Mohair Madness

Just a little Tuesday fiber pr0n.

Mohair from Diane Kelly of Firesong Fibers. I washed a small batch of raw mohair fleece in near-boiling water. Hmm, I think I'll update this post later with some good verbiage. But for now, enjoy.




There. That kinda takes the sting out of having to go back to work, doesn't it?

Blue, Pink, Blue, Green

Spinning:

Moody Blues, 50/50 wool/silk, singles

Moody Blues, 50/50 wool/silk, 2-ply

Knitting:

Short Row Ring Wrap, in Tango (70/30 wool/mohair)
by Dancing Leaf Farm, colorway, "Briar Patch"

ibid.

Outside:

South Hill and Pond, afternoon, before the storm.
this and all following photographs are completely unaltered.

barn under cloud cover

Plying

Ever since I learned to ply, I've been obsessive about plying my singles.


Srsly, why would I leave a single? Plying makes EVERYTHING better.

a little blurry, but color-correct

But after plying up my Northern Lights singles, I wasn't so sure. This could be because my first bobbin was pretty uneven -- not exactly thick-and-thin, more like thin-and-cobweb-and-sometimes-it-breaks, while the second bobbin is a fairly consistent 1-1.5mm thickness.

2nd bobbin (L) and 1st bobbin (R)

By the second bobbin, I had hit my stride and my fingers knew exactly how to draw out what I wanted. I started getting aggravated when I tried plying the two together. It seems a bit of a waste, plying my "OMG I'm so proud of it!!!" 2nd bobbin with the "I only pretend to know what I'm doing" 1st bobbin, because the end result is an uneven yarn. I'm giving it a bit of overtwist because I'm thinking about using it for socks (and for socks you want a tight twist so it's hard-wearing).

After I had filled a bobbin with the 2-ply, I sat back and evaluated it. I like it... at the same time, I'm not sure that plying brings out the best in the fiber and colorway. I think I prefer it in singles... and since I have about 3-3.5 oz top left, am tempted to spin the remainder as such. Then I'd just wind it all up (along with the already-spun, unplied singles) on my niddy-noddy, set the twist and call it a day.


RECOMMENDED READING: this article (pdf link, the article is free) from Spin Off Magazine on the effect of twist in plying.

Maryland Sheep and Wool 2008 Wrap-Up

In my hurry to get to MD Sheep & Wool, I forgot my camera. I kicked myself a few times and then got on with the day.

Well, I went on Saturday with the intention of just buying some sheep's milk cheese from the folks at Menhennett Farm. Damnit, I forgot the name of the man who makes it. But he said that this was probably their last year at MD S&W, which made me sad. We had a lovely chat about cheesemaking (did I mention I love Tiffany Aching?), and he walked me through the process, which I thoroughly appreciated. For those interested, Menhennett Farm cheeses are also for sale from Bill Houder at the Town Clock Cheese Shoppe in Gap, PA (717.442.9090).

Cheese transaction completed, I decided that while I was there, it wouldn't hurt to maybe take a stroll through one of the barns. Just to look. I wouldn't seriously be tempted; just observing.

Walky, walky, walky... no temptations... ok, we're good. Hey, I can see the other end of the barn and I still haven't bought anything! Woohoo! GO ME!

Hey... what's that? I made it about 3/4 of the way through when I noticed a familiar stack of Corridale roving crates. I saw the back wall displaying a series of Ashford wheels. The barn I walked into was the one where Stony Mountain Fibers had their booth. I love Stony Mountain Fibers.

So I thought, well, a couple braids of roving wouldn't be bad. After all, roving isn't yarn, and I told myself I wasn't going to buy yarn. And ooh, that's a pretty color... Oh, and I like that one, too. Hey, here's one that's undyed; I could maybe try my hand at that! And then I saw something fluffy and chocolately brown in the corner... BUFFALO DOWN! I had been pondering this ever since I saw their ads on Ravelry. I felt the sample skein. I had to have it. So I bought an ounce of that.

100% dehaired American bison down from Buffalo Gold

Last year, I went on a blue-buying spree. This year was brown (okay, and a little blue).

50/50 wool/silk roving from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks

Colonial Wool top, "Northern Lights" colorway, from Stony Mountain Fibers

70/30 Alpaca/Tussah from Stony Mountain Fibers

100% bamboo top, "Expresso" (sic) colorway

100% superfine Merino wool

Alpaca/Merino/Tussah, undyed

silk hankies, "Mendocino Hedges" colorway

All told, I had a couple braids of 50/50 wool/silk, a couple braids of Colonial wool, some undyed Tussah/merino/alpaca, some superfine merino, about a pound of 70/30 alpaca/Tussah, 4.35 oz of espresso-brown bamboo top and a 1-oz stack of hand-dyed silk hankies.

And cheese.

And a lamb sandwich in mah bellay.

