I completed the final bobbin last week and then there were three!

I’m getting better at loading my bobbins more evenly. Ironically, bobbin #3 (center in left photo, front on the right photo) has the most yardage (bobbins 2 & 1 have a bit of residual practice singles from other fiber on them that I was too lazy to remove), and is the least consistent - I was getting anxious to finish!

Yardage: @ 313 of 3ply yarn
WPI: ranges from 11-14; averaging around 12.5 (Sport to DK)
Weight: Imprecisely weighed at 3 oz. (There is a bit of bobbin #2 and #3 left for me to play with)

I’m quite pleased with the result, given that I’m out of practice. I do wish that I’d been able to make the gorgeous colors stand out a bit more though. Bobbin #2 with it’s mix of green-copper-chestnut-chocolate in particular seems lost in the mix. I do love the way the brilliant blues come out though. As mentioned in the initial post, I separated the roving into equal segments by color, then spun 1 bobbin of each and plied them together. I wonder what would have happened if I alternated strips from each section and then navajo-plied?

Spinners - any suggestions? What would you have done differently?

I am quite happy with this though, it’s very soft, and more balanced than the fire-y yarn; I think it will make some cozy socks! And I’m so pleased that the spinning mojo has returned. Almost pleased enough to dive back into the Ocean roving and finish that up - Almost!

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Now playing: Rosie Thomas - Let Myself Fall
via FoxyTunes

I have long felt that there are more important things in this world than housework (my father would attest to this), just as I feel that there are many, many worse things in this world than swears. Maybe these are just excuses for my clutter or potty mouth. Maybe. You won’t find me swearing outright on my blog though, because even though this is my space, it is a public place, and I want you to feel welcome and not offended (and it doesn’t mean I don’t revel in it when YOU swear!). You also generally don’t see me displaying my poor housekeeping skills to company (not the very worst of it, at least!) or here on the blog. I have confessed my messiness before, but find that I usually avoid showing the evidence. I don’t want you to know HOW messy I actually am, but there it is. The truth is that I AM messy. And who wants to see that? Your mess or mine?

I guess I do. Last week, I suddenly felt right at home with some wonderful bloggers, some of whom I’d never “met” before. Felix and KnitWit started the celebration with their thought-provoking and affirming manifestos and invited all to join in. Needled’s thoughts were simply profound - Thomasina’s teacups and Slipped Stitch’s needle jar and as I’ve mentioned, Shannon’s housekeeping techniques, were all too familiar. They all are sticking with me. Gratuitous linking due to the idea that some of you may need to read & see these as much I did - Enjoy! As much as I love beautiful pictures and crafts, and the brief illusion that life isn’t so messy (yours or mine!) I know that even the neatest of us battle the mess in some way, shape or form, at some time or another, or every day even. We all make decisions about how to budget our time and prioritize the messiness right along with everything else in our lives. Most of the time for me, the mess just does not rank high enough. Until it becomes a health hazard, or I’m having company, whichever comes first. So I’m here to join in the party by reveling in my own messes once a week - parties do make the most memorable and happy messes!

Dirty hoof.

This little party starts here at floor level, with the pups added for a smidge of cuteness, but I think it’s appropriate since the floor is where they spend all their time and these particular messes have more to do with them than with Tad or I. I’ll take all the dirt along with the dogs - they provide us with so much joy, unconditional love, and hilarity in return. This is what accumulated on the floor while we had a wonderful weekend (and has continued since - maybe tonight I will sweep. Or finish my spinning project). Notes and all the gory details (paw prints, dog hair tumbleweeds, etc. etc) can be seen larger in my Flickr set, if you’re so inclined!

Dirt, Dog Hair & Debris

Happy Messy Tuesday - Go do something more important than cleaning (and tell us about it!)

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Now playing: Cloud Cult - Everybody here is a Cloud
via FoxyTunes

New Cloud Cult!! Hurray!!

