Maia Spins

Random Things I Like

La, of JenLa fame, posted a list today (inspired by Big Alice).  It seems like a good idea.  I will leave out the obvious things like spinning, knitting, family, pets, etc.  They are givens.

• three day weekends
• travel to new places
• travel to favorite places
• toast rubbed with a garlic cloves and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil plus salt and pepper.  (it must create garlicky dragon breath or it has been done wrong)
• TV shows on DVD (no commercials - yay!)
• Green & Black chocolate (especially the almond)
• quiet sleepy mornings
• yellow
• hugs
• Italian food
• handmade gifts
• flannel sheets
• wool that smells sheepy
• hot baths with a good magazine
• handmade soap
• freeshias
• turning the compost pile
• when my dog turns circles because he is so happy that I am home
• the smell of freshly cut wood
• good strong coffee, especially when I don't have to make it
• watching my pond fish
• garden fresh veggies
• heirloom tomatoes
• sincerity
• black and white movies
• learning something new
• meeting new people
• fresh fruit

Latvian Stall

I have been waiting for my copy of Latvian Mittens to arrive so I can start to Knit Like A Latvian.  After making me wait for seventybillion years, a certain on-line bookseller told me that it is not available.  I have since found out that Schoolhouse Press is in the process of reprinting it (yay!), but it won't be available for a month or two (boo!).  Anybody out there want to sell me their copy?

I got my custom dyed roving in steel blues from Jessie at A Piece of Vermont. Beautiful!  Just what I wanted.  You may recall that she hooked me up with a free sample (like a fiber dealer on the corner "psst, hey you, you want some fiber?  first time is free") a while back (the little skein shown).  I got some natural too.  It is all part of my cunning plan to Knit Like A Latvian in Project Spectrum colors (blue, gray, and white for February & March). 

Here is what I have managed to spin so far.  I am shooting for a sport weight yarn in each color for some mittens (for maybe fingerless gloves) and a matching hat.

I wish I could show what I have been knitting lately.  I am working on a few projects that have to be kept on the lowdown for now.  I may have to pull out some old knitting so I have something interesting to blog about.  (Unlike grouchy posts about big knitting events and sad stories about locals.)

I'll leave you with this picture.  If you look very closely and don't squint you will see solid precipitation.  Yes folks, we got us some hail today.  Not much, it only hailed for a half hour and then rain came along to melt away the evidence.  I can't remember the last time we had hail. 

See how desperate I am for blog fodder?  Sad.  Very, very sad.  sigh

The Button Man

There is a shop in my neighborhood that sells buttons, just buttons.  Well, not just buttons, it is art, history, and love too.  The button man, Vincent Sortile, collected an astounding array of buttons in metal, plastic, shell, Bakelite, you name it.  Most buttons are vintage, some are valuable collector's items.  And each button has a story, a history, a provenance.  To go to see the button man is an adventure.  On one visit he told me that he started his business with 5 garages full of pre-WWII buttons and that he still had 2 garages worth.

Today, I am sorry to say that we have lost the button man.  He was a sweet, charming man full of fascinating stories and he will be sorely missed.  His wife of 65 years, Mary, plans to keep his shop open for as long as she can.  If you live anywhere in the area (or are going to be in the area), do yourself a favor and stop by.  You can find the perfect buttons with at least 6 fabulous back-up options, for any project you have.  A shop like this is a dying breed.  When Mary passes I imagine the stock will become fodder for an eBay shop.  The charm of the little ramshackle building full to the rafters with buttons will be gone forever.

ETA: the address is 10252 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, California (510) 524-5606
the most recent posted hours are Friday & Saturday from 11-4

 

My Stitches West 2007 Report

This year I decided to go to Stitches West on Friday only.  I am not enrolled in any classes, so it was just a shopping trip.  Last year Saturday was insane with a capital insane.  Friday seemed the best choice.  I was a beautiful day, bright and sunny with intense clouds.  This is a shot I took while driving down I-880.

What did I get?  Not much.  My complaint with yarn stores holds true here.  With a few exceptions, everybody draws from the same pool of yarns.  There isn't much that is new or different.  There isn't much that I can't buy at my LYS or on-line.  When I have a project in mind, I prefer to support a LYS. 

