the reveal

Okay, so back in October, a month ago in fact, I went to Rhinebeck. I posted about Rhinebeck. I put up some pictures. But, the most exciting purchase that I made had to stay off the Internet until today.

Today is my little sister's 21st birthday. She has been knitting for longer than I have, and took up spinning quickly and intuitively. She spent many hours spinning on my Ashford Traveller when she visited, and she drop spindles on the train in Chicago (so if you see a small Asian with cute hair and a drop spindle, feel free to say hello).

Anyway, today, the wheel is being gifted to her (well, a picture of it is, and she'll be here for Thanksgiving when she can claim it in person). That means that I can show off its replacement, which came home with me from Rhinebeck.

She's a Lendrum, Double Treadle, scotch tension, plus I have the lace and bulky flyers to go with her, although I haven't tried them yet. I had to watch Chelsea talk about her wheel (which happens to be the same make/model as my wheel), and convince myself to wait until now to talk about mine. My last three yarns have been spun on the Lendrum, and we're learning to get along. The action is much smoother, and I love that the design means that I can see the yarn as it builds up on the bobbin so easily.

Of course, I will miss my Traveller, which has taught me so well the basics of spinning. But, I know that it will have a good home, and be a good gift for the sister.

lazy dyeday

The dyebath is percolating, and Tim is off to purchase some vinegar so that I can do some steam dyeing with the rovings. The colors come out nicely, but they do need the acid wash to set. The yarns are cycling through the pan on the stove. I'm even wearing gloves to prevent my looking like a dye artist at work on Monday.

My Clapotis yarn is being ornery. I wound it into a center pull ball, and somehow it ravelled itself around itself so that when I pulled, two extra strands of yarn came along with the one I needed. Ended up rebaling the whole thing. Better work this time. Grr. I am five repeats into the body of the pattern, and have found many instances to pull it out and work a few rows (before meetings at work, while signing home insurance paperwork, etc).

We close on a new house in a week. I've been working at the new job for 3 months. It's no wonder that I'm not writing here as much as I'd like.

Getting things done

I've joined a local group of creative type journallers in a challenge to do some creating every day in November, as a kind of answer to the National Novel Writing Month phenomenon. Apparently, this has helped to motivate me even more than reading other knitblogs. I've actually finished projects that are months old, and have done some work toward the craft fair; namely, I have re-entered the mouse knitting season:



That little stack is the beginning of a larger menagerie that will be stuffed with catnip and on sale. If only they reproduced like their real-life counterparts.

I've also completed the arm warmers based on the Mikado fingerless glove pattern, except mine are fuzzy Suri Merino:



and I've embarked upon my fourth (they're addictive! they're good for xmas gifts!) Clapotis:



That one's hand-dyed superwash yarn, just like this stuff.

Progress! Woo!

craft fair strategizing

by this time next week, i hope to have completed:
-1 set handspun armwarmers with reasonable pattern that can be given away with handspun
-10 felted mice, ready for stuffing
-organization of the inventory spreadsheet

Bazaar Bizarre Boston - Sunday December 11, 1-9pm!

Come see Paula and I be excited for the reasonable hours! We shouldn't have to get up at 5:45am for this one!

less than two months?!

Holiday knitting is upon me, and caught me completely by surprise. I have at least four projects that I'd like to complete before xmas, plus I'm desperately in need of a pair of pop-top mittens for myself, and I'm 3 inches from finishing my Plymouth Odyssey hat and currently out of yarn (grr to my big head). The four projects? A scarf, long opera gloves, a lace shawl, and a multi-yarn garter shawl. Also possibly a leaf lace scarf, but that one's on hold in an attempt to remain realistic. Plus, spinning up 4 more ounces of silk/merino that I'm spinning on consignment, of sorts, plus another craft fair. *whimper* Time for a game plan.

sp6

Yay! My pal received her first package. It was yarn that I dyed, but I was all paranoid about telling her that, in case she could track me down online via woolarina or some such. I have been a slacker with the mail since moving here, so I'll have to motivate myself to get the next batch of stuff out soon.

