Over-due update on fiber activities

I have been very negligent in reporting on my fiber activities. I've been very negligent in blogging and that is mostly because the travel related stuff takes a lot of time. I take many hundreds of photos on a trip and sorting through them to tell the story takes time.

Fiber stuff is easier - or so I think. :-)

Spinning

If you remember, I bought part of a Gotland fleece at Rhinebeck last year. I washed it over the winter and am now combing and spinning it. There is a decent amount of waste from the combing but it looks like excellent carding fiber for future use. I am spinning this on the Jensen Tina II and falling in love with the wheel again. I had not spun on her since I left for China.

 That was the dirty fleece.

 This is the sample skein I spun

Next up fibre combed and spun into a single. I have a little left to comb and finish. It is hairy but quite soft. I am trying very hard not to add too much twist as it can get wiry if I do.  I made a 2-ply sample which I really liked. But I am thinking of plying with this beaded thread that I bought in China.

It looks like this when unwound from the bobbin.

I will sample and see if I like it. In any case I am spinning onto 2 bobbins so I can do a 2-ply like my original sample. 

I finished spinning a Lisa Souza alpaca/silk on spindles and plied it on my Hansen e-spinner. That is it on the bottom. 

I combined it with most of the yarns on the top (I removed the bright yellow and the one on the extreme left which is my 3-ply sock yarn sample) and made a shawl. I just finished it. Pictures are in the knitting section. 

I started spinning a roving from Handspun by Stefania on a larger spindle to practice long draw on the spindle.

That is on a new Snyder Spindles 3-D printed spindle. I bought 2 just to try them out. The other one is a small Turkish spindle. I finished the cop on that one and started another one on a Forrester spindle that I bought at Rhinebeck. I thought it would be good to have a couple of less expensive spindles for travel.

And last but not least, I got another Hansen e-spinner. This one is the Pro model and I haven't even had a chance to try it out yet. I've been busy with vacation and business travel and garden work along with putting away CSA produce each weekend.

Isn't that wiggle in the grain cute? 

I didn't participate in the Tour de Fleece this year. There was just too much going on so I sat out.

Knitting

The aforementioned shawl. I had to knit most of it twice. This was the first attempt. I thought I would make a curve to sit on the shoulders. I made it on the wrong side. So I ripped it out and re-knit it. 

This is the second version. Much nicer but it is very long. I wore it and it wraps nicely around the neck and shoulders. I love the way the colors ended up on the final shawl.

I also started and ripped out half a sock. A friend gave me 2 skeins of Drops Delight to sample. It is too loosely spun for socks and I had a tough time with it. I started them 2 at a time and the tip on my Karbonz needle came off. That should have been an omen. But I had dpns and switched one sock to the dpn and knit it to the heel turn before I decided I really hated it and ripped it out. The yarn has become this.

It is a narrow but long cowl to wrap around the neck a couple of times. You could also call it an infinity scarf.

I have also been venturing out into jewelry making and photography. 

Jewelry

The jewelry making started innocently with this.

And then the following materialized

The next one was created to showcase the fabric flower that I got in a swap. It was a pin but I rarely wear pins. I found a tutorial for an Anthropology knock-off and used it for inspiration. The other two items are buttons layered on buttons.

I also played around with the chains I bought in China and made this one

And lastly made this for a friend. The other two pearl items and the peacock feather one also ended up as gifts.

We were in Prague on vacation and I had some time on the last day. I found a bead shop and bought some Czech glass beads to make a couple of necklaces and I have some more ideas in the works. But it has to wait for winter when I have more time.

Photography

I bought some photography classes from Craftsy. I haven't watched them all yet but concentrated on the mobile photography ones. My album of trial pictures - homework as well as learning to use my iPhone camera are here. I learned about a lot of apps that can help mitigate the effects of the fixed focal length lens in the phone. I also invested in a good lens system for it. I had bought a cheap macro/wide angle lens combo but hated the photos because the lens quality was not good. The new lens system is made of high-quality optical glass. I have a 2x telephoto, a super wide-angle and a macro. I mostly use the 2x telephoto but occasionally the wide-angle. The macro is seriously neglected because the built-in phone lens works well in macro mode. 

Next up I am going to work on the DSLR and learn to use it properly instead of just in automatic mode or with a manual focus. It also has a lot of features that I don't know how to use and practice is the only way to learn.

That is a quick catch-up on hobbies. I am pondering my next knit and I will probably do a post a week on my antics from now on. Next up is probably recent acquisitions. Fiber, yarn and the beads.

