Away and back again

Once again, it's far too long since my last blog post, but I have resolved now to do much better in the future. Resolved I tell you! The posts might get shorter, but they also just might get more interesting. As it is, I let things go for so long, and there is so much to write about and show photos of that I tend to rush thru without saying the things I want to say.

Things are moving right along with the knitting, although the spinning has been going along much more slowly, and the fibre preparation, despite the new drum carder, have almost ground to a halt. Not enough has been done to warrent photos. I've produced another few batts of the undyed grey corridale. Just more of the same, so it barely warrents a mention. I still haven't figured out what colour I'm going to go with. I'm actually considering leaving the majority of it grey, which would be a nice manly colour for Chris a vest or some such project, but then, given the interesting colours the grey wool produces, that just seems such a waste. I'm still deliberating.

I have managed to finish spinning up the fibre I got from "Kathy's Creations", which was a gorgeous colourway. I still need to ply it, and finish it of course, but the hard part is done. I spun it rather thin, but that doesn't really explain the time it took. I only worked on it a bit at a time, when my fingers were itching to spin, but just in short bursts and sometimes days apart. The knitting I've been doing has been the most time consuming thing going on. I could have had it finished much sooner had I not been in such a knitting frenzy lately.




Still, it's looking good so far. I plan to ply it up over the next few days, so it should be finished for the next blog post (the one I'm going to do SOON, remember?).

I finished the knitting part of the Bustaroony Cardi! Now for the dreaded stitching up. I haven't even started on that yet, even though I finished the final sleeve almost a week ago. With the weather getting cooler, it will provide some welcome warmth when I get it done. Added incentive...but man, I hate stitching up.

Having finished the Bustaroony, I had only the Salloon girl stockings left on the needles. With a bit of a holiday coming up, I had to get some other WIP's going. The first thing I did was drag the "Peace in the Hood" jacket out of hibernation. It had been in hibernation so long, I'd forgotten why I put it there. I think maybe because I needed to concentrate on my Christmas knitting, but I don't remember for sure. Unfortunately, I didn't write myself a note on Rav or even a date of when I put it in hibernation, so I'm only guessing here.

Anyway, I had made alot of progress on it. I had done the back, both fronts and both sleeves. I was at the point where I needed to start picking up stitches for the hoodie when we left for our short holiday over to Point Turton on the Yorke Peninsula here in South Australia. I got some knitting done on the hoodie there, and it looked like this on the day we left to come home:



After all the lace I've been doing lately (the shawl and the socks) and the intricate and constant textured/cabled work on the Bustaroony cardi, I found the knitting on the hoodie to be extremely dull, but it did make for excellent TV knitting, when I wanted to pay more attention to the show than to the knitting, so I mainly worked on it in the evenings when we were in the cabin watching the tele.

The Saloongirl stockings have probably gotten the bulk of my attention. I finished sock one, which is looking just great, and have moved right along on sock 2. I actually started sock two before finishing sock one, so that I wouldn't have to be starting it while on the road, and because sock one, when nearing completion, required me to transfer it off of the DPN's every few repeats to try them on, which was time consuming but necessary. However, it's not so convenient to be transferring needles and trying on socks on a road trip,so I wanted the second sock for times when I couldn't be doing the fiddly stuff.

But I did manage to get the first sock done except for the casting off part at the cabin, and was happy to have the second sock at the stage where I could take off and just start knitting. Here's another picture of the progress on the stockings right before we left for our trip home.





After getting home, I managed to get the casting off done on the first stocking:





(Please pardon the bad photos, but we haven't had much sun lately, requiring more indoor shots that just don't seem to have good lighting. Damn "save the planet" light bulbs don't help much with that.)

Which brings us to the "cigar" gloves, which I started right before the trip, and did manage to get quite a bit of work done on them. They are pretty easy, really, but require alot of 'waste yarn' to hold the stitches to be use later.

Here's the progress I made on the first glove during the trip:


Notice that I had put the pinky and thumb on waste yarn. But after I go home, I got the bright idea of using my Harmony needle cords to use as waste yarn instead, which worked out much better on the three middle fingers, and certainly sped up the process.






That first night after arriving home, I managed to finish the first glove, except for weaving in ends, but I haven't gotten a picture, and wil show that to you in the next post.

And of course, no post would be complete without a few holiday piccies.

Here's the lovely lighthouse at Corney Point, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia:


And a neat bit of rocky coast down the coastline south of Corney Point. The waves crash up onto the rocks, and a miniature waterfall is created when the tide is going out off of one of the rock shelves:



A picture of me standing over a beach near the cabin we stayed in in Point Turton:



And me standing near the rocky outcrop where the mini-waterfall is created (mentioned above). It's a beautiful and very secluded area.



