Struggling with non-wool fiber

The Essential Tee is kicking my butt, right from the get-go. The one-step provisional cast-on is new-to-me, and now (12 rows in) creating the bottom hem is a bit of a puzzlement. Also, I'm not used to working with non-wool fiber like the linen-cotton blend that Oleander is. The project is on pause while I suss out some solutions.

I did knit a swatch, but I'm not sure how helpful it is - knitting a square swatch means knit a row and purl a row while knitting in the round is all knit - other than showing me what the fabric is like and how much it will shrink.

The yarn is a bit splitty plus totally non-springy, and stitches fall off the metal needles very easily. I may switch to bamboo-tipped circular needles (which I would have to purchase). One thing I am definitely going to do is take some leftover sock yarn and practice the new techniques a bit so that I am more satisfied with the results.

Knitting: When frustrated with the Essential Tee (see above), I work on socks.
Spinning: I'm back at the wheel, back to the Romney.

I've been procrastinating on warping the 24" rigid heddle loom because the project I've chosen for it has 250 double-warp (500!) ends. But now that the bobbin winder insert has arrived, I have no more excuses. All I need is time and patience.

Playing with clasped-weft weaving

Several years ago, the program at our local weaving guild was about clasped-weft and clasped-warp weaving. Even though it may seem like I am not paying attention, I really am. This summer I decided to play around with the clasped-weft method.

Clasped-weft weaving results in a mostly weft-faced fabric. When executing the clasped-weft rows, each pass has double the weft. This left me questioning what to do with the rows of just one color. Sometimes I wove with just one strand, other times tried it with two. The results look different, but not necessarily wrong.

My efforts were based on a pattern in The Weaver's Idea Book, by Jane Patrick, called "Summertime Coasters". For warp, I used some Maurice Brassard 8/4 cotton warp (colorway 'Linen' I think). For weft, I started out with Tahki Stacy Charles Cotton Classic 100% Mercerised Cotton, in 'Milk Chocolate', 'Raspberry', and 'Leaf Green'. The yarn is a bit springy, if you know what I mean, and I had a hard time beating it down with the heddle alone.

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Then I switched to Pisgah Peaches & Creme Ombres ('Spring Meadows'), Lion Brand Lion Cotton Solid in white, and Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton (dyed). Although all are rated as worsted, the denim yarn is on the light side, yet it seemed to work okay with the heavier worsted.

By now I was getting the hang of things, including beating the weft with a fork to pack it down better. These are in the Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton (dyed and undyed).

Ordinarily, I don't use hemstitch for securing the warp fore and aft, but this time got in a lot of practice. A couple of these examples show you how it looks when you do it wrong, which forced me to learn to do it right.

These coasters were made on my Ashford SampleIt 9" loom, which is becoming my favorite loom of all.

But first...

Starting a new project requires gathering one's tools and selecting one's fiber. And then what? Sometimes it involves learning something brand new on step one. That is the case with the Essential Tee from Purl Soho.

The "Provisional cast-on: One-step method" threw me a bit. I tried learning it with the yarn for the tee, but decided I'd better practice with something a bit woolly-er. I won't say I mastered it, but I comfort myself with the fact that the cast on won't show once the bottom of the tee is hemmed.

Knitting: Working on the latest socks as my portable project. Started the Essential Tee using Oleander, a fingering-weight cotton linen blend, without swatching; then I chickened out and started a swatch because I don't know how the fabric will come out.

Weaving: The clasped-weft coasters are off the loom.

I really thought I would have more time for fiber this summer, even imagined myself spinning on the deck. But the weather has been superbly uncooperative - hot and sticky. Thank goodness for AC.

Comfort yarn

Last week was rough, so I skipped my usual update. (The FO posts I wrote ahead of time and scheduled their publishing, so you had plenty to read.) I hope this week will be better (fingers crossed!)

For comfort, I dove into my stash, in hopes of finding something to use with this pattern. It's knit in fingering weight yarn, but of course I don't have a tee-shirt-worth of fingering weight yarn that could work. So I ordered the yarn the pattern called for along with the pattern, from Purl Soho. Because I deserve it!

