Head, Shoulders, Knee Socks and Toes

I've been sitting (emphasis on "sitting"), making so many things, that I should get up and exercise with the kids: ♪head, shoulders, knee socks and toes.🎵

We know how short the winters in California can be, so when a request was submitted to the management for a sweater with a hood ("I grew out of the last one"), I had to jump on it. I knit this 80's or 90's Pingouin design in just under three weeks!

Wearing a mask, I went into a store and bought this yarn, not realizing how much it smelled. I couldn't knit with the yarn until I'd made it into a skein (hold hands out at shoulder distance apart and wrap the yarn around them over and over and...), washed it, left it to air out and off-gas and finally turn it into a ball, again.

I couldn't knit with this right away either. But that's because when I bought it, it was a carded yak/silk fiber from Alexandra at WEFF. I had the joy of spinning it, followed by knitting up this deliciously soft yarn!

I've never made knees socks before. These were a treat. I bought the yarn at a new LYS (local yarn store), The Knitting Lounge. This is  Uneek Sock by urth yarns. The yarn is hand-dyed and self-striping. And I did something else new with these. If you look at the sock on the right, you might see that the toe is shaped for the left foot. That's right (correct)! Like shoes, these socks are not interchangeable.

Now, if you're thinking everything goes smoothly every time, pshaw! First we knit, then we rip. Then, we knit again.

All better. This is another self-striping yarn. 

Some of my hand knit socks are 20 plus years old. I saw this technique on Youtube. You see, there was a hole...

...and then there wasn't!

So far, this little piggy has stayed home. She was made from a kit I picked up last summer.

I had a box of old fabric that either needed a new home or to be re-purposed. This cloth used to be a valance in our kitchen. I took out the hems and cut it into strips. Then, Sophie, my loom, and I gave each other the eye until I finally put on my big girl panties and braved asymmetry...

together.

When we were done, I learned a new technique for finishing the hems of the rag rugs. It's called a Philippine edge. It's almost like making a braid along the fell of the cloth.

Now that the rugs are done, I've been enjoying looking at them displayed like this too much to put them on the floor. That should change soon. The yarn for my next warp will be here tomorrow. 

Since Last We Spoke

I don't think you can quite call it a spinning frenzy, but since last we spoke

I made up a two ply of superwash BFL (blue faced leicester) in blood orange.

And, I spun up this bright, superwash merino/nylon from Wooly Lizard.

It is also two ply.

I've finished spinning up this BFL fiber, again by Sweet Georgia, called Smitten. I tried to make it two ply, as well. Sadly, all the pretty colors disappeared. The not so technical term for that is "muddy".  So, I'm waiting for a pretty something from Elff and Sandy at Redfish to spin up and complement these bright colors.

At the same time, I've been struggling with this summer purchase. I'd never tried spinning flax. Part of what's different is that I have to sit with a bowl of water to keep my fingers damp. It's starting to get easier, but I've given myself permission to give up if it stops being fun. To be announced.

Usually, I'm fairly successful with the basic, technical aspects of weaving and spinning. With untold masses of handspun piling up, I've decided to challenge myself and try to do something with it and at the same time, to learn something more complex. I thought that twill would show off the pretty handspun yarn I'd made. In this picture, at the bottom of the sample, the cloth was too dense. At the top, I tried spreading it out, but it still wasn't right. So, I did some unweaving (I hate wasting yarn) and just made some plain weave (also called, tabby). 

Not bad for a first attempt. The colors are so pretty., but the cloth doesn't hang (it's called the hand) the way I'd like. Hmmm. What to do next time? Maybe my new DVD by Sara Lamb on Spinning to Weave will help. Stay tuned.

On the knitting front, I decided to make up a black something for work that I could throw on instead of a smock. It looks dowdy to me, but it's the black background I needed.

Please forgive the over-bright exposure it was the only way to show the cloth. This pattern (from Vogue Knitting, fall 2015, p.63) is actually knitted up in three rectangles! Fun!

On Sophie, I used a pastel, variegated and a natural colored cotton for the warp and an aqua for the weft of this baby blanket (pattern from Book of 8 Shaft Patterns, p.107. Stashbuster!

Mama's happy!

Ummmm. What?! Really? Really! It's Very Soft and on its way to becoming

my current project, another baby blanket on Sophie. This pattern is from Handwoven, May/June '96. I changed the treadling, so that I wouldn't have to press two or more treadles at the same time. Note to self: next time, stop at the hand (on the girl/boy), instead of going part way up the arm of the next pattern repeat.

Please forgive the reflections on the glass. 
I just brought the next two pictures back from the framer. 

This counted cross-stitch was such a pleasure to work on (think "paint by numbers"). The artist who designed it is a magician. There are only six colors, ranging from black to pale green and pale gray. The unstitched white areas are actively a seventh color. Amazing!

And this needlework was a gift to us from my niece, purchased  when she lived in China. The framer is getting lots of work from me, lately.

I was honored to be commissioned to make this tallis for my friend's granddaughter.

The young lady chose the colors and designed it with me. The bag, reinforcement squares at the corners and atarah (collar decoration) were all made on a separate warp with the same threading.

Here's a close-up. It's woven in tencel and a fine metallic yarn for the thin stripes. The tencel is sett at 24epi. There are 18 of the wide stripes (18 being a 'magic' number, meaning 'Life').

I bought this wool a couple of years ago on one of our driving trips.

Just as we have no idea where we're heading as we drive, I have no idea what this yarn's going to be when it grows up.

So, it's on to the next! This fiber is a hand-dyed merino wool from Malabrigo. I had to (arm twisting) buy it. I've only ever seen them make their pretty knitting yarns (...and bought a few!).