Practising

As I said last week, a new roving was selected to start spinning. I didn't want to go with my luxury fibers yet, the alpaca I got for Christmas, or the lovely fibers I got a few weeks back from Margene. I want to get some more experience before I leap in on those. So I went with 8 ounces of Ashland Bay roving; this is either merino or Columbia. I can't find the tag when I want it. It is extremely soft and drafts very easily. Needless to say, this is certainly outside of my color comfort zone. Lilac shades just are not me. There are also blues and pinky reds in this as well. But the softness of the wool is making up for any doubts about the color.

I am trying my best to 1) spin smoothly, and 2) spin finely. I'm trying to get something that will be no heavier than fingering weight, with the goal in mind of knitting a shawl with this, once it turns into a two-ply. It's going to take a good while to spin up all eight ounces.

I've joined up on a number of spinning groups on Ravelry. I've found that the learning possibilities are tremendous. It's like belonging to a massive spinning guild, with all kinds of experience to draw on. I've already had my spinning improve just from using tips I found there. Another great reason to be on Ravelry!



I try to do a few rows every day on the Express Lane sock, the second sock. It's coming along slowly but very steadily.

Then in the evening I work on the Maplewing shawl. I think I'm on Row 25 of the first section. On row 40 there is a decrease of about a hundred stitches, which should help the project to speed up. I really like the way the pattern is shaping up.

Lovely, lovely yarn!

There Has Been No Knitting

But there has been the finishing of the handspun.

After about 6 hours of plying, spread out over four evenings last week, I skeined up the Romance yarn. As the yarn loaded onto the bobbin, and I saw how the colors in the two plys were blending, I got really impatient to see the finished yarn. Each ply was on it's own bobbin, and once it was all plied there was only a few feet of singles left over on one bobbin. I wound it up on the niddy noddy and then, with some trepidation, tied up the skein in about 8 places and slipped it off. As expected, the skein immediately shriveled up into a mass of crinkly spaghetti.

Thank goodness for the forums and discussion groups on Ravelry! I read up on finishing techniques and on Sunday I gave the yarn several ten minute soaks: hot/cold/hot/cold.

Then I spun it in the washing machine and wacked it around against the shower wall. It straightened out beautifully and bloomed a good bit. I slipped it over a coat hanger and put it outside to dry. The skein was perfectly balanced; I was dutifully amazed at the magical transformation. Several hours later, in the warm, dry 80 degree heat, the yarn was perfectly dry and ready to be photographed.

It's not perfect; there's plenty of "character". There are thick spots and thin spots, but most of it is pretty uniform. My plying definitely improved over the course of the six hours. I came out with about 430 yards, weighing 4.6 ounces. It seems to be a heavy fingering weight overall, or perhaps a light sport weight. It's not quite as soft as I would like; it seems comparable to Cascade 220. But I am inordinately pleased with this. No, let's be honest; I have been freaking estactic over this skein of yarn and would like to run around showing it to everyone I know.

Actually, I am showing it to you all...

No sooner had I cuddled the finished skein than I found myself anxious to start another spinning project. Probably later today another roving will begin it's journey to yarndom. And this skein of Romance? Socks or a scarf...or perhaps even to be incorporated into a future, multicolored shawl? Oh, the possibilities. Oh, the fun of it all!

You don't think I've fallen into the dark side, do you?

12 Rows and a Milestone

I've been working away on the Maplewing Shawl. I'm currently on Row 12; those 600 stitch rows take a while! Now, thought, I've got enough of the pattern in to start seeing how the stitches and yarn overs work together. I'm getting even more anxious to see the pattern as it develops. And the yarn is fantastic! This is a beautiful blend of color that I really get into. Note the second lifeline. As much as I'm enjoying knitting this, I really don't want to have to rip back multiple rows of 600 stitches! And while I'm not going to use a lifeline on every row, I am going to use one every ten rows or so. Maybe less. It's all a matter of what I'm willing to redo, if it becomes necessary.

A milestone has been reached! I have finally finished spinning the singles of Sugar Bunny Boulevard roving in "Romance" that I started so long ago. Actually, almost two years ago to the day. I didn't realize it had been that long; shame on me. But possibly tomorrow I will start plying it. I have two bobbins of singles and I intend to do a two ply yarn with it. Then we will see what will become of it. Socks? Scarf? Cowl? Maybe mitts? Whatever it is, it will be the first project knit with my own handspun.

