Category Archives: Work in progress

Apologize

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Well, Mel ask for a close up, so here it is.

Yep, the tattoos are long gone. They only lasted about two days, and then they started to wear off, so we washed them the rest of the way off. You see, they were only airbrush tattoos. Sorry to disappoint.

We got the tattoos on vacation down Rehoboth Beach, DE. On our first night down there, we were walking Rehoboth Avenue, and saw the tattoo designs outside of a place that does teeth whitening and spray tans. (Wait, it gets better.)  As we were looking at the designs, our twelve year old saleslady comes out to greet us and inform us that the airbrush tattoos are buy 2, get 1 free. How could we refuse? (So, Roseann, you are correct, there was a Chinese character on Mr. Penney’s upper arm. That one was performed by our young saleslady. That was our free tattoo.) The tattoos were rather realistic while they were on, as we went to the Double L (a leather bar) and people were surprised to hear that the tattoos were not permanent.

As for how long they lasted, they started to wear off after two days. Not wanting to look smudged, we washed them off after that.

I was actually kind of surprised by how mine looked. While I like how tattoos look on some people, I figured it just wasn’t something that wouldn’t look right on me, like I was trying to be something that I am not. But the armband that I chose, that couldn’t go around my whole bicep (Welcome to the gun show!), reminded me if ikat, and didn’t look totally out of place on me, like I feared. Maybe one day I will get a tattoo, but I do have the concern that Lisa expressed, which is how it will look 30 years from now. Everything might not be so taut and lovely as it is now.

As for fibery things, all that is moving along at a good pace. Here are a couple pics of the spinning as of a few weeks ago.

All of my available bobbins were full for this picture. I have had to wind the yarn off the bobbins to free them up for more spinning, of which I have done two more bobbins. I figure I have about three more bobbins worth of spinning to go with this fleece. I am thinking of dyeing the yarn different colors for warp and weft, so if anyone has recommendations for dyeing handspun singles such that they do not become an unruly mess, I am all ears.

The socks are nearing completion.

And Roseann was correct again, these are for Mr. Penney. His birthday was while we were on vacation, and these are to keep his feet comfy. They were also a chance for me to test knit the write up of this pattern, which was a good thing, because the instructions for the heel were a mess.

The scarf is coming along as well.

It is still kind of boring as far as knitting projects go, but the change in colors helps.

And there is one more thing,

That I will get into later.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Yeah!

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Woohoo! Look what arrived on Wednesday!

The fleece that I bought from Triple R Farms at MSWF arrived. Ain’t it purdy!

As you might have suspected, I have already started spinning it.

Being that it was over a six pound Romney fleece (though it may be less six now after processing), I have plenty to do.

Without making myself a wreck over it, I am going to try to see how fast I can spin the whole thing. The two bobbins of yarn that you saw in the photos above took about five hours for me to spin. The weight of the yarn on those bobbins is about twelve ounces; so assuming that I have six pounds of roving, at this rate it will take me under forty hours to spin the whole thing as a single. I am not going to hold my breath on that though.

As I mentioned before, I am spinning this with intentions of weaving it into a blanket. Whether this will be a plied yarn, or if there will be any dyeing going on, or if I will be spinning up another fleece from my stash to go along with it is undecided. I am going to see how this fleece goes first and play the rest by ear.

Now, back to spinning.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Milestones

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Another blog entry, another completed project!

I finished my slip stitch rib socks in Djinni in the Reluctant Dragon colorway this past weekend. They immediately were washed and on Wednesday were worn all day.

The yarn is 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Having worn the socks, I can tell you that they are comfortable and WARM! Fortunately, I tend to work in cold environments, dealing with computers all day, so that really isn’t a problem for me. They should be especially good for this winter.

I have also finished up the singles of the BFL in the Everglades colorway.

For some reason, in my strange mind, I think of this as being done, though it really isn’t, as I do plan on making a two-ply of it, then then winding a warp with it. Though I must admit, changing a braid to a single ply is a significant milestone. Milestones are sometimes the only thing that keep me going on a project, though that wasn’t the case here.

With all of these completions, you know new projects are not far behind, and thus:

I am knitting up the elongated chevron sock again, this time in the Black Pearl colorway of Naiad that I got from Cloverhill at MSWF. I wrote up the pattern a little while ago, and this is my test knit for the pattern. So far, so good. (I say as I keep my fingers and toes crossed.)

