Zeneedle...needleart as life

Spinning Around

Since I talked about knitting the other day, I think I’ll focus on spinning today. That and all my knitting projects right now are Christmas presents or have so little done, they aren’t interesting yet. I have a couple of spinning projects going at the moment. The first is on my wheel (a folding Lendrum).   This is what I have spun from  2 pounds of 56’s wool. I’m not entirely sure what that means but I like it. A friend sent it to me when I got my wheel. It’s very easy to spin and while it’s not as soft as merino it’s spinning up into a nice lofty yarn. I dyed it using Lanaset dyes to get a nice light orchid color in my crock pot. I’m spinning a 2-ply at approximately dk weight, something like 14 wpi. Hopefully, it’ll work well for the  Autumn Leaves Sweater in the newest Rowan. I’m not going to knit the leafy bits that are stuck onto it and I'll do it in one color.  I need about 1700 yards and I’ve spun and plied about 800 so far. There’s a ways to go but spinning is very meditative for me. It’s one activity that I can focus on and silence the rest of what’s going on in my head.

My other spinning project is taking longer than expected. At the Estes Park Wool Market back in June I bought 4 oz of merino/silk blend from Lamb Spun. Beautiful stuff although the picture doesn’t do it justice. I love it! I’m spinning it on the lovely spindle I bought from Handspun by Stephania the same day. It’s polymer clay and spins like a dream. Sorry I couldn’t get a good picture of it. It’s red with a golden sun design on the whorl. I’ve been slowly spinning up spindlefuls here and there since the day I bought it.  I haven’t had a particular project in mind for it so there hasn’t been any rush. At first I thought about socks but I ran across a pattern for a herringbone lace scarf the other day. It’s a very simple pattern that I think might look nice with the variations of green and blue. It’s spinning up at a dk to fingering weight so I think it will make enough yarn.  I thjnk I have a couple of hundred yards spun and plied so far.

Tomorrow Margene returns from her travels. I’m sure she’s going to have lots of wonderful pictures and stories to share. Let's give her a big welcome back with lots of comments.

Labors of Love

Thank you, for the lovely comments! I really enjoyed reading them. Everyone was so sweet. I also enjoy hearing people’s stories. I like to hear how people live their lives, make decisions, and where those decisions take them.   Kit Kat also thanks you for the many compliments. 
 

As requested here are a couple of pictures of my other two boys.  They're littermates and very attached to each other.  Loki is the larger one on top and Eros is the smaller one and top cat in this house.  I'd say here he looks pretty tolerant. 

Last time I promised to share one of my latest FO’s. I absolutely adore this sweater. The pattern is from Rowan’s RY Classic Summer book (book 11) and is named Julia. RYC Cashcotton 4 ply is the yarn called for, but I’m not a big fan of cotton. A lot of cotton yarns hurt my hands and it just doesn’t keep me warm.  I envisioned this as a richly colored fall/ winter sweater rather than as a springy lightweight one, so I kept an eye out for a yarn in an
appropriate fiber content and color. A few months later, a friend of mine, Lisa, who owns alpacas had some of her fiber processed and spun into yarn. It’s very minimally processed and in  an entirely natural deep, dark, chocolaty brown alpaca. I minute I heard about it I knew this yarn was meant for this pattern. The halo created by the alpaca obscures the lace pattern a little but the lace isn’t a very distinctive leaf pattern anyway and I love the textured look of it. 

I love buying yarn and fiber from small producers, the people who take care of and love their animals. It makes a project so much more personal and special when I know the name or have a chance to meet the animal that gave it’s fiber. This yarn came from Smoke at Spirit Within Alpacas. This farm is relatively small but has some of the most beautiful colored alpacas I have ever seen (spiritwithinalpacas at yahoo dot com if anyone is interested, sorry no website). The owner is meticulous concerning the care of her animals and her fiber and yarn is top quality. A complete joy to work with. I knit it on US 1.5 and 2 size needles. I think the only modifications I made were to add a few more rows to the sleeves as I have longish arms.

