promising, it's marked fragile on the box

It's packed with yarn, lots of yarn!

Wheel wrapped in plastic and all 73 skeins of yarn used for packaging.

My Journey Wheel, single treadle set up in double drive

JW folded up, front view 18 inches

Side view with leather strap

Ribbon Candy Cardigan

2011-11-17T15:46:00.001-05:00

Our Florida girl is coming to visit the weekend after Thanksgiving and I grabbed an opportunity to knit her something woolly to keep her warm while she is here. Layla runs hot, as most toddlers do, so I went with a cardigan that can be unbuttoned if she gets too warm. The yarn is from Abi Grasso's Etsy store. It's superwash worsted weight merino in a colorway called Ribbon Candy. I picked up some Plymouth Select Merino, also superwash, from the Cornwall Yarn Shop to go with it. I thought I might run out of yarn with just two skeins and decided the ribbing and button bands would look better knit with the solid white and the cast off using the Ribbon Candy. The Plymouth yarn has a slightly tighter twist, but the color matched perfectly. The pattern is a Child's Neck Down Cardigan by Diane Soucy, available on Patternfish as a download. I opted for button bands and the crew collar. The pattern also has instructions for a zipper closing, a hood, or a collar and includes sizes 2-4, 6-8 and 10-12. Great instructions and a fast knit with worsted weight yarn. This yarn makes a cozy cardigan. I can't wait to see it on her. ♥

Christmas Confetti Socks

2011-11-10T07:38:00.002-05:00

Socks for Christmas are finished! The yarn is from Abi Grasso, knitpurlgurl on Etsy. She hand dyes the yarn to stripe and have a confetti effect. Her shop isn't always stocked, her yarns sell out quickly. She does pre-orders and puts some in stock at different times. She has yarns with Santa faces, ghosts, snowman, watermelon and kiwi patterns that have to be knit at a certain gauge so the image lines up. It's hard for me to imagine much work it must be to dye these yarns. This one is 80/20 wool/nylon in fingering weight, a nice blend for socks. I used a free pattern on Ravelry that has a single cable on the outside of the leg and down the foot and a 6x2 rib so that it stretches and fits well. I enjoyed the yarn and pattern and was happy to see that it was knitting into stripes since I wasn't using the plain stockinette pattern.ETA: My Mom fell in love with these when I showed them to her on our visit during Thanksgiving and I gave them to her. :-)

Birthday Presents and an October Snowstorm

2011-11-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

A freak October snowstorm left us without power for almost forty-eight hours. Snow and trees laden with many leaves make for downed power lines, it was worse than we expected. No major damage, just limbs down for us, but trees and huge broken branches are all over the village. We have a portable Honda generator, so running it for short periods kept the refrigerator cold and gave us the ability to turn the furnace on. Imagine our horror when the generator wouldn't start at first. We made a trip to Home Depot, they were on generator power too, but that allowed us to get a spark plug which got our generator going. Yes, we have an extra now and changed the oil when we got power back.The upside to this was the knitting time I got in, since I couldn't do much else. I finished the fingerless mitts I was working on and decided I could squeeze a hat out in time to mail off the set for a birthday present. I love working with this yarn, so soft and squishy, but after four projects with it, I'm glad it's used up. Well, actually, there are leftovers that enough for one more small project. I tried a new cast on technique and the fingerless mitt construction was unlike anything else I've done. It was a learning process which kept it interesting and distracted me during the power outage. Having power again is wonderful and I won't be taking it for granted anytime soon.

Shetland Fleece 2011

2011-10-25T08:06:00.000-04:00

Back in April I put a deposit down on a Shetland Fleece at Windswept Farms in Michigan. This was a show fleece for competition for the 2011 season. It's a gray colored, 3.5 pound, single coated fleece with four inch locks and has crimp. The show season has now ended and I received this fleece yesterday. There was a note from Mike, the owner, apologizing for shipping out so late but he had added a couple of more shows in the end. He sent along a four ounce bump of Shetland roving for me, they are trying a new mill. He isn't going to reserve show fleeces next year and will sell them after show season. He didn't elaborate, but I'm guessing too many people were wanting to know when their fleece would be shipped. I was one of those people, since I had no idea when the show season ended, I emailed around the time of Rhinebeck thinking the end had to be soon. I was hoping I might still have some good weather to do some of the processing outside and was getting anxious. Sorry Mike.The fleece is beautiful, it is as it was described on their website, very well skirted, low VM and just a gorgeous fleece. I can't wait to get started on this, I love the sheep smell and my hands are soft from the lanolin with the minimal handling of it already.

Updated Post 10/26/11I scoured some locks, keeping their formation in lingerie bags, using Power Scour/hot water and they came out lovely! The washed lock on the left had the tips flicked before washing and the one on the right had the tips flicked to open them, before washing. They are very similar, with the right one (flicked before washing) a little better looking.

Two Day Woven Scarf

2011-10-24T23:21:00.001-04:00

Two more skeins of Sundara ASM in Viredescent were used to weave this scarf. I loved using an aran/worsted weight yarn for weaving, it was easy to finish in a short time with a thicker yarn. I used an 8 dent heddle on my Emilia 13.5 rigid heddle loom. Direct warping makes weaving so simple. I had it warped in an hour and a half and that was after fixing a silly mistake. Twisting the fringe takes more time than I always think it will. The silk makes this yarn unbreakable, scissors are needed to cut it, so it made a great warp and the merino makes it so soft, it's a lovely yarn to work with and wear. I have two more skeins left, and am looking for a hat and fingerless mitten pattern to go with this.

Rhinebeck 2011

2011-10-20T15:04:00.001-04:00

We drove Biggles, the 76 Mini, up to Rhinebeck on Saturday for the New York Sheep and Wool. He's an easy way to get Blaine to go with me, an added incentive. It was a nice autumn day, cool, breezy and with sun and occasional clouds with a smattering of quick rain showers mid day. We saw every booth at least twice, the Seacolors booth three times before I made up my mind to get yarn for a sweater. No chicken pot pie since the vendors decided not to have them this year. We shared a Shepherd's pie instead which was hot and wonderful, a good substitute to look forward to next year.I wore my Rhinebeck sweater and was nice and warm, I had it over a long sleeve knit top. Silk in a yarn truly adds warmth and yet the yarn is lightweight. I bought spindles, yarn and Shetland roving even though I have a Shetland fleece coming to me next week, more on that in my next post. :-)

Left bottom: hand woven berry basket from Wendy JensenLeft top: Natural/brown Shetland Roving from Hudson Valley Sheep and Wool, lovely fiber and vendors!Top Right: Purple/granite yarn from Seacolors by Nan Kennedy for a sweater. She solar dyes her yarn and it's beautiful knitted upBottom Right: Bosworth Special Spindle/Abby Batt,Bottom Middle: A Hatchtown Farm spindle

Close up of my Bosworth Special Spindle/Batt. I picked this up at their booth, it was in a bag waiting for me. The spindle is a 1 ounce midi made of wood from the USS New Hampshire with a Bocote shaft and Abby Franquemont made a Graves Island batt to go with it. The Bosworths' occasionally offer special spindle/batt packages and I was lucky to get in on a second offering of this one. :-)

I found the Hatchtown Farm booth on my way to the Bosworth Booth and loved this spindle. It's .75 ounce with a cherry shaft and a Paduak/White Oak Whorl. I hadn't planned on getting a spindle other than the one waiting for me at the Bosworth's booth, so I continued on. I came back 20 minutes later and this was the only small one left, the rest were gone already. I was very fortunate to have gotten this lovely one.

I was looking for a small basket to hang off of Vivienne, my CPW's knob, and came across this one, nice made and reasonably priced for a hand woven basket.

We arrived early before the gates opened and it was nice to see the booths before the crowds filled in later. We left around 1:00 p.m., exhausted and happy. Going through Rhinebeck we decided to get a cup of coffee at Bread Alone. We did not even try to resist the Pumpkin Meringue and Pear Chocolate tarts and shared them with the coffee. They were heavenly, I think we may have to make this part of the Rhinebeck tradition next year.

Rhinebeck 2008 Revisited

2011-10-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

Rhinebeck 2011 was wonderful, tiring, and the cool Autumn weather is perfect for a fiber festival. I came home with yarn, spinning fiber, spindles and enjoyed the day. Putting away and organizing what I bought this year, I came across a kit from Rhinebeck 2008. Why I didn't knit this sooner I don't know, but I cast on and finished it. I purchased the kit at the Carolina Homespun booth, It had a pattern for the hat and 4 skeins of Elemental Affects fingering weight Shetland yarn. The pattern is Mystery Hat by Jeane deCoster and is available from shops that carry the Elemental Affect yarns/kits. I like the rustic yarns, they make a nice sturdy knit fabric. I kept trying to pull out stray cat hairs, only to realize it was the Shetland fiber. I hope to knit the Seacolors yarn I bought this year before 2014. :-D

10 Day Rhinebeck Cardigan

2011-10-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

The first sweater for me is finished. I knit this in ten days using Sundara ASM yarn in the colorway Viridescent. ASM is an Aran weight 50/50 merino silk, it is so soft and drapes beautifully. The pattern is a simple top down raglan style jacket by Diane Soucy, which I made into a cardigan. The pattern has the option for a zipper or button bands and I chose the bands, which was something new for me. The longest part was the tubular bind off on the cardigan bottom, sleeves and bands. It is a tedious technique, but looks nice with 1x1 rib. I altered the collar to ribbing and the bands so they matched the rest of the edges. Knitting top down on a sweater allowed me to try it on as I was knitting so I could tweak as needed to get a good fit. The buttons are by Sourkraut, from NZ who has a shop on Etsy. I have bought spindles from her and saw the buttons and custom ordered a set from her. This sweater fits, feels wonderful and I finished it two days before going to the New York Sheep and Wool in Rhinebeck, one of the premiere fiber events in the country. I honestly wasn't sure whether I could finish in time but all went well with no major mishaps. :-)

Simple Things

2011-10-14T09:13:00.002-04:00

I canned applesauce last week. I haven't canned since we moved from Indiana to New York more than 27 years ago. All the canning supplies were in the basement other than the jar lifter which mysteriously disappeared or more than likely was tossed out for being rusty.The local farm sells seconds, those apples that are misshaped or less than perfect, for half the price. I bought a half bushel of Jona-Golds which made 8 pints of chunky applesauce. I used an apple peeler/corer, put the slices in a large pot with one cup of water, cooked until soft and mashed with a potato masher. After putting the sauce into jars that were hot from the dishwasher's sani-rinse, the next step was putting them into the water bath for 20 minutes. That's it, it couldn't be easier. No sugar was needed since the apples are naturally sweet. The tiny bits of apple chunks make a nice texture. A sprinkle of cinnamon on top when serving is all that is needed. It is amazing how something so simple can be so wonderful when it is homemade.

Man Hat

2011-09-27T14:23:00.000-04:00

Another project from my never ending supply of yarn from my Tour de Fleece 11 spin. It's superwash BFL from Southern Cross Fibre. The pattern is Man Hat, a great utilitarian hat pattern, it's nice and stretchy. It's written for chunky yarn, and this was more sport/DK weight, so I increased the numbers a bit and lengthened the body for a folded rim. I love the subtle handspun striping.

The Beekeeper's Quilt

2011-09-02T14:27:00.006-04:00

Bee bead knitted onto a stitch

I've started spinning for a Rhinebeck sweater, more on that later, but I also started a very satisfying knitting project that will go on for more than a year. It's The Beekeeper's Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits. They are hexagons that are knitted and stuffed with polyfil, or not, and tied at the corners when it's finished. I'm not sure what size I"m going for yet, it could end of being a pillow top or a comforter. It is so satisfying to knit one up and throw it in a bag. Sock yarn weight is used, so I can use up the scraps of sock yarn I have laying around, so it's cleaning up clutter and making room.
There is a KAL on Ravelry, of course, with many knitters joining in. People are making charts for duplicate stitch designs, lace overlays and cables. Huge amounts of creativity are being put into these, with changes to the increases/decreases and the bind off, whether it's done on DPN's or circulars down and even a crochet version. They are the perfect on-the-go knitting project to stuff in a pocketbook/purse to make use of waiting times here and there. People are having fun with these little hexipuffs, including me.

