I Can Haz Socks?

Last month, I got a chance to spend some time with my niece & nephews. The youngest, C, asked me if I could knit him a pair of socks like I had for his older sister. He said I could make it his birthday present, if I wanted (which he pointed out was coming up).

Hmm. Cheeky kid just like his uncle. However, with his big blue eyes and toothy grin, who I am to say no? I'm such a sucker for those kids. And socks are a relatively quick knit, esp. since he's got smaller feet.

Of course, this was the kid who was kinda disappointed that I had given him a dead fish hat for his birthday (he wanted a R/C car), BUT also the same one, who dragged me over to show me that he had brought his hat and they had worn it while on vacation. LOL.

As he is growing like a weed, at 5 years old, he's wearing Size 2 already. His mom & I agreed that a size bigger would at least last him a year. So when I got home, I dug out some left over sock yarn (machine-washable for his mother) that I thought he might like, and knitted him a pair of socks.

I sent those off to him earlier this week, which should get them to him (hopefully) ON his birthday.

Knitted Knockers

This is very cool, and helps breast cancer survivors. So, if you want to do some volunteer knitting, yet something "different", here's the thing for you.

Knitted Knockers Program

Tour De Fleece 2011

It's that time of year again for the Tour De Fleece Challenge on Ravelry. Again, I'll be spinning with Team Sasquatch for TDF2011

My goal? Attempt to spin 1 lb of silk/merino fiber from Ashland Bay in the colorway "Spice" within the specified time frame. This is only the singles. I get extra credit for plying. ;-)

I bought it because it reminded me of tabby cats. However, when I did my sampling, it came out a beautiful brown tweedy color.

For the samples, I've spun 1oz of fiber, and tried a 2 & 3ply to see what I liked using a 11:1 ration on my Ashford Kiwi.

2ply (Left) / 3ply (right)

I'm basically going with the 3ply sample.

So far, I've split my fiber into 1oz size bites so I can get them off the bobbins and onto quills when I'm done. There are about 16 (1oz) bumps there + 1 bump @ 1.5 oz.

Usually, 1lb of fiber is enough for a sweater for me, so this shall end up being one.

Head over Heelix

I usually don't jump on a given knitting bandwagon immediately. If I like a pattern well enough to knit it, I usually get around to it. Very rarely has there been a pattern that I Have To Knit NOW!!

However, in the new issue of Knitty Fall 2011, I saw the Double Heelix and I just Had To Knit It Now!!

Luckily, I had just finished a pair of socks for my nephew (more on that later), and was looking for another portable project. I also had the appropriate yarn for it in my Stash.

The heel was a little bit tricky to get right and I frogged 2x because I didn't read carefully enough, but once I got the heel, everything else was cake.

Retzlaff Winery Event

The Retzlaff Winery Event came and went...without me. :-( I had gone last year, and had every intention of going this year, except that it was slated to have 80% chance of rain (unseasonably) on the planned weekend, so it was moved to a weekend when I already had conflicting plans. :-(

However, I had already arranged with Janet Heppler of Nebo Rock Ranch to buy two of her fleeces. She put aside two grey fleeces and 2 hogget fleeces (the first fleece removed from a sheep and generally the softest fleece a sheep will ever produce) for me to look at at Retzalff.

Fortunately, a friend, Lisa, was willing to pick up the fleeces and drop them off to Morro Fleeceworks for me (who was also going to be there). So, when it was definite I couldn't go, I had her do that for me.

I also had her get some fleece samples for my fleece & fiber study book so I could have some before/after of the fiber along the way.

Six pound grey fleece, Gretta

Gretta was coated, so she wasn't particularly dirty, and there was some grease. But, she had that wonderful musical sound when you pinged her locks.

Odie, a hogget ram @ 4.5 pounds.

According to Janet, the hoggets aren't coated and there is some VM in their coats. But since I really wanted to experiment with a hogget, this is of little concern to me as Janet's fleeces are quite nice. The hogget was slightly greasy, but not overly so.

I did take some of the samples (not enough to spin, really), and washed some of it so I could see the before and after. I've read enough about washing fleeces to have a working knowledge, but no practical experience. So I tried my best.

I had some tulle so I wrapped some of the samples in that, and let it soaked/rinsed 2x using Dawn.Then let it dry in the very hot sun.

The Results?

Gretta had very little change; just dirt & debris and some of the lanolin was removed. You can feel the difference mostly in touch versus sight. The *after* is very soft and most of the lanolin has been removed.

Before / After

Odie (Before & After)

Odie had the biggest visual change, as the yellow-y lanolin & dirt was removed leaving a very clean white fleece.

And, ZOMG, is it sooo soft!

