A Twist on our usual Knit Night

Last week (I'm a little late getting these pictures up), we decided we would meet a little early for knitting and spend some time spinning first. I was the only one who showed up with a wheel. Not that it bothered me. I just explained to all the curious people at Starbucks that I was trying to keep up with the demand of the knitters, who were using up their yarn stash meeting there each week!

The Official Count

Over on the Fiberistas board in Ravelry.com, we've started a special incentive for people (like me!) who have a bunch of WIPs. Anyone can join in. Just let us know how many unfinished projects you currently have. Then every time you finish a project, post it in that thread. Each project will get you one entry in the drawing at the end of the year. We're still working out what the prizes are -- I suggested a bag full of the projects I don't end up finishing, but that was quickly nixed. I'm sure we'll come up with some real, nice prizes.

I finished going through all my boxes and bags and hiding places, and I have a final count of my unfinished projects. I am counting projects that I haven't actually cast on, if I've bought the yarn AND have a specific pattern for it AND a recipient AND an occasion. In other words, if I should have already finished the project, even if I haven't cast on, then it's an unfinished project in my mind. (I also have a long list of queued projects - things I want to make "someday" that I either don't have the yarn for yet AND/OR I don't have someone specific to knit it for. Those queued projects were not included in the count.)

So are you ready for the final number?  I wasn't. I'm still not. I have friends who are monogamous knitters. I'm obviously a fiber slut, with 40 unfinished projects.

 UFOs

1. Cabled Casey cotton shawl
2.  Sampler Sock Blanket
3. Pink and gray baby sweater - only needs the buttons sewn on/baby has already outgrown it!
4. Plarn doormats
5. Earth colorway lace shawl with beads - not started yet
6. Striped toy- need this for Christmas
7. Candy print baby sweater - not started yet
8. Monster pants - this is a promised gift that hasn't been started yet
9. Ryan's arm warmers - he's already finished his tour of duty, sigh
10. Silver potato chip scarf
11. Black stocking socks - not started yet/need it for Christmas
    
12. Prayer shawl
13. Animal hat - not started yet/need it for Christmas
14. Wheat wool hat - not started yet/need it for Christmas
15. Sheep sweater - just needs to been seamed and button band knit
16. 12x12 square - not started and the deadline is approaching quickly!
17. Pink chemo cap - not started yet
18. Rose chemo cap - not started yet
19. Skype socks in Jojo - not started yet
20. Modea baby hat
21. Woven towel sets - just need to be hemmed & 1 dishcloth knit
22. Christmas towel sets - not started yet, but obviously needed for Christmas
23. Cari's yarn to be untangled
24. grey baby bib - only needs the button and patches sewn on
25. girly baby bib  - only needs a button
26. lime shawlette - needs to be blocked
27. blue shawlette - needs to be blocked
28. February Lady Sweater
29. Mystery Shawl
30. Baby Bib with flower buttons - only needs the buttons sewn on
31. French Press Slippers - need to seam and felt
32. Universal Tunic - not started yet
33. Aeolean Shawl
34. Kingdom Gloves - need it for Christmas
35. Handspun Peacock Shawl - yarn finished, need to knit
36. Baby Surprise Jacket - need to finish yarn and then knit
37. Handspun Brown Silk Shawl - need to spin and knit
38. Blue T-Shirt Sweater - not started yet
39. NYC Socks - started, but I'll probably frog and start over
40. Paula's drop spindle yarn

A little fiber bling

I've gotten a reputation at work for never throwing out anything that can be reused or remade into something useful. It comes from my years at the ADT, where I was expected to come up with fun crafts and projects at very little cost. It's hard to stop looking at everything from the "save a penny" viewpoint, even though I'm in a much more affluent environment
So I get teased a lot by my volunteers. Today was a good example of that. We were working on mailing out the monthly newsletters, and managed to use up two rolls of closure stickers. Grace* held up empty cardboard tubes from the packages and asked me if I was going to paint them and turn them into bracelets. I gathered up all my dignity, and assured her that I had no intention of making them into painted bracelets.

