auntiemichal...

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

Quick and dirty current events:

Best wishes for a merry new year!
I'm considering a resolution for 2011.
Mailed my second-to-the-last knitted gift (mittens) yesterday.
Will resume work on my last knitted gift (3-button wrap) today.
Knitted gifts done in time: 3 pair mittens, 7 hats, 1 cowl
It's cold here: 23 degrees F. Grateful for handknits!
I've been teaching knitting classes at Joann's.
The zippered and handled bags I made from holiday polar fleece and used as gift bags for the Little Kids' gifts were such a hit that it's doubtful I'll get them back to refill for next year. It was faster and less wasteful to sew these bags than to wrap the multitude of little, mostly crafty, gifts for the LKs.
Bought more holiday print fleece for next year's gift bags.

Quick and dirty 2010 recap:

Quit watching Molly & McGee once first clutch fledged.
Checked the book Journal Junkies Workshop out of the library and was immediately fascinated by art journaling, especially the concept of obscuring the writing.
Started watching art journaling streams, especially JournalArtista aka Paula Phillips. Can you say "flopportunity?"
Started art journaling.
Am still art journaling.
Finished spinning and plying a small bag of blues colonial wool from Fantasy fibers. Need to get it off the bobbins next.
Started Wendy Johnson's Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi shawl "mystery" pattern; am near the end of the last section before the edging. Paused for gift and sample knitting.
Started a pair of socks from my own handspun. Also paused for gift and sample knitting.
Built an art table out of an Ikea wardrobe door ($10) and a pair of 3-drawer cabinets ($2 for both) with nifty "pull" and "open" knobs ($4) on the smaller 4 drawers.
Grew potatoes! Ate them, too.
Grew more everbearing strawberries than last year. Ate them outside!
Discovered several new authors including Charles Todd.
Started playing "faux Scrabble" at lexulous.com

Caught a mild case of MOD

2010-04-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

MOD? Molly Obsessive Disorder! I'm not the only knitter following the lives of Molly, McGee, and their four owlets (Max, Pattison, Austin, and Wesley) and the unhatched egg named Dudley. Broadcast live 24/7, the feathered family hunts, eats, expels owl pellets, sleeps, grows, defends, and learns new things every day. The oldest owlet, Max, is 22 days old. Did you know owlets hatch in the order their eggs were laid? You can tell the owlets apart sometimes from their size, but not when they're in a huggle (hug huddle) or under Molly (increasingly infrequently as the owlets grow larger).

The Royal family in Southern California put this owl box up two years ago hoping to attract owls. It succeeded, and they started sharing the video stream with friends and family who told other people, and so on. So far over 7 million unique people/computers/IP addresses have visited Molly. What started out as one camera and one computer has grown to about 8 cameras, 2 computers, and 5 monitors (that I've heard about; it could be more) on the Royals' kitchen table. The latest night vision (infrared or IR) cameras were set up to try to catch the owlets fledge in a few weeks. The kitchen table is so crammed that Carlos says has to take Donna (who is a knitter, BTW) out to dinner every night!

Carlos has been narrating and answering questions for elementary students across the country, using Skype to connect to the classrooms over the Internet. Most of these events are recorded and available for playback at The Owl Box page. For a retired guy, Carlos has a more-than-full-time job for the duration; he is often up in the middle of the night resetting, chatting, and sometimes talking on the broadcast. He is a hoot in himself.

Volunteers from around the world are moderating the broadcast's chat room so it stays family-friendly. Other volunteers are collecting data, screen shots, and video and blogging much of it. There are cartoons, mugs, tee-shirts, jewelry, and an e-book. Portions of each purchase go toward funding bird habitat, and generous Molly fans can make donations without purchasing.

Oh, and now there's the LOWLcat in this post that I made from one of last night's screen shots. Turns out that it's hard to chat, take screen shots, and knit at the same time. So far, knitting is losing!

Oh, and the viewing schedule? Very flexible, but it's something like this:

Dawn Pacific Time to Dusk: Molly and owlets stay in the owl box, napping, preening, eating, housekeeping, and staying alert for trouble. Molly literally can sleep with one eye open. I've noticed that she often feeds the kids in the 8 AM hour and again around noon. The daytime camera is full color with sound, and you can see a lot, especially when Carlos zooms or pans. During the day, McGee, the male owl, roosts nearby, often in the neighbor's palm tree.

Dusk to Dawn: The owlets continue their daytime routine but stay closer together so they're easier to protect; they form an ever-growing "huggle" that often looks like a scrum as they jostle for position. Molly does go out at night to stretch and eliminate. Recently she's started staying outside longer, often sitting on the perch or roof, and she's been doing some hunting and bringing back food. The big difference is McGee's visits. They're usually less than 30 seconds! He comes in, gives Molly a rodent or rabbit, sometimes gives her a hug-equivalent that involves lots of screeching, and departs. Usually all we see is his legs because the night camera is set lower to the floor than the day cam. Views both inside and outside the owl box are now possible, so we get to see McGee on the box and in flight. His first visit can be anytime after about 7:30, depending on how dark it is, and as the owlets grow he will be making more visits; yesterday I think it was 15!

I'll stop typing now. Maybe my case of MOD is a little more than mild.

LOLcat Astrology?

2010-03-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

A case could be made that LOLcats are the new astrology. Many times those anthropomorphic subjects predict or describe elements of my life. In today's, my feline and word play aspects are touched upon as well as a recent excursion behind and under the refrigerator that revealed zero tiles, five faux mice and one real mouse skeleton.

It's a small world

2010-02-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

Today Crazy Aunt Purl blogged about running into a fan. Syncronicity! Today my next-door neighbor responded to my anonymous Craigslist ad (I'm selling my rarely-used, extra printer). Such a deal!

Turnabout is

2010-02-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

Update on my Knitting Olympics: it's looking dim for a medal. My second sock is only about 3/4 complete and there are two vests to go. When I set my goal, I forgot some parallel projects! As many of the athletes say, it's being there and doing your best that's important!

Finally caught SSS

2010-02-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Until this sock (the one on the bottom), Second Sock Syndrome was something that happened to other people. I started a pair out of Red Heart Heart & Sole in Spring Stripe last summer, and it has been neglected ever since. The experimental rectangular garter toe and garter heel flap were OK but not great. The yarn is on the fine side of fingering and seemed to take forever to knit; fine yarn doesn't usually faze me, but this one did because the colors did. It's done but for the binding off, but I don't like it and don't want to knit another one.

Along came the Knitting Olympics, and my personal challenge is to complete four WIPs (works in progress), including this pair of socks.

While playing with my sock yarn stash, I ran across a solid purple yarn (African Violet, Knit Picks Essential). Purple appeals much less to me now than it used to, and this pair of skeins was headed for the dye pot. Some blogger (Redshirt Knitting, maybe?) recently blogged about knitting heavier socks using two strands of sock yarn, so the purple and unloved stripes joined forces on my size 3s. I'm liking the result and they're going fairly quickly. The broken stripes, unifying purple, and faux fair isle appeal to me. About half a foot (my foot, not the Imperial unit) is already done.

Snape on Ice

2010-02-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Black, batty, and intense. Remind you of anyone? Evan Lysacek channeled Professor Snape in his short program last night. Was it deliberate?

You can see his performance here.

Other links: Wikipedia, Evan's own site

NBC and the NYT should coordinate better

2010-02-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

I'm watching the pairs figure skating tonight (and knitting socks) and thanks to NBC's tape-delay coverage and the New York Times news alert emails, the surprise is shot. Come on, guys, coordinate please so you don't tell us West Coasters who won what in your subject lines!

From now on, no checking email during commercials for me.

BTW, NBC, this is the only thing I watch on your network.

Berzerk PJs: A Scrabble Short Story

2010-02-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

At Scrabble the other night, I won the draw to play first, but drew these tiles:

Ack! No vowels except the blank and nothing on the board to use either.

So instead of "wasting" the blank on a short word, I traded away BKJP and wound up with this rack, playing on my opponent's PINE for a 73 point bingo.

Excellent!

Today, Quackle revealed some higher-point options for both racks. My choices are highlighted, and the best plays are nearest the top of each list.

BZRKPJ?

FROZEN?

There are some new words for me to learn and recall: ZERK, OPINE, UNFROZE.

Ran into Trader Joe's yesterday

2010-02-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

And then my car followed a few minutes later. Maybe it thought I was taking too long, but I swear it was only 10 minutes. Nobody was hurt, TJ's sign on the rock wall has only a bit of scuffed paint, and no other cars were damaged; all for which I am deeply grateful. The manager didn't even want my name and phone number, but I forced it on him just in case they need help painting over the scuff mark or something.

Buttercup (my car has a name) is a 1983 Toyota Corolla wagon that used to be in astounding condition for its age, and I am sad that after barely 6 months with me, this happens. And it's my fault for not setting the brake, leaving it in a gear appropriate to the slope of the pavement, and chocking at least one wheel.

One of those chunks of firewood from the other day would make a great chock.

Stuck and released

2010-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

Sounds a bit like fishing, right? Definitely not knitting. While splitting firewood, my wedges got stuck in a knotty piece. Only one would be hammered out. Brilliant idea: use the chain saw. Look what happened:

Wedge and chain saw stuck! Brilliant idea #2: use the pruning saw to cut out a chunk.

It gets trapped, too, but I keep sawing. Success!

After a bit more judicious use of the chain saw, its three pieces will fit in my small wood stove. My rolling "wood box" resides in the attached garage between splitting and sawing sessions, saving trips into the rain for wood.

And for your knitting enjoyment, a sea chanty

2010-02-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

Little Dee, currently is coming to a conclusion with characters from past strips making appearances. Linked in today's strip is this wooly sea chanty.

It was a good party.

2009-08-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

A spinning bud of mine had a micro booth at the Sock Summit, and I was a helper there and, for a shift, at SS registration. Both gave me an excuse to hang out at the biggest sock party in recent memory. It was a good party.

The biggest event for me was helping set the record for most knitters knitting simultaneously. I heard there were 935 or so of us knitting away; I worked on a dishcloth as circular and sock needles were banned. It was great fun, and I met some people from all over.

After all the shopping (see below), volunteering, and most of the booth responsibilities, the Luminary Panel was calming (a couple of hours knitting!) and enjoyable. Hearing peoples memories of Elizabeth Zimmermann (my knitting hero for many years), the backgrounds and anecdotes of nine Super Knitters, and Stephanie and Tina in their several roles (thanks givers, emcees, panel moderators) was worth the ticket.

While managing not to spend my whole August budget on yarn, I did buy some yarn and two knitting tools: a Susan Bates Handi Tool, (combines a crochet hook, US 3 knitting needle, cable needle in one) and a 9-inch US1/2.25mm HiyaHiya bamboo circular needle (you can shop around and find it for less; I paid $6).

The yarn I got, well let's just say that several vendors had bargain bins! I got three balls of Meilenweit for an average of $6.65: Mega Boot Stretch color 710, Fun & Stripes 633, and Multiringel 5050.

Then there was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. I found a Socks that Rock Heavyweight Mill End skein of Treehugger.

But my favorite skeins were two from Lollipop Cabin. They're a Merino-free blend of four sturdy wools spun as singles by a local mill and hand-dyed by the proprietress who is Ialiuxh on Ravelry. The first skein (already on the needles!) is shades of black and blue with a few flashes of almost-white), and the second is similar to the STR Treehugger; funny that I didn't notice it until now! This yarn reminds me of the Kumo'Socki I bought in Klamath Falls in 2006; both pair are going strong.

Later, gators!

New yarn for old film

2009-03-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reading blogs, and Yarn Zombie put out an offer to trade fiber from her shop for old Polaroid film. Yes! My 4 packs of 10-year-old film flew off to Ohio, and this beautiful yarn flew here:

Mmm skeins, indeed. The whole process started Thursday and we both got our packages on Monday. Yay USPS priority mail. Trading is good; unwanted items stay out of the landfill, and it's thrifty besides.

Recently I bought a compact digital camera and made my first video:

We'll just pretend I used a tripod and that you can't see my reflection. LOL

Sock Needle Storage

2009-01-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

As part of a recent effort to gather most/all my knitting and crocheting tools in one piece of furniture that I could park next to one of my knitting spots for easy, fast access, I collected my sock needles and sorted them by size in plastic tubes provided by a Scrabble friend.

My P-touch made nice labels with both US and metric sizes. To the right of the tubes you can see my traditional needle gauge and the digital caliper (less than $15 at Harbor Freight) that I use to get more accurate measurements. I've never claimed not to be obsessive about some things. Plus, I like tools.

My larger-sized DPNs are still in the roll-up I made some time ago.

Holiday Knitting: Done at Last!

2009-01-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Louise's Christmas present, this pair of (size 11!) socks, is complete, presented, and modeled for the blog. Knit from Lion Brand Sock-Ease in the Taffy colorway on size 0 US/2mm DPNs, the pattern is the Yarn Harlot's basic recipe with two additions: an extra long heel flap to accommodate Louise's high arches and 2x2 ribbing everywhere except the sole for good fit. The heel flaps are about 3/4 inches taller than my usual square flap, making the gussets extra deep.

Here they are in her clogs. Her pants aren't high-water; she's holding the legs up so you can see the socks. LOL

Mattie was very interested in the new socks; she loves wool, especially if there's a squeaker inside. I admit to making her some wool squeaker toys out of failed felting projects and from heavy wool fabric. They're guaranteed to please!

Speaking of Mattie, she and I have a game we play in which she earns treats by begging, "talking", barking, and rolling over. Yesterday I got her to roll over a total of 13 times, 4 per treat and one extra. Once she figured out there wasn't a treat in my hand, she wouldn't do any more. She's not stupid!

Yarny and White Christmas

2008-12-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

See the blue recycle and tan yard debris cans? They're about 3.75 feet high. Here in Portland, we had a record amount of snow lately; as reported here:

The National Weather Service says the winter wallop that dealt the Portland area nearly 19 inches of snow in the last two weeks has by one measurement made December the snowiest month since January 1950 in a city more noted for winter rain. Based on the snowfall at Portland International Airport, meteorologist Charles Dalton said, the winter weather also gave the city its snowiest Christmas at least since 1940, when the agency began recording precipitation levels there.

The mythic desirable white Christmas was ours. Many Portlanders postponed gatherings to the weekend when major streets were clearer and safer. My brother's 4WD with studded snow tires got us to our family's gathering on the day itself. Here's what Powell Blvd looked like after repeated plowing and sanding. Sidewalks were often buried and pedestrians walked in the streets.

Here's a picture of my grandnephews and grandniece wearing the slipper-socks I knit for them from superwash wool. They were more interested in their new toys, but I'm hoping the slippers will be used and appreciated.

I don't get to see the kids often, so grandniece and I took the opportunity to do some finger knitting. That's grandpa, who was wearing the socks I made for him, napping on the sofa next to us.

My sister, who wore her felted clogs, gifted me with some Patons Kroy Sock Yarn and a gift certificate; I'd mentioned buying some sock yarn at Jo-Ann last week and she'd sounded unenthused at the time, but I understand why now. LOL The color she picked for me was the color I'd have picked if I'd bought one more pair of skeins, so it worked out perfectly.

