Looped

I ran across four almost-finished washcloths last week while scrounging around in the studio. My brain has no memory of this project, but I had left a brief entry in Ravelry after starting the project, in November, 2016. Slowly, bits and pieces came back to me: I think the inspiration for this bit of weaving came from a program at a weavers guild meeting. Otherwise, BLANK.

Weave structure: looped pile as described for Looped-Pile Washcloths in Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom
Loom: Ashford rigid heddle, 24" maybe?
Yarn: Pisgah Yarn and Dyeing Co., Sugar n Creme Ombres, in 'Spring Meadows'
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5
Size after hemming and washing: 8" long, 7.75" wide

The pic above I believe reflects the original pattern: a looped row followed by three plain weave rows. The one below places the looped pile rows closer together.

The pattern invited the reader to experiment with the looped stitches. Below is a heart.

I'm not sure what I was attempting with this design.

When I found these washcloths, the ends had been machine stitched. After the shrinkage debacle on the recent dishcloths, I decided to send these through the laundry before the final hemming, which proved to be successful. As I become more confident in finishing techniques, I hope to tackle more of the weaving UFOs that are laying around.

Out and about

Decatur (Indiana) has an annual sculpture tour. Each year about this time, new scuptures replace the ones on display from the previous year. Friday night was the unveiling, plus music and food trucks. A fiber friend of mine and her husband have a studio/gallery in downtown Decatur. They hosted an open house this weekend, which my SO and I decided to attend. We did not go Friday night - besides the crowds, it was really HOT. Saturday was not much better temperature-wise, but no crowds, so we actually were able to talk with the artists. Of course, I was mainly interested in the weaving, but my SO (a photographer) is interested in painting. Jovan is 72, never painted a stroke until four years ago, but he has quite a body of work already. It's never too late!

Spinning: Still slogging away at the red Tunis. *sigh*
Weaving: While looking for something, I ran across a set of four "loopy" dishcloths that were complete except for being hemmed. Initially, I had not idea where they came from, but fortunately had left a brief mention of them in Ravelry at the start. I washed them yesterday and have started to hem them.

I'm typing this on the deck. The heat has abated and we are looking forward to highs in the 80's and 70's as the week progresses. As I've said before, fiber takes a backseat to yardening this time of year, and that is okay.

Foiled (I hope)

Ordinarily, my cats leave fiber alone. However. Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice sometimes eats roving. Not just any roving - he does have his standards - but this habit has interfered with my desire to move a spinning wheel to the den. I came up with this idea, though.

The roving is protected by a gallon Ziploc bag. So far, this has worked. The real test will be with Shetland top, which seems to be Beau's favorite fiber for consumption. We shall see.

Fiber prep: With some help from my granddaughter, we cranked the rest of the red Tunis through the drum carder, in half-ounce chunks.
Spinning: I have started spinning some of this red Tunis and, yes, there is less VM in it. What a relief!

I seem to have developed a bit of a case of agoraphobia from the pandemic. I tend to be a homebody to begin with, so enjoyed having an excuse to not go anywhere. Now that things are opening up a bit, I find I still don't want to go anywhere. I was planning to attend the weaving guild meeting in person this past week, but at the last minute decided to Zoom it. I'm glad I Zoomed, as I was tired anyway.

I'm glad I attended, though. The program was on yarn, or more specifically, the making of yarn. Even though I feel like I know about yarn, I still learned a thing or two from the presentation. For example, pulling yarn from a center-pull yarn can result in the untwisting of the plies. To avoid this, when winding a skein on a ball winder, first slide a toilet paper core over the center of the ball winder and wind the yarn onto it. Then when using the yarn, be it for knitting or weaving or whatever, insert a dowel or straight knitting needle into the core and unwind the ball from the outside. A couple of strategically placed holes in a shoe box to support the dowel helps faciliate this.

Summertime (more or less)

This happens every summer: yardwork takes over and fiber falls by the wayside. However, the weaving guild is having some summer sessions for their study groups. I want to participate in the inkle weaving one. The loom is sitting on the dining room table, just awaiting my attention. Too bad the weather is so nice. ;-)

Knitting: I *did* fix the pocket on the Reader's Wrap. It looks okay but only because I fiddled with it to get it to lay right.
Spinning: Over 200 yards of the red Tunis is now plied. Even though I thought I was being meticulous in picking out the VM, while plying I noticed more. There is still almost a pound of this fiber remaining. I plan to run it through my drum carder, to see if I can knock most of that VM out before spinning the rest.

