100 posts!

The last post made 100 and to celebrate I have some photo's around here somewhere...

The purse. Thank you 'Quisha

(I just unloaded my camera so there may be duplicates from other posts.)

From left to right brown CVM, white Romney wool, handpainted Merino, white Angora, red Ashland bay, white Angora wool blend. A tribute to my A.D.D.

The Merino before I sent it off. There is more being spun up as we speak as I said.

The sweater in pieces before it was put together. It's a lot darker than the photo came out. This looks like a steel grey when it's actually black.

I just got done weaving in the ends and sewing up one of the arms. I tried it on again and it seems that the back is shorter than the front so I will have to do the shaping, and it doesn't pooch so much in front now that it's longer.

Today I picked up 2 new jobs both from the same person. I am finishing a knitting job and making a sweater from scratch out of...get this ...Green cashmere from Noro! Yeah, how could I say no to that?

I am such a Ho sometimes.

Well got to go it's 1100 pm and I am bushed...Baby(yes that is a racial joke, yes you can laugh)

Toodles!

Huzzah!

I sent off my secret pals fiber and gift. wich she got and posted about here. So now I can officially talk about it.
It was a blast to spin and it came out so fine on my drop spindle. I was suprised that it was only like 1/2 oz. I will send more next time.

I took the roving and split it into lengths and then ran then together once on the drum card. I like the results better.
None of my knitting has grown except the Job. I have finished knitting it and only need to add fringe. In case you're wondering this is a 7.5 inch wide scarf made in prism and katrina. It is 76 inches long and knit in stockinette. The Job before that was a seed stitch jacket in brown and black classic elite alpaca.
My own sweater is up to the back of the neck shaping and I no longer trust the directions. I did try it on though and was impressed and dissapointed. It warmed me immediatly and was softer than I thought. Unfortunatly, my decrease rounds were too tight and they make the yoke pucker. Also I think it wasn't long enough in the torso 'cause it rides up and pooches in the front. This may be fixed with the back of the neck shaping and more knitting. I then noticed the opening was 2 inches from the edge of my shoulders. It is however sturdy and way lighter than anything I have made in commercial yarns. Go T'! Over all I'm kinda impressed.

I bought my rabbit a new cage and set the younger one on the bottom and now she's gone spastic. It must be something about the position, cause now Riley is on top and she is calmer. I may move them around so they are in the back an the boys are in the front. I've said that before but boys spray and I haven't figured out how to fix that other than spend more money on urine guards.

IDEAS

I was listening to some old Cast on Like I said, and came across Franklin’s talk about knitting the seamless raglan sweater from E.Z’s knitting without tears. It was a cute comment and I went to the book looking to see if the “house on fire" comment was there…It was SO cute! That got me to thinking though about my next sweater.
I spun just short of 2 lbs for this sweater so I will probably spin another 2 lbs or so for the next one. But what will it be?
I was looking at making a raglan sweater for my husband but it went badly. I was thinking of re- doing it with this method considering that most of it is already done except the sleeves. This does mean I will have to rip back the top to the beginning of the chest shaping but I don’t think it will be so much of a problem.

On the idea of the next hand spun sweater…. I’ve got enough Romney wool to make another sweater. This one will be a raglan 3 ply yarn on size 10 needles knit in plain stockinette stitch. Now why would I want to do that? Sounds boring doesn't it? Not to me, I like plain clothes. It makes coordinating a lot easier. I seem to have a guys taste in clothes. I was thinking about opening a hand knit sweater store for men. Course then I looked on Etsy and noticed I'm not the first with this idea.

Honestly though, stockinette is fast and easy, as well as it lets me concentrate on learning how to make the sweater instead of having to blend a pattern into the lesson. I read the technique directions for the raglan seamless and It makes a logical kind of sense. Everything is the same until you've joined the sleeves to the body. Then you make k2tog k 1 ssk decrease sets at the 4 points where the sleeves and body meet. I’m not sure what happened to Franklin, but I will give it a shot. Course I haven’t finished the yoke sweater yet. It may wind up too short in the body and sleeves, which would throw the whole thing off.
Any way…
The new Job continues, and all goes well. I have found that I knit stockinette at a rate of 9 inches per hour. The scarf is only 7.5 inches wide and is knitted flat. I think that’s fine cause it means my estimation of how long it will take was only off by an hour.

