Dyeing to Spin

This weekend’s project is to dye some of the new roving I just bought from a seller on Etsy using Kool-Aid. I’ve posted about this before, but the bright colors of Kool-Aide make it great fun to play with and it requires none of the precautions dyeing with chemical dyes require. It is just plain fun. I bought two balls of roving and the plan is to dye one and leave the other natural white. I will spin both balls and then ply them together to make a bright rainbow-colored two ply yarn. Just a few hurdles and this will be fait accompli. Let’s see–I need to learn to dye better, spin better, ply better–this one’s in the can.

Happily I have every color of Kool-Aid they ever stock at our local Stop&Shop. Mixing the Kool-Aid with vinegar brings back memories of dyeing Easter Eggs. I would say dyeing Easter Eggs with the kids but inevitably after two eggs, they were done and I was alone in the kitchen dyeing eggs by myself. This is similar to the pumpkin carving and tree decorating experiences at the Frost Home.

Next step is a good soaking for the roving. The water should be cold as one goal in all of this is not to cause the roving to begin felting. Wool wants to felt when it is agitated and heat helps the process. After about 30 minutes of soaking, it needs to be gently rung out of excess water.

This New Obsession Makes Me Spin

I had a blogging hiatus this fall and I also had a little hiatus in spinning. I was so excited back at New York Sheep and Wool to have learned some basic spinning techniques and I was just so set to spin like crazy. Then I think Superstorm Sandy and some other tough year-end events just made December seem like the last mile of a marathon.

But all that is behind me now and I have been having a fantastic time this past weekend and this holiday weekend spinning away. It is completely mesmerizing to hold the fleece in my right hand and pinch the fiber as it is pulled by the action of the wheel onto the bobbin. My left hand is focused on drafting and the right hand is pinching and my feet are pumping back and forth. When everything is working just right it is simply magic.

I love the qualities of the roving I have bought. I bought a variety of qualities so that I would have some to practice on and, with the better quality, a reward to look forward to. I tried to find the most unprocessed roving possible. I have both natural white and brown fleeces. They smell of lanolin and I love the feel of the lanolin on my hands as I spin it. The brown fleece has lots of particles of hay and straw in it and as I draft it with my left hand, the bits fall onto my sweats leaving little piles. It is all clean and not at all gross, it just reminds me of where this fleece came from. I have always loved finding little bits of straw in yarn as I knit.

As my left hand drafts the roving, the individual fibers sort themselves out and the roving which flows to my right hand is a collection of wispy fibers fanned out to twist into the proper weight ply. That is somewhat idealized. The reality isn’t quite that perfect yet, but there are moments when things seem to be working.

This is yet another skill which can only be perfected after much time. I see that very clearly. My yarn is not always even and the twist is not quite balanced, but I think I could spin a powerful lot of fleece into lumpy, semi-usable wool before I ever got to the point that something gorgeous came off my wheel. That said, I am having a complete blast and I do think the yarn I have made, while decidedly rustic, is gorgeous in its own way.

Here are the four skeins I have made to date. The one on the left is the second Skein I made. The first skein is to the right. You can tell that the second is much larger and the balance of light an dark colors is better. The second skein from the right is probably the most troubled. It has some significant twist and balance issues. I am not sure how it will be to knit up. On the extreme right is the fourth skein. While the plies are thicker than I would have liked, the yarn is perfectly balanced with the twist of the plies balancing out the plied singles. It is relaxed and should be great to knit with.

My new goal now that I have learned the rudiments of spinning is to spin, ply, skein and knit a sweater from roving. A complete sweater which would be as self-produced as possible short of raising a sheep, shearing it, washing and carding the wool and then spinning it. Wonder how long it will take to get to that point?

Knit-A-Ganza Summer 2012

Summer is made for knitting. So are winter, spring and fall for that matter. I had a busy summer of embarking on new projects, finishing older ones and just enjoying the craft. Here are a few of the newly finished items.

This scarf was finally completed this summer. I believe I began it in 2003 and worked on it when we traveled to New Zealand. Then it kind of languished. I guess this proves that even after a long pause, things can come to completion. Knit in mitre pattern, the scarf is made from alpaca yarn. It is called the Van Gogh Stole.

This is a close up of the beaded fringe. I think the prospect of this fringe is what kept me from finishing for so long. It wasn’t actually that bad.

About a million years ago, we made a pilgrimage to Morehouse Farms retail store. I believe we were actually meeting with the authors for a book we had under contract. I bought the yarn for the Kentucky Sweater. I have always loved Morehouse Farms Merino. It is barely even plied and soft and warm. It is so little processed that there are bits of straw to be found. That doesn’t bother me at all. I love it and the smell of the wool left by the lanolin still in it.

