Fragment Friday - Fiber Arty Edition

Wool-mohair boucle scarf

So I've been making lots of fibery things of late. Another woven scarf, this one 74 inches long, 7.5 inches wide, made of a Feederbrook Farms wool "Entropy" and the blue and brown cross-stripes are a mohair boucle laceweight yarn I picked up at a Fiber Festival in Pennsylvania last fall. The scarf is soft and squishy and stripe-y. It was an experiment with using the laceweight as a weft yarn, so it's getting stored until I decide who to pawn it off on.

Scott's super bulky hat

Next up is a hat that is almost bulletproof. No, really, if I felted it a bit I imagine it could be used as a helmet. It's made of a strand of chunky yarn (gray) held together with a strand of wool-silk yarn (green). It's a thick hat that won't let the wind through it. Perfect for Wyoming weather. Not sure I'll knit another one like this, the super thick yarn was hard to knit with. And of course I got it done just in time for 60 degree weather. Go me.

Eldest Child Chapeau

Another skull hat for Eldest Child. His old one is looking fairly ratty and nubby after so much use. I'm actually enjoying knitting colorwork now that I have the hang of it - and I can keep the two yarns separate in my hands. One color in each hand and the knitting goes quick. Who knew? (Only all the colorwork knitters out there. Late to the party as usual.)

What's upcoming from my little fiber arts factory? Another scarf or two in laceweight - I'm branching out! - maybe even with some lace work in it. I don't know, I'll have to play. But the next scarves will have elements of the animals pictured below - as will a mystery knitted item. Can you guess what things will be from the clues?

Maybe in a slightly darker brown, though...

Wool has so many friendly faces...

"I'm a Special Snowflake sheep."

"We dare you to guess where we fit in."

Fragment Friday - Testing, Testing

Test weave on the loom. It might be a bag, or Kindle cover when I felt it down.

1.  Oh, rapture! The first tomato from the garden. We coddled it, we watered it, we named it Bob. And now we cut it into slices, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and devour it. Then return to hovering over the garden for the next ripe morsel. 

2.  Do you listen to podcasts? Books on CD? Audible? I've been listening to 3 podcasts for a while now - Escape Pod, Podcastle and Clarkesworld Magazine. Just wondering if there is more out there I should be adding to the lineup. Sometimes my ears just want to do the reading. 

3.  I'm writing in fits and starts over several genres. I think the muse got hold of some really good double espresso. That's the only thing to explain the ping pong balls full or ideas being launched at my head on a regular basis.

4.  Bruno the granddog is big enough now to just step over the Corgis. Of course they don't take kindly to that. A few bites to the belly has him more cautious about where he puts his honkin' big feet. 

5.  I don't post recipes to the blog because I realized I don't really measure my ingredients all that carefully. Except for bread. I've learned to be careful measuring there. Other recipes are a lot more forgiving. Bread is not, at least at altitude. 

Lunch-time Ankle Socks, complete.

What I've Been Reading/Watching/Listening To, Etc.

By request, a rundown of the odds and ends of my life.

What I'm reading: Rereading The Lord of the Rings books. I do this every year or so, and every year I find all kinds of interesting things I didn't remember or missed the last time around. I've finished The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, working on The Two Towers.

Other reads/rereads:
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. – Imager and Imager's Challenge
Cory Doctorow's Little Brother
Kage Baker – In The Garden of Iden
Jane Lindskold – Through Wolf's Eyes
Naomi Novik – His Majesty's Dragon
Non-Fiction: Theology, geology (rockhounding), psychology (Cognitive behavioral), philosophy (war origins) and poetry (Asian forms and collections).

What I'm listening to: New David Gray album, Foundling. It's a more introspective take than his last album, Draw The Line. For that alone people probably won't like it. Some lovely music, though, good for background to paint or write.

Krishna Das – I listen to some Krisna Das every day, it helps me get through the day. Kirtan-style music. (Indian Devotional)
Janis Joplin – Do I need to explain?
Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison
Cowboy Junkies – Remnin Park
Norah Jones – The Fall
Sara Jarosz – Song Up In Her Head
Leo Kottke - A Leo Kottke Anthology

What I'm watching: When I succumb to the wasteland that is television – Warehouse 13. Love the characters and the premise. Sort of an X-Files light. Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Pick up all sorts of interesting tidbits about food and culture from this show.

On the DVD front, I picked up a copy of James Michener's 26 hour long mini-series, Centennial. It holds up surprisingly well for a program from the late 1970's. Also rewatched all three movies of Lord of The Rings so I can better compare them to the books. I still think Peter Jackson did a good job with the plethora of source material he had. Another rewatch – Fringe box set. Gearing up for Season Three premier. John Noble is wonderful in this series.

