My newest love

I've been keeping one eye open the past month or so for a big saxony.

I've known I wanted one, but I live in reality (sometimes) and reality says I'm not buying the Jenson out at Yarnorama not matter how lovely it is. Still, I want a big saxony and I figured I was willing to do some rehab if one came up.

So when a lady out in Georgetown posted a Borduas - style CPW on craigslist for a steal I saw the posting the same day and called to ask to come check it out. I was trying really hard not to hold my breath on this one, because honestly wheels this age aren't always spinable anymore. But I asked around for what to look for and figured if it seemed at all repairable then it was worth a shot. When I went to have a look I knew this was a find... the wheel's in very good repair and in spinning condition straight after a good cleaning and oiling.

I managed to get the drive band sorted (for today its cotton rug warp - I'd very much like to spin a hemp band for it soon) and put her through her paces. She's a very solid wheel.

There's a small wobble to the drive wheel, though not enough to affect the spinning any, and she needs a real footman (I'm using a nylon cord at the moment). There is also a crack in the flyer that will need to be dealt with eventually. Someone patched it with wire but I'm not sure I trust that long term.

She has two ratios and my math puts them at about 18.5 to 1 and 20 to 1. I'm going off how Alden Amos says to calculate that, but I'm not 100% sure I follow it. Regardless she is at least as fast as my Sonata's top speed, and I'd say a bit faster. The feel of the double drive draw in is going to take some getting used to, but it liked the ounce or two of corriedale I spun up to test it and seemed to accommodate my longdraw pretty darn well.

She has no maker's marks that I can find and a sketchy history so its hard to tell much about her beyond the obvious. Whatever her past I'm happy to give her a good home and get her back to spinning.

Less dramatic in this weeks spinning is the BFL/Silk/Seacell blend that I plyed over the weekend. I tried something new with this - winding off the bobbin onto two TP rolls and then plying from those.

It took me a bit to find a good way to get the yarn wound back off the balls, but it eventually occured to me that I have a paper towel holder that would work. Its a handy magnetic thing that it turns out clamps just great to the underside of my desk and holds the rolls sufficiently level.

Its a good makeshift system though I think before I do it again I'd prefer to see if I can find some cardboard weaver's spools and a winder for them instead. Using the ball winder worked OK, but the feed off the balls just wasn't what it could be.

Still, the finished yarn is lovely:


It came out to be about 400yds to 2 oz. Not sure yet what to do with it, but its soft and squishy to pet in the mean time.

Good Day

Went to the Yarn Swap down at Central Market this afternoon.

My haul:

I am particularly excited to score the Lonco multi, though I haven't the foggiest what I'll do with it yet. The teal lace is awesome as well - 1400yds that needs to be something big & fancy. The bamboo in the back is not really my color, but I've been wanting to try dyeing the stuff and this seemed like a good opportunity.

After the swap I wandered down to Hill Country Weavers (I know - I KNOW! BUT I WAS GOOD!) mostly for inspiration and they had in some of the sock size KnitPro bags again.

I have had one of these for about nine or ten months and it is practically a permanent growth on my person. They're great bags - made of ripstop nylon so they're both waterproof and weigh virtually nothing, they can hold a pair of socks, or a scarf, or the first half of a lightweight sweater, or a lace shawl or a 4-oz braid of roving and a small drop spindle (If you drop spindle you need one of these - they make great fiber pouches and I prefer them to wrist distaffs). They have a little loop that you can snap around a bag strap, a belt loop, your wrist, the steering wheel of your car (possibly an unwise one if you're driving... but I have done it... hooked it on the wheel i mean, while the car was parked... not knit while driving - Don't Knit and Drive people, its not safe... Always bring a designated driver along to steer the car when you want to knit while in motion). In short - They're awesome.

I have wanted... nay! NEEDED a second one for some time. It just drives me nuts to always be tossing projects in and out of the one I have. These bags however are perpetually out of stock.

Sure... knitpicks carries them. But they only have three colors and I don't want one in Hot Pink or Lime Green or Turquoise. So I was really excited to see them back in stock at HCW. I got a bright (Scoobie) blue one and its just as awesome as its sibling.

If you're in the area and want one I'd get out there quick since they seem to go fast. They are a little pricey - about 20$, but they're also pretty well indestructible. Theoretically you could make one of these for around 5 bucks, but like I comiserated with the shop lady... who ever gets around to it?

Also I just want it on record. I did actually leave HCW without yarn.

So there.

I make a point of stopping in at the big Half Price on north Lamar whenever I'm in the area and so on the way back home I popped in and found a whole shelf of vintage Vogue Knits. I picked up one for fun. Just so we all appreciate our patterns, back in the day a 12 was a 32 bust and 36 is the top written size on any of these patterns (It probably didn't help that in 57 they were still apparently wearing the pointy-boob corsets everywhere). There are no charts. The patterns are written in long congested run on sentences.