I began this sweater when Ellie and I traveled out to California to look at schools. It was April 2010 and we were checking out Occidental. We stayed in Pasadena and Alex drove up from Camp Pendleton for the weekend. We also got to see my longtime friend, Ann Harnagel. I remember how irked I was to discover after four inches of knitting in the round that I had done the second most stupid knitter’s trick and twisted my cast on. Off went the entire mess only to begin again. The pattern required a bit of attention and there are two rows which were mistakes, but I don’t think anyone but me can find them. I don’t usually leave mistakes, but they would have been a bear to fix.  The sweater knit up small and I wasn’t sure I really liked it despite the fuchsia and green brightness. I blocked it larger and all is well. Should be comfy with blue jeans. Not my favorite finished project, but it may grow on me.

This sweater is knit with Seacolors Yarn. I had the yarn, but started the sweater last year when I was going to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. Nanney Kennedy always has a booth there and I just love her yarn and patterns. I figured if I started a sweater with the yarn, I wouldn’t feel the need to buy any more . It pretty much worked. The pattern is the Low Tide Crossover Vee Pattern from the book, Shear Spirit. I was almost done with the sweater in April and went onto Etsy to see if I could find some buttons. I found these gorgeous glass buttons made by a woman named Nikki Ella Whitlock. Her site on Etsy is Inspirali. She is amazingly talented. Check out her blog. Anyway, I found the buttons I wanted on her Etsy site, but when I wrote her she had just sold them. I explained to her that they were to go with a sweater I was making and she said that she had sold them to a neighbor and would just “run round to see if they would switch”. They did and I have the gorgeous buttons. Next week is New York Sheep and Wool so I may just wear my new sweater.

Baby sweaters are fun to knit. They go so fast. This one is knit with yarn from my friend and former colleague Doris Cooper’s father’s sheep. The yarn was sport weight. I picked a stitch pattern out of Barbara Walker to give the sweater some texture and designed the pattern on Sweater Wizard. I love collecting buttons and it is always a treat to find some which are just perfect in my inventory. It is a cute little sweater. I have no idea what I will do with it.

Knitting socks is a love/hate kind of thing. I love the turning of the heel and the fact that it is such a small project. I don’t actually love wearing hand knit socks. It sounds awful to say, but I like my colorful Little MissMatched socks better. I do like knitting Wendy Johnson’s patterns and this comes from her book, SOCKS FROM THE TOE UP. This is the Lace Socks pattern which I have now knit several times. It has a simple repeat which is fun to do and the socks are very pretty. These are knit in Lorna Lace’s Sock Yarn and I love the colors.

Here’s another extended project. I actually have no idea when I started this sweater. I know I bought the pattern at Stitches East from the Great Yarns! booth, but I have no idea what year it was. It was, however, quite a long time ago. This sweater was not that much fun to make. The yarn is an extremely soft alpaca and the colors are gorgeous, but the body is very wide and required yards and yards of stockinette. There is a knitted cord defining the entrelac which was a b*tch. The entrelac was fine and I just alternated whatever colors I wanted. I hope this will be something I enjoy wearing, but it is very, very wide. Of course, the pooch in the photos is just gorgeous.

I expect there are a few other things which I made this summer and which have slipped my mind. You might say I was nonetheless pretty busy. I want you to know that I could never do this without the unfailing support and unwavering commitment of my feline compatriots, Zoe and Xena. They know what knitting is really for.

Cast on, Baby!!

A good knitting friend of mine shared a link to a video made by her local yarn store. Not only do I love the video for its sheer love and joy in all things fiber and yarn, but I love the community that clearly exists in that yarn store. What a great and diverse group of people all joined together by their love for creating things, for making something of beauty and for sharing that experience. So, so cool.

This video isn’t for everyone, but it is worth devoting a few minutes to just to share in their sense of fun and enjoyment. Who doesn’t need more of that in their lives?

Seen on the Streets

With perhaps more fervor than taste, this crafty fellow was seen on the Chicago elevated train. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Becky, for giving me something for inspiration.

WILD by Cheryl Strayed

So far this summer has been reading heavy. I have been fortunate enough to have discovered a string of good books. Wild by Cheryl Strayed may be topping the bestseller lists and need no promotion, but I truly loved this book and felt it deeply.

Of course WILD is selling well because Cheryl wrote an amazing book. She is a strong writer, has written a memoir with great depth and the adventure of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, but I connected with this book on many personal levels. Perhaps others are, too.

