Maia Spins

This and that

This:

The Debi Socks are done and I love them!  Debi tells me that the yarn will bloom with washing.  I can't wait!  I am wearing them today for the first time.

Here you can see the fit at the ankle.  Debi's heel is very nice.  You can also see the inverted chevrons from the pattern stitch.

Here is the back of the heel (with my patented blurry-cam technology).  I brought the patterning down onto the mini-flap.  It is flat enough to not be a problem inside shoes.

Yarn: Trekking XXL, color #28, a wonderful gift from Debi.
Pattern: I made up the pattern using Debi's favorite cast-on (German Twisted) and Debi's Mini Flap and Gusset Yarnover Short-Row Heel (say that ten times fast) and the Yarnover Short-Row Heel instructions from Purlwise.
Started on April 22, finished on April 29, 2007

That:

A bit of housekeeping on the blog.  I moved my Free Patterns to a photo gallery.  This allows you to see a picture of the garment before you open the pdf document (which can be time consuming).  One thing I like is that I can link to relevant posts which may be helpful to the person knitting the pattern.  The only drawback is that it takes an extra step to click on the gallery (no direct link from the main blog).  The link to the gallery is in the same spot as before.  What do you think?  Is it better this way or the old way? 

The other housekeeping is that I have made pdf versions of my tutorials.  I got a couple of requests for this.  I know how annoying it can be to print out html.  The links will work in the electronic pdf files.  I hope y'all find them useful.  They are linked directly below the links to the html versions.  ETA: Oops I forgot that I still need to turn them into pdfs and upload them.  They'll be up very soon. ETAA: They are up.

Kneek
Wow!  There are some great and creative ideas on this blog.  She has fabulous tutorials for felting, clothing embellishment, and general craftiness.  There are many projects for and with her kids too.  I am inspired every time I go there.  She makes me want to try new things and stretch my boundaries.  I would link to individual posts, but there are too many good ones and I can't decide.  Just go and see for yourself.

Kiva
Kiva allows you to be a micro-lender.  You look through listings of people looking for funds to start a business and then loan them part (as little as $25!) or all of what they need to start the business and get on the path to self-sufficiency.  The loan will be repaid and you can then choose to re-loan the money or withdraw it.  What a great idea!  Like my favorite charity, Heifer, this gives people a way to improve their own lives.  Big rewards at a very low cost.  Love that!

For The Birds

When I went to buy the suet cage for the fiber I put out last week, I learned that this is a great time of year for suet cakes.  Birds need the extra nutrition for feeding baby birds and migrating birds need the energy to fly to their destination.  A little research on the interwebs and I found the idea of mixing up some homemade goodness and packing it into pinecones. 

My recipe:
1 cup lard (a.k.a. manteca, available at Latino markets)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup chopped raisins
2/3 cup chopped peanuts (unsalted)
2/3 cup rolled oats
4 large pinecones, 4 to 6 inches tall and about 3 to 4 inches in diameter

Any dried fruit should work.  I used what I had in the cupboard.  You can use birdseed and other nuts, basically whatever you have around the house.  Tie heavy twine around the top of the pinecone.  I used two doubled lengths of cotton warp (it is what I use for drive-bands on my spinning wheel).  Then fill the gaps in the pinecone.  The first one I made was so full of goodness I am afraid to hang it as is. 

I decided to pack the next one with half as much of the mixture.  The naked pinecone weighed 40 grams (1.5 oz).  Filled it weighs 200 grams (7 oz). I figure it is better to keep them lighter for two reasons.  First, there will be the added weight of a bird (or heaven forbid a squirrel) on the pinecone.  I am not worried about the string, but about the pinecone decapitating.  Hopefully, two strings tied at different heights will help to distribute the load.  The second concern is freshness.  I don't know how fast the birds will find this food or how long the lard will last before going rancid.  If temperatures are over 70 F do not use lard.

For a stiffer mixture, stir in cornmeal, flour, breadcrumbs, or a similar ground meal.  In this batch I added 1/3 cup of cornmeal and 1/3 cup of chopped pumpkin seeds.  Pack it into a half-gallon milk or juice carton and chill overnight.  Remove the carton and slice.  It will make 3-4 slices perfect for most suet cages.  I got 4 slices almost an inch thick weighing about 9 oz each.  Hang in a shady spot.  Store extras in a cool dark spot until needed.

Hanging in the tree (click for a bigger picture).

