there's been spinning!

A verb for keeping warm - corridale - split the pink from the purple and spun them separately - then n-plyed them. I got about 45 yards of each.

Sweet Georgia Fiber - superwash BFL - spun and plyed (2 ply) on Christmas day - nice and bulky - club colourway from July 2012

And on the wheel as of last night - and the first thing on the wheel this year - a gift from Dana of the Just One More Row Podcast and Unwind Yarn Co. It's Mulberry silk silver from Tyrannosaurus Knits. I got almost half done last night - I like it, it isn't even but for my first time spinning silk I think I'm doing well. I'll 2 ply it and see what yardage I get - I could go so super fine with this fiber (and sometimes unintentionally do) but I'd rather more bulk right now - maybe that's because of the cold weather? I'll certainly buy more of this (though not from this dyer - she no longer seems to be dying)

On the Wheel and the Needles

Not great at posting - and I think the goal eventually will be 3 posts per week. If I could do 1-2 posts per week in the near future I think that would be great. Today we'll take a look at recent spinning.

Just off the wheel - superwash merino in Wanderlust from Sweet Georgia yarns - September 2012 fiber club shipment. I love this club - always ships near the start of the month and because she's based in Vancouver BC I get my yarn fast. If I had my act together I'd be the one posting the first spoiler photo! And she seems like good people.

I had issues with breakage while skeining the yarn - I think I'm under spinning and/or under plying my yarn. I got about 450 yards from 4 oz of fiber. Oh and it is a 2 ply

Previously on the wheel - Merino, bamboo nylon blend from Gnome Acres in Southwest Zombie. It goes through the 3 colours 3 times - it is an n-ply. Amanda's good people too.

I got just under 230 yards from 4 oz.

And before that was Swirl BFL in Beryl from the Unwind Yarn Company - Dana's good people too - I'm saying that a lot this post but it's true - these dyers take their businesses seriously, are nice and have a great product. I'll be buying from all of them again.

I got about 400yds from 4.3 oz - no wonder it took so long to spin and ply...

New to the stash and soon on the wheel (after what I've got on there is done - might be a bit because it is spinning very very fine - I've got the first of 2 plies done)...

This is the October 2012 shipment of the Sweet Georgia Fiber club in Turning Leaf on BFL (not superwash). LOVE IT!

And in other news, winter was here for a brief visit and has left the building temporarily. First transit disruption of the season - buses were having issues with the black ice this past Thursday:

It looks worse than it was, I think the temperature that morning was only -4C (25F) so it isn't that cold. It felt cold-ish but it is self preservation to say that it wasn't cold because it will get much much colder.

On the needles:

Jedi Mind Trick socks - Cookie A sock club August shipment

This is an old photo but it gives you an idea. I'm now well into the foot of the second sock - and am doing the foot plain so that they are more comfortable in shoes.

I also need to knit 2+ more of these hats for friends and coworkers - I've knit 3 so far - resounding success

The pattern is the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch

I went to add labels and thought I'd lost my post - but blogger now auto-saves. I was ready to say I hated blogger and then noticed the auto save thing on the new post - right now I'm feeling some Blogger love... Then I noticed that the photos I'd linked from Flickr weren't showing up - less pleased but still happier than if I'd had to re-write this post...

Spinning update

I've not been spinning all that much - and that trend will likely continue until after the exam - knitting is easier to pick up and put down... As before, links are to Ravelry entries. I should put more details in this post - but I don't usually measure wraps per inch, and yardage isn't that interesting...

Some Greenwood Fiberworks BFL - nice stuff, like the product, trying to figure out what to knit with it. I'm starting to order 8oz of fiber instead of 4oz in the hopes that with more yardage I'll find patterns that fit the yarn with greater ease

And some organic merino that I used to knit my cowl that I posted about yesterday - thick and thin, but for the most part not too bad.

Smocked French Press Cozy

I heavily modified a hat pattern (essentially took the stitch pattern from it) to make a cozy for my french press - my Smocked French Press Cozy.



I know that if you are a coffee purist you would decant the coffee after steeping so that it stops but I'm not a purist and I'd like warm coffee later in the day without having to warm it up.



Plus, this looks way cuter.



I've also been working on a sock that I cast on back in September 2009 - turns out that socks go fast if you work on them... And I've been spinning but I have no photos of that.

Spinning

My wonderful husband bought me a spinning wheel for Christmas. Well, I bought it (because I went to Shuttleworks to try out a few) but he suggested it. I tried a few and decided on the Ladybug by Schacht. I really like it, and am having some success with it. I've tentatively named her Aurora, but that is subject to change on a whim.

This is the only photo that has much of the wheel in view - these are the first singles spun on the wheel. The fiber is Northern Lights Wool Top by Louet - another Christmas gift.

