Vacation: Part 1 (Where in I finally "get" using a spindle)

I recently had a week off from work. This does not sound remarkable except for the fact that I have not had a full week off from work since April of 2008 when my co-worker retired. I didn't know what to do with myself until I remembered that I have a mountain of fiber and yarn in my home. Now I have been spinning on a wheel for donkey years but I have never been able to feel comfortable using a spindle. I had tried on and off again with my sisters many spindles but I just couldn't get it. At least not until this vacation when I finally "got" it. Please see above some of the spindles I bought during my vacation. I started by buying an inexpensive spindle from "A Spinners Lair" on E-Bay that can be used as either a drop or support spindle. She recycles wood for her woodworking so I have spindles in Red oak, Apple, Walnut and Cherry. Some have two sections so you can spin two sets of singles and then ply for lace. These work nicely for spinning while sitting down. They are "center weighted' which means they spin fast but for a short amount of time. I use them primarily as drop spindles. Having admired beautiful spindles all these years but having no reason to buy them, I was now at a point where I could use part of my tax refund to "get a few" for myself. I went surfing the net and I purchased 3 Tom Forrester Spindles for myself from "The Wheel Thing". I have bought products from them before and been very happy with what I received. I have a "Granny" spindle with a Purple Heart whorl and Beech shaft, a "Linium" with a Paduk whorl and Beech Shaft and an "Orchard Pyro" with a Paduk whorl and Rock Maple Shaft. All of these spin a long time but slower than the more center weighted spindles. They are a joy to spin with now that I do more spinning and less dropping! Drunk with power I then surfed over to "The Fold" where I proceeded to drool over the Avi Wasserman spindles. I called Toni Neil and ordered three spindles. She was very kind and made sure I understood that they would spin fast but for a short time which is just what I wanted since I found I like to sit while spinning and I am spinning for lace. Imagine my surprise and gratitude when she asked if I would be interested in having some "cosmetically challenged" Avi spindles. She wanted them to go to someone who would really like to have them. Needless to say I was overwhelmed but accepted her offer. I can honestly say that the few irregularity's I found did not detract from the beauty of these spindles and they spin up a mean lace weight single. Thank you Toni!!! The first one is a 3/4 ounce Ebony whorl and Tulip wood shaft Next is a Rosewood and Ebony whorl with a Maple shaft. This one has a very slight scratch and ding on the whorl but spins like a dream. next is a 2 &1/4 ounce Olive Wood and Ebony with silver Inlay, 1 and 1/4 ounce Blackheart Myrtle and Ebony whorl with a Goncalo Alves shaft, 1 ounce Olive wood and ebony whorl with a Walnut shaft and lastly another 3/4 ounce Olive wood with Ebony and silver inlay with Walnut shaft. Phew! I have a few more things I want/need to get but I'm still working on it :-) I did manage to spin and ply up a few things.The first picture of yarn is the "Faded Flowers 100% African Wool from Black Bunny Fibers that I had stashed. I didn't want to muddy up the colors so I plied with a single of Cashmere from a spare cone of Colourmart I had lying around. The second picture is of a 2 ply 5/50 Yak Silk from A Verb For Keeping Warm in colorway "Magnet". Some of it I randomly spun and plied and some of it I separated into color groups to spin and ply just for laughs. I also have some 80/20 Merino/Tussah Silk also from "Verb" in colorway "Victoria"made up as a two ply lace weight yarn. Aside from spinning, I also worked on a UFO. "Bells Through The Leaves" AKA, "Cloches a travers les feuilles" from that hand spun Madder dyed BFL from Verb I spun so long ago. I finally finished the "Birdseye" section and am into the leaves. As a parting shot ,you can see two Tom Forresters I bought my sister as her birthday is coming up and we are still waiting for her Pocket Wheel to be made. They are a Purple heart "Linium" and a Lace wood "Granny". The remaining spindles my sister purchased for herself at Verb. Two by Lars Larsen (she lost the tags so I don't know the wood) and two from Spindlewood of Leopard wood and Birdseye Maple. There's more but that's for Part 2 :-)

Miralda Shawl (Yakity Yak)

Finally finished blocking the Miralda Shawl and I have to say that the Yak/Silk blend from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" did fluff up and is very soft with a nice subtle sheen. This is a quick and easy knit with interesting construction. You cast on the edging and then decrease at the center and both sides to make the triangle which ends at the back of your neck on this shawl. I used US 6 needles and the original shawl asks for a a fingering weight yarn though I went a bit thinner. This shawl is maybe 5 ounces of yarn. Every version of this shawl that I have seen is really pretty in its own way. If you want a laugh, look at the Feb 26, 2009 entry for The Yarn Harlot :-) Now to look at my UFO's.

