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| April 24, 2008 @ 3:12 pm |
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posted by kris
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I think I am going to explode from all this!!!
Ostseegarn Eiderwolle
Little did I know that writing “I am out of multicolored roving” sends out an emergency alarm that only fiber enthusiasts can hear! My fiber angels Linnea and Fabienne sent me an “Emergency Fiber Re-Supply”, and OMG, they sent me some really amazing stuff with various content. I tend to stick to merino, so this was a really welcome surprise. I got some Bamboo which you would swear is silk, some merino/tencel (can’t wait to try!!!), some BFL (haven’t spun any yet), some mixed yarn - merino/llama, corriedale/alpaca, all of which I haven’t tried. Argh, the torture of choosing which one to spin up!!! They did an excellent job of re-supplying me with fiber - thank you SO much! Linnea also threw in some American goodies - pop tarts, shark bites and of course squishy wonderbread, which arrived in absolute perfect condition!
In addition to that, I got some birthday gifts - stitch markers from the husband (as well as the much bigger gift that isn’t coming for another 3 weeks - argh, the torture!), blue roving/beautiful red lace yarn/chocolate/coffee from tini, and a gift I got awhile back but was holding out until today to post - an amazing rich blue skein of madeline tosh sock yarn and Annie Modesit’s “Romantic Hand Knits” book, from the one and only Yarnissima!!! The patterns/models/photography in that book is very inspirational and indeed - romantic! You guys are the best and thank you again!
Tini’s roving arrived yesterday and I was extremely frustrated with spinning corriedale. I know they said that this is a good beginner wool, but dang, I found it freaking hard to keep a consistent single. I gave up and broke out her gift. I spent all day/night spinning and it came out great. The fiber is Eiderwolle, a domestic roving and was dyed by her. The fiber was a little bit sticky and hard to draft, but once you get going, it was soooo easy to spin thin and even. The finished product isn’t as soft as merino, but it feels really strong, almost like it has some linen in it. It’s also not as fuzzy as I thought it would be, and it has a nice smooth finish. I thought it came out great!
In addition to that, I also got a surprise gift from Roslyn. I was able to procure some Wollmeise laceweight for her at the Sauerlach market (which was a serious chumfest, btw) so she sent me some Eucalan, a cheery skein of Claudia Hand Painted yarn and a stitch marker. Thanks, Roslyn!
So now I will hole myself up with all this yarn/fiber. I feel like the Rumpelstiltskin lady. But without the evil gnome or whatever Rumpelstitskin was.
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| April 22, 2008 @ 1:37 pm |
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posted by kris
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Skein #3 - getting there!
Skein #4 - a little too thin and a lot overplied!
So, I’m spinning like a madwoman. Really, up all night trying to get more done. This last skein was a pain in the butt, only because it was sooooooo thin and it took forever. I think the 2nd single suffered a bit of quality because I was just rushing through it. Then the plying…I made the mistake of over plying and so now my yarn is kinked up a bit. It’s not that bad, but I am in a quest to spin the most perfect yarn ever. Which, at this point is impossible, but one must try! I think I now know how thin it should be for fingering weight yarn - but I need to work on my plying to get it the way I like it without it getting all crazy. So I’m going to take a break from spinning full skeins and make up some samples (besides, I’m complretely out of multicolored fiber). I think I am going to take some of my solids and mix them up.
I really am enjoying spinning! So much so that I bought the wheel today! It is a mahogany Kromski Minstrel. Wahoo!!! I got that one because several friends have it and they all love it, as well as it being compact and not too expensive. Of course I had to get the extras as well - the lazy kate and extra bobbins. I am currently working with 4 and that seems like too little. 6 is about right.
And then I got into an email “conversation” with a friend of mine in Darmstadt - Linnea. She was supposed to get an order of fiber from Canada to spin up for me (isn’t she an angel?) as well as some extra fiber, but it hasn’t arrived yet (it’s been a month). So she is going to send me some emergency fiber. I mentioned Crown Mountain Farms (aka Crack Mountain Farms) in one of those emails and before she knew it, she placed an order. They do that to you. And then just the thought of her ordering fiber has made me order more too. My mom is coming with a bunch that I ordered but that’s not until the middle of May and I can’t wait that long!!! Especially with my new wheel coming.
So anyways, that’s pretty much all that’s going on. Knitting has kinda taken a back seat, although I have been knitting toddler socks for my boys. I knit them cuff down so that when their feet get bigger I can cut the toe off and make it longer. I guess that’s assuming they don’t lose it first. ;)
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| April 17, 2008 @ 6:07 pm |
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posted by kris
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The very first skein!
The second skein - went much better
I wrote this huge post and then accidentally pressed a button in my browser and poof! It was gone. I was so angry and upset. That’ll teach me to save my posts! So here is my attempt at a 2nd post.
So let’s back up a bit. Remember when cauchy09 sent me a drop spindle and I tried it and hated it? Well, I still do. BUT I have always said that I think a spinning wheel might be funner. I kinda put spinning out of my mind for awhile until I knitted up cauchy’s handspun that she sent. Then it started my mind thinking again of spinning. But I knew a spindle was not for me. It’s too slow, and I am super impatient.
