Okay, so I managed to get pix of all of my projects and, guess what? My stupid SD card reader isn't working! Not only can I not blog my projects, I can't post pix on Ravelry either. And you know what? I hate not having pictures to go with my projects!
Okay, now that that's done with, let's have a look see at what I've completed in two days:
Thorpe, slightly modified. Which I love. It's so soft; made with mirasol miski baby alpaca and I love it. I put a little bit of color work into it because I got bored with plain stockinette, but it's not really a big deal.
Hannah, a pony-tail friendly hat that I'm not to pleased with because I should have known to add an extra button-hole repeat to make it long enough. I'm working out a way to fix it up. I look like a burglar in it, so I'm gonna spiff it up a little with some flowery embroidery of some kind. Daisy-chain flowers, most likely.
Clapotis. Only 2 repeats to go before I begin the Straight Rows section, yay! I'm getting surprisingly bored with this pattern. I'm dissapointed in myself. But never knit completely for the process of knitting; I greatly look forward to the finished project. And the yarn is just the color of dark denim which has been faded by some wear, so it looks ever so comfy.
Spinning. Well, I stayed up to late the past couple of nights to get to it. I got the stuff out, and then had to put it back because I was just too tired. It's not like I'm not thinking about it thought; I want to spin up a good, long, narrow single so that I can try Navajo plying.
Reading. I'm behind on my reading majorly. Hopefully I'll catch up today. Finished "A Distant Mirror" (Barbara W. Tuchman) today and am very glad that I read it. But my other reading has lapsed because of my knitting fanaticism. Also, my water-studies have lapsed. Oy.
Oh, well, it's Purim and there's no reason to be unhappy! We had hamenstashen last night (spelt, because my sister can't eat wheat) and read the Magila. Had tons of fun. The cookies were good, but they were a bit overdone (the recipe said 15 minutes; I cooked them for 15 minutes), so next time, I'll cook them a bit less.
Hopefully I'll get pix up soon. This is getting really tiresome, that I can't post them. Oh, well.
TTFN
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Spinning
I've been spinning off-and-on for about...a year, I guess. I didn't really spin anything worthy of note until a couple of months ago. The reason? The stuff that I spun wasn't perfect, and I was convinced I was doing something wrong.
As it turns out, I was doing something wrong. I wasn't relaxed. Unless a person relaxes, one can't spin. At least, not enjoyably. The single, at first, doesn't have to be perfect. It'll be thick, thin, overspun, underspun, and everything in between. That isn't bad. In fact, experienced spinners, I've found out, often struggle to get that varied texture in order to create special yarns for specific projects.
So, I began to spin again, without getting uptight because the yarn wasn't consistent. I tried my best and, sure enough, my yarn got better as I went along--not near perfect, but better, smoother and more even.
My first single--which was probably between 20 and 30 yards (I didn't measure) was overtwisted and certainly uneven. I made a case for my mp3 player (a picture of which I will post tomorrow) and am very happy with it--proud of the fact that I spun my own yarn and knit with it.
Now, for my next feat, I will spin a pound (yes, a pound) of silk/mohair that I have and Navajo-ply it. 'Normal' plying doesn't sound near as appealing as using only 1 single to make a 3 ply yarn. Hopefully, it'll be easy enough to do on my spindle. There's no way on this earth that I could afford the lovely Ashfords and the like that are so tantalizingly sprinkled over the Internet.
So, tomorrow will be the day I begin spinning. Right now, I'm working on the 'increase' rows of my first Clapotis. I'm knitting it in a lovely denim-color multi sock yarn on size 6 needles. I want to get the increase rows done tonight so I can really see how wide it is going to be. The origonal pattern calls for worsted-weight yarn and size 8 needles. We'll see how it goes.
Well, it's off to ravelry and to see if the new Knitty has been posted yet.
As it turns out, I was doing something wrong. I wasn't relaxed. Unless a person relaxes, one can't spin. At least, not enjoyably. The single, at first, doesn't have to be perfect. It'll be thick, thin, overspun, underspun, and everything in between. That isn't bad. In fact, experienced spinners, I've found out, often struggle to get that varied texture in order to create special yarns for specific projects.
So, I began to spin again, without getting uptight because the yarn wasn't consistent. I tried my best and, sure enough, my yarn got better as I went along--not near perfect, but better, smoother and more even.
My first single--which was probably between 20 and 30 yards (I didn't measure) was overtwisted and certainly uneven. I made a case for my mp3 player (a picture of which I will post tomorrow) and am very happy with it--proud of the fact that I spun my own yarn and knit with it.
Now, for my next feat, I will spin a pound (yes, a pound) of silk/mohair that I have and Navajo-ply it. 'Normal' plying doesn't sound near as appealing as using only 1 single to make a 3 ply yarn. Hopefully, it'll be easy enough to do on my spindle. There's no way on this earth that I could afford the lovely Ashfords and the like that are so tantalizingly sprinkled over the Internet.
So, tomorrow will be the day I begin spinning. Right now, I'm working on the 'increase' rows of my first Clapotis. I'm knitting it in a lovely denim-color multi sock yarn on size 6 needles. I want to get the increase rows done tonight so I can really see how wide it is going to be. The origonal pattern calls for worsted-weight yarn and size 8 needles. We'll see how it goes.
Well, it's off to ravelry and to see if the new Knitty has been posted yet.
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