Knitting: Frogged the Lempi sweater. Started a pair of socks, just in time for spending some time visiting a relative in the hospital. (He's home now.)

Spinning: I think I did no spinning, despite joining Tour de Fleece.
Weaving: The clasped-weft coasters are turning out to be a "learning experience" but at least I am getting lots of practice hemstitching.

One of my spare bedrooms has been designated as The Studio, but one day I realized I don't like working in there. Even though there are two windows, the room feels kind of claustrophobic. So I rearranged a few things and now the 24" Ashford loom is in the den, along side my spinning wheel. We'll see how that works out... and if I actually use it out there. I have several other looms of various sizes, but they can't all fit into the den, so I'm not sure how all this will evolve.

The clasped-weft coaster project is taking up most of the dining room table. With the leaf in it, that table is just about perfect for warping the SampleIt loom, which is how the mess starts. The older I get, the more I need organization and simplicity.

Shades of yellow

I was going to create separate posts for each of the dye materials I used for my solar dyeing experiment, but they all turned out to be yellow, more or less. Not much difference there, so why make separate posts?

For posterity's sake, here is what I did:

Zinnia blossoms (dried):

• Oops - didn't crush dried blossoms before using
• Oops - didn't weigh blossoms before using
• Half in one mason jar with tap water (neutral pH), half in another jar with well water (oops - didn't check pH of well water, assume it is neutral)
• Set jars in sun for three days
• Drained blossoms and discarded
• Using cold alum mordanted Cascade 220 - one mini skein (50 yds) in one jar, one in the other jar
• Set in sun for two days

Lobster mushrooms:

• Oops - didn't chop mushrooms before using
• Oops - didn't weigh mushrooms before using
• Half in one mason jar with tap water (neutral pH), half in another jar with well water (oops - didn't check pH of well water, assume it is neutral)
• Set jars in sun for three days - got kind of foamy
• Drained mushrooms and saved them for future use
• Using rhubarb leaf mordanted Cascade 220 - one mini skein (50 yds) in one jar, one in the other jar
• Set in sun for two days
• Mold in well water jar stained the yarn a bit

Oak galls:

• Oops - didn't crush galls before using
• Oops - didn't weigh galls before using
• All galls in a mason jar with tap water (neutral pH)
• Set jar in sun for a three days
• Drained galls and saed them for future use
• Using unmordanted Cascade 220 - one mini skein (50 yds) in jar
• Set in sun for two days

From left to right: zinnia in tap water, zinnia in well water, mushroom in tap water, mushroom in well water, oak gall

I am letting the used mushrooms dry out, to be chopped or crushed, to see if I get more dye from them using heat. Similarly, I'm letting the used galls dry, to be crushed, to see if I get more dye from them using heat; they can still be used to mordant fibers even when no dye left.

I thought solar dyeing would be easier than heating up pots of dye baths, etc., and it is, but the results were not all that impressive. Of course, I just jumped in without doing any research. I may try solar dyeing again, but with more care.

Skinny scarf from leftovers

I warped my SampleIt to take to the county fair so interested parties could try their hand at weaving. Once home, I just keep going, using up bits and bobs of naturally dyed yarn. (For the record: dyer's coreopsis, sunflower, sycamore bark, tomato vine, rhubarb leaf, dahlia, turmeric, Queen Anne's lace, onion skins.) Here is the result:

Pattern: None
Weave structure: Plain weave
Loom: Ashford SampleIt
Warp: Cascade 220
Weft: Cascade 220
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5 (more or less)
Ends: 32
Finished size: 3.5"x59" (plus fringe)
Finishing: Untwisted tassels on the ends, single crocheted sock yarn (Happy Days Fiber Arts Sock Weight in 'End of Harvest') along the selvages

If I had had a plan, I would have interspersed the darker wefts with the lighter ones, but - oh, well - too late now. The crochet along the selvages is a bit wonky as well, but it adds character.

I wondered what I could wear this scarf with when it occurred to me that it would go well with the Lempi sweater I knit from naturally dyed yarn. One can't wear too many handknits at one time.