"Charlie, come along, if we just ignore them, maybe they will quit following us!"

Six puffs are hidden among the locks of the lady by the waterfall

Red Moon in August

2011-08-17T22:08:00.005-04:00

I joined a Pamuya KAL on Ravelry with the Wollmeise group. Claudia at Wollmeise is on vacation for the month and KALs of every type were planned to use the yarn every one acquires, a novel idea. ;-)
I chose Jultomte in 100% merino and an unnamed colorway that matched it. The pattern uses more than the stated amount needed by most people, so two skeins are needed. I had 1 gram of the Jultomte left over, using it for everything but the last 10 rows when I switched over to the unnamed or versuch colorway and then did the bind off with the Jultomte. The pattern changes up every few rows, so it's never boring. It has a wave pattern with dropped stitches which was fun and scary at the same time. Lace was challenging for me this time more than usual, I found myself waking up holding the needles mid-row on the purl back rows. Too much concentration for these last days of summer and rows that were getting much too long, so I'm planning to do more spinning and weaving next.

Pamuya means water moon in Hopi, I felt a red moon theme would be just the thing for a shawl knit in August when the red moon occurs.

Edit: We visited my parents at the end of August and I brought along a few handmade items and let Mom choose one. This is what she chose, she loved the lace and the color! :-)

Woven Scarf

2011-08-10T18:59:00.001-04:00

My Tour de Fleece 2011 yarn was used as warp and weft on my rigid heddle loom to weave a scarf. I used around 600 yards, the scarf is 11 inches wide and 76 inches long. I learned a lot about my spinning from my weaving. I'm having a great summer.

Tour de Fleece 2011 Finish Line

2011-07-24T21:23:00.002-04:00

TDF 11 was wonderful for me. I bonded with my CPW and spun on her exclusively. I ended up with 1,013 yards of chain plyed yarn, fingering weight from 425g of BFL fiber. I was in Team Russian Underpants, probably my most favorite, HY/SCF/SE the most beautiful yarn was in this group, and Team CPAAG the group I hang out with on Ravelry. So many things I learned from other spinner's posts and my own spinning. I learned to chain ply and got the rhythm down.

I found none of my lazy kates fit my CPW bobbins, their inner diameter was smaller. Blaine made me a Swearie box, we saw one on a website, modified a garden box template and made it from Poplar wood and painted it with Milk Paint. That was an adventure all on it's own.

The hot weather at the end made it difficult to spin except in the early mornings but I stayed motivated. I love taking pictures and there is a daily thread so it was a challenge just to keep it interesting since I was spinning the same fiber every day, just more of it.

All in all, the best TDF ever for me, I met my goal of spinning 16 ounces of fiber instead of the usual 4 ounce braids. I wound the skeins into cakes and warped my RH loom and started weaving this evening. This yarn is going to make one gorgeous and special scarf. :-)

First Skein for TDF 2011

2011-07-06T16:32:00.001-04:00

My first chain ply, using the first bobbin from TDF. Chain ply is basically doing a crochet loop, like a daisy chain, with the singles to get a three ply yarn. Once I got the rhythm down, it was actually relaxing.
I've been spinning on the second bobbin, but needed a change, so I decided to ply today.

TDF 2011

2011-07-04T13:48:00.002-04:00

93g/3.3oz spun over three days using fauxlags from combed top, a great prep for a CPW, they make for easy spinning. The fiber is from Southern Cross Fibers, BFL in an unnamed colorway from his clearance sale, I have 480g/16.9oz of it to spin

Fauxlags, it took a tray and a half to fill the bobbin.

Spinning outside on the first day of TDF, what a wonderful way to spin!

Spriteling

2011-06-30T19:12:00.003-04:00

Another mystery KAL, but with a different outcome: I finished this one! I have a long, sad history with mystery KAL's: bad patterns, unattractive patterns, a designer who some think never test knit her design, one with colorwork and intarsia that used cotton. I've picked some real winners and yet I was starting to doubt myself, as in maybe it's all me. That has changed now, this lace shawl is beautiful and was fun to knit. Okay, clue 2 had me counting, recounting and putting it away for a couple of months, but I picked it up determined to be successful at least one mystery KAL.

This is Spriteling by Alice Yu also known as Socktopus. The pattern was clear, the design beautiful and the errata very minimal. The yarn is 55% SW BFL and 45% Silk fingering weight, color way Cloudy City by River Poet on Etsy. I used 76 grams out of the 100. The edging is double and single crochet which was new to me, but quite easy to do.

I love this shawl and the fact that I put to rest the idea that Mystery KAL's are not for me. They probably still aren't, but now the fear factor is gone and my confidence is back. :-)

A Wonderful Wheel

2011-06-26T21:03:00.001-04:00

Vivienne is back, I picked her up on the 24th. I forgot how beautiful she was. Fred Hatton repairs and replacement parts are wonderful. He made a new flyer/bobbin/whorl assembly that fits, new leather, new footman, new retain peg and shimmed an upright. She feels solid and everything works the way it should.

So my foray into buying an antique wheel on Craig's List turned out different than I planned. Instead of a wonderful bargain, it turned out to more expensive than I thought, but I did end up with a wonderful wheel. Probably a better wheel than if I got one in better shape that wouldn't have required a trip to a wheelsmith. Fred's knowledge made this a very fine wheel indeed.

She breaks down quite easily: remove the retaining pin, unclip the footman, take the drive band off the wheel and then lift the wheel out of the uprights. I can transport her in my car with no problem in two pieces then. I took her to the Cornwall Library where the Hudson Valley Spinners and Weavers meet monthly. I brought some Corriedale fiber I had carded to practice with. She spins fast, fine and without any hiccups. I am so happy with this wheel.

Fiber to Hat in Three Days

2011-06-23T12:08:00.007-04:00

My Three Day Fiber to Hat. I spun two bobbins on two different days, plyed them yesterday and then knit the hat last night. Dorset is hard to felt, after washing/whacking the skein I threw it in the dryer on permanent press with the towel I used to wrap it in. After knitting, I machine washed and dried the hat. This is the perfect fiber for a husband that will through this in the dryer sooner or later. I would too honestly ;-)

Dorset top from Gnomespun Yarn

Bulky 2 ply 125 yards

Hat

I ♥ Dorset! I'm realizing that a fiber with good crimp is more to my liking, it makes for a good wearing yarn.

Technology and Art

2011-05-27T18:59:00.004-04:00

I got a new iPad2 courtesy of my husband's American Express cards with pre-paid amounts given as awards through work as a thank you and incentive for a job well done. Yes, he does his job so well, he had enough for an iPad2 for me, he has his own original iPad.
There are all sorts of covers for iPads. I wanted one to protect the back from scratches that grit on tables can cause, which produce minute scratches that add up over time. I wanted no added bulk and wanted it to work with the Smart Cover. I found Gelaskins, they make a cover that uses a dry prep, so no residue when it's taken off. It is a 3M product and comes in two pieces for the front and back. The front covers the edge frame. cutouts are there for speakers, home button etc. They have a lot of artwork to choose from and will use artwork customers provide if wanted. I picked a stock one and placed an order. They sent an email with the artwork attached for me to use. I thought what would I do with this? Put it on my laptop? No, I would use it as wallpaper on the iPad and scroll it until it matched the cover on the front frame. Yes, indeeed, a lightbulb moment. :-) I love technology, the chip/geek kind and the artful thought out kind.

front:

Back:

Almost

2011-04-30T14:36:00.009-04:00

Vivienne made yarn on Thursday. After a good cleaning, I put on the drive band correctly, gave her a good oiling and was soon spinning. It was amazing, her speed was incredible. On Friday I found out that even though we made yarn together, it wasn't the way it should be.

There was a chip on her bobbin and whorl and I was concerned they might become a problem later. Through Ravelry I was given a link for a CPW thread hook that was styled like the maidens. Fred Hatton was the maker with a shop on Etsy. The hooks were quite nice, but upon reading about the maker, I found he made replacement bobbins. Now I was excited, I had a source! I contacted him about more bobbins, and then about possibly a new whorl. I found out he repairs wheels. Finally I realized he lives an hour and fifteen minutes from me. I ended up taking Vivienne to Fred on Friday. I didn't want to mail my flyer assembly for fear of it getting lost. This was one of the few times where being overly cautious helped me.

Fred had not seen a slider in person and has wanted to. We started discussing the bobbin/whorl repair and he was concerned the flyer was so hard to get off. I took it off for him and he studied it. The outcome? Nicely matched CPW flyer to the wheel, unfortunately it is about 1/4 inch too long. It's not the original and it doesn't fit. This explains why it was so hard to get the flyer out and the need for more drive band tension to get the flyer to spin. I am a spinner, but have never used a CPW. I thought oil would fix the stiffness and maybe a different drive band material was needed for less tension on the drive band. Yes, it did seem to treadle hard, but I thought that was it's nature.

Fred outlined my options: remake the flyer to fit, with a good possibility of breaking it, or reproduce a new flyer/bobbin/whorl assembly. I opted for the new set and will sell the old one when he is done manufacturing the new one. He wasn't keen on remaking the old one with the possibility of ruining it. The flyer arms can easily break during the reworking process. It would be a shame to ruin it when someone else may be able to fit the old one to their wheel. He has many projects he's working on, so it will be a while before he's done with the repairs on Vivienne. He will make the new flyer assembly with an alcohol based matching stain. While he has Vivienne he is making a new metal footman for her, the one on now is not original, and he will shim the one upright and re-shim the lead/babbitt bearing on that upright. The bobbins he makes have a brass bearing, not babbitt like the originals.

Fred was extremely knowledgeable and practical, traits I admire. Blaine appreciated his workmanship and approach, I knew he would like going there. Grace, Fred's wife, invited me to the weekly spin/knit group that meets there on Fridays. She was spinning on her wheel as Fred checked out Vivienne. We chatted about her wheel and spinning and I soon felt like I had known her for a long time. I will definitely make it to one of their Fridays in the warm months.

It was an easy ride on 84 over to their place. They have a lovely house that Fred designed and built with so much light coming in through the many windows. As we drove up their driveway, we had to wait for a rooster to let us pass before we could continue. I guess we passed his test, whatever it was, he finally moved. The Hattons live up a long road that goes from pavement to a chipped rock surface, it's a lovely spot out in the woods with sheep in the front, down by the road. We had an enjoyable visit, even with the information on Vivienne. I want a CPW that spins, not a museum piece to be admired. My disappointment quickly disappeared as I realized how fortunate I was to have found someone who could make her spin again, the way she was meant to.

About that threading hook that started it all, Fred wanted to know if I wanted the one I ordered right away. I told him there was no hurry, I would pick it up when the wheel was ready. He wanted to know why I ordered Osage Orange wood for it. He showed me a piece that matches Vivienne's color perfectly. I do know my woods. :-)

CPW-Canadian Production Wheel-Vezina Vercheres

2011-04-22T23:43:00.002-04:00

No sooner did I get myself organized, than this came into my life:

I found this on a Craigslist ad in CT. I drove over to Vernon after work yesterday and brought her home. The little old lady selling it, had it for 25 years as a decoration. Her home was full of lovely antiques, she has a good eye for quality. She was a bit sad to see it go, but I think she was happy that it was going to be used as a spinning wheel once again. Actually, I think she was rather surprised that it was going to be used as a working wheel. Her daughter had place the ad in CL and both of them were lovely people.

