You are now reading the blog of an employed person!! My first day was today, and it went well. I'm going to be working part time for now, and it seems like it will be good. I have a desk and everything! I even have a project already- the environmental reports and permits for a diversion dam removal and fish-friendly replacement on a creek near the Hood River.
I drop off Emma at preschool at 8:30, go to work, the daycare transports her from preschool to daycare at 11:30, and I pick her up from daycare at 1:00.
The people at the company are nice, seem happy to be working there, and it's a pleasant environment. I'm excited!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!!!
Meow!
(Note to self: Do not trust patterns that say they include sizes ranging from child's 4 to men's Large. They lie. The pattern pieces are all size Large, and you are apparently on your own to size them down for anyone shorter than 6 feet tall. Despite this, I think it came out cute, and it only took ~8 hours start to finish. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me to sew all those years ago!)
Meow!
(Note to self: Do not trust patterns that say they include sizes ranging from child's 4 to men's Large. They lie. The pattern pieces are all size Large, and you are apparently on your own to size them down for anyone shorter than 6 feet tall. Despite this, I think it came out cute, and it only took ~8 hours start to finish. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me to sew all those years ago!)
Monday, October 29, 2007
Since I apparently don't have a winter hat either, I made one. (How did that happen- a knitter without a hat?) Emma's hat turned out so cute that I decided to do something similar. I'm a big fan of superwarm hats, so I wanted to try and work out a double layer model with a turned up cuff, effectively making a quadruple layer over my ears. No way am I getting cold in this hat! One layer is purple yarn, the other is rainbow. This is Knitpicks Bare merino DK again.
I started by dyeing the rainbow skein. I was going to use it with the green I dyed a couple weeks ago, but then I decided that I wanted something darker so I dyed a purple skein when I did the rainbow skein. This rainbow skein has longer patches of each color, just one of each rather than two like on Emma's hat. The purple skein was also done in plastic wrap and steamed, rather than doing it in the kettle, because I didn't want to heat up a big pot o' water for one skein. The result of this was that the dye took a bit unevenly and broke, making the skein mottled with lighter spots. Because the dye broke, the color ranges from lavender to blue-purple to red-purple to dark purple. It's almost-solid and pretty subtle, but noticeable. I absolutely love the way it came out.
I started with a provisional cast on (112 stitches, US5 needles), then knit a 2 1/2" cuff section. Then I did a round of k2tog/yo, and did the rest in stockinette. I did 7 decrease points, evenly spaced, to give a spiral on the top of the hat. The last six rounds, I decreased every round so it wouldn't be too pointy.
The purple layer has a cabled cuff, and the rainbow layer has a plain K2P2 rib because I didn't want the stripes to overwhelm the cables. When I had both layers done, I had effectively knit two hats.
I joined them by knitting them together at the provisional cast on, with a two-color attached i-cord. Mmmm, fiddly but pretty!
Though it wasn't planned, I like the way the colors in the rainbow yarn pooled in arrowhead shapes at the top as the rounds got shorter, then separated into single stripes again. Emma's hat did this too, but not as much because the runs of each color were shorter.
I was a little worried that the rainbow yarn would be too clown-y and bright for me (I am supposedly a grown-up, after all), but now that it's done, I like it. It makes me feel happy, and whose business is it anyway if I want to wear a colorful hat! So now I have a nice warm hat, that I can wear like this:
Or like this.
I can't decide which I like better.
I started by dyeing the rainbow skein. I was going to use it with the green I dyed a couple weeks ago, but then I decided that I wanted something darker so I dyed a purple skein when I did the rainbow skein. This rainbow skein has longer patches of each color, just one of each rather than two like on Emma's hat. The purple skein was also done in plastic wrap and steamed, rather than doing it in the kettle, because I didn't want to heat up a big pot o' water for one skein. The result of this was that the dye took a bit unevenly and broke, making the skein mottled with lighter spots. Because the dye broke, the color ranges from lavender to blue-purple to red-purple to dark purple. It's almost-solid and pretty subtle, but noticeable. I absolutely love the way it came out.
