It is just amazing

I remembered my password. Ok, total disclosure, I didn't remember it, my computer did. :/

It would be silly, foolish, and utterly impossible to explain all the whys and wherefores regarding the comatose state this blog has been in for so very long so I won't. Suffice to say life has gone on as it will and does. Have there been changes in my life? You bet. Will I begin to blog again on regular basis? Um, that remains to be seen (was it ever regular before). Do I think I'll be blogging? Yeah, prob'ly, maybe, I'm pretty sure, I think.

Shall we begin?

Dear Readers, if any of you are still out there, please be assured that the pursuit of all things fibery is alive and well here at the Hermitage. I spend my days much as before, under the spell of all things stringy, lofty, and linear. Knitting is still the priority around here but I have fallen head first and deeply into the world of spinning. Yeah sure I was spinning before, but lately my head has been turned and I've been lusting for and to be honest rescuing antique spinning wheels.

My first rescue was mid-September of 2010. A cute little Saxony wheel I found by chance on Craig's List. I mentioned the little cutie to Joe. His response was something in the order of, 'that's not too far away, let's go get it', so we did. (I know, I know, I have wonderful husband)

I don't know much about this little wheel other than it is typical of the southern Pennsylvania wheels made around the early 1900's. The family history on the wheel tells me it came from Kentucky in 1924.

Those of you with a keen eye will notice that one of the leathers was broken and I had to replace it. Other than that he/she spins like a dream. The picture above is one taken the day I got him/her. Since that day I have replaced the leathers and given him/her a few "spa treatments" (an oil rub down) Sorry I don't have a pic of just how beautiful he/she looks now. Ha! I guess I didn't think this blogging thing through today. :/

The next addition to the Hermitage was 2 weeks later. Yes, yes, I know, I had just bought a wheel, but oh this little cutie (also found on craig's list) was just too cute to let go by. Granted it was in Nashville and I'm not anywhere near Nashville, but I do have a BIL there. So yeah, he got the wheel for me and shipped her to me.

Meet Itty Bitty Betty

Such a teeny tiny cutie! Granted NOT an antique wheel but oh so cute and....extremely portable! There are a couple of us in the Antique Spinning Wheel group on Ravelry that have this exact wheel. The stories we've heard from the sellers make us think this is a wheel that was made in the 60' or 70's for the tourist trade in Germany. The fact that three of these wheels have shown up on the Nashville craig's list makes me think there was a tour to Germany in the 60's/70's and a several of the people on the tour brought one home as a decorator piece. lol

Betty spins well, not fabulous, but well and she fits my needs to a tee. My Friday Lunch knitting group recently expanded to include a Friday Breakfast spinning group and Betty goes without a fuss. Please gloss over the fact, cuz it sounds a little crazy, that on occasion, I can be found in a restaurant in town for upwards to 6 hours on any given Friday.....um....yeah....never mind.

The next new addition to my flock came 2 months later in November. yet another craig's list find up around Chicago where Bart just happened to be for the weekend for a new gallery opening which is carrying his glass----yep a mom brag. So he picked her up and bought her to me.

My Scandinavian Beauty

A pic of the day she came home. Yes, she is in terrible shape, and it is doubtful I'll ever really get to spin much on her but she has potential. Sorry again about no recent photos she looks so much better after her spa treatments, but she's a work in progress and will be for a long time. The only thing I say about this wheel is that she has had a long a loving life. Who ever had her before cared for her well and used her often (I am referring to the people who actually used her and knew her well and not the people who forgot about for the last 50 years). At one point her wheel support bearings were replaced, the material of choice used to repair her was a Finnish coin dated 1922. Another repair to her I'm sure was done lovingly but, perhaps without an eye toward aesthetic, was the replacement leg they gave her.

It's there behind Ben, but notice how delicate the old girl's original legs are compared to....

Um yeah, that would be an axe handle. LOL I love it. Spokes so delicate they are slimmer than a pencil, and a prosthetic limb fashioned from an axe handle. LOL

Had enough of my flock of wheels yet? Well perhaps just one more, I promise, just one more.

I got this one over Holidays.

It's Canadian Production Wheel, the maker was Eugene Benoit. He/she spins like a dream, and is, yet another craig's list find.

