The First Cut

 

I found the time this weekend to start the process of turning this heap of knitting into a sweater. 

First up was the sleeve steeks. So far so good. 

Before I could sew up the shoulders I have to steek the neckline. I used the neckline of a sweater I wear a lot in the winter as a guide.

I used a basting thread to mark out where it should go but that's as far as I got. I need to think about it for awhile and then come back with fresh eyes. This could go badly pretty quickly so I'm not going to rush it. 

Tis the Season

 

The Skellies are popping up all over the place already.

I suppose if you spend that much money on them you want to get the most out of them. 

Those Skellies are jumping the gun on the spooky season a bit. It still feels and looks like summer out there. It's been hot and very humid this week. My mini rose is loving it but it's killing me. 

Questions and Answers

 

I had a couple of questions yesterday about my wheels so let me explain. I bought this one first in 2007, before I even knew how to spin. It's an Ashford Traditional. It was used and traveled all the way from New Zealand. It was an impulse eBay purchase and was very inexpensive considering the shipping involved. That was a very long time ago so I doubt you can get those kinds of deals now. 

When they offered me the Traveler with the same deal, I jumped at it. Now I could work on several fibers at once without pulling bobbins on and off. It's sheer laziness that made me want more than one. 

Then in 2011, the kids surprised me with this brand spanking new Shacht Ladybug as a retirement gift. Compared to those two other old rickety wheels, this one spins like a dream. I only use commercially processed fiber on this one to keep her clean. The wonky fleece goes on the other two.

I was also asked about my spindles. Goldings are hard to come by these days but if you look for a 2" whorl weighing between 0.4 oz to 0.9 oz, you'll have what I would consider the perfect size and weight for a beginner. I also recommend staying away from Merino or other soft, slippery fiber when you are first learning. Get the woolliest woolly wool that you can find. It will slow you down until you have good control. Don't forget to pre-draft. Practice pulling that wool apart until you can see how the fibers line up just before they drift apart. It takes a bit of practice but knitting something from yarn that you made yourself for the first time is a feeling you'll never forget. 

Friday Fluff: The Right Stuff

 

Earlier this week, one of you asked me about the equipment I have for spinning. The answer is lots. Lots and lots. Too much, in fact. This is what my spinning corner looks like during the TdF. I've got three wheels. An Ashford Traveler, an Asford Traditional and the Schacht LadyBug that the kids gave me when I retired. 

I started out with spindles. All kinds. I've got drop spindles and support spindles. If I saw one I didn't have, I bought it. 

My first expensive purchase was a Bosworth. I've got quite the collection but tbh, they are not my favorite. Too light. They don't spin long enough for me but they are very popular. 

The Goldings are my favorite. They are light but spin like crazy. If you are a beginner this is the size and weight you need to start with and not the boat anchors I started with years ago. 

That's the boat anchor at the top. Beginner me thought bigger was better so I bought a learn to spin kit that featured this monster. It didn't go so well. I would have given up right then but that year's MDSW showed me the way. The spindle booths were full of folks that offered lots of help and had me sorted out in no time.

It wasn't long after that I was doing a lot of this. Buying fleece fresh off the sheep and washing it. There is nothing more satisfying but it's hard work. 

I don't have it in me anymore so I buy things like this to spin instead. This was taken at Rhinebeck. I haven't been there in ages. My big dream when we retired in 2012 was to get an RV and travel to all fiber fests all over the country. That dream didn't last long. Aging parents, old pets and a creaky old Mister that needed lots of replacement surgery upended that dream I'm sad to say. I'm lucky if I even get to the MDSW every year. 

I really love getting my hands into the fleece and am lucky enough to still have bags of it to run through the drum carder. I don't even care if it amounts to anything. It just feels so good to feel that fiber running through your fingers. It's a meditation. It's a connection to something barely understood and it feels important.

Well....thanks for attending my spinning TED Talk and thank you to the person that asked. You gave me something to post about on a day when I could barely move from all the kid wrangling this week.

Now go get yourself a bit of pretty fiber and a little spindle. You won't be sorry. 

The Great Escape

 

I spent seven weeks trying to teach this kid how to crawl only to miss his first trip around the room but he made up for it this week. He was everywhere. 

He's pretty free range most of the time but because we bring a snappy little dog with us, the playpen was put into use. Look at that. He'd love to figure a way out. He's an escape artist in training. 

I spent most of my time sitting in there with him. We had a good time.

