Chaos ground

I recently saw a presentation by Kim Lieberman, a most wonderful South African artist who, while talking about her journey with lace, mentioned chaos lace, or wild lace. Her lace was so beautiful (https://www.kimlieberman.com/) and I was so intrigued that I decided to do a little research. That research was stunningly short because I found next to nothing about it. 

I did find a small mention on Jean Leader’s website (definitely worth a peruse). https://www.jeanleader.net/mylace/3x3x3.html Her website was the first place I saw a description of chaos ground and the fascinating way she’d used it.  

One other place I found information was Janis Savage’s blog post on a chaos ground scarf. http://janis.savage.org.za/2011/07/hasty-chaotic-scarf.html?m=1 

The final piece of information I found was a brief discussion on an old IOLI group discussion which mentioned that this type of work was used quite a lot at one time within the German lacemaking community. One poster mentioned a book that had a lot of chaos ground patterns called Klöppeln Am Laufenden Band. Amazingly, I was able to find it and it has dozens of variations. Now to go to sampling. While I don’t read German, I can read a chart and , who knows, maybe I’ll learn a few words along the way!!

Even though I didn’t know much about it, I ended up designing a piece using it. Actually the piece was designed before I bounced down the rabbit hole but it will be, I hope, a good place to explore the technique. So after sampling will come the doing!

How many licks…

Remember that old commercial about the owl trying to figure out how many licks on the tootsie pop before you get to the chewy center?  That's how I feel with this spinning project.

I've had this project on my Kromski Symphony for about 3 years. 

I love all my spinning wheels but this one is the most elegant and the best at spinning the lace weight yarn. 

The fiber is a Cormo/Suri Alpaca blend that I found at Knitorious and it's kind of a denim color. So pretty and super soft and silky. 

As you can see, my bobbin is full and I only have a short strip to go to finish this half of the fiber. Just the second half to go!  The first half took 3 years, wonder how long the second half will go. 

Keep in mind that this bobbin has about 2 ounces of fiber spun super fine which is probably about 1200 yards of singles. 

Or more. 

So happy to make some progress with this thing. 

Success as a ratio, not an absolute

When the L.A.C.E. Group started their yardage club (you gain entry by working at least 2 yards of lace at the skill level you are able to work), I started a very simple, beginner lace piece because I was a beginner. There were some really basic things I was still not fluent with. After I'd worked about 2 feet of that edging, things clicked for me and I reached a new level of understanding of the craft. It was one of those moments when I realized that all of a sudden my hands were working stitches without my having to think through every movement and it was such a moment of freedom and triumph. It gave me courage to try something a little harder and a little more complicated.

That edging was, for the most part, completed back in 2012 but since the. I've continued to progress and try new things. Some of them worked and some of them didn't but I'm okay with that. I'm happy for success to be a ratio rather than an absolute. It's way more fun and exciting and fulfilling that way. 

This most recent project of working through this Torchon workbook has been just such another adventure. I'm gaining real fluency with moving from element to element and it's a freeing feeling. 

I was thinking the other day that lace is very much like snooker or pool. With each move you have to think about where each pair lands in the work so that it's in the right place to move to the next step. I'm finally starting to be able to see where the pairs need to be and why. 

That said, I have just 2 more samples to work to finish the second chapter - grounds- before I move on to spiders then Scansanavuan holes and then rose ground. One sample is ready to turn the corner and there's one more after that. 

Here are the last few samples that I completed. 

But I'm done for tonight and will be ready to work a few stitches before work tomorrow. Onwards and upwards!

This makes me happy

I finished my #roserootmkal shawlette made with handspun Merino/cashmere yarn. 

There were a few adventures with it. I ran out of yarn 1/2 way thru the edging (which I expected).  I had spun the main yarn knowing that I didn't quite have the yardage I would need. That was one reason I decided to make the full shawl with the red (of which I had plenty) and the smaller version with this. I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have had enough fiber to spin for the whole shawl. 

