The socks have landed

I got a phone call from TEMom. Evidently, someone sent her a generic looking package. With suspiciously neat handwriting. And a pair of handknit socks.
What I may have neglected to mention in the previous post is that TEMom is a recreational knitter. Meaning, of course, that she doesn't take her knitting as seriously as those of us who are true addicts. It also means that her projects take longer to finish, and thus, all knitting is perceived to be very time consuming.

Since we know that the corollary :

[Time] = [Love]

we can conclude that

Lots[Time] = Lots[Love]

TEMom couldn't stop raving about them. The label seems to have sealed the deal, with the care instructions, sizing, etc. I can now see the joy in knitting for knitters.

One if by land and three if by sea

If you read the Purlescence blog, you’ll see that I was swept into the Ariann knitalong. It was the allure of the Butter Peeps. I swear. A great pattern and great yarn are really a deadly combination.

I started working on it, and was thinking to myself, “You know, the ribbi cardi only needs a collar and it will be done. The yellow malabrigo sweater only needs sleeves, and the rugby sweater needs half sleeves. I could finish all three before the cruise.”

Madness, right? But totally manageable. I have short arms, and one of the malabrigo sleeves is already (around) elbow length. On a neck-down raglan, so the top ¼ of each sleeve is done. As an added bonus, I did some KILLER shaping on the Delicious Malabrigo sweater and the rugby sweater, so they’re very flattering.

Right?

Very flattering = finished faster. There is nothing like working on a garment that you know will make you look like a million dollars. Or gold bullion, in this case.

I come prepared

It’s always good to have your knitting- especially on those days where you’re absolutely certain that you won’t have the opportunity to knit. When I pack my purse, if I hesitate to put knitting in my bag, inevitably, I’ll have something happen where I have HOURS on my hands, with nothing to do.

I had a day like that.

I hesitated about putting my knitting in my bag, but thought better of it and tossed it in anyway. Good thing, too.

One of the tasks I do for work leaves my machine susceptible to viruses, spyware, and other computer VDs. It’s unpleasant. In any case, there was an issue with my machine (which required loading software that took FOREVER to load), and I spent a good chunk of time working on my sock, watching the status bar crawl towards the end.

Which sock?

This one:

Handspun yarn + deep breathing = calm.

I’m not that kind of girl

It’s true. There are the Alisons of the world, the ones who knit selflessly for others and rejoice in spreading the knitterly love. Then, there are people like me.

I am not one of them. I am, in fact, the meanest knitter you’ll ever meet. When people ask me to knit for them, I either respond with my hourly rate (which is that of an educated professional, thank you), or I say, “There are some things I do for love, and some things that I do for money.” Sometimes I just say, "No." Sometimes I taunt them until they cry.

Sometimes, I am a sucker. This is one of those cases.

I’ve blogged about my in-laws before. Andrew comes from a Big Roman Catholic family. Five siblings total, eight nieces and nephews, and all of the sibs are married. That’s eighteen people with JUST his immediate family, not including any future children we plan to have. As with all families, each sib (and their spouse) is as different as the next.

We spend most of the major holidays with my BIL (The Entrepreneur)’s family. His parents couldn’t be nicer people and they routinely open their home and hearts to the extended in-laws (he is married to Andrew’s sister, TE isn’t Andrew’s brother). TE’s Mom is a knitter. She’s incredibly cool, very friendly, and thinks that my knitting is the cat’s meow.

TEMom has been pretty sick. In and out of the hospital. Major surgery. (Details spared here. You can thank me in the comments section.) On Easter, TE and I were talking about TEMom, and he mentioned that he thought it would just be great if I could whip up a pair of “get well soon” socks. I may (or may not) have had a couple of glasses of wine at this point, and thought it was a terrific idea.

I called Purlescence, who pulled some Casbah off the shelf for me, and I cast on the socks the next day. Despite my loathing of “obligatory knitting” (because when there is a due date, it becomes obligatory), I worked through it, and finished them as quickly as I could stomach.

The minute that the toes were grafted, I called Andrew and told him to call TE to let us know when to drop off TEMom’s socks. No call back. Rinse, repeat. Get annoyed that I put hours of work in on his behalf.

