Valkyrie wool combs

This is my set of Valkyrie wool combs.  These are the double row mini combs, and are just the right size for me.  The tines are 4 1/2″ long, and yes, they are as sharp as they look!

One of the combs on the pad, which I can clamp to a tabletop.

I decided to try them out on my Grand Champion fleece… here are a couple of locks to show you what it looks like raw and washed.

Before, and even before that!

And this is how wool combing is done (one person’s technique, anyway):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae6aZwswrWs

I drew the top off without using a diz, but didn’t have any trouble making my top acceptably consistent.  I could always rummage around for a large washer to use if I felt inclined, but I’ll eventually make or buy a diz that is as pretty as it is useful.

L to R: Combed top, washed, raw

This picture really shows off the fineness of the wool.  It’s ‘finished’ for this stage, but there’s a lot more to do before it’s really a finished product!  First I’ll have to comb more wool, then spin it, ply the yarn, then maybe dye it, then knit whatever I decide to make.  And THEN I will have a finished item!

A closeup of the result.

When I showed off my creation to above-mentioned DH, he first looked pretty blank (it has been a while since Christmas), and began to nod slowly.  I saw his gaze flick from the combs in one hand, over to the puffy coil of wool I was holding out in my other hand, and up to my smiling face.

Only then did he smile back.

Some people will remember predictions about ‘clothes of the future’ that would never need to be laundered because they shed dirt and wrinkles.  In fact, the 1951 movie “The Man in the White Suit” explored the unintended consequences of just such an invention.

I should point out that the movie predates me, so it’s no wonder I didn’t realize that it was nominated for both a BAFTA Award (1952) and an Oscar (1953)!  I’m going to have to track it down and watch it one of these days… but I digress.

The reality of today’s high-tech clothing-in-development includes “fabric which includes ‘firming active ingredients’, [which] is said to improve the elasticity and brightness of the skin.”  Cosmetotextiles like Eurojersey’s Sensitive Ultra Light Firming, if they prove commercially viable, will no doubt usher in a rash of similar products in fairly short order.  How soon will we see ads for overnight face masks that are really masks?  Ugh.

Other recently-introduced fabrics claim to “generate wellness and well-being to the consumer through state of the art cosmetic microencapsulation”, provide slimming effects, or deliver therapeutic substances, potentially including some drugs.

Another Eurojersey product, Sensitive Bodyware, is intended to keep the wearer fresh and comfortable all day, in part because of an interesting property of silver.  The precious metal not only adorns the wearer as jewelry, but also inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria, via a silver-based solution in this case.

Now, back to MY real world…

All this high-tech science is well and good, but spinners have been delighting for centuries in the softness of their hands after working with wool.  While some people may not appreciate lanolin’s scent, I think the fragrance and gleam of lanolin on a freshly-sheared fleece is pure luxury!

Silver, while pricier than grease fleece, is still not out of the reach of the average knitter.  There are several yarns currently on the market that include silver not primarily for its antibacterial benefits, but for its sparkle!

A few colors of Dream In Color Starry from SimplySocks.com

Closeup of Kraemer Sterling Silk and Silver from Yarn.com

A couple of superwash sock-weight yarns are Dream In Color’s Starry and Kraemer’s Sterling Silk and Silver.  Both are advertised as 2% silver, and while Starry is 98% merino, Kraemer’s yarn has 20% silk plus 15% nylon for abrasion resistance.  Both are in the $20 – $25 price range per skein, enough yarn to make a pair of adult socks, but who would want to hide that gorgeousness inside shoes??

Dream In Color "Starry" in Bermuda Teal

My favorite color – so far – is Starry in Bermuda Teal.  I also bought some Smooshy, the no-silver version, in the same color so I might be able to make a whole sweater.  One of these days, I’ll have to stop petting and admiring it, and decide what to make with it – you can bet it won’t be socks, though!

“Retiring Yellow Springs Police Chief Jaw Goatee seems to have saved up big for his swan song, as the results of a three-year sting operation were revealed yesterday with the successful break up and neutralization of a local yarn bombing cell.”

Unrepentant yarnbombers seen in surveillance photo

Wow!  Read the rest of the story!  

And then I’ll have to get back in the habit of posting!

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!

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