March progresses...

Alpaca shawl progress 

I’ve been plugging away at my shawl, and not working on much else. It’s coming along, though, as you can see.


Shetland Lace samples 

Oh, I DID get some wonderful Shetland fleece samples from Cyndee Wolfe (wolfe.258@osu.edu), in Ohio and spent a pleasant couple of evenings playing with them. She has wonderful fleeces. I bought some rovings from her last year in white, brown and a beautiful black lamb. They’ve made wonderful lace yarns, and I’m hoarding the last of that black lamb to use as spindle fodder. But the sample lace pieces shown are from Sophie’s and Arabella’s clips from this spring. While I’ve already purchased those fleeces, I’m sure Cyndee has others just as beautiful.

My plan for this fleece has been dictated by my darling daughter – she wants a shawl of heirloom quality. Her plan is to wear it as a wedding veil, then use it for christenings. When her children are grown, she’ll pass it along. She also wants detailed history, complete with pictures, to pass along with the shawl. I think it’s a great idea. We have some quilts from my great-grandmother, but none of the history regarding when they were made and why those patterns were chosen. Hopefully my great-grandchildren will still have the material we document for this shawl, and will appreciate the love and skill involved in its fashioning.

Guilds and Groups 

There are lots of opinions about fiber guilds and groups, ranging from ‘can’t live without them’ to ‘can’t see any earthly reason for them’. Where do I fall on that scale? Let’s take a look at the evidence.

I started my weaving with no guidance other than Mary Black’s New Key to Weaving and tenacity. I don’t recommend this as an approach, since I spent a great deal of time re-inventing the wheel. On the other hand, once I found an area hand weavers guild, I wasn’t impressed. The members appeared to group into three categories – tapestry weavers, ‘show-off ’weavers with a great deal of very expensive equipment that they didn’t use very often, and production/design weavers who were only interested in producing woven goods for sale as quickly as possible. I didn’t fit into any of these categories. I simply wanted to learn to create good cloth for use in household goods and personal clothing. I branched out from this, eventually doing ecclesiastical weaving for several area churches, but I still predominately produce woven textiles for my family and household or for gifts. So I decided after a couple of years that the weaving guild and I had little to give to or learn from one another and went on my way – no hard feelings. And I did learn things from this group – I never knew about Weaver’s, Handwoven, or the other fiber publications until I joined this group!

The next rung on my personal ladder was to join a local fiber arts guild composed of weavers, spinners and knitters. I must admit that this small group (there were originally only 4 members – there are now over a dozen) has done a great deal to teach me various fiber techniques. When I joined, I was a weaver, tatter and crocheter. Now I’m also a spinner and knitter. The members of this group are the best sort of fiber guild – enthusiastic, challenging and always supportive of new endeavors. We have no dues, largely because most meetings are in members’ homes, and do one ‘public service’ spinning demonstration each year. I look forward to the monthly meetings, and always feel deprived when I can’t attend. This is the group that includes my ‘fiber friends’ – those whom I call between meetings for support and encouragement.

The other local guild is strictly for hand spinners (with a large sprinkling of weavers and knitters, of course), and is based in a nearby large city. This is a much larger group with more resources – equipment that can be rented and a nice library of tapes and books. It also tries to sponsor at least one workshop each year on techniques of interest to members. We have several shepherds in this group, and also do mass purchases of supplies that are cheaper to buy in bulk. There are dues for this group, and I pay them cheerfully for the access to resources and fiber supplies.

Another type of guild entirely is the professional crafts guild into which I juried a decade ago. This guild has stringent guidelines, and the criteria for admission are tough. Quality standards are sky-high, and the guild membership includes several internationally-known artists. I am honored to be a part of this guild, and enjoy fulfilling my membership requirements. This guild does two shows each year, spring and fall, and public demonstrations are always a large part of those shows. Since I’m doing nothing for resale at this time, I fulfill my membership requirements by demonstrating and doing the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work needed for this type of show/exhibit.