And this is the last completed handspun that I posted, already being knit up. Imagine that! This is just a simple feather and fan pattern for a scarf. While I like the resulting knit, I am finding it a bit boring to work on, and I am not sure why. It might be because I know it is just going to be the same four rows for most of the way, without any kind of indication partway through to say that I am X% of the way done. It is not like I have a heel to turn, or armholes to cast off for, or anything like that. The best that I have to go by is how much yarn I have left. That will have to do, I guess. I do like my milestones.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Roll With It

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Writing this post makes me feel like I am on a roll. I am not. It was just that it was so long since I have written about something other than the blanket or stash enhancement that I have had time to actually do some knitting and some spinning. Let’s start with the spinning.

This is the silk/merino blend that I got from Neighborhood Fiber at the Homespun Yarn Party. It took what feels like forever to do the plying for this. I think this is mainly due to the fact that I did not bring the Louet that I use for plying upstairs, and instead did the plying down in the basement. Not the most conducive of environments. But I did persevere. I am thinking of knitting some lace with this, though I have not settled on a pattern yet, as there are only 350 yards here, so some of my initial thoughts are out the window.

And here is some of the Fiber Optic that I picked up at the festival. They are both BFL. The Sapphire is waiting to be plied, while I am more than halfway through spinning up the Everglade into singles. I am very happy with it, so far. Once finished, I hope to use the one as weft and the other as warp to weave a scarf. Fingers crossed.

And I finished another pair of socks! This is the Dubious Oriole colorway in Naiad Sock from Dragonfly Fibers. This was my easy knitting, as it is just the plain old 2×2 rib. Not that the next sock is difficult.

This is Djinni from Dragonfly Fibers in Reluctant Dragon colorway. Both this and the Naiad you just saw are ones that I got at the Homespun Yarn Party. The stitch pattern for this sock is the slip stitch rib from one of the Schurch sock books. Like I said, not difficult.

And this little thing?

Is one of of Opal’s Off the Hook stitch markers. You can see them better over at her store. BTW, she has moved her blog, in case you are keeping track.

And since I am giving shout-outs, here is a shout to my friend Nancy, who started up her blog towards the end of last year. Pop by and say hello, or she might go medieval on your …. Just kidding, Nancy!

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Bad Boy

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Well, you know I couldn’t stay good for long. The completion of two socks meant the commencement of two others. The first is in Dragonfly Fiber‘s Djinni Sock.

The colorway is Reluctant Dragon that I purchased at the Homespun Yarn Party. The stitch pattern is one that I have done before, the slip stitch rib from SKS. I started out the sock using a rib and moss pattern from one of the Knitting Treasuries, but it was just not working out as I had hoped. There was surprising little elasticity to the stitch pattern. Elasticity is not a problem with the slip stitch rib. In fact, I have had to change over to using the magic loop rather than my beloved 12″ circulars because the draw in of the pattern makes the 12″ kind of a pain.

You may notice that Reluctant Dragon is kind of dark, so for lighter knitting, I started another Naiad sock.

This colorway is Oriole – Dubious, which I also got that the Homespun Yarn Party. I am not quite sure what Dubious means, perhaps a test run of a colorway or something, but I really like how this is kintting up, and love the base yarn.

Oh, and I have started spinning up the fiber I got from Neighborhood Fiber at HYP.

It spins up pretty easily, with me being half way through the braid now. Being part silk though, it does stick to my sweaty hands. A little baby powder helps with that problem, though.

And finally, there is this to explain:

But I will do that a little later. Right now, someone is looking to be petted.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Twilight Zone

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Yeah! The first sock is done.

Sexy pose, no? Crappy photography, no? I do love the sock, though I am still not sure if I picked the right stitch pattern for the colorway (Winter Twilight). It is a fun knit, and that is what matters the most to me right now.

And do I like the yarn?

Yes. Actually, only the top three are Naiad from Dragonfly Fibers (in Oriole-Dubious, Canyon Flower, and Rocky Top). The bottom two are Djinni, also from Dragonfly Fibers (in Winter Twilight, again, and Reluctant Dragon). I got them at the Homespun Yarn Party this past Sunday. It was so close to my house that it is hard to stay away. I also got these.

The roving is merino and silk from Neighborhood Fiber (colorway unknown), as is the blue merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn next to it (in Palisades). The other yarn in the photo is Bugga from Sanguine Gryphon (in Marpesia Marcella).

Now, you may be wondering where the yarn from Sheila is. Well, I have it on order, and you probably won’t be seeing it here for a while, as it is going to be part of a gift for someone who may actually visit this site on occasion. I know, bummer; but just think: Anticipation!

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Blue (Da Ba Dee)

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Here’s a pic of my current knitting and spinning projects.

