Sunday, December 15, 2024

Program list

Over the past few years, the gestalt of the local spinning guild has changed. As many of the "old guard" aged, a leadership vacuum developed which has been filled by newer, younger members who don't know the history of the guild and who aren't attached to the old ways of doing things. Instead of socializing and show-and-tell, they want programs. Fine.

Those programs have been somewhat... I don't want to say lame, so let's say not all they could have been. I had a couple of ideas that I thought "they" should do, then decided maybe I should just take charge, at least for the coming year. Needless to say, the leadership was more than happy to hand that responsibility over to me.

After soliciting ideas and lining up presenters, here is what I came up with:
  • January: Sometimes the weather causes this meeting to be cancelled, so a show-and-tell with the theme "Using leftovers", plus a yarn exchange (rehome your leftovers) seems flexible.
  • February: Travelogue. One of our members spent some time in Austria this past summer and is eager to share her experiences.
  • March: Knitting, specifically sock knitting. Another member and I will share our sock knitting wisdom; members will be encouraged to wear their handknit socks and we'll have a sock fashion show.
  • April: Hands-on spinning lesson, in chain-plying, with "coaches" on hand to help out.
  • May: Judging fiber, in preparation for encouraging members to enter their fiber projects in the county fair.
  • June: Animals, specifically raising silk worms, which is a hobby of one of our members.
  • July: Annual picnic, show-and-tell with the theme organizing fiber; sell, swap, and/or give away tools and fiber and FO's.
  • August: Dyeing, specifically plant fibers; hands-on tie-dyeing of tee shirts
  • September: Fiber prep, specifically blending; hands-on drum carding, blending boards, etc.; fiber exchange.
  • October: Making money with fiber - festivals, retail, Etsy, etc.
  • November: Hands-on holiday craft (TBD)
  • December: Holiday party and gift exchange
I also want us to have a challenge for the year: finishing unfinished objects (UFOs). Maybe we can share those at the November meeting.

Knitting: Finished 'Graham' number three, and that's about all I can stand of that pattern. I started 'Giselle', a hat that can also serve as a cowl or an earband.

Spotted in the wild:


Now THAT is a useful bit of crochet!

Sunday, December 08, 2024

Handy ma'am (sort of)

At some point, my 10-year smoke detector decided time was up. It must have been when I was not home for an extended period of time, because I had no idea there was a problem until it began to act strangely. At first, I thought it was okay, as it responded appropriately to a manual test. A week later, it was mute. (Note: one is supposed to periodically test one's smoke detector by pressing the button on it. I had never done this. Shame on me.)

So I purchased a new 10-year smoke detector, thinking I could take the old one down and use the same bracket to mount the new one. Alas, sometime in the past 10 years, the manufacturer changed the bracket design. I took down the old bracket and discovered holes in the wall where an even older smoke detector had once been, holes that did not line up with the holes in the new bracket. *sigh*

I left everything sitting on the breakfast bar for about a week before deciding if I didn't act soon, there was going to be yet another newspaper article about a house fire where everyone died because the smoke detector was non-functional. Today I got out the drill, installed the new bracket, attached the new smoke detector, TESTED THE SMOKE DETECTOR, and now we are all safe.


Now I need to get hold of some spackle, and patch and paint where the old smoke detector was.

I wasn't as successful installing a portable, motion-activated light in my clothes closet. Can't win them all.

Knitting: I finished another slouchy hat, and my pattern modifications worked pretty well. I started a THIRD slouchy hat, plan to repeat the modifications, but will make the ribbing a bit longer.

Yesterday's spin-in at the Little House of Spinning was fun, or more fun for me, as there were fewer people there. When there is a big crowd (and by big, I mean about a dozen people), multiple conversations are going at once. My little AD/HD brain gets overloaded and I go home exhausted. Seven (plus or minus two) are about the right number.

