Yummy Stripes

Some day, these will be knee socks. Some day. It is a pretty pattern, though.

More stripes, form in soc

Let’s start with a collage of finished projects:

Finished Projects 2009

From left to right: The Angora and recycled denim hoodie that I carded and spun. The cotton cardigan I made for Brian. (I will photograph it on him as soon as I sew the buttons on…which will happen as soon as I find where I put them). The shawl I knit for myself from the most gorgeous hand dyed I picked up at an alpaca show. There were 12 different kinds of yarn. I love this shawl a lot!

12 Different Yarns, hand dyed

Here’s a few more projects I finished in 2009.

Kate's Mobius Hat

Kate needed a tinfoil hat to get rid of the alien thoughts! So I knit her one with math involved! The band is a mobius strip!

Scarf for my daughter Jennifer

Closeup of Jen's scarf

Scarf I made for my beloved Badger

My buddy Allison took me to a great little yarn shop in Davison. She saw some yarn she really liked and I wanted to learn how to make socks! A match was born.

Socks for Allison!

I created a nice ribbed pattern with a raised stitch.

I’ll tell the story of what I was avoiding finishing after I show the avoidance project! I saw a beautiful woman last winter wearing a Cossacks style hat (a cap with a very wide fur cuff style brim). Around the same time, a friend of mine created a knit hat in a similar style. I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I made up my own pattern and was extraordinarily pleased with the result. I used a nice soft Moda Dea washable wool for the cap and put in a spiraled star pattern of decreases. Then I used 3 skeins of Moda Dea Chichi for the fur, which has a lovely shaggy fur texture.

Then I picked up a nice cream color wool to make one of these hats for my friend Allison, but while waiting for the outrageous pink Tiara fur from Moda Dea, I picked up some Lion Brand Fun Fur in Chocolate and made one for my Physical Therapist (minor knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus).

When I got the Moda Dea Tiara in, I quickly knit up the third hat. I had enough of the Paton’s wool and the Moda Dea Tiara to make a pair of cuffed fingerless gloves for Allison. Yeah, that’s her showing me how much she loves the set!

It made a perfect Valentine’s Day gift!

Ok…so what was I avoiding?

Back in December I started on a hoodie from the wonderful angora/denim blend I spun up. I got as far as the pocket and realized I didn’t like several things. I was following the pattern in Son of Stitch & Bitch for the Hackey Sack Hoodie. Her method for the increases on the raglan sleeve inset and the increases for the pocket just looked sloppy. I learned a little while ago about twisting the picked up stitch to get rid of holes in increases and I prefer that seamless look. The increase on the pocket was very raggedy as well. Being that this was designed for a man, the crossover neckline was bulky and high. I prefer a lower v-neck neckline, personally. And the hood was really bulky and didn’t lay nice. So, despite being over half done, it got frogged.

Upon rebuilding it, I decided to redesign all the elements I didn’t like into things I wanted. I could not be happier with the results so far. I’m at the same place I was when I frogged it the first time. I wish I had taken before and after photos…but I have taken after photos to show. Clicking on the picture will take you to a larger version if you want more detail.

This is what it looks like in it’s current state:

This is the new rolled V-neck neckline. It’s hard to see, so I took the liberty of darkening the bottom layer in photoshop.

This is the smooth raglan seam at the right front shoulder.

This is the pocket. Instead of a simple increase at the edges, I wanted something that would lay flat and not roll, so I did two knit stitches, 1 perl, 1 knit and then the increase. It turned out really nice and lays just like I wanted it to.

I still need to decide on how I want to do the edge ribbing, because K2 P2 just won’t cut it any more. I want to vent the sides a bit as well for a nicer fit. I will also flair the sleeves just a touch to make it more feminine and match the ribbing to the bottom. It’s become all about the little details to me when I create a garment. It doesn’t matter if no one else notices, it’s purely for personal satisfaction.

I have a couple of things now that I’ve spun from fiber and knit into a finished product. Brian points out that I knit like I cook, I can’t follow instructions without adding my own personal touch. Just as it should be *grins*

Closeup of Colorblast Pullover

Once I chose the pattern, it knit up quickly.  That is, until I decided I didn’t like the way it was laying based on the original pattern.  So it got frogged again and started over.  I finished it all except the edging on the sleeves when I put it aside for a month because there were some parts I still wasn’t satisfied with, but I knew how it should look in my head.  After about 5 weeks, it hit me on one of my early morning “why the hell am I awake” moments.  I finished the edges and added some crochet lace along the neck, arms, and bottom and it turned out like my mental image.  I love this sweater quite a bit.