A hazy sunrise from the varanda of the cabin we stayed in:



The rocks seen from the veranda of the cabin where we stayed. (Just sitting on the veranda and knitting was so enjoyable!!)



And of course, me knitting at a parking spot overlooking the beautiful western coastline of the boot at the foot of the Yorke Peninsula:



Hopefully, in the next blog entry, I will be able to at least show some progress made on finishing the Bustaroony, even if it is a bit optomistic to think I might actually have it done (remember, I'm dedicated to getting another post out SOON), more pictures of me using the new drum carder, and even some of the fibre I card in it actually spun up. I'd also love to have the spun merino from Kathy's Creations plyed. And I have tons of sewing to do for winter roundup, and would love to have the second "Saloongirl stocking" finished and ready to go, and in a perfect world, the "cigar" gloves as well.

Till next time :)

Cardi, Carder, Combs and Clutter

I just looked back at the date of my last post. Almost a month has passed, and really, I'm almost ashamed I haven't gotten more accomplished in the past month. I has been busy, but there's been nothing "completed" to speak of. Just a whole lot of random "this and that", which I suppose pretty much sums up my existence.

I will start with the knitting, since that will be the easiest subject to cover. I have almost completed the first sleeve of the Bustaroony cardi. Now I started this project in early January. Shameful really. Even though I knew it would take me a long time to complete it, given it's a rather intricate and even a bit difficult pattern, I really didn't count on it taking this long. At times, it was the only project I was working on, and aside from a couple of times, I really haven't "put it aside" all that much (compared, of course, to how long I've put some aside). Add to that, I really really enjoy knitting on it. My only excuse is that I have been quite busy with "other things" besides knitting, and haven't had time off work, a vacation, or other really superb knitting conditions. Anyway, I really wanted to finish the sleeve before making this blog entry, but time is running out, so you will get it as it is right now. However, I only like about 10 decrease rows and about 4 rows of shaping finishing this sleeve. I plan on having that out of the way tonight, and sleeve number two on the needles before I go to work tonight. So here's the sleeve:



And the back and both front pieces lying in "position", to give some idea of the finished look of the cardi:




I mentioned in the last post I was trying to decide what socks to start. Well, I decided on "Betties Lace Stockings" from the Spring09 issue of Interweave knits. They are perfect for western action. I had some Patonyle already in my stash, 3 balls of black, 3 of white. Now from pervious experience, those of you who remember know how I detest knitting black socks. Still, black would be sexy, and match just about anything. But my spinning/knitting friend offered another suggestions. Just knit them in white and then soak them in tea to "dye" them to an "old paper" sort of tannish colour. I loved the idea, off I went knitting them up in white. I started them on March 24th, and even though I only am about halfway through one sock now, they are a quick knit. It's just that I've been working so hard on the cardi I've neglected them. But they have a deadline, and need to be done by the Winter roundup in mid-May, so sooner or later, I'm going to have to dedicate some quality time to them.



Now, to purchases this past month. I really haven't bought much in the fibre department, but I did get lucky and show up on Ravelry in Ixchelbunny's group right as she was doing an update! All her nicer stuff seems to sell out almost the moment it is posted on her blog, so I never seem to get her goods as I'm always a day late and I'm lucky to find anything left, much less something I like. This time was different though, and I'm now the proud owner of this lovely package of goodies. The black and white is the Jacob Humbug, and the green/gold medley is from her Masham sheep, and is called "Tawny Frogmouth". (Who can resist something called "tawny frogmouth"???)



If you've never checked out Ixchel's yarns and rovings, I would highly suggest visiting her blog regularly and buying a sample. If you don't see something you like there, or it's all sold out, email her and tell her what interests you. Not only is it beautiful, but her "bunny" fibre is so soft it will make you cry (for joy, of course). I first experienced her products in Bendigo at the Sheep and wool show last year, where I bought two skeins of cashmere/angora mix yarn that was so exquisite. It's still in my "most prized" stash, but one day I'll find a pattern (or a recipient) to do it justice. If I can bear to part with it that is.

