SOAR, the first couple of days

I had a fantastic time at SOAR and really didn't want it to end.  You can't even imagine how many interesting people were there and how many interesting ideas and stories everyone had.  My retreat sessions were so educational, filled with tips and tricks from the teachers as well as the other attendees.  In order to keep things in a little bit of order, I'll go day by day. 

Wednesday, Oct 28, task for the day: flying for eternity
Luckily, my flight out to Oregon on Wednesday wasn't at 6:00 am like I thought but was at 10:30 am.  I was able to wake up at a normal hour without having to rush around.  I had already packed everything the night before and only had to put things in the car and make sure the car was cleaned out.  I didn't want to have much in it because it would be parked in long-term parking for a few days.  The thing that took me the most time in the morning was figuring out which project to work on in the airport and which spindle I wanted with me in my purse.

When I got to the airport, I had a short wait at the counter and then breezed through security.  You could tell that they were really puzzled by the spinning wheel in my carry-on but they didn't pull me out of line for extra security.  My first plane of the day was a little puddle jumper plane so I had to do a plane-side check-in with my wheeled carry-on.  Luckily, I had already shoved my down jacket in there and my wheel was so well packed that I didn't worry too much about it.  The plane took off right on time and I was off to Chicago.

In Chicago, I was lucky to have my next flight departing from only a couple of gates down from where we arrived.  In O'Hare it always seems like you have to hike to the ends of the earth for your connection.  I grabbed a quick snack and waited for my plane to Seattle.  That flight also left on time and I had LOTS of knitting time on the way.  Oh, I suppose you would like to hear about my knitting project for the trip?

Months ago, I bought a raw shetland fleece to home process.  I cleaned and combed most of the fiber and spun it into a fine laceweight. 

I hadn't done anything with that yarn because the perfect pattern hadn't come along yet.  Then I came across a pattern for a beaded stole in knotions called Rising Fog.  The pattern has a big geometric diamond pattern and, in the center of the diamonds, it has beads.  A few days before leaving, I went into Columbus to the bead store and found some beads to match my handspun.   So on my first plane of day, I cast on and started knitting.

I hit a snag in the Seattle airport on my project.  I was in line for food, put my wallet back into my messenger bag and heard a snapping sound.  Sometimes you just know what happened without having to look.  One of my needles had snapped (oh, I was working this shawl on a pair of straights because all of my circular tips in that size were in other projects or I couldn't find them) and of course it was the one with all of the live stitches on it.  Luckily, like all other knitters out there, I had more than one project with me.  In this case, I had my drop spindles and plenty of fiber.  For a while I would use one with one type of fiber and spinning technique and then would switch when I got bored with that. 

The flight from Seattle to Redmond, Oregon was super fast because we had a strong tailwind and our plane arrived almost 40 minutes early.  By this point, my body thought it was 10 pm but all of the clocks thought it was 7 pm.  Guess who won.  I was met by my shuttle and, after a 45 minute drive, I was at Sunriver Resort in Bend Oregon.  

The Great Hall where we ate dinner and had some classes

Let's just say that the resort was spectacular.  If you like golf, they have 3 different world-ranked golf courses.  If you like skiing, they are known for it.  The resort is in the middle of this housing development/community but you could hardly tell it.  It has its own grocery, school, police and fire departments, post office, etc.  The resort has a number of different buildings including the main lodge, the Great Hall (where we ate and had classes), the Homestead (where there were more classes and the marketplace), and different clusters of rooms.  Our room has spoiled me for hotel stays anywhere.  We had a 3 person suite that had 2 queen sized beds upstairs, a queen sized pull-out sofa, a kitchenette, a fireplace, and a porch outside. 