I did like the vendors that have lots of great original knit items like La Lana Wools (gorgeous naturally dyed yarns, some hand spun, some custom mill spun) and Philosopher's Wool.  (very tempting stranded designs and kits).  I also enjoyed seeing all the lace in the XRX Books booth.

But, you asked what I DID get, not what I want to complain about.

I got two back issues of Wild Fibers Magazine.  One issue features camel, bison, and a story on the Navajo shepherds in Arizona.  One of the breeds talked about in the Navajo shepherds article is the Navajo-churro, a now endangered breed that was a large part of the traditional Navajo way of life (post Spanish introduction of sheep). 

As an aside, Navajo-churro is a mid-grade wool with a long staple length, well suited to rug making (makes sense given the stunning rugs created the the Navajo weavers).  I have a gray fleece from a sheep named Albert.  It is fun to spin, but not for next to the skin wear, maybe outerwear.

The other issue features Qiviut (the Inuit word for muskox).  I have only skimmed the article so far, but this species nearly went extinct and has been resurrected from 34 animals.  The fiber is shed and collected either from the pasture where it falls or by plucking it off the animal.  The animal is not shorn.

While I was in the Wild Fibers booth I met Linda Cortright (editor and publisher).  She is delightful.  Stop by and visit with here if you ever see her at an event.  I was beguiled by the raw qiviut and bought 25g for an ungodly sum of money.  It is mostly down with a bit of the guard hair still in place.  I haven't decided yet whether I want to dehair it or blend it or what.  For now I will fondle it.

My only other purchase was a bump of dyed Wensleydale from Lisa Souza.  I am such a sucker for Wensleydale.  It is a mid-grade fiber with incredible luster.  Unfortunately, it is in short supply since most of it comes from Great Britain and many animals were slaughtered in the recent hoof and mouth disease scare there.  Hopefully the herds will be rebuilt soon.

I really wanted to get more spinning fiber.  A few vendors had the usual merino or Falklands fiber that is handpainted.  I didn't see any unusual, exotic, or luxury fibers aside from the qiviut (do you know how hard it is to type q without a u after it?).  I recall there being a lot more last year.  There was Carolina Homespun of course, but I can go there any time I want to drive 30 minutes into the city (also known as San Francisco, the city by the bay)  So, I didn't get much at Stitches, but I am happy with what I got.

Napa and Joy

Last week I mentioned that I had been to a new (to me) yarn store.  I haven't forgotten to post about it; I've been a little under the weather and enjoying our gorgeous spring like weather while it lasts.  At the end of this post there is a sneak peek at a new fabulous yarn, so scroll down if you aren't interested in this LYS review.

It was last Saturday, the weather was rainy and very gray.  I had been in Napa for the spinning group of my guild (I still love saying that!  I am in a fiber guild!).  So why not stop and visit the local yarn store?  Doesn't take much to persuade me.

Yarns On First
I took a long shot so you could see the trees in full bloom.  Click to see pictures larger (as always).  It is a small storefront in the heart of downtown Napa, California.

The store is arranged by color with greens, blues, and purples on the left side and neutrals and reds on the right side.  There are pockets of baby yarns and sock yarns and the novelty yarns tend to be down the center aisle (which I managed to not photograph) and a nice table for sitting and knitting or browsing a book just inside the front door.

I didn't expect to like a store arranged by color.  Surprisingly it is pretty exciting.  Even Cascade 220 looks exciting when it is tucked between other yarns.  It is definitely eye candy.  I was not searching for a particular project, so I may have felt differently if I was trying to find all my options in a particular gauge.

I found Mountain Colors Bearfoot which I had never seen before in person and other lesser known yarns like Chasing Rainbows by Nancy Finn (she has a great color sense and uses high quality yarns).  It is nice to see a few things that are different from the usual yarn store fare (let's be honest, yarn stores can be remarkably similar).

I did get a shot of some stunningly gorgeous handpainted lace weight silk (from Claudia Hand Painted?).  It was very hard to resist (and it may be a losing battle).  It has delicious shawl written all over it.

Often what makes a yarn store for me is the staff.  The owner, Connie, was there alone and, despite being quite busy, she was very friendly and helpful.  Some yarn stores make me feel unwelcome or like they are indifferent to me.  This one is comfortable with a good selection, the combination I look for.  I like this store quite a bit. 

