Well, it’s two weeks to Fiber School and I’m going a little nuts. I’m keep bouncing between deliriously excited and a little panicked. Right at this very second, I’m deliriously excited.
And guess what!? I’m finally getting sheep! They’re really coming, can you believe it? Tina’s bringing them out on the 23rd, so they’ll be here for Fiber School! (We have a few openings–treat yourself! It’s going to be awesome!) There will be one black Romney ewe (who apparently has gotten a little snitty of late–but I plan to kill her with kindness), one merino ewe lamb (white, if I remember, but with a spotted mom, so she has the genetics for color), and one Shetland wether (castraded male) lamb with curly horns! He’s tan. Yay!
I only have a picture of Fattypants aka Fancypants aka Trouble, so the others will be a surprise! Here she is in full fleece, looking inscrutable.
But we’ve let it go forever, and now we’re scrambling to convert this playground into a barn. And to help matters, it’s been pouring all freaking week.
This is an old picture, but the current view’s no good, because there’s a big stack of hay blocking it. At present, there’s a nice secure woven wire fence around it, with several gates to make rotating them with portable electric fencing super easy. Clicking the picture will take you to its flickr page, which has notes on what goes where.
All the areas under the platforms will be walled in, with doors and windows for utility/comfort. The large platform to the left of the ramp will be raised a foot so you can walk under it, but human people can still use it as a deck. The two taller platforms, including the one under the slide, will be for the chickens, while the larger area will go to the sheepies. There will be a door in between so you can access either side, but the chicken side can stay warmer in the winter while the sheep get nice fresh air.
Next year, I might even ask Tina & Jennifer to save all their skirtings for me, and I’ll wash them (no worries if they felt), soak them in Borax, and insulate the walls.
Okay, I’d better get back to work! A group from VANS is coming out to do a catalog shoot in the Eskridge school next week (Taj’s gym/classroom segments in Electronical were shot there), and Cathy’s coming next weekend to finish up our collaborative project, so I’m about to be wildly busy for 3 weeks solid. Yee haw!
Dude, I fucking hate election season. I end up enraged every time I listen to the news. The only bright spot is The Daily Show, but it’s reruns this week, so I’m stuck with NPR. Ugh. And I can’t not listen. I whirl into a frenzy of outrage and fact checking and frustration about the millions who get their news from Fox alone, and I end up spending way too much time and energy stewing and seething and clawing around the Internet. A few minutes ago, I fantasized about interrupting a rally by shouting LIAR! at the top of my lungs (which are pretty sturdy, it turns out), and I even tested the volume of my shouting, then did a few crazy, frantic impersonations. Sheesh. I need to put some kind of a politics timer on my machine for the next couple months.
Anyway, to combat the knotting angst and dread, I’m trying to zen out with crafty goodness.
I finished up all my Wildcat Hollow roving. Well, not all of it–I still have a different lot of tri-color and a different lot of fawn for another project; and not completely finished, either as I haven’t yet washed the spun stuff. (Cripes, I’m an irritating literalist.)
Look how pretty!
I used only the first two balls. The other tricolor wasn’t quite as babysoft, so I decided to set it aside for another project. I had 8 oz of solid and 4 oz of tricolor (2oz had a somewhat higher proportion of lighter colors in the mix, producing an overall lighter yarn), then plied it thusly:
Lighter tricolor to itself
Lighter tricolor to darker tricolor
Darker tricolor to itself
Lighter tricolor to solid
Darker tricolor to solid
Solid to itself
I was originally thinking a cardigan, but now I’m thinking maybe a loose drapy pullover with a really long, sloppy turtleneck, not quite a cowl. I’ll wash and swatch it first, then go from there.
Last weekend, Cathy & I started working on our collaborative project. We’re going to finish up next weekend.
My actual birthday is Wednesday, but I’m celebrating already! This came from Sue, for my LYS! And she’s not even a knitter! How about that for an awesome shopper? I’m going to save this as a post Yarn School reward! I don’t know what she’s implying with the tranny rooster, though.
Yesterday’s mail also brought this:
From Jennifer, so completely spoils me. We’re pretty fucking broke right now, what with the new car (the wait was supposed to be 3 months, so we thought we’d have more time to save up a down payment, but it only took 3 weeks, so we ended up having to scrape it together with zero notice), so it’s very exciting to get a wonderful treat. Not only did she remember how much I admired the yarn, but what COLOR I wanted, too! It wasn’t a birthday present per se, but I’m counting it as one.
And a Bay Laurel from Ron! I’ve heard these are hard to grow here (as is rosemary; both grew like weeds in Texas), so I don’t know whether to plant it in a pot or in the garden. I always fail bringing pots in. I’ve read they’re troubled by scale indoors, and my citrus got killed by the scale inside last winter, after surviving scale the previous two (although I just read that humidity takes care of that; so maybe a humidifier would fix me up). But I really like bay in the garden. I just don’t know if I can pull it off. But I need to decide in the next couple days.
