Blame It On The Cookie

Feb 122012
 

I am using all the self control I possess, (which isn’t all that much, I mean can we talk about the Loop Bullseye Batt update earlier this week?) to ignore any reference you made to the Superbowl. Instead, I will graciously move on to compliment you on your lovely projects. Seriously. That sweater of yours is going to be gorgeous, and I take back any doubting comments I made when you first mentioned casting on for it. Pulelehua is one of my favorite Romi shawls, and I am thinking I will wait to cast on for it until March 1. That way I can turn it in for the House Cup, and I do need to keep knitting away on my Rams and Yowes, my Owl Project for the Harry Potter House Cup, which needs to be half way done by the end of the month.

I have just finished the first repeat of the Rams heads. At first, I was diligently weaving in my floats every other stitch, but in the forums saw that the shetland will felt together on the opposite side since it is so ‘sticky’ of a yarn. That lead me to wrap every 8 stitches or so, and it’s going much quicker. I’m planning on the rumply look blocking out – it will won’t it? (The correct answer here is “Of course it will, you’re a brilliant knitter, I don’t know why you worry about such things.”) I’ve always envied those who can do colorwork and have it look neat and orderly before blocking, and perhaps I just need to do more of it.

I do love the blanket though – or pillow cover as you have called it, since it measures 36 inches square – and will try to make it larger by adding more of a border to it. Half of my problem in beginning this was that a 32 inch circular was too large to knit on comfortably, so I was having to Magic Loop, which I find to be an annoying time sucker. I changed to the 24 Addi Lace Turbo which has a needle which is about 4 inches long and too small for my clodhopper hands. Finally, I had a custom one made by Signature which gave me a 5 inch needle and a total of 29 inch length. It’s perfection.

I also cast on My Imaginary Knitting Boyfriend’s Hemlock Ring Blanket using some Cascade Eco Wool I had purchased for this back in 2009. There is something cleansing about knitting from stash, I’ll admit it, particularly when it’s a project you enjoy. I am planning on turning this in for the House Cup as well, so I need to get cranking on it. It’s bulky weight, so will go fast – I’m on to the Feather and Fan portion at this point.

Speaking of cleansing, as I mentioned earlier, I broke mine when someone came into the office with some gluten free cookies – which were full of processed sugar – right before the Loop Bullseye Batt update. I planned on getting one, maybe two bumps. I love Steph’s products, they are beautifully processed and a dream to spin.

High on sugar, somehow I bought seven. I blame it on the cookie.

~Purled

Webs!

Jan 012012
 

That is a spectacular looking Frost Flowers Stole you got there. Even more than the finished product, the tenacity you used in getting it finished after frogging and forgetting your place! What’s an Ott Lite? Do I need one of those? Currently I use a Pretzl Headlamp, but I’m getting a wee bit tired of recharging the batteries every other day.

Speaking of shawls, you were right not to wear Madrona when we went to Webs the other day. A girl can only take so much suffering in this word. I did, however, order some lace from Kate at Dragonfly in Dragonberry and Villianess. Can’t wait to get my paws on it!

It was my first trip to Webs. I have to confess, I have harbored a bias towards “America’s Yarn Store” in view of my wanting to knit local and support Indie dyers. I imagined the place would be full of nothing but Rowan, Berroco, and Elite. I had no idea they stocked things such as Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Juniper Moon Farm, and Fibre Company. The place was hopping! I’m so glad I had my first Webs experience with you and your knitting group! I think we should make it a biannual pilgrimage at least, don’t you think?

I got a bit dizzy from the yarn fumes and was filling up my basket until I remembered I needed to take a look at wheels first. The Bitch Queen is dead, or at least in critical condition. I took off her wheel to oil it a bit and that was my first mistake. After losing some of the parts to the main bolt that attaches the wheel to the post (don’t ask), I made a slipshod attempt at rebuilding it using washers and bolts, but the wheel now wobbles. I reordered the original parts and found some info online as to how to deal with the wobble, but in short, it seems that every time I turn around I’m fixing something on this damn wheel. It’s a great little travel wheel, but I think the fact that it’s made from pressed wood with plastic parts renders it a bit more delicate than an “only” wheel should be. Something had to be done.

How could I resist coming home with a sweet little Sidekick? I’ve been lusting after the Cherry Matchless for some time now, and the fact that the bobbins fit on both the Sidekick and a Matchless, should I possibly succumb, make it all the better. I sat and took a spin on the Sidekick and in 30 seconds I knew she needed to come home with me. I am in love, and feel like the world’s greatest spinner when I’m spinning on her!