I know, it all sounds rather obsessive doesn't it. I now have 5 wheels in my flock (not counting the treadle sewing machine wheel I made), 4 of which are in perfect working order. Most are still in need of some more spa treatments, for their ultimate beauty to shine, thus the reason of no current photos (such poor blog planning tsk tsk) but what the hey, you just got another taste of the crazy that is rampant and the norm here at the Hermitage, what more could you ask for?

And now on to the burning questions.
Why so many wheels?
It's not like I planned on have a flock of wheels, they all just sorta fell into my lap. Granted they all came from craig's list and that sounds a bit like I was actually searching for them but in truth, I was really just kind of curious what was out there and available and wanted to learn about antique wheel (modern wheels leave me kinda cold). All of these wheels cost next to nothing so that wasn't anything to consider. The added bonus of actually having to revive, if not restore them was an appealing task also.

Will there be more wheels?
Maybe, maybe not. I've filled all the niches of my wheel desires for the moment. Sure there are other wheels of different types I'd consider adding to the flock, and if one or more of them fall into my lap then so be it, but I'm not actively looking for wheels. Well, um, at least not any more so than I was before. ;)

Will I ever sell these wheels?
Prob'ly not, but that's not to say I won't ever give them away. I'm not doing this for any reasons other than to learn more about antique wheels, and have fun doing it. I like rescuing these wheels and restoring their dignity. Be honest, haven't you ever gone to an estate sale or a garage sale and bought something you didn't really need just cuz you couldn't bear the thought of it going into the trash? It's the same kind of thing, the wheels just take up more space. :P

What does Joe say about all this?
Not a lot. He thinks they are beautiful, impressed with the restorations, and I'd be willing to bet he's pretty thrilled with the notion that all of these wheels put together don't even amount to a quarter of the $$ a new wheel would cost.

So there you have it, a recent peek at life at the Hermitage. Nothing surprising I'd guess, for those who know me, you gotta admit there's always been and always will be something obsessively going on around here, that's just how I roll and spinning wheels are just the latest flavor.

Talk to ya soon.
Maybe.

I'm Skewed

but in a good way.

I think.

I have fallen completely and totally in love with the sock pattern Skew
(Rav link here) It has everything going for it in my book. First off I couldn't get my brain twisted around as to how the sock pattern worked, which is a huge plus in my book. Secondly there is something, just a little thing or two, in every other row, with a plain row in between. A fabulous attribute for when you have to rip back, or get your head ready for the next trick on the following row. Thirdly, it looks amazing. And fourthly, it is a genius way to use all those beautiful to look at but not so fab when knitted handpainted or self-striping sock yarns, of which I have lots, but never ever use cuz I'm just not a crazy sock color kind of gal.

The down side of the pattern is that it only comes in one size (not mine, it's too big) and there are some notes available here for making it a larger size (another bummer for me) But seriously, when has that ever stopped me? So far I have started this sock 4 times. Don't be discouraged, I'm not, in fact I am still full speed ahead.



My first attempt seen above in the nine o'clock position was worked on zeroes 9 stitches to the inch. It failed cuz I left out the entire mid-toe section. duh. The second attempt shown above at high noon was also worked on zeros and I thought it was going just peachy. Even worked pass the heel and began the leg portion. Hmmmm the foot is a tad bit too tight, my gauge was too much smaller obviously, highlighting the only other downside this pattern has. That downside being I haven't found a good way (or at what point) to try on the sock in progress to check the fit. Up until I finished the heel I thought the fit was spot on. The sock at three o'clock is done using a slightly heavier yarn and worked on size three needles. I really wanted to start that sock on 2's but could only find one size two needle. I think it is going to be too big, remember, I haven't gleaned a proper way of checking fit while the sock is in progress, I haven't pulled it out just in case. I was getting 27 stitches to 4 inches instead of 31 stitches so it will prob'ly be too big. The latest attempt is at six o'clock. I'm thrilled so far, even though I haven't gotten very far. I think it is going to work.

Oh no, did I just tempt the knitting fairies? Naw, they messed with me enough this week. Case in point, the Ravelympics and the Knitting Olympics beginning just two days after they have smitten me with this sock pattern. Could they be any crueler? I committed myself to 4 events. Egads.

