Paralyzer

Reference

About a month or so ago, I took a gander at our dishtowels, and thought that we could use some new ones around here. The towels are starting to show some wear after being used and going through the laundry about every week or so for about ten years. Besides, since moving into this house about three years ago, I really haven’t woven anything for it. Continue reading

Rain or Shine

Reference

Well, another Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival has come and gone, and I have managed to keep my streak of being there when it wasn’t raining. I have been going to the festival for over 20 years now, and I have yet to be there when it is raining. Given how much rain we got this weekend, the record was really in danger, but I persevered!

I actually was at the festival Friday night, helping to set up the skein and garment competition. There weren’t as many entries as last year. I didn’t enter anything because I have been busy with other things and didn’t have a chance to make anything that I would think of entering. Maybe others were in the same predicament.

Mr. Penney and I arrived after lunch on Saturday. While there we got to see a number of people from the knitting group. Strangely, most of them were without any bags in their hands. We were assured that this was because they had already made a trip to the car to unload. One, however, had the right idea; and had her sons come along and carry her bags as their Mother’s Day gift to her.

I, of course, did make contributions to my stash. First place of purchase was Cloverhill:

At the top is Corriedale from Grafton Fiber, while at the bottom is Dragon Sock from Dragonfly Fiber and Luxury Sock (a merino/nylon/cashmere blend) from Neighborhood Fiber Co. The blue Corriedale is already on the wheel.

After that, the next stop my wallet made was at Spirit Trail:

The first two braids are an alpaca/merino/tussah silk blend, and the last braid is superwash BFL.

Finally, after going by the both several times waiting for the line to go away, it became apparent that there was always going to be a line at The Fold, so I might as well just bite the bullet and go stand in it.

While Socks That Rock might be what everyone else was going for, I was interested in their exotic fibers for spinning. When I saw that they had two different, natural shades of baby camel, I was glad I took the time in line. Since I was in line anyway, picked up some skeins of STR lightweight in Jabberwocky, Scum Bubbles, and Bait-A. Amazingly enough, the women ahead of me went through the whole booth without getting a thing. No, really. Now there is willpower. (That, or common sense. Not sure which.)

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Monkey Wrench

Strangely, the title became prophetic. Reference

Thursday night, I start putting together this post by putting in the pics, save as draft, and presto! My site goes away. It is partially sorted out now, but I still have some investigation to do.

In any case, I decided to do an update on my knitting. (Yeah, I am still doing that!)

During that dismal period at the end of last year where I was spending way too much time at work, Mr. Penney would try to pick my spirits up by taking me to yarn shops to buy yarn. He knows me too well, doesn’t he?

On the one trip to Cloverhill, Mr. Penney spotted some yarn that he like. This, of course, meant instant purchase, and now the sock has been started.

The color is Monkey’s Wrench in Sea Sock by the Sanguine Gryphon. It is moving along fairly quickly, though when I first started it at knit night, I had a problem. The yarn is the same color as some of the tabletops at Panera. It was like knitting camouflage. Now that I am past the toe, it is no problem, as I barely have to look at it now.

Something that I do have to look at is Tannenbaum.

Yep, I have not forgotten about it. I just finished all of the decreasing for the flap heel, so it is pretty much smooth sailing from here on out. I do have to look at this sock while I am knitting it though. (Note to self: next time, make the charts line up better.)

There is new yarn coming into the house! I received the first shipment (Spring) from Sheila‘s sock club.

I also got this from Sheila for providing the name to a new yarn.

It’s “In the Navy.” See, if you bug a person long enough to make a color for you, eventually, they will! Ahh! The rewards of nagging! Next up, having her dye a rainbow yarn and calling it “Y.M.C.A.”

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Ready or Not

Reference

Remember this?

Super scarf completed Super scarf close up

I wondered who it was going to go to. Well, as you may have guessed, I knew all along who it was going to go to. It’s going to YOU!

Well, one of you, anyway.

Yes, it is that time of year again: time for Race for the Cure. Last year, I raffled off yarn to those that sponsored me. This year, it is my weaving that I am raffling off. Here is how it goes:

For every $5 that you sponsor me for, you get a ticket in the raffle. Sponsor me for $5, get one ticket. Sponsor me for $25, get five tickets. Sponsor me for $50, get ten tickets. And so on and so forth.

You can donate one of two ways: online or by snail mail. To donate online, go to my sponsorship page and doing the transaction there. To donate via snail mail, print out this Race for the Cure donation form and mail it in with your donation to the address provided on the form.

The race is October 19, and the drawing will take place on October 26 at 5 pm Eastern, so have you donations in by then to be eligible for the drawing. First prize is first choice, second prize is second choice, and so on.

“But Tex, there is only one scarf?”

There is only one scarf now….

Cabin Cove Silk Scarf on loom

There is more to come.

