Bustaroony and the Spin saga

Well, about time for a new post, I reckon, before I get more pictures than I have time to describe, and forget half of what I've done. Sometimes, when I go to do these posts, it's only the pictures that remind me of what I need to write about, so I upload them first, and work from there.

I got one more package in the mail since my last post, my lovely fibre from Woolywombat, my prize in the splinter awards for the handspun/handdyed cardi I made for my granddaughter.

She sent me some lovely dyed fibre, and some very pretty white alpaca.



She worried having a few vm in them, but really, there's little if any that I can see. I can't wait to give it a spin, but have been rather busy with the apple blossom merino I already had on the wheel. I managed to spin the merino rather consistently, which I was rather proud of, but I must say it was very well prepared. Here it is on the bobbins:



And later plyed on the Jumbo bobbin:



And the finished skein:




I'm happy with it. Don't know yet if it will become a wrap for me, or mittens and a hat for Kaitlyn. Will decide that down the track.

After I took that off the wheel, I enlisted Chris's help in FINALLY staining/varnishing my newer spinning wheel parts. Namely the jumbo whorl, the niddy noddy and a few assorted new bobbins.




I'm really proud of the way they look, and know it's better for them to be protected by the varnish, but because the whorl was wet, I didn't get much else in the way of spinning done in the next few days.

I also asked him to make me a new little stand for my extra bobbins, and he was happy to do so. (I think he was afraid if he didn't make one, I'd go buy one ;)



He did an excellent job of it, and as the bobbins will spin, I can ply from it as well. Isn't he handy??

I've also decided to buy a drum carder, a new Inwood Smith. I'm using my "economic stimulus check" for this, and given Inwood Smith is made in Australia, and Bella is my local dealer, well, it seemed right to keep the money in Australia. But there's a delay, as the manufacturer is having a bit of trouble sourcing a medium cloth, so it could take two or more weeks before I finally get ahold of it.

I'm really starting to need a spare room, or even a workshop, for all my knitting and spinning pursuits. Ah well, if we win the lottery...

Instead of putting the nice stuff I got from Jane, or the lovely batts I got from Woolywombat on the wheel, I opted for the beautiful roving I bought at the Adelaide fair months ago. I've really been wanting to spin it up, and I've been saving it for socks. It will be (when I get to that stage) my first attempt at Navaho plying. I've only just started, barely covering the bottom of the bobbin, but the colours are simply magnificent, and perfect for socks just as they are. I just can't see plying them the regular way and "barber polling them. They are too pretty for that. And right now, they are an "easy spin" which is just what I need right now to keep my nerves from exploding...or worse yet, imploding. I'm managing to get a nice thin (but strong) single out of it so far.



And here's a shot of it on the wheel...you can see the pretty roving by the wheel:



Last but not least, I have finished the left front piece of the "Bustaroony Cardi" only today, and it's looking good! Not the best picture here, but the stitchwork is good, and it's spot on row for row with the back piece, which is always a pleasure.




I've also knit up the inner pocket for the right front side today, and a few rows on the main piece so that it will be ready to go to work with me tonight. But in the meantime, which watching my TV shows tonight, I'll be back to spinning on that lovely roving.

I've also aquired a knitting friend through Ravelry who lives near by, and we are having fortnightly get togethers to spin, chat, knit, fibre prep...whatever. I'm really enjoying the company. It's wonderful to be around like minded people.

Oh, and on a shopping trip Sunday, I picked up the interchangeable knit picks set from The Button Bar in Adelaide arcade (off of Rundle mall). My original interest there was buttons, of course, and she has plenty of those to be sure, but when I found out she sold knit picks, well, then I have to pay her regular visits.

On my "to do" list in the near future: Can't wait to get that carder in. I'm also in the market for a portable spinning wheel, but no big hurry there. A DIY hackle and diz are on the agenda for sometime in the future, as well as learning how to use my combs better (although I am making some progress, and will post some pictures as soon as I get it right). Plus, I need some socks on the needles, but I'm tossed up between a couple of patterns I've seen in Interweave. No big hurry there though, as I'm enjoying the progress I'm making on the Bustaroony Cardi, what with it being my only WIP at the moment.

We're also planning our trip to this years Bendigo Sheep and Wool show, and of course, I can't wait. And in the works is a possible trip to Tennessee to visit my family around Christmas, but that's very early in the works.

