Sunday Snowshoe

The big winter storm just missed mid-Michigan, but we still received a respectable 6 inches of snow.  Today was my first opportunity to get out and enjoy it - with Zeby, of course!  I strapped on my snowshoes and away we went.

We saw ducks congregating in a small pool of open water.  And Zeby wanted to figure out how to get closer to them.

My favorite trail in the area is part of a flood plain for the Red Cedar River. This section obviously flooded and froze recently - the highwater marks were left as frozen ledges around tree trunks hovering over the ground.

Nothing better than wool for a cold snowshoe.

Pattern: Brioche Hood Hat by Valdis Vrang, a free pattern on Ravelry

Yarn: Happy Fuzzy Yarn BFL worsted in the color Shadow. Purchased at the 2011 Ann Arbor Fiber Expo.

Needles: US 8

Mods: I lengthened my ties to about 14 inches. I worked out a system to make sure I did my short rows correctly. I inserted a stitch marker at the point where the short row wedges would end, and inserted a locking stitch marker where the short row wedges began.  Every time I worked one short row I would move my locking stitch marker one pair of stitches closer to the other stitch marker. When they met, I knew I had finished my wedge. This will make more sense to you if you are actually knitting the thing.

This is my Use it Or Lose it Project 02 - working from my stash!

Zeby hunted voles on our way back. 

 I relish these quiet moments in the woods. I love winter, especially if there is snow.

Handspun backlog

backlog

When we were up at the log cabin I kept thinking about my wheel, and how I wish I had brought it with us.  When I got home and wanted to spin I realized that all my bobbins were full of singles.  So I spent an evening spinning, plying, skeining, and finishing.

And then spinning again.

Pagewood Farms Merino Tencel, unnamed colorway.

And now I have six empty 2 oz bobbins and two empty 4 oz bobbins. Now we just need to go up to the cabin again.

Greta the Second

Soon to be traveling to a nephew in Virginia! This project was part of the Use It or Lose It challenge on the Stash and Burn boards on Ravelry. The challenge: knit with old stash yarn, and commit to knitting 13 projects in 2013. If you can't knit the yarn, then it is time to find a new home for it.

My Artyarns Ultramerino came into my stash when I spent a few days in Burbank, California with a group of knitters and crocheters.  It may have been 2004? 2005? Regardless, old stash!

Pattern: Greta the Captivating Cat by Rebecca Danger

Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino 1.25 skeins, in color 113, brown.

Needles: US 5

Notions: two vintage buttons and a little bit of DMC embroidery floss, polyfill.

I knit the body on the way up to the cabin, knit the arms, tail and ears while at the cabin, and sewed on her face and put her together once I was home again.

Inspector 13 approved

Lima i-cord scarf

I would never consider myself a "designer" by any stretch of the imagination - I don't try to make my living out of my little creative endeavors. But I love to get an idea, mull it over, play with colors and work out the details.

The Lima i-cord scarf has been banging around in my brain since June, and I am glad I finally committed it to paper. My prototype was made up of (discontinued) alpaca blends I had in my stash. It is always frustrating to design in a yarn that is no longer available, but it can be really useful for working out ideas....

... such as the length of a scarf.... how to make stitches line up when you *really* should have been paying attention a bit better.... and the little fiddly bits.

Pattern: Lima i-cord scarf prototype

Yarn: Pink: Alpaca Fiber Exchange Baby Alpaca merino, in pink babe. Light blue: The Fibre Company Babe in spearmint. Teal: The Fibre Company Khroma WW in Aegean.

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm) dpns and 32-inch circular, and a size US 2 32-inch needle.

But when it is time to knit the sample it is time to find a yarn that will hopefully be on the market for a few years, and if you are REALLY lucky, they won't discontinue one of the colors on you.

Pattern: Rowan Lima i-cord scarf

Yarn: Rowan Lima (84% alpaca, 8% merino, 8% nylon. 109 yards/50 g) in Argentina (dark grey), Ecuador (pink), and Andes (light grey). 1 skein of each.

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm) dpns and 32-inch circular, and a size US 2 32-inch needle

Super luxurious in worsted weight alpaca - this yarn is seriously soft and the chain construction allows you to knit air into your project, making it very warm and extra squishy.  