Color Blast Pullover

Color Blast Pullover

Color Blast Pullover

Cowl & Gloves

I may eventually felt the gloves a little to tighten then up, but boy is this set warm against the cold winds we’ve had.

Gloves

Won’t make excuses for how tired I look. I’m just going with the thought that pale is sexy.

Cowl & Gloves

Back of Cowl

Also…I am VERY geeked about my two Yule presents! The first one I used to take all these wonderful new photos. The other is in the photo below! A jumbo ball winder so that I don’t have to split my plyed skeins!

Jumbo Ball Winder

I spent some time asking her exactly what she wanted and she described in detail a particular sweater; tunic, no cuffs, no high neck, no wool, and some lace.  I found a pattern that night and a nice cotton yarn from Elann.com.  When we went to see his dad a few days later I took the pattern and color chart and she picked out a really nice cranberry yarn.  This was a wonderful followup to the shawl since it was done with much larger needles, thicker yarn, and a pattern that didn’t drive me a little batty

I think this is one of the nicest sweaters I’ve made.  I’m very pleased with the results.

Mom Chaffins' Sweater

Southwest Shawl

If you click on the image, the elements that are working into the lace are pointed out in a larger image.

I enjoyed making this…but it was very fatiguing. I can’t wait to hear from her when she gets it to let me know what she thinks. I can’t remember ever knitting anything for her, so it was well past time.

I made it from a Peruvian Baby Lace Merino which is 50% alpaca, 50% fine merino wool. I did it with a finer fiber than called for since Mom lives in Tucson and something heavy would be limited. I thought she might like something to put over her shoulders in the evenings when she goes out.

If I ask nicely, perhaps she’ll get me a photo of her wearing it!

For my birthday, Brian took to what he dubbed “Fuzz Fest 2008.”  It was wonderful!  It was very difficult to limit my purchases to fit within my income.  There were SO many wonderful things, and I decided to only buy fibers that I can’t easily find.  It really is a wonderful event.  So many things to see and touch and pet and dream of owning!

I deliberately got some natural pale color fibers to spin and ply and then hand paint.   I want to do something with black, olive, and violet, and I already have about a pound of natural cream color Babydoll Southdown, so I’m hoping to do some really neat fiber blends to make it strong, pretty, and soft.

Here’s a breakdown of the haul:

From Mielke’s Fiber Arts:

On the left, 8 oz Tencel Top for $12.50  Tencel is a fiber produced from wood fiber (cellulous)  It’s very strong and silkier than silk (the biggest difference between this and silk is that this doesn’t stick to your fingers where they are a little rough)  On the right is 4.3 oz Bombyx Silk Brick for  $13.55

16 oz 70% Merino/30% Tussah Top in the Mckenzie colorway for $36.  I hope the photo shows the colors well.  It’s very silvery with color stripes of black, cyan, bright green, rose, and purple.  It’s super soft.

From Lissabeth Alpacas:

2 lbs 6.3 oz of black Alpaca with Brown tips from an Alpaca named Empire for $57.  This is earmarked to spin with the nearly 22 oz of heathered grey Jacob I got last year from the Mt. Bruce Show.  This will make for a very attractive spotted yarn that I am going to make a cardigan out of for Brian.  He’s never worn this style, but he likes it and I’m thrilled to make something he wants in colors he’s chosen.

12 oz  of creamy Alpaca from an Alpaca named Zen for $24.

From Wool and Water (a shop local to me in Royal Oak!!):

My favorite item from this trip was 2.5 oz of Tussah Silk Lap for $20 in the most exquisite jewel tones from Sapphire to Ruby.  I want to spin this and then ply it with some black alpaca.  Don’t know what I’ll make from it yet, I may just spin it and lay in it!  I really have no idea what the yardage will be, but I have to look to make something that will showcase this fiber.  Perhaps a shawl.  We’ll see.  This is both laps together.

This is the lap unrolled.

I just know that I can’t wait to start working on all of these!