That's all for now. Have a great week!

Gadgets, Gizmos and Goodies

Here I am again, sitting at this computer when I should be knitting. The living room VCR broke last night. I have one in the bedroom as well, and watched a "must see" in there this morning, but it's terribly uncomfy to sit on the bed and try to knit.

Still, I could be listening to audio books and knitting. I love my new little toy, the Sony Walkman MP-3 player. I download a audio book on there and I listen on my way to work, I listen on my breaks, I listen when I knit. It's incredibly relaxing, and handy. It fits so neatly in the knitting bag or even in my pocket! Best toy I've bought in ages!



Another interesting gadget, a gift from my darling hubby, is an LCD light, attached to straps, that fits securely on my head. It has three light settings, and its quite useful to knit by in the darkness of the car at night, at work where the lights are dim, or whereever the light source isn't great. The light trains right on the knitting, so it doesn't disturb others around you. I figure it will really come in handy in July when Chris and I go to Bendigo for the Sheep and Wool show. We'll be gone for 5 or 6 days, and we have a tendency to not observe the same bedtime, so I can read or knit by this light and not disturb him if I want to stay up past his bedtime.




The wool winder is seeing plenty of action, although I checked myself a bit. I was ripping off every lable and vigerously winding anything that was in a skein, but then I got to thinking about it. Really, I'm better off waiting until I'm ready to knit with a certain yarn before winding the balls. The value of the yarn will decrease as soon as the ball band is pulled off. So if I decided, down the track, that I wanted to sell it or trade it, I wouldn't be as likely to get a good deal.

Of course, those rules don't apply to the yarn I have dyed. They long ago lost their ball band. I wound the blue/green Te Awa that I dyed in my last dying excursion. I wasn't sure that all 200g's of it would fit on the wool winder. It did, but barely. I really love the play of colors of the wound ball as much as I did in the skein, which is rare for me.




Then there's the red and white splash dyed Patonyle, also a product of that last "dyeing day". I have three skeins of that, but I skeined them, if you remember, on the back of my kitchen table chairs, and did a very bad job of it. Consequently, the mess you see before you here is the natural consequence.




I didn't even try to put the "skein" , as is, on the winder. I attempted, in a moment of optimism, to first wind it correctly on the skein winder/holder. Now, I have a massive tangled mess, but I'm working my way thru the tangles, slowly but surely, a few minutes here and there. Slowly for my good humours sake, and surely because I've (almost) decided that my next sock project will be the "boat socks" I'd planned on making with this yarn.

But the good news about this mess is that it occured to me that in the future, when I want to buy yarn already in a ball, such as the Heirloom Easy Care I've already purchased, for the purpose of dyeing, I can now skein it on my skein winder/holder, making a perfect skein that, after dyeing, will fit right back on to be wound with no further difficulties. SEE, there's a silver lining after all!!

The only addition to my stash in the past few days are three balls of bright red Cleckheaton Merino Spun. I found a pattern for a Cabled Bag/Purse, done with chunky yarn. I saw this on sale at NeedleNook and figured it was perfect for the job.

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Heaven only knows when I'll get started on it, but one mustn't let a bargain slip her by.

I've made some progress on the "Sacrifice Socks" I'm making for Chris. I know I have, but it seems woefully insignificant progress compared to the effort I have put into it.



In comparison, after knitting mainly socks for the last couple of months, where progress is slow and hard to come by, it's refreshing to have the more or less instant gratification of the "Short Row" scarf project. The Noro is still driving me batty, but it's so wonderful to actually be able to see it growing before my eyes, and I reckon I'm almost 1/3rd of the way through it now :) I will make this pattern again!

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TcwssTgxTmmRgZiDw-pLtCebnMmz3P2qhn97NBDcNDQo6hV4NbtubCT4DJjKJZHvNqIu0bBhZtZ0pSyKSlKRQBZPMZEaXAeAKkqnFu1lZ6Q4ux-DK4LFs1_71FAsc2tLWu51Bpb2desg/s1600-h/IMG_0335.jpg">

Now, my mission for the next day or so is to get my act together and find something to knit up for my new grandson. Nothing else is urgent in comparison, so really, I can lay everything else down when I find that perfect something.