Woolarina
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
mittens!
I've up and joined a knitalong, after missing out on the fun of socktober!
somehow, mittens are more manageable for me, in spite of the fact that thumbs are annoying! maybe it's the fact that I've been knitting them on size 9/10 needles?! ;)
first order of business is deciding which yarn to use. or spin some new yarn? I'm swimming in soft lovely roving still...
second? finish these already. I was working drunkenly on a thumb at the hotel at rhinebeck, and it wasn't going well!
haha... instead I drunkenly knit on one of these. I'm ignoring all the times I kept increasing when I shouldn't have. *design features*... hard to see in it's current squid shape anyhow. I am, however, starting to think there is a fatal flaw in whatever I did at the beginning. hmmmm. something is off (aside from the double increases!) Ack!
okay, moral is, don't knit with more than 2 or 3 beers. you won't notice it for WEEKS, but it will throw you off.
this weekend, there will be sun. and pictures! and more dyeing, since the dye in my cuticles is finally wearing off...
somehow, mittens are more manageable for me, in spite of the fact that thumbs are annoying! maybe it's the fact that I've been knitting them on size 9/10 needles?! ;)
first order of business is deciding which yarn to use. or spin some new yarn? I'm swimming in soft lovely roving still...
second? finish these already. I was working drunkenly on a thumb at the hotel at rhinebeck, and it wasn't going well!
haha... instead I drunkenly knit on one of these. I'm ignoring all the times I kept increasing when I shouldn't have. *design features*... hard to see in it's current squid shape anyhow. I am, however, starting to think there is a fatal flaw in whatever I did at the beginning. hmmmm. something is off (aside from the double increases!) Ack!
okay, moral is, don't knit with more than 2 or 3 beers. you won't notice it for WEEKS, but it will throw you off.
this weekend, there will be sun. and pictures! and more dyeing, since the dye in my cuticles is finally wearing off...
Monday, October 24, 2005
a whole lot of nothing
I was going to have this great post about all the yarn I dyed and carded and spun this weekend, but then? I got too into the dyeing part and didn't take enough pictures before it got dark. and started raining. sigh....
my living room, however, is filled with colors. bright colors! turquoise, green, lime, orange, fuschia! so much roving to spin! I did it bit by bit by bit in the trusty slow cooker.. man is it slow! I'm used to high-speed dyeing in kate's kitchen, with two large pot type things. and a slow cooker off to the side. With the ole slow cooker, every. single. color. got it's own cooking time, so it took quite a while. but colors! so pretty!! And it seemed to dye the superwash wool pretty well. (superwash is often a pain in the ass, with color not always saturating the way we want it to)
pictures next time it's sunny out?
in running news, I ran a whole 5 miles all by myself after sitting on my butt studying the past couple weeks. or, um, pretending to study? Exam was good, and running was great. But my chest, a couple hours after? heh... my chest is problematic in more than one way. not asthma-ey, but definitely coughy. Also? the bottom of my boob got chafed. the part that is IN MY BRA. not hanging out rubbing parts of clothing. ??? Argh. I don't get it. I will have to slather my parts in glide I suppose. Can't really do that one in the car, can I?
my living room, however, is filled with colors. bright colors! turquoise, green, lime, orange, fuschia! so much roving to spin! I did it bit by bit by bit in the trusty slow cooker.. man is it slow! I'm used to high-speed dyeing in kate's kitchen, with two large pot type things. and a slow cooker off to the side. With the ole slow cooker, every. single. color. got it's own cooking time, so it took quite a while. but colors! so pretty!! And it seemed to dye the superwash wool pretty well. (superwash is often a pain in the ass, with color not always saturating the way we want it to)
pictures next time it's sunny out?
in running news, I ran a whole 5 miles all by myself after sitting on my butt studying the past couple weeks. or, um, pretending to study? Exam was good, and running was great. But my chest, a couple hours after? heh... my chest is problematic in more than one way. not asthma-ey, but definitely coughy. Also? the bottom of my boob got chafed. the part that is IN MY BRA. not hanging out rubbing parts of clothing. ??? Argh. I don't get it. I will have to slather my parts in glide I suppose. Can't really do that one in the car, can I?
Thursday, October 20, 2005
toys!
this is just the funnest thing EVER! it spins! it eats wool! it makes a fluffy wool pillow! best purchase EVER! hehe... ok, so this was only the first run, and the color is BORE-ing, since I was using leftovers with some white merino. still- after my exam saturday, guess where I will be?!
I started these at meetup last night, and had no intention of finishing them. not even when I came home early to study this afternoon... but, they came along when we picked up thai food for dinner, and it *was* almost done (the second one-- the first was done last night after meetup aside from the thumb..)
the yarn was superulky handspun merino that I dyed after the fact. I'm definitely not going to do that very often- look at how the color pools! agh! The pattern is loosely based on the mittens in weekend knitting. Wonder what to do with the leftovers? Can't be more than 30 yards. Hmmm. maybe it's time for a winter camera case.. in case it gets cold?
hee hee! Everyone at meetup that went to Rhinebeck got spindles! It's a disease!! I should dig out my spindles and finish whatever is still on them... I vaguely remember some green merino that wants to be something or other, but is stuck on a spindle. poor thing.
