Woolgathering

I’m just setting up to photograph some skeins. I did a test shot on the eBay bargain silk laceweight that arrived this morning:

Luscious!

I’m off to a late start today, which is a problem as I have a packed agenda. I was woken by the postie, bringing me my laceweight silk. Oh, it is gorgeous! Just exactly the colours that I would have wanted. It will drive me nuts if it stripes or pools… and I will be wishing that I had that perfect yarn that shades from one end to the other. It will make for a great practice run, though.

But I must not cast on yet!

We are in Finisher/Completer Mode now.

I undertake to complete at least two of the projects on the needles before casting on again. These are most likely to be the Clapotis V 1.0 and the Hedera Socks. Least likely are the Mixed Recipe Purple Socks. That Damn Shawl will make slow progress concurrently with whatever else is happening.

No photo of this yarn just yet - I have loads to get through today. Just LOADS.

I’ll just take it out and stroke it again… before I get started…

So far I have to say that I am enjoying playing with the travelling journal. I do find it very scary, the idea that this play of mine will be going out into the world for others to see. Even scarier that the journal is not going on to a complete stranger but somebody who I feel has a pretty good knowledge and understanding of me. I am sure it will be a case of “same old, same old…” and this is indeed part of what this journal entry is about. I think.

I found it was very helpful to actually write down my fear of the blank page. I have a plain white page that carries, in small writing, that expression. Hey presto, the page is no longer empty! So I made a larger mark, before carrying on to try and do a real spread.

Entries in the You Are The Truth journals have no upper or lower page limit. This is good. Because I seem to have become carried away, and am actually having fun. I think what I am really doing is a multi-page entry, rather than several discrete spreads - as in: there is a development and (I hope) a coherence to what I am doing. We shall see.

What I have learned thus far:

• Making a mark is easier than I thought it would be…
• … except for the fact that I don’t seem to have a writing implement that behaves properly on the decorated page
• Drying time is a pain
• Sticking a few pages together to provide a stronger page is a really good idea - wish I had thought of it sooner
• Nothing really matters - it’s just creative play
• If one keeps on going, then it all becomes freer, looser, easier… more creative
• I am ready to make my own journal and do this on a more regular basis

So far I have: the pair of “fear” pages - which are not decorated pages; a spread with coloured background, acetate print of digitally altered photograph, stencils, and rubber stamped words plus some written words and bullet; a second spread with background, physically altered photograph, stencils, rubber stamped words; a prepared spread of coloured background, for the main Journaling. I hope to complete this last pair tomorrow and then get the book off in the post later this week, if all the pages are dry enough.

This activity appears to have rekindled an interest in rubber stamps. I found myself looking at a few sites last night and wishing that I hadn’t spent all of my money from last Christmas.

Next, I must complete that mono collage.

Spinning

Filled another bobbin of Cheviot today. I’ll ply the two together tomorrow. I need to set time aside for carding some fleece for Sunday’s demo.

This week’s Spinning Day will be Thursday, not Wednesday.

Knitting

No progress, but I’m going to see the last of my three-day headache off this afternoon with a few rows of That Damn Shawl.

Cooking

I made bread today. It’s come out rather heavy and sad… can I blame the headache?

Tomorrow

1. You Are The Truth Journal
2. Carding grey fleece
3. Plying white Cheviot
4. Webmistressy things
5. Some boring admin stuff

Hmmm. I’m going to be quite busy!

I woke this morning to find that my headache had returned. Thankfully, not as bad as it was yesterday, but enough to warn me off using my eyes for very much at all today.

Journaling

So, I wandered off to the craft room and added some very small finishing touches to the journal spread that I have been working on, before agreeing with my IC that “enough is enough” - and realising it was only going to get worse, not better. I turned the page, and prepared a new background - which is now drying.

It suddenly occurred to me that I don’t actually have a clue what I am doing - in terms of materials and techniques. I don’t mind - I am learning and exploring but… what if I actually knacker the whole journal by accident? What a scary thought! Anyway - I stuck some pages together, for a bit of body, and I have loaded it with with gesso and acrylics. Here’s hoping! I did put in some guard sheets between pages and I think I could cut out anything too dreadful with scalpel and not do too much damage to any existing pages. I think…

             Oh.My.