Seating area in a typical suite which also has 2 queen sized beds and a bathroom upstairs 

Thursday, Oct 29, tasks for the day: registration, figuring out where things were, and marketplace
On Thursday, I woke up extremely early thanks to my body having the firm conviction we were still in Eastern Standard Time.  I used the time to spin a bit, listen to my audiobook and gradually wake up.  Thursday was kind of an "in-between" day.  The workshop sessions were finished and all of the retreat people were coming in.  The retreat sessions were going to begin the next day.  It gave all of us retreat people a chance to figure out where things were and which buildings were which.  The great thing about Thursday, though, was the marketplace opening! 

Everyone stood in line waiting for the doors to open and there was a cheer when they finally did.  Things were a little cramped in there with people going to the most popular booths first.  I like going around everywhere to see everything before going back to purchase.  Well, after that first perusal, let's just say, lots of things in the marketplace ended up coming home with me.  First things first was finding a pair of needles to replace the one that broke.  After that, I had a couple of things to pick up. 

I wanted to buy a drop spindle for a friend so I payed special attention to the spindle offerings.  There were a lot there but nothing that looked like it would be right.  Finally, at the Verb for Keeping Warm booth, I saw the spindle that would work.  The display they used didn't hurt because it really caught your eye.  They had the spindles hanging from a tree branch like a whole bunch of spinning ornaments.  The spindle is a little bit more substantial than the ones I tend to use but will be perfect for someone just learning to drop spindle.  She already knows how to spin on a wheel but wants to be able to spin as she goes.  That's a little harder with a wheel. 

While I was in that booth, a delicious braid/skein/bump/what do you call a bunch of pre-yarn fuzz? called my name and whispered decadent things to me.  It's a beautiful dark grey alpaca silk blend that is going to be a dream to spin.

While I'm talking about fiber, I have a confession.  Approximately, *cough* 3 pounds of assorted fiber came home with me.  I blame waiting in the line for the Rovings booth (that is the name of the store) to see why everyone else was in line (I'm nothing if not a lemming).  By this time, I had met up with my friend Kim from my town and we both waited in line.  Kim had come for the full week so the long line was a nice chance to catch up.  We were standing near a 1.5 pound bag of brown Polworth that was a really good price and soooooooo soft.  I swear, it was love at first sight.  Sigh

The other large purchase was a pound of white Rambouillet from the booth next to Rovings.  It was really funny to see the multi-tasking from the people in line.  You might be in line but there was another booth right there!  People would look into the other booth and say "ooo! I want that.  Here is my money!"  All while not leaving the line. 

Of course, I didn't exactly plan to buy that much fiber.  The suitcase I brought is the size of a carry on.  Actually, my wheel suitcase is bigger than the one I used for my clothing.  What does that say about my priorities?  Anywho, my clothes suitcase has a neat backpack that you can tuck the straps in and zip on to the front of the bag.  That bag was empty and I thought it would be sufficient.  Ha!  But I'll tell you more about packing later. 

After dumping all of my goodies from the marketplace back in my room, my roommates, Kim and I went to lunch.  After lunch was registration for us and an excursion trip to the nearby volcanoes for Kim.  Once we finished registrations, my roommates and I went back to the room and napped for a while.  Later, I found out that we missed the introduction ceremony where all of the teachers were introduced which was a real disappointment.  Dinner was after than and then we went to an impromptu spin-in in the main lodge.   There wasn't really one good place to have groups meet-up like a lobby so we ended up taking over the spot where registration was. 

For me as a newcomer, one downside to this SOAR was how de-centralized everything was.  While I really liked the rooms (lap of luxury!) and the resort, the suites made it somewhat isolated and there wasn't a main lobby.  True, the lodge had one but it wasn't big enough for lots of spinners to take it over.  Classes happened in 3 different buildings (which I totally understand because it would be hard to have that many rooms available in one building) which were usually a far distance from the various suites.  It was hard to get groups of people together because you weren't really sure in which building the most people would gather.  Well, it will just encourage me to go to another!  SOAR 2010, here I come!

SOAR, brief overview

If you guys don't mind, I'm going to give you a short overview about my time at SOAR and then go back to do more detailed posts.  I figured, if I waited until I had everything written in detail about each of the days, you would never get any recap about SOAR!