Cheryl made the decision to hike the PCT seemingly inexplicably at the lowest point in her life. Hers was a physical journey along the trail, but I related to her story deeply having just finished my own journey during what I suppose could be the lowest point of my life. Cheryl had lost her mother to cancer and had ended her marriage to a man she loved but couldn’t be married to. She had engaged in self-destructive behavior and was struggling to find a direction or meaning in her life.

My journey was the two plus years spent in the wake of a long and deeply fulfilling stretch of employment. With no expectation of a change in status, I was suddenly thrust into different circumstances. Shortly thereafter, I, too, lost my mother. Interestingly Cheryl’s mother was named Barbara, but called Bobbie (different spelling though)  like my own. While I did not embark on a long, physically challenging hike, I could relate to much of what Cheryl went through from my own experiences doing the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walks. I may not have been on the trail for 80 days, but with all the training, I had some of the same experience. As I read I often wished I had had the courage and vision Cheryl had, perhaps I should have gone off to hike a trail rather than slog through my journey seated at desk and computer. Would I have gotten to the same end point or perhaps a better one?

It would be tempting to say that Cheryl’s journey ended at the Bridge of the Gods and that my journey ended a few weeks ago when I became re-employed, but, of course, that is not the case. Our lives are made up of many journeys. Some have clear end points, some have physical destinations and others are more internal journeys of discovery. It matters less what form the journey takes and much more what you take from the journey.

Summer Knitting and WIPS

There is a bag of brand new yarn sitting in the Blue Room* waiting for me. This yarn was bought in April at Webs in Northampton when I was at the Friends of Smith College Libraries board meeting. This yarn was was purchased to make two sweaters for Ellie. One is an adaptation of a design by Fiona Ellis from her book, Inspired Fair Isle. The other is a pattern I saw in Knitter’s I believe that just looked like something Ellie should have. Ellie was with me and approved both choices and picked her colors and yarn.

I have written about my yarn diet which has been ongoing (sort of) for the past three years. Having accumulated a shocking amount of yarn, I decided I needed to stop purchasing. I felt almost nauseous at the thought of so much yarn. Like I had eaten a big, heavy meal and needed to go on an instant diet. There have been a few caveats to this diet–one is purchasing yarn with which to knit Ellie sweaters. I have written about that previously I believe. There have been a few other slips, falls off the wagon so to speak. One was a little problem with the Sock Yarn Club at Knit Purl in Portland, Oregon. I couldn’t keep up with the Sock Club, but I loved the way they packaged the kits. I could knit socks for a very long time with the stockpile of sock yarn which kept growing until I finally got the strength to not re-up. Another too big meal until I pushed away from the table.

So, the bag of new yarn is calling to me, but I am not listening. My fingers are in my ears. NaNaNaNa!  I have decided instead that I need to devote the summer to working through my WIPS (works in progress to non-knitters). I think it is the logical extension of the yarn diet.

Scattered about the Blue Room and in the Yarn Corner in our basement are a panoply of projects in various states of completion. I always have multiple projects on needles, but I also have to confess that I stall out sometimes and things just sort of sit. Using the new yarn for Ellie’s sweaters as the carrot, I am going to try to finish off some of these lingering projects. I can’t work on Ellie’s sweaters until I knock off a few WIPS.

The first one I picked up again is a mitred scarf kit in alpaca that I must have started close to eight years ago. I know I was knitting on it in Auckland which must have been back in 2004 or so. I picked it up a couple of weeks and have finished knitting the squares and am in the process of crocheting the edging. It gets a beaded fringe and then it will be done. That will be one down. One less bag of yarn sitting around the house.

The next project I re-commenced is also in alpaca. It is called Jaywalking by Twisted Sisters. Knit on size three needles, this thing has taken on a life of its own.

It is ultra wide and required long row after row of knitting on small needles. I have finally finished the body and am working on the “corded tuck” which I don’t quite understand. After that I need to do the entrelac and then just seam it up. I am going to nail this one once and for all. Than I shall move on to another and another. I want to get my total of WIPS in progress under control by August 1st so I can have begun working on Ellie’s sweaters before she returns from Peru. It is my plan.

*While we hardly live in a mansion, we have developed the habit of naming the rooms in our house. We have the Blue Room, the Green Room, etc. It is kind of fun to me to call them colors rather than by purpose.

Weekend Stream of Consciousness

Happiness is the onset of summer. So many great things happen, not the least of which is throwing open the windows, enjoying the fresh air and breezes and playing outside.

This was a busy weekend beginning Friday with Ellie’s departure for Peru. They actually have spent the weekend in Miami in training, but tomorrow they fly to Lima and then Cuzco. Ellie now knows that she will be teaching nutrition and hygiene to mostly children and she will also be playing with the kids–something Ellie has always done with happy abandon.

