More of the same... but a change in the air

So I have no WIP pictures to show because I am terrible and don't get any pictures in the day time so they all look like crud.

Besides, it's just more Nennir and very thin green spinning for right now. Not very exciting.

What is exciting is February, which starts on Friday.

There are two 'alongs' that are starting up next month that I am very much looking forward to.

My LYS: Galt House of Yarn is hosting a Fair Isle February knitalong which I will be casting Afmaeli on for. A sweater in a month? Not sure, but I'm gonna try! Plus it will get something off of my #makenine2019 list.

Rahenna is also starting a mini cross stitchalong. (Have I not mentioned I cross stitch? I cross stitch...) I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet, but it's probably going to be one or two colours from my stash and just something big enough to give me mojo to get working on a project I need to finish up for a friend.

Also February is awesome for the first sign of spring.... no not the groundhog... in Canada it's Roll up the Rim at Tim Hortons!! Yay!!

Anyway, those two icons will be chilling in the side bar for the next month, and I will hopefully have a finished Nennir to show you next week.

I'm not late!

Not at all! It's still within the week! You'll just get another blog sooner!

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

The biggest thing that happened this week is a messed up my knee somehow. I was diagnosed with PFPS (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) in my teens and it crops up every once in a while. Usually when I start exercising after not doing anything for a while. It means that my knee cap tracks diagonally across the joint rather than straight like it's supposed to, and it causes pain when I'm walking, going up and down stairs, and spinning.

So I don't have a lot to show for spinning, in fact, I don't even have a picture of spinning this week. I did start with the longer sections of each colour, and I have the first light green spun. I'm trying to spin very thin this time, using my smallest whorl for the highest ratio.

I've had a spindle accident in that my 3D printed Turkish spindle's shaft broke AND the piece that's left between the whorl legs is stuck! So I'm going to have to unwind everything I've spun on that, and I'm trying to see if I can get my sidekick to spin close to as thin so I don't have two different weights of yarn out of this fibre. If I do then I do, but at least I'll know how thin I can get on my sidekick.

In knitting news I do have some pictures.

One day I will remember to get a picture of this in daylight and hopefully the cables will show up better on camera. For now, imagine the beauty of Nennir cables in my handspun. I know the cables won't show up as nicely on the variegated, but it's my handspun and I wanted to make something special with it.

I also wanted something that was fairly mindless to knit and didn't require charts. Everyone needs a little mindless knitting now and then. So I cast on some fingerless mitts that have an eyelet pattern at the wrist just so that it wasn't too boring.

I don't have the pattern or yarn name with me, it's a kit I won from the volunteer draw for my local yarn fair. There are perks to being in a guild. Not much to say about the mitts, they'll be quick, and something nice to have at my desk for when it's cold at work. I decided not to match the colours on these and let them be their own little sunset. I just realized that the picture has muted the colours a bit. They're much brighter in person.

That's it for now, hoping to get my knee looked at and make sure it's nothing bigger than what I normally get. Then back to spinning for me!

Pride Cometh Before a Fall?

So I have a bunch to be happy about this week, and some not so good.

So I'm starting with the good.

Firstly, I thought I might introduce you all to my cats. I have three, though I have owned 5 in total (two have crossed the rainbow bridge, one just this past July).

At the moment we have:


Zaboo - 6 year old male, Zena - 5 year old female, Ziclan (pronounced Zeke-lan) who is an 8 month old male.

All three have been adopted from our vet, Zena and Ziclan both as kittens, and Zaboo as an adult in July with Ziclan. Zaboo has a storied past which I'm not going to get into on here, we had a bit o a rocky start integrating him into our home, but now he is our handsome gentleman and one of the family.

They will likely feature at times, especially Ziclan who greatly enjoys being right in the middle of things.

I didn't finish anything this week in regards to knitting, but I started something and continued something.

In an effort to clear off my WIPs that got set aside in August for Christmas knitting I grabbed my Crucero Shawl. This is a kit bought from the designer in a lovely purple linen/silk blend.

As with all lace, this looks like a bunch of spaghetti right now, but I'm looking forward to getting it blocked. This shawl starts off with a square and then you work off two of the sides to end up with a V shape. I'm hoping it helps to keep the shawl on my shoulders, because my triangle and semi circle ones never want to stay put.

My friend and I knit at a cafe every Saturday, joined by a number of rotating friends who join us when they can. We decided that this month we wanted to do a knit along with our own handspun. Since I don't have a lot available to choose from yet, we decided on doing the Nennir Cowl, allowing each of us to stop when we run out of yarn. I'm hoping I have enough to do 3 repeats of the pattern.

This yarn is some Ashford Corriedale Sliver chain plied to about a sport/dk. The pattern calls for fingering but it's a rectangular cowl so I'm not worried about gauge too much. I'm doing this one on a 3.5mm needle and it's giving me a decent drape that should keep the wind out.

