NJStacie

MARKED DOWN De-Stash Lots

2011-11-29T10:25:00.002-05:00

HEY! There's still lots of yarn for sale, and it's all been MARKED DOWN. Thinking of knitting stuff for the holidays? This is what you need! YARN YARN YARN!

It's all been marked down a bunch. BARGAINS, people!

Here's how it works:
- Lots cannot be broken up. These are all packed up already.
- Shipping & Handling is $5 per lot for anywhere in the US, more for international.
- First come, first served. I'll mark lots as sold as they go.

If you are interested in a particular lot, please email me at njstacie(at)gmail(dot)com with the Lot# you are interested in as the subject line. If it's available, I'll send you an invoice via Paypal and mark the item as "pending" until I receive payment. If I do not receive payment within 24 hours, it will become available for purchase again. If it's NOT available, I'll email you and let you know. I'll be marking things as SOLD as they go.

Ready?

Lot #10: 2 Painted Skeins, 2 YoYo, 1 madtosh, 1 mystery. $50

Lot #11: 8 oz. Bella, 1 Yarn Love, 1 Kersti, 1 mystery. $35

Lot #12: 1 Kersti, 1 FoF, 1 Sunshine Yarns, 1 Mtn. Colors $35

Lot #13: 1 Donegal Tweed, 2 Noro CashIroha, 2 Rowan YTA, 1 mystery $40

Lot #14: 2 BlueSky, 1 handspun, 1 mystery, 1 STR $50

Lot #15: 1 DB Maya, 1 Manos, 1 CAC, 1 Terra $30

Lot #16: 2 Whatnot, 1 Schaeffer, 1 handspun, 1 mystery $35

Lot #17: 2 DIC Classy, 1 Mal Twist, 1 Mystery $40

Lot #18: 1 Corn Snake, 2 STR, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 Whatnot $50

Lot #20: 1 Cherry Tree, 1 Shivaya, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 STR, 1 mystery $50

Lot #21: 1 CE Princess, 5 mystery $25

Lot #22: 1 ATH, 3 Koigu, 1 Sunchine, 1 Handmaiden, 1 mystery $50

Lot #24: 1 Syncopation, 1 Big Tryst, 1 Zen, 1 Nature's Palette, 3 mystery $45

Lot #26: 1 YoYo, 1 JulieSpins, 1 WhatNot, 1 BlackBunny, 1 mystery $50

Lot #27: 1 Shivaya, 1 Rowan, 1 SariSilk, 5 mystery $35

Lot #28: 1 STR, 1 MiddleEarth, 1 Schaeffer, 1 FoF, 1 Sunshine $50

Lot #29: 1 Fleece Artist, 1 YoYo, 1 Spritely Goods, 2 mystery $50

Lot #30: 1 Ocean Winds, 1 Syncopation, 2 Yarn Love, 1 Schaeffer $60

Lot #31: 1 EKF, 1 STR, 1 madtosh, 1 Kersti, 1 Nature's Palette $50

Lot #32: 1 YoYo, 1 Tofutsies, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 Kersti, 1 JulieSpins, 1 mystery $50

Lot #33: 1 Lambs Pride, 1 Patons, 2 Gigante, 4 mystery $25

Lot #34: 2 NatureSpun, 1 Comfort Chunky, 1 Rowan, 3 mystery $18

Lot #35: 1 Alpaca, 1 handspun, 5 mystery $30

Lot #36: 5 Cotton/Bamboo, 4 mystery $30

Lot #37: 5 (or so) Manos Stria $20

Lot #38: 6 Colourmart Cashmere $30

Lot #39: 6 Auracania $40

Lot #44: 6 Malabrigo Gruesa $40

SOLD

Lot #48: 7 Knitpicks Gloss DK $15

SOLD

Lot #50: 5 Tweeds $15

SOLD

Lot #52: Silky Wool $18

SOLD

Lot #56: 2 Pink variegated $5

It's De-Stash Time!

2011-10-25T09:28:00.009-04:00

Here's how it works:
- Lots cannot be broken up. These are all packed up already.
- Shipping & Handling is $5 for anywhere in the US, more for international. I can combine shipping.
- First come, first served. I'll mark lots as sold as they go.

If you are interested in a particular lot, please email me at njstacie(at)gmail(dot)com with the Lot# you are interested in as the subject line. If it's available, I'll send you an invoice via Paypal and mark the item as "pending" until I receive payment. If I do not receive payment within 24 hours, it will become available for purchase again. If it's NOT available, I'll email you and let you know. I'll be marking things as SOLD as they go.

Ready?

Lot #10: 2 Painted Skeins, 2 YoYo, 1 madtosh, 1 mystery. $70

Lot #11: 8 oz. Bella, 1 Yarn Love, 1 Kersti, 1 mystery. $50

Lot #12: 1 Kersti, 1 FoF, 1 Sunshine Yarns, 1 Mtn. Colors $50

Lot #13: 1 Donegal Tweed, 2 Noro CashIroha, 2 Rowan YTA, 1 mystery $50

Lot #14: 2 BlueSky, 1 handspun, 1 mystery, 1 STR $60

Lot #15: 1 DB Maya, 1 Manos, 1 CAC, 1 Terra $40

Lot #16: 2 Whatnot, 1 Schaeffer, 1 handspun, 1 mystery $50

Lot #17: 2 DIC Classy, 1 Mal Twist, 1 Mystery $50

Lot #18: 1 Corn Snake, 2 STR, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 Whatnot $70

SOLD

Lot #20: 1 Cherry Tree, 1 Shivaya, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 STR, 1 mystery $70

Lot #21: 1 CE Princess, 5 mystery $40

Lot #22: 1 ATH, 3 Koigu, 1 Sunchine, 1 Handmaiden, 1 mystery $70

SOLD

Lot #24: 1 Syncopation, 1 Big Tryst, 1 Zen, 1 Nature's Palette, 3 mystery $60

SOLD

Lot #26: 1 YoYo, 1 JulieSpins, 1 WhatNot, 1 BlackBunny, 1 mystery $70

Lot #27: 1 Shivaya, 1 Rowan, 1 SariSilk, 5 mystery $50

Lot #28: 1 STR, 1 MiddleEarth, 1 Schaeffer, 1 FoF, 1 Sunshine $70

Lot #29: 1 Fleece Artist, 1 YoYo, 1 Spritely Goods, 2 mystery $70

Lot #30: 1 Ocean Winds, 1 Syncopation, 2 Yarn Love, 1 Schaeffer $80

Lot #31: 1 EKF, 1 STR, 1 madtosh, 1 Kersti, 1 Nature's Palette $70

Lot #32: 1 YoYo, 1 Tofutsies, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 Kersti, 1 JulieSpins, 1 mystery $70

Lot #33: 1 Lambs Pride, 1 Patons, 2 Gigante, 4 mystery $40

Lot #34: 2 NatureSpun, 1 Comfort Chunky, 1 Rowan, 3 mystery $25

Lot #35: 1 Alpaca, 1 handspun, 5 mystery $40

Lot #36: 5 Cotton/Bamboo, 4 mystery $40

Lot #37: 5 (or so) Manos Stria $30

Lot #38: 6 Colourmart Cashmere $40

Lot #39: 6 Auracania $60

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

Lot #44: 6 Malabrigo Gruesa $50

SOLD

SOLD

Lot #47: 7 Douceur et Soie $50

Lot #48: 7 Knitpicks Gloss DK $20

Lot #49: 10 Silky Tweed $50

Lot #50: 5 Tweeds $20

Lot #51: Miscellaneous Cascade $60

Lot #52: Silky Wool $25

SOLD

SOLD

Lot #55: 2 Mal Silky Merino, Alchemy Bamboo $30

Lot #56: 2 Pink variegated $10

SOLD

Whirlwind

2011-10-13T09:46:00.001-04:00

Holy crap. I've been absent the blog for some time, but with GOOD REASON! It's been bananas around here.

I made this shawl:

This Nature invaded my house:

I finished knitting my wedding dress!

And then I went and got married!

And then I had this BABY!

(HA HA! Just Kidding!)

Instead, I went to Bar Harbor:

...and Wild Blueberry Land:

I made some other stuff too:

I'm currently recovering from all of that, and a killer cold! Off to Rhinebeckistan this weekend. I'll get back to more serious posting soon enough, kids. Promise.

Oh, Procrastination.

2011-08-18T15:57:00.000-04:00

Dress knitting is complete, and I've moved on to the sewing portion of this extravaganza:

First, the petticoats. I made these with all new stuff, though I had Kathy's petticoats to work from and utilize, as well as 2 other wedding dresses that people offered up for me to use or cut up. All keeping in line with my last post :)

The next step is the under-dress. I'm using some green taffeta, which is a beast to work with, and I've been doing a Very Good Job of procrastinating:

I made this bag, which has been in my queue for quite awhile, and I even had the straps for it! My main issue with the pattern is that it called for large grommets, but I couldn't find any grommets large enough to accommodate the width of the leather straps. I ended up getting some plastic rings and buttonhole stitching all around the holes and the rings. Seems to be working out alright so far.

In my excitement to be knitting anything that was not 1. linen, 2. a dress, 3. white, I cast on for the Druid mittens with some madtosh Vintage in "Maple Leaf". I originally knit the first mitten with the cuff (as written) but it turned out to be too gauntlet-y, and no one needs that. I ripped it out - I'll be adding a ribbed cuff and lining to each of these.

I've also been working on a few random crafty jobs - this is a paper-cut I made for a friend's massage business (I'll link once this is approved and all okayed). We're toying with type to go with it, which *may* be cut out as well - NO PAPYRUS, I promise! (Why do so many massage places use that?!?!?!)
There's also a full-leather memorial binding that's in the works, 2 guestbooks, and a couple of albums - pictures to come later once they reach their intended recipients (and I complete them).

On Heirlooms

2011-07-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

I'm getting married in 2 months. I am so over talking about the wedding - no one wants to hear that shit, and I super-duper don't want to talk about it. It's tedious! But one thing I have learned in the wedding process is how huge a scam the wedding industry is. Oh, you want that for your wedding? Let me just add a zero to the price.

One thing that I've been encountering a lot of is the blatant abuse of the word "heirloom". I've been seeing a lot of "heirloom quality" and "future heirloom" bandied about, and it's pretty bullshit. The QUALITY of an item does not make it an heirloom, and I'm not even going to get started on the shoddy quality of the mass-produced items in question. Most of the keepsakes that my family holds on to are handmade, and not necessarily of any superior quality. In fact, many are falling apart. They are just nice things that I like. There is no specific sentiment behind them, and if there was, that sentiment belonged to SOMEONE ELSE.

As for "future heirloom" - well, I can't control what future generations are going to find precious and sweet. I've had to deal with a lot of my family's crap over the years, and I'm not holding on to things just because so-and-so loved it. My Aunt Virginia collected little porcelain bunny rabbits (her last name was Hare) - I have ZERO interest in little porcelain bunny rabbits, so I didn't take them. I don't want to impose what I find lovely and sentimental on anyone else. "Future Heirloom" - let's talk about that lovely macrame wall-hanging that your mother made in 1972 - I bet she thought THAT was a "future heirloom"! And guess what, I picked it up at a yard sale for 5 cents. One man's treasure and all that.

You can't impose an "heirloom" on anybody, nor should you be purchasing things for their potential heirloom-ability. It's the wedding equivalent of purchasing "Collector's Edition!" items. Which is bullshit.

Tour & More

2011-07-26T12:15:00.000-04:00

My July was spent watching the Tour de France, and spinning for the Tour de Fleece. I really enjoy watching the TdF - it's a lovely snapshot of France, and I find the logistics and endurance of the cycling to be fascinating. And with the Tour de FLEECE, I actually get a ton of spinning done:

This year's goal was to tackle a lot of the long wools that have been piling up. I managed to get a few sweater lots of Romney and Wensleydale spun up, with some breaks for shorter wools and smaller quantities. I'm pleased as punch with my progress this year: 8 pounds, 1.5 ounces - 7889 yards total.

