Step Away

I'm clearly not destined to have this scarf.  Do you see the problem?

How about now....

I don't know how I did this.  This is about how big it was the first time I made it, when I realized I wasn't going to have enough wool to finish it.  I ripped it back totally, paid very careful attention to the rate of increase, started the even section in the middle one repeat early, and only did one repeat even instead of two before starting to decrease.  By rights, I should have lots of yarn left over.   Words fail me.
**actually, in the interest of full disclosure, words did not fail me but I'm trying to keep this family friendly.

So I did the only thing I could do.  I very carefully folded it up and put it away with the pattern before I poked my eyes out with the needles, or strangled myself with the cable.

And wound this into a cake.

This is from SweetGeorgia Yarns and is the January 2013 Sock Club yarn called "At the Ballet".   It is 50% merino and 50% silk so I'm not going to make socks out of it.  I prefer my socks to have 15 - 20% nylon simply because I think they wear better in the heel and toe.

I'm going to make another single skein scarf (glutton for punishment, I know...).  The pattern here is called Storm Warning by Liz Corke and you can find it on Ravelry.

As you can see, I've knit some of it and I don't totally like the combination of the yarn and pattern.  Firstly, I'm not a huge fan of garter stitch and a whole pile of this scarf is going to end up as one big swath of garter stitch.  Secondly, I think there is too much going on.  The sawtooth edging, the cable and the garter stitch are all textural elements and with the combination of the strongly varigated yarn, the texture is being lost.   If I had a tonal yarn, I think this would be perfect - even with the garter stitch.   I have a few ideas about how to change this so I'll work it again to this point and see what I think.

So did anything work out well this morning?  Well, yes as a matter of fact, something did work out well.  I simply adore the beads in this and whatever I end up doing, the beads will be part of it.

Update

I spent a few hours playing around and I now have this.  A simple twisted column on the top, a stockinette panel in the middle and I kept the beaded sawtooth motif at the bottom.  This has potential.

Thursday Update

Today was a work from home day - what a relief.  A relief because last night there was a howling wind for most of the night and I never sleep well with a wind like that.  A relief because it means I don't have to drive to and from work.  The past few days - for one reason or another - I've had two-hour commutes (yes - each way) and as much as I like what I do, I can live without that.

And because I'm working from home there is no dress code.  I wore fleece pants and an old sweatshirt today.  Not there there is a strict dress code at my workplace; I'm a software engineer so I can wear just about anything but there is something liberating about going to work in slippers with your feet up on the couch.

I also did this today.

This is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Roving.  Despite the fact that there is a Wool Depot 30 minutes from my house, I decided to give Knit Picks a try.  I was pleased with how quickly the items were shipped and I was happy that when the discount code on the catalogue wasn't recognized at the checkout online, I wrote a little note of explanation  - and the discount was applied when my credit card was billed!  This roving isn't quite as 'easy' as the Blue-Faced Leicester I did last time, It doesn't have much crimp so doesn't grab onto itself as easily but I think as I get into a rhythm with it, it's getting finer and more consistent.

I also did more work on Semele last night.  

If all goes well, this should be finished, washed and blocked within a week.  I'll be happy to finish this as I have something else I want to start....and I'm sure you're getting tired of looking at the same thing day after day!

Lakeshore Drive

So I finished spinning up the roving from SweetGeorgia Yarns.  This was 28g (1 oz)  from the spinning colour six pack in Lakeshore Drive.  The fibre is Superwash Blue-Faced Leicester - for those of you who care to know such things.

I'm really quite taken with this.  I even managed to get a sneaky photo of my camera shy cat.

 

It isn't plied as tightly as I'd like it to be, but I figure this is still a learning process.  I know I can run this through my wheel again to put more twist into it - I might go ahead and do that anyway.

But I really am pleased with the colours in the end result.  

The Semele scarf is progressing too.  I've passed the halfway point and have started decreasing towards the end point.  Apologies for the poor quality photo.  I only ever seem to think of getting a picture of this after the sun has gone down.

Progress

Some days I amaze myself.  I can't believe how well weighting the yarn worked to take the extra twist energy out of this this!  Don't mistake me, there is still a little too much but the hank isn't winding itself up anymore.

This is actually usable.  There is roughly 80 yards.