-unfortunately-

I have major project I’ve been working on quite hard that needs to be spun first before I start on the new stuff.  Back in September I posted about some lovely grey angora.  I also had some recycled cotton denim.  When I got my drum carder for Christmas, I immediately set upon blending the angora, cotton, and a bit of sparkly fiber.

I’ve already spun up 6 spools, and the above batts are what I still have left to spin.  I suspect I’ll have 9 more spools from what’s there.

I’ll be making this a 3 ply yarn.  It is deliberately nubbly as I want to make a shaker sweater out of it to match one I have nearly worn out from over loving.

And on this very happy note, I think I’ll go spin!

This is the Color Blast fiber I carded made into skeins.  Can’t have a proper post without a picture!

Current Projects:

In January I started the Spirit of the Southwest shawl by Elann for my mom for her birthday at the end of March. It’s now mid may and I’m still working on it. The lace patterns are kicking my butt. It’s just slow going to make sure my tension is even and the patterns are correct. I’ve gotten good at frogging and picking up a lace pattern from mid go when I notice a mistake. The lace edging consists of 24 short rows knit 90° to the main shawl, picking up 12 stitches from the edge for each peak for a total of 35 peaks. I just hit the half way mark!!

When I realized that I wasn’t going to finish in time for her birthday (sorry, mom), I put it down for a while to give myself a rest. I picked up the color blast mohair/alpaca/wool blend I’ve spent so much time blending and spinning and started my next project. On MUCH larger needles. In about 2 weeks of sporadic work, the front and back were done (I’m using the long sleeve pattern of Stitch Diva’s Sahara) I put that down out of guilt and have committed to finishing the shawl before I do anything else. Hopefully, that will be soon.

I have an angora/cotton/tinsel blend currently on the spinning wheel and the drum carder. I carded about 1/2, then spun most of that, now I need to finish the carding. Still looking for a pattern once I have a count of the yardage.

I am playing with the idea of blending the remaining rovings I have all together in striped segments of alternating colors (pale grey heather, olive green, gloss black, and violet) and making it lace weight and doing a really long shawl for myself. The yellow one I made is nice, but I’d like something with a more complex pattern and styling like the Victorian Lace shawl I made for Heather.

I still have the off white wool to spin to play with for dying. I can do anything I want to with that.

My driving force at the moment is to get as much done as I can so that I can stock up on lovely stuff in August when Brian takes me to the Michigan Fiber Festival for my birthday.

And on that note, Happy Mother’s Day! I need to go knit!

I knit this out of Peruvian wool that is unbelievably soft and yet will hold up to 4 years of wear without issue. I honestly can’t believe wool can be so soft and not itchy.

I started this over Thanksgiving weekend and another 2 evenings of making the sleeves. It was wonderfully fun to do. I can’t wait to put up pictures after Christmas of what it looks like on Ella herself!

I’m very pleased with the blend of colors. It seems a lot of folks make these types of things to use up leftover scraps of yarn. I wanted something that was more planned and the denim to plum to claret came out even prettier than I had hoped!

I love the edging. It’s done with an I-cord stitch, which is really a 4 stitch tube and the points where it meets and joins the body are actually knit together with the stitches of the coat, so these loops will hold up to curious infant fingers without coming loose.

The pattern and yarn are from Elann.com, which is fast becoming my favorite place to shop.

Oh!  And the bear?  My mom made me a pair of them about 20 years ago.  Yeah…hand made.  Ever wonder where I get this talent from?

I didn’t keep track of how long it took to spin the roving for this sweater, so I’m firmly sticking with my One Week Sweater stance here.  In any case, I have new clothes!!

Last Friday night I decided to knit a sweater. I had some yarn I had spun up a while ago that needed a project.

This was one of the first things I spun up and I got it because it felt soft and the color was so pretty, being made up from several dozen shades of blues, greens, and greys. The owner of the shop gave it to me at a great price because she didn’t know what it was (cotton and wool of some sort) and it had been there a while.

Well, I spent most of Friday trying to choose a pattern to try, but everything I liked needed more yardage than I had. I went to bed feeling rather frustrated. Brian insisted I just sleep on it. And sleep on it I did. I kept looking at this pattern from Knitty:

In the morning, I wound it up into balls and grabbed the extra I had from the sweater I just made for him. The guage was the same and I liked the way the two colors worked together. Then I sat (did I mention it was about 6 am on a Saturday? My head was preoccupied with health issues and I needed to stop thinking for a while) and photoshopped a little color into the patter to decide on some striping.

