Goals for 2024

The new year is one of my favorite times of the year. When I worked, I would try to save some vacation for the week between xmas and New Year's Day, to put things in order (especially paper - whatever happened to our paperless society?!?) Now I'm permanently "on vacation" but I still like the idea of a fresh start.

I frequently mention how much fiber I have and how I don't need more. Sticking to a goal of not buying any roving or yarn for at least this year feels doable... if I can refrain from browsing the offerings at the Little Shop of Spinning when we have spin-ins there.

There are also a lot of UFOs around here. The yarn of the ones I know I will never finish could be recycled. For 2024, I would like to complete a self-designed poncho I started in 2015. The bulk of the knitting is done - I just need to do the finishing.

Dyeing has fallen by the wayside. In the past, I dyed yarn, but there is an embarrassing amount of undyed roving in my to-be-spun cupboard. I'd like to get that dyed, one way or another.

So, I have three goals for 2024:

1. Buy no fiber this year
2. Finish the poncho
3. Dye roving

That feels doable.

Knitting: The ends of the Lempi sweater all woven in! It took about four hours, as each stripe had two ends. (Note to self: No more striped sweaters!) Now I just need to add pockets and buttons.

Spinning: Still on the orange portion of the current roving mix. Since I plan to 3-ply this yarn, I'm spinning fine thread. Fine spinning takes a l-o-n-g time.

According to placemats in Chinese restaurants, I was born in the year of the dragon. Next year (tomorrow!) a new year of the dragon starts. Recently I read that it will be a year of bad luck for all us dragons. We'll see, but I'm hoping not!

Grayish cowl

A while back, I purchased a couple of braids of roving from Little Shop of Spinning. I spun one braid, then two-plied it. The other I chain-plied. This is the story of what became of the chain-plied yarn.

My goal was to use up all of this yarn, so I decided to provisionally cast on 36 stitches which would be grafted to the end of the knitting. Theoretically, this would also leave the possibility of making a mobius cowl by twisting one end a half turn.

The pattern is basically knit 4 rows of garter stitch, knit an eyelet row, then purl a row. At each end, I omitted the eyelet for a couple of stitches, to create a border of sorts. I meant to slip the first stitch of each row, but didn't always do that right, hence the wonky edges. Also, there is a definite slant to the whole thing which I was not able to completely correct with blocking.

Pattern: my own
Yarn: handspun tencil, silk, and merino, chain-plied
Needles: US9

The fabric was not long enough to twist into a mobius, so I simply grafted the two ends, using instructions found online (and I can't find again). If you can do kitchener stitch on stockinette, you can graft garter stitch.

While comfy and soft, this cowl is not my best work. It will end up on the xmas gift table tomorrow, in case anyone wants it. If not, I have a new cowl I can wear with my new black coat... which I have yet to wear this winter, as the weather is not very wintery.

Grayish socks

As promised, here is a posting about Bigfoot's xmas socks. Until I finished them, I didn't realize that the non-gray areas were not the same, but in the pix this variance is barely noticeable. I think it worked out.

Pattern: Short-row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Zitron Trekking Sport (colorway 1498) and XXL (colorway 703)
Needles: US1
Modifications: None to speak of

Per usual, I used the solid gray for the toes, heels, and cuffs. For this size, each round is 80 stitches. As a test of my new "recipe", the number of rounds from toe to heel and heel to cuff are each 80. I'll be curious to see how these fit.

I was going to make my SO a pair of socks from the leftover yarn, but I really did not like either of these types. Both are "light fingering" and felt like they still contained lanolin, so they were slippery on my metal needles and difficult to work with. I will cross this brand off my sock yarn list.

Confession

Lately, I have been cheating on my fiber hobbies - with clay. What started out as a mild interest is turning into an obsession. The only thing holding me back is I don't have a good place to work on pottery here at home. And I've had to put a pause on the pottery because I'm hosting xmas eve here.

That is not to say that I have abandoned fiber altogether. There are simply not enough hours in the day. They both take a certain amount of time.

Knitting: I finished the cowl; separate post to follow.
Spinning: The orange-ish bit from the superwash merino roving I have been working on is so pretty!

I've gotten to the point in my life that, instead of gift shopping, I just give my kids money. Also, the "gift shelf" will be loaded with my handmade items, although there is no pressure for anyone to pick out anything. I'll take my granddaughter shopping after xmas, in case there is anything she didn't get (plus everything will be on sale). I don't expect gifts myself, but each of my kids comes up with something cute or fun.

Enjoy your holiday!

Grateful for modern medicine

This past week I saw my shoulder surgeon for a follow-up exam. The x-rays look good, and he seemed happy with my strength and flexibility. He asked me how I've been using my shoulder. I said, Yoga, even downward dog, but the simple answer is, For almost everything.

I can reach tall shelves, steer the riding lawn mower, push a vacuum cleaner, flip the mattress on my bed. I can lift 40 pounds of dog food, scrub the shower, chase down cobwebs, knead dough. I can even cross my arms, something I have not been able to do for years. Everything is easier with two functioning, painfree shoulders.

If I had not had my hip replaced, I would probably be in a wheelchair by now, as the hip socket was deteriorating. If I were in a wheelchair, my shoulders would prevent me from being able to get in and out of it on my own. I would be horribly incapacitated and completely dependent on others.

Once in a while, someone asks me if the replacement surgeries were worth it. Oh, YEAH. The healing period is a bit rough, but given enough time and physical therapy, the results are *wonderful*. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful for living in a time when bad joints can be fixed.

Knitting: I finished the jumbo socks for my son; separate post to follow. The merino-silk-tencil cowl is nearing completion as well.

Spinning: I'm in the midst of color #2 of the three-color braid of roving.

My calendar is looking pretty clear for the rest of this month (xmas not withstanding) and all of January. Winter is a good time to hunker down with fiber projects. And if it snows enough, I may even go cross country skiing.

Change o' plan

When I purchased a braid of roving from Little Shop of Spinning, I planned to spin it all up, then chain-ply to keep the color runs together. Well, it turns out the braid was basically three long color runs. So now I am going to spin each color run separately, then three-ply them together.

Knitting: Bigfoot's socks are done, except for weaving the ends in on the second one. Huzzah! I'm halfway through the merino-silk-tencel cowl.
Spinning: A spin-in at the above mentioned Little Shop of Spinning gave me a chance to make some progress on the aforementioned roving.

During the spin-in, another fiber friend stopped by. She has been knitting a cabled blanket for a wedding present since last March, with the wedding a week away. Occasionally, this fiber friend texts me about the weaving guild, but she hasn't made it to a meeting yet. I pointed out that, if she learned to weave, a blanket could be completed in a fraction of the time. I love to knit, and I have knit small blankets, but some things just lend themselves more to weaving.

As if I don't have enough fiber, I purchased some black roving yesterday. I have a plan for it, as yarn to contrast with another handspun yarn, but I am a little concerned that the black roving is not superwash, while the other is. I supposed as long as the end product is hand washed, it shouldn't matter. Right?