Zeneedle...needleart as life

Project Spectrum Cardinal Directions East (May and June Wrap Up)

Flowers are easy to find in yellow and yellow flowers and the color of spring. Flowers are one of the only things I love in the color yellow. The wood in the photo is of an antique Japanese box (which houses a few treasures) sitting atop my one exquisite piece of furniture, an antique Japanese table (this might be the only household article I'd save in a fire).  The top skein of handspun is Hello Yarn Club Fiber Air (tencel/wool) and the bottom skein is Funky Carolina Club Fiber Twisted Hummingbird.  The mountain picture is the view to the East.

Project Spectrum Cardinal Directions East

EAST (May/June)
Color: Yellow
Material: Wood
Season: Spring
Element: Air

This is "Air", a 2 ply handspun and it was fun to spin. There may be just enough yarndage to make a small shoulder shawl.  It's a sport weight(ish) and was very fun to spin as the colors are so unique. 

A Mystery Unfolds

The story begins when an attractive braid of hand-painted top arrives. The blend of colors captures the imagination and the desire to see its beauty unfold takes over. The spinner heads for her wheel as she fondles and pets the soft fluff.

Over time the bobbins fill one by one with colorful singles, the colors sequences mixed but similar. The spinner thinks a three ply sock yarn is the right way to go and spins to a fine and even grist. The colors twist and slip through her fingers leaving her to wonder how the colors will blend with the plying. Each step unfolds another layer of the mystery.

At last three bobbins are filled with singles of equal length and weight…the time has come to entwine the strands together in their final incarnation…a durable and, hopefully, beautiful yarn.

Slowly, carefully the spinner watches as the strands wrap around an invisible core, creating a round and strong yarn, a vibrant blend of the many colors. After hours of work, hours of watching the blur of singles slide through her hands, she has one bobbin full of yarn. Winding onto the niddy noddy confirms her guesstimate of 400 yds...a perfect amount for a pair of socks. The yarn is soft, yet strong, a beautiful blend of warm colors, the colors of early spring and Project Spectrum East. The mystery is revealed, the spinner is pleased.

This yarn was spun as a prize for Claudia's MS Ride. You know you want it...go give and then give a little more. Every dollar counts.

It All Adds Up

Long, long ago, (about 3 years ago) in a land far, far away (CT), a spinner fair talked an unsuspecting friend (that would be me) into picking up a spindle.  After a month of constant practice (oft in complete frustration) the friend became addicted to the process of spinning.  It was then the spinner fair (that would be Marcia) made an offer to the friend (that would be me) she could not pass up.  Emmylou, a spinning wheel so fine, came to the land of Zeneedle, brought frustration (at first), joy (after a time), and a new sense of accomplishment (finally).

Nearly every morning I take a few minutes (while my hair dries) to sit with Emmylou and spin for a bit.  After work I'll find a few minutes to unwind with her again, and then, just before bed, I slip into the chair once again and relax enough to bring on a good nights sleep.  In three weeks time (it felt like forever!), three bobbins are (finally) ready to ply. Spinning isn't a quick hobby as I don't sit for long periods of time, but hopefully this week the bobbins will come together into a vibrant 3 ply sock yarn. How nice the shades of yellow make it perfect for Project Spectrum East.

When Marcia showed off her new lazy kate I immediately had covetous feelings (as I do over her new spindle). Smith said he could attach wedges to the underside of the kate and it would sit at the same angle.  When I told Marcia about our plan she suggested he use doorstops.  The kate not only sits at the right angle it doesn't move (slip, slide away) when in use and plying skills have improved much to my delight. After 2 1/2 years I'm finally getting that hang of this spinning thing.

Project Spectrum Monday

Found around my house and yard were suitable subjects for Project Spectrum Cardinal Directions.  The fiber in the top middle picture is from Spirit Trail 2008 Fiber Club.  Jennifer doesn't name her club fibers so I'm calling it Oquirrh Mountain (which means Wooded Mountain in Goshute. (Learn something new everyday, eh?) The fiber in the last photo is Funky Carolina fiber club selection for March, Twisted Humming Bird.  (Good for yellow and "AIR", no?) 

