Over the past few weeks I have been to two celebrations of fiber, Stitches and Rhinebeck. My favorite was Rhinebeck since I was able to meet some of the actual producers like Macho Man the alpaca. Now, a week after Rhinebeck, I have finally gotten back into the swing of things. My yarn companies are starting to get their spring lines to me and I am using these last few days off of the road to get some spinning and car organizing in. The mound of blue/green fiber here is going to be Curly Blueberry when finished.
Plus, there is my new addiction of ravelry. Since I was working at the Great Adirondack booth at the sheep & wool I wasn’t able to make either of the meetups. I really wish I could have gotten one of those buttons!
I am also now a member of the Tortoise club, which is a sub-set of the Secret of the Stole group. Unlike MS3, where I was right up to date, I am just now nearing the end of clue #1. thanks to holidays coming up, I am sure that I will have the stole done in time for New Year’s, or there abouts. Well, back I go to wheel.
Rhinebeck, Secret of the Stole, ravelry, spinning
This past week I have been busy doing some last good weather dyeing and fleece washing. My goal of finishing the batch of Curly Heat Wave didn’t happen until yesterday afternoon. But, last evening I started spinning up some BFL in burnt orange, nutmeg, etc. I will ply it with some alpaca dyed in light nutmeg and with these mohair curls worked in.
It seems I have started working on this just in time as today is the first cool day here in MA in a while. Perhaps fall has finally landed in New England. The leaves are starting to cool and the peepers have gone silent. Since I will be in Baltimore for Stitches much of this week, I will miss out on some of the early days of leave changing around here. However, I will have the joy of driving through the colors on my way to Rhinebeck the following week. A couple of years ago that was an incredible drive as the whole area was in a misty fog. The brilliant leaf colors shown through just as you passed them. May everybody have the change to enjoy some of the beauty that is the changing of the season this fall.
Rhinebeck, Stitches East, fall colors, spinning
Today I am working on the Silk Chevron Shawl to get it ready for Stitches East. It is being made with Silk Twist from Great Adirondack Yarn Co. As you can see from the photo, I really have to haul out the speed knitting skills in order to finish. fortunately. a chevron pattern is easy to get into once you get going. The only thing I don’t like is that I have to do it on circs – not my needle of choice.
I have also kept up with my dyeing and fleece washing during these days of far too beautiful weather that we have had here in New England. The image above is of some yarn that is currently coming off of the wheel. That should be finished this weekend and then I will start another batch on Sunday.
I have also decided that I am going to make my Secret Stole out of Trendsetter’s Cash Wool in a nice dark gray. That color will be perfect for me to use and wear. Plus, the beads that are left over from the Mystery Stole will work perfectly.
Great Adirondack Yarn, Secret Stole, Silk Twist, silk chevron shawl, spinning
This morning I organized my needles & hooks. Thanks to Ravelry, I now know what I have. if anyone sees me buying any size 3 dp’s or size 6 14″ needles – stop me, please. While I went through them, I found the unique antique needles pictured here. The hammer really moves through the closed fist. And, I love the fact that the hands has nail polish on them. The elephant vase is where I have kept my extra sets of needles for at 25 years. It was a gift from a former apartment mate.
Last evening I had put part of one fleece outside to dry. This morning I looked out and saw that some creature had either tried to take some with it or moved it around to make a little bed for itself. Either way, I have to rinse/wash it again prior to dyeing today. So, no damage done. I hope that animal had a restful sleep!
Now, I head off to dye more wool and then start adding projects, etc. to my ravelry. I think the yarn inventory is going to be the last to be entered. That is going to be too daunting a task for this weekend.
Uncategorized
Yesterday evening I received my invite to join Beta Ravelry. My id there is dknitting. I woke up early this morning thinking about how I was going to build my account their. I had already heard that Ravelling (if that is a word) could be addictive. We will see what happens this weekend.
Last week I travelled out to northern New York to visit my friend Patti at Great Adirondack Yarn Co. It may be a little fuzzy, but the view was beautiful this early morning. No wonder she always comes up with those great colors.
I also finished up spinning some yarn and have started on another batch. These next few days I am exploiting the last hot days of the season by dyeing more wool, washing/drying fleeces and other sundry fiber activities. When it is nice and dry like this, wool takes no time at all to dry.
