Scenic Turnout

My first bird's nest necklace

2011-11-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

My first Bird's Nest Necklace. It's not quite ready to go. I'm going to add a hammered copper necklace clasp at the top. As they used to say, "Stay tuned."

Planning

2011-11-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm planning on hammering down some nails to make clasps. This yarn really wants to be worn as it is, not knitted into something. . .

. . .though, I must admit, I'd love to see how it knits up. To the folks who've purchased these embellished skeins: Please send photos!

I'd like to know why it is that the little flowers all want to hide behind the yarn when it's time for a photo. Are they shy?!

Happy Happy

2011-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

I did indeed wind up embellishing some of the "kitchen sink singles." I hated the idea of adding anything to them, but I figured I could try to find a way of being subtle and over-the-top at the same time. Is that even possible? I think the answer is, "Yes."

These yarns make me smile.

If you use one of these skeins with the flat felt, some of the flowers may have gotten crushed. You can use wet fingers to flatten them out again. It won't hurt them!

I also embellished some two ply yarn. I love the somewhat elegant satin flowers against the rustic wooly background.

If I kept this yarn, instead of selling them over at Helen's, I think I would perhaps just keep one skein sitting out as a decoration. Not all yarn needs to be made into something!

Humor me

2011-11-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to adding some felted beads to a skein of yarn:

It never made it to the store shelf. I'm most curious as to how it will be incorporated into the knitting of the nice woman who purchased it. If you're reading this, please send a photo!

More to come! It was oh so much fun to spin.

I meant to add embellishments to these singles, but I just couldn't bring myself to add anything extra to them:

What do you think?

There's already a lot going on here. . .

Merino wool, milk protein fiber, bamboo, sewing thread, recycled sari silk, and alpaca. . .

. . .or am I being too hesitant about being "over the top"?

Knitting as if her hands were on fire!

2011-10-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Helen, who owns Heavenly Socks Yarns, knit this poncho in three days. She used a combination of Good Karma Farm yarn, my handspun, and the last little bit of my Dupioni silk stash in the color "Dragonscale."

Helen does not sit down and knit, mind you. If you haven't been to her truly awesome shop, get over there! The shop is small, but it's packed to the brim with the most heavenly yarn (of course!)

The other night, I dreamt about being in her store. Now, that's really loving one's LYS, isn't it?

Raggedy Ann and Andy

2011-09-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Oh goodness. I've been spinning and knitting so much, I've forgotten to blog about it! I finally figured out how to get the extra twist out of singles. As usual, I'm having too much fun. I should stop having fun, don't ya think?

These are all merino mixed with recycled silk. Some have cotton ties.

I'm felting some "berries" right now. Needle felting tiny things is dangerous work! I was almost going to post a pic of my bloody fingers, but thought better of it.

x marks the spot

2011-08-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

I like sewing for the sake of sewing. Good thing, for I've recently realized that I have a lot of quarter yard pieces of fabric!

Scarves are easy to knit and they're also easy to stitch. The (mostly hidden) brown square is a nerdy little pocket. I foresee sewing up a lot of these. I've been inspired by a new store in Belfast, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply, where there's not only a lot of beautiful fabric (which I do not need), but a great selection of books. Simply having to purchase something, I bought ten yards of cotton twill tape and the most charming 100% cotton teensy tiny rickrack.

Slow, slower, slowest

2011-07-27T08:20:00.001-07:00

There's already a Slow Movement, and I was unwittingly a part of that. Seems I need to start (or become a member of) the Even Slower Movement.

Recently I'd been thinking I needed to step up my production in all things. Then I rediscovered hand spindles.

Now I'm really screwed. Excuse the language, but it's the most polite term I can come up!

My spinning wheel feels too automated! I (quickly) spun one skein on yarn on the wheel yesterday and did not enjoy myself. Oh dear.

The hand spindle is pure joy. I've been enjoying spinning with it so much I can barely write about it. In fact, this is my third attempt at doing so!

Here was my first spindle's worth of two ply. The photo is blurry because it was late at night and the battery was low. Did I stop to do anything about that? No! I had to get back to spinning!

So, these were my first three skeins using an old three ounce clunker of a spindle. I've been lusting after a number of hand turned beauties. There's a Ravelry group called Spindle Candy where one can see hundreds upon hundreds of gorgeous hand spindles (some of them for sale). People who don't seem to spin much collect 'em. A part of me bristles. Put some fiber on those things. Tools are meant to be used!

Can't sleep. Must spin.

2011-06-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

This collection of yarn is truly ragged luxury. 100% merino plied with Dupioni silk.

Here's the bright pink & dusky blue in a ball (sort of):

I'm not sure what color to call this one:

It has a "garden" feel to it, with the colors of grass, flowers, and sky.

I'm not sure I want to bring it to Helens'! I want to hold onto it a bit longer, but no, it'll be on its way as soon as I'm done blogging. . .

My day of slackery

2011-06-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

I think of myself as a slacker. Well, today's output wasn't too bad, though I spent more of my day gabbing and emailing than spinning.

Here's more of the merino wrapped with 80/20 silk:

A closer look:

I got really carried away with this next skein. With this many beehives, it's not possible to get a "balanced yarn." It's fun. Does anyone really care if it's perfectly balanced?

Taming the wild beastie:

Okay. I was pulling on the yarn. "Oh yeah, baby, you're a real wild child. . ."

Opposites attract

2011-06-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

I love how purple and yellow look together. They're opposites colors on the color spectrum. Put next to each other, they either look gorgeous or disgusting, depending upon one's aesthetics. Once upon a time, I only went in for subtlety. Then I became a tattooist!

This yarn is a khaki green and muddy yellow wool core wrapped with yellow, turquoise, and purplish blue Dupioni silk. It's fat. Size 15 needles and bigger would be appropriate.

I've discovered that old irises leave purple stains. I had no idea. I wonder if it's wash fast. Even though I bet the answer is technically "no," my decorative linens will be stained forever. . .

As always, this new yarn will be for sale at Heavenly Socks Yarns in Belfast, Maine.

The evolution of an idea (or not)

2011-05-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

First, there was the Nautilus Scarf. That was an idea that I thought of, came home, knit up a few swatches in an hour or so, achieved what I wanted, knit the scarf the next night, and was done.

I wanted to then make a similar scarf, but with half circles radiating out from the middle, but I just couldn't make it work.

I tried making it simply grow from side to side, but I could tell quickly that it was going to look simply awful.

Okay, I gave up. I had some sort of brain cramp. I switched to the idea of making a vine of undulating leaf lace, something I've knit before, but it looked clunky to my eyes. This awful, overexposed photo doesn't help matters!

Okay. How about some regular double leaf lace? Nope I didn't like the purl stitches in the middle. Let's make 'em grow out from the center, and so, I moved on to that. . .

There was nothing wrong with either of these. I really like the one with the long point at the bottom. Why did I rip it out? I have no idea. Something about it wasn't right (or at least that's what I thought).