The sadness of seeing Ellie depart for nine weeks was leavened by the arrival of Alex on Saturday morning. Our most favorite Marine will be home with us for a week. He looks fantastic and it is an absolute joy to have him home.

Saturday Peter appeared with two of his friends, Eric and Allison. Although we had heard lots about them, this was the first time we had met them. They ended up staying for dinner and we had a delightful time dining on the deck on a gorgeous summer evening. It was great fun and all the more special because it is fairly rare for Peter to entertain.

After three years in the making our deck is everything we wanted it to be and the plantings are doing phenomenally well. I think our neighbors must like looking over at the deck and the array of blooming things.

This year’s garden to date

Saturday and Sunday, I was very happy to putter at home. I distributed 20 bags of mulch around the garden beds and worked in my vegetable garden.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have abandoned the spoke pattern for planting and have no fountain of sunflowers in the middle. It is, however, coming along nicely.

The sage, thyme and rosemary made it through the mild winter

Also new to the garden this year are peas, carrots, eggplant. Cucumbers and tomatoes make a reappearance.

Sunday Alex, Peter and Jim went to the Yankees/Mets game. I was not invited and, had I been invited I would have declined with alacrity. They had a great time and the Yankees won which made it even better. They returned home tired and sunburned to lounge on the deck with suds.

Even though the guys were gone most of the day, I was not alone. I had my faithful assistant and gardening companion to keep me company.

Of course, after the gardening was over, some hammock time was de rigueur. My mother’s day present was a new hammock frame. Dakota likes to lie under the hammock. I read with my eyes open and sometimes closed. The view is delightful.

One final pleasure right now are the orchids purchased on my field trip with Lauren to Venamy. Both orchids are in rapturous bloom and each time I see them it is a delight.

The Phalaenopsis has been blooming for six weeks and shows no sign of letting up anytime soon.

My Sharry Baby Oncidium is now blooming as well and the amazingly subtle scent drifts through the house.

I don’t believe I have ever written a post with less form and structure. What holds this narrative together? Well, I guess it would be contentment and happiness. With so many beautiful and beloved things around me, how could I ever be less than happy and content?

Field Trip with Lauren

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Last Friday was my planned outing day with Lauren. When Lauren took me to the Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens, we planned a follow-up trip to Venamy Orchids.

I met Lauren at the Rye Metro North train station and we headed up to Brewster to Venamy Orchids.

This is pretty much orchid heaven and we had a delightful time walking up and down the aisles looking at all the various orchids. Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, Oncidium, Cattleya, all the glorious orchids were on display. Actually, there seemed to be an abundance of giant white Phals with elegant, drooping efflorescence. They were breathtaking and clearly the main item for Mother’s Day.

Selecting was tough. I had limited myself to only two orchids. I knew exactly what I wanted: Hawaiian Sunset Pupukea. I had one years ago and it had the most fragrant and gorgeous blooms. The other orchid I was aching to buy was some sort of gloriously outrageous Paph. Of course, they didn’t have any Hawaiian Sunset Pupukea which was a bummer. They didn’t have any Paphs which were blooming. I dealt with this disappointment by purchasing on beautiful little Phal, a very healthy and vigorous (if unknown) Paph and an Oncidium with three spikes!

Lauren was much more restrained and bought a truly captivating Phalaenopsis.

After Venamy, we headed to Armonk and found a great place to eat. Of course, we never stopped chatting. Ellie had emailed us good wishes and mentioned the words “ice cream” so that was next on our agenda. While we licked our ice cream cones, Lauren admitted she hadn’t been knitting. Oh, horrors. So there was nothing else to be done but to use her i-Phone to find the nearest yarn store.

That meant a journey to Scarsdale and Sticks and Strings. While I displayed incredible restraint, Lauren purchased some very good-looking Koigu for some socks. A great project to get her knitting juices flowing again. It was tough to hold back because I dearly love Koigu, but I also have an unmentionable amount of it.

I drove Lauren back to her beautiful block of brownstones in Brooklyn with her trophies. We had a great day of complete fun and indulged passions.

Orchids, ice cream, yarn and lots of conversation. A truly perfect outing.

Pinterest

Pinterest is kind of like a visual blog. At least, that’s how I see it. I have been having fun making boards which can collect visual images of things which resonate for me. I can’t really see the enjoyment of the platform for posting fashion, shopping, etc. but then I am not that much of a shopper. I see it as an extension of what I think and write about here.

I have 11 boards now. They cover Things I Love, Books and Reading, Philanthropic Interests, Knitting (of course), Gardening and Dakota has his very own board. He is a Pinterest pin-up.