My plan is that no one will notice the difference, once it’s up and running again… but plans have a tendency to head off on their own.

Hang on with me, and we’ll see what really happens!

Our newest grandson arrived in a hurry, without any complications, and went home with mom the next day.  Fortunately, she had just packed for the hospital the day before, even though she expected to have to wait a week or more.  Of course, babies are notorious for not paying attention to anyone else’s plans – including our plan to have his blanket all done in time to come home.

So we punted.  I got the last bit done on the main part of the blanket the night he was born, finished off the loose ends and washed it, then dropped it off at the hospital on my way to work the next morning in plenty of time for his homecoming.  It still doesn’t have its border, but I’ll get it back soon to finish it properly.

I think it’s only fair to state that the last-minute status of this blanket is not all on my shoulders; my daughter and I spent quite some time finding just the shade of green she had in mind, then ordering the yarn in both cotton and superwash wool and wash-testing the swatches before the final decision and ordering the yarn.  In the meantime, I searched for just the right pattern.  It needed to be something that would keep me from dozing off while knitting, and I wanted it to be reversible.  I decided that a traditional tumbling blocks pattern done with different stitch textures would fill the bill, but to my surprise, couldn’t find what I was looking for!  So I designed one.  Once I get the blanket completely finished, I’ll write up the pattern and post it here, with a link from Ravelry.

Baby T and his Optical Blocks Baby Blanket

In the meantime, I’m working on his Christmas stocking.  Since it uses 12 colors of yarn, it’s not exactly a take-everywhere project, so I started a pair of socks for him, too.  And then I realized that while I was making a sock to fit his tiny foot, the stocking will be nearly large enough for him to sleep in!  Well, probably not any more, at the rate he’s growing now… I’d better finish the little socks before he outgrows them, too!

Both for the same little guy!

* * * * *

It all started with the visit to a local alpaca breeder two years ago (Sunflower Alpaca Farm, shortly before they moved to Fort Scott, KS).  I was completely charmed by the animals, and took quite a few pictures.

L to R: Frosty, Mocha, Molly (in front), Levi (in back), Dulcie

Of course, I had to buy some wool in all the different colors!

Gorgeous colors...

Having specific motivation at last, I started spinning it in August (two years later)…

Five of the six colors: from the top, Levi, Frosty, Molly, Mocha, Taffy

Add white to those shown above, and you’ll have all the colors I had to work with.  Once I started knitting swatches, the light grey turned out to be a much greater contrast to the white than I had expected, so I blended two other colors to use in between.

With all the ripping (I probably knit enough for a third glove!) it took longer than I had hoped to finish the gloves I’d planned from the beginning.  After an all-nighter, I did get them finished just in time to check them in at the state fair.

Finished Alpaca Fair Isle gloves

I may find out tomorrow how they placed in the new ‘item-knit-of-handspun-yarn’ class, and will let you know.  But whatever happens there, I’m delighted with my first pair of gloves, and will definitely knit more!

UPDATE:  I just heard from a friend – my gloves won the class!  There was at least one other entry, and I hope the class will have even more entries next year!

*End of post*   I see that there is advertising below, at least on some views.  Please feel free to ignore it!!

* * * * *

Back in June, I decided to make the pair of Fair Isle gloves I’d been thinking about ever since I bought several colors of alpaca wool.  That seemed like a pretty do-able time frame.  Of course, life gets in the way, and this year I can easily blame the record-setting heat wave.  We have been spending quite a bit of extra time the past 6 weeks or so trying to keep our rabbits from getting too hot.  We don’t have a hope of keeping them actually cool in temperatures up to 112 degrees, but if we can relieve the heat stress and keep them alive, we’ll be satisfied.  So far, so good – but it means watering four times a day (eighty-some-odd cages), and usually putting frozen water bottles out for the ones who need it in the afternoon.

Anyway, I didn’t get much spinning done for a while.  Fortunately for me, gloves don’t take a whole lot of yarn, and Fair Isle knitting goes fast because it’s so much fun!  I have just finished spinning and chain-plying the five small skeins of colored alpaca, and am ready to start on the white.

L - R: Taffy, Mocha, Molly, Frosty, Levi

These skeins range from 24 to 35 yards.  When I took the picture, the dark russet from the alpaca named Mocha had just been skeined, but not washed.  Perhaps you can tell that it hasn’t ‘bloomed’ as the others have.   They were all spun from the raw wool, which was quite clean and almost completely free of vegetable matter (VM – hay, grass, whatever).  The three colors on the left are the darker shades, the two on the right (plus white) will be the lighter background shades.