Seven-strand bathroom rug

When I get a little twitchy about how much yarn I own, a stash-buster relieves some of that angst. This rug used up a LOT of cotton yarn - 1210g - including some that was leftover from frogging a pair of curtains I knit (before I knew how to weave) that had faded badly on one side.

It measures 24"x32" and turned out a little wonky. I didn't keep good notes along the way as I was just winging it, didn't even record the hook size. Basically, I crocheted a chain, single crocheted each row until it felt almost big enough, then crocheted around the border a couple of times. I didn't even try to weave in any ends, just tied on new bits as needed and let the tails add "texture".

Crocheting a 7-strand anything involves a lot of yarn wrangling. A "lazy Kate" made from a shoe box and knitting needles helped, as did having three yarn bowls. The basic structure consisted of:

• 2 strands Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton yarn and 1 strand Universal Yarn Linen Tweed (red) throughout
• 1 strand of cotton thread throughout (first blue, then natural) - J&P Coats Royale Classic Crochet Thread (size 10)
• 1 strand worsted weight cotton yarn throughout - first Lily Sugar'n Cream Stripes ('Country Stripes'), then Pisgah Peaches & Creme Ombres ('Spring Meadows')
• 2 strands Maysville 8/4 Cotton Carpet Rug Warp throughout (navy, red, pink, yellow, etc.)

Crocheting something that bulky is very hard on my wrists. And yet, I can envision doing it again, maybe with leftover sock yarns.

Beware!

At last night's spinning guild meeting, someone mentioned that Knitpicks has been purchased by a private equity firm that is phasing out the Knitpicks brand yarns. It looks like this firm has also purchased Jimmy Beans, Berroco, and Madtosh among others. As if that is not bad enough, recent purchases from Knitpicks have been found to be infested with moths and/or larva and/or eggs. The firm is playing dumb about the infestation. What a nightmare! Makes me reluctant to purchase any yarn right now - not that I don't have plenty already.

Several methods of eliminating infestations can be found online. Not sure which ones work best, and I hope I never have to find out.

The contrary dyer

Last week I was so excited about the idea of solar dyeing yarn that I did not bother to do any research ahead of time. I did not crush the zinnia blossoms or the oak galls, did not chop up the lobster mushrooms. Consequently, the results were... a bit disappointing. However, I saved and dried the oak galls and lobster mushrooms - they are drying in the garage on screens - and I hope I can get more dye from them using heat. At least the oak galls can be used as a mordant.

Crochet: Finished 7-strand bathroom rug - separate post to follow.
Dyeing: Finished solar dyeing experiment - separate post to follow.
Knitting: Disenchanted with second Lempi sweater, so intend to frog it. Perhaps that yarn would be better for intarsia? Or stranded knitting?
Spinning: Joined the Tour de Fleece group on Ravelry, to help get me through the Romney.
Weaving: Finished the skinny scarf; separate post to follow. Started clasped weft coasters.

I subsccribe to a newsletter from Robbie LeFleur which is mostly about weaving transparencies. The last one (read here) really excited me, as using coarse handspun as a warp is a real possibility. I hope some of her readers respond with their experiences with this idea.

Most transparencies use linen as a warp, but wool transparent tapestries use wool. Besides handspun, I'm wondering if other coarse wools would work well. Specifically, I am thinking of Kauni Effectyarn, which I used to weave this shawl. Another of Robbie's posts included a sample one of her students created on a pocket loom, so now I have some ideas for little samples to get me started on transparencies.

I forgot to mention a couple of purchases I made last week. One is bowl to use with a supported spindle. There is a dimple in the middle to keep the spindle from wandering away as one spins.

The other purchase was of some silk and some bamboo fiber, both lustrous and soft, to spin on the supported spindle.

Now all I need to do is find the spindle!

An aside: I decided to take the summer off from watching TV. I wasn't watching a lot of TV - an hour or two in the evening - but afterwards I always felt... some kind of negative emotion, even though I enjoyed what I watched. Now I feel more... content. Some of my favorites are releasing new seasons soon, though. We'll see how I handle that.