In which I become a game

2008-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

I ran across this at knitnut.net and had to see if I was Scrabble, too. Yes, with reservations (added below in blue).

You Are Scrabble

You are incredibly clever and witty. You can talk your way out of (and into) situations easily. NOT You are an excellent decision maker. NOT You are good at weighing the options in front of you. You're the type of person who can make something out of nothing. You are very resourceful. You know a lot of things. Most importantly, you know when people are wrong - even when they won't admit it. NOT

What Board Game Are You?

On the knitting and holiday fronts, I'm moving at glacial speeds. I have 2/3 of the kids' 3 pair of slipper socks to knit and about 5/6 of a pair of big adult socks (toe-up Jaywalkers of Sockease) to go. I'd show you, but my brother has my camera for a few days. He's selling Dad's excess cable chains on Craigslist; they're hot sellers just now due to the snow and predicted freezing rain in our area. We might even have a White Christmas which sounds romantic and traditional but just makes the travel between homes problematic!

"A" My Name is "." My Husband's Name is "."

2008-12-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

Recently one of "my" bloggers posted 10 things she loved starting with the letter B and I opted to be tagged, winding up with the letter A.

First off, I thought of the alphabet jump rope rhyme that goes

A my name is Alice My husband's name is Al We live in Atlanta And we sell Apples B my name is Betty My husband's name is Bob We live in Boston And we sell Beans

The rhyme continues through the alphabet and was quite fun to jump to.

So 10 things I like that start with A:

Apple chopped up with celery, walnuts and cottage cheese or yogurt is a favorite meal. It's a variation of Waldorf Salad, something my grandmother made for Christmas Dinner (and others) every year.

Adhesive of various types is a necessity. Except when its remnants are stuck to my skin! One of my favorite adhesives is silicone.

Arse the word, not the thing. Stephanie, The Yarn Harlot, use this word and it cracks (ha ha) me up enormously.

Antigravity is a regular feature in Science Fiction stories, but beware that the mass is still there and can cause damage!

The A tile in Scrabble, drawn to determine who plays first, is beat only by the Blank tile. Drawing it ensures that my first word gets double points, a good thing indeed. On the other hand, the one who starts has to keep score!

Almonds are one of my staple foods. Tasty, full of mono-saturated fat, protein, and a few carbs, I eat them whole or chopped every day, often with cottage cheese and fruit, always in hot multigrain cereal, or any time I need to add a little good fat to a meal. I buy them whole at Trader Joe's and use my hand-cranked nut chopper as needed.

Alpacas are a favorite animal because they produce such soft fiber for spinning, knitting, and so on.

Air is my favorite mixture of gasses, though I admit to not thinking about it often. I'm starting to run out of ideas here! Do I have 10 yet? Only eight? OK. Two more. Where's the dictionary? LOL

Alligator, as in "See you later, alligator." If you get C, you can use "crocodile."

Arithmetic! It's so clear cut, black and white, with easy rules. Completely unlike history, literature, or philosophy. But let's not extend my favor too far into trigonometry or calculus!

If you'd like to play, let me know and I'll send you a random letter of the alphabet.

When life gives you scraps, make quilts

2008-12-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

It's like "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade." My aunt had lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees in her SoCal yard, so they weren't the bad things the homily would suggest. Neither are scraps if you're fortunate to have the skill or inclination to use them.

Well, I've recently been handed a lot of sour bits and pieces.

A close friend's cancer metastasized. An in-law's cancer is more resistant to treatment than previously. One of my nephews isn't coming to Christmas this year. I got another diagnosis that requires permanent lifestyle changes to help ensure an active life; this follows a probably-unrelated diagnosis 11 months ago. Let's not get into talking about "fair."

One of the Lemonade Quilt designs I've discovered is to think about possible positive outcomes and reminders to cherish what's good now.

The recent diagnosis is a very strong incentive to create a healthy lifestyle for myself. It has immediate numerical feedback and some dire consequences to avoid. I can do this.

The several-day hospital stay that just ended (in itself a set of scraps of a totally new color that will hopefully become a nice quilt in a couple of months) produced another sour fruit: the night nurse spotted a probable sleep disorder. It's treatable and treatment would likely result in more energy and clarity.

All of these sour scraps are scary yet at the same time provide some opportunities.

And did you know that the phlebotomists use a new giant rubber band on each patient to prevent spreading germs? I brought home a couple of mine to open jars, pull needles, stop skids, etc. They're a less bulky and more useful memento than the pink plastic tub and curved vomit basin, for sure.

Better now than then

2008-11-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

It used to be that people paid me to write. Paying attention to grammar, as well as other aspects of producing publications, was important; remnants are still lodged in my brain!

Recently I've been noticing the words "then" and "than" being misused frequently by people who ought to know better.

THAN is a conjunction that connects two things being compared. Turquoise is bluer than red. Barack is taller than John. Cinder has more fur than Jumper. This might be more than you want to think about.

THEN is an adverb of time or order. That was then, this is now. What did he do then? Jim burped first, then Nancy chimed in. When you get these two words straight, then what?

If you're interested in reading more about using these two words, this Google search is a good place to start.

Other often confused sets of words are its|it's|its', insure|ensure, and affect|effect. Washington State University hosts a set of pages clarifying the use of hundreds of words. Book and calendar versions are also available.

Multitasking

2008-11-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

Recently I got a vintage Schwinn exercise bike and rediscovered that time slows incredibly when watching the timer, even with the radio on. So I built and installed a simple book shelf for the handle bars.

The scrap of plywood is bolted to two smallish L braces which in turn are clamped to the handle bars with hose clamps. It's easy and requires no permanent modifications that might degrade the bike's collectability. LOL Just kidding; you can barely give these things away anymore.

Scrap of rubbery drawer liner keeps my book from sliding off. Now I can read and pedal until either 1) the timer sounds or 2) my rear goes numb. When it's the second event (which it usually is now that I'm building up a tiny bit of stamina), I get off the bike, march around for a minute, and get back on.

I'm exploring options and experimenting with available materials to prevent NBS (Numb Butt Syndrome). I'll report if I find a solution that doesn't involve temporary dismounts!

Balls of yarn: you're doing it different

2008-11-03T12:55:00.001-08:00

Socks, socks, socks, and slippers

2008-10-29T15:06:00.001-07:00

These are my 9th pair of socks, knit with Stahl sche Wolle Socka Color yarn purchased about 20 years ago for gloves never knitted.

I used Wendy's toe-up, short-row heel pattern. They're excellent with blue or black jeans and my Birkenstocks. These next two pair are now in the possession of my sister and BIL. Knit from the purple & gray Opal Batik previously blogged, they came out well and please their new owners. They look a little sick against the gold-ish carpet. This is a better representation.

Lurking behind socks numbered 10 and 11 are these felted clogs knitted for my sister. She and the green fuzzy feet never got along well but she wouldn't give them back so I could wear them! The solution was a trade: new slip-ons with non-slip soles for the fuzzy feet. We're both happy.

They already have a crumb on them!

The suede sole didn't require any "special" tools. I used a hammer, nail, ruler, and block of wood to punch holes at half-inch intervals around both soles "pinned" together with binder clips. Both just barely fit on one rectangle of Tandy Suede Trim Piece #4040 purchased at Joann because we have small feet (5.5 US).

The difficult part was getting them sewn onto the clogs; the threaded metal tapestry needle got stuck in the felted fabric; I ended up using pliers with taped jaws to pull the needle through. Here you can see the stitching.

The pattern is Fiber Trends Felt Clogs (AC-33), an oldie-but-goodie I hadn't tried before. It's a keeper!

Fall vegetables

2008-10-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

My tomatoes are finally ripening. I made turkey chili the other day, using tomatoes and baby zucchinni from my washtub garden. It was and continues to be yummy! It made enough that I had to freeze half of it.

It's hard to make out the tomatoes against the V8 juice. Also in there is a pound of browned ground turkey breast, celery, and onion. To be added shortly are black beans, pink beans, chili powder, and much later a splash of vinegar.

Also in vegetable news is this dirty carrot that blogless Louise grew and decided to share with me and, via the internet, you:

One part is perfect, anyway

2008-10-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

AskTheBellwether's Fiber Mine listed this site for testing one's visual acuity hue-wise. Sounds like a fun way to put off doing something really important, right? LOL

The test looks like this:

Click it to go take the test if you want to. My results surprised the heck out of me:

Perfect!

I've been trying to be perfect my whole life, and now I have achieved a small measure of perfection. Maybe I can stop trying so hard now.

A shocking cautionary tale

2008-10-23T14:05:00.001-07:00

Mondays are washday. While I was folding and hanging clothes out of the dryer, it bit me! See?

When I put a new belt in the dryer last year, I didn't make sure a cluster of wires was tucked away properly. When the drum rotated, it rubbed a wire, eventually wearing through the insulation, electrifying the drum. When my watch brushed the drum and the body as I pulled out some clothes, the circuit was complete and I was shocked. Fortunately only by 109 volts (as measured later). The temporary tattoo of soot is possibly from vaporized plating from my watchband.

This picture is from a few days later. You can see where the watchband links branded me.

BTW, it's almost as hard to photograph your wrist your feet! And that's a close as we get to knitting today. LOL

After I unplugged the dryer, took a few pictures for the blog, checked with the advice nurse, and quit shaking (in that order!), I called my brother who has more electrical experience than I do, and he came over and we fixed the dryer. He only told me twenty-zillion times that I could have fixed it myself, and he's right, but I was a little afraid of the dryer, even unplugged.

The moral of this cautionary tale? When you put electrical things back together, make sure the wires are away from moving parts.

OFF Goodies, Socks, & Mystic Earth Scarf

2008-10-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, my! That's a lot to blog about. Louise and I went to the Oregon Flock & Fiber festival Saturday; the weather was prime with the breeze augmented by thousands of spinning wheels in use. Well, maybe not thousands, but a lot. LOL I've been dithering about buying hand cards and finally bought these Ashford Wool Cards:

And Superior Fibers was selling Alpaca blend "craft batts" for only $1.50 an ounce, so I got this 7.5 ounce pastel colors wonder. It's very soft!

This blue Colonial Wool from Fantasy Fibers came home with me, too.

Altogether very satisfying S.E.X. (Stash Enhancement eXercise)!

As far as actually using some of the stash goes, I've been knitting "fraternal" socks for my sister and brother-in-law. Her's were easy as our feet are pretty close in size; his not so much. I got his shoe size and looked up size to inches charts. I also decided to do 2x2 ribbing to ensure a good fit around. Here are the 1.75 pair:

The yarn is Opal Batik previously mentioned here. Last night I started a Mystic Earth Lace Scarf (a subset of the Stole); it's a KAL with 4 clues in 4 weeks. Here's the bottom border with the body stitches picked up. Those vintage plastic needles are very light and contrast well with the yarn.

I'm using Knit Pics Bare 70% Merino, 30% Silk fingering weight. I'm hoping 440 yards will be enough! The scarf is 1/3 the width of the stole, and the stole takes under 1100 yards, so I have 73 yards' leeway. It will be difficult knitting with my fingers crossed!

Online Retailer Blames Knitting for Moon Boycott

2008-09-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Woot, the one-item-one-day-except-during-Wootoffs retailer, blogged this afternoon with 12 reasons why we haven't gone back to the moon. LOL

Surge Protectors Serge Cleaning Cloths

2008-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Paper towels last a long time at my house (a couple of years, at least, per roll) because I use these 99.9% of the time:

Those are well used, fraying towels cut down to approximately washcloth size. The edges won't fray because I do the cutting and hemming on a serger. The advantage to this size is that dish rags, washcloths, and my cleaning cloths fit this handy cleaning tool...

...purchased at a thrift store. No disposable Swiffer cloth has never crossed my threshold. If you noticed all the dangling thread chains, well spotted. The last two steps in cleaning cloth creation are dabbing on Fray Chek to lock the threads, and after that's dry, cutting the threads off.

Some of the cloths are much smaller—as small as 3x5 inches—because I had to work around holes or tears. These mini rags are also handy; one resides with my spinning wheel.

I see a number of other knitting bloggers post about knitting swiffer cloths, but I bet if they had a serger they'd be using it this way, too! Here are more swiffer options that Google revealed.
My cleaning cloths collection does include several old knitted dishcloths which do fit my swiffer and do a great job.

Cheerios for now!

Much closer

2008-08-02T17:42:00.001-07:00

See this?

That's two bobbins full of 2-ply Sunset. The bobbins in the basket held 2 ounces each of the singles. The left one is empty (what you see is red leader cord), and the right one is so close to empty they're almost a perfect match! I did divide the batts evenly by weight, and this tells me that my spinning was relatively consistent between the two halves.

For you Babe spinners, I discovered that I could ply faster by putting the drive band on the "hub cap" instead of the usual place. It stayed in place pretty well, but I had to leave the brake unfastened to keep it from slipping under tension. Has anyone carved a drive band groove into the axel? I've got this dremel-type tool....

Next I'll skein, count, and wash them. Then I'll do some math. Keep your fingerings crossed for socks!

Oh, did you see yet that sign-ups for Mystery Stole 4 are open?

It wasn't horse shoes

2008-07-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

I came close, but not close enough, to finishing spinning the Giant Batt goal and winning a yellow shirt. Using my nifty index card progress system, I got to 43/16ths. The goal was 48/16ths, so I "won" a red shirt. Kind of like winning green ribbons in 4-H. LOL!

Currently on the bobbin is 1 ounce of plied Sunset spun from the fold. Currently in the Kate are 3 ounces ditto. I found out in the wee hours of this morning that it takes a LOT longer to ply fine singles! And look at the striping on the singles turning into Trek-like yarn!

And previously un-posted, the finished 3rd quarter:

Sport weight (on average!) Sunset spun long draw with the many colors blending as they came into the drafting triangle. Very soft and squishy. There's 292 yards of beeyoutiful yarn showing off in my Russian Sage. I understand now why spinners talk about keeping some yarns nearby for cuddling.

Change of Command—oops!—Plan

2008-07-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

I *am* reading Elizabeth Moon's Change of Command (again), but that's not what this post is about! My goal for Le Tour de Fleece is changing slightly because of this:

That's the skein of long-draw Cheviot last seen on the bobbin here. It's Navajo-plied and 1 3/8 ounces of overspun unevenness destined for pet toys, felting, or rugs. The bobbin is spun much more evenly, but still has numerous lumps from what I've determined are second cuts in the batt. Grrrr. There's not enough of me to go around to hand-card or comb the remaining 8 ounces of the Giant Batt and spin it for Le Tour de Fleece, so I'm changing my goal slightly.

That's 1 1/2 ounces spun of this fiber I bought a few months ago. It spins so much faster! It's more beautiful! It has about 1% of the lumps and VM as the Giant Batt! I am in love and want to get more of this fiber at Oregon Flock and Fiber in September.