Silly girl.

I took the tubes home, got out some of my hand spun yarn, and turned them into pretty fiber bracelets.

*I've come to realize that it's inevitable that I talk about my volunteers, since they play such a big role in my everyday work life. In order to preserve at least a little bit of their privacy, I've decided to give blog names to my everyday volunteers. (I'll have to wing it with the once-a-month volunteers, since there really are too many for me to keep track of.) I considered using Vol#1, Vol#2, etc but I couldn't decide who was my #1 volunteer. So I'm going with Faith, Hope, Charity, and Grace.

Whatcha listening to?

At our knitting group, a friend and I got to talking about the different podcasts we listen to. Now that I'm commuting to work (my drive can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour each way, depending on the whims of traffic), I've been listening to even more podcasts.

Some of my long-time favorites podcasts have ended. Meaghan of Stitch It! recently decided to spend more time with her family and less time recording. I've listened to her for so long that I felt like I was losing a friend when she made  the announcement. There have been a few other podcasts that have just faded off this past year.

Luckily, there are several new shows that I've found. And surprisingly, not all of them are knitting. Here's a brief summary of what's on my ipod. By the way, all of the podcasts can be found on itunes.

FIBER-RELATED:

The High Fiber Diet Podcast - This was the second podcast I've found, and by now I feel like Coggie and Sarge are members of my family. Lately there's been a bit of language that bothers me (I have my own little soapbox, and Sarge has gotten me up on it a few times), but I just can't let go. Family is family. Besides, Coggie is funny, informative, and I love her style.

Knit Obsession with Zknits - She's only putting out a show every month or so, but it's worth catching them when they come out.

Knitting Brooklyn - This is a brand-new podcast. She talks about knitting, spinning, and anything else that pops into her head. My big negative on this is that she refers too much to other podcasts - I don't listen to the same ones that she does and even if I did I'm not sure I want to hear her talk about them. I'd rather hear her own stuff. On the other hand,  I love that she's so close to where my daughter is - I recognize many of the places she talks about. So I may stick with it.

Knitting Pipeline - Paula talks about knitting, nature and bagpipes. Plus she actually met Elizabeth Zimmermann. (How cool is that?)

Subway Knits - A knitting podcast by a NYC teacher - how could I not love it?

Never Not Knitting - This is an extremely well-done knitting podcast by an extremely talented designer.

FIBER-FREE:

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase - Although I didn't read her book, I've always enjoyed Betty's stories that she's collected while working as a flight attendant.

The Crush - This is one of my two wine podcasts. I've learned a lot from Whitney and Christina, although they do make me feel rather old and un-cool.

Escape Pod - Science fiction stories. Do I need to say anything else?

The Moth - This is always the first podcast I name when someone asks me for a recommendation. It's true stories, told by real people. Sometimes the people and stories are everyday tales, and sometimes they're incredibly amazing. I have a dream that someday I'm going to attend a live Moth event in NYC.

Pub Songs Podcast - It's all Irish/Celtic music, with a lot of geeky spoofed songs added in. It's wonderful. Plus Marc Gunn reminds me of one of my favorite cousins (Charlie) - I'm not sure why, but I think of Charlie every single time I listen to this podcast and it makes me smile.


Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me - I just started listening to this podcast. It's a public radio call-in show that's very funny and very up-to-date. I also get a kick out of hearing the technical advisor for the show is Robert Newhouse. I know it's (probably) not one of my relatives, but I still get a kick thinking it might be.

Wine for Normal People - Everything I know about wine, I learned from Elizabeth.

