4th Gen Fiber Art

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T09:06:00.002-05:00

After a rough couple of years I'm finally getting back to knitting and spinning. Wishing all of you a creative 2012.

Sewing

2009-09-21T21:36:00.002-04:00

I am currently taking a break from spinning and knitting to participate in the "Couture Doll Design Contest, which is like Project Runway for the 12 - 22" set. I am one of 32 designers chosen from a field of 50. The designs for the first challange can be viewed at the link above.

Tea Dyeing Ingeo

2009-03-13T17:58:00.006-04:00

Tea-dyed ingeo at top
Natural white ingeo bottom

Awhile back I bought a small amount of ingeo to incorporate into a new fiber sample that included soy silk and a third fiber. I wanted all of them to be the same color and had no idea that ingeo was difficult to dye. The soy silk was it's natural caramel color and I decided that tea would be the dye of choice. Somehow it worked. I didn't give it another thought until I tried dyeing ingeo other colors to no avail. Thought this would be the end of it but I listed the skein left over from my project on etsy and got a custom order for more.

So I set about trying to re-create the tea-dyed skein more scientifically this time.

I did a test first of one cup of water and 2 Lipton tea bags. The first time I used either Lipton or something similar that comes in large quantity. I boiled the water added the tea let it steep for about 5 minutes and added my sample. Tried different timings and washed each sample afterward. Leaving the ingeo sitting in the tea for 6 hours worked best.

Today I dyed the big batch - 4 skeins

I used 60 cups of water and 45 tea bags (I probably could have just used 30, but went with what was left in the box minus one that developed a hole).

Brought the water to a rolling boil and as before let the tea steep and added the yarn - I did not remove the tea bags.

Note: I had planned to leave the tags hanging over the pot edge in bunches but they got inot a snarled mess so I removed the tags and just let them float/sink

I let the skeins set in the cooling "dye" for six hours then washed rinsed and hung them to dry.

Ta Da-
Still wet but no longer white

Published!

2009-02-13T19:53:00.007-05:00

Today I got my advance copy of the March/April issue of Belle Armoire Magazine. My 1870's inspired 12" creation is on pages 52 & 53 (back-front) AND the lead picture for the article by Morgan McLaughlin. I am doin the Happy Dance. The one bummer is that I am the only submitter without concrete contact info at the end of the article.

It's been awhile since I've posted, I had that horrid cold that is going around and I have been spinning ingeo. I also took a class at WEBS in Northampton from Barbara Parry of Foxfire Fiber in January. I finally learned the technique for spinning lofty soft yarn and am busy practicing.

The class was wonderful. I learned so much and am looking forward to another.

Hats, Socks , etc.

2008-12-09T22:12:00.007-05:00

I haven't been blogging because I have been knitting and crocheting like a fiend. I am a little more than halfway through the knitting of a pair of socks in the embossed leaf pattern in a bamboo and super wash merino wool blend yarn that I bought from

stick chick. Love the way it shows off the pattern. Love the leaf pattern. They are a gift for you know what so I have to finish them soon!

Project two - just listed for sale in my etsy shop is a crocheted cloche from yarn I made from soy silk that I hand painted and spun and plyed with wool that I also hand spun and dyed. The wool provides a soft contrast to the soy silks lustrous shine.

Why Spin?

2008-10-02T19:35:00.006-04:00

This week I was interviewed as a possible consignee for a trendy crafts store. The interviewer asked a lot of questions which made me think about the possible answers to the question: Why do you spin yarn?
1. As a knitter, spinning and dyeing your own yarn gives one total control over the nature, color and texture of the finished product. If you design your own knits or want to create your own spin (no pun intended) on a commercial product, spinning is very attractive.
2. History. I don't know about other spinners, but I seem to have a built in drive to learn and try to preserve and/or promote ancient arts.
3. There is a kind of zen involved in spinning which is very addictive.

Drawbacks:
1. Expense - a good wheel is upwards of $300, dye is around $5 a package, raw fleece is over $5 per pound which will get you about enough for a shrug, roving is more, exotic fibers are more than that. Not to mention carders (hand or drum or both), lazy kates, knitty noddies, etc.
2. Time- It takes about 2-3 hours to card, spin and ply the yarn for a 2 ply 150 - 200 yard skein. 1000 yards are required for a fitted mid hip length small to med. size woman's sweater. Additional time is required for sorting and washing fleece and /or pre-prepping and driving or shipping it to the processors. And then there is dyeing and time for setting the twist and re-skeining.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I know I will never make money spinning yarn. I derive joy from the process of creating each skein and knowing that I am taking part in preserving and sharing an art form from the past.