Everyone enjoy the last full day of summer.
Great Adirondack Yarn, dyeing, fleeces, ravelry, spinning
Well, I was busy this past Labor Day Weekend with spinning, dyeing and knitting. I made headway on two knitting and two needlepoint projects as well as finished the Mericash sweater. that yarn is a dream to work with – 20% cashmere and the rest an extrafine merino. Pattern for this little sweater is available from Punta del Este Yarns.
Spinning and dyeing wise – I finished the Spicy Cantaloupe yarn and started spinning another batch as yet unnamed – blues, lavender, greens, etc. Yesterday I dyed two pans of blue faced leicester – one in reds/oranges and the other dark/med blues and purples with lime green. This evening I will continue with the spinning as I watch both the US Open Women’s quarterfinal and the a couple of other things. I love it when my dh is not around so I can easily switch between programs during the commercials!
US Open, dyeing, knitting, spinning
Now that the stole has dried, I realized that it needed a far more dignified photograph. Back I go now to knitting the Mericash sweater.
Mystery Stole 3
You know that you live in a small place when the only place you can lay out your blocked stole is on your car! I must have a thing for green as you can see from the photo.
I loved working on this stole and will gladly do another lace project. Since the fiber is so fine, it is perfect for summer early morning knitting. People will have a chance to see my stole at both Stitches East and Rhinebeck this fall. It will either be displayed or draped over my shoulders while I am at the Great Adirondack Yarn Co. booth at both events.
Although I haven’t posted in a while, I have been busy. This morning I started test knitting a little cotton jacket using a new pattern from Glampyre Knits called “Petal”. I have had some multi colored Cotton 100 yarn knocking around which I had over dyed in a muted teal. It should work perfectly for this jacket. I have also finished spinning the chestnut colored alpaca as well as 6 skeins of what I call Frosted Leaves. Now I am working on some Spicy Cantaloupe while I watch the US Open.
Glampyre Knits, Mystery Stole 3, US Open, knitting, spinning
I have been busy working on Clues 4 & 5 of MS3 – now the Swan Lake Shawl. Now, I understand why the designer suggested black or white for the yarn colors. However, my colorway of Pheasant definitely has a bird theme and has woodsy overtone to it which reminds me of the woods where much of the ballet takes place.
It is also very appropriate that a project with this theme is my first foray into lace knitting. My paternal grandmother was a ballerina in Russia and Latvia in the 20’s and she danced in many productions of Swan Lake.
On the other creative front, I have finished spinning the Purple Haze fiber (image to far right) and also finished knitting a sock. Now, I am spinning some fawn colored alpaca into a dk weight yarn (image to immediate right). With the heat and humidity that we have had in MA these past few days, lace knitting, spinning and needlepoint are the only things that I have felt like working on.
I have been thinking more about the idea of a Needlepoint Olympics during next year’s summer event airing from China – if the air is clean enough for the athletes. There are so many beautiful Oriental canvases out there to choose from that would be appropriate for the event. Or course, dragons come to mind first. I realize that next year is not one of the dragon. But, I have a magnificent magical looking dragon canvas painted in various tones of red that just might do the trick. Although, considering the size of the canvas, it may be too large to stitch during that short a time frame and still be able to work and sleep. But, I will still keep knocking the idea around.
Knitting Olympics, MS3, Mystery Stole 3, knitting, spinning
On the MS3 front, I am within 10 rows of finishing clue 4. During the last few days I have had the pleasure of working on the stole at my sister’s house. As you can see from the photo the view is distracting. But, Domino the cat, keeps me honest. The blossom laden bush there is a Rose of Sharon and is hosting a multitude of bees and a few birds swoop in every once in a while.
One nice thing about this part of the clue is that it is a very large piece of the same pattern. So, I am getting a feel of what lace knitting the same pattern on a project would be like. I think, I would like it as well as this stole that has so many different motifs. This would be especially true if I am able to add beads to it.
While I am here I am also spinning up some beautiful reddish fawn colored alpaca. I will have a picture of that the next time.
Mystery Stole 3, knitting, spinning