I started these at meetup last night, and had no intention of finishing them. not even when I came home early to study this afternoon... but, they came along when we picked up thai food for dinner, and it *was* almost done (the second one-- the first was done last night after meetup aside from the thumb..)
the yarn was superulky handspun merino that I dyed after the fact. I'm definitely not going to do that very often- look at how the color pools! agh! The pattern is loosely based on the mittens in weekend knitting. Wonder what to do with the leftovers? Can't be more than 30 yards. Hmmm. maybe it's time for a winter camera case.. in case it gets cold?
hee hee! Everyone at meetup that went to Rhinebeck got spindles! It's a disease!! I should dig out my spindles and finish whatever is still on them... I vaguely remember some green merino that wants to be something or other, but is stuck on a spindle. poor thing.
Monday, October 17, 2005
part deux
More details on the goods- fiber bought: ~3 pounds?
border leicester, 80%, kid mohair, 20% - from Maple Row Stock Farm, Sherwood, MI
alpaca, 8 oz - Mohair in Motion, White Cloud MI
silver glitz - Little Barn, Inc.
merino/corriedale(?)/fine fiber blend, 1 lb - Blackberry Hill Farm, Hudson, NY
merino/tussah silk, 8 oz. - The Sheep Shed @ Mountain View Farm, New Boston, NH
romney/border leicester cross, ~10oz from This and That Farm, Danby VT
raw, but washed wool, I forget
socks that rock sock yarn
border leicester, 80%, kid mohair, 20% - from Maple Row Stock Farm, Sherwood, MI
alpaca, 8 oz - Mohair in Motion, White Cloud MI
silver glitz - Little Barn, Inc.
merino/corriedale(?)/fine fiber blend, 1 lb - Blackberry Hill Farm, Hudson, NY
merino/tussah silk, 8 oz. - The Sheep Shed @ Mountain View Farm, New Boston, NH
romney/border leicester cross, ~10oz from This and That Farm, Danby VT
raw, but washed wool, I forget
socks that rock sock yarn
rhinebeck
We set out friday afternoon from MD, and was greeted by 4 states full of this: 
We got to Albany (and hour past Rhinebeck!!) around 10:30... not bad considering traffic and weather delays. The next morning, the rain started again for us... we missed our turn for a certain "9G" and got a tour of the VERY conservative Catskill, NY. Billboards about regretting abortion and movies causing teen smoking abounded. (the shock!) We got to the fairs and were armed with umbrellas for about 20 minutes before the weather turned into this:
Christina and Anne basking in the sunshine!
Look at the pretty leaves!
Much fun was had touching and ogling and buying things. Mmmmm. wool. silk. alpaca. I dropped off some stuff for a craft fair for K8, leaving space in my car for one of these little guys...
Even more fun was had after a nap back at the hotel and some dinner. I didn't get a shot of the masses of knitters that took over Marriott Poughkeepsie, but it was pretty crazy. so much knitting and oohing and ahhing and spindling.
Then later, more beer and more knitting in Team Georgia's room with Anne, Lara, FreckleGirl, Chelsea
CarrieOke, Ann Marie, Christina, Freckleman, and Sarah.
the loot coming soon!
We got to Albany (and hour past Rhinebeck!!) around 10:30... not bad considering traffic and weather delays. The next morning, the rain started again for us... we missed our turn for a certain "9G" and got a tour of the VERY conservative Catskill, NY. Billboards about regretting abortion and movies causing teen smoking abounded. (the shock!) We got to the fairs and were armed with umbrellas for about 20 minutes before the weather turned into this:
Christina and Anne basking in the sunshine!
Look at the pretty leaves!
Much fun was had touching and ogling and buying things. Mmmmm. wool. silk. alpaca. I dropped off some stuff for a craft fair for K8, leaving space in my car for one of these little guys...
Even more fun was had after a nap back at the hotel and some dinner. I didn't get a shot of the masses of knitters that took over Marriott Poughkeepsie, but it was pretty crazy. so much knitting and oohing and ahhing and spindling.
Then later, more beer and more knitting in Team Georgia's room with Anne, Lara, FreckleGirl, Chelsea
CarrieOke, Ann Marie, Christina, Freckleman, and Sarah.
the loot coming soon!
Monday, October 10, 2005
exhausting!
I spent the long weekend hunting for sun, and taking and retaking photos. I'm really wishing I had a fancy camera and professional setup, for rainy weekends like this one. I think I have all the handspun listed at this point. no idea if everything is right, but at this point, i just don't care!
Some highlights:
Also: Rhinebeck. We're going! woo hoo! Now I gotta come up with a list of stuff I might want to buy. not on the list: anything I can buy on my own... yarn, mainly. and no merino to spin. I *might* buy yarn for a sweater for a certain future mr. someone, but that's really all. I do want to get a skeinwinder and bulky bobbin setup (cuz >200 yards bulky yarn I get now just isn't enough, apparently). maybe some sparkly to add to wool when I spin. maybe a sheepdog? perhaps some sort of merino/silk blend to spin- want to try silk again- maybe the wool component would make it better? and some superwash merino. don't have much of that.
hm. really oughta put the cash from the craft fair in the bank before I spend it all!