It took me one week to knit two scarves and write the pattern.  Not bad, if you don't factor in the four months it was an elusive, amorphous idea.

I am so glad that this scarf is now a corporeal knitted object.  It is living at Woven Art, and you can pick up the pattern for free if you buy the yarn. But if you have your own yarn, or just want the pattern...

... it is available for $5.

... the only thing is, I think it spawned another idea.

El Camino de milagros

Big projects can be a real odyssey.

Well over a decade ago (and nearly coming up on two decades ago) I walked the pilgrimage route from the town of Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain. It was a hard journey, both physically and mentally. I was 22 years old, and a young 22 for all that I lived in Brooklyn and had spent my teenage years trying to look like a punk rock girl.  I walked over 200 (125 miles) kilometers in about 6 days with a 40 pound pack on my back, no reservations, and a high school's education of Spanish. I was alone.  I was tired most of the time and undernourished, with heels blistered beyond the capability of wearing boots (thank goodness I brought Tevas along).  Though not religious, I experienced the little miracles that the pilgrims talked about - suddenly finding yourself several miles from where you started but not really noticing the miles covered, the unexpected discovery of food in your pack when you could have sworn you had nothing left, or one last bunk unfilled for the night because everyone else was walking in pairs.

I learned a lot from that trip.  As cliche as it sounds, I learned that it does take lots of little steps to make a big journey.  And that perseverance is rewarded in unexpected and spectacular ways.  As I walked into the valley of Santiago de Compostela I could see the cathedral spires calling me to the city center.

And I can see the spires now, as I bring a big project home.

I would love to finish this by the end of October, but I am not going to rush it. I want to enjoy the last few steps.

Somewhere between "Bucket" and "Cloche"

I have been meaning to try my hand at felted hats.  Felting a knit item almost seems akin to alchemy. You take a big floppy garment, add water, heat, and agitation, and after a while your fabric is solid and unyielding.

Pattern: Felted Bucket Hat by Bonne Marie Burns. (Chic Knits.)

Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool Worsted in garnet. 1 skein.

Needles: US 10s, US 10.5s

Mods: none.  If I make another one I am going to leave off the turning row at the crown, and maybe play with the brim with short rows to force a more "cloche" shape into the finished hat.  I can honestly say that Shepherd's Wool fulls like a DREAM.  One moment I still had knitted fabric in my hand, the next, fulled perfectly!  And since Woven Art carries every color of worsted, I certainly had a fantastic selection.  Since I have a front-loading washer I decided to felt my hat by hand.

Here are some pointers for anyone else needing to do their felting and fulling by hand.

You will need:


 a clean sink or bucket
 a hot AND cold water source
 a few teaspoons of dishwashing liquid
 a wooden spoon, potato masher, or other sturdy heat-resistent implement
  a pair of latex gloves or rubber dishwashing gloves (optional, but good if your skin is sensitive to high heat.)

1. Fill your sink with the hottest water that will come out of the tap – you only need enough water so that your project will float free
2. Let your project soak for about 10 minutes
3. Pick up your project and squeeze the water out. Add a dribble of dishwashing soap, and knead into the project firmly so that the whole project is foamy.
4. Immerse in hot water (replenish to keep temperature high) and agitate with hands or wooden spoon for about 5 minutes.  Knead your project like bread dough.
5. Rinse in cold water, agitating, wringing, and kneading.

Repeat steps 3-5 several times, checking the size and shape of the project as needed.  When project has been felted to the correct size, make sure the soap is completely rinsed out.  Roll in towel and stand on it to remove excess moisture.

Blocking

For a true “bucket hat” look, accentuate the flat top by blocking your hat around a large can or bottle wrapped in a towel, with brim resting on a flat surface. For a more “cloche” style, carefully ball up dishtowels inside the crown of the hat, balance on top of a container, and don’t allow brim to touch the counter. Pull the brim to get a smooth edge. Pull and tug out any wrinkles that formed. Let dry.

Shibori Workshop

What do two LYS workers and one LYS owner do on their day off?  Shibori, of course!

I warped my rigid heddle loom the night before, and our new 8 year-old cat, Miles, helped. (Miles came to live with us about a month ago.) Miles loves yarn.

