Tag Archives: spinning

round and round.

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I did A LOT of plying yesterday, or at least it felt like a lot. See?

fo cvm1

focvm2

This is the CVM in the impatiens colorway from cosy, and the Paradise Fibers oatmeal bfl I began with. Both became much softer with a good soak, and each have a very nice amount of squoosh. I’m realizing that I am that beginner I read about in rav forums (yay ravelry for all of the great info and advice available), and that I need to remind myself that what seems like too much twist to rooster-the-spindler is not necessarily too much to the rooster-at-the-wheel. I’m happier with the amount of twist in the CVM singles than in my last project (that verb corriedale), and my plying is getting tighter and bouncier (I think).

fo cvm3

Boh helped with the math: 190 yds of the BFL, and about 130 of the CVM.  That may be why he is so tired.

sleepydog

Also, I grabbed a book and a dishcloth-in-progress, and Boh and I headed down to a pebbly beach and bubbling creek. He spent a lot of time finding rocks under the water and bringing them to dry land.

sillyearsdog

We had a lovely day. Also, I made some serious progress in the dishcloth department. I realized I needed to knit more than one to fully put my new no-sponge plan into action.

boringdishcloths

There is something extremely satsifying about using up leftover yarn, particularly when it is dishcloth cotton.

On today’s list? Working on ply #3 of this:

2of3ply progress

I know you can’t really see the colors, but they are deep and lovely: blues, deep burgundys, greens. This is Spunky Club dark bfl in colorway Myrtle. I’m aiming to have something that I can make into socks, but we’ll see. I’m looking forward to plying my first 3-ply!

Also on the agenda? A walk in the woods, more reading, and dinner/drinks/live music with a friend.

Have a great weekend!

corrugated ribbing and cvm.

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And cuffs, and cosy (fiber etsy shop here), if that helps to emphasize that somehow the letter C is at play here today.

First, the ribbing. I know I have been going on and on about this sweater, and also that it is a bit unfair that I have been doing so, because you can’t exactly go right out and knit it yet, but I can’t help it. I cast on the first sleeve late last night (after digging through every bin of knitting-related stuff in my apartment to find my size 8 dpns), and I just have to keep talking about it.

cuffs1

cuff2

I love this ribbing, and someday, in the not too distant future, I will be making mittens that start this way. Whitney, are you trying to trick me into colorwork? Because if this ribbing is technically colorwork, it isn’t that scary. (This is how it starts, anyway…)

The next C is for CVM, or california variegated mutant, which, apparently, is a kind of sheep. Cosy’s shop update last week included lots of this stuff, and I needed some. (Needed.) I sat down at my wheel this morning after a cup of coffee with the idea that I would just spin a little bit, see how this fiber felt in my hands, and then move on to other things.

impatienscvm1

impatienscvm2

2 bobbins and 4 oz. later, I realized that I really liked it. (Shocking.)

impatienscvm3

I spun this using my mid-sized whorl, thinking that this might help me to get a bit more twist in my singles, and in this regard, I think I was successful. At the very beginning, I thought I’d aim for a singles yarn, but now that I see my two bobbins, one slightly brighter and one a bit paler, I think they will be lovely as a 2-ply, and maybe even lovelier knit up as the yoke to a garter-yoke cardigan?! I do have some grey cascade 220, and some heathery navy blue as well…

2-ply and pie.

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bohpliedcandle

Yay! My first wheel-plied yarn! Some ravelry forum advice confirmed my decisions to turn this into a 2-ply. My singles are a bit underspun to remain singles, so I’ll try again with something else. I am thrilled with how this looks all plied up — the wheel makes a huge difference with respect to evenness of the twist and the amount of time it takes to ply. This practically flew through my hands on Friday night. Here’s a close up:

plied candle

I’m still working on consistency, but for the most part, this looks to me to be worsted-weight yarn, with some thinner and thicker bits adding a touch of character. My math tells me that this is about 120 yds of subtly shaded goodness. What shall I make?

I believe I promised you pie: peach-strawberry-rhubarb, to be exact.

pie

M and I made a big batch o’ crust and then this delicious pie. Oh, and a big, green salad filled with radishes and beets from the farmers’ market to go with it. (I failed to photograph the salad.)

We had a lovely visit — so nice to have a dear friend here to walk, talk and bake with. Boh loved that she was here too.

