Mea Culpa…

I keep forgetting to mention that last week I got a lovely e-card from my secret-pal wishing DH and I a happy aniversary. I also got a post card from California marking the places she had been for work. What fun!

I’ve Fallen. . .

For months now I’ve been watching Eliza spin these gorgeous yarns using only drop spindles. I’ve been contemplating spinning since last spring or so.

Well, a few weeks ago I picked up Indigo Thread’s newsletter and once a month on a Wednesday morning from 10-11am there is a Drop-In Drop Spindle Spinning class. Since I developed a terrible cold/flu yesterday and can’t really sing I was able to go to that instead of my usual voice lessons. I got to try out several spindles and a couple different fibers. And well, I fell…

Above is about 5.5 oz of smoke grey wool roving and my very first drop spindle. I found this grey roving really easy to work with. I found it much easier to use than the machine drafted white stuff that is already on the spindle. I actually got pretty smooth yarn from the grey roving. I figure I can make a pair of socks or something from it when I’m done.

The shaft and part of the whorl is made from a wood called Bubinga. I looked it up and it is from Camaroon and Gabon, West Africa and is often used for turning. It is somewhat similar in properties as Red Oak, though considered to have a bit better workability. The spindle is 1.4 oz and is from Spindlewood Co from Oregon. It is a true work of art!

Now, I just have to work on not putting much pressure on the forming yarn with my right hand. I tend to “grab” it and thus stop the spindle from spinning…

But, I think I’m going back to bed and sleeping so more in hopes of getting rid of this cold/flu thing as soon as possible.

Stitch Markers and Kewl Tip…

One of the gals at knitting tea saw some of the beaded stitch markers I made a month or so ago and wanted to order some for her to give as a gift to a gal she has taught to knit who is moving to Guatamala. She didn’t tell me numbers of colors. She just said she wanted an assortment. So, I just went to town with whatever beads I had on hand and the above are the results. We had a new hot water heater installed this morning so I couldn’t make it to knitting tea so I went to her house to visit her yesterday afternoon and she bought the whole lot of 18 (14 stitch markers and 4 row counters). And, she would like me to teach her how to make them! Most of the beads were from HobLob assortment tubes. Some of them I absolutely love and I am hoping I can locate more of the similar beads. I love the top assortment the best and then I like any of them that use the long, skinny beads and the ones with the triangular beads at the bottom. I need some for myself, LOL! I wasn’t expecting her to want the whole lot of them. I guess I should have marked them up a bit more, LOL!

The Great Tip

So, last week I posted to the ample knitters list asking for suggestions of books with sock patterns that are texture or lace-based instead of all the intarsia or faire isle work I see dominating most of the books. I got some rather snotty comments asking why I needed a book for that. My reasoning was that I like to support people in the businesses that support my habit. Plus, since socks are my “on the road” project there are times when I have to be able to just grab and go and when I’m riding in the car, or sitting in a waiting room etc. I don’t find it easy to convert stitch patterns to circular knitting etc. So, I wanted a book that I knew I could grab and know with confidence there was a pattern in there that I could use with any yarn I happen to grab as I’m running out the door.

Well, besides a few rude comments I got a wonderful tip from Joyce. She scans in her most loved stitch patterns that work for her number of cast on stitches, sizes them down to 4 X 6 inches and carries them around in a dollar store photo album that holds 48 photos! So, I’ve been drooling over my copy of The New Knitting Stitch Library and 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar. At first I had chosen way too many patterns. This included some rather intricate cable patterns that I liked (but I haven’t done cabling yet) and some fun laces or lace panels. But, then I got to thinking that by the time I wear socks I probably don’t want too many holes in them because it’s pretty cold outside. If it’s remotely warm I’m pretty much in sandals. So, I narrowed them down. To save some time I used my digital camera instead of my scanner. But I have a great macro mode on it and it turns out quite nice. The ones from the library will be easy to convert to circular knitting because they have charts for them. The ones from the calender will require a bit more work to convert. But it sure will be fun to have a book to grab quickly for making socks. I’m also going to include DH and my measurements and I’m going to sort the patterns by the number of stitches in the pattern so once I know the gauge for the given yarn I know how many sts to cast-on and can look through only those sections that are a factor of the total number.

