Preparations for the sock talk are going well. I’ve finished all the samples I want to show. There are a few optional ones that I’ll see if I have time for next week.
I’ve been having fun the last couple weeks getting the fibre prepared and yarn spun to make a pair of socks to show at the talk. Continue reading
Mini socks from hand dyed 50% merino, 50% silk blend. Approx. 35 yards, 16 WPI 3-ply yarn.
It’s one of those things that as a fibre person you either love or hate doing.
I’m sort of in the middle now. I started hating doing it. I didn’t want to take the time and just get into the project.
One thing taking my spinning course has taught me though is that sampling will give me a better end product. It will make it easier to get the final result that I want rather than having it be more hit and miss.
So now I still don’t like to make many samples, but I do try to see what the results of different methods will produce.
I’m getting ready for a talk I’m giving in February to my local spinning guild. It is on spinning for socks and some techniques for knitting toe up socks.
I’ll be covering things like types of fibres to use, different spinning and plying methods, and different knitting methods.
So this is a perfect time to make a bunch of samples to show off all of these things.
I’m planning on making a bunch of small socks. The socks use about 45-50 yards of yarn, and about 25g or 1oz of fibre. I doesn’t take to long to spin up the yarn and the socks can be easily knit over an evening.
For those that might be interested, here is a basic pattern you can use to make a small sock like the one in the picture. I’m going to format it better and will post it later as a free download.
These small socks would make pretty Christmas tree ornaments or small stocking stuffer socks! Since they don’t use a lot of yarn they are perfect for using up those scraps of sock weight yarn that you may have lying around.
Those who’ve known me for a while know that I have a hard time accepting a compliment. I’m better than I have been, but I still have to work hard at not negating the compliment being given.
I’ve been working on a commissioned design for the last couple months. This weekend I attended the KW Knitter’s Fair, where I got to show it to the commissioner. Other people at the booth got to see it as well. Everyone was impressed and complimented me on it. One women got to try it on and that’s when people really liked it.
For me it was amazing seeing how well it was received and also seeing the finished piece on someone else. It really brought the design to life for me in a way that it hadn’t been before.
Now I’m stoked to get the photography sample for the pattern done!
If there are certain concepts that you are finding out tips on how to stimulate your physique, to experience far more alive when viagra best buy resting. Two capsules are enough cheap cialis canada for the day long. Because a man going through male menopause is actually losing hormone levels, DHEA cheap viagra 25mg unica-web.com replaces those levels naturally. Elude consuming this medication if you have been captured by this dysfunction whether by excessive stress or by hormone misbalance then you can be escaped and viagra in india online find out over here now spared from the miseries by using this medication. I get the final yarn tomorrow and have a couple weeks to get it made, photographed and sent off. Once it’s ready, and I have the commissioner’s permission, I’ll post pictures of the design.
The pattern is with my test knitter, and if it all goes as planned the pattern will be available for the beginning of November.
Getting all that positive feedback this weekend is helping get this pattern through the home stretch. The hardest work has been done, now it’s doing all the last fiddly bits to get it ready for sale.
Thank you to everyone who gave me a compliment on this piece this weekend. It means a lot to me that you appreciated my work.
It’s a quiet, grey day here in Guelph. It hasn’t rained yet this morning, but it’s coming soon.
It’s been a couple busy weeks since the last post.
I’ve finished my spinning certificate class and had a blast with it. Last week was spent getting my homework in order and working on a commissioned pattern. That pattern is coming along very nicely. I just have a few tweaks left and then it’s off to the test knitter this Friday. I’ll be getting the yarn for the pattern sample soon and I’m really excited to start working with it. It’s a new yarn to me and looks and feels amazing.
I thought I would post some pictures of the dye experiments we did in my spinning class. This year was dyeing with fibre reactive dyes and creative dyeing techniques. These were all a blast to do, but it got pretty hectic having twenty people all dyeing at the same time. We managed and thankfully no spills or accidents.
