Buttery Love and Possibilities

flax wheel and bird cage distaff

Heads up: the 2013 Florida Fiber In (10th annual) is coming up in Orlando in a few weeks. Does anyone want to trek to Orlando to check it out?
http://nomadicfiber.yolasite.com
So far, it looks like the Saturday schedule includes these presentations:

9:00 Dyeing is Kool: Kathleen Powell
10:00 On Designing Patterns: Linda Browning
11:15 Chart Reading 101: Linda Browning

1:00 Basic Knooking: Terri Wells
2:00 Ply on the Fly: Jody Seigel
3:00 Mosaic Knitting: Linda Browning
4:00 Parade of Blocks into the Auction

And it looks like we’ll see some of the usual fabulous vendors; Sunshine, Ewephoric, and Funny Face among the delights.

Meanwhile, my DH has finished his latest Arts and Crafts-style side table of cherry, maple, and ebony butterfly inlays. So sleek and gorgeous, with a finish as soft and satiny as butter (a mixture of 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 tung oil and 1/3 varnish). It has through-tenons and maple accents for the feet.

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Glad to have Knitting Buddies!

WNK was in session last night, with a few FO’s to show.

white ruffle scarf

This is the most recent ruffle scarf I finished. I looked all over for a pure white ruffle yarn, and finally found it at Yarnworks, our LYS. Isn’t the Rozetti Marina Glitz plushy with its sparkling strand spun in? Or woven in? I wonder how this mesh yarn is created. And I’m getting a little bit better spinning. Perhaps by next week I’ll be able to say I can fulfill the prerequisite for the Plying class I signed up for, being able to spin a continuous thread of yarn.

spinning a little bit more uniformly

Ethel made progress on her cobblestone knit bag. She thinks she will crochet some soft handles or straps for the bag, and will felt it when it’s all finished.

Cobblestone stitch

Lois said she finished her afghan, and wasn’t overjoyed at the result. Have you ever finished something and not really been happy about it after it’s done? she asked. Oh wow, do I understand what she’s talking about. Meanwhile, she made lots of magnificent hats using a vivid maroon Red Heart in combination with some other yarns. In some of the pics, the maroon looks more of a brick red, perhaps because of the flash, but it was a very rich purplish-red actually.

Lois and hats

a hat by Lois in Red Heart Boutique Magical

hat by Lois

Another hat by Lois, I think this photo of the maroon color is more true, and the gray accent is gorgeous

Another Lois hat with Boutique Magical

Boutique Magical border

Seed stitch hat with stockinette border. Lois also made the sweater she’s wearing

Wow! Lots of FO’s tonight!

Ethel went shopping and showed off what she scored. She made her DIL a scarf a while back in time, and was recently cued in to the idea that the recipient might like a matching hat. She didn’t figure on being able to find a hank of that hand-painted yarn again, but she took all that was left of it, a little pinch of the thick-thin wool, and found a match at Yarnworks in this Cascade skein.

Ethel’s Cascade from Yarnworks

Meanwhile, she picked up some more of the Lang Alpaca blend in a new color.

Alpaca

Remember? This is the other Lang alpaca Ethel had

Sublime Egyptian cotton

Ethel’s ella rae from Tuesday Morning

<a href=" Trendsetter Venus” width=”300″ height=”230″ class=”size-medium wp-image-1663″ />”>Trendsetter Venus from Tuesday Morning

Meanwhile, Ethel gave me some of her Tuesday Morning score (she wanted to cheer me up because I’d been in a car accident):

Ethel’s gift, thank you! Some of my favorite colors!

Thanks, also, to Rhetus and Elizabeth, who very kindly brought us dinner on 2 separate nights.

Rhetus wearing knitted poncho

Glad to be alive and glad to have friends and knitting buddies!