Make dye while the sun shines

Yesterday I attended a spin-in at Little Shop of Spinning in Roanoke (IN). The woman who got me started on natural dyeing was there with some skeins of yarn she had dyed after creating the dye bath using the power of the sun. Inspired, I came home and immediately filled some mason jars with dye materials and set them in the backyard.

The jar of oak galls, one of the jars of lobster mushrooms, and one of the zinnias are soaking in tap water, which is very neutral. The other jars of lobster mushrooms and zinnias were filled with well water, high in iron. We'll see how those work out. (I love to experiement!)

Crochet: I finished the crochet part of the 7-strand rug with a couple of rounds; all that remains is the weaving in of the ends.
Dyeing: See above.
Knitting: One sleeve of the Lempi sweater is started; time to start the other. (One set of my bamboo double pointed needles is covered in something icky, despite being kept in their original package and in the house. WTH?)
Spinning: Making progress on the Romney. I'm currently listening to The Honourable Schoolboy, by John LeCarre.
Weaving: I went ahead and finished weaving the skinny scarf, using up bits and bobs of naturally dyed yarns, then edged the selvages with leftover sock yarn; just needs some finishing.

Finishing - my buggaboo. My goal this year was to eliminate the UFO pile, but I just keep adding to it.

Fiber Arts Fling

Today some members from both the weaving guild and spinning guild demonstrated their fiber arts at the local county fair. We are in the midst of a heat wave, but the building we were in is air conditioned, so many fair-goers stopped in to cool off and drifted over to see what we were up to. I think each guild may have a new member or two from that outing, which is the whole point of raising the guild profiles in the community.

Crochet: The 7-strand rug is nearing its end, but I may lengthen the other dimension, depending on how much cotton yarn remains to be used up.
Knitting: I am ready to split the Lempi sweater at the armpits, but I'd like the stripes on the body to match the stripes on the sleeves; I'm still working that out in my head.
Spinning: Yes, still plowing through the Romney. I had to return Mark Twain even though I was only a third of the way through it, so subsituted The Magician's Nephew, the prequel to the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and read by Kenneth Branagh.
Weaving: I started a skinny scarf on my SampleIt to have something to work on at the fair, plus warped a little scrap of something on the Mirrix pocket loom for kids to try their hand at.

Another venue where we plan to demonstrate fiber arts is a local farmers market. I stopped by to scope it out a few weeks ago and have been returning ever since, to scoop up strawberries. Today I snagged the last quart of the season. Score!

A heat wave is ice cream weather in my book.

Part-time job

The past year or two, I've become more actively involved in both the fiber guilds I belong to. I'm the "Outreach Coordinator" for the weaving guild and have been serving as such for the spinning guild (without the cachet of a title). I have also been organizing the programs for the spinning guild. Between the two, I feel like I have a job (albeit unpaid).

The program for the most recent spinning guild meeting was about raising silkworms. The two members who did the presentation did a great job, and the audience was riveted. One of the presenters had given me some cocoons a while back, and there would be a photo of them here, except I can't find them. They are probably with my supported spindle, which I also cannot find. One of these days, the fiber studio will get a thorough cleaning.

I have been pushing members of both guilds to enter items in the county fair open class exhibit, and this year some newbies took the plunge. Since the items need to be dropped off tomorrow (Monday) at 8am and many of our members work then, I offered to collect and deliver the items. So more work for me. But I am happy there is growing interest.

Crochet: Still killing my wrists with the 7-strand rug.
Dyeing: I am playing around with easy ice dyeing that kids could do, so I froze some ice cubes of KoolAid. More on this later.

Knitting: Still slaving away on the Lempi sweater.
Spinning: Still working my way through all that Romney; almost done with another 100g.

Except for the dyeing, all my fiber projects are big. That means no reporting on finished objects, unless I get back in gear on the long-standing ones. The weaving guild does not meet again until September, but both guilds are participating in an event next Saturday. Once that is over, maybe I will have some downtime?

New (to me) natural dye sources

Recently the New York Times published an article by Margaret Roach on natural dyeing that actually wasn't too bad. I doubt you will be able to access it without a subscription, so I will list the information from it that was new-to-me.

