Blending in

I've been doing a little experiment, inspired by a post by the Yarn Harlot who was trying to spin to match a commercial yarn for a Berroco project. I made the same project she was spinning to make and had some of the yarn left over. I'd made it in a charcoal Berroco Cuzco yarn which is a lovely 50/50 mix of alpaca and wool.

That got me thinking. I spun a gorgeous silver alpaca roving for my Mom a few months ago. It was stuff I'd gotten from Karen, my friend here in Springfield who carries all these wonderful fibers. I wondered if I got a pack of the silver alpaca and a pack of grey wool, maybe I could spin them together and get something like the Cuzco from it, I would be able to mix it and the charcoal for a project. I got a strand of the Cuzco, pulled it a apart and studied how it was spun and followed her lead. Of course, I was actually looking at Cuzco, unlike the Harlot who was actually looking at a different Berroco yarn. I don't judge, it's something I might have done (and probably have done).

I was too impatient to blend it properly so I decided to put a strip of each together and blending as I went. Here's what I've got so far.

I'm still not so sure how it will ply up because I haven't been able to get it as even as I would like. But I think it will work all right. It's been a little tricky blending as I go because the alpaca, being much slipperier than the wool likes to draft faster than the wool. I am going to go ahead and spin all the singles before I start plying so I can blend them together better.

She got a beautiful yarn that she's decided to do something else with so I'll see if I can get the Cuzco she was shooting for.

Going Southwest and Progress

I had these the other day but the post was already too long so I decided to wait to share it. A few weeks ago a friend asked if I wanted to go in on a Navajo-Churro lamb fleece. She'd made herself a Navajo spindle which fascinated me and I'd asked her to make me one. The fleece seemed to be the next logical step.

The fleece came and we've both been playing with it in preparation to the spin along with a spinning group on Ravelry. She kept saying there was an aweful lot of vegetable matter in it but I didn't realize how much until I started working on it. Here's a shot of the locks before and after some preparation. To the left is a skeinlette of generic wool I spun on my beautiful handmade Navajo spindle. Here it is:

Ain't it purty!

On another note, I've finished the first section of the 1923 pattern. It's going to be HUGE but it's going to be gorgeous.

Reveling in the past

This will be quite a long post so if you're seated comfortably, we'll begin...

I'm back from vacation and have barely been able to catch my breath. That means I've got a lot of catching up to do here. I mentioned in a previous post about going to the Texas First Ladies exhibit at TWU. I got some pictures but my camera batteries went dead so I only got a few. Have a look:

And one of the fun things about hanging out with my Mom, is I have time to do some experimenting. Several years ago I made a sweater using Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool and the Fisherman's Rib stitch which is also known under quite a few other names including Brioche stitch. We've found it all through 19th century patterns. I learned to do the stitch originally through an old Vogue Knitting magazine in an Elizabeth Zimmerman article. The way EZ taught it was to cast on an odd number of stitches, knit 1, then knit into the stitch below the next stitch. You repeat those to the end and then knit 1. On the opposite side you knit 2 then knit below and knit 1, repeating the last 2 until the end of the row. Once you get into the rhythm with it, it's quite fun to do. You just have to be really patient and aware of what you're doing for the first 8 or 10 rows until the pattern starts to emerge. After that, the previous row will give you clues about where you are.

As we've been researching, however, the most common instructions are to knit 1, put the yarn forward and slip the next stitch purlwise, bring the yarn to the back (really it's just a yarn over) and then knit 1, repeating the last 2 to the end. Generally they would tell you to cast on an even number of stitches and just do the same thing on both sides. With this version, you know immediately where you are and it's much, much easier if you make a mistake to go back.

One of the things I've been wanting to try out is doing it in 2 colors. I came across a great website devoted to the brioche stitch. She had very clear instructions on how to work with more than 1 color so I got some white wool and some green wool and cast on. I liked the pattern so much I just kept going until I had quite a decent length scarf. But I still had some green left (and lots of white) so I decided I would try to figure out how to do this in the round and make me a matching hat. Once I realized I just had to knit the white rounds and purl the green rounds, it worked like a dream! Have a look at this:

And totally reversible:

I cast on 20 stitches for the scarf and 80 for the hat on size 5 needles if you want to try it. One thing to keep in mind is for the scarf, you need to use either double pointed needles or circular needles.

Yarn store report: On my way back I stopped in Springfield, MO, at one of the friendliest yarn shops I've found and got some lovely fiber. If you're ever through Springfield, stop by Simply Fibers and have a look. Very cute, very friendly, and a very nice selection.

And FINALLY, I started a new project. I'll let the picture say it all for now except to say the middle part sits in the middle of the table and the six pond scenes are placemats. I'm doing it in the size 50 thread I used for the Starburst cloth.

(edited to fix the First Lady pictures)

Tripping along

No pictures because my camera batteries went dead. I just charged them, too, so I don't know what's going on with them.

I'm on vacation in sunny (hot) Texas. I love Texas and would totally move back if it would agree to cool down a little bit. Since we haven't been able to reach that compromise, I remain a sad expat.

The trip down is kind of long but I always enjoy it. I worked it so that I got into Tulsa early enough to visit a yarn shop - Loops. It's in an old and upscale part of town so I enjoyed looking at the architecture as I made my way there. The yarn shop was pretty ordinary with the standard lines of yarn but the ladies in the shop were so friendly and welcoming that I might just stop by on my way home. They did have one kind of cool thing. They have a project wall. It's got yarn in cubicles which are arranged in columns (about 10 columns across). At the top was a pattern and a knitted sample then below are all the yarns needed for the project. They have a big to-do when they change the wall and it sounds like a big party. I'd never seen that before.

