novamade

how to win friends and influence people

I suspect that, if Bertha and I were not already friends, she would be very friendly with me after getting this handspun I spun for her.

It took me longer than I would have liked to spin (even longer for the twist to set); but, it's pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself; and, obviously I do.

But wait, there's more!  I spun some of the wool from my friend, Kathy. 

When she gets her own blog, I will link to her.  But for now, I will have to refer back to the post where I dyed 2 pounds of New Zealand perrendale wool at my friend's house.  I wasn't sure that my rudimentary dye job on the roving would look all that great when spun up.  Sometimes it's good to be wrong.  I think this is really pretty.  I am going to add it to my fall knitting pile, I don't know what I am going to do with it yet. I am, of course, open to suggestions.

And I have finished some other projects, here's a sneek peek....

autumn on the horizon

Summer, auf wiedersehen. Bonjour, Autumn.

If there is one thing a contest or giveaway is good for, it's learning that you are not alone in your insanity.  Some of you have some crazy long lists; and, I totally respect that.  My plans for fall seemed ready, and then a friend gave me a request that might push a ton of my fall projects into winter (as opposed to the few projects I was previously expecting).

So I think this is all of the fall knitting that I have planned.  The grey (back left) is some Beaverslide Dy Goods McTaggert Tweed destined to be a sweater.  I have no idea which one since I have changed my mind about the pattern no less than 6 times between taking it out of the cabinet and winding the cakes.  The orange yarn next to the grey is going to be a shawl, very fall, no?  The taupe/brown yarn next to the orange is going to be a Wallaby,  I think it's time that Little Sir had one that was easy care and cotton.  Below that is some dyed Perrendale wool that is going to be spun up and knit into a sweater for Little Mister.  Next to the blue roving and underneath the orange yarn is a sweater that has been in progress since last fall--it needs sleeves, that's doable.  A skein of Cherry Tree Supersock in birches for socks.  Some Louet sport...maybe another sweater for Little Mister, clearly one who gets so happy about fall needs fall sweaters?  And then the single sock with the remainder of sock yarn for a sock that has been mateless for two years.  So sad.

I was all set with the knitting plans; and, then a friend who bought a house in Costa Rica last year asked if I would make two afghans for her new piece of paradise to brighten things up.  Um, how could I say no?  I could not.  So I am going to be crocheting two afghan throws; but, I need to finish them so she can take them along to her new place in November.  So that is likely going to be where my efforts get concentrated first.  I haven't gotten the yarn yet (and can I just freely admit how giddy I am to be ordering new yarn?  It's so exciting to looks at the colors and imagine what the yarn can be turned into!  I wish I could be a personal shopper for yarn types, I would be so good at that.  Really.).

And then there are the quilts.  I wants to make tons, but I have to finish the log cabin quilt. Little Sir is very interested in helping me.  I think the hold up for this quilt is the fact that I decided to quilt it myself, when the sensible solution would be to send it out to a professional quilter with a longarm machine.  But deep down, there is some part of me that wants to be able to say, "oh, quilt a queen-sized quilt, I've done that, it's not so bad."  That is also the part me that I refer to as my naive and stupid side, so there you are.)

And then there is this autumnal stack for a kid's quilt.

And don't even get me started on my weaving plans.  I don't know what they are, but I know I have plans to weave...

In case you were wondering, I wasn't as successful on the summer finishing front, the red scarf is done (needs wet blocking); and, I am super close to finishing the lacey shawl...I should be able to get things from the summer list done this week though (with the exception of the sweater vest, never have I felt so plagued by such a simple project).  I don't feel so bad about it, I had a nice and restful weekend with my boys, and that was where my priorities were for the holiday.

And as for the contest/giveaway, I used a random number generator to "pick" a winner, and that would be Ali who blogs at Skeins Her Way.  Thanks for playing everyone, good luck with finishing your summer projects and getting through your fall knitting list!

and we're off!

                                            above: summer spinning

I know that, technically, there are 17 or 18 days left of summer (for those of us north of the equator); but, I think that I am not alone in thinking that fall pretty much starts afterLabor Day (next Monday, the 7th).  For me, a deadline serves as a strong motivating force to get things done.  I do not quake about deadlines, I welcome them (I hope for them, actually).  So with a minute past midnight, the 8th (day after Labor Day) as my deadline, I have a couple of days to finish a couple of things.  Because, quite frankly, I am way more excited about my fall projects than I am about my summer ones that are sort of languishing.

