Maia Spins

LIP, Lace In Progress

It seems to be rather purple in my knitting bag these days!  And that is a good thing.

I have a couple of new shawls started.  I am teaching a class on the Aeolian shawl by Elizabeth Freeman found at Knitty.  It seemed right to knit along with my students (really hard to talk me into knitting another beautiful shawl).  I loved knitting my handspun shawlette so much.  This one will be full size and beaded.  I like the agave pattern more than the yucca pattern so I will decrease the number of yucca repeats and add an agave repeat.

This is just before I started on the transition and agave charts.  The yarn is Tactile Merino Lace in the Pewter colorway.  The beads are clear gray size 8.  The pattern says there are 2250 beads!  My ear is already sore from pulling out and putting back my beading crochet hook. 

A close-up of the yuccas.  I love the texture here.  Before blocking it has a definite terrain.

The other shawl I am knitting is called Tree of Light  (downloads a pdf pattern) by Cordula Surmann-Schmitt. 

The pattern is a bit tricky, but not too bad.  The yarn is Tactile Tussah Lace in the Concord Grape colorway.  Here is a close-up of the pattern stitch.  It looks like candle flames inside a leaf shape.

Progress on this shawl is slower than the Aeolian as it requires more thinking.  But, after all the beading, it is a nice break to just zip along without having to stop and add a bead every few stitches.

The Good Guest

Recently a friend came to visit us.  Luckily, we just finished fixing up Kay's old room as a fiber & yarn / guest room (a.k.a. The Study).

We (okay really this is Roger's handiwork, however, it is MY blog so I shall take some credit) stripped the room down to studs, added insulation, and put in new doors and windows. The wall treatment is a picture rail, chair rail, and a plaster finish below the chair rail (not shown, but it is a lovely warm tan).  The room is the nicest one in the house now complete with a comfy fold out couch (segue back to the guest).

Gretchen spent 5 wonderful days with us.  We explored the East Bay, ate yummy food (we pulled out our mad cookin' skillz), and just hung out.  She kept me mightily entertained during long hours of fiber and yarn washing. 

I know Gretchen via an old and wonderful friend, not via fibery/yarny goodness.  However, she is a knitter (we are EVERYWHERE!).  I was even able to lure her into the wonderful world of yarn making.  We started with a spindle, but she quickly moved on to my Matchless.  A natural spinner!

I think I may have learned a new spinning trick from her.

I so enjoyed having a house guest; I'm busily inviting out of town fiber friends.  Okay, maybe some non-fibery friends too (maybe I can convert them?!?).  You know who you are!

Unbearable Cuteness

We had a great time at The Lake last weekend.  I love spending time with my daughter Kay and her daughter (yes, that makes me a grandma a.k.a. GraMaia) Kerry.  So much cuteness!

Kerry is so cute I can barely stand it.  Did I mention that she is also smart, funny, polite, and well-behaved?  She is perfect!  Granted, I may be biased, but she IS fabulous by any measure!

Pardon my absolutely horrible hair!  Yech!  Kerry's hair is twisted like 2-ply yarn.  How awesome is that? 

Did I mention that she pestered me all weekend about learning to knit (she calls it sewing).  She kept taking my yarn scraps and extra needles to imitate me.  Next time I am coming with worsted weight yarn and needles.  A beginner spindle might be a good idea too.  Did I mention she is perfect?  Did I mention how lucky I am?

It's A Bird . . .

It's a plane . . .

It's a Baby Surprise Jacket (a.k.a. BSJ)! (ravelry link)

I am making a couple of mods (similar to my other BSJ).  I'll graft the shoulder seams, pick up and knit a collar, and add length to the sleeves.  Starting with a full provisional cast on gives me live stitches for all that including the grafting (on the back, the front is picking up garter ridge bumps).  More details as they happen on my ravelry page for this BSJ.

The yarn is a light worsted singles yarn (~12-13 wpi for those who must know) I spun from some roving I got at Sock Summit.

Here is is with one skein spun.  Superwash Colonial wool from my friend LoraJean of Knitted Wit.  She is such a sweetie and her colors are so cheerful!  It was wonderful to see her again. 

The fiber spun up like a dream.  I started Tuesday morning and had it all spun by mid-afternoon.  I washed my first skein and started knitting right away.  Why the hurry?  There is a baby coming!  It is due in early winter so I need to get cracking.  No!  It is not my baby and there really isn't a rush.  Just a mild obession and a crazed spinner/knitter.

Didn't know I was going to Sock Summit?  Ah, yes.  That would be because I neglected to tell you.  Bad Maia!  More on that to come.  Remember my resolution to blog shorter and more frequently?  I am managing the shorter part.  Now for the frequent part . . .

Gotta run.  There is laundry to wash and fold, a house to clean, and my brain has gone AWOL.  Must find my brain.

The Block

You may think this post will be about blocking lace.  Nope.

My dog in his new (macho?) leather collar.  Why am I showing you this?

He lost his collar digging the hole now blocked by The Block. 

Luckily, the neighbors recognized him and he was busy having a visit when we arrived.  He IS a very social boy.  This may be a step too far.

Need Lots of Post-it Notes

We all need a reminder.  OperationBeautiful.com. 

Many thanks to Mary-Heather for the link.  More here. 

Stole My Heart

I've started a new stole.  This is the Lilac Leaf Stole (rav link) from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush.  The fist lace pattern is done along with the first few rows of the second pattern.  If you look closely, you'll see the first nupps just below the live stitches.  It is proving to be a quick knit; I started last night.

The yarn is a new one we are dyeing now.  It is Silk-Linen in a heavy lace weight (about 3000 yards per pound).  After dyeing it, I had reservations.  It was crunchy and seemed flat, showing its linen side.  Once it went through the ball winder, it changed into a soft drapey yarn reminiscent of cotton.  I am really enjoying knitting on it. 

The color is a quiet blue.  A departure from my normal color choices which is adding to the interest.

Hello Bedhead

Part of my plan to post smaller, more frequent blog posts.  Hopefully more interesting than this! I know I have been a bad blogger.  (But a VERY busy dyer).

Follow me on twitter, I post there regularly as MaiaSpins.

Black Sheep Gathering

Been too busy to blog!  I am out the door to Black Sheep Gathering.  Tactile will be vending.  I am looking forward to the sheep (I fell in love with the Shetlands and the Wensleydales last year).

I am also participating in Black Sheep Bingo.

Hope to see you there!

Farm City

I am so very excited about this book!  The author, Novella Carpenter, is a friend of mine and a very talented story teller.  This book is about her adventures creating an urban farm in a vacant lot in a ghetto neighborhood of Oakland, California.

From the back cover:
<snip> "By turns edgy, moving, and hilarious, Farm City marks the debut of a striking new voice in American writing." -- Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food (yes, THAT Michael Pollan!).

I started the first chapter and it was all I could do to put it down and get back to work.  Like her blog, Ghost Town Farm, I expect this to be a great read.

The kick-off event of her book tour will be this Saturday at BioFuel Oasis in Berkeley, California.  She will also be speaking with Michael Pollan on June 18th in Berkeley.  More events can be found on her blog and on the book blog.

Congratulations Novella!!!