(Before/After)

Now that I have these clean locks, I wish I had a little bit more to try a sample spin, but this was mostly just to have reference examples of the fleeces I buy. that I really can't wait to have these arrive from Morro!

Feeling Not So Blue about Blue

Previously, I wrote about my cat Blue who was suffering from an unknown-at-the-time ailment. However, she is responding beautifully to both types of antibiotics, and cancer has been ruled out.

She's eating, grooming, and generally herself again. This makes me happy. Now, I can concentrate on other things, like crafting....

Feeling Blue

This is my cat, Blue. (Once dubbed Bluebeard for the grey 'beard' under her chin, until we found out she was a girl...)

She hasn't been feeling well for the past few days, and the doctors don't know what's wrong; actually they just don't know WHY she's sick. It could be anything from an infection to the big "C"-word.

She's on two types of antibiotics, subQ fluids, and we're putting food down her until she feels good enough to eat on her own. She was at the vet for 2 days on an IV.

This is what I've been doing for the past several days, so things have been quite on the blog-o-sphere, and very minimal crafting has been done.

Blue's getting better, but progress is slow.

iPad Accessory Case

Since I got the iPad2, I've been looking at a variety of accessories, including cases for it. Some are rather expensive, and there are mixed reviews on all of them. Until I could make a firm decision regarding what type of case I wanted, I opted to at least make something quick for myself as a modicum of protection rather than just throwing it into my messenger bag when I go out.

I have available leather as well as fabric in the house, but I opted for fabric until I was happy with what I got, as fabric is a little more forgiving if a mistake is made. (Plus I have much more fabric available).

I took some progress pictures with the iPad just to see what it was like.****

All-in-all, it took me about 2 hours to put it together. I did spend 30 minutes, trying to remember how to do a bowline knot.

Fabric Being Used

I had some left over linen fabric from a previous outfit I had created.

I also had some left over quilting material that would serve as padding for my iPad.

Quilted Pocket Finished

One edge of the quilted fabric was already sewn in bias tape, so I thought to use that as the top edges. The edges are serged for extra strength

After some sewing for both the lining (green fabric) and outer fabric (striped fabric, the pocket was finished.

Finished Pocket

Boning along the Edge

I did some decorative stitching of a vine motif along the edge of the flap, and used boning to give it a little bit more stiffness.

Finished Pocket with iPad Enclosed
Here's the finished pocket with the iPad inserted. It's a little bit bigger than the iPad, but the inner quilted pocket fits the iPad snuggly.

Closure Idea

I was playing around with the types of closures to be used. A while ago, I found a young boy's leather belt that I think might work for the closure, but it proved to be a bit unwieldy.

I opted for a leather thong & a nice brass button. The thongs are tied with a figure-8 & bowline knot.

**** (Although 1-2 photos were taken with the iPhone because the iPad was in its case. And can I say that the iPad camera just SUCKS? I know it's not on par with my regular camera gear, but the photos it took are just horrid! They only look good when resized very very very small. The "large" ipad sized photos are just waay too noisy & pixelated.

Little Red Plane: A Knitted Adventure

This is absolutely adorable. I love the blue sky and green fields.

Quick Update

I'm sorry for the lack of posts as of late. May & June are my busiest months filled with sci-fi conventions, DIY faires, and ren faires. (Told you I was a geek....)

But for now, I've been playing with my FAVORITE thing that DH got me for my birthday.

It's the iPad2, and I've already loaded up all of my knitting patterns onto it, not to mention tons of sheet music for fiddle tunes, and playing with apps.

Unfortunately, I've also been wasting time playing Suduko on my iPad. *sigh*

The Long and Short of It.

Recently, I started working with some mixed BFL that I picked up at Village Spinning and Weaving two years ago. It's lovely fiber with still a nice sheepy smell.

I started spinning it on my Joy with my typical short draw. However, I kinda got bored, because there's a pound of it, and I had just spent a great deal of time spinning a lot of Frank.

So I decided that since I really have more yarn in my Stash than I know what to do with, I decided that I would play with the lovely lovely BFL using different draws.

By this time, I had already:
* spun & navajo plied 2 skeins of yarn
* spun short draw a 2-ply (intended for a 4ply chain)

So, I thought to practice my long draw, using the same ratios as before (11:1). It took me a bit to get used to the long draw and just "letting" go control over the yarn. The first bobbin of 1oz singles was very thick and thin but eventually I managed to get it relatively even with very little support from my non-fiber hand.

The 2nd bobbin of 1oz went very well with much more even yarn, although I did have lots of thick and thin sections. The 2ply result was quite nice. It's a worsted weight @ 58 yards with 2 ounces, which isn't much.

But I'm comparing the long woolen draw skein and the short-draw skeins and I'm kinda liking the nice halo effect and the soft loftniness of the woolen. Of course, I'll be knitting up sample swatches to get a feel for the resulting fabric.

