Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

March 31, 2013March 31, 2013 / shellssells / 6 Comments

We’ve had a couple days of actual spring like weather recently. Today is a bit cooler and windy, but not cold, and sunnier than you can even imagine!

In honor of the holiday and the feel of spring, I pulled out a braid of dyeabolical polworth/silk top I had in my stash.

I decided I was going to spin it on support spindles in a much thicker than normal fashion. That took me a little over 24 hours. Once that was done, I decided to chain ply it for two reasons, the first being that I felt the color changes were so intense they should be preserved. The second being that I wanted a nice thick chunky yarn and this would be a quick way to achieve that. It is only 104 yards, but what can you expect with such a chunky yarn!

Chunky spinning achievement unlocked.

The blending of the pink

March 30, 2013March 30, 2013 / shellssells / 2 Comments

Would you look at that? Surprisingly, I managed to finish spinning and plying my very pink skein of yarn. I want to tell you that this is fingering to sport weight yarn. But when I say that, I mean that it is a gradient. Starts off fingering weight, ends sport weight. Well, you can’t win ’em all! However, I do think it is a lovely skein. I enjoy seeing how the 3 ply yarn changes tones if even one of the plies moves into a new color.

This was a surprisingly fast spin, and a very fun ply. I am actually considering making something out of this one, and fairly soon. That means, I may even start knitting again. Will wonders never cease?! This skein turned out to be 230 yards.

My next spin? Another very spring like color, another braid that should spin fairly quickly.

Shiny and Pink

March 29, 2013March 30, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

OK ok, the pink in this dyeabolical braid really is overpowering! I still believe it will tone down, but since I have not yet started plying, it is hard to imagine. I am just on the finishing end of spinning these singles now and hope to have another fresh skein of yarn done this weekend. I am eager to see what it turns out like as I have very few preconceived notions of how this one will look, besides knowing it will be randomly striped. While it is shockingly pink, it also appeals to me somehow and spinning something so bright appeals to my desire to see the spring. I may just have to pull out another skein of spring like colors after this. I keep imagining I’ll be spinning my jacob fleece on my wheel shortly, but thus far the weather hasn’t been conducive to porch spinning, nor have I been able to spend time with other friends in social situations, where I do the majority of my work on the wheel.

Dreamy

March 28, 2013March 27, 2013 / shellssells / 3 Comments

So those inglenook batts? The ones named “crocus in the snow?” They were as dreamy as I dreamed they would be and in no short amount of time I had my singles spun up on my support spindles.

So I snagged a picture of Crocus in the Snow in the snow. Then I decided I needed to make a 3 ply out of these. The colors really are not in any particular order, as it often happens with batts. I wasn’t sure if there really was any other way to make them look semi consistent. Once washed and finished, I ended up with 196 yards of a lovely 3 ply worsted weight yarn. This might be one of my all time favorite skeins to be honest, mostly because it was such a pleasure to spin from start to finish. I so often feel defeated by a project eventually, but I never felt anything but love for this one.

I haven’t picked up my knitting needles in over a week. I am dangerously close to being done with yet another skein of yarn, the pink/grey/yellow BFL from dyeabolical. It is just amazing how much spinning I can produce in a short time when I am not spinning laceweight and knitting in my other spare moments.

Dreaming

March 27, 2013March 24, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

Yesterday I mentioned that I’d spent about 2 weeks finishing up some projects that now felt like obligations while dreaming of what I could spin next. One of those things that I was just desperate to start was some Inglenook batts I had picked up a few weeks ago. The colorway just called to me, named “Crocus in the Snow.”

Aptly named really because it turns out I was spinning it at a time when spring snows are not quite gone yet.

May I quickly add that these are my first Inglenook batts. And they Are Amazing. An artsy batt that is so well processed that you can still spin finely on it and have an even yarn. They draft amazingly well and there are so many more colors than I’d even imagine in them. I intend to 3 ply these, which means I’ll have a semi solid in some absolutely gorgeous tones.