I've also been working on getting these things printed up and out of the house:

I picked up an L Letterpress for invitation printing. I don't have the floor space, money, or structural beams to have a true letterpress here, but this seemed to be just the right size for making up these invitations. I had some plates made through Boxcar Press (from paper cuts that I made) and read some of their reviews and hints for using the L Letterpress. The printing went fairly well - that little machine is pretty cool and I do see myself making more things with it. The plates from Boxcar were crisp and easy to clean. Registration was easy and smooth, and the imprint was fine on the 160gsm cotton rag I used.

Envelopes are addressed and these are heading out the door!

Busy-ness, assorted.

2011-06-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

Things have been a hodge-podge of busy over here. We got a new couch, which involved getting rid of the old couch (and chairs), taking down a ton of shelves, and basically re-configuring the entire living room. Behold, comfort:

...and excessive shelf space:

It totally opens up the room and makes everything fabulous.

Of course, this was just one stage of numerous home-repair projects. A month or two ago we helped a friend move, and managed to score 6 new-to-us dining room chairs. They're comfortable, and fit wonderfully in our dining room, but the seats were a blase beige (and dirty!) microsuede. Not so much. Off to IKEA! A staple gun, some fabric, and a half hour later, and we've got stellar new chairs:

I love that they are each a little bit different from one another but all play well together.

There was also some smaller crafting going on (the quilt is on hold for a bit as it's been a bit too warm to work on the hand-quilting) - these shoes:

Someone pinned these a few months ago and I haven't stopped thinking about them. The originals were Marc Jacobs for Vans, but they seemed easy enough to replicate, no? Air-erase marker, fabric marker, and a half hour later.....I have awesome new summer shoes! Hooray!

There's also been some paper-cutting:

These were sent out to have plates made in order to letterpress invitations and miscellany. The plates came out WONDERFULLY and I can't wait to get printing. Oh! Also in paper-cutting news, the Ignite presentation I gave a few months ago is now up online. It's all those 80s papercuts.....

There's been some knitting too:

Saartje's Booties, HelloYarn Fat Sock leftovers.

Damask, handspun HY "Winter Storage" singles spun by the most delightful Sparkcrafted. I'm knitting this up for her.

And thinking about knitting a Stripe Study with these:

That's Malabrigo Lace on the left, and Spunky Eclectic "Orchard" Romney handspun singles on the right. The mal lace is....felty and pilly. ALREADY! Grumble.

Spiralling

2011-05-27T09:39:00.000-04:00

Two months ago, The American Folk Art Museum held the "Infinite Variety" quilt show in New York for 4 days. Sadly, I did not get a chance to see it in person, but the pictures that were popping up all over the place were inspiring. I was especially intrigued by this one - the optical illusion effect, the simplicity of the design, the whole thing! I HAD TO FIGURE IT OUT.

So when I'm still thinking about it two months later? Yeah, that's a sign that I have to make it. I got out my handy protractor and started to chart the whole thing - I planned on using this lovely pile of colors that I picked up with Kelly in January:

We got a 1/2 yard of each of those 12 Kona Solids - the idea was to make a quilt using those solids and white. I had no ideas.

But then it all started to come together! There was some tweaking, some long division, some cursing, but with much perseverance......

And then the tough part, getting it ALL together.......

It's GIGANTIC! It's about 78" or so across. The center seams are incredibly, um, unseemly - there are 48 seams all converging on one point, making for a LOT of bulk, and a bit of a mess. I appliqued a little quarter-sized circle over the whole mess, and I think it's fine. But the center circles are still all quite thick - it's 3-4 fabric thicknesses for the center foot or so. I'm sure the quilting will be a BEAST - I'll be hand quilting this, as it's just too big to think about running through a machine, and it will gain me a bit more control over the lines and colors. Hoping to begin to tackle the quilting this weekend!

ROADTRIP!!!!!

2011-05-19T02:20:00.002-04:00

We went everywhere - and here you have it mostly in pictures:

This is bullshit on the Interstate in Cleveland. A 90 degree turn? REALLY?

We stayed with the wonderful melseyknits and her husband. It was fantastic, they were wonderful host/esses and lovely, fabulous people. Until we had to leave......

...After defeating Melinda, I revisited my Robot Army:

I am SO fascinated by the windfarms that are cropping up in Iowa, and - having not grown up there - it is wonderful to see them on the horizon and integrated in the landscape. I think they're beautiful.

We visited Inga on her farm to see these Baby Burgers:

...and all the pigs and sheeps and goats and chickens too. In fact, there was some chicken farming involved.

I can't even talk about Milwaukee - we did too much! It's such an awesome city! That will have to be a later post.

BUT! Then we went to Ann Arbor, and went to Zingerman's:

Ohmigod I can't even. It's all too much.

But then we saw Stacey in her latest handknit:

And all was awesome again! Really, this lady is spot-on. If you are in Ann Arbor, I highly recommend getting coffee or scotch with her!

We had our portraits done in Canadia:

I knit these socks on the road:

And we picked up this awesome toolbox:

And so much more! Milwaukee will have to be it's own post - it was all too much.

A lot of people have expressed interest/concern for our tolerance of one another through these road trips. Honestly, we travel REALLY well together. Dale does most of the driving because I can knit and talk (if he is a passenger, he is usually reading, which precluded conversation). We rock out a lot. We listen to a LOT of NPR, when we can get it (we have the NPR map, but there are a bunch of dead zones/shared channels/&c...) We get a little bit crazy, but it is usually mutual. We pack a lot of healthy-ish snacks, we take frequent breaks. We've done this a few times, but every time, I manage to find more awesome roadside attractions - I'm already planning where we can (potentially) stop next year.

Topflappen Swappen!

2011-04-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

The end of April means potholder swap! This past Saturday was swap day - which included a drive out to snowy western MA - and many many potholders:

Maryse, Cheryl, and I were hosted by Adrian to sort and divvy ~500 potholders. And eat delicious food and laugh, of course.

I managed to come home with lots of great potholders, but also a vicious sinus infection/cold, which left me pretty useless and crabby for a few days. I only had enough energy and concentration to work on mindless things, which was perfect for getting a few more (loooong) rows in on this giant granny square afghan:

This is all sorts of odds and ends of handspun yarn and assorted worsted weight bundles. There's a lot of Cascade 220 leftovers, ends of handspun projects (some are fingering-weight or so, I've been using them doubled up), and things that I've picked up and collected along the way. It's slow going, but I figure it's a great way to deal with some of the ends and miscellany that accumulates around here.

I also finally - FINALLY! - cleared off all of the bobbins. My final bobbin was about 1/4 full of a sweater lot of SCF "Alexandria" in Cheviot wool:

I filled up 4 bobbins and managed to get about 1100 yards of 2-ply out of it. It's quite plump, and has a great drape. I'm debating sweater patterns currently, but I hope to have something completed with this by this next autumn. We'll see. I still need to finish this:

...my "Coventry" sweater. I'm on the second sleeve, but not very far into it. I'm hoping to finish up the sleeve in the next week or two and join up for the yoke portion. This sweater also features a keyhole scarf neck, which is REALLY going to be the pits. My tolerance for scarf knitting is very very very low!!!

I'm trying to stay focused and not wildly cast-on for 264362 projects (which is what I really want to do) - MUST. FINISH. SWEATER! And work on giant granny afghan a bit, too.

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-12T09:54:00.000-04:00

Well, some bobbin spring cleaning. I've had a bunch of bobbins with little bits of projects on them and they've been haunting me. For various reasons I hadn't finished the yarn and cleared them off (not in the mood for lace, wasn't spinning up as planned, etc.) but I figured it best just to sit down and tackle them and clear them off. As of this post, I've only got 1 bobbin left with anything on it, and it's the first of a sweater lot! Here's what we've got so far:

"Botanical Extracts" from FatCatKnits, Merino/Mohair/Nylon, about 520 yards (gift from Weetsie!)

"Speckled" (split up and carded) from HelloYarn, Merino.

"Uluru" from SCF, in Superwash BFL. Also a gift from weetsie!

There's a bit more of the fiber, but that isn't all that I've been doing! There has been a TON of sewing going on.

I finally got around to making up one of these origami quilts I had been thinking about AGES ago - this is the Maine Lobster. The reverse side is red with white stitching. This went fairly smoothly, and I definitely think I'll be making more of these in the future.

I made this skirt! Every year I buy one or two lengths of fabric with the intention of making skirts, and every year I DO NOT MAKE SKIRTS. I finally got around to making some skirts and really got on a roll - I made 4 so far. All o the skirts are reverse-engineered from favorite (store-bought) skirts that I wear constantly through the warmer months. I put pockets in all of them as well (REAL pockets, not dinky girl-clothes "pockets"), and I've been wearing them all a ton/ Geez, why did this take me so long?!?!?

There's been a little bit of knitting......

.......and even some weaving. I'm obsessed with Houndstooth these days :)

Ooh, AND I finished my Topflappen!

Catching Up

2011-03-17T12:27:00.000-04:00

I've been quilting up a storm recently - I decided to make YET ANOTHER Color Wheel quilt, from "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts". I believe this is the FOURTH one of these that I have made, but I just can't help it! They are really fast, and very satisfying.

I also cut out the arc pieces for 3 more of these while I was in fabric-cutting mode, and those are being distributed to some lucky quilters. One of the sets is heading out to Chawne, who is a gigantic quilting inspiration with all of her lovely, incredible, adventurous, tiny, meticulous sewing. I'm doing a trade with her for a mini-quilt - my end of the bargain was simple: fingerless gloves.

I opted for Eunny Jang's "Endpaper Mitts" (again, knitting these for the FOURTH time) because I ADORE mine and wear them constantly. I love the length of them - there is no chilly exposed wrist when wearing them with a jacket. I knit them to be fairly snug, knowing they may stretch out a bit. The yarn is SCF Club from forever ago, in the "Hades" colorway. It's Polwarth/Tencel, and has a most delightful sheen to it. I spun it up as a 3-ply last year during the Tour de Fleece. I hope she enjoys wearing them as much as I enjoyed making them!

I've been teaching a bit:

Limp Vellum, my favorite binding structure to teach, and such a satisfying book when done.

I've been converting people to "Settlers of Catan", it's such a great game, and has been perfect for kicking the winter doldrums.

Chop Chop

2011-02-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

I've been teaching a bunch lately, mostly the same basic courses as usual (Non-Adhesive Bookbinding, Cloth Case Bookbinding, &c.) and I recently had a student contact me about a paper cutter that had come his way. He was looking for a long-arm style paper cutter, like this Kutrimmer, but his neighbor ended up giving him a guillotine paper cutter. It really wasn't going to work for him, so he asked if I'd like it and of course I would! Here it is (blade off):

This puppy weighs about 50 pounds. It could use a little bit of oil to make the cranks turn a bit smoother, and the blade is tip-top shape. I was able to trade him a disused Ingento-style paper cutter that I have been moving for about 12 years. Everyone wins! I'm excited to cut some stuff.

In other news, I've been spinning and knitting (surprised?) - I'm back up to speed on my Coventry cardigan, which I'm knitting in Quince&Co yarn (Chickadee) in the "Snap Pea" colorway. Boy Howdy, this yarn is delightful. It really has great stitch definition and holds it's shape well. I'm about 8" in after a horrid mis-reading of the decreases and a ripping-back incident (5" worth) and it's proceeding smoothly and quickly.

And I finally got around to spinning up all of my "Alpine" Romney (Hello Yarn Fiber Club, July 2009) into this lovely, drapey 2-ply, for about 1500 yards. I don't have a specific sweater planned for it yet.

