A mad rush

I don't know what came over me last week. I have been eyeing this shawl at the LYS for the past few weeks, and last Saturday I just had to have it. I cast on last Saturday and I finished it yesterday!

Before I show you the completed item, I want to provide a little tip. When you know you are going to pick up sts from an edge, you should plan for the finished appearance. In this case, I am going to increase and decrease along an edge that I will later pick up sts from. Normally, when I increase or decrease along an edge, I do it one st inside the edge so that it looks neat and provides a clean set of sts (without increase or decreases) to pick up in. However, in this case, I also wanted the increase and decrease sides to match and look finished. So I did the increase/decrease 2 sts in from the edge. The edge st was the seam allowance - the st line that I actually picked up the sts in. The second st was the nice clean edge that would finally be visible on the shawl.

Here is the edge before I pick up sts. It is hard to see the last st. The line of sts that is visible is the second column of sts.

In this photo you can see that that line of sts is still visible after I pick up. This also makes it very easy to see the rows as you pick up sts because you have to pick up 3 sts for every 4 rows since I am picking up along a stockinette edge.

There is the finished shawl. I finished it last night but I left on a business trip this morning. I took the shawl with me and wore it on the plane. I blocked it with a steam iron in the hotel room and there it is drying on the bed. It is a lovely, warm and cozy shawl.

The yarn is Cascade Eco Duo in the color Vanilla. I love the warm cream color and the subtle variations in color that stripe across the shawl.

The pattern is from the LYS. I made the ruffle deeper and did an extra set of increases because I had the yarn to do so. My motivation was to use as much of the yarn as I could.

It is like a triangular shawl but the bottom edge is curved. You can see that unbroken line of sts across the entire bottom above the ruffle. That is the second st in from the edge. It makes for a very finished looking edge above the ruffle.

All in all, an easy knit and one that I know I am going to love and wear for a long time.

Knitting and Spinning update

I finished up a modular pillow for a class that occurred yesterday. It is knit center out from Noro Taiyo using Emily Ocker's cast on. It was a good refresher for me as I haven't used that cast on in years. I enjoyed seeing the colors develop but the knitting was hard on my hands. The cotton/silk in Taiyo was unforgiving and inelastic. But the end result is pretty. I made it reversible but not identical. If you are feeling warm and fuzzy, you can use the warm side.

Or, you can embrace your cool side by flipping the pillow over.
I went to a spinning workshop with Judith McKenzie right after Rhinebeck. It was truly amazing. The workshop was set up by Hansencrafts, specifically focused on the mini-spinner. Beth and Kevin Hansen are great hosts. They had arranged for everything - snacks, coffee, goodie bags and plenty of camaraderie along with the learning.

On the first day, we learned to adjust the mini-spinner so we could spin yarns of different diameters. It was a different way of thinking about diameter. On the one hand, you can control how much fiber you are drafting to change the diameter. Judith's view is that we all have a natural way of drafting and eventually we'll revert to that. So she believes in setting up the wheel to help draft the desired diameter. All I can say is that it works. Here's my ring of samples from thin on the right to thick on the left. Each is plied back on itself so they are all comparable. Can you believe I spun the laceweight on the far right?
We also learned to spin thick and thin yarn. Here's my flame yarn sample. Not great but definitely thick and thin. Flame yarn is thick and thin yarn plied back on itself.
After that we spun a variety of fibers. In this picture of the leftover fibers, we have (clockwise starting at the top left) cashmere, bombyx (cultivated) silk, yak/silk, a silk hankie (from the goodie bag, I didn't spin this although Judith demonstrated how to), tussah (wild) silk, light and dark BFL, cashmere and cotton. Yes, I spun cotton using long draw. It was fun. I didn't get enough twist into it because some of it fell apart when I wound it off the bobbin. But I have more to practice with. I made little 2 ply samples of these and put them in a folder.


We also spun silk noil using long draw and I tried carding some of it. I have some samples but I didn't like spinning it. Bits of cocoon and insect parts fly off in all directions and it is impossible to pick all of it out. I found it messy and a bit off-putting.

