Bit of a Note

So I've been stumbling around the blogosphere after my foray into podcasts, and I'm finding some fun people to read. I'm a little self-conscious about commenting on their posts and asking if I can link to them from my humble little blog, but maybe the more people I read and comment on, the more comfortable I'll be and more integrated I'll become. Or somethin'. I dunno. I'm new to this craft-blog thing. Any advice for a noob? Anybody?

Moving on, I've got a new project. It's been driving me nuts that I can't find or figure out a pattern for a spring scarf that I want. I need to do this though because at Cloverhill I got some glorious wool and sari silk blended yarn that really needs to be a frothy, semi-froufrou spring scarf. I've decided to screw the idea of patterns and just start crocheting freeform and see where it goes. I have a general idea of what I want, and beyond that... I'm just gonna scrumble my way through. So there. I've gotta do it while I have the desire, because I'm wildly and ADD-ishly eclectic right now.

Seems to me I promised pictures. So here we go, the yarn I spun for Mom even though I'd bought the roving for myself ;P







"Lavender Fields" by C*eye*ber Fibers. Navajo plied to keep the colors distinct. I'm tempted to keep it for myself anyway :P What do you all think? I crave feedback!

Well I'm off to start my scarf. Or maybe spin a while. I've started the "Ocean Mist" and it's a dream. So many projects, so little time!

Podcasts Are Happy Things

No pics to post at the moment, because I don't have them downloaded yet, but I finished Mom's "Lavender Fields" merino. Well, finished spinning it. Still needs to be washed and hung. But it's off the wheel! So now I have moved on to the "Ocean Mist" merino/tencel. It's like spinning a little bit of Heaven. Okay so I've never spun Heaven, but it's what I imagine Heaven would spin up like. I seem to be getting better at being consistent, too. Which is not to say that the yarn is completely consistent, but it's consistent enough that I think only I will be able to tell. The only problem is that I'm getting better at spinning a consistent, thin yarn, which means I'm having a hard time finishing the mohair blend I've got on my Golding spindle, because that started out relatively thick, and it's just getting thinner no matter what I do. Gahh!

So that's the update on what I'm working on. On with the rest of the post.

Thanks to Spin-Off magazine, I have discovered The Fibercast (link to your left). It's a fiber-arts podcast done by a very nice woman named Caroline, who owns a plethora of animals including alpacas. In the podcasts, she gives an update on what's going on in the fiber world, what she's working on, and she often interviews somebody in the fiber business. My favorite interview so far has been the one with Ted Myatt, the Knitterguy, whose blog I now must read. Caroline also discusses her animals and has done one podcast entirely about raising alpacas; that's my other favorite. So, my few and loyal readers, you really ought to listen to the cast. It's fantastic, and now that I've listened to all of them at work, I have to set my laptop next to my wheel and listen to them all again while playing (in case I missed anything, which I'm sure I have, being at work). Enjoy!

I haven't abandoned you, blog!

Before I start my craft post, I can't post without acknowledging what happened today at Virginia Tech. I don't even know anybody there except for one guy who I've already heard is okay. But all I can think of is what it would be like if it had happened at my own school instead. It's so disturbing, and all I can do is pray for the survivors and the families of those who died.

So putting aside my horror and disgust and trying not to dwell on it, on with the normal post...

What have I been doing since I posted last? Well...

I've been spinning this lusciousness :

Into this: Using the highest ratio and being very careful. It's for Mom. It's "Lavender Fields" superwash merino from C*eye*ber Fiber (the blueish color is actually a lovely lavender, I just can't tweak photos well). My next spinning project is this:

But that's been on hold quite a bit because I've been working on costumes for the local community college's Twelfth Night (ya know, Shakespeare, with cross-dressing and cross-gartering?), set in Regency England (ya know, Jane Austen?). The best though probably most labor intensive piece was altering this relic from the costume closet:
Which got lace added (cos it was too straight) thus:
And then eyelet to extend the hem (cos it was too short) like such: And such:
Voila! I'm rather pleased with it. Though through tech week and the first weekend of the show, the sheer fabric that overlaid the satin of the bodice managed to rip into shreds. Why? Because the damn thing is so old it was dry rotting! Ew. I had to take the sheer overlay off. I simply tore it off, as one tears off the bill from the bottom of one's insurance statement. Oooh check me out with the metaphors. Okay so that was a simile. Sue me. (No don't really, I'm not that rich.)