• Grand Prismatic Seed is a source for seeds and plants if you want to grow yer own 
• The Dogwood Dyer is where you can find how-to information, including workshops 
• Botanical Colors is a for mordants and workshops

I have not done much dyeing lately, but articles like this one make me itchy to get back into it, maybe even grow more dye plants.

Crochet: Still working on the 7-strand monster of a rug; it's not that big, but is becoming rather heavy.
Knitting: It took me four tries to get the Lempi sweater underway, as there were "issues"; I also switched to smaller needles, as the original Lempi I knit is a bit generous. I am enjoying the bright colors.

Spinning: I have three-plied over 400 yards of the Romney so far. I listen to audio books while I spin and ply, currently Ron Chernow's Mark Twain.
Weaving: After a recent guild program, I was inspired to order a Schacht slim closed bottom boat shuttle (and bobbins and some 8/2 cotton), to use with my 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom.

Regarding the Lempi sweater, I learned something about slipping the first stitch purlwise, specifically when to slip with the yarn in back or the yarn in front. Inspecting the original Lempi, I find I managed to get it right intuitively. This time I have to make a conscious effort to do so.

One of my fiber friends turned 98(!) this past week, and she still knits. Something for us all to aspire to.

A new fiber interest

Several months ago, the weaving guild program was about weaving transparencies. This led me to Robbie LaFleur's blog which is about more than just weaving transparencies. I'm more than a little intrigued with the genre of Scandinavian weaving, in part because of my Danish heritage. Not intrigued enough to actually start something, but definitely intrigued. A local heritage group called Settlers is offering a class called "Scandinavians in America" which will include history, cuisine, hand-arts, and wheat-weaving. I will have to put that on my calendar.

Crochet: Still plugging away on the 7-strand rug.

Knitting: I decided to start a sweater, another Lempi, with the acid-dyed yarn, figuring if it did not work out, I could rip it back.

Spinning: I finished the third 100g of Romney and have been three-plying the results; it's going to be a LOT of yarn!

Last week I mentioned that outliving my pets is on my bucket list. So is using up all my yarn. The 7-strand crocheted rug is going to finish off quite a bit of cotton yarn, and the Lempi sweater will use up 6-7 skeins of worsted weight wool. What to do with all the hand-spun, though? Suggestions welcome!

Stuck

I decided to take a break from sock knitting. What to knit instead? At one point, knitting a sweater from cuff to cuff appealed to me, but someone mentioned they had done this and the sweater stretched a lot. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Adult Surprise Sweater has been on my list for a while and I have some acid dyed yarn I could use for that, but for some reason I am hesitant to start.

Crocheting: Still working on the 7-strand cotton rug.
Knitting: Finished the pinkish socks - see previous post.
Spinning: Almost finished with another 100g of Romney; I spin while listening to Ron Chernow's biography of Mark Twain.

A local art gallery Artlink collects art supplies every year, to use in their classes and to sell to starving artists. They include yarn and fabric in their wish list, so I dropped off some acrylic weaving yarn that I know I will never use - three HUGE spools of it. I'm on a decluttering binge (again) and yarn is hard to part with, but I'm happy to let someone else enjoy it.

These two bozos have been costing me a fortune at the vet's lately. Finn had his teeth cleaned and a growth removed from his mouth (not cancerous) while Clio had an eye problem and a skin problem, necessitating some eye drops and some spray. Finn is 14 years old, but doing well for the most part. Clio is 8 and still rambunctious. The only item on my bucket list is to outlive my pets.

Pinkish socks

I like red. I like pink. So when I saw what looked like sock yarn at The Estate Sale (how the fiber guilds refer to an estate sale we all sampled from), I glommed onto it, despite the missing ball band.

Pattern: Short-row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Unknown self-striping sock yarn - no ballband, but it looked like sock yarn so assuming a mix of superwash wool and nylon - and some sock yarn I purchased for contrasting toes, heels, cuffs which also is missing its ball band
Needles: US1
Modifications: None to speak of

After dividing the yarn into two cakes, I thought the stripes were too random to match. After knitting with it a bit, however, it became apparent that I was close to the pattern repeat. So I ripped back to the toe and matched the stripes.

