I am now seven inches into the body of my plain and simple pullover, a test-knit for veera over at 100% rain. I reach for this sweater whenever I need mindless knitting, and while I normally prefer my knitpicks harmony needles, I am really loving the slipperiness and the soft clicking sounds of these hot pink metal needles (courtesy of the Yarn Pirate, from when I was in the sock club).
Happy weekend! (Classes start next week, so these are my final days of summer.)
Classes
First up, here’s a picture of the first skein of the jacob, just off the niddy-noddy and ready for a bath. I love those paws!
I had to ply this in two parts — the yarn was just too lofty/airy to fit onto one bobbin. This is my first (mostly) true long draw project, which I believe makes this a woolen spun yarn!
This is 211 yards total: 130 in the first skein, and 81 in the second, of 2-ply undyed jacob wool.
The spinning method chosen really does determine the character of the yarn — up close, this yarn is completely different from something spun using a worsted technique. This has a lovely halo and an incredible amount of squish to it, but minimal sheen. This is also more thick and thin, which may just be a function of my learning curve with the long draw. One of these days I’m going to at least swatch with my handspun to get a sense for how my spinning is evolving and, perhaps more importantly, to figure out how to start planning knitting projects at the spinning stage.
Oh, Boh. Even though you spent much of the night growling at things in the yard (and thus, keeping me awake), I still love you. Especially when you make that face.
It was so hot and humid yesterday that Boh and I needed to get down to the creek. We spent about an hour in the water doing a mixture of wading (me) and swimming (Boh). He’s making progress, and no longer needs to be “encouraged” to doggy paddle. By the end of our playtime, he was even prancing around the shallow sections of the creek!
While I sat in the sun to dry off, Boh did some serious work. He always seems to be looking for a particular rock that is buried way down beneath the water. When he finds it, he chews on it a bit, puts it somewhere else, and then it is back to finding the next rock. He (and, let’s face it, I) find this endlessly entertaining.
Though I have no photo-documentation, this outing also included the purchasing of fruit, the returning of a whole slew of library books, and the enjoyment of a mint chocolate-chocolate cookie ice cream cone.
Before heading off to the farm and then to dinner with our dog and people friends, I spun the second bobbin of the dark, undyed, local jacob and began plying. I continued working on my long draw as I spun bobbin #2, and I must admit, I was doing quite a bit of cursing as I struggled to balance twist with the take up of the bobbin. There was a lot of breakage, but every so often I’d get into a great rhythm and produce a consistent, sturdy, appropriately twisted single using a “true” long draw rather than a supported long draw. I love the loftiness of this yarn, and I’m hoping the finished 2-ply will be sturdy enough to do something with!
Boh and I returned from my parents’ house to find a package of treats waiting for us: two books from Jodi over at A Caffeinated Yarn, in celebration of her blogiversary. I spent about an hour flipping through them last night (ignoring all the little things I should have been doing), and I can’t wait to spend more time with them. The Gentle Art of Domesticity is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It strikes me as a thoughtful and very personal set of intelligent insights on crafting, filled with inspiration ranging from the colors of hard candy to more obscure examples of European painting depicting the domestic arts. Mocha is filled with instructions for drinks, breakfast treats, and desserts, and I can’t wait to try out these recipes. (My friend K. has a milk frother/steamer, so we may have to try these at her house.)
Thanks, Jodi!
In so many ways. Boh and I went out to the lake on Friday night to see a friend who was away all summer, and is heading off to grad school this week. Last night, I attended a mellow housewarming gathering here in town with some of my favorite people. Today, Boh and I are headed home to celebrate my grandma’s birthday with a backyard barbecue.
And, of course, that bobbin of dark, undyed, local jacob is FULL. I’m working on my long draw, and I’m hoping there’s enough twist in these singles. I couldn’t get 2 full oz. on the bobbin, which gives you a sense of how airy and lofty this yarn is. Later on this week I’ll spin up the other 2+ oz. and ply them together.
We’ll be back tomorrow night. Hope your Sunday is filled with good food and family too.
LOVE.