The concept came out a bit like this:

I liked it, so I grabbed my needles and threw myself into a project.

I just finished blocking all the pieces.

I have never finished a sweater this quickly. After it dries tonight, I’ll sew it together and create the simple neck edging. I’m really rather pleased with it at this stage.

If anyone who reads this journal is on Ravelry, I’m there as well as Jvar. Feel free to look me up there. I have additional notes on most of my recent projects there for anyone wanting more knitting detail.

[Place Holder for Finished Sweater - Check back soon]

This project took me a year to complete for a couple of reasons. The first was the dumbest mistake. I knit the second arm on the wrong size needles and had to frog it. Threw me off my game so I threw it to the side for months since the weather was turning to spring. Then I ran out of yarn and had to find the vendor who just -happened- to have more of the roving from the show where I got this batch, which is nothing short of a miracle. While it’s a natural color (not dyed) there was no guarantee that I could color match, but having some from the same show/same batch was exactly a perfect match! These are some thumbnails of the roving turning into the yarn I used taken from previous postings.

I have more of the babydoll southdown wool in white that I want to spin and then dye. I really like this wool a lot. It isn’t scratchy and the springy-ness of the fiber will help keep a garment’s shape like a pro!

Another project that I just finished for a sweet friend who is about to have a baby is a baby blanket that matches the gloves and scarf I made for her last year. I never took pictures of the scarf, but she really loved this silly muppet looking glove.

So, I used the same Lion’s Brand Fun Fur fringe on a blanket with an ultrasoft butter yellow boucle for the rest. I also need to have her get a picture of the cap I made for her baby from the same combination. I made the band from the boucle and the cap from the fun fur. She’s excited about matching when they go out now! (click pic for larger detail)

I have more spinning to do so that I can dive into some more knitting projects. I’m currently knitting up some holiday presents, so everything is in various states of completion.

Blanket adapted from this pattern.
Brian’s Sweater pattern available here.

I imagine when I’m through, I’ll have been able to make 3 sweaters and some extra for striping in other projects.

On to this year’s stash:

Tops on my list was an Alpace 50%/Mohair 30%/Wool 20% with sparkly bits. This is soft and the colors are incredible. The best way to explain it is that it looks like flame. I got 16.3 oz for $46 I ended up spinning one bobbin of it last night and I’m planning on spending the better part of this afternoon with it. If you click this pick, you’ll get the original size so you can see the detail, it’s really gorgeous.

Wiley Woolies had their angora rabbits which I am always fond of wishing over. This year they had bags of batts for felting or spinning. I picked up 15 oz of a 50/50 angora/merino blend for $45. There are actually 2 batts, one pale grey, one charcoal grey. I seriously want to wrap my body with these batts, they are so soft!!

I fell in love with the rich olive color of this next roving. It’s not my favorite wool to blend, being 100% Border Leicester, but the color really got to me. I have a wonderful sweater I want to make in charcoal with scalloped stripes of this olive wool. I got 8 oz for $18

And my final score was 21.8 oz of a heathered grey Jacob that is about as fluffy as summer clouds for $39. I want to make a thick sweater out of this that either I or my husband can wear during the winter. I’m searching out just the right pattern. I have enough of this to do a triple ply if I want! These are the same local folks that provided me with the amazing babydoll southdown that I used to make Brian’s sweater.

The show wasn’t as big as years past, but it certainly provided me with some fiber that make me very happy. And speaking of which, my break is over (I also ran out to make a 3′ grapevine wreath with some wild vines Brian found while prepping wood for the winter’s heating), now it’s time to go back to spinning the pretty things I have!

I got nearly all my roving stash from last year’s Fiber Festival spun. I have about 2 lbs of babydoll southdown left that I want to try my hand at dying, and about 1/2 lb of the alpaca/mohair blend left. Here’s what I have hanging ready to be made into skeins:

And, of course, some close ups:

Teal mystery roving.

Chocolate Babydoll Southdown: (This is the second batch after I spun 2 lbs for Brian’s sweater.  This is slated for a hat/scarf/gloves project.  I love this because it’s a natural chocolate brown!)

