September 2005 Archives
Two words: Work. Bizzy. Good thing I prepared this entry last weekend.
Creamy Coopworth. The sliver was prepared so well that I didn't have to attenuate this so much before going to the wheel. There were the occasional plant bits, but all you need is good sunlight to pick them all out. With no scale around, I figured the best way to measure the fiber is to unroll the 8 ounce ball, rip it in half, and again, and again, and perhaps even again, until you have enough fiber to manage through one spinning session. My limit per session is 1/2 ounce, sometimes even 1/4 ounce. I’ve been trying to spin a laceweight single for plying. The first bobbin didn't yield as much yarn as the second, but that's okay. It’s where I practiced the short draw, the long draw, woollen and worsted draws, fiddled with the tension, experimented with ratios (let me say I did all those fairly crappily, spinning blindly without a teacher, and having a ton of fun), and basically figured out the wheel. I think.
The overtwist above is ever so completely wrong, but I find it quite pretty. The fat and skinny next to each other has some appealing quality, as well as the fuzzy and smooth parts of the yarn where I tried woollen and worsted draws. I thought of dyeing the fiber earlier on, but decided to try it as it came from the back of the sheep. There are plenty of opportunities for dyeing in the future. According to this chart, 8 ounces of fiber spun at (an average) fingering weight (16 wpi) should yield between 880 and 1152 yards. I wonder how much I'll have at the end!
Some sports photography links for anyone interested. These guys make me want to quit my job and just go climb shoot pictures.
◊ Jimmy Chin; click for the Karakorams
◊ Rich Wheater; click for bouldering
◊ Michael Clark; click for portfolio
My measly little scarf pattern (pdf here) is getting some exposure! Hee hee!
Sknitty Jillian is making a variegated version in yummy Chasing Rainbows Dye Works merino/tussah. And Yarnivorous Lynne is making Liesel as well, in a beautiful pink variegated yarn.
Just an FYI regarding the time I spent on this pattern, which was 4 hours. Everyone's time is different, but this is something that you can surely finish in a week! Now you know people like Wendy and Lauren can probably knit this in their sleep, so if it takes you 8 hours, or 12, it's okay. It's an easy pattern, right? :-)
And speaking of CRDW... Knitters Review posted an article on kniting with pencil rovings. Curious, I went to the vendor's site, Crown Mountain Farms, and while clicking around I found Nancy Finn's stuff! Nancy Finn of Chasing Rainbows Dye Works is selling her yarn and fiber through them, and of course you know her colors are absolutely gorgeous! I bought some yarn from her booth at Fabulous Fiber Fest some time ago, and knit a feather and fan scarf for my mom with it. It was so beautiful. Now I know where to buy some more!
PS: I just have to link you to Interrupting Sheep Becks, who is knitting a stole out of silver (silver!) kidsilk haze (cracksilk haze, kidcrack haze, kidsilk crack)... Isn't it beautiful? I always thought white on white was elegant, but now I'm thinking silver definitely has a place... Not that I'm planning *anything*, okay?
Edit: Becks clarified that it's a stole, not a wrap, and it's made from Rowan's new Kidsilk Night: "shot through with metallic fabric". Ooh, fancy!
In its former life this pile of Kid Silk Haze aspired to be an elegant stole. It had been frogged a couple of times, and with frustration, so that the mohair started to bloom on its own. Said fuzzy pile was relegated to the bottom of the yarn bin for about 6 months, while I moved on to other things. Like designing with lace. Like learning to knit lace with something other than fuzz. Like learning to knit from charts. Like learning how patterns work.
So after some deliberation I decided to return to KSH. I had found a good project, you know what it is, Polly's Kiri, and it used the yarn. Polly was even considerate enough to specify how much shawl you'd end up with after each ball. Approximately 2 balls would yield a big enough shawl (you must know I'm petite by now). I liked that. But the KSH. Sooo fine! And sooo fuzzy! How was I going to make it behave?