EAST (May/June)
Color: Yellow
Material: Wood
Season: Spring
Element: Air

The weekend was very quiet (grrl, I needed that!).  How was your weekend?

Project Spectrum North ~ A Wrap

Cookie thought my Sojo Mojo may have stopped by her place for a brief visit, but I don't think the Mojo who spent time with her was mine. My Mojo was firmly planted by my side this week and he wouldn't allow any other project to come between us. I spent the whole time in Project Monotony Monogamy, a rarely visited place, and for once it felt right.  I thank SM for the experience.  We made a beautiful pair of socks together, a pair I consider sock number one of the "sock stash season", socks that are knit and stashed away until fall.

It is sometimes a challenge to find appropriate items to knit, spin, and photograph for Project Spectrum, but everything came together easily for PS North. The yarns were not only green, but as luck would have it, the colorways were named appropriately, too.

Sock – Monkey in STR - Rain Forest Jasper
Shawl – Fountain Pen in Mini-Maiden -Peridot
Photo -Stones and Snow in the Zen Garden
Handspun – 2 ply fingering Wooly Wonka -Kelp

NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth

Now, where's that sweater yarn?

A Gem of a Fountain Pen

This quick little diversion was worthy of obsession. As if the pattern wasn't enough to bring a knitter joy, the exceptional yarn provided the icing on the cake. Susan and I have both fallen in love with Handmaiden's Mini-Maiden yarn and have dubbed it the best yarn ever. It's has an unbeatable sheen, a silky, smooth feel and is very easy to handle. The colors we both used were exquisite and exciting. She knit her Hypergraphia in a spring green (Moss) and I used Peridot, a gem of a color. It was very helpful to have her Ravelry notes so I knew just how many rows to knit for this slightly smaller Fountain Pen Shawl.

 

The color has been very hard to capture.  The color is modulating shades of a sage green, with blue over tones (you can see its depth in this link).  The color reminded me of a certain person and a strong desire to knit it, and give it, came over me. It brought me joy to follow through on the feeling.  May the shawl bring joy, warmth and peace to the recipient.

  

Pattern: Fountain Pen by Susan Lawrence
Yarn: Handmaiden Mini-Maiden – Peridot 1 skein
Time to Knit: March 16 to March 23, 2009
Modifications: Slightly smaller than the IK pattern
Verdict: LOVE it and must knit another, plus it is perfect for Project Spectrum North
More pictures on Ravelry

Springy Spinning

As predicted, it did end up snowing for much of the day yesterday and it may do the same tomorrow. However, I say let it snow, it won't last long (and we need the water!)...while it may be cold and snowy outside, inside I've been spinning gorgeous spring colors.  Friday afternoon I finished plying the Wooly Wonka Kelp merino/bamboo.  This Ravelry link will show you all the incarnations from roving to finished yarn.  I did a happy dance when it proved to be just over 500 yards, as that is enough to make a nice sized shawl....a shawl that may or may not be for me.  Not sure that lovely spring color would be good close to my face, but it matters not, as the yarn is so pretty, shiny and screams spring.  The true color is closer to the first picture.

Whether I wear this color or not, you can color me pleased.

So pleased, in fact, that I started spinning another roving immediately.   This is Funky Carolina's February club fiber, Falklands wool in the color "A Simple Song".

I may have too much roving on hand, may have joined too many fiber clubs, but I'm enjoying spinning for the pure enjoyment of it and hope to make good progress by spinning daily. Emmylou (my wheel) and I are enjoying spring together.

Before I forget (again)...Lisa is having a very cool contest. Run over to her blog and make a stab at the date the HUGE pile of snow completely melts away. You could be the winner of a very cool bagg.