The current rung on my own ladder includes both of the above local groups. But I’ve discovered through the years that I’m also what my best friend calls a “natural teacher”. I’m happiest when I’m showing someone else how to do something. I push myself to learn more (and in more detail) when I know I’ll have to show a student how to do the same thing. So a bit more than a year ago, after numerous requests from the local high school students to coach them through a knit or crochet project, I started a needlework group at our local library. We meet one Saturday morning each month. This group has grown from just me to a core group of six with additions each month bringing our usual number up to about ten. Ages and skill levels range all over the place. We have two sets of mother-daughter members, a couple of teenagers, a couple of retirees and a couple of empty-nest mothers. We also have a couple of men! It’s completely informal – we meet around a couple of tables in the resource area of the library and everyone brings whatever they’re working on that day. They also bring ‘problem projects’ for help and advice. While I seem to be the unofficial leader of the group, I think that’s just because I was there first. We pitch in to help one another learn new techniques or skills. I truly do enjoy this group, at least partly because it is such a public forum. We have at least one person each meeting who just walks over to see what’s going on. Frequently they show back up a month or two later, project in hand, to join us.

Based on the above paragraphs, I have to say that I do believe in guilds. I do miss meetings – sometimes for months at a stretch – but I enjoy the various people and resources of each guild. Could I live without them? Of course, if it was necessary. But I probably wouldn’t learn as much, or as well, as I do with the support and encouragement of these groups of people. But these types of support are neither necessary nor desirable for everyone. So if you find guilds a waste of time, don’t bother. But if you enjoy having other enthusiastic fiber people around you for a morning or two each month, go for it!

Sidetracked!

I've got a new toy, and it's sidetracked me from fiber pursuits for a day or two. I am the proud (and bewildered) owner of a new iPAQ rx3700 pocket pc.

It has so many gizmos that I may never straighten them all out. But on the up side, it also has a camera included, so I have no excuse for not having pictures of my finished projects - or the ones in progress, for that matter! I just have to figure out how to transfer them to my computer so that I can post them!

Running hard and fast!

So much going on right now! It’s hard to find time to catch up the blog right now – work is going through a crazy spell and cutting into my fiber time!

I have managed a little time on fun stuff, though not nearly as much as I’d like. That Suffolk I dyed a few weeks back has slowly become sport-weight two-ply. I now have a rainbow of balls waiting to be turned into a Fair Isle project of some sort.

Socks for me would be lovely, but I didn’t spin the yarn with socks in mind, so it’s really a little soft. However, the doubled yarns should still wear fairly well, and socks are easy – I can concentrate on the Fair Isle method without worrying about construction details. I have enough yarn, I think – about 10-12 ounces total divided into approximately 2-ounce skeins of red, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple. There is somewhere between 150 and 200 yards of each color. That’s the only problem with dyeing by the “handful” method – you can’t be absolutely sure how much of each color you’ll end up having!

I have two books of just Fair Isle patterns – the Philosopher’s Wool book and 1000 Knitted Motifs – that should furnish plenty of patterns. There are the Barbara Walker Treasury books to look through, too. This will make a great practice project for the PW sweater kit I bought. I did do an in-the-round swatch over the weekend, and the gauge is about 10.5 stitches per inch in Fair Isle on size 1 needles. That sounds horrific – 84 stitches around on socks – but it’s only a dozen additional stitches from my normal socks on size 0 needles.

But first I want to get further along on my shawl. I’ve worked through row 50 of the Feather and Fan circular shawl in “A Gathering of Lace” – almost to the point of beginning the F&F rows at row 61. The KnitPicks (http://www.knitpicks.com) Alpaca Cloud yarn is perfect for a shawl, since it’s sooo soft and drapes beautifully. I got the midnight colorway, which is working up into a very dark green instead of the blue-black I was expecting, but I love the dark green and it will match so many of my rose-pink, tan and burgundy work outfits.

My daughter has set my summer spinning project, too. We met for dinner one evening last week, and were talking about my knitting projects. She also knits from time to time (usually when she gets homesick), and checks out some of the knitting blogs fairly regularly. She ran across a reference to and picture of a knitter’s wedding shawl recently and wants me to do something similar for her. So I’ll be spinning for and then planning and knitting a Shetland-style shawl for her to wear for her someday wedding over the next couple of years. I do have two fleeces already that I can use for this – a 6-inch staple Shetland lamb fleece and a 4.5-inch staple Merino-Clun Forest cross. The Shetland has already been commercially cleaned and carded; the Merino-Clun Forest will have to be washed and combed or carded by hand.