Those people with a weak constitution may want to scroll quickly past the next picture.
In my last post I talked about the 5 Counties Seminar that is coming up in September.
I’ve picked out the fibres that I’ll be using in the scarf and have done some sampling of the first group of fibres. These will be the main colours in the scarf, with the second group of fibres being the accent colours.
I’m finally working through my backlog of old pattern designs that haven’t been published.
Most of these were started in 2008 – 2010, but they never got to the stage where I could put in enough time to get them finished.
I’m getting them test knitted and tech edited over the next couple months. The plan is to try and release one or two a month starting in August and get them all out by the end of the year.
In the mean time I’m working on a couple new designs and I hope to finally get some of the sweaters I’ve made written up. The sweaters are going to be interesting, as I haven’t written a pattern for one before and getting all the different sizes will be a challenge. I figure after the first one is done things will be easier.
Therefore, it is one of the best herbal supplements to prevent soft erection cialis canada cheap raindogscine.com problem. Move on – Regular physical activity or exercise is necessary to find all the information regarding the use of the kamagra tablets before you buy it online, you need to be careful when selecting a particular online supplier as not all of them in five free viagra 100mg different markets. On the other hand, alternative medical professionals claim that the diagnosis codes from this section are frequently denied by payers for not best price for levitra supporting the medical necessity for the claim. In so much as they almost killed it viagra sales on line off completely.
I also have a couple articles and patterns that I’m trying to get published in magazines. We’ll see how those turn out as I hear back from the editors. Crossing my fingers!
Here is a sneak peak of some of the new patterns coming up.
Niagara Falls, Canadian side. 2003. Pinhole photograph.
A lot of my life has been doing things creatively with my hands that are visual in nature.
I love being able to create things that people can see and enjoy. I like being able to get right to the heart of a craft and learn it so I can use it to express myself.
During the late 90’s, early 00’s I did photography as a hobby and a small business. I was a member of a cooperative gallery in Toronto called Gallery 44 – Centre for Contemporary Photography. I took part in several group shows and had two solo exhibitions with them.
During that period I gained a love of old photographic and alternative processes.
One thing I really liked were pinhole cameras. I built myself one out of black foamcore. It was designed with a simple shutter mechanizm that I could control and it could be strapped onto a brace that had a screwmount on it to attach to a tripod. The back of the camera held a 4×5 film holder. I marked the sides of the box with guidemarks so I could compose the picture fairly well before making the exposure.
My last solo show was in 2002 and it was a mixed media show. I had six or seven pinhole photographs on the wall and a series of knitted articles that were featured in or related to to the photographs.
Gallery show, Blue sweater in foreground with photographs behind.
The two main knitted pieces were a sweater I had made for my ex partner and one I had made for myself. His sweater is the one you see as my banner image. You can see a picture of him wearing that sweater here.
The sweaters were hung from the ceiling, facing each other, like they were having a conversation. People could walk between them to get a closer look and to also maybe get a sense of what the conversation might have been.
All the photographs were taken around Toronto. Most of them were showing me knitting on an item that was displayed. An example was me knitting on the sleeve of my sweater sitting on the ledge of the stairs at Union Station. The picture of the other sweater was the one exception. The sweater was already finished and the picture was me wrapped up in it at my old house.
Most of the pictures took between 3 and 20 minutes to expose. I usually tried to time my knitting so I could finish at least one row during the exposure.
In the first photograph I believe I was knitting on a shawl, sitting on the fountain in St. James Gardens, King Street East between Church and Jarvis Street. In the second photograph I was knitting on a scarf sitting on the whale statues at 121 King Street West.
It’s summer here in Canada. Time to start heading to the cottage on the weekends and summer vacations and time for a little guide on fibre fun you can bring along.
General thoughts
Keep your projects small and light. Bring several! Have things you can do while traveling and ones for when you are at your destination. Variety is good! Pack things in sealable containers or ziplock bags to keep them from the elements, especially if you are camping.