I gifted the waffle weave dishcloths with instructions to use them and abuse them and to let me know how they hold up. The towel and placemat are staying here. Sometimes you just have to gift things to yourself.

Reader's Wrap, naturally

This project is basically a big rectangle with pockets. On Ravelry, a few knitters ask how to make this using different yarn. In my uncharitable moments, I think, OMG, people! Knit a swatch! But I know that, as a beginner, I slavishly followed pattern instructions, rarely daring to go my own way. This one would be difficult to get wrong, though.

Pattern: Reader's Wrap
Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, in '98 Natural' (total yardage: 870.6 yards, 425g)
Needles: US9 (although I cast on and bind off one size up, US10)
Modifications: Used seed stitch instead of moss stitch for border and pockets

For some reason, one of the pockets ended up wonky. At first, I was going to just let it go, but that didn't last. I resewed the pocket, but I still had to do some fudging to get it to look right. I am rather baffled as to what the problem is.

If you want to bust some stash and don't mind miles of stockinette, this is the project for you.

A towel and a placemat

For some reason, weavers appear to be fixated on weaving tea towels. There are towel exchanges within guilds, between guilds, at major conferences, etc. I'm not a tea towel weaver. In fact, I don't think I even own anything that could be considered a tea towel. I am on a fiber diet, and there is a lot of 8/4 cotton warp in my yarn closet, however, which makes nice tea towels.

Weave structure: plain weave
Loom: Ashford rigid heddle, 24"
Yarn: Maysville 8/4 cotton carpet warp, in pink, yellow, aqua
EPI/PPI: 12.5/12.5
Size after hemming, prior to washing: Towel = 17.25" x 29", placemat = 17.75" x 13"
Size after hemming and washing: Towel = 16" x 26.5", placemat = 16.5" x 11.5"

Originally, there was enough warp for two towels, but something happened to my thought process (a.k.a. a brain fart) that prevented me from stopping where I should have. So, just as I ended up with three-and-a-half waffle weave dishcloths, I wound up with one-and-a-half towels; the half towel is now a placemat. And, just for fun, I doubled the weft for the placemat, using two colors at a time. I like the result.

I secured the ends with an overcast stitch, then zigzagged on a sewing machine, then rolled the hemmed and finished using a zigzag stitch. Plain weave does not shrink like waffle weave, nor did these items shrink in a wonky manner. I'm pretty pleased with them, despite the selvages.

A gathering

Both my kids have May birthdays, so we usually get together around Mother's Day. Of course, last year that was not possible, so this year's gathering was extra special. My son and his girl friend had visited last October, for my birthday, but otherwise had not been here. My daughter managed to slip out of work early and pick up my granddaughter, so we had more than the usual suspects. We actually ATE OUT, then visited a couple of local galleries before heading back to my house for rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream. It was SO GOOD to see them!

Knitting: I finished the Reader's Wrap, BUT. One of the pockets looks wonky. At some point, I will fix it, but for right now, I am counting that project as DONE; separate post to come.
Spinning: Still working on the red Tunis.
Weaving: The towels are in the laundry as we "speak". Separate post to come.

Also in the laundry are most of my masks. I will keep a few on hand, as some places still require them; I will comply. I thought it would feel weird to stop wearing a mask everywhere, but actually it felt quite normal. We are more adaptable than some would lead us to believe.

P.S. The cortisone has kicked in and my shoulders feel MUCH better.

Waffle weave dishcloths

The impetus for this project came from a program at my local weaving guild. They are getting better about including something more than weaving cloth on a harness loom for sewing, so part of the presentation involved waffle weave on a rigid heddle. I warped my Sampleit loom prior to the program, not realizing just how much shrinkage would occur. If I were to repeat this project, I would start with a wider warp.

