Mini-Skein Madness

Lest you believe that the drum-carding extravaganza is the end of my fiber-related tasks, I present to you MINI-SKEINS: That's HY "Pate de Fruit" in Rambouillet HY "Burnished" (BFL) HY "Kitsune" (Polwarth/Silk) ....and HY "Smells of the Sea" (Wensleydale) Now to figure out what to knit! Or maybe weave???? Anyway, mini-skeins are a blast to make. They are fast! They are really satisfying! And they are super cute! And then I lost my spinning mojo and moved on to sewing - I'll put all that up in the next few posts.

Chop Chop

I've been teaching a bunch lately, mostly the same basic courses as usual (Non-Adhesive Bookbinding, Cloth Case Bookbinding, &c.) and I recently had a student contact me about a paper cutter that had come his way. He was looking for a long-arm style paper cutter, like this Kutrimmer, but his neighbor ended up giving him a guillotine paper cutter. It really wasn't going to work for him, so he asked if I'd like it and of course I would! Here it is (blade off):

This puppy weighs about 50 pounds. It could use a little bit of oil to make the cranks turn a bit smoother, and the blade is tip-top shape. I was able to trade him a disused Ingento-style paper cutter that I have been moving for about 12 years. Everyone wins! I'm excited to cut some stuff.

In other news, I've been spinning and knitting (surprised?) - I'm back up to speed on my Coventry cardigan, which I'm knitting in Quince&Co yarn (Chickadee) in the "Snap Pea" colorway. Boy Howdy, this yarn is delightful. It really has great stitch definition and holds it's shape well. I'm about 8" in after a horrid mis-reading of the decreases and a ripping-back incident (5" worth) and it's proceeding smoothly and quickly.


And I finally got around to spinning up all of my "Alpine" Romney (Hello Yarn Fiber Club, July 2009) into this lovely, drapey 2-ply, for about 1500 yards. I don't have a specific sweater planned for it yet.


Also, The Pork. For Christmas, we gave most of my family the gift of pork, specifically pork from our friend Inga, who is Farm Girl At Large. It turns out that it costs more to ship 60 pounds of pork halfway across the country than it does to fly someone out here with it, so Inga came to stay with us for a few days, and we took a quick jaunt down to Jersey for pork distribution. Here's what 60 pounds of pork looks like:


And here's a little glimpse of the Paterson Falls in the snow:


We visited the Falls, discussed the late Alexander Hamilton (a LOT), and ate lots of pork with family a friends. Delicious, and delightful.

Some Things, Completed!

I've actually managed to FINISH some things these past couple of weeks. This may or may not be snow related:



First, this gigantic bundle of handwoven Wensleydale came off the loom. This is handspun Hello Yarn Club Fiber from August 2010 in the "Heirloom" colorway - I spun it into a 2-ply and wove it up on my rigid heddle loom. I currently have one looooong piece of cloth, at about 10 feet x 22 inches (or so). I'll be starting the process all over again in order to get enough cloth to cut up and make a cute swingy jacket. Eventually. Hey, I'm halfway there, right?



Second, I finished this Golden Wheat cardigan, using handspun made from leftover test bundles when I co-dyed with David at Southern Cross Fibres. Mods? Of course. I knit this on US 7 & 9 needles, made it a little bit longer, and I'll be adding a buttonband backing of grosgrain ribbon this afternoon. This sweater is so comfortable and soft! The yarn is delightful - I had some concerns about the skeins not blending well enough, but I'm pleased as punch with how it looks. The fiber that I started out with had no business plying together into something this awesome.



Third, these divine mittens! Okay, I made these a few months ago but they were a test-knit so I couldn't talk about them. BUT HERE THEY ARE NOW. "Flocked Mittens" from Adrian Bizilia, knit in Quince&Co. "Lark" in Split Pea and Glacier. The lining is some brown alpaca that I had hanging around. These are super comfy cozy warm. These have become my go-to shoveling mittens around here.

All of this spinning and weaving and knitting (and teaching!) has been fantastic, and completing things is a good feeling. But I've also got one project looming, this quilt project:



A few weeks ago I made the mistake of fabric shopping with Kelly & Maritza. Kelly had this luscious bundle of solids out, and we each decided to get a half yard of each color to make one big quilt with. So all these rich colors, and white. Those are the only rules. I've been thinking maybe a double wedding ring quilt? Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts on this or OTHER quilts would be great!

These Things I Do

Oh hello! And another month passes, just like that! But I promise I've been absent with good reason:



I made this very awesome, very last-minute, very special travelogue wedding book. The client was a member of the wedding party, and the bride and groom had not chosen a honeymoon destination. The groomsman contacted the guests and had them create a travel page talking about where they would recommend. he gathered them all up at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, dropped them off to me the morning of the wedding, and I bound them all into this book and dropped it off at the hotel for the bride and groom to return to after their ceremonials. Word from the client is that they loved it and found it to be the nicest gift of the day :)



I started spinning this wonderful Hello Yarn Wensleydale in the "Heirloom" colorway with plans to eventually weave it and sew a slightly tailored jacket. Expect to see this completed around....oh, 2014 or so.



