WIP Wednesday - February edition

Well, since the last time I did this I made just a little progress...although I haven't been entirely strict with the 2 to 1 rule. Two things did come off the list, (the sister yarn, and the chase the chill) as well as this little guy who was never on it, and two more jumped on, so technically that's a net decrease.  




On the needles
 (in order of cast on age, with approximate completion status, and links to the pattern I'm using, changes in bold)

Finished chasing the chill - still need buttons

1. Sock yarn blankie (10%) 
2. Dancing socks (75%)
3. Fern garden scarf (40%)
4. Hubby's annual sweater for 2010 (75%)
5. Diamond socks (60%)
6. Slump socks (60%)
7. Broken pumpkin socks (75%)
8. Interstices (55%) 
9. Exploration Station (99.99999% - seriously I just need to weave in the ends and fix a hole!)
10. Pinnate (20%)
11. Welcome back (80%)
12. Yummy Cowl (50%)
13. Rivercat socks (70%)
14. Prolly Folly (40% - what I named this says it all, I knew it was destined for abandonment)
15. Building Blocks (40% - took it out to frog and now I like it)
16. Pay it forward mittens (75%)
17. Peace 2016 (20%)
18. Ingwer (10% - for the ESK yarnathon Q1 knit a long) 
19. Snowmelt MKAL (20% - I blame my family for this)

On the wheel

The sister yarn

1. Trying for three - my first attempt at 3-ply, one bobbin full, second halfway there

On the loom

1. Clasped weave scarf  fabric current length 27 inches.

On the hooks

1. hexagon shawl
2. cuttlefish
   

On the machine

1. Jelly roll race - awaiting sandwiching
2. B's baby quilt - yea he's 6.5 - wanna make something of it!
3. Self designed overly ambitious quilt
4. Scrap shirt quilt

WIP Wednesday - Coming clean in the new year

Is WIP Wednesday still a thing? I'm going with yes.

Spoiler alert:  I have too many.  Way too many.   Thus I'm giving myself a challenge: I've decided for the next 6 months I have to finish or frog two knitting projects before I can start a new one.  It's a two for one.  We are also applying this principle to our house clutter, 1 in 2 out.  For instance, I got some awesome slippers for Christmas and that meant two very ratty pairs went into the trash bin.  Quality over quantity, less is more, blah blah blah.

Back to the crafts.  Here is the embarrassingly complete list:

On the needles
 (in order of cast on age, with approximate completion status, and links to the pattern I'm using)

1. Sock yarn blankie (10%) 
2. Dancing socks (75%)
3. Fern garden scarf (40%)
4. Hubby's annual sweater for 2010 (75%)
5. Diamond socks (60%)
6. Chasing the Chill (85%)
7. Slump socks (60%)
8. Broken pumpkin socks (75%)
9. Interstices (55%) 
10. Exploration Station (99.99999% - seriously I just need to weave in the ends and fix a hole!)
11. Pinnate (20%)
12. Welcome back (80%)
13. Yummy Cowl (50%)
14. Rivercat socks (70%)
15. Prolly Folly (40% - what I named this says it all I knew it was destined for abandonment)
16. Building Blocks (40% - destined for the frogging)
17. Pay it forward mittens (55%)
18. Peace 2016 (20%)

And for full disclosure there are 11 projects on my ravelry page marked as "hibernating", meaning I haven't frogged them, but I'm also not entirely sure where they are located in my home.  Maybe the endless decluttering will help with that.

On the wheel

1.  Sister yarn - two bobbins resting to be plied
2. Trying for three - my first attempt at 3-ply

On the loom

1. Clasped weave scarf  fabric current length 21 inches.

On the hooks

1. hexagon shawl
2. cuttlefish
   

On the machine

1. Jelly roll race - awaiting sandwiching
2. B's baby quilt - yea he's 6.5 - wanna make something of it!
3. Self designed overly ambitious quilt
4. Scrap shirt quilt

Bring on the finishing 2017!  Let's have this down to 10 UFOs by the end of the year!

The monster awakes!

Twas the night after Christmas, and we were all tired.

The kids were in bed and we thought Santa should be fired.

Amidst all the torn wrappings and strewn bits of tinsel

My sweet sister took out her fancy new drop spindle.

Teach me to spin, she said with a smile

The wheel was retrieved from where it had sat for awhile

 The band was adjusted, we poured some more wine.

It turned out after a kick or two the wheel was just fine.

What is this fiber? I'm sure I don't know. 

One bobbin full and another with just a little to go.

Finish it up sis, then I shall ply.

 

Ply away, ply away, on Lendrum, on wool, on alpaca, on silk, oh merino, and top, and roving, and tension, ply away, ply away all.