Weaving Soy silk

2008-09-28T14:29:00.012-04:00

When I plyed this soy silk with silk noil it was so drapey that I thought it would make a great scarf. Since I only had 150 yards it wasn't enought to ask Sue to weave so, yesterday I warped a number 2 "toy" loom that I have had forever and gave it a try.
This is the soy silk/silk on a silk noil warp with rayon chenille and silk stripes.

The loom leaves something to be desired. The shuttle that came with is too think, too wide AND too rough. I am now using shuttles made of mat board. Not a 100% improvement but better. I do like the way the rustic appearance of the weave and to my surprise have about 2/3rds of the scarf woven.
Got the new Spin Off magazine and saw wonderful looking small folding looms advertised in it. Maybe I'll upgrade.

Another used for Mohair

2008-09-12T21:56:00.004-04:00

This week I decided to try making a mohair wig. My model, Emma, is a 16 inch RanD Angel, BJD, with a size 5 head.

I used the directions at Antonette Cely's site for wefting the mohair. I then stitched it to a net wig cap, set it with pipe cleaner curlers (great tip - I got in a FDQ mag) and wrapped the crown on the model with plastic wrap to "tame" it . Left the damp wig to dry over night in between processes. The pink color is courtesy of Kool Aid. This was a fun project and I have already dyed wool locks for two more.

Plying

2008-09-07T15:12:00.005-04:00

I added three new yarns to my etsy store today. Photographed them as a group and they compliment each other well and would make a nice striped project aombined with some of the yarns already listed.

I did a spinning test of the natural black grey, white and white/grey fleece and plyed the two resulting yarns together. Came out very tweedy looking. Haven't decided whether to knit with it or list it. What do you think?

Wool

2008-08-24T14:42:00.002-04:00

I've been gifted four bags of wool, but only kept two. One black and one grey/white mix. Currently in the process of washing enough to spin.

Sewing, Victorian Style

2008-07-01T16:13:00.003-04:00

I've been sewing lately. In miniature. This is an 1870's bustle dress on an 11.5 inch mannequin. The dress is lavender/antique gold changeable silk and trimmed with pleated matching silk and antique gold silk ribbon. I machine stitched the bodice, skirt and apron foundations. They are fully lined. The sleeves were set into the armhole by hand and all of the hems and facings are hand stitched. The pleated trim was made using the pleater attachment for my 1950's sewing machine. It was a fun project.
Time to get back to spinning.

Finished Project, etc.

2008-06-06T20:14:00.008-04:00

This is my latest finished project, a Confederate Civil War uniform for the son-in-law to be of a friend. The suit was a surprise gift from the bride, so it has not received a final press in this photo as we expected that there may be alterations.

Made from a commercial pattern from a well known company.

The colored part of this Valley Vogue hat is my handpsun soy silk spun super thin and single ply:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12313328

I am currently spinning the last of the luscious alpaca roving that I received from Northstar Alpacas and planning an original scarf design for it.

Today I received the cutest card from nadineandkathleen :
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=8895818

I was the lucky 110th person to heart their shop. Mine is two shy of 150 hearts and I am now trying to think of something to keep the appreciation going.

Find of the week: Spinning wheels at ford4him on etsy : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12168224

And looms for weaving and knitting and many other wonderful items at woolhandcrafts:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=11790

Spring, Spinning, Sewing

2008-04-22T12:07:00.011-04:00

Spring has sprung in Western MA. The birds are building nests, forsithya is blooming, the trees are budding, the grass is growing, AND it's been sunny and warm.

Which is good for yard clean-up, but not for spinning.
This is last weekends haul from rose bushes run amuck along a 20 foot alley way, next to my husband's piano shop.

I finished spinning the custom order of cormo. Here it is, ready for dyeing. 653 yards of springy 2 ply. 1306 spun yards total, at 2 hours per 200 yards, approx. 7 hours of spinning and another nearly 3 of plying and skeining. I ordered the dye from Halcyon and plan to do the dyeing this weekend. They have great instructions to go with. The yarn will be hand painted in sea greens and blues with a touch of raspberry.