What I didn't expect was to run out again about 2 inches from the end. I can't say how many times I've eked out a project, sometimes with just inches of yarn left. No such luck this time. Guess this is the evening up of all those close wins!

But I made the mistake of trying to spin the last bit of yarn while watching the #Hobbit Battle of the 5 Armies. I may have gotten a wee bit too much twist in as I treadled to the battle and washed the yarn in my tears at the end.  But I got it done and am thrilled with it. It's just the right length you would want for a shawlette but I still need to block it. 

But since we're supposed to have a high today of 68 degrees (in the middle of July - what?!?) I was able to wear it and bask in its coziness and softiness. 

Want one of your own?  You can find the pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roseroot-2. Thanks for the beautiful pattern, Rohn!

So grateful

 Sometimes I forget to slow down enough to realize how blessed I am to have the ability to follow my passion with textile arts.  I've had amazing people in my life to open doors of knowledge and experience and those to share the journey and I've had the means to obtain the tools and supplies to do such a wide variety of things.

With that I've tried to be as generous as I can with others; certainly so many others have been generous with me. And there's no group I know as generous as textile artists. 

I had a great time with the L.A.C.E. Group in Chicago yesterday for their Lace Day. I did more than my fair share to support the vendors and got to spend some time with 3 ladies who were in the middle of learning to needle tat when the person working with them had to go take care of something.  Hopefully they'll also be able to take a road trip to join us in Springfield for the Needle In a Haystack event.

My best purchase was a new pillow. Two years ago at the last Lace Day, there was a vendor with beautiful hand made roller pillows. I was so hoping they would be there yesterday and sure enough they were!  Here's my new baby - an Alan Frederickson bobbin lace roller pillow. 

 

It even has a nice little spring loaded catch on the drawer in the front.

 

And I've even got a new project on it. 

And today I got to spend some time with my old knitting buddies to share a little bit about bobbin lace. Such a good group and it was nice to be back with them. 

#iamblessed

Almost there

I've finished the skirt of my new sweater and I couldn't be more thrilled. 

I've still got to finish off the neckline and decide whether I want to add lace to the sleeves but it fits beautifully and it's softer than a baby's bum so I'm happy. 

It's always a gamble to design on the fly like this and the stakes are even higher when the gamble involves handspun luxury fibers (alpaca, merino, silk, angora and cashmere). I've held my breath through this process but it looks exactly like I saw in my mind's eye all those weeks ago. That's very satisfying, to say the least. 

7 years in the making...

Or is that 8...

In the (what I prefer to call) persistence category, I present my handspun, designed, hand knitted shawl. 

I don't remember exactly when I started it but it couldn't have been less than 7-8 years ago. In my defense, it's handspun to a true lace weight (probably at least 800 yards). Part was spindle spun but the majority if it was spun on a wheel. (Don't ask me which one because that would be embarrassing - I don't remember but probably Kromski Minstrel). The fiber is Bluefaced Leicester from Frabjous Fibers. 

Then I started knitting. If I remember right, this was a project that started out as something but didn't want to be that thing so I ripped it out and made it into this. It's one of those projects that I made good progress on until I got sidetracked so it got put away then discovered. A little more was worked, rinse and repeat. 

It's actually supposed to have a lace edging on each end but I finally ran short if yarn and decided just to fish rather than cut bait. 

I have to say I do (still) like it. Even after all these years. 

All the way around

I've completed my first year in my house and now I can finally relax a little. I've just finished and hung the final curtain. 

I love this lace pattern and the nod to Scotland it gives to my home but I was surprised at how fast it worked up after I got serious about getting it finished. 

Now for the tour of curtains:

Just what I envisioned. Ahhhh....good times. 

Better late

About 4-5 years ago I spun a lace weight yarn out of some blue faced Leicester wool dyed by Frabjous Fibers, my favorite all time dye house. The colorway was called English Garden and it was easy to see why. 