On my way out, I yelled at lickmysticks (Ravelry link). I did not demand earrings, though. I felt that startling a pregnant woman well into her third trimester -- who likely has the knowing of some obscure fighting skills with knitting needles that she learned during a stint in Needleworth Jail -- was probably enough.

Afterwards, I sat for a little bit with the Western Maryland Ravelers (Ravelry link) tailgate party and waved maniacally at passing buses. Casey, Jess, Mary-Heather and the rest of Team Rav stopped by our tailgate! They had enough grace to not look visibly disturbed at our bubbly over-enthusiasm and cheers of "WOOOO! RAVELRY!!! YEAH!!!"

And just when I thought it was over...






I went back in.


I made a beeline for Tess' yarns. I really wanted to buy seven skeins of silky wool to make the sweater from Pattern #74 that they had displayed as a model.... but I had enough cash left in my wallet for two skeins of sock yarn (you know, now that I'm a sock knitter and everything).



Then I gathered up my purchases, slung 'em into the car, had a wild and bumpy ride going a leeetle too fast over the rutted field of the HoCo Fairgrounds parking, drove to Eleganza and rented a wheel. It was a good day.

Yep, I rented a wheel. You know what that means...

New Post Soon

With pictures of MD Sheep and Wool acquisitions!

I have a well-dressed nephew.

front

back

dressing the model

Project Specs:
Pattern: Sirdar 1731
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo
Colorway: 139
Skeins: 5
Size: 1-2 yrs.
see also Ravelry project page.

The pattern was, for the most part, easy to follow. The only difficult part was when I ran into a section that said, "Patt 2tog," and "patt to end." Pattern 2 together? WTF? It took me a while to figure out that they meant, "Do this to whatever stitch presents itself at that time in the pattern." If you're looking at k st, then k2tog. If you're looking at purls, p2tog.

Notes on the yarn: Baby Bamboo is wonderfully soft. It is splitty. At times it is like knitting with giant embroidery floss. Ends left hanging loose will fray; I knotted some of them until I was ready to sew them in (then I just cut off the knot and threaded my needle). Once you accept that it is splitty, it is not difficult to work with.

Other notes: I did all cables without a cable needle, since it was only ever cabling in sets of 2 sts. It takes a little more getting used to when working with a splitty yarn like bamboo. Project is worked in 5 pieces, then sewn together. Placket and collar picked up and knitted after seaming shoulders; before setting sleeves. I did a crochet cast-off to add some rigidity to the back of the neck.

Morning's at Seven, Breakfast's at Seven-Thirty; Hill-sides Dew-Pearled, Necks Pearl-Dewed.

It rained:

Crest of South Hill

Springtime came to Knit Goddingdom:

The Imperial Pond, looking South

I put on my new gardening shoes:

Royal Horticulture Society Clogs in "Peaches" by Hunter Boots

And I built a compost bin out of palettes, steel L-brackets and some screws.

I also bought steel strap hinges; door to be added.
I love me some power tools.

Sunset on the North Hill:

I finished my Nutkins, and here's proof:



And, riding that wave of accomplishment and desire for a new challenge, I picked up this:

100% merino, 440 yds, colorway, "Blockhead," hand-dyed by Handspun and Dyed Too, on etsy.

And with help from my LYS and Melissa Morgan-Oakes, began knitting two socks at once on a ridiculously long Addi Turbo.

Some ancestor of mine on my mother's side made this table.
There's a story/history that goes along with it.
I don't remember what it is, but I could probably make up a pretty good substitute.

Next time:

• MD Sheep and Wool Pillaging Purchases Revealed!
• Roving before and after pictures! Silk and wool like you've never probably not often seen before!
  
• And much, much more!

Preview in Pictures

So I went on vacation

and forgot to post about it. Knitting happened.

I also went to MD S&W. I forgot my camera, but never fear.

Keep your fingers crossed and do a rain/post dance, and I'll have some new stuff up soon.

It's okay to breathe now.

There's still work to be done, but at least the mean, scary deadline is past. So the pressure is much, MUCH less. Which means more time for knitting! I'm going to Target tonight and will pick up some Li batteries for my camera. Over the next few days I hope to get some good pictures of the stuff I knitted before the super-crazy-busyness set in, the Nutkins (which are finished! hooray!) and also some pictures of my current work in progress.

Plus, I hope to have some extra-special photo-and-story Knitting Adventure goodness after this Saturday!

Stay tuned -- good things in the works here!

Giardini La Mortella - Fontana Bassa

foto di questo sito

Work is grand.

Bad things happen when you work 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week. Well, normally I don't get into too much trouble when I'm working this much -- because, hell, I'm at work all the damn day.

First, I start swearing more freely.

Second, I feel justified in buying myself things to offset the crushing suckitude that is working this much.

Example 1: They sell German Chocolate cake by the slice at the grocery store near work. Normally, I'd pass it by without a second thought. But I'm working all day, which means -- I DESERVE CAKE. Cake makes me happy. Happy worker = higher productivity. Cake = increased productivity.