At the other end of the spectrum is the other project I’d like to share with you, my Map of the World Afghan. A couple of years ago Vogue Knitting featured this afghan but didn’t provide the pattern or any ordering information for it. I fell in love. I’m not attracted to many afghans, but this is stunning! I had a devil of a time finding a place to order the kit though! It’s knit from Tahki Yarns Donegal Tweed wool, the tweed adds a wonderful depth and richness. Did I mention I had never done any color work prior to starting this? I told you I’m a very “jump in” kind of knitter. There was a learning curve and I think I started over once or twice. It’s knit in 4 panels and then sewn together, with a row of single crochet all around the outside edge.  Knitting this pattern was a joy. It was one of those projects you never want to end and would be completely fine if you were knitting it for the rest of your life. I felt this way to the extent that it took me a little over 3 years to finish. It did get put down for months at a time in order towork on other projects. A girl needs new sweaters and socks to wear. None the less, it was a completely wonderful project. Only the tassles are unfinished. The kit suggests using wooden or metal beads with the tassels threaded thru them and attaching the beads to the points on the top and bottom of the afghan. In the picture that looks very nice, however; curled up on couch it might be a different story. I don’t think big beads sound like fun to sit on or lean against. I figure I have plenty of time to determine what would be best. It needs something or the points start to curl a bit. What do you think? If you have an idea please tell me in the comments. I’d love to get another perspective on this. 

Hello Blogland

Blogless Karen here. While Margene travels to the wonder that is the New York Sheep and Wool Festival, she invited Val and I to guest blog in her absence. My first thought after receiving such a lovely invitations was “How sweet of Margene to ask me to write a couple of posts for her. I’ll get to play around with blogging and see what it’s like.” Now, however the responsibility has sunk in. Zeneedle has a lot of readers. You’re going to visit expecting… well… expecting Margene. I’m not that interesting. I don’t know where to go to take the amazing pictures of Utah landscapes. I tend to sleep late and be lazy on weekends. I’m going to have to figure out a way to step that up.

I guess I’ll start with a little background. I’m married with 3 cats. This is Kit Kat, the other 2 wanted to be petted rather than have their picture taken. 
I’ve been knitting for about 5 years. Growing up I had a wonderful neighbor, Gladys, who knit afghans and sweaters and all kinds of other things. She was like a grandmother to me and I loved watching her knit. I still have an afghan and a couple of sweaters that she made for me. Fast forward many years to my last year of college when I finally learned to knit. A friend taught me the basics and then I took a class at a local yarn shop. I’ve always loved sweaters, especially wool sweaters and I couldn’t wait to make my own. A sweater made to fit me, in a color and style I picked out. In fact my first real project was a sweater. The class I took was called “My First Sweater” and was a top down raglan. Here's a picture of it.  It's a little boxy but very wearable.  The wonderful lady who taught the class started from the ground up. At the first class she helped us select yarn, determine gauge, take our measurements, and figure ease. Then we used worksheets she had made to write our own patterns. As a beginning knitter, I sometimes wished I had a written in stone pattern to follow instead of figuring it all out; but now I’m so grateful for that beginning. By understanding how a garment is constructed and shaped I feel complete freedom to make things the way I want them. It’s made me a pretty fearless knitter. I love that knitting can always be fixed. Short of setting it on fire just about any “mistake” is fixable. If I don’t like the way something fits or looks I can go back and change it. Not many things in life are like that.

I began spinning about 3 years ago while living in Michigan. A couple of friends in my knitting group spun and it looked like fun, but I thought it would take time away from knitting. Then I bought the Winter 2003 Spin-Off magazine. When I read the article about natural colored mohair I was hooked. A whole new world opened up. I had never seen yarn like that, I didn’t know that was possible. Here was a way I could make a totally unique yarn for a completely unique project. (Can you tell I never liked to wear the same thing everyone else was wearing.) Two exceptional friends lent me a wheel, gave me some fiber, a couple of lessons, and opened a door that has led to a path of creativity, surprise, and joy. Thank you. Then life took an abrupt turn and I moved across the country to Seattle. I returned the wheel to my friend and wasn’t sure how much more spinning I would do for awhile, wheels being a large investment. I was tentative about a drop spindle because of the 3 cats. They tend to be very interested in string with things dangling from it. Little did I know, The Twisted Sister Sock Workbook was about to cross my path. I checked it out from the library because it was about knitting socks. I read it cover to cover (frequently distracted by the pictures) and kept re-checking the book out. When I finally had to take it back to the library, I promptly bought it. I loved the colors and all the options. Dyeing roving sounded like a lot of fun too. I bought a couple of drop spindles and spun like crazy, I haven’t really stopped since.  This is my collection of handspun socks so far.   