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Knitting and Carding and Spinning Paraphernalia

We departed briefly from our normal knitting activities at Wednesday Night Knitting and watched a DVD about Carding Wool. I love that someone at Interweave put the techniques of 4 different “stars” of the spinning world together in one production. I like to see what these folks who’ve just followed their interests in fiber (or, in Norman Kennedy’s case, his livelihood since childhood) have to say.

clockwise from top left: silk noil, raw Corriedale, hemp sliver, combed alpaca/bamboo top, hand carders for wool

I am amazed at how much influence preparation of the fiber has to the final product, the handspun yarn. And because I feel that I am a grouper rather than a stringer, as far as learning styles go, I’ve enjoyed watching videos and reading texts about spinning and its myriad little components.

Lois has made much progress on the afghan

Lois worked on her lovely soft afghan, in the fluffy gray and blue and purple variegated acrylic yarn. Someone is going to feel very loved when wrapped up in that plushy blanket!

I made progress on mine, which is supposed to be a “wrap” but it’s really an afghan that will have a wide ruffle around it.

Ethel brought Rattie to show us her Norwegian costume.

Ethel and Norwegian Rat

Since Rattie is of the hooded rat species, Ethel wants to make her a hood also. Her little vest is edged with gold and green cross-stitching, she has a golden needleworked necklace, and she is wearing a crocheted flower coronet.

Chevron cowl

Ethel put the final touches on her knitted cowl by joining the ends with Kitchener Stitch and a Russian bind-off. We were enthusiastic about all the cast-ons and bind-offs in her new book 211 Ways to Begin and End Your Knitting. That’s a lot of ways, isn’t it?

Cobble-stitch sample

Here’s another recent work by Ethel, the cobble stitch.

We discussed possibilities for the new ebay wheel, which appears to not be an antique as misrepresented in the online auction. However, we may get her to spin and see what her cute little self can craft with us.

ebay wheel

DH is still planning, among other projects, to make a spinning wheel from beginning to end. I also happened upon a cool project for a drum carder for $50 that he may decide to try out. [please,please, please!] We love our tools and other mechanical playthings! I just got an email from a family member today, in which she congratulated me on obtaining a spinning wheel and asked if knitting was a lot easier to do on the wheel than by hand? 🙂

Next Wednesday will be the February meeting of the Gainesville Handweavers Guild; subject Navajo Weaving. It’s the last meeting before their parent organization’s (Florida Tropical Weaver’s Guild) annual conference. I’ve heard that some of the conference workshops are filled up but you may want to check out the small classes and the vendors from all over.

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Luscious Weaving, Winding, and of Course! Knitting

Wednesday Night Knitting did not meet as usual last night, because I wanted to check out the monthly meeting of Gainesville Handweavers Guild. I’ve often seen notes pinned up at Yarnworks shop advertising the guild’s activities, but I’d never considered myself specialized enough to belong to a guild. Now that I am possessed of a spinning wheel, though, perhaps? They assured me that you don’t have to be a weaver to be part of the handweaver’s guild. Some knit, spin, weave, sew, quilt, and all sorts of fibery delicious things. I thought I’d give it a little go and see if I had a chance of fitting in. What a fabulous group of fiber fans with a wonderful January guest speaker and topic!

Diane Click of Merritt Island, who has served as a guild president, weaving instructor, and bridal couturier, addressed the group with a bombshell (in my opinion) topic: she wove the fabric for, and made her daughter’s wedding dress. I say bombshell because the idea of someone doing such a thing is just–wow! The first thing you think of is—how?

Diane Click and the breathtakingly gorgeous gown. (Sorry, my phone camera just doesn’t do either subject justice at all!)
First she showed us samples she made, from combinations of silk, rayon, cotton, and tencel fibers, and many variations of huck patterns: cameo, diamond shapes, many others, resulting in lustrous, drapey, gleaming white-on-white fabrics. She said she worked on a 12-shaft loom, which made fabric about 40 inches wide. She finally decided on a combination of tencel threads in both warp and weft.

Diane had worked as a bridal couturier, so she already had lots of knowledge at her fingertips for sewing the dress. But she did learn a lot from Susan Khalje’s Bridal Couture book that she used as a reference. I was surprised to learn from her presentation that a wedding gown is anchored at the waist by a wide grosgrain ribbon just the measurement of the bride’s middle, sewn on the inside, and this supports the weight of the large, heavy skirt and train. Look at the modest design of the dress; so elegant. It’s hard to find a wedding gown these days that’s not backless, strapless, or open in the front practically down to the bride’s navel! The iphoto does little justice to the blissful tactile pleasure of the soft patterned fabric, or its luster as the diamond threads are caught by the light.