Shawl collars seemed to be in back then, and there's actually some pretty nice shapes in there... some v-neck pull overs and lace cardigans. Lots of finer yarns and simpler cuts.

Its interesting how much of this would be in fashion again today.

The only downside to my day is that my washing machine is not here. It was supposed to be here, but someone didn't show up for work and they rescheduled it for tomorrow. Which means I'm still stuck doing laundry Sunday afternoon, but at least I have new yarn and stuff to play with.

Sartitis &Wollmeise

See how totally justified I was in getting more Wollmesie?

See?

It helps that the skein on the far right is just about the perfect shade of Subaru Blue....

ehem.

I am kind of on a casting on frenzy right now. I've been pulling out all my large quantities of yarn and picking patterns for them to become. I have some silvery grey shine sport that I got in swap that I've started an Aleita Shell with and I've been swatching for a Hey Teach! out of the bag of 2nd time cotton that I've been ignoring forever (The pattern in this case isn't exactly my usual style, but I've been looking for things I could wear to work and I can kind of see doing this over a cami or a t-shirt and having it look reasonably put together).

I have come to the ultimate conclusion that the 4 skeins of Misti Alpaca Pim & Silk DK that I have look absolutely horrid with my skin (much more so now that I've got some color back from all this sunlight and am not a walking pasteboard) and am trying to figure out if I can't overdye it to a darker orange and mute out the peachy undertones. In which case I think it would make a nice short sleeved Decimal or Buttercup.

I've still got some undecided sport weight gold rayon (about 800yds) and dk-lightworsted weight black bamboo (about 900yds) that I haven't decided what to do with as well. I sort of have it in my head that if I keep busy knitting all my big quanities that a) I can justify buying more garment yarn quantities and b) I can managed to spin a garment amount of something to knit (my current dream is to spin up enough off-white organic cotton to knit a Delphine).

In contrast I'm hiding all my partially finished projects to avoid frogging everything I've touched in the past two months. I'm not sure why, but I don't like ANY of it right now and I'd really like the bulk of it to just go away.

And also I'm trying to talk myself out of looking at spinning wheels. Because I really really want a second one and I'm a little bit in love with a big saxony production wheel I saw a few weeks ago that I probably can't justify right now (maybe in a few months... especially if all my overtime keeps up because damnit - I am spending some of that money on something fun and not just paying off bills with it. I had to sit through the extra hours every week and its not fun and I don't like and I WILL GET SOMETHING I WANT OUT OF THE DEAL. So there).

Must stay busy or wheel will win.

Need for speed

Guess who's got a new washer & dryer coming?

Yes! finally I will not be a slave to laundry day. There will be no more hauling of clothes up and down the three flights of stairs to the apartment. There will be no more planning my weekends around washing. There will be no more "Oh crap that shirt I wanted to wear is dirty" scrambling at 5am to get dressed.

There will be NO MORE WASHING SOCKS IN THE SINK.

Ha! (and you thought I wouldn't relate this to knitting somehow). Yes, I've splurged and bought a washer with a handwash cycle. I'm not sure yet if I will trust it with the really super delicate stuff, but I'm pretty sure the most aggressive handwash cycle will be good enough for my socks. I hate washing socks in the sink. It makes me think about everything I've stepped on for weeks. Also, it requires I compulsively scrub out the sink before hand (because after I've thought of everything I've stepped on, I think of everything that's been in the sink). Its a nuisance.

So yay! Awesome washer! (Its also energy star and high efficiency so it will be good for my electric & water bills - every penny saved is a penny to put towards yarn & fiber)

I did, in total contrast, buy the cheapest dryer ever made (this seemed to baffle the salesman somewhat). But the stuff that I put in the dryer I'm not worried about, and it does at least have an air fluff setting. Beyond that - none of the Energy Star dryers were in my price range and all they do regardless of price up to that point is blow hot air on stuff. A cheap one isn't going to felt my socks or shred my dress shirts.

In spinning news I finally (FINALLY) finished that sock yarn.

Its just over 350yds and on the light side of fingering (I'm too lazy to take a WPI right now, but think averaging Heritage sock or panda silk). Its quite nice stuff.

I am however under no circumstances doing another cabled sock yarn unless there is a wheel in my care that goes AT LEAST twice as fast as my top ratio on the sonata (seriously at least. 3 or 4 times would be nice). Spinning this wasn't so bad but plying it took me forever and by the end I vaguely wanted to throw something out a window. Myself. The yarn. Possibly the wheel... no, no... I love my wheel. She just needs a big brother to do this sort of thing for her.