Also, The Pork. For Christmas, we gave most of my family the gift of pork, specifically pork from our friend Inga, who is Farm Girl At Large. It turns out that it costs more to ship 60 pounds of pork halfway across the country than it does to fly someone out here with it, so Inga came to stay with us for a few days, and we took a quick jaunt down to Jersey for pork distribution. Here's what 60 pounds of pork looks like:

And here's a little glimpse of the Paterson Falls in the snow:

We visited the Falls, discussed the late Alexander Hamilton (a LOT), and ate lots of pork with family a friends. Delicious, and delightful.

Some Things, Completed!

2011-02-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

I've actually managed to FINISH some things these past couple of weeks. This may or may not be snow related:

First, this gigantic bundle of handwoven Wensleydale came off the loom. This is handspun Hello Yarn Club Fiber from August 2010 in the "Heirloom" colorway - I spun it into a 2-ply and wove it up on my rigid heddle loom. I currently have one looooong piece of cloth, at about 10 feet x 22 inches (or so). I'll be starting the process all over again in order to get enough cloth to cut up and make a cute swingy jacket. Eventually. Hey, I'm halfway there, right?

Second, I finished this Golden Wheat cardigan, using handspun made from leftover test bundles when I co-dyed with David at Southern Cross Fibres. Mods? Of course. I knit this on US 7 & 9 needles, made it a little bit longer, and I'll be adding a buttonband backing of grosgrain ribbon this afternoon. This sweater is so comfortable and soft! The yarn is delightful - I had some concerns about the skeins not blending well enough, but I'm pleased as punch with how it looks. The fiber that I started out with had no business plying together into something this awesome.

Third, these divine mittens! Okay, I made these a few months ago but they were a test-knit so I couldn't talk about them. BUT HERE THEY ARE NOW. "Flocked Mittens" from Adrian Bizilia, knit in Quince&Co. "Lark" in Split Pea and Glacier. The lining is some brown alpaca that I had hanging around. These are super comfy cozy warm. These have become my go-to shoveling mittens around here.

All of this spinning and weaving and knitting (and teaching!) has been fantastic, and completing things is a good feeling. But I've also got one project looming, this quilt project:

A few weeks ago I made the mistake of fabric shopping with Kelly & Maritza. Kelly had this luscious bundle of solids out, and we each decided to get a half yard of each color to make one big quilt with. So all these rich colors, and white. Those are the only rules. I've been thinking maybe a double wedding ring quilt? Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts on this or OTHER quilts would be great!

It's That Time Again!

2011-01-20T15:11:00.000-05:00

POTHOLDERS!!!!!

Get your crochet hooks out! Adrian, Maryse and I will be hosting the THIRD Annual Potholder Swap!

Here's what I got last year:

Here's what I made:

I'm excited to expand on my crochet skills, and maybe come up with a new design.

Interested in joining us? It's easy! There's some extra time to get things in to us this time around (April 16th). This swap is so great because you don't even have to sign up to be a part of it - just send your stuff in! All of the information can be found in the Ravelry Group, or, if you are not on Rav, in our Flickr Group. Please join us! We can't wait to see what you make!

These Things I Do

2010-10-04T20:50:00.001-04:00

Oh hello! And another month passes, just like that! But I promise I've been absent with good reason:

I made this very awesome, very last-minute, very special travelogue wedding book. The client was a member of the wedding party, and the bride and groom had not chosen a honeymoon destination. The groomsman contacted the guests and had them create a travel page talking about where they would recommend. he gathered them all up at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, dropped them off to me the morning of the wedding, and I bound them all into this book and dropped it off at the hotel for the bride and groom to return to after their ceremonials. Word from the client is that they loved it and found it to be the nicest gift of the day :)

I started spinning this wonderful Hello Yarn Wensleydale in the "Heirloom" colorway with plans to eventually weave it and sew a slightly tailored jacket. Expect to see this completed around....oh, 2014 or so.

I test-knit this amazing shawl for Kirsten of throughtheloops - this is Snow Drops and Snap Peas shawl, and it is a fast, fun, easily memorized pattern. This version is in my own handspun Polwarth from David at Southern Cross Fibres. It's DEEEEElightful. I love how the striping worked out on the lace pattern.

I've been teaching a 3-month bookbinding workshop. It's been going wonderfully, and it has given me a chance to work on this 80 80s Instruments/Tools project of paper cutouts. I've been trying to do 1 or 2 of them a day. Each cutout is 5" x 7". They're a blast to work on. Oh yeah, we've been making books in that class, too :)

Oh yeah, this other thing happened:

...I got engaged! The ring was custom designed and made by the lovely Tracey Jenkins of Green Spot Studio. It's a rose-cut diamond, which is fairly uncommon and antique-y but enables it to have a flatter profile. Hooray craftpeople making rings for other craftpeople and taking hand use into consideration :)

End of August

2010-08-31T11:17:00.000-04:00

While most people are panicking about the end of August signifying the end of summer, I am breathing a sigh of relief. This summer has been so abominably hot and unbearable, and I am pining for cooler days (and nights).

I finished up this woolen vest, and I am anxious to wear it! It's a handspun blend of 3 Southern Cross Fibers (“Deep Thought” - Oatmeal BFL, “Homeward” - Falkland, “Desert Sky” - Polwarth)with a wee bit of Cascade 200 and unknown wool to finish off the collar and sleeve edges. I knit this completely in the round and steeked it, which I really feel is the way to go with things like this - so fast! So fun! That daring edge of CUTTING your knitting! It's delightfully squishy.

And then I kept knitting.....

I've been wanting to make the Fresco Legwarmers for ages, and when I got my order of the new Quince & Co "Chickadee" yarn I figured it was finally time to cast on. With a few mods for color, and then again for almost-running-out-of-yarn (whoops!), these legwarmers FLEW off the needles. The Quince yarn is wonderfully plump and squishy, and made for a lovely fabric on both US3s and US5s. The stitch definition is wonderful and even - and this is all before blocking!

And I've kept up the quilting, but with a twist:

This is a test square (18" - for a pillowcase) using origami crease patterns. I recently saw the documentary "Between the Folds" which is all about origami and the people who make it. Many of the crease patterns for some of the more complex pieces can be found, and I loved how they looked, so decided to try my hand at translating that to a quilt. This is The Garden Spider. I'm going to try out a few more pillow cases before going big and making a full-sized quilt!

Here it is being sewn:

Actual FOs. Yes. Believe It Or Not.

2010-08-18T11:42:00.000-04:00

DONE.

The bird quilt, completed. Just needs a delicate wash and dry, and I'll get some big pictures.

I ended up handquilting the entire thing - I figured I had already put so much time and care into it, a little hand-quilting wouldn't kill me. I didn't use a frame or hoop. I quilted just inside each of the bird squares, and created similar squares in the side panels. I also echo quilted around each bird so there was more stability to the sandwich - the bird squares are each 9.5" and they needed to be quilted down a bit more in the centers.

I've also been test-knitting a bit - I knit this lovely, simple, fast, beautiful shawl for Kirsten Kapur of Throughtheloops:

This the Roma Shawl pattern. I knit it up on some merino/silk sock yarn from Nakedly Knitting, with Koigu KPPPM for the bottom detail and edging. This pattern is delightful - easily memorized, quick, and lovely. This shawl has a GREAT drape to it.

Twenty-Nine.

2010-08-10T01:03:00.000-04:00

And then, 3 years after it started, the State Birds Quilt was.....

...NEAR finished.

Okay, so I finished the birds - 29 of them! The embroidery took So long! But finally, finally, 29 birds done. Many states share birds, and DC is included in there as well. Since I've had 3 years to think about the layout of this quilt, 29 actually worked better for me than 28 - I decided to do a 5x5 centerpiece, with bands on the side and the remaining 4 birds on the corners. With sashing:

The actual piecework of this quilt top? Including trip to fabric store for fabric and batt and all that? ONE DAY. Yeah, after 3 years of embroidery, things are moving pretty quickly.

I decided to handquilt it - this is a BEAR of a quilt, at around 76" square, and I couldn't really deal with the thought of throwing it all through the machine. Also, each bird panel is about 10" square, so there would have to be some quilting around the birds. I decided to echo-quilt around each of the birds. yes, I know, it's not quite around "the birds" as I am including any foliage they are on. And this had me worried - would the other side be too blobby? would it be weird? I decided to go with a rather small, busy, floral print for the backing in order to hide most of the quilting and blobbiness.

As it stands now: 80% of the handquilting done on the top, hoping to finish tomorrow and add binding. This thing *may* be done by the end of the week!

TdF Wrap-Up & OSBeeeeee!

2010-07-26T09:19:00.000-04:00

As happens this time every year, I have been obsessively watching the Tour de France and spinning for the Tour de Fleece. This year, as most, was EPIC! My goals for the Tour de Fleece were to spin as much as possible, and attempt to get caught up on my Club fibers from Hello Yarn, Southern Cross Fibers, and Spunky Eclectic. I also had some bits and bobs of random fiber around that I was hoping to take care of. A few weeks before the TdF I (finally) invested in some more bobbins for my Majacraft Rose, bringing my total up to 14, and mid-way through the tour I replaced the entire head assembly of my wheel, which had been giving me some difficulties (and being LOUD) for some time now. I learned that my wheel is 10-12 years old! Next on the maintenance list is a new drive band.

But the spinning! I spun the equivalent of a CAT this year!

That's 8 lbs, 03 oz. of fiber, for a total length of 8489 yards (15,648 yards pre-plying). I've got 2 sweaters' worth of yarn in there, a honking skein of color progression laceweight singles, some low-twist singles slated for a woven project, and much much more. My stash runneth over!

I did take some breaks from the spinning - I worked on my first assignment for One Scrappy Bee! Julie Frick requested some Vortex Blocks featuring bunneh fabric:

I couldn't resist giving him fangs. But then the second bunneh seemed to be lacking.....

..so this one got sexy lady eyelashes. I believe rabbit embellishments have been added to her OSB Assignments :) I'm really enjoying this Bee - I love seeing everyone's interpretations of the assigned patterns.

Oh yeah, I knit something too:

This is the Annis Shawlette from a recent knitty. This was a great stashbusting project - I have had this 300 yard skein of alpaca from Touch of Twist for a few years now, and this pattern seemed simple enough, and while it used slightly more yardage, I opted to knit it anyway and go down a needle size. As it is now, it's lovely and light and ethereal, though a bit of an odd size - neither here nor there.

4! Ounce! Challenge!

2010-07-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

What can we make today?

In an effort to maintain spinning momentum and promote further creativity, I'm running the 4! Ounce! Challenge! on Ravelry. This contest is a collaboration with Hello Yarn, Spunky Eclectic, and Southern Cross Fibers. This is also an opportunity to use up those 4 ounce bundles of handspun.

People never seem to know what to do with 4 oz! To enter the competition, you’ll have to spin, knit/weave/crochet and (optionally) publish (via ravelry and/or their blog) a one skein pattern made from 4 oz of fiber. This competition runs during August/September. The goal is to create a whole heap of new patterns designed specifically for handspun fiber. The fiber has to be from Spunky Eclectic, Hello Yarn or SCF to enter.

Prizes - a grand prize of a $150 fiber pack from Hello Yarn/Spunky Eclectic/Southern Cross Fibre (about three 4 oz lots from each).

There will also be a random prize draw in addition to the grand prize with three $50 prizes (one 4 oz lot from each HY/SE/SCF). For people who spin and create an original item through August/September, they will get one entry in the prize draw. Those who publish the pattern get an additional entry in the draw.

The grand prize ($150 fiber) will be judged based on published patterns only.

All projects/patterns must be created during August & September. The deadline to enter a project is September 30.

Hope to see you there!

