The exercise-yarn resolution

Posted on by

Inspired by my good friend Theresa over at Knitterary, I’ve decided to put money into a jar for every kilometre I walk on the dreadmill treadmill, and limit my yarn and fibre expenditure to what’s in the jar.

I’m not much good at either exercise or resolutions, (but very good at buying stuff) so to make this workable for me, I’m paying myself more than Theresa’s doing. I decided, at least to start with, that $1 per kilometre will encourage me to exercise. Given the price of yarn here, and my knitting habits, that should be a good balance of discipline/reward.

I did 1.5 kilometres this morning. I’m already feeling like I want to do 2 kms this afternoon. Enough yarn for a pair of socks is around $10 for plain commercial, to $25 for handpainted. Enough Bendigo yarn for a jacket or jumper is around $70, and way more for other yarns. A cone of cottolin for weaving is about $25, likewise a skein of silk. Now, I’m slightly cheating here, because I do have enough in my stash to keep me going for a while, due to recent purchases, but if I stick to this commitment for future yarn purchases, I should build up enough funds for larger projects, as well as the occasional sock yarn purchase.

So, we’ll see how this works out!! To keep me honest, I’ll do a page here on the blog with contributions and ‘deductions’.

Yarn fund jar

(Yes, it really needs a label that has a knitter on a treadmill wrapped in yarn, but I’m not that artistic.)

Jaywalking

Posted on by

While in Lincraft in Sydney back in August, I bought a ball of their sock yarn – but in a much brighter colour scheme than I normally go for!

Lincraft yarn for jaywalker socks

I had to use the flash to photograph this, so it’s showing a bit brighter than the reality – but even in reality, it’s definitely not subtle 🙂

The yarn has sat for while in the stash, because I’m really not keen on stripes, so I needed a pattern that would soften the impact of bright vertical stripes. While cruising around various sites, I came across the pattern for the jaywalker socks, which I’ve often seen on knitting blogs in various yarns. A quick peruse of the pattern, and I was pleased to see that it’s not complicated – good for relatively brainfree knitting.

So, out came the new bamboo knitting needles.

Jaywalking on the needles

I’ve made some progress on the first one, and it’s easy to knit, but I’m still not adoring the colour scheme. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it, either. I probably lean more towards reds with purples, rather than orange. However, I’ll keep on going, at least for now!

Jaywalker progress

And in other updates:

1) I will have enough yarn to finish the Fisherman’s gansey. I’m about four rows from finishing the sleeves, and I weighed the various parts and leftovers today, and there will be enough for the front – and the collar! So, that’s a relief.

2) I’m not enjoying the bamboo needles. I usually knit with metal ones, and I’ll give these a reasonable try out to see if I get more used to them, but so far I’m not finding them as smooth, plus they feel fragile to me.

3) Many thanks to Bev, Astrid and Jen for your suggestions re lacy capelet possibilities. I’ve had a look a the various patterns suggested, and bookmarked a few. Nothing is exactly what I had in mind, but I’ve had some inspirations from them, and there’s an idea that’s percolating away in mymind as a result.

4) The lacy socks I’m knitting haven’t progressed any further since turning the heel. I’m using 2.5mm needles, which is my usual size with 4ply yarn, but I’m thinking that perhaps with this pattern, I may need to use 3mm needles, because the lace pulls in for a tighter tension. So, I might start one on 3mm needles, and see how it goes.

Lacy capelet pattern?

Posted on by

Does anyone know of a knitting pattern for a simple lacy capelet that would be suitable for a friend of mine who is confined to bed? I have found a couple of bedjacket patterns, but since she has paralysis in one arm, I’m looking for something without sleeves, so it will be easier to put on. I know there are also heaps of lovely shawl patterns, but shawls won’t work as well as they can slip off shoulders and bunch up too easily, and my friend has limited movement to rearrange things. A front-opening capelet that is shaped to sit nicely over the shoulders, with a button or two at the front, would be ideal. If anybody can suggest anything, I’d be grateful – I’d prefer a pattern that’s downloadable from the web, as I’d have to order in knitting books (in a small town, there’s not many on the bookshelves of our shops).

In project updates, I have about 20 rows to go on the gansey sleeves. I haven’t weighed what’s left in the yarn yet – I’ll wait till the sleeves are finished, then weigh the back, and what’s left over. I have a busy day ahead today, but hope to finish the sleeves tonight, and then I’ll have the burning question answered!