Habu 2/17 tsumugi silk

Thank you for your support.

Copyright 2008 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Waiting Game

Reference

Well, I am sitting here right now, waiting for the air conditioning repairman to call me to let me know when he will be here. Fortunately, today is not supposed to be a scorcher; but I have never been a fan of these unscheduled times off work. I don’t have a lot of vacation time to begin with, so taking time off just to be chained to the house waiting for an appointment leaves something to be desired.

I figured, in the meantime, that I would update you on what is going on in textile land.

One STR Carbon sock is done.

STR Carbon sock 1 done

My impressions so far? At least with the mediumweight, the yarn is ok; but I wouldn’t stand in line to get it. I think STR’s colorways are what causes the big fanbase. The yarn itself doesn’t seem to have much in the way of properties that I expect from merino: elasticity and softness. Would I buy it again? Probably, but it isn’t my first choice.

As far as the diamond brocade sock,

Diamond Brocade stuck

I am kind of in a quandary about that. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to do the foot. Karen is right that the stranding pinstripe is not ideal. I ripped out what you saw previously and tried knitting into the round below to create the pinstriping, but I am not sure about how to go about the decreases for the gusset with this method. Of course, if I rip out the heel and just go with a short row heel, my life would get a lot easier, as there would be no decreasing in the colorwork; but I kind of like the look of the decreasing in the pinstripe.

As for the spinning, I am halfway there.

Woodland progress

To give you an idea of how fine the single is, here it is in comparison to Colinette Jitterbug.

Woodland against Jitterbug

I admit, I am a slow spinner, especially with fine yarns. Hey, at least it makes the experience last longer, right?

And there is a new sewing project on the horizon.

Cotton/Lycra jersey

I got these jersey knits from Gorgeous Fabrics to try my hand at copying a favorite shirt of Mr. Penney’s. We can’t find a knit shirt that buttons all the way up the front anywhere, so I came up with the brilliant idea of making one. I report later on how successful the whole thing turns out. Continue reading

Like You’ll Never See Me Again

Reference

Ok. I know I said that I wasn’t going to do this; but I figured that if I didn’t show you the stuff that I got at Sheep and Wool, you may never see it at the rate I move.

But first, let me tell you what my philosophy is when shopping the festival: “Shop like you may never see it again!” As you may have guessed from that statement, I am not one that goes into these things with a budget. My thought is that the festival is my only chance to actually see, and in some cases, buy, the yarn and fiber from some vendors. There are a lot of independent dyers and farms that are at the festival, and in some cases, MSWF is the only festival that they do. I rarely get things at the festival that I could get at my LYS or from a general Internet retailer. (This wasn’t always true, as when I first started going to the festival, there were no Internet retailers. But that was over 20 years ago.)

In any case, this is my haul: Continue reading

Spinning Around

Reference

Well, I am getting back to weaving, but by route of my spinning wheel.

No, I am not working on the rug yet. Instead, I am working on an idea that came to me a little while ago. I am hoping working on this idea will help me get my weaving mojo back so I can conquer the rug.

Spinning with a purpose

The idea? Weaving with singles fresh from the spinning wheel. I had actually given this some thought a while ago, when I saw mention that most industrial woven fabrics are woven from singles, not plied yarn. What brought it to mind again was an interview in Spin Off with Kathryn Alexander, who mentioned that she got the idea to knit with energized singles from talking to Peggy Osterkamp, who was weaving with energized singles at the time.

I have woven with singles before, but I had always blocked the yarn to set the twist before I used the singles. This time, I am going to wind the warp directly from the bobbins, and take the weft yarn directly from the bobbins, as well.

The yarn that I am spinning?

Yarn on the bobbin

This is a Romney and mohair blend that I got from Colleen (The Barefoot Spinner) at last year’s MSWF.

Barefoot roving

I love this stuff. It spins so easily just as it is, with no pre-drafting whatsoever. The mohair gives the yarn a nice halo, in my opinion; and the feel is just so soft. The photos make the colors look kind of harsh, but they aren’t in person. Darn flash.

And the smell? I love the smell of clean wool. Really, I swoon.

As for what I will weave, it will either be a scarf or a shawl, depending on how long I spin. The pattern will be a four harness twill because 1) my four harness Dorset loom is the only loom without a warp on it, and 2) I believe doing plain weave will result in tracking, which is not something that I am going for at the moment.

Don’t worry, knitting has not been abandoned. I have a sock

Francis Patrick sock

and a hat

Topdown hat in Cascade 220 Superwash

in progress. The sock is using a merino yarn that I tried earlier. I figured I would give it another shot. I has a high twist to it, so it feels kind of harsh when I knit with it. The hat is the same pattern as my beenie, but this time with extra length to be a full fledge hat. I am using Cascade 220 Superwash, and I am loving it. (Actually, I finished the hat last night at meetup.)