High Fibre Diet

Oh. My. Please continue to remind me that I never again need to buy any spinning fibre. None. And probably no knitting yarn either. (I might make an exception for good sock yarn though because I can't spin what I prefer. But I've already got enough to last for quite awhile.) There's nothing like a good inventory to give you a real look at what you already own! It's frightening actually. And I'm not finished recording it all yet.

This only a single bin. There are many more! Each of those pillowcases has a fleece, in this case Romney which was the easiest type to get locally back in the day. So it's not at all surprising that this breed is by far the largest percentage of my wool stash. I learned to spin on good old Romney! It's nice for long-wearing sweaters, blankets and even rugs from the coarser fleeces. Not next-to-the-skin soft but easy to process and spin up. This lot is from the late 1980's, I think.

I have at least a sampling (and often considerably more than a sample) of pretty much every kind of fibre available to handspinners. After all, I've been spinning since the 1970's so I've had plenty of time to collect it! The attic space is now clean and m*th free. All the animal fibres have been inspected and are either in pillowcases or ziplocks. A few suspect items are cycling through an Arctic Vacation, as I call the freezer treatment of a few days in/a few days out/repeat. I'm probably going to speed up the inventory process now and just record groups of similar items because I'm running out of both energy and time. Two weeks have just flown by! And my study still looks like this:

At least I've located my next spinning project. I washed this greasy fleece yesterday:

It's about 500g or so of a Rideau-Arcott X Canadian Arcott that was left from a workshop with the late Anne Field from New Zealand that I took in 2010. This fleece (from an Alberta ranch) is lovely, white, even and glossy. It's also sadly full of sand and VM:

Quite a lot falls out as I tease it but it's a little more tedious than I prefer. The results are worth it though. Unfortunately I don't have enough for the sweater I want to make so I'll have to blend it with something else. You might suspect that would be Romney. Good guess! I just happen to have a baby Romney fleece with a similar length and feel. It's not as shiny white because Romney wool tends more to cream shades. But since I plan to dye it anyway, no biggie. This will be an ongoing project for the summer.

The weather has been incredibly warm and sunny but I haven't really taken advantage of it. No long walks. No seeds planted. The excellent light has been great for my inventory work however! Anyway, today I'm leaving the mess and going for a long walk. In the meantime I'll leave you with this image from the other morning. My dad's favourite colour was "sky-blue-pink" and I always used to argue that it wasn't a real colour at all. Well, Poppy, I was obviously wrong!

Yes, the walnut tree is the last to get leaves around here. It will be at least another month. Luckily the bare branches are pretty attractive too. We get to look at them for more than half the year.

The Birds & The Beastie

Thanks so much for all the lovely welcome back comments! It’s a nice feeling to be missed. It tells me that you care. All together now…awwww…

And speaking of sweet things, we had a lovely Thanksgiving at bro-in-law’s with most of the family all together. The little cousins enjoyed playing down in the den while the adults yakked and ate their faces off upstairs. Such yummy turkey and So Many Deserts! Whew. And then we got to borrow the Littlest Grandbeastie overnight while her parents painted her new Big Girl room all day yesterday. Pink of course. She picked it out herself. You get to do things like that when you’re almost 4, right? One of the privileges of growing up.

While we had her yesterday we took her out to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary and met up with several other family members for a duck and chickadee feeding frenzy and then a picnic lunch in the warming hut. Dummy me forgot my camera! Bad blogger. You’ll have to imagine a little pink blur running back and forth grabbing seeds from our buckets and chucking them madly at all the birds. It was hilarious! The chickadees were eating out of our hands but she wouldn’t quite hold still so they were too wary to land. The bravest bird tried it but she flinched at the tickly claws and so lost her opportunity. Instead she put her oil sunflower seeds on top of a stump and they were happier to land there to get their lunch. Of course right after insisting that she didn’t need a nap, she fell asleep in the car on the way home. After turkey-partying until midnight the night before, we were all ready for a nap by then.