Temptation not resisted

Posted on by

I spent two days drooling over yarns at The Knittery’s website and trying to resist temptation. This morning I succumbed, and ordered 3 skeins of the handpainted merino/cashmere 4ply sock yarn, a skein of 2ply silk and merino, and enough possum/merino aran weight in the natural colour for a jumper – it was on special, and a great deal. I’ve never used any hand-dyed sock yarn, so I’m looking froward to trying it out – I’ve ordered the dark reds, midnight, and water lilies shades.

Given this is holiday time, and many businesses are closed between Christmas and New Year, I was expecting it might take a while to arrive, but when I got home from town this afternoon there was an email saying it had been shipped today. Woo-hooo! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it might arrive on Monday, although it will more likely be Wednesday.

My current wips are progressing well. On the lacy socks, I’ve just turned the heel on the first one. On the Fisherman’s Gansey, I have about 32 rows to go before the sleeves are finished – and then I’ll work out if I have enough yarn left over for the front as written, or whether I’ll have to shorten the back and front… or write to Bendigo with a sample of the yarn and ordering some more in the closest available dye lot.

Stash enrichment – Bendigo and Nundle

Posted on by

We went with friends on a day trip a couple of weeks ago, which included calling in at the Nundle Woollen Mill. We didn’t have a whole lot of time there (the male halves of the party getting restless), but I managed to select some of their 4-ply Retro yarns to play with:

Nundle 4-ply Retro yarns

I also brought home 200g of optim merino wool blended with camel:

Combed sliver - optim merino fibre blended with camel

Some of the Retro yarn is already on its way to becoming a pair of lacy socks:

Lace socks in Nundle’s Retro yarn

The pattern is the Socks for Veronik, on page 46 of Interweave Knit’s Holiday gifts edition, 2007.

The above hasn’t been my only stash enrichment lately, though! I put in an order during the Bendigo Woollen Mills sale, and now have 1.2 kilos each of 8ply Colonial in the Ocean Tweed shade, and the 10-ply Aran in Hemp shade:

Bendigo yarn, Ocean Tweed and Hemp

Then I went to my LYS, WOW, and some more sock yarn insisted on coming home with me, telling me I needed to make some socks for my sister:

Socj yarns

I haven’t just been enriching the stash; I have been working on depleting it!! The socks I was knitting for my father (see post below) were finished well in time to be sent off for Christmas. I’ve also been working on a jumper (sweater) that I started earlier in the year – I have now finished the back, and have done 5″ of the sleeves.

Jo Sharp Fisherman’s Rib jumper in Bendigo Ming yarn

The back took a little more yarn than I anticipated, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll have enough to finish the jumper. The back is currently quite long, so I can shorten it an inch or so if necessary. I figured if I did the sleeves, I’d then know how much I’ll have left over for the front, and whether I’ll need to shorten the length or not. The pattern is Jo Sharp’s Fisherman’s Gansey, and the yarn is from Bendigo.

Catching up

Posted on by

My mind hasn’t been on textile activities a great deal lately, as I’ve been distracted by other developments – like selling two novels to a major Australian publisher!

However, I have been working on a few bits and pieces in amongst other aspects of life, writing, and working:

My friends Michelle and Matthew have a new baby daughter, Saoirse. I’ve had this pattern for about 20 years – it’s from an Anny Blatt book I bought somewhere in my travels. I’ve knitted it a few times before, including at least twice in different sizes for my niece – who is now 16! It’s in 8ply (DK), so it’s a relatively quick knit. As can be seen, I just have to knit the bands and sew the side seams, which I may work on tonight.

I finished these socks a few weeks ago – using the standard sock pattern that I can knit almost from memory. Now I’m working on the next pair:

handknitted blue and gray socks

These will probably be for my Dad for Christmas. I’ve knitted him a couple of pairs of socks already, and he apparently wears them quite a lot. Dad’s got a small foot, so if he doesn’t like them, I’ll have them 🙂

Yes, the sock is sitting on my laptop. I often knit while I’m trying to write, but it has to be something simple, like a plain sock. Having the needles in my hands keeps the part of the brain busy that would otherwise want to go off and play on the internet, but I can put the needles down in my lap quickly when I think of words to write.