I’ll start the spinning during my late spring/summer public spinning demonstrations. I should be able to finish by Christmas 2005 – February 2006 at the latest. Then will come the design and knitting. The design will have to be a combined effort, but the knitting will be mine alone. I’m figuring at least a year, probably more. I’ll try to take pictures along the way. Then I can use the pictures and the text along with the shawl as a wedding gift. I won’t make more than one or two of these – my attention span isn’t that great! - but I do want the ones I make to be special and original.

Grandchildren's socks! 

Completed Projects!

The socks for the grandchildren are completed! Dad is a major University of Tennessee fan, so the orange was an absolute. The rest of it was up to me, though, and I couldn’t resist the Regia yarn. Dad may root for the Vols, but Grandma is a Lady Vols fan!

The good thing is that the yarn I was waiting for is here! I've already begun the circular Feather and Fan shawl from A Gathering of Lace from the midnight Baby Alpaca. It's lovely yarn, and I can't wait to do some serious work on it this weekend. Of course, there are four weeknight evenings until then, and I can do quite a bit during them!

The Philosopher's Wool also arrived, along with the book. I've put it aside until I decide whether I want a cardigan or a pullover. My original idea was a pullover, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking "cardigan". The finished sweater will be so pretty that I'll want to wear it more than I can wear a pullover. I can wear a cardigan a lot more, I think, pulling it on over my knit tops. I may have to order a little more yarn, but then again, maybe not. There's probably enough already there!

New projects are so exciting!

Waiting Is So Hard!

It really is! I've placed several orders lately, and now have to work on other stuff while I wait for them to arrive!

Exciting stuff is on the way, though. I ordered Sweater Wizard after having a terrible time designing sweaters for myself on the needles. I look best in fitted styles, as I have an hourglass figure - the hourglass is just rather generously endowed! Trying to make all the necessary adjustments to a fitted pattern was proving difficult, to say the least. I understand that SW should help.

I'm also still awaiting the Philosopher's Wool http://www.philosopherswool.com/ sweater I ordered 16 days ago - 9/11 has made getting even simple things like wool into the country a little more time-consuming. And I ordered some of the Alpaca Cloud lace-weight in the midnight color from Knit Picks for the Meg Swanson feather and fan shawl in "A Gathering of Lace".

While I await all this bounty, I'm trying to finish up the socks for the grandchildren. Then I can knit for myself with no guilt feelings!

This week so far...

I got up Sunday feeling like playing around in some wool, so I pulled out a Suffolk fleece I bought a year or two back (lovely fiber, fine and springy). I went through, pulled a pound-plus of the prime wool, and washed it - beautiful bright white. So I got out the Wilton cake dyes and vinegar and started microwave dyeing it in primary colors - about 3 ounces each of red-red, bright blue, kelly green and yellow, and I also did one lot of violet just for the fun of watching the different colors strike. I also left some in the lovely bright white. I got it dry, then started combing it on my double-row Viking combs, since I want a mostly smooth yarn.

I finished up the combing after work and supper Monday night, and got just a little bit spun. It's lovely stuff. Lots of spinners don't like Suffolk and other downs breeds, but I started spinning them several years back for socks. I love those socks - they're cushy and warm, even at the end of a long day. I thought I'd make a sampler Fair Isle project from this; maybe I'll do socks - I don't really need the small purse I was thinking about making, but can always use more socks!

Tonight I'll continue the spinning, work on my grandson's other sock, and get to sleep early - I have a breakfast meeting Wednesday. My birthday is tomorrow, too, so some serious pampering is in order for this soon-to-be-50-year-old!

Roseleaves Tunic Completed!

The flu is seriously not fun! I'm behind on my blog simply because I've been so sick - and still I'm not feeling well. Oh, well, this is about knitting and spinning - mostly! - so here goes.