Found out today about a couple nifty yarn shops in Frederick. So those need to go on the destinations list for Yarn Safaris. We need to get this Yarn Safari thing going. Though with Sheep & Wool coming up, I think that Yarn Safari season must be postponed. Can't be spending our cash before S&W! Especially since I think a charkha (sp?) has been added to my shopping list... darn you Matt! ;)

Yarn Safari!

So unbeknownst to Pam or my mom, I've already decided where our next yarn safari shall be. I also think we should expand the expeditionary force. And I'm going to ritualize this practice a bit, at least for my part. I'm talking missions. I'm talking trophy counts. I'm talking photographic documentation.

This has been inspired by several things, in no particular order:

1. Pam's post of Stitch DC's Twinkle Party, complete with photos. Now, I know that's because her hubby is into photography, but still. It got me to thinking about documenting our yarn shopping excursions. Taking pictures of the yarn in its natural habitat, as it were. And of the, er, hunters. This would, I'm sure, require the permission of the proprieters of whatever establishments we go into...

2. Our little trip to Cloverhill. It was a lot of fun, and we all found some unexpected yumminess. The one downside, though, was the yarn I didn't bag. They had no Rowan Summer Tweed. The trophies I brought home made up for it, though, and provided inspiration for things to look for. Future challenges, as it were.

3. The destination for our next excursion needs to be The Celtic Knot. A friend at work emailed me in desperation, asking for help finding the end of and winding into a ball a skein of sock yarn she got from said establishment. It. Sounds. Fantastic. And we have to go.

So... yarn safari, anyone? I know I'm being a huge dork about all this, but I like having goofy little things like this to get into. I hope somebody will be interested in joining me in my insanity...

Piccies!!!

Okay, I promised pictures, and now you shall have them. It's late and I should be in bed, so all you get is the pics, though. No news. Even if I had some.

So, where to start? Shall I start with...

...my first finished skein of yarn from my new wheel? It's a heathered grey and purple wool I got from Mangham Manor Farm. Not particularly great quality, but it ends up pretty. Note the ball of roving still left to spin. Here's a closeup of the skein:

But since I really think I'm ADD, instead of finishing that massive ball of roving, I moved on already to...


My natural brown carded merino. This is wheel-spun and navajo plied also on the wheel. I'm a big fan of navajo plying now. It's like crochet on a larger scale!



My medieval-spindle spun merino. 2 ply. Not so great, but now I'm working on spinning very fine on that spindle and it seems to be working a lot better. Wait till I show you the results of that... I'm thinking socks.

So my pics are not as good as Pam's but I hope you've enjoyed them. A little bit of mid-week yarn pr0n. And I can't wait to make more...

Whoops!

Okay so I didn't post pictures. I still haven't downloaded them from my camera. But as it turns out I don't have to go to rehearsal tonight so I'll do that. Meanwhile, though, I figure I'll update about the weekend.

First off, Pam is evil. EEEEEVIL. She alerted me to the fact that Knit Happens had Alchemy yarns on sale. I now have three skeins of Synchronicity coming to me, waiting for a project. Maybe I should join that KAL that Pam joined. The stash-building one. *sigh*

And then the reason that I didn't go ahead and post my pics this weekend is that I went away for my birthday to an SCA event back "home." Even entered the A&S novice competition with some of my merino spun on my medieval replica spindle! Also, started seeing how fine I could spin on said spindle. Wow. I have thread :) I really miss that barony, because there's so much emphasis on A&S down there. Unlike up here, where there's one A&S meeting per month. As opposed to once a week at "home." Plus, all my SCA friends are there, and they're wonderful people, and I am so sad that I don't get to play with them anymore. That's the real reason, but the lack of A&S up here makes it more difficult to make new friends, which would ease the pain a little. Oh listen to me, going all emo...

Anyway, I did not buy any yarn all weekend *snif* but I did get a knitted hood, which I am going to reverse engineer. It's really more like a head sock. It's a tube that then increases at the bottom to cover the shoulders. Bad description, I know. But it's really fun and nifty and I want different colors to go with all my garb! Yeah, me = huge dork. And sock head.

So, in summary: Pam is evil, SCA is good, my beloved home barony is better, and I need to post pictures. Sounds about right.

Uh, yum.