Core Spinning

March 26, 2013March 24, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

Awhile back I finished hank #1 of some awesome green and white corespun, from a pretty art batt from Spin Culture on Etsy. I set it aside as I wanted to finish Vintage Vespa. Then once Vintage Vespa was done, I was hell bent for leather to finish the green and lavender BFL laceweight. Well, just as soon as that was done, having spent about 2 weeks imagining what I’d spin next, I put my larger whorl on and finished up the corespun project simply so that I could empty a basket and make the house just a tad tidier. In the end, I’ve got 88 yards of a very nice looking corespun. I am certainly pleased with it. And with the speed that corespun gets made!

Spring! Or not….

March 25, 2013March 24, 2013 / shellssells / 2 Comments

Yesterday I mentioned that I refused to do any other spinning until that green/lavender BFL was done. That was a bit misleading, as I had dinner with Jeremy on Thursday. Since I didn’t have any other wool at his place, I decided to pull out something spring like. I chose a braid of BFL in bright colors. This is from Dyeabolical, it was part of a fiber club that involved pinks. I was skeptical of this at first, but I think that the yellow will make the pink more orange and the grey will tone it down, so I suspect once I 3 ply this it will be a lot more muted than it is. I have spun it all on my trindle SST so far.

So I began to spin on this Thursday evening, thinking of spring and easter and how much I am ready to have it warm enough to sit on my porch. I got quite an amazing amount done in a fairly short time! SO much so that I decided I needed to bring it home with me and continue with it, rather than leaving it to languish for weeks on end.

But, my hopes for spring were dashed with yet another snow. And along with the snow came a very winter like cold and cough for me. SUCH a bummer!

Chameleon Colorworks BFL

March 24, 2013March 23, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

I got this braid in a fiber club years ago. I believe it was in the first year of spinning and was one of my first fiber purchases. I didn’t love the color to pieces, so it sat in my fiber stash for far too long. When I really started spinning more often, I decided maybe I should pull it out and put it on a spindle and see what shook out. That was in October I believe. I do not know what possessed me to make a 3 ply laceweight yarn, but by the time I’d figured out that this was A Very Bad Idea full of angst and annoyance at the fiber, it was too late to do much about. Really, if anyone sees me post something about laceweight, holler at me! I will attempt to listen if I am not too far gone. I do believe though, that this is the end of my super fine laceweight spins and now I can get back to normal faster moving projects.

I’ve been saying “The end is in sight” since Tuesday. And each day I went home, spun the heck out of the fiber, and found that I was not yet done. For 2 days in a row I brought a spindle to work and spun through lunchtime. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. But such was my motivation to finish. Finally, on Friday during lunch, I came to the end of the singles. And managed to also come down with a sore throat. So the desire to make my 3 ply yarn wasn’t really there either. Would the project never end? I mean, I’d only been dreaming of which fiber to pull out and put on which spindle ALL WEEK LONG! But, since I’d been quite insistent with myself that I could not pull out new fiber until the green and lavender BFL was done, I was out of luck.

Thankfully though, it DID get finished. I’ve got 538 yards of 3 ply laceweight now, and I have NO CLUE what to do with it. The fact is though, it is done and that is enough for me!

Lizard Ridge Strip #2

March 23, 2013March 20, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

Done! Only 2 more, a bit of sewing, and a border. If I don’t think about that too hard, it doesn’t seem overwhelming AT ALL!

Vintage Vespa

March 22, 2013March 21, 2013 / shellssells / 3 Comments

How happy am I to be done with this? I can’t even tell you. How long does it take to make 3 ply laceweight? I can’t really tell you that either, but I started back in November. I’ve spun quite a few other things in the meantime, including two other loop bumps. But the majority of my spinning has been a bit thicker than this. I’ve been chain plying this steadily for the past 3 days and it has done a number on my already somewhat sore wrists. I was just SO desperate to get it finished!

I was worried at one point that this yarn would be wiry, with all the twist I was putting in it to hold the very thin singles together. But it is as soft as can be, a testament to some really nice fiber to start out with. When I first received the color, I was not quite sure how I felt about it. But, then I saw someone weave with this colorway and it was so pretty. I am inspired to give that a try myself.