In spinning news, I did get something off my wheel, that lovely white/green alpaca/merino blend.

As I thought it ended up at about a sport weight, maybe as low as a heavy fingering. It's about 100 yds chain plied. I will be getting this washed tonight or tomorrow and hung to dry and ready for a future project. I'm thinking it'll end up being a hat, or at least part of one.

To continue with my goal of all the spinning, I grabbed a pack of fibre from my Stepmother. It is a lovely sample pack with 7 shades of green in it.

I've decided to try fractal spinning this batch, just to play with the colours a bit.

In the left side picture you can see that I have a long section of fleece in each of the 7 colours, and then two groups of smaller sections. I'm going to spin the longer ones into a single, then spin the smaller ones in the same colour order twice, so that when I ply them, the colours match up in some places and don't in others.

And now the bad.

First off, I got the flu, Wednesday I was feeling a bit off, and then Thursday I was knocked flat. I took Friday off, and thought I'd be good for knitting on Saturday but had to leave it early. I'm feeling better now but I've done basically nothing but bum around in my pjs all day and rest and recuperate. So here's hoping for a better week to come with much more done on my knitting and spinning.

Also, when I went WIP diving I first thought about working on my Poca sweater and trying to get it finished before the end of this winter. I had started it in late August/early September, and put it aside when I started going all in for Christmas. It sat beside my computer until December 23 when we cleaned up for company. At that time it went down into my stash room where it stayed for 2 weeks tops.

When I grabbed the sweater it looked like this.

That's right... I have moths in my stash room. Thank goodness it's winter and my whole world outside is a freezer. We're going to be packing all of the stash into mattress bags and other items and chucking it in the garage to freeze and hopefully kill off as many as we can. Then it's time to bleach the stash room!!!

What a fun season I have ahead of me with that.

First FO of 2019!

Yay!! As of January 6, 2019 I cast off the first project that was completely knit within 2019!

I cast on a pair of Rye socks by Tin Can Knits for my Dad on January 1, 2019. These are a somewhat belated Christmas gift, but I knew these wouldn't be started until after Christmas because Dad had to choose his yarn.

These are done in Patons Classic Wool Worsted in the colour Dark Grey Marl (because it looks like Wolf Fur according to my Dad). Sadly, I didn't finish these before we left Vancouver, so Dad will have to wait until he comes to visit in April to get them.

Additionally, for Christmas I got a potholder loom, so I was playing with that and had enough loops that came with the kit to make 4 potholders.

These are fun to do and really quick. I'm researching how to make loops for the loom out of old t-shirts and other clothes. Eventually I want to make a rug out of a bunch of these square sewn together.

In spinning news, I got about 2 ish out of 3.5 oz of an alpaca/merino mix spun up.

 

The white is the alpaca and the green is the merino. The single is coming up nicely striped, and when I let it ply on itself it's about a heavy fingering weight at a 2 ply so I figure I'll be getting a sport weight since I'm planning on chain plying this.

A little disclaimer about my spinning: I'm a newbie.

At this time I don't spin for a project, I spin the yarn, am pleased when it's all about the same thickness and is balanced, count my yardage, and then find a project I can use it for.

I'm hoping over this year I will get skilled enough at spinning to consider what I can make with certain fibre purchases.

My current spinning tools are a Schacht Sidekick which you can see in the pictures above, a CPW with an incorrect wheel (it was probably replaced at some point with a wheel that's smaller than an actual CPW wheel, and a plethora of drop spindles, all of which are in use.

I have been plotting and planning in addition to my Make Nine 2019, I have some Wall of Shame projects that got ignored once Christmas knitting kicked in. I will likely be making pages for each of my lists, but for now I am surviving with my planner and my whiteboard.

I've since found more fibre and added it to the list... I haven't even guessed at the amounts yet. This is just from memory.

Send help... and coffee!!

2019 Here we go!

Hello again blog, it's been a while.

2018 was an.... interesting year. It had a lot of healing, and a lot of knitting!!

A friend and I have started meeting at a cafe and knitting all day on Saturdays. I didn't tally everything I knit this year, but since August I managed to pump out:

- 5 hats
- 4 pairs of fingering weight socks
- 1 pair of slipper socks
- 1 pair of fair isle mitts

so.... it's safe to say I don't have "I can't"as an excuse for not getting a TON of stuff done.

I have missed blogging over the last number of years that I have been ignoring it.

This year I thought I'd get started with some goals.

1. To blog once a week, likely on the weekends. That way I can keep track of how much I actually do this year, because I'm spotty at best of taking pictures of what I'm actually working on.

