Benny Does Disco

This morning, Benny put on an Electric Light Orchestra CD and got himself dressed up.

The headgear wasn't quite right, though, so he changed quickly into his brother's "vintage" hat.

I assured him he was very vintage.

He began his dance.

You have to admit, he has flair.















Some of the moves were more subtle.



















Take no notice of the couch chaos behind him. Part of the dance involved leaping over the back of the couch and strewing cushions everywhere before landing on the beanbag chair. This was an important element, though my pictures of it ended up nothing but a red, white and brown blur. I'm sorry you missed it. I could bring him out to demonstrate how that part works; I'm sure he'd love a bigger living room to develop the dance further. Any takers?

Progress!

Plenty of progress, not much completion. The first and most exciting progress to me is the progress of spring. (I can't believe I'm posting this in March, and I feel the Universe will bite back viciously if I'm not careful.) I have been watching the progress of this outside my back door:

 

And look! That's actually a bud! I'm trying very hard not to get too excited about it. There are more daffodils near this one but they haven't come up yet, which I think is a good thing... the other ones will have a better chance of actually blooming properly. But just think! If this blooms, it will be the earliest I have ever seen flowers in Calgary.

I finished spinning up the purple soy silk, and decided to n-ply it after all. In the end I got this:

 160 yards, and 50 grams. I'm not sure what it'll be exactly but I'm on a moebius neckwarmer kick, so that's a strong contender. But I can't knit it right now.

Last month, I finished spinning a rainbow 2 ply, and Ian quickly claimed the yarn for himself. This week I finally finished the thumbs on his mittens:

The precise reversal of colors was a fabulous accident. I knit these top-down. Unfortunately these took a little more than half the ball, so I can't make another pair, but I think I will be able to make a smaller pair for Benny.

I have also been chipping away at my endless blanket (Started in July 2010!) and now it is time for an update. It's getting a bit big for bringing around everywhere, but I keep it in my car and work on it if I happen to be waiting for someone or forget to bring something else. 

My last bit of progress is some spinning. The March challenge for the Spindler's group is to spin something "femme fatale", which for me is red corriedale. The March challenge for the 12 in 2012 group is to spin something in a carded preparation, so I am doubling up my challenges and spinning my red corriedale from carded rolags. 

I also pulled out some of my luxury fiber for supported spindle. I had a need for green, so this is the 40% bison, 40% alpaca, 10% silk and 10% merino blend from Ancient Arts Fibre.

As you can see, I have filled one spindle and am filling up the next. I think I could have spun this on my wheel, but not so thin and lofty. It is so smooshy! I am thinking of ordering another bag of it, it's such a lovely blend.

A Few Firsts

This week is just burgeoning with first times, and I'm pretty excited about all of them. But which one to start with? Well, for a first first, I'm blogging two days in a row. Two whole days. That's a significant first, but it may also be a last. 

I think it would be fun to tell the tale from spinning firsts to knitting firsts, even though the knitting firsts are a little older. So, my second first involves soy silk. I have never spun or knitted this stuff, and when I ordered it from Spunky Eclectic I wasn't entirely sure if it would take an acid dye. I did a little investigation, and indeed it does, though there was some complaint about the dye not taking completely. I understand there are people who like a fully saturated and uniform dye job. I am not one of them. Discovering undyed portions in a top makes me happy. I usually employ some sort of resist technique to make sure they happen.

After I opened up the soysilk and tested it a bit, I wasn't particularly happy, though. It was wispy and looked like it would be annoyingly slippery. I threw it into a purple dyepot, hoping my favorite color would make it more appealing, but it came out in such a globby, stinky mass that I was pretty sure I would never bother with the stuff again. In fact it looked and smelled like something I've cleaned out of a fetid fish tank.

  

When it dried, it was a little better, but still clumpy. But I thought I could draft it out to be a little smoother, and maybe I'd still be able to spin something from it. 

 

Well! That's much better! Soysilk has endeared itself to me. I find it a little easier to spin than tussah silk, because it has a shorter staple, and it doesn't dry out my hands. Other than that, it's very similar spinning and it is also very strong, like silk. And really, it smells bad but not as strongly bad as silk. Now the only question is, do I ply or not? If I do, it will have to be n-ply, because I only have one bobbin free at the moment...

My second first is that I made batts! Lovely fluffy things, also quite coincidentally purple from some corriedale fleece I dyed up. I tossed in some yellow here and there. I'm quite happy with them, and am looking forward to that distant day when I have free bobbins.

I am dangerously close to throwing caution to the wind and procuring my own drum carder.