Thanksgiving Festival

I spent the day demonstrating weaving and spinning at the church's Thanksgiving Festival. I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. We (Melissa, Anita and I) had a blast showing off our skills and teaching the children how to drop spindle and wave. Actually, Melissa deserves most of the credit. She made up a bunch of spindle kits that she gave away to any child that seemed really interested in the spinnning. I kept being called away to fix this or that, or to take care of some minor crisis (the problem in trying to volunteer where you work is that they expect you to actually work if they need you), so it was really Melissa who did most of the demonstration and teaching. Anita and I were able to relax (in between the cries of "Sandi, I need you) and enjoy the day.

Showing my boss' daughter how to spin on the wheel



The amazing and wonderful weaver, Ms Anita



Demonstrating how to weave on my tabletop loom



My new toy

I am now the proud owner of an electric spinning wheel. It's beautiful, with a remarkable mixture of handcrafted wood and modernized gadgetry. The idea of powering a spinning wheel with an engine (although a tiny one), also amuses me.

Sometimes, I have the most amazing luck. First in meeting, by pure chance, an amazing weaver who was/is willing to share her knowledge with me. (Thank you, Anita!) And then in her generosity in giving me her old wheel.

Fiber Fun!

We made it to Orlando last night, just in time to check into the timeshare and then go out to dinner. We did manage to get a little knitting done, with thanks to Peggy who volunteered to be our designated knitter. (The bottle of wine, Dr. Heidemanns' Riesling, was delicious!)

This morning we enjoyed coffee on the balcony before heading off to Fiber In. I was very glad that we were on the second floor. It seems everywhere I go now, there's a duck looking for my knitting.

(I did tell you that story, didn't I? The day that I took the bus to pick up Becca's car, I had to transfer at the VA Center. The ducks there are very aggressive, and one of them came up and bit my toe. I was wearing sandals and had old nail polish on, so I think that the duck might have been nearsighted and mistook my toe nail for dropped food. When he bit my toe, though, it scared me and I dropped my dpn. The duck grabbed it and waddled away with the dpn in his beak. I spent the next bus ride just holding my knitting since, for the first time ever, I had chosen to leave the extra dpns at home. Darn duck!)

 Fiber In was wonderful. I love being with other people as fiber-crazy as I am. There were spinners, and knitters, and hookers (aka crocheters). There were probably also some weavers, but since looms are difficult to travel with I didn't manage to find any. And I resisted, by virtue of being totally broke after buying the tires Thursday night, from adding to my stash. Although I was tempted.

I did get to show off my Hide-the-Horrible-Hairdo hat in the hat parade.

Peggy and Mom, two of the Fiberista Foursome.

And Rebecca.

We had such a great time, we've decided to do a Knitting Retreat / Women's Weekend. After looking at the calendar, it will probably be in the middle of January. We're thinking that Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando sounds like a perfect plan, although Daytona would be another possibility. I'm already counting down the weeks!

Never let the demands of tomorrow interfere with the pleasures and excitement of today. (Meredith Willson)

This has been quite a wonderful fiber weekend. Yesterday was Knit in the Park, and today we Spun at the St. Lucy County Fair.

I wasn't sure what to expect. The St. Lucy County Fair is so much smaller than the Palm Beach County Fair. In my opinion, that's probably a good thing. The only downside is that we didn't have a lot of people come to see us spinning. On the plus side, we were able to really talk with the people who did come.

I think there were eight of us spinning. Four of us (Lisa, Peggy, Kathleen, and myself) were on wheels. The others (Charlie, Carrie, and I confess I don't remember the other names) had drop spindles. So there was a nice representation of spinning. We ended up forming a group, the Sunshine Spinners, and we plan on getting together again.

distaff (noun): 1. A staff for holding flax, wool, etc. for spinning. 2. Women considered collectively

I had gotten a notice through my Fiber-In group that the Orlando knitting groups were celebrating Distaff Day with a big get-together. Naturally I wanted to be there, and luckily I was able to talk my friends Lisa and Peggy to ride up with me. We had a wonderful time!


