(mis)adventures of spindlerose

Coils!

Coils!

This morning I learned how to intentinally spin useable thick and thin yarn. Then we turned that thick and thin yarn into the coils pictured above. I hope my hands remember what to do next week when I'm ready to try this again.

A visit to Harrisville

Happy spinner

Diane snuggles into some dyed wool at Harrisville Designs. A group of friends took advantage of the day off from SOAR workshops to tour the Harrisville mill and do some shopping. I was good and bought nothing today, but made a list of things to order after I finish the next sweater in my queue.

Does it blend?

One group of batts from day 3

While blending colors today, all I could think of was < a href="http://www.willitblend.com/" target ="new">Will It Blend? I spun only a tiny bit today, but did a bunch of carding. The carder will be on heavy use as soon as I get home. I want to turn all the solid colors into blends.

More color

Color samples, day 2

My head is full. I may need to knit a sweater out of the yarn 2 in from the left. I am taking good notes and will write up more detailed descriptions when there is space in my brain.

Fun with color

Color samples, day 1

We spun 10 samples today, all to achieve different effects with space dyed tops. There will be more tricks tomorrow. I'm already thinking of new ways to combine and mix up the tops in my stash. To date I pretty much have spun them as dyed, maybe splitting them a bit to make shorter color repeats.

SOAR!

Mardi and her wee Turkish spindle

I am going to post one picture a day this week from SOAR. Don't expect long essays on what I learned or who I saw until I have had a chance to process and absorb everything. Tonight, it was enough just to be here with my people.

Building the blogging habit

I vanished again. Sorry about that. Unpacking, working, and enjoying the end of summer with good friends became more important than spending any extra minutes at the computer. And then, once I lose the blogging habit, reclaiming it is incredibly difficult for me. Generally, I do not have much luck establishing good habits, and can only manage one new one every few months. Now that we have truly settled into the house, I have some cycles to dedicate to reclaiming my blogging habit.

I spent most of September rebuilding my wool habit. All fibery mojo left during the move. Spinning came back during Tour de Fleece, but the knitting stayed away all summer despite a trip to Sock Summit. I did finish spinning the bright pink BFL during July. I finally plied it sometime in August. The finished yarn sat on a bobbin for a few weeks. Less than a week after I wound it off and skeined it, I had finished knitting it into a small shawl.

Unfortunately, losing the blogging habit means I have also lost then photography habit. I took no photos of the pink yarn as a pile of singles on storage bobbins or as 2-ply yarn at any stage of finishing. I haven't even photographed the shawl yet. I'm planning to put it in the SOAR Gallery, though. I'll take some pictures then.

Daily posts were fun

while they lasted. I knew that posting every day in July was a crazy idea, but I really do want to get back into a regular blogging habit. It just won't be this month.

We spent last weekend blowing off steam (D flew, I read a few trashy romances) and shopping for a new bedroom set. We now have a really huge master bedroom and a lovely guest room (rather than a merely huge master and a guest room that doubles as the home office). We decided to put our old bedroom furniture in the guest room and order a new king-sized bed for ourselves. The shopping was challenging. We have divergent taste in furniture, and neither one of us has the decorating gene. I wanted something sleek and modern (this or this, for example). He would have been happy staying more traditional by replacing our current bed or purchasing something similar. While I don't mind traditional American furniture, my home is already filled with it. Our big new mattress arrived yesterday; the bed and nightstands are due sometime in October. Before they arrive, I want to paint our bedroom and invest in a few other decorating touches.

Unpacking has slowed to a crawl. This weekend, I need to empty a few more boxes in hopes of finding all the stuff I need for the two week business trip / vacation that starts on Monday. I'm headed to DC for a couple of days of meetings, then to Portland for Sock Summit, and finally to San Diego for the annual work conference.

Some socks

Despite a recent lack of evidence, I do still knit. Until we moved two weeks ago, I knit quite a lot this year, and have a big pile of finished projects to prove it. Since we moved, I have picked up my needles a few times, but I'm not really motivated by any of my current projects. Here is a quick run-down of the odd socks I have turned into pairs so far this year. I'll post the new pairs later this month.

Mini-Slip Jigs for Miss M

Pattern: Slip Jig by IrishGirlieKnits, March 2010 Rockin Sock Club
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Wild Irish Girlie
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm DPNs
Time: December 13, 2010 to January 13, 2011 (biggish yarn, small socks)
Comments: I sent the first sock as part of her Christmas gift, and learned that it was too small. I quickly knit up a bigger pair that fit her perfectly.

Pink Posy Socks for me

Pattern: Sheri's Posies from Socks from the Toe Up
Yarn: STR Lightweight mill end in an impossible to photograph bright pink.
Notions: 2.5 mm DPNs
Time: I started these at Wendy's book signing party in April 2009. I finished them in March 24, 2011.
Comments: I used my standard toe-up gusset modification (two additional pairs of increases for a longer heel flap) to get a pair of bright.pink.socks that I love.

Knetted for me

Pattern: Knetted by Cat Bordhi. This was the September 2009 Rockin Sock Club kit.
Yarn: STR mediumweight
Notions: US 2 / 2.75 mm DPNs
Time: December 16, 2009 to April 16, 2011
Comments: I knit the first sock and was unhappy with the fit so the pair stayed unfinished for a long time. The short cuff and funky architecture did not work for my feet. I borrowed a copy of Cat's book from a friend, since mine went on walkabout, to figure out some modifications. The second sock has a longer cuff and more increases so it fits in the gusset. I ripped back the first sock to the start of the increases and re-knit a longer leg and the modified gusset and heel. I'm not sure if I'll knit another pair of socks with this method, but I'm happy with this pair.

I just realized that all three of these pairs were knit from Socks That Rock. It is a favorite yarn, I should knit more socks from my extensive stash. I absolutely should not buy any more while I'm at Sock Summit in a couple of weeks.

Random Wednesday

I get to do laundry tomorrow. Our new washing machine and dryer arrived today. The installers did not fully connect the dryer due to problems with the vent hose under the floor. D and I (mostly D, really) swapped the new hose we pulled on Sunday for a different new hose and got it all connected despite a few challenges.

I am amazed the the in laws a) got dry clothing out of their dryer without b) burning the house down. The fire hazard plastic dryer vent hose that we removed was packed solid with lint and riddled with holes. Before pulling new vent, we vacuumed as much crud out the sub-floor space as we could.

My scaredy cats did not enjoy the appliance installation noises at all. They have adjusted to the usual house noises, but anything unusual still sends them under the covers or into the closet.

I cannot find the box containing the batts I planned to finish on the Schacht-Reeves duing the Tour de Fleece. I wish I had moved it in the car with the spindles and their fibers. If I don't find it by Saturday, I'm picking something else out of the spinning stash challenge bin.

The new suburban housewife schedule is kicking my butt. I'm up early every day because all the bedroom windows face east and I have to drop D at the train station. I wouldn't say I've turned into a lark, but I'm definitely not an owl anymore.