Two bobbins down, one more to go! Hurray!!

It’s been a busy week, and a messy week. The reading of this post by Felix this morning made me feel so much better about my messes (those both literal & figurative), and then this one by Ms. Half Soled Boots cinched the deal because they both rang so true for me. Thanks ladies, for sharing a bit of your lives and your messiness, and making me feel a little better - and not alone - in my own. Count me in on the messiness, and the posting of said messes. I have many more thoughts on the subject, but you’ve said it all already.

In the midst of the messiness, spinning has been soothing and fun. Look! Somehow these two just go together, don’t you think?

Bobbin #2 & Chrysalis #2 - fiber and yarn painted by Gryphon.

I hope your weeks were not too terribly messy (or rather, VERY messy indeed, if it means that you had fun, spent time with people you loved, and exercised your creativity - dishes be damned!)
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Now playing: Toad the Wet Sprocket - Windmills
via FoxyTunes

I mark 2007 as the year that I became a Knitter. I think we all have our own definitions, for me, I became a knitter when I learned to knit. I became a Knitter when I began to care about and enjoy Knitting as much as a craft - the history, the cultural references & techniques, the possibilities - as I did the act of making stitches itself. My spinning has taken a backseat to my knitting ever since I picked up a spindle, and I think some of that has to do with the timing of it all - I learned to spin a little over a year ago but I am as yet a spinner, and a beginning one at that. I enjoy spinning every bit as much as I do Knitting, but I still often fumble through the act itself - my feet treadle like crazy, I’m aware that I’m overspinning but can’t seem to stop myself, and sometimes my hands can’t keep up. I haven’t yet reached the point where my brain and hands connect and I have more control - and am ready to absorb all the background technique, history, and art that are involved in making a beautiful and useful yarn. It will happen - those brief moments where it all comes together give me confidence - but I think that as with my knitting, it will take a certain amount of experience and experimenting until I’m able to get to that point.

Last fall, I stalled out with my Spun Stitches project (not with the concept, just with the spinning of this particular yarn), and felt incapable of setting it aside to work on something else. As a result, it has been on my wheel now for months, literally. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit exactly HOW long. Except for one brief hiatus to spin the local blend yarn (a very small amount of roving meant that it would be a momentary distraction and would not really divert my attention from the Ocean/Allison yarn). I’m in love with the Blues and Greens, the fiber and the colors and the concept of spinning for a shawl. But the merino-tencel, which I enjoyed spinning so much for the fire-y Kayley socks, was not playing as nicely this time around and required such extensive & obsessive pre-drafting to be able to keep a fairly consistent laceweight single going, that I simply lost my enthusiasm I guess, I can’t find a better explanation for it. I have missed my wheel though and I have been wanting to get back to my spinning for what seems like ages now. And so, finally, due to the wiles of the spinning of some very talented people, and the urging of a Twisted Threads member, who said, “Oh it’s no big deal! Just write down your settings and put it all aside for a bit! Spin something small and fun to get yourself going again! You can come back to your big project again when you’re ready.” I guess I just needed to hear it.

The antidote to my spinning ennui. 4 oz. (small & manageable!) of handpainted merino purchased at SAFF from The Sanguine Gryphon. I picked this roving because I fell in love with the colors, and it has all the depth and complexity of her yarns. Gorgeous. I realized when I began to spin it up why I loved the colors so much - they coordinate perfectly with many other colors around our home - my walls, chairs and table, pottery and pictures.

I folded the roving in half and split it apart roughly in thirds where the colors seemed to change - I’m loosely planning on a 3-ply for socks, one bobbin from each color section of the roving. The first section is primarily chocolate brown, cinnamon and blue, but also contains tiny glimpses of plum, and green which are repeated in larger segments in the third section (all the way to the right on the chair, and coiled in the picture on the lower right). The 2nd section is primarily cinnamon brown with traces of burnt orange and chocolate.