Which ended up becoming this



Since then, I've spun the following:
Fiber Optic Yarns 80 BFL 20 Tussah Silk (a batt)

Fiber Optic Yarns Superwash Merino and Tencel Roving

Mystery brand Merino and Tencel

and finally, Fiber Optic Yarns Footnotes Unspun (a pencil roving)


The Footnotes yarn has already been made into a Lacy Baktus



So you see, in the past 3.5 months I've added a craft (crochet) and greatly expanded a craft (spinning).

Spindle Acquisition

We interrupt your regularly scheduled posting (Wordless Wednesday) for an important announcement - the newest addition to my spindle collection arrived today - an Art Nouveau Filigree Golding RingSpindle! I decided that since I didn't buy myself an present when I finished my masters I was entitled, or cleared to purchase this beauty. Now when I want to buy another one I'll have to come up with another excuse. I blame my weakness on the Spindler's group on Ravelry.



And this is Ellie inspecting my spindle stash - the other spindles are a large Schacht spindle (2 3/4 oz), a smaller Schacht spindle (2 oz), a small unfinished (for now) Louet spindle (1 3/8) and a Tiger Mountain Cascade Spindle (less than 1/2 oz)


Now I have to go play with my new toy - but what to spin? I ordered some fiber from an Etsy seller (FiberOptic) but because it is coming from the states AND was ordered the day after the spindle - it hasn't gotten here yet.

Progress

So I've started the MS3 - I only have pictures of my swatch (sorry, the floor is a mess and the lighting is poor right now...) but I am about half way into clue #2. Right now there have been 3 clues posted so I am behind, but around the middle of the pack in terms of where other people in the group are.



I am knitting in Jaggerspun Zephyr Ebony (one of the recomended colours). I had no laceweight in the pile that is supposedly my stash (it is small, other knitters smile and nod when I tell them the size of my stash - they know it will grow). Most of the yarn in my stash has a project attached, including the other Zephyr I bought (Crimson I think).

I finished the Hanging Garden Stole but have not blocked it yet - the blocking wires are on order from the LYS (they have to order some in).

Here is a cute kitty picture to distract you from the fact that there is no lace picture here...



I am trudging away at the cabled cardigan - I have put the fronts on the back and am knitting the collar (shawl collar - holy cow it takes time and yarn!). I hope I like it when it is done - still not sure if I will.

I'm pretty worn out from work. That is the trouble with making your own hours and having a "get sh*t done" job. I have a list of things to do and they need to get done in the next month or two. The problem is I always had something to do every week since before Christmas - I think I took 3 or 4 days off at Christmas. Other than that it has been a lot of work work work. I have a lot done - in fact I have more than half of the major experiment in my thesis done. But I am tired. Soooooo 4 day weekend - tomorrow is my Friday. Well sort of, I'm going to work a bit on Thursday but from home, and seeing as I have two cats and a husband at home right now - I'm not sure how much will get done. I will have a window by where I work though - this is an improvement on my office and lab which are both in the basement of a building.

Too much talking and not enough cute kitty pictures, here is another distracter picture... Zoie, it took me 10 pictures to get a good picture of her (and the lighting is off a bit) because she likes to move, unlike Ellie who seems to be the type of cat that loves having her picture taken.


Zoie likes being brushed so much that today after brushing her I found a bald spot, well a less hairy spot. Oh dear!

I am doing the gym thing too. I gained a lot of weight over the winter somehow (possibly related to depression and anti-depressant drugs). I've been exercising for over a month now but see no results. sigh. well, I'll keep with it and hopefully I'll see something. I have to change my eating patterns too but that is very difficult for me. Any recommendations? Any idea about a yarn reward system? My problem is I like food and I like sweets. Oh, and I have little self control.

My mom and dad are coming Thursday night for a few days - gotta clean house and tidy. It is the tidy that gets us. With 900 square feet to clean it isn't bad - it is the clutter and seeming inability to put stuff away that gets us messy. Perhaps I'll send a Salvation Army donation bag home with my mom (I don't know where to drop it off here in Calgary).

And on a final note, it was our 1 year anniversary on the 8th - here we are, it is my intention that we should have a picture of us as a couple every year on our anniversary - we'll see how long it lasts. This is a self portrait because we forgot to have one taken when we were at the restaurant.



ETA: Oh yeah, and I took a spinning class on Saturday at Make 1 Yarn Studio. I ended up with two drop spindles and a pound of fiber (half of which is already spun!). I am addicted. The spinning wheels didn't agree with me (the whole drafting while you spin didn't work) but hopefully in a few years the drop spindle practice will make me much better with that part. At that point I know I'll fall down the rabbit hole (and hard, of course the wheel I liked best was also the most expensive - or the one that I would have liked had the spinning wheels agreed with me). I will post pictures of my handspun after I have set the twist (likely will do that tomorrow so that I can show it off to my mom all finished and pretty). I want to keep a little bit as a reminder of my first handspun but with the rest I think I will make a scarf. Not sure of the pattern I want - something simple. The colour has a bit of varigation in it but not much. Not enough for another "my so called scarf"...