Blocked and wore shawls at Rhinebeck

In my Rhinebeck excitement, I forgot to talk about the blocking of the 2 completed shawls. Those of you on Ravelry would have seen the finished results.

I got tired of waiting for my blocking pins and wires so went out and bought the cheapest pins I could find - and yes, they are awful but they worked.

I wasn't about to go buy new blocking wires so I had to pin it out without their help.

 Here's the pink shawl I made from Miss Babs BFL. I don't even remember if I showed you the fiber and the beads. I was able to find beads from the Shanghai yarn/notions crawl that matched. They are very subtle as they are an almost perfect match for the yarn.

I pinned out the top curve first and ran out of room. That is a door to my deck in the back. Unpinned and started over. Then I just roughly pulled out the points and pinned them. They are not very even but it doesn't show when the shawl is worn - the ultimate test of success.

Yarn and beads, pre-knitting. I had about 330 yds per my calculations but I only used 2/3-3/4 based on the written pattern. No mods.

Here are the two shawls blocking. The rainbow shawl ended up under the bookcase. I started with the top edge but realized that due to the curve, I had to start at the bottom edge so I unpinned and restarted and planned badly. See all the room below the shawl! I could have used that instead of trying to pin under the bookcase. That doesn't work, by the way, for future reference.

Glamour shot of pink shawl. I knew that one end of the fiber had a lighter color as there was more white in the braid there. I decided to start there and then the rest was pretty random. There are darker and lighter spots but the finished effect looks like a gradient. I am very happy with the result. The yarn is a 3-ply that I plied rather tightly thinking I would make socks, but it was not to be.

Lastly, the l-o-n-g rainbow shawl. I am very happy with the result although it is very long. I ended up with it wrapped twice around my neck and then pinned in the front to show the left hand side down the front. It is very warm and soft and I think it is going to get a lot of use. The teal cashmere/mink is perfect as the contrast to break up the rainbow and make it not look like a clown collar. I am also happy with the mods although I should have started them earlier. 

I wore the rainbow one on Saturday without a coat as it was warmer. It did suddenly get cold so I put on my Large Lace Collar for a bit but ended up taking it off less than an hour later when the sun came up. On Sunday, which was much colder and windier, I wore the Rose Lace Collar Bohus and the pink shawl. I was inside most of the day so it worked. When I walked back to my car, I was chilled by the wind and didn't warm up till I got home!

Fiber news roundup

Somewhere along the way in moving back, I hurt my right shoulder. I have been icing and resting it (remember RICE? Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevataion) and taking an NSAID. But it didn't get better as quickly as it should have (3 weeks and counting) so I went to the doctor and now am getting physical therapy for it. It is healing very well after even two visits, which means that all my TLC did help in keeping it stable vs. getting worse.

Anyway, the reason for the story is that I've been knitting as I can do that while icing and resting it. Spinning wasn't as comfortable. I finished Nymphalidea from Knitty with a bunch of mods. I should have paid attention to the helpful notes in the finished projects before I started but I don't typically read those and I didn't. Part-way through, I realized two things: one, that it was going to be a very l-o-o-n-g shawl if I kept going and two, it was boring. Then I went and looked at the notes to see what mods people had made.

The comments said that the shawl as written is a tough shape to wear and quite a few people had increased the short rows after about 20 wedges to make it more crescent like. I had already knit 30 wedges which is the size of the finished shawl in the pattern. I had more yarn though, so that was part of my plan. I decided to increase the short row sections and then also finish the top and side with an i-cord to make them one long side - another mod someone had made.

I tried following the short row increases as described in the first set of mods but quickly went my own way. I was winging it here as I couldn't really see what the shawl was going to look like on the needles. But I could visualize it.

I liked the way the wider short-row sections brought out the rainbow in the handspun. It is all done but not blocked as my blocking wires are waiting for customs clearance in NY.

Here is a photo of the finished but unblocked shawl.

The purple long section in the middle is what the rainbow looks like with the original short row sections. You can see the difference between that and the second purple section on the left which is made with wider short row sections.

I started another knitting project. I am tired of shawls and thought about knitting a sweater. I have plans for a couple of handspun sweaters but the yarn is also waiting for the customs clearance. So I went with another shawl but with beads I bought at the wholesale notions market in Shanghai. I had the perfect beads for the yarn.

The yarn is spun from a Miss Babs. It is a BFL in a color called Scarlet Ibis, which is not on her site. I bought it at Rhinebeck a few years ago. I spun it worsted on my Tina. It is a 2-ply and quite even. I am making Dragonfly Wings.