I have nearly finished my forecast socks.  It took four attempts at the cast of edge before I found one that I like.  I settled on a combination of garter and feather and fan to maintain the scalloped edge.  It looks a little too loose at the top but it fits perfectly.  Blocking should help it all look right.  Now I just need to reknit the top of the second sock.

The stats
Yarn: my Navajo plied handspun from Amy's roving (Forecast colorway in merino, the February offering from the Spunky Club)
Needles: #3 Boye double pointed metal needles
Pattern: my own toe up gusseted sock.

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.

All socks, all the time

It is like Socktoberfest never ended.
The BFL socks are done.  I love them!  Tomorrow they will get their first official day of wear, but I must say that they are soft, cushy, and warm.  The trifecta of socks. 

I hope the BFL wears well.  I don't know of it being a good sock yarn.  It does have a longish staple and I did spin it tightly.  Oh how I hope they wear well.  I think these will be favorites.

Considering that I didn't work very hard at dividing the roving evenly when I spun the yarn, I am amazed at how well the colors line up.  I started both toes with dark pink, both heels are pink, and both cast-off edges are pink (mostly).  Quite pleased I am, yes. 

The socks were done for maybe three seconds before I started wondering what sock yarn to knit next.  I already have at least five SIPs (socks in progress).  Why do I need want to start another pair?  In my defense I am finishing up a pair that had gone to the bottom of the basket.  That redeems me a bit doesn't it?  See, I am worthy of starting another pair. 

There it is.  I am a sock-o-holic.

To Show, To Do

You may recall the Amelia roving I got from Pippi Knee Socks.  It made a cushy self-striping yarn and became a fun travel knitting scarf project.   Well, the scarf is done (more than a month ago, but who's counting?).

Here it is modeled by Kay, the lovely recipient. 

And a close-up.  It is a simple 5x2 rib that shifts every 4 rows.  It makes a lovely fabric with the unfortunate side-effect that it will not block (and remain) flat.  Fortunately, she likes that it curls and thinks it was designed to do that.  Bless her.

I also started the Finn wool socks for Roger.  It is knitting up very nicely to thick warm socks.  Yesterday I told you it is two-ply fingering weight; it is neither.  It is a three-ply yarn made by splitting the roving lengthwise in thirds and spinning each third from a random point to minimize color overlap.  The intention was to make a softly striping, heathery yarn.  The singles were spun and plied very tightly to make a dense sport weight yarn of about 300 yards.

It is funny that I posted these two projects together.  The colors look quite similar.

I am so behind.  If you have emailed me or posted a comment, I am working my way through everything that has been ignored in the last two months.  A partial list in no particular order:

Catch up on emails and comments.
Catch up on my bloglines (impossible?!?  I only subscribe to 183 feeds).
Mail several swap packages.
Post Banana Blossom sock pattern (which means I need to finish writing it).
Post my tutorials in pdf form as requested.
Create a photo gallery for my FOs & WIPs.
Create a photo gallery for items made from my patterns (it is so cool seeing these pictures, please keep them coming).
Pack up my red scarves for the Red Scarf Project and deliver them to a drop-off point.
Finish my Dulaan projects and maybe make more.
Make some mittens (I joined Warm Hands months ago and have made only one small pair).
Forget that I signed up for Lacevember and didn't visit the blog never mind knit any lace (yes, I am hanging my head in shame).

Where did the time go?

Wow, it has been two months since I last posted!  I didn't mean for that to happen; it just did.  I won't mention all the posts I wrote in my head or list excuses for why I fell off the blogosphere.  I will tell you more about that in another post.  Today, I want to share some of what I have been up to while AWOL.

Before I get into the fibery stuff, I want to mention a book my friend Jennifer has just self published.  First, I need to start with the back story.  We have been driving our cars (2001 Golf TDI, 1979 Mercedes 300SD, and Ford F-250) on 100% biodiesel for over four years now.  Biodiesel is a sustainable fuel made from vegetable oil that will work in any diesel engine without any modifications required.  It can be made by anybody with a small bit of equipment and a little know-how.  We bought our Golf with biodiesel in mind and waited for three years before we could get our hands on any to fuel our car.   About 5 years ago we join the Berkeley Biodiesel Collective (BBC) and met Jennifer. 

About a year later Jennifer and Hope (another BBC member) decided to start a biodiesel filling station.  Their goal was to make biodiesel commercially available and to do it in an sustainable and environmentally sensitive way.  The result was BioFuel Oasis in Berkeley, California.  It was a long and arduous process which took over a year.  In the end, the got all their permits and have built a successful, thriving business.  I am proud to say that we have been customers since day one. 

