21 posts tagged “knitting”

I went a little crazy this week.  I was looking at our local Craigslist ads and I found a listing for a spinning wheel for $50.  How could I not look??  What I found was a Canadian Production Wheel.

It has all of it's parts, including 1 cracked bobbin.  This is a 'double-drive' wheel.  That means the drive band drives both the flyer and the bobbin.  I haven't spun on it yet because I haven't got the flyer set up quite right.  When I do though, it will spin quite nicely.  The other thing I bought  from this lady is an old 'clock' yarn winder.  It is really old.  Not sure how old, but the case is held together with square nails and all of the uprights and such are held with wedges.  It is lovely.

This is my other purchase this week.  A complete Auto Knitter made in Canada.  It has two cylinders and two ribbers, plus the bobbins and bobbin winder!  I am really excited about this find.  I have been wanting one for a while now.  There are quite a few good youtube videos on this and I can't wait to receive it.  I found it on ebay and I think I paid an okay price for it.  I have seen these go for over $1000 and this one has all of it's parts, including it's original wood shipping crate. 

Time is counting down for Level 5 of the Master Spinners Class.  I will need to have over 300 yards of a cellulose yarn for dyeing during class.  I have done some linen and some hemp.  But I think the winner will be cotton.  You get to see the colors of the dye a bit more clearly.  I am looking forward to this class.  One step closer to my Master's Certificate!  After this, just one more level to go.

Well, some new things to talk about.  Amy visited last night.  I love to have her come by.  She is a 'fiber buddy' and gets excited about some of the same stuff I do.  We have been talking about one of her school projects that she wants to knit out of silk.  She has a specific look in mind and I think we finally found it last night. 

I like to "think outside the box" when it comes to places to shop for fiber.  So I took Amy to a place that sells stuff for fly tying.  We found some great "dubbing" that I'm going to blend in with the silk bombyx brick yarn.  It will give the yarn that little bit of dazzle that she's been looking for.

We also visited my favorite local yarn store.  The owner is knitting up my newest scarf pattern in noro aurora and taking it "to market"!!!!  I'm so excited about this.  I have justed started designing my own patterns and I haven't offered any for sale.  But I have taken them to the lys to get my foot in the door.  If the owner likes it enough to knit it herself then I must be on the right track.  I am just knitting away on these patterns in random yarns and plan on selling them in the future. 

I won't be headed to Gibson's Landing this summer but to Olds, AB instead.  Level 4 of the Master Spinner's program is only being offered at the college this year, so that's where I'm headed. I'm not quite done with my level 3 workbook, but I'm close.  I can't believe how much I've improved in my spinning. 

Looks like we'll do a bunch of other traveling too.  Hawaii this spring and maybe the train to Toronto this summer!  That would be amazing.  DH has wonderful family in Toronto and we've only been able to visit once, about 10 years ago, and I would really love to do it again. 

Tomorrow is Bacchus' big day at the vet's.  Sure, he likes going there now, but after tomorrow? . . . . . .  Let's just say that he'll be coming home a little less of himself than when he went. 

Remember when you were a kid in school and you first started doing word problems in arithmetic?  Remember how some kids caught on right away and some didn't?  A couple of months ago I was visiting my mom and we went to her lys.  There was a multidirectional scarf there and the pattern was free, so we brought home the pattern.  My mom has knitted for a long, long, time and she is good.  But the way this pattern was written had her stumped.  For something so simple it was very difficult to figure out exactly what the pattern writer meant.  I called her last night and had her read me the pattern so I could give it a go.  Finally, after some head scratching and a few more calls to have her read me portions of it again, I had it figured out.  I think I will try to chart it so it is more visual.  The pattern isn't written in a row by row format.  It has some weird phrasing.  I think charting it is going to be the best thing to do.

The pattern involves increases and decreases and short row turns.  I don't like the way the transition between the triangles feels so I decided to try it with short rows with wraps instead of increases and decreases.  Totally changes the look.  Instead of a long rectangle made up of right triangles, you get a scallop effect.  I rather like it and may chart that too.  I finished the little ear warmer using the same pattern I used for the noro scarf from a couple of months ago.  It took six repeats of the triangles and little adjustment ( I really should swatch) but all in all a success.   Nothing better than cashmere (okay, maybe vicuna) to keep your ears warm.  Since it's 34 degrees F here today I just might wear it.  Keep warm every one.  Unless you're in the middle of spring/summer like Simone!