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Another holiday down

My easy-peasy Thanksgiving day was a bit of a FAIL for the most part. While heading out to sweep the front porch, I noticed what looked like a leaf by the door that turned out to be POOP. I cleaned that up and inspected all my shoes, but ended up Crosswaving the entire house. The meat for the pot roast was so lean that it came out dry as a bone, and there was no fat for gravy. To top it all off, every one of the pets managed to puke somewhere. At least my SO's pie was delicious.

Knitting: Finished Bigfoot's socks. Finished one slouchy hat, but it came out kind of large with little drape. For the second one, I dropped a pattern repeat while moving up a needle size to see if that works better.

I have to laugh whenever I see the word "tablescape" on the Internet. The horizontal surfaces in my house are almost always cluttered, usually with fiber projects of one sort or another.


I did clear off most of this coffee table mess Thursday morning, and the dining room table as well so we had somewhere to eat. Since I will be focused on knitting xmas gifts for the foreseeable future, I hope both remain relatively clear until the holidays are over. (HA!)

Saturday, November 23, 2024

All knit, all the time

The holidays are coming, so I am focusing on handknits as gifts. My son and his girl friend each get a pair of socks, my daughter and granddaughter will be receiving slouchy hats, and I hope to have my SO's replacement scarf finished by then. Meanwhile, everything else will sit on the back burner.

Crochet: The second Emotional Support Chicken is done except for the piecing. In search of an easy pattern my granddaughter could work on independently, I started a double crochet cowl as an experiment; it looks like a contender.

Knitting: Bigfoot's socks are done but for the weaving of the ends. Slouchy hat number one is underway.

Last week I forgot to mention some sock yarn I purchased at Three Moons Fiberworks in Chesterton. It's ice dyed, a process that separates the individual colors that make up acid dye. I'm hoping it looks nice knitted up, not like camo.


And at the owl expo, I bought this Japanese knot bag from a vendor. By placing yarn inside and slipping one handle into the other, a knitter can be mobile while knitting. This would be useful when I am knitting in public but don't want to put my tote bag on the floor. It's also handy for car knitting.


I'm taking it (relatively) easy on Thanksgiving: pot roast (with potatoes, carrots, onions) and crescent rolls. My SO is baking a pumpkin pie. It will be a quiet day. Hope you enjoy yours.

Monday, November 18, 2024

Out and about

This past weekend, we had a family gathering in Michigan City (where my son lives), as we do every year around this time of year. Usually, we bring bad weather with us, but this time it wasn't too bad. We hike a bit and sightsee a bit and eat a lot. We do this instead of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

My SO and I visited the Lubeznik Center for the Arts. One of the current exhibits is called "Healers and Dreamers". Savneet K. Talwar is (among other things) a fiber artist and art therapist. These two pieces (one a smaller study of the other) are about the partitioning of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan in 1947 after the British left. The red line represents the Radcliff Line, an arbitrary border between the emerging states. The top piece was woven on a Jacquard loom.


One of the interactive elements of the exhibit was created by Rita Grendze. During the pandemic, she sifted through her recently deceased mother's yarn stash and unfinished objects. She created Collective Comfort from these materials.

When I hugged the piece below, I choked up, overcome with emotion. Whether they were internal feelings brought to the surface or the traumas absorbed by the piece itself, I don't know. I just found it a very moving experience.


We also visited the La Porte County Historical Society Museum. Like most local museums, there is a treasure trove of memorabilia, some of it nostalgic for my SO and me.


From farther into the past were uses for human hair.



It used to be nothing went to waste.

Crochet: While the knit version of the Emotional Support Chicken has yet to be assembled, I started on a crochet version.
Knitting: I was hoping to get some knitting done on our trip, but we were rather busy (and I drove). I'm on the toes of Big Foot's socks.