Since then, I have been spinning.

Spinning

I have now finished two of the three bags of Cheviot tops that I was given. I kind of want to finish the third bag off now, so that I can begin to think about dyeing.

On the other hand - if I keep the third bag for next weekend’s demo, we will have something other than raw fleece to show. So… some pink merino this afternoon? or more Cheviot? Or some of the raw fleece, to keep my hand in? Or Something Else? I am not sure yet. Just staying upright is challenging enough, so I think perhaps the Cheviot. On the other hand, isn’t it great that I now regard spinning as soothing, and sufficiently not in need of either vision or attention that I can do it when I have a migraine?

I am beginning to realise how much work I have backed up and that the demo is only seven days away.  Six, really. And I may be out all day next Saturday. I think I’d best get my skates on. Soon!

Cooking

And now, I am going to the kitchen to make Sick Pie. Do you recall Sick Pie? Did you have Sick Pie in your school days? We did. And we always knew when it was Sick Pie for lunch - we would approach the school and smell something very like vomit on the attack. It always smelled foul, but was in fact totally delicious when served up for lunch. I am very fond of a nice cheese pie, but still stick to the childhood habit of calling it Sick Pie. I am not at all sure that Mr L does not find this practice (a) unnerving and/or (b) unappetising

Today’s Sick Pie will be served, not in the favoured manner with new potatoes and a crisp green salad, but with fried leftover potatoes and (urgh) baked beans - by special request. I’ll be passing on the baked beans as I have run out of dried beans and cannot make my own variant - the canned kind are just too disgusting for words. I’ll be ‘avin’ petty pwaaase.

Linkage

There are some interesting and useful spinning tutorials-cum-challenges at Needles on the Move. See the Category link for Sunday Spin-a-Long. The current Spin-a-long is #5L Colour Ways - tips for handling space dyed roving. I have some pencil roving that was gifted to me. I shall be paying close attention.

(All the Sunday Spin-a-longs are available as downloadable PDF files.)

There is more detail here, and also some indication of future topics and required materials.

Today has been a bit of a washout. A wine-induced headache developed into full blown migraine. I have a new supply of Maxalt, and eventually acknowledged that it was needed and that the headache was not going to be dealt with by my liver and a cycle ride to the shop. The headache is pretty much gone but I feel weird and spaced out and dizzy.

The cycle ride to the shop would have been very pleasant if I had not been wobbling all over the road. This morning was still and calm and very sunny.

After shopping, I did some arting - working on the You Are The Truth journal. Definitely “small a” arting… but quite good fun, despite the headache. Things got better after the Maxalt and a walk in the sea with the dogs. The journal is presently in a drying phase. I’m here, with a small glass of Blonde, and getting very hungry as the faint aroma of Thai Green Curry wafts this way from the kitchen.

I learned a lot today. Some of it may be going into the travelling journal…

I’d like to do some knitting but I am not sure that I can face that shawl…

Oh, last night I bought this. It was a bit of a bargain. I didn’t buy this as well, but I wish that I had. And now I see that it is relisted. And cheaper. Argh! Should I?

EDIT: Whoops! *blush*

I ripped my shawl.

I seem to be pathologically incapable of re-knitting it.

(No. I have no idea why.)

So I turned to my spinning for solace. That seems to be going slightly better than the knitting is.

I’m still on the Cheviot, and approaching the end of the second of three bags of top. I finished skeining off the first two bobbins this morning, making two and one small skein in total, thus far. I need to decouple my foot and my hands, so I am concentrating on getting my foot going to a steady rhythm, independent of what is on the radio or what my hands are doing. It’s not easy for me. I think I need a metronome…

The foot is coming under control but, predictably, the hands are less than perfect - so my singles are somewhat more erratic and slubby than they were. This does not concern me. What I am trying to do is to decrease the tendency to overspin. Consistency will come later, once I get the fundamentals of foot control in place.

As for the shawl - I now loathe it with a vengeance. I wish that I had not ripped it out.