At this point, the yarn was getting pretty beat-up looking, so I switched to another yarn, and then complicated a perfectly nice design to the point of absurdity.

Now, I can understand why I ripped that one out! I beat a retreat for a while, and put my knitting and notes away. When I came back to it, I tried combining nearly everything into one. . .

And then I gave up. I ripped it all out. I knew there was a simple solution to this design problem, and I just wasn't seeing it. I knew I had knit some nice swatches, some okay swatches, and some real clunkers. I realized that while I love to knit, and know plenty of tricks and techniques, on days when I'm stressed out, I just can't do much problem solving, or I turn the most simple things into complex problems. Either way, in this instance, I made a hash out of it.

I did come up with the solution. It isn't all that clever, or fancy, and I've no photograph of it! Did you expect a happy ending tonight?!

Of course you did!

There is one, but you'll have to wait.

Bye bye beehives

2011-05-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today I sold a few skeins of my yarn (bits of which are pictured). Truth is, so much time goes into making a skein of hand spun yarn, it's impossible to charge enough to really make more than pennies per hour. But, it's so gratifying to be at the shop when someone buys my yarn. I get to see their excitement, and it makes me happy. If you're reading this and I met you today, thank you!

But, there's also a wee bit of sadness at the end of the day when I realize that I have to say "goodbye" to what I've made. They're my little babies, which I nursed along from raw fleece to finished product!

After one person left, Helen said to me, "You make everything so complicated!" Yes, I know. I find the process of turning plain raw fleece into colorful interesting yarn so interesting, so exciting, that I want to tell people every little detail. It's mostly pure enthusiasm, but another part of me wants you to know just how much goes into that little skein of yarn.

I had written an outline of every step from fiber animal to finished product, but it was so tiring to write, I figured it would be tiresome to read. Anyway, if you want to know, there are posts about the process here for you to read if you want.

If there's something you want to know, or to learn, just ask me! I love explaining stuff. I've got endless curiosity about how things are made, the history of how things have been made, and even the socio-political reasons for changes in how and why things are made. I just love talking and writing about this stuff, so there's more to come.

And I better find time for some spinning and knitting. In fact, I planned on spinning this evening, not writing a blog post. There is not enough time in one day, or one lifetime!

Little darling. . .

2011-05-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

. . .the ice is slowly melting.

It seems like years since it's been clear.

Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright."

Oftentimes, a skein of yarn will cause a particular song to play over and over in my mind. The song does not inspire the spinning of the yarn, but the other way 'round.

Yet, with all the gloom we've had here in Maine this month, the lyrics of this song are quite fitting. Here comes the sun. It's alright.

Spin, knit, chart, repeat

2011-05-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

More accurately, in knitting instruction form, my last week would look like this:

*CO 2, knit in pattern, chart, rip out* repeat, end with some spinning. Sleep.

My aim was to design a long narrow scarf with pairs of leaves growing out of one another. I've designed it, but just saw a photograph of the original design from one week ago, which looked quite nice, and nicer, in fact, than the one I've got on the needles right now, the one that it took over a dozen attempts to arrive at, will rip out once again, and repeat from the * above. Did you get that?

The antidote for all this confusion (both yours and mine), is some of my latest spinning. Whatever one calls them - beehives or coils - they always cheer up my day, and I can spin 'em even when my cognitive abilities seem to be diminished:*

This skein, amongst others, is available from Heavenly Socks Yarns.

*I do have an excuse for my repeated mistakes (and the pages upon pages of charts and notes that accompany them). I was on steroids. They might be fine for enhanced performance in sports, but they are of absolutely no value in knitted lace design (not that I took them for that)!

Nature forms in art

2011-05-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

For those who aren't familiar with it, "Nature forms in art" is a play on words from a book that's been truly inspiring to me, Art Forms in Nature, the modern collection of some of Ernst Haeckel's stunning lithographs. For more photographs of this scarf (unfurled!), and the knitting pattern to go with it, hop on over to the Good Karma blog.

I'm really excited about designing and knitting more non-flat stuff. I've got so many ideas percolating, my mind is ready to explode. Uh oh!

Lace improv

2011-05-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting lace like a maniac for the last month. Until now, I haven't taken one photograph! This lace is knit on size 4 needles, using size 10 crochet cotton. It's a bit loose for my taste, but it's also unblocked (and unfinished). I am improvising in the truest sense of the word. I started out with a pattern. Now I'm riffing on it, seeing what happens. Not all of it is going to be pretty, just like any improvisation. I usually rip things like this out, but I'm not going to. I'm charting it as I go along, and I'm learning a heck of a lot.

This started out in an interesting way. I have a book (which shall remain nameless) about knitting lace shawls that has been a real thorn in my side. It is a small book about a small topic, a topic I understand better than the average knitter, yet I have not understood the instructions in the book. I've looked at it over and over again for months, and finally decided that I have some sort of mental block, cognitive impairment, or am just plain stupid. Other people rave about this book. What the heck is wrong with me?

Well, I finally figured out what I wasn't getting with some help from this post from the Knitting Kninja. She has some great lace charting tutorials for those of you with a mathematical bent. Frankly, it's too technical for my brain! I can read a chart, write a chart, and read my knitting, but when people start talking about numbers, my mind wanders away. . .

This lace is knit from the center outwards. One starts with five stitches and the darned thing just grows!
I like how the word row pops right out. I could go into an explanation of how this lace works, but right now I just want to get back to it. It's so much fun!

Hints of what I'm up to

2011-03-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

As if any of my handwork isn't slow enough, I'm now fascinated with hand spindles. Pictured above is one I made yesterday out of a dowel and some unfinished wooden toy wheels. It spins pretty well, and as soon as I'm more confident of my abilities, I'll post a little movie of me spinning. The darned thing is fascinating to me. This morning I figured out how to get it going using my feet! Right now my hands are a bit tingly, as I went to sleep late last night because I kept saying to myself, "Just got to spin a little bit more. . ." Woke up, did some yoga, meditated just a wee bit because I just had to start in again with that spindle. . .oh dear. There are other things I need to do!

Why oh why can't I get into making things that are quick to make?!

Speaking of slow (and quiet), I'm teaching a lace knitting as meditation workshop at the Treetop Zen Center in Oakland, Maine on April 23rd. Read all about it here.

On the 30th of April, there's going to be a Build-a-Batt Day and spin-in over at Good Karma Farm.

I suppose their fleece is a big reason that I put together the spindle yesterday. Jim made some Navajo style spindles at my suggestion. Big supported spindles are great for beginners to learn on, but one needs long coarse fleece in order to use them properly. Not much of that over there what with all the alpaca and wool to make the nice bouncy, soft yarn that they do. Even the batts I've been making, some of which are made of coarser stuff, are not designed to be spun fat. I wondered what the Peruvian spinners spun with, and they are small spindles, much like what you see above (though considerably lighter).