The hugely major purchase this month was my brand new drum carder. Now, for those of you who spin and, more to the point, prepare fibre for spinning, well, you know about how much these things cost. They are by no means a small purchase, but I won't go into details of the price here for fear of shocking my mom, and making her adore my hubby more than she already does for "putting up with me". But, I swear the thing could pay for itself. I'm not saying it WILL pay for itself, because that would require me to quit buying other people's prepared fibre, and that's not something I'm prepared to do right now. I'm only saying that it COULD, if times got tough and I really really needed it to. Besides, anyone who shops on ebay for such things also knows that it's resell value is fantastic. So, I always figured if I don't like it, or don't use it enough, reselling it will be a breeze. So far though, no danger of that.

I bought an Inwood Smith drum carder from Bella's shop in Adelaide (The Walking Wheel Studios). She didn't have one in stock, so she had to order it, and it took some time to get there, but it finally arrived and I went to take possession of my new toy. Now, not having much experience with carders, I didn't really have a huge brand preference, so I decided to buy Australian, as the money is coming out of the economic stimulus check (once I get it, that is), so buying local seemed the patriotic thing to do. So I bought an Australian product from a South Australian shop.

Isn't she lovely:



I had to try it out right away, so I used some of the brown fleece that I've had for ages. It actually came in a basket with the spinning wheel when I bought it, and gave it a go. Here's a picture with the fibre on the drum:



And a picture of the fibre coming off the drum, all lined up and spinnable:



Now those photos shorten the process quite a bit. What you actually do is take your raw fleece, stick it in one end, turn the crank until it picks it up with the small drum and deposits it on the bigger drum. You add fleece, trying to space it more or less evenly around the drum, until the drum is full, then you pull it off. You come up with a pretty nice looking bit of carded fibre after the first run. You tear that into strips and feed it through again. Than, for good measure, it goes thru a third time. Generally three runs is enough, depending on the type of fleece and what you want. It's also fantastic for blending colours too, although I haven't quite got that far yet. But that's in the cards (pun intended) for the next week or so.

The thing about carders is they demand to be fed, so one must keep clean fleece on stock. I had a "nearly" clean Corridale fleece, which I had washed twice already but still needed an extra go as it was still pretty sticky with lanolin. So I washed it one more time, and it came out of this bath more or less perfect. (Although I did run us completely out of hot water and had to take a cold shower before work that night). It seems I've been washing fleece forever.

Recently, on a trip to the Salvo's here in town, I saw this neat sweater drying rack for 50 cents, so I picked it up on a whim. It has became very useful over the past couple of weeks for drying my fleece.



How handy is that?? Particularly with the cooler weather we've been having the past couple of weeks. Not exactly the greatest weather for drying fleece outside, although if it is nice enough, the little screen also fits just perfectly on the top of my clothes rack that I can take outside.

I also took some tips from Bella and others and made myself a homemade rack to wash and dry "locks" for combing. I bought some "Gutter guard" and some clips, and made this contraption, which fits into the bathtub and allows the locks to go through the whole process without getting them out of shape or messy.



I think, for next time though, I'm going to cut it down into small squares, so I can use the utility room sink, and also because the long contraption is a bit hard to handle.

That brings me to my combs. After washing my fleece using the "Gutter Guard", I then set about really giving combing a go. Combs are finicky instruments, and take a bit of practice, but I reckon I did okay for a beginner.

First I took my nice clean locks from the "gutter guard":



Then I loaded a comb:



Then I swiped gently at the bottom of the fibres with the other comb, transferring the fleece over:



(BTW...there's the clutter mentioned in the title)

This process loads the comb, giving it a nice beard:



After repeating this process a few times, switching the fleece back and forth on the combs a few times, you pull the fleece thru a "diz". (My diz is of the homemade persuasion):



And this is my finished roving:



You make the rovings into little "birdsnest" and your all ready to spin:



I have also managed to card up a bunch of this fleece, and have several batts now ready to be dyed. I'd like to make on "biggish" project out of these rovings, but I haven't decided what yet. I was thinking of a vest for Chris (who has been patient with me and my hobbies, after all), and I was hoping to get a good manly colour for him.

So I had to do a bit of test dyeing, using mostly just the basic colours and some 50/50 mixes of them. Since the wool is grey, the colours you get are interesting. They are more forceful than the pastels I tend to get on white roving, but because the grey does change the colour, I wasn't sure of what I would get. So, an experiment was necessary to give me some idea.

Here are my samples straight after dyeing:



And hanging to dry:



The finished products were interesting, and the colours certainly were brighter and less pastelly, but I'm not sure if any of them qualify as "manly".

The first batch is blue, blue/green in the middle, and green on the other side.