I am in the middle of knitting another pair of socks.  I like to knit toe up socks because I'm not very good at grafting.  I was wondering if anyone else starts the way I do.  I do it this way because it's the easiest start I've ever tried.  I usually knit on #1 needles (5 dpns) and I cast on 32 stitches as I normally would by knitting them on using the tail end as the left needle and the ball as the working end. Then I divide the stitches by moving every other stitch to a different needle so I have 2 needles with sixteen stitches each. After that I knit round 1 in plain stockinette stitch dividing the sixteen stitches to 8 on each of 4 needles.  I haven't seen this start before and it's so easy and stays nice and tight.  Any one else?

It has been a hectic past week.  On Tuesday I found I will be headed to Spokane to see a new doctor.  A neuroENT.  Maybe HE can figure out what the heck is going on.  Tuesday night I met up with DH in the ER.  Chest pains again.  Didn't get home until 2am while he staid in the hospital gorked out of his brain on dilaudid.  We went to see his cardiologist this morning and he scheduled another stress test for next week.  We are running out of systems to check.

I did however manage to finish my silk weaving.  A small 10" x 10" piece.  I did it on my Erica loom.  Something that took me days to do before only took me about 4 hours even with stopping to spin and dye a bit more silk.  The right tools for the job as they say.  Now I am on to finishing up my sample skeins and swatches to finish off my workbook.  While in Ca I actually knitted a pair of socks!  Both of them!  Nothing fancy, just toe up with a 2 x 2 ribbing, but I hardly ever make 2 socks.  I feel a little like Dobby with my mismatched socks.  I also finished my triangular modular scarf made from the noro.  I used 2 balls of the "silk garden lite".  I love how the colors merge into each other.  I took it and the pattern I wrote for it over to my lys and it will be on display there for a couple of weeks.  I told the owner she could distribute the pattern for free.  Got to give away at first to create a market for pricier things later!  Anyway, it's nothing special, I'm sure other people are doing something similar already.

On another nice note, I got a message from a former voxer in the mail today.  She lives in Finland and she sent me a picture of a hedgehog she made from a pattern I had sent to her.  It is the hedgehog from Fibertrends.  She sent me some of her buttons.  So a 'shout out' to KaSil from me.

Now, I must go finish spinning.  I have made a blend of merino, polworth and pima cotton roving.  This will be for my 'indoor' wear skein.  It is lovely stuff once it's all blended.  I quite like it.  Here's hoping you all have a smooth week ahead.  PS  congrats to Allison for her Value Village Skull.  It won national best theme "Romantic", even though it is a Dia del los Muertos skull.  Good job. 

Got back from my mom's yesterday.  Still trying to adjust.  I was only gone for a week but for some reason it feels much longer.  Really cold here versus really hot there.

I got a pair of socks done and part of a scarf.  I am using Noro for the scarf and I am really disappointed with all the chaff I need to pick out of the yarn.  It is 45% silk, 45% kid mohair and 10% wool.  I don't know, but for the cost I expected a bit better quality. 

My mom lives in a neighborhood that was new in 1953.  Needless to say there is a lot of history on that street.  I know it's not old as some neighborhoods go, but still.  Across the street there is demolition of a house that has seen some amazing things.  This is the house where a brother and sister used to live.  They were OLD when I was a very little kid.  The brother used to work for the railroad and he had met Black Bart of western outlaw fame.  He had emphysema real bad and he used to make wooden pinwheels from old lumber and cedar shingles and hand them out on Halloween.  Every family in the neighborhood had at least one.  We had 4 or 5 tacked to our fence.  He painted them all kinds of colors.  His sister had a mynha bird that would meow for the baby, mama and daddy cat.  She made silk roses out of ribbons and played a huge pump organ.  The living room looked right out of the Victorian era with knicknacks and lace everywhere.  They were very cool people.  And now someone is knocking down the house.  Probably will leave one wall so they can call it a remodel.  I could cry.  Especially since the house originally cost about 10K and recently sold for almost 1 million.  That's right.  One million. 

Anyway.  Nice to be home.  Tomorrow we go see the David Sedaris show.  Can't wait.  I need a good laugh.