Weave structure: Waffle weave
Loom: Ashford Sampleit
Yarn: Elmore-Pisgah Peaches & Cream in 'Daisy Ombre' (although my SO calls it 'Buttered Popcorn')
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5
Size prior to hemming: 8"W x 10"L
Size after hemming, prior to washing: 8"W x 8"L
Size after hemming and washing: 6.75"W x 7"L

I began and ended each dishcloth with an overcast stitch (as described in Finishing Touches for the Handweaver, by Virginia M. West) to secure the warp and weft. I wove seven rows in plain weave at each end of each dishcloth, to fold over for the hem. (The odd number is because the pattern provided by my fellow weaver starts with the heddle in the down position; it is a personal quirk that I always begin weaving with the heddle in the up position, throwing from the right.)

Not trusting the overcast stitch to be secure enough, I also sewed a zigzag stitch at each end with my trusty Kenmore sewing machine. Then I rolled the hem and zigzagged again. As you can see, there was some pull-in; I don't have a temple for this narrow of a width.

Since these are workhorse dishcloths, I ran them through the washer and dryer just as I would for any cotton dishcloth. The expected shrinkage occurred, but the hemmed edges shrank less than the rest of the fabric. Perhaps I should have refrained hemming until after the shrinkage.

I gave one of these to my SO with the instructions to use it as he would any dishcloth, even though it is woven and not knit like the others I have given him. The others will go to my son and daughter, with the same instructions. I want to see how they hold up.

The instructions came from a YouTube video, but I don't have the link. A quick search reveals there are several videos out there to choose from. The Weaver's Idea Book, by Jane Patrick, contains several "mock waffle weave" patterns. Regardless, all involves the use of a pickup stick. I was able to weave each dishcloth in a single sitting, despite my shoulders.

I thought I had enough warp for four washcloths, but the last one was only a half. I considered turning it into a coaster, but instead tucked it behind the kitchen faucet where my wet hands drip water.

Divide and conquer

When I first learned to spin, I asked my instructor how much yarn to spin on each spool for later plying. Her answer was rather vague - about three-quarters full. The more I spin, the more useless I have found that suggestion. What I do now is weigh the roving I plan to spin (using a kitchen scale), then divide it in half or thirds, depending on how many plies I am planning. So a 100g ball of roving becomes either two 50g balls or three 33g balls.

I don't pre-draft by elongating the roving, as I invariably end up with thick and thin roving. Instead, if I think I need to thin out the roving, I divide the roving lengthwise.

Then I spin each sub-ballsworth (is that a word?) on a separate spool. When I ply, I invariably run out of one spool before the other(s). If two-plying, I can just wind the remaining single into a center-pull ball and ply that from either end. Similarly, I can three-ply from a center-pull ball and the remaining spool.

When spinning large amounts, like the current red Tunis, when I run out of yarn on one spool, I pick up the next ball, divide it, and start spinning on the empty spool, then I spin additional roving on the non-empty spools.

I hope that explanation makes sense.

Spinning: Red Tunis. Need I say more? I am on the third spool of the first ball of roving.
Weaving: I put on my big girl panties and dragged out the sewing machine to hem the dish cloths and the towels. The dish cloths have been through the wash already (post to follow}; the towels were late to the dance, so will be washed next week.

The CDC now says the fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks. Yet when I ran errands yesterday, every place I went, masks were still required. I'm okay with that because how do we know whether someone is fully vaccinated? You can't ask - medical info is private. My county is about 40% fully vaccinated, not enough for herd immunity. We are not out of the woods yet.

Yesterday I received another round of cortisone shots for my shoulders. There is a numbing agent included in the shot, so for a day or two, most of the pain is gone. Then it returns until the cortisone kicks in after a few more days. So today is relatively painfree. Sometimes I worry that I am being a wimp about the pain, but the PA who administered the injections told me the surgeon described my arthritis as SEVERE (all caps) in my chart, which he had never seen before.

Happy Mom's Day

I'm not one for holidays, especially the more contrived ones. However, after my widowed dad remarried late in life, I made a point of sending my stepmother a Mother's Day card every year. She really appreciated it, even told me I was her favorite stepdaughter. (I was her *only* stepdaughter.)

Knitting: Both pockets are knitted and blocking. All that is left is to stitch them onto the Reader's Wrap.

Spinning: Still plugging away at the red Tunis.
Weaving: My warp measurement was off, so I will get only 3-1/2 waffle weave dishcloths. The half one will probably get folded in half and turned into a coaster.

