I dyed!

In the spring of 2008, I received my first lace shawl kit from the inaugural Year of Lace Club. It was the Phoenix Rising shawl designed by Sivia Harding. The colour was a gorgeous orange. I completed that shawl (in record time, I might add) and the end result was beautiful.... but it was orange. I am blonde and orange is one of those colours that I just can NOT wear. It makes my hair look orange and brings out the most unattractive skin tones. In the end, I decided to give it to my friend Christina. A beautiful brunette.... with perfect colouring for orange.

She has only been able to wear the shawl once. It has been a very difficult colour for her to wear with her existing wardrobe and although she, also, loved the colour... it sat in her closet, looking lovely, but mostly unwearable. We were discussing her impending move to Egypt and the need for shawls there, when the shawl came up in conversation. I decided right then to try to dye it. I've never dyed anything before (well, I did dye one shirt with RIT, but that doesn't count). I asked around for bits of advice, chose a dark red and blue and dove in.

First I soaked it overnight.






Then I started the dye on the stove. According to the directions I needed 2-4% of the dry weight of the shawl, but I had read to use more for silk and decided to use 6g of Crimson Jacquard Dye. I also thought I'd add just a touch of Brilliant Blue (about 2.5 ml), to deepen the red and add a darker cast. I then took the plunge and dunked the shawl in the hot dye bath. I cooked it just below boiling for about an hour and then began the rinsing process. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed.... and the shawl just kept bleeding. The original freshly dyed colour was a dark raisin... almost brown, but with a definite red cast... it was lovely.....
I kept rinsing.... and the shawl kept bleeding.... I finally called Annie and she told me to dump a bunch of vinegar in the pot.... I did so and almost immediately, the dye stopped bleeding..... I did a few final rinses and then blocked the shawl.... and OH.MY.GAWD did it turn out nice!!!! The resultant colour is a rich cranberry..... and GORGEOUS! The pictures just can NOT do it justice...... I am VERY tempted to not give it back to Christina...... although, I will, of course.....





I AM going to hunt for that colour of yarn though and make a stole out of it..... it is the perfect red.........

Post-Christmas Doldrums

It's over for another year. The excitement, planning, gift knitting, cleaning, cooking, decorating and various other preparatory activities of Christmas have kept me engaged and excited in the lead up to the big day..... but... almost immediately following .....came the crash. The work listed above, but in reverse, now seems overwhelming and depressing. This year it is made worse by the fact that my best friend in the entire universe is moving to Egypt on January 3rd. We have become an inseparable force in the five and a half years that we have lived together in the same city (we've been friends for more than 15 years). We are each other's support system and closer than is probably normal. I have other close friends that are wonderful and supportive and I know I won't be alone (and certainly not in Christina's shoes.... alone in a foreign country where a woman's role is defined by men), but I am devastated. I've been trying to hold it together and be positive and strong, but now that Christmas is done, that is becoming harder and harder to do. I had a meltdown last night after dropping my Dad and Caren off at the airport. We had such a nice visit and they are wonderful company and the kids love them...... Their leaving was enough to break me down...... I'm feeling better today. I have a list of things to accomplish and I think Christina's boys are coming over for the day while Christina assists the packers. Work helps, knitting helps and the kids help, but I can feel the sadness and loneliness hovering on the edge of my vision (or is that tears.... feels the same to me). I am determined to keep it together until after the 3rd.... then I can have a nice private meltdown...... until then.......

On a more positive note here is a picture of the Christmas knitting I completed and sent as gifts. I also finished a hat for Dale that is not in the picture.

Christmas Countdown.

Only EIGHT more sleeps to Christmas and I'm looking great (on the Christmas Extravaganza front, not the physically attractive front, although that's not bad either ;) ....).

• Christmas Cards finished and sent?? Check.
• Christmas Parcels wrapped and mailed?? Check.
• Christmas decorating??? Check.
  
• Christmas Tree decorated??? Check.
• Christmas presents purchased and wrapped?? Check.
  
