Category: Blog

Finding I don’t have a lot to say right at the moment.

But I have been doing quite a bit of knitting.

See?

Boo Kitty really likes it

And I do too. It’s coming along very nicely.

I’m almost at the point where I join the shoulders together and get to try it on The Man to see how it fits.

I hoped to have some dyeing to show off in this post, but my results yesterday were rather disappointing. Still trying to figure out what went wrong.
Has anyone else used this product?

I was all excited about the neat colors. Tried the “Olive” yesterday, and it was total bust. Turned my creamy white alpaca a yellowy gray. Ick. Sure I can salvage it by overdying with something else,, but what a waste.

And I swear that I followed the directions.

Now I’m almost afraid to try the other colors.

Dag.

Though we’ve had a beautiful Indian summer here recently, we’ll probably have frost any time now, so it’s pretty much the end of the garden season.

I completed the garden tear-down yesterday,  and all that’s left out there now is the punkins-

Here is one posing with sweater-in-progress. (They look very Halloween-y together, no?)

The sweater knitting is coming along very quickly.  I got 10 inches or so done
this week! And I might actually have enough yarn already spun to finish it. Hard to tell at this point, though. Will probably work up another 1 or 2 skeins just to be sure.

Nothin’ But Blue Skies got navajo plied up into a really soft, squooshy chunky weight yarn- and enjoyed a little quality time snuggled up with some King apples from our big old apple tree in the garden.

And here she is against her namesake- pretty good match, eh?

We got off to a bit of a slow start today

But managed to pull it together and turn goodies from the garden

into savory sauce –

and dried bite size treats-

Also got the new storm door installed-

Just in time, too. I think the weather is supposed to change tomorrow…

Whew~

In wool news- I’ve got Blue Skies on the bobbin-

and am planning in earnest for The Man’s next sweater.

Option One: Cambridge Jacket

Option Two: Oregon Vest (with sleeves added)

My swatch is coming out at about 3.75 stitches per inch on size 9s

Either one would be just a starting point, of course.

So I just have to get my plan together and cast on.

If only I could get my desk back!

I asked the folks on Ravelry if anyone had ever seen a wheel like the one I just bought last week- and someone referred me to the following video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2iY4VFDiZI&hl=en&fs=1&]

(My wheel makes her entrance at about 1:15)

So, it would seem that she’s more likely Serbian or Croatian in origin than Welsh,, though she certainly might have come through the UK on her way here.

Neat, eh?

(I’m still not decided on a name- gonna take another week to think about it, though I’m leaning towards Sophie.)

Yesterday, the man installed nylon bearings for her wheel (where there had previously been small pieces of cloth and axle grease). Big improvement. Wheel spins more freely now.

I think what we’re going to do next is redo the threads on the flyer shaft so that it can use Kromski whorls.  The current threads are a really odd size (no surprise there).

Here is the girl hanging out in the yard with the first two skeins of yarn that we’ve collaborated on.

With her current ratio (approx 5:1), she does a really nice soft spun single.

Anyone know of a woodworker that makes custom bobbins?

In other news, I’ve reworked the Zauberball socks through the heel. I was distracted for a bit trying out a different kind of heel shaping, but in the end, decided to stick with my usual style.

And in honor of the lovely fall weather we’ve been having, I dyed some East Friesian wool and blended it with white alpaca. I’m calling it “Nothin’ but Blue Skies”.

Have a good week!