The last (first) step in the knitting process

Last weekend Christine and I went to a Sheepshearing festival just a few miles from home. In the weeks leading up to the event I had conversations with two separate coworkers that were strikingly similar. They went something like:

Coworker: Oh hey, I saw a sign downtown for a sheepshearing festival in Waltham! I thought of you because you’re always knitting and stuff. Haha. So crazy!
Me: I have my tickets for that already.
Them: Hahah. Wait …oh. You’re serious, aren’t you? 

I though the festival would be a handful of fiber enthusiasts, but when we turned into the parking lot I was shocked to see several fields full of cars. There were what felt like a thousand people there. And kids. TONS of kids. I think because it was the first warm weekend, there were animals to pet, and lots of fun fair food.

There were vendors for yarn, jewelry, soap, food, art, etc. But the best part by far was the sheepshearing tent. A tall, thin, white-haired man was taking the sheep out of the pen one by one, holding them steady without any restraints,  and ridding them of their fleeces with a big pair of shears. I may have elbowed my way past several small children to secure a good spot at the fence. Especially when he sheared the huge horned ram.

And so now I have my eyes on yet another step in the production process. First it was knitting. Then spinning and dyeing. Now I want to learn how to shear a sheep. Preferably my own sheep that I own someday. Are there any steps in front of owning and shearing sheep? I don’t think so….that’s probably the beginning. The first step. So I don’t need to hurry and get to it just yet.

Siohban’s first bobbin

In my last post I introduced my new spinning wheel and asked you all to name her. The suggestions were great – there were references to shape and color as well as just general awesomeness. I did what we did for Edith – called her a few things for a while to see what stuck – and discovered that the wheel’s name is Siohban.

That means Becca – you’re the winner! You know how to get in touch. Let me know what kind of handknit you want and I’ll mail it to Oregon.

Are your pets big photo-bombers too? It seems I can’t photograph yarn or handknits without someone furry walking through the shot (see above) or just plain sitting on the item (see below).

Sam is sitting on Surella, the first sweater I’ve made from my own handspun. My coworker of the same name had a great cotton sweater in a style I wanted to copy. She let me take it home for a few weeks and after a lot of measuring, knitting, drawing, frogging, and re-knitting, I got it right. 

It used less than 600 yards of my alpaca/wool handspun. There was enough left over to make a long cowl. I don’t know much of the particulars of spinning, but Christine tells me that I spin in such a way that my yarn is light and fluffy…so even though this yarn required size 11 needles, the sweater itself doesn’t weigh much. But it’s nice and warm.

This is the time of year that I loathe as far as wardrobe goes. I’m sick of my winter clothes and refuse to wear them no matter how chilly it is, but it’s too cold to start in with the dresses. So my solution has been bright pants, black flats, and a sweater. How do you dress for this early spring stuff?

The Minstrel

Here she is – the birthday present – a green Kromski Minstrel. I feel like she needs a name. A nice knit hat in the mail to whomever can think of a good one.

The wheel came in a big box stuffed full of store ads in another language. Google translate said that it was Slovenian.

This wheel comes finished or, for $50 less, unfinished. I decided that if I was going to splurge and spend all this money on a new wheel I didn’t want ash or walnut. I wanted a color. Something that grabbed your attention. Looking over the options at Home Depot I picked something called “Green Tea” (inspired by the shirt I was wearing?). It’s brighter than I expected, but that’s partly because I put it on too thick at first. Or I didn’t wipe it off soon enough with the rag. Maybe both. I started sanding the color down where it was thick but liked the look of it so much that I ended up sanding a lot of the edges and rounded bits. The color has kind of a well-worn look.

Today I put on a few more coats of polyurethane. Tomorrow I may test it out.

Birthday present

A pet-filled bed isn’t always the most comfortable. But it can be pretty cute.

The sun has shifted enough in the sky that it’s pouring in the windows before the alarm goes off. That’s a sign that spring is here even though there’s still snow piles outside. This weekend we’ll move the bed to its “summer spot” on the opposite wall.

This weekend I should also get my birthday present in the mail. A hint…it goes with this big box of roving.

GAhhhh it looks so nice! Two years ago I bought big ropes of Corriedale at Rhinebeck and then last year a friend sent me birthday alpaca. I knew they’d make a great blend, but I didn’t want to hand-card it all together…that’d be a nightmare.

When I posted the math from my last mill processing purchase, Kate commented from California:

Kate was right. I messaged several folks on etsy asking how much they would charge to card and blend the two fibers, and Kate’s prices were the best (even accounting for shipping to California). She was easy to work with and the fiber looks absolutely beautiful. So if you have any fiber processing work to do I highly recommend her and Mill Creek Fiber Works.

Kumbi Cowl

I pulled some mill ends out of a sale bin the last time I was in Eugene, and my puzzle for the past few months has been figuring out what to make with them. I started assembling pictures of patterns on pinterest for inspiration…

…but nothing was translating that well on the needles.

Then R. went to Washington DC for a month-long fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks, which is like an estate+library+garden+archives. I visited for the weekend. My favorite part of the gardens was this big chicken-wire cloud installed over a reflecting pool with thousands of little crystals hanging in the wire. It looked like someone had hand-twisted them in there. I wanted to know more.

