Collaborative Knitting AND blogging

Dear Oogy,

I’m so glad that you came up with the “Thing-a-Month” concept for our 2013 knitting theme.  The BFF Cowl project for January was a great success!  I have worn my linked cowl most days since it was completed.  It’s cold out there!

Here they are together.  Mine is in Arrow Pattern (written by Hildegard Elsner and found in A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker) in Silver Fiberspates Scruptious Aran; yours in the very original Our Favorite Things design, in Slate. 

You know how some projects turn out great, but while you’re making them you have serious doubts?  I did not experience that while I made the lacey link for our cowls.  It took me very little time to decide what pattern to use, and then I estimated how many stitches would give me 6 inches across and went for it.  It was exactly 6 inches wide and I was able to fit a complete number of pattern repeats to make it 26 inches long.  No project has ever gone more smoothly.  AND, I was not dreading the 2^nd link.  In fact, it gave me the opportunity to use a new skill—smooth left-leaning decreases that I learned from Annie Modesitt. 

While all of that was great, what made the project most exciting was anticipating what you would send.  You always make the most interesting and awesome projects (for example, my most prized socks are fancy ones you’ve made), so I had high expectations.  I did not, however, expect to see actual chemistry, with beads and bobbles depicted on your contribution to the cowls.  It’s extraordinary and I love it! 

Here's a close-up of yours:

It’s February already!  I am working on my first toe-up sock.  It’s going well, but I’m worried about the heel…

Thank you for being my knitting guru!

Love,

Neuro

Fancy Mitts

Fueled by the need for instant gratification and faced with a burgeoning stash, I have been highly motivated lately to make quick projects that allow me to clear away some of this yarn.  It helps that there are MANY birthdays in my family during the winter.  One sister with a January birthday was recently the happy recipient of these:

  She called them fancy mitts, so that's their name.  The glass beads are strung on before knitting.  The pattern is very simple--the beads do the shaping along the cuff.  The bead pattern is inspired by Beads of Earth scarf by Jane Davis.

Some Progress

The new year brings a new knitting scheme for Oogy and myself.  Each month this year we will challenge each other/ourselves to learn a new skill, or tackle a project we've long wanted to do.  We've called this scheme Thing-a-Month. (see Oogy's post, too).

The project for January is the BFF Cowl from the Deep Fall issue of Knitty.  Oogy is making 2 links in  dark grey, while I am making 2 in light grey.  After considering a number of yarn options, we settled on the yarn that the pattern calls for--Scrumptious Aran by Fiberspates.  It is scrumptious, indeed.  We decided to choose our own pattern and to keep it secret until the pieces are sent, so I'm only showing a tiny bit of what I'm working on.  We are aiming for pieces that measure 6 inches wide and 26 inches long.  As you can see, my first piece has worked out nicely.  A great way to begin the year!

The blogs I like

I recently added a few favorite blogs and would like to take this opportunity to explain the whole list.

Oogyknitter.  Oogy is a dear friend who I met in college.  We actually lived a few doors from each other on the same floor in the same dorm during our junior year, but we weren’t really friends then.  I often marvel at the missed opportunity to share what was then my new obsession with knitting.  Oogy could often be seen knitting in class or at meetings, though she was not featured at all in a recent article in our alumnae magazine about the prominent role of knitting at Mount Holyoke.   They missed a big part of knitting history at MHC, in my view!  I got to know Oogy very well when we spent time together in the trenches of honors thesis research as seniors, and we’ve stayed good friends since then.  Over the years she has become my knitting/dyeing/spinning/weaving guru.  Come to think of it, she is my blog guru also!

Knitting New England.  Here’s the other blog written by a knitter I know personally.  SMW is a writer and musician (and knitter, of course) who lives nearby.  Our paths crossed several times in the past few years and we’ve become good friends.  Her blog chronicles knitting-related events and places in this corner of the country.  We’ve developed a favorite pastime of visiting yarn stores together. 