I really need to develop a case of finishitis. There are quite a few UFO's lying around here. All they need is some finishing work like hemming. And then there are those fleeces in the garage that I have yet to tackle. So much fiber, so little time.

Time crunch

Some days I feel somewhat overwhelmed. How did I ever manage to get stuff done while I was still working? I know I clean more since replacing all the carpet with laminate - carpeting holds onto pet hair whereas the laminate allows for tumbleweeds of detritis. And now that things are opening up a bit, I'm out and about a bit more. Then there is the yard and garden and some home improvement and repair. Gah!

Knitting: The blocking of the Reader's Wrap was a success! The curl is gone, so I have been knitting the pockets. One down, one to go.

Spinning: More red Tunis. As I spin, I hold an internal debate on whether to spin it all or leave some as roving for future weaving projects.
Weaving: After the guild program on waffle weave, I tried my hand at it and failed. But I was following the directions for some "pseudo" waffle weave patterns I found in a book. This week I unwove that bit and started over, following the instructions from the program. Success! I think there is enough warp on this loom for four dishrags, so I will carry on.

My SO and I spent Saturday on the local Rural Artist Studio Tour. Last year's event was cancelled, and some of the regulars apparently chose to forego participation this year, but we still had a good time chatting up the artists. Then we stopped at a new microcreamery near downtown. As we chowed down on double scoops of hand crafted ice cream, we wandered around the historic West Central neighborhood. What a delightful day! Maybe someday, when the state reaches herd immunity (barely halfway there now), we will be able to be out and about without masks and social distancing.

Spring cleaning

There is a special place in hell reserved for the engineers who design stuff that can't be easily cleaned. The nooks and crannies defy scrubbing by toothbrush and picking with toothpicks. Some of that grime will be there until the end of time.

Fiber prep: I was hoping to have started processing a fleece by today, but no such luck. I did purchase some lingerie bags, as that is what will hold the raw fiber while it is being cleaned.
Knitting: The Reader's Wrap body is finished and is being blocked post haste. If the blocking ends the curling, I will add the pockets.

Spinning: More red Tunis. (This section of the progress report is going to be very boring for a very long time.)
Weaving: I wove in the ends of the blue sampler. I'm ready to prematurely end the macrameing of the ends - it's really tedious.

My granddaughter slept over Friday night, a real treat. Having her here no longer feels like babysitting, more like having a guest in the house, she has grown up so much. I feel like I have missed out on a year of her life.

Busy week

I was hoping to have some FOs to report this week, but for some reason I had a bunch of other stuff to attend to instead. While waiting on my granddaughter at one of her activities, I intended to weave in some ends on the blue sampler, but the needle container I grabbed on the way out was empty. Grrr!

Knitting: I just measured the Reader's Wrap and came up with 55", less than I reported last week. Maybe I can't count?
Spinning: More red Tunis.
Weaving: I did finish weaving the towels and pulled them off the loom. The expectation is they will shrink in both length and width.

I stopped by the Little Shop of Spinning in Roanoke (INDIANA) today, to pick up a few magazines (Wheel and two issues of Little Looms). The owner Phia and I enjoyed a nice chat which included a description of how she cleans fleece. I won't go into detail until later, but I now see a way forward dealing with the fleece in the garage.

Our governor lifted the mask mandate (too early, in my opinion). Most businesses are still "requiring" them and most customers are cooperating, but today I noted that more people than usual are going maskless. Makes me doubly happy that I am vaccinated.

Last zoom?

Last week the weavers guild had a blended meeting: in-person (masked) AND Zoom. That was the same day I received my second vaccination for Covid-19. I anticipate attending next month's meeting in person. A milestone. The spinning guild will probably continue to meet online, for now.

Knitting: Up to 56" on the Reader's Wrap. In the homestretch!
Spinning: Plugging away on the red Tunis, with much sighing over the VM.
Weaving: I just up and decided I was done with the wall hanging on the frame loom and pulled it off. There is still some finishing work to do. (More sighing.) Added a few more rows to the macrame ends on the blue sampler. And I'm nearing the end of the towels on the rigid heddle loom, although it looks like it will be one towel and a placemat.