Every holiday season, my daughter requests more slouchy hats. I've noticed that the previous ones have pilled a lot, so I decided to knit some this year from Jamieson and Smith Shetland wool. Shetland wool has many qualities: it doesn't irritate because the fiber lacks guard hairs; it wears well; and it doesn't pill like so many other fibers (merino, I'm looking at you!) A good source for this wool is The Woolly Thistle. Requested colors were "neutral", so I purchased 'Flugga White', 'Shetland Light Grey', and 'Shetland Black'.


The program at last week's spinning guild meeting was about Tunisian crochet. It produces a lovely fabric. This book was the recommended one.


Per usual, I got a little excited about taking on yet another fiber craft. I've calmed down a bit now, but will probably check the book out from the local library to see just what it's all about.

Saturday, November 09, 2024

Am I a fiber snob?

I have about ten pairs of black pants in my closet, of various sizes and weights, none of which I wear on a regular basis (like not at all). They are "just in case" I need to wear something besides jeans. Most are polyester, not very warm in the winter.

Once upon a time, one could purchase a pair of wool slacks at a department store. That is what I would like, but finding something that is 100% wool and affordable is nearly impossible. I'm tempted to try sewing a pair... but they would probably hang unworn in the closet with the rest of my "dressy" pants. I'm open to suggestions.

Knitting: Cora the ESC is almost done - just need to put the pieces together and stuff her. Bigfoot's socks are a few rounds from the toes.


And that is about all the fibering I have done this past week. We drove to the Honeywell Center in Wabash to take in an exhibit by one of my fiber friends, and per usual, now I don't feel well. It seems every time we go somewhere, I pick up some fresh germs that leave me feeling low for a day or two. I need a nap.

Sunday, November 03, 2024

Road trip to Cranbrook

This past week, my SO and I drove up to Cranbrook Art Museum to see an exhibit by Toshiko Takaezu. The artist is known for her ceramics, but she also was a painter and a WEAVER. In fact, she was besties with Lenore Tawney (who has a cameo piece in the exhibit). We came for the ceramics (which were amazing), but the weaving was icing on the cake.

"Ne (Roots)"
Wool, cotton, linen, silk, and rayon (plain weave, knotted pile, wrapping)


Shades of Sheila Hicks

Lenore Tawney amongst the closed forms (moons)

Crochet: My granddaughter came over for a lesson today, but her attention kept wandering, so I went ahead and worked up most of the body of the jellyfish I am crocheting in parallel.


Knitting: I'm approaching the toes of Bigfoot's socks. Lately, several of my fiber friends have been knitting Emotional Support Chickens, so I started one, using naturally dyed yarn.


Spinning: The Tasman comeback is plied but not yet skeined. I started spinning some Wenslydale Longwool top, but I'm not enjoying it very much.

It is finally getting cool enough for wool socks and sweaters and wraps. (I'm wearing this wrap right now.) I bought several ribbed 100% cotton long-sleeved tops from JCP just for wearing under sweaters. Toasty!

Monday, October 28, 2024

DST is ending - huzzah!

I think it depends on which end of a time zone one lives in as to how one feels about Daylight Savings Time. My brother lives on the East Coast, the east side of the eastern time zone, so he *loves* having extra hours of sunlight at the end of the day. I, however, live on the western end of the same time zone and, being a morning person, miss the early hours of sunshine. Also, those early evenings are a fine time for fibering.

Knitting: I took a break from watching TV for a while, but now I am back at it, which means I am making better progress on Bigfoot's socks.
Spinning: I've been plying the Tasman comeback. I don't recall what my original plan was, but somehow I ended up with three bobbins of various amounts of singles. I three-plied them until one bobbin ran out. Now I am chain-plying the rest.

Chain-ply on left, three-ply on right

I finished frogging the curtain knit from denim yarn and am holding back on the sweater - it's so cute! There has been a pause on crochet lessons with my granddaughter due to scheduling conflicts. And the weaving was put on hold while I purchased a new car. What an ordeal! I hope that is the last car I ever have to buy.

