Merino and Silk

You may have noticed in my last post that I had a little spinning on the wheel.

This is a white merino/silk blend from Knit Picks.

It starts out like this.

It unravels into a long strand of roving, which I seperate into pieces, like this:

Silk has a really long staple length and is pretty slippery, so I have been "spinning from the fold."  I started doing this accidentally before I knew it was a real thing.  But you basically fold your piece of fiber in half,

And let the fiber draft from the fold rather than from the end.  It seem less likely to draft too quickly/get too thin.

I've been practicing "long-draw" drafting where you control the amount of twist with your front hand while drawing the fiber out with your back hand.  This lady does a really good demonstration of what I'm trying to accomplish.

She is a lot better at it than I am, but I'm getting better.

I am also spinning this purple silk/merino I got from the MD Sheep and Wool Festival last year. 

I am sad I didn't get to go this year, so I am celebrating from afar.

I plan to ply the two together when I'm done.

Color Wheel

I got my spinning wheel, put it together immediately because I was too excited to wait, and then decided I wanted it to be a different color.  I got the unfinished version so that I could do exactly that, so I don't know what possessed me to wait until after it was all put together before going to the Sherwin Williams.  My brain doesn't always make sense.

But off to Sherwin Williams I went.  I walked in, a very nice man asked me how he could help.  I explained that I wanted to stain my spinning wheel.  Without batting an eyelash he asked me if it was finished or unfinished, new or used, and if I had already put it together.  He treated spinning-wheel-painting as if it were completely commonplace.  Which makes me want to know who these other spinners are and what color they painted their wheels.

Let me tell you, staining an assembled spinning wheel sucks.  There is not a lot of space between the different parts and you have to wipe the excess stain off as you go.  Even worse, after you stain it, you put a coating on it, let that dry, sand it and reapply another layer of coating.  What a pain in the ass!

For the time being, I left the flyer week and bobbins stain-free.  I wasn't sure if the yarn would rub the varnish off over time and if that would be a problem.  I didn't want to turn all my yarn pink. 

Now that I am typing that, it seems like an unreasonable fear, but that it why some of it is not purple.

The thing I like best about the paint job is the little Kiwi on the pedal.

I took a black marker to it before I varnished the pedals so it stands out pretty strongly.

Painting the wheel also gave me the excuse to unhook the pedals and oil them better.  They had been squeaking something terrible and driving me (and my roommate, I'm sure) completely nutter.

But now it is quiet and purple and very fun to spin with.

Some Assembly Required

There comes a time in every woman's life when she will be confronted by a flat-packed box of 40+ parts, an Allen wrench and a set of instructions that indicate that "some assembly may be required."  Usually a certain Swedish furniture company is involved.

This weekend is was this.  An Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel.

I don't know why, but when I finally ordered a spinning wheel after two years of saving and wishing, I, for some reason, thought that it would show up on my front steps, fully assembled, oiled up and ready to go.  All I would have to do is gently place the drive band on the wheel, touch foot to pedal and be creating beautiful, even, perfectly plied yarn almost immediately.

Not the case.   I had to wait in line at my apartment building's office to pick up the package.  Open it up to find...

...a million little parts and instructions entirely in pictures (helpful pictures with a cute little Kiwi bird leading the way, but pictures nonetheless) and a suspicious lack of tools in my household.

I managed to scrounge up a hammer and a screw driver and, knowing that I could either study for a ConLaw exam or become a do-it-yourselfer spinning wheel style, I tackled the project.

I messed up a couple of things, but fixed them.  Once, I was absolutely stumped.  I couldn't find the answer online.  YouTube has NEVER failed me like this before.  So I called my dad.  He suggested I just "hit it with the hammer."  Unlike when I have computer or toaster problems, this really did do the trick.

As I was finishing up, the lovely Laura stopped by (also avoiding ConLaw, I suspect) and rewarded my efforts with the perfectly appropriate amount of enthusiasm.  Taught her the basics of the wheel (the very few that I know...) and she spun a little yarn.  Perfect!

Now if only I could figure out how to keep the wheel from distracting me from work...

A Little Bit of Spinning

Spinning.  More dryer lint-eque Merino wool.

I made my skirt, too.  It's one of my favs.