I started a project with it but it was another one of those situations where the yarn had an opinion and the project never went anywhere. 

About a year ago I ripped out and started a new project. Even though it's taken me all this time, I should get credit for perseverance, if not for speed, because I've finally finished. 

I was running really short on yardage

(That's how much I had left in the end) but I knew I needed at least a small border on each end. I just happened to have some books covering my coffee table (and spilling off onto the floor but that's another story), one of which was this one:

Which contains a whole section on edgings. In it I found this sweet little edging:

It's super easy and super fast and super cute. 

Now I just need to block it-just an easy block and I'm all set for fall. 

Closing In

There has been a lot going on this past week including late nights at work, a little bit of time off work spent in the yard cleaning things up and getting some stuff planted.  Going back into the yard to critter-proof the new platings and working more in the yard, etc. you get the picture. 

But in the midst of all that I've been working on my doily. 

Just 2 1/2 repeats to go to finish the outside. I've had a lot of people ask and those are pins, not beads. Once I'm done, all of those will be removed. They're used to help shape the lace and keep it in place until it's done. 

This has been a fun project for a number of reasons. First because it's not too hard but I've gotten a ton of practice on making leaf tallies and plaits. 

Second, because it think the construction is interesting. The pattern had a little bit of instruction but not everything was spelled out. I like that. It makes me have to think about what I'm doing and why. That challenges my bobbin lace skills. 

Third,I'm going to get more than enough practice making picots when I do the center. 

Finally, I think it will be a nice piece when it's finished and I know just where I'm going to put it. 

Lace study

With the class coming up at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Fesitval, I've been trying to push my limits in spinning lace.  Let's be honest.  My default yarn tends to be on the fine size.

But I wanted to work some samples with different types of fibers and different direction plies and see what I could come up with for projects for the Spinning for Lace class.

First of all, I put together this group of samples.  One of these is a commercial merino lace yarn.  The others are all handspun.

(Okay, there are 2 commercially spun yarns.  The one on the left is a strand of worsted weight yarn as a example.)

I also wanted to spin enough of one sample to knit something that will show the progress so here is the merino lace.  I spun something like 275 yards from 3/4 oz of merino fiber.  I can't believe how springy and fun to knit this is.

I spun this on my Kromski Symphony (which is my new favorite wheel for lace weight) at 16:1 ratio.  I spun the singles z and plied s.  I washed it in really hot water which activated some of the original merino crimp and gave this wonderful bouncy light lace weight yarn. The pattern is feather and fan (with an extra garter ridge running through one of them - I didn't find it until I was way past).  I've had to rip out several times and, because I've got plenty of twist in the yarn, it's hasn't been harmed by the ripping and reknitting (and ripping and reknitting - several times).  This was less than an ounce and I've got about 10 ounces left so I'm going to be able to do plenty with.  And isn't it a pretty color?  So springtime!

One more sample I'm going to knit up.  This is bfl which puffs up a lot once it's washed so it's never as fine as it seems when you're spinning:

One more and then I promise I'll stop.  This is rambouillet from the fleece which I washed lock by lock and spun straight from the lock:

(This is the worsted, handspun bfl and handspun rambouillet fleece.)

P.S.  Did you pick the commercially spun yarn?  It's the white strand on the left.

Not for lack of trying

I got some pictures taken finally yesterday and tried to get them posted but there was some problem with Blogger. 