Judith gave us some dyed mohair locks to try spinning boucle. I am afraid that I failed miserably. My boucle yarn is coming apart. I used some Habu silk as the core. But then, as we left, Judith explained what I was doing wrong. I have to practice a little with these locks to see if I get it. You have to grab the fiber with the hand holding the core and then slowly release it from the hand holding the locks. I was just holding it close to the core thinking the twist would grab it. We spent a lot of time discussing how to spin for color. Judith gave us samples of color (I took some more later as she wanted us to take the extra fiber to avoid having to cart it back) and we practiced holding 3 colors (A, B, C) in parallel and spinning across all of them. You get color A, color AB, color B, color BC and then color C. After you go back and forth across these a few times, you switch out A for D and continue spinning across B, C, D. Then you switch out B for E a while later. Then A comes back in when C is removed and so on. You spin the next single the same way if you want the colors to line up in self-striping units. Or you can cable the 2 plies together to get a lovely yarn that has spots of color sprinkled all the way through. This one is a test of pure worsted spinning which I have to work on. You don't get the pure color and the dense yarn you need for socks without spinning worsted.

Our goodie bags had lots of things - pins from Zippypins, who was in the class with us, the silk hankie, a clip with beads to help hold the yarn end when taking a break, and some Potluck roving from Ferndale Fiber. I got some Paradise (the green/blue below) in my goodie bag. Later we had a random drawing to select another ball and I picked Paradise again. Lastly, at the end of the workshop, there was still more fiber and we got to pick again. This time I got Stormy Seas. Thank you Ferndale Fiber!

All in all, I loved every minute of the workshop. I came away with a lot of ideas on how to spin and now I need to practice all the various techniques I learned. If you get the opportunity to take a class with Judith, jump at it. She is a wonderful teacher!

Rhinebeck!

I had a wonderful time at Rhinebeck. For a change, I actually bought quite a bit of stuff. In the past I have bought a few high ticket items but this time it was a lot of lower-priced things. It definitely made the experience different. I had made a note of a few vendors that I wanted to visit but there were a couple of impulse buys.

As usual, I bought soap from Clove Valley Soapworks. They are local and I can buy their soap at a local farm but since I was at Rhinebeck, I decided to stock up. I only use their goat's milk soap now. It keeps my skin from getting too dry and the fragrances are mild but wonderfully pleasant.

I also had plans to buy buttons for my cabled cushion/pillow. I couldn't find matching large buttons but I found these two coordinating Fimo buttons and decided to go with an asymmetric look. I am pretty pleased with the result. I had envisioned large natural wood buttons but these fit the bill. The rest of my purchases (except for one I have not photographed) were all fiber. I did buy another orifice threader from Hansencrafts to use with the Tina. I prefer these to an orifice hook. But that is also something I'll have to photograph later. On to the fiber!

Each of the following is 4 oz. The first is some CVM (California Variegated Mutant)/silk dyed with lac and indigo by Handspun by Stefania. It isn't very clear in the photo but there are subtle mauve tones in it.
Next is a braid from Miss Babs. It is called Scarlet Ibis and is BFL.
In contrast to the brightly colored one above, I bought two more muted braids from Into the Whirled. I don't remember the details but you may be able to read the labels. The left one is Targhee.
Back to the brights, I bought two braids from Gale's Art. She had dyed the blue BFL I just finished spinning and I loved it. The bottom one is called Moldy Pumpkin! So very seasonal. It is a mix of dark and light BFL. I think the other one is called Scarab. Another customer in the booth recommended it as a good color.
I am dreaming of a handspun Log Cabin blanket so I bought a couple of gradient dyed rovings from Fiber Optic. I had bought a couple on sale from Corgi Hill Farm, one of which I am currently spinning. That is rather dull so I wanted a couple of bright ones to enliven the blanket. I think these fit the bill.
And last but not least, some green merino from Spinners Hill. I fell in love with the color. It is a mix of brights and darks.
I had to force fit all this into my fiber shelf. But fiber squishes, doesn't it? I guess I'm all set for the winter. I have bright colors to complement the dark outside.

I also took 2 classes. I took 'spinning the yarn you want' with Amy Tyler and 'getting more productive with your spindle' with Abby Franquemont. I loved both classes and learned a lot. Amy is very organized and taught us to mimic a yarn that was already spun. This was very complementary with the spinning retreat I went to following Rhinebeck. More on that next week. All in all, it was a wonderful fiber-filled, delectable and eye-opening week. There is so much I want to try and work on this winter.

A mixed bag of goodies...

both figuratively and literally. First the literal part. My Tour de Fleece prize arrived yesterday. I got a lovely spindle bag, a notions bag, a cute guy and 6 glazed donut soaps. So cute! I love goat's milk soap. In fact I only use locally made goat's milk soap from Clove Valley Soapworks on a daily basis. I will be stocking up at Rhinebeck although I can get it at other places locally also.

Now on to the figurative mixed bag of goodies!

