Spinning wheel keep on turning

The recently spun merino. There is still a bit to spin yet. This is a lovely eggplant that for some reason I decided to put with a lavenderish grey. I am not as excited about this color combo as I was when I started. I am happy to say look no kinks. This one is not overspun to the point of death. Happy Merino Happy.

My other new spinning project was this lovely merino tencel. It has a lovely shimmer and shine. It also spun up really quick and easy. I was have a bit of an issues with the merino slipping out of my fingers and twirling away. It gave no regard to the fact I was trying to make yarn. It and my fingers finally found a happy medium. We produced a very nice little bundle of two ply.

Next we have a group shot. It is not all of the yarn I have spun but it is all that was lazily lying about. Some of it is from the drop spindle and some from the wheel.

Next I am going to try and photograph the great package my SP sent me.

Loooooonging for July

It has been a long week and a longer month. I look forward to the coming week which should be a bit more peaceful.

I happily celebrated my second anniversary. We had nice weather and a great time.

I am on the last stretch of my move. I should live in one house in less than two days.

Martha has two finished pieces. A back and a left front.

04-05

This is last year with my broken foot. In that pile of stuff on my lap is knitting. It is still a UFO. But it is a pretty one. That is also a picture of thinner me with shorter hair and no glasses.

Hrmmm.

I am trying to decide weather I like the short hair or I like the long hair. I will have to find a picture of me with longer hair. But it has gone from a short pixie to a longish layered coiffure.

I have those shoes on today.

I think it is going to leave. I like the short ...it makes me feel stylish.

Knitting is happening so I am making this short.

SP Gotta get one more row done.

Cone yarn talk

I went on a wee vacation.




The pictures are of the night sky last night. We were in the midst of a thunderstorm and the skyline was very pretty. I liked the purples. I took the pictures from the car window with flash which is why they looks so odd. But they turned out pretty well for having been taken at 35 MPH. But there is no framing just a quick snap and whatcha get is whatcha get.

My wee vacation took me to the beach which was wonderful. We went to see the Turtles at the aquarium. I highly recommend the Newport aquarium if you get down here. It is very very cool.

I also got to go to Woodland Woolworks. It was a blast there as well. I love there stash room.
But as you know I bought lots of cone yarn last weeks so mostly I got spinning fiber.

I like the yarn on cones for several reasons.

If I buy yarn by the pound it comes on a cone. It is more economically priced. I rarely spend more than 10$ a pound. Lots of times it is much less. The yarns I bought last week average out to about 6$ a pound including shipping. Without shipping it ends up being about 3$ a pound. So shipping sucks but I still saved money. I bought most of the yarns off ebay last week. I have a love hate thing with ebay. You can get really great stuff or crap. I am willing to find the great stuff. I also don't generally buy quite so much from a seller I don't know or haven't bought from before.

Yarn on a cone has less brakes. That is the greatest thing in the world. If I know I want to make something that is all one color a cone yarn does not have to be broken into 12 separate balls. I don't loose a cone of yarn. I can loose a ball of yarn. Generally it is the last one I have in that dye lot and I only need three feet from it.

The bad things about cones is you have to tote around a cone of yarn. Lots of time it is a guestimation as to how much yarn is on a cone. You could end up short without a way to get more. I generally go by what the sellers says than subtract a portion for miscalculation and add on a little more than I need for extra insurance. The more yards per pound the smaller the yarn on the cone the bigger the ypp the thicker the yarn is. Asking for WPI is really helpful if you are looking for something specific. I will buy yarn from about 3600 YPP to 800 Ypp. Yarns on a cone may not match your pattern. This can be annoying if you are trying to make some thing to a certain size (hahaha hahah ahah). You get to be creative here if you really really want to match gauge and use the yarns you picked. There are times when it just does not work. Then you get to go get new yarn.

Sometimes you have to figure out what the tag means inside the cone. I am really not so good at this but there are lots of websites on how to decipher your tag. Then there is the cone with no tag as to what the fiber is. If I like it and can think of what I would do with it if I get it. If not I leave it for another brave soul. I don't buy all yarn I find just the stuff I like and will use.

I don't have a knitting machine. I just like yarn. : )

In Portland I buy yarn on the cone at The Pendleton Woolen Mill Annex @ 8550 SE McLaughlin BlvdPortland OR 97222-6342. There wool is kindda rough but it washes and felts to a very very soft finished product. If you need proof I will show you a swatch. There cones also are for machine knitting so it has lanolin in it but it comes out on most of them pretty easy. The white white seems to have more than the other colors. The yarn is a two ply but in different weights. Some of it is 3$ a pound some of it is 10$ a pound. They are not all wool some are blends but nice blends in all sorts of fun colors. They have tons of wool fabric at unbelievable prices. The Pendleton blankets you see at the Made in Oregon store. The fabrics are sold here by the yard. They have all sorts of great things here. Watch out if you go when you are in a crafty mood.

So if I don't find it at the Woolen Mills or on the computer I find it at thrift stores and garage sales. Shetha listed some good places to check a couple weeks back for Oregon folks. I like yarn. I like yarn I can afford.

Night time magic

A little crazy

A little yarn crazy this week. My stash is divide between two houses and I just sorted out a huge...huge box for garage sale. So i figured I needed to by more. Like a hole in the head I need more.
The first was some Silk City Chenille. 5.5 pounds in a Basil green color 1300ypp. I have really wanted to try the silk city chenille. I don't know if I need to try it in five pound increments but it always looks so good. I generally don't find it in my price range either. 30$ a pound is not in my price budget, even with free shipping. It may be a little thin but I think I can double it for a bulkier yarn.