I’m trying not to knit or spin too much because I really want to heal up my arm injury (pulled muscle from 2 months ago that I keep re-hurting) before Yarn School. I made a sling and everything. I even wore it for a couple hours. But I did allow myself a little spinning last night:
I started on my second batch of Wildcat Hollow tri-color roving. This lot has a slightly thicker red-brown strip, which makes for a slightly darker yarn. I plan to ply the two together. I did the first spool with a woolen long-draw, but I’m nervous about my arm and can’t do the long draw on the left side, so I’m using a sort of modified woolen draw that’s how I spun before I learned worsted. I’m keeping it short and feeding continuously, but not smoothing the yarn, and letting the twist run up into the fiber and pulling the fiber back from it. Honestly, I don’t think woolen has to be a long draw, does it? I mean, isn’t it just how you let the fibers meet the twist?
I should do some spinning exercises. And by exercises, I mean lessons, not acrobatics.
Here’s Autumn, my favorite Wildcat Hollow cria from last year. Look at her freckles! Isn’t she a doll? And I have her blanket.
I was busy spinning my yummy new Wildcat Hollow tricolor I started at Spinsters Club last weekend when I remembered: my favorite alpaca growers are going to be at the Lincoln Haymarket Farmer’s Market, so if you’re in Lincoln, go say hi!
Ed & Marta from Wildcat Hollow in Eskridge have formed an alpaca cooperative with a handful of other local growers called Alpaca Endeavors & they’ll be in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Haymarket August 30 and September 13 (in stalls 156 & 157) and September 20, October 4 and 11 (in stalls 129 & 130). They’ll have alpaca yarn, roving (single and tricolor), fiber for felting, fine fiber for spinning, plus handmade articles for sale.
I heartily recommend the new Wildcat Hollow tricolors. I’m currently spinning the one on the left, the sort of latte-colored blend, and it’s so soft and yummy. I’m trying my hand at spinning it woolen, which is how I used always to spin before I got fixated on worsted and forgot how. But it’s so soft and fuzzy and alpaca’s so warm that I want to make a really really weightless lofty yarn of it. We’ll see if I’m up to the task.
So far I really like the yarn. I love how when you spin it really fine, you don’t know what wisps of what color will get drawn in and you’ll have little solid stretches followed by contrasty twirly candycane spans followed by really subtle twisties. I don’t know what it’s going to bet yet. Maybe a garter yoke cardigan? I could either do the whole thing in the tricolor, or the yoke could be the tricolor and the rest could be just solid Marguerit (I think she’s the auburn stripe, but I have her solid roving, too).
(My poor old camera’s been ressurected & is still chugging along. For now. My birthday’s next week and Mama’s ponying up a new DSLR. I still haven’t picked, but I’m leaning toward the Sony after trying Jen’s husband’s at Spinsters on Sunday). The yarn’s too fine on the bobbin to tell how it will look plied, so in the meantime, you get pictures of the nice animals who made it! These were from shearing day last spring. It was the day after Yarn School & I was beat and never got around to writing up my little photo essay, which I really want to do, because I attended a really big alpaca shearing & a much smaller one, and the difference was interesting.
Marta with Autumn. She’s named after their granddaughter, who is also a cute leggy teenager, but much less furry.
Autumn’s coat is variegated. It’s her baby coat, so they say she’ll probably be a different color next year. This one goes from almost black to to gray to a reddish fawn. So pretty. I don’t quite know what to do with it, though. I’d hate to have it processed because I’m afraid it would lose its beautiful variation. Then again, it might be a wonderful heather. For the moment, it’s in limbo.
And here’s poor Autumn naked and woeful. Over on the left, I think that’s Marguerit. She’s the darker stripe in the latte tri-color roving. And here’s her blanket, glowing in the sunshine:
This is the shearing table. When they shear alpacas, they either use a table or a system of pulleys on the ground. Either way, the animal has to be tethered firmly. You can’t just flop them on their butts like sheep. With the table, you lean them against it, then swivel it over, strap their feet, and someone holds the wiggly head. Afterwards, they release the feet, swivel the table back down, lower the animal down, and she shakes off and is on her merry way. It’s hard to describe the other way–I’ll try to get pictures up soon. There seemed to be a lot less squalling with the table than the floor method, but that might be because it’s a much smaller farm and the animals are all handled a lot more. At the big farm, most of them are little wild. And the table was a lot slower, but I don’t know whether that’s inherent to the process or because the New Zealanders using the pulleys at the bigger farm were just more experienced. The results are the same either way: naked, puppety critters with mop top hairdos.
YARN: 5 balls Knit Picks Andean Silk
PATTERN: Generic top-down raglan with lace panel, short sleeves, 1×1 ribbing at collar, cuffs & hem
NOTES: No shaping. I wish I had shaped the waist. It’s cute enough, and the yarn has enough drape that it’s not dumpy even though it’s boxy, but it would be way cuter with curves. I have plans to rework this one, making it superawesome! Superawesome. I might give this one to my mom. She seemed to really like it, but maybe she was being polite.
Right now, I’m working on a top-down raglan pinafore dress. It’s not coming along as quickly as I’d hoped because I keep frogging and reworking. My main challenge is really trying to think in terms of a pattern instead of just making it fit me and only me. If I can wrap it up soon (tick tock, tick tock, looking grim), I might have a home for the pattern. The goal is a loose short-sleeved pinafore for winter layering over LS tops, long underwear, summer dresses, etc. And while I do love knitting off the cone, I’m beginning to wonder if I ought to have wound off my donegal and washed it first, since all the stitches lean. And since the skeined stuff is washed, I think. Or is it?
And I’m busting ass getting ready for YARN SCHOOL and FELT SCHOOL! (We still have spots, including some more newly-added private rooms and discounted group rooms! Register now!).
