Maia Spins

Is It Spinning?

It has been crazy since I got back from New York.  I have managed to do a bit with some of my Rhinebeck loot.

Here is the pile of lace weight yarn from Morehouse Merino.  All 19 skeins!  I bought it without a plan, just an impulse.

At dinner that night Brooke made a comment that sparked an idea.  She suggested adding more twist to the yarn (all singles yarn) and plying it together.  Great idea!  Two things came to my mind.  If you guessed socks, you are partly right (and I am that predictable). 

The first task was adding twist to all 19 skeins and winding them into little mini center-pull balls (pause a moment here because that was a big and boring task).  Then I set them out in oder by color and started making a 3-ply sock yarn.  Self-striping yarn capitalized on the large number of colors and the fact that I already had a lot of bits and pieces.  The colors seemed to have a beginning and an end so I started at one end and plied AAA, AAB, ABB, BBB, BBC, BCC, CCC, and so on.  When I got to the last color, I reversed and went back down the colors.  I scientifically determined that a full bobbin was the perfect amount for socks. The result?  4.6 oz of self-striping sock yarn in a worsted weight.

Wanna see the socks?

One is knit (toe-up of course!) from the center of the ball and one from the outside.  When I ran out of yarn the socks were done.  The remaining yarn (1 yard, maybe) is in the upper left corner.

They are knit tight at 5.75 sts/in.  I want thick cushy house socks for the cold weather.  The leg is knit in a 6x2 rib after the heel turn which shifts into a 2x2 rib.

The ends aren't woven in yet.  I was trying to get a picture taken before the light faded completely.  That darn sun goes down so early these days.

But that can't be all of the Morehouse Merino?  The pile was large.  True. 

There was enough for three large hanks of 2-ply for a total of 1300 yards of sport weight yarn.  There is also an annoyingly small hank (not shown) that just wouldn't fit onto the bobbing no matter how hard I tried.  Ironically, the harder I tried the more I was able to fit onto the bobbin and therefore the more annoying it was that it didn't all fit.  I don't really mind joining and weaving in the ends; it just vexed me that it was so small.  It is like having a small bit of leftover food at a restaurant.  Not enough to take home, but too much to leave on your plate.

The question is: what kind of shawl do I make?  A triangle?  Rectangle?  Parallelogram?  A triangle could be problematic since the stripe widths will vary depending on the length of the row.  Each stripe will be fairly short as I didn't make them really long.  Maybe a rectangle or parallelogram is more logical?  I can't decide.  What does one do when one can't decide?  A poll!

It hasn't all been about the Morehouse Merino around here.  My father-in-law's dog, Pancho was visiting.  He is a sweet boy and Sammie loves having a canine companion.  The boyz get along quite well.

Most of the time.

Roger had to break up one fight.  Both of them were squabbling over something, but we couldn't tell what it was.  We thought it was a toy as they had been playing with something a moment before.  After prying them apart, Sammie ran after the coveted object and snatched it up with a snarl and an "I dare you" look at Pancho.  Obviously, this toy could not remain "in play" and Roger removed it from Sammie's clenched teeth.

What was it?  This highly coveted object worthy of a fight with your best friend?

A cheap plastic spoon from Thai take-out food.

Spinning Group

On Sunday, we had our first spinning group at my house.  Oh what a good time!  I met a few new people, saw some friends, and got to spin with the pack.  Good times.

From left to right:  Brooke, Janine, Lala, and Rachael.

Lea, Marlowe, and Renee.  All blogless (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Kimberly and Liz of the pointy sticks contingent.

Sammie getting some lovin' from Jennie. 

That dog loves a party!  I think he volunteered himself into everyone's lap at some point during the day.

There were more people that I neglected to get photos of.  My apologies for omitting them.  At some point I forgot about the camera.  I think we had about 15 folks. 

We had a lot of fun and ate some great food.  Thank you ladies for making our first Spin-In great.

There will be two Spin-Ins a month here (Richmond, California), second Sundays for a potluck brunch and fourth Thursdays in the evening.  We've started a Google group, let me know if you want an invite.  That is the best way to stay apprised of the schedule.  We would love to have you join us!

I'm thinking we should try fiber samplings or themes or something else fun (have I said fun enough yet?).