There is a large CPW group on Ravelry, these people are huge lovers of all things CPW and are on a mission to save as many of these wheels as possible. They are a great resource and I will need some help getting this wheel up and running smoothly again.

The Canadian Productions Wheels were produced from the 1870's to the 1930's. They were used in the cottage industry of making thread and fine yarn before this became a mechanized process. They were made in and around the French Canadian area, with different families making them. This one has a partial stamp on it still showing "Vezina Vercheres". There were three Vezina brothers making wheels. The CPW have metal treadles, metal tensioning devices on the MOA and the drive wheels are from 26-30 inches in diameter.

My wheel has a slider tensioning device which is somewhere between the two methods of tensioning at the time. The CPW tensioning devices move the MOA forward and back by angling it. The Saxony wheels use a screw device that moves the MOA back and forth toward the drive wheel. The slider has a metal track that allows the MOA to slide back and back and forth.
*MOA mother of all: the bar that mounts the maidens, flyer, bobbin

All parts look to be original, leather bearings, the original flyer and bobbin/whorl, and the uprights, table, legs and wheel. I'm not sure about the wood footman, others I've seen have metal ones. She is very dry and loose, with one chip on the bobbin and the whorl, otherwise she looks very good. A cleaning and oiling of the wood should help bring her back. I believe she has been waiting for me.

Oh, and her name is Vivienne, Vi for short. Definitely feminine, she seems delicate.

Reclaiming a Room

2011-02-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

To this from that, enough said. :-)
Edited 11/4/11, link to a 360 degree slideshow of my room

Mittens and Scarf to Match

2011-01-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Both were quick knits and the yarn is so squishy soft. I used the yarn from the hoodie and had 9 grams of yarn left total from both skeins. There are no back up mittens, so I-cord will save the day (and the mittens). The scarf is 3"W x 38"L. The scarf, I just knitted up, no pattern, the mittens were from a pattern that gave huge CO numbers, so I adjusted the numbers down to a reasonable size. We are all set for a warm visit now. :-)

Lyalya Hoodie

2011-01-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

This pattern is on Ravelry and the designer's Etsy shop. Very cute and it's an easy knit if you don't read into the directions. There are no increases, it's knit in the round, a few stitches bound off and then knit back and forth with the biasing effect and then a bind off with the stitches divided in two. It was a snow day today from work which gave me a chance to finish it today. The plan is to knit mittens with the red yarn for cuff and thumb and the patterned yarn for the mitten body. The yarn is from Plymouth, a lovely, soft Aran single, very nice to knit with.

Spin Projects for 2011

2010-12-28T20:30:00.004-05:00

I started spindling for fingering weight yarn, 400-800 yards for the shawl Semele last evening. Polwarth from Southern Cross Fibers in the colorway Snowgum is my fiber choice. I'm using a Bosworth Pau Amarillo Midi spindle, one of my Rhinebeck purchases. Ravelry has a Spin a Shawl group which I joined, support and motivation is always helpful.

Another group, Spin a Sweater, caught my eye, so I have 32 ounces of handpainted mixed BFL coming from Miss Babs, she had a 20% off sale with free shipping. I have a couple of patterns in mind and I'm leaning towards a top down raglan cardigan in case I run short of yarn. I'm using a spinning wheel for the amount of yarn a sweater will require.

No real surprise with my color choices, these are two of my favorite colors. I think both fiber/yarns and projects will be a good way to begin 2011.

Wee Peggy and Merry Christmas to Me

2010-12-13T17:10:00.004-05:00

A Wee Peggy has almost been mine several times, but it never happened. I was either outbid on eBay or missed a listing on Spinners' Weavers' & Knitter's Housecleaning Pages. One came up for destash on Ravelry and it arrived today. The seller packaged it herself and sent it UPS, she did a fantastic packing job using well placed styrofoam bits, bubble pack, a tie wrap on the footman and wheel and loads of crumpled newspaper. I was worried about the condition it would arrive in, but it was perfect.
The Wee Peggy is in great conditon, with three old bobbins and three newer double drive Ashford bobbins. I put the maidenhead back on and took her for a spin after all the unpacking. She is a sweet, little wheel and I'm very happy.
Here she is in the packing, I slit the box apart to remove her.

Sitting by the Christmas tree and I guess I'll wish myself a Merry Christmas with this present and I did use my Christmas bonus for her.

I did take her for a spin and I liked using a double drive set up and decided I like her very much.

Rhinebeck 2010

2010-10-18T06:36:00.017-04:00

Rhinebeck was wonderful this year for me. We left at 7:30am and were waiting at the gates at 8:45am. I had purchased tickets online, so we were in that line behind a group of women from Buffalo who had come down to the area the night before. They were taking pictures of their group and Blaine offered to take a picture, using their camera so they could all be in it. It's so fun to be around people enjoying themselves. One of them asked me what yarn I had used for my fingerless mitts and I was happy to tell her it was my handspun. This was how the festival started, friendly people with the same passion as me, perfect. It was cloudy, 50 degrees with gusty winds which made it cold. The leaves were beautiful golds, reds and green. Autumn in the Hudson Valley is spectacular.

The gates opened around 9 and the day began. First stop, the Bosworth Booth where I purchased two spindles, a lacewood Featherweight and a Pau Amarillo Midi, I had just a window of opportunity to look around before the booth filled with people, it was now 9:10.

Next we found the Golding booth and looked at all the lovely spindles, I wasn't there to buy, just to look and see them in person, the booth was busy already. In the same building was Spirit Trail Fibers, again crowded, and the fibers were lovely and interesting.
At Holiday Yarns booth was Gnomespun Yarns and I got a dorset roving and an Old English Southdowns combed top. The dyer had on his cowboy hat, but apparently wore a kilt on Sunday.

Gales Fiber Art was next on my list and I bought a Trindle walnut shaft with blue/white ceramic beads, it was fun choosing shaft and arms in person instead of online. I also got three braids of fiber, an Alpaca/silk, a BFL/silk and a swirled BFL. This was one of my favorite booths.

We stopped at the Woolee Winder booth and I got two more bobbins for my Rose, it was a small stall booth with a crowd. The Hansen MiniSpinner was down the way and they had a large crowd also. The spinner is fascinating to watch, so small and quiet, I can see why they are so popular, it's a nice design. I read on their site later that they were world cruising sailors and he invented this as a space saving spinner for his wife to use onboard.

Carolina Homespun was another popular booth, I perused some Abby Batts, but decided I need to spin the ones I already have, that wasn't an easy decision, I love her batts. I spent some time picking out a Jensen Turkish delight with Carob arms and maple shaft. Again, it's nice to see the different woods in person and then make a selection rather than relying on a picture online.

Blaine got in line for the chicken pot pie and I went back to one of the barns I hadn't been in and came across the Wheel Thing booth, which had wheels/spindles with a huge selection. By this time the majority of my money was spent, I saw on the table a grouping of Russian and Tibetan spindles made by Edward Tabachek. I wanted one of the Tibetans, but decided I shouldn't spend the money. I went back to find Blaine who was paying for our lunch. We found a spot on the benches to eat the hot chicken pot pie and baked sweet potato with butter/brown sugar and a cup of hot tea. What a treat when it's cold outside! We shared these and were really hungry. I was 11:30 by this time and the clouds were beginning to clear with patches of blue sky showing

The crowds were out in full force now. By the time we finished eating and decided to walk back to take one more look at the Tabachek spindles, the barn was hard to navigate, there were so many people. We finally made it back to the Wheel Thing and I decided I really couldn't pass up one of the Tibetan spindles. I chose a Purpleheart that weighs 65 grams. They didn't know they were getting the Tibetans until a week before the show and said Mr. Tabachek had not made spindles for twelve months. I knew I would regret not getting this spindle later on and I'm glad I changed my mind. I wish now I would have gotten one of his Russians too!

Up the hill is an old one room schoolhouse that had been moved to the Rhinebeck fairgrounds for preservation. The man giving tours had actually gone to school for one year in this schoolhouse and he loved telling us all about it. What a lovely building with high ceilings, original wavy glass windows and ornate trim inside and out of the building. This was a needed break from the crowds and buying frenzy.

A trip through the animal barns to see the goats and sheep was mandatory. So many breeds, colors, and sweet faces. While in line at the Woolee Winder booth I was behind a girl with a fabulous BFL fleece, it was so clean and the locks were beautiful. I knew better than to visit the fleece sale barn, but I was sorely tempted, especially after seeing that fleece.

The broom maker is a true salesman, that man knew his brooms and his 1875 machine he uses to make the brooms with. We left with two, he is that good. ;-) He was up the hill from the chicken pot pie stand and now that line was winding through the ropes and out in the walkway. It was time to go.

As we left a bit before noon, there were few Ravelers beginning to gather on the hill for the noon meet up. By this time we were tired, out of money and happy we came and ready to leave. Rhinebeck is such a sensory overload with the colors of the season, the people, animals, wool, vendors and food. We left totally satisfied and enjoyed the drive back home in our 1976 Mini, Biggles, who did not fail to get us home this time. Rhinebeck 2010 was a good one.

This was on the porch waiting when we returned home. A Ravelry member destashed her October 2010 club selection from Southern Cross Fibre to me. It is very appropriately called Rhinebeck. Perfect ending to a lovely day.

Handspun Humbug Mitts

2010-10-15T19:31:00.001-04:00

Spinning is my passion again, I am enjoying it so much this time around. I used my wheel to spin humbug BFL (mixed BFL, light and dark and then handpainted) from Color Crazed Fiber on Etsy, into a fingering/DK weight yarn, 272 yards. Relearning the wheel took longer than I expected, but the techniques came flooding back once I started spinning. I was spinning the top by predrafting into quarters, then eighths and even across the width of the entire top, enjoying myself. It wasn't until the end that I realized I should have evenly divided the top in half for mitts to get mitts that had identical colors. I didn't, so I have two very fraternal mitts, they look related, but only slightly. I could have re-knitted them, dividing the yarn for a more equalized look. I decided to continue knitting and to be reminded every time I wear them, not to do this again. I do love their colors, there is nothing like the colors of handspun in a knitted item.

Wimple

2010-09-20T12:40:00.000-04:00

I chose a simple lace pattern to knit with my handspun. It is a wimple, which is an extended cowl that can be pulled up over my head. The pattern is Wavy Feathers Wimple and it is free. A generous Ravelry member has charted the pattern and put it up on Flickr, I personally prefer charts for lace. I love using my handspun to knit with and I am thinking of using it exclusively and destashing most of the commercial yarn I now have.

First Spindle Lace Yarn

2010-09-09T17:44:00.000-04:00

Just the facts today:

Abby Batt merino/cashmere/silk in Weed colorway:

IST spindle Oak Bur on Sycamore with Ash shaft. Rim banded / weighted 25 g used for spinning the singles

Golding 2 3/4” Cherry Whorl Walnut Shaft Vintage Staffordshire Enamel Inset Vintage Shell/Brass Ring
1.67 oz used for plying the singles

The finished lace yarn, 375 yards, 40 wpi

Spin Fever

2010-07-04T10:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the perfect July day: hot, sunny and blue skies. We went sailing and I took along my Boswroth Bird's Eye Maple Spindle that came earlier this week. Bossies live up to their reputation, beautiful workmanship/wood and incredible spin times. It is quite the fiber tool. So sailing and the start of the Tour de Fleece, tdf10, was what I did. It was so fun combining two of my favorite activities. Fortunately there was a light breeze so I could concentrate on spinning and let Blaine handle the sailing. Great day!