I looked up their mailing address, and shipped them myself. With a card. Wouldn’t you feel better if you got this in the mail?

I know I would.

Buffalo Gals Bison Review- Part One

Product: Buffalo Gals Bison

Product Description: Prepared Bison roving- natural brown

Bought From: Purlescence Yarns (gift from Katie for editing her college admissions essays). $21/oz. 2 ounces total.

Photos:

Comments:

Initially, I was very nervous about spinning the bison. I spun a little when I took Judith MacKenzie’s comprehensive spinning class last April, but when it comes to spinning expensive fibers, I get a little… apprehensive. At $21/oz, the Bison falls into my definition of the “expensive fiber” category.

I spun it semi-woolen (long draw with the front hand doing some guiding to keep the yarn fairly even). I was instructed by Sandi (my personal Yoda) to add more twist to the singles (to essentially overspin them), which I did. I also plied it rather aggressively.

You can find the video of the fulling process HERE. In the video, it’s Yak, but I swear, I fulled the bison the EXACT same way, sans the overuse of the SOAK.

The bison is very soft, but has a smell. A gamey smell. It left my hands smelling pretty gross, but once my hands were washed, the smell was gone. I used the aquae scent of the SOAK, and that has mostly resolved the gamey smell of the bison yarn.

The bison had fair amount of guard hairs, and a little VM. I’ve spun much grosser stuff, but really, this wasn’t too bad as far as VM is concerned.

If you aren’t comfortable spinning short fibers (or aren’t comfortable with woolen spinning), buy the pre-spun Bison/Merino blend. I’ve been working on my woolen spinning, but deep in my heart, I know that I am a Worsted Spinner. I did a lot of deep breathing to do this, and I practiced on the yak first.

I ended up with 360 yds/2 oz- a respectable laceweight. This may become another Shetland triangle, since it needed a little yardage and knit up in four days. Or a Dragon Scale Scarf. You'll see part two of the review once I've knitted up the bison.

Fulling the Yak

I've been spinning quite a bit of short fibers. I've been spinning some yak, two ounces at a time, then plying it. Once the yak has been spun, plied, and wound into skeins, it needs to be fulled.

Fulling is super-fun. Here is the process, in my kitchen. Shot, produced, and starring me:

Once the yarn has been "shocked", we do some Agression Release Therapy:



And yes, I did say "Whack it."

Re-purposing

I like to repurpose items. For example: the shotglasses that The Karen gave me a few years back are now “splicing glasses”. They hold exactly enough water to get the necessary area damp, but small enough that nobody sneaks a sip of “furry water”. I don’t do shots (never have), but The Karen thought they were pretty (they are), and since she doesn’t drink at all, it may as all be shots. A very thoughtful gift, actually.

We have a salad bowl which has been repurposed as décor, and an extra shelf (from one of my bookshelves) for a portable winding station.

So, when I got serious about spinning a couple of years back, I considered buying a drum throne. When Colleen and I signed up for Judith MacKenzie’s comprehensive spinning class, the casual thought became a necessity.

I bought the Sound Percussion throne:

Colleen bought the Roc-N-Soc throne:

And we both got backs for our thrones. (Sorry, no pics were easily found online.)

I really like the throne for spinning- good lower back support, comfy cushion, and they are (relatively) portable. They can also be adjusted to work with different wheels, to a certain extent.

I find my throne to be more comfortable than the spinning chairs that are sold- the cutesy, kitschy, wood ones. It may not be ultra-aesthetic, but I can spin for hours without getting a flat butt.

Lessons from the mailman

Despite my attempts to buy my things locally, sometimes, I buy specific things online. This means that I have a close and personal relationship with our mail carrier. If I’m working from home, I chat with him for a few minutes, and collect the mail by hand.

MailMan thinks it’s funny that all of my packages are “oiled wool”. (He’s under the impression that all wool is full of lanolin, like the Aran sweaters his mom used to knit for him.) But, he’s a good sport, and will even haul the giant (and heavy boxes) into the entryway for dainty little me. He is really a nice man.