Yardage for this project? A pretty amazing 828 yards.

New Toy

March 21, 2013March 18, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

I’ve always dreamed of having a golding spindle. But, as they are a bit pricier and I am new to the spindle spinning world, I had not yet had the opportunity to pick one up. However, I got my hands on one from a destash on Rav recently and it came in on Friday.

The wood is 5,000 year old russian bog oak. It is a 2 inch ring spindle, and the ring makes it so that it spins for a very long period of time, and very fast!

It was good timing on this one, as I’ve been so terribly bored of the green and lavender BFL project I can barely stand it. Thankfully, a new toy made it so I was interested in continuing the spin.

I managed to pack a fair amount on that spindle in two evenings of spinning. This is a spindle that has certainly found its forever home at my place.

Monthly Fleece Club

March 20, 2013March 18, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

This month I got icelandic fleece. This is a first for me, seeing something in person that is dual coated.

The dual coated fleece have tog, the longer more wiry outer coat and thel, the undercoat which is much finer and softer.

I’d heard it is fairly easy to separate them if you care to do so, by simply grabbing the tog and the base of the lock. I found that to be the case.

I think for this one I will separate them as this is all new to me and I want to see how each one spins up. However, I’ve heard you can just card it all together and end up with a strong but scratchier yarn. Maybe next time.

A Finally Finished Object

March 19, 2013March 18, 2013 / shellssells / 7 Comments

I am struggling with the fact it often seems that I do not have any finished objects to show off these days. I know this is because my interests have veered off into other areas, but I am still a knitter after all! So it made me quite happy to realize that I finally had a finished pair of socks, more than a week before my mom’s arrival.

These are in her favorite basic sock pattern, Gentleman’s plain winter socks, from Vintage Socks. I made these nice and long, it was easy to do as the online sock yarn I was using is nice and thick. I love the fun bright colors on these, even though I expected them to stripe. I hope they hold up nicely for mom, since I am not knitting many socks these days.

More Spinning

March 18, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

I started my “fauxlag” project quite some time ago. It has basically been sitting at Jeremy’s house and I spin on the project only once in a great while. A week or so ago I finally finished all the singles. On Friday evening I was able to finish plying them. This is a 2 ply of thick and thin yarn. 269 yards. Making them into fauxlags really did muddy the colors quite a bit and make them a lot more muted. I really enjoyed this project even though it took me forever. The added bonus is that I spun them gently, and now plied back the yarn is very soft and squishy. Also bouncy and lofty. I picture this being used as a weft on the loom more than anything else.

Despite feeling like I haven’t gotten much finished lately, all my spinning work is paying off. All of a sudden I’ve got new yarn all over the house that needs to be plied and finished. I love that feeling!

Th’ Spinnin’ O’ the Green

March 17, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

I made a “Study in Green” batt, and spun it on my trindle. I then made another and spun that on my trindle because the first was so gorgeous. I plied them on my wheel yesterday, then washed the skein and hung it to dry JUST so I’d have some pretty green yarn to show off today. I suspect I’ll use this colorway again, making more of these batts and spinning a coordinating yarn. I love the colors and I think the border leicester paired with the silk just makes the skein shine. It plied rather beautifully too. While it is a semi solid, there will be some color blocks I believe. I muddied up the colors when spinning from the batt, rather than leaving stripes or a gradient. This one is another small skein, 73 yards. But, I’d say 4 or 5 more skeins like this and I’ll have enough for a lovely project.

Happy St. Patrick’s day all, rather than crafting, I’ll be out riding my bike.

Happy birthday mom!

March 16, 2013March 16, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

I promise to have your socks done before you get here!

This week, in spinning

March 15, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

I know I should be showing you a MOS wrap up, but I am saving it for later. It isn’t really that exciting, two pairs of socks, neither one complete. I’ll get them done, but in my own time.

Instead, I want to show you ALL the pretty spinning! With the strips on my loom being rather uninspiring, I’ve been spinning quite a bit again. I’ve got a lot of progress to show off!