Lastly, in the fiber news roundup, I won a spindle bag in the Tour de Fleece in one of my groups. I had deferred getting it till I was back, which also worked for the person donating the prize. She told me I could get any pattern I wanted so I looked around and found this style. It can be sized to fit a water bottle with the top cut off inside. The water bottle provides protection for the spindle. I thought this was a great idea but I wanted to put my smaller Viewtainer inside. That is the 8" one. Nadine made it for me with padding in the case so it can be used for a larger spindle without the Viewtainer.

For some reason, I can't seem to get it to show up properly in line so here's the link to the photos on flckr. I hope it works. I'll test it after I publish. Else I'll have to work something else out. Edited to add: it works!

And that is all for now. I am busy trying to organize the house. I've been cleaning and decluttering the pantry, the kitchen, my closet and some of the other closets. They all needed to be dusted and cleaned so I am organizing and getting rid of stuff at the same time. it is a slow process and will take the entire winter I think to go through the house but it is a good thing to do.

Spinning and Knitting update

I've neglected to talk about my fiberlicious pursuits, in addition to not talking about the travel, nay - in addition to not talking at all! This is a catch-up on what I've been up to.

I did a lot of business travel in addition to the personal travel. This enabled me to finish Nuvem in the Marging Colors yarn. Unfortunately I finished it after my blocking wires were packed and shipped. So it was a rough and ready blocking.

That is the window sill and the ironing board. The bed had no sheets or comforter and the mattress was covered in plastic. So not good for drying. The floor is wood. I put my towel on the floor below the lowest points of the shawl to catch the drips.

Post-blocking shot. It turned out well. It is soft and drapey, but rather large. I can see this being something one cuddles into in the cold.

I also started and finished a sock to complete a pair I started before I went to Shanghai

Pretty basic pair, top-down in Opal Bumblebee from the Rainforest Collection.

After I finished my first TdF project, I started this as part of the TdF 2014. Fine, fine, fine spinning on my Nano trindle. I had not used this one before and am loving it. The fiber is camel/silk from Corgi Hill Farm. The color is Deep Purple 2.

TdF this year had a heavy metal theme. I finished Twisted Sister from last year and started on Deep Purple.

Here's Twisted Sister, all done. Chain plied using the ply-on-the-fly technique. Spun on my microXL and regular trindles.

 

Yes, it is a bit bright. I was afraid of it being a bit like a clown collar in a shawl. So I got some lovely teal/purple tweed cashmere/mink on the Shanghai yarn crawl and started this. It is looking lovely and is breaking up the clown barf rather well. It is Nymphalidae from Knitty.

I started this in the airport in Shanghai on the way out and got this much done on the plane. Now I am almost to the end of the first purple segment and will be going back through the rainbow to the orange again.

And now I am all caught up!

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Breaking a long silence

I am sorry I have been absent without leave for a while. We went on vacation to Australia and New Zealand over the Chinese New Year festival. Internet access was spotty so I couldn't post while I was traveling. Then, when I came back, life was so busy that I didn't even upload the photos till today. So now I can start to slowly blog about that trip as well as the previous one to Korea and Japan that I started and stopped.
Today's post is all about fiber. There is fiber in the holiday also but today's post is about my fibery activities.

While we were traveling, I knit this beauty up. It is a pattern called Bonsai and I both loved knitting it and love wearing it. I found the perfect beads in my stash. They have the colors of the yarn - which is my Fiber Optic Blackberry to Raspberry gradient. I wasn't able to use all the raspberry part as I needed to stop the repeats before I did the edging - so had to estimate how much I needed for that and the picot bind-off. In hindsight, I could have done one more repeat of the body pattern. Oh well. At least some of the raspberry is visible.
After I came back, I have been spinning. I had started a Briar Rose Cormo in reds on a spindle but it was going too slowly so I also started it on the Hansen. I finished spinning the second single on Friday.

I then plied it over the weekend. Since we are in an apartment and a cleaning lady comes twice a week, I am afraid to leave things lying around during the week. Plying is especially dangerous because there are two fine threads stretched out across part of a room. Therefore, there was a marathon plying session and I finished it on Sunday, or so I thought. After I was done with the first bobbin, I went to get the cops fhat I had spun on the spindle and.... what did I find?

More fluff! The Hansen was occupied with the second single going through the orifice and so I didn't feel like breaking that just to spin this bit. Out came the spindle. I did two cops and estimated how much bigger one had to be given what was on the bobbin. I was so close. I had a tiny bit of the second cop left and plied that on itself from the inside and the outside. I lost a bit to snarls as it was freshly spun but it was so tiny that it doesn't matter.
Here is the plying before that little bit went on. It has some lovely color changes. I am thinking of making Adrift with it. There is a lot of yardage. I don't know exactly how much yet as I haven't wound it off into a skein but that giant Hansen bobbin is full and it is a nice light fingering-laceweight. I am unfortunately still not consistent enough to get the same weight all the way across. One day....