You know I didn't leave there without buying something!  It is next to impossible to go to a yarn store and leave empty handed.   I got a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Red Tail Hawk colorway.  It is dark, dark purple and red with touches of brown.  A sport weight sock yarn of 60% superwash wool, 24% mohair, and 15% nylon. Unbelievably soft and beautiful is the best way to describe it.

I also got Folk Socks by Nancy Bush.  I am looking forward to trying some of the traditional construction methods.  And, it hardly seems right to be a serious sock knitter without a Nancy Bush book.

Sol Joy
Is the name of the new sock yarn I am currently knitting.  It is rather unique as it is woolen spun instead of being worsted spun.  Worsted spun yarn (not to be confused with worsted weight yarn) means that all the fibers are parallel  when spun.  The yarn is denser and generally stronger.  Most commercially available yarn is worsted spun. 

Woolen spun yarns are spun from fibers that are not all parallel.  The result is more space for air inside the yarn (greater insulation properties) and a softer feel.  Woolen spun yarn is usually more squishy due to the increased air space; some refer to this as sproing.  Woolen and semi-woolen preparations are more common in hand spinning.  As a spinner, I am very intrigued by this yarn.

I am almost finished with a pair of socks from this skein (color #801, called Meadow).  I will show you just the stockinette side of the first toe and save the sock debut for another time. 

It has been a delight to knit with.  I don't think I had a single split stitch!  The yarn is very soft; it feels like a soft cotton.  As I expected, it compresses well and makes a wonderful thick knit fabric.  It is definitely different from other sock yarns I have used.  The colors are lovely too.  This picture doesn't quite do it justice.  The blue is really more of a teal and all of the colors are a bit more distinct (click the pic for a better view).  The colors in the skein are more accurate.

I understand that it will make its debut at Stitches West at the Adirondack Yarns booth.  If you are going to be at Stitches, check it out.  It deserves a fondle at minimum.  I got mine through Kerry as part of a special yarn preview.

Speaking of Stitches West, if you see me, please say hi.  I'd love to meet you.

When to knit?

Yesterday I was pondering this question.  Every day has moments when a bit of knitting could be slipped in: standing in line and at the movies before the lights go down.  This is why small projects are so great.

So yesterday I went on a work site visit to survey a basement.  We were just trying to determine the elevation of the floor.  A pretty simple task.  For us it was made more complicated by the 2 inches of putrid, fetid water.  In order for us to map the elevations  we needed two people to hold on to the ends of a long tape measure.  I was one of those people (I hear you thinking how glamorous the life of an engineer is).  It was a whole day of standing and holding the end of a very flexible piece of tape that really shouldn't drop into the aforementioned fetid water.  It was a lesson in the amount of force it takes to counteract a catenary curve.  But, I digress. 

The solids in the water settled into interesting patterns and was actually quite pretty in places.  (Think I can count it as an Eye Candy Friday picture?)  To bad it stank to high heaven.  Not pictured are my wellies, just like the ones Lolly has.  Okay, they look nothing like Lolly's, they are mundane black rubber boots. But, I had to entertain myself with something.

The whole time I am thinking that I could easily knit while doing this job.  It would take the edge off of the boredom and distract me from how nasty the task is.  Could I really consider knitting in a cess pool?  The answer is yes, I could CONSIDER it.  You will be happy to know that I resisted, even though I have a lovely new sock in the car.

I did manage to torture entertain my co-workers with my ability to find a theme song for any occasion.  When I was alone at the end of a 60 foot long tape measure it was All By Myself. That got old.  Quickly.  How is it that I can remember craptastic songs from my youth and can't remember seemingly important information from last week?  Other contenders were I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor! because "First I was afraid, I was petrified"), Walk This Way (Run DMC  version thank you very much) and Ooh, That Smell.  By the end of the day, I was trying to cheer myself up with Bright Side of Life.  Eric Idle never lets me down. (Note to self: get some new songs, you're dating yourself and it isn't pretty.)

