Month: December 2002 Page 2 of 4

Long Draw!

On 21 Dec, 2002

By Jove, I think I’ve done it! The elusive long draw! I have some wool/mohair rolags that I carded a while ago. I thought I’d take it for a spin today, with the intent of using the single to practice my Navajo plying technique.

It’s the first time that I spun with rolags. I’ve also spun commercial rovings. One thing led to another, I did it! The long draw. I am so excited.

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough twist in most of it to be able to ply it (it keeps falling apart).

I was able to 2-ply a very small bit of it at the end because I finally changed to a higher ratio for spinning the single. That worked much better. It added the requisite spin to hold the fiber together.

And yum! It is sooo soft. There is so much more loft than spinning using the inchworm technique. I know a lot of it is because of the mohair content, but yum-mee!

I don’t know if I can do this with commerical rovings or if I would have to spin from the fold (another technique that I haven’t tried).

This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for experimentation. I know it not places where no spinner has gone before, but they are new to me.

On knitting … I’ve started shaping the shoulders of the front of the vest. I was planning on finishing it today and block it tomorrow, but I got carried away with the spinning. I’ll knit tonight while we watch LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I saw The Two Towers yesterday. Wow! The imagery was pure magic! I also saw it at the right theater. We saw The Fellowship last year at a cineplex, small flat screen with okay sound. This time, I went to the Cinerama with a curved screen and state of the art sound system. I have to tell you, Paul Allen did a great job restoring that theater. You actually feel like you are in the middle of the battle, about to be trampled by the orcs.

Got some knitting done on Martin’s surprise present while waiting in line and for the movie to start.

Victory, the sweetest revenge of all …

By Ann

On 18 Dec, 2002

In Knit

Ah, there’s nothing like whooping the you know what out of the people who try to kick you out of the competition by any means, even if it’s not the right thing to do nor if the allegations have any merit.

What am I talking about? The Louis Vuitton Cup, of course! OneWorld first knocked Team Dennis Conner (party #1 in the most recent protest) in the out of the race in the quarter final repechage, and now, Prada (party #2 in the aforementioned protest) in the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, OneWorld is now facing some really tough competition with Oracle in the semi-final repechage, and if they get there, Alinghi, the Swiss team. (Although, where would a land locked country host the America’s Cup races?) I have no beef with either of these teams, in as far as fair sailing is concerned, so there is no real need for revenge. Just something against Larry Ellison. So, this will be interesting when racing starts again later this week.

Should OneWorld win the LV Cup, I would dearly love for them to run over Team New Zealand, for their part in the latest round of protests. But there are two very good teams of sailor between OneWorld and there.

Of course, I would just love to have Seattle to be home to the America’s Cup for a while, as ugly as it is. And there’s the ever question of where they’ll actually hold the event, should Seattle hosts the next America’s Cup. I just want a front row seat.

Here’s a picture of Mark putting a hex on The Cup while he and Joelle were down in New Zealand … hoping to send it home.

Mark putting the hex on The America's Cup in New Zealand

Knitting

Oh yeah, this is supposed to be about my fiber addiction, not my sailing addiction. I’m finally finished with the back of the sweater vest, and have started the ribbing on the front. Just another inch or so and I get to start playing with the Kureyon! It’ll definitely go much faster now. Hopefully, I can finish it this weekend, so I’ll have time to wash and block it before Christmas.

The other knitted Christmas surprises are coming along fine. I’ve been relegated to knitting on the bus because it’s the only time that you-know-who isn’t around to see what I’m working on.

There have been a few disparaging remarks — “get a load of those toothpicks!” to a woman poking at me from behind with “better hurry, it’s only 10 days ’til Christmas, you know.” She didn’t believe me that it shouldn’t take long to finish that particular project and I had plenty of time. Sigh. However, the sweetest comments were from these little children on the bus asking all about what I was making, and assured me that it will be gorgeous and you-know-who would love it.

It’s Preppy Yarn!

By Ann

On 14 Dec, 2002

In FO, Spin

pink/grey 2ply yarn I’ve just finished plying the last of the pink rovings. The pink was much harder to spin than the grey was because someone had cut the roving with (gasp!) scissors. I finally learned that it’s better to just pull the cut ends off and throw it away instead of trying to spin it. It makes an awful, lumpy mess. It wasn’t too horrible once is was plied because it balanced out a little, but still not something that I would want to repeat.

End result? About 500 yards each of pink and grey 2-ply that is between sport and worsted weight. Just enough to make a cropped sweater for me! Of course, I can’t start on it until after all the Christmas knitting is done.

On the vest … I’m almost finished with the back. EliSpot decided that it was a nice spot to take her afternoon nap on. At least it’s nice and warm now. I’m a little tired from spinning and plying so I think I’ll leave it for tomorrow.

I went to Lamb’s Ear Yarn and Fiber and picked up some Lorna’s Laces rovings. I couldn’t decide between 2 colorways, so I bought both. Purple Iris and Tahoe. About 10 ounces each.

Of course, I couldn’t resist picking up 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces Sport Weight yarn. Two more last minute Christmas knitting projects. Mum on the project because it’s a surprise. I have 10 more days. Plenty of time, right?