Yesterday, before I headed out to work, I was loading my car with boxes for a couple of friends, and MailMan walked up the driveway at the same time. With three packages- a small and a medium one for me, and a box for Andrew.

“Hm. I wonder what this is,” I said.

“You could open it like this [details spared for use in future espionage], and he’d never notice,” MailMan tells me.

“Hm. Good to know,” I reply.

While I can guess as to what is in Andrew’s box, I have never felt the need to snoop. But knowledge is power, right?

Have I mentioned that I love our MailMan?

Royal Hare Superwash Roving review- Part One

Product: Royal Hare Superwash Merino Roving Top

Product Description: One braid of roving, either 100g or 4 oz(read below) in Calistoga Calypso

Bought from: The Royal Hare, Stitches West 2008

Price: $13/braid

Photos:

Comments:

The first thing that I noticed was that the braid I purchased was 3 ¾ oz, which surprised me, since most roving is put up in 4 oz bumps. However, upon discussion with Andrew, I checked it in grams, and it was 108g. Enough for socks, but I’m a little miffed over being shorted- since I specifically asked if the braids were 4 oz.

I really like how they dye their braids- in even lengths and weights so that if you’re inclined to line up the colors when you ply, it’s a little easier than Navajo-plying.

(I wouldn’t recommend this way of doing your spinning if you’re crazy OCD about your colors lining up perfectly. In that case, just Navajo ply. Or buy commercial yarns.)

The roving they use is pleasant to spin- not the nicest stuff I’ve ever spun, but a nice base roving nonetheless. The colors are very saturated and rich, which I love, and the yarn ends up just as vibrant as the roving.

With the colors as saturated as they are, I was concerned about bleeding. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was minimal bleeding (slightly pinkish) water after a thorough soaking.

For the price and quality, it's a good buy, just make sure you're getting the right weight. I'll keep you posted as to whether this light bump was a fluke or if the others are light as well.

Stay posted for Part Two, where I discuss the wear and washing

It’s a spinning pro-cess

Jocelyn asked last week, amidst my chaos, how I prepare my roving, etc, before spinning. This depends on what my project is, and how the roving has been prepared.

The Royal Hare roving (that I’m spinning for socks) comes in tidy braids that are even thirds. I spin those, as is, since I like 3 ply yarn for socks. With other rovings (that come in a ball) I usually weigh out a third of the total weight (or and sixth of the total weight, if it’s Crown Mountain).

From there, I spin them on three separate bobbins, let them sit (at least overnight), ply them, let them sit (overnight), set them in the sink, let them air dry, label them, and either knit them or put them in the Big Bag o'Handspun.

If I’m spinning for a larger garment, I’ll weigh out my roving into 1 oz bumps, spin them up, let them sit, and then wind them off onto the smaller plastic bobbins. I use the longest length- 6”, and I can comfortably fit 1 oz per plastic bobbin. I use the plastic bobbins mostly because a bobbin for my wheel costs (approximately) $32, and each plastic bobbin costs (approximately) $1.15. If a Schacht bobbin holds 4 oz of spinning, and each plastic bobbin holds 1 oz of spinning, the difference in cost is huge- especially if you’re spinning a pound or two.

Once the total needed weight has been spun (note that this doesn’t always mean “all of the roving/fleece I have in that color”), I ply everything at once. This makes the end result more consistent- stuff I spun last year is bound to be (at least) a little different than the spinning I’m doing now. Another benefit of the plastic bobbins is that if one bobbin has a little more or a little less yardage, it is more easily corrected.

So, for example, here is some Merino that I bought from Judy’s Novelty Wool at Stitches West 2007 for a sweater for myself. These have been resting for a while, waiting for me to finish spinning and then whip out a sweater.

(These are all the same colorway. It's going to be stunning when it grows up to be real yarn.)

I’ve also started a vest for Andrew- it’s an Olive-y green BFL from Ashland Bay (“Fir” is the color). It may not look like much now, but it will get more exciting.

Any more questions? I'm currently working on ounce 2 of 2 of some Buffalo Gals Bison roving. Mmmmm...