And this is making progress

I think I better head out and buy a lottery ticket while my luck is holding.

Spinning Saturday

I'm not sure where the idea of "Spinning Tuesday" started.  I've heard it on Knitty and I've heard it from the Yarn Harlot.  A Google search shows that loads of others are now taking part in Spinning Tuesdays - so many that it's actually becoming a 'thing'.

But Tuesday is a lousy day for me; I don't think my boss would take too kindly to me saying "Sorry - I'm not going to be at work today.  Today is Spinning Tuesday".  And by the time I get home, I'm not much interested in spinning.  Besides, I need better light for spinning than for knitting and it's dark when I get home.

But I want to spin.  I've got some big dreams for the roving piling up in the closet and I'm not going to become a better spinner simply by wishing I could participate in Spinning Tuesday.  So I am declaring Saturday to be "Spinning Saturday".  No, not every Saturday and I can assure you there will be weeks where for one reason or another it will slide to Spinning Sunday, but this is the goal - to do more spinning and actually knit something with my handspun.

So this is what I did today.  I had 40g (about 1.5 oz) of roving from Windblest Farms.  Windblest is a farm quite close to where I live that raises Leicester sheep.  I picked up this roving at the Almonte Fibre Festival last fall.  I tried to spin it a few weeks ago and had no luck with it - it was lumpy and kept breaking; a very frustrating experience.  But curiously, I could spin it on a spindle with no problems at all.  This lead me to realize that I'm not pre-drafting well enough.   You can see that its quite a dense roving.

I didn't get a good picture of the singles spun onto the bobbin but they looked really good.  It was a fine strand and was surprisingly even.  So I wound it off the bobbin into a center pull ball and plied it back onto the wheel.  Herein lies the problem - it was plied too tightly so now there is too much twist in the finished yarn.  I washed it, and hung it up with a weight (I used an old water jug) to see if I could get it to relax a bit.

I'm disappointed that there is so much twist, but the finished yarn is pretty even and about the gauge I was hoping to get.  I think now it's just a question of practice before I get it the way I want it.

In other knitting news, I continued work on the Semele scarf  today and finished the second chart.  Now, comes the real test - can I count to four consistently to ensure an even increase?

Stay tuned - I'll post more pictures of this as a work in progress.

Forced Change

I heard some bad news today.  My sister-in-law was laid off from her job after 27 years with the same company.  It's a rotten thing to have happen and I think it's going to be a rough few days (weeks?) for her as she tries to get her feet under her again.  She's got what appears to be a good severance package but without going into too much detail (because this isn't really my story to share), it could have been much better.

The funny thing about forced change like this though is that in my experience it always works out for the best.  All my friends have lost their jobs at some point and each and every one of them has ended up in a better situation than they were in before.  Truly - every single one of them; me included.  I'm sure you have similar stories.  So why is it that if it always works out so well that we avoid it like the plague and send condolences to the person who lost their job?

I don't have answers, though I suspect its something along the lines of "people don't like uncertainty" or "pressing financial commitments".   But I suspect the real answer is about control - I don't know anyone who goes out of their way to court change like this, but I know lots of people who have voluntarily left jobs for something else; me included.  But I was the one who decided to leave the old job and I had something to go to.  I was the one who called the shots, who decided if, when, where, how and why.  That's a pretty powerful position to be in.

On a related note, I took a deep breath today and unraveled Semele, my scarf which demonstrated that I can't reliably count to four.  It went from being 95% done to being very undone.

But you know what?  This too has ended up being a good thing even though it looks like a setback - I read the entire directions again and am using the actual printed instructions instead of what I thought they said and the whole thing looks better.  I can tell already that this end is going to block out to a better shape than what I had before.

Now before I'm publicly flogged, I'm well aware that ripping out a scarf isn't in the same category - the same universe - as losing a job - that feels more like having your right arm ripped off.  But just like when the scarf wasn't working out, being forced to start over will produce a better end product and for my lovely and talented SIL, this forced change will surely produce something better than she had.

Loose Ends

It was -24C/-11F last night when I came home from the movies (I saw The Hobbit if you were wondering. Great show.) Today it has 'warmed up', if you can call it that, to -14C/7F. The water lines to the two sinks and toilet in my downstairs bath are frozen because the pipes are on the exterior wall. I'm not sure what Einstein thought that was a good idea when the bathroom was being built and truthfully I didn't make the connection when we were looking at the house, but now that Chuck isn't working, it's going to change.