There were about 30 knitters/spinners/weavers attending the day, which was held in the student union at the University of Central Florida. (This is a beautiful campus, by the way. Although I was surprised to see a Game Stop next to the university bookstore.) We socialized, played games, showed off our finished work, and in between actually worked on our fiber projects.

There was a table of freebies; people put out items that they didn't want anymore and you could just take what you wanted. I came home with a booklet of washcloth patterns, a copy of Piecework magazine that I had wanted but couldn't find a copy of, and scraps of sock yarn for my blanket. (I have enough to make mini-balls to share at knit-night.)


There was also a table of items for sale. I bought a shawl pin (I forgot to take a picture), some sock yarn (of course), and some fiber (again, of course).

I know I had said that I wasn't going to add to my stash, but you should have known better than to believe that malarky. Besides, everyone knows that sock yarn doesn't count as stash. And fiber isn't even yarn yet, so how could it possibly count?

We did a yankee swap, and I walked away with a copy of Knitwear Design Workshop. This is a book I've been wanting, so I really made out well.

Oh, and did I mention that I met a whole bunch of sock knitters? It's nice to be around people who love socks as much as I do. (Although I was the only one who likes Special K cereal. Go figure...)
Everyone started packing up to leave around 3:30. Lisa, Peggy, and I decided that since there was still daylight left, we would go hunt out a yarn shop. Several people recommended Sip & Knit, so off we went.
It was another brilliant idea on our part, because the store was great. Three rooms of yarn to explore. There were some favorites (Noro, Cascade) but there was also a lot that I hadn't seen before. Lisa and Peggy showed considerable restraint and managed to ohh and ahh without opening their wallets. I wasn't so well-behaved. But at least I have a souvenir. Besides, sock yarn doesn't count as stash. (Sigh. How many times do I have to repeat that before it sounds believable?)
Altogether we drove over 360 miles, leaving at 6 am and not returning home until after 9 pm. Just to spend the day knitting and spinning and friends.

So, who's ready for another road trip?

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust. (Jalal ad-Din Rumi)

It took me almost 4 1/2 hours, but I finished plying the first of the corriedale Peacock yarn. It's a 2-ply plus metallic thread (so really, a three-ply) and it came out to be about 24 wpi. I still have to whack it (full it) and measure it out, but I think I have my first lace weight yarn!

I plan on this eventually becoming either Gwendolyn, Gail (Nightsongs), or I may even pay for a pattern and make it into Pretty as a Peacock Shawl.

Man is made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another. (Anatole France)

I brought my spinning wheel with me, with plans to finish the Corridale. I even bought metallic thread to ply it with. Unfortunately, I haven't done as much spinning as I thought I would. Part of it is because I'm upset. I have a suitcase that I pack the wheel in for traveling. This usually keeps it safe. Except that I tried to save space by packing all of my clothes in the same suitcase, and I obviously over-packed. The screw for the maiden head was threaded, and I had to McGyver a fix. Which I was able to do, luckily. But I'm still upset at myself for being so stupid and not taking one more bag. As a result, my spinning mojo is off and I can't seem to get the calming rhythm.

On a brighter side, it's nice to see my mom is officially a full-fledged Knitter now. She has multiple projects on the needles, and she brought them all with her. She even had several projects out at one time. (And I remember her seriously asking me why I didn't just finish something before starting a new project.) Welcome to the dark side, mom!

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

I haven't done much spinning lately, but that's changing. We (Lisa, Paula, and I) have decided to bring our wheels to knitting night on a regular basis. Peer pressure is a wonderful incentive to be productive!

I did finish the Shetland Top from Crown Mountain. I did a 3 ply, and it came out to be a nice fingering weight. When I finished plying it was 20 wpi, but it fulled out really wonderfully to a fluffy, soft 18 wpi. I ended up with 374.6 yards.

I also did a little bit (29.25 yards) as a navajo ply. You can see the difference the two techniques make in the picture.