The second batch look better in person than in the picture, but still, the dye didn't seem to mix as well. One is orange/green, the other orange/blue (I was trying for a brownish):



The last set has red at the top, orange in the center, and orange/red at the bottom. I really like all of these:



Now all that's left is to make a decision, or do more experiments. Not sure which yet.

As some of you know, I've been losing quite a bit of weight lately. I don't mention it much here, as weight loss isn't really what this blog is about. But for those of you wondering (you know who you are), I will post some "before and after" photos when I get the cardigan done. I began making the Bustaroony cardigan as sort of an incentive. At the time I began it, it would have been about 4 sizes too small, but now, depending of course on the finished product, I should fit into it. When I get to that point, I will "unviel" the weightloss on the blog. But, I will say that I've cracked into the 60's this week, which was a big goal for me. Now onwards to the elusive 55K.

Well, that's enough for this post. Heaven knows, I do need to do entries more often, and save myself from these long long posts. Well, maybe next time. Or not :)

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!

Accomplishments and Aquisitions

It's only been about a week since my last blog, but I'm thinking it might be helpful if I don't allow myself to get too far behind in the blogging department. When I do get behind, I start dreading having to do a post, as the whole effort just seems a bit too overwhelming. The posts will be shorter, of course, but at least they won't become a daunting task I put off for days or weeks.

This past week I've spent most of my crafty time working on the English Rose shawl, made with Kauni yarn using the "Northern Lights" pattern. I finally cast off on this project last night. I say "finally", but really, considering the size, it didn't take that long at all. There was a KAL going on on Rav that my friend D. was telling me about, so I joined up and had a go. The shades are more subtle than some of the Kauni colourways, but I'm happy with it.

Before blocking:


On the blocking board:


Even though I'm really trying to save up a bit for a new drum carder, I've spent a little bit over budget for this fortnight on fibre. Really, it's not entirely my fault. Moseley Park (aka Jane) updated the store, and I fell in love with the Mango Fluff, which with it's merino and optim and pretty pale colours was right up my ally, so i had to buy everything she had left, which amounted to six 35g batts.



Upclose, you can really see the gorgeous colours:



I can't wait to see how it spins up!

Then on Sunday, Chris was keen to go to the markets down at Port Adelaide. Well, he was really keen to GO anywhere, as that dear hubby of mine does like to go go go. So he drove me into work Saturday night, spent the night with his mom and dad and then picked me up the next morning for a day of shopping.

I'd as soon be home playing with my knitting and fibre pursuits as gallavanting about Adelaide after a hard night at work, but I was off Sunday night, and I had been wanting to go out to the markets. Stranded in Oz (aka Melissa Deutsch Scott) sets up there on Sunday, and I was looking forward to seeing more of her fibre art, yarns, spindles and rovings. I had seen her stuff in Bendigo at the sheep and wool show there last winter, and had bought a spindle and some funky fibre yarn from here then, so he didn't have to twist my arm too hard once I found out that was our destination.

Chris picked me up from worked, we stopped and had a coffee, and then made it to the markets a few minutes before they opened at 9AM. The Port River runs right there beside the market, and as we were waiting and standing looking at the river, we saw dolphins at play. There were lots of them in the river that day, and a particularly cute mother and her baby dolphin swimming near us. Too bad I'd forgotten my camera, as it would have made a great shot.

Anyway, I made it to Melissa's stand, and she had, as expected, many beautiful things. I wound up bringing home a bit of roving for a friend, but I won't elaborate on that or show a pic yet, as it's a bit of a surprise for when I meet with her next week. I also got about 250g of this lovely soft white merino roving. It feels more like cashmere than merino. I'm almost afraid to dye it. I wouldn't want to dull the softness.



I've gone way over my fibre budget for the fortnight, and must remember to be good next fortnight, or I will never be able to save up enough for my drum carder.

Today, I've been spinning some of my merino dyed to match the apple tree in bloom in the spring. I've almost filled the green bobbin full, and will then be moving on to the pink. I've been working on it in fits and starts, and making it quite thin (by my standards). Hopefully by the next post, I'll have an actual skein to show off.

I've also picked up the Croc socks, and feeling they were a bit tight, I transferred them from the 2.75mm needles they were on to a set of 3mm needles to make them a bit looser in the legs.

I have yet to pick back up the Bustaroony cardi, but hope to get to that tonight. I've made an error on the inside of the pocket, and while that might not bother me under normal circumstances, I really want this project to be perfect, as I'm thinking of entering it in the show, so I will need to tear the pocket back out and redo it to get it right. It would be nice to have that ready by the time I go back to work tonight, but it's late in the day, so there's no guarantees I will.

Till next time.