I picked up my 30" Navajo spindle and tried to use it as a drop spindle. My goodness, I actually got it to work! But, of course, I didn't get very far with that, though I intuitively started spinning with a double draw technique (at some point, dear reader, I'll explain what these terms mean, I promise).

I suppose this is why I kept adding wheels to my stick. I figured out how to spin on that Navajo spindle, which is about 3 ounces, and that weight felt right to my hands. One develops muscle memory so quickly! Now I'm looking at webpage after webpage of beautiful hand spindles, and they all weigh considerably less than 2 ounces.

More about everything I've touched on above to come. . .now it's time to get back to that spindle!

Baby's on Fire

2011-03-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

The opening line of Brian Eno's "Baby's on Fire" was repeating itself as I plied this yarn. I hadn't remembered what an annoying song it is. If you click below, don't say I didn't warn you!

brian eno. baby\'s on fire MP3 Download

Cure for the blahs

2011-03-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

It's gray and rainy day here in Maine. I've been spinning up a storm lately, but I hadn't spun anything really wild in a long time.

This is an almost balanced yarn. Making a yarn with beehives that's balanced (doesn't ply back on itself) is hard! I spun the single thick and thin yarn twice and thought this would be that perfect skein that hangs absolutely straight. Nope.

Y'know what? I don't care. A little bit of twist energy in a yarn this wild is not going to be a problem.

It looks almost tame as a skein:

But no, it's not:

Just looking at these photos perks me up! The colors and different textures make me feel good. Folks who do not live in northern New England just don't get how the winter d r a g s out. Yes, it may be raining (which might suggest winter is not over), but it's blech outside. The piles of snow are dirty. Everything looks worn out and used up. Spring is still months away! We need color and fun!

The only problem with making a yarn like this is how much yardage those beehives eat up. Here's the entire skein sitting in my hand:

An almost-full bobbin's worth of singles produced only 38 yards of yarn.

FYI: I spun the thick and thin singles with merino top that I'd pulled apart into big piles of lofty fiber. I spun it once, then took the bobbin off the wheel and re-spun it again in the same direction so it was seriously overspun. Lastly, I plied it with a laceweight silk and wool yarn. Those beehives are anchored so they won't slide around.

I'm tempted to spin up another skein right now. . .I want to tame the wild beehive!

Deconstructing top

2011-03-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

As if I didn't have enough to spin, I wanted to try something new last night. I was inspired by a few articles in the latest issue of Spin Off magazine. One of these was about making pseudorolags.

I've been deconstructing top for a long time now, and this seemed like a fabulous idea. I tried it, but lately I've been wanting to spin yarn that looks as far from commercial as possible, so I decided to just comb the top, make a little cloud of it, and spin it randomly. I haven't gotten very far with it, but I liked the "cloud" so much I thought I'd post it.

Here's what the top looks like:

It's not the most subtle of color combinations, but that's perfectly fine. The only time I use top exactly the way it presents itself is when I'm making wrapped thick and thin yarn, such as this:

As I've been really enjoying spinning from the Good Karma batts, I just don't feel like using fibers that present themselves in such a linear fashion! Since I'm the one making the batts, too, I need to introduce some randomness into my spinning.

Once upon a time, I was a control freak in my crafts. At one point, I was spinning flax into extra fine linen thread for plain weave reproduction fabric. I didn't find it boring, but those days are behind me.

Here's a little cloud in my hand. I ripped handfuls of top, then combed out little bits of it. I was not careful when I put each color into my hand. I intentionally disrupted the perfect alignment of parallel fibers. I will spin this up, letting the colors enter the drafting triangle at random. Because I bunched up the fibers and misaligned them, I have forced the possibility of producing tangles. These make nice little bumps in the yarn.

I need surprises! Sometimes one has to make them happen. Rather a conundrum, no? A beginner spinner struggles with not making a lumpy bumpy yarn, but an experienced spinner has to come up with strategies to intentionally do the same thing!

Ready to be re-knit (someday)

2011-03-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry I didn't take a picture of this sweater before I started deconstructing it!

I found it at the Goodwill. The yarn yelled, "Touch me!" The sweater was in the extra large section, but it was truly extra, extra, extra large, at least in width. I thought it might look great on, swinging from my shoulders. To my surprise, it was much too short, even for me, at only five feet tall. Add to that the fact that the sleeves were sewn into the arm holes in such a way as to make them poofy looking, and the sweater was downright ridiculous looking on. I put it back on the rack and left the store.

I thought about the sweater all that day. For five dollars, it'd be a steal for that much yarn! So, when I was done at work, I went back to the store, hoping it would still be there.

There's got to be at least 1600 yards of lovely yarn here. What a find! If only I didn't have so many projects to work on.

My cat, Xin, is enjoying it, so at least some of the yarn is going to good use. She discovered the smallest ball (see above) about a week ago, and we've re-wound it at least a dozen times since. One morning I awoke to the entire thing wrapped around the legs of a table. If only she would learn to knit or weave, I'd be all set!

Bye bye batts

2011-02-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

The batts I've been making for Good Karma Farm have all gone to Freeport for SPA. I hope they all get sold, of course, but I have to say goodbye to all that fiber I washed, picked, dyed, carded, and have looked at for months. It's been oh so much fun making these batts, and I hope that people enjoy spinning with them as much I have enjoyed making them (and spinning from them, too).

The photo above was a mock display we made right in the mill. All those colors looks so yummy to me on this gray and snowy day!

More photos and info at the Good Karma blog. . .

Lots of little skeins of yarn

2011-02-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is a one ounce skein of sheep's wool, alpaca, and bamboo yarn made from what was left on the carding drum after I made one of the more subtle big batts over at Good Karma Farm. Click on the photo to see it in more detail. I really like the subtle color changes of this yarn, and sure wouldn't mind having more of it to knit with!

It's hard to pull a batt off the carding drum and not leave something behind. That's not the worst thing in the world, for either the leftovers will get carded into another batt or turned into yet another small skein of yarn. Lots of little skeins of yarn make me happy. I no longer have SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy), but I'm working on it.

There's a photo tutorial on Andean plying over at the Good Karma blog, or, if you haven't seen them, you can you over to my older post where I've got two little movies about it.

Watching someone doing something is not the way I learn, at least not easily. If things (and people) are in motion, there's just too much for me to pay attention to. I prefer explanations and static pictures. Well, as we're finally understanding, people learn in many different ways.

When I was learning how to weave, the fellow who was teaching believed in learning by watching only. He said to me (in his Scottish accent), "You've got slow eyes, lassie." Oh my, did I find it frustrating! I kept throwing the shuttle across the warp and having it fall to the floor halfway through. Watching him weave so effortlessly did nothing to enlighten me as to what was going on. One day (when he was out of the studio) I asked another weaver if she could explain in words how to throw a shuttle properly. She did, and I was fine from then on.

