A perfect day

Yesterday was a really, really good day. Despite the fact that some small wretch shifted the time on my clock so I woke up at 7:00 am, and leaped out of bed swearing because my clock said 8:00 and the neighborhood garage sale was starting in an hour and I had to unload more stuff, get change, and finish pricing everything. And Boo, the blame rests squarely on your small shoulders.

In any event, post-garage sale, Ironman and the girls picked me up, we went and got sandwiches and went to the local Audubon Bird Sanctuary for a picnic. We saw snapping turtles, snakes, bullfrogs and minnows. The girls threw bread to the fish and the turtles. It was a gorgeous day.

Boo fell asleep on the way home, so we poured her into bed and Ironman took a nap too. Dev and I watched a Peter Rabbit video, and then dyed half a pound of merino in some lovely colors (Jacquard Acid Hot Fuchsia, Violet and Turquoise - yowza!).

Last night, I spun up the second half of 4 oz of alpaca/merino/silk blend (65%//20%/15%) and it was like spinning air. Tonight I'll ply it and give it a bath (and consider overdyeing it, since I've got a bunch of dyes to use up).

I've also got 4 oz of undyed sock yarn that I might dye in ridiculous colors for these socks (it's the year of playing to my not-so-inner science geek I guess). Life is good.

FF: BSJ production, Part 1

Note: apparently Fiber Friday is not limited to spinning, since today's post is about dyeing. Consider yourselves warned.

Last weekend we had a lovely visit from the siblings-in-law* who came down to make off with some of our baby stuff in anticipation of their firstborn's arrival in July. And while Mom-to-be is a knitter, she hasn't been feeling the motivation to do much baby knitting these days. So I, as Auntie-to-be, have taken up the gauntlet. I had some undyed Swish superwash leftover from my Fabulous Intarsia Experiment, so I handed SIL my Acid Dye Quick Reference and told her to pick some colors.

This is an example of how it's a good idea to get input from the intended recipients of a knitted item, because I would never have put these colors together.

The yarn soaked overnight, and I squeezed it out and laid it on some plastic wrap while I go the dyes ready. It was a bit windy, so quite a bit of VM ended up in the dye package, but it did no harm to the yarn, so far as I can tell. I used highly technological means to apply the dye (plastic water bottles with holes punched in the lids so I could squeeze the dye out). The parents picked Sun Yellow, Golden Yellow and Emerald, but I used artistic license to add just a squirt of Fuschia to the mix.

I wrapped up the yarn, put it in the roaster, and then took it back out again to spray it with citric acid (oops!). Then back in the roaster on a rack above about 1.5 inches of water at 225 degrees for about 2 hours. I rinsed out the yarn and hung it to dry.

Reskeined,

And balled up ready to go.

This will become a Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) - I'm just hoping I have enough yarn for it! According to Ravelry's fabulous BSJ Wiki, it will be a near thing, but I've got some other colors in the stash that can be used or overdyed to be more appropriate. So I'm off on another Zimmerman adventure.

* What do you call your sibling-in-law's spouse anyway? Sibling-in-law once removed? These are the things that keep me up at night.

FO: Science Geek socks

Pattern: Biological Clocks by Janel Laidman, from The Eclectic Sole
Yarn: Araucania Ranco, 1 skein
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 9 sts (!)/12 rows per inch
Comments/mods: These socks have been on my list for a while now, and I finally cast on for them in January. With one thing and another, the knitting was finally done on the last day of February, but I did not get a chance to sew down the cuffs. So here they are for March.

I did change the pattern a bit from what is in the book. First off, the pattern in the book is written for a smaller foot then mine. That wasn't so bad for the circumference of the sock (62 stitches), but the number of increases for the gusset was a bit wonky. I forged ahead, continuing the increases to what I thought was a reasonable number for my foot, did the heel, got through 3 of 4 charts, and then bowed to the inevitable realization that the sock was too big. So I ripped back to the midfoot and used Cat Bordhi's Riverbend sockitecture for the rest of the foot, did an eye of partridge heel and went on with the charts. This worked much better, and they fit great!

I really enjoyed this yarn - it's got a very nice, substantial feel to it but is plenty soft enough for next-to-skin wear, and the colors are just lovely. I can't really justify any more yarn purchases (look for a dramatic update on the amount of Knit Picks Palette I own in the near future), but when I get back to that point, I'll get some more of this.

