PSA

Queens of the fiber cannot dye mushroom shades. So any of you tangled darts out there, don't be trying to trick me into doing that on account of me trying to raise cash for cancer.

That is all.

Medievel Reproduction Spindle

Recently Bess (proprietress of Make One Yarn Studio, spinner, SCA participant, and owner of the worlds' most impressive yarn/fiber stash) gifted me with a bottom whorl spindle that she's carrying in her store. I have not been a great big fan of the bottom whorl, but I was happy to give this one a spin. Bess describes it as follows:

"Mark Shier of Gaukler Medievalwares makes the spindle whorl of lead-free pewter in a hand-carved stone mold. It is based on a spindle whorl in his collection. He is a registered antiquities dealer.

The whorl comes with a hand-finished wooden spindle shaft."


When I received the spindle, it had just arrived from Vancouver Island, so in a day or so the shaft had shrunk enough that I could move the whorl up by approximately 1/4". Since then it's been stable and I'm not worried about it coming off. It's a small enough spindle that I was able to successfully spin in the car as we ferried to and from soccer today. That's big talk for somebody who is spinning silk, has dry hands, the windows are open and it's a bottom whorl. As you can see, all went well, and the cop is on it's way to being full (OK.. that might be stretching it somewhat!).

Some of the reasons I love this spindle are that it's unique and not mass produced; it spins solid, straight, and it doesn't take much room.

I'm spinning silk hankies that Aunty Tink gave me, and that I dyed. I am not really a blue person, but I totally love these.

So there you have it! My first intentional product review.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, actually it wasn't, but it seems like everyone should get to type that sentence once in their life.

This weekend turned out to be especially productive; I can barely remember all the things that I accomplished. Roxy (the pup) kept me up most of Friday night; I was totally and completely exhausted by her whining and crying. She would have liked to sleep on the bed, and I would have liked her to sleep in another city. Neither of us got our way. Eventually I got a few hours sleep, and was about to get up to take Mug to soccer, when BFML offered to do the deed for me AND take both dogs as well. I slept from 9 to 12.. it was like absolute heaven.

Once they returned home I packed up Mug and headed for Make One to talk to Bess about dyeing and to spin for a while. The store was pretty darned busy. AnneK brought in a warm coffee cake, studded with chunks of apple. Did I say heaven?

I don't know what possessed me, but afterwards I started bringing all of my yarn and allll of my fiber downstairs to organize and.. well, spring clean. I've been thinking it needed to be done, but dreading it. Man, what a job. I got to a point with the yarn that I'd think I was done, and sure as crap yet another bag of it would be hiding behind something. In the end my entire upstairs area was sorted out and organized, and all of my yarn/fiber is contained, labelled and, shockingly, findable. It was kind of fun being reminded of frogged projects, successes, failures, plans... I got rid of very little, and realized that I'm missing one skein of yarn.

Silk. Koigu. From our New York Trip. DAMN.

Anyway, we won't discuss mileage, or Rubbermaid totes, or green garbage bags. None of that.

I knitted, I spun... the Cormo basket is completely and absolutely empty. To be honest I never thought I'd see the day, but now that I have combs, the fiber is under my control. The Cormo is about 50% plied.... I wish now that I'd Navajo plied it, because it's thinner than I would have liked, but still soft, still gorgeous. (Yesterday the 2009 hoggetts were sheared. I so want one).

I dyed and dyed and dyed; the kitchen is absolutely resplendent in a rainbow of fiber. Tonight I'll bag that up and get it off to it's new home. I felt inspired, for the first time in an age.

Ahhhh and it was Mother's day. Dida and Ike (and Nini, in a stroller) ran the 5k, so BFML and I walked downtown to cheer them over the finish line. It was such a great thing for Dida.. her first race ever. Later we went to their car and Dida gave me a framed picture of Nini in a red raincoat. It's the best ever.. honestly.

BFML treated me like a queen all day on Sunday, and gave me a reconditioned mailbox that he and the kids had worked on. We so needed it! I can hardly wait for it to be installed.

Seems like this is about enough information.. but honestly there's more! Mug and I watched The Colour Purple together, we had poached eggs, drank Lambic Framboise - not Mug; BFML, I did washing/carding experiments, BFML freecycled and I landed up with a copy of Eat, Pray, Love... the only book I've wanted to review by the time I was reading page 9. It's that good.

etc. It was an etc. kind of weekend.