Oh and on the way in and out of Reifel we also saw the snow geese flying in and covering the fields on Westham Island. It was a really impressive sight to see them stop there on their migration. The fields really looked like they were covered in snow! Very cool. It had started to rain just as we were finishing our picnic so our timing was excellent all around. I’m still not used to the rain and cooler temperatures yet. We even – gasp! – had to wear coats for the first time in ages. And turn the heat up in the house. Now I know it’s really autumn.

Alrighty then. Back to the catch-up stuff. How about a tour of the fabrics I bought while I was away?

Not sure how much you can get from the photo but you can sure tell that I had a colour theme going on, can’t you? These have all been washed, even the wool, but not ironed therefore there are a few wrinkles in evidence. So, from the top of the heap:

• From Dharma, natural fine wool/silk twill, perhaps for scarves. I loved the airy feel of this and got a couple of yards to play with.
• Also from Dharma, natural linen/cotton blend, for a top or two and Thom also wants a shirt.

And no, those top two fabrics are not going to stay white. You know I’m incapable of leaving anything pristine white without an irresistible temptation to throw it in a dyebath! The rest are all from the Mill End Store in Portland. Left pile:

• Natural/black herringbone twill linen/rayon, for a shirt for Thom.
• Black/dark grey novelty poly knit, for a warm top or two.
• Taupe grey tweedy ponte, for a t-shirt top.
• Dark charcoal ponte, has a wonky but very interesting selvedge, for a top. Hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate the selvedge somewhere.
• Brick red Japanese brushed-back sweatshirt knit, for a warm top or two.

Right pile:

• Rust/orange/gold/blue-grey Kaufman Indonesian batik with a pattern of pine cones, lining for another Minoru Jacket and something else as well. There was a seam toward one end so I got the rest of the bolt so I have lots!
• Black/dark grey plaid wool blend flannel, for my Minoru – a very warm version.
• Orange-red ponte designer novelty, with square cut-outs on the borders, for a top or maybe two.
• Grey tweedy ponte, which was going to be for a sweater for Thom but I think it’s too lightweight. So possibly pants or something for me.

You can see I have a definite wish to sew more for Thom (even though we’re going to be hunting for another fabric for his Finlayson Sweater). Right now his wardrobe is very short of long-sleeved shirts so I need to develop a good pattern for him which will have variation possibilities.

And here is the pretty Czech glass button that I bought at Diva Yarn & Trim in Port Townsend:

There’s a really interesting post here about the process used to make these buttons. Now I’ll have to make something to put it on, won’t I? Of course nothing is going to happen unless I get my rump up to my studio, is it?

More soon!

New & Improved

I had a thought while I was supposed to be sleeping one night recently. My studio space, although much more comfortable for the amount of sewing I’ve been doing lately, wasn’t totally ideal. The loom was in the way of the chair which needs to be moved between the sewing machine and the serger. There wasn’t much room behind it either for the ironing board. And the cutting table was way on the other side of the room. I hadn’t wanted to move it because the only hanging lamp was right over the middle and apart from one floor lamp that I drag around, that was the main light in the room. But then I had that thought: what if I swapped the loom and the table? I would have to come up with another light over the table but the loom would be well-lit. Another advantage of having a retired husband. He was able to give me a hand trying out my idea.

It took a little adjusting and shifting and playing around with the smaller items until I was satisfied. But, wow! I feel like I somehow have more space! How can that be if I didn’t get rid of anything? See what you think. First the view to the right from the door:

Then the view to the left:

I put the loom on an angle. This is the back end. Yes, it’s a honking huge Scandinavian-style Woolhouse 8-shaft countermarche. Her name is Gertrude #27. I love her. She weaves pretty much anything I ask her to from curtains to rugs and from scarves to coats. Not that I’ve actually woven anything at all in the last 5 years. But that will soon change. I have plans.