The trip from fiber to batt (part three)

2011-01-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

Once again, over at the Good Karma Farm blog.

Above is a close-up of one of the 1/2 pound batts that are simply more fun to make and spin than a barrel of monkeys. Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do with a barrel of monkeys. Anyway, that's an expression my grandmother used. Were a barrel of monkeys popular in her day?

Batts are taking over my life

2011-01-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was dyeing day. Thursday was picking day. The above is a close-up of some freshly picked alpaca, Shetland wool, bamboo, and recycled sari silk. It's so soft - a dream to spin!

My own equipment is languishing, since this is all going on over at Good Karma Farm. My spinning wheel has seen some action, though, and I'm having a blast!

How to do the twist

2011-01-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

The Twist is a wonderfully easy faux cable. The written instructions are: Knit 2 stitches together. Leave on left hand needle. Insert right hand needle into first stitch on right hand needle and knit 1 stitch. Pull all stitches off onto the right hand needle. That's it!

For those of you who are visual learners, here it is again:

Knit two stitches together.
Leave on left hand needle.

Insert right hand needle into first stitch on left hand needle.

Knit one stitch. Then. . .

. ..pull all stitches on to
the right hand needle.

It really is simple. Just follow along, and you'll see. This is a great stitch to use anywhere there's a K2P1 or K2P2 ribbing. It's decorative and doesn't stretch much. Have fun!

Yarn: Good Karma Farm "Rhonda's Blue"

Andean Plying

2011-01-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Andean plying is a great technique for making a two ply yarn out of small amounts of fiber. Generally speaking, most people who use this technique are hand spindle spinners, but it's a great plying technique for everyone!

I don't know how many times I've had small amounts of fiber that I've tried to spin two small and equal bobbins and failed. Thank goodness for Andean plying!

These "movies" were not planned, so if you need much hand holding for this technique, you'll not find it here. I was spinning when a friend was over and suddenly thought, "Hey! I can get him to take a movie!"

Watch carefully and maybe you'll get what I'm doing. Suggestions as to how to make movie tutorials better would be appreciated! Personally, I don't learn well from watching. I need still pictures - preferably line drawings. People's hand movements are quirky. Mine are especially so (I think), for I've got terribly bendy fingers.

Another big batt (with many more yet to come)

2010-12-31T13:15:00.001-08:00

It's hard to get a good photograph of these large batts. It was made even harder by two things: a gray day and silk.

The gray day, well, that's understandable, but why would the silk get in the way of taking a good pic? Here's the answer: When the fibers go through the carder, the silk sticks. It winds up coming off the carder last and leaving a light haze on the entire batt. It spins up wonderfully, but the photograph just looks hazy. Oh dear, me oh my, I really need to figure out how to get a pic that captures the beauty of these big batts!

I still haven't completely mastered the art of removing the batts from the carding machine, and so there's a little bit left on the drum when I'm finished. After an afternoon of carding, there was enough scrap to make this 100 yard skein:

There's a yard or two of the colors pictured above, but most of it is the reds and oranges of the one batt I struggled the most with! The fiber content is 50% long wool sheep, 40% overdyed brown alpaca, 5% lightly dyed silk top, and 5% sari silk. I wish you could feel it - it has wonderful drape and is next-to-the-skin soft!

I spun it with my usual not quite one handed long draw. Since there wasn't enough fiber to fill up two bobbins, I double plyed it with the Andean method. Next post, a video of how to do Andean plying. "Stay tuned", as they used to say in the old days. . .

Happy New Year! Much gratitude to the many sheep, alpacas, and silk worms who contributed to fiber in 2010, and to those who will in 2011!

Big batt fun, part two

2010-12-19T20:04:00.001-08:00

Here's the finished product from yesterday's spinning:

This is a bulky weight yarn. I hadn't washed it yet, and if it "blossoms" after it's dry, I'll post another picture. Sometimes yarn does change a lot from washing, and I rather hope it does. I expected and wanted a rustic looking yarn, but if I could do it over again, I'd spin finer singles.

When I was thinking about what to do with the rest of the batt, I thought about how I could make sure I'd have a yarn that wasn't made up of different colored singles. It was late, and I'm wasn't all that interested in getting out the digital scale and being all that exacting. Eh, I don't need an excuse. I don't like being so precise ever.

The solution? Navajo plying, something I hadn't done in a long time, and remembered not liking all that much. I was skeptical, because I really didn't think these fibers were suitable for very fine singles. I was wrong about that, so much so that, as I wrote, I wished I could go back and re-spin what I'd done earlier. Spinning thought of the day: the fiber will always tell you what to do with it, if you listen (and feel). Sometimes one can "get it" right away. Other times the fiber is either a bit silent or the spinner is being belligerent. What's belligerence in spinning? Trying to get a fiber to be something other than what it is, like trying to turn flax into a fluffy soft yarn. It's just not going to happen, no matter how much you want it to be so. That's an obvious case. This fiber is made with a sheep's fleece that didn't have a lot of crimp in it. Even when I spun it up woolen, it just wasn't going to be bouncy.

First I ripped the batt into separate colors, and then I attenuated each length:

I had to take that photo quickly, for that long cloud of fiber would prove irresistible to my cat! Luckily, she was sleeping (but y'know, they do wake up fast!)

I spun using a short draw, though, since I so much prefer a long draw, I sometimes fell into doing a modified version of it, where I slick down the fibers with my right hand. I quickly realized this batt really "liked" being spun fine.

Aw well. Next time I have an opportunity to use this fiber combination, I will make a sport or fingering weight two ply. Ah, well, Navajo plying is always a three ply, as it's made by chaining the yarn that comes off one bobbin. I wish I'd had someone to take a picture of me plying. That's another thing for next time!

Here's the finished product, unwashed. Even as a three ply yarn, it isn't quite a thick as the first skein. I wish there was more of it!

I discovered that Navajo plying is quite a bit of fun, and when I do it next, I hope to make a little tutorial for you all (or at least something for your amusement).

BIg batt fun!

2010-12-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

Over at Good Karma Farm, we made some big batts yesterday. Here's a batt, rolled up, a little worse for wear, because my new cat simply had to have a few swipes at it. Who can blame her?

It was really exciting to watch the batt come off the big carding machine. Wish I got some photos of that!

The fiber is 60% long wool grey sheep fleece, 25% brown alpaca, and 5% angora. It was excting dying the different dark colors and seeing what the results were. Yes, I mean it when I say it was exciting. Heck, I find everything about this exciting. I have never ceased to be amazed about the process of turning the fleece of an animal into a yarn that one can use. It's like magic (but with a lot of work involved).

I had to decide whether I wanted to rip the batt into long or shorter strips. I decided on the latter:

Aw, I really wish you could have seen it when it was perfectly fluffy and fresh off the machine. It was like a cloud of color. It's still quite fluffy and airy, even if it looks a bit beaten up, and no, I can't blame the cat for all of it. I rolled and unrolled it many times.