And ply on I did while she dug through the stash 

this alpaca is next she said with a flutter of eyelash.

Alpaca it was! One bobbin full, she was addicted, and my heart was full.  

Soon it was over and time for her to leave, but what to my wondering husband his eyes did deceive.

A spinning monster was awoken that cold winter's night.

4 ounces are spun and there's no end in sight!

* poetry is not my strong suit, so please be kind!

WIP Wednesday: Spinning Edition

While most of our stuff is in storage,  while he was supervising the movers, hub did managed to snag the spinning wheel before it got buried.  In fact, it was one of the first things to get un-boxed, and it was here all set up for me when I arrived.  The first few weeks we were here the family who actually owns this house was also here and we all lived together.  The two girls age 9 and 6, are super duper smart and just a tad hyperactive.  They fell in love with Hub immediately, and were really intrigued by my wheel, so they asked if I could teach them to spin and knit and crochet all in one night.  Since hub also knows how to work the wheel we tag teamed them and an hour or so later, there was bits of wool and yarn all over the living room, we were exhausted and the kids were on to something else.  Turns out one of them is left handed-which no one bothered to mention before we embarked on this endeavor.  It was a lot of fun, and it did spark me to start spinning again.  I spent the fall spinning up the fiber they started.

I'm a slow spinner.  In fact, I'm slow at just about everything.  Finishing my PhD at 27 was just about the only thing I've ever done "quickly", so it's taken me a whole semester to spin 4 oz into singles.  Hopefully they'll get plied next weekend:

This is from the Hello Yarn fiber club, June 2009 - I was only in the club for 6 months because fiber was piling up way faster than I could spin it - colorway "Sour Fig", Shetland wool top.  

Look what I did!

I spun something that mostly resembled yarn:

A whole 228 yards of it:

It was really pretty (to me at least):

So I made a hat:

And I like it a lot:

The Details:
Fiber: Hello Yarn Fiber Club, May 2009, Falkland
Color: Five Plume Pie
Weight: 4 oz
Spinning style: ummm I just split it down the middle and spun
Finished Yarn: 2-ply, 228 yards (about a worsted)

Hat Pattern: Stella
Modifications: two repeats before decreasing, three was a bit "rasta"

Thoughts: LOVE (10000) The wool was great and pretty easy to spin, my spinning got much better during the process. The colors were fun and it was neat to see it all come together. There was something very gratifying about the whole process start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised that the yarn/pattern combo worked out so well, it almost seems like I planned the color changes, which I absolutely did not. Hub kept asking how does the yarn "know" when to change colors like that. I guess the stars just aligned on that one. :)

Now for the real stuff

Within 24 hours of Moira's arrival, I had discovered that I was in love and ordered up some more fiber from the bargin bin at Paradise Fibers. Since my skills are still...let's say...lacking, I wanted something that would be affordable. 8 oz. of Ashland Bay Colonial Wool came to my doorstep a few days later.

It took a while but this is what it became:

It's about 200 yards or so. 2 ply (I need to buy some more bobbins to do more than that). It's probably a heavy worsted. It still has a very home made quality to it, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Spinning

So, now that we know that I'm back, so are the crafts. Let's start out with the spinning.

Spinning was my thing to learn in 2009. I pick a new thing every year. I started off with the drop spindle earlier in the year, but it never really took. I did get to spend a couple of minutes on a wheel at a spinning gathering and well I was hooked. Thus began the search for a wheel. Wheel's are a bit of an investment, so it took a while to save some pennies to make the spinning wheel budget a reality. Then began the weeks of stalking ravelry and ebay, when my spinning enabler, Leah, found a deal for me. Moira (that's what I named the wheel) arrived a few weeks later and we were fast friends. Moria and my husband also became fast friends, but that's a whole other story.

Here are the results of my first few attempts:

The gray is a mystery fiber that Leah kindly donated to the cause. It's wool of some kind and it is a joint effort between Hub and I. It's a two ply, I spun one of the singles and he spun the other. There is about 70 yards in total of what we'll call a Thick and thin yarn. The teal is some fiber I treated myself too on the Christmas trip to Webs. It is from the Kangaroo dyer and it's some superwash merino, 4 oz.

This is the fiber I started on my drop spindle, but just couldn't get the hang of it. I think it might be the superwash aspect of it. It was difficult on the wheel too, but I got through it. It's Navajo Plied. About 50 yards or so. The NP was an adventure. I just taught myself how to do it from some you tube videos. It ended up being a family affair, with hub treadling, while I plied, but ultimately it came out ok.

For now both yarns are decorating our mantle. I just like looking at them. :)

She's here!