Let me just say, it was soooooo much fun.  I'm definitely planning on going next year.  It is in Wisconsin in 2010 so much closer for those of us in the midwest!  I had a great time meeting all of the people, sharing tips and tricks, and taking classes.  I didn't expect to know as many people there as I did.  It was funny that I had already met everyone there who was from Ohio (OK, fine, there were only a couple of people there from Ohio but still!).  I mean, out of all of the spinners in Ohio and all of the spinners at SOAR?  That's really good odds.  It was a lot of fun to sit down at random tables at meals and start to get to know people. 

I had some fantastic classes.  The first session I had was that spinning for next to the skin.  If you ever have the chance to spin Polworth, TAKE IT!  Gorgeous stuff.  Sarah, the teacher, had some already cleaned fleece and had us try different preparation methods.  One bit we combed, another we carded.  She also had us try different kinds of fleece to see how differently fine wools could be.  The man who raised the sheep whose fleece we were using was there in class.  His wife was attending classes and he decided to sit in ours.  He was able to tell us a lot about the science of breeding, the history of the breed, information about breeding on a large scale (think 200 head) and much more. 

The next session I went to was about using hand combs.  I can't even tell you how glad I am that I took that class.  I have a set of combs but haven't felt that I've used them to their full advantage.  The woman who taught the class makes the St. Blaise wool combs so she definitely knows her stuff.  She had many different samples of fiber for us to use.  She started with wools: fine, medium and long.  We then moved on to llama and Churro, breeds that definitely need dehairing.  Then on to exotics like alpaca, mohair, angora and one other that I can't recall.  Then we played with blending fibers using combs.  It was a lot to pack in one 3 hour session!

The third class I was in was spinning for socks.  I don't think I've spun anything so fast in my life.  We had to spin enough singles for a small amount of 3 ply and a 4 ply cabled yarn.  That is a lot of spinning!  The teacher talked a lot about different fibers and which things were good for socks.  She had us spin a normal BFL then a superwash BFL.  The superwash definitely felt slick and seemed to spin faster than the normal BFL. 

My final class was about working with silk.  Let's just say that, after a week of stewing silk cocoons, that room was pungent.  We did a lot of hands on things and was really fun.  He had us reel silk and make silk hankies.  I have some of the silk we reeled before it was degummed and after it was and the difference is amazing.

The only bad part of SOAR was that probably a third of the people there got sick.  Everyone thought that it had started at Rhinebeck.  People got sick there then the illness had enough time to really get going before they came to Oregon.  From there, the people who were there all week got sick.  From there it passed on to all of the people who came in for the second half of the week.  One of my roommates was one of the unlucky and came down with what was going around.  I hope she feels much better soon!  The other roommate and I had both gotten flu shots prior to traveling so, as of right now, neither of us came down with anything.  All of the travel and time in airplanes is definitely an assault on your immune system!  

OK, my next post is going to have a more detailed breakdown of the trip and pictures.  I think that you will get only a few days in each post just so you don't have to read forever.  

SOAR!

I'm off to SOAR in Bend, Oregon!  My flight leaves later this morning and I'll arrive in the Bend airport around 7 their time.  I'm not planning on blogging from SOAR but I will take plenty of pictures for you, learn lots of things to share, and meet tons of fantastic people!  I'll be back early Monday morning (so very early) so look for a post after that. 

Soctober!

Yeah, so I fail at being up to date.  I meant to post about Socktober in the first couple of days of October but time passed me by.  Have you been knitting socks (or something with sock yarn) this October?  I have!

I finished my first pair of socks in 8 days!  During school, I could finish a pair that quickly because of all the 3 hour classes of knitting I mean learning time.  I think this pair went so quickly because I really wanted to see the way the cables would turn out.  The pattern was Midsummer Night's Dream from Knitty.  It has leaves growing up the front of the sock. 




Sorry for the bad pictures.  It's deciding to be cold and rainy here today. 