The Ravelympics:

The Flying Camel Event
438 grams to be spun


276 grams spun 621 yards 2-ply sport-ish wt. Graduated coloration.
162 grams left to spin

The Sock Hockey Event & The Nordic Colorwork Event
Faroese Footlets



As you can see I was just a little bit tensed and slightly stressed when I was teaching myself this two-color knitting. The first one (on the right) is so much smaller than the other. sigh. I'm sure it will block out. um. er. I'm sure it will.

The Short Track Shawls Event
Citron


I chose this one precisely for the mindless-ness of it considering the other events needed a little bit more conscious effort. I've gone a little too mindless, and my stitch count is way off, I messed up the beginning, and I don't think the pattern and yarn are a good match. sigh.

I have yet to even begin my Knitting Olympics entry Drops pattern 116-53.

I think I'm skrewed. Or maybe my thinking is just skewed? I can get all this done right?

Seriously?

LOL

Ethel

Well now, let's see if I remember how to do this.

I almost feel like I'm beginning to be me again. I gotta tell ya, it hasn't been easy. Worry and stress can really do a number on you and it ain't easy to get back into your "normal" life after it's been topsy turvy for so long. Annie it seems, is firmly on her way to healing. She still has the nurses coming to the house twice a day but only twice this week and next week only once a week. (Annie is now changing her dressing twice a day herself) She still sees the surgeon every two weeks. I'm thinking just another 4 weeks or so and she'll be almost completely healed. I still can't believe how long its been and so very very proud of how well Annie has handled it.

I haven't been out of the Hermitage for, um, a week? week and a half? two weeks? I don't remember. That's a good thing, I'm getting me back, you know, the me that never knows what the date is let alone what day of the week it is. That's a really really good feeling. OTOH it also means I haven't seen Liam for that long as well. :o( That's a bad thing. Annie's been really good about sending pix and flix to my phone almost daily. Unfortunately I don't know how to get those from my phone to my computer but Annie did email the latest flix yesterday. so here it is in all the cell phone video glory such as that is.



Even the poor quality can't mask his adorableness. Am I lyin'? And yes, he is always that happy. :o)

I have been knitting and spinning lately just haven't been taking pix of it so there's no real reason to talk about that now, we'll talk again when I get the pix taken and couple of more things off the needle. Oooo I should mention my plans for the Knitting Olympics and the Ravelympics. I've bit off a huge chunk this year too. I'm pushing myself to do two, yes two, colorwork items, the Faroese Footlets and Drops 116-53, cuz I've never attempted anything like these before, plus I've entered the Flying Camel event and have 438 grams (15.44 oz) of various blues to spin.



Some of the spinning will be done on this.




I call her Ethel.

Yeah I know, not the most portable spinning wheel, and I imagine some, if not all, of you are wondering why. I could say cuz I wanted to see if I could and that would be about 85% true. The other 15% was cuz I did something really really dumb. The last time I used my "real" wheel, (Levi my Babe) I left the drive band in the working position so yesterday when I got it out again the drive band was stretched beyond use. duh. damn. I have recently been spinning with a table top spinner I had made but was itching for some speed. Without a drive band I was kinda out of luck so I set my sights on converting this treadle sewing machine base into a spinning wheel. Tomorrow I'll get a new drive band for Levi (fingers crossed), and tweak Ethel a bit more, after all, I can't spin 438grams of fiber on a table top spinner in 17 days and knit two pairs of colorwork socks/slippers.

Huh, I kinda feel like myself again, setting impossible goals and doing really weird things. What day is today?

Half Spun

Like the title says, I have half of the solar dyed roving spun. Some of the variant coloration is still evident, not much, but some. :o/




My knitting mojo has left recently. Technically not just the knitting mojo but all mojo. I have my suspicions as to why that is but that is a story for another day. Besides at this point it's all just speculation anyway. Suffice to say, I do know, by virtue of a 18 hour ER visit awhile back and subsequent tests, I am as healthy as a horse. Yep, me, healthy as a horse. lol Me, the person who snacks on things like meat, beef, ham and bacon being my grazing fodder of choice. My heart and lungs are good, notwithstanding the more years than I care to admit I've been a smoking fiend. (I am trying to remedy that btw, down from 20ish cigs a day to less than 8 usually less than 5. Yea me.) And my cholesterol is perfect. Amazingly so. I had never had my cholesterol checked before, assuming all the while it was prob'ly on the high side. My eating habits for one reason, but the greater reason being most of my 6 brothers and sisters have high cholesterol.