Kate Davies Designs.  I have a long-standing fascination with Fair Isle knitting, so I found this blog of great interest.  It was even more interesting to discover that Davies also writes about her experience recovering from a stroke.  Davies offers a great example of how knitting can be therapeutic, and in her case, may have contributed to or has served as a gauge for her continuing recovery.  Plus, she takes the most spectacular pictures of Scotland and her dog Bruce.

The Yarn Harlot.  Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s blog is perhaps the most popular knitting blog.  She sometimes writes and does talks about knitting and the brain, and her chronicles of life as a knitter/writer are hilarious.  I highly recommend her books. She posts 3-4 times a week, so there’s always something new and entertaining to read. 

The Purl Bee.  This blog is associated with Purl Soho, a shop in Manhattan that is owned by fellow MHC alum Joelle Hoverson.  Another missed opportunity: we were at MHC together, though I don’t believe I ever met Joelle.  Her shop is on our list to visit soon.

The Panopticon.  I’m not sure how I found this blog, but it has quickly become a favorite.   Franklin Habit is very entertaining, in a somewhat cynical and sometimes irreverent manner. I find it refreshing to read about knitting from the male perspective.

Mason-Dixon Knitting.  I’ve just started reading this blog recently.  It is another very popular blog for knitters, with a unique format in which Kay, from Manhattan, writes to Ann, who lives in Nashville.  Each post is in the form of a letter from one to the other.     

I’m open to suggestions for additional worthy blogs.  I’m especially interested in ones that also relate to science.  

Can’t have a post without pictures, so here is one:

I have just sent this to a grad school buddy.  Fourteen years ago I made her a hat and she made me a pottery vessel that now holds my spare change.  She emailed me 8 months ago, requesting a new hat. 

You’ll likely recognize a modified version of Debbie Stoller’s Cabled Chapeau.  This one is made with yarn I found while SMW and I were visiting Rhode Island yarn stores. It's 100% alpaca, made from the fleece of Penny, who lives at Shadow Pines Farm in Exeter, RI.

 

Welcome Winter

Are you ready to say goodbye to 2012?  I'm feeling ready.

I finished knitting a few presents in plenty of time for the holiday, so I decided to begin next year's projects, while the holiday mood remains and there is still grading to avoid.  I found a pattern for felted Christmas Trees at the Purl Bee and am putting the finishing touches on the first one.

I'm needle felting the snow, using alpaca fiber from Aja that got a bit felted in the cleaning process.  

Another project is to make accessories with this beautiful cashmere blend yarn:

At one point this yarn had been transformed into this sweater,

but I really hated it, so it got ripped and now, a year later, it's being re-purposed.  The cowl is another pattern from The Purl Bee, and the hats are my own design.  I have enough yarn for about 15 projects like these.

We're getting colder

SMW recently wrote a list of charitable organizations that are accepting a variety of donations in the coming months.  The St. Mungo Woolly Hat project seemed most appealing to me.  Here is my orange hat:

This is made with Jojoland “Tonic” in color #AW128, known to me as Nuclear Orange.  It’s 85% acrylic, 15% wool and has a decidedly synthetic feel to it.  Although it’s en route to serve its purpose for Woolly Hat Day, I am in no hurry to use what remains of this skein. 

Making the hat sent me in the completely opposite direction, back to a sweater I started a year (2 years?) ago.  It’s made with very rustic natural-color wool from Beaver Brook Farm.  I can’t take this project anywhere because it has an intense oily smell that I huff joyously every time I pick it up.  I made the sleeves long ago; now I’m on the second attempt at the body.  It’s plain stockinette until I reach the neck—excellent stinky, mindless knitting.

Fleece Chronicles: the source!

It's been a little over a month since my nephew gave me the alpaca fleece.  Today's adventure was to visit Schoolhouse Farm in North Granby, to meet Aja, who was so generous as to give up the fleece she spent a whole year growing.

It was Open Farm Day in Granby, and when I arrived soon after the event began, there were already about 20 cars and lots of people around.  Schoolhouse Farm opened a few years ago and now has 16 alpacas, some chickens, and a few pigs.  A friend who lives near the farm tells me that the property has been transformed from several acres of neglected land with an old ramshackle house to a beautiful farm with new buildings and a huge garden.  I'm sure many folks who drive by the farm every day have been eager to visit for awhile.