Pattern: Midsummer Night's Dream
Yarn: Fancy Dancing Feet, a superwash wool
Needles: US 2, 2.75mm
Dates: Oct 2 - 10, 2009
Modifications:  I used my own toe pattern and the sockitecture from Cat Bordhi's Riverbed pattern.  That sockitecture is fast becoming my favorite way of doing socks. 

My next project wasn't a pair of socks but it was knit out of fingering weight yarn.  A couple of yarn festivals ago, I bought some sock yarn in OSU colors, scarlet and grey.  Dad is a huge OSU fan so I was going to make a pair of socks for him.  That was before I learned that he likes knee highs (well, knee highs for me but midcalves for him) and I really couldn't face doing all of that knitting.  Also, I only had bought one skein of yarn.  True, it is a very generous skein but not enough for my 6'4" father's feet.  Anyway, this yarn has been hanging around my stash for a while now looking lonely.  I decided that, if I wasn't going to use it for socks, I should do something with it.  After poking around ravelry for a bit, I decided the yarn was destined to be a hat. 



I doubled the yarn and cast on 112 stitches.  I did a 3x1 ribbing which doesn't look that exciting on the right side but, when you turn it inside-out, the pattern looks really interesting.  I cast on before going to the Quarter Horse Congress with friends, knit on it while we were walking around, and finished it after we sat around a bit and watched a couple of different classes.  Definitely a quick little project. 

Pattern:  None really
Yarn: Yarnsmith Mazu, wool/seacell blend but I've lost the label
Needles: US 6, 4 mm
Dates: Oct 11
Modifications:  Well, since I was making it up as I went along, none really. 

After finishing that OSU hat, I immediately cast on for another one but with a different yarn.  The yarn is one of my handspun yarns, a DK weight called Rainbow Fleece.  It is 100% soysilk and was naturally dyed by Earthly Hues. 



I spun the singles for this yarn back in 2008 and then finally plied everything this past July. The chain plying I did kept all of those colors together and the finished product has a really nice rainbow transition. 



After I had finished the yarn, it was calling out to be made into some sort of hat.  I pictured some sort of simple ribbed hat so that the pattern and the yarn would work well together.  July, then August, then September all passed without me doing anything with this yarn.  When I was grabbing the yarn for the other hat, I decided at the last minute to throw this one in my bag, too.  This hat took me much longer to finish because a) it wasn't the weekend anymore, b) the house is cold and I didn't want to take my hands from under the sheepskin blanket, and c) I wanted to use up all of the yarn and that made it much longer than the other.  I really wanted all of the colors to show up in the hat because what would be the point to have a rainbow hat without the purple? 

Pattern:  None really
Yarn: Handspun, Rainbow Fleece, 100% soysilk
Needles: US 6, 4 mm
Dates: Oct 11 - Oct 14
Modifications:  Apparently, I forgot the pattern from one minute to the next and did a 2x1 rib rather than 3x1.  

I am apparently on a hat kick because I've started another one (!).  This time, I'm doubling sock yarn again and making sure that I do a 3x1 rib.  I don't think I even have this yarn in my ravelry stash because it has been in the stash for so long.  It was probably the second sock yarn that I bought and I made one sock out of it back when I was doing socks one at a time.  Yeah, that didn't last long.  I know that SSS hits me badly and knitting two socks at a time is the only way that I get pairs done.  Another reason this sock didn't last was that the yarn pooled horribly around the ankle.  So it was time to reuse the yarn for something else.  I think that this hat will go in the holiday gift pile for a recipient to be named. 

Hopefully, I'll continue with Socktober and be able to finish up at least one other pair of socks before the end of the month.  I have a number of WIPs hanging around including a pair of toe-up Jaywalkers on which I've turned the heel and just need to do the leg.  There is also a pair of cabled knee highs from last Socktober that have the entire intricate leg finished and I just have to turn the heel and finish the foot.  Simple, really, after all of the work on the leg.  Remind me why haven't I already finished them? 

