Road trip

On our way to northwest Indiana yesterday, my SO and I stopped at Zinck's Fabric Outlet in Ligonier. Several of my fiber friends rave about this place, so I wanted to take a looksee. WOW. That is a lot of fabric! Makes me wish I were more of a sewist. I purchased a few notions, but may return once I have a plan in place that requires fabric.

Knitting: I gave up on the original DK socks for my son, just did not like how they were turning out. So I purchased *more* DK yarn, in black for toes, heels, cuffs, and in a zebra-like colorway for feet and legs, which I think will turn out kind of weird. I made some headway on the headband.

Spinning: A spin-in at a fiber friend's house afforded me the opportunity to sit and spin for a while; working on some merino/alpaca blend that is turning out really thin (which leaves me second guessing the wheel ratio I am using for it).
Weaving: The body of the tote bag is off the loom; time to warp the inkle for the strap.

My son married his longtime girl friend this past summer. I knit them each a pair of socks for xmas, thought it would be nice to give a pair to my new step-granddaughter(?). Making the deadline might have been tight, but while perusing my sock drawer, I realized I have a pair I knit for myself that I have not yet worn. So those can be gifted, easing one holiday stress.

Accountability

I am reading Art Work, by Sally Mann. Right off the bat, she discusses the literal work involved in making art. Some of it is creative work, some of it is drudgery, and sometimes it looks like the artist is not doing anything at all, but it all goes into the finished product in one way or another.

One would think that when one is retired, there would be plenty of time for making things. Somehow, it does not work out that way. Other activities, even mundane chores like laundry or vacuuming, feel more pressing. I tend to do the things I don't like to do (i.e. housework) early in the day ("Eat the toad first"), but then I run out of energy for the "fun" things.

My SO has a similar problem. So now we are holding each other accountable by texting daily photos of what we are working on. It doesn't have to be a finished object, just a representation that we are each doing *something* besides the usual. For example, today he is experimenting with cyanotype, while I am weaving.

And by looking at the daily photos, I have a record that I can use when posting to this blog. Win-win.

Knitting: For some reason, the second toe of the socks for my son took three tries, but I am (hopefully) on my way. The headband is slowly growing.

Sewing: I'm not actually sewing yet, but I purchased two "fat quarters" that I want to turn into a zippered pillow cover, as practice for turning two of the tie-dyed muslin pieces into a giant zippered pillow cover. And I watched some YT videos on how to install zippers.
Weaving: The tote is about one-third woven.

If you look closely at the sock photo, you will see that I am listening to the Artist/Mother Podcast while I knit. Having finished Mark Twain, I needed a new audio companion, and while my children are middle-aged, I can still relate to most of what is discussed in these interviews. Kaylan Buteyn is local, co-owns Kinhouse Art, and has become a new friend.

Xmas socks for my SO

Nothing says I LOVE YOU like a pair of handknit socks... unless the intended recepiant does not want handknit socks. My daughter and granddaughter are not interested, but my SO is happy to get them.

Pattern: Short-row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Some kind of sock yarn from the estate sale that visited the spinning guild, feels like merino and nylon (ball band lost); Simply Socks Yarn for toes, heels, and cuffs, in 'Natural'
Needles:US1
Modifications: None to speak of

Why do I knit socks toe-up? Why do I knit the toes, heels, and cuffs in constrasting yarn? Because after years of knitting top-down socks and skating perilously close to running out of yarn, I figured that it would be better to run out of yarn on the leg. The contrasting yarn is extra insurance, as who wants short socks?

This colorway is "interesting" - wide bands of blues interspersed with narrow bits of white. I'm glad I was able to line up the stripes. The contrasting toes, heels, and cuffs also allows me some room to make the socks match.

Another event over for the year

This weekend's event was the Harvest Festival at Salomon Farm. The deal the spinning guild has with parks 'n rec is we help them promote the park in exchange for meeting at the learning center for free. Fortunately, I was not the organizer and just provided support: brought balloons from the previous weekend (it's our 50th anniversary) and the banner and helped set up and tear down.