What I'm writing: The occasional poem, but editing the mass of poems I wrote in June-July. A few essays on poetry, backstory for The Other Fantasy Novel, and bits and pieces for the Almost Finished Fantasy Novel. See the previous post for my explanation for the light writing.

What I'm knitting: Just started a knitted lace scarf with some lovely purple and forest green Merino yarn Linda gave me. Also on the needles: Socks – One toe up pair with cashmere blend feet and alpaca blend tops, one Top down pair in a new yarn I acquired on a fiber artists weekend excursion. Also knitting toys, of course.

What I'm spinning: Unidentified mystery yarn Linda gave me. Also a baby camel/silk blend. Waiting impatiently on a different spinning wheel, since the Babe wheel and I did not get along. Defecting to a Lendrum.


What I'm cooking: Chicken Biryani. Lamb Samosas. Naan bread. Red lentil dosas. (see a pattern here? Stuck on Indian food at the moment) Homemade Falafel. Three cheese polenta with garlic.

What Scott's cooking for Me for Dinner: Lobster in Vermouth Sauce with a nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Yes, it was awesome. Now I have to come up with something equally awesome, although the polenta was darn good if I do say so myself.


So what's new with you? Any good recipes, patterns, books, movies, music to share? Always looking for something new to explore. Feel free to share your favorites in comments!


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Knit things

Round up of knit objects from the past month or so. Not knitting as much, the threat of spring does that to me.
The Corgis have been on hikes almost every day for two weeks, but nothing exciting to document.
Yet.

CB Socks
Cherry Tree Hill yarn
Cherry Blossom Colorway

Yes, they are rather obnoxious. I like them. :)



Bunny Creature - Work Desk Protector
Alpaca/Merino blend yarn

Complete with fuzzy alpaca tail.


And lastly...

Tall hiking socks with reinforced heels.
Patons Classic Wool
Moss Heather colorway

On the needles, two pairs of unfinished socks - one toes up cashmere blend, one top down Lorna's Laces Mock Cable, an unfinished Ulla scarf, an unfinished shell, an unfinished pair of mittens, and an almost finished stuffed animal of the ovine persuasion.

That's a lot of unfinished, but hey, it's spring!
Time to be outdoors, before the next big snowfall.

The Pre-Christmas Grab Bag Post

Merry Christmas from the Corgi Compound in Wyoming.

To go with my scattered thoughts, a scattered post.
Corgis are fine, enjoying the snow and the fact that their dog door doesn't freeze up so they can go in and out and in and out as they please. Someone gave me some winter booties for the dogs. I put the snow booties on Max, who rolled on his back and gave me wounded looks, then stood and alternated feet like each one was wrapped in hot coals. I let him out the front door and it was like a bronc out of the chute. He ran, kicking his feet, and had those icky booties off in a regulation 8 seconds. Merlin gave me the "Don't even try it" look, so I gathered the booties up and shoved them in a drawer. They'll have to be much higher and come with more velcro straps to stay on Corgi feet. Or a roll of duct tape.

The Christmas knitting barrage continues. I gave away the baby sweater, blanket and hat before I thought to take a picture of them, but socks and mittens and other hats are on the sets of needles strewn about the house.
The thrummed mittens came out a bit large, so I felted them down some and will go back and add more fluffy thrums. Next set will have longer cuffs so they stay tucked up under my jacket sleeves.

Regular mittens made from double stranding Patron's wool and some leftover sock yarn. They are quite dense, and nicely warm. Now that I have the pattern figured out, I'll tinker with more multi yarn mittens, methinks.

Then I unearthed a Norwegian mitten I started last year and misplaced. (imagine that) I couldn't find the pattern, and the second balls of yarn were no where in sight, so I figured I was out of luck. Linda rescued me with a copy of the pattern, so now I'm going to start over and do these mittens in tan and brown I think. I'll have to relearn how to do colorwork but hopefully I won't take too long to pick it up again.

A hat made from stranded together hand dyed wool and some leftover linen yarn. I like my hats a little tighter, so modifications to this pattern too.

There are other hats and socks on the needles, unphotographed as of yet. So much yarn, so little time.

In other news, Youngest Child asked The Girlfriend to marry him. She said yes. He has to wait another year until he finishes school. Eldest Child moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, but charitably left a non-working Chevy Monte Carlo in my side yard and 8 guitars in his old bedroom.

I carved an 8 x 10 lino block Christmas card, and hand colored it. Promptly gave away all the hand colored copies, so if I remember, I'll do one more to post, if not, there are other projects on the carving board, including the 2010 Year Of The Tiger postcard exchange, and a top secret project involving lino prints and an author to be named later.

