Knitwith Homespun

I read a blog regularly by Cristi. I was recently inspired by a project she recently completed called Charlotte’s Web. Please drop over and see her piece of art.  It is absolutely stunning.  Cristi is always friendly and accomodating when you send her an e-mail or ask her a question and she informed me via a response to my comment that I could knit this pattern!  What?  No way!  It’s a simple pattern repeat, she tells me and I could easily do it.

Needless to say, I popped on over to Ravelry and looked up the pattern and sure enough, I have the book already!  Oh my, that’s not good!  Next step is to look in my stash to see if there is any yarn there that can be useful.  I can’t really find anything that I like in there (big surprise) so off to Velona I go.  I took Sandi, Christine, and Brittany with me (all non-knitters) for moral support.  As non-knitters, they really got into the selection process with me.  This is why I love them!  We spent about an hour there and selected several different options.  The pattern calls for 5 different colorways of a varigated yarn.  Clearly, what Cristi did was stunning and inspiring.  I went a different way with my selections and I am second guessing my choices.  Please help me to decide.

I bought these colorways:

After I arrived home I pulled out some of the colorways I was looking at before I left and we like this set as well:

I think I am liking the bluer set better but the pink really adds some dimension to everything.  I don’t want to drop the yellow as it pulls that color out of the two at the bottom.  Any ideas?  Thanks for your help!

So far no reported injuries or major damage. That said, I love earthquakes. As natural disasters go, I prefer them to anything else. Hurricanes are very long and drawn out things and take days of anxiety and anticipation. No thanks! I lived through a tiny tornado in my hometown once and it scared the living crap out of me. It was loud and scary and who knew what could happen. No thanks!

For me, earthquakes are fun. I live in a stable one story house made of stucco and slab foundation. This is an excellent earthquake house. I wasn’t home today though. I was at my friend’s house getting Bella’s hair cut. We were outside at the time and on the patio. First, it was like a truck going by but we didn’t see any truck. It started rolling and rocking a bit for about 10 seconds. Then it felt like someone picked up the porch and dropped it down hard. I got bounced out of my chair. There was quite a bit of hard shaking after that for about 30 seconds more for a total of about 45 seconds. There is a lot of anxiety there at this point and we got out from under the porch and into the open air. I think that is an automatic response. All kids were fine and no damage was seen immediately. It took a good 15 minutes for my anxiety and hand shaking to subside. The worst kind of earthquake, though, is the kind that wakes you from a dead sleep. Those are horrible and not fun. Generally, by the time you figure out what is going on, it’s almost over and usually the damage in my area is minimum. By no means do I minimize the damage and horror that others go through in earthquakes because I understand that. What I mean to say is that I prefer this type of natural disaster if I get to pick what kind to fall victim to.

There you have it! My account of this earthquake. I think that either it will be upgraded or they will find something like two earthquakes or something. Thanks for your attention and letting me get that out. To find out what is happening here, check this link.

I had 55 rows of 251 stitches done on this sweater.  I was almost done with the second full skein of yarn.  I knew the error was there in the cable.  I knew it didn’t look good and I didn’t like it.  I kept going anyway.  What the hell?  What was I thinking?  Seriously?  Did I think I could live with this?   If you look to the center of the image, you can see what I am talking about.  I had put down this knitting for a while and was working on my multi-directional scarf and other projects.  When I picked it back up, apparently, I couldn’t get where I was and rather than look at the cable, I randomly picked a spot in the pattern and knit that.  Dumbass!  It is soooooo messed up.  So when I get t o the top of the cable and make another error, I am upset.  Why is it that this one error at the top is bothering me so much?  This is the problem that I can’t live with?  I can live with the most messed up cable at the center but the one little one at the top is the one that throws me over the edge?  Is this at all right?  No! If you click on the image and go to my Flickr page, you can see the note where the miniscule problem I am speaking of is located.  So my mom is coming over this weekend and I think, I could ask her what she thinks and this is what I do.  My mom says correctly that it will bug the crap out of me the entire time.  I have a lot of work into this sweater and it just wouldn’t be right and that’s all I will see when I look at it.  So what is the bonus that comes out of this?  My mom is now knitting this sweater!  My mom is a knitter and she hasn’t knit in probably 3 years.  She sees this pattern and loves it (rightly so if I may say) and asks me to copy it for her so she can knit it.  She has some yarn already that would be perfect!  I bought her some Knit Pick Options a couple of years ago for her birthday and I don’t think she has even opened them and now she is knitting my sweater!  MY SWEATER!  People who know me know the problems here.

