Rumors of my Spinning have been Greatly Exaggerated

To malign a quote from Mark Twain, they have been exaggerated by me.   Not on purpose, but rather because I neglected to actually measure my niddy-noddy, which instead of the assumed 2-yard length, is actually 1-3/4 yard.  A funny size if you ask me, this is the one made by Ashford.  Here is the first part hand wound on my niddy-noddy and the blue section wound on my new skein winder.

So, instead of the great yardage that I was assuming I was getting, I have improved more modestly than I have been taking credit for.  That said, this spin was for the Fiber Optic spin-along, and I used a much smaller whorl on my wheel, I can happily report that this is 1250 yards (correctly rewound and measured after washing).  I am really happy with the weight and consistency on this spin, the fiber color is Turquoise to Tangerine.

Now I am desperately seeking the perfect pattern for this, as a knit-along with Fiber Optic has started. Suggestions appreciated.

 

Michigan Interlude

Last week I was in Michigan with my mother, and had the added benefit of seeing my niece and nephew, and getting to take care  of them for a bit.  While there, my mother was complaining of cold hands.  Personal experience with Dan and Sofia told me exactly what to do—make fingerless mitts! Not possessing a GPS or smart phone, I still rely on printing out old-fashioned maps.  Grand Rapids is not a city that I am familiar with, but it is not that big. Googling yarn stores turned up  A Grand Skein, and I drove there during a break to purchase yarn for those fingerless mitts.  I loved this yarn store, and the owner could not have been more helpful and nice.  So, I purchased yarn to make 2 pair of mitts, and noticed something on the way out.  The mitts were very simple, and the yarn was so soft, Mendocino by Crystal Palace, not a yarn that I had tried before, but I really loved it. What does not show up well on the photos is the color range of the yarn, a rainbow effect, plyed with a pink color, they were very pretty.

My mother loved them, and within a short period of time, her hands felt warmer.

What kept coming back to me was the thing I saw while at the yarn shop.  A big skein winder, with amazing ball-bearing gears, it spun so smoothly.  You know where this is going… I went back the next day and mulled it over for a bit and decided to purchase it.  The skein winder is made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I could not locate it online, I did find this demo video, and this one however.  Over the years I have learned when I find something I really like, especially if it is unique and not readily available, just purchase it.  This would have been too hard to ship, so I splurged and brought it home with me.  The winder came with either a table mount or a stand with the option of a table mount, I went full hog for the entire set.  If I want to become a custom yarn dyer, I might need the dyers 5′ winder!!  The workmanship on this is wonderful, and has been improved from the video to include pegs to wind a 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2 and 3 yard skein.  The walnut detailing is just a plus!

And I purchased this yarn also for fingerless mitts, Ella Rae Lace Merino worsted, but did not get them knit up prior to leaving…

Japanese Patterns

My post from yesterday was notes made by Donna Druchunas from the Windy City Knitting Guild class that she taught on making socks from Japanese pattern books.

Having looked at these pattern books in the past, and marveling at the gorgeous patterns, I was excited to take a class that would demystify the instructions and allow me to work from and be inspired by theses pattern books. Donna did a fantastic job, I can't compliment her teaching techniques enough. We will be heading to Japan soon to visit Ethan and now I am on the hunt for pattern books.

Saturday she also taught a class on knitting Amish rugs, and one on beaded wristlets. Those looked fun, but my time was already committed. Next time…

 

Posted with Blogsy

What I Learned Today

Any guesses?

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

All things knitting, of course

The other day I was given a wonderful surprise by my friend Mimi.

The shopping bag I had seen someone with earlier, was it Mimi?  And of course I coveted it.  Love the cards, who can resist googly-eyed sheep, they will be reserved for that special note to that special knitter. And the little pouch that Mimi sewed.   Thanks!

On the knitting front I am 2 months behind in my CookieA sock knitting.  Currently I am working on the Ernie socks from the February installment.  This is just sock #1, will be gifted to my favorite husband. I added the ribbing at the top, he would not like the faux cable sock pattern to just end at the cuff.  I have finally turned the heel, and hope to finish these this weekend.  Spinning seems to be taking an inordinate amount of my time lately, more on that tomorrow.

Then this lovely lavender from Dream in Color came the other day, the April club shipment, I think that these will be for me, love the color.

 

Flight socks

These socks were started in January and took over 2 months to finish.  The yarn color was very dark, and they were difficult to knit up at SnB or on a dreary day because of this.  While cashmere in socks is wonderful on your feet, I do find it to be more splity than other sock yarns. These were from the Cookie A sock club, and this was the December 2012 pattern, it was the simpler of the 2 patterns available.  Between the difficulty of knitting with this yarn, and the dark color I had to abandon the harder pattern for my sanity.  They were gifted to my Mom when I was up a couple of weeks ago visiting her.  She loved them.