This and that

Let's start with eggs.

I'm in a three way tie for being the world's biggest poached egg fan; IK and Darts are the other two contenders.



This Thursday at TKR one of the knitters offered up two dozen local farm eggs. I jumped at the opportunity, and this weekend I have had the pleasure of turning several of them into poached eggs. BFML had previously created a berry jam that I had on a second piece of toast. Problem with those eggs? Some of them are just too big and the poaching is a bit tricky. Now that's a sad, sad story, isn't it?

BFML went on a motorcycle ride to the island. He is very particular about how the dishwasher is loaded, and it drives him into a flap if dishes are sitting around.. I'm a 'fill the sink, and then load the dishwasher' person.



Yay. My way this week.



This is a very special little silk hankie. I was dyeing a stack of them blue, and this lone hankie (ok.. maybe 5) somehow attached itself to another fiber. I have left it on the baker's rack, because I like looking at it, and imagining what it might like to be when it's spun.



I've been dyeing some sock yarn; doing experiments. This particular batch has been quite successful. The colours in the picture are not representative in any way; the yarn is actually an almost black-brown, with reds and oranges. Wayyyyy nice.



Last weekend, Vikingmaid made me these combs. They are lethal, and useful, and some kind of wonderful. I've had part of Cormo hogget fleece #750 washed and partially spun since last spring. Now that I have combs I'm going to work through the balance of the fleece. It's kind of fun to comb a bit now and then, and watch the little clouds pile up.

I've been knitting too.. but we'll save that for later.

Locks for sale!

I had hoped to post silk hankies as well, but they will have to wait for another day.

These locks would be great for spinning. You could card them, or spin them straight from the bag. They would be super for needle felting as well.. whatever your imagination comes up with! There will be some VM. I cannot vouch for the BFL, but in this case, the kid mohair locks originate from an animal friendly farm. Prices are in Canadian dollars, and do not include shipping; I will combine, and/or make arrangements within Calgary.

So here we go! Click on the pictures for fiber weights and prices.

1 - SOLD



3 - SOLD

4 - SOLD

5 - SOLD

6 - SOLD

7 - SOLD

8 - SOLD

9 - SOLD

10 - SOLD

11 - SOLD

12 - SOLD

ps: He won his game tonight! If they win on Thursday, then they'll be in the finals. It was a REALLY exciting game today.. the best they've ever played.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

It's been a crazy, busy weekend.. and somehow it's Sunday night and I promised to post some yarn and fiber. I'll never make it as a photographer, that's for sure! (BFML took this first picture, and the rest can be blamed on me)

I did knit a bit... I've started the bike messenger jacket from Son of Stitch and Bitch. I didn't gauge swatch, so the sweater is going to be for Aidan. He's excited because I told him I'm going to put a skull and barbed wire on one arm.

I spent more than a few hours searching for patterns... I'm looking for something to knit for Stampede, but I don't know what it is yet. The search has resulted in a great deal of research, and zero results so far. I like to test knit in a cost effective yarn, just in case I end up feeling luke warm about the project.... so I really don't have tons of time.

I cooked tonight.. and it resulted in what may have been the very best beef gravy I've ever come up with; it was so dark and rich that I was shocked! I'm not very good at cooking meat, overall.. but gosh, it was all good tonight. The Yorkshire puddings were tall and crisp, the meat was (overcooked, but still) tender and delicious. Back to pasta sauce for me next week I'm sure, but today I'll bask in a successful meal.

Now, for the fiber and the yarn! I should note that we have pets here; both dogs and cats, but it's a non-smoking house. If you see something that you'd like to purchase, please contact me by comments or by email (spinknit@me.com)

OK.. here we go.

I have two more sock yarn submissions.. both 100gms of superwash (wool/nylon blend) - $15.00 ea.

SOCK4
SOLD

SOCK5
SOLD

LOTS of BFL today... approx. 100gms per package, at $15.00 ea.

BFL1
(Note: there is so much turquoise in this roving that I would expect residual dye to be present when washing. It's the science of particle size.. the fiber will remain vibrant)


BFL2
SOLD

BFL3
SOLD

BFL4


BFL5
SOLD

BFL6


BFL7
SOLD

BFL8
SOLD

BFL9
SOLD

Hockey. No kidding. You must watch it tomorrow.