2. Complete the 2019 Make Nine challenge. I found this on Instagram through the Knitmore Girls and it really looks like something I need in my life. 9 projects to just work through and get done. My sewing confidence has gone down the tubes in the last 5 years and I really want to get back to the grind. Especially with working through some of the vintage fabrics I inherited from my grandmother.

My make nine snapshot is:

So starting top left we have the Afmaeli sweater from Lopi which I have a kit for, Fading Point shawl from Joji Locatelli, The Melia Blouse from Mood, Plaid Secretary from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book, The Ash Pants from Mood, The Ulmus Dress from Mood, Variation on the Shift Dress from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual, Picovoli by Grumperina, and finally the Yarrow dress from Mood.

Two things I really want to learn this year is how to make a button up blouse that fits me without gaps and how to make pants that fit me nicely, possibly jeans.

3. This coming weekend I'm going into my craft room disaster and taking stock of all of my fibre. My goal for this year is to have most of what I currently own spun up and ready to be knit with next year. Stuff I get this year isn't in this list of must have done, it's just extra.


I think these three goals are doable. I have more personal goals that I will also be working on, but this is a crafting blog, so I'm going to keep it that way.

Here's to a wonderful 2019, I hope yours will be amazing.

A better than usual holiday.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone.

The time has rolled around once again for me to make my yearly appearance on this blog.

Usually this involves me discussing how I totally am going to blog regularly this year I really promise.

This year I have no illusions. In all reality, I only post when I either remember I actually have a blog, or have something really cool to share.

Today's post falls into category number 2.

Christmas was very good to me this year.

While I got some gorgeous yarn and a new sewing book pre-ordered, those are standard for my Christmases. This year was SO MUCH BETTER. I got a spinning wheel.

Let me give some backstory.

I have been a knitter since I was 4 off and on. When I really got into knitting in 2003, I found a number of very fabulous knit blogs that I followed and checked with a frequency that would frighten some people.

Many of these bloggers were spinners, and I thought it was neat, but I wasn't sure it'd ever be something I would do.

I bought myself a drop spindle (basic beginner wooden top whorl) in about 2006, and struggled with it.

I just couldn't get the spinning and drafting rhythm down. I'd just be starting a good draft and the darn spindle would lose all it's momentum. So I put it away.

I couldn't get spinning out of my head, and started to dream of owning a wheel. My thought process was that if I could do the spinning with my feet, I could then concentrate on the drafting with my hands.

One year I saw a beautiful traditional spinning wheel in the window of a second hand store for $100, which I thought was a good price, but I had no job, no money, and less time. Every time we drove by I'd check the window though, and was sad when it finally did disappear.

I don't even know if that one was functional.

This past summer I was out with my mother in a small town near me. She wanted to check out an antique store, and they just happened to have a spinning wheel out front, but it was missing the flyer and bobbin and probably some other parts my inexperienced eyes didn't know about.

I asked the owner if he had the parts elsewhere, but he didn't, so I didn't bother inquiring about the price. Though I did mention in passing to my mother that I would love a spinning wheel, y'know, when I won the lottery.

Mom asked for my Christmas list, and I always put things on that I think there's no chance in me getting (because if you put impossible things on a wishlist it makes the almost impossible things look like better options :P). This year included a spinning wheel "Not actually expecting this, but may as well put it here".

I would later find out Mom had already procured my spinning wheel by the time she got my list.

Now that I've gone through all that, let's get to what you really want to see: The Wheel!

These are the first shots I got of it, right after I got it. The information I have on this spinning wheel is what was told to my step-father when he took it to a spinning wheel expert who's local to get the drive band fixed and make sure it actually worked.

This spinning wheel was made in Quebec sometime in the late 1800's or early 1900's.

From my further research I think it may be a CPW or something close. From these pictures, I was told it may be a hybrid. I did measure the wheel and it's 26.5".

The wheel was delivered to my house today, so I got some close up pictures. Any thoughts on if it's a CPW or other tilting tension wheel I fully welcome.

She needs to be cleaned and oiled, both things I need to research before I attempt.

 I'm surprised all the hooks are still on the flyer, and the maiden bearings are actually leather.

 

The drive wheel itself is flat with no grooves in the side, and again is 26.5" in diameter.

The footman is slightly bent, which I think contributes to the fact that the wheel prefers to spin counter clockwise. I can get it to spin clockwise, but it fights it at first. 

The wheel was painted at some point in its past so any maker's mark is covered. I think I can see some markings under the paint on the bench here, but the light wasn't good enough to catch it in the picture. 

The peddle is what originally had me thinking it matched the CPW's I saw pictures of, but now I'm not so sure. 

There is some crack damage to the bench. The cracks appear to have had some attempted repairs done before being painted over.

There are a few chips to the wheel, but not much. The main challenge I've found so far with my practice treadling is that the drive band likes to hop out of the left channel and have both portions in the right. Not sure if that's due to the small wobble the wheel has or if I don't have the band set up correctly.