238 yds. of squishy 2-ply worsted weight yarn, from 4 oz. of falklands wool in five plum pie from Hello Yarn.
I navajo plyed what didn’t fit on the first bobbin — so here’s 28 more yards of practice yarn. This is still overplied, but I’m getting into a rhythm with this technique. It is really hard to slow down my feet!
Also, zucchini pickles! I made these on Thursday, but the recipe said they’d turn a lovely shade of chartreuse after a day in the fridge. I know the green of my kitchen is tough to beat, but the zucchini really is absorbing the color of the brine. I’m taking these to a backyard bbq later today!
First off, if you clicked through from Joy the Baker’s site because you, too, wondered if roosters wear shoes, welcome! I don’t have any pictures to prove it, but I did use my oven continuously yesterday (zucchini bread, granola, roasted potatoes). And I was barefoot.
(I won an awesome set of Baggu bags, and I can’t wait. In fact, I’ve been doing some serious winning lately, as I was the lucky commenter selected in Jodi’s blogiversary contest over at A Caffeinated Yarn. Yay!)
Amidst all the oven use yesterday, I did manage to get a lot of spinning done. I finished both bobbins of the Hello Yarn Fiber Club falklands wool in Five Plum Pie, and late last night, I decided to do a little bit of plying.
Which turned into A LOT of plying. That bobbin is so full that it no longer turns independently of the flyer. I’ll have more pictures of this 2-ply when it is done drying, but I’m really happy with how nicely the colors lined up. Instead of breaking the roving into 2 pieces, I stripped this in half lengthwise, and was carefully to spin them the same way to keep the color progression. In a lot of places, the colors match exactly, and the transitions between colors seem gentle and subtle. Also, not that it needs to be said, but this stuff was incredible to work with — smooth, even, and solid without being compressed. I fully understand the HY hype.
Public Service Announcement: Have you seen this navajo-plying video over at Spin-Off? I found this link through the Spunky Club on ravelry, and I feel moved to share. For folks new to navajo-plying, this video makes it really easy to see how it works and what it looks like. For old pros, the video demonstrates a particular way of holding the yarn and pulling out the loops that is easy on the shoulders and very rhythmic.
For those following my bat saga, Boh and I were winged-visitor-free last night. Here’s hoping it stays that way!
Apologies if these make you dizzy. Yesterday was a blurry kind of day, so it seems only fitting that the pictures I attempted to take of a stunning sunset turned out this way. (It probably didn’t help that I was fresh out of the shower, still in the process of getting dressed, and therefore more than a little exposed to a backyard mob of mosquitoes that made keeping the camera steady more than slightly difficult.)
A bit of a sock is all I’ve got for you today:
Oh — and my bat came back last night for round 3. My landlord will be here in half an hour to strategize. Hope your day is bat-free!
(Hint. Only one of these things is actually in the kitchen.)
These are hands-down some of the prettiest peppers to ever grace my kitchen with their presence. Everything else from this week’s share (carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, dill, basil, cilantro, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, endive, lettuce and garlic) went right into its place in the kitchen, but these needed to be photographed.
And here is the plum pie. Five Plum Pie, to be exact. This is the first colorway I received as a new member of the Hello Yarn Fiber Club in May 09 — 4 oz of falklands wool. I finally feel like my spinning is consistent enough to start playing with my slowly growing HY stash. I’m aiming for a squishy 2-ply, probably a dk to light worsted in weight, and right now I’m thinking that I would love a new cowl and/or set of mitts for fall…
It was too humid to do much of anything during the day yesterday, but once the evening arrived, Boh and I went over to see dog and people friends, eat delicious pizza and farm veggies, and take a lovely evening walk. (We also polished off a whole jar of dilly beans. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I opened one of the pints a few days shy of its 2-week pickling period. I need to pick more beans!)
Three more pints of dilly beans on the shelf.
Boh, worrying about something. (What’s new?)
166 yards of light worsted 2-ply falklands wool from 3 oz. of the silent undergrowth colorway from AVFKW. This stuff is soft, squishy, shiny, and all-around delightful.
Off to pour another cup of coffee…
barefoot rooster 