Long Overdue Updates

It's been so long since I've posted, I had to go back and see what I've already mentioned!

Knitting
First up, some recent knitting:



This is the beginning of a scarf, knit the long way in linen stitch. I'm using this yarn that I spun a couple of years ago:


The yarn was spun from BFL top, hand-dyed by Sandy's Palette. I'm using US #4 needles and 400 stitches. The rows are long, but I only have to work 8".

Sewing
Earlier in the year I was in a fun swap group. We all agreed to make multiples of something and send them to the central organizer. We got back a box with at least 10 different things made by the other participants. I made these little zipped pouches:


Spinning
I've been puttering at spinning a bit here and there, too. This was a quick little skein from random fibers I kind of cadged together:

It's not really enough yarn to be useful for much, but if I combine it with other yarns, maybe it can be a fun accent.

Several weeks ago I went digging through my fiber stash. Some of you may recall that not too long after I started spinning I stumbled on an amazing Craigslist bargain. A local spinner was trying to liquidate her stash in a hurry. My friend Fern and I split the cost and the goods. There is a lot of natural colored wool in various browns and creams, but also, some odds and ends of more colorful choices. This is some kind of top from that lot:

The colors are certainly quite strident in the unspun state! I'm finding that as I spin, there's a bit of blending going on that's taking the edge off it in a nice way.

Singles of same:

There's very little of this: only about 60 grams total. I considered chain-plying to avoid muddying the colors any further, but now I think I want to buy some red top and ply it with that. Red would work with both the purple and the orange and not fight too much with either. Plying with something else would also make it go farther. Stay tuned.

Weaving
Back in the winter, I wove this length of cloth:

Valley Yarns 3:2 cotton, 12.5 dent reed. After machine washing and drying, it became incredibly soft to the touch. I like how the white flecks on the black ground look like a loon's feathers. I'm going to turn that into a throw pillow soon. It's been languishing unfinished for long enough.

Website!
This might be the most exciting part of this post! I finally have a separate site set up for selling my patterns. Visit Sweater Studio and take a look! Be forewarned: people who use IE8 or earlier for a browser might encounter some glitches and frustrations. If you don't see the banner, it would be a great time to switch to Firefox or Chrome. The pattern sales are set up through the Ravelry hosting and downloading service, but you don't need to be a Ravelry member to buy them. For my sales volume and the number of items in my shop, they give the best deal I've found for me as a vendor.

In Other News
We did finally find a buyer for our old house. We will close on May 26. It will be a huge relief to close that deal.

As we sail into summer my hope is to continue the process of purging our excess stuff, throw a big yard sale, and be inspired for lots of new patterns.

December Updates

I wonder if everyone takes as long as I do to feel at home in a new place. I suspect that on a bell curve of adaptability, I would fall toward the end of slow-to-adapt. That said, I feel like I'm getting there in our new house. I have my new lair just about set up and almost always know where to find stuff I need within an hour of starting the search. Of course, if I had less stuff, I could find things within a minute or two. I'm working on the "Less Stuff" goal, but it's slow progress.

On Saturday, Mr. SABLE and I made a quick trip out to St. Vincent's to see if there were any couches we could live with. Our couch and comfy chair from our other living room are in the family room here. The living room here has been a big empty space, with some of my equipment camped out in it, but no real comfortable place to sit. Until we sell our old house, it was out of the question that we would go buy new furniture. We found a couch we both really like, in good condition, at a good price. Suddenly, the living room feels more like home. Then I was keeping an eye on Craigslist for a small table to go in the dinette area of our kitchen. Monday evening, Owen and I went and got a nice round table and two chairs that works perfectly. $30 for the set. Those two purchases have done so much for my morale, I might actually tackle some of the random boxes stacked around in corners and such.

Even though there's been little action in the blog, I've been doing stuff to keep my hands busy. I did a fair amount of spinning this fall and a bit of weaving.

Here's a scarf I'll be giving to my mom for Decemberween/Giftmas/Festivus/what-have-you:






She only reads my blog if I send her an actual link to a post, like when I compose a rant I think she'd enjoy, so I think it's ok to post it here.

I also knit a scarf for my mother-in-law, whom I also believe does not read my blog.






This is from the book 60 Quick Knits, which features projects using Cascade 220. I used some mystery yarn I found in my stash. I believe it's a wool-dominant blend that came to me in a big thrift-shop grab bag more than 10 years ago. Mr. SABLE and I agreed the color was completely right for his mom, though I seem to get different results on the color every time I photograph it.