First up is my study in green batt. It has been spun on my heavyweight trindle, and I love the resulting yarn. Of course I do! It is all shades of green, and as I was spinning this, I was thinking “Gee, I think I’ve done these colors before.” It reminded me so much of my Unicorn Barf cowl, out of the cram pot dyed rambo locks. The only thing missing was white and aztec gold. In any case, the border leicester and silk spun into a beautiful and even single, on the fuzzy side of course. I’d like to make this into a 2 ply, so my goal for the weekend is to make another study in green batt, spin it up on my trindle, and ply them together. I think that is an entirely doable goal for the weekend.

Then I’ve got my merino “fauxlag” project. I’ve been working on it for months, a couple weeks back I finished spinning the singles, but I never bothered to ply. I’ve finally begun. The colors are muted, the yarn thick and thin, but I am looking at it from the perspective of something I could use for a weft, and for that I really like it. It will make a nice soft scarf of some sort, and the colors will be muted and gentle but still interesting. I know, I am not far along but another goal for the weekend is to finish this.

Then there is the long, ongoing BFL project. Oh my gosh I am so tired of this project! 3 ply laceweight, remind me not to do THAT again, especially in something where there are only 2 colors to work with. My head spins every time I pick up the spindle on this one. I am insanely tired of it. However, according to the sample I plied, I do think it will end up a very nice looking yarn. You can see here that I still have quite a bit to go. I also have quite a bit spun up, and a little that is already yarn. This should give me hope, but it does not.

Finally, there’s vintage vespa. My loop bump, the first one I ever started. I put it away and spun 2 more loop bumps before going back to this one and finishing up. I’ll tell you what, this bump has suffered in many ways. The biggest way? The entire outside was felted from me bringing it here, there, and everywhere and not actually spinning on it. I also felt that a good place for a loop bump while spinning was under my arm. It worked great, but at some point I realized that my spinning movement was felting it badly. As of right now, the bit I have left is so felted it is hard to spin. It is possible I will call this one done, chain ply it, and save the last bit of the black for blending on the drum carder. OR, I may take the black, try to fix it with my hand cards and keep going. I am not sure, and I am letting it rest for a day or two in order to figure out just how far my determination goes on this particular project. I am very eager to have it done. Know why? Because next up is the jacob’s fleece and I am SO looking forward to that! I can’t wait to pull it all out, get a color gradient started, and spin it up! I think the fact that there are color changes is what makes the idea of spinning an entire fleece a lot easier to contemplate. I may be spinning a fleece, but it isn’t an overly large one and there are changes of color.

Stay tuned for either MOS final updates or…..a new skein of handspun!

Weaving project #3, strip #2

March 14, 2013March 13, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

This one is a combo of red and a gold color. Pretty consistent in colors actually. The third strip will have colors starting to get a little crazy.

Spinning batts

March 13, 2013 / shellssells / 2 Comments

So you remember how I started making batts over the weekend? I couldn’t really resist spinning one up. I chose the first batt, the one which was well blended to start with. I decided to tear strips from it, spin, then chain ply in order to achieve a gradient yarn.

I spun on a tibetan spindle:

Look at that snow! I suspect this may be one of the last snow pictures until next season.

Then I chain plied on my trindle. This was my first attempt at chain plying on a spindle. With the shoulder issues I’ve been suffering from, it wasn’t a very good idea.

But once I started, I figured I’d better get it finished.

In all honesty, the only reason I chose to use the spindle for plying is because my wheel is still sitting at my friend Sarah’s house, and I still haven’t managed to get the motivation to go get it. Even though I could really use it. In any case, once the yarn was finished and dried, I had 60 yards of a gradient. I guess this would technically be a striped yarn, as I’d have to make a few more batts and spin them the same way in order to make an usable amount of yarn.

It is a bit fuzzy as border leicester is a longwool. However, it isn’t nearly as fuzzy as the last border leicester I spun. It is also a bit rustic, what I am carding up is full of second cuts. I’ve been picking most of them out of the wool, but some get missed.