I have been working on a vest all summer, I already know it's not getting done by Monday, so the vest will be my carry over project to the next season (I only work on it during my lunch hour at work, so it's slow going, but I know it'll get done).  It's the one fall project that I am not particularly excited about.

I have had a red silk scarf on my Kromski rigid heddle loom since last October.  The loom got buried underneath some fabric and batting at some point and it was out of my sight, so it went out of my mind.  I am finishing this scarf if I finish nothing else this weekend.

Actually, I am going to spin this roving for Bertha, even if I finish nothing else this weekend.  Sorry, Bertha, when I said I would post this Friday, I really meant that I would post it to you on Tuesday.

I have two quilts that I would like to finish up, one needs binding and the other needs quilting and binding. 

 

Finish two quilts in a weekend? Totally doable.

 

I have been working on a shawl all summer that needs to be finished, because I am sick of working on it.  I don't really like knitting shawls in laceweight yarn, so I am not really sure why I started this.  It's almost done...32 rows, that's nothing.

Of course, I am going to try to finish this stuff while taking the boys to the beach or some other such nonsense (that is what one does over Labor Day weekend, apparently, that and grill things), and generally having long holiday weekend family fun.  And when I am done with all of that, I am going to read some books.

Yes.  I know.

For those in the US, Happy Labor Day!  May your laboring be fruitful.

And you still have time to enter the contest (it's not really a contest, but, there you are)/givewaway if you haven't already done so.

on economy: treatise 1, the sentimentality of spending

Not THE economy; but, economy in general.  Despite the state of THE economy, I made a purchase that some would consider frivolous.  I know the person who made the purchase possible would have thought so.  Oh, well.

I've been thinking about economy quite a bit lately, not so much because of the state that our (THE) economy is in right now (some would say the toilet, I'll let you define it for yourself); but, mostly because of the date.  If my dad had lived, he would have turned 66 years old today.  You guys know how much Ilove birthdays and celebrating them.  Every year, for his birthday, I would buy my dad a box of chocolate covered cherries.  His favorites weren't especially fancy, they were the economical choice.  They were the type that one could walk into a drug store, any drug store, and buy for less than $5 a box, if one wanted.  My dad only ate them for his birthday, and Christmas, because I would send them again at Christmas time.  He loved them; and, he considered it a special treat, mostly because I sent them to him---it was the sort of thing he would never buy for himself.  For my dad's birthday today, I almost bought a box of those chocolate covered cherries in his memory; but, then I realized, I couldn't eat them anyway (due to recently discovering that I am lactose intolerant, I know!). 

My dad often said that sentimentality caused one to make silly decisions, I think he was right about that, for the most part.  My dad was a pretty funny guy, he was a bit anti-social, so people didn't always really get to know him; but, he was the kind of guy that most people would like, I think.  He never took himself seriously, and he loved to laugh; but, above all, he was thrifty.  If there was a photo of a person in the dictionary (or, I guess, on wikipedia) for the entries on thrift or frugalitythere would be a picture of my dad.  My dad didn't like spending money, and he was more a "use what you have" or a "make do" kind of person.  Growing up, I didn't really mind his frugality so much, only in the summer when he would sort of try to beat some record to see how long he could go without turning on the air-conditioning (with the goal being to not turn it on at all).  His little test of wills wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't live in Florida, on the gulf where it usually gets to be around 104 degrees in July and August with 100% humidity without a drop of rain (seriously, I used to call Pensacola the tenth cirlce of hell--for the heat weary). 

My dad used to say things like, "when I kick the bucket, then you can spend my money anyway you want.  Get yourself something nice."  When I was a kid, I never really thought much about spending my dad's money at all, probably because it was so rare to actually spend any money in general, really (this might be what drives my hoarding now, but, there you are).  My dad wasn't a wealthy man, which, I suppose, might explain his frugality. But, he wasn't a stingy man.  If he had something and someone else was in need of it, he would share it or give it outright.  He liked to "spread the wealth" as they say, similar to the way I like sharing my passion for fiber and textiles!  That being said, my dad never quite got the whole crafting thing.  He never held it against me, but, he thought it was weird that I spent so much time and (especially) money on crafting.  Last year, when he visited, he summed it up like so, "I don't know much about the whole knitting thing, but, I am pretty sure you've got enough of that yarn."  When he saw my spinning wheel, he just shook his head and didn't say a word.

