Top-down anklets

Sometimes after a day of wearing handknit wool socks, my lower calves itch. Yet I like to wear wool socks to bed in the winter. My solution to this dilemma is to knit some anklets.

Pattern: Short-Row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Some kind of sock yarn I must have dyed at a dyeing workshop of some kind
Needles: US1
Modifications: Knit top-down

Ordinarily, I knit socks toe-up, but for some reason I just could not get this pair going that way. So I knit them top-down. The heels are still short-row, but the toes are simple decreases, ending with the Kitchener stitch.

Since there was no way to make them match, I knit each one from a different end of the yarn cake. For some reason, they are loose, even the ribbing at the top, so they don't stay on very well. But they suffice for their intended use. If I were to try again (and I am), I would knit toe-up and make the tops longer, especially the ribbing.

Dyeing with amaranth

Amaranth is a good news/bad news kind of dye plant. It's easy to grow, but it will reseed itself rampantly. It can dye beautifully, but the color is reputed to be fugitvie. I tried dyeing with it once before, but I could not help giving it another go.

Inspired by this blog post, I used the cold water method again but this time used just the seed heads, leaves, and twigs (no stalkes), soaked in three gallons of undiluted household vinegar. That was on a Sunday.

I let that steep until the following Tuesday, when I strained the liquor and added unmordanted yarn (one skein of Cascade 220). That soaked for two days, I believe. When I rinsed it, not much color bled out.

Another unmordanted skein of Cascade 220 went into the "exhaust" for two days. Not much difference in color.

Then I dyed a skein of Cascade 220 mordanted with rhubarb leaf and a mini-skein of Cascade 220 mordanted with alum in the second exhaust bath. The rhubarb leaf mordanted skein looks a bit dull compared to the others...

... while the alum mordanted one appears brighter.

These colors are all simply luscious! Worried that they might fade, I am storing them in black cloth bags that I keep inside an opaque plastic bin. I have yet to set up a test for colorfastness.

The instructions for a warm water method using alum may be found at this site. If the amaranth reappears this summer, I may give it a try as well.

A fiber-ish week

One of my ideas for gaining new weaving guild members is to demonstrate weaving at the local yarn stores. As I mentioned before, one is closing (and I still think it would make a great fiber club). I visited another one yesterday, Simply Socks, but Allison wasn't there. I eyeballed the space, and quite frankly, there isn't much room for setting up a loom, even a small one. The place is simply full of yarn (minus four skeins that followed me home).

Above are two skeins of Cascade Cotton Sox I plan to weave into a summer-weight shawl. Below is some Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light + Copper.

If you look closely, you can see the copper glitter. I'm not sure what I will do with this but probably weave it into something. I bought two skeins, so that shoud be enough for something, right?

Knitting: I planned to do about two hours of knitting during an online natural dyeing presentation, but it was canceled at the last minute. Oh, well.
Sewing: Stymied by the tote made from handwoven cloth, I decided the best thing to do would be make a practice one out of regular cloth. This helped me get the directions straight in my head. Neither bag is finished, but I feel more confident going forward.
Spinning: Deligently spinning the Polish merino (at least, I think that is what it is).
Weaving: Still slaving away at the houndstooth towels; one is done. The practice bag needed a handle, so I wove one on the inkle loom, lickety split.

While I was complaining to my SO about the missing supported spindle, I said something like, "I even bought silk roving to spin on it" - and a light bulb went off. I knew *exactly* where the spindle was - with that fiber. And I was right. End of mystery.

Headband in blues

Last summer a vendor at a farmers market was selling (among other things) handknit headbands. They looked like they were knit from worsted (or maybe handspun) yarn and seemed bulky to me. So I went home and started knitting one from some leftover sock yarn.

Pattern: None
Yarn: Unknown sock yarn from an estate sale
Needles: US1

I started with 3-stitch i-cord. After about 9 inches of that, I increased the stitch count at either end of the row using kfb, purling back. Once there were 24 stitches, I switched to knitting in the round. When the middle bit seemed long enough, it was back to flat knitting, decreasing the stitches (k2tog at one end, ssk at the other) every other row, purling back. With only 3 stitches remaining, more i-cord to match the beginning.