Like his older brother, he has a lot of crazy food allergies so introducing him to foods one at a time has been slow going. He was not on any solids the last time we were sitting but now.....well, it seems raspberries and lentils are his thing. They introduced him to wheat yesterday and we held our breath but he was fine.  Oatmeal and rice were a no go so it's good they found something safe that can fill the boy up. 

Big Brother who will be four in January got a coloring lesson from Grandpa. Both are lefties. It's hard for righties to teach lefties. I know. I was a first grade teacher and it was always a struggle when I had one in my class. 

We also got a preview of the big guys Halloween costume. That light up tail is too cute. 

 On the way up I finished turning the heels on all my socks and on the way home I got a few more rows on the Ski Sweater. It wasn't that hard to say goodbye this time because we'll be back next week when Middle Son comes down from Michigan with my other two little Grands. Four little boys under one roof for the night. It'll be wild. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

I forgot about the Vuelta and the beach festival when I planned on steeking Bon Ami this weekend so it didn't get done. We're off babysitting this week again so all my socks are with me getting worked on here and there but mostly on the long ride up and back. What I did do this week was go through my stash and look for sock yarn that matched my new knot bag. Did I find any? No. Did I order some. Yes. Have I cast them on? Not yet.

TNT: New Stuff

 

Goat Load has its mound finished and the border started.

Funky Flower has the center background finished and the border started.

But what I'm really, really excited about this week is this. 

I bought some of this tapestry wool by mistake a while back when I thought I might run out of orange on Funky Flower. Since I have a bag of it, I thought I might as well buy more colors and do something with it. This sample tin even comes with a small painted canvas in case you want to get started on something right away.

I don't. What I want to do with it is paint my own canvas so I bought some to experiment with but first I have to come up with a design and get over my urge just to sit and look at all those pretty colors. I have a bad habit of never using kits because they are just too pretty as is.

Blocked

 

This is what the last stage of the Vuelta looked like yesterday. Masses of protesters blocked the roads so the race was called with 50 miles or so to go. I thought I had 3 hours of time with my handspun projects watching the final laps and then the awards but I only got one-and no awards ceremony. I was happy to see that my guy won the thing but not happy about giving up my time. 

Here's my three weeks worth of progress on the knitting projects I said I was going to concentrate on. The Garter Squish is getting tinked back to the yellow and then I will cast it off. The second sock is past the heel and the Pi shawl still has a loooong way to go before the fancy border is finished. 

I will have had seven wind offs with the drop spindles when I wind these last three off. There's plenty of fiber left so I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing it again during next year's TdF. 

The Cormo fiber that was on the Ladybug is finished. 

It didn't get a podium finish but here it is atop all the other finished skeins from this year's Grand Tours. I need a plan to use all this up before next year's roll around again.

I'm giving my wheels a rest for a while. I have projects on the Traveler and the Traditional but they're on hold for now. I'm spun out. 

Never a Dull Moment

 

There was a lot going on yesterday. First there was the Farmer's Market. It seems fall has finally fallen there. 

Everyone had pumpkins and mums. 

I was more interested in cauliflower ......

....and watermelon. They were out of seedless so I got a seeded one and I'm glad I did. It was so much better that I may never go back. The Amish dude who talked me into it was right. 

Then it was time for the Taste of the Beaches festival. Out on the ball field, the town restaurants set up booths and give away free samples. The Mister ate his weight in fried and raw oysters that were served by Traders one of the local seafood places. 

There were all kinds of things to try like this spicy shrimp gazpacho from the Rod and Reel. 

I had a snow cone from the Kona truck which was also free.

The entertainment was stellar. The local ballet school had a performance and the rock band that played for the rest of the day was outstanding. I could have sat there all day listening.

The day ended for the town with a showing of Jaws on the beach but we skipped it. I have a hard enough time watching it at home. I was severely traumatized by it when it opened in the theaters. That jump scare in the abandoned boat still gets me every time. 

Home Alone

 

I had another day to do what I wanted while The Mister went off to play golf this week so I used my time to finish weaving in the ends of Bon Amie and prepare it for steeking. I watched a lot of videos to refresh my memory and I realized I've still got a ways to go before the cutting happens. Hopefully tomorrow while The Mister is busy with football, I'll be in the sewing room basting those seams and reinforcing them on the machine before the snipping starts. Strangely enough, it's not the cutting that's scaring me. It's that mattress stitch to join the sleeves. I've never mastered it.

I also turned those figs I brought home from the Farmer's Market into jam.

They didn't make much but a little goes a long way. I've been putting it on cinnamon graham crackers along with some soynut butter for a bedtime snack and it's good. Pup thinks so too.