And it was a L-O-N-G pattern repeat.

The finished socks feel very soft - maybe the wool is merino? I'm looking forward to wearing these this winter.

Jiggety jog

One of my pet knitting peeves is stripes that have a big jog where the colors change. At least, the color jog looks big to me. There is no way to completely eliminate color jogs, but one can at least try. For tips and tricks, go to the index for the TechKnitting blog and search on "stripes" or "jogless".

I forgot to include in my last post the rug I started to crochet. Like the artisan bag, it has seven strands, all cotton. Two strands are "denim" yarn, one something unknown, another a "tweed" yarn, two strands of 8/4 cotton, and one strand of crochet thread.

One of the most aggravating activies when crocheting with multiple strands is yarn wrangling. Here is my current strategy for dealing with five of the seven strands:

Crochet: See above.
Knitting: I finished the cuff on one pinkish sock and have started the second.
Spinning: Another 100g of the Romney roving has been spun.

One of my new fiber friends is a member of the local bonsai club. My SO and I went to their bonsai show yesterday. We've been to bonsai exhibits before, but this one included species from my own backyard. I checked an ebook out from the library, and after reading about a third of it, realized bonsai is not for me. I don't have a well-defined sense of balance, design, etc. for this kind of art. Just as well - the last thing I need is another hobby.

Bent bento box

I decided to work up the bento box I mentioned in my last post. The first one was with cotton "denim" yarn, but it turned out too floppy. So I made a second one with some light blue acrylic. Despite it being easier to see, I messed up the counts while creating the fold for the sides. Hence, it is warped. I may rip it out and try again.

Crochet: See above.
Knitting: At the cuffs of the pinkish socks.
Spinning: Did I spin at all this week? I can't recall.

Since my old laptop looked like it was going to fail any day now (bad video card), I purchased a new one which I am still getting used to. Today I managed to get that ancient, no-longer-supported workhorse Picasa loaded onto it. I also switched from using Chrome as a browser to using Edge, which involves a learning curve. This old dog isn't beyond learning some new tricks.

So much yarn, so many projects, so little time

Curious, I checked this book out of the library, not understanding that "cafe" meant the projects were all of food. I'm not likely to crochet bacon and eggs or grilled cheese sandwiches, but I may make the container portion of the bento box, to see how it works. One can always use little boxes.

I stopped following Modern Daily Knitting (previously known as Mason-Dixon Knitting) when it seemed like all they did was flog their products. But this waffle sweater popped up in one of my feeds. I'm not interested in knitting a pullover, but I am interested in the waffle stitch used, as it is very waffly. Maybe I can find directions for the stitch without purchasing the "field guide" as I'm not interested in the other patterns therein.

This tin ceiling blanket pattern from Purl Soho showed up on a feed as well. The same stitch pattern is used on this hand towel and washcloth, which is more to my liking than a blanket. I think the stitch would look nice as a scarf as well. These patterns are free.

Knitting: I am approaching the cuffs of the pinkish socks.
Spinning: More progress on the Romney, but not 100g worth.

I was a little concerned about mixing up the white Romney and the white Wensleydale, but when placed side-by-side, the Wensleydale has more of a sheen plus it is not quite as white as the Romney. So no worries there.

Oops

I confess that I can be a bit rough with my handknits when it comes to washing them. The superwash items (think socks but also one sweater) hold up well, but I need to be more careful with the other wool items.

The funny thing is this sweater had so much positive ease that it felt too big on me, although I liked that it hid my fanny. Now it is more form fitting, and a bit felted so it will be warmer. However, it is also much shorter. Not sure what I will do with it going forward.

Knitting: The heels are turned on the pinkish socks.
Spinning: Trying to get back to my daily spinning practice, with the New Zealand Romney; 100g spun, 800g to go.