The end result is a bit stretchy, so I probably could have made the whole thing shorter. This was an experiment that may or may not be repeated. We'll see if I feel the urge for more.

Melt the ICE hat

I bought the pattern on Ravelry and figured that was what was important, as the money goes to charity. Since I have SABLE (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy), I did not want to buy red yarn just for this hat. But when I checked the stash, I found some red yarn. So I knit the hat.

Pattern: Melt the ICE Hat, by Paul S. Neary
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in 893 Ruby
Needles: US8
Modifications: Increased the ribbing from 6 inches to 7

Once I was beyond the 1x1 ribbing, the instructions puzzled me. Instead of decreasing at four places like a beanie, the decreases were in only two places, creating a different shape. I double checked this anomoly with a fiber friend who has knit several of these.

An alternative to the braided tassel could be a fat i-cord, but I like the braid because it is different. Were I to knit this hat again with this yarn, I would shift down a needle size, as it feels a bit loose on me (and I have a big head).

A pause - sort of

The first half of the month is very busy for me, with fiber meetings and fiber meet-ups of one sort or another. The second half is usually calmer, but stuff keeps cropping up. I don't suffer from FOMO, but....

And yet I am contemplating starting a rigid heddle weaving study group. Thinking there might be three or four interested parties, I was surprised to have about eight would-be weavers interested... and I haven't even asked at the weaving guild meeting yet. I'm glad the interest is there, though. (This is part of my agenda to get more members for the weaving guild.)

It also would be easier if I did not belong to a couple of non-local guilds. Yesterday I attended a two-hour meeting (remotely) about transitioning from using commercial yarn to handspun for weaving. It was very interesting, informative, and inspiritng. The chitchat was running into a third hour, though, so I bailed.

Knitting: I forgot to mention before that I finished the headband several weeks ago. The Melt the ICE hat is done as well. I made a lot of progress on the anklets during that online meeting.

Spinning: Finished chain-plying the last of the merino/alpaca fiber and skeined it. I forgot to mention that I started spinning the Polish merino about a month ago - I can't keep up.
Weaving: Working on the houndstooth towels; the tension is really messed up, so it is slow going.

I decided to put my new spindle with the supported spindle and its spinning dish, for safekeeping. But I can't find the latter. I have a set of drawers with each drawer dedicated to a different fiber activity, so I put the spindle in the spinning drawer. I hope I remember that it is there come March, and I hope I can find the missing supported spindle by then as well, as the March spinning guild meeting is about spindling. It is hell getting old.

Setting boundaries

I did not attend the quilt guild sale last week. After checking out an e-book on quilting and a quilt magazine from the local library and perusing them, I decided my interest in quilting is minimal, in the area of maybe making some placemats and that is about it. No need to purchase anything, so no trip to the sale.

Some of my fiber friends have become "craftivists" (as in "activists") and hosted a knit-along for the Melt the ICE hat. I contemplated attending, but decided my presence was not necessary. My time and energy has its limits.

Which is what I had to remind myself when I learned that a local yarn store is selling its business. Once upon a time (like 20 years ago), I contemplated starting a yarn cafe and/or online yarn business (inspired by Simply Socks). That didn't happen, obviously, but yesterday I contemplated selling my house to purchase the local yarn store... until I reminded myself that I am on the downward slope of my life. I need to cut back, not add more.

I have a few regrets in my life, but one can't do everything.

Knitting: I started a Melt the ICE hat, plus knit a bit on the anklets.

The tapestry techniques program went well at the weaving guild meeting this past week. Today's spin-in was fun, per usual. The program for the March meeting of the spinning guild is about spindling, so I purchased a spindle.

The dumb thing is I used to have several spindles, but gave them away. Now, when I see someone spindling, I wish I could too. I'm easily swayed when it comes to fiber.