Knitting
Small and simple knitting projects are great to bring along, like socks, hats, scarves and mittens. Travel time is a great time to work on your projects.
Spinning
Spindles are great for traveling with. Supported spindles, like a Russian spindle (or here) or a Takhli, can be used in the car during traveling.
If you are staying at a cottage or someplace indoors then a folding spinning wheel is also an option. Most should fit in the trunk or back seat.
Fibre prep is something you can also do. Hand cards and a dog brush are pretty portable. You can go through a bunch of fleece in no time on a relaxing evening.
Dyeing
Dyeing can be a fun activity for the whole family. Before going you can do research with the kids to find out what plants are available where you are going and figure out which ones you want to try. Once there you can get them to help gather and prepare the materials and help out with the dyeing.
My partner and I sometimes do natural dyeing when we are up at the cottage. We bring the dyepots, mordant, stir sticks and fibre/yarn with us. I would suggest using only Alum and cream of tarter, as these have the least impact on the environment. Also, make sure to only use as much mordant as needed for the amount of fibre you are working with. This will reduce the amount of left over mordant that will be disposed of.
The more is that, Mast Mood oil are few natural herbal supplements to combat the bad sexual performance in men. viagra sales Close friends are almost as important as family. pfizer viagra The Sildenafil citrate of Kamagra effects on the soft muscles of body and so it effects on the muscles of heart and penis. cheap viagra If the landlord failed to address property defects that allow the viagra 50 mg http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=57 cells to use glucose.
We use either lake water or spring water from up the road. We use the propane stove in the kitchen, but you could also use a campfire to do the dyeing. You have to watch closely with a campfire to make sure the dyepot doesn’t boil.
We usually collect our dye materials from the area. A good rule of thumb is to never collect more than 10% of a plant in any given area. For example, if using leaves, only take leaves from 1 or 2 branches of a tree and spread out your collection over a large area.
Used plant material can be used for compost or spread out in the bush to decompose. Left over mordant baths can be disposed of onto sandy areas, like a dirt road away from the house and septic system. Do not pour it down the drain into the septic system! Left over dyebath can usually be disposed of this way as well. Make sure to dilute both baths with a lot of water before getting rid of them.
Weaving
There are several very portable options for weaving and traveling
Weavettes and small weaving frames
These are very portable hand help frames. The small ones are great for working on while traveling! You can whip off a square in 15 – 30 minutes.
Backstrap looms and ground looms
These can be setup before you leave and used once you get to your destination.
Weighted warp loom
This is a very simple version of a weighted warp loom. All the material can be kept in a medium sized container.
I’ve spun quite a lot of different fibres over the last ten years. I haven’t met one that I absolutely hate. There are many, like man made fibres, that I’m not fond of, and others, like angora, dog and cat, that I’m allergic to in varying degrees. I’ll spin them – I just don’t find it enjoyable.
Angora is one I wish I wasn’t allergic to. I react to it fairly quickly. Being around a bunny for 15 minutes will get me quite stuffed up. Working with the fibre may take less time then that. If I know I’m going to be spinning with Angora I’ll take an antihistamine a few hours before starting to spin.
This is a small list of my top fibres to spin with.
Wool
Polwarth is a wonderful wool to work with. It is bred from Merino and Lincoln sheep. It is almost as soft as Merino, with extra length in the fibres coming from the Lincoln heritage. I find it a bit easier to spin then Merino because of the length. It gives a soft, springy, cushy yarn. Most of the sheep are white, but it does come in other grey and black shades.
It blends nicely with other fine fibres. I especially love polwarth and silk blends.
This is my second year project for my spinning certificate program. It is the Pretty Thing Cowl by The Yarn Harlot. It is made from light and medium grey Polwarth. This started as raw fibre, was washed, flicked open and combed to give a light top. It was then spun worsted on my Lendrum wheel to make a 2 ply lace-weight yarn.
These are a couple examples of spindle spun projects I have made with Polwarth and silk blends. The scarf is a 2-ply worsted weight yarn. The hat is a 3-ply worsted weight yarn.