The third first was that I dyed some really gorgeous alpaca top!

I am really pleased about the way this came out. Again, I heard murmurs about alpaca not taking dye as intensely as wool, but either I use excessive amounts of dye or I have the patience to wait for the bath to exhaust. I want to spin this one but I think I'll put it up in the shop. I have two 2-oz braids like this.

Now to talk about the knitting: just over a week ago, I took a class from Sivia Harding on how to knit her Harmonia's Rings pattern, which uses Cat Bordhi's moebius cast-on. It was pretty awesome to watch this thing form. So, for my fourth first, I learned the moebius cast-on, and for my fifth first, I knit with beads.

I became so enamored with the moebius cast-on that I then made this:

And I have also cast on another Harmonia:

The special thing about this project is the yarn: it is among my first handspun, and if I remember correctly, my first plied yarn. It was my first foray into luxury fibers- one ply is baby camel, and the other is silk. It's also old enough that I never wrote down my yardage... I "knew" I would remember... so I don't really know if I have enough for a full pattern or if I'll just leave off the yoke. Judging by how quickly it's disappearing, I don't think there will be enough. That, however, is not a first.

Feathered Fish Fibers

Well, my latest news is that I have added a lot of new stuff and to my Etsy shop and renamed it Feathered Fish Fibers. I have had tons of fun dyeing fibers and spinning yarns, and I'm becoming... well, quite passionate about it.

There you'll find some gorgeous handspun yarns:

Merino Yak luxury yarn, 3.5 oz, 160 yards 2-ply

Merino 3-ply, 5 oz, 456 yards

BFL singles, 4 oz, 450 yards

As well as some beautiful rovings:

(Finn, Corriedale, BFL & Cheviot)


















I have more fiber in the dyepot as we speak, and I update the shop regularly.
Every fiber lover will find something there to enjoy!

Mostly About Spinning

This January I joined another spinning challenge, 12 pounds in 2012. Last year I joined the eleven pound challenge, but only made it up to nine pounds. It was fun, although I did find at one point I was rushing through my yarns and not enjoying the process as much. This year, I joined the challenge, but I am totally enamored with Russian spinning that I doubt very much I will make it.

I took a class from Caroline of Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts and ended up coming home with this cherry wood Russian spindle:
All wrapped up in yak, cashmere, and alpaca.

I spun up some camel, merino, bamboo and a hank of yak, silk, wool and bison. I can't wait to get started on the other rovings, and knit up my new, beautiful yarns.



This year I want to explore the different bare fibers, to compare breeds and spinning styles. January is all about merino. I have some olive and brown top I am spinning.

I also took some dyed merino top and spun it into singles, and carded and spun some corriedale. The difference between the fibers is amazing! Corridale is so long, lustrous, and lofty compared to the merino. I like merino but I have fallen in love with corriedale.



The picture shows the worsted merino singles in blue, about 4 ounces and 350 yards. The woolen corriedale is green, 2 ply, 525 yards and also 4 ounces. Amazing difference, but I wonder how much of it is due to the woolen vs. worsted method? I want to get some combed corriedale top to see how it compares to the carded rolags.



And for my final spinning poison, somehow 100 grams of brown cotton fell in my lap a Make One's trunk show of Ancient Arts Fibres on Saturday. The staple is super short but I love, love, love spinning it. I also love the finished yarn so much better than a mercerized cotton that I am more than willing to spin enough of it to make... this? I'll keep you posted.

Almeda Fingerless Gloves

This pattern is for a pair of reversible gloves. The pattern uses slipped stitches to produce a diamond quilted look on one side, and a waffle stitch on the other. The stitch pattern is particularly nice for variegated and handspun yarns which may have a tendency to pool.

This pink and yellow pair was made using some of my handspun yarn. The fiber was from Sweet Sheep, colorway Indian Spice, a merino/bamboo blend, spun to a 2-ply DK. The pair used 50 grams, or 122 yards.

I then tested the pattern with Mirasol Hacho, (color 314) which knitted up beautifully, using a little more than one 50 gram hank.


This pattern has not been tested by anyone but me. If there are errors, please let me know. The pattern for these cute and warm mitts is here, but you can also download now in PDF format.

Due to the nature of the stitch pattern, please note that:
1. Your beginning of round will shift before you get to the thumb gusset on each rnd 4.
2.It knits up to a much tighter gauge than one might expect from a DK. I also used Kollage square needles to knit these, so be sure to check your gauge before knitting.

Reversible Fingerless Gloves

DK weight yarn, approximately 60 grams
4mm needles

Gauge: 28 sts/ 4 inches over pattern stitch.

