Knitwith Homespun

I will be posting a lot of stuff and we have been very busy.  I have taken a lot of pictures and have a ton to say but I don’t have time to say it!  Typical!  So, we are going camping tonight and taking the trailer and the daughter and her new bike and I will post more later.  Our Christmas was completely wonderful and you will hear all about it.  Happy New Year to all and have a great time and be safe!

This is the hat I am knitting for Victoria for Christmas. As I was knitting, I realized I wanted to add a little band of brown around the base. Victoria wears a ton of brown and I wanted her to be able to wear this all the time (she’s a big hat person). I thought I had something feltable in my stash but, of course, I was wrong. So…..I ran down to Trudi’s Yarn Shop to pick up some Cascade 220 in brown to add it to the hat. No luck! They only had some superwash there. Off to Ursula’s which was on the way home. She closed at four and was literally walking out the door when I got there. I explained what I wanted and, of course, she was able to hand me a skein of wool that was a beautiful shade of brown called Roasted Coffee.  The hat is done now and felted and little too big still.  I can’t get any sizing right for poor Victoria!

Now, here’s the fun part; Ursula’s shop is like an office space kinda place with a bunch of yarn lining the walls on shelves and a table for sitting and knitting and a desk in the back where she uses the calculator and writes your receipt on a receipt book. No computer, and no cash register here. I love this yarn shop. So, sitting on the desk there as she was writing my receipt and calculating my tax was this yarn. I told her those were my favorite colors and I had to have it. She told me that this was a sample they sent her but I could have it if I wanted! I said sold and she added it to my receipt! Now all I have to do it finish my hat (95% done) and knit some socks up! Woooohooooo! I hope I don’t forget about it during the holidays or while I am spinning on my Rose! Oh the tragedies of too much goodness! What will I ever do!?

Oh so pretty! I am sooo happy with this. I have spun better yarn but this yarn will hold a special place in my heart. Of course, Bella thinks I will be knitting a beanie for her. It’s entirely possible because she also holds a special place in my heart. However, she never wears the stuff I knit for her. What do you think oh readers? Any ideas?

Now for the tricky part. I found the plying a bit dicey because of the newness of the wheel. Does anyone have a tip for plying with the Rose? I had a little trouble getting the bobbin to take up the plied yarn. Messing with the tension and with the drive band was a little tricky and it seemed the more I messed with it the more it seemed to not be responding. Obviously, I did get it to work but I am not sure how I did. I can’t wait to try more and more with this wheel.

I am currently making a hat for my very good friend, Victoria. She has announced that she will not take her husband to Bon Jovi in February, because he won’t be any fun. She will be taking me! Wooohoooo! This is the Christmas project I need to finish. It will be felted so I need to get it done in the next couple of days so it has plenty of time to dry.

Would it smell so sweet? Probably, but mine is here! It got here at 6:50pm (stupid stupid stupid UPS guy that hates me). My husband put it together for me. It was super easy (for him) and it really is very quiet and lovely. I started with some cheap fiber and it didn’t go well so I moved over to the Spunky Club Celebration fiber I ruined last week.

The singles went very very well. It was just as easy and wonderful as when I spun at Lori’s house at Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio. Here is the picture of the singles next to the plying bobbin. Isn’t it all pretty and nice! The bobbins are so huge I could fit a ton of fiber on them.

Ok, so here’s the best part (for me anyway). I will post the finished yarn tomorrow but I weighed the fiber prior to spinning it and split it into two equal (or so I thought) sections. I was within a gram or two. I think my scale only weighs in 2 gram increments because I couldn’t get it even at 111 grams each section. One was 110 and one was 112. I figured, that was close enough and I could adjust later if I needed but for my first try, this would be good. So I spun and you see the singles Next, I couldn’t wait to ply when I was done so I weighed the bobbins and OMG they were 4 grams different. What the hell? Where did this come from. Oh well, it’ll be fine. Ply ply ply ply. End of plying photo here. I hope you can see that the singles ended at EXACTLY the same time. Each single is done and winding around the other at the perfect even time. This means a beginner spinner (me) can spin evenly and smoothly and very consistently on a Majacraft Rose. Bravo you guys! I love this wheel!

Still not here. Why? Why, Mr. UPS man?  18:08

However, the problem is (and there is always a problem) I am sick!  Can you frickin believe it?  I can.  I thought I had good Karma.  I thought I was a good person and a happy, optimistic person.  I am!  I promise!  So why do I get sick on this day?  I worked so hard this weekend and the beginning of the week so I could have time to spin when it gets here.  I put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations.  I scrubbed the kitchen floor with a very stiff brush and then mopped it.  I cleaned the kitchen and cooked all nights.  Sure I need to do some laundry but nobody is perfect.  Why?  Why?  Why?  No fair!

So, while I am waiting for the always late UPS guy, I am going to weigh some fiber and do some laundry.  I will weigh and bag different batches of fiber so I am sooooooooooo ready when it gets here.  I don’t care if I am sick!

First and foremost, I have been naughty and not spoken up about a Pay it Forward I received from Nicole. It’s lovely, thoughtful and much much much appreciated. I haven’t used them yet because I’ve been so busy but I want to make sure the credit is given properly. Thank you Nicole, for the beautiful gifts.

Next, I ORDERED MY WHEEL TODAY! David told me I had to spin on one first before I ordered it. I went to Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio today and met Lori there. She is a really wonderfully nice lady and she let me spin on her Majacraft Rose. It’s truly a lovely wheel and so versatile. I got the hang of the double treadle a little quicker than I thought I might. It’s so smooth and even and easy to control everything. I was pleasantly surprised and excited at the same time. I spun these singles on it while I was there. I didn’t want to impose on her too long so I stopped as soon as I figured it out. She was so nice and showed me all her fiber and yarn. I sure don’t feel bad for my stash now!

I bought this fiber from Lori while I was there. It’s just beautiful and 80/20 merino and tussah silk. I am going to save this until my new wheel arrives. Anyone who spins knows, I am very excited for it’s arrival. I had such a wonderful day today. I was very excited to go down to Capistrano and I totally enjoyed myself. On the way out to my car when I was leaving, my husband called me. He said “Did you like it?” “Of course”, I said. Secretly, I had already decided I would like it and fortunately for me, I was right:O He said, “well go ahead and get it coming this way then”. What a guy! Is that love or what?

Fiber: I have been stocking up in preparation for buying my new high volume (compared to the Ashford Traditional) wheel. I am super happy with this stuff here. I have one pound even of this. It’s super soft merino/silk. I love love love the color and can’t wait to spin it. This is a close up of the fibers. This is my first fiber sent in batts. I haven’t spun with them before but I am very happy.

I have 10.5 ounces of this color but it’s also merino/silk.

Now for the sadness. My messed up Celebration from Boogie’s fiber club. I am sorry Amy! But my non-tensioned plying is my downfall. I know what I did and I know how not to do it but I did it anyway. Go figure! I love the colors very much. One thing I realized testing out the Rose today, I don’t need as much practice on that one. It was smooth and even without trying to hard. The thing I need to work on is the transition from stopping to spinning and spinning to stopping It’s so easy with my Ashford, but I need to get more used to the way this one works. I will have PLENTY of time for that. You can see where it’s uneven and even one of the knobby things where the tension didn’t cooperate.

I had planned on showing my 8 foot tall naked Christmas tree so you could all feel sorry for my pressure but it wasn’t in focus. I will be posting something about that tomorrow.

But I wanted to post my favorite song for the holidays. It’s naughty and nice! Click it to listen