Pre-blog I attended a fiber festival in Corydon, IN. For some reason, I looked for it online and discovered it is now called the Southern Indiana Fiber and Arts Festival. Clicking on an old blog link about the Fiber Event at Greencastle revealed that it is now the Greencastle Wool Show. Not sure why the names changed, but it may have to do with targeting a particular audience. The Jay County Fiber Arts Festival may be adding "Crafts" to its name, but I know it is to attract more people. Times change.

An additional oddity is how the Corydon and Greencastle festivals have become conflated in my memory. It's hell getting old.

That old cat

Finn is around 14 years old. (He was a stray, found by a friend of a friend of my daughter, initial age a guestimate.) Lately, his mouth has been bothering him. He quit eating his prescription catfood in favor of the old standby my other cat eats, so I thought he was doing okay. However, a trip to the vet revealed a growth in his mouth that looks like it can be snipped out. He has lost weight, too. The procedure is still several weeks out, so I wanted to fatten him up a bit beforehand. But how to do that?

Kitty cheesecake

While looking online for a solution, I came across "toppings" and "soups" that are supplements for cats. Finn won't eat canned food, so I felt skeptic, but picked up a few samples at the local Pet Supply Plus store to try. He *loves* them! So now I am mixing them with his rx food, and he is feeling much better. (The antibiotic shot he received at the vet probably helped, too.) I had no idea these products existed, but we are both happy with them.

Knitting: I'm ready to start the heels on the pinkish socks.

You can tell by the randomish stripes why I was hesitant to try making these socks match. However, once I started them, it became obvious that they were close to matching anyway. I ripped one back to the toe and aligned the colors. Huzzah!

Spin for a project

At the last spinning guild meeting, I chatted up one of my fiber friends who moved here from Texas but is still involved with her weaving guild in Austin (all their meetings are on Zoom - Texas is a big state and traffic in Austin is bad). That group is involved in a project that led my friend to weave a l-o-n-g piece where some of the weft is rolags she made on her blending board. An interesting concept.

Then we started talking about spinning for a project. While I have spun for one project in the past, usually I just spin whatever I have on hand and however it turns out. Now that I have started on that 900g of Romney, I'm thinking that could be for a sweater, one where the yarn is dyed using a walnut hull dye bath and its exhausts, to create an ombre effect. So that is the plan, sort of.

Knitting: I started a new pair of socks; the yarn is shades of pinks, which is making me ridiculously happy.

Weaving: I spent the good part of a day working on the leno curtains, including an insane amount of fringe twisting; I'm still not done.

The yarn bowl in the photo above is the best yarn bowl I have encountered. A cake of yarn spins inside it perfectly, thereby not adding or subtracting twist as one knits. I bought it at a pottery fair, so can't tell you where to get your own. Too bad - it really is the bee's knees.

Ice dyed socks

Even though I have plenty of sock yarn, sometimes I buy more. After a weaving guild program on ice dyeing, I had to buy some ice dyed sock yarn I came across at Three Moon Fiberworks. I was afraid it might look "camo" but it turned out fine.

Pattern: Short-row toe and heel basic socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Happy Days Fiber Arts Sock Weight in 'End of Harvest' for foot and leg; Zwerger Garn Opal 4-Fach in 'Natural' for toes, heels, cuffs
Needles: US1
Modifications: None I can think of

Since these were for my SO, I cast on for a 72-stitch round. My go-to recipe is then to knit 72 rounds from toe to heel and 72 rounds from heel to cuff. This ratio seems to work well.

I'm not a fan of merino for sock yarn, as I think it doesn't hold up as well as other wools, but it is very soft. I think I'll enter these in the county fair.

Losing my mind

After the last panel of the buffalo plaid blanket rolled off the SampleIt loom, I thought it might be nice to try something new, something that required two heddles. Before purchasing another heddle, though, I checked to make sure I didn't already have an extra. Well, I do have an extra, two of them, in fact, but they are for my 24" loom. I even have a double heddle kit for that loom. That transaction completely slipped my mind.

While updating projects on Ravelry, I started checking to make sure I had added blog posts to other finished objects. I had not, not for a long time. Why not? I certainly updated the status of each of those projects and created a blog post about them - why not marry the two?