Seriously I'm thinking of putting aside all my other major fiber desires for the second half of the year in favor of a second wheel. A fast one. Maybe a production saxony or something with an accelerated head. As long as its really REALLY fast.

Anyhow. Sock yarn from hell is done. The color gradients aren't as clean as I'd like but that's largely due to some sloppy dyeing on my part (I did dye this up in a rush...) I do like the overall colors a lot though and I'm interested to see how it knits up and wears.

Having finally completed that massive time sink I've started working on a BFL/Silk/Seacell blend that I got a few weeks ago from thethylacine on Etsy.


It lushious.

I'm guessing based on the overall texture and quality that this is a local custom blend. There are some small slubs and nupps, but they're easy to pick out and pretty minor if it is indeed a small mill product. The colors are great too and it spins effortlessly. The fiber bundle was a little compacted (from dyeing or shipping or both) but it lofts back up with a gentle fluff and predraft and then drafts very easily.

I've worked up about a quarter of it so far. It's going to be a lace yarn, but beyond that I don't know. And yes, it is that glossy in person. :)

I got babies!

(you totally had a heart palpitation reading that title from me didn't you?)

They are living under the stairs. There are three of them, though the littlest guy ducked down when I came by with the camera. Mom & Dad are black with distinctive pointed wings and tails and some white & yellow markings around their necks. I'm not sure what they are, and I haven't gotten a good picture since they seem to only be around in the evenings.

It sneaks up on you

When did a full third of my possessions turn into yarn?

Okay, so some of my books and media and stuff are still located up north, but my stash is here (YAY FINALLY WOOT!) and I'm not kidding when I say it makes up at least a third of my belongings. Possibly more if you count that the books I do have are almost exclusively knitting related and one of my two not-folding-chairs is my spinning chair.

It is largely unpacked now, though still pretty much in chaos. Organizing it will have to wait since that's a pretty big undertaking, but I have managed to dig out some yarn and fiber that I've been wanting to work with for awhile now.

I did get new shelves just to house the stash. They are courtesy of Lowes who, if you're looking, has some Container Store InterMetro clone shelves for something like a quarter of the price. They are shiny and sort of post modern industrial looking and fit all my apartment furniture criteria (can be easily moved by one person, come apart into their individual parts and weigh very little). Also I can hang spindles from the sides.

I'll post a pic when it doesn't just look like a rainbow threw up in the corner of my apartment (assuming that ever happens).

Of course, the only logical thing to do when you realize that your stash has gotten well out of hand?

Buy more yarn.

In my defense, I've been abstaining for oh... at least three weeks and it was a Wollmeise update.

Somehow I'm pretty sure that last part forgives everything.

Spinning tools that you don't appreciate enough

I have officially finished half of my sock yarn. I'm going to be cable plying this (don't ask why I thought that was a good idea. There were reasons like "conserving bobbins" and "it sounds cool" and you know what? They're all shit because it took me FOREVER to ply this first bobbin and if this is the best sock yarn in the world its really going to suck because doing sock yarn this way will at least double my production time.)

Anyway. I'm quite proud of how the color repeats lined up. Not perfect - but I wasn't looking for perfect. I also made my first successful andean bracelet to finish off the end. Nice thing about 4-ply is there is very little waste singles.

Something I keep forgetting to blog about is my spinning chair. Because you don't appreciate a good spinning chair until you've both had one and then not had one for awhile. Nobody really thinks about having a spinning chair when they're looking for a wheel, but they should. A good chair is comfortable for long periods, encourages good posture and puts you at just the right treadle height. If you're really lucky it can do double duty as a distaff or toolbox as well.

My spinning chair kind of found me.

It is very old. It belonged to my great-grandmother at one point and wound up at my grandparent's house where it was being used to set boxes on for a long time. I commandeered it when I needed a chair to sit the wheel in front of during the last holiday vacation and when I found out how perfect it was (height - back - seat) I begged a little and was told I was welcome to have it.

Its not in the best of shape - several of the beams are loose and I've had to hammer them back into place and someday when I can stand to part with it for awhile it could benefit from a real repair job with nails & wood glue done by someone who knows what they're doing (not me in other words). It probably started life around a dining table of some kind and considering its age is also probably handmade.

It has really made me appreciate a good spinning chair.

It makes me sit up. It keeps my legs lined up just right. I can treadle for hours before I start wanting a break. It lets me lean back. Just enough that my shoulder's don't get tired, about as far as I want to be from the orifice, but not any farther. It has good places to drape fiber. Someday I'd like to attach some little tool boxes to the sides or maybe the back.

So yeah, its awesome. And people just don't think about that kind of thing.

Respect your spinning chair, peeps.