I got the Roseleaves tunic finished, and the picture is below. (I added this later - on March 18, in fact!) Modeling for photos, or taking them, isn't high on my agenda right now. I did wear the tunic to dinner once, and to work twice, and to my needlework group yesterday, and garnered lots of compliments. It is indeed lovely. I like the basic nature of this pattern, and I like the way the finished project fits; I can definitely see myself making more of this type of thing, with different laces and perhaps a stockinette yoke with some patterning. My favorite Old Shale would be lovely, perhaps combined with a yoke in a stockinette Field of Flowers design...I'll have to think about that a little more.


Roseleaves Tunic


While I was looking at dye for the tunic, I ran across some Regia sock yarn in the perfect colors for socks for my grandchildren. I didn't buy it then, but did go back and get it earlier this week. The first sock is completed, and there are at least three more to go - more likely five! But they're fun to knit, and require little concentration. Little concentration is about my speed right now, so it's a good match!

I've ordered the Philosopher's Wool book and a pullover kit. My colorwork skills are not as polished as my lace skills, and these designs are lovely. I've spun quite a bit of down fleece, too, and know pretty much what the wool should be like. The colors are beautiful. Where did I store that Suffolk fleece, anyway?

The other benefit is that the colorway and Fair Isle designs are already charted, so I can concentrate on learning the needle manipulations instead of worrying about charting designs on my first large project. But I also bought the book "1000 Knitting Motifs", and can feel ideas percolating already.

Now it's off to find that fleece, perhaps wash a little, and play with some food dyes. Then I can spin up the results and practice my knitting skills before the kit arrives!

Catching Up

Mother's Christmas 2004 Shawl 

I finally got the pictures from the holidays edited, and thought I'd post my mother's Shetland-paterned, Orenburg-worked rectangular shawl. I talked about this a bit earlier, but a more detailed explanation - well...

I bought a pound of Shetland sliver at SAFF 2001 thinking I'd make myself a Shetland shawl. It was a logical choice - I love to spin very fine, and I love lace. I got sidetracked on other things, though, and the sliver sat patiently waiting. In June 2003 I pulled it out and spun 3 ounces for a similar shawl for my mother-in-law. I gave it to her for Christmas 2003, and listened to my mother hint for the next eight months. She wasn't nagging, just hinting!

Finally in August I started spinning, again from that pound of Shetland sliver. I had some other alternatives in the stash, but this had done so well before, and I still had plenty...what can I say, it was a excuse to revisit an old friend! I spun three ounces in 1-ounce increments, removing an ounce from the bobbin and plying it before spinning the next ounce. Spinning weight was approximately 4200 yards per pound, 2-ply was 40 wpi. Meanwhile, I planned the pattern.

After lots of swatching, which was fun in itself, I finally settled on my three elements - two from Sharn Miller's Heirloom Lace, and one basic faggotted insertion. The center is the Leaf Lace, and the edging is the Doris Edging from that book.

Working the previous shawl in Orenburg fashion kept me well-entertained, and I didn't think it was as difficult as picking up all the edge stitches, so I started this shawl the same way, working nine repeats of the Doris Edging. Next I turned the first corner, picked up from there to the end of the lace strip, turned the other corner and started knitting the faggoting together with the edging and center. After 26 repeats of the edging up the sides, I again turned the corner and finished things up the week before Christmas. Blocked size is approximately 22 by 70 inches - a little small for a shawl, perhaps, but Mother isn't that large a lady! Also, I wanted something she'd wear a lot, and she's doing that with this size - it goes well over a suit jacket or dress.

I used LOTS of markers, and charted all the repeats out carefully - what can I say, it worked! If I were doing it again, I'd probably choose a different border - something more intricate - but what I've done looks pretty good! Mother loved it, and I loved making it for her.

My "What next" dilemma is solved, and I've started Meg Swanson's Roseleaves Tunic from A Gathering of Lace. I had some beautiful Shetland lamb roving from Cyndee Wilson in Ohio, and spun up quite a bit with no real project in mind, so I've used it for this. I dyed it with some cochineal and let it dry. I've knitted madly since then, and am largely done with the yoke - I'll start the sleeves sometime today or tomorrow. And the lovely brown Shetland lamb that I was spinning with this in mind will do very well for a shawl I'd like to make for myself, perhaps combined with the black I'm spindling!

