The Fruits of MzEllen's Hands

2010-02-14T08:42:00.001-08:00

Weekly Update

Supplements...

2009-04-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Need to get back on track. I've been feeling very "blah" and I need to get to Harvest Health and pick up some thyroid supplement and refill all of my supplement thingies.

So...I stopped in Frankenmuth...

2009-04-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

to see if somebody sold drop spindles and could help me fix the one with the missing hook.

No...but I did happen into Zeilinger Wool Co. and ended up with a pretty large bag (at least a pound) of wool/alpaca blend with a 3-way dye job (white alpaca with Romney sheep in chestnut and yellow sun)

I'm using the Greensleeves small spindle (the hook was fixed with a large safety pin bent around into a hook) and I'll end up with it 3-ply.

Any Tool Can Be the Right Tool

2009-03-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

My first try at making a drop spindle.

Materials:

1 wooden wheel
1 dowel
wood paint
triple thick gloss glaze
paint brush
fine sand paper
tacky glue
one milk shake from Arby's
1 cup hook

drink the milk shake (Chocolate Mocha Malt) and wash the glass
lightly sand the dowel and wheel
glue the dowel into the wheel and put it in the glass with the dowel through the straw hole (this only works when the hole is in the middle of the lid)
wait for the glue to dry completely, then carefully screw the hook into the top end of the dowel
you now have an unfinished drop spindle - paint it.
when the paint is dry, lightly sand it and finish with a coat or two of Triple Thick Brilliant Brush-on Gloss Glaze.

All material (except for the milk shake) is available at Hobby Lobby.

Learn to Spin Cotton

2009-03-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

All righty then...

I ordered a "box" (it ended up being a plastic deli thing, only about a gallon big) of cotton that was advertised as "learn to spin cotton". It came with a lovely little takhli (bottom whorl, all metal support spindle) and several varieties of cotton.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the shipping carton and saw:

But it got better! I didn't know (or maybe knew, but it didn't matter) that cotton grew in different colors. In this box was cotton in various stages of preperation for spinning, including 3 balls of roving (perfect and ready to spin) in 3 different colors.

There's a bigger learning curve in spinning cotton, but once I got the hang of the short draft it got easier. I need to see somebody using a support spindle, I'm still using it like a drop spindle and using the park and draft method.

Started Spinning...

2009-03-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I've been spinning some lovely dyed wool, but misplaced the tag so I don't know exactly what it is. I suspect the label is in the bottom of my "night box" where I keep any knitting for when I'm watching TV.

Anyway...today I opened a bag of Louet (brand name) merino silk blend (80% merino wool, 20% silk) the color is "oriental jade". It is a beautiful shade of teal-ish blue with white fiber carded in.

It is very silky and has a long staple - 3-4"

I thought I'd use it with the wool from the first paragraph - but golly...every time I start a fresh spindle my thread gets more consistent. I think this wool may warrant a garment all by itself.

2009-03-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sock of the Week - check. Next week's "official" sock is nearly done (you'll see it next week)

On the spining front...

I bought a bag of alpaca fiber - the animal's name is "Juan" and the color pathway is called "blue sheen".

Here's Henry spending quality time with Juan's long, silky hair...

.

.(the fiber spun onto a drop spindle - it's counter intuitive, but the lighter the spindle, the finer the thread; I think because it spins faster.
This is how fine it's spinning up. This is a single ply thread - when all the fiber is spun, two balls will be spun together with the spindle going in the opposite direction of the single ply - this is called "worsting", making worsted yard.

My first experience with spinning was with sheep's wool
after worsting and washing

Close up

wound into a ball

and being knit into a scarf with a cable twist

Big Scarf

2008-12-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

This was knit on a medium knitting loom (oblong), going back and forth instead of around and around. The yarn is a bright red "eyelash" and the back-yarn is a verigated "earth tone" worsted.

I wanted something that would be wide enough to use as a shawl if the room is cool, and long enough to wrap around my neck twice (and wrap around me when used as a shawl). It stretched lengthwise, so it's very long...and very soft.

Fulled Hat

2008-12-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

One the largest knitting loom

before shrinking:

and after shrinking

Shawl Full of Choices

2008-11-26T05:36:00.000-08:00

SHAWL FULL OF CHOICES

Use big needles (model uses size 17) OR one large circular needle. Choose any three (or four) yarns that will look good knit together (I used 1 furry, 1 lumpy and one plain old worsted..

Cast on around ( ? ) stitches (or more or less, depending on how far you want the sides to reach down your arms.)

Knit with all three yards together for around 30 inches (or more or less depending on how long you want the piece in front.

For the point in the back, when you have knitted 30 inches, knit the next row across except for one stitch. Leave the stitch on the needle and turn around and knit back. (this process takes two rows. Do this (knit across except for one) for however many stitches across you have until there is one stitch left on the needle.

Knit your one stitch, plus one of the held back stitches. Turn your work and knit 2. Keep knitting, adding one more stitch every-other row until you are again knitting across the whole piece.

Knit across until this side is the same length as the first side. Bind off.

If you want, add a fringe. Or a button wherever you want it. Or a very big cool pin.

I’ve also done this sort of pattern in a stockinette stitch. The different yards give it an interesting texture, the worsted gives it a little more “stiffness”. The size makes it great for cuddling up with a good book in bed.

I made this really big so I could use it as a blanket when in a car or plane or even camping.

Have Neckscarf Will Travel...

2008-11-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

Neckscarves can be boring and rather - well, that's just what people do. But they're so portable!

So, since I'll be traveling next week (Chicago for the holiday) I'm starting a couple of neckscarves to work on while I'm gone.

Yet another attempt at fulling...

Size 13 needles, gauge is not important

cast on 22 stitches,

Row 1, K2, P2 across

Row 2, P2, K2 across

(MzEllen's hint: I get the rows where I start with K2 mixed up with the P2 rows. So I put a piece of tape around the bottom of one needle. If the knitting is on the taped needle, I start with K2)

Experimental Fulling (lessons learned)

2008-11-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Okay...I made two pieces of knitting - one in garter stitch, the other in stockinette. I took before and after photos...

This first piece started out (cast on 30, knit for 20 rows) 11 inches by 4 inches and ended up stretched width-wise, but only 3 inches tall.

This second piece (stockinette, cast on 20, work for 20 rows) started out 6 inches wide and 6 inches tall. It ended up 7 inches wide and only 4 inches tall.

Lessons learned:

bind off very (VERY) loosely - in fact, try knitting the last row and binding off with a huge pair of needles.

get to the washed piece quickly in order to block it while it's wet (although this may not be as important if you bind off loosely)

stockinette and garter stitches don't act the same.

"Leftover" Necklace

2008-11-22T09:45:00.001-08:00

I took a bunch of leftover beads and used them in patterns - 3 or 4" long before switching colors, beads and patterns. Four strands, then loosely braided.

My First Attempt at "Fulling"

2008-11-22T09:06:00.001-08:00

AKA "felting"

I used a small knitting loom and made a piece that I thought would be a good shape for a cell phone holder...but alas, the piece shrunk way more width-wise than length-wise (I thought it was the opposite)...

So, I now have a holder for my epi-pen.

A new blog

2008-11-22T09:05:00.001-08:00

I started another blog, with lots of links to patterns I want to try, but it was flagged as a spam-blog...so I'm trying again.

This blog will be a place for things I make (or want to make)