My first thrill of the week was the gift of this book, Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1 (I think there are 3 in the series) which is a must have for a costumer. I've made at least five of the dresses in it over my career and am so happy to have a copy of my own. The second was being hired by a local dress company as an Office Assistant/Patternmaker/Shop Assistant. Sunday I'll be going to see the Yarn Harlot at the Calvin.

What's in Your Dye Pot?

2008-04-08T10:37:00.017-04:00

Today is a beautiful day here in the northeast. Great day for dyeing.

Into the dye pot went this skein of Rambouilet 2 ply handspun,
some magenta and warm brown dye and some vinegar.

This is what came out. No brown in view. Looks more magenta and wine. Much more interesting than peach. It's still wet so will probably be lighter when it dries.

This is 15 ounces of luscious cormo for a custom spinning job. I decided to spin it first and dye it later.

This is the first two ounces spun.

Easter in Europe

2008-03-28T09:35:00.015-04:00

I am just back from a whirlwind tour of Swansea, Wales; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Strasbourg, France via train. In addition we spent two non-consecutive days in London and one in Paris. It was fantastic! We saw so many wonderful and amazing places -the Gower Peninsula in Wales, Cathedrale Notre Dame, Strasbourg with it's Astronomical Clock, The Palais Rohan also in Strasbourg, the Eiffel Tour and the Place De La Concorde in Paris, the canals of Amsterdam and the museum square. I could go on and on. I'd go back to any of them in a heartbeat. The taxi drive from the train to the hotel in Paris was mind blowing. Somewhere I read afterward "...that nothing can prepare you for the scale..." and that pretty much sums it up.

I lost my gloves somewhere on the Champs Elysee's. I took them off to snap this photo and the next one and discovered that they were gone about 2 miles later. I hope that they like their new country.

I wish I had some fantastic fiber related find to share but for most of our vacation shops were closed. There were sheep everywhere in England and France, but yarn shops and/or places to buy fleece are not as visible. From the train I saw a house just on the outskirt of town with a tiny yard -could not have been more than 20 feet square with four sheep and a green house populating the lawn. To me that epitomized the importance of sheep in that part of the world.
Swansea, Wales would have been the place to go to an LYS. For some reason perhaps jet lag, perhaps shopping with husband, I didn't think of it when we went into the town center.
I brought my crocheted tablecloth project to work on and lost the hook somehow between Amsterdam and Strasbourg. We arrived in Strasbourg the Thursday before Good Friday at 11 pm and stayed until Easter Monday (which is also a holiday in Europe) so I had only Saturday to try to locate another hook. Finally found a LYS, Chatte Botte, in Petite France, but I don't speak French and the owner who was knitting some lovely socks didn't speak English. My pantomiming skills completely failed. I probably should have drawn a picture. Looked around the shop but didn't see any needles of any kind except the owners, just lovely yarn, rug hooking supplies, and cross stitch kits.
Found this shop while wandering after Easter dinner in Strasbourg. Looks so inviting that I wish I had had time to go back.

Finally got a photo of my daughter in her Cable wise Cashmere sweater in Paris. It was a good thing she had packed it with the intention of shipping it back home, as it snowed, sleeted and rained, and was in general a record setting cold for March in Europe.
We drank lots of European coffee and hot chocolate to stay warm. Indulged in the local cuisine, bread, wine, beer, and had a very memorable experience.

Blogs and Taxes

2008-03-05T20:53:00.005-05:00

I found an awesome listing tonight of wool lovers blogs:
http://yarntomato.com/wool/members.php

I enjoyed reading several of them and will have to go back and look at the rest. It's nice to know that there are lots of you out there knitting and spinning away and that I am not the only "one of those" in existence. There are so many blogs and each of them inspiring. I read those linked to Yetsy and several others when I can.
I haven't had much time for knitting or spinning lately as its tax time. I am hoping that I am almost done organizing the paper trail. I can hear my wheel calling...

Spinning Alpaca

2008-03-04T15:27:00.011-05:00

Last night I took a break from muddling through paperwork and
spun some of the alpaca that I got from Northstar. Initially I spun too thin and ended up with laceweight 16 wpi after plying! (pic with ruler) I never spin this thinly on the Baynes. I must have been pretty uptight. It's amazingly consistant-hope I can do it again sometime.
So then I made an effort to loosen up a bit and let the yarn be thicker-12 wpi, plyed. I think it came out great.
I should be able to re-knit the glove thumb tonight or tomorrow-whenever it's dry.