The quantity of fiber part of my goal is still the same: a pound. It'll just be different fiber for the second half. It's not cheating but a replacement part, like a new tire. LOL

In garden news, my tomato plant is blooming:

As are the lemon cucumbers:

Ta Ta for now!

Learning to spin from videos

2008-07-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Learning to spin (and card, comb, scour, ply, finish, etc) on my own involves using freely available resources from the library and the web. The latter has revealed (after much watching of pointless productions) several series of helpful spinning (and etc.) videos on YouTube.

The first videos I found were by Abby Franquemont (whose blog I enjoy) here.

Sue Macniven has several very good videos, too.

Amanda Hannaford has a great video on long draw plus others.

Rexenne, whose current primary interest is growing mushrooms, produced enthusiastic and informative fibery videos found here.

Do you have any favorite spinning videos? Post them in the comments please!

In Tour de Fleece news, yesterday's efforts produce another ounce of long-drawn single, so the bobbin is nearly full. I'm undecided about a plying method. For fun, here's Rexenne's Navajo Plying video:

Updates: Just found this tutorial and video on corespinning via Fiber Mine. Now I have to research what corespun yarn is good for!

You'd think a giant batt of white would be boring.

2008-07-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

And maybe it is. The Yarn Harlot is blogging about the possibility of boring her readers with all spinning all the time. IMO, not a chance. Here's the completed first quarter of my giant batt, posing without sunglasses in the bamboo bush.

Four ounces, 286 yards, Navajo/chained ply, 20-year-old Cheviot fleece raised in Southern Oregon. No, the sheep isn't 20; it was shorn and carded two decades ago.

Navajo/chained ply was chosen so I could practice the technique more; it's actually fun and fast to do, but requires more attention, dexterity, and fiddling than "standard" plying. The yarn would have turned out a light sport weight or heavy fingering with 50% more yardage (429 yards) plied with two singles.

Here's a picture in the shade so you can see more of its slightly overweight sport (or underweight DK) goodness.

One thing about spinning such old batts is that the carding oil had changed for the worse. The possibility occurred to me while flipping through a spinning book and finding a recipe for carding oil and the recommendation to spin it promptly. Hmm. So the second quarter of the Giant Battquickish trip through detergent and hot water, followed by a fabric-softened rinse. The noils and neps and snarls (oh, my!) that pestered me before are mostly not happening so far in this clean and soft quarter batt, which I'm practicing long draw on. Here's the first ounce.

The really thick parts are mercifully buried under the thinner parts! There's also more vegetation in this as it didn't have a chance to fall out during drafting or pre-drafting because I didn't do any! LOL Instead, I tore a chunk of batt off, shook and fluffed it, and started spinning.

Thanks for dropping by!

Flyer Fancies

2008-07-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's my spinning from last night. It's one of the balls of drafted giant batt plus a little of the second one. See the odd hooks by the pink asterisk?

This is what comes of being a self-taught spinner. The offset placement of the hooks seemed really strange to me and it bugged me that the bobbin didn't fill up on the end. So I added a hook. I moved the "real" hook to a newly drilled hole at the very tip and put a small brass one in the original hole. A few days later, I happened on a spinning post (3/2/2008 by the green/yellow-filled bobbins) about how you can use ALL the hooks to fill the bobbin more compactly. Duh. I thought that the ones on the right for Z-twist (spinning singles) and the ones on the left for S (plying). Nope. Not at all. Now I'm spinning using all my hooks.

This cheviott giant batt is, no surprise, behaving differently than the few other fibers I've spun. If I'm not careful, drafting introduces neps/noils/tangles that make lumps in the yarn. Also, since I'm doing a modified short/worsted draw (which is what I know how to do, sorta), I was sliding my pinched fingers along the yarn as I let the twist in. Well I stopped that because it made more tangles. Currently I'm just letting go and letting the twist travel up to my drafting hand which pinches of the undrafted part of the roving. The results are much more like real yarn!

After worrying a little about actually meeting my goal, I made up a schedule/progress tracker on an index card. After some math, drawing, writing and smudging of gel ink LOL, here it is:

Each remaining day has a 4-lined rectangle with day/date/total-to-date, fraction prepped, fraction spun, and fraction finished. I need to complete 48/16ths of the giant batt to meet my goal! I'm including plying in finishing because it goes pretty fast compared to spinning. And my card didn't have room for 5 lines per day!

A little math reveals I have 3/16 complete (2/16 predrafting, 1/16 spinning) and, on average 2.5/16 per day to go. The daily goal is on pencil on the sticky flag so I can update it and move it as needed.

Oh, and yesterday I ordered two spinning books: A Fine Fleece (and dye and yarn) at KnitPick's book sale and Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning at Interweave's Hurt Book Sale. Next I want to order a plying flyer and bobbins for my Babe wheel, but not today!

First day of LeTour de Fleece

2008-07-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

The first day of the TDF resulted in a pretty cloud! There's two balls of pre-drafted cheviot, 28 and 32 grams, a third ball just started, and a strip of roving that supposed to be 1/16th of the giant batt. We'll see what the total weight turns out to be. Maybe this is contest material? "Guess the weight of the batt." I'd have to have readers and a prize first!

The fiber has a fair amount of VM, though opinions probably vary based on experience and perfectionist tendencies. I was able to shake or pick out much of what didn't fall out while drafting, though I'm sure some migrated back or never left in the first place.

Onward!

Pondering a Goal for Tour de Fleece

2008-07-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not usually a great goal setter, but the Tour de Fleece requires one, stated or not, to "win." We're supposed to spin from stash and do something that's a personal challenge. Given my relative newness to the craft and my self-teaching methods, I'm not up to anything fancy (yet). But I do have all the cheviot and karakul in 12 to 18 ounce batts. Those are *big* batts. I've spun some of the karakul already, so I'm thinking the white cheviot. A whole batt. Making quantities of yarn large enough to knit at least a pair of socks (3+ ounces). So, up to 4 batches of yarn, each consistent with itself. It will all be white (no time to acquire dye and dye the batt, even if I knew how yet), but I can dye the resulting yarn later.

My initial thought to spin a whole giant batt (visualize, if you will, spinning a giant bat around on a string!) (just kidding) seemed too grand until today when I read Stephanie's post. If she can spin 3 *pounds* I can spin one. I don't have budding Erica Claptons in the house playing the same song over and over and over! LOL

Here's the batt with Pepper included for scale. Or if you think she's a giant cat (she's not, at 10 pounds), the batt is about 22 inches by 5 feet. Yes, feet. BTW, it's overcast today, so the pictures are not the greatest, but they'll do.

And to show vegetative progress, here's my first baby courgette:

The cucumber trellis made of field fencing:

Cute cucumber tendrils:

And the tomato plant from Louise:

I got the field fencing at the neighborhood feed store. It has 6 inch square holes so I can pick/weed/whatever through it, and it was easy to set up using zip ties to "sew" the ends together and anchor the fencing to the handles on the washtub since that trellis only goes part way around.

Into the Closet

2008-06-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

When my house was built 20-odd years ago, ventilated wire shelving was the new rage. So new, that it still had a few problems. The vinyl coating turned out to be a bad idea as it got sticky with age, and the clothes rod didn't allow hangers to slide very far. Like about 10 inches. Grrrr.

Well, I replaced my closet shelf/rod the other day. My hangers can now slide from one end to the other with only minor hanger bumping at the two braces.

BTW, the brown hangers date from when plastic hangers were new and only sold at hoity-toity department stores. These were 29 cents each in about 1977 and have lasted because they're heavier and thicker than current iterations. I can't recall any of them breaking yet.

The new shelf/rod is also nearly twice as long as the original. The closet installer (the shelving was so new it wasn't yet available for self-installation!) put in rods at two heights, and given my personal lack of height, I rarely used the higher rod. So I replaced the half-width lower rod with a full-width one. That required a bracket for the end; also the shelf design had a different bracket. Here's a focused-on-the-wrong-part shot of the correct bracket.

Because I wanted the new rod in the same place as the old to minimize the number of brackets to move and holes in the wall, I ended up reusing the original end bracket, making it work by inserting matching shelf hooks so the height is correct.

It's a bit of a kludge, but the alternative was to relocate everything. The new bracket is self-anchoring and the old one has traditional plastic plug anchors. Removing and replacing wall anchors is not IMO a good thing to try. This picture also shows the special screw that require special drivers or driver bits. Those Closet Maid people were sneaky, but I foiled them by acquiring a square-tip bit a long time ago.

The new shelf design made new angle brackets necessary. They're just a little longer as well, so I did have to put two new holes in the wall, but I found the studs and fastened the wall end very securely indeed. It was surprising to discover the original installation didn't fasten to the studs.

My new, free-sliding, wider, stronger shelf/rod makes me smile.

Sock Yarn, I Has It!

2008-06-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Starting with some red and blue mystery fluff (probably Cheviot) and some "white" mystery roving, and some pastel blue lace weight (also mystery wool), I finally produced sock yarn!

The process began with carding little red, white, and blue clouds in two steps. First I put red fiber on half the card (dog brush!) and blue on the other and carded once or twice. Then with that fiber still on the card, I added a layer of the while roving and carded once more. I made a bunch of these.

Then I spun about 3 ounces of singles, letting the colors do what they would, resulting in variously shaded red, blue, white, pink, light blue and lavender segments.

While I was happy with the single, I was impatient and didn't want to spin another one. Second Bobbin Syndrome! Also, I wanted to tone down the patriotic color combo. So I plied it with some sky blue lace weight from the stash. The bobbin wasn't big enough for all the plied yarn, so it's in two uneven balls. It will be interesting how it knits up and how durable the resulting socks are.

Stats: 450 yards, 118 grams (4.2 ounces) = fingering weight

BTW, my "cones" weigh 8 grams each. LOL And that's BBKitty whose fur's in the background; he "supervised" the "photo shoot."

Adventures with Karakul

2008-06-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here's 34 yards and 52 grams of Navajo-plied Karakul yarn I made a few weeks ago. According to the charts, its "super bulky." It's also lumpy, inconsistent, and I know the plying could have been done better, but I was practicing! I practiced spinning thick, practiced long draw a little bit, and I can't remember what all else I tried. Now I know some of what not to do. This yarn has potential for cat toys (always my first plan for using up mistakes; cats aren't particular), locker hooking, and primitive art. Ha.

The gram scale is new-to-me. A bargain at $2 (it didn't even need a battery!), it is more precise than my other small scale which reports ounces and tenths of ounces. This one can be set to Imperial units, showing pounds, ounces, and eighths of ounces. While not as precise as the "drug dealer" scales seen around on various knitting blogs, this one will serve me well.

I didn't kill it after all

2008-06-26T13:15:00.001-07:00

The cantaloupe seedlings have survived the inadvertent drought. You can see them in the foreground here. Please ignore my misspelling!

Note also the yellow zucchini blossom! There are many more that should turn soon if you look closely.

Neighbor Louise gave me some extra plants she started from seed: a tomato, a couple little cucumbers, and a half dozen more zucchinis. I need to drag out the planters and get busy. After I eat some more raspberries and strawberries from her garden that she gifted me yesterday!

Wooly Garden and Triangular Dolly

2008-06-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get a kick out of being weird. Well, most of the time. LOL For example, my vegetable garden started out on wheels. Now it's on the old pickanick (remember Yogi?) table where it will be easy to find those baby zucchini before they become monster-sized.

After planting a zucchini, several lemon cucumbers, and a cantaloupe (which I hope will recover from my letting it dry up too much) in potting soil and compost, I covered the dirt with wool.

What! you say? Wasting wool on gardening? Not really. That wool wasn't going to do anyone any good for crafting anything nice. The batt was dyed with something that bleeds profusely even after a dozen washes. It was also felted, probably accidentally judging by the various thicknesses and holes in it. As mulch, it will hopefully be keeping the soil moist and the roots warm. Water flows right through. It was easy to install.

See those buds? Baby courgette will hopefully follow.

I mentioned wheels. Because I did nearly everything bass ackwards, I had the washtub planted before I moved the table to the best location. So the washtub was on wheels for a while so I could move it around easily. The wheels? An invention of my own:

Three salvaged swivel casters pinning three sticks into a triangle. The sticks are about 20 x 1 x .7 inches with holes in both ends. The holes are barely big enough for the caster stems, and the slight angling caused by the over/under layering of the sticks puts just enough pressure on that it stays together. I hope. I did play it safe and wedged a small nail alongside each stem. Have you noticed how it looks kind of like a recycle symbol? LOL This simple little project definitely qualifies as Reduce (back strain) and Reuse (sticks, casters).

Now that the wash tub is on the picnic table (thanks to Louise and Mattie who went for a walk and passed just in time to help lift it onto the table), my triangular dolly is under a stack of tires. It is so much easier to move stuff around with wheels!

Poison Oak!

2008-06-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

My neighbor, an nice young man who bought the little house next door, got into some poison oak that lurks quietly in the line of lilacs and other vegetation on the boundary between our properties. It was bad enough he missed some work. So he dug it up.

The other day he revealed it's BAAAACK and showed it to me.

See it being sneaky and hiding near the hawthorne sprouts? What's funny|weird|unsurprising is that in 22 years I've never had trouble with the poison oak. What does that say about my yard maintenacne habits? LOL

Fridge Magnets: Take 14357

2008-06-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Not a very original topic, crafted refrigerator magnets are nonetheless useful and fun items to make. I find it especially satisfying to make something new out of bits and pieces already on hand. This time my goal was strong, unobtrusive magnets for the refrigerator.

No, that's not my refrigerator; it's origami paper ON my refrigerator so you could see the magnets better! Here's a crisper picture using the flash that shows the back of one of the magnets.

My button jar has housed these Mother of Pearl buttons for many years. They were "too nice" to put on clothes that go through the wash. LOL I used pliers to pop the metal shanks off. Then applied silicone cement to attach the rare earth magnets. During the day it took the silicone to cure, the magnets were stuck on a tin can lid on the counter to prevent the buttons and magnets from getting out of alignment.

I'm especially happy with these magnets because the button is wider than the magnet, making it easier to get a grip on them.

Flickr's Most Interesting Sock Isn't

2008-06-13T17:33:00.001-07:00

♫ YO Yo yo, there's no place like a green penthouse... so i told the genie i wanted to be well hung. ^o^ ♫ nah... wildlife from singapore♫
Originally uploaded by bocavermelha-l.b.
We know about Flickr. I didn't know about the Most Interesting filter/setting/link until just now. So I tried searching for "sock" and clicked Most Interesting. Got a frog.

Not that knitters are unfamiliar with frogging (rip it, ribbit), but how is that that little green amphibian a sock? Wait while I search this page|next|previous in Firefox. Oh. The description includes "socked." Hmm. On the other hand, the next most interesting pictures often feature striped knee socks in sometimes unusual situations.

It will be interesting to see what this post looks like in Blogger; I clicked Blog This in Flickr as an experiment. Hope the picture comes through! Added later: Yes! The picture is in the post!

Overdue fibery updates include spinning some cat hair. Pepper was shedding her winter coat and a combing session produced a huge ball of clean, soft, undercoat, so I spun a tight single to be plied with a natural brown karakul single that's hanging around. More on that and other projects to come.