Cashmere57% cotton43% a pound in a dark grey. I don't know what I am doing with this yet. Again something I wanted to try and splurged a little on but it seems worth a try.

2.5 pounds all wool in a great thick thin randomness. It is like one giant single. I can see some fun dyeing projects here. I can also see it added to the pink sweater I frogged last week.

Almost 6 pounds of violet wool 1000 ypp. YUM! Many many posibbilities here.

When I am not busy at work I spend money. I should find something to do before I go broke.

Yeah I think I need to get going on some bigger projects that are not on a size 2 needles. Martha's front is once again to the arm shaping.

Shibori

This has me thinking about this cool process. I have a couple kimonos and the sashes are done in this process. They are beautiful.

It is just an intense process. They are all quite fascinating. Even interweave press is in on the action.

Still amazed

My Sister My Friend

Hey girl, it's me,
I just called to tell you hi
Call me when you get this
Haven't talked lately,
so hard to find the time
Give the boys a big kiss
Tell them that I miss them
By the way, I miss you too

I was thinkin just today
About how we used to play
Barbie dolls and make-up
Tea parties, dress up
I remember how we'd fight,
make up, and laugh all night
Wish we were kids again
My sister, my friend

Oh yeah, before I forget,
I met someone
I think I really like him
I was just wondering if
I'm jumping the gun
By going out on a limb
And invite him home for Christmas
To meet the family

Seems like just yesterday
You brought home oh, whats his name
He had been drinkin'
What were you thinkin'
After dinner he passed out
We can laugh about it now
We've learned a lot since then
My sister, my friend

Do you think you could come and see me sometime soon?
We could just hang out like we used to
It's late, and I should go
But I can't hang up the phone
Until I tell you
What I don't tell you enough
Even though at times it seemed
We were more like enemies
I'd do it all again
My sister, my friend
Oh my sister, my friend

Picture bits

I also have some wonderful things from my bead it pal. However, they are still at the other house.

These are some of the stitch markers I made.

My back tack pal sent me a great package.

Then Martha had a little trauma and so the left front is less than finished. This is a sloppy photo of the back with the left front resting on it. The little bundle to the left is the sleeves of the sweater I am knitting from. It really does look like a normal back when it is stretched. It should look much better blocked.

This is what is left to be unknit and reknit.

I am going from sweater to sweater because the yarn is a two ply and I am knitting two strands held together. If I was really up for it I would unknit the whole thing wash it and stretch it to get all the kinks out. But there is over 2800 yards in this sweater. I washed the sweater and am knitting the kinks.

Jobs

A job interview. It has some questions to answer and I can't think of anything intelligent to write.

Active thinking needs to be thinking and I am actively thinking about how cute my back tack package is. I am making up a mock up now so that I don't spoil the pretty fabric, Stacey sent. She picked out great colors for my other back tack pal.

Pictures later after I finish my questions.

Some one stop me

From making center pull balls like crazy. I gat a ball winder and have had lots of fun turning my piles of skiens into little squat bundles.

Lots more but I have center pull balls to think about. This makes frogging a sweater super easy.

P-towners the thriftway on 82 has a super large amount of luxury fiber sweaters.

To shop perchance to relax

Is that backwards? Shakespeare says "to sleep perchance to dream?"


I relaxed the other day...I went shopping.

I enjoy shopping for things other than cloths. I don't have a lot of money so I shop at thrift stores. Not all the time but when I have a need for things I don't need. Like more sweaters to frog. Don't really need more but I got some more because ummm..well ummm. I wanted them.

1. Pink angora/merino wool This can't live at my house so whilst I am still moving it has been frogged and washed and only needs to be knit up. I will have to do this knitting at work because of a certain someone's angora allergies. It is super bulky I am thinking it would be cute hats for Thanksgiving bazaar. A couple cute little scarf hat sets.

2. Martha is knit out of a reclaimed cashmere sweater. Imagine my surprise to find another Martha sweater in a different thrift shop. Its kind of cool. This one was a smaller size so it found a new home in its current sate.

3. Pink lambs wool/cashmere this one my mom snagged as a good one so it has beat the frog pond for a while.

4. Silk/nylon/and something else. This one is really very pretty it has a base of red than has short tweedy like color variations. Its very soft and has a light shimmer to it. It does have a couple holes in it but that should not be to difficult to deal with.

5/6. I found a great thread fiber art book on the history of fiber arts and different ways they have been used in the past. Great photos of amazing fiber art. Very interesting. Lastly I found a super soft tan cone of wool. They also had a cone of misc. pink shiny stuff...But I left it there of another.

I also bought some camel roving and some silk wool top online. As well as a ball winder. I figure if I am frogging sweaters I need a ball winder. Now all I need to find is a swift. I thought I could make one but while the mechanics are fairly simple the process is a little daunting at the moment. But I may make one yet.

Martha almost has a left front. I knit a scarf then frogged it. I spun up some merino but Its kind of crappy looking. I also dyed some more roving to match the frog roving. Its not quite the same but the second batch is much larger and does all match. Look out spinning wheel. O wait the stuff is packed.

Theme

I like this scene. It appeals to me but I need to get a tripod out to take a proper photo. I also need to find a better way to stop the flash other than my finger over it