The next day was completely devoted to shibori. It was a long, but very rewarding, day. It has been a long while since I sat down at the loom for five hours straight. Each cloth is plain weave, but with special pull-threads woven into the fabric in different patterns and intervals.  I used a single skein of undyed Treadsoft sock yarn out of my stash - I wanted a superwash wool because I knew at the end of the day it would soak up the dye and give me intense and brilliant colors.

Cloth 1 - full tones - pull floats on both side of fabric

Cloth 2 - half-tones - pull floats on front of fabric

Cloth 3 - free form

Cloth 4 - crimp

whole cloth - from L-R cloths 1-4

We then trimmed off the ends, and using a sewing machine, zig-zag stitched reinforcement threads between each section so we could cut the cloth into individual samples.  Then, SCISSORS, cutting, pulling and tying, until our individual cloths looked like wadded up tissues.

Three of the cloths then took a vinegar bath in preparation for dyeing. And the dyeing! SO. MUCH. FUN!  The dye was applied while the cloth was still wadded up - like a tie-dye process only so much cooler.

Cloth 1 - full tones

Cloth 2 - half tones

Cloth 3 - free form

Cloth 4 was steamed - because it was woven with a polyester weft, the steam set the crimp, and my cloth will permanently look like this:

Cloth 4 - crimped with pleats

Foreground - my cloths. Background - Kathy's cloths.

I love comparing the newly woven samples with their finished dyed selves.  What an amazing transformation.

I have a bit of warp still left of my loom, so I think I will tie it up again and do a few more samples.  I wish I had warped my loom a bit wider so I could have had bigger samples like Kathy's (above), but live and learn!  I had such a great day!

Weakness

Sometimes the temptation is just too much and you can't say no.

Habu Bamboo 1/6 hand dyed by Nancy McRay.  It is hard to call this substance "yarn" because it feels like starched paper - almost like a really thin rafia.  I am thinking a summer tank.

And as luck would have it, I already got gauge. Resetting the coldsheeping clock again.

Sweet Sixteen

Today's yard work (and workout with the trainer) was rewarded by a North Peak Nomad Dry Cider and a little bit of knitting while watching P mow the lawn. (Real men use Reel mowers, btw.)

Today also saw the departure of the remaining scrubby trees along the side of our house where the city tree came down. The area in question is just beyond P - you can see the fence is not exactly complete there.

Tomorrow P and I are headed north for a mini vacation. It can be really challenging to find a few days for fun and relaxation, especially when one's husband is a part-time law student and a part-time (hah!) doctor. A little change of scene is definitely in order!

When I get back I have to face the herb garden - actually putting it in this year. The chives are about to bloom. I have gifted tarragon waiting for me in a plastic bag, and bee balm self-seeding itself EVERYWHERE.  The reason I am putting this off? My monster of a Japanese Anemone needs to be transplanted.  That is going to be a job and a half, and despite my best efforts, the plant might not survive.  Sigh.

But I am not going to worry my pretty little head about that now! Vacation. YAY!

p.s. my knitting is the center tiles of square SIXTEEN.

A sunnier day

Today is rather grim and grey, despite it being Cinco de Mayo and MSU graduation day.  I have heard that there is a Ukulele festival in Old Town Lansing tonight. Perhaps that will be enticing enough to get me to brave the traffic and the drunk students.

On a sunnier day I took this rather arty photograph of a sunning turtle.

My camera couldn't quite grasp that I was trying to take a picture beyond the undergrowth.

In knitting I am trying to finish up block fourteen for my Mitered Crosses blanket. I also have some crochet edging to do on my Maude pinafore, and then that is wearable. There are a few projects I need to slog through, but that is better left for another time.

Lucky 13

The sounds of chainsaws and wood chippers are abundant this morning! At least the city is fast. It was a miracle that the remaining section of the city tree didn't come down last night - we had severe thunderstorms with high winds and driving rain.

Meanwhile, I have been in denial, knitting. I won't think about the loss of that White Pine. sigh.

My thirteenth block marks the change of one growing season's worth of wool to a second year's growth - the most natural of dye lots! You can see all four mini-square miters are much cooler in tone, and the section where I transitioned from one year to the next are a bit more brown. Since my blocks are going to be mixed in randomly, I rather like the change in color.