Max, Merlin and Anubis are anxious to help me finish wrapping presents, and get to fixing (their) dinner. I'm sure there will be more news after Christmas. Meanwhile, relax, enjoy, and let me know how YOUR Christmas/Holiday festivities went.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

One of the things I did with my suddenly copious free time was teach myself how to card and spin wool. Why? Because I obviously don't have enough hobbies to occupy the two to five free minutes in my life . . .

39 gallon trash bag with an Icelandic sheep fleece

It's Linda's fault. She taught me how to knit. Being an enabler, she also turned me into a yarn snob. If all that wasn't bad enough, she left a 39 gallon trash bag full of an Icelandic sheep fleece in my garage. It was intended to be washed and felted, perhaps made into boots. That was the plan, which, as all good plans sometimes do, it fell by the wayside.

Raw fleece

I opened the bag, got a whiff of sheepy goodness (dung, sheep, vegetable matter) and it was like fiber crack. I took a small amount of the fleece - several ounces of white and a few of brown, washed it, and got rid of the little twigs and grass bits, not to mention that farm fresh smell.

Washed and fresh smelling fleece parts.

Since I wasn't sure if I was going to make this a full time hobby (more than 30 minutes worth of time), and I didn't want to invest money in something I may actually come to hate, I purloined the dog's brushes to act as wool carders.

Max and Merlin's brushes (shh, don't tell)

Since I know enough about processing wool to fill a Dixie cup, I called Linda to ask, "What now?" After receiving instructions via cell phone, I proceeded to card my washed wool. And card. And card. It was sorta like teasing the hair up for a very resilient sheep.

Rolags

For such a small piece of fleece, I ended up with bags full of rolags. (the rolled fiber pulled from the carders) About four bags of white, and four of brown . . . and I hadn't washed even an eighth of the whole fleece.

Gallon bags full of rolags

Now on to the fun part, spinning. I had a drop spindle I bought over a year ago - yes, there was forethought and premeditation. But procrastination delayed me. Until now. I played with the spindle, and some roving I bought at the same time, read about how to spin, watched a few YouTube videos, then set out to conquer my rolags.

Ashford drop spindle

It was a disaster. I was getting thick and thin yarn, inconsistent enough to frustrate me into thinking of wearing polyester. I called Linda and whined. We determined the spindle was all wrong for what I wanted to do. Much too heavy. A trip to Hobby Lobby (280 miles. Talk about suffering for your art.) and I had several wooden car wheels, some doweling, and eye hooks, enough to make myself four drop spindles.

Homemade Drop Spindles

I sanded everything, stained three of them (the fourth was already in use) and all of the sudden the spinning was smoother, easier, and more consistent.

Drop spindle with CD add-on

Me, being me, couldn't leave well enough alone. I played with the parameters of my spindles, securing a cd to the bottom in hopes of increasing the amount of time my spindle spun. (I sacrificed an old, self burned copy of Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason. I think Roger Waters would approve . . . .)

25gm balls of homespun Icelandic wool yarn

I'm getting better at drafting the wool and pulling some consistent yarn. Linda has threatened to teach me how to use a spinning wheel. But for now creating my own yarn from sheep to finish has been a fun project. I'm trying to keep it from becoming an obsession. It may already be too late. I've brushed the dogs and gathered up a LOT of undercoat. After I wash it, I'll card Max and Merlin fur into the wool, and spin it up. One of these days I'll be posting pictures of my very own Corgi-wool chapeau. And you know what? When it's all blended together, nobody can tell what part of the dog it came from, although referring to it as my bunny butt fur hat might be a dead giveaway.

South end of Corgis going north

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Yes, I’m Writing, But… There Were Goldfish, You See…

It started inauspiciously enough. I knitted a few balls out of leftover black, white and gray yarn. Little, round, baseball sized orbs that quickly became dog and cat toys. I knitted more, up to softball size, some with color changes of black to gray to white. I decided they were Zen balls, good for squishing while attempting to meditate on life, and gave them away, mostly for people to throw at each other in a very un-zen like manner. I’d post a picture, but unfortunately, the only one I retained is thoroughly covered in dog slobber, and is not a very appetizing sight.

Then came the goldfish. Innocently enough, I spotted the pattern, and thought ‘Wow, I know a few pint-sized people who would like those.’ So I knitted orange goldfish and dropped them in the mail to swim their way around the country.

Knitted Goldfish

Apparently, knitting four goldfish didn’t get them out of my system, so I knitted two more, one in the last of the orange, and one in purple, because really, what small fry is going to complain if his goldfish isn’t regulation color? The more obnoxious the better, when it comes to kids and stuffed animals.