After I finished this little project, I started spinning up more of the lavender and green BFL that I’ve been working on for ages and ages. I put it on the tibetan I used for this project. When I then wanted to start spinning the “study in green” batt from yesterday, I realized I didn’t have any tibetans left (I’ve loaned one out) and would then need to actually spin on a drop spindle. Which I started and it is going quite nicely. I’ve all but given up on drop spindles recently, so it was good to be forced to use one again and refine my skills.

So Over It

March 12, 2013 / shellssells / 2 Comments

I am SO OVER sock knitting.

And even though there has been sock progress, I’ve got other stuff to show you.

First of all, the spindle spinners on Rav are spinning green for St. Patty’s day. Well, I’ve been spinning green (and lavender) FOREVER. However, I didn’t want to continue to spin that to mark the month. So instead, I decided to do a batt. A study in green batt. I took pictures, and then decided I should also take pictures of the floor as it looks when I start messing around with color blending.

This is my floor with a ton of dyed border leicester. You will see the cord to the vacuum cleaner there too, because drum carding this particular border leicester makes a bit of a mess. I just make sure when I pull out the drum carder I’ve also got the vacuum out. This way I can’t space it or become unmotivated to clean up.

I got the border leicester so cheap it was amazing. However, with cheap wool comes some stuff you’ve got to sift through. It was dirty, full of VM, and has a ton of second cuts. Despite this, it was WORTH IT for the price. Still is. I can’t even get annoyed by the VM falling out of the drum carder, or the fact that I have to pick some second cuts out of my batt while spinning. The border leicester is lambs wool so it is softer than most, the locks are amazing, some quite long, and it took color in a gorgeous way!

For my study in green batts, I basically took every green color I had with the border leicester, added some other colors from other fiber, and then added silk. It is interesting to me that though there is no white in this batt at all, the lightest green looks white compared to the more saturated colors.

I haven’t decided if I will spin this in a gradient or if I will try to blend up the colors. However, not a bad little project for a snow day!

Another reason to make an afterthought heel

March 11, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

Many years ago, after making a few practice pairs of socks, I knit with my first nice sock yarn. One pair of easy ribbed socks out of koigu. I knit them toe up with an afterthought heel and contrasting toe color. Despite knitting another 80 some pairs of socks, they remained my favorite until I wore through the heels. I set them aside, and waited until MOS to knit a new heel.

Since today is yet another snow day, I decided to tackle one of the socks. Only one has a hole, so I may only fix the one initially. First, I cut off the end of the heel, and ripped back to the saved stitches I made originally when I knit the sock.

They were a bit difficult to pick up since the yarn is old and worn and thin now, but I did it anyhow since these socks deserve just as much wear time as possible. I miss them!

I chose STR for the new heel as I had just a bit in my stash. I actually didn’t have enough to make the heel as long as I’d have preferred, but it is long enough to wear the sock again.

And that is one of the quickest sock repairs ever. The afterthought heel made it easy and so I chose to do it. Otherwise? I’d have just thrown out the sock.

MOS updates on my projects tomorrow. With MOS ending Thursday, I’ll again have the freedom to choose whatever knitting I like, but I must admit I am driven to finish my MOS projects even so.

MOS update postponed

March 10, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

You know why? Because I got around to doing something yesterday that I want to show off today. Remember when I dyed up a bunch of border leicester? I actually dyed up about double this amount in different colors, dried it all out, and it has been sitting in a box. Then I ordered a silk sampler from SilkandShine on etsy, mulberry silk sliver in a ton of different colors. I did this so I could blend the silk with the border leicester and any other fiber I grabbed on my drum carder. Yesterday, after weaving another strip, I got an opportunity to do exactly that. I made 2 batts, which didn’t take overly long. One is more blended than the other. I started by carding the border leicester, 5 colors in all, in lines on the drum carder. Then, I pulled the batt off the drum carder and fed it back through in small chunks, sandwiching silk between each chunk. For the first batt, I pulled it off and fed it through again to blend it even better. For the second batt, I wanted to see what it would look like if I stopped at that point. But to be honest? I don’t like the chunks of silk, so I intend to send it through for another pass next time I pull out my drum carder. These batts are so light and airy. Not at all compacted like the jacob’s fleece I carded recently. I don’t really know what the difference is, though it could just be the nature of the border leicester. I am eager to do a little more of this once the weaving strips are done. For now I’ll be content just trying to work on them in between strips. I love the color blending!