• Christmas dinner planned and pre-shopped?? Check.
• Christmas knitting??? CHECK, CHECK. I've even had time to knit an extra and do some spinning which I also hope to include as a gift.
• House cleaned?? Not yet, but I've got EIGHT DAYS... well, I've got 4 days until guests arrive, but still......
• Christmas Baking?? Again, not yet, but I don't bake very much anyway (we're not big baked goods eaters), so I'm looking good there too... I'm basically planning to bake sugar cookies and make fudge.... big whoop.
• Christmas Dinner prep??? Nope... not done this yet either. There isn't that much that I can do. I plan to make a potato casserole that freezes well, but that's about it.....

All in all, I'm disgustingly well prepared.... bring it......

Adventures in Fleece. Part 2

8 down, 10 to go...... My thoughts on each of the first half (almost) of the Super Fiber Sampler that I started to blog about many months ago.... (which are also being recorded on my stash page on Ravelry).


My first sample was the Polwarth; I loved working with this fleece and super soft yarn was the result. Carded and spun from rolags. Resulting yarn is approx. 11 WPI

The Polwarth





Border Leicester was next. It washed up from golden yellow to white (I actually liked the original colour, but while reflecting on the CAUSE of that colour, I quickly changed my mind). I didn’t like the feel of the fleece even after washing. It seemed very coarse in comparison with the Polwarth, I would even go so far to call it "squeaky and plastic-y" feeling. Combed, but had a lot of waste wool… not sure if that is my fault, the combing’s fault or the sheep’s fault (I, rather highly, suspect its mine and with some further research have discovered that combing does leave a lot of waste). Resultant yarn is approx. 10-11 WPI, a beautiful cream, but coarse… wouldn’t use it for anything. Maybe it could be blended in small amounts with something softer to add some strength and luster??? Although, honestly, I doubt I would buy it again and so, probably won't find out.....







3) Icelandic: I did the stove-top method of washing this fleece and really liked it….. although there was a lot of VM left in the locks, the rest was very clean. Have combed it and did not find any separate layers although my understanding is that it should have two layers. It pretty much combed out as one length and I had much less waste than the Border Leicester. On reflection this is most likely due to the fact that I did a much better job of washing the Icelandic fleece. It feels coarse in comparison to the fine wools, but is softer than the Border Leicester, I would consider it if I needed something with strength, maybe even blending small amounts with something softer for toes and heels of socks??.....



4) CVM: Very soft and greasy even before washing…. I’m definitely preferring the “fine” sheep breeds so far…. I even prefer the smell.. more sheep-y, less poop-y…. I messed up when I was spinning this and plied a section in the wrong direction and then underplied when I realized and corrected my mistake, but I'm still liking it... the colour is particularly nice.



5) Corriedale: Another soft fine wool. Doesn’t feel as greasy as CVM, but I love how soft it is….It feels a bit coarser (coarser in comparison to the other fine wools I've processed so far) now that it's spun and washed, but would still be a nice wool for cardigans. I wouldn't use it for anything next to the skin, but I am slightly sensitive to wool and even find some merino slightly itchy (I wear it anyway! I'm determined!)... I carded and spun this from rolags, but my prep wasn't very good and the resulting yarn is a bit slubbier and less even than I'd like.




Here are the singles of Corriedale, CVM and Icelandic (left to right in photo)




6) Perendale: This is a longwool, but the softest of the three so far (my initial pre-wash impression). Well, crapOla...... I stove-topped the hell out of this wool.... I washed the wool on the stove and then was doing the first rinse (also on the stove)...... I decided to turn off the stove and let the rinse cool and soak for a bit while I ran out...... I came home to the worst FunkE smell Eva! Sort of like a.... rotten boiled eggs served in a manure infested barn, kind of smell..... Apparently, I only THOUGHT I turned off the stove and my wool cooked for a good two hours....... The resulting mess was partially, but not fully, felted and I decided not to bother with it...... Perendale now rests in the garbage......

7) Cormo: This is by FAR my favorite so far. It felt lovely even when dirty and even though I slightly felted it (I think.... I'm not sure if it was felted or just compacted as it combed out quite nicely), I decided to comb it and use it anyway.... and I still love it......