I started with a provisional cast on (112 stitches, US5 needles), then knit a 2 1/2" cuff section. Then I did a round of k2tog/yo, and did the rest in stockinette. I did 7 decrease points, evenly spaced, to give a spiral on the top of the hat. The last six rounds, I decreased every round so it wouldn't be too pointy.
The purple layer has a cabled cuff, and the rainbow layer has a plain K2P2 rib because I didn't want the stripes to overwhelm the cables. When I had both layers done, I had effectively knit two hats.
I joined them by knitting them together at the provisional cast on, with a two-color attached i-cord. Mmmm, fiddly but pretty!
Though it wasn't planned, I like the way the colors in the rainbow yarn pooled in arrowhead shapes at the top as the rounds got shorter, then separated into single stripes again. Emma's hat did this too, but not as much because the runs of each color were shorter.
I was a little worried that the rainbow yarn would be too clown-y and bright for me (I am supposedly a grown-up, after all), but now that it's done, I like it. It makes me feel happy, and whose business is it anyway if I want to wear a colorful hat! So now I have a nice warm hat, that I can wear like this:
Or like this.
I can't decide which I like better.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I spun up a sample skein of Herkel's fleece yesterday, the Merino x Columbia. Can I just say, YUM. This is a lovely bit of fibery goodness.
Many thanks go out to Laritza, who saved me $134.95 + shipping, for suggesting that I do not need fancy schmancy wool combs to process this fleece. I want to spin at least a portion of this wool very fine, worsted technique, 2-ply, for knitted lace. (How shocking,I know.....) I figured, worsted=> combed top=> wool combs=> new big pointy lethal fiber toys that I should buy. Laritza suggested I try flicking the locks with a dog comb instead, or at most use 2-pitch combs; that the 5-pitch combs are really overkill for this application and this fiber. Of course, I still want combs eventually because I like spinning worsted, but in this case they're really not necessary.
So I procured this at the thrift store for $0.25:
And set about turning this lovely wool into (hopefully) lovely yarn. I took one lock:
Combed the cut end while holding the tip end, then turned it around and combed the tip end while holding the now-fluffy cut end:
The little pile to the side is the combing waste- short fibers, occasional nep or two, and second cuts- which came out in the comb. This was a coated fleece, and there is literally NO vegetation in it and very, very few second cuts. The bulk of that "discard" pile is probably due to my inexperience with combing more than anything wrong with the fibers. It really is a gorgeous fleece.
I started spinning, and after I got the wheel tweaked the way I wanted it, it was effortless. I've never been able to spin from the end of the lock before, without attenuating it into top beforehand, though I have spun from the fold. I was just never able to "get it" when spinning from the lock. I always ended up with a tangled handful of fiber, instead of everything drafting out in an orderly fashion.
But this time it worked! I was able to spin the whole lock into singles without it tangling or catching or dragging, and it went so smoothly.
It was one of those experiences that is just so perfect and easy and glorious that you want to laugh and shout and and tell everyone you know, and at the same time you feel a little teary and you just want to sit there and marvel at what your hands are doing, because what is happening with the wool and the wheel and your fingers is just what you wanted to happen and it feels SO EXACTLY RIGHT.
I spun very fine singles, the finest 100% wool that I've ever been able to spin, at 130 wpi. The two-ply is about 60 wpi, after washing and poofing. Spinning this wool was not like anything else I have ever spun, certainly not at all like spinning commercial merino top. It was springy and alive. Just wonderful.
I spun five locks on each of two bobbins, then plied them together. Those ten locks, a total of 8 g (.28 oz), gave me 175 yards of yarn, which works out to a grist of 10,000 ypp.