The guild had two tables, one for demonstrating carding and spindling (geared toward kids) and spinning and one for sale items. Two of our members have been very busy knitting and crocheting little stuffed animals, which were a big hit. Their success is timely, as the program for this week's meeting is "earning money from fiber".

Knitting: Another pair of socks is complete; separate post to follow. A guild member who sells handmade, homemade, and homegrown products at farmers markets showed us some headbands she knits, so I had to start one when I got home, from sock yarn.

Spinning: Romney, Romney, Romney; the singles are fine and that takes a long time.

My SO and I have been regular visitors at Kinhouse Art, a small gallery here in town. The two artists who use part of the gallery for their studio mostly work in textiles, which gives me ideas of what to do with all that tie-dyed muslin I have, which has me circling back to fabric printing. As if I don't have enough to work on.

Red, White, and Navy Scarf

The last time I warped the SampleIt for a demonstration scarf, then finished the scarf at home, I had no plan. This time I had a plan. Like most plans, this one did not turn out quite right. When I used the dining room table for the warp surface, I forgot that I had removed the table leaf. Consequently, the scarf turned out shorter than expected.

Pattern: None
Weave structure: Plain weave
Loom: Ashford SampleIt
Warp: Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted in 230 'Bright Red', Valley Yarns Northhampton Worsted in 02 'Natural', and some worsted wool in navy
Weft: Same as warp
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5 (more or less)
Ends: 50
Finished size: 40" (plus fringe) x 5.25"
Finishing: The selvages turned out halfway decent, so no additional finishing required

Warp:

• 4 red
• 2 navy
• 4 red
• 4 white
• 2 navy
• 4 white
• repeat above sequence
• 4 red
• 2 navy
• 4 red

Weft:

• 4 picks red 
• Hemstitch 2 across up 3 
• ** 2 picks navy
• 4 picks red 
• 4 picks white 
• 2 picks navy
• 4 picks white 
• 4 picks red 
• Repeat from ** until out of warp, ending with red/navy/red
• Hemstitch 2 across down 3
• Trim fringe to 2"

I recall the scarf my dad used, and it must have been about this length. He didn't wrap his scarf around his neck like most of us do these days, but crossed it and laid it flat against his chest. It kept the cold from slipping down his neck without adding bulk. Alternatively, one could do something similar and add a decorative pin to hold it in place. Or the scarf could be for a child. Not a waste of yarn at all.

I'm glad THAT is over!

I would not describe myself as bi-polar, but I tend to run hot, then icy about the guilds I belong to. When I'm hot, I volunteer for stuff. When I'm icy, I swear I am never doing anything guild-related ever again.

That's how I felt over today's public demonstrations at a local farmers market, for Spinning and Weaving Week and the spinning guild's 50th anniversary, which I was responsible for organizing. Despite my trepidations, everything went well, the guild members who participated enjoyed themselves, and we may have even picked up a few new prospects.

However. There are so many festivals this time of year around these parts that I think we can scrap Spinning and Weaving Week in the future. For example, there is a harvest festival next weekend that the spinning guild is kind of obligated to attend. We can do only so much.

Dyeing: I'm finished messing around with the Indian hemp dye experiment; separate post to follow.
Knitting: My SO's socks are at the cuff.
Spinning: More Romney.
Weaving: The tote bag project on the Ashford 24" rigid heddle is tied on the front beam. For today's event, I quickly warped up the SampleIt yesterday for a scarf and nearly finished it today.

While spinning or knitting, I sometimes listen to an audio book. I'm about 75% through Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, via the libaray app Libby. The problem is it is a L-O-N-G doorstop of a book, and I can check it out only three weeks at a time, and - how dare they! - other readers have holds on it which prevents me from renewing it. I think when my turn rolls around again, I should be able to finish it.