I test-knit this amazing shawl for Kirsten of throughtheloops - this is Snow Drops and Snap Peas shawl, and it is a fast, fun, easily memorized pattern. This version is in my own handspun Polwarth from David at Southern Cross Fibres. It's DEEEEElightful. I love how the striping worked out on the lace pattern.

I've been teaching a 3-month bookbinding workshop. It's been going wonderfully, and it has given me a chance to work on this 80 80s Instruments/Tools project of paper cutouts. I've been trying to do 1 or 2 of them a day. Each cutout is 5" x 7". They're a blast to work on. Oh yeah, we've been making books in that class, too :)

Oh yeah, this other thing happened:



...I got engaged! The ring was custom designed and made by the lovely Tracey Jenkins of Green Spot Studio. It's a rose-cut diamond, which is fairly uncommon and antique-y but enables it to have a flatter profile. Hooray craftpeople making rings for other craftpeople and taking hand use into consideration :)

4! Ounce! Challenge!

What can we make today?



In an effort to maintain spinning momentum and promote further creativity, I'm running the 4! Ounce! Challenge! on Ravelry. This contest is a collaboration with Hello Yarn, Spunky Eclectic, and Southern Cross Fibers. This is also an opportunity to use up those 4 ounce bundles of handspun.

People never seem to know what to do with 4 oz! To enter the competition, you’ll have to spin, knit/weave/crochet and (optionally) publish (via ravelry and/or their blog) a one skein pattern made from 4 oz of fiber. This competition runs during August/September. The goal is to create a whole heap of new patterns designed specifically for handspun fiber. The fiber has to be from Spunky Eclectic, Hello Yarn or SCF to enter.

Prizes - a grand prize of a $150 fiber pack from Hello Yarn/Spunky Eclectic/Southern Cross Fibre (about three 4 oz lots from each).

There will also be a random prize draw in addition to the grand prize with three $50 prizes (one 4 oz lot from each HY/SE/SCF). For people who spin and create an original item through August/September, they will get one entry in the prize draw. Those who publish the pattern get an additional entry in the draw.

The grand prize ($150 fiber) will be judged based on published patterns only.

All projects/patterns must be created during August & September. The deadline to enter a project is September 30.

Hope to see you there!

Here We Go Again

Yes, I have been an absentee blogger. It's not for lack of DOING things, though:



























....and now, here we are, approaching July, which means I need to consider some things for the Tour de Fleece:



Tour de Fleece runs July 3 - July 25! I'll be participating as a member of Team HelloYarn/Sassenacho/TimeBenders and also Team Monkey Farts! And somehow I will manage to blog more, as well :)

*** ETA some information: From top to bottom:
- Holly Jean Hat & Mitten, test-knit in Cascade 220. Super-duper pattern, soon to be available from zigzagstitch!
- Bova Book, handbound by me as a teaching model in my Cloth Case Bookbinding Workshop.
- Magical Scissors, paper cutout, about 5" x 7". Cut with a #16 X-Acto® blade out of Canson Ingres scrap papers. I want to make 100 of these, all with different 70s & 80s lyrics accompanying tools :)
- Bookbinding Models for my Non-Adhesive Bookbinding Workshop.
- Color Progression Insanity - handspun by me using Club Fibers from Hello Yarn, Southern Cross Fibres, and Spunky Eclectic.
- Cobb Salad, my all-time favorite salad.
- Handwoven continuous hand-towel for next tot he sink. FINALLY completed, after 2 years or so.
- Hello Yarn Knee-High Socks! Knit while the passenger on MidWest road-trip!
- The Spam Museum. Visited on our way from Iowa to Minneapolis.
- My haul during the 2010 Potholder Swap - lovely lovely hand-crocheted potholders by Lynda, Kathy, Susanne, Beth, and Cathy (click through for Flickr details).
- Quilt I made for D's mom before we headed out to Iowa.
- Delicious "Orchard" Romney singles - me-spun, Spunky Eclectic-dyed. Purchased at SPA.
- Wonderful, wonderful pork.
- Some things I am considering spinning during the TdF. :)

NOT Holiday Crafting (Yet)

I haven't been blogging much, but I've been busy! And I haven't even gotten around to starting the holiday crafting. I know there are only 2 weeks until Christmas, and yes I am getting nervous, but with Thanksgiving travel and having a guest in town, I just haven't had the time.

Well, that and I was busy cutting this out:



This is a map of Boston, with all non-road land removed. I saw these beautiful city cutouts by Karen O'Leary, and I just HAD to have one. I taped a map of Boston onto a piece of white Mohawk Via Felt paper and started cutting, using a #16 X-Acto® blade. I sharpened and/or changed the blade fairly frequently. 24 or so hours later, and some hand cramping, and it's done! The white piece is framed and hanging on the wall, while the offcut map went to Young Sef's house.