It took about 15 seconds to comb each lock, then 15 minutes to spin it. I combed one lock at a time and spun it immediately. I thought it would be disruptive to stop and start like that, but it wasn't. It was just a nice break. I don't know that I'll do the entire pillowcase of fiber like this (how many miles of yarn would that be?), but I'll definitely do enough for a shawl.
Many thanks go out to Laritza, who saved me $134.95 + shipping, for suggesting that I do not need fancy schmancy wool combs to process this fleece. I want to spin at least a portion of this wool very fine, worsted technique, 2-ply, for knitted lace. (How shocking,I know.....) I figured, worsted=> combed top=> wool combs=> new big pointy lethal fiber toys that I should buy. Laritza suggested I try flicking the locks with a dog comb instead, or at most use 2-pitch combs; that the 5-pitch combs are really overkill for this application and this fiber. Of course, I still want combs eventually because I like spinning worsted, but in this case they're really not necessary.
So I procured this at the thrift store for $0.25:
And set about turning this lovely wool into (hopefully) lovely yarn. I took one lock:
Combed the cut end while holding the tip end, then turned it around and combed the tip end while holding the now-fluffy cut end:
The little pile to the side is the combing waste- short fibers, occasional nep or two, and second cuts- which came out in the comb. This was a coated fleece, and there is literally NO vegetation in it and very, very few second cuts. The bulk of that "discard" pile is probably due to my inexperience with combing more than anything wrong with the fibers. It really is a gorgeous fleece.
I started spinning, and after I got the wheel tweaked the way I wanted it, it was effortless. I've never been able to spin from the end of the lock before, without attenuating it into top beforehand, though I have spun from the fold. I was just never able to "get it" when spinning from the lock. I always ended up with a tangled handful of fiber, instead of everything drafting out in an orderly fashion.
But this time it worked! I was able to spin the whole lock into singles without it tangling or catching or dragging, and it went so smoothly.
It was one of those experiences that is just so perfect and easy and glorious that you want to laugh and shout and and tell everyone you know, and at the same time you feel a little teary and you just want to sit there and marvel at what your hands are doing, because what is happening with the wool and the wheel and your fingers is just what you wanted to happen and it feels SO EXACTLY RIGHT.
I spun very fine singles, the finest 100% wool that I've ever been able to spin, at 130 wpi. The two-ply is about 60 wpi, after washing and poofing. Spinning this wool was not like anything else I have ever spun, certainly not at all like spinning commercial merino top. It was springy and alive. Just wonderful.
I spun five locks on each of two bobbins, then plied them together. Those ten locks, a total of 8 g (.28 oz), gave me 175 yards of yarn, which works out to a grist of 10,000 ypp.
It took about 15 seconds to comb each lock, then 15 minutes to spin it. I combed one lock at a time and spun it immediately. I thought it would be disruptive to stop and start like that, but it wasn't. It was just a nice break. I don't know that I'll do the entire pillowcase of fiber like this (how many miles of yarn would that be?), but I'll definitely do enough for a shawl.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Emma has outgrown all her hats, so I took the rainbow-dyed skein I made last Thursday and knitted her a hat last night.
Here's what it looked like in the skein:
And here's that same skein knitted up.
I started with a provisional cast on (100 stitches), did K2P2 rib for two inches, did a round of K2tog/yo, then knit two inches of stockinette. The next round I knit the provisional cast on stitches together with the stockinette stitches to form a facing, with the K2tog/yo row at the fold, then carried on with the stockinette for another 2.5 inches. I designated 8 decrease points(K2tog, k, k, ssk), at the quarter marks of the round. Decreased until 8 stitches remained, ran the yarn tail through them, and snugged it up. Emma requested a pompon, so I put one on.
Easy peasy, and except for about an inch and a half of knitting and the pompon it was a one evening project. And one skein, too, with quite a bit left over. I really like the way the Knitpicks Bare 100% merino DK knit up. I used US5 needles, and it makes a thick, cushy, soft fabric. And I love the way the yarn overs on the turning round make little picots at the edge. It's a nice edge on the top of socks, but in the larger yarn for the hat, they really stand out.