Color Bands: A Tutorial

2010-07-14T12:59:00.006-04:00

As many of you know, I am a sucker for Wensleydale wool, and it is most difficult for me to NOT spin it into color progression laceweight singles. This Tour de Fleece is no different:

(That's Hello Yarn Wensleydale in "Aquatic", with a bit of SCF Teeswater in "Deep Blue Sea" on the side)

I've knit these up into a couple of shawls, but I am always wary of how the striping/progressions will work out. I'm not a huge fan of having the outer stripes so much narrower than the inner bits. With this in mind, Dale took it upon himself to figure out some numbers for me, and I'm presenting them to you! This is a formula for figuring out the ratios and yardages needed to knit a color progression shawl where the color bands are all equal. The information is for a triangular shawl, a circular shawl, a semi-circular shawl, and a square shawl.

A Few Things To Know:

This has not yet been test-driven.
Dale is not a knitter.
This is written based on the pattern remaining the same throughout. If you change your pattern drastically, the numbers may be a bit off, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think it will be too noticeable.
The 10% addition is to account for differences in gauge, etc.
This formula does not account for bind-off.

That being said, here you go! (In Dale's words):

COLOR BANDS! Clicky for the xls file.

Premise:
Based on the overall shape of the shawl I wanted to create a way to create equal bands of color. To use the Excel workbook, enter the overall shape of the shawl (circle, half-circle, square, triangle), the number of color bands (1-24) and the total number of yards required for the pattern. The chart will then produce the number of yards of yarn to use for each band of color.

Band #1 is the center or smallest color band, each sucessive band number radiating outward from that where the largest is the outer band of color. The number of yards is calculated from a ratio of total yards/area for the shape based on the total number of color bands and specific color band. Each successive color band will use more yarn than the one before because it needs to cover a larger area.

The chart shows 4 numbers:
Band: this is the color band #
Base Yards: a value rounded to the nearest whole number of yards
10% Yards: adding 10% to the actual value and rounding to the nearest whole number of yards
Actual Yards: the number of yards down to two decimal places

Each of the yard columns has their own usefulness. The trick is to know which one to use for what you want. One note I would like to make here is that the minimum number of yards is going to be 1 for base or 10% yards no matter the actual value.

The Excel workbook has 3 tabs:
Calculator: where you enter the data
Shape Examples: some quick examples to show what I'm on about
Print Friendly: printer friendly with the ability to add notes

Having some Fun:
There are a multitude of options and patterns you can create using these numbers; it doesn't have to be bands of color that are all the same width.

Let's say, for example, you are creating a triangular shawl but want to have 4 colors in alternating thick and thin bands using a total of 800 yards of yarn. You want the center to be thick, then a thin band, then a thick one of another color, and finally a thin band on the outside. Instead of entering 4 bands, enter 6.

Color	Bands	Actual Yards	Total
A (thick)	1,2	3.31 + 26.45	30y
B (thin)	3	52.89	53y
C (thick)	4,5	79.34 + 105.79	185y
D (thin)	6	132.23	132y

Bands A and C will be twice the width of bands B and D. In the example I used the actual yards, but it can just as easily be done with the base yards or 10% adjusted yards listed. I would suggest using the actual yards when using larger number of bands, especially when relating to band 1 because the value can get quite small.

ETA: Dale has provided this handy sheet, with some answers at the bottom (should you have any questions).
***Hey! If you use this, please please let me know how it works out! Thanks! ***

Here We Go Again

2010-06-30T11:39:00.007-04:00

Yes, I have been an absentee blogger. It's not for lack of DOING things, though:

....and now, here we are, approaching July, which means I need to consider some things for the Tour de Fleece:

Tour de Fleece runs July 3 - July 25! I'll be participating as a member of Team HelloYarn/Sassenacho/TimeBenders and also Team Monkey Farts! And somehow I will manage to blog more, as well :)

*** ETA some information: From top to bottom:
- Holly Jean Hat & Mitten, test-knit in Cascade 220. Super-duper pattern, soon to be available from zigzagstitch!
- Bova Book, handbound by me as a teaching model in my Cloth Case Bookbinding Workshop.
- Magical Scissors, paper cutout, about 5" x 7". Cut with a #16 X-Acto® blade out of Canson Ingres scrap papers. I want to make 100 of these, all with different 70s & 80s lyrics accompanying tools :)
- Bookbinding Models for my Non-Adhesive Bookbinding Workshop.
- Color Progression Insanity - handspun by me using Club Fibers from Hello Yarn, Southern Cross Fibres, and Spunky Eclectic.
- Cobb Salad, my all-time favorite salad.
- Handwoven continuous hand-towel for next tot he sink. FINALLY completed, after 2 years or so.
- Hello Yarn Knee-High Socks! Knit while the passenger on MidWest road-trip!
- The Spam Museum. Visited on our way from Iowa to Minneapolis.
- My haul during the 2010 Potholder Swap - lovely lovely hand-crocheted potholders by Lynda, Kathy, Susanne, Beth, and Cathy (click through for Flickr details).
- Quilt I made for D's mom before we headed out to Iowa.
- Delicious "Orchard" Romney singles - me-spun, Spunky Eclectic-dyed. Purchased at SPA.
- Wonderful, wonderful pork.
- Some things I am considering spinning during the TdF. :)

Aim High

2010-02-17T15:32:00.004-05:00

I'm aiming high this year for the Ravelympics. That there is the yoke portion of my "Pallid" Bohus-inspired sweater. I'm hoping to complete the colorwork portion this evening. I've tried this on twice so far, and both times it fit wonderfully - why do I insist on doubting my math? It's MATH, I should TRUST it. I should trust IT more than I trust MYSELF.

Anyway - the sweater. I'm using my handspun HelloYarn "Pallid", and I split out the colors of 4 ounces of the fiber. I added a little bit of mohair before carding it, in hopes of replicating the fuzziness of the original Bohus sweaters (they used angora). I'm knitting this on US2 needles, and I'm making up the pattern as I go along. Soon it'll be straight stitch forever.

It's potholder swap time again, as well! Adrian, Maritza, Maryse and I are hosting the 2010 Potholder Swap. The rules, should you want to participate, can be found here. In awesome swap-admin fashion, I have no idea of what I'm going to make, and probably will end up sampling things until a week before they are due!

And hey! I put more yarn in my shop! Go go go get it while it's hot!

Paint Me A Swatch, Dear.

2010-02-09T16:34:00.005-05:00

The cold - and impending Snowpocalypse - are making for very productive knitting. I've been test-knitting a few things, in between bouts of spinning:

This is Thea's newest pattern - "White Russian". It's a lovely and simple tunic that's knitting up pretty quickly. I'm knitting this up in some handspun from ages ago - a 2-ply merino that makes a delicious fabric.

I've also been testing some more mittens (surprised? Didn't think so.), this time, for Elinor - the adorable "Ladybug Picnic" mittens:

I snuck an extra ladybug under the thumb. I've only got this one done so far (in Reynolds Soft Sea Wool, which is wonderfully squishy), and I still need to weave in ends and block them. The pattern is well-written and makes for a quick knit.

There's also been a bit of spinning:

That's Hello Yarn Club Fiber "Pallid" in Rambouillet. I was lucky enough to score a sweater's worth of this stuff, and I have big big plans for it! It spins up wonderfully - I'm anxious to get it on the needles.

Of course, all this spinning and knitting seems perfectly NORMAL and USUAL. So I had to throw in what I've been referring to as my Second Stupidest Idea to Date (the #1 slot goes to this humdinger) -

You can't see much there right now, but the idea is simple enough: Reproduce knit lace swatches on a grand scale (the paper is 25" x 35") in excruciatingly detailed watercolor. The execution, however, is tough. We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it - I've been meaning to get back to some drawing and painting, and hopefully this will fill that void.

Kitteh, Knitteh, Etseh

2010-02-02T13:29:00.004-05:00

This is New Cat - we picked her up last Tuesday, and she and The Mayor are adjusting to one another. She doesn't have a name yet - we're leaning towards "Juicebox". She's a feisty 1-year-old who trills when she runs, and is very affectionate. She's a great addition to our place.

Aside from kittehs, I opened up my etsy shop! It's chock full of handspun goodness, and I'm aiming to put up new listings on Fridays. Some Hello Yarn, some Spunky Eclectic, some Southern Cross Fibers so far - more to come!

I've also been using some handspun:

This is "Frost Forest", a Hello Yarn Club Fiber colorway from December 2007. It's Soy Silk/Merino, and I spun it as laceweight singles. I had about 660 yards, and I knew that it had these big bands of color. I'd been looking for a good pattern for this for some time, and then came across "Citron" in the latest knitty. It seemed to be just right for the yarn: simple, easy to add repeats, and would really showcase the yarn.

And it does! The pattern is fine, but the tedium of knitting so much lace stockinette on US5 needles nearly put me over the edge. I added an extra pattern repeat as well, in order to use as much yarn as possible. I blocked it quite aggressively, and gave it a choppy sawtooth edge. It's delightfully light and airy.

Ten Books

2010-01-25T16:57:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to talk a little bit here about some books that I've read recently, books that I refer to often, and books that inspire a bunch. Some are pretty specific to what I've been working on of late (book design and structure). I'll try and get a more craft-specific one on here soon. In the meantime - I hope you find this little corner of my life helpful, and I hope that - should this inspire you to pick up any of these titles - you find them as awesome as I do.

- Elements of Typographic Style. By forcing the designer to think about the design of the letterforms, the text and the type can work together to convey appropriate meaning. This book presents a clear, concise history of the evolution of many common typefaces, and why they work. It's 100% awesome, and I reach for it frequently.

- The Stuff of Thought. I picked this book up a few months ago on my way out to Minneapolis. It's chock full linguistic insanity - how we process and use words to communicate.

- State By State. This is a great collection of essays in the tradition of WPA Travel guides. Each state is represented and discussed by a different author. Visiting a state, growing up in a state, driving through a state - every place is given it's own anecdote and tale.

- An Illustrated Life. A collection of pages from sketchbooks of artists and illustrators and designers. This book is stunning and inspiring. For someone who has tried to keep a sketchbook many times and failed, every time I look through this I want to try again.

- Speck. If you've seen my house, or my Flickr stream, you'll know that I like stuff. It's everywhere! This book provides a little bit of light on the everyday and makes the reader re-evaluate it's place and our view of it.

- Art of the Japanese Postcard. I saw this show when it was at the MFA a few years ago. The postcards are beautiful little stories, and stories unto themselves. The history behind many of them is wonderful, and the printing is meticulously done.

- Big Book of Pulps. I love a good pulp story, and I swoop up any pulps I see at yard sale and Goodwill. They're totally silly, yet completely captivating. This collection - while a bit gigantic and unwieldy - keeps me from having an allergy attack to the musty smells of those older books while I read them :)

- Bookdesign. Not for everyone, but it's what I do! This is a TREMENDOUSLY helpful reference. And it's really well put together and organized (of course).

- American Book Design & William Morris. William Morris really had his design finger in every pie, didn't he? Using the same meticulous, all-encompassing enthusiasm that he applied to all other aspects of his design work, Morris' take on book design is incredible to think about and behold in this day of parcelled out production, where each individual is responsible for ONE aspect of the final product.

- Envisioning Information. Oh, Edward Tufte, you are an evil genius. How you convey information is just as important as what you are trying to say. And he says it all perfectly.

Mittens, Arches, A Sweater - Good Start to the New Year.

2010-01-18T09:56:00.004-05:00

My foray into Mitten Madness continued into the New Year:

I completed the test-knitting on these, David's Northman Mittens. They were a delight to knit, and his pattern is very well-written and clear. I knit these in Rowan Felted Tweed, with a lining of Berroco Alpaca - extra squishy, warm, goodness. I used US 3 needles to get 7 stitches to the inch, and they fit wonderfully. But that wasn't the end of mitten madness......