My numbers are thus:
ttl cholesterol 144
Triglycerides 49
HDL 43
LDL 91

It's nice to know that I don't have to give up meat as I try to give up smoking. :o)

Catching a minute

Today seems normal. It's quiet. But that will be the exception for quiet a while now so I'm snagging this time to update you on what's been on the needles and on the wheel.




This pattern is named Nutkin and you can find it here. There is a chart as well as written instructions for the stitch pattern, but really once thru a couple of rounds you'll have it memorized, it's a very intuitive stitch pattern, thus, a mindless pattern. :o) Love it when I find a "mindless" pattern with so much bang for the design buck. It goes very fast too, case in point, I start this sock last night!

Oh if you're wondering about the white edge at the top, that's just the waste piece I knitted for the tubular cast on. I didn't do the hemmed cuff like the pattern says, I did a tubular cast on with a little bit of 1x1 ribbing.

I finally got around to spinning and plying the pencil roving I dyed when Joyce came for a visit. It's the last pic of the post and the roving that I dyed using the spray bottle method.


The color is close but not quiet right. It is a little less blue and a tiny bit brighter. There is only 264 yards so I haven't figured out what to make yet.

I did work up one more variation of the mousetrap in an adult size. This one is more of a clog style slipper. Now with all the snow we got yesterday and the day before, felting all these "one off sculptural pieces" (giggle/snort) will go fast. I really like using the snow when felting it just makes things go so much faster.

Off to felt the sculptures and finish this sock.

Done.

Dyed.

Spun.

Skeined.

Balled.


381 yards of 3 ply.

59 yards of Navajo ply.


total yardage 440 yards.

I like it. Even though I tried, really tried, to spin tiny, it still came out around about a worsted weight.....sigh If I had only made a two ply I would have like the wt. much better, but considering I was intending to knit socks, I thought I ought to make a 3ply. I could be mistaken, but I'm sure I read somewhere sock yarn should be a 3ply for durability. Oh well, I'll still make socks they will just be extra thick and should make my too big clogs fit well. :o)

The little bit that is Navajo plied is what as left on two of the bobbins after plying. I like the longer non-tweedy coloring. I'll use this bit on the toes and heels, or maybe just on the cuff. I'm thinking about trying the Chevalier pattern. (Ravelry link)

I also knitted a few Clemence, (non-Rav link here) which are, as of now, my most fav neckwarmer pattern. The green/blue one is made with the Balmoral I dyed earlier this week. It started out a light sage green, I really, really, like this. The purple one is ONLine Lambswool 112.




I've got a whole project basket filled with odd balls of yarn to make more of these. The outer "lace" shell takes about 80 yards and the inner (optional) lining takes a tad bit more. It is a perfect project for all those odd special fiber balls we have laying around.

I've made these true to the pattern without modification except, (you knew there would be an exception didn't you?) after the last repeat of the lace pattern I work 2 rounds of knit, 1 round of purl, and another round of knit, (the purl round just makes for a better turning round) Then I change to a needle one size smaller to complete the lining.

Off to go watch the returns, hope I don't lose count on the now memorized lace pattern! :o)

Whirling Dervish I

I finally got around to winding up the plied, still languishing on the bobbins, Whirling Dervish I project. This yarn is the stuff I tried to to dye then spin, hoping to get a Kauni type yarn. You can see further explanations of my adventure doing this here, and here.

I had some issues today with one my swifts. It decided to fall apart halfway through the winding process, but I salvaged it as best I could and wound on. It's a shame I wound this up stairs in the front room, the lighting as terrible for photos and it looked so pretty on the swift.