This year, we have 3 official helper bees, PLUS two cooks. I love cooking, but I’m really excited to be out of the kitchen and into the yarny fun this session. Marissa’s menu looks absolutely delectable, and if the weather cooperates, we may get our hands on the last of the bounty of this summer’s CSA for our veggies. And this year, our beef, eggs & some dairy will be local, too!
The best part of all the extra help is that I get to teach a bit more. I’m going to add a prep lesson and a yarn planning lesson to my batt carding demo, and I think I’ll make some yarn samples spun different ways off the same batt.
Speaking of batts, August Cuckoo for Cuckoobatts Club batts went off today. They’re as cute as a button! You don’t get to see them until next month, but in the meantime, here are the last 2 months’ club batts:
July: Head on the Door (alpaca, hand-dyed wool, hand-dyed sparkle, angelina sparkle)
And the last exciting news for the week: One of the cousins gave me an egg yesterday! Here it is, artfully modeled by Irma & Wayne (made by moxie):
The cousins are Patty and Cathy, the 2 black Australorps. They’re named after Patty Duke and Cathy Lane, identical cousins. I was going to call them Patty and Selma, but they don’t have a punchy theme song. You can tell them apart only by Cathy’s lighter feet and Patty’s more iridescent feathers, but not just at first glance. One of them was skulking around inside the coop in the middle of the afternoon. I didn’t catch on until she let out a loud BA-CAAAAAAAWK! and came tearing out of the coop. I ran in and found the egg, but by then she had blended back into the group and I didn’t know who had produced our beautiful first egg.
Afterwards, I made a little privacy curtain for the nest box in hopes they’ll use it instead of dropping it in the corner of the coop:
Unblocked and shitty lighting, but aside from the unbearable itchiness (I’ll have to wear a shirt under, as usual), it was a quick & fun knit & I’m well pleased. The lace is from one of those stitch books. I barely changed it & I’m not crazy about it. I’m a literalist. I want leaves to look like leaves. I’d like to rework the lace pattern a bit more & make it with a pocket. I really tried to give it a pocket, but there just wasn’t enough yarn. And I’d like the repeat out of something that can actually touch my skin without making me crazy.
I really do wish I could toughen up a bit.
Pattern: generic top-down raglan with lace panel, no shaping
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk, 5 balls
My poor old well-used and repaired digital camera finally shit the bed. It won’t recognize any cards, fucks up the data if I repeatedly try to make it read them, and it’s old enough that it’s no longer worth fixing. So 2 questions:
What should I get now? I want a fancy (but not too fancy) digital SLR in the $500 neighborhood (including lens). It’s going to be my birthday present, so I have about a month to figure it out. I might try renting a camera locally, but Topeka’s really my only option, because I don’t want to drive 4 hrs round trip.
Is there somewhere I can donate this where they fix cameras & reuse them? A search for “donating broken cameras” got me this, but I can’t tell whether they can fix broken cameras & they don’t have contact info. If it can be fixed up, it’s still a decent camera, and can still take pretty damn lovely pictures in natural light (it’s less brilliant in low light). I think I have all the original cords & several memory cards.
Well, I’m 3 balls in with 2 more to go, so it looks like this will have short sleeves.
Knit Picks Andean Silk, cranberry I think. Sadly, it itches. I’m hoping I’m just more sensitive in warm weather, but lately, everything makes me itch. This is supposed to be merino/silk/superfine alpaca, so it shouldn’t freaking itch. Regular alpaca, sure, but superfine shouldn’t. Anyhoo, we’ll see. If worse comes to worse, I probably have a tight tshirt I can wear under it. Maybe I can even find a great color to show through the lace.
I don’t yet have a copy in my hot little hands, but Shannon Okey’s Alt Fiber is officially out! I designed a very cute A-line linen skirt (in linen stitch–Shannon’s idea) for it. Here’s a sneaky detail shot of the side trim, not yet crisply blocked:
I also just wrote a chapter on knitting for pets in a knitting encyclopedia book.
I feel weird about this craft writing thing. While I love crafts & writing about crafts, I don’t know that it’s quite my niche, but sorting out my niche is too scary. I’ve only done the one book, and its sales were pretty lackluster despite the awesome early press I got (I blame their decision to make it softcover instead of the original hardcover plan–much of its appeal is for non-knitters, but they’re not going to buy a $20 paperback).
Really, I think the problem is that I’m just not driven overall. Well, I’m driven (in a manic, obsessive sort of way), but not ambitious. To make money, to make a name, you have to actually want fame and fortune. And while I think fame and fortune (especially fortune; fame’s less appealing) would be a dreamy side effect, I’m not really enthusiastic about either one. I really admire people who are casually confident and self-promotional. I’m pretty fucking sure of my actual abilities, but I’m shitty at broadcasting that. I’m not confident enough to spread my own word for more than a few minutes without backing down and getting all aw-shucksy. Braggarts make me cringe, so I get all nervous I’m going to look like an asshole when I step into braggart territory. But that’s kind of where you need to live unless you’re just really, really lucky and fall ass-backwards into something. I kind of fell ass-backwards into my brief, nerdly, and miniature fame and fortune with early Disgruntled Housewife. I think that was my one little lucky break, but that’s ancient history.
Weird.
I should go do something productive. All this introspection is making me peevish.