And finally here’s a photo taken in front of the window inward:

I wanted to show you how I hung the patternmaking and pressing tools on the wall. Since there’s already plenty of holes in the gyproc I didn’t mind adding a few more. Much better than in a pile on the floor, doncha think? The press cloths (cotton, silk and teflon) have been hanging there for awhile but I hung the clapper and the clothes brush along with the rulers. The water, spray bottle and ham are sitting on one of the two big old speakers I still have up here. You can just see part of the one not-quite perfect fix – that black wire going up the slanted ceiling from the plug in the wall niche. It ends at a rather homely light hanging over the table. We will be hunting asap for a replacement that is a wee bit more esthetically pleasing.

In case you haven’t seen my studio space before, the room is about 18 x 12 feet with 2 cut-outs on the short ends. Those were where our kids’ beds went when they were little each with a skylight so they could see the stars. (In theory more than in reality, it must be admitted.) The ceiling has a flat space in the middle but the ends slant down to only about 3 feet high at the back of the cut-outs. I can stand at the iron without bumping my head but have to duck after that. Those little “hobbit” doors (blue on one side, yellow on the other) lead to storage spaces. The spinning equipment one (includes guild equipment as well as my own) is tidy but the one behind the loom is…erm, kind of a disaster of boxes and bags and includes some things that probably need to be jettisoned. Some day soon. Promise. No, really.

There’s also a good-sized closet at the foot of the loom. It’s pretty tidy too but anyone know anyone who wants a really nice Leclerc bobbin rack for sectional warping? Holds 70 lovely wooden bobbins, included. (Modern ones are crappy cardboard and plastic.) Or how about a really functional 4-shaft 24” Kessenich table loom? I need to give these items some new homes. Then there’s the home-built Ashford Traveller-knockoff spinning wheel that someone gave me. It even has a jumbo plying head. But it is horrible to try to spin on. Even I can’t make it work properly. I think it’s actually a lawn ornament in disguise?

I really need the space because, oops – I succumbed to a box of fabric that my neighbour left out as a freebie. She even carried it over for me and plopped it down in my house! Yeah, I know. But I fell for the bolt of white cotton jersey on the top of the pile. Plus the 4 yards of muslin and the bolt of what turned out to be four 2-yard lengths of cotton-lycra double-knit in a bright magenta pink. (It’s dyeable, ok?) But look what else I found in there:

There’s enough of some of these things that I’m starting to have ideas. Except maybe the suede-like sport mesh that’s rust on one side and brown on the other. That one might take some pondering. Oh, and the grey shiny stuff with black floral flocking. It wrinkled intriguingly when I washed it. Also some small pieces of denim (skirts!) and lining. And on the bottom some cream jaquard upholstery pieces. Possibilities are legion. My brain is engaged.

Oh and look what my biggest grandbeastie is going to get:

This is just one small corner. It’s a large panel of heavily embroidered orange gauze. Definitely from India. Lots of sparkles and silver bullion. And in not-too-bad shape, hopefully at least in the eyes of an 8-year-old who loves orange and anything with bling.

I now have so much going on in my creative mind I think my head is going to explode! And shhh…don’t tell anyone… it’s my birthday tomorrow. I’ll be catching up to T-Man after being the baby for the last month or so.

Knitting Likes & Dislikes

Today I’m still feeling a bit under the weather. And the weather itself is pretty lousy: 4” of snow followed by drizzling rain. Bleh. T-Man is working from home to avoid driving on the yucky streets. At least he hasn’t caught the dreaded bug. Yet.

So with nothing else to do, I started thinking (uh-oh!) about what I like and what I don’t like as it relates to knitting and knitted designs and garments. Here’s a rather random sample.