Knitted Purplefish

Of course knitting is like writing poetry, you can’t stop with just one. So I knitted socks,

Hiking Socks from my hand-dyed wool
Wyoming Autumn Colorway

and a beanie,

Beanie from my hand-dyed wool
Berry Picking Colorway

and now I’m working on a Norwegian mitten pattern.

Star Pattern Norwegian Mitttens
Knit Picks Swish Wool

I could say all the knitting cuts into my writing time, but frankly, I can’t do one thing continuously all day, even write, as much as I'd like to. I knit when I have a free moment; before work, after dropping Son Two off at the high school - they start earlier than I do, waiting to see the doctor, dentist, etc., before bed in a vain attempt to relax, (Ack! I followed the wrong line on the chart and the pattern is off… eh, no one but me will notice) and while waiting for dinner to cook... instead of washing more dishes. (That’s why doG made paper plates…)

Knitting is a great way to two-track your mind, I can ponder character motivations, or poetry revisions while adding a few rows to a project. And I’m never without a project to knit on, at last count, I had nine UFO’s. (Unfinished Objects) Well, nine that I'll admit to...

The drawback to this method is forgetting about a project for say, oh, a year, and picking it up again and having to figure out where I left off in the pattern, because I am not all about notes and details like markers, you see. The advantage? I’m a much better knitter than I was a year ago, so I’m quicker to figure out where I left off. Just think, in another year or two, I might be able to knit a project straight through, without dropping it for a neat sock pattern I just found on the Internet. (Darn you, Ravelry!)

I’m sure there will be loads of other distractions to keep me from doing what I should be doing at the time. And for the record, yes, I wrote a poem today. A rather harsh poem about my intense dislike for telephones and their annoying rings, and how I should yank the darn thing right out of the wall, and just keep my cell, which I can put on silent and ignore if I wish. I know, I know, I could ignore the landline, I should ignore the landline, but I can’t ignore it … and that’s a whole 'nother fish story.



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Everyone's A Critic

Anubis D Cat inspects my work on the Wyoming Spring Socks. His whole stance suggests disdain, from the dyeing to the design to the knitting. Despite his withering disapproval, I forged ahead and finished the socks. They are a gift, and will soon be in New Zealand with Elaine, who gets to vacation there for three weeks. The other reason the socks are green? I'm jealous. I want to go to New Zealand with them. :(



Yes, they look huge, but they aren't really, they're just on sock blockers, stretching out after a final wash. Interesting striping, I'm never sure how some of the dye jobs will look on a finished product, the color variations here are much more subtle than the picture shows. 3 shades of green, and two of brown. Of course, everything looks good in a skein.

I've dyed my colorways of Wyoming Spring, Summer, Autumn, and all I have left to do is a Winter colorway. Could turn out slush gray, scoria red, and traffic cone orange at this rate...

Kool Aid Dyes

No, I didn't kill off the Kool-Aid character, even if he is an annoying pest. They said jolly, fun-loving beverage provider (1), I say slightly psychopathic mascot with ice cubes for brains. If he's so great, why'd he have to change his name from "Pitcher Man"? Was it some FBI protective custody thing? Did all that citric acid do someone in? Or just contribute to the slightly sour expression of elementary teachers everywhere?

I like dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid, it's fairly quick and easy, and everything smells good in the end. I do it in the microwave, what could be simpler? I dyed small batches with straight color the first time, then it was anything goes. Yes, I do follow directions on things, particularly recipes at least the first time. After that, everything is open to tinkering. Which explains some of my spectacular sourdough bread failures the past few weeks. You can only push the envelope so far, before it all turns to brick bread.

For once in my life I appreciated taking color theory in college art classes. It allowed me to start with this:

and eventually end up with these:

Summer Waters


Big Horn Meadow


Berry Picking

Wyoming Summer


Wyoming Fourth


Wyoming Autumn


Byzantine Necklace


Wyoming Spring

I found a neat FAQ that lists all kinds of things you can add Kool-Aid to or make with it. (Besides a tongue staining beverage). The only frustrating thing about dyeing with Kool-Aid is that many times the more interesting flavors - in terms of color- are discontinued. So if you see someone in the grocery buying 50 packets of Kool-Aid at a time, they may not be running a daycare, but rather hording against a discontinued item that leaves them without an easy way to obtain the perfect green of a spring morning. Cake decorating gels, Easter egg dyes, they're all fair game for experimentation. "Just buy Jacquard acid dyes from any respectable fiber arts company" you say? "They come in every color, and even have directions."

Well, what's the fun in that??