Leicester multi-hued yarn:

And here’some roving, rolags, and finished projects!

This is the Romney & Corriedale that I made the hat from.

The shawl was knit from a purchase of alpaca/wool yarn. The black and multi striped bag on the bottom was made from yarn left by Chris when he moved out and left it here too long. I made a hat out of it as well that he got and promptly gave to his wife. Never leave yarn here, folks. It gets made into things! Brian’s sweater parts are in the bottom bin along with some cotton roving.

Today I am making a huge vat of chicken stock so that I can freeze it and to also make a nice Chicken Potato Leek soup tonight for dinner. Tomorrow is the 17th Annual Mt. Bruce Sheep & Wool Festival and a stop at an orchard so that Sunday will be for making and devouring an apple pie and lots of spinning!!

I started by finding some gorgeous, bold purple felting wool roving (about a pound of it).

I spun it up and knit a large rectangle with a ribbed border. Then I felted it in the washing machine until it shrunk up to the size I wanted, which was a little wider than the biggest double points I might keep. The final measurements were 24.5″ x 11.5″ I probably shrunk it down by nearly 2.5 inches to a nice tight felt.

The idea was to have a roll that would store and travel nicely. I want to eventually finish the outside with two attractive buttons with loops, but I am waiting until I get a few more of the larger DP needles to see how tight/loose it should be when rolled up.

I went looking through all my lace patterns and found one that worked with just a little modification. It’s a vine and cable mix that allows two areas to encase the needles with makes the whole thing far more stable and secure than a single cable would. I used an acrylic worsted weight yarn which has a wonderful grip to it. The needles don’t slide out at all when held on edge.

What I love best about this carrier is that it holds any size DP needles comfortably. I didn’t have to make adjustments for my size 11 needles or my size 2′s.

This is the finished DP needle case. It was fun to employ a lot of different techniques and styles to make a fun case to protect my DPs and keep them all in one place.

My next toolcase is going to be a similar style, but instead of the cables, I’m going to make a series of pockets to store all of my circular needles in one place. I’m still working on the dimensions for that.

Clicking on most pictures will display a larger picture for detail.

One of said loved ones is our friend Craig who just got a brand spankin’ new midi lathe. And he was kind enough to teach me how to turn a pen and even let me break in his new tools!

On Saturday, he handed me a piece of oak and set me up, showed me some basics and let me have at it for a while to get the feel for it. I started with a little trepidation, which vanished before I got it from a square to a round shape. I started playing with the tools and doing some beading. This was just way too much fun!

We started to refer to this as “The Beater” but I think what I’ll do is finish it up some and give it a nice wax coat then turn it into a paintbrush. It’s just a play piece, but it has such a nice feel to it and quite honestly, it has become a sentimental piece.

We also ran to Woodcrafters where I may have embarrassed myself a bit deeply inhaling the exotic woods and making noises about all the phenomenal tools and cool bits and…and…wow. Just like a kid in a candy store, I was. Unbeknownst to me, Craig picked up a pen kit for me and let me pick out some wood that I liked from his stock pile. Then he spent a couple of hours on Sunday teaching me how to turn the pen myself.

This is the finished product. It’s a zebra type wood with dark black stripes in a honey color wood. The style of the pen is European. It twists open and close.

This shows the blocks of wood that the pen was carved from and the wonderful dark striations.

I really am addicted already to this fascinating process. If I’m a very good girl, perhaps the birthday fairy will be good to me next month. I have no idea what I’m going to do in the meantime!!!

With all the glove, sweater, and snake making for the holidays, I didn’t have time to get back to spinning and being the addict I am about it, I’ve really been jonesing to get back to working with raw fiber.  After going to the fiber festival in September, I had this grand idea of using my hand carders to blend my own mix and spin something quite unique.

I had 1 lb of gorgeous smoky grey mohair roving, 8 oz of jet black alpaca roving, and 3 oz of various source dyed wool locks in a rainbow of colors.  I wanted to blend the mohair 2-1 with the alpaca, and then add a shock of color.  The idea was to roll up a bunch of rolags with varying colors and spin them randomly together.

This picture shows a close up of the spun single with at least 3 colors.  You can see the color fibers shot through, with the occasion deliberate small nub of color.

The last little bit of the rolag is on the left and you can see how the color blends in.