Turns out, I didn't have to do anything! Having cut my teeth on the Flower Basket Shawl, working with fine yarn, learning how each pattern section worked with another, helped me when it came to figuring out Kiri. Now I know why Stephanie calls it Crack. It's good stuff, let me tell ya. And I know I'm using the correct needle size, because they're big and comfortable, but not clunky. (That's another thing, finding the correct needle size to go with fine yarn to achieve an open, airy, lacy effect.) If I was to offer any beginning lace knitter some advice on KSH, it would be this: find a fingering yarn and knit something lacy with that first, and if you don't know charts, learn to read them. Then try KSH. Trust me on that.
So Fuzzy Wuzzy here is pictured after its fourth pattern repeat. According to Polly, 2 balls of yarn should yield 8 pattern repeats. But the question begs, is there enough yarn to knit the edging? Or should I go with 7 pattern repeats and then the edging? I guess I'll know when I get to it. Lifelines, baby, lifelines.
PS: I just read Julia's entry on KSH. And mountain biking. You must know they're related, right?
PPS: Want to see some great flash work? Click here, and hold your mouse down to navigate once the picture comes up.
PPPS: Another great (design) link: The USA Smart Car website (gotta love those cars) has a nav similar to design company Evolution Bureau's. However, it was created by H20Media in Germany.
This article on Martha Stewart renouncing fur, and the accompanying video, is something that you can't ignore. If there is anything that I'm vocal about, it's the compassionate treatment of animals. If PeTA is not your cup of tea, surely The Humane Society is.
Thanks for all the comments on the Flower Basket Shawl everyone. It was such a great project, and lace... I love lace! I'm planning on buying some circulars, though; lace knitting on 14" straights aren't very comfortable.
It isn't a surprise to my family that I took up knitting and loved it. I know my love for knitting and yarn comes directly from my mom. She is, however, a crocheter, but all the same I'd like to share some of my mom's work. She is, like me, self-taught, and a visual crocheter. She has never gone by patterns. All the following were made using TLC yarns, which are mostly acrylic. Imagine if she had some beautiful natural yarns! The first is a triangular shawl in progress, using a pineapple motif:
Red vest, using a scallop motif:
Dusty rose pink vest (her favorite, I think) in a flower motif. Each of those hexagons were joined to each other, ends woven in as she crocheted:
Once I tried teaching her how to knit (once and tried being the operative words) and we just ended up giggling at her efforts. She just couldn't understand this thing with two huge sticks (I gave her US9s) that created something like the Flower Basket Shawl. She put those needles down soon enough! (She did, however, keep the Classic Elite Inca Alpaca.... hm....)
Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark, Interweave Knits Fall 2004
Yarn: Misti Alpaca in #605 Natural Tan, also available here
Needles: US9
Finished Size: 66" wide x 35" long
I ended up with 9 repeats of the pattern. The larger size may have been due to the fact that I used larger needles; I was actually surprised that it came out as big as it did. My grandmother and I are the same size (she's a bit shorter) so this is sure to fit her. And she *loves* earth tones. It's an easy pattern to knit; I didn't have problems working with the yarn doubled or its fineness, or the charts. I highly recommend this to any beginners because it's a good introduction to lace knitting. Best of all, I *get* charts now. I forced myself to work from the chart instead of writing everything out. It just clicked. Hah! More pictures of the shawl here.
So these are my projects for the rest of the year, in no particular order:
- Polly's Kiri for BF's mom
- Another Kiri for me, in that gorgeous merino/tencel from Silver Creek Farms I bought from Stitches West earlier this year
- The shawl from the Mystery Shawl Knit-Along. There's already a Part 2, but I'll try the first one first
- Another sock pattern... maybe. I'm stuck on 2 sizes for Mirabella
- A hat pattern... maybe
- A scarf pattern... maybe
- Cabled turtleneck sweater from an old Rebecca
- Baby items! This is phase 3 of the pregnant friends...
Ooh. Google. Bad Google. Bad, bad, Google!
Reading: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. I haven't mentioned any books in a while but I've been reading in the background. I've already passed 52 books, but I'll continue with my list until year's end.
If a shawl project takes me just 2 weeks and 2 entries, it's easy.
Look! I'm already blocking the thing!
Closeups of the points.
Granted, my Canon S330 is 2 years old, but it still takes pretty good pictures!