8) Romney: The softest longwool I've done yet. Because I felted the Perendale, I can't remember which is softer, but I'm pretty sure the Romney is... It was one of the easier to process and combed out with very little waste.



The main things I've learned so far:

1) It's OK to be harsh when picking though fleece. Throwing out the matted bits, the really short bits and the combing leftovers is fine.... The sheep police are not going to break down your door and arrest you for throwing perfectly good wool in the garbage, even if you cut off the tips of the locks with scissors.

2) I need an electric spin dryer. Perhaps "need" is the wrong word, but I want one and a salad spinner isn't going to cut it for me.... (I like my gadgets). Drying time needs to be cut down so that I can do my own laundry and use the drying rack for clothing, rather than just fleece. I also need to pick up some Tulle. I found I had to do a second and third cleaning with a pillowcase and my sweater bags were too small making it difficult the lock structure.

UPDATE: I did purchase a spin dryer and LOVE it! It is fantastic for all of my handwashing items.. I haven't used it for fleece yet, but I set the twist in my last 2 of this batch and the resulting yarn was almost dry. A heavy knit sweater dries overnight (with a fan) using this gadget..... I bought mine from The Laundry Alternative. The small countertop fits 3 light knit sweaters (store bought or fingering weight) OR 2 medium knit sweaters (dk to aran weight) OR 1 heavy sweater.

3) Combing/carding is hard on my wrists. I don't think washing/prepping a fleece is something I'll do all the time and it'll take me a while to finish this sampler because of it.

4) Washing/prepping my own fleece has taught me a LOT about wool (and I even understand more about spinning worsted vs. spinning woolen!) and I think this Fibre Sampler is an invaluable tool.

Posting problems....

I haven't posted in nearly three weeks. Not because I have nothing to say (I do), but because of the whole "Christmas Knitting" thing. I have worked on nothing but Christmas knitting since my last post. I did start a long arduous post about parenting, but decided it was too heavy and tossed it.

The good news is that I've nearly finished ALL of my Christmas knitting, including a couple of add ons. I have one big project and one smaller one to finish that are "must dos," but that aren't actually due until Christmas, so the pressure's off. I'm also hoping to squeeze in a hat for Dale and a cool scarf/mitten idea for Chey (which is started, but on hold for now). I took a picture of the pile before I shipped off the items to be shipped, but I won't share that photo until after Christmas..... Did I mention that I have 3 weeks left??? I RULE!!

I've also decorated the inside and outside of the house (except the tree), written my Christmas Letter and sent Christmas Cards and even wrapped about 1/2 of the presents..... all Hail the Christmas Goddess......

A trap of my own devising.

It's November 10, there are approximately 40 knitting days until Christmas..... Notice I said "knitting days" not "shopping days"...... and really, if I think about shipping times... it's more like 25 knitting days...... yikes! The trap of Christmas knitting has been set, concealed and sprung......

Last year I knit several of my loved ones items for Christmas and although I enjoy giving my knitting to other people, the actual PROCESS of knitting on a deadline sucks.... I'm a moderately fast knitter, I think, but for some reason, the moment I feel like a deadline is looming... I stress. Last year was no exception and it was about 2 seconds after the last item was finished, I decided that I would only knit for gifts on alternate years.... well, except maybe my Dad's, now annual, socks.... and if I'm knitting something for him, I should knit something for Caren, his wife..... and if I'm knitting something for Caren, I should probably knit something for my Mother-in-Law.... and if I'm knitting something for my MIL, I should probably knit something for.... (insert recipient here). You see the trap, right??? Apparently, I did not... even though I set it myself.

My Christmas knitting has now grown.... and I thought of a new one or two today....... sigh..... Oh... and now that I have all of these Christmas creations to complete, I have found not one, but TWO sweaters that are begging me to cast on...... I even have the yarn for one of them.... maybe I should do a quick gauge swatch??? No! I must resist! and NEXT YEAR, I am determined! No Christmas knitting!!! ..... well....... except, knitted gifts are special and let's face it none of the people that I knit for are easy to buy for....... Perhaps I should space it out a bit better instead....... there. Next year's trap is already in place.... remind me of that next year... Ok?