Squishy

Squishy is a word one might use to describe the way walking in your shoes feels after you have been pushed into a lake with all your clothes on (oh, that hasn't happened to you?).  Or the way the banana feels when you mash it between your fingers to make banana bread (you don't make yours that way?).  Or it could describe this piece of awesome:

117 yards of bulky weight.  100% Merino in colorway dryer lint (actually, I have no idea what it is called, but even after is was spun, it continued to look like dryer lint....)

I had originally spun one of two singles.

What it looked like on the spindle

What it looked like skeined.

I thought I would have to make another one before I could ply them.  Then, in a fit of wanted to have a finished project NOW, I changed my mind.

 I wound it into a cake and then proceeded to ply it from the inside and the outside of the cake at the same time, essentially working from either end.  For those of you who don't spin, I have no idea how to explain this.  Just know that it ended up like this:

I know I said before that I was aiming for worsted. It fluffed up A LOT after the bath I gave it and I ended up with something bulkier.  No matter...

Squishy, yummy, awesomeness:

 I think I feel yet another hat coming on....

Ask and You Shall Receive

Johanna commented on yesterday's post, "Thoughts for what you'll do with the finished products?"

Answer: YES!  Look what I made!

You may remember this pattern from my slipper knitting frenzy before the holidays.  I seem to get hung up on certain patterns and re-knit them over and over again.  My Ravelry project page is a very boring place.

I like these slippers...I like them because they are REALLY fast to knit (I am a slow knitter, so when I say fast, I mean maybe four hours tops).  I like them because they are cozy and, in this case, made of an extremely soft, smooth merino wool which makes my feet smile.  I only used half of the fat/bulky version of the yarn I showed you yesterday (yea, these use, like, no yarn at all), so be aware that more of these are coming.

I had to do some very tight crochet around the edging to get them to stay on my feet.  Crochet doesn't stretch the same was that knitting does so it helps hold the shape.  Now they stay on.

You can see that some parts the slippers are kind of hole-y.  This would be a result of my spinning, not the knitting (not saying my knitting never has holes in it, just saying that this time, the knitting is not the problem).  In fact, the whole right slipper is kind of hole-y because I apparently spun the first half of my yarn WAY thinner than the second half.

Right foot....holes everywhere.

Only a couple of holes on the strap, but a much thicker fabric in general.

The thin yarn meant that the gauge (how tight my stitches are) is way off in the right one.  All this means is that I will have to wear them myself instead of giving them away. 

They will be my Sunday slippers (because they are hole-y...holy...on Sunday...get it?  get it?  no?  sigh....)

Different Strokes

Let me be clear: I am really not good at this whole spinning wool into yarn thing yet.  And since I only have a drop spindle (i.e. no spinning wheel), I am excessively slow at the whole process.

But this, of course, does not stop me from feeling immensely clever every time I make something.  Take this for example:

Close-up. Single ply, fat/bulky 100% Merino from Abstract Fiber of Portland, OR in colorway "Snapdragon"

This past weekend, I took some roving of the same color way...

This is roving....essentially a long, dense, prepared strand of fiber that you use to spin with.

and spun it slightly differently.

First ply done and waiting on a paper towel tube.  Second ply being spun on my crappy, crappy, needs-to-be-replaced-with-this spindle.

Look what happened!!!

I'm a friggin' genius!  Or at least as smart as a gifted seven-year-old.

See how even though I started with the same raw material, it came out utterly different. 

This is not something new to spinners.  Had I plied it differently (perhaps a chain ply, that I am going to pretend I already know how to do for the sake of argument), it would have looked even different still....actually I am tempted to go back for a third round of this fiber to do exactly that. 

Thrilled, I tell you!  Thrilled!

Emails Only Knitters Get

I got an email from my roommie apologizing that he had gone in my room, but I had left my yarn in the shower and he wanted to return it to me.  He, of course, hung it in my closet where it belongs.  Initially I felt bad that I had inconvenienced my roommate by adding a step to his morning routine.  And then I stopped, reread the email and considered writing him a thank you note for not ending his email with "you are a crazy, crazy lady with too much wool and why do you keep yarn in the shower/closet anyway, you wacko mishugenah?!?!"

The answer is that I finished spinning the (boring) brown two-ply this weekend (about 250 yards, fingering-ish weight).

It was boring to spin, but actually I like the way it turned out.  It's fluffy and not over-plied.