Old is New, Again

2010-06-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

In 2006 I took a spinning class with spindles and wheels. I was not very good with the spindle and better with a wheel. I did buy a spindle from Tracy at Wooly Designs and promptly stashed it away with all the rest of my fiber tools. I couldn't make yarn with it and turned to my wheel. I was photographing this spindle yesterday and kept thinking about it. It's a lightweight and the design is cut with a scroll saw, not a laser and yet it has a simplicity about it. A thing of beauty and I never gave it a chance. Today after work, I started spinning with it using some merino top. I googled "spinning with a spindle video" and refreshed what little I knew. I started spinning using the park and draft method: spin the spindle, put the shaft between my knees, that's the park, and draft the fiber letting the spin go into the drafting zone. After doing this for a while, I started to spin without parking. Drafting with my wheel gave me the experience I needed to spin with this spindle. And the spindle? It is wonderful! Beautifully balanced and it spins forever. I had to stop it to wind on the yarn, it was just incredible. I have a new found passion, or rather found the misplaced one I used to have.

Hat and Heddle, Part II

2010-06-03T16:09:00.003-04:00

The scarf was finished last night, I love weaving! I soaked it, spun out the water in the washing machine and threw it in the dryer on delicate, a quick touch up with the iron and it's done. It is so soft and I'm thinking of what color of Wollmeise yarn to use for the next one. At 576 yards a skein, I can make a nice size scarf, plus it's superwash. All the crazy color skeins I have are going to make great scarves.

The hat is much loved and appreciated. She loves it, but changes hats when the mood strikes, which is quite often. ;-)

Hat and Heddle

2010-05-11T19:32:00.002-04:00

The hat:

This took one evening to knit, I used Mission Falls 1824 cotton that I had leftover from another project. The pattern is Kristen's Flapper Hat, it is adult-sized, but comes out kid-sized even when using the correct yarn weight. It's a cute pattern and the cotton is machine washable, perfect for our Layla, who has a passionfor hats, particularly colorful ones

The heddle:

This a 13.5 inch Glimakra Emilia Rigid Heddle loom that came yesterday. I opened the box to look and the next thing I knew, the warp was on and I was weaving. Direct warping is wonderful and I love weaving again. I plan on making simple scarves without a lot of loom waste. This is a great loom, very simple and rather austere, but the metal ratchet and pawling gives this small loom substance and reliability. I started this when I should have been packing, so this will get finished when I get back from giving Layla her hat. :-)

The Evenstar mystery shawl is coming slowly, the twisted stitches are making my hands hurt. I'm still on clue 4 and the final clue has been released, a knitted on edging with beads. That scares me more that the twisted stitches, but I'm continuing on.

Wind in My Hair

2010-04-18T18:56:00.012-04:00

Knitting is coming along nicely on the Evenstar, I've run into some twisted stitches that are slowing me down, I can only do a few rows and have to take a break. In the meantime I decided to get a bike. I am having so much fun, I forgot how it feels to go fast with the wind in my hair. I also forgot how it was to bike up the hills around here, I ended up walking up one near my house, I couldn't do it with the bike, it was too steep for me. I'll try it again after biking for a while and building my leg muscles up. No hill is going to get the better of me, maybe Storm King Mountain, but not a hill. ;-)
Here's a pic of my Trek 7200, definitely a grandma bike, and perfect for me. FYI, these are no longer referred to as girl's bikes, this style is now called a step-through. As long as I don't have to throw my leg over the saddle, I'm good. The ever faithful Fergus posed along with it for the pic.

Spring Garden Tee

2010-03-17T09:10:00.006-04:00

This is the Spring Garden Tee I made as an Easter present for my granddaughter. Using cotton yarn, knit top down in the round, this was a fast and easy knit. I love how sweet the scalloped lace sleeves make this tee look. The pattern calls for Rowan Calmer, a cotton/polyester blend, it gives great stitch definition and is soft and easier to knit with than all cotton. It is an expensive yarn, so I purchased a discounted color to make this a reasonably priced project. The only drawback is that it is handwash. I'll be looking for another machine washable yarn to make another one of these. The pattern has sizes from 3 months to size 6 and is very well written. The pattern starts at the back neck with a few rows knit back and forth before casting on more stitches and joining in the round. Binding off the sleeves and hem, picking up stitches at the neck and binding off are all the finishing that is needed other than weaving in ends and blocking. This was a fun knit.

Lego Stitch Markers

2010-03-08T09:03:00.001-05:00

I saw several sellers on Etsy with versions of Lego stitch markers and decided I would make my own. A trip to the attic found a huge box of Lego pieces and searching through it brought back a lot of good memories. I had forgotten about the pirates, the castles, animals, people and all the wonderful Lego world of imagination. Finding single block Lego pieces took more time than I thought it would, but I did come up with ten. A small drill bit, a piece of plastic and double knots was all it took. This was a fun project.

My knitting projects have been mixed. The Enchanted Wood KAL was a disappointment. The clues had errors in the written instructions and chart. I decided to wait for the finished pattern and when I saw the shawl knitted up, I didn't want to knit it. I decided to knit the Secret Garden Shawl by the same designer instead. So I frogged the three clues I had knitted, beads and all, the worst part was the doubled yarn cast on, it took a while to untangle that. So the yarn is recaked and will become a different shawl.

The Evenstar KAL on the other hand has been a delight. The designer has released two clues so far and there is two weeks between each clue which gives ample time to knit. The directions are clear and precise. On a few rows the stitch markers are moved and some people missed this on the first clue that were using charts only, so on the next clue she highlighted rows with stitch marker position changes. She is very much in tune with other knitters and her design experience shows.

It's All About Lace Now

2010-01-28T08:55:00.003-05:00

First up is the swatch for the Evenstar Mystery Shawl by Susan Pandorf, I got gauge with US 3 needles and learned the ktbl7-k3tog stitch, a new one for me that helps form the motif. The KAL begins February 12, 2010.

I'm using Silk Merino Lace by the Plucky Knitter in the colorway Light Side of the Moon, I bought these skeins from someone destashing on Ravelry, it was just the color I had in mind.

This is clue one from the Unique Sheep's The Enchanted Forest KAL, my first time using beads in knitting. The beads were chosen by Ellen at Earthfaire, she collaborates with the girls at Unique Sheep and was offering up this colorway, Path to the Castle, sold on her website only. The KAL has a group on Ravelry to help with the errata and instructions that are emailed to members of the KAL.

The Evenstar KAL has a group there also doing the same. It's great to see other yarns and pictures of progress. So far it's been fun, and the two will be overlapping for a week or two.

This yarn is in Verve, a fingering weight merino yarn, from the Unique Sheep in a Gradience colorway. The skeins are transitioned with a knitting sequence that alternates six to eight rows of knitting from the old skein and the new one to blend them in without a sharp line of demarcation.

Unfinished Business

2010-01-21T08:05:00.000-05:00

My Fiddlehead mittens are 3/4 finished, I need to finish one liner yet. I'm waiting for the inspiration to knit that one liner. I loved this pattern and it's my first successful color work project. The yarn is from a Tanis Arts Fiddlehead mitten kit, she has several color choices available and the yarn is lovely to knit. I want to make these again using my own color combination and yarn.
I'm currently knitting the Enchanted Wood mystery shawl with Unique Sheep Yarns and I'm trying to keep up with the clues which is not leaving time for that final liner, but I hope to squeeze it in somewhere. Yes, somewhere before I start another lace KAL, this one starts in mid February and is the Evenstar Shawl with Susan Pandorf, another mystery. 2010 looks to be the year of the lace so far for me.

Earth Maiden on Jack's Beach

2009-10-02T11:40:00.020-04:00

Martha Vineyard Fiber Farm/Hudson Valley Fiber Farm featured the Unique Sheep as dyer of the month. Shepherd Susie wanted a colorway in the Unique Sheep Gradiance made to match this picture of Jack the goat on the beach on Martha's Vineyard. They did a great job, the yarn is Verve, 100% merino, in six coordinating skeins labeled 1 through 6. The six 50 gram skeins are knitted in order with transitioning rows to blend in the colors. This yarn is so soft and they got the beach colors so right, I love this project.

The pattern is Earth Maiden, a wrap by Ilja Leja. I used the smaller size dimensions and made it wider. Clear pattern with easy lace pattern charts, an enjoyable knit for the 1100 yards I used.

Damson

2009-08-30T11:24:00.011-04:00

Ysolda has done it again with a beautiful pattern. This is the Damson shawl, very simple, but beautiful in it's simplicity. Plain Garter and stockinette/lace rows got longer as it went, but it did go quickly. I used Pinie in 100% Wollmeise yarn from a We're Different grab bag from the WM site. These skeins of yarn do not meet the color standards but are perfect otherwise. Claudia has a 2009 calendar entitled Wollmeise Goodies (seen in the second picture) that supports a charity, well worth it for the beautiful pictures, models and humor..

Wordle Fun

2009-08-12T08:47:00.004-04:00

If you like words, fonts, color and endlessly changing all three, Wordle is a site you might like to visit.

This is my blog address plugged into wordle:

Wollmeise colors and phrases:

Housewarming Present for Dear Friends

2009-08-09T14:38:00.005-04:00

I made this utility stool from Shaker Workshop this past week for our friends as a housewarming present. I ordered on Saturday and got the kit on Tuesday. Wednesday, I sanded the pieces and glued it together, Thursday I sanded the glue and fingerprints off and stained it. Friday I gave it two lacquer coats let it dry and sanded lightly again and gave two more coats in the afternoon and evening. The stain is water based in medium, the lacquer is a satin finish, the finish coats took 30 minutes to dry, 2 hours to set up. With the low humidity this week, I barely got from one side to the other with the lacquer before it was dry. I have never used lacquer before, I've used oil based stains and finish, so with the water base, the choices were varnish, shellac or lacquer. Lacquer has very strong fumes, but I was in the garage with all three doors, 3 windows and two roof windows open with the ceiling fan going.
The weaving is easy to do, it just takes some time and patience. I used a herringbone pattern with the 5/8 inch tape in navy and beige.
There is a one inch foam seat cushion that goes in between the warp once it is on and before weaving the woof. It stablizes the seat and transfers the weight load between the top and bottom weaving.
These kits are so nice, they come with the wood pieces that are maple, 2 grades sanding paper, water based wood stain, choice of tape colors, the upholstery tacks, foam seat cushion and directions. I've done two of these stools before as presents to our parents and two chairs for us, the kits turn out very nice. These can also be made to order at roughly twice the cost from Shaker Workshop.
This was a nice project to get done over the week. It's like knitting, in that I start worrying near the end that I won't have enough tape, but I always do.

Saskia

2009-07-11T11:39:00.005-04:00

My shawl/scarf, Saskia, from this site, is finished. Easy lace pattern, beautiful merino/silk lace yarn from The Plucky Knitter made for a great knit. I used blocking wires which was much easier than pinning it out. I am amazed at how it looks blocked and unblocked. I love knitting with lace yarn.

Lace Fever

2009-06-25T10:45:00.002-04:00

Lace knitting has taken over my knitting for a while. The Ishbels in fingering weight and now a Saskia scarf. The yarn is a Plucky Knitter laceweight 50/50 merino/silk in Bristol Blue. I had to adjust to the thinner yarn while knitting but got used to it quickly, winding laceweight wasn't a problem, I was careful to keep tension off as I wound. The unblocked picture here is not impressive, but blocking it will open up all the lacework and there is a circle pattern within the stitches that should catch the light on the silk/merino.

Ishbel Revisited

2009-06-06T08:10:00.004-04:00

Knitting a pattern the first time is a learning experience, the second time is for refining and enjoying more. I loved knitting Ishbel the first time and decided to use another yarn for this one. I chose Panda Silk in Orange Zest. It is a merino wool, bamboo and silk blend. It has incredible drape and softness with a lovely sheen. I used one and half skeins, knitting the small ST section and using the larger lace pattern. This yarn knit and blocked beautifully, I want to use it again, it's lovely yarn at a nice price. I sent this to Rachel for her birthday with a lifetime blocking offer: mail it back at anytime and I will wash and block it again. It's lightweight and perfect for Florida.