I am the wicked step-mom to a wonderful little guy, aged 9. This is him:



If you'd like to see a better picture of him, then your best bet would be to watch the Calgary/San Jose game tomorrow night. He has been chosen to skate a loop around the Saddledome ice with the Calgary Flames, and to join them for the national anthem. They are giving him a jersey, and tickets for the game. He calls tomorrow 'Happy Day', and he's been counting sleeps until HD since Christmas. Honestly, it is happy day for all of us, because he's been working so hard to be a good hockey player himself, and this is such an honour and a blessing for him. He feels like a winner.. and he is. I hope that you can share his moment of glory.

And, yes, he wears that balaclava all the time. He really does.

I thought I'd share this picture with you:



Not because I'm happy to say that the Christmas tree has been dismantled, but because you might notice that all of our decorations are special; the toilet paper angel has a very special place in my heart, and has been on the tree for years. Blogless C might notice that, yes, we have disco ball ornaments.

If you have children, I would suggest that you buy a big bag of non-breakable Christmas balls, and every year give your kids a ball and a felt pen. We have a collection from years and years back, and I love each and every one of them. You can see one or two in the picture. It's not fancy, it's just them, leaving their marks for you to see when they are not so little any more.

And here you have the early stages of Marie Antoinette.



Gale blogged about it, and I loved her sock so much that I bought the pattern and ordered the yarn. I was endlessly thinking about the sock though, so I brought out a ball of yarn that I bought in Brooklyn during the Rhinebeck extravaganza. It's a cashmere blend, but I can't give you details because I somehow lost the ball band. I totally love the intended yarn (which is Tupelo Honey by the Woolen Rabbit, $22.00 shipped), but I am not sorry that I started with the yarn I used.

In case you're wondering.. today was my first full day at the Knitting Room. It went well, it was a very, very busy day, and I saw a few familiar, smiling faces. Thank you for coming in to say hi; I really appreciated it.

Tonight? I'm up to my elbows in dyed fiber and sock yarn. It's all good!

ps: The Alphagetti was fantabulous.

What I've really wanted

...for what seems like forever, is some time to myself to create. I have been too this, and too that, and haven't had the opportunity to just sit at the wheel and spin. Everything has had a deadline of some sort, and finally I ended up with a deadline that helped me achieve some time at the wheel.

You see, Donna loaned me her Majacraft Rose to spin over Christmas. After everything was said and done, and all things Christmas were achieved, I found two solid days to sit at the wheel before it goes back to its rightful owner. I spent a good deal of time doing research on the wheel, making adjustments, talking to Mandie (she's a distributor) and generally searching for the holy grail. It was so great. I really, really love spinning.

But you knew that, right?

Thank you so much Donna!

My next goal is to dye. I have the weekend ahead of me, and I feel as thought the window of opportunity might just open.

Tomorrow? I'll be at the Knitting Room for several hours, and after that, Alphagetti with Kathi. I'm so looking forward to both things.

Holy crap, I *might* know how to crochet

I cannot promise, but it appears that I am reading a crochet chart, and the darned thing makes some kind of sense. It is going to be crazy cool... cobweb weight silk-mohair on a really, really large hook. I had to leave it at work tonight because I am so excited that I would put it ahead of all other projects, and I have some important stuff that needs doing. On a timeline...

I cannot be trusted to be true to projects. New is good. Face it. Remember Fugly Mo? Still in the bag it was in last year, and not one more stitch has been knitted. Because it's OLD.

I have all kinds of top secret things going on, none of which I can talk about. But look out! After Christmas, there will be some great pictures...

including the hairy citrine thing, and the fuzzy stained glass-like things, about 2 million mittens and hopefully a Alice Starmore wonderment.

I'm so excited about this possibility, I'm going to make a new label.. called: Crochet (with one t). Who knew?

The zen of spinning

Warning! I took these pictures on BF's camera, and his setting takes a picture as big as a house. Bigger than real life! So unless you want to count my wraps per inch, and really check out spinning errors, don't click! Or.. click to enHUGEen.



Flickr isn't flickring tonight.. so this is gonna take a while. You've got the time, don't you? Me? I'm up at 2am, tho I'm totally exhausted, because Roxy had a bath tonight and she feels it is imperative to nibble her feet all night. I cannot get her to stop. If she's not asleep when I go back upstairs, I'm going to find alternate sleeping arrangements that does not include dogs on the bed.