My list so far (I'm only posting pics of stuff for people that I know don't read my blog... I don't want to give it ALL away).

1) Syd: Handspun, handknit scarf (this was supposed to be a just-because gift, but I'm sending it for Xmas) - Finished

2) Dad: Finished

3) Caren: 25%

4) MIL: Idea is brewing, not sure if I can complete for Xmas or not.....

5) Chey: Dragon, Dinosaur or Snake scarf... perhaps of my own design.... 'cause I've got a great idea in my head..... Not started, but will be done last....

6 & 7) Nina & Natalya: Crochet Caps..... I've already made myself and Chey one (the pattern is AWESOME and ADORABLE... I hate hats on me and I still love this one!) ... I'm going to give Chey's to Natalya because it's a bit big for Chey and and the colours would be awesome for Natalya's jacket. PLUS mine is made from the same yarn so it's a bit too matchy, matchy for my taste......


Those are just my "for sure" presents.... and looking at them itemized, they don't seem too bad..... except the list started as ONE..... and now is SEVEN.... in just a few days.....

Here are the cute hats..... the pattern is called "Swirls Cap" (ravelry link). It only took me about 3-4 hours to make. I used a thick fusible webbing for the hat brim, so the hats should be washable...... The designer had stopped offering the pattern for a while, but I noticed that it's back up....



I do have a funny story about Chey's hat. While I was making it, I asked her if she would rather have a flower instead of buttons like mine. She replied that she "hates flowers!". I asked her why and she looked at me and said, in a very serious voice "because, flowers don't kill you" (I'm assuming she meant "you" in general and not me in particular.... at least I hope so).... I told her she was getting a flower anyway and when it was done, she said it was nice because "it looks like a mouth with teeth so it can bite you" (eh? a mouth??? I don't see it, but whatever works to get her to wear the darn thing)........ her obsession with all creatures dangerous has apparently reached new heights...... I think my days of dressing Chey as a girly-girl are numbered..... she's definitely heading down the tomboy road..... sigh......

Hallowe'en and knitting.

Happy Hallowe'en (sort of, it was last night after all). I hope everyone had fun with the ghouls and ghosts and princesses last night!

Hallowe'en was great at our house. We were all a bit sad that my friend Christina and her boys couldn't come as her oldest was very, very ill.... We've made it a bit of a tradition to go together and have only missed a couple of years since we moved to Calgary. This year was particularly sad because they are moving to Egypt and we may not be able to go again...... sigh.

On a more upbeat note, our decorations were a hit! Dale went all out and blacked in our front porch with black plastic. I told him it couldn't be too scary (there are a lot of tiny children in our neighbourhood), but wanted it to be a bit nerve-wracking. That worked. Particularly with the older kids. They would stop at the end of the garage and we could hear them discussing who would go first ("I'm not going first! You go first! I KNOW someone is going to jump out at us!")... then would then creep towards the porch, giggling nervously..... and then... nothing. We didn't have anything too scary, just some fog, a strobe light and a few decorations... it was all about the approach. Not knowing whether it was scary or not seemed to be the best part. The funniest event was a brief moment when Dale came in the house to re-load the candy (we're guessing 100-150 kids again) and a 8 or 9 year old boy came to the door.... we heard an enormous scream and a huge crash and then a burst of hysterical laughter. Apparently the storm trooper I had hanging in the window scared the begeezus out of him (I thought of a scary mask, but I wanted startled, not reduced to nightmares)... he was so scared he even dropped his huge bag of candy.... the laughter was his mother..... I thought later, that I should have asked her for her number.... I liked her sense of humour.




Chey decided to be a Dragon this year and told me I needed to be a princess ('cause Dragons eat princesses...... I tried not to take it personally) and Eli chose Pikachu. I don't normally make costumes for the kids... I'm a good mom, but not "Super-Mom", but we couldn't find a Pikachu his size (that was a price I was willing to pay) and so, I sighed and said I'd try.... Turns out, I'm not bad at making costumes...... No pattern, just a stuffed PIkachu (a Pokemon character, for those readers who don't have small-ish children, or who are lucky enough to have children too small to know what Pokemon are) to go from...... The costume went so well, I even offered to make one for Devin (the boy who ended up being to sick to Trick-or-Treat)... his also turned out exceptionally well, all things considered.