What happened? Well, I found an excellent lace tutorial. Reading it showed me a far more sensible way of doing the yarn overs than the previous tutorial that I had read would have me do. It also gave a much better explanation of that damn SSK (I have now read three different sets of instructions for doing that!). I adopted both new methods, knowing in my heart that I should not change horses midstream and should rip. I told myself “It’s just a trial piece” and “It’s only for me”. Fair enough. My choice. I knitted on. It was going fine. I was very happy. I began to love my shawl and the yarn. I enjoyed its crisp texture…

…I did a check count at the end of the pattern repeat. I had nowhere near the right number of stitches!!

I tinked

I re-knitted

I tinked again

I re-knitted again

I tinked

I knitted once more, watching carefully what I was doing…

The YO/SSK combo using the new methods was failing to produce a stitch and I was going backwards on the stitch count. I needed to tink by about 10 rows.

All things considered, I decided ripping was the way to go.

So I ripped it all out and began again.

Could I get the damn pattern set? I spent all afternoon and all evening on it. I abandoned the SSK and returned to K2tog tbl. I have achieved just the one full pattern repeat but finally have the correct number of stitches. My yarn is a mess, and all fluffed up.

I hate the damn thing.

It’s going to take time, and probably some therapy. Also chocolate. And maybe gin.

If I can ever face lace again - I want to have a go at random lace knitting. I have a box full of yarn oddments in my collage stash. I foresee some nice little wall art pieces at some point.

I am now going back to my spinning wheel. I plan to finish off the Cheviot this weekend. I am ready for a pink fix.

Today was spinning day. I plied. Then I spun. Still on the Cheviot, but feeling like I want to fit some more of the pink merino in soon.

J used my niddy noddy to skein off some of her yarn. Be amazed:

These are all natural shades - mostly spun from raw fleece “in the grease.” All for sale. Soon to be seen in the Sanday Spinners’ shop.

I missed the library van at the school last night. I had intended joining the library and then enquiring to see what Alice Starmore books they had on catalogue. G turned up at spinning, apologising for lateness due to going to the library van and ordering all their Starmore books… I guess no good idea was ever unique

The Library van arrives Tuesday afternoon by ferry, does an evening stint, then three more sessions on Wednesday, before disappearing on the ferry for the next three weeks.  So, I decided, even if G had ordered the books, that it was worth pedalling off to Lady village post-spinning today, to get myself signed up.

I was glad that I went - it’s a beautiful day today - all seaside breezes and blue sky and white clouds. It was hard work coming back on the bike with a stack of library books on my back…

I got a book of poems and paintings/photos of Orkney; some Scottish cookery books (I want to try making Clootie Dumpling); knitting books; book making books; rag rugging books; and spinning and dying books. That should keep me out of trouble for a while.

I am now on a mission to source the perfect laceweight yarn for next year’s winning scarf in the Sanday Show. I’ve bought the pattern. I just need a stunning yarn to do it with - plus a great deal more lace practice before I cast on the scarf. As you can see, I am thinking positively.  :-)

Ideal yarn? Silk/merino, I think. Maybe pure silk. Maybe cashmere, but maybe not. I’d like a silky handle, rather than a fluffy one. In deep sea shades. Ideally blue and green, shading together through turquoise, with a long colour run so that the whole piece shades. Stripes will not do. I want a light centre, deep ends, or green centre/blue ends. The scarf is knitted in two pieces, then grafted in the centre - the scheme is therefore feasible, if the right yarn can be found.

Backup plan? Er, right. I’ll think on it. Silver grey? Amethyst?

I’m keeping an eye on The Yarn Yard, for the right yarn to come up. I’m also monitoring  HipKnits - I love Kerrie’s Seaglass and Surf colours, but they don’t quite hit all the right buttons for this project (just most of them…) I’ve seen a perfect, and totally different, colour at Posh Yarn, but Dee doesn’t seem to do laceweight. The single shaded colour lace yarn, To The Lighthouse, at Violet Green is lovely but just  little too vibrant for what I have in mind this time around, and the multi colours are just too multi, IYSWIM.

I have ages. I can afford to wait and watch - but if you see anything fitting the bill - do let me know!

EDIT: Angel Yarns have a merino, called Artisan, that is very nice - in either the Ocean or Wedgewood colours - awkward skein size, though. But, oh boy, just look at that Pansy! Scrummy, or what? The JaggerSpun Zephyr, by Fiddlesticks, looks like a good fall back in the solid colour stakes. I’d only need one ball, so this may make a good practice yarn, if I find the perfect-but-highly-expensive solution and want a test run.