This lilac top is half of my current sewing project. It's a 1870's 2 piece dress for a 12 inch French Fashion doll in changeable silk (it has a gold cast to it). It's almost ready for the trim. Looks funny on my skeinwinder, which was standing in for a dress form.

Fibery Stash Suprise

2008-02-29T10:58:00.007-05:00

There is nothing like getting a package in the mail. I knew I was getting some alpaca roving to spin into yarn so that I could re-knit the thumb on my daughter's favorite glove/mitts but I did not expect this lovely array of squishy heaven that Maple from Northstar Alpacas sent. There are three slightly different colors-more easily seen in the picture w/o glove/mitt. The ball at bottom left is a near perfect match. Cannot wait to spin it!

Waiting

2008-02-14T16:29:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a waiting day. I was waiting for:

1. The Sears fridge repair guy (you know the famous we will be there between 8am and 5 pm) - found out at 1:30 pm that he was out sick and not coming-Thanks!

2. For the power to come back on. Due to icing we had no electricity for 2.5 hours. Not as bad as some folks but it does restrict what you can do.

3. Spring! I like to see the white flakes on occasion. I can do without ice.

So while I was waiting I decided to occupy myself with....Spinning

Soy silk plyed with silk noil. Love this combo and plan to make more.

Soy silk plyed with handspun green wool. Very Springy.
The soy silk is pink, peach, purple, blue aqua, green and yellow.

Dyeing Soy Silk

2008-02-06T16:31:00.003-05:00

Rainy and gray today, perfect for dyeing soy silk.
Photo 1. -Soy silk roving as purchased
Photo 2.-Dye in"squirt" bottles with pre-soaked roving
Instructions from Halcyon Yarn, which carries the dye.

The painted roving

Wrapped in plastic wrap, on a folding vegetable steamer on top of the canning rack in my canner

The finished product, still wet

Finished product dry and fluffed a bit. I made the mistake of agressively squeezing this batch - A simple towel blotting will do prior to drying.

Another view. I paint probably too many colors, but I like the cross over variations that I get. I can also choose to spin various segments instead of the whole. Several variations of spun soy silk can be seen in my stash on ravelry or in my etsy store.

Spun single of the soy silk above

Same single plyed with pale green handspun.

Lotus Scarf Correction

2008-02-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

I finished the alpaca Lotus Scarf last night. In order for the needles to be facing the same direction for grafting you have to end on alternate rows or slide one half to a double pointed needle. To keep it simple, I ended the first half at Row 2 and the 2nd on Row 3 and then completed the grafting. Made a wider join than I anticipated. I have changed the pattern to End first needle at row 1 and 2nd at row 2. The join will be a straight line of a few rows of garter stitch.

Scarf Pattern

2008-01-31T13:58:00.001-05:00

After various attempts to post a .pdf file, .html version, etc. I gave up and just copied the pattern to the page. If I can figure out a better way or is anyone has suggestions I will fix it.

Lotus Scarf Pattern

2008-01-31T13:56:00.000-05:00

Lotus Scarf
Designed by Deborah Evans
*This is a free pattern-please pass it around but do not sell it*

-based on lace pattern in “A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker

Works best with a smooth yarn that gives good stitch definition, wool with a nice sheen, handspun soy silk, or silk.

Explanation of stitches
Yo - yarn over

K2 tog – knit two together

ssk- slip the next two stitches, knit-wise, one at a time, and then knit them by inserting the tip of the left-hand needle into the fronts of both stitches at once and knit them together.

Sl2-k1- p2sso: insert needle into the fronts of the second and first stitches on the left-hand needle, as if to knit 2 together; do not knit, but slip them, both at once, from this position. Knit the next stitch on the left-hand needle an, then insert left-hand needle point into both slipped stitches and draw them together over the knit stitch and off the right-hand needle, just as in psso.

Sl2-p1-p2sso: Keeping yarn in front, insert the needle from the left into the back loops of the second and first stitches (in that order) as if to p2tog and slip them, both at once to the right hand needle. Purl the next stitch on the left hand needle and then insert the point of the left hand needle into both slipped stitches and draw them over the purled stitch.

In knitting the scarf you have two options:
You can knit the scarf in one long strip as shown in the photo. The flowers will be upside down on one side and one edge will be scalloped while the other is nearly straight.
You can knit the scarf in two pieces from the bottom to the mid-point, either both at once or separately. End first half at row 1, end 2nd half at row 2. Graft the two sides together –directions below.