7 (7.5, 8) inch circumference, to fit hand 8 (8.5, 9) inches around.
cast on 48 (52, 56) sts

Rnd 1: k1,p1
Rnd 2: sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1
rnd 3: k1,p1
rnd 4: sl1 purlwise, p1. slip these sts onto last needle. *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1*

Repeat rounds 3 & 4 until you have worked 2.5 (2.75, 3) inches.
Thumb Gusset:
Rnd 1: *k1, p1* repeat until you have 2 sts left, then k1, pm, m1,k1,m1, pm
Rnd 2: k1, p1 *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1* repeat to last st before marker, k1, slip marker, k3, slip marker.
Rnd 3: k1, *p1,k1*, slip marker, k3, slip marker.
Rnd 4: *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1* repeat to last 3 sts before marker, sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, slip marker, k3, slip marker.
Rnd 5: k1, *p1,k1*, slip marker, k1,m1,k1,m1,k1, slip marker
Rnd 6: k1, p1 *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1* repeat to last st before marker, k1, slip marker, k5, slip marker.
Rnd 7: k1, *p1,k1*, slip marker, k5, slip marker.
Rnd 8: *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1* repeat to last 3 sts before marker, sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, slip marker, 5, slip marker.
Rnd 9: k1, *p1,k1*, slip marker, k2,m1,k1,m1,k2, slip marker

Continue in this manner, increasing two stitches every fourth row until you have 11, (13, 13) sts in between the markers, ending with:
*sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1* repeat to last 3 sts before marker, sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, slip marker, k11 (13,13), slip marker.

Next rnd: k1, *p1,k1* slip next 11 (13, 13) sts onto a holder. These will be thumb sts. Cast on one stitch for inner thumb.

Upper Hand:
rnd 1: sl1 purlwise, p1. slip these sts onto last needle. *sl1 knitwise, kfb, k1, psso 3 sts, p1*
rnd 2: k1,p1

Repeat these two rounds for 1.5 (1.75, 2) inches, ending with round 1.
Cast off in k1,p1.

Thumb:
Slip thumb gusset stitches onto dpn’s. Pick up two stitches from inner thumb, and work 6 rounds in garter stitch. Cast off.

Copyright 2011, Rachel Abrams. Please do not copy, publish, or distribute this pattern in any way.

Winter, Winter, Winter

Here I am, editing the baby bootie pattern, and I looked out the window to see... more snow. Really. The last of the snow has just melted off the back yard (though it's admittedly still clinging to spots in the north-facing front yard) and here we are, back to square one.

We are not amused. If it snows again next week, I can make t-shirts which will read: "I SURVIVED THE NINE MONTH WINTER." Yes, we often get a dump of snow in May, but we don't usually have snow cover from October through April. I'm going to end the weather rant now, and simply note that I noticed some tulips and daffodils beginning to sprout by the back door. It's exciting, because this is a new house for us, and since there was already snow cover when we moved in (see above) I don't know what surprises may sprout.

So, as one might imagine, I am still knitting and designing wintery sorts of things. I noticed the local supply of hats was getting low, so I dove into the stash and came out with some Berroco "Blackstone Tweed" and Mirasol "Tika". Then I flipped through my stitch dictionaries until I found a nice wave pattern. I had to tweak it slightly to make it work how I wanted.

(Berroco Ultra Alpaca.)

I think the greatest thing about this stitch pattern is that the beginning and end of round are virtually invisible. That means there is no jog or fancy slip stitches needed to avoid a jog.

This hat was done bottom-up, with a doubled hem for extra warmth. Oddly enough, The Mirasol Tika is labeled DK weight, but as I knit it, I would not peg it at anything less than a worsted.



This one was done top down, and the hem turned out to be a problem. The yarn is much softer than it looks, and pulls apart if you so much as look at it funny. Making a sewn bind off was out of the question. I ended up doing a blend of the k2tog and regular cast off.



I settled on the bottom up design, with the doubled brim. I had a hat making blitz, hoping that I could write a pattern that would work. It is available for download on Ravelry. This one is a $3, although I'll still offer some free patterns in the future. This pattern has detailed instructions for making the doubled brim, along with clear photos. It has instructions for an alternate rolled brim. The pattern is also perfect for someone new to stranded knitting, as there is only one color needed for the crown of the hat.



This one was made out of Garnstudio DROPS Nepal. It is a little bulkier yarn than the other three, but knit to the correct tension, it keeps out the wind even better.

You can use the link below, or go to the pattern page on Ravelry to get more details.