Aeron* kindly modeled in my place. I'm afraid I wasn't looking my best...
I'll have a real model shot tomorrow, promise!
Meanwhile, read 5ives. Comments closed for this post.
*BF likes this, but I like the el cheapo generic leather chair better, because I can tuck my feet under me while I work and when I pass out from overwork the high back prevents me from getting a crick in my neck. I would *love* to have Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Sissel chair!
Fiber: Rainforest Colonial, 4 oz
Gifted from: Former knitblogger Leila Crayonbrain
Yardage: 228.5 yards (1 large and 1 small skein)
Weight: Worsted
Look, I made tweed! It's the multi-colored fiber Leila gave me waayyy back in March. I had spun about 130 yards on my spindle, and I finished the rest up on the wheel. I'm still finessing the thickness and the plying, which is why the yarn is quite inconsistent. I couldn't resist spinning this, it was a break from the white Coopworth. I tried separating the colors to make more of a variegated yarn, but they were too intertwined, and the lengths I managed to separate without breaking were thin. Leila said as much, so this ended up as tweed. I made tweed by accident!
Enjoy some linkage:
◊ My new favorite site, Inhabitat posted an article on soy protein fiber. Southwest Trading Company's yarn is referred to. Isn't Inhabitat a beautiful site, in general?
◊ Hip and Zen's recycled products.
◊ Walnut columns with turnings shaped like your profile! Huh?
◊ Scroll to the bottom of this entry and you'll find interesting knitted things from Icelanders Ragnheiður Ösp Sigurðardóttir and Sesselja Guðmundsdottir
◊ Knitwear designer Jo Sharp has a beautiful site.
You've read enough on the Flower Basket Shawl on other blogs, let's talk about alpaca here. I'm actually using the yarn called for in the pattern, surprise surprise, Misti Alpaca in #605 Natural Tan. YUUMMM! It's soft and squishy in the ball. It's a dream to knit up. It doesn't tangle like mohair. Even BF likes to squeeze the shawl every once in a while. I think my grandma will like this very much.
This picture shows the end of the 5th repeat. I'm actually about to start on the 9th, as there is still at least a third of the ball left. The pattern directions call for 7, but I hate to waste yarn, so I might as well try to finish the balls up. Maybe I'll stop after the 9th. ...Maybe. The shawl has become one beautifully muddled mess in my lap that keeps me warm as I knit in the eveings. (I know, you're thinking, warm? I'm a tropical girl through and through. I wear sweatshirts in the summer.)
Please don't forget the animals: the Humane Society of the United States is accepting donations. Have a safe and happy weekend.
I've added the scarf pattern to my sidebar. I've also renamed it, for Liesel, who asked in the first place. I rather like her name! This is an easy lace scarf that can be knit in less than a day, and is a great stashbuster for those single skeins. It can be worked in various weights of yarn, from worsted down to laceweight. Worsted yields a very contemporary soft, chunky scarf, whereas laceweight yields a traditional delicate, airy scarf. For Liesel I used worsted. Try using 1 pattern repeat for a skinny scarf; add more pattern repeats for a wider scarf, perhaps 5 or so for a stole.
Yarn: 1 ball TLC Cara Mia (50% acrylic, 19% nylon, 18% rayon, 13% angora; 3.5 oz; approximately 210 yd) in #2205 Melon
Needles: US8, or size to obtain gauge
Gauge: 35 sts (edge sts + pattern) = 6.5"
Size: One size fits all
Level: Advanced Beginner.
Notes:
◊ All odd rows are right side rows; all even rows are even side rows.
◊ All rows are have 35 stitches except for rows 3 and 4, which will have 33 sts.
◊ For the charted pattern: please refer to the image below for pattern and abbreviations.
◊ For the written pattern: "(...) 2 times" indicates that you must knit the sequence within the brackets twice.
◊ When knitting pattern, remember that the first and last 2 sts of every row are the edge sts and must be knit in garter st.
Cast on 35 sts. Knit 4 rows of garter st.
Continue in pattern (written and charted instructions included), remembering to knit 2 edge sts at the beginning and end of each row, until you have about 4 yards of yarn left.