The inkle weaving study group provided the program for the weavers guild meeting. We are also having a workshop in September on weaving Krokbragd on an inkle loom. So now I am interested in shifting focus to the inkle loom. One reason I abandoned it a while back was because of my eyesight, but now I have new glasses. I'm hoping it will be easier on my shoulders than the weaving I have been doing lately. We shall see.

Not the weather

This morning I woke up with much shoulder pain. Since it is GORGEOUS outside, I cannot blame the weather. I think it is weaving and folding queen size sheets and doing a bit of exercise with light weights. One problem with arthritis is, on good days, I do too much and pay for it the next.

Knitting: Up to 48" on the Reader's Wrap. I am becoming a bit concerned over the curling of the fabric, however. Others commented on this problem on Ravelry. When I reach 60", I will give it a good block. If it doesn't behave, it will go into time out while I decide how to move forward (or backwards, as the case may be).
Spinning: I *did* start spinning the red tunis. There is a big difference between spinning clean merino top and tunis roving with a fair amount of VM. It will be slow going while I pick out the detritus.
Weaving: Did a bit of work on the wall hanging and the towels. I also started macrameing the warp ends on a sampler piece. Using a book I checked out from the local library via Hoopla, I am doing some simple square knots. It is going very, very slowly. I think it has been over 40 years since I last tried macrameing.

Look at all those ends to weave in! I made this before I learned the "meet and separate" method of tapestry weaving which leaves no ends.

Last Wednesday, when I was scheduled for my second Covid shot, I woke up feeling ill. No fever, but chills and symptoms of perhaps a norovirus. So I rescheduled my shot for this coming week. It's always something, isn't it?

Achy, breaky

Recently someone asked me if my arthritis acts up when the weather is bad. I have good days and bad days, but had not equated them to the weather. However, this past week has been mostly rainy, and boy, do I hurt! Of course, it might be the cortisone shots wearing off and/or because I have been weaving on a frame loom which means holding my arms more horizontal. When some sunshine appears, I will have to pay attention to my pain level.

Knitting: Despite my aches and pains, I am up to 42" on the Reader's Wrap.
Weaving: I finished the first towel on the rigid heddle loom and started the second. But that project has languished a bit as I dragged out an unfinished project that's on a frame loom, unwove some of it, and changed it from a tote bag to a wall hanging. It's a prototype for a possible project for my daughter.

I'm actually weaving it upside down (the tapestry, not me)

I started this piece before taking Rebecca Mezoff's online course in tapestry weaving, so the weaving techniques change partway through, including how I do the flossa stitches. Since I am running out of yarn, it is almost done.

Standardized... sorta

At the last spinning guild meeting, I brought up a discussion about control cards and the fact mine came with a WPI chart that differs from the one on my WPI tool.

One member lamented the fact that there was no standard definition for WPI.

But there is. However, it provides a *range* of wraps per yarn weight. (This photo is from Yarnitecture, by Jillian Moreno.)

The lesson here is, no matter what weight you think your yarn is, always, always, always knit a gauge swatch before starting a project.

Knitting: I am at the 33" mark with the Reader's Wrap and have used up nearly a whole 8-oz. skein of fisherman's wool. There are two more skeins in my stash, so no worries about running short. While knitting, I contemplate maybe dyeing the whole thing once it's done, but I'm not sure how the wool will take dye. Like swatching, a test sample is called for.
Spinning: I decided to take a week away from spinning while I plot my next project. I have a lot of Tunis red roving that I spun up a while ago. I didn't like the results, so experimented with mixing in various amounts of white, gray, and black. But now I've decided I *do* like the plain Tunis red, three plied in what feels like an Aran weight yarn. Hopefully, I can duplicate my effort.
Weaving: I am almost done with the first towel on the current warp. I'm toying with the idea of double weaving the second towel, to create a heftier fabric. It's not uncommon to double warp a loom, so I think this will work, or work well enough.

It's been a year since my last outing, which was to the Jay County Fiber Arts Festival. This year's event was cancelled. However, they plan to have a virtual festival on April 24, with virtual classes and the marketplace. There is a class on fiber prep that I just might take, given I have several fleeces in the garage, just waiting to be processed.