Materials
You will need approximately 200 yards of yarn. I used handspun to knit both of my scarves. I recommend that you knit a test swatch to determine gauge.

Needles size 4 or the correct needle for your yarn.

For the alpaca scarf I used 180 yards of two ply measuring 14 wpi. And needles size 4 US. 35 stitches = 7inches, 5 stitches per inch, on the needle in garter stitch. Blocked scarf will measure about 6 inches wide x desired length. The scarf pictured is 55 inches long.

Pattern is based on a multiple of 10 plus 1 – 33 stitches for the pattern, I added two stitches, one at each edge for a nicer finish.

Cast on 35 Sts on #4 needles or the size best suited to your yarn.
Row 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Knit
Row 6- (Wrong side) k1, p2, *yo, p3, sl2-p1-p2sso, p3, yo, p1; rep from *; last repeat p2 k1
Row 7 - k4, *yo, k2, sl2-k1-p2sso, k2, yo, k3; rep from * last repeat k4
Row8- k1, p4, *yo, p1, sl2-p1-p2sso, p1, yo, p5; rep form *; end last repeat p4, k1
Row 9- k6, *yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, k7; rep from *, end last repeat k6
Row 10- k1, p3, * k2, p3; repeat from P*, end last repeat p3, k1
Row 11- k3, *yo, ssk, p1, yo, sl2-k1, p2sso, yo, p1, k2tog, yo, k1; repeat from * end last repeat k3
Row 12-k1, p4, *k1, p3, k1, p5; rep from *, end last repeat p4, k1
Row 13- k4, *yo, ssk, yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, k2tog, yo, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k4
Row 14- k1, p3, *k1, p5, k1, p3; rep from *, end last repeat p3, k1
Row 15- k4, *p1, k1, yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, k1, p1, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k4
Row 16- Repeat row 14.

Repeat these 16 rows to the desired mid length ending with Row 5 for the straight scarf at row 3 for the grafted mid-point version.
Grafting For Garter St:
End on a right side row. Hold the knitting needles with needle points to the right and wrong sides facing in, put the sewing needle in the first stitch of the front knitting needle knit-wise and pull the yarn all the way through. Do not drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
Next put the sewing needle into the first stitch of the back knitting needle purl-wise and pull all the way through. Again, do not drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
** Now put the sewing needle into the first stitch of the front knitting needle purl-wise and draw the yarn all the way through. Drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
Put the sewing needle knit-wise into the next stitch on the front knitting needle and draw the yarn through. Do not drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
Put the sewing needle knit-wise into the first stitch on the back knitting needle and draw through. Drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
Put the sewing needle into the next stitch on the back knitting needle purl-wise and draw through. Do not drop the stitch off the knitting needle.
Rep from ** to the end of the row.

Current Spinning

2008-01-31T13:25:00.000-05:00

Pink/Purple soy silk plus Smoky Mountain Fibers Carnivale = Romance Novel

Spinning

2008-01-29T17:21:00.000-05:00

Decided I needed a spinning break and found this so soft teal fleece in a bag of blues and greens. Unfortunately there wasn't much. Decided to ply it with itself. It's resting now, but my guess is around 70 yards.

Lotus Scarf Pattern-Almost

2008-01-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

This week I have been working on writing up the pattern for the Lotus Scarf that I knitted in soy silk. I am knitting the test project in hand spun alpaca, but have found that I like the stitch definition of the soy silk better. Any smooth drapey yarn would work. Textured handspun with a bit of shine would be even better
The original scarf was knitted in one long piece which means that the flowers are upside down on one side and the ends do not have the same scallop. I am writing this version so that the lace reverses direction at the mid point.
These are photos of the original scarf.
I hope to have the pattern done by Monday.

Custom Spinning

2008-01-25T10:59:00.001-05:00

TaDa!

I finished the custom spinning. I really love the brown mix. The red mix is soaking in Eucalon at the moment. The pic I took for this was blurry so I'll add one later.

Antique Trim

2008-01-22T07:44:00.001-05:00

One of my many hats is costuming. I attended the "fashion show" of dresses restored for a local costume collection last week. Folded trim was very popluar in the late 1800's. These are two examples.