Spring Knitting

2009-05-16T11:22:00.006-04:00

My Ishbel by Ysolda Teague is finished as of May 15th, it is my first larger lace piece. The instructions are well written and I used a chart for the first time. It's was easier for me to follow a chart than to read written out instructions for a row of lace. The yarn is Little Traveller by Sanguine Gryphon in Azores colorway. This yarn is a lovely, calming color to knit with.

April was spent trying to knit this sock.

It was just too tight after the larger sun pattern. My stranded color knitting needs work, the upper sock is fine, but you can see where it draws in with the larger sun pattern. I had ripped this sock back three times. I'm not giving up, I think I will take out the larger sun pattern and continue the stripe and tick pattern down through the foot and see if it fits then. Part of the problem is that I'm using finger weight yarn, DIC Classy/Starry, and the pattern calls for sport weight. I had increased 8 stitches, but it's not enough with that sun pattern.

Dragonfly Socks

2009-03-31T10:00:00.007-04:00

My Dragonfly socks were finished in eight days, it was either an easy pattern or I'm picking up speed. The yarn is Sea Sock, a merino/sea silk. The Sanguine Gryphon occasionally has Potluck yarns, there is no picture, and it doesn't match a color descritption. She sells these discounted and it's a surprise when you get it. This yarn was a wonderful surprise, I loved the colors and it kept reminding me of something I had seen somewhere. It took a while, but finally it came to me and I hunted down a link to it here.
I used 2.75mm needles on the sock body, 2.5mm on the ribbing/heel/toes. I use dpns and do two at a time, switching back and forth between two sets of needles. With the heel I substituted an Eye of Partridge pattern, I like the looks and wanted to try one. This was a nice knit.

Rib Fantastic Socks

2009-03-20T13:12:00.004-04:00

This is the Rib Fantastic pattern by Barb Brown from the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. A great, well written pattern, my first lace, and first time knitting with handgefaerbt yarn. The pattern and yarn really made these socks a pleasure to knit. This pattern and most of them from the book help with taming flashing and pooling that occurs with handpainted yarn. I went down a needle size from a 2.75mm to a 2.50mm, I was getting pooling on the ribbing. I can't wait to do another pattern from this book, they all look like winners.

Hedgerow's Trimmed and Finished

2009-02-25T11:46:00.005-05:00

Perfect socks for a non adventurous guy as far as socks are concerned. Nice subtle color and simple pattern, an easy knit and he's happy, that's what matters. The yarn is Bugga! from the Sanguine Gryphon, Red-winged Wave is the colorway and it's wonderful to knit with. It's a wool/cashmere/nylon mix and should wear well. There was yarn left over and these are a man's size 11 sock with a 7 inch leg. I used Darn Pretty dpn's and love the 5 inch size, it's great with my hands. I used two sets of dpn's and rotated knitting back and forth between the two socks, a great method to beat one sock syndrome, when I was done, I had a pair of socks.
The Hedgerow pattern can be found here.

Hedgerow

2009-02-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

I'm using Bugga! yarn which is from the Sanguine Gryphon. It is a merino wool, cashmere and nylon blend. The pattern is Hedgerow. This pair of socks will be for Blaine. The yarn color is nice for a man; in other words, not too bright, gaudy or wild. The pattern is easy and an enjoyable knit so far.

rpm's

2009-01-26T22:05:00.003-05:00

My pair of rpm socks are done and fit very nicely. I keep copious notes when I'm knitting the first sock so I can duplicate it on the second one. This pattern is written for 2 circular needles so I had some notes and changes going. I grafted the end of the second sock and realized I had followed the pattern directions but not what I did on my first one. I had woven in the ends, so I picked the yarn out and ripped back to the start of the toes and did it all over again. I still love them.

Another Sock and Finished Baby Set

2009-01-17T14:13:00.009-05:00

One sock is done. I'm using Wollmeise Türkis and Karneol and the rpm pattern from Knitty. This sock fits better than my first pair, I learned about negative ease. I'm casting on for the second one and am going to reverse the sprials. *** Edit: The spirals are staying where they are. In the end, I decided I would follow the pattern.*** There is another Ravelry member that modded the rpm pattern so it autospirals and I jumped right on that.

We went to the kids' baby shower in Florida last weekend. Three days before we left, I decided the Baby Surprise Jacket needed something to go with it. I knitted baby socks and a hat in two days and had a day to let them dry after blocking. I'm happy with the set and my son was very touched and surprised that I knit these. I've learned to knit and learned patience since he's been out of the house. :-)

Wollmeise 100% Superwash

2008-12-19T16:49:00.005-05:00

The skeins left to right are:
Uluru (m)
Turkis and Karneol (d)
Krauterbeet (d)
Frosh (harmonic)

It was a snow day for me and so I was home when the mailman came with a package from Germany that needed a signature. The yarn is so beautiful, I can't wait to knit more socks. I still have one WIP that has to be finished first and then I can use the Wollmeise. These skeins are from the 12/5/08 shop update, my first time and I managed to get some. I'm very glad, because staying up in the wee hours of the night to purchase yarn is a bit strange. These should keep me busy for a while.

Gifts

2008-12-14T14:00:00.004-05:00

My sister's birthday is New Year's Day and I have her present ready and I'm putting it in the Christmas box to be shipped tomorrow. No last minute hurry this year.
The Slotted Scarf is a quick knit, the slot gave it some interest for me while making it. The Symmetrical Braided Gauntlets are my first attempt at knitting cables. The first mitt went so fast and I thought I would breeze through the second one. That was not exactly how it worked out. The cables needed to be reversed to make a mirror image and the needle positions changed to put the thumb on the correct side. I thought I would be able to keep it all straight in my head. After several failed attempts, I wrote down exactly the order I needed to knit the cables in. One mitt took about two James Bond movies to knit, without knitting the ribbing for the thumb or doing the finishing work.
The yarn is Classic Elite Lush, 50% wool/ 50% angora. It is so soft and luxurious to knit with, I really liked it. It should get softer and have more of a halo from the angora as it is used. The color is a cranberry red, the scarf photo is truer color than the mitts, it was very difficult to get the color right in the pictures.

Two Socks Are Better Than One

2008-12-07T13:15:00.006-05:00

This has been a very good week. Both socks are finished. They fit perfectly and feel wonderful. Wollmeise is a great yarn base to knit with and the colors are beautiful. I stayed up until 3:30am Thurdsay to catch Claudia's update on her Wollmeise webiste, which was 9:30am Friday morning in Germany. I refreshed and nodded off again and again before she updated the site. It was crazy, many people were online doing the same thing I was. The site locked up a few times for me, but when the dust had settled and my adrenaline was all used up, I had four skeins. The yarn is wonderful, but I have to wonder if the hunt isn't part of the allure too.
Wollmeise is the first sock yarn I've made a sock with and other yarns are going to have to very special to surpass it.

Wollmeise Sock

2008-11-23T14:39:00.006-05:00

I've made a sock for me now out of sock yarn. I was watching Raverlry Radar one night when a message flew by alerting me that the Loopy Ewe was doing a sneak up of Wollmeise yarn. I got a skein of Baritsta 80/20 (wool/nylon). It is soft to knit with and combined with the pattern I used, made for a very nice squishy sock. I used the stitch pattern from a Harris Tweed sock and the heel/toe instruction from Silver's Sock Class. I cast on four different times, using different needles and CO counts to get the proper size and to eliminate color pooling. It worked, amazingly, since this is the second pair of socks I've made. I combined patterns and used a high end sock yarn and ended up with a nice sock, not bad for a rank amateur. I'm casting on for the other one before I forget what I did exactly, and following five scraps of notes to repeat the first one. I like knitting socks, a lot.
Edit: I was advised to put those notes from the 5 scraps of paper into a knitting notebook, which I have now done. I'm glad I did, the notes were only six days old, but I was having trouble deciphering some of them already.

Countrywool Reversible Sweater Retreat

2008-11-11T09:36:00.007-05:00

Here is my hat from the retreat, it was knit for gauge and learning the stitch pattern, I used a leftover skein of Peace Fleece Zaryas Fog for it. I used US size 8 needles and will now use a 7 for the sweater.

This is a group shot of the hats knitted during the retreat, their were also sweaters being knit, but the hats were more photogenic. :-0

This is the conference room at Winter Clove Inn, Round Top, NY where the retreat was held, it's directly across from the Inn. Not everyone at at the retreat is in this picture. It's a great room and was cozy.

This is the outside of the conference room, there are rooms above, Claudia and crew were there and there is a gift shop and a little bowling alley in this building.

Here's the Winter Clove Inn, family run and very nice people. I was on the fourth floor, up in the red roof part. I did hear thumping, I thought, above my head when I went to bed the first night. Being over tired and imaginative, I ended up sleeping with the light on.
I feel so energized by the people and the retreat. Claudia has a great teaching style, Pisces that she is, and I was encouraged to go the route I wanted, to do a gauge hat, a baby sweater or the adult sweater. The hat was recommended, but not insisted on. A wonderful weekend, this was my fourth retreat, but my first knitting one, the others were spinning retreats. Pat gave me the particulars on a knitting group in East Fishkill, which is near where I work. Lucille and Heidi gave me info on a spinning guild that meets on Sundays monthly in Fishkill. Really nice people at this retreat, as usual.

Warm Feet and Warm Heart

2008-10-29T11:27:00.005-04:00

My first pair of socks are knitted, I used Silver's Sock Class following the one sock on four DPN instructions. If you haven't knit socks before, Silver's will walk you through it with great pictures and instructions. I used a leftover skein of the Peace Fleece from the sweater and size US 6 DPN's, it was easy to see what was going on and I feel ready to try sock yarn the next time. I like knitting socks and like using DPN's. These are thicker socks, better for boots or lounging around the house. They are toasty warm and Blaine loves them. ♥ His size 11 feet made for a lot of stitches. :-)

This is a Reader's Wrap from Lisa's Knits. I've had this in my Ravelry queue for a while, I just like the looks of it. I'm using Plymouth Tweed which is 100% lambswool. I don't usually go for red colors, maybe the autumn colors influenced me, but instead of my usual blue and greens, I went for this color. The pattern is a nice easy 4 row repeat, just what I need for in the evenings after work.

Rhinebeck 2008

2008-10-19T08:52:00.027-04:00

Rhinebeck was beautiful this year; cool and sunny with gorgeous autumn colors. We hopped in Biggles, our 1976 Mini and drove north to the fairgrounds, early Saturday morning. If you saw two people in a RH drive, small, blue car in the parking lot getting giggles and smiles, that was us.

I went to Carolina Homepun and bought a copy of Franklin Habit's new book It Itches first thing, and also a Mystery Hat kit by Jeane deCoster with natural Shetland wool. Blaine wandered off to see the steam engines and museum and I went through the barns and booths. The crowds were building up with people pouring through the gates. We met up again and went to the Ravelry meet up. All we had to do was find the crowd with the bright green Ravelry tote bags, they were easy to spot. I met Casey and shook hands with him, met Mary Heather but could only remember her Rav name at first, and then saw Jesse in the middle of a group of admirers. They are celebrities.