Saturday, October 19, 2024

A-frogging we will go

I'd like to make more artisan market baskets out of cotton, as I have a lot of cotton AND several items knit from cotton that could be frogged. One item, or rather, items, are the pieces from a pair of knit dungarees that never reached final assembly. Those have all been frogged. Now I am working on frogging a curtain that hung in my bath for a while, long enough for the side facing the window to fade. There is also a sweater I knit for my granddaughter that she never wore. All that denim yarn could be recycled into market bags... someday. But first, one must frog.

Crochet: I decided instead of crocheting a whole rug, I would crochet a swatch. In other words, I stopped once the "rug" reached an 8" diameter and threw it in the wash to see how much it would shrink.
8" diameter before washing

7" diameter after washing

I had to stretch and flatten the piece while it was still wet, then weight it down with a heavy plate to get it flat again. I'm not so sure this design would work for a rug.
Knitting: I made some progress on the socks while sitting through my granddaughter's piano lesson.
Spinning: The Tasman comeback is all spun. Now I have a fair amount of plying to do.
Weaving: The scarf is tied on and ready to be woven.

This past week it was cool enough to wear wool sweaters... for a few days. Now it is back to short-sleeved tee shirts. I am so done with summer and summerlike weather.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Startitis

Lately I have had the urge to start a LOT of fiber projects. Despite being retired, I have only so much time and energy. What I really need is some finishitis.

Crochet: The lessons with my granddaughter continue. I've been working on a jellyfish pattern from a book to get a feel for how to do the one she likes. I also tried to start a crochet rug, but it's not going well.


Knitting: I worked on the socks at the recent spinning guild meeting.
Spinning: Yet *another* spin-in, this time with a group of friends; I worked on the last of the Tasman comeback.
Weaving: Started warping a log cabin scarf on the SampleIt for my SO.


I volunteered to help with the 2025 programs for the spinning guild. My motives are questionable - there are several programs I think we should do and the best way to see that they come to pass is to get involved in the planning. No one is objecting, though.

Monday, October 07, 2024

Disappointment

One of the spinning guild members brought samples of yarn dyed with amaranth to a meeting. It was pink! So I had to give amaranth a try.

I grew the plants myself (seeds ordered from Pinetree Garden Seeds). But instructions for the dyeing process itself was skimpy. None of my dye books mention it, and only a few online sources have anything to say about it.

I went with a cold water dye bath, which produced a promising color. I tried some alum-mordanted yarn (alum added to the dye bath instead of pre-mordanting the yarn), some rhubarb leaf-mordanted yarn, and some unmordanted yarn. The yarn soaked for over 24 hours.


The alum mordant produced a lilac color, no mordant resulted in pink, but the rhubarb leaf mordant seem to mask any color change.


Alas, the color is already fading, especially the pink. I may give it another try, as from what I read, amaranth is a rampant self-seeding plant. I doubt I will get anything less fugitive, though.

Crochet: My granddaughter and I are continuing her lessons. I think next time, we will be able to start the project that is her end goal (photo below). I started one from a similar jellyfish pattern to get the idea, plus a fiber friend helped me with how to do some of the details.


Dyeing: See above.
Knitting: The heels are turned on the Bigfoot socks.
Spinning: Thanks to a spin-in on Saturday, I finished spinning the maroon merino top.
Weaving: I dragged out the Ashford SampleIt loom and am playing with color combinations for a scarf for my SO. I am also adding to the circular weaving project that has been "resting".

This past weekend was a fiber-filled one. Besides the spin-in on Saturday, both the spinning guild and weaving guild demonstrated various fiber arts at the downtown branch of our local library system, in honor of Spinning and Weaving Week. We always enjoy these events, but have some ideas to make them more fulfilling in the future. The spinning guld members wore their tee shirts; we are working on getting some for the weaving guild as well.