In the meantime, the pellet stove is blazing away, and the dogs have lost all interest in going outside.

And I want a new sweater and am increasing interested in some fingerless mitts. Thing is, I have way too many projects on the go as it is. Granted, except for one, they're all small but don't think I can justify starting a sweater until I've finished a few of the current works in progress.  So, in no particular order, there is:

a. A pair of mittens.  These were started in the summer with the intention of being a gift.  Without going into too much detail, the intended recipient is no longer around so I stopped work on them.  But they're still great mittens made of Alpaca.  They fit me.  And it's -14 outside.  I should really finish them.

b. Socks.  I started these just for something to do with my hands one night in early December and someone commented on them.  I thought I might give them as a gift to the commenter, but I ended up with something far better for that person.  And truthfully, I really liked the yarn so wasn't keen on giving it away (Tardis/Indigodragonfly).  In the end, I've decided to keep them.

c. Socks.  While the socks in point b were being knit, I realized that I didn't know how big the potential recipients feet were so I stopped after I knit the first sock and didn't graft the toe.  I was considering wrapping just one and having her try it on to see if they fit.  As mentioned, I decided to keep them but while waiting for Christmas, I started another pair for me.  I have the first one completed.  These are 20,000 Lawyers Under the Sea by Indigodragonfly.

d. Stole.  This was going well  until sometime in October, or possibly early November, when my lovely dog expressed his approval of the yarn by 'playing' with it.  The ball exploded everywhere and I've only just recently re-wound it.  It's ready to be worked on again.  At the rate I'm going, this will be ready in the spring which honestly is about the time I'd like to have it.  The pattern is Autumn Arbor Stole by Anne Hanson knit in Amethyst Marrakesh by HandMaiden

e. Shawl.  I demonstrated an inability to count to four consistently so the first half of this is longer than the second half.  No big deal, except I don't have enough yarn for the second half.  I really like the pattern and yarn combination so I'll do it again.  But I'll be a little more conscientious about counting to four.  This is also 20,000 Lawyers Under the Sea by Indigodragonfly in a Merino Silk blend.  Before anyone asks, it's different enough from the sock yarn that I can't make up the difference using that.

Knitting Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything related to knitting so without further ado, here's what's going on.

This is called Semele (you can find it on Ravelry here) and is knit in Indigodragonfly's Merino Silk 4-ply Sock yarn.  This is lovely stuff to work with, very soft and the finished product has a wonderful sheen. In the right light, it will be almost iridescent   The colour is called 20,000 Lawyers Under the Sea.  Kudos to Kim for endless creativity and a spot of humour in naming her yarn.  I'm undecided who is going to get this when it's done.  It might end up under the tree for Christmas.  Then again, I do like it so I might keep it.  

This one is definitely going to be under the tree.  Since I don't know if the individual in question reads this I'm going to be very vague about the recipient.

This is knit in a lovely baby llama from Illimani.  According to their website, once llama has been "dehaired"  (i.e. the coarse outer hair has been removed) the resulting fleece is as soft as cashmere,  while being warmer, lighter and stronger than wool.  I believe it.  This is a fairly thick scarf but still has a lovely drape to it.  Having worked with cashmere, I agree this is as soft and now that it's long enough to pool in my lap as I work, I can tell it will be very warm.  I hope the recipient likes it.  Apologies for the dog hair in the photo - some things you just can't get away from around here.  Dog hair is one of them.

A last minute "gotcha", is my brother announced that he's moving in with his girlfriend.  She's a lovely girl and I'm very happy that she'll be part of our family, but dammit, now that she's part of the family I have to figure her into the family knitting.  I mentioned much earlier - last March I think, that all the women were getting scarfs for Christmas.  I found out her favourite colour is pink so here we go - one more scarf to be done before Christmas in what is becoming my go-to scarf yarn CashSilk Lace by sweetgeorgia yarns.  I figure since the rest of my shopping will be done online, I can spend the time I'd normally spend plowing through herds in a mall sitting at home and knitting.  

Oh, and a pair of socks too!  Recipient to be announced.

I can do this....I think.