I think that my knitting will continue to come first most of the time - but for the moment, this is holding my attention quite nicely - and is drafting like a dream! One bobbin down, two to go - I think the spinning love is back, hurray!

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Now playing: These United States - First Sight
via FoxyTunes

Our house is one big WIP (in the last few years we’ve painted, done trimwork, shelves, electric, etc.) and this week my dad came into town to help us frame and sheetrock an unfinished loft over the master bedroom. We worked hard, gained confidence and new skills, new muscles, and a new appreciation for contractors! We have quite a ways yet to go before it realizes it’s potential as a combined creative space for Tad & I (I told him I thought there was plenty of room for a loom, but I don’t think he’s buying it). We accomplished quite a bit, and are exhausted - but ultimately very satisfied, in the way that comes from using your own head and hands to do something useful. And we couldn’t have done it without my dad. Thanks Dad, for your time, expertise & effort - not to mention putting up with some of my pie in the sky ideas of how it all should work!

So, I’m further behind with all of YOUR activities than I was when I started vacation a week ago, I have much reading, eye candy, Ravelry surfing, emails and fiber-related activities to catch up on. Chrysalis II needs casting off, Cinderella needs some assistance from dear Kathryn, there’s been a smidgen of spinning (!!) and there are new designs in the works (some of which I’ll pull you all in on here now that I’ve missed IK’s current submission deadline - somehow finishing sketches and swatches this week just wasn’t in the cards) And, I owe you all many, many thanks for your kind words and support of my P.S. Mitts. Thanks heaps!

Sooo, what’s the biggest WIP (fiber or other) in your life??

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Now playing: Tegan And Sara - Dark Come Soon
via FoxyTunes

I’m very pleased, and so excited to say that my P.S. Mitts pattern is now available through The Sanguine Gryphon’s Etsy Shop!

**3/17/2008 - Edited to update pattern link above to Gryphon’s front page on Etsy - my apologies for the link to the sold out listing!! This one should work much better - Thank you GaussKnits for calling my attention to this!**

P.S. indeed, as it seems that spring has sprung here in North Carolina! I have it on good authority that it is still winter in many parts of the world though, and so perhaps this little pattern will be right on time for those of you who may still be in the mood for mitts!

As is the case with so many things, the pattern took me a fair bit longer than I had planned with calculating the additional sizes and the actual pattern writing, which I wanted to be as clear and informative as possible. Add to that some short winter days and rainy weekends and it took even longer to get some suitable pictures, but I am quite pleased with the time spent and the result! Gryphon’s yarn again is a huge draw (this is her Eidos merino sock yarn, in colorway Meno), it was the inspiration for the design, and the two-ended knitting shows it off to lovely advantage. I really enjoyed working in this technique - I have been exploring and researching it further and intend to do more with it in the future, the design possibilities range from simple and classic to innovative structures and geometric patterns - very, very cool.

As with Chrysalis, a tutorial and technique analysis will be forthcoming (There is a VERY brief intro to two-ended knitting here in the WIP post) - I intended to include more detail here but to do it justice, as with the pattern, I need a bit more time I’m afraid!

Oh yes, P.S!

Thank you to all who have so kindly inquired and given your thoughts, advice, etc. about our little man, thank you so very much for your thoughts and good energy. He continues to improve (exhale!), and there’s a update over at tadandmel.com.

And, my very talented husband has created a new video/photo splash page (best viewed with the music!), which may be best appreciated by family & old friends, but thought you may like to see it as well.

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Now playing: eastmountainsouth - Winter
via FoxyTunes

Finally, my first REAL refashioning (that is - not mending or maintenance)! I took a knitted item and re-used old items from my wardrobe and sewing box to complete it - and it was a lot of fun (despite my somewhat lukewarm feelings about the result)!