Easy & Fast Beans & Rice

2008-05-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Wendy's having a drawing for a cookbook, and to enter one needs to post a recipe of the fast, tasty, healthy variety. Here's mine.

Easy & Fast Beans & Rice

This is more of an outline or template than a recipe. Each incarnation will be a little different! It's great for using up leftovers.

Bare Minimum Ingredients:
Rice
Canned Beans (same weight can as the tomatoes), drained & rinsed if you like
Canned Seasoned Stewed Tomatoes (same weight can as the beans), save the juice
Chopped onion (fresh, frozen, or dried)

Optional Ingredients:
Olive oil
Other fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables (corn is good as it combines with beans to make complete protein) in a quantity proportional to the beans and to your fondness for them
Already cooked meat or poultry
Broth, soup, or vegetable/tomato juice
Garnishment such a shredded cheese, olives, chives, salsa, soy sauce, etc.

1. Start some (a cup or more) rice cooking using your preferred method and ingredients.
2. In a sauce pan big enough to hold everything, heat the tomato liquid and optional olive oil.
3. Add the onion and simmer & stir until transparent. Other fresh chopped vegetables can be added with with onion.
4. Add the tomatoes, beans, and any other vegetables, stirring everything together. Cover and simmer, adding water or other appropriate liquid if needed. Stir once in a while. Note: If your tomatoes were plain, you'll want to add seasonings to taste.
5. If you didn't get too crazy with chopping everything and you didn't use instant rice, the beans and the rice should be ready about the same time. Put some rice in a bowl, add some beans on top. Garnish if desired. Note of the DUH variety: If you want the rice and beans to come out "even," mix them together before serving.

My favorite combination is red kidney beans, Mexican flavored tomatoes, fresh yellow onion, frozen corn, and long grain white rice (not instant) in my rice cooker. Yum!

I wonder if Asimov or Clarke had one of these?

2008-04-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

As I type this unillustrated post, my new robotic vacuum cleaner is running round the house, entertaining both me and the cats while sucking up bits of this and that. Charming until it gets something biggish stuck in it's maw, the Roomba tackling a crafter's space needs an owner handy with a screw driver to perform the robotic equivalent of a Heimlich maneuver.

A Roomba's been on my wish list since they were first available. Recently I spotted one at my favorite thrift store for $5. I snapped that puppy up. It had no obvious evidence of damage and was with its charger and a wall hanger. No invisible walls or remote control, but they're replaceable if I find I must have them, but I have no indoor steps and don't really want another remote control to keep track of.

Now there was a downside to this bargain. The rechargeable battery was no longer holding a charge. Not unexpected at all.

After researching Roomba discussions, retailers, etc. I downloaded its manual and bought a replacement battery pack from an eBay seller for $40 (including shipping). It came with the special triangle-tip screwdriver needed to open Roomba's battery case, and it was a fast and easy process inserting the new batteries. They charged up fully over night. Yay! $45 Roomba with a brand new battery! Am I tickled or what?

If you're curious about them, YouTube has videos of them with/without animal interactions and with/without hackers' adaptations.

PS: It ran from 12:35 to 2:23, only pausing for me to empty the dust bin and untangle a couple of cat toys. 108 minutes!

Magnetic Cat and Lots of Fluff

2008-03-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, Jumper jumped onto the desk with this

stuck to the magnet (which unlocks the cat flap) on his collar. Kind of like a bow tie. He's getting better at not freaking out and coming to me so I can detach whatever he's picked up (spoons, tuna cans, etc.). At least he's not bringing in mice!

In the Fluff department, here's an angora bunny offered for sale at the Spring Fiber Sale (see sidebar for link) on Saturday. Only $30, and a very sweet, extremely soft bunny getting close to molting/plucking time. No, I didn't bring him home. The vendor told me how two bunnies escaped their cages for a brief while and, because they were opposite genders, increased his angora inventory.

A list of my fiber stash and a wish list on an index card (yeah, small stash still) help keep my acquisitions in check. I was looking for a sock-appropriate fiber blend and found this beautiful fluff.

Ten little bumps of wool and 25% mohair in reds, pinks, and oranges. Only $12 for 8 ounces. The vendor was wearing mis-matched socks showing two blends (one was Sunset, the colorway I got) and a vest from a third. She has batts for sale online. There should be enough for 2 pair of socks, so I'll spin one with stripes and one blended. I'm looking forward to it.

Dick Duncan was there with one of the electric carders he manufactures and a bunch of fiber on which to demonstrate. A nice guy, he understands about beginning spinners on budgets wanting to hold off on purchasing a drum carder. The batts he makes while demonstrating are offered for sale for $5. This 2.2 ounces of almost black mohair with a few bonus wool streaks came home with me.

I plan to blend it with more of the dog/wool/alpaca roving. It should come out better color-wise than the Six Breed blend using yellow mohair. Dick doesn't have a web site, but his contact information is Duncan Fiber Enterprises, 21740 S.E. Edward Dr. Clackamas, Oregon 97015, (503)658-4066.

The third thing I got was a couple packets of Cushings Perfection Dye (navy blue and bronze green), thinking ahead to those two brown shetland fleeces I have. I got a chance to talk to several people about the fleeces and ways to prepare the fiber. I had been considering combing, but it turns out that carding will work better as most shetland fleece has both hair and undercoat. Combing would separate the two; carding will keep them blended.

Here's the last fluff picture for today:

If the coloration looks familiar, don't worry. I was unhappy with the mega bulky yarn I respun from my attempt at spindle spinning. Couldn't make myself start knitting it! So I ylped it and nupsed it (if knitters can tink, spinners can nups and ylp, right?) and spun it and third time and plied it a second time, doubling its length to 68 yards and halving its diameter to bulky weight. The new calculations come out to 777 ypp. I've got it on 10.5 US needles now, and I'm happy!

As for the ylping process, it was awkward. Thankfully the ball measured only 34 yards. I plied the ball backwards onto a spool so the two strands weren't twisted around each other (much) and then put one strand on the ball winder and wound the other strand manually as I unwound the spool. I don't know that I'd do this again, but, darn it, I wanted to knit something useful from my first handspun yarn, even if it took three passes to get it knit-able!

New Handspun and New Calculations

2008-03-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

2.9 ounces of wool/mohair/nep handspun plied a couple of days ago and skeined today. It's about 249 yards, which makes it about 1374 yards per pound. I'm not claiming it's sock weight, though it's finer that my second attempt. This yarn is not very consistent; I tried several techniques, including spinning when too tired (LOL!). Some of the yarn is fluffy, some is firm. I suspect if it was multicolored, the yarn would look better!

I was suspicious when the yarn that I calculated to be sport weight knit up nicely on size 9 needles and looked a lot like worsted weight. Hmm. Time for a reality check. Grabbed the KnitPicks catalog from the top of the mail pile and did some math, and checked some sock yarn labels. An easy to remember ratio for sock yarn is 400 yards to 4 ounces, plus or minus. KP's Bare sock yarn is 440 yards for 100 grams (1 ounce = 28 grams). So my latest yarn is not sock weight, but sport weight. The Six Breed Yarn is worsted weight, and the spindled/wheeled green merino is super super bulky.

The page of yarn weights I linked to before might not be the best for handspun yarn. Too many charts are confusing, so I went surfing and found more charts, not many of which agreed with each other! I think I'll be compiling a mega chart to share with everyone later.

In the mean time, I'm spinning the gray alpaca roving from the Craigslist score. Last night and this morning I spun an ounce, and I'm hopeful that this batch will be sock weight! This alpaca is, except for VM every foot or two of single, very easy to spin and my single has few lumps. I'm using a worsted technique so the yarn will be durable.

I'll keep you posted.

Tension can be desireable

2008-02-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

No tension here:

This is Pepper who you've met before, but not upside down like this! And here's the hat I knit from my second skein of my very own handspun.

Just a simple top-down stockinette cap with rolled brim, knit on size 9 US dpns with five increases every other row starting from a very short 3-stitch I-cord.

I've completed the 2 spools of singles of the drum-carded wool/mohair fiber that came with my wheel. My treadling speed is still pretty variable, so I found an online metronome to help me steady my pace.

I decided to be a little more careful plying it, and after finding this article about plying, wound the singles onto TP cores using my ball winder, stretching out the overspun kinks as I went. TP cores fit perfectly on my ball winder and should help keep the kinks from reforming why plying.

Then I assembled the first of two tensioned lazy kates, shown here with the aforementioned singles:

This first version uses a long rubber band to gently stop the ball from unwinding, but because the TP core is hollow, it tends to flop a bit on the axle. The trimmed pipe insulation (at left in this next pic) stops the flopping, and causes tension when it's pulled out of the core just far enough to make the insulation and core rub just a little bit against the plastic box. To make two lengths of the pipe insulation fit in the core, I cut about a half inch lengthwise off each piece. The pipe insulation is very inexpensive (free if it's already in the garage!) and cuts with ordinary scissors. The neat thing about this version is the insulation holds the axle in place so I don't need to add "nuts." Here's version two with my second ball of singles:

Next I'll convert the first kate into one like the second and onward to the actual plying. TTFN!

PS: Here's another blogger who made a tensioned lazy kate not unlike mine. And another. And the third one.

PPS: This one is wooden. This one started life as a wicker basket.

Enhanced Computing & Spinning

2008-02-16T13:23:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I actually did upgrade my RAM, so this strikes my funny bone especially well. I went from 256MB to 768MB and I'm very happy with the result. I ran across the sale-priced half-gig stick of DDR at the office supply store for just under $30 and I'm very happy with the result.

BTW, lolcats aren't always cats!

In fiber news, I'm about half done knitting a hat out of the sheep/goat/alpaca/dog/cat/human yarn. I was showing the yarn to my Scrabble buddy at the coffee shop the other night and a couple of people overheard and came over to talk about spinning! Fiber lovers are everywhere.

The gal who sold me my wheel included a 2.8 oz batt of wool/mohair she'd drum-carded. I've spun half on the first spool and started the second. It has a lot of neps, but I'm pretending they aren't there. The single I'm spinning is showing some improvement. I also practiced pulling a roving out of the batt with a button/diz; there was less fiber stuck to me and the roving is more consistent in size than the torn strips.

Here you can see the dized roving and the first spool of singles. They're over twisted in places (see the cork screws? LOL). The purple bit is an experiment at the end ; I carded some tapestry yarn and tried spinning it. I won't leave it there, I promise!

Five (Maybe Six) Species Cooperate to Make Yarn

2008-02-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some more spinning! The yarn cake is the dried and wound yarn I showed you the other week. Its 34 yards totals 1.4 ounces, which works out to a bulky yarn using the calculator and these charts.

The skein of yarn at the top, however, is my second attempt. One of my goals is to spin sock yarn, and this spinner/knitter recommends 10-15% mohair by weight to add durability to wool socks. The fiber is a combination of yellow mohair and sheep/alpaca/dog fiber (the last two pictures here). The other two species counted in the title? Cat and human! It's 99.9% probable that there's cat hair and at least one of mine in that skein! LOL

Using the giant dog brushes, I "carded" the fibers together and spun them using a very impromtu inchworm draw. The singles were still bumpy in places, but overall much finer than before. The thin spots tended to be the mohair because it's tough and longer than the other fibers in my "blend." I spun until the bobbin was nearly full, wound it into a ball, and plied from both ends. Measuring the skeined yarn, there's 89 yards that weigh 1.5 ounces. Using the same tables, calculator, and brain, I figure the yarn is sport weight. Despite everything, the skeined yarn hung straight, possibly indicating that it is, on average, balanced.

I found a book at the library, Spinning and Weaving with Wool by Paula Simmons that seems to be a good match to my learning style. It also has plans for building a drum carder, in case I decide to do that. In the mean time, there's an electric drum carder at a LYS that I can use for $10 an hour if I want to do some more effective and efficient blending.

What will I knit from my handspun? Probably an ear-warming headband from the green merino, and maybe some wrist warmers from my multi-breed sport, but a little googling may reveal a pattern to match the yardage/weight.

Do you have any suggestions? Please comment!

Hacking an Antique

2008-01-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

One of the blogs I read is Ikea Hacker, a collection of projects people have made using Ikea products (or pieces of same) as raw material. Although I don't currently have any Ikea items I want to hack (I live in hope, though!), I have this antique...

An antique piano bench built by my great uncle around 1900 is the almost perfect coffee table. It's well made, in very good condition, and sturdy. It's Mission style which coordinates with my other furnishings. It's only functional imperfection is that the storage compartment under the seat can't be accessed if there's stuff on top. My coffee table always has stuff on top.

For a while I considered installing a drawer into the under-seat area, but I didn't want to cut up, drill into, or otherwise damage it. It does have a narrow board (aka stringer) between the two pair of legs that could easily support shelf.

After playing with the idea of a metal shelf with crenelated ends to mesh with the vertical slats and legs (I lack sheetmetal skills) and an upholstered shelf with fabric ties like a chair cushion (too "country" and maybe to floppy), the best idea popped: a shelf clamped to the stringer. I could do this! And so I did:

Here's the underside of the clamped shelf:

Here's what I did:

Cut a board to fit, allowing about 1/4 inch for wrapping the fabric around.
Covered the board with fabric (a reused piece of upholstery) using a staple gun. I avoided putting any staples where they could touch the bench itself to avoid scratching. See B in the pic.
Cut two lengths of narrow board (or thick lath or rectangular molding) the same thickness as the stringer (A in the pic) the shelf will sit on.
Screwed the narrow boards onto the shelf bottom so there was room for the supporting stringer plus about 1/4 inch. See C in the pic.
Laid some felt (D in the pic) in the resulting channel. It was as long as the board and wide enough to wrap around the stringer A. I did the trimming after the clamping.
Cut three pieces of 3/16 inch plywood (E in the pic) about an inch wide and long enough to span A and overlap the two Cs.
Lined everything up, folded the felt over, drilled pilot holes, and screwed the three clamp pieces (aka E) to the two Cs.

Now I have an accessible place for remote controls and a small knitting basket. I'm a happy hacker!

I'm a little dizzy

2008-01-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

From spinning and wool fumes, that is! Behold my first plied yarn!

The story: I tried spinning with a spindle last year and did not like the lumpy, thick yarn I produced. I was impatient with the lack of speed, yadda, yadda. The yarn sat on the spindle until yesterday.

Using a Babe Fiber Starter Wheel I got second-hand last month, I unspun the yarn as best I could. Then I did some pre-drafting and joining, and spun it up into a better, somewhat finer single. Then I wound it into a center-pull ball and plied it. Per my best guess (22 wraps on a 14 inch niddy noddy), there's about 34 yards of unbalanced (it could be much worse!) yarn. Here it is just before its bath:

My plan is to knit myself a hat. 34 yards won't be enough, but I have some cream worsted, or maybe the stash will cough up a ball in a coordinating green.