 

 

Pattern: Flight Socks
Pattern Source: CookieA Sock Club December 2012
Yarn: Stricken Smitten Sinful Sock Yarn
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 1/?/13
Date Finished: 3/22/13
Finished Dimensions: Women’s large

 

YarnCon’d

Yesterday was the second day of YarnCon 2013.  It was moved from the Fall to the Spring, and to a new location at the Plumber’s Union Hall.  There were many more vendors at the event than last year, and quite a different selection.  Last year I had a fun time perusing the event, but did not purchase anything, this year was different.  Lorraine was my companion for the day, she had a 2 hour class on weaving at the beginning of the day, and I had a 1 hour class on acid dying mid afternoon.  We were lucky enough to be the last of the first 50, which meant that we got a bag of goodies, which was quite a treat.

A couple of these items require elaboration.  First, the yarn is from Juniper Moon, and was donated by the owner Susan Gibbs.  This is such a soft combination of Llama, Merino and Cotton, should make a gorgeous winter hat.  Susan also gave a very interesting one hour lecture on her journey from Producer to Sheep farmer to Yarn company, both informative and entertaining.

The magazine By Hand was one of Ms. Gibbs latest ventures.  This issue is from last Fall, and so of course I had to purchase the current one.  The magazine celebrates everything done by hand and is broken down into chapters titled:  Cook, Grow, Build, Stitch and Craft .  There are some amazing recipes that I am anxious to try, including Turnip Bacon Soup, and Rhubarb Chutney.

My shopping was limited.  I have learned to make at least one round at fiber fairs to see what catches my eye.  Later I allow myself to purchase, and this has greatly reduced my spending. There was so much yarn from Indy Dyers, and I was really only interested in the sock yarn.  I had gone to the event thinking that I would purchase from one particular vendor, but this beautiful yarn from  Happy Fuzzy Yarn caught my eye.  And she is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan to boot (my alma mater)! This is 50% Superwash Merino and 50% Tencel.

And how can one pass by at least some fiber for spinning.  I was not drawn to any of the hand dyed fibers at the event, and this may not look like much, but I wish that you could reach through the computer and touch it, Shetland and Angora (from rabbits), it is so incredibly soft.  Will make a great pair of mittens.

And one bump of dyed fiber to add contrast to this luscious soft fiber.

My last purchase was something that was not even on my radar, a new project bag from poise.cc.  The structure of this bag, having a square bottom that always sits upright, intrigued me.  When the designer mentioned that the top fabric is Vintage Japanese, I was hooked. I already love this bag, and it will become my go-to project bag from now on, attending knitting with me tonight.

The afternoon ended with a class on acid dying yarn.  Given that this was the first and only time that I have attempted to dye fiber, I am very happy with my end result!

And, if you do not have enough craft supplies, check out this sale, coming up in 2 weeks in Chicago.  Love the mantra: Do it Your Own D*mn Self!

Latvian Mitts

When I took the “Twined Knitting” class from Beth Brown Reinsel a few weeks ago I purchased this kit for making a pair of Latvian Fingerless Mitts.

I finally completed them, they are really stunning.  As you can imagine, there were quite a number of ends to weave in, I spent one entire SnB night just weaving them in.  I used the needle for the smaller size, so they do not fit my hands.  These are being gifted shortly. There might be enough yarn left to knit another pair…

Pattern: Latvian Fingerless Mitts
Pattern Source: Beth Brown Reinsel
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, 5 colors
Needles: US 4
Date Started: 3/9/13
Date Finished: 3/25/13
Finished Dimensions: Women’s small/medium

Marigold

This yarn was spun with a specific pattern in mind.  It might be the first time that I have actually done this, and completed the project.  Fiber was by JulieSpins that I purchased from a destash.  She is now one of my favorite indie dyers (more to show soon).  This was a dream to spin, I just wish that I had a bit more of it.

 

Sofia chose the pattern Marigold from the book The Sock Report.  I had to reduce the number of repeats at the beginning from 7 to 4 at each side, so it was not as long as planned.  The pattern is really off on yardage also, I kept weighing it after each repeat to maximize the yardage used.  The result is very pleasing, and a wonderful play of yellows, pinks and oranges.

 

And Voila!

Pattern: Marigold
Pattern Source: The Sock Report
Yarn: Handspun 2ply from fiber by JulieSpins
Needles: US 6
Date Started: 2/15/13
Date Finished: 3/2/13
Finished Dimensions: 19” wide x 64″ long

 

 

 

 

And the Winner Is…

Me!

I made this shawl using some handspun fiber that had been dyed up for the KnitGirllls podcast by Fiber Optic.

I loved the colors, and did fairly well with the yardage.  Then I went on a Ravelry search for a pattern that I felt would both maximize the use of my yardage, and also show off the colors well.  Centrino was the pattern that won hands down.  When the blocking was all finished and I had final photos I posted it on Ravelry, almost instantly I received a nice note from the designer, Laura Nelkin, complimenting me on the project and asking if I would post it on her forum, they were having a KAL for the first quarter of the year.  Happily I posted, and got dozens of lovely comments.  A few weeks later, another surprise, as Laura gave out a grand prize for the month, and she selected this shawl!!!

Here is what I won, a complete set of ChiaoGoo interchangeable circular needles.  It was so exciting to win, I usually do not win things.  They will be accompanying me on an upcoming trip, and used to start a new project.