Cute, it fits, and it's big enough/stretchy enough to have some growing room.
Here's what it looked like in the skein:
And here's that same skein knitted up.
I started with a provisional cast on (100 stitches), did K2P2 rib for two inches, did a round of K2tog/yo, then knit two inches of stockinette. The next round I knit the provisional cast on stitches together with the stockinette stitches to form a facing, with the K2tog/yo row at the fold, then carried on with the stockinette for another 2.5 inches. I designated 8 decrease points(K2tog, k, k, ssk), at the quarter marks of the round. Decreased until 8 stitches remained, ran the yarn tail through them, and snugged it up. Emma requested a pompon, so I put one on.
Easy peasy, and except for about an inch and a half of knitting and the pompon it was a one evening project. And one skein, too, with quite a bit left over. I really like the way the Knitpicks Bare 100% merino DK knit up. I used US5 needles, and it makes a thick, cushy, soft fabric. And I love the way the yarn overs on the turning round make little picots at the edge. It's a nice edge on the top of socks, but in the larger yarn for the hat, they really stand out.
Cute, it fits, and it's big enough/stretchy enough to have some growing room.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
I snapped this picture today, because I thought the quilts looked so lovely in the late afternoon sun.
The center one is the twin sized Ohio Star quilt I made, and the two crib sized ones were baby shower gifts. Not so lovely, however, was the reason that all Emma's quilts (and bedding and several stuffed animals) were washed this morning.
She's a sick chick. We were up for several hours last night, as she vomited on everything in sight. She was OK this morning, though very quiet, and slept most of the afternoon in her purple beanbag chair and in bed. However, when she finally tried to eat some dry Cheerios around 4:30, the ickiness started up again. At this point, she hasn't kept anything down for about 24 hours, not even water.
Poor little chickie-boo.
-----
Update later in the evening: She ate some Cheerios and had a good big drink, with no adverse reactions! Currently asleep, looking very angelic.....
The center one is the twin sized Ohio Star quilt I made, and the two crib sized ones were baby shower gifts. Not so lovely, however, was the reason that all Emma's quilts (and bedding and several stuffed animals) were washed this morning.
She's a sick chick. We were up for several hours last night, as she vomited on everything in sight. She was OK this morning, though very quiet, and slept most of the afternoon in her purple beanbag chair and in bed. However, when she finally tried to eat some dry Cheerios around 4:30, the ickiness started up again. At this point, she hasn't kept anything down for about 24 hours, not even water.
Poor little chickie-boo.
-----
Update later in the evening: She ate some Cheerios and had a good big drink, with no adverse reactions! Currently asleep, looking very angelic.....
Friday, October 19, 2007
I saw this little quiz on Suz's blog, and took it just for fun. I was a little surprised at the results:
How evil are you?
Angelic? Wha...? I mean, I don't think I'm a horrible person, but come on, can't I be at least a little evil? Some of the questions were a little too general, though. For example, the last question ("What do you fantasize most about?") did not have "wool" or "birdwatching" as choices. Come to think of it, though, those options probably wouldn't have changed the quiz outcome. Oh well. Just please don't call me Pollyanna.
I washed Herkel's fleece today.
It came mostly clean with one soapy soak, but there were still some dirty clumpy tips, so I gave it a second soapy soak. Then two rinses, the last with a glug of vinegar, and voila!
I was searching around the web last night, casually looking at wool comb prices, just for background information, you know...... The lowest prices I found online for Indigo Hound English combs were at Bountiful. I'm looking at the five-pitch fine model. Anybody know a better price than $135? Or do you know somebody that has a set they no longer want? They don't ever seem to come up on the used equipment pages.