Then my ball winder decided to develop a wobble.....sigh. I adjusted it as much as I could, there really wasn't anything wrong, except one tiny, thing. It seems the cone part of my ball winder itself has become warped......sigh. I never dreamed that could happen but it has. I usually have this winder set up ready to wind at all times on an old wooden ironing board I've cut, and bored holes and slots into to accommodate my sifts and winders. It's kinda like a "winding station" in my workroom. Unfortunately, way back, when we were having those bats flying around in the house, I wasn't very comfortable upstairs at night so my swifts and winders found themselves off their appointed places on the winding station and literally scattered around the house. The winder I used today had been sitting on a table, on its side, in the sunlight for...um...weeks(?) months(?). Now the cone part is lopsided....sigh

It now winds some pretty ugly balls. Notice the concave-y-ness of those balls? That is only part of the problem, it doesn't show up too much in the pix but see how one side of each ball is kind of loopy? That's cuz the ball itself is waaay taller on that side then the other and it falls inward.....sigh.


But I am pretty happy with the yarn itself. :o)



Definitely not my colors but I think it will work well and be wearable in a colorwork pattern. I think I'll pair it with a dark navy for the groundwork.

In other knitting/spinning news I don't have a lot to show you. Yes I've been spinning it is just more fiber from the Motherload in shades of brown. Pretty boring pix so I won't bother. I've been knitting a lot of little things lately. A few scarves, neckwarmers and some gaunlets any one, all, or none will be for a fund raising event my SIL is helping organize. I couldn't decide just what kind of knitted/handmade item she wanted or what might be desirable to people I don't even know so I'm making several, they can pick and chose or not.

I'll have pix and details on those pieces as soon as I get them all blocked. I'm saving them all for one big day of blocking...hope I have enough pins! LOL

Lust

This past Saturday was the SpinIn sponsored by the Bishop Hill Fiber Guild. It was fabulous as always. The men and women of the guild have once again out done themselves. It is/was a fiber filled day at an extremely low, low, price. Tell me please, when you have ever gone to a fiber conference and the total cost of attendance plus lunch with choice of attending two classes throughout the day (not to mention the on going knitting, crocheting, drop spindle, and spinning workshops) was $18.00 ($12 w/o lunch) for the early bird registration and a whopping $21.00 ($15.00 w/o lunch) for day of registration. Guess I should have posted a reminder of the upcoming SpinIn rather than reviewing it after the fact, huh. Just to rub it in and be a bigger schmuck than I am being right now, you can go here and see what you missed.

I promise to remind you guys before it happens next year, but just in case I forget next year too...mark your calendars for the 2nd Saturday in October, it typically falls on that day.

I didn't actually take any classes this year, I was too busy hanging with met-for-the-first-time-in-real-life Ravelry peeps! I also spent a good deal of time hanging out in the spinning wheel circle. Part of my circle time was spent teaching a wanna be spinner, Sister Mary Stephen, and briefly helping Sister Mary Lawrence, and Brother Gregory also wanna be spinners. It totally flipped me out that they were there and I was compelled to help them. I don't why, I suppose cuz the whole full habit thing churned up childhood memories of Sister Mary Francis one of my best loved teachers. Thank god Sister Lizarian didn't come to mind otherwise I would have fled screaming incoherently and prob'ly found later cowering in a bale of fleece fretting over the specter of ruler blistered palms. The other part of my circle time was spent wheel hopping. There were several types and brands of wheels for anyone to try. Louet, Ladybugs, Ashfords, etc.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not really in the market for a new wheel. I love Levi my Babe's Fiber Garden Wheel. But I did want to see how well Levi held his own compared to other wheels on the market. Levi did beautifully. IMHO he out did most brands and styles, was dead even with one other, but did lose just a tad bit to the new objects of my lust.
Majacraft's Little Gem and a woolee winder. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


But I like Jimmy Carter will merely lust in my heart. I'm not going to spend that much $$ for a wheel, nor for a woolee winder. Although you won't hold it against me if I do succumb will you?

And to continue in the same frame of mind, or rather a lusting heart...

While I did not attend any classes at SpinIn one of the classes I was considering was the class on spinning luxury fibers. At the end of the day I ran into the teacher and mentioned that I had considered attending her class and she graciously offer me the handouts for the class and all the fiber samples. YUM!

Most of the samples are in sliver, top, and cloud forms. The fibers themselves are Quivet, Quivet/silk blend, Camel, Baby Camel, Cashmere, Mohair lock, Silk top and Silk hankie, Yak and Bison. YUM YUM YUM More lusty reporting after I get a chance to spin these fibers will be forth coming.