Getting My Sock Mojo Back

For about 2 months, I kinda lost my sock mojo. Maybe it was because I had a foot injury and couldn't wear my hand-knit socks (they bothered the surgery area too much)....or shoes....in fact, walking was a bit of a problem too.

Well, that's changing. I'm slowly starting to walk again, and my doctor recommended that I get some clogs to help with the walking part.

Yup. You heard correctly, clogs. So I went to the store, and took a look at Dansko clogs. I was a little bit skeptical on the concept of wearing clogs could help me walk better, but who am I to argue with my surgeon?

Did you know that clogs have a tag on the box that says "American Podiatrist Medical Association Approved?" I didn't know that. I bet my doctor did. :-)

So, I got these lovely red beauties at the store. I had a 20% off coupon AND a gift certificate, so the price was about right.

And wouldn't you know it? They actually DO help me walk better. Of course, I need to wear socks with these shoes.

So, I immediately cast on for a new pair socks....

'Coz new socks should be had with new shoes, right? :-)

Immediate Gratification -- Denied

This past weekend, I decided to purchase a pattern via Ravelry instead of the designer's website. Why? Because I wanted designers to know that people LOVE Ravelry (like they already don't know), but to help support Ravelry as well.

I used my PayPal account to purchase the pattern. Now, when I've purchased on this designer's site before using the same exact method, I got my pattern immediately. I *really* wanted to cast-on this pattern ASAP!

However, apparently, Ravelry requires your payment to be "cleared" before you can get the pattern, and it can take up to several days for it to happen. :-(

I wish I had known that before. It's been 4 days since the pattern purchase and I still don't have my pattern.

I guess I'll be buying directly through designer websites instead of Ravelry itself. :-/

Hat Kick

I'm currently in a hat kick currently. It started when I was working on my BIL's trilobyte hat for his birthday.

It turned out lovely and the walnut Cascade Superwash 220 knitted up soft & lovely

However, I had some left over from the skein when I finished it, so I decided to cast-on another hat (Turn a Square) and supplementing it with the Yak I had spun up previously

The colors were in approximately the same brown shades/tones, and looked really well together. At first I wasn't sure, but the walnut of the Cascade muted the dark brown of the yak.

I managed to finish the hat in a single day; I couldn't stop knitting.

DH tried it on, and although he's not normally a hat person, it goes really well with his coloring, and he claimed it for himself (esp. as the trilobyte was already claimed).

So, guess what I did after I finished this hat? Dove into the Stash, pulled out some more Cascade 220 superwash (along with leftover yarn) and cast on another hat.

Finishing Silk Merino Blend -- Picking the Collective Brain

The internet has really made things easier, especially in terms of collecting general knowledge into a "library" of sorts. There are good & bad sides to this -- there's the trashy novel sections where people mistake fiction for fact, and the huge trivia section where you can drown in a sea of interesting, but non practical knowledge. Then there's the reference section, where you can find EXACTLY the piece of information you need.

Ravelry is a smaller version of that collective knowledge, but highly specialized, and I have made multiple use of it finding nuggets of knowledge.

Earlier this week, I navajo plied half of the the silk merino Bonfire that I had spun previously.

into this:

And it came out gorgeous! Love. Love. Love. I'll have about 230 yards of this wonderful 3-ply sport weight yarn (once I finish the other 2 ounces).

However, I wasn't quite sure how to finish this yarn. Its a 50-50 merino silk blend; and I wasn't sure how the silk would stand up to my normal aggressive finishing (which involves alternatively dunking in hot & cold water, thwacking, whacking, snapping, and fulling). However, there is a grand collection of knowledge on Ravelry that is an amazing resource and should have the answer I need.

A quick perusal on Ravelry found a post by Abby Franquemont on this very problem! It involves only a much less aggressive finishing technique (still involving hot & cold water and simple snapping)

(Paraphrase)
A) Hot water with wool wash
B) Soak skein for 20 minutes until it's saturated (or longer if needed)
C) Dunk in cool water as a rinse
D) Get out excess water
E) Snap all around the skein
F) Dry unweighted.

NOW, if Ravelry would only provide me with the definitive answer of exactly *what* I should knit with it to show off the colors to the best advantage? Unfortunately, it can only offer up potential suggestions and letting me make the final decision. That's the one thing that the collective knowledge can't do for me. :-)

Yakkity Yak

Earlier in March, I spun up a Yak bundle that I picked up over at Stitches West this year.

It included three 1-oz bumps of:

* brown yak
* yak merino
* tussah silk & yak

I had trouble with Yak before, and I wanted to get some practice in before spinning up my other yak merino bumps from Abstract Fiber.