In other news
Congratulations to Barry Bonds!!!  It was amazing to see him hit 756.  I am a big fan of Mr. Bonds.  For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, he is now the all-time home run champion having just passed Hammerin' Hank Aaron's total of 755.  Big happenings for baseball fans in the Bay Area.

 

Social Butterfly

I don't seem to have a lot of fiberish time these days.  I have been busy socializing.  On Friday we went to Rachael and Lala's house for a game of Power Grid.  It was a hooting good time (the beer may have enhanced the experience). I got silly and reportedly laughed a lot (and loudly).  Hopefully, I didn't embarrass myself.  Too much. 

I got to see Digit the miracle cat.  If you don't know about Digit, go read his story.  Really.  It is a good one.  There is a happy ending.  And a naked cat butt involved.  See!  Who doesn't enjoy embarrassing a cat?  Dogs don't understand these things.  Cats do.  And, it pisses them off.  (Hmm, it is sounding like I shouldn't have cats isn't it?  I like cats.  Some of my best friends, . . .  Oh never mind)

The lovely Rachael with Digit.  He has a cone.  Poor guy.  It is too keep him from worrying his stitches.  Apparently, he just got the cone off and discovered his naked butt.  Too funny!

On Sunday, we had our first spinning group.  What a great time!  More on that tomorrow.

In a couple of weeks I'll be socializing with Portlandians (is that what one calls residents of Portland?  Oregon not Maine).  Roger has a work thang on Friday the 24th and I am joining him for a weekend get-away.  On Saturday, I'm yarn crawling with a posse of Portland knitters.  I can't wait!  It is being coordinated through Ravelry.  If you are a PDX knitter who is not on Ravelry and want to join us, let me know.

There has been a bit of sockiness.  I started a pair of Pomatomus Socks.  It (they?) have been on my list forever.

This is the lovely Trekking yarn that Debi sent me a while back.  The subtle color shifts are perfect for this pattern.  It is a fairly simple pattern too.  I had heard that it was a tricky one.  But no, deceptively easy and straight forward.  Unfortunately, the pattern comes in one size: women's medium.  Since I wear a large, I've just loosened up on the gauge a bit.  The fit is great.  I also reduced the ribbing to three rows as the pattern stitch is a form of ribbing plus shortened the leg for a high ankle sock.

I've also been playing with the drum carder.  There was some Rambouillet pin roving that got a bit too felty.  Pop it into the drum carder with some alpaca, tussah silk, recycled denim, and silk noil and ya get some soft fluffy goodness.  Everything is naturally dyed except for the recycled denim.

I love the way noil pops out when you spin it fine.  The recycled denim does this too.  What a nice texture.  The 16% silk and 30% alpaca make it deliciously soft.  Yumm!

Batts are a wonderful way to make dyeing accidents and boring fiber into something fabulous.

One more batt.  This one is Blueface Leicester with mohair locks, bamboo, and tussah silk. 

I'm in heaven.

Nothing To Blog About

Do you know the expression "nothing to write home about"?  That's the way I feel.  I'm stalled.  In a holding pattern.  Stymied. 

Let me count the ways:

• I finished the latest Sidewinder and blogged about my mods.  I just don't feel like starting the next one yet.  Do you think that 2.5 pairs of Sidewinders is all I've got in me?
• I am on my fourth (or is it fifth?) swatch for that sage green Zephyr I teased you with a few days ago.  Ribbit, ribbit.
• I can't (or won't) start prepping the fiber for my sweater because I want to use Brooke's picker on the fleece.
• I don't have more undyed tussah (want to dye some that is solid yellow) for my Spun Stitches Shawl, so I'm not spinning the painted tussah roving.
• The alternate spinning for Tour de Fleece is not inspiring me (see below).
• None of my WIPs or UFOs are capturing my interest right now.  There are lots of them too.
• We are in the middle of our foggy/overcast/cool summer since it is so warm inland.  I think the gray is getting to me (this is why Seattle and I parted ways after 15 years).
• And, Ravelry has sucked me in and thoroughly bewitched me.

What to do?  I often get this way when I finish a project or a book (not that I've really done either of those).  It is like circling the airport waiting for clearance to land.  It will pass.  Eventually.

I think I am liking the current swatch for the Zephyr.  Maybe that is my ticket out.

Here is the alternate spinning for Tour de Fleece.