There were also a bunch of Latin American art and textiles, which is what R. studies. I must’ve absorbed some because when I got back I had an easier time playing with pattern. I drew up a design for this thick cozy cowl:

I’m calling it Kumbi Cowl, which R. suggested because kumbi (usually spelled with a “c”) refers to precious woven cloth in Quechua (before we got to kumbi I had to veto some really long Quechua words that no one would be able to spell or remember). It’s knit in the round so that all of the stranded stuff is hidden inside the cowl. This also makes it extra squishy and warm. I did a provisional cast-on and grafted the ends together so that the seam is barely noticeable.

There was a snowstorm today and my coworker was so kind as to model Kumbi in action. Here’s the link to the ravelry project page. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll write up the pattern….

Teddywidder

The Teddywidder pattern is for sale now in ravelry!

I learned so much from the test-knitters. They did a phenomenal job. The pattern includes written instructions and a schematic and all measurements are given in both cm and in.

My next pattern is drying over the air vent. More on that soon…

676 yards…

…of alpaca/wool handspun. I’m not sure what to turn it into. Right now it’s saying “rectangular rustic wrap” to me.

The yarn is what became of all the gray roving in this picture…

In searching pinterest for rustic-wrap inspiration I stumbled upon this. I can’t drop the photo here because of the knitter’s copyright settings on flickr, but you SHOuLD click on the link. Is it not the most beautiful blanket? I’m blown away. She hand-carded all of that wool.

I spun most of this on Christine’s wheel because mine is kind of on the fritz. It’s a Kromski Minstrel and I just can’t say enough good things about it. It’s got me saving my money.

Shaker Shrug

I had to set aside the apple green yarn for a while because the pieces I’d knit weren’t right, but I  wasn’t ready to frog them all. A month or so of not looking at them should do the trick – I’ll be able to rip them right out. The yarn is part silk and no matter how small I go with the needles it wants to be something drapey. I was trying to make something structured. I feel humbled – yarn demands to be listened to!

This other project is working out better so far. On my way to a wedding in Western Mass this fall we stopped at WEBS and in the short time I had to shop I found 7 skeins of Misti Chunky Alpaca on clearance. It’s incredibly soft, which I’ve enhanced with a 2×2 Shaker Rib. My idea is to make a loose shrug, and there should be enough yarn to add sleeves. If it works out I’ll write up the pattern!

The house is getting chillier. Everyone’s committed to finding a warm spot…

I’m a modifier

Today you can see my Baby Keller Sweater on Knitted Bliss. It’s part of Julie’s Modification Monday series, which highlights projects that started from existing patterns but then underwent significant alterations.

I’ve been following Knitted Bliss for years – if you’re a knitter you should add it to your blogroll – so I was thrilled when Julie messaged me asking if she could feature the sweater.

Last week I knit up a second modified version. This one is also based off the same pattern, but the stripes and cropped bolero shape are a little more feminine. After splitting the yoke for the sleeves, I stopped making increases on the bodice and knit about 12 more rows (the last 6 in 2×2 rib) before binding off. I finished the sleeves and neckline with a few rows of navy Madelinetosh, and crocheted two buttonholes on the front.

Doesn’t it make you want to saw awww?

Labor Day

Read proposes his dissertation topic in a month and just started work as the TA for an intro course. He still does all of the dishes, and for that I am eternally thankful, but until late October he isn’t available much on evenings and weekends. So for the coming weeks I’m open to suggestions for: a) new projects, b) trips with friends, and c) really good television.

I’ve already gotten started with (a) and (b). First, a last minute Labor Day trip to Charleston, SC with girlfriends. I’m actually returning to Charleston in a couple weeks for a wedding, but hey, that’s not when Tami could be there and besides, when is two September weekends at the beach a bad thing?

While in Charleston I finished a pair of gray wool socks that’s haunted Tami for years. She was working on them in Tulum (19 months ago) and then claimed she couldn’t finish without me there to help. Mmhmm, I know…sounded fishy to me too. She is now threatening to start another project, quit, then mail it to me to finish. Just make it something beautiful and exciting Tami.

There are no pictures of the socks. Just one of me knitting them in the front seat on the drive to the airport. I wove in the ends as the sun was setting and raised my arms in victory. Goodbye ghosts-of-unfinished-socks!

When I got back I knit up a little welted toque to send Bethany in exchange for one of her new collages. It’s just 100 stitches around, sz 6 needles, and three six-stitch welts. I hadn’t done welts before – they’re really addicting and I love the look of them. Bethany, if you’re reading, I hope you like ‘em too.

And then today, while Read alternated between dissertation work and NFL highlights, I listened to a bunch of podcasts in the sewing room and pieced the top for a quilt. It will be for a friend’s baby.

I’m really really pleased with how it turned out. I wanted to make something with my scrap stash that was on-purpose-wonky, since lord knows my technical skills nor my perfectionism are capable of turning out “just so” quilts. But I also wanted it to look clean and modern. I was inspired by Six White Horses’ improvisational chevron quilt (check out her blog, she does great work).

I plan to use a dark raspberry color for the back.

 

I have more projects on the needles already and another dress to sew. But all that will require more entertainment, so if you have suggestions for podcasts, Netflix movies, and/or television series – or you have ideas for a weekend trip – send them my way!