Here's the first pass on the spinning wheel:

I used a long draw, so the yarn is a true "woolen." Did you know that worsted originally meant yarn that was combed and spun with a short draw, not a weight of yarn? Woolens are carded and spun without doing anything to slick down the fibers. A long draw is done with one hand. It's a lot of fun once mastered. I'm being a bit sloppy about it so that the singles are not absolutely perfect. I don't want it to look like machine spun yarn!

I'd love to see what a felter would do with one of these batts! Want to get in on the fun, whatever it is you do? Soon, Good Karma Farm will be selling these big batts. There'll be sparkly ones, silky ones, who-knows-what-kind ones. . .but, one thing is for certain, they'll all be colorful.

Stay tuned to see how my yarn mysteriously (or not) turns into a skein of yarn, and for when the batts are up for sale on the Good Karma website. Stop by the farm, if you're in Midcoast Maine, check out their many alpacas, and the fantastic machines that spin yarn a lot faster than I do!

New yarns. . .what I've been knitting. . .

2010-11-27T08:59:00.001-08:00

Oh dear. I've been forgetting to post anything. I finally used up the insanely bright pink and orange top that I dyed. You can see glimpses of both in the yarns above.

Meanwhile, I knitted up a sweater body twice, and ripped it out both times. I have a lot of leftover Noro yarn. In the first sweater body, I alternated colors every other row without any discretion on my part. In other words, I used the colors at random, closing my eyes when I picked up a ball. I wanted to force myself to use color combinations that I wouldn't ordinarily use. It was a great experiment, but I am making a sweater for myself, and I had to ask, "Will I wear this?" The answer was a loud "No." So, I decided to make a striped sweater, changing colors every two rows, and making it a little less random. I still didn't like it. I wanted something more creative than simple stripes, and, quite frankly, a heavyweight striped sweater is simply not flattering on this body.

Now, I'm in the midst of this:

The oranges are not that bright in "real life." Sure looks like it's going to be a blanket, but my plan is to make a kimono style jacket. Might wind up being a blanket - we'll see. I really wanted to emphasis the handmade look, and I do believe these rather misshapen squares practically scream "Hi! I'm knit by hand!" They are a far cry from delicate lace knitting, that's for sure.

Modular knitting is great fun. I've been playing around with it for the last couple of weeks, and plan on posting about it in detail one of these days. . .

I'm sorry I didn't take photographs of the unraveled sweater bodies. I simply must try to remember that to take pictures! It is not in my nature to document things.

New yarn

2010-10-17T04:45:00.001-07:00

"De Quervain's tenosynovitis" has kept me from spinning. Finally, got these four skeins made. They're all merino with flecks of recycled sari silk. How I love using that sari silk! I used to be choosy about what colors I'd throw into the batts, but now I just let the colors fall where they may. I love the randomness of doing it this way; I would never (never!) consider pairing orange and green. Letting go of some control is a good thing!

I'm having too much fun

2010-08-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

Whatever you call them - beehives or coils - they're fun to make. This stuff makes a great accent yarn. Insert a row here and there in a stockinette stitch pattern and it really pops!

Oops

2010-08-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have been forgetting to photograph my yarn. As the title says, "oops!" The greens, blues, and purples of the "knotty stuff" have all left the state for addresses unknown. Before I bring what I make over to Heavenly Socks Yarns, I make it look as neat as possible, though, in all honesty, I love how to yarn looks when it's wild and out of control.

Knitting with the yarn around the neck

2010-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's another silent film that's short enough to eat a few kernels of pop corn. I don't know why it's so grainy. As I mentioned in the last post, I'm a newbie to making "films" on my computer. But, in spite of the many flaws, I wanted to get this online for those folks who've taken my "Knitting the Third Way" class.

Notice that when I knit the first stitch of a row, I "throw" the yarn. This makes the stitch tighter than it would otherwise be. Other than that first stitch, my fingers are not doing much more than lightly holding stitches against the needles (and the needles, of course!) I am holding the knitting a bit awkwardly, but that's because I'm trying to angle it so it's picked up by my computer's camera. I always stress that it's ergonomically best to hold ones' knitting low in the lap.

Though it's a warm day, I'm wearing a turtleneck so you're not distracted by my clothes, but there's another reason, too - the yarn tensions itself beautifully against the back of a turtleneck. Some people attach a safety pin to the back of their shirt and let the yarn move through that. I personally find that too slippery, but it's simply a matter of preference. I also don't mind at all when I'm not wearing a top with a collar. I love the feel of a yarn against my skin, but some people can't abide by it. Figure out what works for you. That's always the key to success!

Purling with the yarn around the neck

2010-08-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you've taken my class, "Knitting the Third Way", I put this here to jog your memory if you've forgotten what to do. I always stress that one doesn't have to knit (or purl) the same exact way that I do. If it feels right and looks right, you're doing it "right"!

I haven't quite figured out how to use the program that edits movies, so this is a silent video. Put on some music, or enjoy a few minutes of silence.

Another knotty day

2010-08-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

I tried, really, to make a skein of yarn with some silk ties, but I just want to knot things up. I did finally spin a lofty thick n' thin yarn with silk ties, but honestly, it's boring. . .should I even tell? Probably not. Shhhh.

Click on the photo to see it full size. This stuff is fun! At least I think so.

Living by the bay

2010-08-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I spun up the singles for this yarn. I had planned on adding silk leaves, and got those ready to go right before I went to sleep.

This afternoon, the yarn spoke to me, much in the same way that a character in a book might when one is writing. It said, "It's not in my nature to want leaves. I'm neither a vine nor a branch. I want you to wrestle with me!" And so I did, spinning most freely, letting the yarn kink up, making snarly little knots, and funny little whorls. I thought of the rocks and pebbles along the coast of Maine.

The leaves are sitting on a table, waiting for their rightful place. Meanwhile, I'm now thinking about pushing the idea of pebbles and rocks as living by the bay soaks into me. I've got two more spindles filled with blue-green singles, and bags filled with gray Shetland wool. . .but then again, who knows what the yarn will tell me tomorrow?

Knitting the third way (sounds spooky!)

2010-08-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Above is a Peruvian man knitting with the yarn held around his neck. I knit with the yarn around my neck, too, but I have no idea if I do it the same way as this man, or any other knitter, for that matter. When I first started knitting this way, I only purled with the yarn tensioned around my neck. I hear people saying they dislike purling, but purling is a breeze with this technique. I've knit in-the-round and inside out just so I didn't have to do a knit stitch, and a number of people I've taught this method have done the same.

Over the years, I figured out how to knit this way, too, though it's not traditional in any culture, as far as I know. One woman I taught loved knitting this way so much, and she was so fast at it, just five minutes after learning, that she exclaimed, "I feel like a machine!" Feeling like a machine may not sound all that relaxing, but knitting quickly without stressing out is something I think most knitters can appreciate!