I’m so excited by this I’m not doing the work I should be doing, LOL! But between fumes from the plumbing to put in the new hot water heater and the lack of heat we’ve had I think I wouldn’t have had the motivation to work whether or not I had the distraction of this project, LOL!

Yucatan Socks!

Yucatan Socks for John
Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Persian Peacock
Sz 7 DPNs
Reinforced toes and heels
Based on Seaweed Socks

These socks look huge! However, they fit DH nearly perfectly and from a rough poll of all are male friends he has a fairly average sized foot so they should fit John. I still need to wash and block them. But I haven’t yet made my sock blockers and we just got water back - less than 30 minutes ago (that whole long story that I won’t get into, if you on my friends list over at LJ you already know it). But I think I may tackle that this afternoon once the house heats up a bit more and I don’t mind having my hands in cold water, LOL! I’m hoping the wash will make it a bit less itchy. Though I guess it didn’t really feel itchy on my feet or DH’s… I’m also having to decide what I’ll use to wash them - Woolite, Dreft, Baby Shampoo, or go buy the expensive wool detergent…

I’ve now cast on a beaded rib sock using the magic loop. This is my first foray into magic loop and I like it. Though I have a bit of excess cable as the LYS didn’t have any 40″ ones in the sizes I needed so I got the 47″ ones instead. I’m thinking I might cast on for the second sock as well and catch it up to the first and do them both at the same time and hope that reduces the feeling of too much extra cable…

Up next, a modge podge post sometime later today including a neat tip I got from one of the ample knitters and and some beaded stitch markers I sold yesterday…

Lots of Knitting Going On…

Still no pics and I know I promised some. However, last week I had a major flare of my chronic pain issues. I was mostly on bed rest and due to meds sleeping an awful lot so I haven’t had a chance to take any pics just yet, but there will be some soon…

While I was “down and out” I did start and finish the first of the Seaweed Socks for our friend John. I made some adjustments for gauge differences and for a men’s size. I also did not continue the rib across the instep because of the thickness of it in worsted weight. DH and I decided we thought it might be uncomfortable with shoes on. One thing I forgot when I chose the yarn was that intricate stitches do not show up well with Lamb’s Pride because of the 15% mohair. So, for my dad’s socks I think I’ll just do a basic rib of some variety as this seaweed rib is not very prominent.

I have a couple of questions though…

1). I believe I had read some more thrifty ways to hand wash wool and I was thinking it was to use Baby Shampoo to wash them. Am I correct? Please share your tricks to save some $$ when handwashing wool as I’m pretty sure John is not going to big on buying special soap to wash his socks so I’d like to give him some practical washing instructions.

2). Are there any sock knitting books out there that do not have a huge number of intarsia or faire isle designs in them, but rather are focused on knit/purl or cable patterns instead? I do have a few books with stitch patterns but often when I start on socks I’m on my way out the door and needing something to do while waiting or riding in the car and don’t really have the time to create the pattern from scratch so I’d love a no-fail sock book. But, I don’t want to mess with intarsia or faire isle. Any ideas?

In other sock news, the second Sockotta sock is on hold for a bit. Partially because I decided that while I love the socks and they make me smile, I don’t think they are a great fit for the intial intended recipient so there is no huge need to complete them. Then I made the heel flap a bit too long and had a few rows where I skipped a slip stitch on the side so I needl to pull back to the beginning of the heel flap and picking up the stitches has me procrastinating.

The poncho is mostly where it was at last week, except a little over 1/2 of the ends on the first rectangle are woven in. So, there is still much work to do on it, but I’m giving it a bit of a break because it takes a lot of concentration to do that openwork pattern with all those novelty yarns. So, not a good mix with drugs that make me drowsy.

I also started a *super easy* shawl last night based on one we saw at Indigo Thread last Tuesday. I’m 1/2 done on that and did that entire first half while DH and I vegged on the couch watching Pride and Prejudice with Collin Firth and Jennifer Euhle. I took breaks as using full length 13s is a bit hard on the wrists. I’d say I probably knit for about 3 of the 5 hours of the movie. Though that’s a rough estimate.

Tonight at Stitch ‘n Bitch and at knitting tea tomorrow I plan on working on the second seaweed sock…