I did a small photo montage of the process I used to make the rolags.

1. shows the 2-1 blend of mohair to alpaca.
2. gently holding on to the rovings and dragging them across the carder to cover it.
3. some of the color locks on the coated carder.
4. the locks combed out and positioned near one end
5. picking up the fiber from the teeth on the carder.
6. rolling the fiber into a rolag

Here’s what that rolag looks like finished:

You can see a little bit of the color fiber peaking out on the near end.  When I spin this, I get a nice mix of the mohair and alpaca.   I put a concentration of color at one end, which ends up being most of the first part that gets spun.  The color doesn’t span the entire length of fiber, but gets slowly more concentrated and then blends back to the mohair/alpaca.  This gives more distinct color to parts of the single and the blackish grey to the rest so that the color ebbs and flows.

And this would be the entire 1.5 lbs of fiber rolled up.   I sorted them by colors and then hands mixed the colors and bagged them up for spinning.  There are 139 rolags in this picture, plus 10 already spun.

The current plan is to ply these together to a 2 ply.  If I decide to attempt a 3 ply, I might try to use Navajo plying to maintain the single color.  I haven’t decided yet if multiple colors in a strand of yarn would be more fun than keeping the colors more distinct.  If I try Navajo plying, it will be my first attempt to learn, so that has an appeal as well.

This project has really helped me feel like an artist, and not just a hobbyist.  It’s really satisfying to take the raw fiber and make it into something that existed only in my head.   Once I spin up the entire lot and see what my yardage is, then I will decide on a project for this.  I’m currently leaning towards a tunic type sweater to show off the color in a simple knit.

One of my favorite things that I made was a 40″ stuffed snake for Christopher, who is 3. He just happens to be about 40″ tall himself. I stuffed this guy pretty full of batting, so he’s perfect for cuddling, or using as a pillow, which Christopher was happy to demonstrate for me. Little guy was too hyped up on the gift getting that he was moving too fast to photograph.

I found a stash of near antique plastic buttons and lucked out that the best ones were yellow, the right size, and even had a slit cut in them to give the snake even more snakiness!

I got a really nifty knit toy book, but the only thing about that patterns that I don’t care for is that every piece is knit flat and sewn. I’m not crazy about unnecessary seams. Truth be told, I like to avoid sewing as much as possible. It’s my least favorite task, right next to making fringe.

So I made a very easy modification to the pattern and used Double Point needles. Because it was stripes, there is a little jog, but as you can see in this picture, it is a far less noticeable thing than a full up seam.

Another fun bit was the tail. I wish I would have started this about 10 rows sooner. I just alternated 2 knit and then 2 pearl rows to give the tail a rattle like shape. The decreases helped to make that even more evident.

Another modification was crocheting a tongue, which I think will hold up a lot longer than the suggested felt. In any case, it was a huge hit.

Without a doubt, these are the most difficult things to photograph since they truly do look like a mop head. Or leftover muppet.

I also made her a matching scarf as a birthday gift. It earned me a big hug.

There’s something totally wonderful about getting paid to knit. But…just as I had vowed to swear off eyelash yarn forever, I got another order. Honestly, this stuff is so difficult to work with because you can’t count stitches or rows, so you have to be very diligent in paying attention to the pattern. Heaven help you if you drop a stitch. If you catch that you did. *rolls eyes* At least I insisted on a new color.

At the Christmas party at Brian’s folks, his mom let me know she’d love a pair in black. *sigh* I will never get away from eyelash yarn.

At least folks seem to love these fun gloves. It takes me an evening a glove, working at an easy pace, and since I combined patterns to get the effects I like, this pattern is now something I can do without grabbing for the instructions.

I also wanted to use some of the techniques I prefer for finishing, like 3 needle cast off for finishing the shoulders and douple pointed needles to make a seemless collar. (Mods #2 & #3). Mod #4 was making the measurements fit with his measurements and the guage. I can’t wait to see what he thinks and see how it looks on him. At 3, I’m not certain of his taste in clothes, but hopefully he’ll like it a bit. The one thing that I did that I really think makes the sweater less dull is that there’s a texture stripe in the middle of the color stripes. I alternated the purple and green, and the single strip in the middle of each pattern is a purl row so that it has a nice texture on the outside, and nothing amiss on the inside to annoy young skin. I also like the way the colors work together. It took a while to decide how the stripes should match up, and I am very pleased with those results as well.