Black merino top

A while back I was fretting about plying superwash merino with non-superwash merino. I decided not to, which I think was the right decision, as the superwash came out darker than I expected. Instead, I spun and plied the non-superwash merino to use in conjunction with other colors in either weaving or knitting.

Fiber: DMFibers merino top dyed black
Wheel: Ashford Joy 2
Technique: Nothing special
Spun: worsted, Z-twist at an 8:1 ratio
Plied: 2-ply, S-twist at an 11:1 ratio
WPI: 10
Yardage: 494 yards
Weight: 237g (8.36 oz)

When skeining, I wrap up 50 yards at a time. When weighing each skein, I get an idea of how consistant I am across the whole effort. In this case, I am happy to report that each 50-yard skein was within a few grams of the others. Not bad for an amateur.

There is definitely enough yarn to do *something* with. Black goes with just about any color and helps them pop. While black may be a boring color to spin (and difficult to photograph), I think I will make good use of this yarn.

Art day

Yesterday my 10-year-old granddaughter and I had an "art day". We stopped at United Arts and Education to make a few purchases (including a stuffed penguin I had promised her around xmas and a new jigsaw puzzle for me), then we had a "touchless" visit to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art to see the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibition, followed by a stop at the Allen County Public Library to take a gander at the Three Rivers Gem and Mineral Society display and the Fort Wayne Artists Guild members show. Whew! There were several "paintings" done in needle felting at both the art museum and the guild show, which inspired my granddaughter to create her own after we returned to the house.

Knitting: I've completed 25 out of 60 inches on the Reader's Wrap. Almost halfway done (except for the pockets).
Spinning: The black merino top is finished; separate post to follow.
Weaving: I'm about halfway done with the first kitchen towel.

The local spinning guild includes a member on the west coast who is creating a digital magazine with a colleague in New Zealand. It's called tinyStudio: Creative Life. A free special edition may be found here. Both these talented ladies were able to attend our most recent meeting to describe the magazine and talk about creative fiber arts in general. It was a unique experience for our guild and one that would not have been possible without Zoom and a reason to use Zoom instead of meet in person. Both the fiber guilds I belong to are talking about having hybrid meetings going forward - in person AND via Zoom - as many members do not live in town or may be unable to attend in person for one reason or another. It's a new era.

I received my first Covid vaccination this past week. It didn't hurt a bit and I experienced no side effects at all other than to feel surprisingly optimistic about the future. My second shot is in several weeks, but even then, precautions must continue to be taken. However, with a little luck, we will return to some semblance of "normal" soon.

Eek!

I have several fleeces in the garage, stored in feed bags. While out there the other evening, I saw the top of one of the bags MOVE. A mouse or vole popped up. Finn, my indoor/outdoor cat, had been wanting out in the garage lately, and now I know why. I let him out there and left the light on for him; hopefully he did his job. The next day, I dumped all three fleeces out, but found no evidence of nests or droppings, so the little bugger must have been just helping himself to some bedding. Ugh.

Knitting: I have knit a total of 18" on the Reader's Wrap; 42" to go.
Spinning: I am halfway through plying the black merino top.
Weaving: I wove a couple more inches on the towels. My 24" rigid heddle is a bit much for my shoulders. I'm experimenting with some mock waffle weave on my Samplet loom.

The waffle weave experiment came about because the waffle weave study group made a presentation at last week's weaving guild meeting. I have not been attending the (Zoom) meetings lately as the programs have all been about harness loom weaving. Most of the waffle weave program was for harness looms, but they included a bit on how to do it on a rigid heddle loom. I've been working from a book and struggling a bit, but at least it has sparked my interest in weaving again. Next month's program will be presented by the inkle weaving study group. Inkle weaving is another technique I enjoy but have neglected.

I am scheduled for my first Covid vaccination this week. My SO has had both doses, had a mild reaction after the first, no reaction after the second, and reports that he feels better, less anxious, than he has for a while. Of course, masks are still necessary, but the vaccine provides an extra layer of protection. I'm psyched!

New tools

In a previous post I commented on how I tend to get the yarn I spin, not the yarn I want. To help alleviate that problem, I purchased a spinning control card from the Woolery. Having never handled a spinning control card in person before, I was not sure what to expect, so I'm also not sure if this is a common design.

