Technical SNAFU

So. I received an email today from Google+ saying "this is what your profile looks like" and did I want to add a photo? Since I have a few photos that are good for this sort of thing, I picked one out of a photo album online (first clue) and I inserted that. Then I found a good background image and put that in.

Then I decided to go see what else was on Google+. Piles of stuff, all the pictures from my blog, as well as some things that I don't know where they came from. But the Google+ site was a mess. Lots of the photos didn't make any sense outside the context of the blog so I decided to clean it up. (Alarm bells)

I spent a pleasant evening curled up with the dog, going through these pictures and deleting those which don't really stand on their own...

...and when I went back and opened the blog, was horrified to discover half my pictures are gone and I'm the dumbass who deleted them.

I suppose its a good lesson in illustrating a blog, but right now I'm so mad I could spit nails. So I apologize for the sudden lack of photos here. I'll get them all back. Eventually.

Ice Core II

So to continue to the story of the Ice Core Alpaca that I spun last week.

I actually let it rest on the bobbins overnight.  The next morning I had another look at my bobbins and admitted that one had noticeably less yarn than the others.  OK, well, lets start spinning and see what we get.

So I started plying the three singles together. I had two plies which twisted together just fine and the third was all over the place.

I don't normally have much trouble with yarn, but really, this one ply was just out of control. I pushed through it thinking "I'm the human here, and I dictate what is going to happen". Silly human - what was I thinking. It's been said that its always better if you enter into a partnership with your fibre rather than forcing something on it. In the end, I had to accept that I had one wonky ply.

Then I had to accept that it was overspun. Not just a little bit, I mean it was overspun.

Even after a good soak and beating in the tub it doesn't lie straight. OK, so my yarn has body and that wonky ply now looks like I made a bouclé yarn. So that's what I'll tell everyone.

But back to the remaining two singles on the bobbins. I decided I'd do a two ply yarn and maybe use it in conjunction with the bouclé.  I couldn't spin this to save my soul. I looked and I studied and I Googled and nothing was helping me. Then I sat back and really looked at my remaining singles.

And then I saw it. One was spun to the left, and one was spun to the right. No matter what I do, this isn't going to work. Probably explains the wonky single too.

The moral of the story is, pick a direction to spin your singles and stick to it. I vaguely remember thinking when I started that something was different but I let it go. In the end, I used these two plies to teach myself Navajo plying so it isn't a waste. I'm a little disappointed at such a silly mistake because I really wanted to use the yarn. I can probably still do something with it, but I need to be aware that one third of it is structurally compromised.

Ice Core

Last summer at the Mississippi Mills Fibre Festival in Almonte I picked up this fabulous "petite batt" from Victory Farm Alpacas. The bag says that it is approximately 2 oz which is about 55g.

What is unusual is that I typically prefer to spin with undyed fibre because I'm still fairly new to spinning and undyed is always so much easier. I have heard it said that if you aren't careful when dyeing that the fibre will felt slightly, making it much harder to spin.  I don't know how true that is and I'm reluctant to shift all the blame for my lack of skill to the dyer so don't quote me.

 This, however, was no problem to spin. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was almost easy. 

The batt was in three layers so that made the "How many plies" decision an easy one.

I expect I'll have the spinning completed today so I can ply it tomorrow.  I'm thinking of making a cowl or perhaps short scarf with a big button.  Something fun.  I'd like to say "something light and flirty for spring" but it's still -10C here so the blue makes me think of the blues you see in ice and snow rather than the blues of Mediterranean Seas.  Then again, maybe I will call this Santorini and tell winter where to go.

Tidepool

So while I was working on the Verchères pullover, I got to a point where I couldn't work in front on the TV without miscounting and having to rip out everything I had done in an evening. So I started something new. The criteria is that it had to be simple enough that I could watch TV while knitting, but not so dull that I lost interest.

It's a funny thing with varigated yarns - they always look so stunning in the store and I tend to buy them on spec. but when I get them home I'm stumped as to what to do with them. What can I make that will show off the colours but will still allow a pattern to show?

This pattern is CashSilk Fern by Sweet Georgia Yarns and is knit in CamelSpin by Handmaiden. I really like the 'hand feel' and drape of the fabric this produced; its easy to maneuver and tie, yet heavy enough to be a substantial winter scarf.