The knitting on the sari-scarf was completed weeks ago, but even after a wash, I found it to be a bit scratchy on my neck, so I tabled it for a bit to brainstorm a solution. The idea came on a sort & purge of my closets a few weeks ago - I have a couple of old fine gauge merino knits that have been hanging around awaiting frogging, and as it happens, the sleeves of one that had already been separated into pieces were about the right size to create a lining for the scarf. They weren’t quite long enough on their own, so I pieced them both together and trimmed them to a rectangular shape.

I had a day off this week for appointments and errands and such and took that opportunity to break out my little sewing machine for the first time in over a year, an event accompanied by a modicum of foul language as I’ve now forgotten how to thread it, wind a bobbin, etc. You would never know I was a budding seamstress as a teenager. One day I’ll show you pictures to prove it - because truly those days are long past and now, this is all I’m capable of! It’s not by coincidence that there aren’t any detail shots of my stitch-wizardry. I used bias tape to seam the lining to the scarf, overlapping the edge for a bit of contrast. I’ve also forgotten how to make neat corners and was too impatient to look it up, so they are far from perfect, but they will suffice. Impatience was always my downfall when it came to sewing, why this is different for me with knitting, I’ve no idea.

The closure is also a re-use - a surprise find in my (grandmother’s) sewing box, added by me a few years ago from a velvet jacket that has long since gone to goodwill. I loved that jacket. It had these lovely frog closures on it, and this one was a spare.

So, the end result of this knitting/refashion? I admit that I fancied it a bit more gypsy-chic and a little less clown-ruff… A little more Tudora and a little less muppet barf. But it is cozy and warm and bright and happy - and doesn’t shed as much due to the lining. It may grow on me. Or I may have to yank that pretty closure for another purpose! I’m very happy with this project in intent & practice (recycled yarn, recycled lining and closure), I’m lukewarm on the end result though.

Pattern: Improvised

Needles: US9

Yarn: Recycled Sari-Silk from the Wool Peddler @ 2 skeins

Construction: Knit a rectangle - picked up stitches and increased rapidly along two edges to create the ruffle.

Now, this next one, I am very happy with!

Coop Cables has remained one of my favorite FOs to date - it was completed in November 2006 - prior to the death of the old blog which means it’s undocumented except for some mediocre pictures. But it saw a ton of wear in it’s first winter - It’s warm, a flattering color and shape, understated and suitable for work wear. The unfortunate result of the regular wear was some extreme and un-flattering pilling of the Baby Alpaca Grande (deliciously soft, terribly pilly!), not to mention a fair amount of stretching in the shoulder seams due to the weight of the sweater. Relegated to the knit shelf, it was when I reviewed those previous knits that I resolved to remedy the situation and make it wear-worthy once more.

With the help of some twill tape, I reinforced the shoulders of the sweater to help it keep it’s shape and give it some more structure, keeping the armhole seams where they belong. Then, I took a shaver to it - I’d been warned against it, but the sweater stone that I tried didn’t seem to do the trick, and in fact made it worse (was I doing something wrong?), so I proceeded with caution and I won’t bore you with the details of what a slow process that was and how many times I had to empty the little lint trap. But it was very worth it.

Hurray! No more fuzzies and one of my wardrobe staples is back in regular rotation (at least for the few weeks before the temperature climbs)! I don’t know if you can see the difference in the cables from the before shots above - they are so much crisper and cleaner now, the pills are all gone, and the shoulder seams actually stay put!

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite FOs and how they have held up over time. What if any maintenance (other than washing) have you had to do to keep them looking lovely?

Tad has also jumped feet first into the refashioning effort - he’s been very into the whole thing and even made his own very detailed re-fashioning post here! And folks, I didn’t help him one bit, he figured it out all on his own. I’m so proud!

In other news, I’ll have a write up soon on the P.S. Mitts (now available through the Sanguine Gryphon!), and Chrysalis II is steadily moving toward completion at the rate of a pattern repeat or two per day - so, my WIP list is steadily shrinking, which is good as new ideas are percolating!
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Now playing: The Weepies - Stars
via FoxyTunes