Now I’m back to working part-time, it’s giving me not just time to write, but a little brain-space and time to think about weaving again. Sitting at the loom makes for great plotting time, but first there needs to be something on the loom, which requires a design, planning and preparation process.

warps wound

The blue warp will be for a length of plain, plain weave, destined to become bands on a jacket made from an overshot fabric I wove some years ago. It needs something solid and simple to complement the pattern, so I’ve finally wound a warp to weave that contrast. The yarn is the blue cotton that I used as the warp and tabby weft in the overshot – the pattern weft is a light green. This will go on my baby 2-shaft loom, which is quite portable, so i can take it to the spinners and weavers meeting next week and weave while I’m there.

The white warp is a fine wool one for two scarves. I’m probably going to paint the warp, maybe tomorrow if I get myself organised enough to take the dyes and miscellaneous equipment into the guild rooms when I go into town. There’s a microwave for dyeing there, and long tables covered in thick plastic, so it’s a good place to paint warps!

Bliss gloves to be

Posted on by

Years ago, my mother made me a pair of fingerless gloves out of an angora and wool blend. They live in the pockets of my padded winter jacket, which makes them easy to find and slip on when I’m walking the dogs or collecting kindling or other tasks in the winter cold. They’ve been going strong for at least 18 years, with no signs of wearing yet, and I still lov pulling them on.

So, when my good friend Kerry mentioned that her hands freeze in winter, I decided to dig out the angora and merino blended fibre I’ve had in the stash for a fair while, and spin yarn to knit her some fingerless mittens. I finished the spinning a little while ago, but with life being somewhat frantic in recent months, it took me a while to get organised to dye it. Yesterday I took the skein into our Spinners’ and Weavers’ meeting, and used the microwave there that we keep for dyeing.

The colour turned out a little paler than I’d hoped, but Kerry likes it, so all is fine! I’m planning to start knitting them today.

And talking of bliss things, I finally uploaded a photo of the completed Bliss Socks:

I also finished another pair of mock fair-isle socks this week. The photo’s not great, but the socks are cosy and comfy!

Bliss to come

Posted on by

The Bliss socks (lacy baby alpaca) are finished. No, there’s no photos of them yet, because I’ve been too busy to get the camera out, but I am looking forward to a cool autumn weekend afternoon, and putting them on and curling up with a good book… of course, I have no idea when I’ll be able to stop long enough for that to happen!

Maybe after our groups’ Open Day and Grand Opening on Saturday. Arrangements are coming along well and I hope it will be a good afternoon.

Brown skeins

Posted on by

While at the Armidale Show last weekend, I was spinning some brown carded fibre I’ve had for quite a few years. We used it for folks to have a go at spinning, and wound off what they’d spun as their momento, but in between I kept spinning it, and filled a bobbin. So, this past week, I’ve spun another bobbin, and I finished plying them tonight while watching the news. Spinning is soooo much quicker when you’re not spinning lace weight!

Brown handspun yarn

These skeins aren’t anything fancy, but since I haven’t spun simple coloured wool for a while, it’s been a nice change. I don’t have a lot more of the carded fibre, so I think these skeins will ultimately be a pair of socks.

Now, I’m off to watch Murphy’s Law and Spooks on TV – I enjoy Friday night British crime shows! – so I’ll be working on the second bliss sock while I’m relaxing. Only another few rows before I start on the heel 🙂

Bits and pieces

Posted on by

Not much craft work lately, owing to other pressures. However, I finished weaving a warp off my table loom that a student in a weaving workshop had started, and then decided she didn’t want to continue. So, it’s been sitting on the table loom for a while, and we’ve occasionally used it as a loom for demonstrations for people to have a go on, but I finally decided that I’d weave off the rest of the warp and use the cloth to make a jacket or vest for our raffle dolls.Twill wool cloth

The warp was actually sett a bit too far apart, which made beating evenly something of a challenge, but the finished cloth actually came up very nicely when washed.

So, all my looms are currently empty. I’ll hopefully get a warp on at least one of them soon, but this coming weekend is busy with the Armidale Show, so it may not be until after that. I’ve spent the last couple of evenings finishing the fringe of the rainbow scarf to enter into the Show – I started twisting it last weekend, and did one end entirely, but then decided the ‘twists’ were too narrow and tight, so I had to undo the lot, and then redo them. But it’s currently reclining in the display case at the Show, and I’ll find out tomorrow whether it got a place in the contest. I also put a pair of socks in, and a skein of fine yarn, since there were hardly any entries in most of the classes.

The bliss socks are progressing, but I had to frog an entire pattern repeat as I stuffed it up. Now that I’ve finished twisting (and untwisting, and twisting again…) the scarf fringe, I can get back to the socks.