After this exercise in treadling, chair selection, skid prevention, etc. I'll spin some actual roving. I can't decide between the Cotswold gray roving or the rest of the green merino. Opinions? Oh, and there's some alpaca roving and some wool/alpaca/dog roving.

"Alpaca?" you ask. "Dog?" A few weeks ago I bought a mixed bag of fiber from a craigslist ad:

2 very big pet slicker brushes possibly usable as carders
2 raw Shetland fleeces (one is lamb!), about 2 pounds each
24 ounces dyed yellow mohair locks
2 one-ounce bags of Noil dyed silk
5 ounces cream alpaca roving
8 ounces gray alpaca roving
2 ounces "real wool" (that's what the label says!) roving
4 ounces wool/alpaca/dog roving

Here are some pictures:

This is the wool/alpaca/dog roving:

Do you think $20 was too much?

Returning with 'Poo-free Hair

2008-01-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Last May, Kathy at A Vast Amount of Spare Time posted about not using shampoo to wash her hair. Hmm, I thought. Maybe this will cure those little bumps I get on my scalp. After some experimenting, denial, and accidental or unavoidable use of shampoo, I've settled on a variation of her baking soda and vinegar regimen.

In my shower, I keep a former shampoo bottle (well rinsed!) that has a small dispensing hole (a dish detergent bottle would work, too) with baking soda and water. I start with 1/2 soda, but as the level falls with use, I add water. The quantity of soda isn't critical and depends on how much hair and how big a head you have. If you don't have a funnel for the soda, mix the solution in a pitcher or big measuring cup and pour into the bottle. I also keep a spray bottle filled with water and vinegar (Kathy suggests apple cider, but I had white on hand), about 1/4 vinegar.

To clean my hair, I wet it well, shake the soda bottle (finger over the hole) and apply a spiral on my hair (usual two circuits starting near the edge and finishing near the crown), massage into the scalp with my fingertips, rub all over with my palms and fingers, and rinse well. (You'll get some dribble and you can use it to clean behind/in your ears or even your face and neck. It's mildly abrasive which can be good.) Once the soda is rinsed out and my hair is still very wet, I grab the vinegar spray bottle, close my eyes, spray a few times (maybe 4, again, your mileage may vary) around my head, rub it around around a little bit to distribute, and rinse. You can, if you wish, use the vinegar rinse on alternate days or even less frequently. It does ensure there's no soda left in the hair and makes your hair shinier than with soda alone.

I found the measuring cup method to be cumbersome and much prefer the premixed solutions. And it did take a week to get my scalp and hair used to the change. Those little scalp bumps don't appear when I use the soda and vinegar, either. Even baby shampoo causes them. Additional benefits of this system are its very low cost and small environmental impact.

Regarding knitting, I'll have posts about completed projects (including my Mystery Stole 3), my new-to-me spinning wheel and an incredible fiber purchase via Craigslist, and so on soon. I've been a bad blogger.

SAM3, Antibiotics, and Blackberries

2007-07-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Assorted odd (or normal, depending on perspective) things are happening around here!

1) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, noting 8 instances of "sock," 5 instances of "sweater," and 2 instances of "underpants." Still no instances of knitting, though. Why underpants? They're just funny.

2) My brother's elderly cat, variously named Kitty, Barebutt, and "the skinny one," joined my household and it was not uneventful. He likes to pat your face if you aren't paying the right kind of attention to him. After he patted my gums because I was talking to him at the time, I started keeping my mouth closed. A couple days later, I had an infected gum and got antibiotics. Neither my dentist nor the nurse practitioner at my HMO had ever seen anything like it and had to do some research to choose the antibiotic. I'm OK now, but Kitty got his. He tangled with a neighbor cat and got an abscess of his own! So he's got a shaved spot and his own round of antibiotics to finish. Payback's a female dog!

3) I had a garage sale last weekend; it was very last minute and not the biggest sale, but some stuff I didn't need any more found new homes and I got some yarn money. Not a bad trade.

4) I finished my SAM3 July socks, shown here with Kitty who is a good knitting buddy because he doesn't mess with the yarn or needles.

The yarn is Regia Mini Ringel knit on US Zeros. They're a little bright but come winter they'll be great with my Birkenstocks. They're the eighth pair of socks I've knit since my first pair last August. I liked knitting the Regia, and the color repeats were very accurate.

5) Yesterday I spent some time with a new friend teaching her to purl and reviewing cast on and knitting while starting a simple roll-brim hat. We sipped our drinks, knitted, and talked on the shaded sidewalk outside our local coffee shop. We even managed to pick up another new friend in the process! We're already thinking about having regular meets.

6) I gave up this year's battle with the blackberries a few weeks ago, and now they're ripening! As I pick, I'll be cutting canes out, too. Mmmm, cobbler!

DH: It's a Knitting Free Zone

2007-07-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

It's time for a quick update! I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Friday night about 12:30 and started reading at 1:07 AM. I didn't read straight through, though, napping for about 4 hours and pausing for necessary reasons and a phone call. 5:30 PM Saturday was when I was done. Being first in my little "crowd" to finish, I couldn't talk to anyone about it! So today I've been browsing in the Harry Potter Lexicon forums. It's satisfying to discover other people with similar observations, reactions, and questions, and it's interesting to find new ones to think about.

The only detail I'm going to reveal is that there is no knitting in the last Harry Potter book. While sweaters and socks are mentioned (just once each, I think), the book is a KFZ. Edit: Socks (though not the knitting of) are mentioned more than once; I've noted six or seven references so far as I've begun re-reading DH. BTW, socks are not critical to the story and easy to miss, though I love the way such ordinary objects crop up throughout the series.

My house, on the other hand, has knitting. I've started clue 4 of Mystery Stole 3. This section, twice as long as previous ones, is very repetitive, and it's going to be hard to find my place when Jumper (as he definitely will) knocks my chart off the piano bench. I think I'll have to use sticky notes or markers or something. Maybe I'll check off the bead rows. That will work; they're frequent enough but not too frequent. End example of Michal thinking "out loud."

I did knit on my sock while standing in line Thursday to get a wristband (which we were not required to wear!) for Friday night's Harry Potter book sale. The knitting muggles nearby were amazed at my ability to knit without looking and to change colors so seamlessly! So we talked about self-striping yarn and knitting for charity between HP topics, of course!

cat got your sock

2007-07-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Settled

2007-07-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

I'd mentioned getting summoned for jury duty; it started and ended today. Late last night the parties settled, so the 120 or so potential jurors (including me) who showed up this morning get a 2-year exemption from serving! It almost took longer to get through security than to find out the trial was off! Look what "needles" got through security:

That's 62 stitches of mystery yarn (that I wouldn't grieve over if it got confiscated) in an off-the cuff YO, K2tog lace pattern possibly to become a net bag. Now that jury duty is done, I'll move it to regular needles. The pencils are 6.6 mm in diameter, so a 10.5 US will be fine. I painted 4 coats of clear nail polish on the tips.

This is what I'd wished I could take to the courthouse:

My 8th pair of socks being knit on glorified toothpicks! Last week I was inspired by the combination of high temperatures...

... (76 inside and 107 in the shade outside my front door) and doing errands to make a woolly sock for my water bottle. I like the wide-mouth bottles because I can put normal ice cubes in them. I grabbed an orphan ball of fingering yarn and knitted away until it was the right size. Like a sock but without a heel:

Then I knit I-cord (on my Magicord Machine!) until I ran out of yarn and grafted the ends together. Fortunately, it was long enough to make a sling-able strap. Here are the parts. I'm not sewing them together since I'm using it around the house as well as out and about. I put a bit of ribbing in for snug fit. It was really technical: at the start of each of the 4 needles, I P2, K2, P2, K to the end of the needle. The "toe" increases were done similarly: KFB the first stitch, K to end of needle.

My Mystery Stole 3 is stuck half way through clue 2. That bit of blue yarn is to remind me to add a missing bead.

In other fiberly news, I made a dozen covered hangers for an upcoming birthday. I used puffy Homespun-style yarn and crocheted with a big hook. They just need the ends woven in. They're popular with their recipient because clothes don't slide off the hangers. And of course the sun
has gone down while I'm blogging, so you get a flash picture!

And don't give me any grief for crochet and acrylic! Every technique and every fiber has its proper niche.

Ta ta for now!

It's Been Hot

2007-07-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hot for Portland, anyway. I've been knitting on my Mystery Stole 3 and finished clue #1. Here it is quickly pinned out:

You can see my three pearl cotton lifelines, but the beads barely show. That might have something to do with them being clear! I got my lace knitting workstation settled to my satisfaction on the piano bench (made by my grandmother's uncle around 1898, no less) situated in front of the couch.

I was going to make a cone spinner like this one, but couldn't find a paper towel holder at the thrift store. They did have a lazy susan that, turned upside down, works well and required no remodeling. Someday I might paint the underside, but for now it's OK.

Just in the nick of time, I finished my June Sock a Month socks, my 7th pair. They started out as Horcrux socks, but the yarn was too busy for a pattern. They're Koolaid dyed KnitPicks Bare fingering knit on US 1 DPNs.

I need to start my July socks soon, or I'll be in the same last-minute rush I was in on June 29! They'll be plain with fun yarn again to provide easy knitting in contrast to the stole.

In related sock news, my first pair of socks felted a little in the washer (now I handwash ALL my handknit socks), and it makes a great insulating sock for my water bottle. The heel looks a little odd, but if it keeps the water cool longer, I'm not bothered. Cool water water is simply wonderful in the summer! VBG

Yesterday I went over to Ruthie's Weaving Studio. She's been posting ads about spinning classes on craigslist. She's got a big space (complete with stars hanging from the ceiling courtesy of the square dance club that used to be there) for her and members' looms, plus equipment for getting warps and other weaverly things ready for weaving (I don't know the lingo, obviously). The first Saturday of the month she offers spinning classes. She had some good suggestions for me regarding some overspun yarn that I want to tweak into usable form.

Now off for some errands (including a nearby yard sale with "knitting things"). Later, 'gators.

MS3 Swatch #6 aka Too Much Time on My Hands

2007-06-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Is that a pun?

I knit another MS3 swatch last night, this time on size 4 US vintage plastic Boye needles with scooped tips. Although technically not a pair as one is blue and the other white, they were nice: light, smooth, and sticky enough they didn't fall out every other stitch. Here's the swatch complete with imperfections caused by PBS viewing:

The lower section is knit with two strands and the upper with one. Both are pretty fluid. I was worried about breaking the single strand as I knit, but that didn't happen. Damn. I suspect I'm going to have to knit the stole on one strand of the gray mystery wool. I never would have thunk it. I can blame Jan, a knitter/weaver/seamstress I met yesterday who was knitting a shawl of what looked a lot like my gray mystery wool (only a very pretty autumn-colored variegated yarn/thread). Shoot. If she can do that, so can I. LOL What do YOU think?

The sunlight streaming through my kitchen window as I immortalized the new swatch was hitting my window sill garden. Look, African violet bloom!

And my 2007 primrose, currently on its 4th and 5th (see the bud in the center?) round of blooms.

Every spring I splurge 79 cents on a primrose for my kitchen window. Some years they even survive to bloom again 12 months later. Such a deal!

Simultaneous Knitting and Scrolling

2007-06-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Late last night I was playing with a friend's camera and took this picture of my frogged Horcrux sock sitting in a heap of recent fibery goodness.

I got it past the heel twice but didn't like it (not the pattern's fault!), so ribit ribit. At least now it will be started during the Summer of Socks. The other night I swatched for Mystery Stole 3 on size 5 US needles in both the green and the blue. I'm teetering between size 4 and 5 and the green yarn. We'll see what happens with clue 1 comes out Friday.

This camera is 12 or so years newer than mine and actually took pictures of the Black Hole Under My Desk without the flash. A Very Good Thing because the dust bunnies don't show up! Here's its frequent resident, Mr. Kitty, looking sweet and keeping my toes company on a big pillow.

Over to the right is this:

A serial trackball with BIG buttons that I got at Goodwill for $1.99 recently. The ball is on the shelf since I discovered that it's hard to control it with sock-covered toes. HOWEVER, it is extremely useful for scrolling down while reading blogs! I park the cursor over the down-arrow in the scroll bar, pick up my knitting, and read and scroll away! My system seems not to mind at all having two pointing devices operating at the same time. Definitely a simple, thrifty, reuse idea that increases knitting time. The only downside is now there's another cable snaking around. Just wait till I give up my socks and get practiced surfing with my toes!

My Ravelry Invite Came!

2007-06-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL, since there's a discussion group (one of several around) on Ravelry. Here's the beginning of my library:

If you haven't registered to be a beta tester, go do it! It looks like a great knitting resource.

Mystery Stole Swatch Results

2007-06-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yes! There's a hole in the gray swatch! And if you look closely, there's a missing YO in the green one. Now that's over with, let's celebrate 3 swatches done yesterday. LOL

The details in order of knitting:

Gray Swatch: mystery wool on cone (10.5 ounces), 28 WPI, two strands held together on size 2 US, blocked to approximately 5.5 inches wide, 4 inches tall. If I choose this, I'll go with three strands plied together somehow (not having a wheel...) because unplied, I'm going to be sticking my needles between strands a lot. Finished width approx 18 inches. The math: 5.5 inches/35 times 99 stitches times 120%. Melanie has revealed the stole is 99 stitches wide.

Green Swatch: mystery wool on cone (21 ounces), 24 WPI, one strand on size 4 US (bottom) and size 3 US needles, blocked to approximately 6 inches wide. I like the size 4 results better. I'm leaning toward using this yarn. Approx 20 inches wide finished.

Blue Swatch: Shetland wool on cone (12 ounces), 18 WPI, one strand on size 4 US, blocked to approximately 6.25 inches wide. I like this color best, but overdying either of the other two is an option. Approx 21 inches wide finished.

Any opinions? Is my math OK? Please comment!

BTW, I unvented a WPI tool from my wood scraps box: a piece of tinker toy. Perfect! Love that Reuse part of the three Rs. LOL This is such a simple concept. One could make one from a piece of doweling very easily if there are no kids around from whom you can beg a stick.

As to the wrapping, I let the yarn decide where to fall by angling it slightly toward the already wrapped strand as I twisted the tool, pulling the yarn just enough to snug up to the tool without being overly tight. Is that the right way to do it??

Mystery Stole 3

2007-06-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Melanie over at Pink Lemon Twist is hosting her third Mystery Stole knit along. Each year she's created a new stole pattern and offered it in mysterious little clues over several weeks to knitters who join her group by July 5. As of a few minutes ago, 1133 people across the world had joined. The email volume is pretty high, so I've created a special folder in my mail reader and filters to highlight Melanie's and her helpers' messages.

I have minimal lace knitting experience, but I have some appropriate yarn and needles, so I'll give it a try. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a holiday gift done really, really early!

Regarding my other knitting efforts, I've knit a few more squares for Greensburg and got to the foot on my first Horcrux sock. I didn't like the transition to ribbing from the lightning bolts, so I ripped back to the end of the bolts and I'll knit it all in bolts. Pictures forthcoming...here they are:

A Sheep Called "Android's Dream"

2007-06-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

While surfing blogs a while back, I ran across a recommendation for John Scalzi's stories. Paraphrased, the blogger wrote that his stories were original and fresh, unlike most recent efforts in the genre.