Back to sweater ideas, I can see a black and white pattern on a yoke sweater or a Gansey in blue using 2 cables on the front and 2 on the back, with seed stitch in between for a few inches, followed by a stockinette stitch space, then a garter stitch star up bu the neck. It would be like looking through a gateway to the sea at night.
*

11 ---------- 11
11 -------------- 11
11 - - - - - - - - - - 11
11- - - - - - - -- - - - - 11
11 - - - - - - - - - - - - -11

Something like that. All that in textured stitches. Wow, maybe I will skip the raglan. Here’s an idea, I could knit a bunch of bodies and sleeves and then pick up and knit the rest of the sweaters however I wanted to. That way I would not have to make each one from scratch and could customize them with out much work. A great thing would be to use my husbands sock machine to make the bodies and then knit the sleeves myself, then finish up with what ever. Great way to make bear clothes.
Any way, gotta go, I have a knit meeting this morning.
Toodles!

The Journey of 1000 miles....

Today was a lesson. In what I'm not quite sure but I feel moved. This morning I was inconvenienced by the OPS bus problem. Angry I was looking for someone to blame, but I have come to the conclusion that it was no ones fault, it was just life. I went on with the rest of the day and didn't let it get to me.
As I searched for a place to hold the fiber fest I took J's suggestion and tried the VFW. I talked to a man who wanted to tell me all about his health problems. I was patient, having worked at the VA med center. When I went to tour the hall this evening, he told me he had just been diagnosed with aggressive bone marrow cancer in September. He is 73 and spent 38 years in the service. I met his wife and listened while he told me about how the 8 kids they raised, none of them ones they had together, turned out just fine. All of them have major careers on the east coast. One of them works for NASA. One of the things I learned was that they enforced the idea of respect for each other in their family. Something I have not been doing. I don't wonder at some of the bouts of disrespect my husband gets from the kids, and I know that some of it comes from my actions.

Bored and desperate for a podcast, I went back and listened to the first or second podcast from Cast On. One of the songs she played was to become a theme song for another podcast, and another is one I just heard on David Reidy's Sticks and String. Instead of thinking about how people can't be original enough to pick their own music, I was struck by how much of a community has been created and how we are all connected. It warmed my heart and made me remember that we are never alone.

As I listened to the podcast and thought about knitting, I "cast a loving gaze" over to my handspun sweater. I can't wait to finish it. I have some ideas on embellishments but i am proud that it has not been changed from it's original intent. It's hard to knit an object and not have ideas about how to improve it or make it something else. It's really hard to make what I started out making. To realize the idea was fine just the way it was. Sorta like vegetables raw, fruit without dip, or just me in plain clothes.

Spin span spun

Welcome to the first post of 2007.
Today we are spinning the merino Tango colorway from Paradise Fibers on a homemade drop spindle made from a dowel and 2 wooden wheels. It looks like we have done up ¼-1/2 oz and it is just a dream to work with.

What to do with it? I have 8 oz total and I was considering my options…
Give it to my secret pal
Make something out of it
Sell it as yarn in the festival.
I decided to go all of the routes. I will give some to my secret pal, I will make something for myself (maybe a set of those fingerless gloves!) and I will sell a bit of it.(If there is any left)
One of the yarns I make I will pass the fiber through the carder first. This blends the colors so that you can't even tell it's from the same roving. It also helps with the plying problem. I'm not fond of Navajo plying, and I don't like the "two verigated yarns plyed together" look.

Oh the Weather is going to be fright full, but the for-cast could be lie-full, And since I haven’t seen them yet, Call the girls for a fiber met!

Ok so I’m keeping my day job! To all you who read this I’m proposing a get together this Saturday at Wild Oats if the weather is ok. I’m thinking hot drinks, chocolate and fiber!
Amazingly enough I still have the Job. I’m down to a few buttons but I think the lady knit the cuffs wrong. Putting 2 splits on each one.

Anyway work has been a total change up. New boss, new coworkers, same old B.S.
Last night I went to the meeting at Mangelsons. Only to discover I didn't have the right equipment for the JOB.
Oh well, that's all for now.
Tune in next time for more fiber adventures on...Snarled Yarns!

Interview with a fiber artist

I recieved my copy of sheep and goat world, the newsletter of the Nebraska Sheep and Goat Association.
This makes my second interview ever and I'm becoming a celebrity.(My first was the OWSG Guild newsletter)
If you get this newsletter let me know. You know how we celebs like to be recognised!

I am finally going to do a bit of review of 2006 and some looking forward on 2007.

I came, I played, I will play some more.

Nuf said?

I have started to watch the Potters Touch/House a show run Sunday through Friday on TBN by a man named T.D. Jakes. He is inspiring. I am learning to get where I want to be in my life. One step at a time but always a step forward.

I have decided to stop knitting for other people. My intention was to focus on spinning. Knitting was only away to evaluate them. Somehow it expanded and started taking over. Don't panic, I will still knit, and I will still buy yarns but I let myself get sidetracked.

This week, My boss got demoted, I got new job duties, and I got the opportunity to take a job that pays more and works with more positive people. I also got a work out partner and a routine starting next Monday.
Wish me luck, I'm gonna need to invest in the Motrin company=-)