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

Mostly cotton artisan market bag

My fiber journey began with crochet, but I haven't "hooked" much in recent years. My granddaughter is interested in learning to crochet, which rekindled my interest. Then a fiber friend crocheted one of these bags, which pointed me in this direction.


Pattern: Artisan Market Baskets, from Crochet Southwest Spirit, by Susan E. Kennedy
Yarn: A Good Yarn (hand painted fingering yarn by Mary Ann Habeeb, superwash wool and nylon); Maysville 8/4 Cotton Carpet Warp in 'Tulip' and 'Yellow'; Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton in 'Blue Ice', 'Tropic Breeze, and 'Grape'; Lion Brand Lion Cotton Solid in 'Off White'; Omega Sinfonia in 'Matizado Azules'; Pisgah Peaches & Creme Ombres in 'Spring Meadows'
Hook: L (8.00mm)
Modifications: Handle


The pattern calls for seven(!) yarns to be held together. I have a LOT of odds and ends of yarn from various projects, so this seemed like a good way to use some of them up. To start, I pulled both ends from the cake of A Good Yarn (blue and brown), added the 'Blue Ice' Kitchen Cotton, the Lion Cotton, the Sinfonia (various shades of blue), and the two colors of cotton carpet warp. That made a nice bulky yarn. When I ran out of the 'Blue Ice', I switched to 'Tropic Breeze', and when that ran out, to 'Grape'. Similarly, when the Lion Cotton ran out, I switched to the Peaches & Creme.

A fair amount of effort goes into yarn wrangling, so I had to sit at the dining room table to work instead of curling up on the couch. One problem I had with all that yarn was sometimes one of the fingering yarns escaped. When I noticed it, I backed up to fix it, but I missed several of these loops. Lesson learned. The other problem I had was crocheting makes my hands hurt!


The pattern called for a leather (or leather-like) strap handle, but I went with something I found on a YouTube video. One simply skips 8 stitches, making 8 chain stitches in the process, on either side of the bag. On the next round, crochet 10 single crochet stitches in the loop created by the chain stitches.


The bag is a bit floppier than I expected. Since it consists of all cotton and sock yarn, it is machine washable (theoretically). I wouldn't try to carry a watermelon in it, but it would have worked fine for the baklava I purchased at a recent fair.


At that fair, I chatted up a woman who was selling crocheted boxes. They were much stiffer. Her secret was to crochet around a rope, like clothesline or mop yarn, and to use wool, which locks together better than cotton. I may have to try that someday.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Felted up

This past week I felted the L-Bag and its pocket patch. Initially, I didn't use lingerie bags - MISTAKE. After deciding the fabric couldn't be too felted, I ran it through two hot water agitation cycles with a pair of jeans. The bag has a nice shape to it, but the rectangle is a bit skewed.


Crochet: I finished the artisan market bag - it's a bit floppy; separate post to follow. I met a woman yesterday who makes similar fiber boxes, but she uses wool and crochets around a core of rope, like clothesline. Hers are much stiffer.
Dyeing: As I write, some skeins of yarn are soaking, destined for the amaranth dye pot.
Knitting: Still working on Bigfoot's socks.
Spinning: Still spinning the merino top.
Weaving: Fourth Third wash cloth off the SampleIt loom. I'll explain that later.

The local parks and rec department put an end to our spring fiber festival, instead inviting us to join their new fall harvest festival. I didn't attend last year, but this year demo'd spinning. It's a lot of fun chatting up the visitors, both kids and adults. I spun on my wheel, but the kids could also spin a little yarn of their own on a spindle. Some improvements for next year: have microscopes or some kind of magnifiers so the kids could look at wool fiber and see the barbs. Also, have samples of wool they can feel and SMELL.

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Clapotis contest, and some crochet

Have you ever knit a clapotis? The pattern appeared on Knitty.com twenty years ago. To celebrate this popular project, Knitty is offering a clapotis fest contest.
Knitters are encouraged to use yarn from an indie dyer.