My next project will be a Corriedale Wool Top from The Woolery. The colorway is Dark Green, but it looks very dark with individual strands of color carded into it. I have 8 ounces to play with, so I want to do a thin fingering weight that can become a shawl.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. (Bertrand Russell)

It is day 5 of the Tour de Fleece, and I am totally obsessed with spinning. I've managed to get in a little bit of knitting (mainly because it's easier to sneak knitting time in at work than it is to try to spin at work), but the biggest emphasis has been on spinning.

I think I mentioned that I started a drop spindle of BFL since all of my bobbins were full. I'm having a great time with it, but now I've added fancy drop spindles to my Wish List. I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to get 1 1/2 ounces onto the spindle, and then how I'm going to ply that much. I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble, so I treated myself to a copy of Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. I'm hoping that the book will give me some answers.

My drive band came Tuesday, so I was able to ply a skein of the Auntie's Yarn. It came out so wonderfully soft and squishy, I hate to give it away. (But Auntie is going to love this yarn, so it's okay.) It ended up as a worsted weight (14 wpi) with 243 yards.


This evening I brought my wheel to knit night, and started spinning the Shetland Top from Crown Mountain. I didn't split the roving before I went, which was a mistake. A couple of the girls helped me split the 8 ounce rope of roving into thirds, which took several attempts. We had that roving stretched all the way across the coffee shop trying to figure out the math!

My goal is to spin this as thin as I can (which turned out to be 40 wpi), and then to three ply it. I would have liked to get the singles to match, but I quickly gave up on that idea. It's definitely going to be a wild barber pole plying. I think it will still look really nice. And with the singles at 40 wpi, the final yarn should be nice fingering weight. And with 8 ounces to spin, I should have enough yardage to knit a pretty shawl or maybe even a shrug.

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. (Marie Curie)

Day 1 of the Tour de Fleece

I managed to spin up the last two ounces of what will be Auntie's Yarn #4 once I get it plied. This was after having spent four hours at work (on a Saturday!), and hanging out at CityPlace with my sister and my niece.

Day 2 of the Tour de Fleece

I probably should have gone in to work again Sunday, but I didn't want to. So I didn't. Instead I went over and hung out at Barnes & Noble with my spinning wheel. I was there long enough to spin a full four ounces of the Auntie's wool. (I wish I could remember what breed it is so that I could tell you, because it's so soft and yummy and spins like a dream). Paula came by with her daughter (such a cute kid!), so it was a really nice afternoon.

The problem is that now all my bobbins are full, and I'm still waiting to get the drive band for my plying head that I ordered to replace the one that my son's dog chewed up. Instead of being all upset, though, I'm taking it as an opportunity to do some drop spindling during the Tour de Fleece. I practiced a bit using my CD spindle (which also came in handy for several quick mini-spinning lessons -- having a wheel in the bookstore tends to attract a lot of attention). I've borrowed a small wooden spindle from Paula, mainly because I like the size of it better. It'll be interesting to see if I can do the full 3.5 ounces of Wine BFL roving on the drop spindle.


With all the spinning that I did yesterday, my hands are really hurting today. I think it was the spinning, even though I would love to blame it on the rain. Not that it mattered, since I only managed to get in about 30 minutes of spinning today. It took me a little bit to get into the rhythm of the drop spindle, but I managed to get a really nice even single that's about 32 wpi. I was hoping to produce a fingering weight, but it's looking like it will be a sport weight once I ply it.

Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete. (Willie Shoemaker)

The Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to the excuse of having to sit and spin a little bit everyday. It would be really nice to catch up with my stash, but since I have over 4 lbs (really, that much?) I doubt it.

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read,

and all the friends I want to see. (John Burrough)

* * Not to mention all the things I want to spin and knit! * *

I want to do a quick update on my spinning. I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days, but I just haven't managed to get further than uploading the picture into "drafts."