Heh heh...I have DNA on my feet...what a geek!

******************************************************
Book update for Feb/March:
16. Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear
15. The Alton Gift - Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
14. Dragon Singer - Anne McCaffrey
13. The Bull from the Sea - Mary Renault
March
12. Careless in Red - Elizabeth George
11. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
10. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke
9. A Different Light - Elizabeth Lynn
8. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
February
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear (I needed some aliens to recover from the overload of teenage vampire hormonal angst and wizard vs. werewolf shenanigans)
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.
January

Four years

Devil -

At this exact moment 4 years ago, I was lying in my hospital bed thinking "You have got to be kidding me," while my OB/GYN called over yet another of the ten people at the foot of the bed saying "Come here, you have to feel this." Ah, the joys of giving birth in a teaching hospital. Twelve hours later I was sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the night, trying to nurse you and getting distracted by the perfection that was your left foot. Who could have imagined that something so small and tiny and perfect had been lurking inside that big bump? Everything had changed in that short span of time, and even then I really had no idea how much the axis of my world had shifted.

This past year has been a challenging one, for so many reasons, but it has been so phenomenal at the same time. I looked in on you yesterday while you napped and laughed out loud - you had fallen asleep in mid-fidget, with your knees bent, and one leg propped over the other, just like you were leaning back waiting for the show to start. And I wondered where on earth you came from and what happened to that tiny baby?

In the past year you have just become such a fabulous, difficult, endearing, infuriating presence.

I think maybe part of the challenge for me is that we share some not-so-endearing traits that I have trouble dealing with in someone else. It's best if we don't speak to you in the mornings, and I am counting the days until you are old enough that CPS won't lock me up for feeding you coffee with your breakfast so that we can have a conversation without you snapping off someone's head.

Like me, if you are feeling a bit put out about anything whatsoever (aka Boo is looking at you and you want her to stop), you absolutely do not want to speak about it or interact with anyone - Greta Garbo has nothing on you kid.

But when you are in a good mood (or have gotten enough sleep!), you are one of the sweetest people I have ever known. You have a gift for defusing your sister's intractable tantrums, and will go out of your way to take care of her. You are fiercely protective of your family, and are not shy about drawing a line in the sand if you find it necessary.

You are a complete goofball, with a wicked sense of humor and an even wickeder smile.

And watching you run is watching pure joyful energy take flight.

Nothing has ever changed me so much as becoming your mother, sweetheart. Thank you.

Olive juice,
Mama

FF: Spinning bulky singles

Last week, I posted about my infatuation with the animal that produced this,

My infatuation has now expanded dramatically, since I have transformed 4 oz of crimpy gorgeousness into this.

I really wanted some bulky singles from this fiber, but my default spin when I'm not actively trying to do something in particular is about 28-30 wpi. So this one took a bit more thought.

First step was to strip the top lengthwise. I figured the less drafting I had to do the better, since then I wouldn't have the opportunity to get too thin.

Then it was sitting in front of the wheel (7:1 ratio), don't draft too much, don't pinch out the air, don't smooth! Phew.

The singles ended up puffy and fluffy and squooshy,

and fairly unbalanced, not surprisingly.

A fulling finish later, skeins were balanced and lovely. I was expecting a dramatic shift in the wpi from pre-bath to post-bath, but it didn't change as much as I thought it would. Went from about 10-11 wpi to 8-11 (I guess I drafted a bit too much in some sections, hunh?).

So now it sits on my countertop, beautifying my house and waiting for me to finish one or two other projects before I cast on for the cowl.

This stuff is impossible to photograph well - the colors are so subtle that they tend to get lost. 

Maybe I'll figure it out eventually...

Final specs:
Fiber: Briar Rose Fibers BFL, colorway "Ply by Night"
Spun at 7:1, Lendrum ST
No plying!
Finished hot/cold/hot/cold/hot/cold water with some agitation
Final wpi: 8-11 (bulky weight), ~230 yds/4.5 oz. I love the yardage from not plying. Plenty for the cowl and maybe something else!

And a funny video for anyone interested. Do you think PETA would approve?