Oh, wait. There is no final post of the Lempi sweater, a project that was near and dear to my heart, one that I am supremely proud of. How did I miss trumpeting the completion of that sweater?

Knitting: Wove in the ends of the simple cowl, so now it is done; see previous post. Finished the ice dyed socks; separate post to follow (really!)
Spinning: I took a sample of the Wensleydale roving to a spin-in yesterday, to get some advice about how to handle it, and now I have a way forward: spritz the fiber with a weak solution of fiber rinse. For some reason, I have over 900g of Romney (why - and where - did I buy this stuff?!?), so I started spinning it (and it is *much* nicer than the Wensleydale).
Weaving: I checked out a book, Compendium of Finishing Techniques, from the library, plus I've done some online research regarding how to join the buffalo plaid blanket panels; I think I have a plan.

I don't have a knitting project on the needles, so I thought I would dig out an unfinished project: the leno curtains I wove so long ago (2022). What stymied me then was the two panels did not match - they still don't - but I've decided that will be an asymetric feature.

If Lenore Tawney can get away with it, why can't I?

Easy ribbed cowl

Lately I have been a little obsessed with using up yarn. Consequently, I was looking for a simple project to finish up the Jamieson and Smith Shetland I used on several other projects. Hence, this cowl.

Pattern: 2x2 Easy Ribbed Cowl, by Rachel Steinbock.
Yarn: Jamieson and Smith Shetland Aran Worsted, in 'Flugga White', 'Light Grey', and 'Shetland Black'; 94g total
Needles: US8 (cast on and bind off using US9)
Modifications: I used a 2x2 alternating long tail cast on and bound off in pattern; continued until I ran out of yarn, at 8.5"

This yarn is one of those "sheepy" smelling ones. I used some Eucalan Wool Wash when I soaked it before blocking, but not enough. I don't mind the smell, but it's not something everyone likes.

Overly optimistic

This weekend my oldest brother (who turns 80 next month) married for the third(!) time. I thought I would have some down time and be able to finish the simple cowl *and* the socks, but no knitting occurred as there was no down time. A very busy weekend!

Knitting: I finished one cuff on the ice dyed socks (except for the bind off) at my granddaughter's academic bowl competition, but when I picked up the other sock, I discovered I had dropped a stitch several rows back; not the right venue for fixing that at the time, but it is fixed now; maybe I'll finish them this week?
Weaving: All seven panels of the buffalo check blanket are off the loom; time to figure out how to sew them together.

After six panels

Believe it or not, I received a summons for jury duty. Would they let me knit during a trial? It might look like I'm not paying attention when actually the opposite is true - knitting helps me concentrate on what is going on around me - but it may become grounds for an appeal. Legal opinion from any of you?

An accidentally free book

I ordered a copy of Tommye Scanlin's new book Marking Time with Fabric and Thread from Thriftbooks. (Amazon and I had a falling out several years ago.) I chose the free shipping option, which relies on the USPS for transport and delivery. By tracking the book's progress, I saw that it landed in Indianapolis. And that was it. No updates for a week. So I contacted Thriftbooks, they refunded my money AND told me if the book arrived, to not send it back. So of course the book arrived several days later. Whoo-hoo!

I'm really excited about the idea of journaling using fiber arts. The book is full of profiles and examples and how-to's. Even the reverse side of the book jacket helps, with its display of prompts.

Now I just need to figure out what I want to journal via fiber. My interest in inkle weaving is perking up again, so maybe that is the path forward. Or my little Mirrix Saffron pocket loom for little tapestries.

Knitting: I started one cuff of the ice dyed socks, then got distracted; however, my granddaughter is participating in the local Academic Bowl this week, which will give me an opportunity to sit and knit. The three-color simple cowl is done except for the weaving in of the ends.
Weaving: I have finished five panels of the buffalo plaid blanket, plan to do seven; started number six today.

I missed another local-ish fiber festival this weekend: the Black Swamp Spinners Guild Market Day, in Bowling Green, OH. I've been there a couple of times, thought I might give it another try, but the past week has been rough. It's a good weekend to just stay home.