I've also been test-knitting these awesome squirrel mittens:



Aren't they the cutest? The pattern is from HelloYarn (are you surprised?), and my test pair is knit using Hello Yarn Sock in "Coffee" and "Harvest Gold".



The lining is delightful Misti Alpaca Lace in Adrian's "Surprise" colorway.

And then I couldn't. put. them. down.



....so I knit these adorable mini-acorns from Pam Wynne. Aren't they sweet? The box-braid bows fit right over them, so they can be used to hold them together when not being worn.

So, um, yeah. That's what I've been doing. Now, on to the holiday crafting!

Mr. Mxyzptlk

A week of not-so-frantic knitting, and I now have my FIRST! handspun handknit sweater. It's so satisfying! I present....Mr. Mxyzptlk!



I wanted a raglan sweater with buttons along the left front raglan edge, that flowed right up into a loose-fitting turtleneck collar. The collar could be worn open or folded over.





I'm quite satisfied! There was a little bit of worry about how I would account for the extra stitches needed for the buttonhole band and buttonband, and making sure that they NOT interfere with the raglan shaping. I thought them through while knitting the body and sleeves, and I'm happy with how things turned out!

I basically followed EZ's Raglan pattern. I knit this on US8s, over the course of ONE WEEK. I'm not entirely sure of how much yarn it took - I have some left over, along with a ton of unspun fiber (can you say pantsuit?). The buttons are from Joann's, and there are nine of them. I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out!

Twos

I just returned from a whirlwind couple of days up at the Finger Lakes. A vacation on the lovely Keuka Lake, featuring boat tour and swimming, then over to Ithaca, where we drove around a whole bunch to familiarize ourselves with the different towns around there. It's quite lovely! The return journey was detoured somewhat with a trip to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame (did you know it has been there since 1939?!?!? I didn't.) A lovely trip - great weather, great people, yet it is good to be back home. Of course, it is home in the middle of a heatwave, which sucks a bit. Oh well.

Just prior to leaving I took care of some marathon knitting:



This is my second Aeolian Shawl in the HelloYarn "Eat Your Greens" colorway. This used just shy of 700 yards of Wensleydale, and I had to change bead colors for the last 4 rows. It blocked out to the same size as the previous one.

I spun this up during the Tour de Fleece, and I wanted to preserve the color transition. I split the fiber up into 3 or 4 colors, but then I bundled those pieces together, lining up any darker or lighter ends so they would blend a bit more. Less striping. I'm pleased with how it came out - I feel like I have the warm and cool versions of this shawl now :)



I managed to actually use some of my commercial-made stash, as well! This is the Aestlight pattern, in Malabrigo Lace. It is so deliciously soft - it's that soft that you can barely feel because it is so delicate and lovely. Fast knit, easy knit, wonderful construction.

Meanwhile, on the needles now.....I'm between projects! I have some contract knitting, but other than that I think I need a break from lace. But its too hot to do much else!

TdF Wrap Up and Miles of Yarn, I Tell Ya!

Well, I made it through the Tour:



My total spinning came to a total of 14,460 yards of singles, 6,870 yards of completed yarn, and 7 pounds, 9 ounces of yarn. YIKES! It was great fun, it was nice to get through some stash, and I tried some new things (a 5-ply, felted singles, Masham, Teeswater). Now I have to get around to knitting with some of this.

I fell in love with this 5-Plum Pie Hello Yarn Club Fiber during the Tour:


...and feared that I would be unable to locate a sweater's worth (yes, another sweater's worth of 3-ply. You'd think I would learn), but I was lucky enough to score some more! Yay! So very excited, and I already have the sweater planned out that I want to work on!

In other news: I've been working on a fancy, new, leather-bound copy of the Devil's Dictionary. While the layout takes a fair amount of time, once it's done, I'll have it to print up on demand. I'm being soooooo meticulous about it - I'd rather not have to go in for any edits once I've completed it. I'm thrilled with how it's working out so far, and hope to have it completed within the week.

Spin Span Spun

Oh wow. And here we are, 2 weeks later.....
I was trying to be so good about blogging the Tour de Fleece, and I ended up too involved in the actual spinning for it.


This has been the most time-consuming of my Tour feats - 2 pounds of merino, singles set to be a 3-ply. It took a bit longer than I had hoped for, and I plan on also spinning up a few colored mini-batts that I have around as "insurance" for when I actually get to knitting this up!

There's also some more lace:



....perhaps for a second Aeolian Shawl?

And taking care of some past club shipments:


(Hello Yarn Club, 5-Plum Pie)


(Hello Yarn Club, Thrive)


(Southern Cross Fiber Club, Veteran)

I've also been laying out some text for a new, larger copy of the Devil's Dictionary. While it is slow-going and a bit tedious, I don't mind it too much - I've got a system down, and I'm being soooo meticulous about every little bit of it.