I'll be teaching what I call "Knitting the Third Way" at Heavenly Socks Yarns in Belfast, Maine, on August 21st, from 9-11 a.m. Call 338-8388 to sign up.

Firewire (not a computer post)

2010-05-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

I love yarn so much, I want people who don't knit or crochet to use it, too. There's something so therapeutic about the texture of wool. Maybe it's the child in me that wants a blanket. Or, maybe there's no explanation at all.

Thinking about those who don't knit or crochet, or who may be sitting at a desk in an Armani suit, who would probably get fired for whipping out some knitting needles and yarn to ease the tension of their jobs, I spun up some wire core yarn. Play with it and it fights back. I was feeling tense when I started spinning, and the fight to spin it got my mind right off my tension.

You can make it small, squash it, try to tame it, fan it out, play with it, arrange it, re-arrange it. And yes, you can knit or crochet it, but it seems rather a waste to me. Let it be what it wants to be, or struggle with it.

The photos don't convey all it can do. It's been tied up some so it doesn't go wild. Yarn has this thing called "twist energy." With the wire core, that energy is intense.

Deconstruct, reconstruct (from the beginning and back again)

2010-05-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

When one begins the journey of spinning wool, one has trouble. The yarn slips away, spins too fast, spins too slow, lumps up, twists back on itself, does everything except let the beginner control it. The first steps are hard, even though the act of spinning wool is essentially a simple one. Once learned, it little more than paying attention. The hands and fingers know what to do. Spinning goes quickly. Yarn is made.

I once was obsessed with spinning perfect wool and linen that was thin and without a single lump in it anywhere. I spun for reproduction weaving and traditional sweaters. Over time, I came to think "why bother?" It was less time consuming to buy yarn that looked exactly the same. So, I gave up spinning, and then I missed doing it.

Today, as I figured out that I didn't want to disturb the look of the singles I showed you in the last post, I threw a bunch of plain Corriedale, and a bit of Shetland wool into the drum carder and wound up making a simple 2 play yarn. It doesn't scream "art yarn", yet it is.

It is the imagining of what a beginner's yarn might look like - lumpy, bumpy, thick, and thin, spun overmuch in some places, and little in others. Embedded in it is my beginner's mind, along with history, my history, and the history of the cloth that is trapped between the wool fibers, and of course, the history of the unknown sheep who gave it's fleece to the story.

More fun with a scrap of cloth

2010-05-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

There was some fabric left over from the last skein I spun. What to do with such a small bit of old cloth? Listening to Dock Boggs seemed to inform my answer. I chopped it up until some of it turned to dust, and then combined it with natural Corriedale wool, a bit of mohair, and a few locks of still somewhat greasy* Shetland wool to create a raggedly single-ply yarn.

I was thinking that the lack of color had something to do with being in the city, but no, it had much more to do with the old timey music in the background, thinking about hay, and the beauty of old things that have lost much of their color.

Whether this stays a single ply yarn remains to be seen. I love the look of single ply yarn, but multiple ply yarns knit and crochet up better.

*Greasy is a spinner's term for wool that still has lanolin in it.

Spinning into the mystery

2010-05-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

An old wool picker with overly sharp teeth shreds the fabric in a random fashion. Depending on what the cloth tells me, I coax it more or less. I could chop this fabric up further and use it as small subtle slubs in the finished product. This fabric still has a lot of integrity and life left in it, so I decided not to let it become lost. A subtle piece of cloth is calling out for being the star of the coming yarn, or at least that's what I think. . .

. . .so I choose subtle colors that will not interfere.

I thought I'd wrap this yarn with an off-white thread, but instead I used a rust colored merino wool/silk blend. This small 32 yard skein is very soft, even though it looks like it's been through the ringer. Wild but subtle, I am happy with the outcome. It is not what I expected, which is always a pleasure to me.

For years, my art making was one where I worked with great intent. The finished product had to be be exactly as intended.

Is that creative? I do not think so. When we relax into the mystery of the medium we work in, we are being truly creative, letting go of rigid expectations, and ideas about what is good and bad, successful or not successful. What is success in art?

I do not mean financial success. Real art challenges us to look at the world and ourselves with new eyes. Can you find beauty in knots and mess? Isn't the edge of the sea shore beautiful? Most of us are awed by that magical place where we find bits of beauty at the edge of the order of the beach and the wildness of the ocean.

Can you find beauty in your own knots and mess, and your edges? At long as you can function, and this yarn can function, as it should, all is well.

The mysterious transformation begins

2010-05-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

An eerie wind blows in Brooklyn tonight, and in the near darkness, a remnant of a favorite shirt awaits transformation.

I'm as curious as a stranger as to how to turn this bit of old cloth into yarn.

The quiet whispers to me to keep it subtle, but I suspect the light of day will inform me of what is to be.

Ah, a good mystery with a surprise ending!

Please stay tuned

2010-03-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

This moving & packing business is a lot of work (and stressful to boot). I'd love to procrastinate by spinning, and I thought I'd find time to at least get some projects moving along, but it's just not going to happen. Please stay tuned for lots of project ideas, pics of yarn, and the exact location of where you can find me spinning and selling when I get to New York.

In the meantime, I leave you with this bucolic scene to gaze upon. Though I'll be living in a studio apartment, ~~I will be keeping some sheep.~~

No, no, that's not true. I will, however, be using fleece from farmers in Maine for most of my yarns, which makes me quite happy, and will satisfy this once-upon-a-time sheep raising gal's love of the delightfully smelly critters. It's too bad that they can't be litter box trained! A Shetland sheep is smaller than many dogs. . .but one can't have everything.

Is it a boy or a girl?

2010-03-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Mixing pink and blue makes me think of this question. If we didn't dress our babies in those colors, people would be constantly be asking that question. I've often wondered what would happen if we didn't differentiate. Studies have shown that baby girls get more attention boys, and boys are left to cry longer.

Too bad there is a company called Philosopher's Wool. I'd love to include ponderable questions with every skein of my yarn! But, seriously, if one used this yarn for a child, folks might wonder "is it a boy or a girl?"

Unfortunately, I don't have my new camera yet, and the subtlety of the blues in this barely-spun skein just do not show up. I thought perhaps I wouldn't post anything until I had the new camera in my grubby little hands, but I don't want to abandon this blog for too long! I'm about to move, and there will be enough down time during that interim period. Oh, not spinning for a few weeks is going to be tough!

70's Retro Medallion Belt

2010-03-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

I crocheted this belt as a sample for Helen's shop. No, it's not handspun. It's Louisa Harding Willlow Tweed, which was just dying to be used to make something extra handmade looking. It's easy and fun to crochet. For complete directions, and how to vary it, or make it into something other than a belt, go here for printable instructions.