Milestone it may be, but Little Cat is still thoroughly bored.

Lovely Fibers

Qiviut is a lovely fiber. Too bad it's so...pricey. I could easily knit everything, forever, with this fiber. I finished the qivuit cowl on the flight home from New England last week. Too late to wear for the big snowstorm, but it will work out well for the windy Arizona days next winter.

The cowl is a generous size, using the entire ball of qivuit/merino/silk from Windy Valley Musk Ox. This is all that was left when I finished sewing in the ends.

The cowl scrunches up nicely around the neck, although a bit loosely for my taste. I probably should have dropped down a needle size, and if I make any more of these I certainly will.

On the other hand, it's a perfect size to pull up over my head, and I will probably wear it like this more often than just around the neck. This pattern came with the yarn purchase; the designer now has it and other patterns listed on Ravelry. You can also find my pattern notes here.

When I got back from the trip, a special box was waiting for me. A few weeks ago Margene held a contest and I was lucky enough to get picked as a winning comment. I have been reading Margene's blog for a long time and find that she is a great source of inspiration to me, especially to get at my spinning! The box was crammed with goodies. St. Pat's Day candies, which we've saved for today, and a pretty bookmark.

There was also beautifully scented soap from Blessed Juno, but I didn't take a picture of it at the time and now it's in use every day! There was also this colorful sock yarn from Brooklyn Handspun; Margene really knows the colors I love! This yarn is very soft; I'm thinking of knitting it up in a simple sock pattern to show off the amazing colors.

Finally, there were two packs of fiber for spinning, yak and baby camel!! As I told Margene, the family is just getting used to me knitting with musk ox, and now there is more exotic fiber in the house. Well, they'll just have to deal with it; I think it's fantastic that a body can get to play with such non-traditional fibers. Thank you, Margene, for being so inspirational and generous!

Happy 4th!

It's been a good day, even if the temperature has topped 100 again. I've been watering the garden like mad, and still I'm watching things die in front of my eyes from the heat. I only worked three and a half hours today, and I spent part of the rest of the day (when I wasn't watering) spinning on the Romance roving. This is what I have left to spin. I spun until it got too hot and then moved on to some knitting on the Trekking socks and another afghan square. I also played for a bit on Ravelry and started creating my notebook. It's going to take a while before I can really get all my information in there.

I had such a short day because my schedule for the week changed. I should have actually worked a full day. But now I have to work 38 hours over the next THREE days. Do the math. It wouldn't have been so bad if we were still in the old building, where I knew where to find anything and everything. But right now I'm still trying to remember where everything ended up when we moved last week. I tried to find two forms and one handbook this morning. I'll still be looking for the handbook tomorrow.

So much for getting all rested up.

Mike grilled T-bones, corn, and fruit (pears, plums, apricots, peaches, and nectarines) for us tonight. And we had his homemade tiramisu for dessert. The girls went on the roof to watch the local fireworks. Hope you had a great 4th, too!

Ten Reasons

Things have been looking up lately. I've put that nasty funk behind me and am feeling pretty good these days. Why? Ten reasons:

1. The grandbabies are coming for a visit in ten days. Along with their Mom and Dad, of course.

2. I'm enjoying a four day weekend. Immensely.

3. I have four days to work this week and one day next week, then I am on my annual three week vacation.

4. The grandbabies are coming in ten days.

5. Two weeks from tomorrow we head for the Grand Canyon and a week of camping. Three weeks from tomorrow we head out for the east coast and visiting the grandbabies at their new house. And spending time at the beach. And the North End of Boston. And seeing oldest son graduate. Finally! Woohoo!



6. The postman brought this the other day. Finally. I read Stephanie's book in a matter of a couple hours. I've been dreaming over the pattern books. My lace mojo came back. With a vengeance.

7. The grandbabies are coming in ten days.

8. I went to the local quilting/yarn store. They have roving now. New Zealand roving. English roving. Superwash roving. Wool and merino and silk blend roving. It's a good thing the store was closing for the day, because I would have spent money like mad. But I did buy this.

