End of school = OMG panic!

Yet again, I have been surprised by the end of the school year. You'd think that, as a relatively intelligent, clearly overeducated, almost 40-year old, I would realize that if it's getting warmer out and the sun is up at 4:30 am and sets sometime after 9:00 pm, I would clue in to the fact that my kids are going to be on summer holidays soon. The panic results not from the imminent prospect of spending loads of time with my kids, but from the fact that yet again, I have neglected to plan ahead on teacher gifts, and I am looking at trying to knit six shawls in three weeks again.

Actually, this year I am bowing to inevitability, a bit of laziness and the need to keep some sort of grasp on my sanity over the next few months, and only making presents for the girls' main teachers (each has a main teacher and 1-2 assistants). And I'm not knitting.

Now that you've recovered from that last breathtaking statement, rest assured that there are wooly presents in the offing. I spent the weekend spinning up some Porpoise Fur.


These are two practice dyelots from last summer, Xylene Cyanole and Coomassie Blue, both on Targhee. I spun the singles at a much thicker wpi then my usual default; I want to take advantage of Targhee's tendency to expand dramatically after washing, so I aimed for a worsted weight 2-ply.

I haven't spun Targhee in a while, and I really enjoyed it - so springy and soft!  Singles were spun at 9.25:1 and plied at 6.5:1. Today, when I get home, I'm going to skein up the Coomassie Blue (XC is already off the bobbin), figure out the yardage, skipping the yarn finishing step (! - I love this about weaving!) and start warping.

This is the CB scarf I did for Carroll a couple of months ago, using BFL. I'm going to use the same weft yarn (some pale blue light fingering wool recycled from a Goodwill sweater and dyed with same dyes as the fiber), so that picture is probably fairly representative of what the finished project will look. For the turquoise, I'll use the same weft as well, although in the undyed state. I'm thinking about dyeing that as well, but I will probably try it without first to see how it looks.

So...four days to the start of the Tour de Fleece, and I need to weave two scarves, post a shop update and finish washing my fleece. Good thing Himself is away this week - I can take over the entire ground floor of the house with wool!

O Hai!

Didja miss me? Hunh? Didja?

Did you even notice I was gone is probably a more relevant question...no good reason for absence, just not having the energy to put fingers to keyboard or camera to FOs, as the case might be. I do have three finished objects to blog about at some point, but I've spent a lot of the last week washing fleece.

After my initial attempts at fleece washing in the upstairs bathtub, which resulted in still slightly greasy fleece, I took a step back and scaled down a bit.

I took the organic Hebridean fleece I have for the colorwork part of Stasis, and weighed it - a whopping 69 gr (2.4 oz) of unwashed fleece. I split the fleece in half and washed about an ounce at a time - my rational was that since I didn't get all the grease out last time, I would measure out smaller amounts to be washed and make sure I had enough liquid.

I did the same sequence as before: two hot washes, two washes with soap, two rinses. The other major change I made was to keep the water temperature a bit higher then last time, definitely above 50 degrees, and usually closer to 60 degrees C. This was much easier to do in the kitchen, with easy access to the stove and kettle. I also did only one batch at a time, so I could really keep an eye on the thermometer.

In washing this fleece, I came across some "interesting" bits.

I think this is scurf, aka sheepy dandruff. It was definitely not vegetable matter, and it was seriously stuck to the fleece. Once the stuff was dry, I weighed it again - 51 gr instead of 69. So about 26% weight loss due to grease/muck/VM. Then I broke out the handcards. The scurfy cruddy fleece I put to one side, in case I ran low. A few (ok, many) passes with the cards later, et voila:

A kid's shoe box full of handcarded Hebridean rolags, ready for the prologue. If I were smart, I'd do a bit of sampling before I start, just to make sure I've carded enough and that I can get a fingering weight yarn that I like. But...you know what I'm doing instead?

I'm washing more fleece. Only a week to go in prep time, and I've got a big bag to go!

Fiber Saturday: Presents!

The girls and I left the house this morning to go to the farmer's market, and there was a wee package waiting on the doorstep. When we got back, I examined it more closely.

Hmmmm....

What do we have here?

Stitches South? Jealous (eleventy million).

Is it? Could it be?

Oooooooo!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...


Thank you so much J (has this been a week of my referring to you, hasn't it?). I need to scour all the dead skin off my hands before I start in on these, but they are gorgeous and the perfect colors and I can't wait to spin them up. Mwah!

FF: George R. R. Martin is everywhere

You may have noticed this yarn in yesterday's post.

That is what happens when you take this fiber,

and spin it into sport/fingering weight singles.

Fiber: Hello Yarn Fiber Club 2011, BFL/silk, colorway "Night Gathers"
Prepped by splitting each 4 oz bump into four lengthwise pieces
Spun at: 9.25:1, point-of-contact drafting
Stats: 460 yards/8 oz, ranges from fingering to about DK weight
I finished with a fulling wash (hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold)

There is not much to say about this fiber other then yum. And that it is in imminent danger of being balled up, and cast on to start another Clapotis. According to the doctor, I have mild carpal tunnel syndrome, and I should use my hand as little as possible. And here, take these honking massive anti-inflammatory pills for a month - if it's not better, come back and we'll start with the fun tests*. Sadly, I can only manage the balling up part at this point in time. But let me figure out how to knit with my hand in a brace, and I'll be on this so fast it will make your head spin...

* And by fun, I mean So. Very. Not. (nerve conduction recordings and muscle stimulation via electric shocks? Sign me up please!) (Or not, thankyouveryfuckingmuch)

A glutton for punishment? Or just plain crazy?

I finally managed to take a browse through the new Brooklyn Tweed pattern collection, Spring Thaw, last week. I always like looking at these just for the photography alone, but the patterns are usually pretty nice, and the yarns are gorgeous. This time through I had a sudden brain wave that pretty much guarantees many future post bewailing the drama of knitting handspun colorwork sweaters (cause you guys haven't had enough of those, right?) (No, I haven't finished weaving in all the ends, thanks for asking) (don't ask again, ok?).

I was very taken with the Stasis Pullover in my initial look through. And I must have been in a somewhat weakened condition, because I suddenly found myself thinking "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to spin up the yarn for that?" Quickly followed by the sound of the clue by four hitting me smack upside the head with "Hey! I've got raw fleece that is the exact right colors for this!"

One kilo of Gotland, purchased at the iKnit Weekender 2010.

And some lovely dark brown/black Hebridean fleece (organic!) that I received in a Secret Santa swap this past Christmas.

What I really need is someone to follow me around when I have these ideas so they can smack me and say "Get a grip woman! The last thing you need is a raw-fleece-to-hand-cards-to-yarn-to-sweater project! Lie down, have a cider, and get back to us when you've renewed your grip on reality." Sadly, such a guardian angel has not seen fit to grace me with her wise presence, so here I am, frantically finishing off my secret knitting so I can begin washing fleece. And getting the handcards ready to go. All the while ignoring the fact that there are two sweater lots of handspun yarn waiting desperately for attention, and at least two more sweater lots of fiber begging to be spun. Denial is my friend, while also being a river in Egypt.

The only upside to this whole plan is that I only need to come up with 1200 yds of fingering weight for the main color, and about 200 yds of the contrast. Totally doable from over two pounds of raw fiber, right? And I don't have to do any dyeing of anything. No problem...(those of you with comments about famous last words can just keep them to yourselves, ok?)

So, the girls get out of school on Thursday, and then it's washing fleece time! I will be sure to document the process for your edification never-ending amusement at my folly. Enjoy!