I almost forgot! I’m teaching a 3-session class at Settlers Farm on a totally customizable top-down raglan sweater. It’s 6-8pm Monday, August 11, 18 & 25. If you can knit stockinette, you can make this sweater (bonus: no seaming!). It’s $45 for three 2-hour sessions, plus advance help picking out yarn if you need it.
These are all top-down raglans (it’s pretty much the only sweater I make anymore). I’ll be making a dress variation for my class project, so that’s an option, too.
Class description:
Ready to graduate from hats and scarves but intimidated by complicated sweater patterns? Then the
top-down raglan is for you! Make an easy sweater to fit anyone, with absolutely no seaming. The
top-down raglan is a flexible recipe that works with virtually any yarn and style. The shaping is easy and the whole thing is completely knit in the round, making it perfect television knitting. The variations are limitless: make it fitted, loose, or maternity; crew neck, relaxed neck, cowl, turtleneck, off the shoulder; long-sleeved, 3/4, short sleeves, no sleeves; sleeves fitted, straight, or belled; pullover or cardigan (cardigans can be worked flat, or round then steeked)–the sky’s the limit! You’ll learn tips for overcoming yarn obstacles and using unique handspun yarn. And you’ll be able to adapt the recipe for any yarn and style you like, for a lifetime of sweater knitting without a pattern or a single seam!
Students must know how to cast on, knit, and cast off. Knowing how to increase and pick up stitches is helpful but can be taught.
Please bring yarn of choice or we can help you choose materials during the hour before the first class
16″ circular needle or dpns in size determined by gauge swatch (or 24″ circular for 2XL+ sizes)
16″ circular needle or dpns in size 2-3 sizes smaller than above for ribbed trim only–others use same size
(or 24″ circular for 2XL+ sizes)
24 or 36″ circular needle in size determined by gauge swatch (or 36 - 40″ needle for 2XL+ sizes)
yarn needle
4 stitch markers, including one in a contrasting color.
I’ve misplaced my camera, so you won’t get any pictures today (sorry to be a tease), but HOLY SHIT, DOES MY NEW STRAUCH DOUBLEWIDE MOTORIZED DRUM CARDER ROCK!
You heard right. Motorized, baby.
Strauch now offers motorized drum carders, or a motorized upgrade kit if you already have a Finest or 200 (the motor can only be added to chain-drive carders). And when you buy the upgrade kit, you have the option of having Otto do it for free (you only pay for the shipping), which is amazing. You can also DIY (the motor is built into a frame which goes under your machine, vs. the upgrade, where the motor is mounted into the existing frame), but I think that’s kinda nuts when the man himself will do it for free (shipping it to him will probably fall between $25 - $35 UPS if you generate the label online instead of at the UPS store).
The Motorized Finest is $1724.00 (doublewide $2024.00). Motorizing kit for manual Finest or 200 series is $1150.00 (1200.00 for doublewides), which includes labor if you want Otto to do it. It ain’t cheap, but I think it’s as better price than the other small motorized machines out there & it’s a wise investment if you have a fiber business. And of course, Art Club offers layaway…. (I haven’t yet listed them, but email me if you’re interested. I’ll be offering reduced shipping plus 3# of free fiber with the motorized machines and 2# with upgrades. Yes, I’m the Fiber Enabler. What’s it to ya?) He’s also working on a 230V one for you overseas types.
Initially, I was going to play it cool and get the upgrade kit for my Finest, but then I realized I’d need to replace it for Yarn School (we can’t have the liability of students using a motorized carder), so I thought, what the hell!
My carding arm (aka my mousing arm) has been fucked up for the last couple of months (I keep straining it on some new project just when I’ve babied it for weeks) and it is very, very happy about my new purchase. Wheeeeeee!
Natalia’s Spring ‘08 goodie bag from the Yarn School Photo Pool
Every Yarn School and Felt School student gets a marvelous fiber goodie bag. If you’re a fiber arts supplier and you’d like to get samples of your goods into the hot little hands of rabid fiber enthusiasts via the Yarn School and/or Felt School goodie bags, contact nikol at harveyvilleproject dot com.
Here are our guidelines:
Fiber items should be at least one ounce
Add-ins like locks, sparkle, notions, etc., may be smaller
All samples should be clearly labeled with the vendor’s name & contact info
Please provide 36 items for the Yarn School bags and/or 24 items for the Felt School bags
Door prizes should be clearly labeled with vendor’s name & contact info
We’ll have a vendor literature rack available. Anyone may submit literature; door prize/goodie bag contributors may have literature/sample cards inside the goodie bags as well.
All goodie/door prize contributors may submit a 50×140 pixel gif of jpeg banner for display on the Fiber School, Yarn School, or Felt School pages (please specify) and The Thrifty Knitter website. Banners will post after items are received and will appear until registration for the Spring session opens.
It looks like the kitten’s going to be okay! They glued up the scary gash and they’re helping him with what looks like a busted pelvis, but she thinks he’ll recover! Yay! Send him good kitteny healing wishes. If someone nearby wants to adopt him, the vet is Carbondale Pet Clinic, 785-836-7212.
It wasn’t supposed to be a maternity sweater, but I went a little nuts with the hip shaping, apparently. It’s even too loose for my fat ass (the pictures are forgiving. It actually looks baggier & more awkward in real life).