Spring's a Comin'

There is real time and then there is blog time. Usually real time is ahead of blog time if a blogger plans carefully. When a sweater is started it is shown bit by bit on the blog and an astute blogger can actually be far ahead of what the blog knows if she takes pictures along the way.

A blogger can also stay one step ahead by blogging about things other than that one project, but there are times when the planning fails and blog fodder comes to an abrupt halt. Nothing is ready, no new thoughts come to the fore, and no good plan is in place. It happens….like now, right now.

In actuality Lily is about 3 rows bigger than Wednesday's picture and I've been knitting on Ink Spot which, at the moment, isn't show worthy, she's just a blob of lace. Bohus is out of sight out of mind and the only blogging device left to me is Project Spectrum, which is nothing to shake a stick at.

Winter continues its hold as snow and ice covered our world anew on Monday. The blue sky and sun returned Tuesday, but the cold remained behind. The weekend will taunt us with a bit of spring and loosening winters hold. This mosaic shows winters last gasp and springs hope. (click for big)

Flickr Mosaic of PS North

1.Kim's Pussy-Willow sock yarn 2.winterberries 3.buds of hope 4.one lone violet 7.sunshine crocus 6. snow dusted pines 7.snow covered bush 8.granite earth 9.hopeful spinning

You want a closer look at that yarn...oh, yeah.

Mmmmm, yeeeessss....

 

oooooohhhaaaahhhh

 

yaaaaarrrrrnnnnn....ahhh

Project Spectrum Kick Off

Winter is still with us, but February has been warmer than normal and quite enjoyable. 

The first picture in the mosaic is from my Zen garden, the second is a wonderful fiber of merino/bamboo from Wooly Wonka, color Kelp. It's a dream to spin and will grow up to be fingering yarn for a shawl. The next three pictures are of the waning snow from the grounds of our condo and the last picture is Blue Moon Fiber Arts, STR (from the first STR club), Rainforest Jasper.  It fits in perfectly with the March/April PS theme.

NORTH
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth

Knitting In Purple

Scout thought that since so many of us love purple, and this is OUR Project Spectrum month, that we should do something special.  Nothing came to mind right away but, the best thing I could think to do is to KNIT PURPLE!  This month, partly by design, and serendipitously too, there will only be purple yarn on my needles.

The first thing finished this month was a pair of purple socks.  Utah Grrl, Karen gave me some of her hand dyed yarn for my birthday and it was fun to watch the many shades of purple melded with the pattern.  The socks hug my feet tight in the Slipped Stitch Rib pattern from Sensational Socks.  The color reminds me of flowers and sunshine.

As soon as that pair of socks were finished I cast on for another pair, following my self imposed rule to always have a sock on the needles. The new sock is knit with the yarn that Birdsong dyed as my DyeORama pal. She had intended it to be red, but the results were wonderful and I've named the yarn Vintage Victorian. To keep with a theme, I picked the pattern Little Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks.  Between the two books mentioned I could knit socks for years to come and be happy.

After finishing CeCe (did you see Bonne Marie is adding 3/4 sleeves to the pattern!?), I cast on for an Eyelet Cardigan (couldn't find an on-line picture) out of Manos Cotton Stria. This should be a quick knit as the gauge is 18 st. to 4".  The yarn is soft and should be comfortable, but it will surely grow and, perhaps, fuzz up a bit, too.

Occasionally, while at Stitch 'n Bitch, I work on the MDK After Dark Robe.  There isn't much to show except rows of stockinette in a deep eggplant linen yarn. 

And, last but not least, is Jóhö in the Violet yarn from Plain and Fancy Wool Co. Jóhö  is teaching me so much about lace knitting, often more on how NOT to knit lace. The beauty of the yarn will insure her continued growth.

This song has been running through my head.  As an early teen I visited an aunt who had a player piano and many rolls of songs from the 30's and 40's.  This was one of my favorites..

When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to flicker in the sky
Through the mist of a memory you wander back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night once again I hold you tight
Though you're gone, your love lives on when moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat, lover we'll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams