Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

Month: October 2006

Which would you rather have?

I spent a glorious weekend in Celia Quinn’s Spin Basics and Silk classes. You know how it goes. You get to spin a whole lot of different fibers with different methods. You come home with all these odd bits of fiber and yarn. You put it all away, and then, a year later, you ask yourself…now, what was that silk blend we played with and how did it spin up?

Which would you rather look up?

Class NotebookClass Samples

Celia had us bring a photo album (I brought a scrapbook) with tape and cards. A few minutes spent in class produces something like what you see on the left. On the right? Samples from another silk class that I took two years ago at Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. (Do I get points for at least knowing exactly where to find the pouch of samples, and laying my hands on them on the first try?)
Honest, I did intend to put it all in a notebook. I may still. Maybe.

But now, seeing the end results, I will definitely bring a keeper notebook with tape and labeling materials in the future. Even if I just spend an hour the evening of the class cleaning things up. I’ll have a better chance at remembering what it was that I did.

Live and learn.

Fleet Week

My club had a cruise out to Aquatic Park in San Francisco to watch the Fleet Week festivities and the Blue Angels perform. I loaded up my boat with enough food to feed an army and wine to sink a, well, a boat. Thankfully, that didn’t happen because I also brought floation devices — 4 knitting projects. You know, just in case I have time between stuffing my face and staring up in the sky.

I even had several knitters that joined me to inspire me: Barb, a knitter extradinaire, and a fellow cruiser; Petra, another fellow cruiser; my sister, Grace; and Karen, who was also my crew for the weekend.

You would think, that with all that time, and inspiration, I would have at least knitted a few rows. The closest I got was unknitting a few rows of Icarus on the leisurely trip home yesterday. Yes, unknitting. I found a mistake several rows back when I picked it up and spent the time unknitting. Thank goodness for autopilots and GPS.

What about the weekend? We had a FABULOUS time. The Blue Angels were spectacular. And we ended the evening with a big chocolate birthday cake for Grace. I had told the girls that they could decorate the cake when Grace, Mark, and Iris arrived, because I wanted Iris to help with the decorations. Wow. The second they arrived by dinghy, they whisked Iris away to their secret mission several boats over. I never got to see Iris to give her a hug until an hour or so later. But the 3 girls did an awesome job of keeping Iris occupied all day, and Iris got to hang out with the big girls. According to Iris, that was her favorite part of the day.

Uh, did you say something about a birthday? Yes, Grace turned 40 yesterday. Hop over and wish her a happy birthday!

That’s all for now. I’ll need a few more days to recover.

Busy As a Bee (aka Too Many WIPs)

I’ve been lax about posting lately. Work’s been busy, but I’ve been busy with my fibers as well. Want proof? Warning, a lot of photos to follow.

Lorna's Laces Purple Iris

This is about 1152 yards of Lorna’s Laces, Purple Iris, approximately fingering weight, 2 plied. I bought it from Lamb’s Ear so long ago that I’ve lost track of when. I pulled it out when I wanted some mindless spinning. It’s a little darker than I expected. I have no idea what I will use it for.

Cormo Fingering Weight

This is about 12 oz of the Cormo that I bought from Sue Reuser at the Retzlaff Winery in June. I bought about 26 oz total of the pin drafted roving. It was prepared by Morro Fleece Works. I love Shari’s fiber prep, so I might have gone a little overboard with the purchase. I forgot the yardage. I have it scribbled down somewhere around here. I’ll count again when I have the rest of it spun up, then I can decide what to do with it.

Cormo Lace Weight

This is the remainder of the first bag of Cormo. It’s approximately 1.25 oz of lace (cobweb?) weight 2 plied yarn. The singles were about 60 wpi, the finished yarn is about 40-45 wpi. The dime is in there for scale. There’s about 550 yards. Enough for a small scarf. I think I will make a small Estonian shawl or scarf with this.

Shetland Seas

This is about 798 yards of Shetland/Tussah (90/10), colorway Shetland Seas. I bought the wool from Nancy Jane Campbell at Dixon Lamb Town. It’s spun to sport weight.

Blue Bunny Fibers, Blue Faced Leicester, Forest Deep

Lastly, here is some 2 plied blue faced leicester from Black Bunny Fibers, colorway Forest Deep, spun about fingering/sport weight. I don’t have the yardage, but it should be enough for a pair of socks.

Do you see a pattern here? I’ve been doing a lot of “just because” spinning. Completely mindless without any thought of what I’m going to do with it, with the exception of the lace weight cormo. And would you believe that this is only about half of the yarn that I’ve spun up in the last couple of months? This is all that I have the energy to post about (read, too lazy to look up the provenance of the rest of it just now).

I was at a neighborhood soiree last night, talking with the hostess. She is a drumming instructor. Her specialty is ethnic drumming. We were talking about how soothing it is to drum to an inner rhythm. That’s what I’ve been doing with my spinning. I’ve been spinning to my inner rhythm. Cheaper than therapy, and it’s immediate. No appointments necessary. Okay, “cheap” is relative. This obsession with fiber is anything but cheap, but, hey. All of this was already in the house!
That was just the spinning. My current passion is Anne Bolelyn from Alice Starmore’s Tudor Roses. Here’s my progress.

Anne Bolelyn

I’ve completed the first repeat of all 4 charts. I started it about Labor Day Weekend, at the beginning of September. Each night, I think, I’ll just knit a few rows. Next thing I know, it’s time for bed.

With this sweater, I’ve abandoned all other knit projects currently in my work basket, including the Anarchist sweater. Although, I better get cranking on the 2 baby sweaters before Martin’s nieces’s twins pop out. What do I call them? Grand nephews? I’m too young to be “grand” anything, except just “grand.”

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