9. You're all waiting to hear about the new job, aren't you. So am I. The job opening is still posted on the internet. But the lady currently holding the position invited me to "follow" her for a few hours last week, which I did, and we will be doing the same next week. So that I can be familiar with what is involved. And with the staff she manages. And they wanted to know my birthday for the office celebration calendar. I hope this is not jinxing the situation. I hope I have an official job offer by the time my vacation is over. Keep the good thoughts coming.

10. Have I mentioned that the grandbabies are coming?

But Does She Still Knit??

Not much these days, it seems. True, I have been trying to do some much overdue spring cleaning of the closets, and the back of the car is filled with items for St. Vincent's (think Catholic Goodwill, if you're not familiar with that particular organization). But mainly the reason is the work situation. I come home exhausted so many days, after long and grueling hours -- think 13 1/2 hour days -- the work load has become much greater, there are many more responsibilities, and the pay raises have been barely minimal cost of living, certainly not commesurate with the job requirements these days. Plus, some insensitivity on the part of the big brass; the new building has been signed for, and we were told we would be moving in basically immediately despite the fact that serious safety measures had not yet been resolved, indicating a real lack of concern for the employees' welfare. I'm pleased to report that some cooler thinking heads have prevailed and now the safety measures will be installed before we move in; however, it does leave a bad taste in one's mouth. I'm not the only one feeling this way. There has been a significant defection on the part of many senior employees due to all these issues and then some. This also contributes to the stressful situation, as now many employees with years of experience and knowledge have departed, and we are top heavy with inexperienced souls who have to be watched practically every minute because they screw up if you don't, and then you have an even bigger mess.



I take the Trekking socks in my work bag with me each day. Very little has been accomplished, because there has been a real dearth of any down time. When you are snatching a fast PBJ sandwich at the computer on a regular basis, because there is no time to sit down, relax, and have a reasonably healthy, balanced lunch or dinner, then you know that the pace is getting out of hand. Yes, this is Mim's Simple Trekking Socks. And I wish I could finish them. At home, I've only been working on the Log Cabin baby blanket. It's all I've had the energy to do. I haven't even started spinning the second bobbin of the Romance roving, because I've been too tired to even set up a new bobbin on Trudy.

As you might well say, that's pretty tired.

And what am I going to do about it? Put in an application for a totally new job. In a totally different field. I'm vested for my retirement at my current employment, so that's not an issue. I think it's time to move on and find a new outlet for some of my other skills and qualifications. So an application has been put in. Won't know for a while yet, since the application window for this new job will be open for a while yet. But the prospective new employer is pleased that I am applying. And feels that I am well qualified. Time will tell.

In the meantime, I'm going to go get that new bobbin and start spinning again tonight.

Exactly

So you know, I was catching up on Mason Dixon Knitting, and read how Kay recognized her scarf as being one modeled in the thank you card from the Red Scarf Project; see her April 19 post. Pretty cool. And I figured that, hey, maybe I'll be getting one of those card thingies too, you know? So I was't too surprised when mine showed up today. (In the interests of total honesty, I thought at first that it was junk mail and almost threw it out.) I thought that it was pretty cool, to see the picture of Kay's scarf. And then I looked at the scarf that Eileen McCaffrey (I presume that is her) is wearing on the opposite page. Looked awful familiar. In fact, it looked just like this here red scarf (scroll down to second picture and click on it to enlarge it).

Now, bear in mind that my camera always lightens up the red and won't give a true color. The scarf in the card is the true color I used. And that's exactly the pattern I used. Now, I know that they get thousands of scarves, and they have got to get plenty of scarves in that particular red color using a plain old basketweave pattern. Right? So this old girl here would hardly presume to think that the scarf in the card (and on the website) is the EXACT AND VERY SAME ONE that she knit. But that's not THE POINT. When I was knitting my scarf, I felt really bad that I didn't have time to do a really fancy or unique scarf like so many of you seemed to be doing. I almost felt (okay, I did feel) like I was doing a really SUBSTANDARD job in the SCARF PATTERN department. Now I see a scarf identical to mine being featured in the thank you card. Along with KAY'S SUPER UNIQUE SCARF!

And I don't even care if you all leave comments saying that they've been using this same picture for the last ten years. I feel pretty darn good tonight.