Brian and I got back to working on our models this weekend, and I finally finished the Cobra I’d been working on. Thanksgiving weekend will be a model working weekend with our friends Jen & Craig. I’m still trying to decide what kind of models I like working on best. This is the first one I’ve finished. I have an anniversary edition of the Lunar Lander that I’m working on, a rubber band engine wood frame Spitfire (a $10 I picked up this weekend), and a Polar Lights “The Witch” to work on. I’ve started the Lunar Lander, and it’s turning out really well. I want to do The Witch with an airbrush. Brian and I are currently researching one that will allow us the best variety of uses. We’re leaning towards a Badger 175.

So this is the Cobra all finished. It’s a metal body. A very simple model to paint, and a bugger to put together with a lot of little fragile parts. I want to get the VW Bug from this company, it’s so darn cute. And with the airbrush, perhaps I can finally have The Galloping Grape I saw when I was 16 that I wanted so very badly.

Clicking on the pictures will usually link to the larger version for easier viewing of details.

I was able to photo document most of the appetizers upon presentation save for one that wasn’t done until people had started to arrive.

Clicking on the photo will take you to the recipe.

The biscotti were wonderful the next morning with coffee as well as a good, dense cookie for a sweet, yet bold appetizer.

The sage cookies were a huge hit. The texture and taste was unexpected and as savory as it was sweet. The biggest surprise is that they are made with cornmeal and had a marvelous texture.

Paula Dean came through with the puff pastry pinwheels. The only modification I made to her recipe was to add a 1/4 teaspoon of thyme to the mushrooms for a richer taste. These were wonderfully easy to make.

The tartlettes were fun to put together and were visually lovely. A time saving feature was to get the refridgerated pie crusts. After cutting out the rounds for the tartlettes, I cut small stars in the remaining pie dough, brushed them with a bit of melted butter and sprinkled them with Mrs. Dash Table Blend. Simple and yet it got super raves from my guests.

Ham roll-ups are so well known, and I wanted to add some meat to the appetizer choices, so I did a slight variation that were well recieved. I used an onion & chive cream cheese along with a sun-dried tomato and bourbon spread I created.

A last minute taste inspirtion helped me create the filling for this amazing crescent roll wreath. Ricotta and parmesan cheeses with marinated artichoke hearts and green onions made it the best dish of the night. It came out of the oven as people were arriving so it didn’t make it to the table in time for proper presentation.

My dear friend and artist Jen brought a lovely surprise for ever guest. A martini glass charm keepsake so that everyone could identify their glasses. She made them from their personal Live Journal icons!

She also made a set of 6 for me and Brian to keep. These are so clever and fun!

The Martini Flavors:

Coffee Lover’s Martini: Vanilla vodka, Coffee liqueur, Frangelico

Yoohoo Martini: Vanilla vodka, Godiva cream liqueur, Chambord

Chocolate Orange Martini: Vodka, Godiva liqueur, Triple Sec

Windex Martini: Vodka, Blue Curacao, Pineapple Juice

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini: Vanilla vodka, Pineapple Juice, Grenadine

Appletini: Apple Vodka, Apple Pucker

I love this spinning wheel. It’s made in Canada. No, it’s finely crafted in Canada. It folds for travel, it has a modest footprint and it flies so smoothly and quietly. I’ve spun everything from laceweight to chunky yarn with great success. It uses Scotch Tension which is a really fine adjustment with a knob, cotton cord and a rubber band. I can tighten and losen it with small movements for precision. This controls the take-up speed of the fiber onto the spindle.

It’s a double treadle (two pedals, two feet) which I am so grateful I could get instead of the single treadle. Spending a lot of time spinning and only using one foot is not optimal. With two pedals I can stop and start the wheel using my feet on the pedals. The fatigue factor is tremendously reduced and worth the extra money.