Now I just have to connect with the spinning guilds in the area and learn how to use this beauty.

Current WIP and a Magazine Review

It's amazing, if you want to have a blog that people read, you need to put out content. So, my goal is to try and put up a post per week, but as has already been seen by my previous track record, I'm really not good at keeping goals.

For now, lets get into a pretty.

This is a (as the Knitmore Girls say) a knitting attack. I got this yarn in November as a birthday present. It is Regia Fluromania, but I don't have the numbers right now as the ball band is at home.

I started these socks as soon as I got it, which is the sock at the top. These were going to be Bavarian socks from the Vogue Sock Knitting book (which I also don't have with me...). I'm glad I decided to try it on before I got too far into it, because due to the cable and twisted stitches I should have bumped up my needles a size or two. It's just a bit too small to fit over my heel.

So I pulled the needles out of it, and started another sock from the other side of the ball. The new sock is the one on the bottom, and it is the Mile High Club socks, which currently fit wonderfully and the cable pattern is beautiful and interesting enough to keep my attention.

I've just turned the heel (and did an Eye of Partridge Heel for the first time) and am no working on the gusset. I'm going to try my hand at Kitchenering again, when I get to it, I've been doing toe up socks for years due to my previous hatred of Kitchener stitch, but realized that my sewn bind of that I've been doing is basically a half Kitchener. So I'm sucking it up and trying my hand at it again.

In my last post I had a shot of the current version of Interweave Knits, and I've decided to give it a review. IK is one of my favourite knitting magazines, and is the only one I have a subscription to. I tend to wear them down with repeated readings and quite often go through them 4-5 times in the first week before I see everything.

In this case it's a good thing, because my first time through I really wasn't impressed.

Now then, step one to me getting an IK is to flip to the back page. My favourite part of any edition is the Ravelings story at the back. This time was no exception! I loved reading Mary Jane Mucklestone's story, and am surprised that I'd not yet heard of Helene Magnusson (sorry for lack of accents, my computer is being stupid). For me, these little tales are worth the price of admission for any IK.

The product reviews, mill tour, and yarn comparison are all lovely, but let's face it, it's the patterns that are the good stuff.

Section Hike

When I first flipped through this group of patterns I was really 'meh', mainly, I think, because I'm not big on head bands and kerchiefs and such.

Going through it again, I found myself drawn to the Highlands Headband and Figure 8 Head Scarf. Though the Figure 8 I most likely wouldn't wear as intended.

The Olympia Headband isn't for me, it's cute though, and I might make one for someone else. The Berkshires Band is definitely my favourite of the head things. I'd probably make it in wool and wear it in winter.

The Appalachian Thermal is cute, but not one I'm likely to knit, mainly due to the seed stitch.

The Bartram Vest is going in my queue, it's cute, has simple looks, and all in one construction is really something that catches my eye. The zipper is the only drawback for me personally, but that's because I'm horrible at installing zippers.

The Mount Robson Pullover is a definite 'to make' for my husband. It's the perfect type of sweater for him, I just have to find the right wool (as in, one that doesn't have mohair and make him break out into a rash).

Wild Bouquet

This section had a lot more that caught my eye, in fact the only ones I know for a fact that I won't knit are the Clove Hitch Tee (I don't like the off the shoulders style), and the Dianthus Cardigan, due to the different lengths between fronts and backs, though I do like the look of the stitch pattern and may edit the pattern to level out the hem if I find the right yarn.

The hat and two shawls are lovely. I really do enjoy knitting shawls, though my friends and loved ones tell me I look old lady-ish when wearing them.

The Wildflower Bolero is an instant fav, and possibly a good way to use up single balls of yarn by alternating stripes rather than using a self striping yarn.

Local Colour

The first time I flipped through this section, the three patterns didn't really do anything for me, but on second and third viewing, they have grown on me. While none of the sweaters would be appropriate for work, I can tell you they would get a lot of wear at home. They all look incredibly comfortable, and while I would likely choose different colours, are all sweaters I would be grabbing for instead of my hoodies.

Home & Hearth

I may have already pulled out the yarn and needles for the Cottage Baby Blanket (though I've not cast on yet as I want to finish my socks first). I'm not pregnant, but I am starting to knit baby things to put in a hope chest (because hopefully in the next few years). This blanket is definitely one I'm making for the chest. I'm not sure I have enough of the white yarn to do the whole blanket, but I think the edging is one I can easily do in another colour and still have it look nice.

The I-cord pot holders are interesting, but not really something I would make.

Overall, while my first impression wasn't the greatest, I've now come to find a number of projects that I would love to make and wear. I still have yet to get a copy of IK that I haven't enjoyed thoroughly.