Can you guess what my favorite color is?

For the Ice Ice Baby sock, I am nearing the finish line.

I am on the leg of the second sock, so hopefully I will finish it up in the next week.

Kokomo is making slower progress.

But it is progress, nonetheless.

And finally, my first new sock of 2010. (Yes, I have held out this long!)

The yarn is Naiad from Dragonfly Fibers in the Winter Twilight colorway. The yarn is superwash merino/bamboo/nylon. I really like it. Nice and smooth, and a bit heathery in color.

I am waiting until I finish the toe before deciding on a stitch pattern for the sock, that way I will have a better idea of where the colors will fall. I do know that it is going to be “just” a knit/purl pattern, something that will keep my interest without requiring lots and lots of attention.

Finally!

I finished spinning the pound of Romney and mohair roving that I got at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival a couple of years ago. I did about twelve ounces of the singles while I was off for President’s Day, and did all of the plying from center-pull balls this weekend. I am pretty happy with how it came out. While I normally don’t wash the handspun I use for weaving, this has a fair amount of oil still in it, so I may just wash it all before I use it to weave with, to save any of it from getting on the loom. When the weaving will take place, who knows?

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Baby Talk

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It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Don’t worry, I am still knitting. In fact, I am working on baby sweaters because pregnancy seems to be contagious at the moment. Two friends of mine are expecting their first offspring at any moment now, and my niece is expect her first child in July, so I have to get crackin’.

The first of these is done and delivered.

It is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket. This is a remarkable neat design, but I have to say that although it is all garter stitch, it is not really “mindless” knitting for me, at least in the beginning. This is because the decreases used for the miters at the beginning of the sweater don’t lend themselves to regular stitch markers. You have to use something like safety pins that actually go in the stitch, otherwise you will just be constantly moving around stitch markers. Once the decreases were done, though, I was able to use the stitch markers to mark the stitches that get the increase on either side. It is just a matter of me getting over that initial hump. (Strange that the part involving increases wound up being the “downhill” side of knitting this garment.)

The yarn is Sheep Feet from Sheep Shop. (Say that five times fast.) It was a nice yarn to work with, although there were flaws, where they spliced the yarn, in each of the two skeins that I used. For the price, I expected better.

This is the current baby sweater that I am working on:

It is another February Baby Sweater from Knitter’s Almanac. Since this is the third time that I am working this pattern, I am trying a different lace pattern for the main portion of the sweater. I made a slight change to the Vine Lace pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns from Barbara Walker so that it is only a seven stitch repeat rather than the nine stitch repeat that it is in the book. (I did this by change the k2’s to k1’s.) Since taking this photo, I have finished the first sleeve, and am about to start the other sleeve. But problem that I am having at the moment is that the second sleeve is falling at an odd place in the lace pattern that I have changed over to. (The original sweater had no extra stitches outside of the repeats. The one I changed over to has one extra stitch.) One stitch either way probably won’t make too much of a difference, but I need to think it through more to be sure.

The yarn for this one is Jitterbug, again. Colinette has upped the yardage on Jitterbug to 400 yards. This might make it valuable for socks again! Hooray!

Now, back to shoveling snow.

Yes, I am tired of winter. I became tired of it over a month ago.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Kokomo

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It’s been a while since I have actually talked about what I am actually working on, so I figured now would be as good of a time as any to do that. First, the infamous Ice Ice Baby sock.

I took this photo this morning. I finished off the first sock this evening after dinner, ready to start the second sock. Roseann found another boo-boo in the instructions, so I will be updating the errata post for the sock with that information. Again, it is not a matter of fit, just how the stitches fall, setting things up for the 1×1 ribbing for the cuff.

Before I was able to bring Ice Ice Baby to Wednesday night knitting (because the pattern had not been released yet), I started the summer sock from Sheila’s sock club, Kokomo.

I converted the pattern to a toe-up sock and used a short row heel. I am knitting these on 2.25 mm needles instead of 2.5 mm, as the recipient has really tiny feet (at least in comparison to my feet).

Finally, with all of this knitting, I felt the need to do something other than knitting during the holidays. Fortunately, my swap partner in the Winter Wonderland Swap sent me some alpaca roving. I spun that up in no time and am now working my way through a pound of Romney/mohair blend that I got at the MSWF a couple years ago.

The black singles are the alpaca, and the blue/green/purple is the Romney/mohair. I will be winding these off their bobbins into center-pull balls so do two ply onto themselves. That is pretty much my default means of making a two ply.

Copyright 2010 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com