Aja is an adult female, pictured here with the farm's first baby.  I soon discovered how Aja's fleece acquired its layer of dirt.

Mary-Jo and Greg, the farm's owners, have one alpaca they call Britney who is especially friendly and serves as their ambassador.

My nephew Josh, here being led around by Britney, answered many questions about alpaca behavior.  I was impressed not only by how much he knew about them, but also by how much he seemed to like them.

Greg was happy to see some yarn made from Aja's fleece.  He holds the first (only, as of now) usable skein.  Many more to follow!

   

Fiber in process

I've settled on a process for preparing Aja's fleece to make yarn.  It's not easy to see by comparing these swatches, but the swatch on the right (#3) is more dense and the yarn is cleaner than in swatch numbers 1 and 2.

The fiber in #3 is much easier to spin because it is very clean.  I began by combing the locks and making a pile of combed fiber.  I love this process of picking the locks out of the bag and combing them straight.  I find it difficult to stop.

Once there is a reasonable pile, I stuff it in a laundry bag and give it a soak in hot water with Dawn detergent.

The clean fiber is then spread out to dry.

Once dry, it can be carded and made into rolags.  Now it's ready to be spun.

At this point I've got fiber in every stage of production and have a constant supply ready to spin.  I'll begin hat production in a few weeks!

Tighter twist

The first swatch is complete.

I used #4 needles--the yarn is a DK weight.  This skein is a bit fluffier and rustic than I was going for, so I've adjusted the spinning wheel to give the yarn more twist.

It's just been washed.

As soon as the skein is dry, I'll make another swatch.

Spinning Experiment

Oogy's suggestion was a good one--I quickly learned that the alpaca fiber needed to be carded.  I know that some spinners could work with the combed-only fibers, but I need fiber that is more uniformly fluffed up (I'm sure there's a real term for that!).

I've done an experiment to see how the spinning might go.  This is about 20 g of singles.

I plied it and made two little skeins.

Then I washed one in baby clothes detergent.  This proved entirely insufficient.  The yarn smelled worse than before it was washed, and it was still rather dirty.  A second wash in Dawn dish liquid made a big difference.

Next step, once the washed skein is dry, is to knit a swatch!

Welcome Distraction

I'm supposed to be painting cabinet doors.

I took a break yesterday to attend a graduation party for two nephews, one having just graduated from college (he was just a baby, wasn't he?) and the other, his little brother, having just graduated from high school.  Imagine my delight to arrive at the party and be handed a big bag of alpaca fleece!  Little bro helps to maintain the pristine appearance of the animals' stalls at a neighboring alpaca farm.  It's my understanding that he was offered a fleece to give to his fiber-fiend of an aunt.  He chose the fleece of one Aja, a 2 year-old with a light coat (white? beige?).

I waited until this morning to carefully inspect the fleece.  It was not as smelly as I anticipated.  I learned from a bit of internet research that alpacas do not produce the oils that make sheep fleece so pungent.  This lack of oil is also why many spinners feel it is not necessary to scour the fleece, and instead prefer to spin the unwashed fiber and clean it for the first time as yarn.  I took a few locks to the spinning wheel and discovered quickly that this fleece needed some sort of cleaning.  Today I dumped the bag out and began to skirt.

With the usual help.

The fleece has an interesting pattern of dirt deposition: clean at the skin end, then a band of dirt, then a relatively clean area before the tip, which is glued together with another band of dirt. Combing gets most of the dirt and the occasional seed pod and twig out, but soap was required to remove all of the dirt.  The washed lock looks white to me.

It feels incredibly soft, though I have no experience in judging the quality of the fiber.  I believe another trip to the nephews' house will happen soon and we'll go visit the farm.  I'll ask all kinds of questions then!

I have about 100 g of combed locks that I'll begin spinning soon.  I haven't decided if I should card them, or if the combing is all I need to do.  Any suggestions?