ALERT!!! ALERT!!!

"Genre? What genre?" you may ask.

Science fiction. But don't let that scare you off. While there may be space ships, aliens, and other oddities such as robots, the stories are at least 90% people. People like you and/or your friends or family.

I've read two so far, "Old Man's War" and "The Android's Dream." That other blogger was right. Fresh plots. Interesting characters. Writing style so smooth as to be invisible. (That may be a mixed metaphor, but writing styles that get in the way of the story make it more likely that I don't finish a book or seek out more by that author.)

"Old Man's War" begins with an interestingly unique take on how a culture manages to recruit soldiers for interstellar war and continues with one man's experiences and personal growth. I recommend it.

Now for us knitter types, "The Android's Dream." The cover shows a sleeping R2D2-type robot dreaming about puffy white sheep. Admittedly, the sheep as objects of a politically hot search are not major characters in the story. Though one mixed-breed sheep plays a larger role, especially towards the conclusion. As a story about the possible fallout of genetic engineering, it's pretty good. Think blue sheep.

Now I'm off to put holds on a couple more of Scalzi's books at my library's online catalog.

A Harlot Booster Shot

2007-06-08T14:40:00.001-07:00

Last year I heard the Yarn Harlot a.k.a. Stephanie Pearl McPhee, speak for the first time. She was entertaining, funny, and kept me in stitches (both knit and purl) for a solid hour. My face hurt from smiling so hard for so long!

Last night's talk, sort of a booster shot of Stephanie, was just as entertaining. We had more chairs, though still not enough for the 300-ish knitters there. Almost everyone was knitting! Even while Stephanie was talking!

People like me who arrived early were visiting, knitting, and fondling each others' yarn. I started a Horcrux sock with my koolaid yarn. I saw this Argosy shawl and decided that while lace isn't really "me," I could wear this, though maybe not in sparkly mohair. LOL Unfortunately, I didn't get this woman's name or blog URL, but she was really nice and told me the name of the yarn and let me play with the shawl. Thank you! ADDED LATER: And thank you commenters for sharing her link and identifying her as Bobbie. Go girls with "boys'" names!

People kept arriving and chairs started getting hard to find. People started propping up bookcases, pillars, and walls and then started sitting in the aisles. It was pretty noisy and getting warm. Even so, we knit.

The Harlot came in and we cheered so loud the whole 3-story complex of buildings that fills the block and is known as Powell's rocked. The staff were being conservative calling us "a bit rowdy."

I forgot I had a zoom, I was so excited.

Afterward, we lined up to get our books signed and have very brief "conversations" with Stephanie. Here she is, waiting breathlessly to meet me. See the travelling sock?

And here I am, grinning like an idiot and holding an Oregon dishcloth I designed and knit just for The Yarn Harlot's States and Provinces Hand Knit Dishcloth Collection. Upside down and backwards. I forgot to ask to hold the sock. The most brilliant thing I said was to point out that the catnip mouse I made for Millie was crocheted, not knit. Stephanie replied, "That's OK, Millie won't be able to tell the difference." Here's the dishcloth right-side up and front-side forward.

Did you notice my t-shirt? I scanned a circa 1945 ball band from Red Heart WOOL yarn. I learned to knit with Red Heart and have fond memories of it. It does bother me that its current acrylic incarnation has a bad reputation in some quarters; among the acrylics, it has IMNSHO its place as a durable, washable, colorful, well made, inexpensive yarn impervious to moths. Now really, is that so bad? End rant! LOL

It took me a few hours for the excitement of the event to dissipate enough to sleep. Poor Louise got a call from me as I was driving home. Could I stop by and show her my shirt and signed book? I rattled on for a very little bit and got Mattie a treat. Thanks for listening, Louise! BTW, Mattie is a Peke & Lhasa mix and one of my biggest fans. I usually get to give her a treat, and I make her roll over or talk to me before she gets it. She's fascinated by my cats, who often follow me across the street, lurking just outside of or on the fence and under the car until I come back out.

OK. Enough globbing. Er, blogging. Ta Ta for now!

Grandma's Spice Sauce

2007-06-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

My grandma spent her youth as a professional musician in the Weber Junior Orchestra touring the US and Canada. Here she is, leftmost in the front row with her mandolin:

Grandma, who I loved dearly, wasn't the greatest cook, but she tried hard and had some tried-and-true recipes. Grandpa had paid for cooking lessons when they married. She used to make Spice Sauce to drizzle over pie, cobbler, and ice cream (not all at the same time, usually!). My sister recently asked if I had the recipe, since I am Keeper of Grandma's Recipe Box. The wooden box is labeled inside with her maiden name and "From Elgie 1919." It appears that my grandpa knew what grandma's cooking skills were like going in. LOL

Anyway, I found the recipe. It was actually in my handwriting; some time in my youth I noticed her card was way beat up and copied it over for her and made another for me at the same time.

tiny
space

Grandma's Spice Sauce

Blend in a small saucepan:

2 T flour

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

3 T sugar

1 1/2 c hot water

Cook slowly, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in until melted:

1 T butter or margarine

Serve hot over pie, ice cream, cobbler, or anything else you fancy.

I was telling Louise about it today, and she mentioned making a similar sauce but with lemon juice and rind to put on gingerbread. A little googling later, I found these two Mrs Beaton traditional recipes. I wonder how they'd be over berries?

Sheepishly, I Offer Knitterly T-Shirt Links

2007-06-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Threadless sells t-shirts in a very community-oriented way. Shoppers can submit designs to be reviewed and rated by other shoppers, and they can earn points toward free shirts by referriing still other potential shoppers. I wish I'd known that before I found a Scrabble tee that was out of print and mentioned it on a Scrabble mailing list; enough people were interested that the shirt was reprinted! I coulda had a free shirt.... So if those designs appeal to you, click them to go to their pages at Threadless.

And yes, those links have my ID in them so I might possibly get a few points. Sheepish indeed.

Oh, and the Scrabble shirt is here. And several more sheepy shirts out of print (but click the Reprint Me link to be notified when they're reprinted).

Score!

2007-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is not a post about sports, unless thrift store shopping is a sport. Maybe it is!

I've been watching out for wool sport yarn for more wrist warmer. Ta dah! And the worsted is already being knitted up into a striped Greensburg block. As a junking friend would say, "fitty cents each!"

This is an 8.5 ounce wheel of icelandic wool. I looked up what new wool costs. This wheel cost 14% the price of new. Not a bad discount. Last winter I knit several hats from similar almost-unspun-wool and I and the recipients liked the results very much. I might try spinning this or I might make more hats.

These three cones are, left to right, silk, 12+ ounces of shetland wool, and 21+ ounces of mystery wool. The silk was in my stash already and I'm showing it here because I'm thinking of stranding it with the shetland for socks. The green could be a blend, but the burn test revealed animal fiber for sure. I'm thinking of overdying and using it to practice dyeing techniques like painting and making self-striping yarn. The tiny white daisies and tinier violet flowers make my faux lawn pretty. Under my Hawthorne tree, there's even a big patch of real violets that bloom in the early spring. They're part of the reason I don't put weed killers on it.

The two bags of assorted yarns included other useful things, including sewing thread, nylon twine, "Knit-more Spunstraw" rayon yarn, and 4 spools of metallic #10 threads. Some has already gone into a bag for Scrap, but most is for me.

I love thrift stores!

What kind of knitting needles am I?

2007-06-01T10:55:00.001-07:00

You are interchangeable. Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!
Take this quiz!

Acci-dental Stitch Markers

2007-05-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

The replacement heads for my electric toothbrush come with rings for color coding family members' brushes. They make good and free (if one doesn't buy the brushes to get the rings!) stitch markers! Shown here on a size 8 US needle.

BTW, an electric toothbrush is a simple tool for improving dental health and saving money. Since I got my Braun several years ago (less than $25 for a rechargeable model, and replacement brushes at 1/5 retail via eBay) my gums are healthier, my teeth cleaner, and no new cavities. Your mileage may vary. LOL

Block by Block and Coily Things

2007-05-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

You've heard of Rebuilding Greensburg - Block by Block? Last night I started this block with wool I dyed with icing color; it's going quickly*, so I bet I'll make several before starting another pair of socks.

*Though I've noticed that not all the oil in the icing color washed out of the yarn yet. It feels a bit like how I suspect unwashed, "in the grease" wool feels while being knitted, plus my fingers turned a bit purple. The knitted fabric feels OK, though.

The first draft of my semi-secret knitting project is almost done; it's just waiting for me to put in a zipper and weave yarn tails in.

On the gadget front, I've got a new knitting notion hack. You've seen the Clover Coil Needle Holders around and maybe they've struck you as a little pricey compared to other options (such as yarn or hair elastics). I found this key ring retainer (and a couple others in different colors) at the dollar store. Make sure the coil is fairly firm. Some of the key chain coils were thinner and flimsier and wouldn't work at all well for keeping needles together.

Got out my wire cutters and a stitch holder, and Bob's my uncle, I now have a bunch of inexpensive needle holders.

The stitch holder is sitting in the spout of the blue enamelware coffee pot (like this one) I use for straight needles so the little coils are easy to manage.

The latches and key rings are in the stash (what, your stash only has yarn?) for a future project.

Ta, ta for now!

PS: It occurred to me after posting this that those coil bracelet keyrings might work for larger needles. I don't have one and haven't seen them lately, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Grassy Gras Jaywalkers Finally Done!

2007-05-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

My grassy Gras Jaywalker Socks are finally done. After being started multiple times and then being interrupted by another knitting (sort of secret, maybe) project, I finished them the other night. The Austermann Step Gras colorway blends right into what passes for lawn at my house. I do let my clippings mulch directly despite not having a true mulching mower.

Here they are almost invisible, pretending to be a sock-monkey-mouth moth.

Here they are without the blockers. Look how well the stripes match up! It was 100% accidental.
And here's something else hiding in the grass.

I can always tell when she rolls in the grass because the cut dry bits cling to her fur!

Knitting Meme

2007-05-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

I got this from Catalogrrr Knits.

Mark with bold the things you have knit, with italics the ones you plan to knit sometime, and leave the rest. Of course, I can't follow the instructions exactly, so I added comments, comments, and comments! And I added four items at the bottom of the list!

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk a fine strand with wool for socks
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting maybe
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting fun concept, but not *me*
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere (mmm, cashmere!)
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves mittens are warmer!
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting fun concept, but not *me*
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets does a crochet dog coat count?
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair accidentally or on purpose?
Hair accessories
Knitting in public
Knitting with buffalo yarn
Knitting with pygora
Dyeing with food dye/drink mixes
Dyeing with chemical dyes (acid, etc)

Playing with Fire: RRR Striped Candles

2007-05-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Despite a lapse in blogging, I'm still knitting, but it's not blogworthy yet. Last night I 1) punched a hole in my left index finger with the knitting needle (size 3, cotton blend yarn with zero stretch, say no more) and 2) ripped back over half way because the object was too big and I want to do the sides differently. I'm making this thing up as I go.

So in the mean time, an earth-friendly project for you to try: RRR Striped Candles.

First, an explanation of my RRR claims for this project:

Reduce: Buy fewer candles by using all the wax you already have. Melt wax without using gas or electricity (yes, it takes longer to melt wax over candle flames, but that's why I call it "playing with fire! LOL).

Reuse: Use your candle and canning jars over and over again, and reuse metal wick bases.

Recycle: Melt "used up" candles into new ones, and use bits of metal for wick bases.

Cautions and Warnings: Playing with fire can be dangerous. Choose a fire-proof work surface and do not leave burning/melting wax unattended. Keep children and pets away. Use potholders or gloves to avoid burning yourself. Use your noggin!

Materials:

Wire core candle wick (I use Yaley Medium Wire, item number 110161 (yes, a 75 yard spool, purchased with a 40% off coupon long ago)

Wax scraps (remains in jar candles, taper stubs, faded votives, etc., but NO CRAYONS--it is a myth that they're good for coloring candles)

Wide mouth canning jars (pint, half pint) or clean, empty candle jars

Potholder(s) or gripper-dot gardening gloves you don't mind getting waxy

Timer

Optional: bowl with ice cubes and water, or refrigerator, or cold outdoors.

Method:

Set up a couple of jars as shown here on a fireproof surface such as your stove top, large cooky sheet, or sink with the drain stoppered (you DO NOT want to get wax down the drain). Light the candle in the lower jar and put bits of wax to melt in the upper jar. Don't put too much wax in; you don't want it to overflow.

While the first stripe is melting, prepare the wick. It should be about an inch longer than the target jar is deep and needs a small metal base. You can use a used base or fashion one from an all metal paperclip, pour spout, or whatever is in your metal recycling jar. The idea is to have enough horizontal surface to hold the wick upright.

Even though the wax isn't ready to pour a stripe, pour a puddle into the bottom of the target jar and stick the wick base in it, centering the wick in the jar and supporting the wick until the wax hardens enough to support the wick. Straighten the wick gently.

Now wait for the timer to ring. When it does, check the melting wax. If necessary, you can reset the timer. You can also sneak in a few more bits of wax if there's room.

When there's a good-sized puddle of melted wax in the upper jar, use your potholders/gloves to pour it into the target jar. Put the target jar in a cooler spot than next to the burning candle.

Repeat.

Nuances for Success:

The candles I liked best had stripes in the same color family. This is one way of experimenting with color theory; you can try adding bits of blue, green, and yellow wax to red to vary the colors of the stripes, for example.

To get wax out of containers too small to melt in, put them in the freezer for a while and then bang them on a padded hard surface (e.g. potholder or folded towel on the counter). Wax shrinks when it's cold.

For better melting and burning, mix types of candle wax (taper, jar, votive, parowax, beeswax) to sort of "average" the wax. Each type has different characteristics and melting points.

To prevent the hole-in-the-middle problem from wax cooling more slowly in the middle, pour shallow stripes and let the candle cool really well between pours. A shallow stripe will still "dish" a little, but much less than a deep stripe.

To prevent bits of wick, black gunk, or wick bases from being poured into the target jars, pour slowly and then scrape the gunk out with a popscicle stick (or similar object) before adding more wax.

If you have really gunked up wax, you can pour hot wax through a filter of some kind. I used a piece of calico in a beat up wire strainer. Or take the bottom out of an empty tin can and rubberband or wire a piece of fabric or paper coffee filter to it. Just be careful not to spill wax all over!

For faster results, set up several pairs of jars and target jars.

After each pour, encourage the wick to stay in the center.

To relieve boredom, knit between rings of the timer. Or even do housework. Nah!

Cleaning Up:

While a freshly-emptied jar is still hot, wipe it inside and out with absorbent paper (which makes good fire starter later if you have a woodstove or fireplace). If you don't see any more wax, you can wash it safely.