Then the dyeing started. First it was a little sock yarn with Kool-Aid, then with acid dyes, soon it escalated to roving . I was having so much fun I couldn’t stop and I had way more than I could ever possibly use in my lifetime. Wool was taking over the house. I did the only thing I could possibly do… I started my own business, Sleeping Dragon Yarn  was born. This coincided nicely with moving to Utah. Here I met Margene in person and all the other talented and inspiring, lovely women of SnB. They are a wonderfully welcoming group that I’m so happy to a part of.

Val will be back tomorrow to entertain you. When I come back I’ll show you one of my latest FO’s and one of my all time favorite projects.  I almost forgot please post lots and lots of comments so we can show Margene what a good job we're doing of guest blogging.

So Long for Now

Yesterday was so beautiful and I caught this shot just as the clouds slipped away from the mountains. See the new snow?  Brrr, it was a cold day.

The trip has begun and we'll be in the East by 4:30 EDT.  Just to show you how much I love you, arrangements have been made with two very nice Stitch 'n Bitch grrls (both blogless) to guest blog while I'm away.  Karen, who is an excellent knitter, dyer and spinner, and who is also helping with the Twisted Knitters, will be sharing her beautiful knits and some spinning (at least that's my guess. She's full of surprises.

Val is also an excellent knitter (don't let her tell you otherwise) and she has a new grandbaby grrl which she'll surely brag about (and show a picture or two).  Val may have a story or two to tell too, as she has a great imagination. Go for it Val!

I appreciate both Val and Karen for their willingness to show off their talents and take over the helm.  The comments will still go to my email address so they will not be able to answer your questions, but both are determined to get as many comments as they can (because they've been challenge by Susan).  They will both be paid in fiberous goodies from Rhinebeck.

One purple sock is finished.  The second should be done before I arrive at Rhinebeck!  Yarn for a simple stockinette sock is packed and so is my other knitting. The Buffalo scarf turned out beeoootifully...oh, it is so soft.  Pictures of it in action will come later. 

You were all so helpful with suggestions on flying, which doesn't sound as daunting as it did. Thank you, thank you. Norma said I could blog from her place, but I think I'll let her do the blogging and take a break while the guest bloggers are in charge.  You may spot me on her blog and in the 'after Rhinebeck' reports.  I promise to make a full report as soon as I can, as soon as I get back to dealing with real life.  It may take a few days of short posts to tell you everything.

If you want to join the Twisted Knitters and join in dyeing, spinning and knitting, you can still email me at TwistandKnit at gmail dot com, BUT I will not be able to add you as an author, or to the side bar, until I return after the 25th.  Thank you for your patience. Karen has added a tutorial on crock pot dyeing and there are some good links for dyeing info on the sidebar, thanks to Marcia. 

See you on the 26th of October  and to the rest of you who will be at Rhinebeck....see you soon!!  Yee Haw!! (Eh, Vicki?)

May I Present

Karen, a blogless friend from SLC - Stitch 'n Bitch, knit one of the most amazing pieces of knitting I have ever seen.  She was kind enough to allow me to share it with you via this blog.  The rich color of green just wouldn't show up in our usual setting of the mountains, so we took a trip to the Great Salt Lake Saturday afternoon.  The colors of sand and water were a good backdrop for her exquisite accomplishment. 

We couldn't stop there, so Sunday we made a trip up to Silver Lake and captured a couple more good photos (after breakfast, of course).

Karen wrote this about her experience of knitting this stole:

This stole is amazing.  I look at it and am actually amazed that I knit it.  When the pattern first came out, I was a relatively new knitter and thought, "Wow! I would love to be able to make this someday."  After this accomplishment, I feel I can knit anything.  The pattern is incredibly well written.  I wish there were more patterns like it.  I  loved knitting Forest Path (with the minor exception of the semi-tedious bordersat the end). 
The soft green reminds me of the woods in Michigan where I grew up.  The delicate patterns kept me interested and entertained without being overly complicated.  I learned a tremendous amount knitting this as well.  I had never knit entrelac or used cobweb weight yarn.  Now I don't want to knit lace with anything much thicker than cobweb. The effect is so ethereal, like wearing a wisp of cloud about your shoulders.

Pattern: Interweave Knits Summer 2003 - Forest Path Stole
Desinger: Faina Letoutchaia
Yarn: From the eBay store ColourMartUK, it is 100% cashmere lace weight (cobweb) in samphire.  I used a 1 pound cone and have a couple of hundred yards left.
Needle: Size 3 US
Time to Knit: First of June to first week in August 2006

Karen is the creator of Sleeping Dragon Yarn and designed the Dancing Lady Socks in Knitty's Summer issue.