Mostly unrelated, but I wanted to be sure to post this so that you know that I occasionally ruin things in the kitchen. Boh was the only witness this time.

beautiful beans

Aren’t these green beans lovely? (More green in my kitchen?!) On Friday I was planning to fix a late meal to tide me over until M’s bus got in around 11:30 pm. I rummaged through the cookbooks, and found a lovely green bean recipe in Supernatural Cooking, by Heidi of 101 cookbooks. The beans are tossed with lemon and lime zest and some fresh chives, all of which I had. I oohed and aaaahed over these as I mixed the beans with the other ingredients, sat down to take a bite, and promptly spat out a mouthful of very pretty beans. I’m pretty sure I grabbed a lime that had turned to the dark (rotten) side, as my beans did not taste citrus-y — just plain bad! I am looking forward to making this again with a lime that is NOT ready for the compost, as it sounds absolutely delicious and perfect for summer. I was so disappointed, but the beans were so pretty that I thought I’d snap a picture for you anyway.

Hope you’re enjoying the weekend. I can’t believe June is tomorrow. Crazy.

the candle’s nimble flame.

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verbfibernest

The title of this blog post is the name of this colorway of corriedale from A Verb For Keeping Warm’s Woolly Wonders fiber club.

But I should back up: Thank you. Your kind words  and, perhaps, the catharsis of blogging about my hurting, helped me to sit down at my wheel late last night and early this morning.

Thank you.

Now, would you like to see what I spun? I thought so.

verbcorriecandle

verbcorriefullbob

One more, involving me playing with the macro button:

verbfulbobmacro

This is a bit thick and thin, and to my eye, mostly light worsted. I initially thought I would try for singles, but now I’m thinking I should ply this (I filled two bobbins of 2 oz. each) to even out the thickness and to make a sturdier yarn. I’m beginning to understand that singles require more spin to make them sturdy, and I am still learning to balance the pull of the bobbin with the treadling of the wheel (and thus, twisting of the yarn). These colors are hard to photograph, but absolutely lovely in real life. I am being good and letting the singles rest, but I’m hoping to ply this yarn soon…

katie

A morning surpise: a facebook wall scribble told me to take a look on my porch — friends headed west (for good) left a love note and this lovely plant on my stoop long after I was asleep last night. I found her a nice spot in one of my bedroom windows, and gave her a good drink. Here’s a close-up:

katiemacro

And I had to grab a handful of these mums at my favorite farm stand today:

mums

Boh and I went for a great run today, and I may or may not have cleaned out the bottom half of the refrigerator. Keeping busy indeed.

Things to look forward to: my best friend M (who offered to be on a bus moments after I called last week) will be here for the weekend. My farm share starts Tuesday. Inching forward…

that other stuff.

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sillydog

Lots o’ pictures today — I have a (digitized) pile of shots (like this one) to share! Yesterday, the wheel won out, and rightly so. I may have spent another hour and a half spinning last night. I’m still breaking the yarn every so often because I haven’t quite balanced the pull of my bobbin with the speed of my treadling, so I was getting underspun yarn that wasn’t quite strong enough to be pulled onto the bobbin. (Does that make sense?) I am already way better at starting and stopping the wheel, and at sliding the guide around to get a more evenly filling bobbin. Though the specific mechanics are the same, drafting with your hands in your lap is different from spindle spinning, but I like it. (I like them both.) More writing today, but I will be rewarding myself with time at the wheel — that luscious undyed oatmeal BFL is going to be all spun up by the end of today.

First up: Food. Here’s a picture of the last piece of quiche. I forgot to take a “before” shot. We were too busy eating.

last piece quiche

A strawberry cake I baked last night, totally impulsively. Deb at smitten kitchen posted this around dinner time, and I could not resist.

strawberrycake

Pile o’ cookbooks — they looked pretty to me when I was in the kitchen snapping food pictures.

pileocookbooks

Those pears need to become pie, stat. We’ll see how far I get with the paper today. This next one does not fit into a category, but it was chilly early in the week, and I was wearing my 28thirty for added warmth. (I’m one of those people who would rather throw open the windows and put on a sweater than keep them shut and not need layers.)

28thirty in action

I love it. I may have made the upper sleeves a tad tight — in response to how loose the shoulders seemed — but I think with a little more wear, these will stretch just enough.