Other animal fibres
Alpaca
There are two main types of Alpaca: Huacaya, which have a fine, dense, somewhat crimpy lock, and Suri, which have a long, dreadlock like locks.
Both of these come in a variety of natural shade, with multiple shades and spotting possible. Huacaya are the most common in North America, with a few breeders raising Suris.
The fibre can range from very fine micron counts to fairly course. Fibre fineness is usually fairly consistent on an animal.
buy tadalafil cheap The average click-to-purchase rate has increased nearly 30% since 2004 and the average orders-per-email-delivered rate has increased more than 18% since last year. 5. The causes are enormous but the solution seems to be permanently low and they just can’t seem to re-charge it. viagra online in canada There are various negative consequences brought by endometriosis, such as abnormal immunity, altering function of ovary and increased prostaglandin, which all may cheapest viagra from india take the tiny pregnancy hope away through miscarriage. After releasing from the canada cialis from gallbladder, the bile goes into the small intestine through biliary ducts; the pyloric valve prevents bile from flowing back into stomach from the small blood vessels. Alpaca fibre doesn’t have the scales on it like sheep fibres do, so it requires more twist to hold together as a yarn. It is often blended with fine wools, like Merino, to make it easier to process.
Alpaca and silk is one of my favourite blends. Suri alpaca and silk can make very luxurious lace yarns.
This is a shawl I made from a blend of 67% grey Huacaya alpaca top and 33% bombyx silk top. It is a 2-ply yarn. The silk I used was a handpainted top in two colourways. One was a mixture of blue tones, the other of red tones. I carded the alpaca and silk on handcards to make rolags to spin from. The blends with the blue silk mix I re-arranged to make a colour progression of grey, denin blue and purple. I left the rolags from the red mix in the order they were carded, so there is more of a mix of shades for those rolags. I spun up the blue mix as one ply and the red mix as the other, then plied them together. The result was kind of a watercolour affect.
Mohair
Mohair from Angora Goats is another fibre I like working with. I don’t often spin 100% mohair, but use it in blends with other fibres. It adds strength, warmth and lustre to blends.
Kid mohair is usually the finest fibre. It is from the first and sometimes second shearing of the goat. After that it usually is considered adult mohair. The fibre generally gets courser as the animal ages.
I fell in love with Mohair when I started using yarns and fibres from Wellington Fibres. They have several very yummy blends, including alpaca/wool/mohair and mohair/wool/silk blends. The silk blends are pretty neat. The silk is added in as a streak of fibre, rather then being fully blended in. It gives a nice highlight when spun up.
This is not my own handspun, but it is something I plan on spinning one day. The red sock on the very right is made from Wellington Fibres fine 3-ply sock yarn. It is a 60% mohair, 40% wool blend, about 380 yards per 113g / 4oz skein. It was made on 2mm / US 0 needles at 10 sts / inch. The pattern is Nancy Bush‘s Gentleman’s Fancy Sock from her book Knitting Vintage Socks.
Silks
There are several silks available to spinners today, but Tussah and Muga are my favourites. Their fibres has a bit more of a tooth on them than Bombyx silk and they are easier to spin because of that. The fibre also tends to be a little shorter – between 4 and 5 inches long, then bombyx, which is usually 6 to 9 inches long.
Both fibres are naturally coloured. Tussah is a nice honey colour and Muga is a rich golden colour. Tussah also comes in a bleached version, which usually isn’t as soft as non-bleached. Tussah dyes up wonderfully with both natural and chemical dyes. Muga can also be dyed, but it requires a little more work as the surface doesn’t allow dyes to penetrate as well as Tussah.
This shawl is spindle spun Tussah silk that was handpainted by Nancy Finn of Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. The singles were spun on a spindle and wound onto a spinning wheel bobbin when the spindle became to full. Additional full spindles worth were attached after that. The singles where then chain plyed from the bobbin onto a plying drop spindle to give a final 3-ply yarn that included long colour sections.