Today’s cake was a fatless sponge sandwich, with raspberry jam and mock cream. Light and airy and rather skillfully crafted, if I do say so myself!

I’m at it again. I’ve balled and cast on the Kauni EQ.

Mr L assisted, and we were winding around midnight on Sunday night. I hate sewing in my ends, so I hoped to make one big ball. I found that infeasible. I might have done two but I pondered the challenge of the rainbow colour progression… and elected to wind on a one-ball-per-rainbow basis. I have four rainbows

The bits of paper are marked 1 to 4, to help me keep my colours straight - I made a break more or less between the purple and the red, but it’s hard to be fully accurate. The ball with purple on the outside was the beginning of the skein.

What am I knitting this time? The Evelyn Clark Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall 2006 edition of Interweave Knits. (Ravelry)

The shawl should be in laceweight. I thought doing my first one in this Shetland-type yarn was a better beginning point. I may well have been wrong on that. It’s really hard to follow the pattern and locate errors. I’ve tinked it endlessly today and am thoroughly fed up with it. Nonetheless, I have worked my way through charts 1 and most of 2, having progressed from a 2 stitch cast on last night, to 147 stitches just now. I think I am even supposed to have 147 stitches at this point!

I’ve knitted through violet and red, and am emerging from orange now into yellow.

The colours are not as garish as they look here - it’s a grey day today, and the flash fired. The rainbow is in fact very dull and sombre-hued. Subtle, in fact - and quite dark.

If you have problems relating the shawl on the needles to the image of the finished shawl… well… so did I! The lace will appear once it is blocked - but the shape of it? Well, you start knitting this shawl from the centre of the top edge - the increases at each end provide the width of that top straight edge when the shawl is completed. So, although the piece is getting wider on the needles, I am actually knitting top-down towards the final point! Strange, but true. And was I relieved when I finally figured it out and satisfied myself that I hadn’t Gone Horribly Wrong? Oh, yes!

I decided last night that, as I have loads of yarn for this project, I would have liked to knit this in just the colours seen here - saving the green and blue for something else. However - the colour change from yellow to purple would have been foul. In order to use the restricted palette, I would have had to unwind my balls and knit back through the colours in the reverse direction IYSWIM. Too complicated to think through last night, so I settled for a full spectrum.

Not far to go now, then I am on to chart 3 and a complete change of lace pattern.

No, I haven’t forgotten socks #4 and #6. Nor the Clapotis. I’ll work on sock #6 and the Clapotis alongside the shawl. Sock #4 can wait a bit.

Of course - what I should really be doing is spinning.

S/S 2007 Sock Collection : Cookie A

The woman is a genius. I don’t always like the stitch patterns used, finding some of them over the top ornate, but I thrill to her technical skills on the structural side. And I must say I am thrilled with the way that Hedera is going, so will certainly make more Cookie A. socks. At the moment I am eyeing up that German Stocking pattern, though I would want to modify the long cable and have something slimmer and more sinuous in its place. And I have to use that fabulous foot from the Millicent Sock pattern, but could never wear that turn over top myself…

I am reminded of the black lace stockings that my mother knitted many years ago. I thought she was mad. Come to think of it, maybe she was - perhaps I am just going slightly mad myself. It’s a lot of work, for something to keep one’s tootsies warm!

I have temporary custody of a book, Wool’n Magic by Jan Messent. I settled down to look at it this evening, and found myself thinking how much Carole would like it.

It’s an inspirational book, full of ideas about using colour and texture in mainly freeform ways. It’s feeding my ambition to turn my handspun into freeform knitted wall art.

Looking at the book (I must read it later) made me wish that I had far more bits of yarn in my craftroom stash, and inspired me to get on and do something about learning dying techniques. It has also persuaded me to sort out my bits of yarn and fibre* into colour-sorted storage displays. I need some glass jars…

…but whatever will I do with all my rice and pasta?

* By which I mean my other stash, not my spinning/knitting stash - but the bits I keep for papercrafts: bookmaking, collage etc.