I haven't knitted a stitch since Saturday. I've been spinning, thus all of Whirling Dervish I is spun. So far so good, I can't wait to begin plying! Unfortunately most of what you can see here is yellow but believe me there are plenty of other colors in there. :o)

Surprise!

Betcha just thought I was joshin' when I said I was thinking about making Mr. Greenjeans in a bulky wt...... Behold.



An icky, poorly lit, through the mirror, self portrait, of an unblocked bulky wt sweater, but a photo nonetheless. It practically flew off my needles. If it wasn't for the fact that I had to do the sleeves, not once, not, twice, but three times, (even seaming one of the sleeves each time, which is the bane of all things good) I would have been done two days ago! I wonder when I will learn that those nifty little gadgets they call tape measures are worth their weight in gold?? Guess I should have taken a clue from the gold market of late and used one. Obviously "eyeballing" is not a good thing.

Specs: Vintage yarn...Ballybrae Bulky by Brunswick 100% virgin unscoured wool with natural oils. 135 yards/100 grams. (total yardage 675) #10.5 needle 3sts=1 inch color Dover White Tweed.

Um yeah, they weren't kidding when they said, "unscoured wool with natural oils" It took me longer to wash the stuff than it took to knit the sweater! WOW

I sort of followed the pattern, but not really. What I did was follow the silhouette. Just changing the gauge and going from there doesn't work too well sometimes and I just knew it wouldn't have worked this time. So basically it's just a raglan, with a deep v-neck, and an empire waist. There are darts here and there that are not in the orginal pattern and I changed the cable a tiny bit. Each cable twists in the opposite direction than the one before it. I'm thinking I should have gone a tad bit longer in length (I have one skein left) but then there's the issue of the button/neck band....sigh Oh well, it's still long enough to cover my butt when I sit so it's all good.

Languishing while my attention was focused on "Papa G" (as I'm calling the Mr. G bulky remake) was "Pretty in Red". I know, it's a lot of red. I'm about half way up the back, as you can see. The fronts aren't much and then the sleeves. I was orginally going to make this long sleeve, but Gillian thinks she wants it 3/4 sleeved, so 3/4 it will be. It won't be done in a day or two, but it will be done soon.



I am totally enamoured with the pleats!



On the spinning front, I've been sporadically spinning here and there. This is what's on the bobbin now. It was originally supposed to be part of my Ravelympics....oops. You can see my Ravelympics prep for this fiber here. I dyed it myself.



The ball of roving seen here on the left is exactly what the ball on the right looked like before I began spinning. Large ball 242 grams, smaller ball, 119 grams.



The plan is to have a sportish wt. 2 ply with a really long color sequence (ala Kauni). Then a I'll use a solid/semi-solid in a dark color such as black or navy, and do some color work. I've been "stealing" and adapting paisley prints from my stash of fabric and charting designs, we'll see how that goes. :o)

Gutting it Out

That's what I'm doing. Gutting it out. Saying no to the pain, saying no to the fatigue, saying yes to my goals. Just like a real athlete. As if. LOLOLOLOL

Seriously though, the last few days haven't been that terrific.....a summer cold/flu. Ick. So I've had to change my Ravelympic line-up a tad. I started with Whirling Dervish II rather than WDI. The reason for the change in the line-up? Spinning the fiber for WDII is almost like cheating. It's a pencil roving that is already so thin that absolutely zero drafting is warranted, thus totally mindless and each time I sit down at the wheel, once I find the groove, I can do it one handed, if needed, and not even look at what I'm doing. Which is a godsend when one is sneezing, coughing, hacking, and blowing their nose as often as this cold is demanding; an added plus with all the world records being smashed left and right, exceptional performances in gymnastics and diving, and all the underdogs getting their day in the sun I can't keep my eyes off the TV. :o)

Here is what I've spun so far.



442.5 yards of cream
514.5 yards of brown

This is why it is so easy to spin.


The top loop is not drafted the rest of it is. Notice all the pills and nups? It's impossible to draft and spin an even single so instead of fighting it I'm just spinning it as is. Super fast, and super easy. Cheating????