Some highlights:
Also: Rhinebeck. We're going! woo hoo! Now I gotta come up with a list of stuff I might want to buy. not on the list: anything I can buy on my own... yarn, mainly. and no merino to spin. I *might* buy yarn for a sweater for a certain future mr. someone, but that's really all. I do want to get a skeinwinder and bulky bobbin setup (cuz >200 yards bulky yarn I get now just isn't enough, apparently). maybe some sparkly to add to wool when I spin. maybe a sheepdog? perhaps some sort of merino/silk blend to spin- want to try silk again- maybe the wool component would make it better? and some superwash merino. don't have much of that.
hm. really oughta put the cash from the craft fair in the bank before I spend it all!
Friday, October 07, 2005
ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
am upgrading the website, so it may be MIA for a bit. hope I survive! back soon...
EDIT: haha.. um... yeah. no changes here! I wasn't brave enough, and decided I really ought to spend the weekend studying. sigh... I am attempting to photograph most of the yarn we have today, though, and to get those up at least. we'll see how that goes.
Does anyone know a lot about websites? and shopping cart systems? my provider offers a dinky little cart for $10 a month, but it doesn't have what I want.. the next level up is $30 a month, and we totally don't sell enough to afford that! I'd like to be able to use ZenCart, or something like that (is there better stuff out there?) but my current place won't let you have database sorts of things. (don't remember what they are called!) Does anyone have any idea where I should look?
EDIT: haha.. um... yeah. no changes here! I wasn't brave enough, and decided I really ought to spend the weekend studying. sigh... I am attempting to photograph most of the yarn we have today, though, and to get those up at least. we'll see how that goes.
Does anyone know a lot about websites? and shopping cart systems? my provider offers a dinky little cart for $10 a month, but it doesn't have what I want.. the next level up is $30 a month, and we totally don't sell enough to afford that! I'd like to be able to use ZenCart, or something like that (is there better stuff out there?) but my current place won't let you have database sorts of things. (don't remember what they are called!) Does anyone have any idea where I should look?
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
catching up
can you imagine that we've been spinning and selling yarn for more than a year, and I am just now getting one of these?
See, I'm not the official skeiner of our crafty duo. She moved, so I am forced into a lot more reskeining action. It was between this and a skeinwinder, which would attach to my wheel and let me wind beautiful skeins right off the bobbin, instead of winding around and around my niddy-noddy til my arms go numb. My arms will put up with numbness for a few months more but my legs will be happy that they won't have yarn wrapped around them in endless winding acrobatics.
All from a 40% off coupon from Jo-Ann's. Woo! Along with some frighteningly tiny (US1) dpns, in case sock-knitting madness hits again before I finish one of the two I have on needles now!
See, I'm not the official skeiner of our crafty duo. She moved, so I am forced into a lot more reskeining action. It was between this and a skeinwinder, which would attach to my wheel and let me wind beautiful skeins right off the bobbin, instead of winding around and around my niddy-noddy til my arms go numb. My arms will put up with numbness for a few months more but my legs will be happy that they won't have yarn wrapped around them in endless winding acrobatics.
All from a 40% off coupon from Jo-Ann's. Woo! Along with some frighteningly tiny (US1) dpns, in case sock-knitting madness hits again before I finish one of the two I have on needles now!
Monday, October 03, 2005
thanks!
thanks to everyone who came out Saturday to see us at Crafty Bastards! It was a great event.. exhausting, but so much fun! And so many yarn lovers! I love the look that people get when they just can't decide which skein to take home! Mmmm. Yarn!
We managed to sell enough yarn to make our stashes reasonable once again, so I am happy. I did buy a whole lot of dye, and more yarn, so there will be new colors at some point. Maybe I'll get to it at the end of the month!
Next week is another craft fair, then the next weekend is Rhinebeck! Then? An Awful Exam. October is busy busy with studying and selling. And buying, I suppose!
Yesterday I ran the 10K race... the one I've been training for since june! I did better than I thought I would, considering we haven't run a lot lately, and I have a cold. And I was 6th from last in my age group! woo-hoo! But yay- that is done, so I won't have to spend quite so much time running! And can *finally* get to mid-meetup-meetup!
We managed to sell enough yarn to make our stashes reasonable once again, so I am happy. I did buy a whole lot of dye, and more yarn, so there will be new colors at some point. Maybe I'll get to it at the end of the month!
Next week is another craft fair, then the next weekend is Rhinebeck! Then? An Awful Exam. October is busy busy with studying and selling. And buying, I suppose!
Yesterday I ran the 10K race... the one I've been training for since june! I did better than I thought I would, considering we haven't run a lot lately, and I have a cold. And I was 6th from last in my age group! woo-hoo! But yay- that is done, so I won't have to spend quite so much time running! And can *finally* get to mid-meetup-meetup!