Last night I started block fourteen - you can just see my first tile. I am not sure if I am going to adhere to the design of the blanket and have my blocks staggered - I would have some filler blocks to knit - or if I will just do a 5 x 5 block blanket. If that is the case I have eleven blocks to go - maybe a goal for the end of the year?

The pattern is Mitered Crosses Blanket -- For Japan. My yarns are Kauni in the EZ and EB colorways, and Elemental Affects in mioget, a natural undyed color.

Resetting the clock to zero

The long and short of it is, I had a medical procedure done, and decided that I needed a treat on my way home.  The doctors and nurses all advised me not to make any legal or financial decisions today due to the Propofol I had.  Eh, what's a little yarn?

MadelineTosh Prairie (lace) in Logwood.

Treat achieved. This will probably become a beaded lace shawl. Logwood steps outside my normal color-comfort area - I am not a purple lover. 

And now my coldsheep clock resets to zero.

Finished Project: Emma's Jacket

A friend of mine recently gave birth to her first child, a little girl named Emma.  Emma may be the most treasured little girl in the world - her parents went through a lot on their way to parenthood - and my friend had a scary episode about a week after giving birth that could have ended very, very badly.

For some expectant mothers I will cast on for a project once they announce their pregnancies.  For Emma I waited until she was safely delivered before I cast on.  I really didn't want to jinx anything. My friend had been through enough.  This entire sweater was knit in two days.  Yes, it is a newborn size, and it was knit on worsted weight wool and size 8 needles, so it was fast.  But there was such JOY knitting this sweater for Emma, I couldn't put it down! I shipped it a few days later, and it arrived while my friend was still in the hospital.  Her mother brought the package to the hospital for her to open there.  I am glad I could brighten her day!

Pattern: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss, from Special Knits, but was available as a free download for a while. Size 0-3 months.
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran, in Oat, 2.5 skeins. Sadly, this yarn is discontinued. And the yarn color changes in the light. I put it on a green surface so it looks more pink than it is.  Most of the time it is a lovely oyster/oat color.
Needles: US 8s for the body, US 7s for the lace.
Mods: I decided to replace the plain ribbing with something a little more special - feather and fan lace.  At the bottom of each button band I knit 3, then was able to fit the lace pattern into the called-for number of stitches.  A single vintage button from my extensive button collection was sewn down with DMC embroidery floss.

More color-accurate - oyster with a hint of dusty pink.

If I do knit this sweater again I am going to make some serious changes to it.  Some kind of edging for the bottom and sleeve cuffs, a better cast-on method for the sleeve edges (NIGHTMARE to sew up in a way that looks half-decent), and a change in gauge, perhaps.

It was a lovely, quick knit that just flew off my needles and bumped up my monthly yardage tally nicely. Welcome to the world, Emma!

Finished Project: Taos Herringbone Cowl

Another November 2011 finished project - remember this?  I broke out my favorite lipstick for the occasion. Michigan winter pale skin + Revlon Coral lipstick is a powerful combination. I don't normally have the stamina to wear this lipstick on a daily basis - way too much reapplication has to happen - but for a two hour class it doable.  And for photos it is fun!

Pattern: Herringbone Cowl by PurlSoho
Yarn: I had it marked as Carol Mullen's handdyed singles, but I honestly don't know what it really is. I bought it at the Taos Wool Festival during my bachelorette weekend.  I am guessing this project used up about 400 yards.
Needles: US 15s, and I probably could have gone to US 17
Mods: Eh, I just knit until I ran out of yarn, which was a little earlier than I had actually hoped for, because I had to use another yarn by the same hand dyer (luckily in a brown that matched my variegated) to finish the bind off.

This was a slightly tedious knit, but since I did most of it when laid low with a cold, I didn't mind it. Sometimes repetition is soothing.

I have created a wonderful little nest on my couch for knitting, so I have been finishing things left, right, and center. I think I will spend February catching up the blog on all of those projects!

Finished Project: Turbulence Cowl

It is hard to believe, but this project was finished at the end of November 2011!  I can't believe I am still catching up with my finished projects.

Project: Turbulence Cowl by Laura Chau available for purchase here.
Yarn: Leftover half skeins of Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool (worsted) in Lakeshore (blue) and Granite (grey).
Needles: size US 9
Mods: Because I was running out of yarn I couldn't complete the pattern as written.  I deleted a row here and there, did my last wedge, and then knit until I ran out of both colors. This pattern would be fun to do with a single main color and multiple contrast scraps!