Bless the joys of carpooling.  One of my co-workers lives very near me and picked me up so we could drive together.  Luckily (?!?), Bay Area traffic is awful and I got an hour of travel knitting done each way.  Speaking of awful traffic, I have friends who claim they knit at stop lights and in stop and go traffic!  Wha???  No offense to my friends, but that is crazy.

The cess pool saga has a happy ending.  I spent the evening with Brooke and Sonya talking about knitting and other fibery goodness.  We had so much fun.  They are both so creative and wonderful.  After spending most of my crafting life alone, it is such a joy to have friends that play with fiber.  I felt completely invigorated and inspired by the end of the evening. 

And, today I am in a glorious mood.  It is a gorgeous day full of sunshine (Google weather says it is 64 degrees F today with a high of 70!  (Yes, just like the picture there that you can look at all by yourself without me reiterating it.  What about it?)  We do get these wonderful pockets of delicious weather this time of year.)  The forecast for tomorrow is the same and I have a three day weekend. 

Life is good.  It must be time to knit.

Completely Free

Maybe that is not the best title for a post on Valentine's Day.  Rest assured I am talking about socks not my marriage.

The Free Socks are done and oh boy are they fraternal.  I can't quite get the colors right.  This picture shows them as more subdued than they really are.  THEY ARE LOUD! (pardon my screaming)  As always, click on the images to see them larger.

The yarn:  about 325 yards of my own fingering weight handspun, see this post for more info.
ETA: I got 7.25 sts/in in stockinette and one chevron repeat = 1 1/8 inches for this yarn.

The pattern: my basic toe-up sock which uses Judy's Magic Cast-On for the toes and the Your Putting Me On method for the heels.  The pattern stitch is a simple chevron with two variations (one per sock - why deny the fraternal nature of this pair?).
Started spinning on Saturday February 4, 2007 and completed on February 14, 2007.  Pretty quick if I do say so myself.

The loud sock
This one has the simpler chevron pattern.  It is a multiple of 10 when worked in the round:
R1: *k1, yo, k3, sl 2 knitwise k1 psso, k3, yo*
R2: knit

I used 3 chevrons on the top of the foot and 8 around the leg starting just past the heel.

The quiet sock
This sock is the same except that it has a purl ridge every 8 rows.
Set-up row: *k1, p9*
R1, 3, 5, 7: *k1, yo, k3, sl 2 knitwise k1 psso, k3, yo*
R2, 4, 6: knit
R8: *k2, p7, k1*

Both socks have my favorite ribbing, a slipped stitch ribbing.  I start it by working two stitches thereby shifting the start of the round those two stitches.
R1: *k1, sl 1 purlwise, k1, p2*
R2: *k3, p2*
The middle knit stitch is slipped every other row.  It should align with the k1 between the yarnovers and with the chevron decrease.

On both socks, the chevrons at the toes and above the heels start with the set-up row to create a purl ridge.  I think it enhances the chevron.

I have to admit that these socks were a lot of fun.  I had meant to do something entirely different (not socks) when I started the random spinning at the Spin In.  It just happened.  I would do it again, but maybe with a more subtle color selection.  Trust me these socks are much louder in person.  In fact, they verge on fugly (or are firmly planted in fugly territory).  Oh well, it was a fun experiment, the socks fit very well, and I love shocking people with my socks (my co-workers think I am  crazy, the socks I wear confirm this belief).

Here are my Valentines.  Sammie in his ferocious dog pose and my sweet, sweet husband Roger.  Mwah!  Love my boys.

Guilding

I had a busy weekend and have much to report including my first time going to the spinning group of my guild (I love that - my guild) and a trip to two new (to me) LYSs.  Unfortunately, I am separated from my camera and therefore my pictures.  More on picture related topics later.

I am so happy to have joined a guild and I haven't even been to my first meeting yet.  On Saturday I met up with about eight members for the monthly spinning group.  Everybody had a different wheel (my exposure has been limited to Schacht, which I have, and Ashford) and some members have been spinning longer than I have been alive!  One of the current efforts is to spin warp yarn for Sheep to Shawl competitions.  The basic idea is that the team arrives with a warped loom and has to prepare, spin, and weave a shawl in four hours!  Four hours folks!  Apparently, this group is serious about it.  I can't wait to witness an event.  I also signed up for an all day spinning class (next month) with Celia Quinn.  Fun, fun, fun!