Kissel Spinner

2008-01-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

When I bought my Kissel electric spinner, I didn't know much about it. In searching for information on the web, I found two other spinners who owned them but knew nothing about their history. One of those spinners graciously sent me a copy of the instruction manual which had the manufacturer's address on the last page. I was able to contact them and recently received a reply and the added bonus of a few extra drive bands. The drive bands are large O-rings which should be readily available, but none of the hardware stores in my area have the size required.
The Kissel Spinner was designed in the early 1980's by Tom Kissel. He and his wife, Ruth made and sold some 400 of these little machines. Their goal was to make an inexpensive electric spinner that many people could afford. They sold them through advertisements in Spin-Off magazine.
I have no idea where mine fits in the line-up. It is a box model. The later box models had a built in lazy kate. The woman I bought it from told me that for plying you twist the drive band to make the machine spin in reverse for plying. I have yet to try it but, Mrs. Kissel confirmed this.

Back to Blogging

2008-01-21T11:49:00.000-05:00

Currently on the wheel is a custom spinning project. Merino/Colonial combed top from CJ Kopec Creations -spun thick and plyed with worsted (Brown - plyed with Manos del Uraguay silk blend - color 3109, Pink plyed with Wonderful Wool -Hot Lips, and Lavender is plyed with Wonderful Wool -Boysenberry), for a chunky yarn in three colorways. One done so far.

I opened my esty store in August and have been busy keeping it stocked with handspun. I try to add something new weekly and am working on a couple of patterns.

I am currently playing with soy silk. I love the way it takes color and drapes! I will be dyeing more soon and will add photos when I do.

Etsy

2007-09-14T19:11:00.000-04:00

I'm finally posting pictures of my Kissel Electric Spinner. I am using it to spin an angora/merino blend. So far I like it. It's pretty quiet. I haven't tried all of the ratio's yet as I need a slightly bigger O ring or drive band. It came with 8 bobbins, two of which were pretty much totalled in the shipping process. There is a second outlet marked "light " where the motor plugs into the foot pedal/cord. According to the directions that Lynne graciously sent me the case model is supposed to double as a lazy kate. Most of my spinning is done on a Baynes castle wheel.

Today I opened an Etsy store :

http://4thgenfiberart.etsy.com/ . I'm listing a bunch of handspun yarn and one hat. I ended up at the Glendi Festival, rather than Mattoon Street and didn't sell anything.

I finally finished plying the Australian merino that I spun during the Tour de Fleece. 700 plus yards, my thinnest spinning yet!

Back from CA

2007-08-30T21:35:00.000-04:00

We were recently in California where I went on a tour of a cashmere goat farm- California Cashmere. Really interesting! I learned a lot about cashmere goats and their fiber. Goats are pretty easy animals to raise. I would never have thought that the goats with the thickest guard hair would be the most lucrative. They are, as the thickness of the outer hair makes it easily separable from the downy cashmere. I highly recommend the tour. http://www.calcashmere.com/

I am working on the cuff of the toe-up socks. I didn't work on them on the plane. Can't quite get up the nerve to take knitting through the inspection point. With toe-up on two-needles, getting the knitting back on if the needles were confiscated would be a nightmare. I knitted about 6 rows of the selected pattern and realized that the pattern I wanted to use was the other one featured in the magazine photo and that they had been mis-labeled. My daughter, future owner of the socks, thankfully, doesn't seem to mind.

My Kissel electric spinner arrived before our vacation departure. It was pretty banged up as the prior owner put the foot pedal and other parts in it's wooden case un-wrapped or padded in any way. It was double boxed, but a heavy metal item bouncing on a wooden one(4" of clearance to do so), without padding, causes damage. It works. I'll keep you posted.

Progress Report

2007-08-08T14:54:00.000-04:00

Progress Report:

1. Toe up socks are at about the arch.

2. I still haven't finished spinning the second bobbin of merino from the Tour de Fleece, but am getting there

3. Still washing wool

4. I have tagged measured and tagged all of the yarn for the Mattoon Street Festival. Have to knit samples and hats.

5. My China now has arms and a body, but is waiting for clothes. She was just a head when I got her. Arms are leather to the shoulder with individually stitched, wired fingers.

And this is why nothing is finished. Spent most of the weekend moving the plants away from the house and relocating the ones that previously inhabited the spaces where the bushes at the top of the drive are now located. Hubby built the rock wall.

Back to filing, and looking for a job.

PS- I'm waiting for Electric spinner number 2 to arrive. The first one was defective. I am hoping that this one does not spark or have random drive band popping off for no reason issues. It has a fixed motor so it shouldn't.