At the top is natural BFL spun at a DK weight (about 14 wpi).  At the bottom is the lovely saffron merino-tencel roving that Ronni sent me.  It is spun finer, lace weight, about 26-28 wpi.  My apologies for the craptastic lighting in that picture.

Here it is plied.  You'll probably have to click for the bigger picture to actually see what it looks like.  It is fine.  A bit boring. 

I have oodles of the BFL to spin and about 3/4 of the saffron singles left.  Do I make more of this yarn?  And, if I do, what do I do with it?  Oy!  I had such great plans for it and it isn't what I envisioned.  Help!

 

On a cheerier note, my waterlilies are doing very well this year.

A long shot.

And a closer shot of three of them.  I love the white, white petals with the bright yellow centers.

Cheery flowers, I love you.

 

Tour de Fleece

The Tour de France starts today.  Therefore the Tour de Fleece begins today (Flickr group here).  I was going to spin some tussah silk for a shawl, but I want to pair the painted with some yellow and I don't have more undyed tussah.  The other project is a fleece and tussah sweater, but I want to use Brooke's picker to open the locks.  What to do?

Go for the mystery fiber behind door number three.  Enter the lovely saffron colored merino-tencel fiber that Ronni gave me.  It is the perfect color for the occasion too!

Here is the start of it on my trusty Schacht wheel.

Speaking of yellow, I was reading Karen's blog post Bundt Pan Love in which she talks about her love of bundt pans.  I agree.  Bundt pans are wonderful (not necessarily yellow I know, bear with me for a moment).  She had just made a lemon cake with a glaze.  Yumm! Lemon cake!  Well, it was too good an idea to pass by.  I went and bought a lovely cast iron bundt pan that can be seasoned like a cast iron pan.  It is big, thick, and built to pass down to the grandchildren. 

I didn't have the ingredients* for the cake Karen linked to, so here is my own recipe.  It is not too sweet and very lemony.  Be warned, you won't be able to eat just one piece.

Lemon Bundt Cake
1 cup (= 2 sticks = 1/2 lb) butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk (you can substitute milk or buttermilk)
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 3/8 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (2 teaspoons if you are using unsalted butter)

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (this is a very important step, don't skip it).  Add the eggs one at a time.  Combine remaining wet ingredients.  Combine dry ingredients.  Mix 1/3 of the wets into the butter mixture, then 1/3 of the dries, continue in this manner until everything is incorporated.  Mix only as much as you need to get everything combined.  Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for about an hour. 

Glaze:
3/8 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar

Warm the lemon juice just enough to dissolve the sugar.  Pour the glaze over the hot cake while it is still in the pan.  Let the cake sit for 30 minutes and turn out onto a plate.  Eat it right away while it is still warm if you wish.  It would be fabulous with fresh berries and fresh slightly sweetened whip cream.

*Yes, I went to the grocery store where I got everything to make tacos with fresh homemade salsa, avocados, grilled onions, grilled pasilla peppers, and queso fresco.  Did I remember to get the cake ingredients?  Nope.  Oh well, I'm quite happy with my version.

Sidewinders on 2 circulars tomorrow.  Yes, I did say that yesterday.  Sorry.  Today it is today, not tomorow.  Hopefully, unlike yesterday's tomorrow, tomorrow's today will be tomorrow, not today.  Confused?  You won't be after the next episode. 

Spin-Alongs!

I have joined two spin-alongs.

Spun Stitches

This spin-along is about spinning and knitting a shawl.  I have wanted to do this for a while, so this is perfect.  I have no idea what shawl I will knit.  I'll wait for the yarn to tell me what it wants to be.

Tour de Fleece

Spin along with the riders in the Tour de France.  Spin on days the riders ride, spin fast on time trial days, and above all wear yellow!  Roger loves the Tour and I love spinning (and Roger!).  Ah, togetherness.

But, Maia (I hear you saying), what are you going to spin?  Thanks for asking.  I have these lovelies:

Tussah silk for a shawl!

The top one is 2 oz of tussah top naturally dyed in cutch (brown) with a touch of madder (orange) to warm the brown a bit.  It was vat dyed.  To get color variation, I tied the length in a couple of places.  Sort of a tie-dye technique.

The bottom is 2 oz of tussah top naturally dyed in osage orange (yellow), madder (orange), and cochineal (pink).  I was thinking about plying these together.  I fear that that would muddy the lovely colors in the bottom silk.  Maybe I'll dye more in yellow.  I love yellow and it is appropriate.