And now for something completely different:

This is my blog represented as a graph (html graph?).  Go plug in your blog and see what you get.  You can also check out the Flickr page.

Thank you Donna for this cool link.

Family is where you find it

I have been meaning to tell you the story of Kay for a while now.  I met her seven years ago when I volunteered to be a mentor at Richmond High School (of Coach Carter fame).  We were matched by a woman named Carol (if you know her please have her get in touch with me).  Kay didn't know she was getting a mentor.  Neither of us knew what to expect.  I only knew that it was something I had wanted to do for a long time.

We got along well from the first day.  It started as me helping her with her studies.  She was interested in biology.  While I don't know anything about biology, we could work on math, physics, English, etc.  Soon we became friends and I felt like I could be a role model for her.  Kay decided that I was more like a mother.

(The picture on the left is of her studying while wearing a scarf she knit.  She is a natural knitter I proud to report).

She is such a unique young woman.  She is strong, hard working, and determined to build a better life for herself.   

She came from Jamaica at age ten.  Her mother had to work 2-3 jobs to support the family.  Kay became the family cook and cleaner.  She raised herself in many ways. I am not trying to tell you a sad story.  I want you to understand how remarkable she is. 

She has worked for years now as a Certified Nursing Assistant.  Currently she is in her second semester of nursing school.  Yay Kay! 

Last December she moved in with us.  She was living in an awful neighborhood  (remember what I said about Richmond being the 11th most dangerous city in the US?)  She was also working  way too many (graveyard) hours to be able to keep up with her studies.  She had worked to hard to get into nursing school to let it slip through her fingers.  This is an expensive place to live even in the worst neighborhoods.

So, where do you put another adult and all her furniture when you live in a two bedroom house?  You empty the craft stash from one of the bedrooms.

In November and December we removed all my craft stuff and general accumulation from a large bedroom and put it all in a  6 foot by 9 foot shack (thankfully with 10 foot ceilings).  In its previous life it was a washroom attached to the back of the house.   Now it has a roof that doesn't leak, sheet-rock on the walls, and shelving on every square inch of wall. 

This picture is from the first day of moving in.  That is much of my fiber stash and some of my yarn stash.  I dare not show you what it looks like now.  Let's just say that there are no empty spots left.  The irony is that it is more accessible now as long as I stay organized.

Citizen Kay
Last November, we went with her when she became a US citizen.  I took this picture as she was leaving the swearing in ceremony.  I am so proud of her.

She registered to vote just after the ceremony.  Okay, I confess that I made her do it.  Voting is not just a right, it is an honor and an obligation.  (End of voting rant.)

I have written and erased several paragraphs that sounded trite and like I am tooting my own horn.  I just want to say that fate brought me a child whose life I could impact for the better. She in turn has brought a richness I never would have expected.  We are both better people for it.

Thank you Kay.  I love you and I am proud to be your mother.

Free Socks

Well, that's what I'm calling them at least.

It stared with a grab bag of fiber from Left Hand Pinkie.

Spun in a quasi- random order (I selected 3-6 consecutive colors at a time without an overall master plan).  Someone at the Spin In called it "I Spin Freely" yarn.

To get as much twist as I like for socks, I spun the singles twice.  It is time consuming, but it really pays off in the feel and durability of the finished yarn.

Navajo-plied to maintain the stripes.

Got almost 300 yards of fingering weight (17-18wpi), weighing in at 3.3 oz.  It is spun tightly enough that it has a bounciness like Koigu.

Here is the start of the first sock.  I am just finishing the gusset increases.  The heel turn is next.  I will make the as long as I want (or can stand to make them) and spin more yarn if I need it.

The pattern stitch is from my head.  It is quite simple.  I'm sure someone else has thought it up before.  Once I get past the heel, I'll add the Chevron pattern all around the leg.

I am calling them Free Socks.  I am not sure yet if they are "crazy fun" or "crazy, we have a nice white jacket for you".  The bigger they get, the better they look.  The first few inches looked pretty grim.  Olive, followed by pink and purple?  Woof!

This is an experiment I may not repeat (this randomly at least), but it is fun to throw out the rules once in a while.