So with that little package in hand, I decided not to go crazy on yarn. Luckily, Mom was with me and hooked me up with  some Grignasco Merino/Silk and a few skeins of Blue Skye Alpaca Silk. I’d say the day was a huge success! It was so great meeting up with you and some of your knitting group! What did you end up coming home with?

Oh, and I do want to hear more about your cleanse. After all the sugar and crap from the holidays I am back on my Truvia. After a few days of headaches and stuffiness I finally connected with the fact I had been having way too much sugar and dairy over the past few weeks. I got the book My Clean Program a while back in preparation and am getting into gear. Letting go of tofu will be a challenge, and will include switching over to Almond Milk rather than Soy for my morning chai. Wish me luck!

Happy New Years Day! Do you have any knitting goals for the year?

~Purled

Long Live The Queen

Nov 022011
 

I’ve been spending a lot of time making friends with The Queen lately. To clue in the spin-curious and non spinners, apparently one has to name their wheel in order to bond with it.  I thought it certainly couldn’t hurt, so my double treadle Louet Victoria became The Queen, and I became her bitch.

She and I had a very slow start, circling each other warily for the first year she came to live with me. I took several hours of lessons. I read every spinning book I could get my hands on. I downloaded Maggie Casey’s DVDs and watched more hours of You Tube tutorials than I care to admit. Afterwards, I would spend time with her trying to coax pounds of sweaty felted wads of roving from my death grip into slinky smooth perfectly plied skeins of yarn, and instead would wind up with coiled up tangles that were so stiff they could stand up on their own. Worse than that, I could swear there were times when I could hear The Queen snicker with satisfaction each time I let fly another string of curses as I began to cut yet another coiled mess of dreadlocks off the bobbin. On those days, she was addressed as The Evil Queen.

Thankfully, one day at Fiber Folks on the Vineyard, Anna Marie was kind enough to spend some time with me working me through the initial steps – treadling only, stopping/starting the wheel at 10 or 2 oclock, and ended with showing me how to work already spun yarn onto the wheel in order to teach me drafting. It finally clicked – and I’ll always be grateful to her for that. I might have never touched the wheel again, and I certainly would have missed out.

Currently, I’m working on some Polwarth/Silk Roving from Kristen Pounders at All Spun Up on Etsy. She has a wonderful sense of color and texture, and her Mystery Spin Along fiber is always a treat. The pairing of polwarth with silk does loads for your spinning confidence. Polwarth is a breed originally from the Falkland Islands where they crossed Merino with Lincoln sheep in an effort to produce an animal with soft to the skin creamy locks and a constitution stronger than that of the delicate merino sheep. Polwarth wool has a slightly longer staple length than merino. Throw those together with some silk and you have a spinner’s dream.

This little lovely came in the mail last week and I could hardly wait to present it to The Queen, hoping She might find it spinworthy:

 

The colorway is “Tapestry”and it’s All Spun Up’s November Spin Along fiber. The Queen seems to have nodded her approval and I’m in love. It is easy to spin very thin singles, and I’m hoping to get a workable 2 ply out of it. I choose to get two 4 oz bumps these days as I’m still new to spinning and need the extra ounces to screw up get a feel for it before I can get nearly satisfactory results.

 

First, I predrafted it and wound it in to little balls like so:

 

When I began to spin, I turned down the scotch tension on my wheel to slow down the uptake. Slowing down my treadling helps as well. It takes longer to spin, but so far, I’m pleased with the singles I’m getting.

The silk gives it a lovely sheen. It was a perfect way to spend the Northeaster we had this past weekend.

Long Live The Queen.

What did you do during the storm?

~Purled.

Let’s Have Beans for Every Meal

Nov 012011
 

Spunky Eclectic’s latest offering for the November Fiber Club made landfall on Nantucket this week. It’s 100% Romney wool and the colorway is Beans. While I’ll refrain from reciting the rhyme from my childhood, I do have to let you know that I would love having this kind of Beans for every meal.

As usual, I got a double. My spinning is still at the point where I can’t rely on a measly 4 ounces to turn into usable yardage. While Romney is not always a soft to the skin wool, it’s not like wearing hair shirt and it does make strong singles. If I can get some evenly spun singles out of this, it is destined to become a shawl.

~Purled.

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