I prefer:

• simply constructed yarns over fancy boucles, knots, fuzz, eyelash, art yarns etc.
• handspun over commercially spun
• some variation and depth of colour over all one flat shade
• deeply saturated colours over pale pastels
• pretty much any stitches from plain stockinette to the most elaborate lace and cables
• except for reverse stockinette. Does not appeal at all!
• top-down over toe-up socks
• gloves over mitts, though fingerless is ok
• thumbs must have a gusset
• tams over tuques
• long narrow over short wide scarves
• no fringe
• triangle or “boomerang” over rectangular shawls
• cardigans over pullovers
• longer over cropped, never shorter than waist level
• either 3/4-length or no sleeves over long or short sleeves

I tend to knit some things following the pattern (lace shawls, hats for example) and others I will modify (particularly more close-fitting sweaters). Of course some things need to fit and with others it doesn’t really matter if they are slightly larger or smaller. I knit a bit loosely so I often need to go down a needle size or two to get gauge. I knit Continental though I learned the English way. When I work two-colour knitting, I put the main colour in my right and the contrast in my left hand. These days however it’s getting harder to remember how to knit with my right hand! I’m really out of practice. Unlike most knitters, my purl rows are a tiny smidgen tighter than my knit rows. And I actually like purling! Maybe it’s my technique which I find very easy. I use my left forefinger to push the yarn down to where I can grab it with my right needle. Needs a video, doesn’t it?

Anyhow, this photo is from before I frogged the Holden Shawlette yesterday:

Isn’t the yarn pretty? It’s Newton’s Yarn Country Happy Feet, 100% superwash merino. Looks like a handpaint and comes in a huge skein – sadly with several knots included. You can’t see the mistake in the shawl. Neither did I until I tried to count stitches and realised I had one too many on one side! Took me all day yesterday to reknit the thing after taking it back to less than an inch from the cast-on. Now it looks just like that only bigger – and minus the boo-boo. Sheesh. I’d be halfway through the edging by now! Never mind. I still have plenty of time. It would have driven me nuts to leave the error in.

While I’m working on the shawlette I’ve been neglecting the Zip-Front Vest. Currently it looks like this:

Not terribly exciting really but I’m happy with the way it’s coming out. I’ve almost used one ball of the Berroco Remix yarn. This stuff seems to go a long way on one 100g ball! I hate yarns that only have about 70 yds per ball and you need about 15 of them to make a sweater. Dumb. Yeah, I know all the arguments about how it saves having too many leftovers etc. But it doesn’t really. They just charge you more for each ball because they have to wind it and put a label on it. And I still would buy more than the pattern called for anyhow because I’m always afraid of running out. I’d much rather have lots left over than not be able to get more if I need it. I’m used to handspun yarn where I can squeeze 2 or 3 ounces of yarn onto a bobbin. You only need maybe 5 or 6 of them for a large long-sleeved sweater. Less ends to work in too. Just one of my little Pet Peeves.

I think if knitters demanded a larger put-up with more yardage, the manufacturers would comply. After all, they’ve mostly gone to 100g balls of sock yarn now where you can get an average-sized pair out of one ball instead of having to find 2 of the same 50g ones. Unless your recipient has humungous feet and needs more than 400m. In which case I would suggest getting 3 balls and making 2 pairs. Or 2 balls and making 1 large and 1 smaller pair. Or something else like a hat, gloves or fingerless mitts out of the leftovers. Of all the yarn types, I think sock yarn is the most versatile in the kinds of items you can make out of it. Likely why I have more sock yarn in my stash than anything else! Except maybe lace weight yarn. And we won’t even talk about the weaving yarns, ok?

Recently I’ve been more interested in knitting garments and for some reason the ones I like are all in bulky yarns. I don’t have a bulky yarn stash! I’d have to spin some. Which is probably not a bad idea if I can remember how. I’ve been spinning fine yarns now for so long it’s hard to go back to thicker ones. I can do it if I concentrate! Besides I have lots of wool in pretty colours all ready for blending. Need to use some up for sure.

When Wooly Dinosaurs Roamed

There’s an interesting Spinning Meme going around the blogs but there’s no point in me posting my version. Since I’ve been spinning for more than 30 years (yikes!) I’ve pretty much bolded everything on the list. The only things left are ones I’m truly not interested in or haven’t had at least a taste of in a class or something. No boast. Just decades of obsession…er, experience.