Diane also made bags for the bridal party, which were the subject of an article in a 2001 issue of Handwoven.

After Diane Click’s presentation, the guild had refreshments and a business meeting, and several members showed some of their recent weaving projects. Truly fabulous! They are conducting 4 workshops February 16, and members can choose from these savory projects: basket weaving, a quilt top, transparency weaving, and a knitted, beaded bracelet.

Meanwhile, I haven’t been totally idle. I joined a sock-a-month knit-along with the Sock-it-to-me 2013 group on ravelry, and I’ve made my very first sock! The group furnished a beginner pattern and it’s knitted in a worsted-weight yarn on normal (size 6 US) double-pointed needles.

Beginner Sock

My DH has not been idle either; he spotted a fallen tree branch in the yard and made it into a nostepinde on the lathe! No kidding! This tree debris would have otherwise gone into the trash or burned; now it’s a nifty little tool for winding yarn into a ball that pulls out from the middle!

spalted oak nostepinde (with evil cat shadow)

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Knitting Merges With Woodworking: We Made Our Own Nostepinder

It was nostepinder night at Knitting! We started with some blanks of cherry wood that my DH had cylinderized to make it go quicker (in case our wood turning took longer than we figured it might). Trish was the first to start out at the Jet mini-lathe. DH bought this pretty baby a short while ago, and put it on a rolling stand to make it easy to move into the optimal turning position. Lucky for us, we had a beautiful January night with no rain or wind, and a balmy temperature in the low 70’s. Yay!

Tricia perfecting the turn

She chose to put in a few little coves and beads on her nostepinde. We used Easy Tools for this work, and everyone seemed to be very happy with them.

applying some grit

Trish was a natural. After forming the tool and adding some unique flourishes, she sanded it with a couple of different grades of paper, and DH helped put on a linseed oil finish and cut it off with the parting tool.

Tricia and her brand new nostepinde that she just finished making a moment ago!

Next, Ethel took on the mini-lathe.

Ethel roughing out the pinde

While she was sanding, Lois drove up. She showed us a bowl that had been made from a beech tree in their own front yard. Marvelous workmanship!

Lois with beech wood bowl

Ethel and her finished nostie

Ethel was very satisfied with her functional work of art and was eager to get right into center-pull yarn ball winding.

Ready, set, wind!

Now we were ready to wind. Just for more clarification, we watched a great You-Tube video about how to wind the yarn by Noreen Crone-Findlay. I have watched this so many times now, I almost know it by heart. Noreen mentioned that her husband had made that particular nostie, and we loved the shape and design burned into the wooden handle. And thanks to Kathleen Cubley at Knitting Daily blog, whose irresistible post on Discovering New Tools awakened me to the possibility that we, too, could have our own personal, individually-crafted nostepinder! I’ve been wanting to merge knitting with woodworking all last year, and this was the perfect chance to make it happen! A fabulous start to an artsy-craftsy new year!

Ethel is making a cowl out of the Red Heart Boutique Magical yarn that was featured on the cover of Love of Knitting magazine, and was the article in their Knit-a-long. A truly gorgeous purple and gray, thick and thin, sparkly and matte combination yarn!

Aslan Tango ball giftie from Ethel

She gave me a skein of acrylic/polyamide Tango yarn that she had wound into a center-pull ball using a size 35 needle for a nostepinde, prior to making the actual tool tonight! Thanks, Ethel!

Tricia and her knitted afghan

Trish almost made it out the door without showing off her WIP, a beautiful knitted afghan of white and many colors. Inspiring! Thanks to everyone for coming to Knitting and making it so fun. Looking forward to many yarny adventures in 2013.

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We now interrupt our regularly scheduled knitting program…

Ethel was not very excited when I turned on the TV during Knitting to watch the first Presidential debate.