I don’t get along well with my mother but she gave me my creative juice.  I know this is a fact.  I am very very very competitive.  Everyone who knows me knows that now I have to beat my mom!  I have to finish first.  This is a good thing because I won’t put the stinkin thing down and lose my spot in the cable, right?  I hope so.   I am now 13 rows of 251 stitches in.  Well I am going to my mom’s tomorrow for dinner with my sisters for my littlest sister’s birthday.  I will get to see where she is in her sweater then (if she has even started).  My mom is a fast and excellent knitter and is very very very experienced and good at aran and cables.  She has many sweaters under her belt and this is my first one.  My bonus is I have been knitting more lately.  She had to call me and ask about the yarn weight.  Small victory!  I’ll keep you posted.

In the summer, I find it hard to give my daughter plenty to do.  She gets bored and wants people to come play and wants me to play and wants things to do.  I have a varied background in crafts and things as you might imagine.  So while I was sewing some things last week, Bella found some clay in my notions box and took it out.  She asked if she could play with it.  Of course you can, I told her.  She made a couple of simple smiley faces.  They were lovely.  I remembered seeing that you could bake them to make them semi-ceramic and thought I would do that.  I baked them at 250 degrees for a couple of hours.  This discolored them a bit.  She spent some more time working with the clay and made a few other really lovely things.  Two snowmen and a cute little cat.  I was going to take a picture of them but thought, no, I can do that after I am done baking them.  I seemed to remember the package directions for baking the clay to be something like 350 degrees so that is what I baked the snowmen and the cat at.

Well, there was a foul smell coming from the oven.  Huh, that didn’t happen last week.  I wonder what’s going on.  I looked in the oven and saw this:

If you click on this image, you can see in the melted mess, the faces of these sad little crafts.  It makes me laugh every time I see this on the counter.  Bella too!  She tried to be mad at me for ruining her crafts but it just is too funny.

Besides not finishing my vacation blogging?  I am knitting, spinning, sewing, and finishing.

Knitting my multi-directional scarf.  Note to self; don’t knit a scarf with sock yarn.

Spinning 3 ounces of merino/tussah silk that Bella begged me to spin for her and please also knit a beanie with it when you are done.  So, yes, it’s done.  I started it in Eugene during BSG in my worsted vs. woolen class and finished it just yesterday.  I will Andean ply it tomorrow and then find a pattern for her beanie.  I think it should be a tight band with a wider head like a beret.  I’m sure she has other ideas.  I’ll keep you updated.

Sewing…..longer story.  During camp this week, Bella left her bathing suit at the aquatics center and they couldn’t find it when we called. I went to Costco and got  her another for today’s outing to the water park.  While there, she caught the crotch of her brand new bathing suit on some slide and it ripped a huge whole.  Luckily, it was in the seam and I was able to make the repair.  I have told her that this is the last bathing suit I am buying for her this year.

Finishing….My niece, Christine asked me to knit her a bag.  It is over there on the right of my sidebar called Birthday Bag.  It has been there waiting to be finished for almost a year.  I know this because it’s almost her birthday AGAIN and it’s still not done.  She has been patient and I should have finished it long ago.  It’s done Christine!  I’m sorry it’s late!  I hope you like it!

The reason it sat around for so long is because I was stumped for the handles.  I bought some leather straps but they just didn’t fit with the style of this bag.  I toyed with the idea of some ribbon weaved into the top of the bag and gathering the top.  This is what I went with and took Christine yesterday to get some ribbon to use.  We chose three colors that match the bag and I started to weave them through.  She was very clear that she wanted a clasp or closure at the center so I put in a magnet closure that I had in my knitting bag.  I covered the metal of the closure with the white buttons on the outside.  I may put bows at the edges of the straps like I have shown in the bow photo but I’m not sure she will like it.  She is turning 14 and she chose the yarn from my stash and told me what shape she wanted.  I hope it is what she expected.  Here are the shots that show the detail.  The dowel is at the bottom of the bag to give it support if she put someting heavier in there.

Ok, I debated whether or not to blog this but here goes.  Last night after I finished dinner, Bella asked me to come play Mario Pary 8 on Wii with her.  She still had her dinner on the table and I let her play still sometimes while eating (especially in the summer).  I had made a very simple dinner; seared chicken breast, whole grain pasta with parmesan, mixed vegetables including carrots, corn, and asparagas.

I was playing my turn on the Wii and I told her to finish her dinner.  And she told me, “just one more bite Mom.  I’m gonna conquer my fears”.  I looked over to see what the heck she was talking about and she had a forkful of asparagas.  There had to be about 5 small pieces on that fork at one time.  She ate it.  What a good girl.  I totally love her enthusiasm sometimes.

Ok, that’s it.  Sorry for bragging.

