Rain or Shine

Posted on 4May09 by textillian

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.)

(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green

Posted on 30March09 by textillian

Reference

I am finishing things!

The other weekend, I finished the singles I was spinning.

I have no idea where I am going to go with it from here. Maybe two ply, maybe a Navajo ply. I am not sure right at this moment.

And this weekend, I finished these!

Yeah! The Christmas socks are done. I am in the process of writing up the instructions. Hopefully, they will be my next post.

One Week

Posted on 12March09 by textillian

Reference

Recently, a friend of mine from work said, “Oh, did I tell you we are expecting another child? She is due in March.”

Ok, not giving me a lot of time here! So I went on ravelry to see what yarns people were using for Baby Surprise Jackets. One of the yarns that I noticed was Jitterbug. I have a ton of Jitterbug!

Then I thought, “You know, I could do that baby sweater from Knitter’s Almanac, since they are expecting a girl.” And thus, this project was conceived.

The colorway is Moss and it took a little over a week to knit. I would have taken less if I hadn’t started out with some gawd-awful bamboo that were a pain in the neck (and parts lower) to work with. I got a set of Addi Turbo Lace needles at Cloverhill, and I have to tell you, the lace needles made this go so much faster. I see more of them in my future.

All that is left to do with the sweater is to sew on the buttons and to give it a wash. I am pretty happy with the results, though there was one disappointing thing with the skein of Jitterbug: there was a knot in it. I haven’t had that happen to me in a long time, as most sock yarns don’t seem to have that problem. I wound up cutting out the knot and doing a Russian join to take care of the situation.

There has been spinning as well.

This is merino in the Black Watch colorway from Mama E’s C*eye*ber Fiber. I picked up the roving at MSWF from the Cloverhill booth. The areas that I thought were black are really just a very dark green. It is an interesting spin. What I am going to do with the resulting yarn is yet to be determined, but it is a nice break.

The Rubberband Man

Posted on 26February09 by textillian

Reference

The rubberband on my spinning wheel was suffering from dry rot, so it broke all on its own when I only had a little over 8 ounces done of the Tide Pool roving. I figured my tension was going to change after replacing the rubberband (that is part of the brake band,) so it was as good of a time as any to start plying the singles I had already spun!

The color here isn’t exactly true. It seems a bit harsh here, when it isn’t in the actual yarn.

I will figure out the yardage and the wpi later when I actually use it to weave, but it is nice for a squeeze every now and then. When I spin up the other half of the roving, I will use one session’s yarn for the warp and the other’s for the weft. By doing this, I remove any problem that I may have with consistency between the two spin sessions.

Anticipation

Posted on 2February09 by

Reference

Well, after completing two projects, you would think I would be all giddy and happy and all that. And I was. For about a day. Then I got all moody, wondering what to do next. Granted, it was not like I didn’t have other projects that couldn’t just get off my duff and get back to; but I wanted to start something brand shiny and new.

This is when problems happen for me, because it is in these moody times that I start a project that I am really only half-hearted about just to start a project. Self-awareness is a wonderful thing. This time, instead, I allowed myself to stay moody trying to decide what to do next. (Poor Mr. Penney for having to put up with me.)

Well, I decided on a project! Continue reading →

Olympic Theme

Posted on 27August08 by textillian

Reference

Well, the Olympics are over. Kind of sad. But the happy part is that I did actually get something done during that two week period.

Call it a shawl if you wish, but I prefer to think of it as a Super Scarf! The fiber is a Romney – mohair blend that I got years ago at the MSWF from the Barefoot Spinner. I spun the fiber into a two-ply sport/worsted weight yarn a few years ago. It has been sitting around on a shelf, after the move here, waiting for this moment: its chance to shine.

I used the thinner of the two yarns as the warp yarn, sett at 8 ends per inch (EPI.) The thicker yarn was used as weft, woven in at 8 picks per inch (PPI.) The weave structure is a dornick twill (what none weavers will think of as a herringbone.) The weave structure doesn’t really stand out in this because of the weft and the warp being the same yarn, but there is some evidence that it is there.

I am pretty happy with the outcome. The tweedy look of it is something that I always like.

Where will the Super Scarf! go? Hmmmm….

Here Comes the Judge

Posted on 21August08 by textillian

Reference

Yesterday was a very interesting day for me. Why? Because yesterday, I was one of the two judges for the weaving and spinning home arts competition at the Maryland State Fair. It was a good time, getting to go over everyone’s entries with a fine tooth comb. Of course, doing that made it a long day. I didn’t get home until 8 PM.

Here are some observations: Continue reading →

Waiting Game

Posted on 10July08 by textillian

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.

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,

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.

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

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

Posted on 7June08 by textillian

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 →