As for my secret pal -- are you still out there? I got one email, but I haven't heard from you in a bit, and your email address was undeliverable...

Fiber in the Mountains

Much fun was had with bloggers, livestock, and friends this weekend, but I gotta say that the fiber took center stage for much of the time. Rhinebeck felt more fiber-centric than Maryland Sheep and Wool did -- I'm not sure if it was the location, all pretty in the fall and far from home, or if it was my particular focus on looking at fibers rather than yarns, but it seemed like there was less commercial yarn and knitting ephemera, and more spinning and weaving and handspun or otherwise artisanal yarn (i.e., from smaller dyers/spinners rather than the big companies).

I got to the fest on Saturday at opening, and braved the gloomy, misty/rainy weather to wander through the first few barns. I serendipitously ran into these lovely ladies of the Maryland blogger/Mayorga meetup contingent, and was able to connect them to their roommates for the night. Paula and I wandered around for most of the day, and I filled my big bag with 6oz fiber balls. By the end of Sunday, I was getting pretty good at holding balls of roving in my hands and approximating their weights. Another nifty party trick for me, I suppose! Paula picked up a drum carder, which means new ways for us to blend rovings! I got lots of fabulous merino and merino/silk and other fibers, and some other goodies that will remain a mystery until my sister's 21st birthday, if I can wait that long. I am pleased that the only yarn that I purchased was from Brooks Farm (2 skeins of Four Play, to make a nice, soft scarf). It was hard to pass everything else up, but I stayed within my budget (I had all of 78 cents left when all was said and done), and I will be set for spinning for quite some time.

Other highlights: enabling a new fiber geek; fried dough and irish creme coffee; a clear sky even for a brief period; a free pound of fiber; lots of beautiful shawls; apple wine that tastes even better warmed up. and the goat? He's made of cashmere. Mmmm...

Rhinebeck Bound

Today was my last day in the office (we get Jewish holidays off sometimes, and then I'm going to a workshop thingie on Friday), so my mind is already on the weekend. I'm headed to Rhinebeck for the Sheep and Wool goodness. This will be my first visit, but since it's closer than Maryland Sheep and Wool from where I now live, it'll probably be the fest of choice.

I'm throwing around ideas of what it is I want to buy. I don't think I'll be able to pass up Brooks Farms' yarns again. They're just so amazing, and the colors really drew me in at MDS&W. Pictures don't really do them justice. Tomorrow I plan to do to reality check on how much yarn I actually have, so that I remember how much I don't need a lot more...

Crafty Success!

A fine time was had at Crafty Bastards '05, and now much restocking must be done, which means more fun with dye in the near future - hoorah!

Here's a pic of the booth with two of our intrepid crafty vendors:



Blogger can apparently do something with images that I haven't tried before, so let's hope this works.

In other news, thanks to the new job, travel, and possibly dim sum on Sunday, I have spent the last four days horizontal and fighting a virus. All is not lost, though -- I finished knitting three hats, and got some work done on the boy's scarf. Knitting was about as much focus as I had, but it was enough! Kids' hats = instant gratification.

Craft Fair this weekend!

Saturday, October 1, 2005 • 10am–5pm

Without even meaning to, I have two small grocery bags full of stuff -- one is all handspun, the other is hats and scarves and a pair of mittens -- plus the three wine cozies and three nalgene holders drying on the table. I don't even remember what we actually have in Maryland, but I know that we've created over 200 skeins of yarn at this point. Phew! I guess I was reasonably productive.

wrist woes

9-10:30am -- walk around neighborhood yard sale day. pick up some puzzles, a table, a gas grill, a book. spend whole time knitting a wine cozy. i was about 1" in when i ventured out, and halfway done by the end.

10:30-11:30am -- drive to Cambridge, watch the kids that the boy teaches in high school play soccer (they won - yay!), spend entire time knitting wine cozy. finish cozy.

11:30-12:55pm -- head to beer store, cast on hat while boy is driving, work on hat while in beer store, stop for pizza, knit while waiting for pizza, finish about 4" of hat (on size 13 needles), drive to A Good Yarn.