If you have a bunch of candle holders or containers that need cleaning, you can put them upside down on a newspaper covered cooky sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes. Most of the wax runs down into the newspaper. Wipe the hot containers with absorbent paper and wash. Again, the waxy paper is good for fire starting. You could also compost it (assuming no metal is attached), but you shouldn't recycle it.

Enjoying the Results:

The pint canning jar candles with the size of wire wick I use burn down leaving a coating of wax on the sides about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. It makes for an attractive glow. When the candle burns out, I'll be able to put a votive in the bottom to continue enjoying the glow.

One of the negative side effects of burning candles is soot. I have found that I can prevent much of the soot by 1) putting the candle out by pushing the wick briefly into its pool of wax using a chopstick and 2) trimming wicks to a quarter inch before lighting them again.

As Annie says, burn, baby, burn!

Cooking Wool and Drink Mix

2007-04-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got the urge to dye yarn for socks. Not that I don't have some colorful ready-to-knit sock yarn already.

A few months ago I bought a generous number of blue KoolAid packets on clearance for about a nickle a pop. So each of the five dye pots started with two packs. Then I added a yellow, tan, green, light green, and another blue. Draped the damp yarn in the jars and slid the whole thing into the microwave (thank goodness for removeable turntables!). Here are views of the five loaded jars.

That brown one looked olive green in person, and I was surprised that they dye came out cocoa brown. It was a good surprise.

Here's the resulting colorful wool cake, snapped in overcast conditions on my "antique" milk box.

The colors are more intense and greener in person. This scan is more accurate, but not perfect, as the yarn is much more blue and green than it appears in either picture.

The second Gras Jaywalker is about half done; I knit about half the heel flap last night. By pure chance, the color segments on the two socks are identical so far. Maybe the second heel will have a sock money mouth, too!

ADDED LATER: Here are the five color "recipes" I used:

Brown: 4 ice blue + 2 tamarindo

Blue 2?: 3 ice blue + 1 lemonade

Blue 1: 3 ice blue

Green 1: 2 ice blue + 1 lime

Green 2: 2 ice blue + 1 arctic green

I suspect a "secret" to easy color creation is to start with a base color and tweak for more colors. Here, my base is 2 ice blue packs. One combination I tried and rejected was ice blue + black cherry, but the red overpowered the blue and I didn't want a christmassy effect.

Extreme Knitting

2007-04-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

I was just reading this and followed the link to knitter/shepherd Christien Meindertsma's site where she shows something of the process of knitting very large things with very bulky hand-felted yarn knit on very large needles. Kind of like this:

The feet on the rug and the artist look disproportionate, don't they? Clicking the car icon opens this series about felting the mega bulky yarn. Other icons link to knitted items for sale, archives, and vintage knitting instructions.

I wonder if Ann and Kay at Mason-Dixon Knitting and Christien are aware of each other's giant yarn rugs?

You're Not Alone

2007-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

..in being confused about knitting lingo, JD! Here's a glossary for you.

On the sock front, I finished the first Gras Jaywalker and started the second last night during Lost commercials. The heel did a bit of the sock monkey thing, but that's OK. I'm NOT frogging! LOL

At last, my first book review! I can't imagine why I've put it off so long, since I enjoy recommending books to friends and complete strangers (just try looking at the new book shelf at the library when I'm standing there and a good book I've read is on the shelf!). Yesterday I finished Kate Wilhelm's Sleight of Hand. An Oregon author, Kate's science fiction caught my attention long ago and I've also enjoyed her mysteries. This story is one featuring Barbara Holloway, a fictional lawyer living in real Eugene Oregon. Nearly a third of the book takes place during a murder trial in which she represents the (innocent, of course, and likeable) defendant. Barbara's father is also a lawyer (semi-retired) and has two cats named Thing One and Thing Two in honor of their wildly destructive natures as kittens. There's a wannabe-boyfriend-with-son (Barbara's, not her Dad's!), a hateful victim, a loveable victim, twists, dilemmas, and suspense. All that and a wonderful writing style! I recommend it.

Cat Scan

2007-04-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

I'm still knitting away on my Gras Jaywalker socks, but I'm starting to get reluctant to start the second sock. It probably has something to do with knitting the equivalent 3+ socks and frogging them before the most recent version worked out. SSS had to hit sometime, though I'd have hoped it would be much later in my sock knitting "career." So I'm looking around for a couple of size 1 circular needles to try the 2 socks on 2 circs technique. My needle stash has plenty of needles suitable for worsted weight yarns, but very few smaller than US 6.

Yesterday on the way home from the dentist (got a replacement filling), I stopped at a couple of LYSs and bought sock yarn to comfort my numb face:

I've been wanting to try a cotton/wool blend sock yarn, so the Sockotta is a good find. I'm not sure I want solid blue, though, so I might hank it up and dye one end. Or not. The Ringel colorway makes me happy just looking at the ball. I wonder if the cotton blend would make good heels and toes for the striped wool?

While scanning the yarn (it's dark gray skies here today--and currently hailing!--, so the scan is as good as or better than a "real" pic), Pepper buzzed my desk for treats. Here's her scan:

There used to be a web site that collected cat scans like this one, but it's gone. Oh, and Pepper doesn't really have three front paws; she moved during the scan!

KSL

2007-04-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Fragments of email with a non-knitting friend yesterday and today:

JD:

Frog, tink, and LYS . What are they? (Cool blog)

Me:
Frog is a verb meaning "rip out." Comes from "ribbit."
Tink is "knit" backwards, basically unknitting one stitch at a time. Backing up.
LYS is Local Yarn Store.

JD:
Reading your blog makes me think of KSL. Can you interpret?

Me:

Totally baffled. No context to guess within! Korean Sign Language?

Google reports:

Utah radio station

Stanford's Knowledge Systems Laboratory

Kitchen Sink Language

Kansas State Library

enough guesses, I have to get ready to leave! Later!

JD:

OK , big hint. I made it up based on education catalogs, etc., and in

everyday highschool/gradeschool/college language, as " ESL".

Me (feeling really stupid by now):
Knitting as a Second Language?

JD:
Bingo!

Brag in Haste, Repent....

2007-04-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

... in leisure! Louise and I visited a couple of LYSs Friday, and I dragged my Jaywalker into the second one and showed it off to the shop owner since it was finally shaping up pretty good. Right width for my ankles, etc. She had nice things to say about the yarn. That should have been a clue! By Sunday I had got 3/4 through the heel and tried it on. Too baggy! So I googled "jaywalker modifications" and looked at some pictures. Discovered I'd been doing the double decrease wrong (though consistently) and doing the ripple shaping every row instead of every other row. No wonder it had no stretch! No wonder the LYS owner said nice things about the yarn instead of the sock! Last night I ripped back sock version 6 and knit version 7 on size 2 needles (too loose), frogged, and started version 8 on size 1 metal needles. Predictions regarding this version are not being made in case I jinx it.

The shop owner is right about the yarn being nice: it is thriving despite being knit up 8 times. So far.

Koolaid Socks Done and Gras Socks Started

2007-04-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Socks in Birkenstocks on what passes for lawn at my house. My fifth pair, the are the same size, just being comfortable having forgotton to pull them up before taking the picture. I was distracted by Pepper who supervised the photo process:

Yarn and pattern info here, but I changed it again, taking out the picot hem and putting a row of purl followed by some K2 P1 ribbing with a sewn bindoff. I do like the way the heel fits and looks like a traditional flap heal, albeit knit upside down. This was my first attempt at a sock self portrait. Fortunately, no one asked me why I was standing on my head (figuratively) taking pictures of my feet in the front yard. My choice of location was easy: the extension cord for the lawn mower was there so I didn't have to find batteries for the camera!

The next socks on my needles are Jaywalkers knit with Austermann Step in Gras. I'm thinking about taking their pics on the grass too, just to see if they are really grass colored! Here's a quick and dirty scan. I've knit the ripple section 5 times so far, and I think this version is the keeper. I added 2 stitches to each segment of the ripple and am using a larger needle. Most of the time I knit the pattern right (two of the froggings were for goofing up the pattern!). The most common mistake I make is forgetting to pass the 2 slipped stitches over, but when I get there again, the stitches are twisted and it feels wrong, so I pass them before slipping this row's stitches. Seems to be working out OK.

Ta ta for now!

How do I [Love|Hate] Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

2007-03-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Today is day 13 of a miserable viral (thus no antibiotics) cold, and I've been in slow mode (though things are speeding up except when coughing). I have been knitting a little bit, though the cats can tell you it's not smart to hang out in the lap of a knitter with a *cough* *stab* *cough*. Here's my most recent sock about which I have mixed feelings:

Yarn: mystery wool I dyed with Kool Aid (grape, black cherry, and mystery red flavors) a year ago. I wasn't sure about the colors as seen in the hank, but knitted up, I like it a lot. I plan to hand wash because the wool could be 100% feltable, so any fading should be minimized. I also like the yarn's texture and knittability; it's a single and doesn't split, and it's soft.
Pattern: Based on Widdershins. I didn't like the 5-stitch cable because it was too tight, so took out the center P and moved it to the center of the K2 between the cables, resulting in a K4, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 repeat with the cables spaced 8 rows apart. I like the result. The 9-stitch multiple set me up for...
Picot Hem: My first attempt at this type of hem. I sewed the stitches down (see the needle?) and had to fuss with them to get them tight enough but not too tight. I think I should try knitting the facing on smaller needles. So far I'm abivalent.
Figure Eight cast on: This is my second pair of toe-up socks, and I wanted to try a different toe. I do like this cast on, though it required some tightening of the cast on stitches after I knit a few rows. I have to do exactly the same sort of operation after Kitchener stitch, so no biggie because I don't have to Kitchener.
Upside Down Heel Flap: Knit per the Widdershins instructions, this heel came out really well, and I like it. The opposite of picking up stitches for the gusset is P2tog and SSK, so there's no chance of "picking up" too many or too few.
Size: It's about 3/4 inch too long in the foot. Grrrrrrrr. I'll probably rip the toe and reknit it with a kitchener ending. I actually knit the heel twice because the sock was too short the first time! We know what "they" say about the third.
Timing: It's unlikely I'll get it fixed and the 2nd sock knit in March, though I might give it a try. On the bright side, my April SAM3 socks might be nearly half done.

I had lunch with my sister because I'm sexy and I do what I want

2007-03-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Actually did have lunch with my sister last week, but for a different reason! Catalogrrr posted this fun game:

Pick the month you were born:

January------I kicked
February-----I loved
March---------I smoked
April-----------I dry humped
May-----------I choked on
June----------I murdered
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White--------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red----------because the voices told me to.
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
green---------because I hate myself.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange-------because I hate my family.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other---------because I'm a ninja.
None----------because I cant control myself

Consider yourself tagged! And, please, leave *your* results in my comments.

Black Sheep All Over

2007-03-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

You've probably had similar experiences. You're surfing the internet and see something. Sometime later you see something else and your brain does its synaptic magic and connects the two things. But can you find the first thing again??? Maybe. It happened to me yesterday, and it took until a little while ago to find the first thing...

Thing the first: Etherknitter's blog entry showing some cute and a snarling sheep sculpture. Not being particularly good at creating captions, I didn't enter the contest.

Thing the second: Habetrot's entry about a new horror film called Black Sheep. Now the snarling sheep makes sense. I wonder if the artist knows about the movie?

Thing the third: Eugene, Oregon is the home of the Black Sheep Gathering, Oregon's biggest sheep show. Wouldn't it be great if the movie could be shown in conjunction with the gathering?

New Fiber and Yarn and Socks, Oh My!

2007-03-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Louise and I went to the Spring Fiber Sale at Abernethy Grange in Oregon City, OR. Although there were no animals, their spirits and aromas attended! I bought this:

8 oz undyed superwash fingering wool from From Barn to Yarn in Boring, OR and 6.7 oz bump of Cotswold roving from Pheasant Hill Farm in Hillsboro, OR. I'm planning to practice some more with my drop spindle. Does anyone know which end of the bump I'm supposed to work from? Here are a couple of snapshots. There was a lot of angora and pygora fleece for sale.

My 4th pair of socks are done as of last night:

Wendy's Toe-Up Socks pattern with my own experimental ribbing (K3, P1, K1, P1) and EZ's sewn bind-off. Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Flint on size zero needles. The yarn was a bit splitty on the sharp bamboo needles I used. This is my first pair of toe-up socks and I haven't decided whether or not I like this method; the jury's out until I wear them for a while. Since I have small feet, I've had plenty of yarn left over from all the socks I've knit so far.

EZ is My First Knitting Hero...

2007-03-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

...and I'm not alone in my appreciation of her wit, knitting know-how, and common sense. Here's the online version of a recent exhibition that featured her work: New School Knitting: The Online Catalog and Virtual Exhibition

Go and browse. Especially check the pics of the opening day to see some inspirational hand-knits worn by the attendees, including Meg Swanson.

Did you notice the small qualification in the title? First? I've had her books for years and read them several times each. My adult surprise jacket got 98% done before I frogged it (after shrinking out of it--sounds better than messing up the gauge, right? LOL), and all but one or two of my Wool Gatherings newsletters are actually in the same place!

With my reborn interest in knitting and access to knitting blogs, I have some new knitting heros. Only about a hundred million of them. So EZ represents! Am I using that word right?

Simple Fix for a Small Annoyance

2007-03-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Every morning I make "hot cocoa" for breakfast. While water is heating in the microwave, I mix dry milk, cocoa powder, soy protein powder, and stevia powder in a cup. Then I add the hot water, stir, and add a few drops of vanilla extract and maybe almond and coconut extracts since I'm an Almond Joy fan.

The annoyance is that when the stevia bottle is full, there's nowhere good to put the micro-spoon that doesn't make a mess. My simple solution:

Tape would work as well as (or maybe better than) the elastic band (yes, it's a hair elastic band; my hair is short, but I keep them around to use as sturdy rubber bands. Remind me to show you my graphics tablet's pen hair-banded to a Bic Stic.). An empty lip balm container or lipstick tube cap would work as well as the plastic vial I found.

There's another small annoyance regarding the stevia: when the level gets down to the bottom of the label, it's harder to spoon out the powder. My solution so far is to pour the powder into the top of the new bottle, which kind of compounds the where-to-put-the spoon problem. So right now, the new spoon lurks hidden in the stevia and the old spoon keeps spooning along.

Oh, and my rather grubby penpen held together with once-matching blue elastics.

No ordinary rubberbands would last long in this application.

Jumpstart from Dez

2007-03-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Nope, not a car post. Though I am thinking about biodiesel....

While guest blogging for Joan, Dez asked folks to answer four questions in the comments so Joan would have knitting content to read while she's waiting to get her knitting mojo back. Since I couldn't figure out how to leave a comment (probably a script permission thing), here goes.

What's on your needles right now?

Wendy's toe-up socks in Knit Picks Flint Essential Tweed on size zero toothpicks. The first sock is done as well as about 2 inches of the second. The ribbing is an experiment: Repeat (K3, P1, K1, P1) a kazillion times. After an inch of K3, P3, I dropped the center stitch of the P3s and K it back up instead of frogging. We'll see how it wears. I did EZ's Sewn Cast Off for a stretchy edge; it flares a bit now, but it'll be fine on.

