9/27/2005
I believe it has been since late July that Stephanie has had a Tuesdays are for Spinning post, I’m going to jump in today and fill the void…
You see there was something refreshing about teaching the art of spinning to other fiber enthusiasts and those who were just curious and it lit a fire under me to get back the spinning here while I’m less than enthralled with what is on the needles at the moment.
On the left is my virgin spin on the Mt. St. Helen’s spindle I bought in MN in July. I hadn’t used it yet, until Saturday that is. This was the spindle I chose to take with me to the Knit Out. It took me a bit of getting used to. It’s about 1/2 the weight of the other spindle and I just couldn’t keep the momentum on it like I could with the other one. But, I persevered and ended up enjoying it enough that I spun during SnB last night rather than knit! What is on there is a medium grade blend of wools that is somewhat course. I think a finer fiber and a slightly finer width would improve the momentum of the spindle. But, as I’m getting fiber on there I’m adding a bit of weight and adjusting to that spindle so it’s getting better. In fact, upon arriving home from SnB (nearly an hour late, thanks to some stimulating conversation with Amanda - thanks gal, it sure lifted my professional spirits) I sat in the dining room and spun some more while DH finished the washing, matting, and pressing of his Gouda for this week.
I also *finally* got around to plying up the rest of that blue Coopworth Snow had graciously given me when I was a brand new spinner. If you can cast your mind *way* back to early August you’ll recall I had plied about 34 yds (that’s the skein in the picture). On the larger drop spindle is the remaining 51 yards of 2-ply.
I found the Coopworth *very* sticky and as such ending up with a somewhat slubby yarn that is fuzzy and prior to washing and blocking feels rather coarse. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it. It would be enough to make matching warmlets, but I’m thinking I probably don’t want it on my more delicate inside of my wrists??? We’ll see what happens after the wash and block.
Oh, but wait, there is more about the Coopworth…
Blue isn’t really my color. I like blue jeans and I do have a few navy items in my wardrobe, but I tend for the green-blues to turqoise if I’m going to wear blues. So, I decided this was a perfect opportunity to get my feet wet in the realm of dyeing. I haven’t dyed yarn before, but it’s the end of the month and the budget is tight and the few dyes I do have on hand from dyeing fabric weren’t right for overdying this yarn. So, I went to the grocery store and picked up some packs of Kool-Aid (which coincidently were on sale for 5 cents less per packet). Here we have the yarn after two cycles in the microwave of 2 minutes on and 2 minutes off. I have 1.5 ounces of fiber roughly so I opted for two packets of Kool-Aid mix - Changin’ Cherry (which gives a teal or blue-green color) and since I figured the yarn was already blue and I’d want a bit more green to it I added a pack of Ice Cool Green Apple. We’ll see what I end up with. I might end up over dyeing it once more with Lemon-Lime to get more green in there. But I thought this would be a good start. I’ll report in on it later in the week. I can report that my fingers are about the color I’d love, LOL!
9/26/2005
You know how you sometimes need a vacation after your vacation? Well I need a weekend after my weekend. Wow, was it one crazy, busy weekend!
Firstly, Ashley and I headed to Boulder on Saturday to participate in the Knit Out that was taking place. I had instructions from Amanda to bring my drop spindle with me as she was going to be handing out CD spindle kits from Interweave and teaching spinning. Ashley and I didn’t arrive until a bit after 11am and Amanda was worried that she brought the kits for nothing as she had only given out 2. But, I’m suspecting about a dozen were handed out before the end of the event.
This young boy was highly amusing. When Amanda first got out the kit for him and was assembling the spindle she was showing him how it was made from recycled CDs. So, he asked what people used before there were CDs, LOL! It was handy that I had my Mt. St. Helen’s spindle out and could show him :-) I have many pictures of Amanda teaching others to spin. However, since it was my camera and I was running it I have no pictures to show of my teaching anybody, but I did teach a few myself :-)
I got to meet several knit bloggers from the Mile High Knitters Ring and that was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed meeting Jenifer whom I have exchanged comments with in the past. It was even more fun to get her bitten by the spinning bug! I also helped CynCyn learn about drop spindle spinning. She insisted she was not taking anything home with her, but I didn’t see a discarded spindle left behind in the park ;-)
I also had the pleasure of visiting with some fellow students from the spinning class in August…
Afterwards, Ashley and I enjoyed a great lunch at The Boulder Cafe on Pearl Street and then went to Shuttles for a quick stop. I am quite proud of myself for spending only $3.71! I bought 1/2 oz each of three more Ashland Bay tops for a few more warmlets. I’m in that sort of mode at the moment - instant gratification. I think it is because in my personal life I have some long term projects going on that are kind of dragging me down a bit. That, and the main things on my needles right now are big projects - the Wear-Everywhere and the Leaf Lace Shawl. And, I’m already starting to wig out about holiday season and everything that needs doing as we’re trying to be as low consumer for it this year as possible.
Once I got home I had to get busy becoming a whore. We had a house warming/birthday party to attend with the theme of Pimp and ‘Ho (how do you spell that anyway?). It was a fun party and much to my surprise kind of fun to have an alter ego for the evening :-) Needless to say, I was exhausted when we finally got home from the party as that made for a very loooooong day!
9/23/2005
Second Annual Knit-Out
BOULDER - SEPTEMBER 24, 2005
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
Behind the Farmer’s Market in the “Boulder Central Park,” located at 14th and Canyon Activities planned include:
- spinning demonstrations with free drop spindles care of Interweave Press
- display of knitted gear
- donated yarn and needles
- food and beverages too!
Come join the fun!
Sponsor:Boulder Chapter of the Knitting Guild of America
For details contact Jenifer
I need words of wisdom from you guys!
For the sleeve the pattern (from spring 2005 IK, Wear-Everywhere Pullover) says to CO with smaller needles and knit for 2.5 inches, then switch to the larger needles while increasing a stitch on either side of the beginning of round marker, working the increased stitches into the pattern.
There are no notes on the suggested increases to work or the manner in which to work the increased stiches into the pattern.
The pattern is a variant off of a P2, K3 rib - rnds 1 and 2 are like that and rnd 3 and 4 are a variant on P2, K1, P1, K1. The beginning of round marker lands between the two purl stitches. So, for the first increase round I just purled into the front and back of the stitch on each side of the marker. That seems to have worked just fine. However, the next increase round lands such that I need to add knit stitches. What is the best way to add a knit stitch (even better if it is twisted) to both sides of that marker in the midst of a field of 4 purl stitches?? I’m not having luck so far. I can end up with the proper number of stitches but I seemed to be getting holes with them. I don’t normally have troubles with increases so I’m guessing my problem is that fact that I’m trying to add knit stiches to a field of purl stitches?? And, with the spacing of the increases, they will always land on a round 1 or 3 of the stitch pattern.
Please share with me your favorite way to perform these increases, I’m in desperate need of help!
9/22/2005
I’m setting sail for sleeve island… No ETA for my return from sleeve island, but hopefully it won’t be too long of a cruise.
Seeing as this is my first ever trip to sleeve island I’m not sure if I’ll develop sea legs or sea sickness. Anyone have any tips to ensure that I return from sleeve island?