I finally completed these Handspun Fiddleheads. I started these a little over a year ago, and knit one exterior mitten. The yarn is handspun corriedale/alpaca that I picked up at Rhinebeck a few years ago, and the lining yarn is cashmere that is left over from Simone's Wedding Shawl. Luckily, my gauge remained the same in the year since I knit the first mitten. It feels great to have this pair done, and not looming about waiting for me to knit it's mate.

I also knit up these socks:

This is the Pyroclastic pattern from knitty. The pattern uses arch-shaping along the sole, which is GREAT. The sock cradles the foot and fits wonderfully - I want to knit all socks this way from now on. The yarn used here is my own handspun, in the HY CLub "Grim" colorway. It's a 3-ply yarn of Bamboo, Superwash Merino, and Nylon, so it has a nice shine to it. The pattern had a few weird, unclear bits, and the finished socks tend to bias. But other than that - Arch Shaping! It's really the best.

I also finally got around to knitting up Sef's sweater, or at least getting started on it:

This is some Bartlett yarn he picked up at Rhinebeck in 2008. I'm making a tight-knit sweater that can function as a bit of a winter jacket. I've made it to the armpits on the body of the sweater. This project is FLYING.

NOT Holiday Crafting (Yet)

2009-12-08T21:28:00.005-05:00

I haven't been blogging much, but I've been busy! And I haven't even gotten around to starting the holiday crafting. I know there are only 2 weeks until Christmas, and yes I am getting nervous, but with Thanksgiving travel and having a guest in town, I just haven't had the time.

Well, that and I was busy cutting this out:

This is a map of Boston, with all non-road land removed. I saw these beautiful city cutouts by Karen O'Leary, and I just HAD to have one. I taped a map of Boston onto a piece of white Mohawk Via Felt paper and started cutting, using a #16 X-Acto® blade. I sharpened and/or changed the blade fairly frequently. 24 or so hours later, and some hand cramping, and it's done! The white piece is framed and hanging on the wall, while the offcut map went to Young Sef's house.

I've also been test-knitting these awesome squirrel mittens:

Aren't they the cutest? The pattern is from HelloYarn (are you surprised?), and my test pair is knit using Hello Yarn Sock in "Coffee" and "Harvest Gold".

The lining is delightful Misti Alpaca Lace in Adrian's "Surprise" colorway.

And then I couldn't. put. them. down.

....so I knit these adorable mini-acorns from Pam Wynne. Aren't they sweet? The box-braid bows fit right over them, so they can be used to hold them together when not being worn.

So, um, yeah. That's what I've been doing. Now, on to the holiday crafting!

Mr. Mxyzptlk

2009-11-09T22:10:00.004-05:00

A week of not-so-frantic knitting, and I now have my FIRST! handspun handknit sweater. It's so satisfying! I present....Mr. Mxyzptlk!

I wanted a raglan sweater with buttons along the left front raglan edge, that flowed right up into a loose-fitting turtleneck collar. The collar could be worn open or folded over.

I'm quite satisfied! There was a little bit of worry about how I would account for the extra stitches needed for the buttonhole band and buttonband, and making sure that they NOT interfere with the raglan shaping. I thought them through while knitting the body and sleeves, and I'm happy with how things turned out!

I basically followed EZ's Raglan pattern. I knit this on US8s, over the course of ONE WEEK. I'm not entirely sure of how much yarn it took - I have some left over, along with a ton of unspun fiber (can you say pantsuit?). The buttons are from Joann's, and there are nine of them. I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out!

Fiber on the Brain, In the House, On the Loom

2009-11-03T10:57:00.002-05:00

The cooler weather has kicked the knitting and spinning into high gear. I realize I'm knitting on my first real "garments" for myself this year. I'm not counting shawls and socks here, kids.

I scavenged a bit to get a sweater's worth of this Hello Yarn Club offering from May 2009 - this is "5 Plum Pie" in lovely Falklands wool. I've spun up enough for a sweater, and I still have about 1.5 pounds left. I accidentally cornered the market on this.

And I was anxious to get it on the needles:

Body done, sleeve number one is almost done! hopefully I will have a new sweater by the end of the week!

Also, the spinning:

(Hello Yarn - "Spring Loaded", "Fresh Start", and "Kale")

(Hedgehog Fibers - gift from weetsie! - Merino/Silk blend, "Glow")

(Fantom Farm Fibers)

....and I finally got the loom warped:

That's some 8/2 Tencel, set to be (hoepfully) a holiday-gift scarf. But as my first attempt on the floor loom, we'll see how it ends up.

Alright! promises, promises....I'll post more frequently :)

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

2009-10-19T21:44:00.004-04:00

So I went to Rhinebeck and I didn't take ANY pictures! It was a helluva weekend - caught up with old friends, met up with new, had a great time. While the weather was reporting poor weather for the day, we lucked out with chilly temperatures and no rain. I saw some stunning handknits, I was inspired by many many patterns, and I had a wonderful time at the Ravelry party (thank you Rav!)

I returned a bit rejuvenated to get some projects off of the needles - first on the list, these Sottopassaggio socks from twistcollective:

I started these about 2 months ago, but as I do most of my sock knitting in the car and the pattern is 7 pages, this was tough! They are knit out of HelloYarn Sock in "Candied Peel", and are delightfully soft and bright. The pattern is easy to follow, though it favors the left sock, and leaves some parts of the right sock to figure out on your own. But it was easy, fun, and kept my interest - I may be making these again.

Right before I left for Rhinebeck I finished up some spinning:

This is 4 ounces of Romney wool from HelloYarn in the "Sweet Potato Vine" colorway, spun into 325 yards of singles. It has a great sheen to it. I split the whole thing in half length-wise and spun it up into these nice long stripes. I don't know what to make of it yet! Maybe some nice mitts, as it is beginning to get cold :)

Projects Up The Wazoo.

2009-10-15T12:49:00.005-04:00

Hmph. Well, I've managed to somehow miss posting for a month and a half! Yikes. I'll admit to having been busy and mildly sick through a portion of that, but really? A month and a half? Where to begin?

(Original Erie Canal Lock #52, on the side of the New York Thruway, Milepost 308E, Port Byron, NY.)

I drove out to Iowa to do some repairs on D's mom's place. We got a TON of stuff done, saw a lot of Interstate, caught up with some friends. We installed a new kitchen floor! I completely redid a room! I ate SO MUCH MEAT. While cleaning some things out, we found this awesome bag of pieces of a Wedding Ring Quilt:

...because what I REALLY need in my life are more of other people's unfinished projects ;) The fabrics and colors of these pieces are stunning and I can't stop looking at them.

Also found: This amazing bundle of Boy Scout badges! I haven't a clue as to what I am going to do with these yet, but they sure are rad. It thrills me to no end that many are still on their cards.

For the drive back, we detoured through Canada - a chance to meet up with jodi and weetsie. It was lovely to finally meet these ladies, and of course I'm an idiot and didn't take any pictures. I did have plenty of time to knit in the car, though, and managed to finish up this Ulmus Shawl:

This is some lovely Teeswater in the "Racecourse" colorway from David/SCF, with some Cherry Tree Hill Possum Laceweight. It's delightfully soft, and has a wonderful drape.

Back for a week, and in my unpacking procrastination, I knit this cute Forest Canopy Shawl:

Spunky Eclectic Club "Selfish" colorway, spun by me into felted singles.

Then off to NYC for few days, where I picked up a cold. I've been fighting it a bit ever since. Which gave me ample time to get work done on this vest:

Hello Yarn Fat Sock in "Pinstripe", "Merlot", and "Sky". This knit up delightfully fast, on US5s, and I steeked it. I'm thrilled with how it came out and I expect it to get a lot of wear this winter.

Rhinebeck this weekend, and making some more books!

The Devil Wears Red Leather.

2009-08-27T16:05:00.003-04:00

This is a commission job that I just finished. It's a full leather copy of Ambrose Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary". The binding features double-core silk sewn headbands, a satin ribbon, and marbled endpapers & pastedowns. The text is printed on Via Felt paper - it's a 252 page book (63 sheets in 4-folio sections - last section is 3-folio) and the tooth on the paper is LOVELY.

I laid the whole thing out in order to get an 8" x 5" trim size to the total textblock. It worked out PERFECTLY - there's enough room to bring it in a little bit tighter if need be.

The binding itself was a bit harrowing - what with the weather here being a gazabillion degrees and sweaty and sticky, the dry-time for a lot of parts of the construction was severely hindered and/or delayed. Stamping the leather also proved to be a bit of a challenge - the type needed a LOT of shimming and some touching up.
Also, the time constraints for the project were pretty tight - I'm heading out of town for a bit, and I *was* just out of town for a bit, and the client needed it by the end of the month.

I'll be dropping it off tomorrow morning. I plan on doing another one for myself in the future, and I'd like to sell some copies of these books-in-sheets.

Oh, and knitting? I've got about 67 projects packed - hopefully I can complete at least ONE of them.

Looking Ahead

2009-08-19T11:51:00.004-04:00

I started this in the car on the way out to the Finger Lakes. It's the Ulmus pattern (Rav link), using Cherry Tree Hill Possum yarn in "Natural" and SCF Teeswater in the "Racecourse" colorway, spun during the Tour de Fleece. It's a wonderful pattern - easy to memorize, and not too boring.

The Fall twistcollective has a ton of lovely patterns, and I'm hoping to make some headway in my stash by knitting up Argyle, Novak, and Cottage Garden. That's a whole lot of sweater, I know, but I haven't knit any sweaters in quite some time, and the cooler weather is on the horizon (I hope).

I'm heading to the printer this afternoon with the Devil's Dictionary in sheets - hoping to have it all done and ready to go out the door by the end of the week! Then on to....Alice, perhaps? Redoing Candide? We'll see.

Twos

2009-08-18T10:13:00.003-04:00

I just returned from a whirlwind couple of days up at the Finger Lakes. A vacation on the lovely Keuka Lake, featuring boat tour and swimming, then over to Ithaca, where we drove around a whole bunch to familiarize ourselves with the different towns around there. It's quite lovely! The return journey was detoured somewhat with a trip to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame (did you know it has been there since 1939?!?!? I didn't.) A lovely trip - great weather, great people, yet it is good to be back home. Of course, it is home in the middle of a heatwave, which sucks a bit. Oh well.

Just prior to leaving I took care of some marathon knitting:

This is my second Aeolian Shawl in the HelloYarn "Eat Your Greens" colorway. This used just shy of 700 yards of Wensleydale, and I had to change bead colors for the last 4 rows. It blocked out to the same size as the previous one.

I spun this up during the Tour de Fleece, and I wanted to preserve the color transition. I split the fiber up into 3 or 4 colors, but then I bundled those pieces together, lining up any darker or lighter ends so they would blend a bit more. Less striping. I'm pleased with how it came out - I feel like I have the warm and cool versions of this shawl now :)

I managed to actually use some of my commercial-made stash, as well! This is the Aestlight pattern, in Malabrigo Lace. It is so deliciously soft - it's that soft that you can barely feel because it is so delicate and lovely. Fast knit, easy knit, wonderful construction.

Meanwhile, on the needles now.....I'm between projects! I have some contract knitting, but other than that I think I need a break from lace. But its too hot to do much else!

TdF Wrap Up and Miles of Yarn, I Tell Ya!

2009-07-29T17:34:00.009-04:00

Well, I made it through the Tour:

My total spinning came to a total of 14,460 yards of singles, 6,870 yards of completed yarn, and 7 pounds, 9 ounces of yarn. YIKES! It was great fun, it was nice to get through some stash, and I tried some new things (a 5-ply, felted singles, Masham, Teeswater). Now I have to get around to knitting with some of this.

I fell in love with this 5-Plum Pie Hello Yarn Club Fiber during the Tour:

...and feared that I would be unable to locate a sweater's worth (yes, another sweater's worth of 3-ply. You'd think I would learn), but I was lucky enough to score some more! Yay! So very excited, and I already have the sweater planned out that I want to work on!