I've often wondered while reading blogs what a person meant by using the word "sprongy" as a fiber adjective. I of coursed could glean what it was they were saying, but couldn't really relate to it. Now I can. This fiber (all of them, cream, dark and light brown) are super "SPRONGY". I'm looking forward to some day getting my hands on some well prepared sprongy fiber, something that doesn't have pills, nups, and lots of VM. :o)

It's been another learning adventure spinning this fiber. Everything I've done up until now has had very long staple length and little crimp. This has a much shorter staple length and LOTS of crimp. I'm not too sure I like this very crimpy fiber but I'm reserving judgment until the day I have some well prepared fiber of this sort.

As I'm sure many of you spinners out there who are spinning just for spinning's sake often daydream while sitting at the wheel as to what the yarn you are creating will ultimately become, so am I. I'm thinking this will make a fabulous jacket. I'm considering a fairly boxy shape with a slip stitch/mosaic pattern, or perhaps a nifty intarsia design, or maybe, just maybe something with some cables. Of course daydreams can only go so far when I have know idea what kind of gauge this yarn is going to work up in, but I'm thinking the gauge will be about 3 to 3.5 stitches to the inch. I'll end up with about 430 yards of the 3rd color for a total of approximately 1300+ yards. Enough to do just about anything actually. :o)

I have also been working on my Hmmmm project. Saturday, the day after the Games began I finally decided on a pattern. It's another no brainer, something I can knit while I watch the Games kind of thing. That of course was one of deciding factors when choosing a pattern for this Ravelympic event, but there were others that were much more important. It had to be something that would "honor" my first handspun, warts and all (cuz no matter how warty it is I'm proud of it) AND it had to be easily executed in a number of yarns that don't quiet match in color. That's a lot of stipulations, but I found the perfect pattern. The Panel Jacket from Unicorn Books. The pattern as written, is worked in garter stitch, I am doing it in stockinette, (garter stitch would hide too many warts) I've got one panel, the sleeves and the lapel/collar to do. I'm skimping a little on the width of the panels, a sweater with a 52" bust measurement would just look silly on me. I'm liking it. A lot. This pattern just might have a few do-overs in it's future.

Ravelympic Training

Today I began my Ravelympic training. I'm entered into a one event, but have multiple projects. Whirling Dervish I is my attempt to dye (my training done today) so it will spin into a yarn with a really long color sequence. Below is the 493 grams of pencil roving I started with . It is part of the Motherload windfall of last summer.



I'm not going to bother with the particulars of how I figured the length of the color sequence at this point. IF it works out OK then I will go ahead and explain it, but if it doesn't work then it'd just be a waste of time to document it here. I have taken pretty decent notes so if it does work, then I'll be able to do it again. (sometimes I am smarter than I pretend to be I actually took notes!!!) :o)

Even though I was in town Thursday, Friday and Saturday, (more times I've been in town in the previous month!) I didn't even think about buying more dyestuff, thus I had to use what I had on hand today. Obviously my intelligence is fleeting.

The color sequence begins with yellow then green, blue, violet, purple, red, orange, and repeats itself for 3 full sequences and ends with another yellow. None of the colors are exactly the same. The first sequence was dyed with Easter egg dye, the second and third sequence were dyed with food color (some regular some neon) and the last orange and yellow were dyed with Koolaid. Each color is approximately 13 grams or 11 ft of pencil roving.



I applied the dye with an eyedropper and/or paintbrush. Each color was wrapped in plastic wrap. When it was all dyed I wound it into a huge Tupperware container.

The first layer.



the next...



Another layer.



One more layer.



And a little bit more.



It was an awfully tight fit, both in the container and the microwave.

I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with this yarn yet. I'm only spinning it for the Handspun Heptathalon. I might squeeze two sweaters out of this by working it along with a another solid rather than using it all in one sweater like the typical Rainbow Kauni Cardigan. (the link is to the pattern pdf) The colors here are a little much for me and I think they will only get brighter when spun, but maybe toned down nicely by working it with a solid.

The yarn is still cooling. I'm being extra careful not to handle it too much. Hot, wet, roving, might felt just by looking at it! LOL Tomorrow is supposed to be warm, hot actually. There's a heat advisory already posted for the area, we're expecting temps of 100+. Everything should dry nicely outside tomorrow.

