WIPs

I thought I'd better make a note of what's in progress and all....

1. The CPH is coming along nicely...I took a week off from knitting last week..no reason...just didn't knit for some reason. I am almost done with the 2nd sleeve and will be sewing the shoulders together and knitting the hood. Was there any erata for this? I think there was...I think I noted it in my pattern....I hope so.
2. The ruffle top socks are at the bottom of my knitting bag. No progress there.
3. I also have 4 mice to felt. I wanted to knit about 8 more and felt them all at once. But this spinning thing is distracting me.
4. I have some green Coopworth fiber that I'm trying to spin. I did 2 oz last Friday and I have 2 more oz to spin. Then I'm going to ply them. No clue what my WPI will be but I have to say that its turning out a lot more consistent than the Corriedale (my first attempts). It might be DK or worsted weight.
   

About the Fiber

I purchased the Coopworth roving, 4 oz of purple and 4 oz of green, from the same person I bought the driftwood spindle from. You probably know the gentleman. He's at the Shepherds Harvest every year. His wife is the fiber artist and they hale from St. Charles, IL. Now if I had their business card handy I could give you the link...here it is! http://www.stefania-spins.com/ So I had to start doing something with this because Ace kept ferreting it out and rolling around in it. I don't know why she likes this one so much and ignores the other roving I have. She must smell something on it that we mere humans cannot.

Perhaps there will be pictures of this handspun later in the weekend. ;-)

3 Weeks of stuff

I see that its been 3 weeks since I've posted anything on this here blog. I need better blog time organization I guess. Part of it is that I work on 4 different computers and I never seem to have the pictures on the computer I'm working on when I have time to blog. And everyone likes pictures!

So today I find myself on the right computer at the right time! Hooray!

I have a new laptop with 3 usb ports for external junk. One on the right side for Mr Mouse and 2 stacked on the left right in front of the power plugin. If I'm plugged in, I can't fit the card reader into the slots on the left. So in order to plug in my external Promaster memory card reader I have to either run on battery power (unplug the power pack) or move the mouse to the left side. Nice design Dell! Well, then again, I could upgrade to a wireless mouse,eh? :-S


Here's one of the spindles that I bought at the Shepherd's Harvest last month in Lake Elmo, MN. I bought 2 spindles, an Ashford and this Driftwood Spindle. I started out with the Ashford spindle which is a medium weight spindle and I was having all kinds of trouble. Like it would spin for a half dozen rotations and then stop and go the other way. :-S Then I switched to this spindle. Its a heavier spindle (1.9 oz I think) and it keeps spinning for longer which allowed me to draft some fiber between twirls.

The headband was not knitted from the fiber that came from the spindle...That fiber is still on the spindle. :-)


This is the K2P1 headband that I knitted with the first handspun. Its 2 ply, one orange corriedale and the other single was natural merino.

Rina lent me her Louet Victoria spinning wheel to try out and gave me some instruction on how to do it. She's a very good teacher...extremely patient and thorough. The headband is made from the yarn that came from her spinning wheel. Its artisan of course...it goes from super bulky to gossamer thin.

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez - b. 6/6/1599

Although its not one of his more famous works, I think you would agree...its a worthy subject. Now, as to symbolism of ideas represented in the painting, I haven't taken the time yet to analyze it. If you have studied this painting or have participated in discussions of the symbolism, I would enjoy reading your thoughts and comments!

Happy Birthday Diego!

In Knitting News -

I've finished the back, front panels and one sleeve of CPH. I also picked up the needles last night to make sure I still knew what I was doing with the Ruffle top socks who have been waiting patiently in the bottom of my knitting bag. I do still remember what I'm doing there thank goodness...and my gauge appears to be the same. I have about an inch and three quarters to go to the heel. I think I want to do a short row heel but haven't done that yet on the 2 circulars. I'll have to crack the book open and do some research.

Spinning!

Yes I've succumbed. I said I was going to wait before jumping into that end of the fiber pool...but I bought 2 high whorl spindles at the Shepherd's Harvest this year...and some roving. Struggling with the spindles! No surprise there. I wasn't feeling as gung-ho on spinning. Then my friend Rina let me try her Louet Victoria portable wheel...and it was clear that if I'm going to spin yarn I'm going to have to buy a wheel. Again, No surprise there, right?? Now all I have to do is figure out which wheel (head spinning here also) and how much $$ I can invest.

About that roving..... Ace Monkey Cat is enraptured with the Coopworth fiber! I have to put it in a steel vault to keep it away from her! She has shamelessly reveled in it on more than one occassion when I've left my big Vera Bradley bag open (which is where I'm keeping it). The last time she had her way with some of it she pulled the plastic bag with 8 oz or so of roving out of my knitting bag and ripped through the side to get it out onto the floor where she proceeded to spread it apart and wallowed in it.

I told her the first time I caught her deep inside my bag wrapped around a ball of roving that I'd buy her some of her own...but she is apparently impatient for that to happen and so is going to have her way with mine.

How can I blame her?! Its soft and squishy and smells marvelous! We are both hooked on fiber!