Now to decide whether to make it round or square, and whether to use a doily pattern I've been eyeing in a larger needle size or make a more traditional Shetland pattern, or maybe try EZ's Pi Shawl with lace patterning in the bands, or...

The Sari Silk Sweater 

The promised picture of me in the sweater - it's really pretty, but the growth factor makes it difficult to wear. Oh, well, I'm trying to decide on my next project now. It will be more successful. And, if I do decide I absolutely hate this, I can always rip it out and re-use the yarn in something else!

And this is only mild irritation! Don't get me really riled!

Okay, this is a rant – fair warning has been given. Every once in a while something pushes my buttons, and this has accomplished that with a vengeance. You don’t have to agree with me, but at least listen to me!

How can anyone possibly look at any article on archeology, paleontology, geology, or physics and deny evolution? A New York Times article of February 1, 2005, offers the following statement in an article by Cordelia Dean titled Evolution Takes a Back Seat in U.S. Classes: “"The most common remark I've heard from teachers was that the chapter on evolution was assigned as reading but that virtually no discussion in class was taken," said Dr. John R. Christy, a climatologist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, an evangelical Christian and a member of Alabama's curriculum review board who advocates the teaching of evolution. Teachers are afraid to raise the issue, he said in an e-mail message, and they are afraid to discuss the issue in public.”

I’m not rabidly scientific; I inhabit a house with an entity that, for lack of a better term, I call a ghost, and sometimes know things before they happen. Neither of those phenomena is scientifically provable, but they’re a part of my life – I believe in them, if you will, just as I do in Christianity. Evolution, on the other hand, offers factual scientific proof. How can any rational human deny the concept? Didn’t you evolve yourself, from babyhood to adulthood? Granted, that is a microcosm, but it’s a valid statement. If an individual evolves in such a dramatic fashion, how can you deny the evolution of a species?

Why do people insist that religion offers all the answers to all questions? These same people wouldn’t go to a restaurant to get their auto repaired – that would be silly! So why do they go to church to learn science? One has little to do with the other – nor should they, since they encompass completely different spheres of human enterprise. Each endeavor is worthy in itself, but they are different things.

Granted, I grew up in a scientific environment – in the Southeastern United States, no less - but in a town that held a major national laboratory. Throughout most of my teens you could find only a handful of places open on a Sunday in Knoxville, which was even then a fairly good-sized city. Blue laws were largely unspoken, but definitely in force. You simply didn’t work on Sunday (unless you were a member of a profession that had to maintain a 24/7 schedule), and you didn’t shop on Sunday. Decent people didn’t do housework on Sunday, and they mostly spent the morning and early evening at church services. Sundays were a “day of rest”, and were spent with family or friends, even among young adults. The Bible was a blueprint for society, and, even if you didn’t really believe in what it said, you nevertheless lived by its rules, because if you didn’t you were ostracized by all the neighbors. But nobody used it as a science textbook!

My religious teachers took a common-sense approach to fundamentalism that appears to have been forgotten. The Bible was a book of theology, history and sociology. It offered principles for a workable, responsible society - along with examples of some of the possible results of ignoring those precepts. It explained the world of approximately 5,000 (or 2,000) years ago according to the understanding of the people who lived in that world. Just as we offer explanations of the world around us according to our present scientific understanding. According to my teachers, God created Man to study and learn about the world in order to become more like Man’s Creator. In other words, Man was a work in progress – an evolutionary process!

Perhaps that approach hasn’t been forgotten. Perhaps it has merely been overshadowed by the clamor of those few who have realized that the loudest squeak gets the most attention. Our media groups and legal system tend to reinforce this ill-mannered behavior by giving it all the attention it desires.

But the silent majority is still here, and we still believe in a separation of church and state mandated by good manners and common sense. We still go to church on Sunday, work at our scientific jobs through the week, and try to raise our children to respect secular and religious authority – even if that authority isn’t really worthy of much respect. So why doesn’t anyone listen to us?

It's Finished, and It's Terrible!