In other news: I've been working on a fancy, new, leather-bound copy of the Devil's Dictionary. While the layout takes a fair amount of time, once it's done, I'll have it to print up on demand. I'm being soooooo meticulous about it - I'd rather not have to go in for any edits once I've completed it. I'm thrilled with how it's working out so far, and hope to have it completed within the week.

Spin Span Spun

2009-07-23T10:36:00.003-04:00

Oh wow. And here we are, 2 weeks later.....
I was trying to be so good about blogging the Tour de Fleece, and I ended up too involved in the actual spinning for it.

This has been the most time-consuming of my Tour feats - 2 pounds of merino, singles set to be a 3-ply. It took a bit longer than I had hoped for, and I plan on also spinning up a few colored mini-batts that I have around as "insurance" for when I actually get to knitting this up!

There's also some more lace:

....perhaps for a second Aeolian Shawl?

And taking care of some past club shipments:

(Hello Yarn Club, 5-Plum Pie)

(Hello Yarn Club, Thrive)

(Southern Cross Fiber Club, Veteran)

I've also been laying out some text for a new, larger copy of the Devil's Dictionary. While it is slow-going and a bit tedious, I don't mind it too much - I've got a system down, and I'm being soooo meticulous about every little bit of it.

TdF - Days 4 & 5

2009-07-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

Playing catch up over here! There's been a helluva lot of spinning going on.

Day Four:

This is about 750 yards of mystery fiber (and so much sparkle!) in gigantic batts from ironjohn. I had been unsure of what to do with them as the colors all seemed fairly disparate and I was afraid they would just muddy themselves up. I opted for the color progression option.

The Spunky Club Singles-A-Long/Knit-A-Long project from earlier this year played a giant part in my being able to make this yarn. A year ago I would have been afraid to take on such a large lace spinning project, as well as being afraid of the properties of a laceweight single. I'm happy with how this came out, and I'm excited to see how it knits up!

Day Five:

This is a 5-ply - my first! - made from Southern Cross Fiber Club batts from May 2009 in the "Fire" colorway. They are a lovely 80% Superfine Australian Merino/20% Tussah Silk blend. I ended up with about 170 yards, along with a little bundle of 3-ply. This yarn is delectably soft and wonderful.

Meanwhile, in France - WOW! The Time Trials were tricky and incredible, and today's stage was also pretty crazy! Large lead group and the battle is getting heated.

TdF - Day Three

2009-07-07T09:51:00.002-04:00

And so it continues:

Today was spent primarily plying. That's a pound-and-a-half of fiber up there, and it feels wonderful. It's fairly rustic-spun, and I love how solid bits of color pop out in some places. Measured off the niddy-noddy, there's just over 1000 yards there.

I also completed the "Soul Windows" 3-ply sock yarn.

So that clears off all of the bobbins! A clean slate tomorrow - new projects! Moving on to lace (where I am hoping to complete my goal for Team Suck Less - spin one mile of fiber in one day) and making a dent in a 5-ply.

TdF - Day Two

2009-07-05T19:22:00.004-04:00

I continued to spin up that mystery wool today, and finished up the singles!

There's one more bobbin that I finished up after this photo was taken - I wanted to make sure I had some semi-decent light. Tomorrow will be a day of plying and freeing up all those bobbins in order to move on to the next big project - I'm thinking of breaking things up and working on my 5-ply from the Southern Cross Fiber "Fire" colorway series of batts.

That bobbin on the right is 1/3 of a Superwash Corriedale/Nylon blend in the "Soul Windows" colorway from Spunky Eclectic. I'm aiming for some 3-ply sock yarn.

Meanwhile, in France:
Today's race was beautiful to watch! While most all of the race today was held on pavement, early races were primarily on cobblestones or unpaved stretches. The competitors rode on bicycles with wooden rims! The weight of the rims alone must have impeded their progress significantly.

TdF - Day One

2009-07-05T00:16:00.003-04:00

I love watching the Tour de France, and the Tour de Fleece is a wonderful excuse for me to actually get through some of my stash while watching it. I have lofty goals this year - 2 sweaters' worth of wool, a 3-ply sock project, a 5-ply (my first), and a few lace projects. I'm hoping to be able to accomplish all of this, though I remain apprehensive. I plan on spinning every day that the tour is happening (including rest days!) through (at least) the duration of the live coverage. We'll see what it gets me.

Today's bounty:

These are my first 2 bobbins of what will soon be a 2-ply. This is mystery wool from Rhinebeck (in researching the seller, I am lead to believe that it is mohair and the rather vague "wool") that I am LOVING to spin. It's wonderfully soft. I plan on spinning all of it up as singles first, followed by some mixed plying action (bobbins 1 & 6, 2 & 5, 3 &4 or somesuch) in order to account for any inconsistencies in my spinning through the Tour. It's more than likely this will happen because things in the race can get TENSE!

For those of you who cannot comprehend the idea of watching 180 men (to start) bicycle 2100+ km around France:
The Tour de France is really lovely to watch as not only a sport, but as a travelogue - it's a wonderful, er, tour, of France, and it varies every year. Due to the duration of the race, one is able to really get an idea of the nuances of the actual race (which also vary by year) and understand the technical aspects involved. Of course, the entire idea of the race is fairly mindblowing. In early races, the riders did the whole thing on fixed-gear bikes! They also had to do any repairs along the way by themselves. Things have improved significantly since then!

Say Hello To My Little Friend

2009-07-03T19:08:00.005-04:00

So much to report, and many pictures!

First off, the new loom!

This is the 24" LeClerc Compact loom. It's a 4-heddle/6-treadle loom with the ability to go to 8-heddles. I have a 10- and a 12-dent reed for it. I had to replace the side knobs and the crank, but other than that, it's all ready to go! Sadly, I am a participant in this year's Tour de Fleece, which I am focusing most of my energy on, and I don't think I will get to any weaving until the end of July......

These are my outrageous goals for the TdF - I know, it's a LOT! I'm hoping to make sweaters out of the top bundles, a 5-ply (!!!!!!) with those center batts, and break it all up with some lace and what-nottery with the rest. I AM a huge fan of the Tour de France, and plan on watching it every day, so why not spin through it all as well? Please, no betting on how far through this pile I'll get.

As "training" I cleared off all the bobbins, finally getting around to finishing this:

That's about 200 yards of New Zealand Polwarth from Southern Cross Fibers in the "Budgie" colorway. It's absolutely delicious and squishy. It was wonderful to spin and maintained a TON of springiness when it came time to ply.

Anyway - I'll be doing fairly frequent TdF updates, and I have a book review for the rest day. See you soon!

Juneary Knit & Spin

2009-06-26T14:05:00.004-04:00

Just as the Juneary weather seems to be coming to an end, I've managed to complete a couple of handknits. The first lovely is something I've wanted to knit for quite some time now, but just now got around to (with a little bit of help from the Webs sale) - the "Shocking!" skirt by Veronik Avery:

This is a very fast, very easy knit. There was some confusion in the tuck row as to which color yarn to use, along with ending up having to do 2 WS rows in a row. This was all worked out by the time I got to the same point the second time around - the pattern is knit in 6 continuous panels - and I was able to breeze through the remainder. The final grafting row, however, was a bit of a nightmare. In completing the Kitchener stitch as written, you would end up with an extra row of Color A. I opted to remove the waste yarn from the provisional cast-on and grafted to my first wrap-row. This proved to be less than ideal; it took a bit to figure out the count using the wraps, and I had to fudge things a little bit to fit things together properly (I was also too lazy to go back and resolve all of what I had already done).

This skirt was knit in Cascade 220 on US 7s. I expect it will get a lot of wear during the cooler months, I'm just hoping that it doesn't pill.

In other feats of completion, here are some socks:

I started these a while ago, and actually completed the first sock - of course, it was the second one that I got hung up on. The solid yarn is Reynolds Soft Sea Wool, and the awesome brown/grey/white is my own handspun 3-ply, from the delicious "Peat" colorway of HelloYarn fiber club. These socks are so freakin' squishy.

There has also been spinning:

200 yards of Romney in the "Pansy" colorway, from the Spunky Eclectic May 2009 Club.

~520 yards of Super Sproingtastic Merino in the "Spring Loaded" colorway (and boy howdy is it spring loaded) from HelloYarn.

I also picked up a Floor Loom! I'm waiting for some parts, so no pictures right now, but soon soon soon. It's the LeClerc Compact model, with a 24" weaving width. It's an X-frame, 4-harness/6-treadle folding loom that I can't wait to get to.

I Finished Something

2009-06-16T18:47:00.003-04:00

I finished this the night I got back from Minneapolis, but I just got around to blocking it out this week:

That's my "Future George Washington" Textured Shawlette. The yarn is my own handspun - a 3-ply from batts from Enchanted Knoll Farms. The yarn is so freakin' sparkly! The pictures really don't capture how much glitz and glam are in there! These are a combination of Superwash Merino, Silk, Recycled Sari Silk, and SPARKLE. I was unsure of just what to knit with it. I decided to pack it up for travel knitting, and needing somethign mindless for the plane, ended up with the Textured Shawl recipe. The whole thing took no time at all, it's about 24" down the back, and it's quite soft. Fast, easy, mindless knitting. :)

I also received these today:

These are from the hot pads! and potholders! swap organized by the lovely Adrian and Maritza! I had a blast crocheting mine (and even learned to crochet) and it was wonderful to receive these and see everyone else's handiwork. These were made by (clockwise from left) Susan, Kate, deadkat, Donna, and Wendy G. They are all so wonderful - I love the variety of patterns, the colors, the yarns. I'm thrilled!

There has also been a bit of forcing summer to appear:

For those of you NOT in the Boston area, it's been rainy and grey and cold for....well, most of June so far. And about 60 degrees or so. I made this salad last night - crisp, cool, refreshing, and delicious - perfect for summer! It's prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, some capers, sea salt, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Delicious and easy.

Minnesota, Meet-Up, More!

2009-06-15T18:37:00.004-04:00

So much to talk about!

I dashed off to Minnesota for a long weekend, where I met up with the most lovely and awesome nuttnbunny! It was great to finally meet her face to face, and our Buckland Cowls met up as well. Luckily, it was 53 degrees in Minnesota in June so we were able to UTITLIZE our cowls as we meandered about the stellar Franconia Sculpture Park:

This was all followed up with some CUH-razy Bloody Marys, ice cream with nuttnbuddy, and a delicious dinner by mr. nuttnhubby. And of course, there were treats:

That's some fabulous Falkland Top dyed by nutt and some of her wonderful handspun. Yum! AND a shibori dyed scarf! AND! There's also some alpaca from a friend's farm - destined to be the linings for my handspun Fiddleheads (Rav link, kiddos) :)

My return to the east was heralded with more craziness: I've been teaching for the past 2 weeks and they've been installing baseboard heating in my apartment (which means I've had to move.....well, everything. Twice.) The brisk Minnesota followed me home! It's been rainy and cold since I've returned with no end in sight. My windmill army will protect me:

Maybe Now I Can Get Some Things Done

2009-05-26T13:28:00.003-04:00

Ambling through deadline projects:

These are my 5 - count 'em, FIVE - potholders for the hot pads! and potholders! swap 2009. These puppies are made out of leftover/repurposed Debbie Bliss Cotton DK and Handknit Cotton, from a project started long ago, before I knew that I hated knitting with cotton. Glad to have a use for it now!

I joined this swap not really knowing how to crochet. I mean, I knew how to crochet, but really just enough to do 1. granny squares, and 2. finishing on any knitting. That's about all. But NOW! I probably went through about 22 different patterns before settling on this one - it's the Old-Fashioned Potholder pattern (Rav link), and it was fast! And easy to memorize.

These guys are hearty - the double-thick with DK yarn makes them pretty hard-core.

