Sewing Arsenal

While I was working on my Super Seekrit Project again, I realized that my work space (my dining room table) had my arsenal of sewing tools that I used the most. In general, my house/workshop has nearly everything I need to start a sewing project at a moment's notice from thread to fabric to interfacing to buttons and zippers. It's a well-curated Stash(TM) that's accumulated over years by both myself and the Viking.

However, there are certain tools that are used repeatedly regardless of costume. I have a few tools that I find myself reaching for on a regular basis and that make up the very basic aspects of my sewing kit. So I decided to do a short interim blog post about these tools.

They include:

• a sewing gauge -- I prefer the square-ish sewing gauges that contain the more common widths used for seam allowances and such (i.e. 1/4", 1/2", 5/8", 1", 1.5", etc.,.)
• a good pair of cutting shears -- these shears cut through any fabric like butter. They are super sharp (and slightly dangerous), and are ONLY used for fabric.
• a good pair of small nipper scissors that can cut thread or help cut close at various edges, button holes, or welts.
• a nice heavy weighted seam ripper -- I bought this one at Stitches West. It's made out of wood and has an awl at the other end. Both tools can be hidden into the handle.
• fabric weights --- they hold down fabric or patterns when needed. I found these old-fashioned mini-irons (made out of iron) on clearance sale and they make really awesome weights.
•  tailor's chalk --- I use them to mark the sewing lines for various seams, to mark points for sewing, etc.

My Viking and I also have a library of books dedicated to sewing -- from how-to sew to techniques to patterns and inspirational costuming books. There's a lot of sewing "how-tos" and techniques that I'm not familiar with or that I need a refresher on how to do something...or maybe a better method than what the pattern suggests. When I'm sewing, I tend to look at these reference books to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

Consequently, there have been times when there is a book sitting on the sewing table (aka my dining room table) that is open to a particular set of instructions or technique.

Usually, I find myself reaching for the Vogue Sewing book as it's one of the best sewing books I've used (going into advanced techniques). I know that there's an updated version, but I have an older copy that I refer to constantly.

 In addition, my Viking pulled this book down for me to use for tailoring techniques: Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket. It's an excellent book with a ton of great photographs and straightforward instructions for both hand sewing and machine-based tailoring techniques. (There's an updated version of the Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket, which from what I've read is pretty much exactly the same as the older book, save for some updated modern photos.

I highly recommend both books to be added to your sewing reference library, if you don't already have them.

Book Review: Spinners

As most of my friends know, I'm a big fan of books of fantasy. I especially love the retelling of fairy tales in a different way. Of course, there are some excellent retellings and there are not-so-excellent retellings.

A while ago, I was at my favorite used book store and found a wonderful book that appealed to my love of fantasy as well as my own craftiness. It was the book, Spinners, by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen.

Basically, this YA book is a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story (collected by the Brothers Grimm), where a miller's daughter is told to spin straw into gold or die by the King, and a strange man helps her. The authors DO tell that story, but they also weave an interesting back story to Rumplestilskin as well as the Miller's Daughter. It's rather artfully done. The back story they create is interesting, and there is some character development that leads you to see how the characters come about and how it leads them into their fairytale.

In addition, the authors did an excellent job at researching spinning, spinning different fibers (wool, cotton, flax, etc), and I couldn't find fault in how they described a a lot of the actual spinning that takes place. My only gripe (now that I think about it) was they gloss over how much time it actually "takes" to prepare fibers for spinning (like cotton or flax), but considering they are trying to move the story along, it's not a sticking point for me.

It's actually quite refreshing to see how much spinning and detail that they actually incorporate into the storyline instead of glossing over why this fairytale occurs (i.e. spinning straw into gold). Without giving away spoilers, they authors describe how the Miller's Daughter (who is an excellent spinner) creates different types of yarn (incorporating white & black stripes into her yarn skeins) or adding flowers, feathers, or other things into her skeins of yarn (basically art yarn).

However, as much as I really liked what they did with the backstory and the aspects of spinning, I'm rather disappointed with the ending of the book. They pretty much stuck with the ending of the fairytale (that we're all familiar with) instead of taking this book into a different direction that would still stay true to the backstory that they created AND the spirit of the fairy tale itself.

I'm not saying that the book needed to have a "Happy Ending". After all, real life doesn't always have a happy ending, but I think they cheated the reader and abruptly ended the story with the fairytale ending. They could have created an ending something more appropriate given the backstory they created for their characters and the relationship betwixt them.

Personally, I think they did more research on the aspects of spinning than thinking about a much more cohesive and appropriate ending for this book.

As a retelling of a fairy tale, this book is not the best, nor is it the worst I've read. It's mediocre at best, although if you are a spinner, you might delight in those aspects of the storyline -- I know I did.

If you're going to give this to a young reader (especially one learning how to spin), you might want to give it to a 14+ year old, as there is a "love" scene in the first few pages of the book. It's nothing graphic, but probably a bit more detailed than a simple kiss and hug.

Unfortunately, this book is currently out-of-print, but you might be able to find a copy of it at your local used book store.