Batt #1

Batt #2

If it wasn’t so snowy I would have opened them up and showed you the rest of the colors. Maybe next time.

Weekend Update

March 9, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

MOS updates coming your way. Even my own! Despite being quite sore, I am still managing a bit of knitting daily. I still have hopes to finish a pair of socks for my mom before the end of the month. Thankfully the sock yarn I am using is fairly thick, so progress is made even with less knitting overall.

Look at that! I’ve started a toe. Maybe I’ll even finish the first sock today. That would be awesome.

Kathy sent me a picture of a new pair she started. She didn’t mention if she finished her first pair, but I am guessing she did. She’s using Koigu, and as koigu is on the light side of yardage, she’s doing solid colored heels and toes. Toe up to maximize koigu yardage. Despite koigu being koigu, I bet she gets a good long sock out of these.

Despite having a crazed work schedule lately, and being rather quiet about MOS, even Sparkeespud is participating. These green socks seem rather appropriate for the month of March!

Tomorrow I will show you where I am with my Vintage socks. Despite having hit them hard at the beginning of MOS, they’ve been languishing. However, recently there’s been a bit of progress. I am willing to bet Sarah will have another finished pair to show off too.

Weaving Project #3

March 8, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

Project #3 will have multiple posts, as it is a large project. But, I did create the first part of it already. I am not going to call this a scarf, I am calling it a strip. I started with red acrylic and added some scraps I had laying around. The bulk of this project will be exactly that. Red acrylic with scraps. However, this first project turned out surprisingly nice. I expected it to look funky and weird with the strange variegated yarn. It actually looks quite lovely. I am not positive how much time I will have to devote to this project, but I’d like to get the bulk of it done this weekend. Bug has been a huge help with this one, I’ve set her loose with the bobbin winder and she takes great pleasure in filling my bobbins just as soon as they are empty.

Since this particular project consists of a number of strips, the weaver’s knot my aunt taught me came in very handy. And, I got to practice it 52 times in one evening. Being able to pull the new warp through with the old was a wonderful bonus, and something I will do for the duration of this project. I am pleased with how fast this project goes with the thick yarn and basic weave. However, I am already looking forward to doing something new, something like a pretty little scarf for me or whatnot. Something with a pattern especially! Since I have yet to try an actual pattern, that is what I am most looking forward to trying next.

Weaving project #2

March 7, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

I used flax for the warp and handspun singles, spun from wool locks, as a weft. This was a learning curve project for me for sure. The weft is so textured, so thick and thin, so rustic and artsy, that it is hard to predict how it will act. However, I did a fantastic job with my edges! Only to pull it off the loom and figure out that since some of the singles were quite energized, there are sections of the scarf that pull in on itself. There are some edges that look totally uneven because the yarn has scrunched back up the moment it no longer has tension on it. I was initially irritated with this, but then I just figured it added to the rustic feeling of the scarf, and gave me a ton of ideas for potential scarves using energized singles as a design element.

The warp for this is an exact match for the color tones of the weft, which I really enjoy. The colors block more than I’d love, mostly because I was spinning from the lock, thus the color transitions are harsh rather than smoothly fading from one to the next. I wish I could get a good picture of the fuzz factor, but that has proven difficult. I love how there are little loops of curly wool randomly hanging out of the scarf, as well as thicker places where the curls have gotten caught well into the warp. The scarf is super long, if I put it over my shoulders, both ends hang on the ground. This is me still not understanding how much waste (or how little, in this case) to allow for in my warp. However, I have always loved a super long scarf, and I wore it yesterday with pride.

