I survived

my first weekend with two children as a single parent. IronMan is in the midst of a 10-day trip to South America. While Nana was able to be here all of last week, she had to go home on Friday to entertain some weekend houseguests, so I was on my own with Devil and Boo for the entire weekend.

They were spectacular. I realized that lots of activities were going to be necessary or there would be murder, so we kept busy and they very obligingly napped at the same time both afternoons. Thank goodness - Mama needed her down time! (And needed spinning time!) But all in all, it was a great success.

Now they're back in day care and I'm waiting for the tree trimmers to come. It might be time to clean up the disaster area, I mean the biohazard zone, I mean the house.

Fiber Friday - Pretty redness

I've been having lots of fun playing with my new wheel. I'm definitely getting faster, but still not so even. I haven't been trying to spin very fine singles yet, but that's the next challenge now that I have a better feel for what I'm doing.

Last Friday I was at home waiting for the tree guys to come (they didn't - it was, yet again, raining). So I took this:

Woodland Woolworks Colonial Heather Wool top in Dark Red, to try as my next spin. I split the top in half and spun each half from the end, without any further predrafting or splitting of the top. It spun pretty easily up into two bobbins of this:

and ended up plied into a 2-ply. I used the plying head for my wheel, and didn't much like it at all. Yes, it's got a huge mother bobbin on it that will hold a lot of yarn, but I found it made the wheel very hard to treadle. I would get going and then get hung up at the top of the treadle stroke. In order to keep the wheel spinning I needed to treadle with a lot of force. I suspect operator-error in this - clearly I have not yet figured out how to adjust things optimally - but am still feeling sorry for myself (plus I gave myself a blister on the side of my big toe where it was rubbing against the side of the treadle).

This last picture is closest to the actual color (at least on my screen). I soaked the skein in hot hot hot water, swishing occasionally as the water cooled down and I could stick my hands in, then squeezed out the excess water and hung it to dry. Before washing the plied yarn was 7-8 wpi (let's hear it for super bulky!). Whatever I do next (probably the July Hello Yarn fiber option), I'm definitely splitting the roving down to aid in getting some thinner singles. This yarn is destined to be a Christmas present for someone, maybe this?

ETA: post-wash, 8-9 wpi, 4 oz/113 gr, 108 yds.

No really, there is progress being made

I just haven't gotten my act together enough to blog/photograph it. So for this post, you'll just have to take my word for it on what's been done.

I've been working on Coachella off and on during my commutes for the last week or so (since there's nothing like whipping a big pile of knitting out of your bag to freak out your fellow commuters), and it's almost done. However, I realized that I haven't posted any details about it since the teaser shot when I first started. I'm using Berroco Flax for this top, a 100% linen worsted weight, in a natural color. My initial thoughts about this yarn were none too happy - it kind of feels like knitting with kitchen twine, although it is rather soft. Originally I was going to use this yarn for Eileen from No Sheep for You, but there was no way in hell I was going to get gauge, plus it's a bit on the splitty side, which was the death knell for any pattern with p3tbl! This yarn also sheds quite a bit - I get big clouds of tiny linen fibers floating aroung and sticking to everything every time I move it. Not so cool, but no one has yet complained about a linen allergy so I guess I'm in the clear.

I did swatch for Eileen, and washed my swatch, so I knew that the yarn didn't really change gauge with washing (although I didn't hang the swatch to see about length over time). So I just started right in - first time starting I used US7 for the "ribbing" and US8 for the body. Decided the 7s were too small, and redid the ribbing with US8, which I liked much better.

That's the only major modification I've made so far, and it's speeding along. I've finished the increases at the bottom, so now I need to try it on again when I get home and decide how long I want it to be. Since I don't know if it's going to stretch much lengthwise, I'm going to be a bit conservative on the length. Hopefully I'll get it done and blocked over the weekend, and be able to wear it next week.

PS - Pea Pod is done but for the buttons. And trimming the ends that I left from weaving in. Maybe that will be this afternoon's commuting project, cause my friend's poor wife is about to explode!

Stash enhancement

Last week, after a particularly trying day at work, I arrived home to find a large package wrapped in brown paper sitting at my doorstep. A package I wasn't expecting. I opened it up to find this:

Rest assured that what was in the bag bears absolutely no resemblance to Maine potting soil. My aunt, a former knitter, has finally come to grips with the fact that she doesn't knit so much anymore, and had sent me some of her stash. I guess she heard about my Yarn Diet. Look at these goodies...

Good baby yarn, 100% acrylic and soft.

Some gorgeous colors in Lamb's Pride Bulky (these colors are so Aunt L).

Three skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Wool (now discontinued?), that I think she got at the local Goodwill, because the price tag on them says $2.00. Why doesn't my Goodwill sell yarn?

Seven more skeins of Cotton Wool in a lovely brown, that didn't come out so well in this photo. At 160 yds/skein, there may be enough here for a sweater, as long as I don't get too adventurous.

Sigh...off to dream of what to do next...

(WIPs? What WIPs? I don't have any WIPs! Shhhhhh....)

Fiber Friday - Back to the spindle

This past spring I joined the Hello Yarn Fiber Club, since I was feeling deprived of any ability to spend money on yarn (due to TGYD2007). It's the first club I've joined and it's been absolutely wonderful! Adrian does great colors, and the fiber is beautiful to spin.

Since the May fiber arrived before my wheel did, I spun it up on my spindle. The original roving was green and blue and brown, with lots of white sections in it. The colors when spun up were so much nicer then I had been expecting giving the way the roving looked!

Obligatory coin shot with much better natural lighting:

Another shot of the three skeins I've done so far - one of them came out really blue!

I also discovered why it's probably a good idea to rewind your singles off of the spindle on to some other holder (i.e. a toilet paper roll) before trying to ply them. I tried to slide the cope off of the spindle and onto the knitting needle I was using as a dirtbag Lazy Kate all in one piece. Needless to say, I failed miserably, and ended up with a big tangled mess! I managed to get it all wound back on to a toilet paper roll in the end, but it was loads of time spent winding when I could have been plying.

This is destined to be a Branching Out for someone as a Christmas present (maybe for me!). I'm hoping I have enough yarn, but if not, have no fear - I've still got 2+ oz of roving left to spin up.