Shepherd's Wool worsted is so soft - perfect against the skin.  It doesn't have a lot of structure to it though, so my cowl is more floppy than the original.  Still, I have found it is a great inner cowl when used in conjunction with my State Fair cowl - a rustic handspun romney that is wonderfully wooly, but not terribly soft.  And yes, the temps in Michigan are starting to dip finally so that two cowls are necessary - Zeby and I went for a walk this morning when it was 5 above.

Finished Scarf: Bearfoot Scarf

Last year I pledged to use twelve skeins of sock yarn, an entirely necessary strategy when dealing with a sock yarn stash of magnitude. In the end I knitted up thirteen and a half skeins of sock yarn.  The project that pushed me over my goal? A woven scarf!

Project: Bearfoot Scarf
Yarn: Warp: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Marigold & Berry, two warp threads in Treadsoft. Weft: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Yellowstone & Marigold.
Loom: Schacht Flip, Rigid Heddle Loom 25"
E.P.I.: 13 on a 12-dent reed


I think I had picked out these colors to go together over the summer but didn't get around to warping my loom until December. (Basically I realized I was going to be half a skein short of my goal, and weaving was the only way I could make my deadline before I left for our Christmas travels.)  I love the Marigold colorway, in fact, I have two more skeins of it in my stash!  It makes me think of New York curtains, Buddhist monks, Indian garlands, and the Day of the Dead.

I started with about 8 inches of plain weave with the Yellowstone colorway, then switched to four shots of Yellowstone and one shot of Marigold. I simply looped the Marigold up the side of the project creating little decorative loops along the edge.

I put on my big-girl pants and hemstitched the ends, so that I have finished edges!  Of course, I haven't done anything with the fringe on the edge yet, but I imagine I will twist them together to make a more finished look.

Marigolds at Hidden Lake Gardens, Tipton Michigan.

I have another project on my loom now and it seems so incredibly bland in comparison. It is all yellows, greys, tans, and blues - and is in fact a color study.  My eye is so used to planning projects for knitting I am sometimes unpleasantly surprised by what happens to color when weaving.  I am now attending a once-a-month workshop led by a friend of mine at Woven Art for flip and cricket looms.  I am hoping this structure will help me broaden my horizons, be more creative, and experiment more with my loom.

My practical nature wants each project to be useful in some manner, whereas I think I would greatly benefit from pure experimentation. I need to let go.  But it fights against my very nature.  Weaving will be very good for me, I can tell.  I just need to unwind enough to let it happen.

Finished Hat: Caller Herrin'

This beautiful hat was my Christmas travel project. Small enough to fit in my lap, interesting enough to keep me knitting through Ohio.  And each of the four colors came from stash. Sometimes it really is an advantage to having a big yarn collection!

Pattern: Caller Herrin' by Kate Davies
Yarn: Brown - Elemental Affects in Moorit. Blue - Jamieson & Smith 2-ply. Natural - Rowan Scottish Tweed 2-ply (discontinued). Purple - Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 2-ply (discontinued).
Needles: US 2.5 and US 3, but I think I could have gone down to a US 2 and a US 2.5 to get better gauge.
Mods: I reduced the colors from six to four because I had four good colors that would work together in my stash - trying to get six just wasn't going to happen. I left off the i-cord edging because my hat is a little big, but come to think of it, I could probably bind-in the brim a bit if I skipped a stitch here and there along that edging....hmmm. Ah well. I love colorwork, I love Kate Davies' patterns, and I was happy to have this project with me throughout my Christmas travels. Another reason to love it - I can wear it with a ponytail.

 

It has been snowing for the last two days, and I am so happy.  The winter so far has been strangely warm and dry, with too much mud on the trails to use them regularly.  I decided that the photoshoot for my new hat would be fun to do on our trail walk in the snow.  Watching Zeby enjoying the snow was certainly a highlight - he races around, sticks his whole face into drifts, and chases after scents perfectly preserved in the cold.

He usually ends up with a bit of a snowy beard though, and sometimes snowballs form in his armpits and in the fur between his pads.

Now to make some tea, curl up with some lovely wool, and watch the birds come to the feeder outside our window.