I used one skein to make this.  Finished dimensions are 10" by 66".
Best part is the pattern is free!  Get it here.

Verchères en violet

This has been a long time in the making, I bought the yarn for this (Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk, 85% merino, 15% mulberry silk)  in July 2013 and started working on a pattern in the Amy Herzog book "Knit to Flatter". However, by the second sleeve, I knew that I wasn't in love with that sweater (though I learned a lot about sweater construction and how to custom fit for me so it certainly can't be considered a waste of time). This is the sweater that is on the cover of the Winter 2014 Interweave Knits - Verchères Pullover.

Since I had a sweater's worth of yarn in a colour I liked, I didn't even try to get the suggested yarn. However, my gauge was different enough that I had to recalculate all the stitch counts. I consider it a small mercy that my row gauge was exactly the same.

I also discovered the zen of sewing seams. Because this texture or pattern is horizontal, it is very unforgiving of any errors in the side seams, or under the sleeves. The pattern must match at the seams exactly, or else errors would be highly visible.

The other thing I discovered is I'm really not as young as I like to think I am and I had to wait for a sunny day when I was at home in order to do this work. The dark yarn was too hard to see at night - even with a good light. I also learned the value of basting in the sleeves to set the location and then sewing properly after. What this gives me is a sweater that moves with me, and doesn't bunch up under the arms even though it has about an inch of negative ease.

In the Meantime

There has been no progress on the sweater because I'm having trouble finding buttons. More specifically, I have an idea in my head of what kind of buttons I want and I'm having trouble finding those. And to be perfectly honest it's too flippin' cold to go shopping for something as mundane as buttons. The fact that I need the sweater now, when it's cold isn't lost on me though - I may have to settle for "interim" buttons until I find what I really want.

So in the meantime, I've been working on something else. I've had this yarn for about two years now and have been wondering what to do with it.

This is Camelspin by Handmaiden and is 70% silk and 30% camel.  I'm not sure of the colourway (because it is never marked on the tag) but I think it might be Nova Scotia.  While I was working on the sweater I got to a point where I needed to do a lot of counting and to really pay attention to what I was doing and decided (after I ripped out three inches of a sleeve for the second time) that perhaps it was no longer suitable for TV knitting.  So I started a scarf.

Curiously, knitting a lace pattern in front of the TV was easier than what was essentially knit 1 row, purl 1 row and increasing two stitches every 4 pattern repeats.  The scarf is about 48" long now - the plan is to knit until I run out of yarn.

One in Five...

I wasn't sure I was going to post about this but then at the last minute I decided to go ahead and do it.  I feel I owe you all an explanation for where I've been, and where all the knitting is.

I've been here since last spring which was the last time I was posting regularly but I haven't done much knitting. Or spinning. In fact, I haven't been doing much of anything. I'm not talking or participating in online forums (not even reading many of them anymore); I didn't take care of my garden last year after planting it so had a poor harvest (except onions - I had great onions). I'm not participating in much of anything anymore. Except sleeping - and even that has been of poor quality.

So it was with mixed feelings that I received a diagnosis today of severe depression and anxiety. Mixed because nobody wants to be ill or hear that there is something wrong with them, but now that I know what the problem is, I can do something about it.  And that is a powerful place to be - at least that is what I'm telling myself.

As for the knitting, I made socks for people for Christmas this year and a hat for my son for Yule.  And once all the obligatory gift knitting was done, I stood back and looked at what I had for myself.  If you recall, I had been working on Flutter by Amy Herzog.  I was finding the pattern to be a bit of a slog but I pushed through and was halfway through the second sleeve when I accepted that deep in my heart of hearts, I wasn't in love with the sweater (though I adore how it is constructed).  And then I received the latest issue of Interweave Knits and categorically had to have the Verchères Pullover on the cover.  So I took Flutter off the needles, unravelled the half sleeve and cast on for the new sweater.

And it's almost done.  I need a few buttons so I can place the buttonholes on the placket and then put the neckband in place. This feels like a bit of a milestone - the first thing in a long long time that I've cared about enough to finish.