She was busy knitting the sleeve of a beautiful sweater for her 7-year old grandson.

blue sweater, a WIP

A size 7 boys sweater says nothing if not LOVE! Love, love, love! Imagine the cuff wrapping around a seven-year-old little wrist, keeping it cozy from the cold northern winter! Sigh. True love. Oh, BTW, is that your 6th or 7th project currently on the needles, Ethel? 😉

Lois was making a set of mitts on the Magic Loop. Wow, go Lois!

Lois and Magic Loop two-at-a time mitts

I was still on the shawl, so forget about another pic of that…but I did get a mail order I’ve been panting for.

Boye interchangeable circular needles set

I looked at a lot of different sets, but this one, the Needlemaster, was on sale on Amazon for a really low price (down $60+ to $27.41) so I figured I’d try it out. I checked the availability of this item today, and it is selling for $35, down from $89–and this is the same set I bought a week ago. Weird fluctuating prices! Then if I don’t like it, I’ll get another one later. Pros: the plastic circular cables included are 20″, 24″, 29″, and 36″, and you can connect some cables to make longer lengths. This is a plus for me because my collection of non-interchangeable circular needles has lots of 16″ cables but very few of anything longer than that. The needles included are all sizes from 2 to 15. You can, of course, use the flexible cable needles as straight needles, too. Possible cons: Ethel likes the Knit Picks interchangeables because the plastic cables are really soft and flexible. I don’t think that will be a concern for me at all, but we shall see if working with these turns out to be bothersome (they don’t seem ultra-stiff to me, but just like the non-interchangeable ones I’ve been using). The Boye needles in the set are all aluminum, and it might be nice to have some wooden circular needles with some yarns.

Baby Jacquards

This is my other mail-order venture, the Bernat Baby Jacquards yarn that knits up into a faux-Fair Isle type pattern and is adorable. JoAnn Fabric does carry a version of this baby jacquard: Sensations Cuddle Muffin yarn. Oooh baby!

I made them watch the first question of the first debate. I had to do it, to see the two candidates interact, to look into their eyes, their faces. Are they not both extraordinarily good looking men? And good, honorable men. Not like the sniping, backbiting media ads. And when Obama said to Romney, (not a direct quote, but how I remember it) “You are going to have a busy first day in office, first repealing Obama Care, then…” was that prophetic?

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Knitting Interim Activities

Wednesday Night Knitting has been re-directed due to some extraneous activities of some of the members. This post may be updated to show some of the alternative activities 🙂

a few little distractions

We are really excited to be welcoming Grandchild #18 (the 5th girl, total). Of course little boys are wonderful, but there is something WOW about little girls’ clothes, toys, coos, smiles, sparkles, spangles, sighs. I am working on a knitted blanket

three-color star-struck blanket

I found the pattern in Summer 2012 Love of Knitting. It has been so easy even I can do it with a minimum of angst while running around refereeing between rambunctious twins. I also found these two mags on the newsstand, and I felt that I just could not do without them. We’ll see.

Yum

Knitscene Accessories has a wonderful line-up of smaller projects that look very compelling. And a whole brand new magazine all about Noro? Absolutely. If for nothing else but eye-candy, well worth the price and effort to snag.

I’ve been seeing some interesting sibling=specific type experiences through all this. Bob scratched one of the twins about his eye (the result of a lot of heavy-duty tail pulling, no doubt) and his brother was the one who was upset enough–and I mean outraged enough– to retaliate by body-slamming the poor unsuspecting cat. In cat years, Bob is an old man, a grandfather-age old man. I don’t know that in all his long life, he’s ever dealt with two different agents of doom and destruction who have the same DNA. Well, now he knows.

Hey, I’m just trying to get my 16 hours of sleep here

Each of my other kids who are brother or sister to the one who just had the new baby, called to express their feelings about having a new niece. “I’m having those really strong new baby happy feelings!” one said. One, who delivered grandchild #12 at the same hospital a few years ago, a baby who succumbed to a congenital heart defect, said she couldn’t come up yet to visit. “Too raw,” she said. The other sibling was texting (through the medium of his wonderful spouse) at midnight the night before and early in the morning, craving updates. So, there is this family connection as if the heavens opened up and thunder rolled and we heard it and felt it!