It is made from acrylic, which is not pretty like some wooden ones I saw online but completely functional. There are slight grooves for each size; I expected the grooves to be deeper, but again, I don't know if this is common among control cards. The instructions seem to assume one is spinning 3-ply. Do most spinners create 3-ply? I think most of the ones I know stick to 2-ply. I haven't tried out this little tool in real life yet, but will once I am done with the black merino. I'll keep you posted.

Knitting: Still inching along on the Reader's Wrap, literally. My goal is to knit at least an inch each day. I also ordered some sock yarn from a Ravelry member, so I can fix some socks I knit for a friend.
Spinning: About 75% done with spinning the singles from the black merino top.
Weaving: I actually did some weaving on my 24" rigid heddle loom! I am not the towel-weaving type, but I have a lot of 8/4 cotton warp and towels seem like a good way to use it up. I had warped the loom quite some time ago, finally wove a couple of inches of weft the other day.

kay T left an interesting comment last week about experiencing pilling problems with Cascade 220 Superwash. I took a look at items I knit using this yarn and didn't notice any excessive pilling HOWEVER. A sweater I knit with it does pill something awful. I wasn't planning to knit the sweater in superwash, but we were at Webs in Northampton MA (spring 2014) and they were having a sale and this yarn was the only one I could find in the color and weight I wanted.

I saw my hip doctor for a follow-up and all is well with that joint. I come back in five years. Then I saw a shoulder surgeon (they all specialize). After some discussion, the tentative plan is for me to call in July to schedule surgery for the fall; I don't want to miss out on gardening season. Perhaps this impending surgery will compel me to finish a poncho I started long ago, to wear over the sling.

I couldn't resist

More powdery snow fell this week and I could not resist scooting around the backyard on cross country skis despite my hip surgeon nixing that activity. My yard is large but not large enough for it to be much fun for skiing. My hip was okay, but my shoulders did not like it. This week I have my annual follow-up appointment with the hip surgeon and a prelim appointment with a shoulder surgeon.

Knitting: Inching along on the Reader's Wrap. I had been alternating stockinette with reverse stockinette, but decided that might be problematic when I add the patch pockets. I ripped back and am just now almost caught up.
Spinning: I'm almost halfway done with the black merino top. It's not very interesting to spin, but I still try to put in 20 minutes a day.
Weaving: My SO was telling me about how many compliments he has received recently on a log cabin scarf I wove for him. I glanced at it and saw a broken warp. While fixing that, I found a couple of other broken threads, plus I straightened out some snags. Once it gets a restorative bath, he can have it back. In the meantime, he will just have to use his alpaca knit one.

Isolating the broken warp

Ends to weave in

This scarf is woven with Cascade 220 Superwash because a previous scarf that should have been handwashed met its demise after machine washing. The fabric feels a bit flimsy to me. The areas I fixed now have extra threads where I wove in the ends, and they feel more substantial. If I decide to weave another scarf in Cascade 220 Superwash, I may double the warp and/or weft. But first, I should make a test swatch.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My SO and I don't do anything special for Valentine's Day since (for us) everyday is Valentine's Day. We make a point of appreciating each other in real time, like when his car needs a jump or I need to visit the ER. We both have a bit of a problem asking for help - gotta be strong and independent - but it sure is nice to have someone to rely on, for everyday things and not-so-everyday things.

Knitting: Still plugging away on the Reader's Wrap. I also discovered a hole in the Lopi mittens I knit in 2007. A recent issue of Ply Magazine described one way to fix holey socks, which helped me figure out how to fix these mittens: remove the top of the thumb and reknit it. Fortunately, I found some leftover yarn in my stash.

Spinning: I started spinning the black merino top I ordered by mistake. (Idle question: Do you ever return fiber (roving, yarn, etc>) ordered online but not quite what you expected?) I contemplated leaving the yarn in singles, to ply with other colors, but right now I am leaning toward two-plying it and using it as a contrasting color for weaving.

Lately I have been watching Star Trek: Voyager. The most recent episode touched on aspects of Vulcan philosophy that resonate with me, perhaps because they have a lot in common with Stoicism. For example, instead of allowing one's emotions to rule one's mind, strive for the mind to control one's emotions. In these trying times, it is easy to get cranked up emotionally when we need to keep our cool. I am finding this concept to be calming. Live long and prosper!