Back through the crowds and over to Carolina Homespun, it's now a quarter past twelve and there is a line of people clutching the distinctive green of "It Itches", we found the end of the line almost at the back of the tent. I had fun talking to people in line, meeting a fellow Raveler behind me. We were moving forward and going past the Fingerlakes Woolen Mill when I spied a package of Hog Island Wool blended with Alpaca and another of Hog Island wool, I didn't resist. Then I got to meet Franklin. What a sweet man, he had his Turn a Square hat and a lovely scarf on. Homemade goodies from his fans were starting to pile up beside him. I said at least we could say we knew him when he was small and he laughed and said no, he would always be small. I was thinking girth, he was thinking height... I think. He was gracious and signed my favorite cartoon in the book. I had sat on a bench and read through the book while waiting for Blaine to finish with the museum and had marked my favorite one. Franklin wrote a personal note in beautiful handwriting. I was beaming, I got the one thing I most wanted out of my visit to Rhinebeck.
We went next to get in line for the Chicken Pot Pies, yes, that was the biggest line of all and well worth it. We split a pot pie and a baked sweet potato with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, hmmmm! We met the sweetest people in line and the women behind us had been to Mongolia on a Snow Leopard trip and were showing us pictures of yurts and solar panels the nomads had, I could have listened to them all day. We sat down with our food and two hot teas to chase the chill away. A couple walking by as we ate, commented on how that didn't look like fair food. They were right, it wasn't.

I finally found Barb who owns Tall Pines Farm and raises llamas and Angora goats and had a booth. She had given me a card at the our spinning retreat, which of course I left at home. I looked for llamas and found her. She had one of her beautiful llamas next to her booth. This llama was so calm and loved the crowds and kids. I bought four ounces of cleaned, soft llama fiber and then Barb grabbed more fiber and stuffed it in my bag. I have a fiber friend!

I want to mention the restroom attendant in the building near the gates who was an absolute hoot. I did not expect to be entertained in the ladies room. She had such a great smile and patter going on. "Ladies, if you gotta go, let it flow!" was one of her many rhymes. Nice, funny woman with a great business sense.

We left the fairgrounds around three o'clock and got two miles south of Rhinebeck when Biggles lost power and we pulled off the road. After tinkering for an hour, we gave up and called Triple A for a tow. From Rhinebeck to home was 38 miles at $4.50 a mile, you do the math. We will now add a distributor and coil to our toolbox arsenal. The tow guy was nice, which was good since it took an hour to get home and luckily his cab fit three people.
Tow and all, it was a grand day out.

Cape Ann Spin and Knit Mitten Retreat

2008-10-13T09:16:00.006-04:00

The 2008 Countrywool Cape Ann Spin and Knit Mitten Retreat was this past weekend, October 9-12. Three wonderful autumn days to enjoy with other spinners and knitters near the ocean.
The weather was perfect, crisp days, sunshine and not a cloud in the sky with blue skies and blue water. Waking up to a gorgeous sunrise each morning and taking a cup of tea out on the balcony to start the day was perfect.
Claudia put together a wonderful retreat. I pick up more and more with each retreat I attend, there really is too much to take in all at once with so much information. I finally took the time to understood how to find each ration on my whorl and did that. I sampled and spun fiber with various amounts of twist, cutting a length and putting it on a labelled card. Claudia packs a lot of information in, but with her relaxed teaching style, it's never overwheleming. Friday afternoon we got together and picked a base fiber to spin. Claudia had some available or we could bring our own. We picked out colored merino bits to add to this and fiber from Claudia's Angora Rabbits. The boxes of fiber were labelled with the name of the rabbits in case we want that particular color and fiber again.
I had some gray Corriedale fleece I had washed. The fiber was a bit short but I used it anyway. I choose a cranberry and navy blue merino and Angora from Melody. We carded through the evening and started spinning. My rolags were a disappointment to me, they were not blended as well as I liked and I think my Corriedale was part of that problem, okay, that and my carding skills. I need to hand card more often. Saturday I continued to spin and take breaks sampling some of the wonderful things Mary made. Her Lemon Slow Cooker Cake was awesome, presented with sliced stawberries and a twist of lemon on the side.
At the end of Saturday night we had washed and whacked our yarn and took it back to our rooms to let it dry and put into a center pull ball before coming together on Sunday morning to begin knitting. My yarn was a bulky weight and I was so disappointed, I wanted a thinner yarn, but couldn't get it with the neps and noils that were there. When I tried to thin out the thick pieces everything else got too thin. Compromising was the answer.
Sunday morning, we did a gauge swatch and choose a pattern to knit for the mitten. Mine was on gauge for the Bunnywool Spun Mitten, but there was also a percentage pattern to use for any other yarn. I knit throughout the day and finished one mitten by four o'clock. My thick, unloved handspun ended up making a gorgeous mitten. I am amazed at how different fiber looks through all the stages: fiber, rolags, singles, plyed yarn and finall the knitted product, they are each so different, it's hard to envision the finished product.
The retreat was a wonderful time for me, great people to be with, a wonderful location and I learned so much on so many different levels. Thanks Claudia.

First Sweater

2008-10-02T10:19:00.008-04:00

My first sweater is done and what a learning experience this was. The pattern is Claudia's Roll Neck Sweater from Countrywool, a nice pattern for a beginner. Claudia told me to find a sweater or sweatshirt that my husband likes and to take the measurements from that. I had gauge and with those measurements I knit a sweater that fits him, first time out.
I took a trip up to see Claudia last weekend, she has Knitting Help sessions with the Knitting Doctor on some Saturdays, it is first come, first serve to help with any problems. I had the sleeves done and the body done and read the instructions for putting them all together on one needle and knew I was out of my depth. This pattern is knit in the round with no seams other than grafting the underarms. So off I went to see Claudia and it made perfect sense with her guiding me. I'm so glad I made the trip, without her help I would have been lost. There was a lot going on and I was confused at first. It's one of those things that once I've seen it, then I can do it again.
I had to short row the neck for a better fit and ended up with some holes, but a tapestry needle and wool took care of that, I understand what I need to do the next time so that doesn't happen. Short row wrap turns the knitting around so rows can be knitted back and forth. This added depth to the back of the neck and the sweater won't ride up in the back.
This morning I got up and had to graft the underarm seams and it was finished. Kitchener stitch was a new one for me and I don't believe I will be forgetting "Knit slip purl, Purl slip knit" anytime soon.
I actually made a sweater that fits and looks good.

One off the Needles, One on and on and on the Needles

2008-09-11T19:21:00.003-04:00

The Montego Bay Scarf knitted out of Kauni yarn is finished. I took it along on vacation to finish it. I knitted and chatted with the relatives and ended up with.... one very long and lovely scarf. I can easily wrap it twice, or maybe three times around my neck.

As for the sweater, that's another story. I have started the sleeve four times, trying to get gauge. I ended up with a 9 and using a 7 for the ribbing. Long story short, I found the 7 was in actuality a 4 after the sleeve was twelve inches long. Lesson learned! I will faithfully check with a needle gauge any needle before I start. The ribbed cuff was tighter, but usable, but I knew I would think about it for the rest of the sweater and using it on purpose for the other sleeve would be hard for me to do. So here I am with the correct needle and 5 inches of sleeve again.
On a bright note, I love this yarn, it is wonderful to knit with.

On the Needles

2008-08-28T00:39:00.002-04:00

I'm knitting Amy Singer's Montego Bay Scarf, lovely pattern, using Kauni EQ yarn. I was trying to finish this for the Ravelympics, but didn't make it. I decided I would like it to wrap around the neck one time, so that added inches and time on.
I love Kauni Yarn, it's fingering weight and occasionally has VM in it to pick out. Knitting and watching the colors change from one into the next is wonderful, they are very subtle slow changes.

My first sweater is being started. I'm following Claudia Krisinski's Roll Neck Sweater pattern, using Peace Fleece Yarn in the Lena's Meadow colorway. The macro picture shows the yarn best, the color is beautiful. Again, a wonderful yarn and I run across VM every once in awhile. I actually like this, the yarn is not overly processed and has life to it. I started the cuff of the sleeve, and am going to restart with the next needle size up. I'm also swatching for real with this and when I get mid way up the sleeve, I will put it on waste cotton and wash and dry it to check gauge. If it needs adjusting I will adjust from that point on. I'm taking notes so I can duplicate the other sleeve.

Next Up on the Needles

2008-08-17T09:23:00.006-04:00

Countrywool was our Saturday destination. We took the 76 Mini out for the trip, Biggles was running great. Biggles was the dangling carrot to get Blaine to come along and pick out yarn for the Countrywool Roll Neck Sweater, and it worked. Claudia's shop is full of yarn, her patterns, and has knitted items on display, not just knitted swatches. The shop is warm, open, inviting and friendly. There were two other customers there for her "Knitting Help! with the knitting doctor" session that she has, and they showed me their projects, both sweaters that are going to be beautiful when finished. This shop has a great vibe to it, I wished I lived closer.
Claudia is also having free spin sessions, time to spin with other spinners on Saturdays 4 to 7 in the fall and I want to make a few of those. Of course, she has wonderful retreats, knitting and spinning. I've been to two retreats and have a third coming up in October in Cape Ann, MA, more on that later.
The yarn for the sweater is from Peace Fleece, it's an aran worsted 70% wool and 30% mohair. The colorway is Zarya Fog, which is a light gray with flecks of color, orange, purple, blue, a nice heathered yarn. Peace Fleece is an interesting business concept and story, check out their site.
This will be my first sweater and Claudia has a sweater KAL on the Ravlery Countrywool group, starting after Labor Day, with the intent of having a sweater knitted before cold weather. I think with a great yarn and an equally easy and great sweater pattern, Blaine will have a sweater before, well, really, cold weather.

One last knitting note, I'm a huge fan of the Panopticon blog, he's witty, a writer, photographer and knitter, a great overall combination for one person to be. He has opened an Etsy shop this past week, and is selling signed prints, original artwork and photographic prints. I purchased this print, titled Contentment, to be framed and put in my knitting room. I love his drawings and he also has a book, soon to be released by Interweave Press in October.

Felted Bag

2008-08-16T10:03:00.002-04:00

I knit and felted a bag yesterday. What a quick knit! I used my handspun Coopworth yarn and size US 17 needles. The pattern is from One Skein Wonders and is called a Quick Felted Bag.
I started with one strand of yarn and was a third way through the pattern when I decided it was not thick enough. So I frogged back and started again with two strands and was much happier with that. It took two cycles to felt properly and the Coopworth felts really well. I added the flap closure on, picking up eight stitches along the back edge of the bag and then decreasing toward the end. Knitting with size 17 needles was strange, they felt huge. Actually they are huge. Overall, a fun knit.

Finished!

2008-08-13T10:45:00.003-04:00

The Simple Yet Effective Shawl was officially complete 8/13/08 at 8 am, washed, blocked and dried.
This was an easy knit, cast on 5 stitches and increase 4 stitches every odd row, purl or knit the even rows randomly. I added three rows of simple eyelet, P2tog yo, and the bind off is in purl.
I like the colors and the textures. There were so many ways for this to turn out and I'm happy with the end result.

Simple Yet Effective Shawl

2008-08-09T10:39:00.004-04:00

The Ravelympics on Ravelry started at 8 am 8/8/8 for the east coast. I started right at eight and began knitting my Simple Yet Effective Shawl. My handspun is looking very nice and knitting with it is a treat. Handspun feels so much better than commercial yarns, at least to me. The mohair is fuzzing quite nicely, but I can frog back with out a problem, it doesn't catch or hold on to itself. I'm getting into the rhythm of the pattern now and it's becoming easier for me. It's very easy to forget a YO or add one on in the rest row. I've marked the front with a coilless pin to remind me of which side I'm on and I've marked the center stitch with stitch markers. I've also put in a lifeline and have used it already. I will be adding on pictures as I progress.

Tour de Fleece 2008 Finish Line

2008-08-03T13:21:00.003-04:00

I decided I deserved both jerseys for my efforts.
The yellow is for finishing my goal of spinning the wool/mohair roving, I didn't know if I could do it.
The red because i didn't spin every day, my goal was interrupted with a knee injury on the last leg.
The wool/mohair yarn is ready to be used for the Ravelympics in the shawl relay, so the tour was great for me.
I purchasedt a mug and T-shirt from here to support DAWF, Katherine's group that the Tour de Fleece benefits.
See you next year.