Tour de Fleece

2007-07-31T17:07:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tour de Fleece is over with. My goal was to spin every day and rest for two as they did. Mananged to stick to it with the exception of one day. On the 25th I spun linen instead of ingeo. Not sure what the tour yardage total will be. I have yet to finish spinning enough merino to ply it.

Spinning in Nature

2007-07-26T10:28:00.000-04:00

Spiders have been making these webs all over our lawn. Most are about 3" across but this one was the size of a large handkerchief. Reminded me of the gossamer lace weight spun scarf in "Spinning Rare Breeds" and Orenburg Shawls.

It's nap time for my buddy. He's hanging with his favorite inanimate buddy Orville. His fur is falling into "locks" in this photo. His undercoat is super soft and when I get low on fiber it's tempting.

Skeining Yarn

2007-07-25T14:34:00.000-04:00

Does this remind you of anything? Say a summer camp project commonly constructed with popsicle sticks or twigs and yarn?

That's what I thought. So, of course, I decided I had to take a picture and...

The remaining yarn fell off of the swift! Yep, you know what I spent the next 20 minutes doing.

Close-up of the God's eye wrapping.

I did manage to get all of this measured and re-skeined and tagged. Now I have to go spin as I forgot that we are off to the movies this evening.

Monday with eggplant and fleece

2007-07-24T16:46:00.000-04:00

It's Monday and we have eggplant! These are the first that I have grown. The large one at left is about 3" long. We are also growing tomatoes, peppers, runner beans and strawberries. Something keeps eating the strawberries as they ripen, but only half. Could be a bird or a chipmunk. The garden is enclosed with chicken wire, not sure what else could get in and out easily.

I also transplanted some bear berries and a highbush cranberry that have been waiting in pots for about a month. I had put them in the ground and then we had some arborvitae put in and had to dig them back up so they wouldn't get run over during the install. While planting I noticed a deer track on the hill. First I have seen on the property in the year we have lived here. We have seen deer in the neighboring cornfield and across the brook. I thought that they pretty much stuck to the woods. Our property is a pretty open space.

As you can see, I should have weeded today. Instead I washed fleece. I am reading "In Sheep's Clothing" by Nola and Jane Fournier. Tried their method of washing the Rambouillet. It works very well but is terribly time consuming if you have a fleece as dirty as the one I purchased. Note to self: Sign up for a fleece evaluating class and no more sight unseen purchases unless they are from a hand spinner. Missed the MA Sheep Show in Cummington again this year. I've bought several lovely fleeces there. Filled one mesh bag with clean rambo and filled the other with targhee or I would still be at it.

I finally finished filling the first bobbin of Australian merino for the tour de fleece. Took me several days but it is dreamy spinning. The fiber is very soft and lovely. It's spun pretty thinly so I am thinking 500 yds of more.

Tomorrow I will be spinning ingeo and going for thinness and consistency.

Friday I visited with Sue at Valley Vogue. We are going to be participating in the Glendi Festival and Mattoon Street Arts Fair in Springfield the first weekend in September. She is weaving some silk for shrugs and making woven rag totes.

I plyed the silk for her and decided to bite the bullet and buy an electric spinner. Since I tend toward the more traditional, this is a new and exciting prospect for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my Baynes. It just isn't very fast at plying and I would love to try very fine spinning at some point. I am hoping for speed and fineness with the electric.

Balloon Fest

2007-07-17T15:32:00.000-04:00

Balloon Fest - Finally saw balloons at around 7 p.m. Had hoped to seee some up close. They were a pretty sight.

Working on spinning some Merino. I have one almost full bobbin. Handcombing seems to work best on this very fine fiber. Back to work.

Tour de Fleece

2007-07-13T22:25:00.000-04:00

Last night I finished plying the first skein for the Tour de Fleece. This is a lousy picture the blue should be the same as on my wheel. The mohair slubs are light orange, and various shades of yellow. I'll have to take a better picture outside when it's light. Today we went to a wedding. Had to re-hem the front of my dress first as it was 1" longer in the front (nothing like waiting until the last minute!), so didn't get much spinning or carding done. Tomorrow we are off to a balloon festival. I'll take my drop spindle with me, I have some angora/merino roving to spin.

Sunflower- Tour de Fleece

2007-07-11T15:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday a volunteer sunflower in our yard bloomed. There are several side buds so we should have a long show. The white bells in the back are yucca blossoms.