So, I pulled out my Ashford Kiwi and set it to a ratio of 14:1. Because yak has such a short staple length, I also criss-crossed the fiber across the flyer hooks so I could get more twist into the fiber before it went onto the bobbin. This worked really well. (Tip learned from one of the Ravelry forums)

The simple brown yak proved the most problematic for me, because of the short staple length. The yak-merino was only slightly better, with the merino adding a little bit longer staple.

The tussah silk/yak had its own challenges. The silk added much needed staple length to the yak, but I don't think it was well blended. I would get areas were it was obviously only yak and so had similar problems with the simple brown yak.

After spinning all 3 bumps, I:

1) spun a 3 ply from each bump - 60 yards

2) spun a 2 ply (yak-merino & tussah-yak) with left overs from Step 1) (14 yards)

3) navajo plied the remaining tussah-yak (14 yards)

Of course, with only 87 yards, this doesn't leave me much to work with, so I'm planning on picking up some matching solid yarn to hopefully incorporate making a very very warm hat for someone.

Sometimes, It's Not Meant to Be

There are times, when we push forward with something and no matter HOW hard we try, no matter how much effort we put into it, it's just not meant to be, but you try anyways?

Take Noro yarn, for instance:



I like it. I love the colorway, and I like the yarn. I've even made myself a scarf with another colorway that's just warm as can be. I looked at projects with Noro yarn and they look great.

However, I'm not sure about the knitting-up part. It's a bit scratchy and eats the moisture from my hands. It's not exactly fun to to knit.

So, it's going to be placed in 'time-out' and hibernate a little bit until I decide what to do with it. I'm not wholly sure I want to frog it (as it does knit up prettily), but I might want to use another yarn to finish up the body.

Spinning Every Day Keeps the Doctors at Bay...

Spinning as physical therapy is a great way to get my PT exercises in AND be productive at the same time. I took a break from Frank and started spinning up a bit of color on my Ashford Joy.

Abstract Fibers: Silk Merino in BonFire

Not only is it beautiful, but the spinning is really helping put movement back into my foot. It doesn't feel as tight, and it's helping me walk better every day that I'm at it.

It's not everyday that your beloved hobbies help get you back onto your feet again (literally!)

Trilobyte Hat

I love knitted items with a slight twist to them, especially when the recipient can really enjoy the product, not just as a crafted item, but the theme that goes with it, whether it is a specific genre such as a t.v. show (Dr Who), or science based, or whatever. And a lot of ingenius knitters have developed a fair number of knitted items that can apply to a variety of geeks.

One of my family members is a geologist. He's pretty darn funny and he appreciates handmade gifts. Nearly two years ago, I made him the Trilobite Hat for the holidays, because what better present for a geologist? He's since worn it to pieces (literally!) The last time I visited, I had to do some major mending of the hat, but it was only a temporary fix.

As he's proven himself knitted-gift-worthy, I decided that I need to replace his much love well-worn hat with another (or two). So, consequently, I've been knitting up another trilobite hate for him out of Cascade Superwash in walnut in between finishing up my sweater.

I made the hat brim a little bit longer to cover up cold ears or to fold over onto itself. When I made the first one, it seemed that the hat brim was a wee bit short. Now, I'm only half way done with the hat, but it's a fun little knit.

Spinning for Physical Therapy Purposes

After my foot injury, one of the owners of my LYS told me that I could use my spinning wheel as part of my physical therapy. Up until now, the foot hasn't been capable of doing much, and I had been spinning one-footed on my double treadle wheels. As much as I love my Ashford Kiwi, I love her even more now, because she spins very very easily even with one foot.

My Ashford Joy is a little harder to spin with one foot, due to the wheel as there is a definite "bottom" and top of the wheel which causes it to wobble ever-so-slightly when spinning with one foot when the heavy part comes around. This is not a problem, and I've learned to compensate for the slightly heavier part of the wheel.

I did attempt to spin on the Kiwi with two feet, but the angle & treadle size wasn't right and it hurt to use my foot on it. HOWEVER, the angle & size of the Joy works with my poor hurt foot. So, the other night, I put the hurt foot on its treadle and let it just "ride" while my good foot does all the work.

So, I spun for a while. I let my foot "ride" for about 5-10 minutes, then gave it a rest while my good foot continued spinning. Later, I'd let the foot "ride" again....repeat for a bit. It felt pretty good and got some blood flow into the leg. My foot also felt "looser" instead of being tight. But, just like any other workout, the next day my foot was slightly sore (but not a "bad" type of sore) and I noticed that I had a little bit more movement than I did before.

When I go see my physical therapist, I shall be sure to talk to her about spinning. Mayperhaps, I can start a trend where spinning is recommended as part of physical therapy for those who have ankle injuries. :-)