12:55-2:30pm or so -- alternately browse through fabulous yarn store and chat with fabulous Anne, picking up and knitting hat a bit, but not much. purchase Lavish Lace with Handpainted Yarns, which will hopefully help me in both my yarn and my lace designery. I like that it provides examples of swatches of the same patterns knit with different yarns. Nice lesson in the differences the yarn can make.

2:30-3:30pm -- drive to Jamaica Plain, drink bubble tea, finish hat, start another hat.

3:30-6pm -- drive home, stopping at our new favorite produce store (leaving knitting in car), home, watch some tv, finish spinning 125 yards of two ply worsted weight merino, finish a couple more inches on hat.

6-6:45pm -- play tennis.

6:45-8:45pm -- eat dinner, spin an ounce or so of merino, work hat a bit.

is it any wonder that my right wrist is killing me right now? i'd like to think it's a good hurt.

craft fair dilemma

Argh, so, Crafty Bastards is October 1, in DC. I am in Boston(ish). I want to go, but I'd be paying about $200 to be there for about 36 hours, and giving up a weekend in the middle of crazy working like a mad person time (I'm doing two jobs right now - my old one and my new one - so I work a good 55 hours a week). But we're all set to go, and I wanna see Paula, and help with the booth, but then I also want to go to Rhinebeck, and I have to go to a wedding on Oct. 8. I need a magic 8 ball, and a lot of money.

more q and a

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm married (for 4 1/2 years -- crazy that it's been that long) to a math geek/high school teacher/dissertation writer. I'm trying to finish a scarf that I've been knitting him for way too long now. I have a Border Collie named Jasper and a Dalmatian/Pointer/Garbage Disposal named Cassie, and they're 7 and 6 years old, respectively. We're all getting old.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
I wouldn't complain about owning a fiber store. I love to arrange shelves full of stuff, and I imagine having cubbies and cubbies of yarn would keep me happy for a long time. Until I can afford to take such a risk, though, my life dreams are mostly focused on enjoying now, but not to the extent that it leaves me broke later.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I wish I could afford my favorites in any great quantity! Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, Cherry Tree Hill merino, Koigu, Reynolds Odyssey. I've wanted to try Schaefer's Helene, Laurel, Marjaana... and I guess my favorite yarns that stay within my budget are Brown Sheep Prairie Silk and Karabella Aurora 8.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Scratchy non-wool ones :) -- the scratchy wools I can always felt. Oh, and mohair without coordinating non-mohair yarns. I'm just not sure what to do with them.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Spinning is my current obsession, really. I covet Paradise Fibers' Rhapsodies. I'm also working an afghan along the lines of the Ab Fab kit -- just a lot of my scrap yarn in deep purples, blues and silver. It's been awhile since I picked it up, though - it was too warm to work on in the summer!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Hats and arm warmers for the instant gratification, sweaters for the longterm usefulness.

17. What are you knitting right now?
That afghan, the scarf, a bunch of stuff to sell at craft fairs, a pair of Prairie Silk wristwarmers... plus I'm conceptualizing holiday gifts that will need to be done soon.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
They look cute on some people... I'm still on the lookout for a perfect half-circle shawl for myself. I'm getting to like shawls. I wear my Clapotis everywhere. I might even wear a cape if I ever made one of those, but ponchos and I don't really get along.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
circs. I knit almost exclusively on circs these days. Straight work I try to do on 16" circulars. It has something to do with the way I like to hold the needles.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Bamboo! Or addi turbos.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Barely...

22. How did you learn to knit?
At a college where I worked. From this lovely lady.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Old.


24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Umm... I like dragons, I suppose.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas. The family-centric, decorating, gift giving and eating variety. I could take or leave the media hype, the overblown retail madness and the religion.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Non-knitting related? Not really. At least I try not to. I refuse to throw out any back issues of Real Simple, but I've convinced myself that I can cut select articles out of other magazines rather than keeping every issue.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Spinoff, Interweave Knits.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
There's a special section of my wish list devoted to them.