While I was working on some stuff yesterday, I was watching some old movies.  One of them was a really weird movie called, "The Villain Still Pursued Her."  Came out in 1940 with people like Alan Mowbray, Buster Keaton, and Margaret Hamilton (the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz movie).  If you click on the link above, you'll see a plot description but the better description is at the bottom of the page with the User Review.  This is a satire on the melodramatic dramas out there and is so bad that it's hysterical - by the way, it's bad on purpose.  Basically, every moment that could be overacted is overacted and every contrivance is used, all the way from the beginning of the movie which finds a newly widowed mother and her beautiful daughter discussing how their husband/father had left them with little money and the mortgage is coming due.  The slimey lawyer tries to convince them that the land owner is going to kick them out.  In reality, he is trying to get the beautiful daughter to marry him.  Fast forward to the daughter finding out that the handsome young land owner is kind and marries him.  On the wedding day, the young man declares that he never drinks and the new young wife says, that's great because no lips that have touched the demon liquor will ever touch my lips.  The lawyer realizes this is his in and tricks the young man into taking a drink, which turns him into a raging alcoholic.  And it continues from there.   Definitely worth a viewing if you're up for a laugh.

In getting ready for the Heritage Knitting Retreat, I decided I should probably get my silk beaded purse finished.  This is one of those projects that started out just to try out how the Gudebrod silk would work in a 19th century reproduction purse that would have originally used silk thread.  I learned a lot experimenting with the materials for this project.  Things like sizing for silk thread.  A is small, FFF is large (FFF is like smaller fingering weight).  "A" is thin, like thread thin, really thin.

I love the feel of the silk with the beads and would highly recommend you trying it if you have any desire to knit a beaded purse.  The thread is softer than mercerized cotton and accommodates the beads much more easily, although it will go a little hinky if it snags on a bead.  It only happend to me once and I used almost an entire tube of 11/0 beads.  It wasn't too bad, just not something that happens with the mercerized cotton. 

I've been working for quite a while on spinning a truely lace-weight yarn out of some Blue-faced Leicester.  It was my first project on my Fricke wheel and it's been a whole lot of spinning.  A.Whole.Lot.of.Spinning.  Now part of this roving has been spun on my Ashford drop spindle (which I've currently lost sight of - I know it's here somewhere) but the majority of it has been worked on the wheel.  I have no idea what the yardage is going to be but I suspect it's going to be in the neighborhood of about 1,200 yards.  1,200 yards is actually 2,400 yards plus plying so it's really 3,600 yards of spinning.  Like I said, a bunch of spinning. 

It's also been quite the learning experience.  Even though BFL is a longer stapled wool, when you're spinning this finely, it takes a whole lot more twist in the singles than you realize.  I've hit patches where I obviously didn't have enough twist in the singles.  It would be interesting to know what happened during those periods of spinning to make me not be paying enough attention. 

I haven't posted anything yet about the cotton roving I bought from the Woolery booth in Lexington.  The color is called Terra Cotta.  It's dyed, not one of the natural colors, but I'm thinking I may ply it with the natural coyote color.  The natural colors darken when you finish them and I think it might look nice with this.  I've been spinning this on the fastest whorl of my Kromski Minstrel using my own modified version of the long draw.  I find this modified version to be much easier to control than a proper long draw.  I'm sure it's just because I haven't practiced enough with it but this seems to work fine for what I'm doing.  Here's the start of the bobbin.  I'm not spinning it super, super fine but it should work out to a heavier lace weight sort of yarn.  I'm wondering if I can actually get enough spun for a summer top before it gets cold again.  That's my challenge, should I choose to accept it.  And will I accept it?  I'll let you know along about September time : ).

Lace Galore

Just a quick post to show you the galore of lace that's been going on here lately. I've missed crochet. These are the crocheted 1918 doily at the left, a lady's hankie with crocheted edging at the top, the finally completed knitted 1918 doily at the right and my little handspun knitted doily in ecru. Sometimes I think I should have been a Victorian!

Ahemmm...

Quite enough said, I think.

Just a quick post to show some pictures of the latest project – elegant long gloves.

The first picture is of the test glove which has at least 4-5 major design flaws but at least it’s enough to show me what I need to do with the real ones.

Here’s the 1st of the real gloves. As you can see, I’ve just finished the hand and now I’m starting work on the wrist and forearm.