Anyway.. you might know that things have been a bit stressful for me lately, plus I have strep and an ear infection again. I think I'm wrung out. The solution? Spin. And spin. And spin.

I had 6 bobbins of a jacketed hogget cormo that just needed to be plied, so I dragged them out and gave them a whirl. Now, here's what I have.

1. Skein of scoured, unprepared in any other way... just spun from the locks.



2. Skein of scoured, hand carded locks.



3. Skein of scoured, flick carded locks.



All three skeins have been spun thick and thin, finished, and tho there is still minimal VM (especially in the natural locks), they are a pretty cream colour, and I'm very happy. I won't dye any of it. This yarn is so soft and bouncy I don't have words to describe it.

What I learned is:

- I am a pretty lousy hand carder. Must practice that.
- It's hard for me to spin art-type yarn... If I lose concentration, my spinning reverts to consistent fingering weight. Then.. ooops!.. back to art yarn.
- A dog comb used as a flick carder will go straight through your jeans. It won't take long either.
- I absolutely adore cormo. It might be my favorite fleece ever.
- I learned a lot about how NOT to wash a fleece. I basically have a cloud the size of a laundry basket, but, it's not a total loss, and in fact it hasn't been a loss at all, I just altered my spinning.
- I think i'm going to flick card the rest, and I think I'm going to force myself to start throwing out short and really dirty parts. We have a compost. I can use it. The world won't end if I don't spin every single inch.
- I think it might be ok to cut off the tips of a hogget fleece sometimes. They are too little to be jacketed at first, so the tips are a bit frazzed.
- Starting from a fleece is hard, but worth it. Times a thousand.

OK.. moving on.

2 skeins of Llama-down, purchased carded from Lars of West Mountain Farm, Inc., Stamford, Vermont. I met Lars Garrison and his wife Gaye at Rhinebeck. They have decided to sell off their animals. If you can get your hands on any of this fleece, do so. It is amazing, and I could just kick myself for not buying more. This is my first real attempt at unsupported long draw. I'm very happy with my initial results. The takeup on my wheel isn't strong enough, so it's kind of a tough go... but I did as well as I could. The yarn is soft and very springy.



Coils! It's my first try, and the skein is loaded with errors.. I did everything wrong I think, but I'm still stupid thrilled with the results. I think the singles needed to be spun tighter and I need to figure out how to do this without coiling up the core thread so bad that it breaks. Technique = 0. Pretty = 10.



I picked the roving because I thought the dye job sucked. In reality, it kicks butt.



Now. Can somebody tell me what the heck one does with a coiled skein???

Rusty Mittens

Granola Girl is working on a gorgeous pair of mittens. To be honest, they are way up there with Dida's Fiddlehead Mittens, which I completely adore. A tie even.

The golden yarn was dyed by me, spun by Plied, and finally, the knitting done by Granola Girl.. it's a really wonderful collaboration.

The longest journey begins with a single step

I am happy to say that my Nini has finally decided that she shall walk, after all. I wasn't worried... her mother didn't (or couldn't.. she was premature and it took a while for her to catch up) walk until she was darned near 2 and nobody was worse for wear. Still, I'm happy and excited and proud and thrilled. I haven't seen her walk yet because I have a really awful cold; but I hope to soon.



Because of that nasty cold, I didn't knit any beautiful cashmere shawls, or spectacular Secret Garden sweaters. No. I cast on a silk garden sock. This time I used small needles, and more stitches, so it's not a quick sock.. I'm not even sure who's sock it is.



The stack of silk hankies under the silk threads I showed you earlier.

Here's a link to information on different kinds of silk and how to deal with it; not all of it seems correct, but overall it's pretty informative.

The first one is free...

A Sunday Afternoon Guild funny... in that I brought a stack of silk hankies for show and tell, and shared a few with a girl who had never seen them before. If they are like a drug.. then I must be the pusher.

(I'm not mentioning the name of any sweet aussie who might send optim and fine fleece blended with soy. Nobody I know would hook me on fiber so soft and slick that it made my beloved BFL feel like thorns to the touch.)

When there's sufficient light, I'll share pictures of a big stack of glorious, saturated silk hankies. In the meantime, here's a teaser.