Here we all are. Dale was originally going to be the tooth fairy, but we couldn't find the fairy wings in the kids costumes, I must have thrown them out at some point, tattered and ripped as they were.

The weather was great and the kids had fun (as did we)..... I love Hallowe'en.


I also finished my test knit this weekend. It's absolutely lovely. I've written down my mods on my Ravelry project page, and so don't feel the need to repeat them here. But here is a picture.....

Updates....

Wow! It's been 3 weeks since my last post.... I didn't realize so much time had passed. What have I been up to??? Being sick, mostly.... We had both a stomach flu (which I managed to avoid and Chey was only minimally affected) and a cold come through the house. I knew it was going to happen; both kids are in new schools this year, which means a whole new crop of germs to bring home to share with the rest of us.

We also been waiting for October 22, the date set for Eli's Tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. I've been trying (in my own way) to have Eli's tonsils removed since he was 2. He had more than seven bouts of tonsillitis between 15 months and 2 years and we were referred to an ENT who said that although his tonsils were abnormally large, he would "probably" grow into them......

He hasn't.

Now he only has one bout of tonsillitis per year, but they have caused other problems. My latest mission to have them removed began when I read that enlarged tonsils (and the related obstructive sleep apnea) can cause many ADHD-like symptoms and that by removing tonsils in children that have been diagnosed with ADHD and obstructive sleep apnea, the symptoms of ADHD can disappear (due to improved sleep). Now, in Eli's case I don't think this will happen, I truly believe that his ADHD is the garden variety genetic version, but..... if his symptoms can improve once he starts sleeping properly........ need I say more?

To further this cause, Eli had an overnight sleep study done this summer at Alberta Children's Hospital and it was determined that he did indeed have moderate obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Brooks (his new ENT) then recommended that his tonsils and adenoids be removed. The most interesting part of this for me, was that Dr. Brooks felt that part of the reason that Eli is so small (he's eight and the size of a small 5-6yr old) was also probably due to the obstructive sleep apnea. Because Eli never really settles into a deep sleep, his growth hormone release is restricted. Not only that, but it takes an enormous amount of calories to snore and toss and turn and choke in a person's sleep, which means even the few calories he does eat, get expended during his sleep cycle........

The surgery was Thursday and I didn't know what to expect. I had my tonsils removed when I was around his age and it was no big deal, but I, apparently, am unusual because everyone else I talked to said that the healing was brutal...... Eli also tends to be...... excessive.... in his response to pain..... The crying and screaming children in Day Surgery certainly didn't help settle my concern.... But, Eli went into surgery like a champ and came out..... fine. He said he didn't have much pain and the worst part was that he couldn't blow his nose. That night was difficult, but not because he was in pain... because when Eli is very tired, he can no longer control his emotions and he HATES (and I cannot emphasize how much he dislikes) medicine.... he would rather be in pain or sick than take any form of medicine... which is not a choice after surgery... he HAD to take it and the nurses came in every 4 hours to enforce the rule..... This resulted in out of control hysterics on Eli's part and frustration on mine (and the nurses) part..... Each time, the nurses were unable to convince or force him to take his medicine and I had to step in. That and the constant beeping and children crying and uncomfortable chair to sleep in made for a very tired Mommy, but at least I could be with him...... that's all that was really important. Now that he's home, he's totally back to normal. He probably won't even have any pain meds today (he only had a dose of Tylenol yesterday morning and night and a small dose of codeine, which was my decision, not a result of him being in pain) unless he complains of a sore throat or ear.... It's only day 3..... I think it's even been easier for him that it was for me.....




On the knitting front, I am nearly finished my handspun scarf for Syd. IF I had brought more of the yarn to the hospital, I would be done, but I didn't realize that I knit that fast...... I had finished all of the yarn I brought by about 4pm on Thursday..... good thing I brought a super-secret project along with me...... I even nearly ran out of yarn for that!