Octopus Anyone?

In the attempt to get my knitting mojo back, I took to making an octopus as a quick and easy knit from the book, Amigurumi Knits.

Here's my octopus wrapped around the hacksaw used to help make my Lazy Kate.



BTW, love, love, love this book. It's not exactly amigurumi (as technically, amis are crocheted, not knitted), but I love the patterns as they are quite unusual!

Book Review: Spin Control by Amy King

I've just finished reading Amy King's Spin Control Book. And as a relatively new spinner, I definitely like this book. It's geared primarily towards those spinners with wheels, but the techniques can be converted to those using spindles with a bit of care.

In the beginning of the book, she goes over some spinning basics -- the differences between woolen versus worseted, S-spun / Z-spun, short draw versus long draw, and the different fibers and how they react to certain spinning types. And she has some wonderful color photographs showing how a woolen yarn knit up looks to a worsted spun yarn. In addition, she goes over tips & techniques to help you get your yarn more consistent. She does not go in-depth about some basics, so if you're looking for details, this is probably not the book.

She also goes over plying and the different plying techniques. And again, lots of wonderful photographs showing how a 2-ply or 3-ply pr N-ply does with regular knitting versus cabled knits versus colorwork.

Spin Control: Techniques for Spinning the Yarns You Want
by Amy King

The last few remaining chapters of the book go over the possibilities of what you can do with your handspun, including core spinning, making boucle, and purposefully made 'art yarn'.

The photographs in the book are very well done, and give you a nice view of what can be accomplished and provide a 'guideline' on how things might spin or knit up. The writing style is laid back and easy to read. There's no overly complicated instructions and a lot of the step-by-step instructions are accompanied by photographs.

I have heard that more advanced/experienced spinners might not find a lot of value in the book, but I'd say for beginning/intermediate spinners, this book can show you all of the possibilities and help you get to the next level in your spinning.

Review: Respect the Spindle

This past weekend, I finally picked up the book, "Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool", by Abby Franquemont, at a local bookstore.


Respect the Spindle

Can I just say this? WHERE was this book when I first started spinning on a spindle?!?! Oh yeah, she was just finishing up writing it and it was *just* about to be published. So, I didn't get the full benefit of it when I started spindling.

It came out about 3 months after I started spindle spinning. However, it's awesome book to read with a lot of information specific to spindle spinning that you don't necessarily get in other general spinning books (which mostly cater to wheel spinning). Despite it's focus on spindles, it's an overall good "spinning" book with information on drafting, woolen, and worsted spinning, plying (with some good photos on chain plying), etc. I've learned quite a bit more just by reading this book.

Abby does a really good job at breaking things down into easy-to-understand concepts about the hows and whys of spinning. Her writing flows nicely from one end of the book to the next. Her style is fluid and easy-to-read. She explains (with good photographs) the different spindle types, why they work, how they work, and what are the idiosyncracies between all of them. She goes over the physics of spinning, mathematics of spin rates, and a little bit about the history of spinning in general.

In addition to the above, there are some brief exercises for you to work on, how to determine your spinning rate, and then she also provides a few patterns for your first few skeins of handspun. She's very encouraging throughout the book, getting you to explore at your own pace, to find your own spinning "mojo", and to really understand that there is going to different ways of doing things.

(And there are also some very gorgeous photos of various spindles and fiber!)

Overall, it's a *wonderful* book. In terms of specific spindle books, I think this one sits at the top of my "recommended" list. It'll be the one I will be recommending to people who want to learn how to use a spindle. I know that I certainly learned a lot.

(As a side note: Books, such as The Bellweather's Productive Spindling (also a very good book) compliments Abby's book very well, going into some specifics (such as how to efficiently wind-on a cop for different reasons, etc).

I'll review the Product Spindling book at a later date.

Spinning Books on my "To-Get List"

So far, there have been really good reviews on Ravelry regarding:

Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool

Spin Control: Techniques for Spinning the Yarns You Want

The Intentional Spinner: A Holistic Approach to Making Yarn

And it's not like I have enough books. ;-)

Replacement Book

Yesterday, the book I had to re-order (because I lost it on the plane) came through! Now, I can finish my damn socks. And I've been wearing my other finished socks, which are nice, warm, and toasty. I'm rather pleased with them.

While I was waiting for that particular book to come in, I decided to cast-on an entrelac scarf using the Noro Silk Garden Lite I had picked up (silk, mohair, lambs wool). I love the variegated colors of the yarn, which is working perfectly with the entrelac scarf.

I'm getting used to the entrelac pattern; there is a pattern for four different types of rows (start & end rows, and the two rows (K&P side) that make up the inside of the entrelac.) Once you have memorized the pattern for either the Knit or Purl row, it's relatively easy.

However, if I'm totally ignoring what I'm doing or get too distracted, I will screw up a section. I've had to frog back parts of it, because I realized that I was doing the wrong row pattern. Luckily, each 'weave' section of the entrelac is self-containing and I usually catch myself before I get too far along.