I also knit a blue ribbed watch cap for my mother-in-law's husband and, finally, after months of dormancy, fixed and finished a sweater I started to machine-knit for my dad in March. I just need to get some stuff packed up and taken to the post office and then brace myself for the two-week school vacation which is fast approaching!

Proof of Activity!

Earlier this week I finished the weaving on the plaid pillows project. Now that I have it off the loom, I'm less certain about making it into throw pillows. The colors are awfully strong and I'm not sure they would fit in to many living spaces. I do like the resulting fabric: it has a nice weight and handle. I'm just not sure yet what it should ultimately become.


Some details:
Woven on my Ashford Rigid Heddle loom, with a 7.5 dent reed.
Used Tahki Cotton Classic, in blue, green, and yellow.
Finished weaving: about 20" x 68"


There are definitely a few screw ups and glitches, but it's all part of the learning process.

I stumbled on some mystery yarn in my lair the other day. It appears to be a wool/acrylic blend.

I think it's a color my mother in law would love. I'm making the Leaf Scarf by Mary Beth Temple from the book 60 Quick Knits. This is my kind of lace! Very easy to memorize and intuit and action only on the right side rows. I like the stability the garter stitch columns give the finished fabric and the way they contrast with the lace panels.

I also did a bit of spinning that defies photography. Seriously, this mini-hank must have a photographic deflector shield. It was an attempt to turn some crappy fiber into something better, but I wouldn't say it succeeded. Several years ago, my friend Fern and I bought a large lot of spinning fiber from a local spinner who needed to clear out her stash fast. There was a big batch that she told me was polypay and really only good for felting. After our move, I was looking at several large balls of purple roving from that stuff. I wondered, how bad could it be? I tried to spin some and instantly understood why she said that. It had a lot of little nups that were unsightly and frustrating. Then I wondered if I ran it through the drum carder with something else, would that help. Well, it did help, but probably not enough to be worth the trouble. I made a very wooly three-ply mini-skein from my sample bat. I'll knit a swatch out of it and decide then if it's worth pressing onward. Otherwise, I'll have a whole bunch of lavender-purple roving suitable for felting to give away.

A Couple of Works in Progress

This is a simple seed stitch scarf from the Malabrigo Worsted, worked the long way, in which I intentionally induce pooling.


This is a Kauni Surprise, worked with Jamieson Spindrift. Stay tuned on that.

Owen and I went to the Digger's Outlet over the weekend. I found this sign on the wall amusing.

It appears that all the $5 wedding dresses are currently sold out. I wonder how many Madison area brides have been married in Diggers Outlet dresses. (photo courtesy of Owen, who took it with his cell phone.)

A Sure Sign of Spring...

In Other News
I've been working on some Top Secret spinning (it's a gift for someone) which I'll show you in a week or so. It's coming out very nicely.

My Lair is such a disaster area that I go down there and I'm overwhelmed with possibilities. I read an article a while back on various working styles. Some of us (frequently the ones accused of being messy) need the visual reminders of what needs doing, what we're working on, what's possible. So we leave our stuff out because if it's all put away, we don't see it and we forget that we're supposed to be doing anything. But I've been dragging so much stuff out lately that I've overwhelmed my brain with possibilities. Too much yarn. Too much fiber. Too much fabric. Alas, I think I need to spend a few weeks making things worse before they can get better. That is, I need to open up all the various boxes, purge, resort, relabel, and then put away. But that's such a daunting task that I just sit at my desk and make little swatches. If I start to seriously start organizing, usually Owen appears and demands attention when I'm about 15 minutes in, so I have learned helplessness about the whole thing. But maybe this week I can at least put away about half the distractions so I can focus on getting a few things done.

Knitting
I've also been working on some socks that go in and out of dormancy, depending on what else gets bumped to Priority One. One of these is the Charade Socks I started a few months back. I finished the first, cast on for the second, got about 2 inches in and stopped. Last night I got a couple more inches done, so maybe that'll get done before barefeet season is really and truly here. Also, I'm hoping to finish some socks that I'll send to my dad for his birthday later this month. The first one is done and the second over half done, so just the home stretch there.

Rant
I have a little rant about the time change to get out of my system, too. I always thought the time change was a minor inconvenience until I had kids. But ever since I became a parent, I've come to despise the time change. When I'm in charge of the universe, we will just have one time all year round. We'll split the difference between so-called Standard Time and Daylight Savings Time. I know there are nice, easy, flexible children out there somewhere. Children who fall asleep when put to bed, and wake up cheerful when it's time to get up, but not before it's time to get up. Well, those are not my kids. I am not exaggerating when I say that it takes my kids at least a week to really make the time change. The Little Emperor has been awake until 11 p.m. several times in the past week and we wake him about 7:30 on weekday mornings. Yeah, this is not a good sleep pattern. Honest-to-Maude, we start him moving toward bed at 7:30. This is a kid who had night and day reversed his first 4 months of life, so no real surprise that he's still bent that way.