Oh!  I almost forgot what I'm calling the Blanket of Insanity aka sock yarn blanket.  I'm still continuing with the squares but now I have to finish up some socks in order to get the leftovers.  Thanks to the Midsummer socks there is plenty of yellow left and I have a little bit of the OSU yarn from the hat left, too.  Right now, there are somewhere between 45-50 squares finished with their ends woven in.

National Museum of the American Coverlet

I happened to be in south central PA last week and used the opportunity to visit with friends and then stop by the National Museum of the American Coverlet in Bedford, PA. You are probably asking yourself, "What is an American coverlet?" Well, are you ready for some education? In the following post, images have been taken from a number of different museums. If you would like more information, please click on the links under each of the pictures.

Picture from the National Museum of the American Coverlet website
(sidenote: that is the style of walking wheel that I have)

Early Coverlets
American coverlets, according to the gentleman who took me on an in-depth personal tour of the museum, are a thoroughly American art. They are woven blankets which were made in America (and limited parts of Canada) by European weavers who had emigrated to America. Early coverlets are defined by their geometric designs. Early ones typically have a center seam because the looms that wove them were small. One of the examples in the museum was really interesting because the coverlet had been taken apart, repaired and sewn back incorrectly. The border of one side was sewn together with the center of the other side. The early weavers created geometric patterns because they were limited by their technology. At the time, the looms they owned were unable to make complex designs. All of that changed when the Jacquard loom was brought to America.

Jacquard looms
As those interested in the history of computers will know, a Jacquard loom is an example of an early computer. A Jacquard loom is, according to Merriam-Webster, "a loom designed to weave fabrics of intricate design whose control mechanism makes use of cards with holes punched in them."

Punch cards on a Jacquard Loom
picture from The Tapestry House

Those cards allowed weavers to move beyond the simple geometric designs. Suddenly, they could make works of art rather than just beautiful blankets. At this time, coverlets began being signed and dated thanks to the Jacquard loom.

Scanned image from American Coverlets and Their Weavers

According to the gentleman at the museum, the woman's name on the coverlet always refers to the recipient of the coverlet. There is only one recorded instance of a woman weaver making woven coverlets. The investment cost for purchase of the Jacquard loom and punchcards was so much that only well-established men could afford to buy them. The lady who wove coverlets inherited the loom and punchcards from her father.

The signature blocks allow us to know such a wealth of information about the weavers and their recipients. If you have a chance, take a look at the book, American Coverlets and Their Weavers by Clarita Anderson. The author looked through numerous census records and was able to find some fascinating information about the weavers.

Coverlets as art and function
I found it very interesting to learn that coverlets were probably one of the first things in a household that were bought simply to be pretty. The first items bought (or made) for a house would be things like furniture or kitchen equipment. A coverlet, on the other hand, was extremely expensive and would only be displayed on the master bed.

Melting Pot of America
In a very physical way, coverlets show explain why America is called a melting pot. When the European weavers first settled in America, their coverlets had distinct images and styles. For instance, a German weaver's coverlet reminded me very much of hex signs found on Pennsylvania Dutch barns.

Drawn example of coverlet from the National Gallery of Art

An English weaver's coverlet, on the other hand, had English symbols like lions or the English rose. Also, the border of the English weavers' coverlets were different that those of other European weavers. Their borders were bound off without tassels or fringe. Many English weavers settled in the New York area.

New York quilt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Once the weavers began moving west, however, their styles began to blend. Elements of the different nationalities as well as traditional American symbols were common. By the time the weavers hit Indiana, they had developed a very cohesive style. The following image is from a coverlet that the Metropolitan Museum of Art believes was woven by an Ohio weaver. It shows a combination of the different elements.

Probably Ohio quilt, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Country Living had an article in the May 2007 issue about American coverlets. If you would like additional information, click here.

Stay at Home and Use Me Well Exhibit
From now until next year, the museum is having a special exhibit of spinning wheels and accessories.

