KnitMe

Lace

Everything seems to be coming up lace here. It must be that summer thing happening.

Titania is done.

It turned out to fit pretty well - this is not a sweater you would want with a huge amount of ease. I used yarn that knitted up with more stitches per inch than the specified Cotton Fleece, and made a size that was 4 inches larger than I needed, and it turned out pretty much right on.

Waistline:

Neckline:

Sleeve:

For all it's so lacey and cottony, I won't be wearing it until the less-humid days of fall. The sleeves are 3/4 length and a little snug, so it would be all sweat all the time if I put it on now.

The yarn (Valley Yarns Longmeadow) is cotton and microfiber and it turned out to be quite nice. While splitty to knit with, it is lightweight and a little shiny, and it shows the stitches of this pattern really well.

I am still working away at the Johanna knee socks. I have one sock completed. (It's hard to photograph a sock on your own leg, and I had already put the tripod away before I did this - you'll just have to wait till the pair is done to get a properly proportioned photo!)

I am really pleased with how this turned out, with the size 0 needles and the Bordhified foot. As I got to the top of the leg shaping, I began to realize I was running really tight on yarn. My skein weighed about 164 grams, and I had hit 85 remaining and was at least an inch and a half shy of the full length. Amazingly, Kerry came to my rescue with 20 grams of the exact same shade of Wollmeise! Lucky thing, too. Weight of completed single sock: 91 grams. Weight of remaining yarn: 95 grams.

I feel like I have been working on this forever, so the second sock should take no time at all. I knitted the entire food and heel and an inch up the leg before I decided it was too big and frogged. After finishing the heel, I had to pause for a bit waiting for confirmation from the designer that there was a direction missing from the pattern, because suddenly the start of the round moved from the side of the foot to the center back with no indication of how to make that happen. Then I knitted up the leg, and paused again waiting for help from the designer because the start of the round moved back to the side of the foot again (for this one she had to knit part of a sample to find out what she wanted to recommend I do). This time, I am totally armed with all the information I need and I can just knit.

As a break from all the thinking about the sock, while I was waiting the last time, I started some other lace. This is the Ice Fantasia by Anne Hanson from the winter issue of Twist Collective.

I am using KnitPicks Gloss laceweight yarn (merino and silk) in the Sterling colorway - it seemed like a good match for the idea of ice. I had intended to use Lisa's lace yarn in her Silver Lake colorway, but I got a brainstorm about what I want to do with that instead.

When Titania was done, I could no longer resist the skein of cormo/alpaca from Sixth Day Farm that was sitting on the shelf calling to me. I cast on for the Soft Cables Moebius (a Heartstrings pattern), which I had seen at Maryland and been smitten with.

This picture was taken just before I frogged and started over with a larger needle and a smaller stitch count, because it was going to come out too short. But can't you just tell what an amazing hand this yarn has? Wow. It's like knitting with heavy cream.

Last night I sat at a banjo/accordion concert and knit away and got at least halfway back to where I had left off.

I'm still working on my beautiful Peacock BFL on my Quebec wheel. Big news: I broke the yardage barrier! This skein is approximately 300 yards in 2.7 ounces, 3 ply!!

I am envisioning a pair of knee socks (again!) out of this, probably one of Cookie A's lovely kneesock patterns.

Finally, an oddball for you. Someone at my spinning group brought in this gigantic bump of roving to our fiber swap earlier in the summer - she called it "Hog Island feral sheep" wool and said we should all take some. It was interesting stuff - very short staple, very crimpy, and a little stiff. It was interesting to spin and turned out amazingly lightweight. This skein is about 225 yards to 3 ounces, two ply. No idea what I'll do with it but it was a fun exercise.

Antique Flax Wheels

Since posting about my first antique spinning wheel, I have had the good fortune of buying several eBay flax wheels. My little flock now numbers nine. As they are restored and come into use I will tell their individual stories in more detail. For now, I would like to introduce seven of the nine to you, and place them in the context of three great American spinning wheel traditions.

Eastern Pennsylvania style --- The area around Philadelphia was a center of spinning wheel manufacturing from the mid-1700s to the mid 1800's. Wheels from this area have an upright stance; "shotgun shell and olive" spoke turnings; and richly rounded turnings on legs, maidens, and finials. Some makers used vertical braces to support the wheel uprights; some decorated spokes, legs, and maidens with bands of colored paint. As settlers spread into the midwest and mid-south, they brought elements of this style with them, and developed it according to local taste.

Hannah - New Jersey, near Philadelphia.

Lydia - Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Lady Jane - Missouri Ozarks.

Granny - southeastern Michigan. Closely resembles some very old eastern Pennsylvania wheels.

Northern New England style --- The flax wheels of Northern New England are vastly different from Pennsylvania wheels. They have an elongated stance; widely splayed legs; broad-rimmed wheels with many spokes; sinuous curves, straight lines, and plain turnings. Their design springs from the Shaker philosophy of simplicity and practicality. It was used by both Shaker and non-Shaker wheel makers in the 1700s and 1800's. This characteristic Shaker style also spread into the Midwest as new territory was settled.

Sweet Annie...my first wheel - Southeastern Michigan.

H. Thomson wheel (signed) - Southwestern Maine.
Mr. Thomson was a non-Shaker who made fine wheels in the Shaker style.

Roots in the Old Country --- Immigrants have come to America from pre-Colonial times right up to the present, bringing their precious possessions and priceless heritage with them. As communities have grown, heirloom wheels brought by settlers and new ones made by kocal craftsmen following the old ways have found a place among America's spinning wheels. Every locale has its history and its distinctive wheels...whatever their style, however old. They are a treasure.

Liebchen...my Little Sweetheart - Southeastern Missouri. A magnificent Lower Saxony bride's wheel, tour-de-force of the woodturner's art and stacked double flyer for an expert spinner. The yellow ruler is twelve inches long.

With "a little love and a lotta oil" my wheels are beginning to spin again. They do beautifully with silk.

Sweet Annie in the morning sun.

Sweet Annie's skein.

Hannah's first bobbin.

Hannah's skein.

And in the event that I get too besotted with the wonder of it all, they do not hesitate to pull rank, age and status on me.

Teacher, the dog ate my homework!!