A few weeks ago, a check came in the mail from a life insurance policy my dad had with his job.  I didn't know he had it, neither did my half-sisters.  It was a surprise, a welcome one, actually.  Death is expensive.  We ended up charging a great deal to our credit card after my dad passed away.  But K thought (and I agreed, obviously) that it would be nice to get something with some of that money that would help me remember my dad (you know, a thing...people do this, right?  It's not just me, is it?!).  The obvious thing would have been a fishing pole, because my dad loved to fish; but, let's get real here, I am not going fishing anytime soon.  I didn't like to fish when my dad made me go with him as a kid, so I am certainly not going to do it now (though I am sad that my boys will never get to go fishing with my dad, it was kind of an event).  So instead, I got myself something nice: a Schacht Matchless double treadle spinning wheel. 

 

I feel like I have to learn how to spin all over again.  It's a little different from spinning on a Lendrum (not a lot; but, enough to know there's a difference--and wow, is this wheel fast.).  I am calling this wheel Choobie.  That was my dad's nickname for me, and I haven't heard it in a while, and I am feeling sentimental, if not wholly economical.  Thanks, Dad.

i dye.

So you remember how I said there would be no dyeing studio in the vicinity of my residence anytime soon...or ever.  I think I was well-intentioned when throwing that out there for the masses; but, the fact of the matter is this: when you have a little over two pounds of fiber to dye, and you have a full-time job, children and a husband all hoping for dinner that does not involve a box or microwave...you are probably going to dye that wool at home when everyone else is asleep (and then spend an eternity cleaning your kitchen.  Sigh.). 

And well, it just worked out better that way...because really, I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning--though I am starting to think that sleeping would be a good alternative too; but, there you are. 

I like it, there was a good bit of trialing.  A got a lot of dye (I know, this is not shocking to anyone) to try out before settling on something suitable for me.  I wear a lot of neutral colors, my wardrobe is not very exciting, I usually punch up my color options with accessories.  As I write this I am wearing various shades of khaki, which really, is a little less than inspiring.  But as you may remember, I have a fondness for purple (which, if we are being honest here, is kind of a lively version of black, really--color theorists back off!  I am thinking fashion-wise here!  Trust me, after all the dyeing I have done recently, I know a thing or two about the color wheel).  So that's what I went with...purples...greys  and the white of my canvas...I like that effect; I know it's not for everyone though. 

All this fiber needs to be spun up (though I could make a statement by simply wearing it draped on my person, stylish, no?).  I need to find a suitable sweater pattern so that my spinning can be informed--which will be new for me--spinning for a project, that is--usually, I just spin and what I get is what I get; but, in my defense, I think many people spin that way.  So sweater patterns, thoughts?  I mean, there is over 2 pounds of wool here, I won't need it all.  I am leaning towards a cardigan, but I could be persuaded to knit a pullover too.  It's going to be multi-colored, so let's not forget that

dye it. spin it. celebrate.

I celebrated my birthday this week.  I was tempted to get myself a new wheel for my birthday; but, there isn't really much wrong with the old one except a few things that I find bothersome (oh, Lendrums, why must you rely on rubberbands to function?)...I might still get a new wheel at some point, but for now I will stick with the one I have--reliance on rubberbands and all.  I was considering the wheel because I have been doing a crazy amount of spinning lately. 

So yes, my birthday (was good, I got lots of crafty books and a pocket video camera, because who doesn't love a camera that fits into one's pocket?).  There were others celebrating anniversaries of living this week as well.  I remain convinced that May is *the* month to be born as some pretty incredible women I know celebrate their birthdays this month (Risa and Rangsiwan celebrate the same day as I do!).  A very good friend of mine from college celebrates the day before I do.  Let's call her Kathy, mostly because that is her name.  Anyways, for Christmas last year, Kathy gave me a kilo of New Zealand Perrendale wool (that is like two pounds).  It was gorgeous undyed fiber screaming for dye.  And a local friend has a dyeing studio in her basement.

So I dyed it.  All of it.

I was pretty pleased.  There was one 4 ounce bit that came out with some unfortunate tinting, but I will make it work.

When Kathy came to town for a visit recently, I told her that I was giving her some of the fiber she gave me for Chistmas for her birthday--but dyed and spun (some would call that gauche, I call it industrious), she loved the dyed wool.  So truly, it's the gift that keeps on giving (family, take note).