In other news, I've been waiting patiently and today I got my invite to Ravelry. I signed up at the beginning of September, after resisting for a long time. I did it primarily to be able to browse the finished projects and see what things look like in different yarns, and see how the items look when made and worn by various people. I thought that I probably wouldn't enter anything myself, but just use it as a reference. However, I uploaded pictures to Flickr throughout the past week, and when I got my invite this morning, I found myself frittering away the entire time Emma was at school, creating project pages and exploring Ravelry. I entered a few older projects (I had to add the Urchin Shawl to their pattern list, after all!), but I don't know that I'll enter every project I've ever done. It's just too much of a time sink. Maybe slowly, over time.
I did, however, get all Flickr-ified over the past week, so if you want to see my recent and historic weaving, knitting, crochet, hardanger, and cross stitch projects, feel free to look! I haven't added the spinning pictures yet. I'm mostly only uploading finished item pictures, since I have progress pictures here on the blog and there's no need to duplicate things that much. I know that Ravelry only does knit and crochet, but I got on a roll with the uploading, and put in all the finished fibery pictures I had on my computer. I haven't done any cross stitch for probably close to five years, but I think I may have to pull out a couple UFO's and finish them off.
So anyway, I have lemminged right along onto the Ravelry bandwagon. My name over there is snailspirals, if anyone wants to be my friend.....
(Now I'm having flashbacks to first grade, when I asked a girl named Sharon if she would be my friend, and she looked at me scornfully and said "No." That may have been when my reclusive tendencies took root.)
How evil are you?
Angelic? Wha...? I mean, I don't think I'm a horrible person, but come on, can't I be at least a little evil? Some of the questions were a little too general, though. For example, the last question ("What do you fantasize most about?") did not have "wool" or "birdwatching" as choices. Come to think of it, though, those options probably wouldn't have changed the quiz outcome. Oh well. Just please don't call me Pollyanna.
I washed Herkel's fleece today.
It came mostly clean with one soapy soak, but there were still some dirty clumpy tips, so I gave it a second soapy soak. Then two rinses, the last with a glug of vinegar, and voila!
I was searching around the web last night, casually looking at wool comb prices, just for background information, you know...... The lowest prices I found online for Indigo Hound English combs were at Bountiful. I'm looking at the five-pitch fine model. Anybody know a better price than $135? Or do you know somebody that has a set they no longer want? They don't ever seem to come up on the used equipment pages.
In other news, I've been waiting patiently and today I got my invite to Ravelry. I signed up at the beginning of September, after resisting for a long time. I did it primarily to be able to browse the finished projects and see what things look like in different yarns, and see how the items look when made and worn by various people. I thought that I probably wouldn't enter anything myself, but just use it as a reference. However, I uploaded pictures to Flickr throughout the past week, and when I got my invite this morning, I found myself frittering away the entire time Emma was at school, creating project pages and exploring Ravelry. I entered a few older projects (I had to add the Urchin Shawl to their pattern list, after all!), but I don't know that I'll enter every project I've ever done. It's just too much of a time sink. Maybe slowly, over time.
I did, however, get all Flickr-ified over the past week, so if you want to see my recent and historic weaving, knitting, crochet, hardanger, and cross stitch projects, feel free to look! I haven't added the spinning pictures yet. I'm mostly only uploading finished item pictures, since I have progress pictures here on the blog and there's no need to duplicate things that much. I know that Ravelry only does knit and crochet, but I got on a roll with the uploading, and put in all the finished fibery pictures I had on my computer. I haven't done any cross stitch for probably close to five years, but I think I may have to pull out a couple UFO's and finish them off.
So anyway, I have lemminged right along onto the Ravelry bandwagon. My name over there is snailspirals, if anyone wants to be my friend.....
(Now I'm having flashbacks to first grade, when I asked a girl named Sharon if she would be my friend, and she looked at me scornfully and said "No." That may have been when my reclusive tendencies took root.)
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