I had started another shawl while traveling but it didn't speak to me. I have decided to frog it and I am going to start a shawl with these yarns from a kit. They are Strickwear Merging Colors yarns - 100% merino. I don't like the scarf pattern that came with the kit but I love the yarns and colors.

I want to make Echolaria, a cross between Laminaria and Echo Flowers. It is a large shawl which is why I chose it. There is 8 oz of laceweight in that photo and I want to use all of it. I haven't started yet. I have wound the first skein and will start this week.
That is all for now. I have new projects planned for the Hansen and the spindle, but nothing in the works yet.
Travel photos coming soon, I promise! You can see them on flickr if you can't wait. My name is the same as on Ravefry. I'd rather not post it here.
Thank you for your patience!

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More knitting from handspun

I decided to put the Viajante away for the trip since it was getting a bit big and bulky. Instead, I took the Romney that I had spun for mitts. I didn't have a mitt pattern in mind but was intrigued by the construction of one that I saw on Ravelry. I don't even remember which one it was because there were many aspects of it that I didn't like.

Anyway, I started and finished one mitt on the plane and started the second. I definitely did not help myself with the right tools. I had brought a number of needles as I didn't know which one would work. A size 7 was perfect. It made a nice dense fabric. I am also pleased with the way the colors have turned out on the yarn. It is the Nebula colorway from Into the Whirled.

The construction is simple. It is a rectangle with a button band on one side and a buttonhole band on the other. I used a k1, p1 followed by an all knit row and then a p1, k1 with the same all knit row. The ends curl a bit but won't once I button up the sides.

At the correct point, I put 7 sts on a holder (FAIL #2 - no holder) for the thumb. I resorted to using a tiny safety pin that barely held the sts. I wish I had had some scrap yarn but I didn't. So I cast on the sts using an e-wrap and continued.

FAIL #1 was not having a cable needle. Yes, I can cable without a cable needle - I have proof that I can (see photo above) but I prefer not to. I find it much faster to cable with a cable needle.

I then picked up the sts and made a little thumb as my thumb looked naked just protruding from the slit.

It fits perfectly but I knew that. I was measuring as I went - I am sure I got a few strange looks from passers-by on the plane but I didn't notice. The elderly lady sitting next to me was fascinated and watched me the whole time.

It is a bit messy looking on the hand without the buttons to hold it on.

I started the second mitt but I only have a couple of the cable twists done. I think I'll have it done next week. I don't like the buttons I bought - plus I made 6 button holes in the mitt and only have 10 total buttons (FAIL #3). So I am planning to go tomorrow with the mitt in hand and buy more buttons.

I spent this afternoon (actually about 30 mins) polishing my silver jewelry. I haven't been able to wear any of it as all were badly tarnished. Now they are looking nice and I can wear them. I used some stuff I found in the grocery store in the US - Wright's Silver Cream. It does a nice job.

No spinning or knitting since I got back as I've been at work (remember that?) and busy with jet-lag in the evening. I pretend it doesn't exist and try not to sleep in daylight or turn the lights on at night. But I do go to sleep early and get up early. If it is still dark, I stay in bed with the light off and listen to podcasts.

It might take some adjustment to go to work for a full week after 2 weeks off.

Last but not least, some lovely fall colors from Pennsylvania...

Shanghai is hot (79 F/27 C) and humid so I am vicariously enjoying the crisp fall weather by looking at the photos.

and a NYC skyline taken from the Whitestone bridge...

We were crawling along so I whipped out the camera and took a photo.

Red Rock Canyon shawl is a FO!

I just bound off the Red Rock Canyon shawl. I don't think I told you that I named the Self Stripe Study shawl. As I was knitting it, I realized that I had seen those colors together before and I had.

This is a photo of Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. And this is my shawl.

Another view.

The shawl is not yet finished. I haven't woven in the 2 ends and blocked it. That will happen in the next few days.

I could have done a couple of rows more, I think but I liked finishing on the dark red and I was afraid I'd run out of yarn. This is what I have left.

The bit on the right is the Sea Pearl and the other two are the Polwarth handspun. I am  happy with the size and the couple of rows won't make a huge difference. I may crochet an edge on it to make the edge a bit more substantial. So I may use the yarn for that. It is too hot to wear it now so that will wait till I actually start using it.

More later... it is time to move on to Tour de Fleece spinning :-)