Lithuanian Ribby Mittens

This pattern is the result of Robin Hansen reverse engineering a pair of mittens found in a museum shop in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Her personal contacts reveal that this is a common style of mitten among Lithuanian knitters. They are knit from worsted weight yarn using size US1 needles to achieve a gauge of 7-9 stitches per inch despite the textured fabric. I found knitting this needle/yarn combination more difficult than I expected; it was hard on my hands and shoulders as well. At least the weather is still wintery here, so I can enjoy wearing them in the snow.

Pattern: Lithuanian Ribby Mittens, from Ultimate Mittens by Robin Hansen
Yarn: Cascade 220, in gray (MC) and red (CC)
Needles: US1
Modifications: see below.

I did not intend to modify the pattern, but I found the instructions difficult to follow and somehow wound up with three extra stitches after the thumb gore. The mitten top and thumb turned out too long and pointy for my taste, so I flattened them by knitting a round of k2tog, a round of k, another round of k2tog, another round of k before pulling the remaining stitches together. I also offset the thumbs enough to create right and left mittens.

They fit perfectly but felt stiff and bulky. After a warm bath, they softened up but also grew a bit, so now feel too large. I wore them to shovel snow and despite the tight stitching, they did not seem to be warmer than other mittens I have knit. Through regular use, they should felt a bit, which will tighten them up.

Graham in Karabella

After knitting three Graham hats in a row, I think I am done with this pattern for a while. It's easy, it's (relatively) quick, it garners compliments, but enough is enough. The pix of all three look alike, but there are subtle differences.

Pattern: Graham, by Jennifer Adams
Yarn: Karabella Yarns Aurora 8, in 'Anthracite' (dark gray)
Needles: US6 and US8
Modifications: Made the hat longer, 8" total

For some reason, hats don't look good on me. Making this one longer helped, though. I meant to weigh it before distribution, but it is still under 100g. The yarn is very soft, but like the Lion Brand Cashmere Blend, it feels like it won't hold up well.

Wool weather

Baby, it's cold outside! Temps in the single digits at night, the teens during the day. Perfect for layering the handknits while staying inside and reading on the couch. I just started Craft: An American History, by Glenn Adamson. It's very readable and very interesting.

Knitting: I finished another 'Graham' hat; post to follow. I think I am done with that pattern for a while. I also finished the Lithuanian mittens; yes, a seperate post to follow. No progress on the Reader's Wrap.

And that is about all I have to report. This past week I had my kitchen cabinets refaced and the vanities in the two baths replaced, which meant emptying cabinets (which went fast) and cleaning, reorganizing, and refilling them (which is taking a LOT longer). I also started another jigsaw puzzle, to help me make it through February. And I am scheduled to get my first Covid vaccination in March. Things are looking up!

Jailhouse Rock

The instructions that came with this Sheep 2 Shoe kit were for making 3-ply sock yarn. I have given up on knitting socks with yarn that lacks nylon, as they wear out too fast. I've also given up on using merino, as it too does not last. (Simply Socks produces a sock yarn made from Corriedale and nylon, and that is now my go-to sock yarn.) Then I agonized over finding some superwash merino in black, to ply with this yarn, but that search was fruitless. So I finally just created a two-ply, which I really, really like.

Fiber: Blue Moon Fiber Arts superwash merino top in 'Jailhouse Rock'
Wheel: Ashford Joy 2
Technique: Nothing special
Spun: worsted, Z-twist at an 11:1 ratio
Plied: 2-ply, S-twist at an 11:1 ratio
WPI: 9
Yardage: 387 yards
Weight: 237g (8.3 oz)

I really wanted this yarn to be DK weight after the fact. In other words, I spun and plied it, and THEN decided it should be DK. Wishful thinking. Still, I crammed it into my wpi counter before admitting that it really is worsted.

Another so-called plan was to knit or weave the yarn with as-yet-to-be-spun black yarn, but I'm thinking it is dark enough just as it is. One skein, the last one, has a lot of joins in it, so I will use it to work up some swatches while I decide what to use this for.

This roving was gifted to me by Qutecowgirl who just released a hat pattern on Ravelry called Pascal. It's free and looks like a fun knit, so check it out!