Ravelympics Comimg Soon

2008-08-02T11:37:00.002-04:00

Kimberli from Ravelry started a group on Ravelry that has exceeded her wildest expectaions. Currently there are 3293 members with over 7,000 projects entered into the competition.
Here are the events members can choose:
EVENT VENUES
Afghan Marathon
Amigurumi-n-Toys Toss
Baby Dressage
Bag-n-Tote Backstroke
Balance Beads
Cable Steeplechase
Colorwork Cross-Country
Cowl Jump
Designers Discus
Fantasy DecKnitathalon
Felted Freestyle
Free-For-All Freestyle
Fleece to Finished Fencing
Glove Decathlon
Gift Knits Pentathlon
Hand-Dyed Hurdles
Handspun Heptathalon
Hat Dash
Holiday Handball
Home-Stuff Hammerthrow
Itsy Bitsy Bikini Breaststroke
Laceweight Long Jump
Mitten Medley
Pets Pommel Horse
Scarf Stroke
Shawl Relay
Sock Put
Sweater Sprint
Synchronized Flirty Skirts
Vest Vault
WIPs Wrestling

There is something for everyone and many teams to choose to join or to simply compete without joining. This is turning out to be a lot of fun and a great way to set a goal for a project. Casey, Ravelry's code monkey god, pitched in and helped make the sign up easier for members and for Kimberli. What a great idea, kick off is with the opening Olympic Ceremony in Beijing on August 8, 2008.

Life Can Be So Strange

2008-07-24T16:15:00.003-04:00

I had been merrily treadling along on the Tour de Fleece and had just started spinning my tussah silk. Sunday was very humid and hot and I opted to take a late night shower before going to bed. I fell out of the shower and twisted my right knee, it was quite spectacular and scary. The good news was no fracture or cartilage/ligament tears, but I do have a small bone bruise and will have pain for quite a while. It's Thursday now and I can walk bending my knee now, but it hurts.

Now here comes the strange part. I saw an ad on Ravelry's Spinner Marketplace, for a Butterfly spinner. It was for sale or trade for a CSM, this was on Saturday. I have two CSM's and have been thinking about selling one and I had seen my first electric spinner in May at the sock spinning retreat. I was intrigued and read up on the Butterfly, I found people love their Butterfly spinners, they are quiet and work well. The owner uploaded pictures of her spinner and I made a deal to do a straight up trade and we finalized it on Monday.

How did I know my treadling days were going to be at a standstill for a few weeks and I would actually have need of an e-spinner? I thought the Butterfly would be great for plying, I had no idea when I entered into this deal that I would be spinning and plying with it for a while.

Thursday this landed on my front porch:

Silk Roving

2008-07-17T20:22:00.003-04:00

Next up for the coming round of le Tour de Fleece 2008 is this luscious, handpainted silk top called Toulouse by the Silk Worker. I purchased this two years ago and a good sized sample of undyed silk top was sent along to practice with. Silk is a new fiber for me. There was great advice on Ravelry, posted by a member, to put vegetable oil on your hands, a 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar and rub the hands for several minutes with this mixture. Wash off with very warm water, don't use soap after, and just let the oil soak in before spinning silk. This will keep hands soft so the silk won't snag. The use of a cloth over the lap while spinning silk to cover jeans/seams/ anything that will snag the silk is advised also.

I've kept with my goal of spinning every day for the Tour, I feel so productive, it's a great feeling.

Tour de Fleece 2008 Skeins

2008-07-12T14:31:00.024-04:00

I've been spinning every morning this week and have really enjoyed it. That has been my simple goal for this Tour: to just spin every day. I find I can spin a half hour or two hours instead of some of the marathon sessions I have done that make me not want to spin for a while. Amazing what a bit of discipline and moderation can accomplish.
Plying, washing, thwacking and making skeins were my tasks this morning. I had some difficulty with my jumbo plying bobbin and switched over to the Woolee Winder to finish plying. I use a tensioned lazy kate for the plying and a wheel skeiner to wind the yarn instead of a niddy noddy I washed the skeins individually, with a touch of Meadows Wool Wash French Lavender and then rinsed, rolled in a towel and walked on the towel to soak up moisture. Then it was out to the front porch where I put my hand into the skein, got a good grip and thwacked the skein hard against the porch upright and repeated, moving my hand around the skein until I was back to where I started. This gets rid of more moisture and fulls the yarn slightly. I hung them out to dry on the arbor, trying not think about the birds at the feeder and what they might do. The birds behaved themselves and the yarn dried quickly out in the sun and a good breeze.
End result is 350 yards at around 14-16 wpi, the total of both skeins. I have seven more ounces of this same roving to continue with for the coming week. I love the colors and kept wondering where Mushroom fit in for the name of the colorway, but you know, it works in the end.

First Bobbin Filled

2008-07-08T09:47:00.006-04:00

Spinning every morning has been a great start to my day. I pull up iTunes on my laptop, and have been listening to old radio programs. I've done this when knitting, but it's even easier to follow along with the story lines while spinning. AM 1710 Antioch, Mystery Theater I-Radio and ACB Treasure-Trove have radio programming from the 30's through the 50's. In iTunes, radio is found under Library, under podcasts. After spinning and listening to these programs, I am a bit disoriented when I come back downstairs into my normal routines, I feel like a time traveler.

The morning of day four today and I finished filling the first bobbin. It weighs in at 5.6 ounces. The second bobbin is on and I have a good start on it. I'm spinning thinner and with the Woolee Winder packing the yarn on the bobbin, it makes for slow going. I'm using a higher ratio for on my wheel for this yarn and learning more as I go. Yes, this is the same fiber as the post below, this is natural light and a different place in the roving, so it looks quite different. I think the real color is somewhere in between. Greens tend to be all over the place in my photos, we'll see what the next one looks like.

2008-07-05T16:59:00.002-04:00

Day 1 on le Tour de fleece. I started spinning this morning and got off to a good start. Oiled the right treadle, tightened the whorl with the Allen wrench and settled in. The roving is wonderful to spin with, it drafts so easily. I haven't used Mohair before and I think the length of the fiber is why it's drafting so nicely. I'm using a medium draw this time out. I'm holding the fiber with my right hand, controlling the twist with my left, letting the twist come into the triangle as I pull back the fiber.
There is no sun in the forecast until Thursday, which will make taking photos a challenge.

Tour de Fleece 2008

2008-07-03T09:29:00.007-04:00

Le Tour de Fleece 2008 starts July 5th and should be completed by July 27th. My goal is to spin every day and the challenge this year is to use fiber already in my stash. I'm using a roving from Tintagel Farm that I bought at Rhinebeck after the 2006 le Tour de Fleece I participated in. The roving is a 50% wool and 50% mohair blend in the mushroom colorway. I have almost 16 ounces and will spin what I can until the end date. I love the color and fiber, I've been wanting to spin it for.... well two years almost. Thanks Katherine for le Tour de Fleece, it's good to have a goal and get me treadling again.
I'm also in the Ravelry Tour de Fleece group and will be spinning along with them also.

2008-06-15T10:38:00.005-04:00

Week four of the KAL and I'm behind, but that's okay. I hit a major learning bump on Clue 3. Clue 1 and 2 were knitting nine inches of stripes and binding off. Clue 3 has me picking up stitches and has a chart for Fair Isle and Intarsia knitting. Yikes! I have not done either technique. With the help of Ravelry, YouTube vidoes, Knittinghelp.com and blogs, I have learned so much. I first learned to knit English style so I could knit two handed with the Fair Isle. Catching the floats was so hard for me, I just wasn't getting how to wrap the yarn using the needles. I found lots of advice on how to do it on the knitting side, but none for the purling side. It took me one hour to do one row of 82 stitches, trying to figure out how to wrap the yarn without physically picking up one of the balls and wrapping it around the other. The purl side does not work like the knit side at all and sometimes you do have to just bring one ball around the other.

I start the intarsia today. I stopped at my LYS for some bobbins and Gail advised me to make center pull butterfly balls with long strands of yarn, eliminating the weight of the bobbins. This is what makes her a great LYS owner, she could have easily sold me the bobbins but gave free advice instead.

The week before I received Clue 3, I had bought a Gromit child sweater pattern and Kauni yarn to use with Ruth Sorenson's hat patterns. The sweater is intarsia and the hats are Fair Isle. I put them away to be used much later, after I learned the techniques. How strange is it that Clue 3 had both techniques? Now I'm learning them much quicker than I planned. There is always a reason for things.

Clue 4 came this past Friday and it is a continuation of the intarsia pattern and then a repeat of the Fair Isle in different colors. I may catch up this week, if the intarsia doesn't have too many surprises for me.

Mystery Wrap KAL on Ravelry

2008-05-31T10:18:00.003-04:00

I joined the Mystery Wrap KAL on Ravelry. We started on May 23rd and each Friday we get a new set of clues on what to knit. I've never done this before and it's fun and interesting. I purchased the yarn kit through Adironack Yarns. The kit is 16 skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. I've heard that cotton is hard to knit with and tough on the hands. So far I've really enjoyed knitting with it, I cannot split a stitch with this yarn and I love the texture. Here is the knitting from the first week and I'm still weaving in the ends. I have stitch gauge, but the row gauge is coming up short, I think it will block out. I was emailed the second week clues yesterday, it's continuing on with the row color changes. Next week promises to be more interesting, it has been hinted that we will be picking up stitches. It is very strange to be knitting without knowing what the final outcome will be.

Sock Spinning Retreat

2008-05-26T08:32:00.010-04:00

Friday, May 16th was the start of a three day sock spinning retreat hosted by Claudia of Countrywool. Twenty-five spinners came to learn about what makes a good yarn for socks.

People of all skill levels were there, like Debbie a beginner with a rental wheel, to Cat who creates the video podcast Let's Knit 2gether. Debbie's enthusiasm was contagious and through messages on Ravelry I learned she purchased a wheel after the retreat. I got into a conversation with Cat about Navajo plying and when I went to watch her, I found she uses an electric Fricke spinner. I had never seen one before and it was very interesting and surprisingly quiet. While talking with her I learned about the Let's Knit 2gether video podcast she and her husband make together. Don was there on the retreat learning to make yarn for his wife who is an avid knitter, and he also bought a wheel. Jane was there to improve her spinning skills, she teaches in the Binghamton area, and her school has spinning wheels for the students to learn on. Sherry brought her Journey wheel, a wheel I hadn't seen close up until now. She had so many lovely items from her own handspun that she brought with her. Barbara was there, carding away with a big smile on her face, I had met her at a previous retreat two years ago and it was great to see her again. Lizbet made me laugh with all her wit. She has a cat that bothers her knitting, her previous cats never had, so it was suggested at breakfast on Sunday morning that perhaps her cat was a reincarnated knitter, maybe even Elizabeth Zimmerman. Baby EZ was sounding like a possibility for her unnamed cat.

The retreat was at the Winter Clove Inn in Roundtop, NY and held in the conference center, a restored carriage house across from the inn. Spinning wheels were set up around the room in a huge circle. We could buy fiber there or bring fiber for Claudia to evaluate for using in sock yarn. There was colored merino or cormo to add to the fiber along with mohair, angora or angelina to add strength. We color blended using cards to make rolags and then spun, put on a niddy noddy, washed, whacked and dried the yarn. On Saturday night with the yarn barely dry, we started knitting socks or knitting a wee sock.
Some of the spinners brought knitted items from their handspun for a show and tell, wonderful items like sweaters, shawls and socks. It's always inspiring to see these. I enjoyed meeting other spinners and hearing their stories of how they started spinning and knitting.
I learned a lot and enjoyed myself, three days of spinning with people that don't ask you why you spin is a treat. I'm always surprised how tired I am after having so much fun. There's another retreat coming up in October at Cape Ann, this time with mittens being the subject and I've signed up along with several others from this retreat. Spinning with the ocean fifty feet away sounds perfect before settling in for the winter.

