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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.