Then, I did a swap with Micki and I pretty much just exploded. I spent many nights looking at fiber and handspun and wheels and what not. I bought a lot of fiber and sent it to a couple of friends who are kind enough to spin it up for me. But that wasn’t enough.
I remembered that the Wollmeise used to spin so I asked her if she still had her wheel and if she was using it. She doesn’t have time to spin anymore so she uses her wheel as a reskeiner for the worsted weight yarns. And, lucky for me, she is done dyeing for awhile since she has a market coming up as well as a trip to the states. So I get to borrow her wheel for a couple of weeks and see if I like it or not.
She brought it over on Sunday since she hung out with us for the podcast (as well as bringing over a box full of yarn to take pictures of). She and Elem made a short demo on how to use the wheel and I tried it and it was HARD! Being new to drafting and all, I got lots of bulky slubs and crazy thick and thins. I played with it all night and the next night until 3am and was able to get a fairly even single. I played with all kinds of different fibers - from super coarse to some german merino (which was HARD for my beginner hands). And then I was semi-successful with some space dyed pencil roving merino (?). I was so excited and didn’t want to stop! I had to take a break for a day to edit the podcast since so many people were hounding me for it!
I came back to it the next day and was a little sad because it took awhile to get back into the groove. Ah well. I noticed that every break I take, I have to re-acquaint myself with the wheel to get the same consistency. The longer the break, the longer it takes!!! Kinda sucks, but that’s how it goes when you’re a beginner. Another problem I had was that I would always make the wheel go backwards so I learned when I start I have to push the wheel in the direction I want to go so that I don’t mess stuff up. I have the normal other beginner problems - overspinning, letting the spin get into the draft zone, not dividing up the fiber beforehand, etc. I also have the problem that I can’t “feel” the yarn when it gets to a particular thinness - say laceweight? And I don’t pinch hard enough so the spin goes right past my fingers. :( But I think practice practice practice will do it.
So that’s why spinning isn’t healthy - not because it’s a sitting activity but because I’m not eating or sleeping! It’s only because I have this wheel for a limited time and want to make every second count! I am soooo going to get a wheel and luckily it is my birthday month. :) I haven’t decided on which - I want to try Elem’s Kromski to see if I like it (yeah, chances are pretty slim that I won’t!). I think I know 3 people with the Kromski Minstrel and everyone seems very happy with it.
Some questions I have for the pros:
1. Is it necessary to let your singles get stale before plying? Do I also need to let it get stale after/before skeining?
2. When I have an “enthusiastic” plied yarn - is it because of the singles being overspun or is it because I overplied?
3. When setting the twist, do I need to soak the skein? Or do I just wet it and rinse?
4. If I get a double treadle, can you use it as a single treadle? Or do you have to do both feet?
I’m sure I have more questions but those are the only ones I can think of now.
I want to thank my spinning enthusiasts who encouraged me to find this new obsession: cauchy09 for the spindle, handspun and daily inspiration, The Wollmeise for lending me her Louet S15, Elem for answering all my rapid fire questions and for hand holding me through the first steps, Micki for her handspun and really making me go nuts for spinning. Also to Fbz and Linnea who are spinning up some yarn for me while I wait to get a wheel for myself!
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| April 16, 2008 @ 9:55 am |
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posted by kris
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Do you want to know what Claudia (aka the Wollmeise) sounds like in her cute Bavarian accent? Do you want to know why she doesn’t knit for her 3 kids? Do you want to know about the upcoming market? Well, the time has come - Claudia took time out of her busy schedule to hang with Knitters Uncensored. It was an almost 3 hour long podcast and I managed to get half of it done last night. Check it out!!! Stay tuned for part 2.
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| April 8, 2008 @ 11:54 pm |
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posted by kris
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Look at that amazing texture!
I am being so good. I am knitting from my stash. And not recent stash - DEEP stash! I bought this yarn about a year ago and didn’t like the feel and color of it. It is 70% merino and 30% cashmere and it is indeed soft, but it’s kind of sticky like when you rub velvet the wrong way. I think the colors on the web were much more darker and vibrant, so it was a slight let down. But I liked it enough to keep it, and the person it was for would like it. It was supposed to be socks for my mother-in-law LAST YEAR, but never got the time to do it, so I decided to do it this year. And it makes me feel good that I’m getting a jump start on Christmas. Well, really, what it is is that I want to reduce how much we spend at Christmas, and hand knit socks are priceless!! Hand knit cashmere socks…well…much better than some bargain basement DVD from Target.
Anyways, so I wound the yarn up on my injured ball winder and still didn’t like it, and I started having regrets. But then, I started knitting with it and my god, it was amazing. The pattern was the perfect choice - Baudelaire by CookieA. The stitch definition and the fabric was very pleasing and oh-so-soft-you-can’t-stop-touching-it. I’m still not happy with the color, but I have to remember that it’s not for me. I know that my MIL will love it!