Specifications:
• Single Drive, Scotch Tension
• Wheel Diameter 19”
• Regular Flyer Ratios: 6, 8, 10:1
• Orifice 7/16”, 29.75” high
• Double Treadle
• 4 – 4 oz bobbins and tensioned kate
• No assembly, just unfold and attach head
• Maple hardwood with clear lacquer finish
• Weight 13 lbs
• Fast Flyer Ratios 12, 15, 17:1
• Plying Head Ratios 3, 7, 9:1

As you can see in the photos, that’s a lot of equipment standard with the wheel. I purchased four more spindles recently, and tonight I ordered the quill head so that I can try spinning cotton on this wheel. If it does that, then I will never need another wheel. The quill head only works with the double treadle. It spins at ratios of 6, 25, and 37:1. (Ratios are how many times the flyer head spins for every once the large wheel goes around. The more twists, the finer the thread you can spin. Fiber with very short staple length needs fast spinning to bing the fiber, like cotton.)

Here you can see the new bobbins I just got which I ordered in walnut, even though everything else is in maple. This was pretty much everything that came with the wheel (it did include 4 maple bobbins).  The bobbins are on a lazy kate, with a scotch tension cord along the bottom of the bobbins.  The piece to the right is the bracket for the regular flyer heads.  On the pedals are the two flyer heads.  The normal one on the right, the fast flyer on the left (you can see the smaller circles, which is where the band goes to set the ratio.)  At the top of the wheel, the larger plying bobbin and bracket are attached.  There are two bands, on the wheel, one is for the plying head, the other for the regular flyers.  The bracket can also be raised and lowered to adjust tension to keep the bands flowing free.
I have the wheel on a piece of rubber fabric that you put under rugs to keep them from slipping. The wheel is light, so without it the wheel tends to walk a bit. I sit in a really nice padded chair we bought when we got our sewing table. The padded back is a godsend.

I have some thoughts on drop spindles as well. I have two and I still love using them. I learned on a bottom whorl and I believe that it taught me a lot in preparation to moving to a wheel. There’s something wonderfully visceral about using the drop spindle. I tend to overspin a bit on the wheel still, but the yarn I spin on the spindles now is perfectly balanced when I wind them off on the swift into a skein. I can’t wait to get to that stage with the wheel. It’s also still a lot easier to travel with a drop spindle than with the wheel.

The first spindle, on the left, I got from Heritage Spinning in Oxford. The owner, Joan, has her father make these. The channel up at the top is excellent for keeping the yarn balanced and held. It’s a very simple spindle, reasonably priced, elegantly made, and it served me really well in the beginning. The second spindle Brian got for me this past Christmas. It’s a ring spindle from Golding that can be either a top or bottom whorl. I’ve tried spinning from a top and I don’t like it as well as a bottom, which is slower. This has some incredible features, like the notches in the ring to keep the fiber from slipping and the hook at the top works like a champ. It’s beautifully weighted, but because of this, it requires understanding what a fiber needs for spinning. For example, it’s too heavy for cotton. The spindle on the left, my first one, has a little bit of recycled cotton denim I tried spinning. The spindle is still a little heavy and that makes for a very uneven thread. Cotton can easily take 1000 twists per inch and the drop spindle just can’t quite go fast enough.

I am enjoying everything about spinning. It’s easier and often times cheaper to go and buy yarn, but I really love knowing how much a part of the process I’ve been.

Lace scarf: added 12 inches, 1/3 complete.
Gloves for Britts: 2 of the 6 patterns sewn on.
Brian’s sweater: 3/4 of the fiber spun totalling 1156 yards

I spent a bunch of lovely hours this weekend spinning up the soft, springy Babydoll Southdown fleece that I’ve slated for a Henley style sweater for Brian. Hopefully, I’ll have the rest finished up this week and than a trip perhaps next Wednesday to visit Joan at Heritage Spinning so that she can help me replicate one of Brian’s favorite sweaters.

Here are a few pictures of me spinning this project on my Lendrum wheel. This is such a wonderfully hand made wheel that is so versatile and pretty to boot.

I recently bought 4 new spindles, which I got in walnut. Just like my fondness for mixing metals, I love to mix woods, too. Having 8 spindles means that I can do multiple projects at one. I have 4 in use for this project, and one each for 3 other projects. I have one free for anything. This way I can spin what I want and not be limited to finishing one before starting another. I’ve always felt bound to finish one thing at a time, but I get bored with some projects so this allows me more creative freedom.

My goal this week is to finish the yarn for Brian’s sweater and to finish sewing the patterns on Britt’s gloves. I will have a new project shortly as one of Brian’s coworkers wants a pair of short gloves that I’m eager to get to work on.