Busy Busy (How many projects does she have?)

Yes. I have crafting ADD. I went to Stitches West 2009 and have been in a frenzy every since. I have started 2 more projects from the book "Knitting Lace of Estonia" by Nancy bush. Both are using hand spun that I made. First up is Mirlada's Triangular Shawl. I'm using a 50/50 Yak/Silk fiber I purchased from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" in colorway "This is a new day". It's now a sturdy 2 ply yarn and I'm using US 6 needles because this is a very small shawl and is supposed to be knit with fingering weight. The second project is the Queen Silvia Shawl which I'm knitting out of a 2 ply made from Pygora, also from Verb, in the "Shaggy Bear" colorway. I'm add a few beads to this one just for laughs. Yes, I know that the shifting colors of cream and grey are not the best pick for this type of pattern but I love how it feels in my hands and just had to knit this one for myself. It will be a "comfort" shawl I can wear around my shoulders when I'm cold.

There is a picture of a circular blocking wire that I bought at Lacis. I'm hoping it will help with blocking those pesky doily's. I also could not resist buying a book on needle Oya (vs crochet Oya) from the bookstore in Japan Town in SF. I'm just fascinated by it. In the area of weaving I'm experimenting using pick-up sticks to make raised areas on the fabric and with making Leno which consists of twisting thread to make open areas on the fabric. Just a little experiment you understand. I'm up to row 133 of Goldregen so no pictures until I get to the edge of this sucker. January and February just flew by and the knitting is keeping me sane. It's really a lifesaver :-)

Stitches West 2009 (Doing our bit for the economy.)

Just a few pictures of the loot me and my sister got at Stitches West this year. I got fat core bobbins for my Majacraft Rose at Carolina Homespun, a rosewood inch gage at ASCIANO, a nickle shawl pin by Romi, 2 braids of BFL in "Helleborus" from Pigeonroof Studios, a treasure trove of lace weight 70/30 Blue Faced Leicester/Pygora from Toots Le Blanc & Co, 2 skeins each of lace weight baby alpaca and silk in the "Chartreuse's Sister" colorway from A Verb For Keeping Warm, the Ethereal Fichu pattern by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer (revised) and a new pattern by Romi called "Blue Bird". The green skein of lace weight is alpaca from Royale Hare in "Spring Wheat"which I could not resist. Both of us bought some of those square double pointed needles we have heard so much about and I'll let you know how those work out.

My sister picked superwash BFL from Tactile Fiber Arts (2 in wisteria, 1 in heliotrope), 6 Ledrum bobbins from Carolina Homespun, 3 skeins 80/20 Yak/Merino in "Jade" and 4 skeins of "This is a new day" in 50/50 Yak/Merino from A Verb For Keeping Warm. Last but not least, she picked up 3 skeins of sock yarn at Pigeonroof Studios in colorways Morrollo, Olive Leaf and Black Walnut.

Whew! I'm going to be a very busy woman for the rest of the year.

Crown Prince Square Shawl (I didn't go into knitting so I could sew!)

I don't know about anyone else but I did not go into knitting so I could sew! That said, I did end up sewing the edging onto the center of the Crown Prince Square Shawl. Alpaca is not a very elastic yarn for sewing so I'm not thrilled with how difficult it was to sew up.It was tricky to get the tension right. If I had actually read the pattern before I started knitting it, I might have knit the edge first and then attached the live stitches to the center as I knit it. That might have worked better for me. Still, it is a pretty thing. Sorry for the color shifting in the pictures but I could not really get the color down with flash photography and even the natural light photos at the end don't really show the color of this shawl. If you are going to Stitches West this year, perhaps Kristine (seen wearing the shawl) will have it with her at the shop booth for "A Verb For Keeping Warm" since it now belongs to her :-)

To Recap-

Crown Prince Square Shawl pattern from "Knitted Lace of Estonian Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions" by Nancy Bush. Knit on US 3 needles using 100% alpaca lace weight yarn from " A Verb For Keeping Warm. Yarn is called "Holding" in the "Twilight" colorway. Be sure to check out the errata page at Interweave Press for the corrections to this and other patterns in the book!

Now I'm back to work on Goldregen but have switched to US 000 Addi Lace Needles since I had needle failure on the Hiya Hiya needles in US 0000. I'm a bit more than half-way done with the pattern so the change of needles at this point is OK. I have more stuff to show but I'll post later.