One thing I forgot to mention about the Black Sheep Gathering is the basket I bought.  I got it from this lady and I use it a lot.  I carry some of my projects around and even my toiletries when I was going from my trailer to my sister’s house and all.

Saturday morning I was looking forward to most of all.  I have not taken an official spinning class until this day.  I am almost completely self taught with books and videos on Youtube.  I was thrilled to learn how to officially spin on my own wheel from someone who knew what they were doing.  The class was taught by Judie Overbeek. She was very knowledgable and friendly.  She allowed us to spin in our own style and taught us to refine it in a more proper way.  It was awesome!

Here is Judie teaching us the worsted method of spinning.  For those that aren’t aware (and I wasn’t before this), worsted produces a smoother, tighter, heavier yarn.  Woolen takes the fiber and allows more air and fluff to come into the finished yarn.  Woolen is also known as the long draw method.  It requires a lighter mindset, I think. I had a really hard time with the woolen method.  I have been spinning worsted for the entire time I have been spinning and it’s very controlled and anal.  That’s me!  This is also called the inch worm technique or short draw.  I find the woolen method to produce a nicer yarn for sweaters and scarves but I don’t think I will be able to do it.  I am going to try and keep the practice going.

Also interesting is that the plying of woolens and worsteds is different.  When plying a worsted yarn, it balances very well (when done properly).  When plying the woolens, most of the energy in a worsted single is available in the plied yarn.  This was super interesting and kinda fun I thought.  Such completely opposite results in each of the same action.  The picture here to the right is the plied woolen.  If you click on this photo, it should enlarge to a nice big size.  Note that the plied yarn looks very much like a single.  This is how this yarn should look as it’s plied.  Judie told us that a lot of your lumps and bumps created in your long draw spinning will come out in the plying.  I was not able to successfully spin anything with this method but I am going to try to at least finish 4 ounces by the end of the year.

Having spun worsted for so long, I really have a hard time with the long draw method.  It seems like there is no control and the resulting yarn is uneven.  If anyone out there is a woolen spinner, please enlighten me cause I just don’t get it.  Do you enjoy spinning with both techniques?  Do you easily switch back and forth?  Please let me know!

More to come on my vacation.  Summer is harder blogging time as I have a 7 year old weight on my ankle all day every day annoying the living crap out of me.  Motherhood is such a joy.

This is a questionnaire for a swap.  If you aren’t at all interested, please don’t read it.

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?

I have been spinning for a little over a year.  I would consider myself a beginner to advanced beginner.

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?

I have created yarns of each of these types except art yarn.  I am interested in art yarn but I am a bit of a control freak so art yarn is pretty but freaks me out!

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?

I love my wheel but I also just bought a drop spindle.  I am thrilled with it and will continue to spin on it.

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don’t like?

I love merino (of course).  I haven’t really found a fiber I don’t like, however, so I would be thrilled with anything.
5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?

My favorite sellers for fiber are Spunky Eclectic and Helloyarn and for batts I go with Hanks in the Hood who now has fibers available only on Paradise Fibers.

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?

I haven’t tried camel but I have seen it done well.  I am afraid of it a bit, but interested just the same.
7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?

I recently took a class and learned spinning in the woolen style.  I didn’t care for it at all!  I have heard about something called a cabled yarn and this is interesting to me.  I have yet to see a cabled yarn or a picture of one but I haven’t looked too hard yet.  I think I might like to try it.

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?

I have purchased some dy but haven’t tried it yet.

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?

I would definitely love to learn how to prep fiber but I don’t have anything to do this at home.  I would prefer ready to spin fibers.

10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?

To date, I stare at my handspun.  I have knit one hat and one scarf with my handspun.  I have a habit of contemplating the perfect project for my handspun babies and so it takes quite a while to come up with projects for them.

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?

I don’t think you can have too many WPI gauges.  Threading hooks are always nice (like spindles); you can never have too many.

12. What colors “fall into your shopping basket”? Any colors you just can’t stand?

My favorite colors are bright and beautiful.  I don’t dislike anything because I like variety.  I find myself keeping and loving bright greens, purples and oranges together or separately.

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?

I have some beautiful green and blue optim on my new turkish spindle and some beautiful merino silk from Hanks in the Hood on my wheel.

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?

Crafts are all fiber related but hobbies are cooking and photography.  Does my daughter count as a hobby?  I think she is more of an occupation.

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?

I am passionate about photography and cooking.

16. Do you have an online wishlist?

I do I do!

17. Is there anything that you collect?

I collect yarn and fiber!  Ok, so everyone here has that problem.  I am very gadgety and geeky.  That’s about it really.

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?

I get Knit1, Knit Simple, Interweave Knits, Spin Off and other non fiber related mags.  The books I want are all on my Amazon Wishlist.