The raw white alpaca fleece looked very dingy, so I washed it first.  This was the first time I had tried adding washing soda (Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda) – and I was very, very impressed with the results.  A small amount of the wool washed with Dawn wasn’t satisfactorily clean.  Dawn is great for grease, but alpaca fleece doesn’t have the lanolin that sheep’s wool does.  After that wash, it just looked wet and dusty.    But after adding the washing soda, it practically sparkled!

It will require more preparation than the hand teasing I was able to use for the colored wool, though.  So this will be the first real test of my refurbished drum carder.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I will also knit some a swatch or two for gauge, then make sure I choose a main design that will fit on the back of the gloves, make several other design decisions, cast on and hope to get them finished in a month!

Filed under: My Projects, Spinning Tagged: alpaca, Fair Isle, gloves, handspun, Kansas State Fair ]]> http://prairiespinner.com/2011/08/07/fair-project-alpaca-fair-isle-gloves/feed/ 0 prairiespinner Alpaca Colors http://prairiespinner.com/2011/06/21/cross-patch-draw-the-latch/ http://prairiespinner.com/2011/06/21/cross-patch-draw-the-latch/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:35:59 +0000 prairiespinner http://prairiespinner.com/?p=1296 ]]> I’ve always liked the jaunty little nursery rhyme:

Cross-patch, draw the latch
Sit by the fire and spin.
Take a cup and drink it up,
And call the neighbors in.

Two or three weeks ago, I found that I was feeling rather like that cross-patch.  You know how it is; unhappy events seem to come in clusters.   So I took a bit of the cure and did a little spinning to soothe my ragged psyche.

Having a couple of hours alone in the quiet house, I oiled my spinning wheel and dug out one bag of the raw alpaca fleece I wanted to start with.  (Can it really have been nearly two years ago that I bought it?!?)  This color is called ‘rose-grey’, and is one of several colors that I’m planning to use for a pair of gloves.

The fleece is very clean and free of vegetable matter didn’t need a wash  – I just pulled some out of the bag, teased the locks a bit, and spun it tip-end first into a semi-worsted fine singles.  It was truly a joy and comfort to watch the yarn form out of the handfuls of fluff,  almost as if it was happening without my intervention… such is the ancient, everyday magic of spinning.

Rose grey alpaca on the bobbin

After one trip across the bobbin, I made myself a cup of tea and contemplated the alpaca.  I had known the minute I saw all those colors that I’d have to get some of each, and some elegant stranded or Fair Isle gloves seemed to be just the project to make the most of this lovely fiber.  Time now for some test-plying to see if the yarn I’d been spinning would fit the project… so I pulled a yard or so off the bobbin, folded it over twice, and let it twist into a three-ply.

I was delighted!  It’s fine and strong, and has just a little halo – and the color is a beautiful mid-range, warm grey.  I had to see what a little wash would do to the three-ply, so I pulled off more of the singles and let another length twist around itself.  After washing, that few inches of yarn really doesn’t look any different from the first bit, which is just fine – I think I’m on my way!  And look, I even got myself organized enough to do a sample card so the next time I sit down to spin, I’ll have a target to try to match.

Samples all neatly taped to an index card for reference

Oh, and the ‘cup’ prescribed in the nursery rhyme?  Earl Grey tea, of course!  And if I didn’t call the neighbors in, at least I was restored to my usual equilibrium, and fit for human company again by the time my family returned home.

My first Finished Object was actually twice-knit yarn.  I love the subtle sparkles of the silver filament in this yarn, and thought I had chosen the perfect pattern to show it off.  But after it was all finished, I found that I was avoiding wearing it; it wasn’t a yarn + pattern marriage made in heaven, after all.  I still like Starry Starry Night, but a finer yarn with more drape would be a much better match.

Starry Starry Night - now gone with the wind!

So I ripped it out, and chose a more traditional triangle shawl pattern, Shaelyn.  It’s actually quite an easy pattern, and made for good travel knitting.  (I highly recommend a project on circular needles for airplane knitting – you can’t drop one of those down the side of the seat.  Go ahead.  Ask me how I know.)  The pattern is for a small, almost scarf-sized shawl, so I added another lace pattern repeat – and ran out of yarn!

Starry Shaelyn with roses

Some patterns look just fine edged in another color, or with stripes added in, but this wasn’t one of them.  I rummaged through my leftover sock/fingering weight yarns, and came up with three that looked pretty close.  I’ll spare you the agonizing details, but can tell you that a very similar yarn construction in a fairly close color is far better than a yarn of a different yarn construction (loosely spun and plied in this case) in a nearly exact color match.  That little tip may save you quite a bit of time some day.  It took me 5 tries with 3 different yarns to come to this conclusion.  I alternated the two yarns in the last lace repeat, and am still amazed with the success of the result.  Even I can hardly tell which yarn was used for which rows!  And yes, I have worn it several times already.