Example 2:
The Nordstrom's catalog came today. I looked through it at lunch. I saw a handbag and a dress that I like. I saw a sexy stiletto pump. Then I saw another sexy stiletto pump. The overworked, sleep-deprived, feverish wheels in my head started to turn.

I want them. Oh my goodness, I'd look sooo good in those. Oh, those are sexy shoes. Damn, they'd make my legs look AWESOME. Where can I wear them... where can I wear those things? Hot damn, I have a bunch of weddings this summer! I could wear the dress, which goes with the beautiful handbag, and the sexy sexy stilettos.

Automatic accountant sets in: that totals $XXXX.

Overworked, sleep-deprived, feverish brain: WANT.

Accountant brain: $XXXX. You are saving your money for a spinning wheel.
Overworked brain: I'm averaging about $XXX in billable hours a day. I made more this week than all of last October. F*** you, budget brain. You can't put a price on me looking gorgeous. I deserve it.

Accountant brain: Bloody hell, I can't argue with that.

Overworked brain: I knew I worked for a reason. Oooooh, I need a hat...
Accountant brain: NO NEW HATS!

Overworked brain: Must have a hat. Wedding = hat. Feathers!
Accountant brain: I'm going to lose this one, aren't I?
Overworked brain: Yep.

So now, in a few days, I'll have a box full of pretty dresses to try on, and a pretty handbag, and some hot new shoes. And then, my friends, I'm going hat shopping. Hopefully after I get some sleep. Eight days to go.

feather and netting fascinator by Simply Devine, UK.

On the knitting front, I'm down to the foot of Nutkin #2. I still haven't bought batteries for my camera. After 15 April (for my non-American readers, that's our tax filing deadline), things should calm down considerably. I'll get back to regular knit-blogging after then.

Sweat, Stress, Hawks

I'm eagerly awaiting the end of tax season. For the past couple weeks, I've woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, thinking about the work I have yet to do. I'm exhausted and edgy and sometimes I have to remind myself to be nice to the clients. But I'm getting it done; one by one, the returns are going out the door; in the next couple weeks, the last one will leave my desk and I'll do a little happy dance. The Under-eye Circles of Death will fade away; the kettle won't be always on the boil; I'll have time to do normal things like garden and go shopping and just stare out of the kitchen windows and watch the hawks building their nest while I eat my cereal.

There is a pair of hawks nesting a little ways from the house; they have a nest built high in a little oak tree. In the morning they swoop around the stream and hop around the marsh and glide out over the fields. The other day I watched one of them scoop up a length of baling twine (leftover from seeding and strawing the lawn) and carry it up to their tree -- the twine caught the morning sunlight as it trailed behind, twisted in the wind as it hung fifty feet in the air, secured between landed talons and branch. Together, the hawks worked it into their nest. I hope we have... what's the word for baby hawks? Hawslings isnt' a word. Hawklings is too awkward to say. Chicks? I like Hawslings best. Like goslings, but with less webs, more talons; less paddle-around-the-lake and more hunty-bitey-rippy action.

Hawks make me think of falconing. Have you ever gone falconing? I think it would be a lot of fun. If I were to keep a bird, I would want a gyrfalcon. A white morph gyrfalcon. It would be an awesome pet. Since they're raptors, and semi-wild, it would be on the same scale of awesomeness as having a pet tiger. There's a morbid fascination in keeping a pet that could seriously injure you -- but you have to do it right. Anybody can abuse a dog until it becomes a mean, vicious attack dog. Very few people can actually keep a tiger, which could hurt you no matter how well you treat it. Somewhere in between there is the freakin' falcon -- dangerous, noble, and terribly, terribly cool.

I'm beginning to wonder whether I was a medieval knight in a past life: I have this lovely image of me riding out on my Friesian horse with a falcon on my arm. And I'm thinking about taking a fencing class this summer (after all, why not?). If I had a past life, it's more likely that I was one of the poor medieval peasants, covered in mud and shit, wishing I were a knight.

I've been a really good girl these past few millenia, so now I get to have the charger and maybe even the cool bird, and learn how to wield a sword, too. And, uh, spend my time markedly not covered in shit. Although I don't mind the mud, and I have been known on several occasions to... yeah, probably best to leave that one locked up in the annals of Things That Happened in College history.

Speaking of history, here's a visit from one of my old leather-bound books (remember? bibliophile!):

"The Temple of Karnac," from The Museum of Antiquity, 1882.

I am halfway through the short-row toe on Nutkin #1. After dinner I chugged steadily through the last inch of the foot before starting the toe, and I worked my way until the part where you start decreasing on your YOs... and I just couldn't knit any more tonight. I'm hoping by tomorrow to have one sock completed -- and to have bought batteries, so I can show you how awesome these socks (er... technically, this sock, but it will eventually be plural) are.

This episode of "Love, Life and Knitting" brought to you by: Holy Four-Letter Word, I Haven't Slept in a Long Time!