Next: Work photos.

workspace2

This enormous primary source was way too big to rest on the desk next to my computer, so we had to curl up on the couch. Boh was not pleased that the book took his spot. There’s my whisper, about an inch into the ribbing, for “thinking” while working.

yarnwinding

Yarn-winding is work, right? Here’s my technique. I’ve got about an inch and a half of the whisper ribbing, and I’m ready to start the second ball. I’m glad it is already wound!

spinning corner

Okay, one more wheel pic. This is my spinning “work” space, at the moment. Bright yellow bowl for fiber, sturdy chair to sit in, rug for wheel to stand on…Have I mentioned yet that I love my new wheel?

Blogging helps me to get words in my fingers — time to pour the coffee and switch over to academic writing. Have a great day!

rooster = in love.

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I actually have a bunch of pictures to show you — boh being silly, the last piece of quiche, the couch covered in books, etc. but I know what you really want to see…

treadle

I know I said I wasn’t going to take this out of the box until I met my last deadline. But I wrote 4 pages before lunchtime! And I have no will power. None.

yarnonwheel

I heart my new wheel. I opened up some of the softest BFL I have ever touched (from Paradise Fibers), and set to it. Here’s an up close shot of the bobbin after about an hour:

wheelyarnmacro

The yarn at the bottom (what you can’t see) isn’t quite this pretty, but man! I love this! I got out my Maggie Casey book to look through the spinning wheel section, and have been playing with the tension on the brake band. This wheel is so intuitive. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to tear myself away this afternoon to keep writing. Boh was (of course) terrified of the cardboard box the wheel came in, but has been surprisingly calm, if a bit wary, of the wheel itself.

lenbohinback

Hooray! I have a spinning wheel! Can’t wait to be on the other side of this chunk of writing so that I can spin, spin, spin.

Along these lines, do you, oh wise readers, have any recommendations in the realm of books on spinning technique? Maggie Casey’s book is fantastic, and covers a few different kinds of drafting and some troubleshooting, but is there something else I should be reading/working through to build a good foundation?

sleeves and shetland.

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First of all, THANK YOU for all of your kind comments re: the stress of the end of the semester and my very exciting should-be-here-on-Tuesday purchase. Yay!

I turned in paper #1 on Saturday, and paper #2 Wednesday at noon. Yesterday I spent the afternoon cleaning: kitchen, trash, 4 loads of laundry, vacuuming, etc. and even made a trip to a great farmstand to replenish my dwindling supply of fruits of vegetables. I actually enjoy a lot of the parts of keeping house, but these tasks are extra-enjoyable when you’ve had to neglect balance in favor of meeting a deadline or two. One more project, due at the end of the month, and it will be summer, which to me, means the chance to read more slowly, keep getting to know New Home, and enjoy the company of the dog (and my spinning wheel)!

Enough daydreaming, it will be here soon enough! Last night I finished up the sleeves of my whisper cardigan – time to pick up a zillion stitches! Must fortify myself with coffee first.

whispersleeves1

whispersleeves2

I’m pretty bleary-eyed in these pictures, but you can see how the cardigan fits across the shoulders. Here’s one more:

whsiper sleeves3

I lengthened the sleeves — they are about 9 inches long — a half inch of 1×1 rib at the elbow, and then 8.5 inches of stockinette. I decided to make the 22 inch size across the back, and I’m happy with that choice. I’m still on my first skein of shadow, which is hard to believe. While knitting with laceweight on 7s is still slower than knitting worsted, it isn’t as slow as I thought it would be. I’m hoping to keep making steady progress on this sweater, as it seems like the perfect amount of warmth to keep tucked in a bag for when the sun sets!

Also, in anticipation of my Lendrum, this week I returned to some shetland I had started, but with an actual plan: to try to keep the colors separate and spin fatter singles. While I might not have been able to detect the differences in spinning one wool vs. another a few months ago, I am really understanding what differences in staple length and stickiness mean for spinning. I’m really happy with this so far:

shetland singles fruitloops

The fiber is shetland from the AVFKW fiber club. The colors are so rich — and coming off on my hands a bit, but I don’t mind.

Alright! Boh and I have plans to spend some serious time at the d-o-g-p-a-r-k today. He was very patient during all of the paper-writing, and has earned a lot of playtime. Happy Thursday!

breaking news.