It’s interesting to me though how many of the items on the list weren’t available when I first began lo those many years ago. My first experience with spinning was a clunky plywood bottom-whorl drop spindle (aka boat anchor) and some icky dried up greasy carded fleece. It’s a wonder I still spin! And it’s all T-Man’s fault. He bought the kit for me. It even included a couple of pages of instructions. Heh.

Luckily I stuck with it and even got some hand cards to help prepare the raw fleece which was all I was able to get. A year later the finances were at a stage where I could buy a wheel (the Sleeping Beauty that I recently gifted my daughter) and my spinning really took off. I was still making thick singles and 2-plys most of the time but they weren’t as lumpy bumpy or as thick as in the beginning. Remember this was the ‘70’s — funky and natural was in. After the wheel I got a drum carder which was much easier on my hands. I also learned to dye wool in my canning pot after I got tired of natural sheep colours. It wasn’t that hard because I had learned how to dye with Procion MX for tie-dye and batik in high school. Little did I know I could have used the same dyes only with heat and vinegar on the wool! We live and learn.

There wasn’t much in the way of fibres other than sheep to play with back then. I spun some dog hair for a few people. (I drew the line at poodle! It’s coarse hair not wool.) I found myself collecting dirty camel fibres off the fence at the zoo. I went to the local (now sadly defunct) sheep fair and bought bags of lovely fresh fleece. Which of course needed washing, teasing and carding. Roving, sliver, top — huh? All I knew was rolags and batts which I made myself. Commercial dyed, painted, blends — nope. Soy silk, bamboo, Angelina — uh-uh. Wool combs, hackles, fancy little spindles — no way. My newbie spinners today have it so easy! It’s like being at a huge banquet as opposed to grinding your own wheat. Enjoy. I do. Even though sometimes I like to wash, tease, card, comb, blend, etc. myself. It’s about having options. Otherwise we’d just go to Wally World and buy a sweater. And that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

However, I just hauled out my entire spinning stash from the attic and NOW I’M FRIGHTENED!!! It’s the Fluff That Ate Vancouver! I’m not kidding. See?


Doesn’t it scare you that it takes 2 photos to fit it in? And there’s more you can’t see underneath and behind that stuff? Note that it all came out of that little hobbit doorway in the back of the second photo. And it has to go back in again somehow. After I re-inventory, re-label, try to purge some stuff that I know I’ll never use and re-pack what’s left. I’m so grateful that I didn’t find any m*ths in there anyhow. I do love the new gigantic Ziploc bags for m*th prevention and general corralling of wayward baggies but they don’t stack. They avalanche. So how many more Rubbermaid bins do you suppose I need to contain this lot? I just went out with T-Man and the VW van and bought 4 honking big ones and 4 smaller ones but I seriously doubt that’s enough. Pardon me while I go clear the dust out of my throat.

Erm…is it true that some people are able to spin up everything they have and then have to go buy more? That they don’t have bags of fibre they’ve stored since 1985? I now have officially reached SABLE (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy) and until at least a goodly portion of this becomes yarn, I’m on a no-fibre diet. Unless I “accidentally” find some Shetland wool at the ANWG conference in Alberta in June that is. Because believe it or not I actually don’t have any Shetland at all. Don’t look at me like that! I do know what I’ve got here, ya know. Just not how much of it there really is. Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t find any Shetland in Red Deer or it’ll be the fibrous equivalent of the straw that broke the camels back. I’ll be in constant danger of being smothered in an avalanche of spinning fibres as soon as I open the blue hobbit door. If it helps any, I’m taking two workshop/seminars on spinning at the conference: one on spinning for controlled striped yarn and the other on creative recycling for handspinners. Maybe it’ll encourage more usage. One can only hope.

It all makes great insulation in my attic anyway. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it.