Whirling Dervish II, my second project for the Ravelympics, is merely to spin this stuff up. There is 449 gr of the natural cream color, 446 gr of the natural lt grey, and 483 gr of the natural dk grey. Total grams 1378.



I know 1378 gr sounds like a lot to spin, especially if it is the 2nd of 4 projects I have planned, but I still think it is doable. Take a closer look at how this fiber is prepared.



Honestly I could knit with this as it is, but I want to add a bit more twist to it and make a 2 ply. I'm not keen on unspun type yarns. I'm guessing this was prepared on some Viking combs and then drawn through a very tiny diz. This too is from the Motherload, it's natural and still pretty sheepy, lots of lanolin.

Whirling Dervish III is this batch.


It is 647 gr of a variety of browns. It too is from the Motherload and was originally pencil roving like that of the first picture above but had been dyed already. Last Summer I washed, predrafted it and rolled it into the balls you see here.

The fourth Ravelympic project is "Hmmmmm" For that one I'm going to make a cardi out of the handspun I just did. (I think I told you that already) I still don't have the pattern picked out but there are several in the running. I know it's prob'ly crazy to have this project on top of all the others, but I've got to have something for bedtime knitting, it's not like I can spin while I'm lounging in bed!

I'm Such a Weakling

I admit it. I couldn't take waiting on the new bobbins any more so I wound off one the bobbins and plied what was left on the others. Crazy I know. I'm trying to convince myself this somewhat compulsive behavior was done for reasons other than I've become addicted to smitten with spinning. I really need to make sure I can spin a consistent yarn. Right? I really need to know exactly how many yards of that yarn I can spin per gram if I'm going to have any success at all with dyeing the awaiting pencil rovings and ending up with a yarn that has the color lengths I want. Right? I need to know if I can and if I even like spinning ultra tiny singles needed for a 3-ply. Right? Those are legitimate reasons. Right? Right!?!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This hank is a 2-ply that I plied with lots of twists per inch. I could count it I guess but I'm such a tactile and visual person the numbers wouldn't really mean much to me anyway. It was over plied as a matter of fact, but I did that on purpose just to learn. I had to put a little weight on the hanging hank to set it straight. I learned with this skein that I could in fact put in enough twist while plying to make a 2-ply look almost round in a cross-cut view like a 3-ply would. It also cuts down on the lofty smoochie-ness of the yarn and makes it feel similar to a cabled yarn. I sure this will be an incredibly hard wearing yarn. How it will knit up is another story for another day.

104 grams, 178 yards, 2-ply, very high TPI



Below is my attempt to make tiny singles. No I didn't stop to take pix of the bobbins before I plied...sigh. It wasn't as difficult as I anticipated. While spinning I only thinned out and broke 4 times and broke the thread only once as I plied. (yes, I am patting myself on the back)

103 grams, 234 yards, 3-ply


What did I learn by making this skein? I learned that I can spin a fine, consistent, single. I also learned that I'm just as pleased with my 2-ply worsted wt as I am with this 3 ply worsted wt. 2-ply is soooo much easier to ply and more fun to do. I doubt if a lot of 3-ply is my future.

The two skeins below are just what was left on the bobbins after doing the 3-ply. 118 yds of a light 2-ply sport wt and 42 yds that was Navajo plied. Hmmm I guess I really ought to divide the fiber a little more evenly obviously just eyeballing the pile isn't cutting it. Imagine how much closer I could get to having fewer leftovers if I had a scale. Oh wait, I do. Guess I ought to use it a little bit more. :o)



I sent and inquiry regarding my should-be-here-by-now bobbins today. I got a reply late this afternoon. There was a slight mix up, they thought they had already shipped them to me. arrrrgh
But they are making everything right and have shipped them today promising delivery on Friday.

Here I sit. Nothing on the wheel, new bobbins coming on Friday, rovings not dyed yet, and my sister is arriving from GA tomorrow for a little visit. She a non-fiber person and I haven't seen her for almost 2 years. I'm sure I don't have to explain to anyone reading this what that means. I guess Ill be digging up long ignored knitting that has been patiently waiting on the needles to keep my itchy fingers busy as we chat, yak, giggle, and talk while stuffing ourselves silly on all the food she misses by not being here.