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I had to. I couldn’t help it. I cannot focus on the paper I am writing because I am so distracted by the idea of a spinning wheel. It is all I can think about. What kind? How much can I spend? Where will I put it?

I know this isn’t supposed to be an impulse purchase, but I think I’ve just made a great choice: The Lendrum DT Complete. I’ve been reading and re-reading reviews, comments, shop descriptions, and this is the best fit for me for the price.

For others agonizing, here’s why I picked the Lendrum:

(1) Small, but heavy enough that reviewers say it doesn’t “feel” like a travel wheel.

(2) Can travel. Because I’ll likely need support, and that means going to the local guild.

(3) Can be tucked away into its bag — my apartment is teeny.

(4) intuitive. The videos at Paradise Fibers’ website show how simple it is to put together and use. I like the way the kate is designed, I like how the bobbins come off the flyer, I even like the little storage place for the orifice hook.

(5) it is maple.

(6) it comes finished, so i can spin immediately, don’t need to go find the right stain or oil, and don’t have to agonize over whether the money to get a finished vs. unfinished wheel is worth it.

(7) scotch tension. good for beginners, and it makes sense to me. which matters.

(8) the Complete models come with: a tensioned kate, 4 bobbins, a bulky flyer and head, and a high speed flyer. when i realized this, and did some quick calculations in the realm of what these elements would cost were i to get a different wheel, i got out the credit card.

(9) it is SO pretty.

(10) it will be here AFTER i finish this paper, which means i should be able to focus now. eeeeee!

time to write, i hope.

ETA: Of course, the second I finished posting this, I got a call saying that Lendrum DT Complete are backordered. So…I called every shop I could find online and found a Lendrum DT without the plying head or fast flyer – last one in stock. It ships tomorrow. (!!!!)

handspun and cast iron.

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I should be writing. In fact, I should be writing A LOT, but instead, I’m feeling the need to dash off a quick post. I’ve written a few paragraphs for the paper this morning, so I can justify this. Right? Right. Also, it could be argued that talking about late nineteenth/early twentieth century cast iron is incredibly relevant to my work. Maybe I’ll footnote my recent ebay acquisition (just kidding):

castiron

castiron2

Isn’t she beautiful? I have been lusting after a workhorse skillet like this one, and in addition to how delicious my eggs have been this week, I really love that this new-to-me kitchen staple has a great deal of history — made in the period I study, for starters. (But enough about that. I have to save it for this paper, remember?)

Also, because end-of-the-semester paper writing is rather traumatic, I decided I needed something squishy and soft to pet nearby. I used my new niddy-noddy to skein up my Spunky Club organic merino in Twilight, and then I washed it to set the twist and hung it to dry.

twilight niddynoddy

twilightyes

I am in love. 250 yards of 2-ply that my eyeballs think is a pretty even light worsted, with some subtle dk weight interludes, spun on my Spinsanity spindle and plied on my heavier Louet spindle. Still drooling over wheels, folks…

Back to it!

returning to brompton.

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It felt so good to finish 28thirty (thank you for all of your kind words) that I decided to take a look at my grad school cardigan (alice bell’s lovely brompton), so named because I was not actually IN grad school when I began this sweater in January 2008. I envisioned myself wearing a cozy cardigan, drinking my morning coffee, and digging into exciting books. I’d say that’s pretty accurate, although I’m not sure I realized when I started this sweater how fast I would have to read, and how not-so-exciting some of the books would be.

When I dug this particular WIP out of its tote bag, I found that I had knit and seamed one button band, and had begun knitting the second. This week, I’ve knit and seamed the second button band (and boy, has my seaming improved!), and begun on the first sleeve.

brompton1

brompton2

I’m pretty sure I can block the wonkiness out of the first button band, but my biggest worry is that it will be too big.  I’m a bit slimmer (or so I’m told) than when I started this sweater, and I’m not sure I totally understood things like size, ease and fit. I’m going to pay particular attention to this as I work the sleeves, and hopefully after blocking I’ll have a drape-y, good-for-layering cardigan. Fingers crossed!

spunkyjan

I also finished spinning the second half of my January Spunky Club Fiber in Twilight. I’m planning to turn this into 2-ply, and I’m anxious to see what kind of yardage and wpi I end up with. For my next project, I’d like to think more carefully about what kind of end product I want, and maybe try a new kind of plying…

Alright, time to get to (school) work!