Make sure to knit a full 10 rows of the pattern.
Knit 4 rows of garter st.
Cast off. Blocking is recommended.
Pattern:
{ + }
Row 1: K2 edge sts, (k1, yo, k1, ssk, p1, k2tog, k1, yo, p, ssk, p1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo) 2 times, k1, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 2: K2 edge sts, p1, (p4, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p4) 2 times, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 3: K2 edge sts, (k1, yo, k1, ssk, p1, k2tog, k1, p1, s2kpo, yo, k3, yo) 2 times, k1, k2 edge sts. 33 sts.
Row 4: K2 edge sts, p1, (p6, k1, p2, k1, p4) 2 times, k2 edge sts. 33 sts.
Row 5: K2 edge sts, (k1, yo, k1, yo, ssk, p1, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k5, yo) 2 times, k1, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 6: K2 edge sts, p1, (p7, k1, p1, k1, p5) 2 times, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 7: K2 edge sts, (k1, yo, k3, yo, s2kpo, p1, yo, k1, ssk, p1, k2tog, k1, yo) 2 times, k1, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 8: K2 edge sts, p1, (p3, k1, p3, k1, p7) 2 times, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 9: K2 edge sts, (k1, yo, k5, yo, ssk, k1, ssk, p1, k2tog, k1, yo) 2 times, k1, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Row 10: K2 edge sts, p1, (p3, k1, p2, k1, p8) 2 times, k2 edge sts. 35 sts.
Variations:
I've included 2 variations of the pattern that I haven't tried, but you may be interested in it. The pattern can also be repeated as a mirror image of itself, and I've charted it out. Note how the right leaf is higher than the left leaf in both repeats in the original pattern. Now look at this (apologies for sloppy photography, I hope you get the picture):
{ + }
When the pattern is reflected on itself, the higher leaves are now on the outside edges of the pattern. The blue box indicates the original pattern repeat.
{ + }
When the pattern is flipped and then reflected on itself, the higher leaves are now at the center of the pattern. The blue box indicates the original pattern repeat.
© 2008 Mary Joy Gumayagay and Indus3ous.com. All rights reserved. This pattern may be freely distributed as long as the pattern, images, text, and this copyright notice remain intact and no profit is made from its distribution or use. Read extended copyright here. For pattern assistance please post in comments below.
Mia and I have talked about charities and non-profits, and the administrative costs attached to them. How much of your dollar actually goes to the cause? Read this article.
Before you give, you may want to look at Give.org, "Investigate before you donate." It makes me feel a bit better knowing this is part of the Better Business Bureau.
Comments closed for this post.
Thanks everyone for the responses on Mirabella. I'm actually still kind of nervous about it (beginning designer's nerves, y'know), and curious to see how it'll look when someone knits from my directions... Aerobic isn't found everywhere; I believe it may be discontinued, but I hope that doesn't discourage anyone from using another sock yarn that knits to the gauge specified. One thing that I recommend is using a yarn that is solid or subtly variegated, or with a low-contrast variegation. Wendy talked about variegated yarn and lace here, and I echo the opinion.
I put the pattern in the sidebar, and Liesel asked for the pattern to the Drooping Elm Leaves Scarf so I'll be adding that shortly.
So, I bought a Lendrum. Yup, I *finally* did! I won't bother to mention how many spinning blogs and reviews I read, how many people I pestered, how many books I pored through at the library, how many Spin-Offs I read this year to try to make my decision. BF and I rode to The Village Spinning and Weaving Shop in Solvang last weekend to try out a few wheels. Proprietors John and Marsha were so kind and patient with me. BF and Marsha actually talked about motorcycles, of all things to find in common, while John showed me the intricacies of the Ashford Joy and the Lendrum. In the end, the Lendrum Double Treadle (Regular package) won out on versatility (more ratios) and price, even though I had my heart set on the more aesthetic Joy. But there was no big loss. I am *in love* with this wheel!
As you can see, I dove headfirst into spinning some fluffy, creamily white Coopworth. I bought 8 ounces, enough to practice spinning on. I have consistency problems (too thin, too thick, not enough twist, way too twisty), but this is only the first half ounce, so I expect to do better!