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
The shawl I mentioned above, mostly 'cause I haven't found a good one yet.


ETA: 30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?
Oh lord, my feet are huge. I wouldn't wish sock making on anyone. They're pretty much a foot long. Size 12.5ish.

I have finally gotten around to participating...

...in the secret pal-ed-ness. Behold the button:



And in that spirit, the beginnings of the survey:

1. Are you a yarn snob?
I do prefer wools and blends, especially really soft ones.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I spin and dye. A lot. Mostly merino, but all kinds of fibers. I don't crochet.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Mmm.. I don't know if I have a smoke allergy, but the smell makes me pretty irritable.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since February 2001.


5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Indeed. here 'tis.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like lavendar, lemongrass, chamomile...

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Not as much as some, but sure.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I stick mostly with spinning/knitting/dyeing. I do make a lovely mix CD, though. And I bake, occasionally.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Folksy types with good lyrics and harmonies like Indigo Girls and Kings of Convenience; bluesy-folk women like Emmylou Harris; fun, eclectic "world-like" stuff like Pink Martini.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I tend to stick with deeper colors and earth tones. I'm still looking for a perfect combo of browns and dark greens. I love blue-based purples, forest greens, cobalt blue, greys/silvers. I just bought some Reynolds Odyssey in Granite Mix and I looooove it. There was a loose ball at a yarn store, and I bought it because I loved it that much:



I may have to track down some more, or maybe just make arm warmers. I tend to stay away from pastels and super-brights. But then again, I love all of the Noro Silk Garden colorways, so I guess brights in moderation are okay.

Tired now! more soon!

Not quite as tall as me

I have corraled my entire yarn stash:



I guess it could be worse.

From top to bottom:
Roving, spindles, yarn baller, niddy noddy
Neutral wools and mohairs
Various larger lots of wool, mostly purples (some Patons grey, a bunch of Karabella)
Novelties and non-wools
More wools, including most of my hand-dyed, plus some cotton
Handspuns

I'm down to one tub of non-natural fibers, and I hope to keep it that way. Even my projects are all in these buckets (a tank top, a scarf, a sock, an arm warmer, I'm not sure what else). It's about 5'7" tall, all stacked up. Also note the motor oil in the bottom right hand corner, with which I grease my spinning wheel.

wheel to be packed last!

So we're moving in less than a week! Phew! My local knitting circle list is going to have to change substantially (although kniterati will now, finally, be accurately in place). Woolarina North will be located in Waltham, Mass. (I need to learn how to spell that state name consistently). I'll be back down in the DC area for Crafty Bastards in October, though, and I'm sure I'll make it back for Sheep and Wool!

The knitting and spinning have been on hold, more or less, for the past two weeks. Our last dyeing session was a couple of weeks ago (stuff to hit the webpage soon), and I'm packing my dye equipment today. Won't pack the wheel til the last minute, though - whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, it's still the place I go to unwind (although this week, the wheel has lost out to the bed on many occasions -- at least I've been sleeping well in preparation for the move).

Those of you in the Boston area, any and all suggestions on things to do (and eat!) and places to shop (and eat!) are welcomed.

one house for sale

First and foremost, check out all the work Paula has done at woolarina.com! The yarn pages are getting updated with all new pictures, and they're much easier to see now. The sock page, for instance. Mmm. We're doing some more dyeing this weekend, so if anyone has color requests, speak now!

In other news, our house is now officially on the market, and Tim will hopefully be signing a lease in the Boston area over the weekend. We still have no official move date, but I will be starting a new job on August 22, so it'll be before then. There will now be a Woolarina North post, and I hope to continue dyeing (and will definitely be spinning and knitting) up there :) I think the wheel will be the last thing that I pack up. The boy is a little concerned at potential buyers coming by during a dye day this weekend, but they will just have to deal. I think that the yarns hanging on the porch make the house look that much more festive.

retreat into spinning

I can tell by my sidebar stats that, in this time of stress (both good and bad stress, but stress nonetheless), my spinning production goes up a bit. It also helps that it's way too hot to keep knitting on my lap for very long, and the wheel is set up in front of the air conditioning vent.