Shaelyn edge detail

Next up is a thank-you project – Annis, another shawlette/scarf.  I’ve had my eye on this pattern for a while, and found the perfect excuse to knit it.  The yarn hunt ended with Ella Rae Lace Merino in a semi-solid charcoal color.  It’s listed as a blue/natural colorway on the site, but the skein I chose was definitely darkish grey!  The pattern knitted up quickly, and was my introduction to nupps (pronounced noops), an Estonian technique for adding a bit of texture to lace.

Annis shawl

The lighting for this photography was a little challenging, but you can see something of how fluid the shawl is!  And the lace pattern is easier to see in the shadow picture, although I would have liked it a little sharper.  Well, I may have another go at taking a few more pictures, but it’s all ready to package up and send off to the unsuspecting recipient.

Annis shadow

Next time, a bit of non-shawl lace…

Lace edging

So I started cutting them up, wanting to end up with the largest pieces of fabric possible.  We keep ‘dog towels’, which come in handy for a lot of grubby uses, and I thought these might work for something along that line.  I used pinking shears to cut the legs off, then cut along the seams.  When I got to the elasticized bottom, an idea began to germinate.

Long story short, I now have matching dog coats for our Italian Greyhounds – Juliet has a Supergirl cape style, while Griffin’s is a dapper gentleman’s cutaway.  Both use that elastic ankle as the neckband, and feature ‘tummy buttons’ to keep them in place.  They required just a bit of hand-stitching, for the buttonholes and buttons, but were quick and easy to whip up!  The trickiest part was holding the dogs still long enough to mark the cutting lines – Griffin was apprehensive about the whole process, and was so tucked up during the fitting that his ended up a tad shorter than I intended.  Juliet LOVES hers, but Griffin is still undecided.

SUPERgirl! Aren't I pretty?

I hate snow! I hate snow!

I was a bit surprised when I got home from my LYS on Saturday not to get a thorough going-over from these two, as well as our dachshund.  I had finally made it to the loosely-organized monthly knitters gathering, but instead of working on my bed socks, I took some cat hair and wool to blend on the shop’s drum carder.  I didn’t get nearly as much done as I hoped (this could be the title of my autobiography), but had three batts to show for my efforts – not to mention a nice dusting of cat hair all over.  The dogs never even noticed I’d been cheating on them with a CAT.

This is the first cat hair I’ve worked with, and there were a couple of little surprises in store for me.  Since this was not especially soft or long stapled hair, I decided to blend it with some wool to make it easily spinnable.  The night before, I had lightly scoured some nice crimpy fleece.  Before heading out on Saturday morning, I weighed the cat hair and fleece into roughly equivalent batches, and packaged it all in 8 zip-lock bags, 4 per fiber.

The cat hair was much denser and heavier than I expected.  Some of it had been bagged for, well, longer than I care to admit, and while it wasn’t felted, it had rather compacted and needed a good teasing out by hand.  (One of my knitter/spinner friends just pitched right in to help!  She did comment that the knitting project she brought was losing its charm at the moment.)  I began to make ‘sandwich’ batts, so laid on a thin layer of wool, then started in with the cat hair, to be followed by another thin layer of wool.  Boy, the cat hair did not want to cooperate!  Although looking back on it, that may just have been another expression of cat independence…

It was easy to find the bits that weren’t teased open well enough, because they either showed up on the drum as clumps, or refused to be caught at all, and dropped down below the drum.  But persistence paid off, and after a couple of hours, I had three batts, which I had by that time split and re-carded in an attempt at consistency.

Cat hair/wool blend, approx. 50/50 by weight

I’m now playing with the spinning.  The first test was a fine-ish singles with a good amount of twist.  I chain-plied it and gave it a wash.  The result was pretty disappointing.  It feels rather harsh, and while it’s balanced, it still seems over-twisted.  The white cat hair does give it a nice halo, but the yarn looks kind of greyish in some spots.   And it was really too ‘grabby’ to chain-ply very well.  Back to the drawing board.

The rest of that batt has now been spun, a bit heavier and with a little less twist.  Once I get the next batch spun up, I’ll see what a two-ply looks like.

Want to help me identify some of these?

Okay, the top two are easy.  Crochet hooks.  The next one could be a ‘needle’ – it’s flat, but could be used to thread elastic through a casing, or something of that sort.  The turned pointy one below that… hmmm… could be used to make holes, like the one second from the bottom, but it’s a little blunt.  I assume the hole in the end is to attach a ribbon or cord, rather than an eye for threading.  The bottom one is obviously an awl.  But the big question is, what the heck is that spoon-ish tool??