I took a jaunt out to the Massachusetts Sheep & Wool Festival over Memorial Day weekend, where I visited briefly with Amy and Adrian. There were antics, of course:

...and I managed to not purchase everything. Picked up some spices, a bundle or two from Fantom Fibers, and 2 very lovely soft blue batts. The real damage was on the way home - it was the last day of the WEBS sale, and boy howdy do they know how to have a sale. I picked up the Cascade 220 (color 2409!) that I have been drooling over for about 2 years:

I have no idea what it is going to be.....

In other news:
- just finished up a secret project, pictures soon.
- I'll be heading out to Minneapolis in 2 weeks!
- I need to get back to spinning!
- My plants are looking good!
- I'm teaching for 2 weeks in June - Non-Adhesive Bookbinding & Cloth Case Bookbinding.

Burt Reynolds, Bookbinding, and a Couple of FOs.

2009-05-14T09:23:00.006-04:00

Yikes! I didn't mean to fall so disparately behind, but here it is, a bit over a month later! What can I say? I've been busy:

I finished the Aeolian Shawl (with beads!) in record time. The majority of the body took me about 4 days to get through, but the last rows seemed to draaaaaaggggg on. Isn't that always the way? The completed shawl blocked out to about 72 inches across the top, and 36 inches down the center of the back. The beading, while tedious, was well worth the effort. They wound up being pretty subtle, but the glint when they catch the light? Delicious.

I did not use all of my original handspun for this - there's a bit leftover. Ironically, there are leftovers because I was afraid of running out of yarn! I had read in a few places that this thing gobbles up yarn at the edging and cut back on my earlier rows. Oh well.

This HAS inspired me to spin more laceweight! And more beading, too, believe it or not.

I was also on the road a bit:

I drove down to Florida to see my mom and teach a mini-workshop for her and a couple of her friends! It was a blast. We completed 2 books during the one-day workshop, a Crossed-Structure Binding and the Secret Belgian Binding. I had a really great time! While down there I also visited the Jaffe Center, which has a most amazing incredible collection of rare and artists books. The space they are in is incredible!

And, of course, I had to go here:

That's a shot of just one little corner of the Burt Reynolds Museum in Jupiter, Florida. The place is OUTTA CONTROL. It's chock full of belt buckles and badges, with pictures, posters, and magazine covers of B.R. covering nearly every surface.

Oh, and socks:

These are actually a slightly older (Easter) project, made as a thank you to Anne for watching the cat while I was away. They look like Fruit Stripe Gum, no?

Sweet Potato Pie & Liza Minelli

2009-04-10T10:39:00.003-04:00

I've accidentally involved myself in many "____-alongs" for the coming months, and I'm trying to make some headway. Above, some Wensleydale (swoooooooooon) in the "Sweet Potato" colorway from HelloYarn. This is for a Spunquistadore Singles Spin-Along/Knit-Along for shawls - I'm planning on knitting the Aeolian shawl from the latest Knitty. I've got some beads on standby.

This was a blast to spin! The Wensleydale, with it's long staple, made this easy to spin to a laceweight, and eased my fears a whole bunch about it falling apart if you just LOOKED at it. I split the original roving up by color - I wanted the color progression to flow through the length of the shawl, with darkest tones along the lower edge. Hopefully, this will all work out as planned. I've got around 800 yards of the yarn. With the beads and the expected haloing, I'm hoping for a somewhat ethereal shawl.

I also finally got around to spinning up and plying these GIGANTIC batts from the Enchanted Knoll Happy Hooves Club. The batts are HUGE! This is the "Cabaret" colorway, though I have been fondly referring to it as Liza Minelli, what with all the sparkle. Seriously, so much sparkle. Everywhere. All over me.

I'm knitting on a secret project right now, so no pictures of that. But I'm driving out to Ithaca this weekend, so LOTS of car knitting! I plan on having many finished objects by the end of the weekend.

Meanwhile, in the real world......I'll be teaching a leather paring workshop next week. This will be my first foray into TEACHING leather-work. Based on other classes I've taught, and working with leather myself, I think it will once again be a matter of teaching-by-feel. It's tough to teach tension! I've been tossing around a lot of different approaches to this, and what I NEED to cover, but you never can know in advance. Also, continuing on my quest to have a decent-sized library of books-in-sheets available - the docket grows larger, and I am (thus far) unable to keep up.

Cowling

2009-03-30T09:52:00.005-04:00

I'm participating in a Cowl Swap with the lovely nuttnbunny - we are subscribed to many of the same fiber clubs, and we continue to spin and then knit very similar things. We're Cowl Soul Sistahs! We had decided a while back to work out a cowl swap with our "Buckland" fiber from HelloYarn. I knit up this little guy! It's easy, stretchy, squishy bamboo stitch with some 1 x 1 rib on the top and bottom. I had some excess and whipped up a few little flowers with the more solid sections of the yarn, and threw on some crazy buttons. To make the cowl a bit more, um, versatile? I also put buttons on the BACKS of the flowers, so they're removable. This will be heading out in today's mail!

In my continuing quest to catch up with the fiber, I spun up my March Club from Spunky Eclectic immediately upon receiving it. This is some Dark BFL in the "Myrtle" colorway and it is wonderful. The colors are so subtle and simple and lovely.

Spring has been teasing us - not quite here, but thinking about it. I've been feeling the same way about my knitting mojo these days. I don't feel super-enthused about any of the projects that I currently have on the needles, I'm not feeling any particular urge to work on any other patterns, I'm just....well, making yarn. For now. And practicing my crochet! I've joined the pot-holder and hot pad swap, and I need to get to it!

Taking Care of Business

2009-03-12T12:51:00.001-04:00

Anyone reading this is the Northeast will understand me when I say that at this point in the winter, the only thing that gets me through is complete and total resignation that it will NEVER. Be. Warm. EVER. This is how it will be for the rest of our lives.

There have been some teaser days, followed by snow storms or icy cold rain/slush. I'm not going to be fooled by those few nice days - I know how this game works, nature!

So I've been spinning a bunch - I received a lovely package from David at Southern Cross Fibre, full of brilliant colors and fluffy fibery goodness. That picture up there is the "Desert Sky" colorway in Polwarth (which is a dream to spin) and gave me about 260 yards of 2-ply yum. It has a nice shimmer to it, and pluffed up a fair amount in setting the twist. I've got some other stuff from David on the bobbin right now - in the "Fields of Gold" colorway, this time some BFL. I had nearly forgotten how wonderful it is to spin BFL - it's so delightfully springy and plush!

Meanwhile, on the needles - actually, just about off:

A mildly dodgy picture of some socks. The main yarn is Superwash Merino, spun up in the "Dancing" colorway from Knitterly Things. It's a 3-ply, and I think it's about 300 yards or so? I split the whole thing into 2 cakes, yardage-wise, and knit them toe-up. The toes, heels, and cuffs are some leftover commercial yarn (I think it may be Rowan 4-ply Soft?) and I am trying to use up every last ounce of that as well. There's some minor shaping up the leg, short-row toes and heels, and a k2p1 rib for the cuff.

These are a gift to my friend Anne, who is a lover of handknit socks. She appreciates what goes in to the making of things like this, and in the past, has refused to accept socks from me. So these are my gift to her, for MY birthday :)

Keeping Up With Club Fibers

2009-03-03T12:57:00.001-05:00

I've been trying to keep up with fiber club shipments as best I can. I try and keep the fiber "stash" portion of things to any excess fiber purchases throughout the year (Rhinebeck, various shop updates, gifts, etc.) and play with that stuff in between shipments. Of course, this is all a rough guideline - sometimes things fall behind, sometimes I'm just not into a club colorway or fiber, sometimes I have bigger plans. For the most part, though, I try to keep up, and I think that's what counts.

This is "New Day" - the February fiber offering from Spunky Eclectic. This is 4 ounces of Corriedale, spun 2-ply, and I ended up with about 240 yards after a hot/cold soak and a good thwacking. I didn't do much prep to the fiber - I split it lengthwise and spun each half, then plied them together. It was a fast spin. I'm a little bit afraid that it may be a bit "Burger King"-esque, but that may just be from seeing it in process, when the colors were truly separated out.

This is the February offering from Southern Cross Fibers - 100% Polwarth in the "Boys of Summer" colorway. The polwarth is divine - it's a wee bit "sticky" and has a ton of spring to it. I also split this lengthwise, and then again, spinning up 2 lengths each to a bobbin. This is also a 2-ply, though much finer - my yield is 435 yards. I'm thinking it may get woven up into a scarf.

Thankfully club shipments do not ALL arrive on the same day - a little bit of a break and a chance to delve into the "stash" section of fiber. Or catch up on past club shipments. Or knit up some of the handspun, perhaps. We'll see what happens!

Some Vellum Love......

2009-03-02T11:34:00.001-05:00

I taught a Limp Vellum Bookbinding workshop this past week. This binding structure is really quite beautiful, and this is one of my favorite workshops to teach. The course runs for 3 days, and we create this fantastic book!

Limp vellum binding were prevalent in the 14th century. The covers of the books were formed from one piece of vellum - usually a goat or calf skin - with the textblock of the book sewn on alum-tawed thongs. The process of alum-tawing the thongs creates a leather that does not stretch as much, and it wears much better than tanned leather.

These bindings were wonderful for re-binding things as well - it is not uncommon to find limp vellum bindings where the cove vellum is a sheet of old calligraphed manuscript. The textblock is sewn using a herringbone stitch, which gives it some movement, but not too much. There is minimal adhesive used. The thongs are then split and laced through a vellum cover, which has mitered, tabbed corners, and a yapp edge to protect the foreedge of the textblock. Many historic limp vellum bindings featured a yapp edge on 3 sides.

The vellum itself is hygroscopic, causing it to "move" with humidity levels. For this reason, the limp vellum structure is ideal - the textblock can easily be separated from the cover and rebound, though the vellum is easily the strongest, most durable material for covering.

Once the textblock is set within the vellum cover, the book is held shut with more alum-tawed thongs and a bone clasp. A vellum staple can be added to the doubled-over thong to keep it in place. The thong and loop closures are also attached using no adhesive.

Because the vellum is a skin, there are many variations in the weight through one cover - the skin is stiffer and less flexible along the spine, and it tends to be thicker, as well. Folding the vellum can be a bit of a wrestling match. The skin we used for this workshop was a beautiful veiny calfskin - you can see the veins of the animal it came from.

When completed, this binding is quite satisfying to hold. The vellum is very smooth, and has a subtle lustre to it. The flexible book molds to your hands. They open quite easily and are structurally quite sound.

Meanwhile......

I've been spinning up my first installment from Southern Cross Fiber Club - this is some Polwarth in the colorway "Boys of Summer". It's a joy to spin - quite plump! And I'm excited to see it plied and done. The colors are sooooo saturated.

Handspun & Winter Sun

2009-02-17T10:43:00.001-05:00

I've delved head-first into a non-bloggable knitting project, so I thought I'd throw some handspun eye candy up here in the meantime! This stuff sure accumulates! It also tells a story of my progress as a spinner - there are some yarns in there that I am not too thrilled with, there are others where I do not care for the fiber. It serves as a reminder that I need to get better at labelling fiber content and yardage, as well.

Lots of fiber club stuff in there!

So I'm on a brief break from spinning as I plow through some test-knitting. I'll most likely get back to it in a day or two - it's meditative and calming. I'm also catching up with some bookbinding projects that have been back-burnered for a bit - I'm doing some layout work in order to be able to print books in sheets for binding. It's slow-going and nitpicky, but I'd rather take the time and really really get it right instead of constantly having to tweak it before every print run.

Meanwhile, winter weather continues to taunt us. This is a picture of one of the solstice stones at America's Stonehenge, which I visited this past weekend. Many of the ruins were still buried under snow - and there's more snow coming tomorrow! - but it was an interesting site to see, and a lovely hike through the woods. I'll definitely be returning there once the ground thaws.