I also thought the same pattern would be cute much shorter, for a 50s look (I guess that’s where I was going with the July mini raglan, sans puff sleeves, because I had so little yarn):
Even if the bagginess didn’t bother me, it turns out the yarn does. It’s baby soft & totally passed the neck and face test, but my chest doesn’t like it. Maybe I’m a little sensitve to angora? From now on, I’m stuffing a ball of yarn down my shirt all day before I make any next to skin garments. So this will either go to my next friend to gets knocked up, or maybe I’ll do a raffle or something. I wouldn’t mind getting together a bunch of prizes and doing some raffles to raise money to fund a mobile rural neuter clinic once a year out here.
I’m so bummed by the vast numbers of squashed kittens in the road lately. Yesterday, I was driving Sugarfoot to the vet, and there was really fucking adorable blue-eyed siamese kitten dragging itself across the road. Poor little guy–I guess he must have just been hit. I picked him up and took him with me, but I don’t know whether they were able to fix him up. I thought maybe he wasn’t too bad off, because he wasn’t crying, he was sitting up, alert, just kind of chilling and checking it out with those blinky, unfocused kitten eyes. lt turns out it was worse than I thought when I scooped him up (I didn’t realize at the time, but he had a scary-looking are-those-his-guts? big open wound on his abdomen, oddly un-bloody, though, and his tongue and gums were nice and pink, so maybe not too much blood loss?)–but even if they couldn’t help him, at least he got a little love and didn’t end up repeatedly squooshed or slowly baking in the heat or eaten by buzzards, or bait to squash his mom or siblings as well. The cat situation is pretty awful out here. Spay/neuter has not caught on and there’s a very 1970s vibe about pet ownership. It’s weird, pet stuff that’s considered kind of uncouth and barbaric is pretty par for the course. Even the attentive, relatively responsible pet owners have no qualms about producing bushels of kittens and puppies, though there are clearly limitless unwanted pets. Anyway, so yeah, I’ve been thinking about trying to come up with something like SNAP on a once-a-year sort of scale. Ron said he wasn’t sure if people would do it even if it was free, so I thought maybe we could get Hill’s or someone to donate free bags of food as an incentive. I don’t know. But it’s worth a look.
I can’t stop knitting raglans! I can’t believe I squeezed this little cutie out of 2 skeins of Vera Videnovich and a little leftover Beaverslide Mulespun. Not having boobs is heaven on skimpy yardage!
I made it to go over a shirt, thusly:
But it looks cute without, so I’ll probably made some more tight little mini raglans to wear as Indian summer sweaters:
That’s a really weird angle (squatting clumsily to fit in the mac cam frame), but you get the idea.
It was super easy. I’ll write up the pattern when I’m less tired and thirsty.
SpinningAthena’s holding a Red Cross fundraiser for the Iowa relief effort. For every $5 you donate, you get a chance at winning a Hanne Falkenberg kit–and non-knitters go into a raffle for handknit socks! Finally, someone has combined charity, gambling & knitting. Hurrah!
If I can quit feeling like a fat turd, I’ll try to get a picture of the whole thing, but I couldn’t seem to get a shot that didn’t make me look depressingly dumpy (which I am, but I don’t want to look at it), so you only get the top of the top, which avoids my problem areas! Ta da!
This is a great pattern (Loop-d-Loop Ballet T). I adjusted the pattern to fit my yarn gauge. The only shitty part is weaving in a bunch of cotton ends (I used 6 50g balls). But it’s a cute top, fast to knit & flattering (when you’re not feeling yucky and self-conscious). The color does nothing for me, but it was a bunch of cotton blend stuff I got on a Webs grab bag a couple years ago & this was a good use for it. Maybe I’ll make a skirt to go with it that will bring out some hidden color that looks better…. I hate dying cotton, so that’s out. Or maybe not. I don’t know? Should I dye it
Cathy speculating about the wet fiber. I’ll link to the dry beauty shots whent hey post them.
I made them pour all the unexhausted dye into bins of superwash laps. Then I poured over the extra dregs and tossed them in the roaster. I’ll report back when it’s dry!
Spinster’s Club was fabulous! We met at Marta’s place (Alpacas in Wildcat Hollow) and got to spin on their beautiful garden gazebo. It was one of those perfect fluffy cloud days, warm but not hot, with a lovely breeze (but not too windy to spin). The alpacas were gamboling in the pasture. Laura chatted with a mourning dove with her perfect bird calls. Marta even made homemade ice cream. It could have be a postcard for country living.
Laura brought her weird little kick spindle thing, made by the same person who makes the Trixie & Little Joe, but I didn’t get around to trying it.
Marta just got back a bunch of lovelies from the mill, and I had to pick up a few goodies. I got half a pound of Marguerite’s gorgeous cinnamon stick-colored roving, and a quarter pound of the new tricolor, sort of a latte swirl (brown, fawn, and white), to compliment the brown/black/white tricolor swirl roving I picked up during Yarn School.
I’m setting my July goals to finish spinning my 07 floor batts & to spin all my Wildcat Hollow rovings.
I worked on some floor batts (made from the fiber dregs floating around the gym floor) I made during Yarn School 07, and wound the Louet bobbins onto a Woolee Winder bobbin so Jen could borrow them.
Then we went to Jennifer’s shop (we took the VERY scenic route thanks to my appalling directions) and I was totally good and only made a very few extra purchases (some more of the same merino/seasilk colorway, a 2-pronged shawl pin, and some silver angelina).