Knitting with sea weed

I'm having fun with a recent acquisition, Fleece Artist Sea Wool, which is 30% Seacell, 70% merino, from the Mermaid's Purl in Wickford, RI.   It looks very silky.
I'm using it to make Unleaving (thanks for yet another great suggestion, Oogy!).

After just a few 16-row pattern repeats I am able to knit without consulting the chart.  I am using my working memory to keep track of where I am in the pattern, but otherwise it's rather mindless and relaxing.

Alternative Yarn Retreat

A perfect combination of factors: excellent company, pleasant weather and comfortable surroundings, very poor/non-existant cell phone service, tasty food prepared by someone else, multiple knitting projects including new Webs acquisitions, and sanctioned time away from reality.  What would make this better?  Learning to weave!

Behold the Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom with 10 dent-per-inch reed!  Once again, Oogy has exposed me to yet another fiber-dependent activity.  I had not considered learning to weave before, although I have often admired the work of others.  The Yarn Harlot's scarf from this May was beautiful, and Nova has brought some of her exquisite work to our knitting group.  There's something very appealing about the flat nature of the fabric, the way it drapes, that is not easy to achieve with knitting.  Plus, weaving is faster and uses less yarn. 

Now that I have some experience I can recognize other features of weaving that make it increasingly appealing.  I have learned that lace- or fingering-weight hand-spun yarn lends itself beautifully to weaving, revealing color and textural features that can be hidden in a knitted fabric.  Weaving shares with knitting a soothing, repetitive action that quickly becomes habitual.  It also shares with knitting the opportunity to watch a project develop as each row is completed, though this happens more quickly with the simple weaving we accomplished this past weekend.  

It was not too difficult for us to learn.  The YouTube video provided by Ashford was invaluable.  From it we learned how to warp:

This is best done with 2 people, even if neither one really knows what's happening.  Once the loom is warped, the weaving can begin:

Our trial run, done with beige and off-white worsted weight wool, yielded a scarf that we determined to be gift-worthy.  I would not say this about my first knitted project!

This scarf is the second project, made with Oogy-spun hand-dyed Romney wool:

It's really very beautiful, the way the colors come through.

You can view the third project on Oogy's blog!  We did encounter some difficulty with the warping process for this project, but it was remedied quickly and you can see that the weaving is in full swing.  Thanks to Mr. Oogy, who it turns out grew up with a master weaver and was able to offer some assistance when we encountered this, and other, minor snags. 

I'm still mulling all of the implications of learning to weave.  I would not give up knitting, but what is the harm of adding another fun yarn-related activity to the repertoire?  A long time ago I said I would never be interested in spinning, but that turned out to be very wrong.  In fact, weaving and spinning complement each other beautifully.  Even if I decide to forego weaving, it was awesome to learn the craft with Oogy, who is a constant source of inspiration to me.  Oogy, I often wish we lived closer together, but imagine all the trouble we'd be in! 

So-called Easy Lace

Way back in 2011 Oogy and I decided to focus on knitting lace projects.  I began this Large Rectangle shawl from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby, thinking it would be a relatively quick project.  I had to leave it languishing for many months because it was not mindless knitting.  Even though it is labeled "easy lace" in the book, I found that it required all of my attention, even after doing many repeats of the pattern within a short time.  The other thing about lace is that it requires concentration just keeping it on the needles.  So, it sat until about a month ago when I decided that I needed a total escape from thinking about work.  I found it so therapeutic to pause the incessant internal work narrative and focus just on knitting.

The pattern is a traditional diamond motif with a 12-row knitted-on border.

  
I used Misti Alpaca Lace in a color I can't remember.  It's a moss-like green.

One of the most challenging aspects of making lace is blocking it to show its pattern most effectively.  I have sewn the wet shawl onto a quilt!

I thought once this project was complete that I would not be interested in making lace for a very long time.  However, I'm now eyeing the considerable stash of lace-weight yarn and wondering which project to tackle next.  Perhaps one that Jane Sowerby calls "intermediate lace"?