I finished up the silk sweater on Saturday. Washed, blocked, and wore it on Sunday. I have a picture, and will post it later. I wasn’t happy with it on wearing; it 'grew' too much. I figured a little distance might help; maybe I was being too picky. After all, silk does tend to stretch, and I knew that when I planned the project. So I washed the sweater and put it away for awhile, to give myself a little distance. Then everyone at work asked me yesterday if I’d finished, and when was I going to wear it? So I put on the sweater this morning over a black silk turtleneck and black slacks to show off the wonderful colors.

It’s growing again! According to the gauge, this sweater should fit with about 4 inches of ease. It should also end just at the bottom of my hips. But after wearing it for 4 hours, the hem is three inches above my knees, the neckband is creeping toward my shoulder line, and the sleeves, instead of being just below the elbow, are three inches above my wrist! Oversized is one thing, but this is ridiculous. My gauge on the sample was 5 stitches and 6 rows per inch – I just measured the gauge now, and its 3 stitches and 4 rows per inch!

What on earth can I do? Should I give this away and start over with spinning more of the fiber, or unravel the entire thing and start over, either on needles two sizes smaller, or with fewer stitches? I still love the yarn, but this sweater is a nightmare. Maybe knitting from the top down will help? At least then I can hang it up overnight while knitting and keep an eye on the “growth factor” in that way. Any advice, anyone?

Sweater Update – On the Home Stretch!

And I really am on the home stretch! I got the sleeves attached and started working up to the neckline last weekend. I’d be finished by now, but I goofed and had to frog back sixteen rows. Since I was afraid to just lay it on a table, remove the needles, and start ripping, I “tinked” back the entire sixteen rows one stitch at a time!

I know, I know! And if the yarn had been wool, I wouldn’t have worried, but the silk is SOOOO slippery! I had visions of the entire sweater unraveling before I could stop it. I kept telling myself that the process was important, and I’d finish up the sweater this weekend instead of this week…and not-so-patiently unknitted the entire sixteen rows!

Once I was finished with the tinking, I started knitting again, this time binding off the center front stitches and beginning to work flat for the neckline short rows. I’m now within a half-dozen rows of finished! Then I’ll do the 6 rows of seed stitch for the neckline edging and bind off.

Then it’s wash and wear! I’ve woven in the ends as I’ve gone along, and got impatient with the tinking and went ahead and sewed the underarm seams night before last. So the finishing chores will be quite minor. I am slightly concerned about the finishing, though. I washed the yarn, and some of it isn’t as color-fast as I might wish. I’ll wash it with a color sheet and then rinse in vinegar water – hopefully that will be enough to keep me from having to buy Synthrapol before next month’s supplies order.

Now it’s time to start thinking about my next project…

Dribs and Drabs...

"What's some of the things you guys have knit during the last year?"

The question was asked on a list I enjoy. It stuck in my mind, and I finally realized why. Making a list of accomplishments is a positive reinforcement - something various therapists recommend as an antidote to depression! It is January, and I have been feeling blue - it's cold, and cloudy, and my bones are aching.

So here goes - my list of finished projects during 2004:

1. I knitted a 72-inch square lace baby shawl from handspun merino-clun forest cross for my first grandson. The spinning was done from locks spun in the grease during my public demonstrations during 2003. I actually spun all of the singles during demos - plying was done on 'my' time, though. The finished shawl is a lovely thing - a garter stitch center done in a diamond and bordered with an 18-inch deep feather and fan border. Edging was simple - just a few rows of garter stitch and a crocheted bind-off. But the shawl is beautiful, and much treasured!

2. I did two pair of socks for myself from handspun. Lace patterns in both, nice simple knitting for stressed-out times. I'm wearing a pair of these now, to keep my feet warm in our current cold snap.

3. I designed, spun the superwash wool, and knitted two cardigans for the grandchildren's Christmas. This was a fun project, since they're both so small (2 and a half years and 6 months). I finished up both cardigans from initial idea to sewing on the buttons in less than a month.

4. I designed, spun the Shetland wool, and knitted a rectangular shawl for my mother for Christmas. This was a long-term project, begun in late summer and finished up the week before Christmas. Probably took so long because it was so complicated! I used Shetland lace patterns, but knit the shawl Orenburg fashion. That required lots of concentration, and I could only work on it when I wasn't hurting too much! But the finished shawl is lovely, and Mother loves it - she's been wearing it all the time!