I hope she likes the handspun yarn.  I told her I would try to spin it at worsted weight--that's what she asked for (which is a little bit of a challenge for me at the moment...everything I spin wants to be sport or dk).  I think it was pretty; but, obviously, I am a wee bit biased.  Oh look, novamade yarn (literally!) in Spring Dream.

Some of the other wool I dyed has a high degree of fabulosity as well.  Novamade dyed perrendale in Autumn Day (ohai, I like to name things with seasons!).

 

I love dyeing wool and spinning it up.  I did promise K that we would not have a dyeing studio in or near our house though.  Apparently, the dyeing studio was the craft line he was just not willing to cross.  Considering all of the crafty equipment that is taking up space in our house right now, I sort of don't blame him.

At Maryland Sheep and Wool, I bought almost 3 pounds of undyed superwash merino (I also met up with friends and readers, hi!).  I am not even going to bother putting up a picture of the fiber...undyed white wool, ooh.  It's a good thing my friend, NueroKnitter lives around the corner and told me that I could use her studio anytime!

may is mitten month

Or, May Day is mitten day, at the very least.   Last year, Little Sir was going through some of my yarn (he likes to do this as we have identified yarn as my "toys;" and, if they are toys they are fun, right?) and he came across a small little skein of yellow handspun.  I think it might have been the first handspun spun from my "fancy fiber stash" (I think most spinners will know what I am referring to when I say that...the good stuff...from the indie dyers).  I started out with 4 ounces of beautifully dyed bfl from Spunky Eclectic dyed in the Sunflower colorway.  It was like a puff of sunshine.

The first 2 ounces was my "learning process" (that sounds much better than 'disaster') before I "got it," the singles wer ultra-overspun, unsalvageable.  So I spun the remining 2 ounces and had a little bit of yarn, maybe 55 yards.  When Little Sir found it, he asked me to make him a pair of mittens.  I said I would; but, I hoping he would forget, there was a little bit of sentimentalism with that yellow yarn.  He didn't forget.  Every time he put on his silly commercially made mittens with dinosaurs on them, he asked about his non-existent yellow mittens.  So I finally got around to making them (they took me all of 4 hours in total to knit), and since it's now spring, he is going to get so much wear out of them, I am sure.

  

I am glad I made the mittens.  The yarn became something.  I fulfilled a promise to my kid.  And Little Sir loves his new mittens (LOVES them!).  He likes to wear them around the house (it's not like he needs to wear them outdoors at all).  Notes in the gallery and on ravelry.

If anyone is going to Maryland Sheep and Wool this weekend, say hi!  I will be the one with the Littles in tow (or, alternatively, chasing Little Sir all over the fairgrounds, possibly with Little Mister strapped to my chest).

spinning a yarn

Actually, spinning many yarns.  Spinning, that's what I did for most of February.  I spun some Ashland Bay merino...

 

A hank of English Garden (the blue), a hank of Sage (the green), two hanks of Mojave (the reds), and a hank of Sandalwood (the multi one on the bottom right).

I also finally got around to spinning some wool that my friend Amy gave me for Christmas...back in 2007, which seems like a long time ago.  It's from the Enchanted Knoll Farm, a farm in Maine, there was no colorway listed...I am going to call it Red with Bits of Thread.

 

I was nervous about spinning it because it had all sorts of crazy stuff in it.  Threads, vegetatation, what have you; but, I think it turned out pretty great.  The blue and yellow (there's some green in there too, I think) threads in the fiber make for interesting visual contrast from the pretty red of the fiber.  And then there's the fancy handpainted stuff I spun.

I think my favorite bit of spinning was this merino/tencel blend from the Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm--this is the Spring colorway.  I got this stuff from a sheep and wool festival a while ago, not sure which one (it's embarrassing to not know this stuff, really).  I could kick myself for not spinning it sooner.  I LOVE spinning tencel, it's a beautiful fiber to work with.  And since I loved it so much, I am going to give you another shot of the yarn all hanked up (at least on my monitor, the shot below is pretty true to color).

 

I have no idea what I am going to knit with all of this fiber.  I was thinking a Komb blanket like Kelp!'s (feel free to go and drool, I'll wait for you to come back); but, I think I like the effect she is getting with pretty painted fibers more than I would like the effect produced by knitting the more plain jane yarns I spun from the Ashland Bay merinos.  I have no idea what to do with the Spring merino/tencel yarn, any thoughts?

Seven skeins/hanks/whatever worth of spinning, not too shabby, if you ask me.