Back in the day, oh, about a lifetime ago, I was a small girl.  The day I got married I weighed less than 100#.  29 years, 2 children, lots of stress, life, etc. takes it's toll.  Now, I am a BIG girl.  I'm not any taller, 5'2", but much wider.  My body has life experience!  So, after much thought and seeing how many of you out there are knitting out of Big Girl Knits, I went and got myself a copy.  I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me.  He, he.  What a terrific book!  Since my mind still thinks I'm a small girl, I have to be tough on myself and say, "No, you would not look good in that slinky little dress, you can't get your arm through the sleeve, remember?"  This book makes it clear that we big girls can look great, if only we know how.  Lucky for me, some of the answers are in this book.  I can't wait to make one of the wraps.  They look luscious.  Now, if only I could move away from dark colors. . . . .

As some of you know, I used to work for our local Library district.  I worked with some amazing people and some less than stellar.  You librarians out there know what I'm talking 'bout.  Today I went to pick up my Spinning Display and one of the great ones said that when they were 'weeding' the collection they came across this book.  Apparently it was ready to go, not having been checked out in ages.  I was able to pick this up for 25 cents.  I love traditional knitting.  I have the DMC encyclopedia of needlework as well as some copies of Victorian era books.  It's amazing to me what folks used to do to set up a household.  Quilts, antimaccasers, linens with lace edging and all the rest.  This book is loaded with great patterns that can be adapted for shawls, scarves, etc. 

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

We are  home.  We had such a great trip that when we finally got home we went straight to bed and slept until 1:30p!
Our train was about an hour behind schedule and we got in around 6:30a.  To all of you that live in the Chicago area:  What a pleasure it was to visit Chicago.  We will definitely do that again.  We only had 3 full days, Tom was in meetings during the days, so we were not able to see a lot.  On the second day, some he ate disagreed with him and he spent the evening arguing with it.  He eventually won the debate and so we carried on.

For those who haven't been to Chicago yet, find a way to get there.  Millenium Park has an amazing sculpture called "The Cloud Gate".  Words can't capture the whimsy of the piece.  Picture an enormous bean shape balanced on two ends made of highly polished steel.  Imagine the reflections as you move around it and through it.  Very fun.

The Wilson Library building is one of the most beautiful libraries I have seen.  The Art Institute could consume an entire week exploring every nook.  I saw maybe a tenth.  Sigh.  The Field Museum with Sue, the most complete T. Rex fossil discovered to date.  Found in S. Dakota.  Her skull alone weighs over 600# so a cast is on display with the skeleton.

We didn't get to the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, a Cubs game ( they swept the Rockies while we were there) the Sears Tower, the Lincoln Park Zoo. . . . on and on.

But we did go up to the top of the Hancock Building.  That was fun.  I went to Loopy Yarns where I was treated well.  Fun ladies in that store.  If you get the chance, and need to satisfy your lust for yarn and fiber, that's the place.

The Train.  A nice alternative to flying if you have the time.  It cost a bit more, but worth it.  On the trip home, Tom and our porter Daryl really hit it off and had a few good conversations at some of the station stops.  Imagine doing that with a flight attendant!  Leg room, good food, nice people, lovely scenery.  Prong horn antelope, elk, all kinds of birds, including pelicans and avocets.  Glacier National Park was glorious.  Consider the train.  Coach would be great for day trips, but anything longer, go for a sleeper.

I still haven't quite absorbed it all.  And next week, we get on a plane.  Not looking forward to the flight, but the destination should be fun! 

How far would you go for a pattern.  Right now I guess my record is over 2000 miles.  I just went to Loopy Yarns in Chicago and bought Cookie A's pattern for the Millicent sock.  Also got some yarn and the newest edition of Wild Fibers magazine.  Nice store, nice people.  If you live in the Chicago area, I highly recommend this shop.  Not just yarn, but fibers too.  And if you want you can buy a wheel!  That's full service.

Looks like rain here this pm, so I'm going to wait 'til tomorrow for the Art Institute. 

People here are extremely friendly and helpful.  Downtown is what you'd expect of a big city downtown.  But the highlight of my sightseeing so far has got to be the Chicago Public Library.  Go on line and look at the roof treatment.  Some beautiful copper sculptural pieces.  Reminds me of the Building Museum in Washington DC. 

I just can't get used to the humidity.  Man,  People must use antipersperant all over their bodies here.  I'm telling ya.