Note: On some computers, the pattern link page does not print properly. On a Mac, one can view, save, and print it as a PDF, but some PCs are printing blank pages. Until I fix this problem, you can copy and paste it into a word processing program. I will figure out and fix this problem as soon as I can. . .

Big chunky flower

2010-03-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

As promised, a picture of the big chunky flower. Insructions here. That photo-tutorial will walk you through making this flower up to a point. To make it super chunky, like this one, besides using a fat yarn, I went back around one more time, like this: *dc 2x, chain 2* repeat from 6 times. Honestly, with crocheting, you can change up these instructions very easily. I may be a knitter first, but lately I've been feeling that crochet is pure play! With a less bulky yarn, I would have done more repeats in each loop. If you haven't a clue what I'm writing, learn to crochet, refer to the instruction entry, or fuggetaboutit!

FYI: This flower is almost six inches wide. I used about 20 yards of chunky handspun.

TIP: Instead of putting a permanent pin on the back of knitted and crocheted items that I make and use for clothing decorations, I simply use quilter's safety pins. Old fashioned baby's diaper pins would work very nicely, too. Safety pins may not be elegant, but you don't see them, and they're great for attaching fiber objects to clothing. Their sharp pointy tips are better than the ones that are on regular pin backs, and they stay closed. Also, I like how you can position them in different ways, so if I'm wearing a big flower, I can pin back some of the petals, for instance, while leaving other ones to stick out more. Funny how a little thing like this can be a creative act!

Not much yarn? No problem!

2010-03-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

So, maybe you've got some yarn left over from a project, or maybe you bought a skein that's got very little yardage, but absolutely loved it and couldn't resist. . .

Well, leaving out projects that are made from many different yarns, let's assume you only have one ball of yarn in your possession (and if that is true, I'd like to meet you!) Let's assume that's true, and maybe you're thinking "what can I make from this ball of yarn?"

Someone pointed out to me this week that not all of us are constantly dreaming up projects. Ideas wake me up at night. So, ImageChef's word salad flower above is just a peek inside my overactive little brain (except my gray matter uses another font). Instructions for these projects will be posted as I make them, I promise.

If you'd like to crochet an easy flower, go here. To make what I call a "non-scarf", check out this page on my not-quite-ready-but-I-put-it-up-anyway website.

Fire triangles

2010-03-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

120 yards of a thick 'n thin yarn, spun from a combination of local Corriedale and Merino wools, and wrapped with 50/50 merino/silk. Dupioni silk triangles punctuate the whole skein about every 4 yards or so. What looks like a flower in the photo is a little stack of triangles you can add in later. I think they'd look nice tied into one place for a visual punctuation mark, but if you use this yarn, it'd be up to you what to do with them.

How do I tie the triangles into the yarn? I put a size E crochet hook under the wrapping yarn and pull the thread end of the triangles through. Then I tie it. You can use the same technique after you're done knitting (or crocheting) your finished object. Now that I think of it, it'd be just as easy to use a big yarn needle, but I simply adore using my Laurel Hill crochet hooks!

There's enough yardage here for a big scarf (at least). It's a predominantly sport weight yarn, with some thick bits. I think it would knit up nicely on size 8 or larger knitting needles to give it some airiness. Maybe even larger needles. . .this is a yarn to play with, though I can envision possibilities for an elegant and dramatic final product.

There's only seven. . .

2010-02-28T14:48:00.001-08:00

. . .skeins of yarn for sale over at Heavenly Socks Yarns.

Oh, I mean my yarn, of course! There's two skeins of this lovely thick and thin Corriedale/Merino blend, wrapped with a subtly-dyed merino. You'll have to get over to the shop to see (and feel) the rest (including the whole skein, which my Flickr upload cropped oddly).

If you're not in Maine, the Scenic Turnout website will be up soon, I promise, so you'll be able to buy my yarns no matter where you live. But, I must confess, while I'm in the middle of moving, and trying to find a new place to live, I'm not going to get a chance to do much spinning. But when I'm settled in, there will be plenty! And, while I'm in transition and living on someone else's couch, I'll be working hard on my workshop workbooks, which is something I've been planning to do for years. Having to live in cramped quarters for a spell is creating an opportunity for me to finally get that done (or at least hunker down with it)! Soon, you'll be able to do a workshop with me without leaving your house. Great for those snowy days in ~~August~~ February, right?

Indoors

2010-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

We've just had heavy rains, followed by snow. I hear it's lovely outside, but I'm too interested in the colors of my houseplants and pots to investigate the outdoors just quite yet. Here's a batt I just carded, along with some silk leaves I cut, all ready to start spinning:

I'm still playing with the faded colors of memories of late summer, so the finished product will not have the dark greens of the real live leaves. Still, I thought it would be nice to show a little bit of the process of how a yarn gets made, including the thoughts behind it. Even the dullest of greens looks stupendous today. Yes, I heard it was lovely outside, but all I can see from these windows is snow, patches of muddy earth, and rolling clouds in a gray sky. What happened to the sunshine? It comes and go, just as I hope the gold in the batt will do upon the ground colors of dull greens.

Memories of late summer

2010-02-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

My last dye pot reminded me of the tail end of summer. The bright sun has washed out the greens, and here and there one can see the colors of autumn. It's a bittersweet time of year. The cicadas are buzzing, and it may be hot, but the fall looms.

This yarn is almost 100 yards of fluffy local corriedale, a truly non-lustrous "wooly" wool. In contrast, the occasional leaf, made of Dupioni silk, shines out like the leaves that flutter in the breeze. The wrap is 50% silk, and reminds me of a houseplant I've been trying to keep alive for years, but needs more sunlight.

It's still winter, so even these end-of-summer colors sing to me!

Not a big daisy

2010-02-20T13:32:00.001-08:00

I need to work on my skills taking photographs of finished fiber objects. Flash kills their three dimensionality, and with crochet, that means I must stay away from flash at all costs. Part of the reason I've been so into crocheting of late is because it's so easy to make things that aren't flat.

So, I made a big fat daisy out of the orange/red yarn from the last post*, but I can't get a good photo of it. I wanted to post a tutorial, so I chose a plain yarn to make a smaller version of the flower (which makes a killer giant lapel decoration).

Even in violet, the photos are awful. But, the tutorial will proceed in spite of that. Here goes, for any of you new to crocheting. It's so easy!

Chain 6, and join with slip stitch:

Then, dc (double crochet), chain 6:

Slip stitch into base of just-made dc:

Again, that's *dc, chain 6, sl st into base of dc* repeat, for a total of 10 loops:

With a sportweight yarn such as this, you could be done. This is a cute little flower that one can make lots of and sew them on to other things.

The rest of the photographs are wretched, and the huge fat daisy doesn't quite look so chunky and great in this type of yarn, so I'll just end this here, and say "more to come." Fool around yourself! What would you do to make this frilly flower into a big fat one? If you come up with something you like, send me a pic. Then we'll compare our flowers. Okay?

*Oops! The last post is of green roving. It was probably the one before that, and I, most lazily, am not providing you with the link. I'll wait until the final post of the orange/red yarn & fat daisy saga.

I love dying dyeing

2010-02-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

It's so much fun! The best part (besides having new fiber to spin) is stuffing all the wet wool into a lingerie bag, going outside, and spinning that bag over my head. It's way more amusing than throwing it into the spin cycle of a washing machine. Some of the snow at the back of my house is now splattered with light green. I was thinking about how I will, in the future, no longer be able to step outside in my pajamas. I also wonder if it's legal to spin wet wool on the streets of New York City. Who knows what the laws are? Maybe it's considered some sort of public nuisance.

I know these aren't the most exciting colors, but they're going to be. I ran out of both yellow and green dye after I'd already put all this roving in the dyepot. That's okay, because these kinds of mistakes create opportunities. It's hard for me not to go right for deep dark jewel tones, and I like these pastel and dull greens. Anyway, it's all going to be mixed with other colors in the end. I've got plans, plans, and more plans. I spent part of the afternoon cutting leaf shapes from Dupioni silk and shredding the leftovers. I can't get the vision of wool vines out of my mind.

Once upon a time, I loved going to clubs and partying all night. Nowadays, I find dying, dreaming, and spinning to be far more exciting!

And yes, I know my rug needs a vacuuming.

Making your own center pull ball

2010-02-18T13:31:00.001-08:00

With fat yarn, one doesn't really need a center pull ball, but they are nice, especially when you make your own!

I didn't put the skein of yarn around a chair, annoy anyone by asking them to hold it, or put it on a yarn swift. All I did was drape it over my knees. I forgot to take a picture of that. It's self-explanatory, I should think. So, you've got the yarn around your knees, and ready to be made into a ball. . .Now, wrap the yarn in a figure eight pattern around your fingers like this:

No, you don't need to hold your hand in such a perfect position (or get tattooed). I held my hand like that so you could see what was happening with the yarn. My goodness, doesn't my thumb look big? Make sure you keep that loose end under your fingers and don't lose it!

After you've got a fair amount of wraps, you can remove the figure eight, fold it in half, and then wrap the yarn into a ball, exactly like you usually do. I keep my thumb in the hole where the loose center pull yarn is until the ball is about this size:

Once you pull out your thumb, don't cover that hole!

This ball is 33 yards of 3-ply yarn. I'm using yarns I consider "failures" for the tutorials, at least until I have a good amount of stock on hand. Why do I think this yarn is a failure? Well, it isn't super exciting, though it matches my fingernail polish and I like the colors. It's not all that soft, either. It's a good yarn to crochet into a basket 'cause it will hold up to some abuse. Photo of finished object to come. In the meantime, here's the finished object I call "a ball of yarn."

Spinning crocheted beads

2010-02-17T20:26:00.001-08:00

Making a mess o' beads necklace is really easy. The hard part is having the patience to string about 4 yards (that's 12 feet) of tiny beads on to the thread. I used DMC Perle Cotton #12 and an extra long beading needle.

After all the beads were strung, I used a size E crochet hook and made a chain with a bead in every loop. That went fairly quickly, and was way more fun than simply stringing beads.

You may be wondering, what's been spun? Well, I folded it in half, put one end on a nail, and twisted it until it started to twist back on itself. Where there's fiber and twist, it's called spinning!

Try it yourself. Or, buy a finished necklace from me, when I get my pics on the website (and the website up and running, of course).

Those abandoned projects are good for something, right?

2010-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

I've been in love with cables since I first started knitting. Believe it or not, a cabled cardigan was my first project. No scarves for me (at least back then). The older I get, the less patience I have for big projects. In fact, the big cabled tunic that prompted my original posts about how to do cables without a cable needle still has no sleeves. . .

The thing about cabling is that I've always hated using a cable needle. It slows things down so much. On top of that, as my knitting buddies can attest to, I'm always losing those little needles. One time I dropped one in someone's boot, and neither of us knew that until she got up to leave. Oops!

So, a few winters back I finally figured out how to do cables without that useless needle. Seriously, it's not needed. Sure, it seems a little scary to have some stitches hanging out all by themselves just waiting to unravel your knitting, but hey, a little excitement won't kill you.

The following two posts show you the basics.You can figure out all the other permutations. Experimenting with what works for you is key. There is no right or wrong way to do this stuff, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If the stitches look nice and even (or not, if that suits you), and they are sitting on the needles in the correct orientation, you're doing perfectly fine.

When I first threw away (or lost?) my cable needle, I sometimes used my fingers to transfer stitches. Other times I used the knitting needles alone, and most of the time I switched it up. Nowadays, I use the needles only, as I've discovered that the more I use my needles as the tools they are, and keep my hands and fingers loose and relaxed, the more I can knit for hours on end.

Photo note: If you're using a thick and thin yarn for cables, the best advice I can give you is "keep it simple." For one thing, complicated textures obscure the beauty of the yarn, and non-uniform yarns tend to make cables look sloppy if not handled well. Handling it well means finding the gauge that splits the difference between the thinnest and thickest bits of the yarn. Another reason to swatch, swatch, swatch!

Y'know, I used to think knitting up swatches was a big chore, only slightly better than vacuuming. Now, I could just knit swatches forever and ever and never make a project! I am now full-fledged process oriented knitter. It's fun, but I've got more than one abandoned sweater project with no sleeves.

More fun without a cable needle

2010-02-15T12:57:00.001-08:00

Take all the stitches for the cable off the needle.

Next, put the last two stitches on the right hand needle. Then, put the first two stitches on the left hand needle. This is the same as "hold two sts in front".Lastly, transfer the stitches from the right hand needle to the left hand needle and you're. . .

. . . ready to knit the stitches off!

You've made a left leaning cable without a cable needle!

Look ma! No cable needle!

2010-02-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Okay. Here we go! Just a simple four stitch cable to start out with. Let the stitches you want to manipulate come off the needles. I guarantee you, they're not going anywhere. This is NOT as scary as the first time you cut a steek! So, go ahead and let them stitches hang!

Transfer the first two stiches to the left hand needle. This is the same as "hold two stitches in back".

Using the right hand needle, transfer the remaining two stiches to the left hand needle and knit all the stitches off.

All done!

Welcome!

2010-02-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hi folks! This blog will soon be connected to my new website, where you'll be able to purchase handspun art yarns (such as the one above) and finished objects that I've made. Just in case you don't know, you can click on a photo to see it in detail. I post huge photos!

I'm super busy with a big transition in my life, moving from rural Maine to urban New York. So, for now, I'm recycling old craft posts from older blogs. My apologies to those of you who've seen them before. I assure you there will be lots of new entries up as soon as possible! Stay tuned, for there will lots of news, such as where to find me and my spinning wheel on the streets of New York. Meanwhile, enjoy yourself! I'm glad you stopped by for a while.

Cheers, Julie