And here's a wet paw print (cropped out above) to show that I had feline involvement in the photo shoot this morning. It's been overcast and somewhat showery the last few days.

What did you most recently finish?

The simple and quick pair of sagey-green mini wrist warmers pictured with the socks. Stulpen are long enough that my knitting needles get caught, so I made these cuffs from some Patons Norspun (discontinued, 1-ply 25% wool, 75% acrylic, machine washable)h. I can't recall which blogger made some recently, commenting that she was reluctant to take them off before bed. I left mine on and had to fish one out from under my pillow in the morning. LOL

What new project are you looking forward to?

I'm considering some patterned socks from Six Socks or Knitty (BTW, the SPRING issue is out!). Not lacy, but maybe something fishy or scaly. Maybe in a wool/cotton blend or cotton/acrylic. Or one of my coveted yarns...

What yarn do you covet the most, right this very minute?

This Opal Batik sock yarn that's in the mail to me from here. The shop owner got socks for her and hubby from one hank; my feet are small, so I'm hoping for three pair. A close runner up would be a several pound cone of wool/nylon fingering weight sock yarn for dyeing. Do you have a favorite vendor for this? Or this Un-spun Icelandic from Schoolhouse Press.

Inventing Words

2007-03-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dislexicon: The English Language Extender

Here's a password or blog name generator. Well, you could use it that way. Just feed it a root word or word fragment, and it will generate some almost real words with definitions. Who knows? Maybe some words are actually real. For best password security, add a number somewhere. Here's what happened when I entered "knit":

1:	neoknit	neo-knit	new knit
2:	knitphyll	knit-phyll	leaf knit
3:	intraknit	intra-knit	within knit
4:	locusknitability	locus-knit-ability	inclination or suitability for place knit
5:	underknit	under-knit	beneath or below knit
6:	knitferous	knit-ferous	producing or containing knit
7:	knitcyte	knit-cyte	cell knit
8:	knitize	knit-ize	to cause to be or to become knit
9:	knitess	knit-ess	a female knit
10:	knitcide	knit-cide	to cut down or kill knit
11:	oculoknit	oculo-knit	eye knit
12:	ornithoknit	ornitho-knit	bird knit
13:	knitphobia	knit-phobia	fear of knit
14:	osteoknit	osteo-knit	bone knit
15:	multiknit	multi-knit	many knit
16:	spirareknitite	spirare-knit-ite	native, resident or part of breathe knit
17:	chromaknit	chroma-knit	color knit
18:	gastroknit	gastro-knit	stomach of knit
19:	cytoknit	cyto-knit	cell knit
20:	pneumoknitably	pneumo-knit-ably	performing in a manor worth of air knit
21:	corporknitive	corpor-knit-ive	performing or tending toward body knit
22:	knitambulate	knit-ambulate	to walk or wander knit
23:	ooknit	oo-knit	egg knit
24:	disknit	dis-knit	not knit
25:	photoknitling	photo-knit-ling	one connected with light knit

Represent What?

2007-02-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

Recently both Stephanie and Laurie used the word "represent" in a way that confused me. I'm not widely read (being primarily a reader of several genre), but I'm a frequent reader and have been forever (or at least since 3rd grade when I discovered novels, specifically Beverly Clearly and Carolyn Haywood), so when two excellent writers used "represent" without objects, I had to start researching. Not being a rap sort of person, I wasn't surprised that the usage was new to me. While I'm not certain this is the same one as understood by my fellow (hah! as if I rank anywhere near them in the field) bloggers, it seems to fit their contexts well enough. Language is in constant flux, which makes it possible for dictionary writers, editors, and publishers to keep making their livings! Not to mention making it easier for insiders (such as teenagers) to confound outsiders (adults) with their jargon (slang). Though it should be argued (try to stop me!) that the insider/outsider result is not usually deliberate but an outcome of people with a shared interest needing to come up with words specific to that interest. Frog, tink, and LYS come to mind.

Why I Need Needle Keepers & How I Made Some

2007-02-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

Does this really need a caption? I didn't think so. A while back it occurred to me to make a "sock suitcase" out of an eyeglasses case. It worked fine once I got needles short enough to fit inside. Then I saw these pretty beaded point protectors and was inspired to make some for me from stuff in the stash.

This set fits the needles I used for Stulpen. The plastic caps are custom screw protectors I got at Scrap. The stretchy stuff is 1mm elastic beading cord, 4 strands braided together. I used a 1/8" hole punch to make two holes in each screw protector (couldn't get the punch inside, so I punched through both layers). I weaved the ends of the elastic through the braid which is why the right half looks so lumpy.

This set was next, made for my new 10cm bamboo sock needles:

This set is basically the same except the elastic isn't braided. I knotted a longish (about five times the length I needed between the holes in the screw protectors) piece of elastic, doubled it as you would wrap a rubber band around something, fished the doubled band through a hole in each screw protector (a crochet hook was invaluable), and poked the screw protectors through the protruding loops. Sort of like making a Chinese jump rope. The result is better.

I think that's the best picture (technically, anyway) in the blog so far. I'll get the hang of digital photography one of these days.

If you want to try making these gadgets yourself, some hardware stores have screw protectors (they aren't always called that) in various sizes. The caps off of dried up markers might work, too (you'd have to use a drill to make the holes). Have fun!

Added 8/7/07: I just did a bit of searching (googled "screw protector") and found this site, and others. I'd try your local Ace Hardware store first so you can actually handle the screw protectors and try them on your needles. And no, I don't own stock in any of the screw protector stores! LOL

Needle Rolls: An Epic Adventure

2007-02-20T16:55:00.000-08:00

This is the first needle roll I ever made (in high school!); its wool felt, not the acrylic stuff mostly available these days. It used to cost 10 cents a "square" at Newberry's, and I went through a lot of it.

Several decades later, I made this needle roll for my nephew-the-knitter for Christmas this year. The denim is from a skirt, and the three black & white fabrics are quilt scraps.

Inside the roll, you can see the three-layer pockets with a couple pair of needles barely visible. The width of the slots gradually increase from left to right.

Here's the other needle roll/Christmas gift I made this year, also made from reused denim.

Here's the inside. I wanted the pockets to be able to hold multiple pairs of needles, so they're not flat, but puffed up. I sewed the vertical lines first, then across the bottom, pleating the excess fabric as needed. I like it much better than the flat pockets. The buttons mark the size on alternating pockets.

The color here is poor, but you can see the needle size written in permanent marker on the button. You can also see the pocket easily holds two pair of needles.

The giftee of this needle roll also has some circular needles, and after consulting with her and looking all over the web for ideas, a really odd idea occurred to me, resulting in this:

That's the bodice of the dress the denim came from. Really bizarre, but highly functional! The fabric panel sewn to the back has five slots for holding circular needles. The waist is sewn together to form a bag, and hook & loop tape is in the sholders to keep the bodice on the hanger. The needle roll, books, yarn, or whatever can be stored in the bag, and the whole thing can hang in the closet. Both Louise and I liked the idea of the slotted needle hanger for reducing kinks in the cables, but there wasn't much of the skirt left. One of the needle hangers I saw in a blog had straps attached to a slotted fabric panel for suspending on a hanger, and they provided the inspiration of using the bodice. After all, it was already the right shape for a hanger.

Now it's a few days later and I ran across a piece of lavender ultrasuede and a coordinating cotton stripe in my stash. This resulted:

Since Ultrasuede doesn't ravel, I only needed to cover the edges of the cotton fabric. By semi-sheer coincidence, the stripe fabric was about a half inch narrower than the ultrasuede, which itself was almost exactly the size you see. I trimmed the bottom edge to take the rounded corners off. The resulting 1-inch wide scrap provided the patches to secure the ends of the cotton fabric to the ultrasuede thusly:

You may be aware of my inclinations toward tightwaddery and wonder at the expensive ultrasuede. There's a thrift store in town that sells stuff by the pound, and I ran across the ultrasuede there, snapping it up and hiding it in the bottom of my basket to protect it from other shoppers. That piece cost me less than a quarter. Not that I'm bragging or anything.

I want to label the slots, but this time with rubber-stamped iron-on fabric. Maybe real Bondex iron-on patches, or maybe fabric with iron-on goo added to the back. Any thoughts? Besides reminding me I should have done it before loading the roll with needles? VBG

Chatterbox, Sox, Sox, and Stix

2007-02-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

If I'm counting right (and I might not be), this is my 4th post today after ten days of silence. I'm like that sometimes. Anyone know of a way to schedule posts in Blogger?

Using Wendy's toe-up sock pattern, I started a pair of socks and overshot the heel shaping, causing me to have to frog over an inch of tiny tiny stitches last night. The hard part was healing the splits. Here's the most recent photo:

That's Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Flint, 60 stitches on size ZERO needles. I like the red, blue, and yellow flecks. This is my first toe-up sock. I like the concept of using all of your yarn up without having to trust the gods to dole the yarn out properly as I've done so far with my top-down socks. Like these:

My third pair of socks are done and shown to advantage on the sock blockers I made following these directions. The only suggestion I'd make is to bend both hangers together so they come out the same.

And Now for the Stix Portion of Our Program: I found some thrifty bamboo DPNs on eBay. 10cm long (that's 4 inches), 6 sets of 5 needles cost only $8.07 with shipping. I was expecting them to be less than perfect, so the need for light sanding and some beeswax was not a problem. The size zeros are shown in my toe-up socks above. I am liking them a lot, even if they do resemble toothpicks! You can see the tips of the other five pair in my DPN needle roll. The same vendor has longer DPNs, straights, and circulars, too. Just search for "10cm bamboo double" to find them. I'm skeptical of the circular joins, but sandpaper and beeswax can do wonders with wood-like items.

Quick! Fix a Baggy Hat

2007-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

Got a baggy hat that's otherwise cute? Try running a piece of elastic cord through it at or near the brim. Louise, my learning-to-knit-neighbor, knit this cute hat from Homespun but its circumferance got out of hand. One of the other ladies in our knitting class mentioned the concept for charity hats that would fit multiple head sizes.

Since the hat is done in stockinette, the brim rolls up over the elastic, and the hat looks good on everyone who's tried it so far (no guys have tried it, though).

Vintage Needle, New Patent?

2007-02-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

While surfing the knitting blogs today, I ran across the Girl from Auntie's discussion about the patent for these knitting needles with rules on them. Sitting right in front of me was (and is!) this vintage needle:
The whole needle is just under 10 inches long. The first inch and a half of the ruler was apparently rubbed off by knitting fingers and stitches. The printing says "Hero Metal Core Measure-Knit Pat. Pend." and the end of the needle is marked "Hero 1 U.S.A." A Google search revealed an advertisement for these from 1950 here. If I had another one, I could put them on eBay or (gasp!) maybe knit with them. LOL

Getting the Angst Out: Knit Voodoo Swatches

2007-02-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Redshirt Knitting Blog » Free Pattern: Voodoo Swatches

This is a great idea. Like writing a journal, only no one can read it! For particularly intense or large swatches, I'd be tempted to burn the swatch on completion.

Stulpen Part 2 and Pills (not the wooly ones)

2007-02-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Deciding to exercise a little perfectionism, I frogged the Stulpen mit I showed you last time and started over. It's current state is a big improvement, as you can see here. My claim in a comment on Dave's blog that the pattern could be wrong was bogus, which I discovered after taking markers and pencil to the chart. BTW, the chart clearly shows that I have trouble counting! When I got to that point, I advanced the row counter three times instead of once (instead of breaking out the eraser; it was across the room and a cat was in my lap at the time). Once I had the cart colored and the overs/unders marked, it was EASY to follow with rare references to the symbols key. I can recommend highlighting/coloring charts.

In the non-wooly pill department, I wanted to share a simple thing I do that makes my mornings better. Behold my pill box:

I take a couple of prescription meds and some OTC supplements; combined with usual my morning blurriness, I've been known to take my medicine twice, not at all, inaccurately, or incompletely. The pill box, though labeled for a week of AM and PM doses, holds 2 weeks' worth for me. It takes moments to take my pills (no more opening/closing multiple bottles) and I can see at a glance if I took today's pills. I've tried several types of pill boxes, and this one is my current favorite because it is roomy, well made, and cheap ($1 at Dollar Tree). One small drawback is that the doors can get in the way during loading, so I use 4 clothespins to hold the doors up back-to-back. Another, and this is extremely minor, is that half the time, the days of the week are in reverse order!

auntiemichal...

Happy New Year

Caught a mild case of MOD

LOLcat Astrology?

It's a small world

Turnabout is

Finally caught SSS

Snape on Ice

NBC and the NYT should coordinate better

Berzerk PJs: A Scrabble Short Story

Ran into Trader Joe's yesterday

Stuck and released

And for your knitting enjoyment, a sea chanty

It was a good party.

New yarn for old film

Sock Needle Storage

Holiday Knitting: Done at Last!

Yarny and White Christmas

In which I become a game

"A" My Name is "____." My Husband's Name is "____."

When life gives you scraps, make quilts

Better now than then

Multitasking

Balls of yarn: you're doing it different

Socks, socks, socks, and slippers

Fall vegetables

One part is perfect, anyway

A shocking cautionary tale

OFF Goodies, Socks, & Mystic Earth Scarf

Online Retailer Blames Knitting for Moon Boycott

Surge Protectors Serge Cleaning Cloths

Much closer

It wasn't horse shoes

Change of Command—oops!—Plan

Learning to spin from videos

You'd think a giant batt of white would be boring.

Flyer Fancies

First day of LeTour de Fleece

Pondering a Goal for Tour de Fleece

Into the Closet

Sock Yarn, I Has It!

Adventures with Karakul

I didn't kill it after all

Wooly Garden and Triangular Dolly

Poison Oak!

Fridge Magnets: Take 14357

Flickr's Most Interesting Sock Isn't

Easy & Fast Beans & Rice

I wonder if Asimov or Clarke had one of these?

Magnetic Cat and Lots of Fluff

New Handspun and New Calculations

Tension can be desireable

Enhanced Computing & Spinning

Five (Maybe Six) Species Cooperate to Make Yarn

Hacking an Antique

I'm a little dizzy

Returning with 'Poo-free Hair

SAM3, Antibiotics, and Blackberries

DH: It's a Knitting Free Zone

cat got your sock

Settled

It's Been Hot

MS3 Swatch #6 aka Too Much Time on My Hands

Simultaneous Knitting and Scrolling

My Ravelry Invite Came!

Mystery Stole Swatch Results

Mystery Stole 3

A Sheep Called "Android's Dream"

A Harlot Booster Shot

Grandma's Spice Sauce

Sheepishly, I Offer Knitterly T-Shirt Links

Score!

What kind of knitting needles am I?

Acci-dental Stitch Markers

Block by Block and Coily Things

Grassy Gras Jaywalkers Finally Done!

Knitting Meme

Playing with Fire: RRR Striped Candles

Cooking Wool and Drink Mix

Extreme Knitting

"A" My Name is "." My Husband's Name is "."