5. I spun the wool and made a set of Swedish color-patterned gloves for a young friend for Christmas. She loves them, especially since they fit her very small hands!

6. I made a mohair-blend ear warmer for a work friend who jogs for a Christmas gift. Also a much-appreciated gift that she wears all the time.

7. I knitted a dozen or so dishcloth/washcloths for gifts.

8. I designed and knitted my first sweater back in the late winter from some lovely medium wool - a project that took courage. And sure enough, while I don't particularly care for the finished sweater, it got me over my fear of this sort of project. Now I'm working on a sweater for me again - and this one's going fast! I love the fabric and design on this one, too, and expect to get lots of wear from it.

9. And I forgot - I spun and dyed an alpaca-wool blend and made my first pair of gloves during my January 2004 doldrums! I'm still wearing these, and they're so warm and cozy!

Gee, when I see it all written down, I accomplished a lot during 2004! And I feel better - how about that! What about everyone else? If you feel up to it, do your own list and share, please? I love reading about everyone else's projects!

Progress!

It's actually looking like a sweater - albeit in pieces! I bound off the underarm stitches yesterday, and started the first sleeve on double-points. Now I need to get that sleeve onto a circular needle and finished up. Then it's on to the second sleeve and the upper part of the body.

This has been such entertaining knitting! The continual color changes keep me knitting along just to see what comes up next and how it will look with the row or rows before. I was afraid the straight stockinette fabric would get quite boring, and that this would languish in my UnFinished Object bin forever. But I can see that I might actually be wearing this before too long - another month, tops!

So I might actually get to that square or circular shawl I want to do for myself this year, after all!

To the Sleeves!

My sweater is coming right along - if I didn't really need to meet some friends for lunch and do some shopping, I'd probably get one sleeve done today! I finished up the body (to the underarms) last night. Now to do just a bit of refiguring to modify the originally-planned short sleeves to 3/4 length, and I can cast on and knit.

Fabric from "Sari Silk" fiber 

New Year, New Projects in the Works!

The Christmas gifts are all completed and given to their recipients. Everything that needed adjustment or finishing up is done. Now I'm free to play with something just for me!

I've been spinning for a summer sweater off and on since last summer. A fellow spinner and HGA rep, Teresa Simmons, posted that she had obtained some "sari silk" and offered a special price. As a weaver myself, I'd always been horrified by the waste of a half-yard or more of warp threads on every warp I put on my floor looms. Taking the waste silk and recycling it into yarn sounded intriguing.

I had actually seen some of the recycled silk yarn at a shop in Indianapolis when I was there on a trip last winter. I loved the colors and the feel, but remarked to my DH at the time that I could do a much better spinning job - the yarn was way too thick for my taste.

So I ordered a pound of the "sari silk" from Teresa. When it arrived, it was pretty much what I expected - bundles/skeins of warp threads about 18-36 inches long, with tabby-woven headers to keep the threads in place. I decided to work on the dining room table - not always the best place, but I knew I could get this job done before suppertime. I carefully took each bundle apart and got a sharp pair of dressmakers' shears from the sewing closet. I added a large brown paper grocery bag, placing it on the floor next to my chair. Then I began cutting each set of warp threads into 5- to 6-inch lengths and dropping them into the grocery bag. As I reached the headers, I found that I had already made the decision on whether to unravel that header or not, and placed them in two piles.

When I had worked my way through the pound, I had approximately 12-13 ounces of spinning fiber. That's a pretty good yield - I usually get only about 8 ounces of spinnable fiber from a pound of wool or alpaca or other animal fiber. But I didn't think it was enough for a sweater...

After thinking for a day or two, I emailed Teresa and bought another pound of "sari silk". I went through the same process, with one change - I had to dye about a quarter of the second pound. It was orange, and I not only don't care for orange, I absolutely cannot wear it. I truly do look like a candidate for "worst mortuary mistake of the century" in anything orange. That's challenging when you live in the immediate neighborhood of the University of Tennessee! But I overdyed the orange with burgundy and got a beautiful deep port-wine color shot with glints of metallic threads I hadn't even seen until the dyeing was completed!