From one of Jen’s sheep. I will be getting this as soon as I’m a good girl and finish using my Videnovich farms yarn. I do so love the natural colored yarn.
This is the most fiberlicious weekend since Yarn School!
Friday: Settlers Farm (new LYS) grand opening
Saturday: Dye Party Sleepover (thank you for my fabulous Spring 08 Yarn School helpers)
Sunday: Spinsters Club at Alpacas at Wildcat Hollow, with field trip to Setters Farm!
Settlers Farm Grand Opening Weekend!
(I’m kicking myself, because, as usual, I took pictures of stuff and not people! The stuff was just too sexy. I’ll have to get some people pictures on Sunday. I really meant to get a picture of the double-ended knitting of the giant scarf, and Jennifer with her 4-foot knitting needles!)
If you live in the Manhattan/Topeka area, head out to the main drag in Wamego for Jennifer’s (Whirled Yarn) brand new LYS (or is it LYSS? there’s spinning goodness!). Marilyn & I went out Friday & the Spinsters Club is heading out after our spinning circle at Marta’s. Yay!
The store is awesome! Aside from being really beautiful, it’s totally warm and inviting, with comfy chairs everywhere begging you to relax and have a little knit or a spin. Laura Mead from Laura’s Pygoras was teaching spindling. And there’s this awesome swatching bar–a table with cubbies filled with all the yarns the shop carries that you can swatch up to see how they knit! There are also little sample balls of fiber to spin. It’s so nice. She’s got Louet & Babe wheels & the Mach 1.
Now the eye candy:
Entrance & notions wall in the back.
Knitting table & chairs with the swatch bar
A lot of the yarn is displayed in awesome old cupboards & wardrobes. There’s tons of wood and natural light and high ceilings, and lots of space to walk around.
Fiber case. Balls of rovings and tops on the shelves, and drawers full of angelina, dyed locks, little balls of a million colors, and more baskets of rovings along the floor.
Wool and wool/silk dyed colors, silks, and bamboo.
Natural colors, including many local fibers and several from Jen’s own flock!
Two drawers of Angelina (each divider has several shades of that color range)!
Drawers of dyed (local!) mohair, and there’s local angora underneath!
Commercial yarn, and a good selection of hand-dyed (the hand dyed photo was really blurry–I’ll try for a better one tomorrow)
More yarn!
Ceiling!
And my haul! I masochistically deprived myself of my favorites–the black sheep roving–because I have so much of my own right now. Plus for once in my life I was restrained and didn’t try to snake the awesome black shetland Marilyn found. (I am generally terrible to shop with–you have to be fast and/or pushy. It’s an awful quality. Well, for people shopping with me. For me, it’s great!)
And going on upstairs right now: A Good Day to Dye! Dye/Slumber party, a little thank you for my fabulous Spring 08 helpers! And wherever there are spinsters, there are sweets. Cathy brought cookies, Jen brought homemade marshmallows, and Marilyn brought some kind of chocolate raspberry torte thing. Temptresses!
I only picked up this half of the craft room. The other half’s a disaster. Now, I’m off to join the fun!
Not enough yarn for the original Flip video outfit, so dug up another Yarn School 07 floor yarn & made this:
Snugly fitted case lets you use the camera with the jumpsuit on but the flap open; flap closes to protect the lens & controls. It’s a bit sloppy due to a combination of lazy craftsmanship in the crochet and problems with the yarn itself (which is why it wound up as floor yarn, I imagine). It’s actually a little nicer in real life, but I didn’t want to go hunt down my camera. And I’m well pleased with the vintage Hello Yarn button, aren’t you?
Finally, we’re back in action! I can’t wait for the much-need fiber camaraderie and inspiration. I’ve had the blahs all month. This month’s meeting is a double threat. We’re doing our main spinning at Alpacas in Wildcat Hollow (Marta’s place), then descending on Jennifer Schermerhorn’s (of Whirled Yarn fame + Yarn School teacher) new yarn & spinning store, Settler’s Farm. RSVP & I’ll give you directions to Marta’s. Newcomers are always welcome, so if you’re in KC/Topeka/Lawrence/Manhattan, join us!
I can always bring a couple extra wheels & spindles. Gimme a heads up if you need me to grab you some. (I just got 2 new spindles thanks to mikewade’s drop spindles set.)
I don’t mind that she copied my design in crochet (nothing wrong with making your own version of things) or that she’s selling them, but that she’s totally pretending it was her idea!
“My next pillows are going to be plain janes. But I came up with this guy first so I had to make him.”
It’s not like it’s an ipod cover or a pillow or something totally natural for 50 people to make the same way. It’s a freaking SEX TOY HOLDER shaped like an OWL with a HIDDEN COMPARTMENT that closes with DRAWSTRING LEGS. Not one drop of “my version of…” or “inspired by” or anything like that, just patting herself on the back for coming up with such a clever idea. The brass!
What do you even say to that? I mean, should I email this person? Weird.
Speaking of crochet, I’m making some underpants for my Flip video camera. When they’re done, they’ll be more like overalls, I’m guessing, but for now:
I can not seem to get my ass going. The only thing I’ve knit in the last month is my puff-sleeve sweater, still on the needles, languishing, even though it promises to be especially cute. I haven’t spun a thing since the week after yarn school. I’m way behind on my batts. I’ve been consumed with cheesemaking on and off for the last month, but even that isn’t dazzling me right now, and I have 3 gallons of fresh milk beseeching me every time I open the fridge door. What’s my problem?