So yesterday I needed to play for a bit, so I pulled out the small bag of alpaca top that I got from The Woolery and started it on my spinning wheel. I know alpaca is reputed to be not the easiest fiber to spin, but oh my GOD it was a dream. Long draw, inchworm, straight from the whole length of top... btw have I mentioned that I break spinning rules? A lot? Yeah, I do. And I'm not at all ashamed. Who wants to spend time pre-drafting when there's spinning to be done and awesome experimental results to be had?

Also, in the car on the way to our site visit for work today, I started swatching my skein of Euroflax. I got it at Stitch DC with grand plans for a small capelet. Well, I've decided to sacrifice the whole skein to, as Amy Singer calls them, "Geeky things." Swatches of all different gauges, stitch patterns, and stages of washing/blocking. I decided I needed to do this in order to properly design the perfect linen capelet for my beautiful vintage clasp that Mom got me for Christmas. Anyway, that linen is wonderful to work with, if a bit thin for the comfort of my hands (I tend to be tense, so my hands end up cramping), and I would've finished a couple of swatches if my eyes hadn't decided to hurt. Like a mofo. Either I need new glasses (well ok yes I need new glasses) or I'm getting a sinus infection. Stupid sinuses. Keeping me from crocheting. Evil.

Pics of resulting projects to come. Film at 11!

Squee!

Guess what came in on Thursday???

My birthday present!!! A brand new, shiny Ashford Traveller. Single drive, scotch tension, double treadle. GLORIOUS. Everyone, meet Merriweather (you know, like from Sleeping Beauty? Yeah, I name things. Deal.)


Tearing me away from it has been tough. I even started putting it together right away. Dad has pictures of me drinking wine and assembling the thing. The wine definitely helped... I've gotta get the pictures from him, but then I'll post them if anybody's interested.

Anyway, I've already got two full skeins of yarn, and I've only had it for three days. Can we say addicted? I went to spinning guild today and had to talk myself into bringing my spindles instead of my wheel. Cos I know it's a Traveller, but let's face it, nothing's more portable than a drop spindle. But as soon as I got home I sat down at my wheel and finished a test skein of that short brown merino I got with my medieval spindle. Yeah, addicted.

Meanwhile I have costume stuff to work on. Not as fun as spinning. And I'm afraid I'll never crochet again. Or knit. I hope the novelty of spinning will wear off just a bit, just enough that I'll get back to my crochet. At the moment, though, I'd much rather make yarn than use it!

Handspun yarn pr0n to come...

I feel so productive...

Well no spinning today, but I knit a single solitary row of a scarf I've started, using needles and yarn I got on Saturday. One row, how pathetic.

On the upside, though, I started another new project! See, at Stitches I fell in love with this really simple Philosopher's Wool kit and simply had to have it. It's their striped shawl and cropped pullover kit, in the "Night Sky" colorway. Here's a link to it. It's wonderful. And so I started working on it. If I'm lucky I'll get it finished soon enough to wear it before the weather gets too warm for it.

Aaaaand pictures!

Okay so I'm no photographer, but I have taken pictures of my new spindle. I also have pics to share of the scarf I made as a commission for a friend. So here we go...

First, spindle!


And now, the scarf. I crocheted it in Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL (50% Alpaca, 50% Merino). Such a luscious yarn. The stitch I used is one I found in the Harmony Guide of 100 Crochet Stitches. Okay enough with the talk, here are the pics:





Fringe!


And because the colonial blue went so well with Mom's botanical prints...


Now I just have to finish my long green fingerless gloves (yeah yeah, stop laughing Pam! ;P) and get to my Philosopher's Wool shawl. Whee!

Well...

...so much for that. My medieval spindle that I was so excited about is cool, but being very light it doesn't spin for long. And the merino sliver I got has a freakishly short staple length (seriously, about 1.5"... that's not right), so with the two factors combined, I had a hell of a time trying to spin last night. I finally gave up on the wool and pulled out my silk hankies, which worked a lot better because at least when the spindle stopped and reversed itself, I had time to catch it without my roving breaking off. And the more I wound on, the longer it spun.

I'll get pictures of the result when I get home tonight...

Oooh, shiny...

Lookie! I have a craft blog!

I guess I should post a picture or something, but my new replica Medieval spindle just got here with a pack of merino sliver, so I'm rushing off to spin. Wheeee!!!