Today, we went to Jennifer's house to celebrate her book, Not A Gas Station, about the journey to making BioFuel Oasis and how you can do it too.  It is a great book full of wisdom and humor.  If you are interested in starting a biodiesel business, it is well worth the cover price.  In addition to her home-brew biodiesel classes, she will be teaching a course on starting a biodiesel business in February.

I am so proud of her.  She is a shining star doing great and wonderful things.

A Little Dyeing, A Little Spinning, A Little Knitting
Back to the fiber side of life.  Last month I went to another dye class with Nancy Roberts, the genius behind Machine Knitting to Dye For.  (I hear the hand knitters turning off at the thought of machine knitting, but do yourself a favor and check out how she uses machine knitting to create incredible new horizons for knitting and hand knitting.)  She is a wonderful person and a patient teacher.  If you see her at a conference or you happen to live in the Bay Area, you should seriously consider taking a class from her.  And, check out her gallery of work for some inspiration.

I went to dye some yarn and fiber in her beautiful dye studio using professional acid dyes.  Silly me, I forgot to take pictures.  You can see pictures from the first class I took with her on my old LJ blog here.  All photos can be clicked on to enlarge them.

Finn wool for socks.  There is 1/3 of a pound (5.33 ounces) of each color (the green is in two parts).  Finn wool is a long and strong wool traditionally used for sock making.  It is not a really soft wool, nor a really scratchy wool. 

More Finn wool for socks.  In this picture, half of it is spun up as fingering weight three-ply.  I have spun it all and am about to start swatching it for socks for Roger.  I can't wait to see how it knits up.

Wensleydale sock yarn.  This is the same sport weight yarn I used for the Penny Socks.  This time I made 1/3 pound skeins since the wool is very dense and the yardage is less than most wools.  I made three manly color combinations.  Roger picked the olive one and cable socks for him have commenced.  I am not sure what kind of heel to turn on them so they are in knitting purgatory at the moment.  I plan on making socks for myself from the red skein.

Blue-faced Leicester wool.  One of my favorite wools to spin.  It is a soft and crimpy fiber with a long staple (fiber length).  Not quite as soft (but almost) as merino and less slippery.  It spins easily and smoothly.

Merino-silk.  A blissful combination of  merino wool and 20% tussah silk.  It has some of the luster and shine of the silk with the softness of merino.  It is like spinning a cloud.  I am so in love with this blend.

Here is a 4+ ounce skein of the merino-silk spun up.  It is 300+ yards of  worsted weight two-ply.  A scarf is probably in its future.

Here are my newest socks.  You may recall the yarn from the fourth segment in my sock design tutorials.  It is the Strange Days colorway by the incomparable Symeon of Pippi Knee Socks.  They are simple (stockinette) toe-up socks using the Your Putting Me On heel shaping by Judy Gibson.  To make a tight ankle (hate baggy ankles!), I started a six-stitch cable at the top of the gusset decreases.  After a couple of cable crosses I started my favorite ribbing: slipped stitch rib like I did for the Swirl Socks.  Because the ankle is fitted, I increased from 3x1 ribbing to 3x2 ribbing in increments so the socks would fit my chubby calves.

Dogginess!
We were doggy-sitting for my FIL.  His dog, Pancho, was with us for two weeks.  He is such a sweet boy.  Here are a few pictures of the kidz. 

That is our Toby with his head down (upper left), Pancho (upper right), and our Sammie.  Such cuties!  All three are Boston Terriers (terrors?).

Another shot of the boys.  They got along so well.  Here we are cuddling on the couch.

Sammie as a flopsy-mopsy boy napping in Roger's arms.  He is unbearably cute when he is asleep.  He looks so innocent; what a trickster.

Fun and Easy EZ

If you want a laugh out loud, laugh until you cry, laugh until you worry that you've wet your pants movie, run out and see Little Miss Sunshine.  I laughed so hard that I missed some of the movie.  Really folks, you need to see it.

My first Elizabeth Zimmermann project is finished.  In keeping with her spirit, I made some modifications.  It is the baby surprise jacket from Knitting Workshop.  I threw in stripes of red and green without much forethought and they turned out well; better than if I had planned them out.  Buttons are pending.  I can't decide what color they should be.  Red?  Input is welcome.

I apologize for the awful pictures.  The colors are off and the sweater isn't square (it is in real life - really).    I am too tired to pull out the lights and if I wait for natural light it will be a while.