So until someone appoints me Time Czar, I have a plan that could be put into place quickly and effectively and would improve school behavior and learning in every community that adopts it. Schedule Spring Break for the week following the time change! Is that just too darn logical for any modern bureaucracy? The kids would have a week to adjust. They would not have this week of rampant tardiness and tired, fidgety kids. The teachers might even enjoy it, too.

So, there you go, a rant and a solution! How often does that happen?

Enjoy the approach of spring.

Updates and Acquisitions

Alpaca Fest Loot!


Some times you find an amazing bargain!
L&L Trail's End Alpacas, Richland Center, WI
I bought two 4 ounce bags at $10 each!!!



Sometimes it's not necessarily a great bargain, but a nice find never-the-less. 4 oz of lovely charcoal grey alpaca roving.


It's not even always alpaca!
This is Blue-Face Leicester from Sandy's Palette, Mineral Point WI. I got 8+ ounces of this roving. I know these colors won't do it for most of you blue-lovers out there. But I like the warm autumn palette. I'm curious to see how they mellow out when spun. Last night, I finished the last of the Mossy Merino/Yak and, of course, launched right into some of the new stuff. When I opened one bundle of this roving I was bit anxious about the spinnability of it. At first I was afraid it was just this side of felted. But with a bit of coaxing, it loosened up nicely.


Also from Sandy's Palette, about 4 oz of Merino/Tencel blend in a colorway that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. I almost think this is too pretty for my taste, but I'm perverse that way.

In other news


Here's the last skein of the Mossy Merino batch. It's still a bit damp, but I'm impatient.


Here's the bunch of it all together. I didn't count yardage, but I think the weight is about 250 grams fingering weight 2 ply. Overall, I'm pleased with how this turned out. Now, to pick a project for it... hmmm.

Knitting

The Knit-What-You-Spin challenge project, a basic garter stitch scarf. I made much progress on this at Last Saturday Knitting on Saturday. I get embarrassed when people want to look too closely, because I can see now what a crap job I did plying this yarn. But, it's a lovely bunch of colors and the garter stitch hides the flaws pretty well.


The Kauni Cardigan hasn't seen much action lately. I'm in the Pay Attention Zone now. Decreasing for both neckline and arm hole and at two different rates, and the neckline one is alternating between every third and every fourth round, you know, just to make things more complicated than they have to be. I need more alone time at home for that.

Last Saturday Knitting was a hoot, as usual. What a great group we've got! There was one young woman across the coffee shop, looking studiously at her laptop, who kept turning around and giving us the evil eye when we laughed uproariously. What, she doesn't think dog poop is funny? Or maybe she thought she was in the library. Whatever. The coffee shop people seem happy to have us.

Finally
I noticed this nest in the yard while out taking pics of loot.

I think it's new this year. Trouble is, it's in a buckthorn tree. Buckthorns are a nasty invasive species, brought to the US as an ornamental shrub. I spent many long hot sweaty days reclaiming our yard from buckthorns when we first bought this house. This one is growing on the fence line, just into our backyard abutter's yard. As soon as I think the nest is empty, I'm going to do what I can from my side of the fence to take down this cluster of buckthorns. Do you know how much I hate those trees? Don't get me started.

Spring Break...

I broke through my knitting impasse and got my next big project on the needles. Perfectionism really is the enemy of creativity. Sometimes you just have to do something, anything, just to get the process started. The main part of this should be very simple and, I hope, striking.

I've finished spinning all the mossy merino/yak I had ready. I have more of both parts, but need to get Boris (the drum carder) from my friend Fern (the co-owner) to prep the rest of it. I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. I look at that yarn and think, "Yes, I can call myself a spinner now." And my brain is running circles trying to decide which fiber to throw on the wheel next. I'm leaning toward finishing up a batch of Shetland/black alpaca I bought at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool in the fall. I'm making a nice DK-ish 3 ply out of it. I got about half way through the pound I bought in the fall before I got distracted by other stuff.

Our weather today is just glorious and yesterday was lovely, too. Sad to say, though, that we might get 9" of snow in the next 24 hours!!! Just when we thought it might really be ending. Of course, the days following that will be warming up some, so even if we do get a big dump of the white stuff, it truly cannot last long at this point. Right? Still, looking out the window at the bright blue cloudless sky, it's hard to imagine where all that snow's going to come from.