Out & About (A Little Bit)

2009-02-13T10:26:00.000-05:00

I met up with my friend Maritza from high school - turns out we've both been living in Boston for the past couple of years and only recently reconnected! We rendezvoused in Harvard Square, played a bit of catch-up, talked knitting, and visited this Shepard Fairey piece outside of the Tannery. It was nice to see one up close and personal, and check out the workmanship and layers. Also, the brick coming through and the texture......quite stunning, actually.

Maritza kindly gifted to me some yarn, as well! These 2 little lovelies of sock yarn - one skein of Vesper Self Striping Sock Yarn in the "Algae" colorway, the other Sundara Sock in "Ivy". These are wonderfully plush, and the colors are so completely rich and saturated. I've started the great pattern search to find just the right pattern to highlight these yarns. Any ideas?

Earlier this week I had a field trip to the Boston Athenaeum - my 3-month Bookbinding students and I reunited for a tour of the conservation lab. It was lovely! The Athenaeum is in a beautiful building behind the Granary Burial Ground, and the conservation lab overlooks the cemetery.
It was wonderful to go behind the scenes and see what they were working on, what the space was like, how they decided what to work on and what the treatment options were. It was fascinating!

One of my students had recently taken a paper marbling workshop and brought me this stunning piece of paper that she made during that course:

This paper is worked in 2 separate layers, allowing the first to dry completely before setting down the color for the second layer. The pattern for both layers is similar, with only the color varying. Stunning! I don't know what to use it for yet......we'll see what I can come up with.

In Which I Complete A Knitted Object

2009-02-09T14:45:00.000-05:00

Finished, and fast:
That's the ZeeBee hat, and man-oh-man is it a fast knit! This one here is made out of Hello Yarn Fat Sock in the Sand & Sea colorway. It took just a bit under one skein, and it is knit on US 5s. It's quite delightfully soft, and the garter stitch really makes the hand-dyed just POP! This little gem went to Young Sef, but I definitely see more iterations of this hat in my future.

Meanwhile.....I continue to work on lace. No progress pictures there because, well, it's lace, so until it's blocked it really just looks like a big lump of purple and green and white rice noodles. But! I'm past the halfway point in the charts, but as the size increases, I'd guess that I am actually only 1/3 of the way through the actual knitting. It's going smoothly, and I'm enjoying it - it's been a while since I've had any lace on the needles, and I'm finding it to be much more relaxing than I remembered it.

I'm also looking at piles of patterns for a cowl for nuttnbunny - she's my cowl soul sistah, and we're doing a Cowl Swap with our handspun "Buckland" - the November colorway for the HelloYarn fiber club. Oh goodness - I was going to post a picture here but I don't seem to have any of that yarn! I'll be sure and get one up. It's a lovely acid green and deep plum wine.

A Little Bit of Light

2009-02-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

The winter just keeps on coming. The snow has no chance to melt before there is more covering it all up. In light of that, a little bit of spring to brighten the cold away:This amaryllis is in the dining room and opened up yesterday. The second bloom on there should be open in a day or two. It's nice to have a wee bit of natural color in the otherwise cold and snowy scenery!

Meanwhile.......more spinning. I'm still catching up with some club fibers, hoping to get things taken care of before next month's fiber arrives. This is a bit of "Twilight", the January Club offering form Spunky Eclectic.This is a 2-ply spun from organic merino - it is the softest EVER. The original roving had one dark end of greys and one dark end of purples. I split the entire length of it in half and spun it up quite plump - I ended up with one bobbin leaning towards mint & grey tones, and the other light blues and purples. Combined: this plush lusciousness. It's so freakin' lovely. And about 315 yards.

I've even taken up some knitting! I tend to not knit in January - I think it's some sort of vacation from all of the holiday crafting - and sometimes it seeps into February as well. But seeing as I'm accumulating a rather large stash of handspun, I thought I'd throw something onto the needles.
I've finally cast on for the Fern Garden Shawl (Rav link) - I had picked up the pattern a year or two ago, and just never got around to it. It just happens to have the same yardage as my Rocky Mountain High handspun from a week or so ago! And I thought that the merino/silk would add a lovely drape to the pattern. It's quite an easy knit so far, and the yarn is very nice to work with - I'm interested in seeing how the striping of the yarn balances out over the length of the shawl. Also, the pattern calls for 20 beads along the lower edge - I haven't chosen anything yet; I figure I should actually get somewhere near that portion of the pattern before I take a break to find beads. The nepps are keeping it interesting as well - the tough part (p5tog?!?!?) is worked on the purl rows, so there's no rest!

Catching Up With Fiber Clubs

2009-02-04T11:52:00.000-05:00

"Norway" colorway. Hello Yarn Fiber Club, January 2009. BFL, about 275 yards, 3-ply.

Yes, still spinning. Trying to get through some of the piles of wool around here. And again with the 3-ply! The colors in this were so vibrant and so separate from one another - I wanted to maintain a *bit* of that, but I didn't want to have extreme striping. And.....I've been loving the 3-ply lately. I split this up into 6 different bundles, and flip-flopped them in order to avoid intense striping. The colors still remain fairly vibrant and wonderful - I have another 4 ounces of this wool which I may spin as a 2-ply instead (you know, to keep things interesting).

I've got the January 2009 Spunky Eclectic club offering on the wheel right now - it's called "Twilight" and is a plump, wonderful organic merino. It's been wonderful to spin, and I'm excited to see how much it blooms in washing and setting the twist. The dye has come off of it onto my hands a bit; I'm hoping the bleed will stop in setting.

I'm planning a trip - heading down to south-eastern Florida in April. By car! If there are any suggestions regarding fiber and/or Roadside Americana, please do let me know.

Batts, Or A New Crazy Beginning

2009-02-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

I was teaching a Non-Adhesive Bookbinding course this past week. I've been teaching this specific course for about 8 1/2 years now. I don't think that I am burnt out on teaching this, but I have seen a lot of the "standard" problems that arise. So I discuss them. This has led to the core curriculum of the course being completed in 3 or 4 days, and this is a 5 day class. I have a bunch of things up my sleeves for such occasions, but at this point, I'm realizing that those things up my sleeve have also become a part of MY curriculum when teaching the course, such as this Secret Belgian Binding. I don't know if this progression is good or bad.

Meanwhile, in the world of fiber:

I finally got a chance to play with my drum carder - I am participating in a batt swap, and these are my very first batts, heading out to Maryland. Since I wasn't quite sure of what I was doing, along with feeling a bit adventurous, I carded up a little bit of everything in nature colors. These batts are made up of merino, corriedale, a bit of soy silk, and some sparkle and camel down. I'm happy with them; I hope my swap partner enjoys them.

The drum carding process is a ton of fun, but also a bit overwhelming! So many possibilities! I'm reading up a bit more on what I can do, and hoping to get around to dying some fiber specifically for carding. I'm enjoying the blending possibilities, both for colors AND fibers. And what girl doesn't liek a wee bit of sparkle in her life?

The Wheel DOES Keep On Turning

2009-01-22T13:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, yes - more spinning. It's really been a matter of catching up for me, and I haven't been feeling the knitting love of late. I suppose it's a matter of finding the spinning to be a bit more of a challenge - figuring out what type of yarn I would like to create, what type of yarn the fiber will allow itself to be, and thinking a bit about the process. For the most part, these yarns do not have a specific purpose set for them yet - there are no sweaters or hats or mittens or cowls that I am thinking about turning them into, just thinking more about the process of the yarn creation. Or at least thinking toward thinking about the creation process.

This is some wonderfully soft Australian Merino that David brought over on his visit this past October. It's beautifully dyed - completely saturated with color - and spun up wonderfully. I split the roving lengthwise a few times and spun it with some added twist in the hopes of it plumping up in both the plying process and the finishing process (more on that below), and it really did! It's infinitely squishable and lovely, and comes in at around 240 yards. The blues are slightly brighter than this picture - an almost cornflower blue, with the most subtle of greens.

I find that I alternate between a thicker 2-ply and thinner yarn - the finer stuff takes a lot more time, and by the end of it I feel I deserve a little break. I purchased this Superwash Merino roving from KnitterlyThings some time ago, and it was begging to be a 3-ply sock-weight yarn. The superwash definitely added to that! The colorway is "Dancing", and it was an out-of-control explosion of reds and oranges, with splashes of pretty much every other color imaginable.

I split the roving strip in half in the hopes of NOT maintaining color transitions and striping. I then split each half again a number of times - some long strips, some into smaller pieces, some into clumps - and jumbled it all up into 3 approximate piles. I then spun one bobbin from each of those piles, fairly high twist, and hoped that they would all end up fairly even. Those 3 bobbins were then all plied together, and I was left with only a few yards on one bobbin. The total yardage on this skein is 300 yards.

My finishing process is pretty simple: For these yarns, I wanted them to plump up a bit. I first soaked each skein in a very very hot water soak, with a dash of soap. I left that to sit for about 20 minutes. I drained the water out of the sink, squeezed the excess water out of the yarn, then soaked it again in very cold water. Rinse, drain, repeat. Then I gave the yarn a sharp snap and whacked it a couple of times, and left it on a hook to dry.

My main knitting right now is Work Knitting, so I can't show it. I CAN say that it is a fair isle bag, knit flat, leaving about...7787892346 ends to weave in. GROSS. It's currently the bane of my existence, and why I have been procrastinating through spinning.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-01-19T21:33:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to make the fiber stash seem a bit more...."reasonable". This here is the "Cairns" colorway from ComeInSpinner - it's a wonderfully plump Australian Merino, and comes in around 230 yards. It was wonderful to spin - I put in a bit of extra twist in the hopes of it plumping more, and it worked out just fine. The colors are just so rich!

I'm working on being more thoughtful in my spinning, so that I am not just showing you something and talking about the yardage and fiber content. I'm working on my organizational skills and note-taking, and working toward a more consistent & thought-out method of spinning. Even, dare I say, spinning for a PURPOSE. We'll see how it works out. Bear with me, okay?

The snow has helped my spinning spree, but the spinning spree has definitely hampered my knitting progress! Pictures soon (I swear!) of EZ's Seamless Hybrid in progress, and perhaps even a second pair of Fiddlehead Mittens. The original pair of Fiddleheads in this house has seen extensive wear this season, with our current (and supposedly going up tonight!) tally of eleventy-billion inches of snow. They are wearing wonderfully, though, but a second pair would be nice. I'm thinking an angora/merino blend for the interiors.

So! More thought, more pictures, more progress? One can only hope ;)

And So It Begins.......

2009-01-14T15:07:00.001-05:00

I've been hoping to really follow my spinning adventures a bit more in depth - tracking my progress and process and exploring my methods and techniques. I'll begin with this lovely wool.

This is some lovely hand-painted Finn, dyed by HelloYarn, in the "Bruised" colorway. This is a plump 2-ply, yielding about 420 yards, at about 15wpi or so. This wool *literally* spun itself - I split the roving into 4 similar weight strips with minimal pre-drafting. To set the twist, I soaked the wool in a piping hot bowl of water with a dash of woolwash for about 40 minutes (I admit, I forgot about it), then gave it a shock of cold and left it to hang dry. It was balanced right from the get-go! Shortly after I learned how to spin, I joined 2 Fiber-of-the-Month clubs. I thought it would be the best way to try out new fibers and new colors. I've found it to be a wonderful chance to try out new things, and I look forward to my fiber shipments every month.

The above image is for the December installment of the Spunky Eclectic club - in the colorway "Champagne". I split this roving into 2 strips and spun them up fairly thin. As singles I found them to be fairly muddied and boring; I was afraid this would worsen with plying. But it didn't! the plying seemed to really open up the colors and give it some body and life and sparkle. This is about 360 yards.

I'm desperately trying to do some catching up with the fiber piles around here, so I've been aggressive about spinning every day. I'll be cleaning out the bins of handspun as well and posting some on etsy.