Crazy for a Cowl

I got so many comments and requests for this cowl when I finished it .. it really is awesome and the color is fabulous.

A good picture is worth a lot too.. But really this thing is 26 stiches of knitting -and 44 rows.. that is it - so simple and so pretty...

I have requests for 3 so far.. so now I know what I will be doing on the way to Minneapolis...

Little Black Dress

Every gal needs a little black dress.  When I was a little girl - my Grandmother made ( or had made) a black dress with little pink flowers - it had that itchy crinoline underskirt.I can feel it still. But it was beautiful. I love black - black and white - black and pink - black and green.. you get the idea.









 So after MUCH thought I decided to make Jovie's heirloom dress black and pink.  That blue wool one was not really speaking to me..I will use that pattern later.

So I decided on a great crochet pattern and will make it in Black with Pink edging etc..Lauren will help me with the underdress I hope- I think a white dotted swiss would be perfect.  Kinda pirately!  Anyway - this will be an awesome little dress.. got the bodice finished.

Where did my knitting go?

I knew I loved knitting - but over the last few days I managed to lose my knitting bag and it had my camera in there as well.  I have been doing some major cleaning at the 311 house and thought I must have put it SOMEPLACE... but thank goodness I managed locate it today under an air matress...

Whew.  I was starting to freak out... I mean really FREAK OUT...ahem.... So here are the socks.  I think I will end up needing to felt them.  I under estimated the size...this wool actually is worsted and I am so used to knitting socks from fingering.. that it is hard to adjust and I have a little issue with following instructions on socks - I always think I know best..hence the narrow heel.  Well- now if I could find a basic pattern that was perfect - I wouldn't fiddle...sigh...
 
The yellow single ply ended up looking like stars.. really cool. I am about 3/4 of the way done with one sock.  I have so say - I continue to be impressed with the lofly quality of the yarn.  I am a wondering if it will end up being scratchy...I cant wait to wear them under my Muck Boots.

Mini Project below -- matching socks for my granddaughter Jovie.  Mina has the green ones with the multi stripe-- so I thought this would be a fun - same but different pair for her little chubby feet.... is there anything more precious than chubby baby feet?

Now for color

Dying is an interesting pursuit.  You can dye with kool-aide, walnut hulls, marigold blossoms and of course commercial dyes.  You must be careful though - those commercial dyes can be a bit caustic and you have to use glove and a mask to be completely safe.  Lots of wonderful sites that talk about dying.

For today's little experiment - I wanted a BRIGHT and VIBRANT blue and lots of color - so I chose jaquard commercial acid dyes in Blue and Yellow. I had the wonderful experience of an "exausted" dye pot.  That is the holy grail of dying.  It is where all of the dye is absorbed into your wool and the water ends up clear... it is amazing but true. Here are my results...

So I did a bright blue and wound it up. 

Then a verigated yarn by starting with yellow... dip one end..... then adding blue to the water and dipping lightly to the middle...then pull it out to dip and hold the end in to get a deep green.  The yellow in this photo is the original yellow I started with. this will be a quick color change on the needles.  I have not done a variegated yarn before.  This turned out pretty well!

I am now ready to start my project.  The yarn turned out Just as promised from the shepherdess.  Lofty - spongy, bouncy with a lot of elasticity.  Pretty exciting...

Plying my trade

When we left off I had two dubious looking balls of singles - and they looked kind of naughty.. but there they are in 2 glass bowls to keep them from rolling around in the plying process.  Now a normal spinner would know where her Lazy Kate is...and her niddy noddy.  Two wonderful tools that make this process easier.  But this spinner has sons living in her studio and I cannot find a darned thing...

So you take your wild balls of lovely spun wool and tie them to the header string that will feed into and onto the bobbin.. looks like a scary mess at this point with everything curling around itself - but that is good.

 

So then you spin and ply the two singles together in an even way until when you stop spinning and relax.. the yarn does not curl up - but lays balanced like this.. then it is evenly spun and will work for knitting.... YAY!






I Filled 3 bobbins and then wound the contents over my hand and around my elbow to get small skeins that are fluffy and yummy - and deceivingly light .
Something to dye for...

Next to spin

When I was a young mother.. I had an idenity crisis and so had to do something - different.. with NO KIDS.  SO I took up spinning.. it has turned to a life long joy.  I also had a taste for EXPENSIVE yarn and as a new mother I could not afford such luxuries.  Spinning allowed me to make my own artisan yarns.  If you are interested - you should take a class - it is certainly an experience.  Spinning is more about practice and muscle memory.  Like riding a bike - you eventually don't think about all the moving parts - but in the beginning it is like patting your head and rubbing your belly.  The human fingertips can tell the difference between just a few microns of width - it is amazing how you can learn to spin a yarn of a specific width and be consistent.  A BIG PS- DON"T let anyone tell you - you need to learn to spin a drop spindle first.. that is crap.. they don't call it a drop spindle for nothing.  If you have prayed that God teach you patience.. sure ... give it a whorl...but no complaining back to me.

OK so -- the spinning wheel is a wondrous device.. but contrary to popular opinion - the new spun thread does not go around the big wheel.  The big wheel powers the spinning motion of the smaller device shown here




First, you have to think about what you want to use the yarn for - should it be lofty or tight - thick or thin, or a artisan yarn with bumps and waves-- maybe some furry wisps.  Then do you dye before or after you spin. 

This Project:
1. Socks for me - simple please
2. Dyed after spinning  - a solid color and another varigated yarn to go with.
3. Size = a 2 ply DK style yarn - suitable for size 3 needles
4. NOT fuzzy - Fuzzy + felting in socks - not comfy

So I started to spin the first ply - or "singles" in spinner-ease.  Came up with a suitable thickness and then doubled it back on itself to see what 2 plys would look like.  Singles are spun with the wheel going to the right

- and when we spin the 2 plys together - you turn the wheel the opposite direction.  This balances the twist - if you didn't it, your finished garment would not be sturdy and would also lean to the right with all of that twist in one direction.



Once I finished all the wool - I wound it off in 2 balls. 

Next on to Plying....

Socks - In the beginning there was sheep....

In the beginning there was a sheep- an animal so sweet to give its fleece each spring - that we might have warm clothing - sweaters and socks - blankets and hats.

I have this notion that most folks - even knitters don't always have a clear view of how that wonderful fiber gets to be a pair of socks.  So I thought I would go from fleece to socks, including spinning, dying and knitting - and show you.  I am not going to start right at the sheep yet.. I will save that one for when I have my own sheep.

We will start with opening that box of goodies from our local shepardess - and her happy flock of Babydoll sheep.


YUM!!!

This is 8 oz roving from Mylittlesheep.com.  It is the stuff dreams are made of.  The shepardess has the  processed  into roving - long thick ropes of fiber that is all going the same direction .  She also sent me some unprocessed fleece - I like to work with unprocessed wool as well - it has the grease ( Lanolin) that is a joy to spin.

The first thing I did was to spin a little to see what I had do do to get the correct size of "singles" more on that later.  Once I did that - I knew how to strip the roving so it would be easier to spin the right size of yarn.
Striping the roving into the right size and coiling it around my hand into a "Nest" -  I will spin from these.

Now a note to those that follow my blog - don't let this happen to you... never no never leave the DD ( Devil Dog) alone in the room with your perfect little nests. They simply cannot resist the perfect fluff.  Cats don't seem to care.. but don't hold me to that.

So here is the result-- Devil Dog excluded and banished...a beautiful pile of bird's nests.. Now on to Spinning....