I don't have any pictures from this display because I was the only person there and was having a guided tour. I'm sure Mr. Zongor wouldn't have minded but I didn't want to impose.

The wheels on display were the property of one man. Now, that doesn't sound that impressive until you see how many items were in the museum. I can't even picture where that man keeps it all! It makes me wonder how I can work it so that he adopts me. The variety of wheels were simply amazing. He had walking wheels, production wheels, a pulley wheel, flax wheels, wool wheels, upright wheels, more traditional wheels, double flyer wheels, TONS of mothers of all, etc etc. AMAZING. If you are interested in antique spinning wheels at all, go see the exhibit. It was really fascinating to see all of the different types in one place.

If you are in the area, make sure you drop by the museum. For a small museum, they have really good hours. They are located in historical Bedford, PA right off of the PA turnpike.

A Wool Gathering 09

I went to A Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, OH this past weekend. Last year, it was wickedly hot and just after that wind storm which caused us not to have power for a week. This year, on the other hand, the weather could not have been better. It was nice and cool in the morning and warmed up into the high 70s by the afternoon. It was great to meet up with my friend and her mom and to see vendors and other shoppers that I know. It's funny, the more I go to these events in my area, the more people I'm getting to know.

I was very happy that I stayed within my budget but I definitely didn't stay away from sock yarn or fiber.


Yeah, that is 3 additional skeins of sock yarn and a couple of ounces of different fibers. In my defense, one of those skeins was bought by my friend and I'm knitting the socks as Christmas presents for her. I've already thought up a good pattern for the variegated yarn. I should probably cast on so that the socks actually get finished for this Christmas rather than one far down the road. (Not that I've ever done that with a present *cough*) That skein and the other variegated one were from Earthly Hues and are going to be fabulous socks.



I think my best/most favorite purchase was the Greensleeves drop spindle and the fibers from Susan at the Trading Post. I took my spinning and knitting Estonian Lace class at Susan's shop back in April. She has wonderful crack fiber. Back in May at Wooster, I had wanted to buy one of her spindles but didn't make it back to her booth before everything closed down. I made sure that I made it to her this time around!

Purple = Ashland Bay Concord (I think)
Grey = Mongolian Cashmere & Mulberry Silk (again, I think)

I've found that I really like lightweight spindles that will spin a lace to fingering weight yarn. It doesn't hurt that all of the fibers I want to use at this moment really like to be spun thin. Right now I'm spinning the purple merino/tussah silk blend into a 3-ply fingering-ish weight. I'm using that chain plying technique where you spin then ply. The resulting yarn is REALLY nice if I do say so myself!

The other skein of fingering weight yarn that I bought was from Amazing Grace Llamas. Amazingly, I didn't buy any of her soaps this time around. Normally I come home with at least one of her cute shaped soaps but I was fickle this time and didn't find a scent that screamed to me. The ribbed socks that I just told you about were made out of her superwash fingering weight yarn. This time, I bought a semi-solid yellow that reminds me of a daffodil and other spring flowers.


I have a feeling it will be very nice to wear those socks in the middle of dreary winter. I also have to confess that I bought that color for the leftovers. You might be wondering, huh? Well, I don't have many brightly colored squares so far for my sock yarn blanket and I know I will have plenty of leftovers with this skein.

Speaking of the sock yarn blanket, the cat found the squares. . .


She looks really comfy doesn't she? I'm up to 24 squares and haven't repeated a yarn yet. Actually, the full count of squares won't reflect the true number of socks I've made. On some of the socks I had only a couple of yards left and one pair only had an inch and a half.

Oh! I almost forgot! I received the skein of Noro sock yarn in the mail on Saturday. Yesterday, I finished the scarf and started a matching pair of fingerless gloves. I decided to do a garter stitch pair so the gloves would be similar to the scarf. Thanks to ravelry, I found a good pattern and I immediately cast on. The original pattern was written for a heavier yarn so I just increased the number of stitches cast on and did more rows that the pattern called for. I might lengthen the tops of the mitts by picking up stitches and knitting a couple of rows of garter stitch. We'll have to see. I'll still have yarn left over so I am going to have plenty for a fringe on the scarf. Anything to use up the rest of the skein!

and we're back!