First, a lovely blue skein of BFL that I just finished plying. It is a 2 ply from singles that were spun from the fold. The fiber is from Gale's Art, who will also be at Rhinebeck. It is very squooshy.

I also FINALLY finished spinning some white BFL I bought at Rhinebeck years ago when I got my Bosworth spindle. I have been rolling the singles into balls that I will ply some day. I am so sick of white that I need a break. Here is the spindle and all the little balls that have been wound off from it. The tiny ones on the lower left are the first ones I spun on it. The larger ones on top are more recent.

This is what I'm going to spin next on the spindle. Lovely Polwarth from Briar Rose that I got at Camp this summer. She will also be at Rhinebeck.

And last, but not least, is the Rose Lace Collar who may or may not make it to Rhinebeck this year. As you can see, the second sleeve is almost done. I have to do the colorwork, stitch up the hems, crochet the steeks, cut them and then do the bands. Progress is being made slowly but steadily but I don't do well with deadlines and I want to make sure this is right, so I don't want to rush it.

And that is the mixed bag of goodies for now... I won't be posting till after Rhinebeck unless I finish the Rose Lace Collar.

Another shawl complete!

Timantti is done. I made quite a number of changes from the original. I did the plain parts in garter as I prefer garter stitch for hand-painted yarns. I am quite pleased with the result. I also added a second section of the hand-painted yarn below the lace. As a result, I've used up 2 50 gm balls of Irving Park and what was left of a ball of Violet in Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock.

I kept the lace in stockinette as I felt it would look better. I am pleased with the result.

I was concerned about the difference in gauge between the stockinette lace and the garter center. To adjust for it, I went up a couple of needle sizes. The result is a little waviness but it actually makes the shawl stay on better.

In retrospect, I should have gone up a needle size in the middle of the garter center and then another needle size at the stockinette. The final garter section is done on the same needle as the stockinette.

I am also happy with the size. I have decided that I'm not a small shawl person. I like larger shawls. So this is the size I like. It goes over the shoulders and keeps my neck clear. I hate stuff around my neck. I haven't found a good way to wear a small shawl without it being around my neck.

Now back to the Rose Lace Collar Bohus...

Shape of things to come

I have been remiss in posting about the gorgeous stuff I brought back from Camp in July. I can't believe it is the middle of Sept already and I still haven't written about it!

First of all, my prize. This was for the CATS! poster. A Camper had donated this and I was lucky to get it as a prize. It was perfect for a beginning spinner. The white fiber is Corriedale and the braid is alpaca. As you'll see, I came back with a lovely variety of fibers to sample. I am very excited about spinning this. Thanks Linda!

My purchases (and gifts) were few but wonderful from a spinning perspective. The top on the bottom is Polwarth, dyed by Chris of Briar Rose Fibers. She was extremely generous to all of the spinners in the room. Each of us got a gift of fiber and mine was a new-to-me breed!

The blue on top is a silk batt that I bought from Chris. It is the most luscious shade of blue tinged with lilac and even a little teal. I am going to save that for when I have more skill.

The bag contains kid mohair locks. It is the first shearing of the goat so it is soft and silky. The colors (which you can't see well due to the plastic) are mauve to gray. I have some mauve Falkland from a Verb for Keeping Warm, which I bought at Rhinebeck last year. I plan to make faux-rolags of the two and spin them together.

I spun a bit of the blue BFL I started the week before and also plied some yarns together. But more on that next week. Mostly I knit this week. I have made a lot of progress on the Timantti Shawl. I've made a couple of changes. I went up a couple of needle sizes for the lace and switched back to stockinette. This is one of the halves of the triangular shawl so far. I love the colors. The lace is a true violet although it looks blue in this photo.

And here's a close-up of the garter and the lace. I have another skein of the hand-paint, so I may go back to garter after the violet is done. I'm not sure yet. I only have a little violet left and I think I want this to be a bigger shawl than it currently is. I may also do the lace pattern in the hand-paint. We'll see...

I am enjoying knitting and spinning these days. The slump is long over and I wish I could spend my days working with fiber in all its forms. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as a job that pays for all this so I can't.

Finished!

Breaking news! I just finished the iPad cozy. Here it is, with the iPad in it. I made a giant Elizabeth Zimmerman 1 row buttonhole on each side to create handles.

The gauge is tight but that created a dense fabric that has the body to support the iPad and also to provide some cushioning. I don't think it is suitable to carry the iPad around a lot but it is nice to carry around in another bag that doesn't have cushioning.