Down the road in Oklahoma City, I stumbled across one of the best yarn shops I've ever been in. I was looking for a Half Price Books bookstore and came across them in their new location. Evidently they only moved in about 6 weeks ago but it was wonderful. I told one of the clerks that I would move to Oklahoma City just so this could be my local yarn shop!! It was nice and spacious with a wide variety of yarns - some of which I'd never come across before. Not that that means a whole lot but it doesn't always happen. They've got a nice large area with couches and chairs where you can just laze around knitting or spinning and, the best thing is that it's not in front of any yarn! No having to crawl over knitters to look at yarn. Champion. They also have what looks like a large class area off to the side. It was just such a great vibe and I can only say kudos to Gourmet Yarn Company for such a wonderful place.

For a number of reasons, we didn't make it to West Texas for the cotton so I'll have to get it by mail if I get it. But we did go to a display at Texas Women's University showing dresses from Texas First Ladies and other dignitaries. They had poster-sized bios and descriptions on one wall with the the gallery of dresses and other period items along the opposite wall. I did get some pictures and will post them when I get home. I really enjoyed some of the dresses, the earliest of which was around 1850, I believe. Gorgeous.

We then went on to the campus library that had a very interesting display on the accomplishments of women, particularly Texas women with loads of artifacts, pictures and displays. Very impressive but we weren't finished yet! TWU has one of the largest ever collections of recipe books. We thought it was going to be another museum-type display but it wasn't. It was actually row after row of library stacks filled with every conceivable cookbook. We didn't stay too long but it would certainly be an absolute hoot to go and spend the day researching! The earliest cookbook I found was an 1840's Quaker cookbook. How fun is that!

Time is winding down, which is always a little sad and I'll be back on the road tomorrow. But it's been a good time.

When all else fails, read the directions

I love the Yarn Harlot’s blog. I quite enjoy starting my day as my computer is booting up sharing a little visit to see what’s happening in the Yarn Harlot’s world.

However, I have a little bone to pick with Ms. Harlot. Just a little one but here it is.

On a recent post, she was experimenting with some fiber she wanted to use on a project. She talked about her plans and experiments with the fiber and why she was deciding on one spinning method over another. Very nice. Very informative. But then she blithely mentions she thought she might cable ply it but I think, I can’t remember all the details, I think she decided against it because it didn’t bring out the colors of the fiber the way she wanted. I think that’s what happened but it’s not really important. What’s important is that she introduced me to something I’d never heard about before – cable plying. She did, however, mention it in the same breath as 3 and 4-ply. Breezy. Just like that.

So how hard could it be. You spin 4 singles (whichever direction you choose). You 2-ply 2 plies (the opposite direction of the singles). You ply the 2-plies together, in other words you cable them (in the direction of your singles). How hard could it be.

Ms. Harlot, I appreciate that you share both your fiber joys as well as your fiber pains and usually I find your blog very informative and fun. However, last night when I ended up with singles left over on 2 bobbins from a worsted 3-ply I was finishing up, I thought I’d try it. Singles. Ply. Cable. Right?

How shocked was I when I ended up with an overtwisted muddled, mess? Shocked and dismayed. But a little wiser. There’s more to this than meets the eye, I thought.

I let a ton of twist out of the yarn since it was only about 4 yards long and it’s pretty but very loose. I was determined to do better.

In the time honored tradition of when all else fails, read the directions, I went on Ravelry and found a post about this very problem in the Spin Tech group. One of the best things about Ravelry is never being alone with your fiber problems again. I love that. There was some explanation about the fact that you should spin your singles normally then totally overtwist your 2-ply. That way when you do the cabling, it will balance the yarn and “snap” together. “Snap” is the actual word used by Judith McKenzie MacCuin in her splendid and wonderful book, “The Intentional Spinner,” when talking about cabled yarn.

So I got out some generic roving I love to work with and spun away. I got 2 2-plies done and added what I thought was a ton of twist. Evidently even that wasn’t enough because this is what it did:

One thing I think I need to change is to set my wheel to take up the yarn much more quickly when I’m doing the cable part. That would mean less twist in the cabled yarn before it goes onto the bobbin. More experimenting is in order but I’ll be traveling the next week. I’ll see how it goes with a drop spindle.

So, thank you Ms. Harlot for sharing with me a new concept in spinning. For that, I’m grateful. For making it look so easy, not so much!

Three Sisters Folk Art School

Karen, Bill and I went over to Chillicothe, IL, yesterday afternoon for a presentation about a new Folk Art School that's being established at Three Sisters Park. There's a lot of history there that I don't have time right now to mention (click on their links and have a read) but it's a fascinating project that I hope I can be involved in some way.

There are folk art schools but mainly concentrated in the Carolinas and the Northwest. There is nothing really available in the midwest and these folks have a pretty ideal setting for it. The park is set looking out over the Illinois River and is an absolutely beautiful area. They've had one weekend of classes (dollmaking, relief carving, goard carving, quilting and some others I don't remember right now). There is another weekend set for November and then another in April. They're building up a contact list and are interested in talking to anyone who would like to be involved as a volunteer, advisor, teacher, etc.

There were quite a few people there yesterday and it sounds like, just among the group that was there, that most folk arts were covered - by interest, if not by expertise (and there was a lot of expertise there, I can assure you!). They have such a broad selection of classes already planned, from fiber arts to cooking to woodworking to painting to jewelry making and more.

You can sign up for email updates or find out how to contact them at their website.

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!