Sorry, guys, that I've been gone for so long. I wish I could say that I wasn't blogging because exciting things were happening in my life. But in reality, I just didn't sit down and blog. Don't get me wrong. I thought of blogging and even went as far as composing things in my head (don't tell me I'm the only one who does this!). It seemed like I was never in front of a computer or was at work when I had a flash of inspiration. Oh, well.

Anyway, I've been up to much more spinning recently than knitting. This situation is going to have to remedy itself soon because the handspun stash is going to take over the world if I don't start using it. I really don't need another hobby but isn't weaving supposed to use up yarn quickly? That is looking like a really good option.

My biggest project to date (big in terms of both yarn and stash usage) has been a handspun sweater/jacket thingy. The pattern is from
The Yarn Girls' Guide To Beyond The Basics and is called Slip and Slide. When you imagine a handspun sweater, this sort of project comes to mind. It called for a super-bulky yarn and the linen stitch makes it look nobbly. Let's just say that it isn't a form fitting kind of sweater. When I first saw the pattern, it looked perfect for some yarn that I spun when I first started spinning. It was that beginners yarn that is super bulky then thin then bulky. A friend had given me a pound or so (I should have weighed it when I first got it) of brown wool roving. Well, I thought I could double the yarn and it would be the right gauge for the project. It turns out that it wasn't and I added a strand of a 3-ply worsted yarn I spun out of the Jacob fleece my cousin gave me. The fronts and back took me a weekend to do but then I hit a roadblock on the sleeves. I was going to run out of the original brown yarn. There is no more roving nor does my friend have any more and she bought it eons ago. You can see my dilemma.

My solution was to use some of the light brown in the Jacob fleece (I keep using it for different projects and the amount of fleece never seems to go down!) and spin it up in a similar style as the original brown. My cousin's sheep are rather elderly and their black and white patches have faded to light and dark brown patches. The light brown matched the original really closely which was very surprising. I had to card the fleece and make rolags because the original was roving strips torn off a drum carded batt. Next, I had to spin in a similar style as when I was first starting. Let me just tell you how hard that is! My default spinning style now is a worsted technique and very, very fine. The original was a woolen technique and thick and thin. Trying to replicate my previous spinning style has been teaching me a lot about how to use my wheel to the best advantage. I put the drive on a larger whorl and ratcheted the tension up so it pulled the fiber out of my hands faster and gave me a bulkier yarn.

The project has come to a slight halt because I've had to be prepping the fiber and spinning the yarn as I've been knitting. Hopefully the sleeves won't take too long after I get that yarn spun up. The only problem now is that I think I might run out of the 3-ply Jacob. That will mean I have to prep and spin for 3 singles and ply it up. At least I won't have to be as careful to prep only the light brown locks. I pretty much used everything in the 3-ply. My quick project is taking a lot longer and involving more effort than I thought it would.

Before starting on the sweater/jacket, I just had to knit a Milkweed Shoulder Shawl out of some yarn I had on hand. It is a fingering weight Cherry Tree Hill in the colorway Peacock. I have to tell you, I love this color. Everything about it makes me happy. It is a mix of lovely blues, greens, gold, and a dark fuchsia. Originally, the yarn was supposed to be a pair of Pomatomus and the color pooled quite interestingly in that pattern. Those socks, however, stalled out because I thought I was smarter than the pattern. We all know how that goes. Well, I saw the Milkweed pattern and, lemming that I am, I had to make it. After perusing the stash for possible yarns, I remembered the languishing Peacock.

This pattern is perfect if you want a very simple lace project. It is garter stitch and has a very simple lace pattern. It also took no time at all to make. This picture is from when it was unblocked. After blocking, the edges don't curl in the same way.