 

All of this spinning was, of course, an effort to fend of steeking that Lopi sweater I was working on; but since I imposed that stupid strategy of not working on anything until I finished that sweater, I had to finish it so I could work on something fun (or anything, for that matter).  So I bit the bullet and steeked the silly thing.

 

Now I don't see what all the fuss was about.  This sweater is blocking now.  It's probably going to take a few days to dry as the New England weather can best be described as frigid, at present.  I am hoping to get some FO shots in before I go on a spring break adventure to what I'd like to think are warmer climes; but, since Alabama got snow on Sunday, I have no idea what to expect in Georgia and Florida.  And also, it would be nice to feature some knitting on this here knitting blog.

I am pretty excited about some new projects to cast-on...and more fiber to spin, because really, how can I not spin when a rainbow presents itself?

purple is the new black

Knitters like Ms. Frick have always acknowledged the coolness of purple.  I am late to the game.  It is only recently that I have learned that I actually look good in purple.  So I decided to weave myself a scarf--a purple one.  Knit Picks just came out with the Gloss Lace line, and I was wondering how it would hold up on a loom, so I ordered some and decided to test it out. 

As a warp, it worked out fine, the silk content gives it the strength it needs to hold up on a loom. I encountered problems with the weaving.  When using Gloss as a weft (the horizontal bit), it helps if you have the right heddle in the loom.  I did not.  I forgot to switch my 10-dent heddle for a 12-dent one (which would have still been off, I think, I think I would have needed something to get 20 or 24 epi).  Since I am lazy, I figured that it would be easier to just find another yarn to use as weft.  But I didn't see anything suitable in my stash (which, given the quantity of said stash is amazing) so I spun something up. 

I had a nice naturally dyed wool roving I bought from Stefania at Rhinebeck (last year) that seemed just right for the job.  The yarn was spun to dk-worsted and it seems to have worked out well. 

I like the scarf, but I don't love it.  The problem is the color.  I am more a fan of darker purples, like Aubergine (you can call it eggplant, I just like saying aubergine).  I don't think lilac looks as good on me, and since I am likely to make myself 50 bajillion scarves in the not too distant future, I figure there was someone out there who would love this scarf more than I. 

So in addition to the person who is getting the scarf, I figure I should share the other people I am sending fun stuff too.  Thanks for your suggestions, it was fun going through them and realizing that I am not too off the mark in popular reading, viewing and music (having read, viewed or listened to many of the suggestions).  I couldn't think of a fair way to pick the winners, so I used a random # generator after printing out the comments and assigning each a number based on the desired prize.

The scarf is going to Reluctant Mango.

The fabric scrap bag is going to Oiyi.

The spindle and roving is going to Nell.

And the sock yarn is going to Mari.

I will e-mail the winners soon for your addresseses and for the roving and yarn winners, color preferences.

To answer a few questions:  the rug is indeed from Target.  The red bookcases were purchased from Ikea (as was the couch and the desk in the corner).  The TV is against the wall that the photo was taken from.  I like all genres of reading and movies and would be interested in knowing about any you have opionions on (Kristy).

Thanks for reading, commenting and celebrating.  It's been a great two years of blogging, crafting, commiserating and learning.  And seriously, if I was not a knit/quilt/weaving blogger, I would have no idea about trends like purple being the new black; and, I would have never made so many great new friends. 

Scarf details in the gallery.

um, i do still knit (and i spin too)

So I am in California conferencing with special collections librarians about all matters digital right now; but there is some knitting to report.  Before I got to LA to attend my conference, we visited with family around these parts and I finished some knitting.  It seemed like a perfect time to get some modeled shots, as it was 85 degrees.  I can't fathom why it's so hard getting kids to model winter wear when it's hot out.

This scarf is for Little Sir.  He picked out the wool from by spinning stash and help me prep it for spinning.  He even popped his foot on top of mine a few times while I was treadling.  He was very excited about this scarf until I finished it and asked him to model it.  He said it was "too hot."

 

My niece, on the other hand, was very excited to strike a pose.

Which made Little Sir get all possesive about the scarf.  I think he likes it.  At least for today.  Toddlers, they can be fickle.

 

Just a plain garter stitch scarf.  The interesting thing here, I thought I'd learn to knit continental working on this scarf; but it turns out I am just as slow knitting one way as the other.  So I think I will stay a thrower (and when knitting stranded, a picker...sigh).  Details in the gallery.