Sweater Fiber!

The red is Targhee fleece naturally dyed in the same vat as the brown tussah above.  Hard to believe isn't it?  The plum is PolyPay fleece naturally dyed in Lac.  I may have the fleeces mixed up.  I have it written down somewhere.  The fleece comes from Homestead Wool & Gift Farm.  These nice folks taken in abandoned and injured farm animals and give them a life of luxury and frolicking in green fields.  They sell fleece (raw and washed), some dyed.  Everything I got (more than I'm showing here) was well prepared and nice fiber.  Check them out.

Below the fleece is three colors of tussah naturally dyed with cutch (brown), osage orange (yellow) and cochineal with a touch of logwood grey (mauve).  I started with two pounds of raw fleece and one pound of silk.  There is at least a half pound of each fleece remaining after washing.  I should have plenty for a sweater.  I need to decide how I want to spin it.  I'll do some carding and spin a few samples.

In other news

I got my invitation to Ravelry!  Wow!  It is pretty cool.  If you are already there, feel free to friend me.  I use the clever handle: Maia.  Sometimes it is very handy to have an unusual name.  I don't have much up yet; I just joined yesterday.

I am working on a new pair of Sidewinders.  This pair is for the write up I am going to do on my mods to Nona's wonderful pattern.  Before doing this, I checked with Nona and got her permission.  It is very important to me that I have her blessing.  As a designer, I would appreciate someone checking with me first. 

The method uses two circular needles (I'm thinking it is possibleto use magic loop too, long needle would be recommended).  The cuff is on the right, the toe on the left, and the heel at the bottom.  You may also notice some extra width above the heel.  I am adding a few short-rows to create more space for my high arches.  There is a blue thread basted along the cast-on (Turkish).  Click to see a bigger image.

I have had trouble with this sock.  The first one (got to 3/4 done) was inadvertently knit on one 2.75 mm needle and one 3 mm needle.  Frogged.  The second one (got almost half done) pooled in a big way and I couldn't stand it.  Frogged.  Hopefully, the third will stick.  So far, so good. 

All the frogging gave me this bit of fleeting art.  I rewound the yarn cake and it held its shape until the last few yards.  I had to snap a picture. 

The yarn is the C*EYE*ber Fiber I got on the Marin Yarn Crawl.  It is beautiful and very soft.  I'm not sure if I am a fan or not.  The plies are softly plied together leading them to unply and split as I knit.  The soft plying contributes to the softness, but I worry that it may compromise how well it will wear for socks.  We shall see.

Last but not least, Happy Independence Day!

Round up!

I have a bunch of bits and pieces today.

First is a picture of a recent family gathering.

My brother Ben, and his wife Deb, were in town.  From the left is my father Paul, my grandmother Do (pronounced like doe), hubby Roger, Deb, and Ben.  We had lunch at our favorite joint, the Bay Wolf in Oakland.

I apologize for the craptastically back-lit picture.  Better pictures of Ben and Deb are at their farm blog, Eggs & Tea.  They live on the big island (Hawaii) and raise organic eggs and tea.

Deb is a great addition to the family.  She is my favorite sister-in-law (okay, she is my only sister-in-law, but still, she's my favorite).  She is into origami.  They came over for dinner and this is what she made.

The foil wrapper from a tiny chocolate bar (the size of a quarter) became an origami flower.  She just sat there are folded like she was doodling (origamoodle?).  I wish they were closer so I could learn more from her.

The Mail is Good

Yesterday I came home to find a package in my mail box.   And, it had my name on it.  Best of all it contained a fiberish gift!  Yay!  The bestest kind of mail.

There is 4 oz of a merino tencel blend in a saffron color (my favorite color!), a set of knitting coasters (who doesn't want that?), and some tiny skull stitch markers (Day of the Dead knitting everyday!).

Thank you Ronni!  What a great gift.  All I knew was that she asked for my address because she had something to send to me.  I promptly forgot about it, so it was like a bit of Christmas in June.  Love that!  If anyone else needs my address . . .

Big Bag Goes Green
Hakucho made a version of my Big Bag pattern from plastic shopping bags.  It is the latest entry in my You Did It gallery.  In this post she shows you how she prepared the bags for knitting and in this post she shows a smaller version of the bag.  Check it out.  It is a great idea. 