Again I set up the dining room table and cut the various lengths into spinning fiber. My DH and I were off on a vacation the next week, and I took the fiber along - and my spinning wheel! The Rose is a really good traveler, luckily, and doesn't take up a lot of room. I played with the new fiber during my vacation, learning how best to spin it. I finally started carding the handsful I pulled from the bag lightly, then spun a very thin singles very tightly - to keep the slippery threads locked into place. I then navaho-plied into a fingering-weight finished yarn. The navaho-plying kept the various colorways together nicely, and the yarn was beautiful, with a slight halo from escaping ends. But after a single bobbin of 400 yards, I had to put the project aside for Christmas gifts.

New Year's Eve, with the Christmas projects behind, I started spinning another bobbin. The spinning went quickly, and I finished up the next bobbin before I went back to work on January 3. It was time to begin designing my sweater while I spun the final bobbin. I knew that would go much more slowly, since I can't find nearly as much time to spin when I'm working!

I pored over my books, bought a new one, and finally made a decision that I think will make the most of the yarn and still be a wearable design. Long sleeves were out, as were cap or sleeveless styles - I wanted a three-season sweater. A short- or three-quarter sleeved raglan should work. A raglan style worked in the round will eliminate seams, which would interfere with the drape of the silk fabric, yet still give enough structure to keep the garment from "growing" too drastically. And at least if it does grow, it won't pull up or bulge at seam lines!

Sampling helped me make a decision to knit the fabric at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch on size 6 needles. That should also help with stretching, as should a 1-inch seed-stitch border at bottom, sleeve cuffs, and neck. I like a simple crew neck, although I might change that to a more scoop-necked design when I get that far.

I started knitting last weekend, and have already finished about 10 inches of the body, and most of the first skein of yarn (400 yards). I've also been spinning for awhile each evening, and am almost finished with another bobbin of singles. Based on what I have so far, I should be able to finish easily with less than a pound of fiber.

Goody! That will leave me some to play with later on. I keep envisioning a soft wool carded with bits of this silk in a shawl, shrug or sweater for my daughter. Or perhaps even another summer sweater, if it can be stretched that far. After all, she can wear sleeveless styles for another couple of decades, and is much smaller than her mother!

The fabric I've knitted so far is so pretty! The picture is at the top of this entry. Even the men I work with are impressed, and several can't get over the feel of the fabric - because it's fuzzy, they think it should feel harsh. The weekend is coming up, and I can get a lot more done - I hope!

Christmas Completions!

Well, the holiday has come and gone - and I'm now "fixing" the gifts that didn't fit quite right, or didn't quite get finished.

Two of the gifts were perfect - the shawl for my mother was beautiful, and she absolutely loved it. And the sweater for my grandson fit perfectly, and was a hit with everyone.

But the sweater for my granddaughter needs to be lengthened, and the last two fingers of the second Norwegian-patterned glove for a friend need to be completed. Those should take me through this weekend, and let me start the new year with new projects!

Planning new projects is always such fun. There are so many choices! Two months ago I bought some Shetland lamb in three colors - white, black and red-brown - that is luscious. I could spin it very fine for a tri-color shawl, or sport-weight for a sweater and socks. Or do some of both, since I went a little crazy and bought quite a bit of it! Then there is the silk waste I started spinning for a summer sweater, and would really like to finish up and start knitting, so that I might have the finished sweater for this year. And the cardigan I'd like to do for myself before too much longer from some pretty, Easter-egg dyed medium roving. And the wool-silk singles that are 3/4 spun for a sweater in heathered shades of purple...I could finish that up in a weekend, easily, since there's less than 4 ounces of singles left to spin, and then everything just needs to be plyed. That's probably what I'll work on first, if only to free up the bobbins for other projects!

There are also socks for me on the needles now, and I need to do some for my DH and my sons. While the idea of knitting plain Navy blue socks isn't that exciting, the son who's reporting to basic in June might appreciate them next winter at Great Lakes. And the other son might like a pair of black and orange for band this fall, or just a wildly-colored pattern to wear with his jeans.

So many possibilities and so much excitement, but so little time!