I think my crafty inertia is due to my wrecked craft room. After Yarn School and before Prom, we just shoved everything back in there willy-nilly, and I haven’t properly put it all back. I spent a couple hours in there tidying yesterday, but I’m still feeling uninspired. I need to make something, quickly! And maybe that will jumpstart me. Bleh.
I’ve got to finish the sweater by the end of the month to stay on track with Sweater-a-Month (I got a free pass in May because of my extra January sweater, but I’m out of surplus). I’d also like to start a Yarn School blanket of all the dreggsy yarn that gets left behind. Maybe mitered squares? Although I’d really prefer something I don’t have to seam. Log cabin would be fine until you get to the outer blocks. Maybe I’ll crochet it instead, just single stripes. Hm.
Okay, I’m going to go knock 2 things off today’s To Do list, and as a reward, I get to start my blanket guiltlessly!
I just heard from Tina that my little guy (the one on the right) got eaten by coyotes, along with Pignose (below) and another Shetland wether. He was still at Ewephoria Farm being weaned So we’ll have to find me a new Uncle Honeybunch. I was so excited about him. Don’t tell the others I said so, but he was the cutest of the bunch. It’s just heartbreaking.
I hope our fencing combo will keep out coyotes. We’re doing horse fence (5′ high stretched woven wire) around the whole back and portable electric for small rotating pastures inside. And I guess I ought to get some practice with the shotgun. Yikes.
After nearly a month without knitting, I picked up my needles last night. It’s probably too late for me to finish a May sweater from scratch, what with Prom (Come to Prom!) around the corner and all. But I did finish 2 sweaters in January, so I’m still on track either way.
My current sweater’s a puff-sleeved summer raglan made from the mountains of Angora Soft I have on hand. I’m using a YO increase, increasing front and back sections every other row and the sleeve sections every single row.
Hopefully they’ll be a little puffier and more even than my first experiment with puff sleeves, which were more of an afterthought because I liked the way the fabric was bunching up on my needles.
Mom’s Puff-Sleeved Raglan Cardi (April Sweater)
4 balls Knit Picks Elegance, handspun single from Mustache Rides Mystery Batts. Basic raglan cardigan, handspun yoke, evenly-spaced increases to make puff sleeves, gusseted underarms, all-around ribbing, rounded bottom corners, vintage button.
We’ve got just a few spots left, so if you want in, put a wiggle in it. Right now, we have only triples & group rooms available, but send a note with your registration if you’d like to be wait-listed for a double–we might have one opening up.
I’ve been working on all the fiber & goodies and I’m so excited I could pee! Or maybe those are two entirely separate things…
Lacy merino heirloom blankets are lovely, but this practical hooded cotton baby blanket is cute, cool, and machine-washable, making it a welcome gift for hot and sticky summer newborns. It’s a cute and cushy poolside wrap for baby, but it’s equally handy at bathtime, when the hood holds the wrap steady to help dry a wiggly baby. And toddlers love it as a play-time cape.
As for customizing, the pattern gives you plenty of room for leaving your own imprint with trim, pattern, and color. Trim with broken rib (shown), seed stitch, garter, picot edging, or multi-colored stripes. Use a single color, contrast trim, a million skinny stripes, or mom or dad’s team or school colors. And if all that stockinette makes your eyes cross, whip out your stitch dictionary and make the sampler version instead.
I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease, but any worsted machine washable cotton blend will work. (All-cotton will work, too, but the blend brings a little more bounce to the fabric).
Knitting for a winter baby? Make a cool-weather version in superwash merino like Karabella Aurora 8. For a winter version, when the added bulk will be appreciated, you could even work in your favorite Fair Isle pattern.
YARN
3 balls Lion Brand Cotton Ease (3.50 oz./100 g, 207 yd/188 m, 50% Cotton/50% Acrylic), all 3 the same, or 1 ball in contrasting color for trim, if you wish
NEEDLES
US 8 (5mm) 32″ or longer circular needle
Sharp yarn needle for finishing
SIZE
26 x 26 in (66 x 66 cm) with 8 in (20 cm) deep hood
GAUGE
16 st = 10cm (4 inches) in stockinette st
PATTERN Blanket Plain (shown): CO 100 st. Work 24″/61 cm in stockinette st. BO loosely.
Sampler variation: Use your favorite stitch reference to select 2 – 16 different pattern stitches for your sampler. Select patterns suitable for 22 st (you can always flank the main pattern with a few columns of knit stitches if the number isn’t exact).
You can simply alternate checkerboard-fashion, between a patterned square and a stockinette square, or work every square with a different pattern. If you’re using several patterns, you might want photocopy the swatches from your reference book and arrange them in a 4×4 grid to make sure you’re pleased with your overall pattern.
C0 100.
Row 1 (WS): Knit.
Row 2 (RS): Purl.
Row 3 (WS), set up sampler grid: K3, PM, K 22, PM, K2, PM, K 22, PM, K2, PM K22, PM, K2, PM, K22, PM, K3. The markers designate your sampler squares, plus their dividing grid.