Joined the Tour de Fleece. We are to spin every day of the Tour de France and rest (or Not) when they do. I love the discipline of spinning every day. When I first learned, I'd spin for two hours a day. I'm working on a wool and mohair combination. It should be somewhat similar to the brown that I spun for the triangle shawl. I'll ply it this afternoon. For the challenge day, I have ingeo (a corn product) roving that I hope to spin at DK weight or finer.

Bluebirds and House Wrens

2007-07-08T16:32:00.000-04:00

Today the House Wren went into the bluebird nest box while the Bluebird parents were out foraging and speared each egg one at a time and dropped it out of the entrance hole. We lost all three. Took the box down. We have seen the wren on the other house as well, but the sparrows who inhabited it were good at chasing it off. The sparrow eggs were duds - laid on the 17th and the following few days, three weeks and counting no sign of life and the parents had given up visiting the nest box. They did make the eggs cozy with of all things -shredded cigarette filters! The eggs should have hatched 11 days after they were laid. They looked perfect-no holes. I discarded the nest Friday. The bluebirds have been checking the now empty box out so we put a "wren guard" over the entrance. Basically it's an awning that blocks the hole from view. Should probably have done that to the other box, but have not seen the wren near the box in weeks and thought they were safe. Don't know if the bluebirds will move in to the other box, it may be too late in the nesting season.
Unfortunately, house wrens have a territory larger than our property. They have been terrorizing the boxes next door as well. They need something like 230 feet of space. The bluebirds may be able to use the boxes in April and then we will have to plug them up, take them down, or leave the doors open to discourage the wrens. I am almost sorry we got the boxes to begin with.

Cast - On

2007-07-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

Decided that there was no appropriate sock yarn in my stash so went to Marji's and bought some Dream in Color, 100% Superfine Australian Merino handpainted sock yarn in color 210-sea foam, blue, grey.
The color change is very subtle. Hopefully it will show up in my progress pics.
I was hoping that she carried farmhouse yarns, but she doesn't.
Cast on for Two Socks at Once from the Toes Up and knitted a few rows. Nice stretchy yarn. Have to stop now as this is my portable project and get back to spinning or working on these.
Can't be much further to the shoulder.

Summer of Socks

2007-07-05T13:26:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what the summer of socks is all about (someone fill me in please) but everyone seems to be knitting them. I just completed (well that might be stretching it, as I still need to weave the ends in and possibly redo the bind off looser) my first pair of two at once on circular needles from the toe up socks. Knitted in Austerman Step yarn. Sock pattern from http://www.knitpicks.com/ . It took awhile to get used to this method and there was much ripping out, but from this angle they look pretty good. The star (after thought) heel was fun to knit. Hmmm- I think I'll raid the stash and see if there's anything suitable for a second pair. I could use a portable project, keeps me sane in the car.

My main project is this:

Cable Cardigan by Svetlana Kudrevich, Vogue Knitting International Winter 2003-04

I am about 2/3rd's of the way done with the front's which I am knitting together. Requires concentration- or it would be further along. I am planning to finish it by November.

Photos, etc.

2007-07-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

I took pictures of two of the triangle shawls for the bolg on Saturday but the disk I used had a miniscule scratch on it and I am attempting to "fix" it with our scratch doctor. Cross your fingers. No luck. I managed to salvage this one which is not great.

The horizontal slubs are mohair.

Starting Out

2007-06-26T17:26:00.000-04:00

This is my fist foray into the blogging zone, so bear with me. Kudos to all of you who have mastered the art!

Hot out today, so I washed a very small portion of the 22 pounds of fleece that I have recently accumulated (acquired wouldn't be quite right as it just kept coming) and spun some more of the multi-purple (funny this looked more evenly plied in person). I am almost finished spinning the first single of the fourth skein. The first two went into a triangle shawl which I hope to photograph at weeks end. I did the spinning and my friend Sue Cagan from Valley Vogue -http://www.valleyvogue.com/ did the weaving as part of an open house demonstration at the Indian Orchard Mill, Mother's Day weekend. We have produced four shawls together so far. In between I spun 300 plus yards of grey, from I'm not sure what kind of sheep. The lovely fleece was given to me along with a white one. I had just purchased several pounds of merino and some rambouillet, and today I was surprised to receive another box of fleece to replace a misguided purchase, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

The garden watering beckons- tomorrow I'll tackle adding photos of my latest knitting endeavors. Regards.