Anyway, I used a provisional cast on.  After I finished the sweater as defined in the pattern, I knit the shoulder/arm seams.  I'm not a big fan of sewing knitting so I picked up the ridges as if they were stitches and did a three needle bind-off.  That left me with live stitches (from the cast-on) for the sleeves and at the back of the neck.

Mongolia is cold, so I figured that a little more at the neck and wrists would be appreciated.  I picked up stitches along the neckline and made a 2x2 ribbing with a button hole.  The pattern makes a jacket with 3/4 sleeves so I knit the green stripes and 2x2 rib cuffs.

Front and back.

Fugly yarn does good

Sometimes I take things too far.  But, that is a good thing.  It stretches my limits and tells me when to back off.  And, when it is yarn, no harm is done. 

A few months back I was playing with colors.  I decided to see if I could take an odd combination and make it work.  The result was a truly fugly yarn.  It sat in my basket thinking about what it had done.  When I was looking for yarn for Dulaan knitting, it popped up.  A small skein, but, it looked like enough for a hat.  If I was poor and cold I wouldn't mind a warm but fugly hat.  Right?  Right.

Some combos are interesting enough that I would make skein with them.  Overall, combining rust, milk chocolate (yummm), white, mint green, pink, and violet seems a bit much.  The third one is obvious, just like Neapolitan ice cream.

Not too bad.  It is warm and very soft (100% merino).  I would wear it.  Well, I would wear it around the house. 

What do you think about the topknot?  It will fit an adult.  Adults don't want fugly and dorky in the same package.  Right?

In other Dulaan knitting, I made mittens to go with a hat I showed you earlier in the week.  They are so cute I can't stand it.  There wasn't enough green to finish the mittens like the hat so the orange stepped up.  Thank you orange.  The stripes are from my Big Bag pattern.

The green yarn has bits of colored thread carded into the wool (another one of my experiments).

I think I will line the hats and maybe the mittens like Norma does.  Such a smart idea.

Dulaan Knit-in

On Saturday I went to Becca's house for the Berkeley Dulaan knit-in.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Dulaan, it is a project where folks knit garments for impoverished people, especially children, in Mongolia.  Read more about it here or let Ryan at Mossy Cottage Knits know that you want to participate.

Here is Rachael (being silly) in her new sweater (fabulous).  That is Kirsten (a.k.a. Stella) working on her Ribbie IV sweater.  Quite a lovely sweater.

Celia finished off a big red scarf and is seen here working on her Bayerische sock (pattern by Eunny).  Next to her is Rachel (a.k.a. no blog Rachel not to be confused with blogless Rachel).  Somehow I missed out on what see was making even though I ogled her yarn the whole time.

Lala (I don't have a parenthetical statement for her except to say that she plays a mean banjo) did a fine job of casting on for a mysterious project.  Karen (lovely and also blogless) started a lengthwise scarf.  And, last, but certainly not least, our lovely hostess, Becca also making a mysterious project.

We had a lovely time visiting and knitting.  Many thanks to Becca for getting us together.

I started the hat on the right.  It looks a lot better on a round head-like object.  I finished it last night and then moved on to the hat on the left.  Hats are fast!  Both are made with some handspun that has been kicking around looking to become something.

I picked up some yarn for Dulaan knitting.  Some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Hyacinth and some Reynolds Mandalay silk.  I plan to spin a soft wool and ply it with the silk yarn.  It should make a warm tweedy sweater.  I'd like to make both into Elizabeth Zimmermann surprise sweaters.  I have never made one and feel that I won't be a complete knitter until I do.  No, not really, but it does seem like a fun project.  Now, I just need to find my copy of Knitting Workshop. . .

Cable Embrace

Here is the latest Red Scarf off the needles.  I am calling it Cable Embrace because the zig zags seem to embrace the center cable and the name gives me the warm-fuzzies.

The free pattern is posted in the left side bar or you can click here.

I never got bored of this scarf and I bore easily.  It is not a coincidence that I make a lot of small projects.

The yarn is a 100% Superwash wool called Bazic Wool from Classic Elite.  It is a very nice heavy worsted weight yarn comprised of thick and thin singles plied together and then 3 of these plied again.  The result is a springy yarn that has a bit of a twist to it when knit up.  It is a delight to knit with, doesn't split, and makes a nice firm and wefty fabric.  My only complaint is that it is a bit pricey.

A close-up you say?  Why sure.

Errata:
Tami pointed out that the directions say cast on 35 sts when you really need to cast on 37 sts.  Thank you for catching that Tami.  A corrected version posted on 10/17/2006.