I had hoped to finish them this weekend but an unexpected and equally unwelcome bug hit at 5am sharp on Saturday morning and is just now receding. In fact, it was so bad that I didn’t even want to think of touching a knitting needle. Better now, thanks.

If I start going to the Opera I might as well be ready..

I saw a pair of long gloves the other day and started thinking about how much scope there would be to designing a pair of long gloves. I found some Misti Alpaca Lace (natural dark tan - groovy color name, isn't it? I call it 'camel' colored) in my stash that I’ve been so wanting to make something with and it’s perfect for this project. Soft, elegant, alluring, takes the lace part well and gorgeous!

Don't have photos yet but will try to get those posted tomorrow. The idea is for the gloves to have a lacy pattern on the back of the hand then gently decrease to the wrist. At the wrist will be some open lace and I'm thinking some special beads so that it looks like a bracelet round the wrist. The gloves I saw actually had a sparkly bracelet around them on the wrist but I thought, why not just work them into the glove? Right?!

Then they will continue up the forearm with the lace pattern worked all the way around the glove. I think. Maybe just the top but I think all the way round. I certainly wouldn't need to do any increasing to accommodate the line of the arm as the lace would automatically do that for me.

I love the feel of the laceweight for the glove and the alpaca is super soft and very warm. The glove I'm doing right now is really a "work out the pattern" glove and I will make the real pair once I've got everything worked out here.

I keep telling everyone these are for all those 'black tie' events I go to in Springfield, Illinois! Ha!! Well, I now have an Opera Hood and I'll soon have long gloves so carry on!!

Hummmm....

OK, so I’m working on my new lace ‘dinner cloth' (see previous post). The pattern calls for size 60 thread, which if you’re not up on crochet cotton sizes, is just slightly larger than sewing thread. I chose not to use size 60 thread for a number of reasons including the fact that I have no idea how many of those little dodahs I would need to finish a dinner cloth.

There’s no problem with substituting cotton sizes on doilies or dinner cloths, which is a good thing, but you need to substitute an appropriate size needle as well. Since that’s the sensible way to do it, I substituted size 10 cotton. I didn’t, however, change the needles. To be totally honest there were several reasons for this. 1) I had size 0s out for the Dalek; 2) It’s a size that I have both double points (for the beginning of the dinner cloth) and several lengths of circular needles (for when it gets larger); and 3) I didn’t really think it through.

I used the size 10 thread because in the last 2 doilies I made, I wasn’t so crazy about the smaller thread in the knitted doily. I do prefer it for crocheting doilies but not so much for the knitting.

Now the combination of those 2 things and the fact that this pattern is quite advanced and uses a lot of knit 3 togethers has made for a rough start. So now I’m re-evaluating. I’m 27 rounds in so not too far – sounds worse than it is because of course you start so small - it’s only a couple of evenings’ work. If I’m going to change now is the time to do it. I only have 1 skein of the 30 but I can still get more of the same lot so I may just go that way.

In the meantime, I’ll get back to my shawl and looking for gold wool in my stash to make another Dalek.

Photos, photos, photos

OK, Jennifer, here are the photos!

Here are some photos of my finished Skrå-Trøyer sweater. Yeah! I’m finished!


Also, the knitted doily called Azalea which I love as much as I hoped I would is finished. As I mentioned, I had some 2.25mm needle challenges and ended up using a total of 12 needles! Again, not the recommended path but I’ve found that most double pointed needles are 2.25mm and most circs are 2.5mm (both US size 1, of course). I did find a Crystal Palace circular at 2.25 but it was the most horrible needle I’ve ever used. Maybe it’s just this particular one but where the cable is joined to the needle, the metal part is bigger than the cable and I couldn’t get the stitches off the cable onto the needle. I thought I was going to have to cut the needle to get my doily off of it. I’m definitely going to return it and try to get a refund.



Regardless, however, I got them off and got it finished. This was one of the easiest knitted lace projects I’ve ever done.