My test knit is also progressing. I am struggling with the sleeves, something is not working out.... I might chart the whole sleeve to see what the issue is, but I'm not motivated today..... It will be very pretty when it's done though.....

Test knitting...

I've recently asked to be included in a test knit for Lily (lprajogo on Ravelry). I saw the request, liked the sweater, had some yarn for it and, more importantly, was between projects (kind of, we'll talk about that later) and voila!. This is the sweater . I am currently doing a gauge swatch (properly, meaning I'm actually going to do a full size swatch and wash and dry it before it's measured. I thought a test knit was due proper respect) in a lovely superwash merino from Indigo Moon. I hope it's the right yarn for the sweater because the colour is lovely. If not, I have a couple of other options in my stash.


I, also, have finally finished the cashmere gloves that I started at the beginning of summer. I shortened the cuff and the fingers and made each finger a bit skinnier for my little hands....








Still working (OK, the term "working" might be a bit strong... perhaps "thinking about working" would be more appropriate) on the Super Fibre Sampler.... I'm nearly finished with the first portion (only 2 left to spin and ply) then I can post about it....

Another FO

Lookie what I finished yesterday..... isn't it purdy??? Details of the modifications I did are on Ravelry



I'm still working on the Super Fiber Sampler.... I haven't been that motivated, truth be told... but I will finish the first half soon (I guess another week or so is still "soon", right?)

Weird...

My stat counter (the thing that sort of lets me know that people occasionally read my blog) must have had a coronary because it suddenly jumped from 1600-ish visits in the last year or so, to nearly 12,000.... in one day..... I'm thinking that 10,000 people did not read my blog yesterday..... which means my counter thingy is wrong, which bothers me..... 'cause I'm weird, that's why.....

I'm currently working on a blog post about my work with the raw fleece sampler, but I'm not going to post it until at least half of the samples are washed, prepped and spun...... I've finished two so far, so it's gonna be a bit of a wait......

Adventures in Fleece

I finally finished the spinning project that was holding up my fleece processing adventures. I purchased 8 oz (227g) of a lovely 70% Merino 30% Silk Top in "Mackenzie Tartan" from WC Mercantile's etsy store a few months ago, in order to make a scarf as a gift for someone special.







The yarn is wonderful. I ended up doing a 2ply from a center pull ball and got 5 skeins (should have been 4, but one broke) totaling around 400m of sport weight yarn/dk weight yarn. The yarn is more blue than the pictures and has little flecks of red, green, white and gray. I think I'll use it to make My So Called Scarf (Ravelry Link)







Once the yarn finished with a good wash and thwack, I immediately grabbed the Polwarth that I washed last week and started to card it. So far, so good..... I think...




I haven't only been spinning.... I also cast on for Vivian I plan to knit it without a hood or zipper and am using the suggested yarn in "Biscuit".

The Sheep are calling me....

Phew.... I finished Eli's BTSS 2009, on the second day of school. It turned out great!! He loves it and it looks cute on him. I haven't washed it yet, but I'm not worried about that.



I used almost all of the green I had and half of one skein of black. Sweater was knit top-down with a knit on kangaroo pocket and hood. The hood was interesting as I just kind of did it..... no pattern, just knit... although it did take two tries to get a result that I was happy with....

Now that the BTSS is finished, I can move on.....

I mentioned a while ago, that I ordered some fleece samples "in the grease" from The Spinning Loft. They arrived last week and have been bleating plaintively from the couch, begging me to forget my other projects, both spinning and knitting and start the adventure.......

Today, it began......... I had Chey pick the first sample..... She chose the Polworth, one of the fine wools in the box of 18. I washed it (as per the many directions I've read) and then set it out to dry... It's lovely! Here are some pictures of the process so far.... 3 washes and 3 rinses (although I think I only needed 2) and then re- organized the locks to dry.

Polworth in Package	Dirty Sheep (actually, it was very clean)
Bath Time	Clean & Fresh

I have some other spinning to finish, but I am hoping to start the actual combing or carding (haven't decided what to try first) and spinning of this in the next couple of days...