I let it soak, had given it a good spin in the shower to get some of the water out, and then hung it in my closet to dry.  Five minutes later I heard a disturbing people-can-lick-too-my-friend dripping noise coming from my closet and discovered that I had not, in fact gotten all the water out.  Instead of going ALL THE WAY downstairs to the washing machine to spin it dry, I just hung it in the shower to drip dry.  And apparently GNP did not want a wool loofah this morning (oh gosh, doesn't a wool loofah sound amazing?!?!).  Oops...

Now I am working on this pile of what looks suspiciously like dryer lint.  (Side note: I seriously considered trying to spin dryer lint, but it isn't sticky enough....maybe if I am ever in a desperate situation...don't judge...).

I swear it is NOT lint and actually 10 ounces of wonderfully springy Merino that looks a little less crazy when spun....I think....

I am going to try another two-ply, but with fatter singles this time (making it closer to a worsted), assuming my spindle doesn't fall apart (again).

Weekend Update: I Might Be An Idiot

First of all, congrats to B, Jessica, and Nathan for being the first commenters on the last week's post.  I will be sending you all something lovely.  Nathan's was some seriously questionable poetry, but double gifts to both B and Jessica for AMAZING poems.   I'm thinking something Vagina Monologues related, perhaps?

This past week was mildly traumatic.  I had been talking to a friend earlier in the week and said that  I would be sending my sister my old cell phone because hers was  broken.  I said, "I am not as hard on my phone as she is."  BIG mistake.  I almost immediately went home and dropped my phone in the toilet (I am still not sure how this happened....who is ridiculous enough to drop a phone in the toilet?  This girl....). Yup, the gods are hilarious folks that like to mess with people that make cocky statements.

Last Friday I did this:

Chopped my hair off.  Comments have ranged from "you look like an ass-kicking lawyer" to "you looked young before, but now you look five."  Whatever, I don't have to brush my hair anymore.

I also finished spinning the blue stuff from Lorna's Lace (purchased at Stitch DC). 

Look how cool this is.  Right after I spin it, it is "energized" and all crinkled up.

I let it set in water for a while and then dry.  Then it is all relaxed and the twist is set.  SUCH a big difference.  LOVE IT!

Started my Valentine's Day knitting.  Making these hearts from Mochimochi land.  Planning my Annual Valentine's Day Red Dinner (specifically, the 24th Annual Red Dinner...Smith/Brown family tradition) which may also include a Yonic Craft-making Party in preparation for the Vagina Monologues in DC.  Oooooo.....

Not Knitting

You are all so polite.  So polite, in fact, that even though there hasn't been an ounce of knitting on this blog all week (longer than that?!?!) no one has complained.  Actually, you have all been uber quiet lately.  Let's play a little game.  First three people to post a comment here who have never posted before (I know you're lurking out there....) will get a very special something for International Random Gift Giving Day, which I will celebrate....oh, I dunno....sometime later this month.  Double gifting if your comments are in poetry form.  Deal?

I will admit that I have not been knitting much the past two weeks.  Chalking this up to a suspected case of carpal tunnel I am trying to avoid and also to the fact that there is wool EVERYWHERE in my room, attaching itself to all my dark-colored yarns that I want to knit with (I swear I am going to make those black legwarmers for you someday Julie!).  Why is there wool EVERYWHERE, you ask?  Mainly because I don't have a vacuum cleaner.

But also because I made this:

80 yards super bulky weight from KnitPicks Bare Merino roving.  I'm have some dying plans for this one....purple, maybe?

And this:

fatter-than-fingering weight hand-dyed Superwash Merino from Lorna's Laces (I do not believe for  a second that this is actually superwash...for you non-wool-fetishists, superwash means that you could stick it in the washing machine and it wouldn't felt....I don't believe.)

And some of this:

the first ply of a two-ply something that I have planned...wool of some kind that I was given that is not as soft as Merino.  Boring, boring color.  All rolled up on a toilet paper roll for safe keeping until I do the second ply.

All spun on my spindle, which is now starting to fall apart (I am not entirely clear on the qualities of a good spindle yet, but I am pretty sure they include having a hook that stays screwed in).  I am not entirely sucking at this spinning thing anymore, even though I am still not super consistent with my width and might over spin it just a little bit (read: way too much).  Need to go back to the Art League to play with the wheel some more, though...perhaps after acquiring some additional roving.