And I'm still spinning Romance. I am nearly done with the first bobbin. I'm going to spin up two bobbins' worth and then ply the two together for sock yarn. I am obsessed with this roving. I HEART this roving. And it's darker than it appears in the picture. Too bad I've got such a demanding work schedule this week and next. I can't wait to see this plied up.

Strawberries, Chili Powder, and Trudy's Romance

This blog entry is brought to you by the color RED.

The local grocery has been selling strawberries at a dollar a pound. When this happens, I get overcome by the urge to load up the cart with berries. I love berries. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. I will even pay exorbitant amounts to have them in my cereal, with my cottage cheese, in my muffins. Many years ago, while living in Germany, I nearly cried when I saw cartons of Michigan blueberries prominently displayed in the German grocery. I bake some heavenly berry muffins and quick breads, but strawberries are for pies. Except that I can't make pie crust to save my life. Now, my mother is the champion pie crust (and pie) maker of all time, and she can't understand why I haven't inherited the pie crust gene. It just doesn't work. I have a bitter and totally unsuccessful relationship with flour and shortening. I can't even get a pre-made frozen crust to work. The ones I used this time were a very well known name brand, and they still fell apart when baked. However, my strawberry filling is to die for.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Buddy has been digging up the flower beds I planted in the back yard. Seems he wanted to help Mom out, or else the soft, well manured soil was simply irresistable. Today Joe was talking to a friend of ours who has had dogs, and she suggested sprinkling the soil with chili powder. So I bought a big jar and sprinkled a tiny bit on my hand, just to see how Buddy would react. He licked every bit off my hand and sat wagging his tail as he eyed the jar. He's a good dog, but obviously a little deficient in the intellectual department. I sprinkled it in the flower beds, anyways. The patio smelled like an explosion in a chili fireworks factory. Will it stop him from digging in the beds? Apparently he tried to dig a bit in the afternoon and gave up pretty quickly. Time will tell, I suppose.




Seems like everyone in spindom has a name for their wheel. Mine has become Trudy, the Ashford Traditional. Trudy was very happy last night, and so was I. We are enjoying the start of a wonderful romance with Laura's "Romance" roving. This is what I spun last night. More spinning will occur this evening. The roving is very easy to spin, and the colors? See for yourself.

Pupsicles

Last night, Barbara and Buddy shared a popsicle. Or a pupsicle, if you will. Actually, Buddy just wanted the stick.

And today the postman brought me an eagerly awaited package from Sugar Bunny Boulevard. Laura's first dyed roving! Yes indeed, I am the SOMEONE who unhesitatingly snatched it up when I got my sneak preview of it. So I cheated. Did anyone say that scoring roving was fair??

Now I get to start spinning again. I just hope I can do justice to this beautiful roving.

Something Old is New Again

Don't get me wrong here now. I really like my bottom whorl spindle. I know that most folks are using a top whorl, and most of the written literature is about top whorls, but I really like my bottom whorl. I'm getting some nice fine singles on it, exactly what I want to do, and even though one of these days I will probably get a top whorl spindle, I REALLY like my bottom whorl.

But there is one drawback. I've got a bunch of roving now, very nice Ashland Bay stuff, and I really want to spin more. And the spindle takes time. A lot of time, and so I haven't managed to spin much up yet. And I'm getting really tempted by a lot of the rovings that I'm seeing on your blogs. I've been clicking on the links all you enablers provide and there was a lot of heavy salivating over the Rhinebeck posts. Something has been crying out to be done about all this. So this week, some definite action was taken.

Say hello to my almost-30-year-old Ashford Traditional, newly refurbished thanks to the local shop which, in addition to lots of undyed rovings, carries Ashford wheels and maintenance kits. With about 15 minutes work and a goodly amount of lubricating oil, I was ready to see how much I remembered.

It took a few false starts and some adjusting of brake bands and tensions, but in fairly short order I was on my way and the wheel was humming along. Now the practise I had put in with the drop spindle was making a big difference, since I found it very easy to draft the roving as I treadled away.

The new spinning is pretty good, I think, for my first Friday Night Spinning with the wheel. I think I will need to get more twist into the singles, but all things considered, I am quite pleased with this. I have lots of the white roving to practise with before I start working with the Ashland Bay. Who knows, maybe I'll complete the slide into the Dark Side and dye some of the white singles once I've plied them up.

See what you all have done to me?