19. When is your birthday?

October 17 a million years ago!

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?

This is super hard to say.  I have never thought about this so I’m a bit on the spot. I can’t think of any!  I have no idea!  Help me!  

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?

I live in Southern California and it’s quite mild here.  Temperatures range from 75-95 typically at this time of year.

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!

I used to hate eating fish but I now eat sushi as well as fish!

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link):  I don’t really have one that anyone else would know.

Candy: Reeses

Food: Cheese, butter, beef, cream you name the fat, I love it!  Oh yeah, chocolate!

Drink: Diet Coke!

Movie(s): Ferris Beuhler’s Day Off, Practical Magic, and all time favorite, Crash.

TV Show(s): Friends, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement

Book(s): To Kill a Mockingbird, Wicked

Guilty Pleasure(s): Dog the Bounty Hunter

The Black Sheep Gathering was a wonderful event.  The idea is to get the fiber animal people together with the spinning and knitting people.  End to end kind of networking.  I didn’t do nearly what I wanted to and didn’t even bring my Black Sheep Bingo card with me when I was out and about.  I am going to try to go about this post in chronological order.

First, I had a class on Friday morning called Multidirectional Scarves.  The instruction was J.C. Briar.  She was an awesome instructor!  Her instructions were clear and her handouts were very informative.  It was certainly well worth the money for this class.  I knitted a small sample during class with this yarn and then after class, I started a full sized scarf which is pictured.  It’s really very mindless knitting once you get the hang of it.  I t’s easy easy easy.  Everything is garter stitch and increases and decreases.  With J.C.’s technique that she teaches, I think you can see that there are no bumps at the join in the center.  It lays completely flatI think once I finish this one, I will design something a little more complex and exciting.

Friday afternoon, I had a lot of time to walk around.  I had intended on playing Black Sheep Bingo but I left my card at the trailer and couldn’t play at this point.  There is so much to see and I decided I wasn’t going to shop right away.  I wanted to see what was around first before I started dropping all my money.  I was very successful at this and saw some wonderful things.  I also saw some people that I knew.  This is Lori Lawson.   When I was shopping for my wheel, she let me come to her house and spin on her wheel to see if I liked it.  I did.  I bought one just like hers.  If she sold them, I would have bought it from her.  She is a super nice lady and a talented spinner and dier.

Saturday, I took a spinning class called Worsted vs. Woolens.  This class was enlightening.  I learned I am a control freak and that I don’t like woolen.  I will practice this technique but I imagine I will remain a worsted spinner.

The afternoon class was entry level entrelac.  This class was great and I really loved entrelac.  I think the technique taught was more designed for certain items and not for generic knitting whatever you choose. I enjoyed J.C.’s class a little more.  One of the interesting parts of this class was the technique to keep the color bleedthrough that you see in my photo of the blue coming through the gray.  In my photo, it’s not so evident, but her technique really helps.  She had us start our secondary (or tertiary)  color by sliding our work down our circulars to the other side and picking up the stitches with that color.  This allows us to have our secondary (or tertiary) color already on the needles when we start the next row (if that makes sense).

When I was shopping on Friday, I realized I didn’t have yarn for my Saturday afternoon class.  In a world of sock yarns or superbulky yarns, it’s hard to find worsted weight in any form.  I did it though and bought each of my skeins for $2 each on closeout.  I met a lovely lady who brings her closeouts for people who need stuff for classes.  Awesome, huh?

Ok, backing up to Friday night; there was a Ravelry meet up and pot luck which I attended.  I met some lovely people and knitted some on my multi-directional scarf.

Pre-BSG:  Backing up even further; on the way up to Eugene, David wanted to stop in Sacramento.  The reason for the stop was a burger joint we saw on Food Network’s show Diner’s, Drive-in’s, and Dives.  The show went to a place called the Squeeze Inn in Sacramento.  The burgers here are made the regular way, but when it’s time to put the cheese on, he takes a giant handful of cheddar and throws it on the burger with the top bun.  Next, he throws a handful of ice on and a huge lid on the burger and bun combo.  This steams the bun and makes a giant cheese halo around the burger.  David wanted one of these desperately and we had one (me and Belle split one and David had his own).   The Squeeze Inn is TINY and  has only about 8 stools for seats at a bar.  There is additional seating out back.  We showed up at 10:30am (to avoid the crowd?) and found three stools together but it sure got crowded as we left.  The wait staff was very helpful and super friendly.  The burger was delicious but I don’t know if it was worth the extra mileage at these gas prices.  If you want a good laugh, go to Flickr and look up the Squeeze Inn tag and see what comes up.

I think that’s enough for now cause I’m exhausted!