Second Baby Surprise Jacket

2008-04-25T10:49:00.003-04:00

My second BSJ is done. I machine washed this and it came out beautiful. This is made with Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo, 80% bamboo and 20% wool, it's nice to knit with, it gives great stitch defintion. I used one of the plies to sew on the buttons and whip stitch the woven ends. The plies are distinct threads and the ends fray out rather than blending in with the other fibers like wool does. I love solid colored BSJ, they look elegant to me. I used shell buttons that I have had for a while and they add to the look. This is my fifth knitting project and I'm constantly learning.
The first photo is when the knitting is completed. It folds up origami style to make the jacket, leaving only the shoulders to be seamed. Pure genius.

Baby Surprise Jacket

2008-04-04T09:01:00.005-04:00

My first Baby Surprise Jacket is complete. I'm a new knitter and this is my fourth project, I wasn't sure if I could do it, thinking it might be beyond my skill level. It probably was, but I kept with it did not give up. I knit row ten and from thereafter, re-knit every row so many times, I'm sure I knit enough to make three of these. My frogging skills were greatly enhanced with this, I had to learn how to rip back without starting over and how to save lost stitches. I learned to increase, decrease, pickup stitches and to do a purl cast off.
The yarns is Interlacement Toasty Toes. It is a nice yarn to knit with and very durable, it held up with the ripping out I did. It is a sock yarn, but is DK weight not fingerling. It has long color changes which make a pleasing pattern for this pattern.
The pattern is by Elizabeth Zimmerman and I am so amazed with how clever the design is. I am collecting books and DVD's by her now and one of many who admire her.

I have started my second and am using Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo, a bamboo wool that is machine washable. It is DK weight and is lovely to knit with, nice sheen and color.

Two Years and a Hat, at Last!

2008-01-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks Claudia! It took two years, but I have a hat from my Hat to Sheep spinning retreat that I went to. I had a few tendon issues, but those resolved and I finished what I set out to do: learn to spin and learn to knit. Claudia (Countrywool) taught me to spin and knit at her three day retreat. I have to admit I forgot some of the knitting technique after two years, but I found more help from KnittingHelp and their videos.
I've signed up for the Socks from Fleece To Foot three day retreat with Claudia in May and can't wait.

If anyone is on Ravelry, I can be found as Hatboxrose.

Louet Hatbox Spinning Instructions

2008-01-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

This is posted for a Hatbox owner on Ravelry that didn't have with any instructions. This was on the Louet website a couple of years ago and I saved the .pdf, but I couldn't find it on their updated site.

Fergus

2007-05-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

This is Fergus, our Springer Spaniel we adopted through the ESSCLI rescue. He is three years old and he has been with us for eight weeks now. He is feeling more at ease and seems happy being here. We started obedience lessons and have a few more to go. It's been good for him and me, I needed to be trained and I'm using the same commands now. No more down, off, or whatever comes in my head. It's officially off when I don't want him on something. That works much better.
As far as my fibery pursuits, the garden, dog and spring time chores have taken over for now. My trigger thumb has stopped triggering and my shoulder is slowly improving, what a relief. The only fiber I have been working with have been the tumbleweeds from the dog. With three cats, I never noticed those, as soon as the dog came in, there they are again waiting to be swept up.
Cat pictures the next time, how unfair to post the dog first, the cats have seniority and are quite important in the household. Their noses are back in joint, having been out for a few weeks while adjusting to a dog in the house.

Springer Spaniel and Dog Beach

2007-03-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

We now have a Springer Spaniel named Fergus. We adopted him from a rescue group four weeks ago. He is three, liver and white and a sweetheart. A bit of obedience training and he will be a great dog.
Emley, our granddog, was the reason we started looking for a dog. We had a Springer before, Angus, who was the best dog ever and lived to be fourteen. We thought we would just have cats from that time on. Then last autumn, Emley came to visit for four weeks with us. We forgot how much we loved having a dog in the house again and how much we loved Springer Spaniels.
Here is a picture of Emley, taken this week, at the dog beach in Venice, FL, which she lives close to, lucky girl! I'll work on getting up pics of the other pets later.

Stitches

2007-02-11T13:43:00.000-05:00

An anonymous person requested pictures of stitches from the Singer 20. To the left are front and back photos of the chain stitch from the Singer 20.

Singer 20

2007-01-19T17:23:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of a Singer 20 sewing machine made around 1926 for children, although the advertisements state is is not a toy. It is hand cranked and makes a chain stitch. The clamp is used to hold it down while using the crank and the bottom is felt covered on this model. The machines came in a cardboard box and the cases were an accessory that could be purchased later. For being 80 years old, this looks good. It is made of cast iron and nickel plating which is why they have lasted through the years.

I found this on ebay. Search under Singer 20, child sewing machine or toy sewing machine to see similar machines.
There were three different models produced from 1910 through 1936 that look like this one, each with some variations. The first model in 1910 is harder to find than some of the others. Conditions vary from excellent to barn finds. Many do not have clamps or one from a different machine. The boxes and original instructions are available with some, others have reproduction instructions. The nickel plating can be like new to totally rusted. Reproduction repair manuals and needles made for the Singer 20 can be found on ebay also.

Their diminutive size is deceiving, they actually work well and sew a nice stitch. They are seven inches tall and I was surprised by how small it really was when I opened the package.

Legare 400 CSM

2007-01-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

Below are pictures of my Legare 400 CSM. This is the ebay purchase. I love this machine, I can crank without a stitch popping off, unless the tension is too tight or I'm not paying attention in the heel area. The Auto Knitter, the first one I got, is currently in the workshop being cleaned. It drops stitches so easily and I am ruling out everything, therefore cleaning again. If I take my eye off of it while cranking, stitches drop, especially when I am doing a mock rib with some of the needles out. It's very difficult to like something that makes me start over and over again.
The Legare is a heavier machine and when cranking it is so much more solid in sound and feel. I can crank and crank and it won't drop a stitch. I feel like a bad parent, having a favorite, but there it is.
Both machines like a 30 weight oil to keep them running smoothly. If I feel any drag on the crank, it's usually time for oil or the yarn path needs to be checked. If there is any change in the yarn tension, I feel it in the crank immediately. I love mechanical things and figuring out how to make them go.
The Legare was probably manufactured around 1900, give or take 20 years. I cleaned it up, but did not repaint it, I prefer the orignial look. I have the wood box it shipped in with Legare stamped on it. That these machines still exist and work amazes me.
The picture on the bottom is the current sock, I've just started the sock top, using a self striping yarn, doing a mock rib with a hemmed top. This machine has a ribber that sits on the top that does true ribbing (a purl stitch) but I first need to master a simple mock rib sock.

AutoKnitter and now Legare

2006-11-22T20:49:00.000-05:00

The refurbished AutoKnitter has been consuming my time the past few weeks. The learning curve is, well, the usual learning curve, painfully slow, but interesting. Tension, tension, tension, the yarn, not me.
I did purchase another CSM, a Legare 400 on ebay. I chose, luckily, a nice seller. She left out a part and mailed it when I emailed her. All parts are accounted for now and in good shape for a machine that was probably made in the 1920's or earlier.

I cleaned the Legare up last night, using mineral spirits, acetone and an air compressor. I'm surprised I have any brain cells left to write this. The fumes were bad even in a ventilated area.

I'm glad I have the refurbished one and can see how a CSM should look and work, otherwise I would be lost. CSMer's are a rare breed, so I don't have anyone to teach me. There is a very active CSM group on Yahoo, with good information, photos and files. I've been browsing through old messages, learning what I can. There is a group called the East Coast Crankers that meet up occasionally on an informal basis. Seeing actual users should help. In the meantime, I'm learning on my own and taking apart one and putting it back together was a great way to learn the machine.

CSM

2006-10-31T13:01:00.000-05:00

A CSM or circular sock knitting machine, was being demonstrated at Rhinebeck when we were there. I have seen them before on some of my weaving/spinning websites and was interested, but there was always a waiting list or listed ones were sold already. I belong to the Majacraft group on Yahoo and the group moderator is Katy of thelegacyfarms.com. She restores and sells CSM's. I have been looking on eBay at CSM's and it's pretty scary, no real close up pics to see it there are cracks or broken parts, so it's taking a chance, relying on the sellers word. Most of the sellers aren't familiar with them, they just happened to come across them and put them up for sale. I thought about it and decided to buy one from Katy, she provides service and support for what she sells. Being a newcomer to this, I have no experience with these and I wanted to start out with one that is working/knitting well to start with. I do think I will bid on one on eBay later on. Once I've seen the mechanically refurbished one from Katy in action and know what to look for, I would like to buy an old one and bring it up to speed. I love mechanical things: treadle sewing machine, spinning wheel, loom and now a CSM. There's something satisfying about machines that work without electricity.
Katy is sending out a DVD and instructions this week so I can familiarize myself with the Autoknitter's parts and how it works. Then she will ship out the Autoknitter. She's doing this for two reasons. She has a bit of work to finish with the CSM and she finds it helps if buyers have read through the manual and watched the DVD. When the CSM comes, they are not just pushing/pulling/cranking without a clue. Smart woman. That's exactly what I would do. I will post pics of it when it gets here. In the meantime, I'm reading all I can on these machines.

Rhinebeck

2006-10-31T12:57:00.000-05:00

We went to Rhinebeck and were amazed at all the people. We arrived at 10:30am on Saturday morning and by 1pm we could barely get through any of the barns. It was a beautiful day to enjoy. I loved the Robin wheels, the woodworking is gorgeous. I visited with Shelia for a few minutes at the Spirit Trail booth, stopped and got a subscription to Wild Fibers at their booth and bought 16 ounces of wool/mohair in Mushroom from Tintangel Farms. I've started spinning with it and love the way it feels, this is my first time for mohair. No pics, it's dark too early with the time change, so will post some later on the weekend.

Forced Break

2006-09-15T18:06:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted since the Tour de Fleece. My right shoulder and left thumb are sidelining me until they feel better. I now have the time and money to do this stuff and my body has decided to remind me of my age. Sigh.

Cooling My Heels

2006-08-27T15:25:00.000-04:00

Rain today and cool. Chinese lanterns are turning orange. Autumn is in the air.

Shoulder issue and thumb tendon problems have sidelined spinning and knitting. Physical therapy and trying to wait out the injuries. Reading spinning/knitting books and organizing where I weave and spin have been my activities. I did get into the day session at KR Knitting Retreat. Don't know if I got the Teva Durham or Cat Bordhi class, either one will be a winner. I've been in a slump since the Tour de Fleece. Taking a deep breath and letting it all go. :-)

Treadling onto the Champs de L'Eyesses

2006-07-23T09:54:00.000-04:00

Floyd Landis is on schedule to win the Tour de France, yeah! And I have completed my original goal plus a second goal for my le Tour de Fleece. I finished the last bit of plying this morning for one last skein. I have spun over 16 ounces, including prepping 3 ounces from fleece. What a great three weeks despite the heat and thunderstorms. I spun dripping wet from the humidity on several days and never gave up. I needed the inspiration of le Tour to keep me spinning and now I want to continue with the daily spinning routine I developed. My next project, a silk top, is ready to go.
Katherine, thank you so much for dreaming up le Tour de Fleece. It inspired me to go beyond my usual limits and achieve more than I thought possible. I found out I am a spinner after all...I had doubts. I've enjoyed reading the comments on the main le Tour site and visiting the other participants blogs and seeing their progress. I've made friends, yarn and good use of the past three weeks. You have earned the yellow jersey for the concept of le Tour de Fleece. See you next year!
~Rhonda