I don’t think these are a set, but just similar items that were put together to sell more easily.  (And of course they did – to me, for $2.00.)  So some of them may not be textile tools at all.  I’d appreciate any ideas or information!

Now that I’ve finished the first round of Christmas stockings, I can get back to my works-in-progress, right?  Wrong.  Well, I have been working some on the Celtic Braid Socks, but repeatedly losing the cable needle doesn’t help.  Nor does repeatedly dropping stitches in poor lighting so I end up having to rip back hours worth of work.  I love these socks and this yarn, but I’m having trouble demonstrating that affection.

So, on the little browse around town with the hubby on New Year’s Eve, besides my above purchase, we dropped in my newish local yarn shop, Sugar Bunny Boulevard.  This was his first visit, and it was rather amusing, in a sad sort of way, to see the reaction of the proprietor’s young daughter when a MAN strolled in a couple of minutes behind me.  Her world apparently righted itself when we told her he was with me.  Sigh.  Maybe one of these days she’ll stop thinking male shoppers were misdirected.

He found a lovely wool marl yarn for a scarf.  I mostly loathe knitting scarves, but will happily make one for him!

I was looking for a fingering weight yarn to use with a ball of Mini Mochi I picked up some time ago, because it’s finally getting cold around here, and I need some bed socks!  I was a little concerned that one ball of yarn would not be enough, even though the socks will be very short.  So the best solution seemed to be finding another yarn that would complement the long-repeat color changes, and which would have the added advantage of an extra layer with the stranding.  (I need all the help I can get.)

What I found was Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  Although the two yarns seem at first glance to be about the same thickness, the difference in yarn construction is a consideration.  The Mini Mochi is a softly spun single ply, and the Cashmerino is a bouncy, plied yarn, which means they behave differently on the needles.  To compensate, I adjusted the herringbone stitch pattern a bit to make the colorful zigzags two stitches high, and the beige ones only one stitch.  That balances them out well enough to suit me!

Herringbone Bed Socks

The sole is in alternating colored stitches, and the top of the foot in the herringbone pattern.  These socks are really going fast, because they’re fun to knit!  Have I mentioned that I’m easily amused?  I can’t wait to see how the color will gradually change into the next one, and have to resist pulling way too much yarn out of the ball just to see what’s next.

I wonder what color the heel will be??

The wonder of a child

What is this, Grandpa?

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care..."

Merry Christmas to all!

That medieval turn of mind was surely prompted by the audiobook I’ve been enjoying, “A Needle in the Right Hand of God: the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry”, which is just fascinating.  Of course, the down side to audio books is that you can’t see the pictures.  (I do have some pretty good mental pictures of several scenes to help me along.)  On the other hand, it’s much safer to listen than read and look at pictures while driving!

If you’re not familiar with the Bayeux Tapestry (which is really not a tapestry at all, but an enormously long piece of embroidery), you can read some background information here, and see images here.  In brief, it was created to commemorate or document the Norman invasion of England in 1066, specifically the events leading up to and the battle of Hastings.  I do have some personal interest in this, as at least one ancestor of mine was part of the expedition.

I was inordinately pleased to listen to the narrator describing the wool thread of the embroidery as being spun Z-twist (clockwise) and the thread of the linen backing spun S-twist (counterclockwise).  Some things never change!

Of course, winter brings Christmas time, and I had happily agreed some time ago to knit Christmas stockings for my two little grandsons.  I finally found five different shades each of red and green fingering / sock weight yarn that satisfied me, and started in on the first stocking on Thanksgiving day.

It's nearly finished!

All I have left to do is tack down the lining of the cuff, decide if/how to secure the ends on the inside, and add the hanger.  Then a good wash and blocking will help a lot.  I’ve already started big brother’s, and will have to move along to get it finished in time!  This one wouldn’t have taken quite so long, but with a dozen or so balls of yarn, it’s not the ideal take-along project, and I ended up spending nearly a week with DH in the hospital.  (Thanks, he’s doing much better now!)

My other finished object also makes me think of winter.  I really do love those achingly clear winter nights when the frost on the ground looks like diamond dust in the starlight… and Dream In Color’s Starry yarn reminds me of that sparkle.  This gorgeous yarn quietly boasts 2% real silver, in the form of a very fine filament.

Starry Night Wrap

I started this as a travel project, so it was one of my hospital-sitting activities.  I’m very pleased with the way it turned out!   It is quite difficult to catch the starlight-glimmer in a photo, but I think the closeups (taken with flash) do give a bit of the idea.

This pattern (Starry Starry Night) is a bit fiddly to get started, but once you get an inch or so on the needles, it’s smooth sailing, and the simple lace pattern is a perfect complement to the yarn.  The only thing I changed was to add a small picot edge to the end.  I can’t wait to wear it!