KnitMe

A little brown

Continuing the ongoing insanity - here is another fly-by entry. [NOTE: I'm still being a moron, so your comments on this entry from earlier today are lost. Comment again, all 6 of you... I am also not sure why the format on this entry has gone wacko. I will back away from the computer now.]

I finished a hank of that brown bluefaced leicester I started last week. I am not a brown person but there is something about this shade that I totally love. It had so much luster that I'm not sure the photos convey it.

Toby was snoozing in the sun so I got him to help me with the pictures.

It is about 3.3 ounces and about 160 meters, give or take. I have a WHOLE LOT left to spin so I think I will get quite a bit of yardage. It is navajo plyed and seems to be about worsted weight. I want to use it for a pillow, it is so cushy.

Fly-by

[10/27: reposted after a system restore to fix a glitch on the server. If you commented: sorry!! comment again!]

My entries will be a bit thin between now and the election. Here is what is going on.

I started the Jaywalker socks in Emerald City Sock! I was concerned about the leg width, given there are so many stitches cast on, but everyone reassured me they DO pull in THAT much, so I went ahead. After awhile I decided to decrease partway down the leg, because they would have been floppy around my ankles otherwise. I skipped the increases on one of the increase/decrease rounds. It seems like they will fit me well this way.

I finished the body of Venus and started a sleeve. This doesn't look like much in photos, it will need to be blocked and worn to show itself off properly. I think it will be a very useful sweater. The sleeves are only 3/4 length so I hope they will not be too terribly long a slog.

I decided to be autumnal and spin some darksheep bluefaced leicester I bought from Copper Moose's eBay shop a year or two ago. It spins beautifully.

I have 2 pounds and am thinking of a long cabled cardigan, not unlike Mendocino which I wear constantly.

More Yarn

Yesterday was plying day on the porch. Another hank of 3-ply rambouillet from the hand dye and comb experiment.

I think this is a little heavier grist than the earlier skein - and it sproinged incredibly when removed from the niddy noddy. I tried not to overply it, so it has a lot of loft and spring.

I'm fresh out of combed fiber now, so I'm going to have to buckle down and comb some more. Sigh. Spinning is much more fun...

I also plyed the beautiful lilac silk I was spinning. I ended up dividing the fiber into two one-ounce batches and hoping for the best. I didn't do too badly - I did a small andean bracelet with the leftovers on one bobbin, which amounted to about 8 yards, and the little piece you see hanging there is the only waste that would not come out of the bracelet - it's about half a yard.

I think that I have about 400 yards from the 2 ounces. Unlike the rambouillet, this is not elastic so I am not getting the spring-back that reduces the length. I don't know what to do with 400 yards of beautiful purple silk, other than photograph it on a bright day.

It bled a bunch of dye when I washed it, and I'm sure it's not done bleeding yet... I whacked it every time I went by it while it was drying, and it was starting to soften up by the end of the day.

I also finished the Cable and Rib socks. These are very hard to photograph but they are comfy and will be fun to wear. I didn't have a whole lot of yarn left, either - maybe 4 grams max. Be warned that this pattern needs every bit of that one hank of Bearfoot.

I'm so ready to cast on with this...

I'm progressing well on the cormo sweater, but it isn't much to look at in a photo yet. I should have the front done by the end of the week and then it might look better.

Oh - also, we wished happy 7th birthday to the birthday pets.

Miscellania

Today is one of my two stealth holidays that I get every fall. Emmy has gone off to school and I have the day to catch up on chores and so on - so this will not be a long entry! Too much to do!

I finally sat down and made a scarf out of my handspun angora leftovers. I used size 8 needles and blocked the bejeezus out of it and this is what I got.

The pattern is Diamond Mesh (Barbara Walker book 1), one chart repeat across, and the little 6-inch strand you see at the right is all the yarn that was left.

It blocked to 24 inches by 5 inches, I am sure that the length has sprung back a whole bunch but it's a cute little ornamental thing that I don't know exactly what to do with. Drape it over something strategic, maybe.

I finished the back of Venus and am halfway up the front, but a white-on-white pattern is hard to photograph, so the picture I took is worthless. Maybe next time.

I also spun one ounce of lilac silk and reluctantly broke off and started a new bobbin. I just hate this approach because of the potential waste (I am SURE I am not going to be consistent enough to get matching yardage), but I suppose the potential waste would be more if I tried any other plying method.

The bobbin in the back is another batch of the handdyed rambouillet that I've been combing and spinning, that will get plyed next time the big wheel is set up for plying.

I finished one Cable and Rib sock and started the other.

I needn't have worried about the fit, it is perfect. I could have used another half inch in the foot, but my other Bearfoot socks stretch a little during a day of wear and I think these will be fine.

I used a standard grafted toe instead of the toe in the pattern, and I made up my own compromise on the heel. In the pattern, Nancy Bush does not use a heel stitch on the heel flap, she inserts a seam stitch in the center of the flap and carries the pattern all the way down. While this definitely appeals to me as a clog wearer, I was worried about durability, so I compromised. I carried the cable down both sides of the heel, but I put heel flap stitch on the 16 stitches in the center of the flap. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

More socks!!

And Now, for Something Completely Different

I am writing up the pattern for Sarah's wedding shawl, but it may take me a little time. The charts are done, but I lack the discipline required to sit and write instead of casting on something new.

Shifting out of lace mode and moving on to texture, Starmore's Fern from the Stillwater book is on the needles at last. Here is my gauge swatch:

Just kidding. It took me a while to be convinced that the fabric would draw in enough to fit me. I started with a provisional cast on because I didn't want to have to rip out a bunch of ribbing. At 2" long, the "swatch" was about 25" wide - too big for me. However, at 6" long, it had drawn in to 22" wide, which I can live with. I am going to cardiganize (is that a word?) Fern and may finish the bottom edge with i-cord. Since I'll have plenty of ease, I'm considering adding side seam pockets.

The yarn is handspun Perendale, not spun specifically for this project, so it's fingering weight. I'm using a doubled strand to get worsted weight gauge. I knew there were colour variations in the yarn, but when I first started knitting this piece and could see that it was striping a bit, it really made me twitchy. Now it seems to have grown on me.

Thrift store find:

One of my sweetie's "scouts" came acrss this bulky spinner at the thrift shop and snagged it for me. Hubby has all of his friends who go to garage sales on the lookout for spinning related paraphernalia. This man understands and feeds myobsession. What a guy, eh?

This poor wheel has been neglected for quite some time. The wood is bone dry and it looks as though it may have been standing in water at some point. The wood is splitting in places and some of the nuts and bolts are missing. Its label is still in tact, though.

The label is shiny and was hard to photograph. It says "Harris Spinner, designed and crafted by H. C. Harris". I have searched the internet without finding any reference to the Harris Spinner, so perhaps Mr. Harris was a local Pacific North West, BC or Vancouver area craftsman. If anyone can tell me anything at all about this wheel, please email me at ThreadbenderMel@gmail.com. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon cleaning the wheel up and giving it a rub down with lemon oil. I think I heard it sigh once or twice. I'm not a bulky yarn kind of gal, but I'd like to see this baby feeling useful once again.