Crazy like a doily

I knitted with it.  I wanted to see what it would be like to crochet with it.  You know what I mean.  That ole size 100 cotton thread (with the emphasis on thread!).  I found an old crochet booklet with a very pretty, small doily - just 16 rounds - to try it out on.  With my trusty size 14 crochet hook (very small in its own right), I started out.  And believe it or not, no drama.  Not one little bit.  Not even a little.  In fact, I couldn't really tell any difference from crocheting with any other thread.  Huh.  It came out about 6 inches across.

Ducks and Drakes.  No idea where that name came from.

What a dainty little thing.  I got just to the part of the solid circles (that's a boatload of double crochets, if you're interested) and I really wasn't sure I liked the pattern and almost decided to give it up.  Boy, am I glad I didn't.  Especially when it turned out like this:

Sweet.

Spindle Galore

Do you ever get inspiration at 10pm?  If you do, I bet you file it away, go to bed and get a good night's sleep.  Am I right?  Sure I am.  Is that what I do? Of course not. 

Last night I was sitting spinning when an idea hit me.  I've been wanting to try my hand at making some spindles that were a little more special than just the toy wheels and dowels.  By 1:30am, I had my first attempt:

That's silver wire and an agate stone. I like how it came out and it spins fine but it's a little out of proportion.  I do like the idea, though.  I'm going to have another go with a finer dowel and some other stones I've got. 

I went to La Bead Oh this afternoon and found some likely items and came up with these:

I did 3 top whorl and 1 bottom whorl.  I'm not so crazy about bottom whorl spindles but I'm trying to give them a chance.  These are all glass beads and I had very little to do to make them fit.  The middle one standing was a little large for the dowel so I used a silver wire to wrap around and fit up through the bead to make it snug.  Looks so pretty against the clear glass bead.  The 2 standing on the right spin wonderfully and are just the right weight.  The others wobble a little bit but they do spin. 

I'll post more if I get more made.

Ocean Blue

It's been back to spinning.  I've got a couple of projects on the spindles (more about that another day) and one on the Minstrel. 

This is some Louet Northern Lights wool in the colorway, "Ocean Waves."

I got this when I was in Lansing, MI, a while back and I've been dying to get to it.  The wool's not too soft but I love the way this is prepared.  Having the smaller roving makes it so easy to draft. 

Here's what I just took off the wheel:

It's merino spun to 3-ply lace-fingering weight.  I got this several years ago from Outback Fibers.  They have sample packs of merino featuring different colorways, which is a great way to try out the fiber.  As you can see, the colors are great.  The original plan was to spin it as finely as I was able, then ply it with a singles of black but I got impatient and bored! I can be fickle that way, sadly.  Imagine my surprise when I got it plied and it came out like this!  It's Navajo plied ("z" singles/"s" ply).

Selbu Mitts

When I was in Michigan a few weeks ago, I came across a wonderful book called Selbuvotter, Biography of a Knitting Tradition by Terri Shea.  One of the things I like most about the book is that, in addition to amazing patterns from authentic Selbu mittens and in addition to notes on construction, etc., there is a great overview of the history of Selbu knitting and the knitters who originated it and popularized and spread it.

I decided I wanted to spin some yarn to make one of the patterns to really get into the feel of it.  The yarn was 2-ply, more or less fingering weight or a little less and "rustic."  I'll leave it at that!

So, here is the first mitten done:

Traditionally it would have been knit with black and white but I had blue so mine are knit in blue and white.  So there! 

Size Matters

I've just had an experience I'd never dreamed would happen.

I knit a doily on size 000000 needles (yes, that's six 0s) using size 100 cotton.  Looks like any other doily, no?  Well, it's not.  Click on the picture to see the stitches up close.  Still not convinced?  Try this one:

As you can see, that's a penny in the middle.  Need more?

It's a little hard to see the white on white but if you click it, you'll see the little guy is the same pattern as the middle of the big guy.  Big guy was done using regular bedspread weight crochet cotton, the stuff you see in all the stores.

I have to be honest and admit that I picked the absolute worst pattern to go micro with.  Here it is:

Cast on.

Knit 2 rounds plain.

Knit 1, make 3 stitches in the next stitch.

Are you blinking kidding me?!?!?!?!

Yeah, make 3 stitches in 1.  Repeats through the whole pattern.  I had trouble doing that with the larger thread and larger needles.  Ooops, forgot about that.  Plus it's not lacy so you know I've got to try it at least once more with a lacier pattern. 

Oddly enough the cast on wasn't the hardest part (I leave you to guess the hardest part).  The needles are so small and so light, they just don't fall through the stitches like the larger needles can.

So I guess the adventure is really just starting!

Heritage Knitting Retreat

I meant to be posting a bit more about our upcoming Heritage Knitting Retreat coming up June 18-20 but haven't done much yet.

For those who don't know, my friend, Jane, and I discovered quite by accident that we're both besotted with antique patterns and knitting.  We happened to show up at Knitorious is St Louis where Deborah was doing a program on Civil War-era purses and got started talking.  As things fell into place, Jane had the idea to do a Heritage Knitting Retreat and asked me if I would like to work with her on it.  Of course I did and here we are.  We've got a lovely place in hand for it where the owners are into Civil War re-enactment and are excited to have us and we've got lots and lots of plans.  There will be a ton of resources the participants will go home with to carry on the journey after the event, too. 

Have a look and maybe you, too, will come join us in beautiful Petersburg.  Oh, and we're listed in the events section of the new PieceWork magazine, too.

Scared silly

Before I start, let me just answer a question from Tricia about the Vintage Rocks Baby sweater and the sizing.  I'm not that good at baby sizing but I would say the pattern as written is probably 6-9 months.  But the nice thing about the way it's worked is that it's really easy to adapt.  The top part is worked from sleeve to sleeve so you can just make it longer, if needed, and the 'skirt' part can be knit longer or fuller by completing more pattern repeats.

Now to the purpose of this post.

I got my 000000 and 00000 double point needles in the mail yesterday.  When I opened the package, I realized just how glib I've been, talking about knitting a project with size 100 crochet cotton and US size 000000 needles.  Good googly moogly, these suckers are tiny. 

How about this:

Even seeing them in context like this makes it hard to communicate.  You've really got to hold them in your hand to get the full effect.  I've included the yarns, too, just as an added bonus.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  All I know is that I'll have to have a quiet period with no pressure to do anything else before I start the new pattern.  More about that later...

I did finish a skein of the spindle-spun natural color so I could start my Norwegian mittens.  It came out a lighter weight than the blue but when I washed it (it was just a quick wash) it bloomed quite a lot.  I'm thinking it will fill out a bit more once it's worked up and given a proper wash.  Nevertheless, it's still going to be a lighter weight.  The mittens I'm doing (more about that later, too) are knit on size 0 needles so I've got them started and I'll see how I like it.  I've got more of the blue and the natural so I can always spin another skein if I feel like that will work better.