BTW, as a great anticlimax here, WNK has been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award! Actually, it’s not that big a deal because I was nominated for the award by myself, in the guise of my other blog posting persona, jenyjenny of Project Remnant Redo. Project Remnant Redo, my sewing blog, is my primary blog, and this knitting blog is sort of the red-headed step-child in terms of account servicing and overall recognition from Word Press. So I did take advantage of a little “hey, look at me!” opportunity for the knitting blog. And I will spare people the daunting tasks of having to recognize 15 other blogs in kind, and then post 7 personality quirks or life events, or whatever to fulfill the obligation of using the award button to brighten up the margin here. I may comply with the rules and conditions more fully later on when i have more time….Have a great knitting week, knitting friends!

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Knever-ending Kneedles and Knots

Wednesday Night Knitting was relocated to Tiffany’s house last evening, owing to the fact that she’s pregnant with twins :). She and her mom, Lorraine, hosted a fun party, and Tiffany actually made some progress on her afghan. One month left to go; will she do it? She says the twins will have to share it at this point.

The family that knits together…

Meanwhile, Lorraine was busy with a blanket for ANOTHER grandchild due shortly after the these two. Makes me think of Psalm 127 verse 3 – 5, a Bible verse about children being an heritage from the Lord and comparing them to arrows, that always makes me smile. Here’s a fun site called Quiverfull.com. May everyone who wants to, experience the joys of a full quiver!

Lorraine and blanket

Ethel and citrus disks

Ethel finished two of her citrus-colored circles. She says the directions identify them as potholders, but they could also be cotton wash cloths. I have seen pattern sheets for these in the stores at JoAnn’s and Michael’s. She is working on the lemony one next. Lois worked on —guess what? More hats! Beautiful job!

Lois and Ethel, modeling Lois’ hats

Tina and new project

Tina worked on a new project: another potholder, washcloth, or will it be a coaster?

a fast, easy slip knot

I was in awe of the speed and agility she possesses in making a slip knot. When I started knitting again, I had a hard time remembering how to do it; I had to look at a picture tutorial every time for ages. She learned from her dad, a knot-tying fisherman.

Yummy treats

Thanks for the refreshments!

We also got to see the dinosaur-themed quilt, one of two

Dinosaur quilt

Lorraine has been working on recently, and the other quilt Tiffany started and her sister finished. Gorgeous!

Tiffany and her quilt

Ahem; I didn’t accomplish anything worthwhile this week. I looked for some projects in the various books and magazines dotting the landscape of my sewing room, but I either didn’t have the right needles or the right yarn for them. JoAnn’s and Michael’s don’t have any circular needles other than 16″, 29″, or 36″ and I needed some 24″ and 32″ ones. Wah, wah, wah. Looks like a trip to Yarnworks is on the agenda. But I wanted to show pics of a doll that a friend found at a yard sale; she has the most elaborate crocheted outfit.

Doll

Is the underskirt single crochet or slip stitch?

I can remember back in my youth, I saw a lot of dolls with long crocheted dresses splayed out on a chenille bedspread in someone’s guest room. And the large, odd-shaped jars of bath salts (I seriously hope no one finds this blog post who is on a Google search for bath salts. Shudder!) with crocheted bottle-covers on the backs of toilet seats in someone’s pink ceramic-tiled bathroom. Oh yeah, the pictures in my mind’s eye are of my grandma’s house. She was born in 1899. If she was a young woman today, she might be one of those yarn-bombers who covers bicycles and tree trunks and fences with knit and crochet.

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Spring Magic Needlework

At the closing week of March 2012, what have you needleworkers knitted or crocheted so far this year?

Lois worked on a pink hat tonight, the color of a beautiful spring tulip.

Lois and pink hat

Ethel finished two crocheted baskets for Easter egg collecting.