That little stack on top? Delicate, glimmering silk threads. Consider the picture a freebie. ;) (hey.. do click on it this time.. it's a very cool picture when it's as big as a house)

The blue period

Mtlaise is having a blue period (in that she is enjoying her new wheel, and spinning blue roving), and it got me thinking about my Nini. She knows lots of words, but she only likes one.

BLUE.

Dida called me today, and in the background I hear: blue? blue. bloooooooooooooo. BLUE. bl.ewwwwwwwww. BLUE. blue? Dida says: Can you say green? Nini: Gree (pause) blue?

By the end of the call I was falling over, I was laughing so hard, but I have to say that I am not a fan of repetition, so this would drive me insane. I'd need meds. Dida is very brave and patient, and it is good that God made mothers love their children more than life itself, or I believe my daughter would be insane very shortly.

Today I dyed, and I dyed, and I dyed, and I dyed. I worked on my process, and I'm rethinking my use of colour... while I spin Mandie's Merino/Soy blend.. lovely. Pink. Salmon. No blue to be seen.

(psst.. don't click on the picture. It's as big as a house)

I am in the Ravelympics

Hence, not much in the way of posts... I entered the Sweatersprint catetory, and so far it's going quite well; in fact, the body of the sweater I'm knitting is about 1.5" away from being finished. As usual, I'm concerned about running out of yarn; but no matter what happens, I'm going to make it work. Maybe it'll have shorter sleeves than I had first anticipated? Maybe it will be perfect. I am using the Miss Priss colourway that I overdyed; it's wayyyyyy richer in real life. Gorgeous. The sweater, however, is not much to look at yet. It needs another day or two before it will become somewhat photogenic.



You might note that this is traditionally where I stall on a sweater. However.. stalling isn't an olympic option, is it?

I'm also in a sock exchange, but I haven't cast on yet, because I haven't decided on a pattern. Recently we bought every skein of Rivercity Yarn's Blue Moon STR that we could afford, so I am definitely not short of options to knit with.. just ideas.

Dida's birthday is in a few days, then my birthday, then Camp Pluckyfluff, then Rhinebeck, then the Make One Fall 2008 retreat.. then Christmas? Holy smokes. Too darned much.

Grateful

The day I found out about the *BLUE RIBBON*, I also received a box of goodies from my friend Mandie. It wasn't the first. She is such a generous person that it defies description. Ask anyone who knows her, and they will relate similar stories.

So, here's the contents of that one box, plus another that she sent a little while ago. I promise, you're going to wish you were me. *I* wish i was me.


Shredded currency, threads


Sparkly thread


Dyed locks


Dyed and Undyed silk rods. The dye job rocks!


Silk and wool threads


Silk waste, degummed cocoons, silk strips, and an HC star


Dyed silk


Sparkly bling


Threads and bling


Hippy Heaven BFL with sequins


Solitude BFL/Soy


Fluffy, clean, amazing silk noil


Retro Spectro, Merino/Soy Top (it is so fluffy.. i'm dying to spin this)


Wool threads

There's more! Also included in the box was over 2lbs. of raw merino fleece. Incredibly soft and springy; if I can figure out how to deal with it to keep it spinable, it's going to be freaking amazing.

I'm going to Camp Pluckyfluff in September, and I am SO HOOKED UP. Honestly.. I need to spin some singles for the trip, and if I took everything that Mandie sent, and that I've collected over the last few months, I have enough for the entire class. I am praying that I can be an art yarn spinner; because at this point, the only thing that could go wrong is operator error.

Speaking of spinning... This was in the box too. I spun it today. Plied it badly on the Princess Indian Spinner. It was our first project together, and there were problems. Time will tell... but the colours? Exactly right. I'm in love with it.


Rum Runner, Optim/Soy

I don't know how to appropriately or adequately say thanks to someone so gracious and thoughtful. All I can think of is.. Mandie.. you'd better get those needles sharpened up, because soon there will be yarn on the way!

ps: a fish picture:



The fish needs eyes, and a strap. It's going to be a purse.

I am the walnut

Better late than never!

Post on the run...

Remember this:



Introducing the new and improved 'this' (yayyyyy!):



Softly shaded, and now knittable. The colour is richer in person.

And.. a little something for Nini. Christmas I think.



I so gotta leave for work... Riding my bike...