I knit one in 2010, from Cascade Pima Tencel, a yarn that has been (rightly) discontinued, as it sheds. I may knit another, maybe from handspun. The deadline is December 1, 2024, so I have some time to decide, as the first one took less than two weeks to knit.

My granddaughter has expressed an interest in learning to crochet(!) I'm so excited, as I have tried to interest her in crafts over the years but to no avail. She wants to be able to make amigurumi animals. We've had one lesson so far: chain stitch and single crochet. Next up will be honing her technique: how to hold the yarn and needle to maintain tension and produce even stitches. I hope she has been practicing.

I stocked up on cheap yarn for her to use.


My granddaughter's interest in crochet has revived my interest in it as well. A fiber friend fed that fire by sharing a photo of two baskets she crocheted from yarn scraps. So, of course, I had to try my hand at a basket myself.

The pattern is from Crochet Southwest, by Susan Kennedy, and is called "Artisan Market Baskets". It calls for seven yarns held together (although any combination that results in a bulky yarn would work). I am pulling both ends from a cake of sock yarn (one of those Why did I buy this?!? purchases), two colors of 8/4 cotton, one color of Lion Brand cotton, Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton leftover from a weaving project, and some varigated Sinfonia mercerized cotton I think I purchased at Tuesday Morning. So mostly cotton, but I think it is impossible to select a bad choice of yarns and colors for this project.


The hardest part is the yarn wrangling. If you look closely at the photo below, near the center you will see a bit of brown sock yarn that I didn't maintain tension on, so there is a loose loop. By the time I noticed it (and several others), I was far enough along I didn't want to go back, but I'm trying to be more careful going forward.


The only other problem with crochet is it makes my hands hurt.

Crocheting: See basket info above. I also started a Woobles penquin.


Dyeing: I cut down some of the amaranth, which is now soaking in tap water in the garage. I plan is to use half with an alum-mordanted yarn, half with rhubarb leaf-mordanted yarn. I hope to soak the rest of the amaranth in well water, which contains a lot of iron. which should produce a different result. Amaranth is not very colorfast, so I am going to dye some test samples as well.


Knitting: Socks progressing. I still haven't felted the L-Bag pieces.
Spinning: I keep looking at the fiber on the spinning wheel, keep meaning to get back to it, but so far no success.

I don't mean to keep harping on swatching, but I started one this past week, to see how two yarns looked together. I didn't have to go far to decide I don't like them knit this way.


I keep looking for a pattern for this rather coarse yarn, but so far no luck.

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Saved by the swatch

The pattern I want to base the basketweave sweater on is basically reversible. But stripes are not reversible, as I realized when I tried swatching them, so I'm cool on that idea. In fact, I'm now leaning toward buying new yarn for the sweater. Maybe.

Which reminds me of my fiber goals for the year. The "Buy no fiber" one didn't last long. Finishing a poncho I started a LONG time ago has not happened... yet (hope springs eternal). And I didn't dye any roving, which I'm thinking is not a good idea anyway because it is difficult to dye roving at home without felting it.

The tee shirts for the spinning guild have been delivered... mostly. Not all those who ordered them attended the last meeting, so I still have a few. I'm glad I ordered several extra ones, as they were snatched up. I have to admit I am not in love with the color of the lettering, as I think it is difficult to read across the white, but others liked it.


Knitting: I finished the pocket square, which is more like a pocket rectangle. Now all I need to do is felt the square and the L-Bag (once I catch up on the laundry). The Big Foot socks are under way - great TV knitting.
Spinning: Did I spin this week? Probably some, working with the maroon merino top.

Surprisingly, there are several local opportunities to see fiber arts in the wild this month. By "wild" I mean in exhibits. The Orchard Gallery is featuring one of our weaving guild members who not only weaves, put "paints" with felted fiber and practices "ice dyeing". I bought one of her scarves.