Ethel and baskets of her own design

One, for a granddaughter, is embellished with a flower, and the other, for a grandson, is embellished with a puppy. Ethel designed these from that well of creative necessity that sprang up when she realized THEY ARE COMING! SOON! LIKE, THIS WEEK! She also began working on a cotton wash cloth for the boy, to go with the set of guest towels she bought for the vacationers coming to stay.

wash cloth for a boy

I worked on fingerless gloves in the Queensland Kathmandu pink tweed that I got at Yarn Basket in Winter Haven. I’ve made three trips there in the past year (Winter Haven is 3 hour drive from my house) and on my last trip, I picked up the last pink tweed skein. The online yarn sites that carried this yarn in the past, if they had ANY of this particular color, say that it is no longer available. So I will sadly say that this is my last project from this luscious wool, silk and cashmere blend.

fingerless gloves

I’m hoping to get these done tomorrow and sent off for an Easter present.

Meanwhile, DH finished his project, the Stickley “Eastwood” chair.

DH's Stickley chair

He said Gustav Stickley called it his throne. Of all the incredible things DH can do with wood, he especially loves the Stickley designs with their clean, spare Mission lines. I want to make some Arts and Crafts textile pieces to go with the room–we especially like the gingko motif right now, but I found some interesting applique designs too, at Secrets of Embroidery.com.

Here’s a pic of the box of yarn that was left on my driveway. Is anyone going to own up to leaving it for me? THANK YOU for the treasure! I am pondering the uses of it. Maybe a spring sweater?

anonymous gift of yarn

Let me know what you created for your spring holidays with your magic needles!

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Knitting the discount stores and Jane Austen

Wednesday Night Knitting picked up and knit where we left off a few weeks ago, when everyone was either sick, gone, or otherwise engaged. Debbie is back, barely unpacked, and had to show us what her new knitting machine has done.

Deb's machine knitting

machine knitting, sock yarn

machine knitting, lace border detail

Such beautiful results! She says she must use a “size 3” or less bulky yarn in the machine.

Wound balls of yarn

Meanwhile, she found time to wind quite a few skeins or hanks into balls, ready for using.

Nothing like getting ready, I mean, it’s NOVEMBER already. Seven weeks until Christmas, my ChiBear friends posted recently, reminding us all that WE ARE NOT READY for Christmas. If you get a chance, check out ChiBear; they will custom-make you a purse and more, out of whatever team or other fabric you wish. Say, you are torn between allegiance to two college teams like FSU and UF (jarring, but true in some cases!) They can make you some gear using both team colors and fabrics in the same article.

Ethel started on a project with a beautiful variegated Red Heart yarn in the color “Tapestry.” She had already begun another ruffle scarf in this gorgeous orange yarn with a sparkly angelina fiber edging.

ruffle scarf for a redhead

Looks like the midnight-blue one she made previously; dreamy-beautiful!

Debbie brought along her Knifty Knitter looms, which prompted Ethel to tell us a loom story. While she was visiting the frozen north (no kidding, they got stuck in a freak early-season snow storm) for her son’s wedding, she got some grandkids interested in loom knitting, which prompted a trip to Hobby Lobby and Michael’s in Maryland. I believe, among the three of us knitters, we patronized every yarn and craft store within our orbits these past few weeks.

Deb's Big Lots buy

Debbie showed us a sample of a large lot of yarn she scored at Big Lots, of all places! It’s a polyester light-weight yarn that is a bit like a thin but nubbly twine. Interesting, and cheap ($1 a skein!).

I finished a One Skein Wonder hat in a bulky 100% wool I scored from ebay; it is called freedom wool by Twilley’s of Stamford, UK. What a pleasure to work with and quick as a wink with a size 13 circular needle.

One Skein Wonder wool hat

I also made another purse last week, which I’ve already showcased on my sewing blog.

purse in Hobby Lobby's pink camo yarn

New Sensation, Jane Austen Knits

We got caught up on some new reading material, including the newest sensation, Jane Austen Knits. I saw it on the counter at yarnworks and fairly screamed with excitement! So I hurriedly amended my order (actually had to do two debits ’cause I missed getting it in the first swipe of the card) and brought it home. Then, imagine my chagrin when I realized I’d already ordered a copy months ago from Interweave, and there it was in the day’s mail. Oh well, someone‘s going to get a nice gift!

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