I Can Haz Spinning

Not the post I wanted to write tonight, but I'm feeling really achey and very fatigued. Fatigue has been kicking my butt for awhile now. I did get some dying accomplished this weekend, though not all I wanted to do.



Superwash BFL in the oven. Pink and blue stuff on the left merino/angora/silk. Two on the right SW BFL. All will be listed on etsy in the next few days. I'm in the process of dying BFL and SW merino.

A couple weeks ago, after I had weighed out some SW BFL for dying, the cats grabbed one 4oz. ball and attacked it. In their defense, it did smell quite sheepy. The usual suspects were rounded up and thoroughly interrogated. No one would fess up. A small sample with cat spit evidence has been sent to the crime lab for analysis.

Meantime, what to do with the wool, as I won't sell absolutely prefect product. It looks as though the Cubs will make it the playoffs this year. So, I dyed it mostly royal blue (superwash fiber sucks dye like crazy.) To fix the lighter spots, I'll kettle over dye the finished yarn, with more royal blue. So, tattered wool will become lucky Cubs play off socks.

I'll leave you with pictures of Bootsie, one of the suspects. Is she guarding, or waiting for lessons?



Looks like she might have given up.



Really given up.

In The Pink

It's pink day. Yesterday was pink, I know. Duck's favorite color is pink, I think she sends me telepathic messages when I dye. Here she is in her sweater. I still need to sew on the buttons. Ack! I don't know why, but I dread button sewing.



I cropped out some of the clutter.

It's been an FO for awhile and posted in Ravelry three times, I present you my Maude.
Specs:
yarn: 3 ply 22wpi handspun merino/angora/silk, dyed in splotches of pink, coral and peach. After it was dried, I was excited to spin and totally forgot to get pictures of the fiber. I split the top lengthwise in 3 sections and weighed each. Broke off a piece here and there so all weighed the same. My scale must have burped or maybe it was my spinning, but I had enough singles left on one bobbin to Navajo ply 56 yards. (small skein next to the ball) Out of 8oz, 945 yards, I had 2.2 oz about 220 yards (I'm estimating with the yardage) leftover.

needles: size 2, 5 and 3 US I used the 2's for the neck ribbing, 5's for the lace and 3's for the body ribbing.

Pattern: Maude

It was a simple enough pattern. The charts for the beginning of the lace were a bit confusing, but I figured it easy enough. I'm a 34 bust and I used the size for 32-34, it has a bit of ease, I need to grow a third boob in the center to fill it out.

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I have more of this fiber, I'm going to dye in shades of violet, blue and turquoise. If I decide to make this again, I think I'll make the neckline smaller. It keeps drooping off my shoulders. I'm thinking of just using the basic shape as a baseline and create something different.

In the theme of this title, I update Kreative Kitties with a few things today.



Finally, Dammit wants to know why is the child laying on the floor, is she awake?

Yummy Spinning

I'm trying for a bit more regular posting. Look, it's only been a week. Baby steps. I'm also trying to get organized around here, some sort of daily schedule. Now that my granddaughter is here five days a week, it's a bit easier. I have to keep a schedule for her. My life felt better with organization.

Right now I'm spinning the yummiest fiber, merino/angora/silk blend. It's spinners crack, I tell you. Just like the batt from the previous post. I'm spinning a fine singles for 2ply lace. There has been a shawl, I've had in my head for about five years, that this yarn will perfect for.



I have a 10 oz of undyed, that I'll be dying this weekend for etsy. Plus, 6 oz for a second Maude in cool shades. Oh, that's right, I didn't post about the first Maude. Well, that will be fodder for a post tomorrow.

Spinning Myself Silly

I guess it's about time for my almost monthly post. So much for more regularity. I wonder if there is an Activia for blogging. (So not funny, right?)

As I said before, I really do have plenty of material to blog about, and often think about how I should post. The truth is, I hate coming with titles for posts. I'm not good at coming with a witty or clever titles as so many others are. Any good advice about coming up with titles, please give a comment.



I like to see what search queries lead readers to my blog. The top three are, "learning to spin" or "learn to spin", "Mediterranean shawl" and "Peacock shawl". Strangest search query, "knitting needle went thru leg." Ouch!! I really hope they got medical help.

I don't think my post about how I taught myself to spin is really that helpful, or as relevant almost three years later. Back then, the only video available was the Joy of Handspinning. Now, with the help of YouTube, there are plenty of videos if you look around a bit. Also, if you haven't joined already, Ravelry, has several spinning forums with very knowledgeable people willing to help.

My best advice for those starting out, is what I did, that is, take the commercial equivalent of what you want to spin and dissect it. Cut about a three or four inch length an untwist the plys. Then take one of those strands and carefully untwist it, watch which way you untwisted. Now, take a look at how much fiber there is in one ply. That is about how much fiber you will need to work at drafting to get the yarn you hope to make.

Next bit of advice I have, is to practice every day, even for ten or fifteen minutes. You'll get better much faster by practicing for a short time daily than you will with one large session a week. Really, it's the truth. Be patient with yourself.

On to my current projects, at least a couple of them. I'm almost finished with Stor Rund Dug. As I stated before, I'm using a 2/30 hand dyed silk, on 0000 knitting needles.

I was a bit disappointed when I dyed the silk, one small section took up too much dye and was very dark. Another small section, didn't take up very much dye, therefore was much lighter. Overall, the rest of the hank was pretty evenly colored, so I went ahead with it. I like the effect of the bits that are uneven. It reminds of the lines in a tree trunk.

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Overall, I think this pattern is much easier than it looks. On the start of rows 54, 88 and 122 there is an extra stitch leftover from the previous row, that is not noted in the pattern. I just knit it together with the first stitch. As of this picture, I have three rows left to go. As you can see, I'm still working with seven dpn's. I really could have been better suited to switch to circular's awhile back, but didn't feel like ordering a pair. It was a bit tricky making sure the stitches stayed smooshed together on each needle while I was knitting, but I managed without incident.



Right now, I'm on my least favorite part of lace knitting or knitting doilies. That is the chain stitch bind off. It's so easy to drop a stitch in the process. Silk has a habit of "going for the gold", so to say, as it runs really fast to it's starting point. There has been a few incidents, where I had to catch a stitch. Luckily, I keep a bunch of cross stitch needles in the arm of my chair. Then, hold it in place, while I grab a second crochet hook to carefully weave it back up. Much cursing ensues. I'm not in any hurry to torture myself in one long session, so I'm finishing slowly, snail's pace.

A bit on the spinning front. Not having spun from a carded batt before, I bit the bullet and bought this. It was a pleasure to spin a very fine single from. Now, I'm wanting a drum carder to do my own blends.
Statistics: two 1.5 ounce batts, each spun on a separate bobbin = 965 yards lace weight yarn.

I'm planning on knitting it into a lace stole I have planned out in my head.






Lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of a happy bunny listening to his Zeppelin.