Another weaving guild member is participating in an exhibit in the gallery at the downtown branch of our local library system. She is a member of Complex Weavers, and it shows.

One of the current exhibits at ArtLink features four(!) fiber artists. I wish we could have attended the panel discussion they had after the opening. Too bad they did not record it.


Notice the swatch on the right!

I've been playing around with the idea of loading all my yarn and roving into big totes and storing them in the garage, to free up space in the spare bedrooms. Of course, each bin would have to have a manifest so I could find stuff. Or would the stored fiber just be forgotten?

Sunday, September 08, 2024

I never regret swatching

I'm still enamored with the sweater I mentioned several posts ago. I think I could make modifications to this pattern (which I knit a while ago) that would approximate what I'm aiming for. But what kind of stitich to use?

I started with one called Ringwood, on a heathered brown yarn, but the stitches barely showed up. I switched to some Lion Brand Fisherman's wool in natural and I switched to a basketweave stitch. The stitch shows up much better on the lighter wool, plus the stitch pattern is a bit easier.

Interestingly, I find the wrong side of the fabric to be more interesting than the right side. Several friends I've canvassed agree. The sweater pattern is knit in reverse stockinette, so it should work well.


Now the question is whether to purchase more Lion Brand yarn, or make do with something I already have. There is some yarn I bought many years ago, some in natural and some in maroon, but there is not enough of either color to make a sweater. So now I am going to knit a swatch using this yarn in stripes. Hopefully, after that I will feel confident enough to cast on.

Knitting: My SO had hand surgery this past week, so I made some progress on the socks while sitting in the waiting room. The pocket square for the latest L-bag is almost done.
Spinning: It occurred to me that the roving I purchased at the last weaving guild meeting was priced per ounce, whereas I thought the price was for each bag. I fretted about that, but the seller assured me the price on each bag was for the bagful. Whew! The merino that I am now spinning came from her.

The local parks and rec department discontinued the spring fiber fest at Salomon Farm (attendence was too low after the pandemic). Instead, the guilds will have a presence at the Fall Harvest Festival. I'm digging out some unwanted knitting to sell, pricing each item around $5 per ounce, which of course does not cover labor. We'll see how that goes.

Sunday, September 01, 2024

Compulsive knitting

I'm almost 72 years old and just recently suspected that I have AD/HD. Better late than never, right? I probably won't get a formal diagnosis - what is the point now? - but if I had had one when I was still working, I may have been able to get some concessions from my employer, like the right to knit during meetings.

I've been listening to a podcast called Women and AD/HD, and it has been very helpful. One I recently tuned into mentioned that compulsive knitting may be a sign of AD/HD. Huh. Who knew? But it is all making sense to me. Of course, now I look at my fiber friends and wonder, Do you have AD/HD? Some of their behavior (besides the compulsive knitting) is suspicious.

Knitting: Started a pair of socks for my son, AKA Bigfoot. Initially, I was going to try to make do with one skein of yarn, but 1) did not like how the self-striping yarn looked when ribbed, and 2) worried about running out of yarn, especially if there were a break in the yarn like with the last pair. So I purchased some Opal sock yarn from Simply Socks in 'natural'... and THEN discovered I already had a whole 50-yard skein of their sock yarn in the same color. Well, now I have plenty.


Spinning: The three-color braid is finished and labeled, although I'm not sure of the fiber content. The brown almost completely disappears in the three-ply. I did something different with the leftovers - spun them all onto one bobbin instead of separate ones.


Then I started a new spinning project - merino top.

This past week, I spun at the Salomon Farm farmers market with another spinner. You can tell summer is winding down, as fewer people were in attendance. Yesterday, I attended the Fifth Saturday Spin-in at Teasel Hill Angoras Farm, which is always fun, but it being a holiday weekend, only a few of us showed up.

Happy Labor Day!