In other knitting news, I've been taking part in the Single Skein September over in the Stash and Burn Ravelry group. The goal for the month is to use up those single skeins you bought because they were pretty or because you used up everything else in a project. Let's just say that I have a number of those hanging around in the stash. The only problem is that my SSSeptember is turning into Startitis September because I've been casting on for everything under the sun. Let's start with the first project for the month.

I've been wanting to start using my handspun for a while now (see comment above about it taking over the world). So part of my goal for September was to use it in different projects because I usually had only one skein of the handspun. I started by making a pair of mittens out of some Gaslight Dyeworks roving called Wisp. It is a mix of wool, alpaca and different colored sparkle. As it so happens, the yarn I spun up was bulkier at the beginning and the sparkle was mostly blue/purple. By the end, it was thinner and the sparkle was pink. So the hand of one mitten is blueish-purple and the other is pink. In order to make them match(ish), I knit a blue cuff on the pink mitten and a pink on the blue one. I have no idea why I love these mittens so much. I'm not usually a sparkle kind of girl but these just make me smile.




I had enough yarn left over to make a hat and have been doing an inch of blue then an inch of pink. I've kind of stalled out on it, though, because I don't like the way I've done in the decreases. It is a 1x1 rib but the decreases at the top look funky. It would be nice to get it finished before it starts getting cold so I can have matching sparkly mittens and hat (what in the world has happened to me?!).

In the middle of working on those mittens, I cast on for a scarf using some Noro sock yarn I had on hand. I bought the skein originally to make some sort of shoulder shawl but never got around to it. Unfortunately, that scarf has stalled too. I really like the way it has been turning out but then I ran out of yarn in the last inch. That wouldn't really be a problem if I were making a regular scarf but this one is knit diagonally so an inch short means I don't have a corner. Someone on ravelry happened to be selling a skein of the same colorway so I bought it from her yesterday. It's annoying to have to buy a whole other skein but maybe I'll use it to make some matching fingerless gloves and add a fringe to the scarf. Anyway, it's on hold until the yarn comes.

Another project I've been working on, was started a couple of months ago but finished this month. It was a pair of 2x2 ribbed socks made from yarn I bought up in Wooster this past May. I'm going to a fiber festival this weekend and the vendor from whom I bought the yarn will be there. I really wanted to finish them because I wanted to show her what I made from the yarn. The yarn base she used is fantastically soft and squishy. If she has more this time, I might have to break down and get another skein. I did remember while I was knitting the socks, however, how much I hate ribbing. You knit on it forever but the socks don't grow in length. Well, anyway, it's nice to have another pair of socks to add to the rest of them.


Speaking of socks or rather fingering weight yarn, I've completely lost my mind. Like other sock knitters, I've been saving the leftover balls of yarn for a while now. Well, I started working on a sock yarn blanket a couple of days ago. For someone who hates weaving in ends as much as I do this is insanity. INSANITY. I've been using (kind of) the pattern from knit me a river. The only difference is that I've been using Judy's Magic Cast On so I don't have a hole in the center that I have to sew together when weaving in ends. In order not to kill myself with sewing in ends, I've been zealous about doing it the second I finish one. I've also been casting on for another square the second I finish one. When I have enough knit, I will weave in the tail so I only have one end to weave in upon finishing. As of this morning, I've finished 13 squares that will be about 4.5 inches when they are blocked. These things are like potato chips, seriously addictive.


I've decided to do this blanket a little bit like a quilt. I'm going to have at least one outside border of a solid color yarn (probably will have to buy a full skein or two for that). Then, rather than sewing the blocks together, I'm going to have a border in-between squares (see the purple sections on the highly "technical" diagram below). The plan is to pick up stitches along the square edges and knit the last stitch of the border and the picked up stitch together. Does that make sense?
Only time will tell if this idea is insane. I'll see what changes I have to make along the way. This is definitely not a project that I expect to finish quickly.

Well, you made it through a very long post! I'll have to do another one soon to let you know what else has been happening recently.