Speaking of Photo Galleries
I created a new one for my handspun yarn.  I gave it the oh so clever name of Spinning.  It is in my side bar near my FO galleries.  So far it is just my early (pre-blog) handspun. 

I went through a long phase when I wanted to play with all kinds of techniques.  I put no limits on myself.  It was very free and fun.  When you don't have a particular project or colorway in mind, anything is possible.  You will see novelty yarn, glitter, sequins, and beads along side yarn spun from naturally dyed roving.  Most of it was sold, so it was a lot of fun to go through the pictures.  It was like seeing old friends.

It is about time I created a spinning gallery.  You would think that a blog titled Maia Spins would have more spinning in it.

Here is a montage to tempt you. 

Click for big (as always with my pictures) or go straight to the Spinning gallery for more information.

Spinning Meme

Yup, it is blog filler.  I'll be back tomorrow with a post about the Natural Dye class.

Bold those things you have done, italicize those you wish to do, and leave plain the ones that are of no interest to you.

FIBERS SPUN
Fine Wools (i.e. Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, Polwarth, CVM, etc)
Longwool & Crossbreed Wools (i.e. BFL, Cotswold, Lincoln, Romney, Coopworth, Teeswater, etc.)
Down-type Wool (i.e. Black Welsh Mountain, Dorset, Cheviot, Shetland, etc.)
Double Coated Wool (i.e. Icelandic, Navajo-Churro, Karakul, etc.)
Mohair
Cashmere
Angora
Alpaca
Llama
Camel
Vicuna  if it is gifted to me
Bison/Buffalo
Yak
Quiviut
Dog
Cat
Silk Caps/Bells/Hankies
Silk Sliver
Linen
Hemp
Cotton (prepared)
Cotton from the Boll
Engineered Fibers (Rayon, Bamboo, Soysilk, Ingeo, Ecopoly, etc.)
Recycled Fibers (Sari Silk, Jeans, Garnetted, etc.)
Holographic Fibers (Angelina, etc.)
Commercially Combed Top
Commercially Carded Roving
Hand Combed Top
Hand Carded Rollags
Hand Drum Carded Batts

FIBER TOOLS USED
Flicker
Hand Cards
Mini-Combs
English Combs
Hackle
Diz
Distaff
Drum Carder
Nostepinne
Niddy Noddy
Yarn Meter
Skeiner
WPI Tool
McMorran Balance
Top Whorl Spindle
Mid-Whorl Spindle
Bottom Whorl Spindle (includes Turkish)
Supported Spindle (Navajo, Tahkli, etc.)
Castle Wheel
Saxony Wheel
Great Wheel
Portable Wheel (Little Gem, Joy, Lendrum, Hitchiker, etc.)
Electric Spinner
Charka
Tensioned Lazy Kate

SPINNING TECHNIQUES & YARN TYPES SPUN
Worsted Spun
Woolen Spun
Long Draw
Short-Forward Draw
Spin Over the fold (I added this one)
From the Lock  (I added this one)
In the Grease (I added this one)
Double Drafting
Singles
Energized Singles
Andean Plied 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?) both
Center-Pull Ball 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?) both
2-Ply from Bobbins/Cops
3-Ply from Bobbins/Cops
Navajo Ply 3-Ply (Chained Singles)
4+ Ply from Bobbins/Cops
Bulky/Super Bulky Weight
Worsted Weight
DK Weight
Sport Weight
Fingering Weight
Lace Weight
Cabled Yarns
Fulled Yarns
Slub Yarn
Marled Yarn (Barber-Poled Colors)
Seed Yarn (1 Thick and Soft Ply, 1 Firm and Thin)
Wrapped Spiral Yarn
Flame Yarn (Like Seed Yarn, but with Slubs)
Turkish Knot Yarn (not sure what this is, but I probably want to do it)
Boucle Yarn
Beaded Yarn
Coiled Yarn  (I can never seem to get coils to work :-( )
Encased Yarn (Fabric, Flower, Feather, etc. Captured Between Plies)

OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES
Buy a Fleece
Wash a Fleece
Blend Fiber Types (Combed or Carded)
Blend Colors (Combed or Carded)
Dye Handspun Yarn
Dye Prepared Roving/Top
Dye Locks
Solar-Dye Fiber
Kool-Aid/Food Coloring Dye Fiber
Natural Dye Fiber
Commercial Dye Fiber (Gaywool, Jacquard, etc.)
Attend a Wool Festival
Take a Spinning Class
Take a Dyeing Class
Spin in Public
Teach Children to Spin
Teach Adults to Spin
Knit with Your Handspun
Crochet with Your Handspun
Weave with Your Handspun
Design a Project to Match Your Handspun
Design a Project from Fiber to FO
Spin Yarn to Match a Commercial Pattern
Make Socks from Handspun
Make a Scarf from Handspun
Make a Felted Project from Handspun
Make a Large Project from Handspun (Shawl, Adult Sweater, etc. >1000 yds)
Keep a Spinning Journal
Use A Reference Card to Aid Consistency (I use various techniques but no tools to aid consistancy)
Spin Yarn for Pay
Dye Fiber for Pay
Write a Book on Spinning
Write an Article on Spinning
Make DIY Spinning Tools (PVC Niddy Noddy, Lazy Kate, CD Spindle, Hackle, Wrist Distaff, etc.)

And, to make this an impossibly long post, here is the knitting meme currently to be seen everywhere.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Tid Bits

It has been crazy the last few days.  The natural dye class was awesome.  It was a great group of people and we had a lot of fun.  I'll report on that soon. 

I have only had a few minutes here and there.  I spent that time on a bit of spinning and on my TW2 socks for Sock In A Day.

Remember this?  It is the hemp and sari silk batt I made based on the great tutorial by Pippi Knee Socks in her Knitty spinning column, Get Spun.  In this post I made my batt.

(Click on any picture for a bigger version.)

It was surprisingly easy to spin.  The silk did come in clumps sometimes, but it was quite enjoyable spinning.  This picture shows about half of the batt spun into singles.

I plied it with itself and gold and silver threads.  They are very hard to see in these pictures.  In person, it is not as subtle as the pictures lead you to believe.

I love that the sari silk clumps in places.  I used mostly burgundy, red, and orange with small amounts of contrasting blues and greens.  The effect when a clump of contrast colors appears is very fun.

The finished yarn is very soft.  Softer than either fiber spun on its own.  This is about 125 yards of worsted weight, enough for an accent or a small project.

Sock In A Day

I completed my 18 hours of Sock In A Day knitting last night, just under the deadline.

This is how far I got on the second sock with the remaining 5.5 hours (12.5 hours spent on the first sock).  I have just finished the gusset decreases plus a few rounds.

It is interesting to know how much time it takes to knit a fingering weight (30 sts / 4in) sock for my large feet, but timing everything took some of the pleasure out of it.  It made knitting goal oriented.  I am a process oriented knitter by nature.  I prefer to watch the pattern rather than the clock.

I have had a few requests for the pattern for this sock; look for it soon.

Spinning A Good Day

It has been a great day so far.  The weather is gorgeous!  I am out and about in slacks, a T-shirt, and flip-flops and quite comfortable.  Roger and I are puttering in the back yard.  We also went to Annie's Annuals, a local nursery with a great native plant selection.  Those are for the front yard. 

When we got home, I learned that my Yarn Recipe is in the April edition of Yarnival!  Yippee!  It is hosted at Mega(K)nits this month.  It looks like a good edition.  I am so excited, I am telling you before I read it myself.

Two Surf or Not Two Surf
My apologies to William Shakespeare for the bad pun.  Here is all of the Surf roving spun up.  The second skein (at the top of the pile artfully displayed yarn) is slightly lighter weight than the original, but not enough to be an issue.  I am satisfied.  And, I have over 500 yards!  Whoot!

Swatching begins tonight.  I am thinking about a surf themed pattern.  We shall see what the yarn has to say.

When I finished spinning Surf, the pink and yellow roving called to me.  There is only 4 ounces of this colorway, so I am spinning it finer than Surf.  Wensleydale is a very heavy wool an it never seems to have the kind of yardage that finer wools have for the same amount of wool.  I am aiming for a true fingering weight. 

And, as Lauren pointed out, it is in Project Spectrum colors for April and May (as is Surf).   Thank you Lauren.  Since I am always behind on these things; I really appreciate the reminder.

Here is half of it spun up (as always, you can click for a bigger picture).  Posing the bobbin on the roving is inspired by a recent post by Margene.  It is really nice to see the before and after together.

I am calling it Peach for now.  Yes, I do suck at naming things.  Please feel free to suggest a better name.