On Row 4 (RS), begin your sampler squares, purling all stitches outside of the 22-st blocks. Work each set of 4 squares until the square itself is 4″ (10 cm) tall, then work 3 rows in reverse stockinette (purls showing). Begin next set of 4 sampler squares, and repeat until you have a 4 x 4 grid, complete with final 3 rows of reverse stockinette. BO.
Hood Front
CO 39 st.
Work in stockinette throughout, decreasing as follows:
Every RS (knit) row: K1, ssk, k to 3 st from end, k2tog, K1
Every WS row: purl
When you have 5 st remaining, work WS (purl) row as usual, then this RS row: k1, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k1—3st.
BO.
With WS facing, seam hood to blanket corner with mattress st.
Sampler variation: substitute a patterned stitch of your choosing for the stockinette, maintaining the plain decreases and knit stitch at either edge.
Edging
With WS facing, and starting in the corner opposite the hood, PU st all the way around the blanket. PU one st for every st along top and bottom of blanket and open edge of hood, and 3 st for every 4 rows along sides of blanket. As you go, place a stitch marker in each of the 3 blanket corners.
As you work, you’ll place an increase of your choice before and after each marker every other rnd.
Work edging of choice (broken rib shown) for 1 inch, then bind off.
Edging Suggestions: Broken rib, seed stitch, garter stitch, moss stich, picot edging, simple eyelet, etc.
Finishing
Weave in all ends. I prefer to use a sharp needle and split the yarn as I weave in the ends, as the cotton doesn’t have the nice fiber grab of wool. I work in one direction about an inch, then double back, working through the woven-in portion of my yarn end on my way back, to make it extra secure. If possible, hide the very end of the tail in a seam or picked up edge.
Last year, several students said they’d like to include hand-dyed yarn or fiber from their own stores in future Yarn School goodie bags. If you’re a fiber producer and would like to promote your fibery goodness at Spring Yarn School, here are the guidelines:
- Qty: 36
- Delivered by 4/23/08
- Spinning fiber or yarn should be be at least an ounce; more is better!
- Items like dyed locks, sparkle, etc, should be at least 10g
- Each should be labeled with your company name/info/url
- You can include additional trinkets, promo info, etc.
Let me know asap if you’d like to participate & what you plan to send. Feel free to spread the word if you have fiber friends. Thanks, y’all.
Tina has a fiber/yarn garage sale on Saturday. Marilyn & I went and gorged ourselves. I was a bit naughtier, but I had Yarn School fleece to buy. I got 2 enormous Romney fleeces, a ton of yarn, mostly singles, which I’m trying to swear off because they pill like hell in sweaters, and sweaters are all I want to knit anymore, some dyed locks, a little raw alpaca, a little raw moorit merino, and a good chunk of dyed commercial top for my personal use. And, TONS OF BABY LAMBS! Mostly Shetlands, but a few Romneys and one late Merino they didn’t even realize was pregnant.
Look!
This one was the only Shetland who didn’t twin, and she was particularly vigilant over her lamb. I think she’s the cutest of the Shetland ewes. You know how some animals just look like people in animal suits? She totally looks like people.
Mama kept going from stall to stall, with the lambs following her. Here she’s changed her mind and now they’re all running back into this stall. The darker lamb is the only ram lamb of all the Shetlands this year, and he’ll be moving to Cupcake Ranch after he’s weaned.
This nice lady was more than a month after all the other Merinos. She just had the one little lamb. They didn’t even realize she was pregnant. He’s only about a day old, and all tuckered out. Eventually, he’ll be raised with goats at Laura’s place. They’re pygoras, which means he’ll be bigger than them, which is good because goats are more assertive than sheep. Like the Shetland with one lamb, she was very watchful. Not nervous or anything, but in both cases, they were quite still and Secret Service-like, never taking their eyes off the people.
And how about this! Bertha, this Romney ewe, is mama to both of these little lambs! One black and one white! Could you ask for a cuter family?
Mama’s fleece will be for sale at Yarn School. We’ll be washing some raw fleece in class, but I bought extra so students can buy a pound or two if they want to take some home and get some experience working on it without committing to a whole fleece.
Speaking of fleece, I sent off Ninny’s (the chocolate merino) fleece to Zeilinger’s, along with 2 stray random mystery fleeces I bought off a list a while back, to get in under the wire of their prepay sale. Those were all smaller lots, so they’ll all be roving instead of combed top. It’s always so fun to see how raw fleece will turn out. If I were clever, I would have kept samples of all the fiber I’ve sent off. Too bad I’m not.
And I still haven’t figured out exactly how I want to wrap up the spin kits I made for CRAFT. I have to sort it out tomorrow one way or the other, because I want to pack them up Tuesday and get them on their way so I can concentrate on Yarn School. I’ll try to post a few shots tomorrow if I can make a freaking decision. They’ll be for sale at Maker Fair.
If you’re near Lawrence, take a look at this show this week. It runs through Friday. The gallery’s in Marvin Hall (the building’s aren’t numbered, so the address won’t help you at all). It’s a small show, maybe 10 or a dozen pieces, lovely & compelling and smartly made. Exciting art made with excellent craftsmanship, and particularly resonant if you’re a female losing a battle with domesticity. Charming and clever and tender. I was well pleased, but wished it was a much bigger show.
is officially out! I designed a very cute A-line linen skirt (in linen stitch–Shannon’s idea) for it. Here’s a sneaky detail shot of the side trim, not yet crisply blocked:
PATTERN