How do you like the picture of my wheel? I was at the dollar store, and splurged on a strip of Wallee's. They're designed to be put up on your walls, and (hopefully) won't damage the wood/paint if you move them around. I decided that the butterflies would look good on Yarnell. And if I change my mind, I'm out a whole dollar.


This past week I signed up for the Tour de Fleece. Remember the Ravelympics? This is for spinning (obviously). The goal is to spin every day that the cyclists are racing during the Tour de France. I'm hoping that with the Tour as motivation, I'll actually manage to catch up with my roving stash. In fact, one of the teams I'm on is "Stashbusters." I also listed myself with "Rookies" (because it's my first year doing the Tour), and "Palotin" (because I like the idea of sticking with the pack). Originally I had thought that these three teams gave me more than enough to do. But then I found a local group, Team Golden Treasure Coast, and of course I had to join that one. So with four teams to spin with, I had better get something accomplished.

Not that I've been doing too badly. I finished another four ounces of the white roving. It's another 2 ply, 12 wpi which is a nice worsted-weight yarn. I managed to 250.5 yards. I really, really like this yarn - it's so soft and squishy!

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. (Franklin D Roosevelt)

"Countess"
4 oz Merino/Tencil Blend

Even though this is Wednesday, and is supposed to be a WIPs and FO post, I'm going to start off with a spinning update since I didn't do one yesterday and I actually have spinning worth talking about.

The finished "Countess"
212.5 yds - 16 wpi

The Countess roving from Cloudlover came out to be 16 wpi, which is a sport weight (maybe a heavy fingering weight) yarn. There is 212.5 yards, which is pretty good; it's definitely enough to be usable. And most importantly, my daughter loved it. She was able to take it home with her to Brooklyn.

I wasn't so crazy about it. I really liked the colorway; I hadn't expected the purple and the blacks to come out a heathery gray and lavender. It's the tencil that I didn't like. This is the second time I've spun a tencil blend, and I've come to the conclusion that I really don't enjoy the spinning nor the result. Tencil does give a nice shine to the yarn, but you lose too much of the soft quality of the wool (in this case, the merino). When spinning the tencil blend, I had to really work at putting enough twist in the single -- which is not usually a problem for me. My plying was inconsistent as a result of the extra twist in the singles.


n the knitting side, I feel like I'm suddenly productive again. This is probably because I'm knitting this week. The past two weeks I've felt horrible (some type of flu/cold/nasty bug -- but since I won't go to the doctor, it really could have been anything), and I've had company (my daughter -- a wonderful but far too short visit). The past couple of days I've been busy, and things are really starting to progress.


On the Handsome Devil socks, I've turned both heels. The foot should fly along, since the pattern is only on the instep stitches. This pleases me, since it looks like I'll be able to stick with my goal of knitting one pair of socks a month this year. I'm also managing to meet my goal of knitting a square a day on my sock blanket. (Actually, I'm two weeks ahead.) This past week, I finished seven squares.


I cast on the Aeolian Shawl. This is a KAL I'm doing with my daughter. We were supposed to cast it on together while she was here visiting, but we just didn't have enough time. I managed to wind my yarn and her yarn into balls, which is not a fun thing to do by hand when you're talking 1200 yards of lace each. I'm seriously thinking about using the Knit Picks gift certificate my kids gave me for Mother's Day to buy a ball winder.

I really love the pattern, although there are a horrendous number of beads. Seriously, we're talking a bead every ten stitches or so on every other row. It's a good thing that I totally love the beads I found to match the yarn.

And I love the yarn for the colors. The colors are incredible. The picture doesn't do it justice. I have to wonder if the colors are too much for the lace pattern. I'm having trouble seeing the leaf motif, and I'm the one knitting it. A solid, or even a semi-solid would probably make it easier to see the lace. But I really, really, really like the colors. (I'd pout as I say that, but a pouted lip is difficult to see in a written post so it would just be wasted effort.)

I have one project that I actually finished, but I'm not posting a picture since it's for a swap. Maybe after the box is mailed out I'll post details.