My favorite roving of late was the Cormo/Alpaca. It's hard to go wrong with Corriedale, Merino, and Alpaca, all in one. Plus, it was a natural roving, so no random felty bits from overly enthusiastic washing and rinsing. The roving is fabulously soft (I've heard the term "buttery soft" applied to yarn a lot -- why is that? Is butter that soft?) and easy to draft. One oddity, though -- there are quite a lot of little slubs in the roving, so my yarn isn't nearly as smooth as it is with a lot of other fibers. I don't think I was being lazy about my drafting -- I think it was just a quality of the roving. In any case, I will be dyeing the yarn and knitting it into gloves for myself, I think. My first pair of handknit gloves. I'm pretty sure it's a thin enough yarn to work on 3s or 5s, so that should make not-too-bulky gloves.

Plus, I will be moving in a month to the Boston area, so it's time to start thinking warmer garments and accessories! I am quite excited, and with the decision made, the stress is going down a little (although the spinning, I think, will continue).

I leave you with a couple of links to Knitted Superhero Costumes and the ElevenEleven gallery, the latter of which is in DC, and I really should get there some time soon...

*thump thump*

When felting a Nalgene holder with a Nalgene bottle in it, the washing machine makes some funny thumpy sounds. I'm curious what it'll do during the spin cycle.

Felted Nalgene Bottle Cozy (which needs to be tweaked).

Great for keeping your Nalgene from "sweating" water all over your stuff when you shove it into your bag, fresh from the fridge, in the morning.

CO 40 sts worsted weight yarn on a size 11 circular. Join.
Knit around for 11" (but I think it should be closer to 10"- this guy seems a little long)
Decrease every other round, starting with K6 k2tog, until 20 sts remain, then decrease every round until 5 sts remain. Pull through and secure.
Pick up 6 sts at the top. St st for two rounds, then garter for 10.
Decrease to 5 sts and work strap: K3, yf, sl 2 pwise.
Continue in pattern til the strap is almost as long as you want it.
Go back to garter, increasing one stitch, garter 10 rounds, st st for two rounds (i.e., make a mirror image of what you did on the other side). BO. Sew to opposite side of holder.
Felt til it's done.

facelift and new fluff

I gave up on trying to coerce this journal into being a three-column format, because I don't know enough about html and css to keep from breaking it on a regular basis. Someday, I will take a class. The problem with the classes I've tried to take is that I know about enough of the basics to get me through the first three or four lessons, and once I've made it through those, I'm bored because I haven't learned much new, and I've lost interest before getting to the useful stuff. I also hope to learn to use Microsoft Access at some point. Not at all intuitive to me, that program.

Anyway, aside from giving in to a new format on this journal, there has been much activity, although not as much fiber-related as I would like. I have managed to procure new balls of colorful and soft merino:



We've sold a few skeins, I've spun up a few more. We dyed lots of merino sock yarn for the store, including this guy:



We also dyed 6 or so skeins of worsted wool yarn for making felted totes. I bought a smallish (16 or so ounce) Nalgene, which I plan to knit a cozy for soon. I also knitted a larger Nalgene-sized cozy, and will felt it up this weekend as a prototype for some of the stock for Crafty Bastards.

So, I guess that's some progress. I'm also learning that there is a lot about knitting that I love, and a lot that I just plain don't like. I'll revisit that later, but for now, I know I don't like ribbing on double pointed needles. I like ribbing, I like dpns, but I just can't deal with both of them together -- too high maintenance, or something.

My favorite thing right now? Simple, memorizable patterns, with some variation in what you do with the rows, but also some plain knit and purl rows to take a break from the patterns. I'm working on a scarf for Tim right now in a woven sort of pattern that only has four different rows, one knit, one purl, and two 2x2 rib variations, and it's easy and it makes a pretty pattern. It's a dark yarn, but I'll try to get a picture up some time soon.