MOS Updates

March 6, 2013 / shellssells / 3 Comments

No knitting for me, but the other MOS participants still are managing to get quite a bit done! Ummeyusuf finished her second pair of socks. She is worried about the sock colorway, but I must say I love it! What do you think?

Last evening we headed to Sarah’s house for dinner, where I see Sarah is still knitting up a storm as well. She finished a pair of socks she started last year during MOS. The orange colorway on these is scrumptious, I love them! Perfect yarn and pattern pairing.

After finishing the above socks, she got right back to work on her basic ribbed socks from our favorite sock book, Vintage Socks. After I took this photo, she managed to rattle off another 4 or more stripes. She’s just flying through these as well.

As for me, it is all weaving all the time right now. This is less because I have an obsession with the loom and more because my hands won’t take the knitting still. So sad. That being said, I’ve got a second weaving project to show off tomorrow!

Knitting Fodder

March 5, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

So, my friend Kathy read yesterday’s post about this not being a knitting blog and promptly sent me a picture of her MOS project. THANK GOODNESS! Because I really didn’t think a post was even going to go up today. I did no knitting except during my lunch hour at work, I wove and read a book in the evening, and despite this my hands are just aching fiercely today. But, Kathy’s been devoting quite a bit of time to her MOS socks, yarn is again BMFA and she’s awfully close to being done. I wonder if she’ll cast on another set of socks after this?

Is this even a knitting blog anymore?

March 4, 2013 / shellssells / 1 Comment

I don’t have any knitting to post. Again. Even during Month O’Socks. I can tell you that today I finished the very last leaf of the crazy project, but telling you that isn’t particularly interesting especially since I haven’t worked much on the second sock.

Instead, I’ve got spinning and weaving. I began the flax/spun locks project I had been talking about last week. Sunday night I finally finished warping the loom and got started. I’ve been pretty intensely busy with weaving ever since. I must admit, I do find it to be relaxing. I also really enjoy winding bobbins, and so I keep saying “Just till I am finished with all 4 bobbins, then I can wind 4 more and stop.” Except I don’t stop, I find it really difficult to stop. Which is good I think. Means I am enjoying it. I love love love the fun curly lock singles as the weft. They are thick and thin and have curls and pieces hanging off the yarn, and it makes for an oddly textured piece. Since the locks were dyed different colors, there are many abrupt color changes associated with me changing to the next lock during spinning. Working projects like this trains me to look at my crafts differently, relying less on precision and more on interest. I am enjoying that process.

I also plied a very small amount of singles that I finished last week. 60 yards of 2 ply yarn, very bouncy and soft. I have 5 more small batts of varying colors to spin like this, so it should be a pleasure to keep going on them.

Spinning in Progress

March 3, 2013March 3, 2013 / shellssells / Leave a comment

We are all probably getting sick of me talking about the Vintage Vespa bump, spinning the Vintage Vespa bump, looking at pictures of the Vintage Vespa bump, and even thinking about the Vintage Vespa bump. However, I did have some time to make a little progress on it, and it seems I have finally moved into the last major color on the bump. So, I thought I’d take a picture. Of course. The thing is, since I am struggling so much to finish, posting about it holds me accountable. And since I have so much other stuff I’d love to spin, I need to be held accountable or this will never ever get done.

Green toned white with a dark grey stripe now. So eager to be done.

Unexpectedly though, I finished some singles I spun on my trindles. These go way back, I started them mid October. I just kept the wool at Jeremy’s place, and spun on it when I didn’t have anything else to spin on or knit. This weekend I looked at what I had left and figured if I just worked at it a bit, I could finish all the singles. And last night, I did just that. When Jeremy told me his tulips were coming up, I couldn’t resist a picture of singles and tulips. Yeah, I know. Goofy, but indulge me! I am looking forward to spring!

So, since it has taken me so long to finish these singles that I’ve pretty much written them off as a project in progress, I get the bonus of plying something unexpected and having a new skein of yarn!

Not Enough

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 / shellssells / 3 Comments

I am not sure that 17 leaves per sock is enough.

Suzy Sells Sea Shells

Month: March 2013