A lot of years, it’s not until the year end wrap up that I truly understand how much I did during the previous 365.25 days. This year even though the total yarn mileage was a bit of a shock, I was completely aware all year that I was busy. I nearly didn’t do this post at all.
2022 ended with us knowing we were going to be redoing the shower in the bathroom. After way too many trips to hardware stores and bathroom showrooms, we finally decided and by the end of May, that hurdle was cleared. No more water issues in the house. Or so I thought. Continue reading 2023 Year End Wrap Up→
As I mentioned in the last post, in October I became obsessed. All summer and throughout the entire Tour de Fleece it felt like I was in crisis mode. Then as Fall descended, I began working on things outstanding. I probably put in a couple of hundred hours at various computers. I needed a break from all of the adulting. In the back of my mind, there were so many craft projects started and unfinished. This is something I don’t often do. I’m largely a serial crafter and often don’t have more than a home project and a travel project on the go at once.
When I started the Tour de Fleece this year – before all the drama started – I had 5 PHDs (Projects Half Done) of which 3 qualified as UFOs. During the tour, I finished 2 of the projects, turned one UFO into 2 PHDs and one abandoned project, and started one new project. Here’s what the “To do list” looked like at the end of the tour: Continue reading October’s Obsession→
By far, the biggest thing to happen in August was this Circular Sock Machine. I’d been looking casually for one for a year or so but finally put the word out that I was in the market. The goal being to use up some handspun because I spin much more and faster than I knit or weave.
Within hours, an acquaintance said she had been thinking of selling hers. We talked it over for a couple of weeks while she finished up one more project and then on Aug 13th, we went and picked it up. I’d never laid hands on a CSM in my life but I have used a flatbed knitting machine that I had to refurbish before I used it and already hand knit. I also enjoy a challenge – which most people warned me this would be. Everyone kept saying “there’s a big learning curve!” and there is but it’s no more difficult than learning to service vintage sewing machines. In fact, a lot of the logic process transfers across especially when troubleshooting tension or dropped stitches. Continue reading Older and Better – antique sock machine and revisiting projects→
A couple of months ago, I attended a Fibre Mart at the local weaver’s guild. As always seems to happen, I came home with way more than I’d planned on but I also came home with a couple of unlabelled skeins of things.
A basket full of goodies! Spinning and weaving books, weaving cottons, linen yarn, silk brick, qiviut (Muskox down), cashmere, cashgora and other fibres. All of it – including the basket – cost me less than the price of 7 cones of 8/2 weaving cotton and I came home with way more than 7 cones worth!
Like these ones.
I can tell based on the feel, shininess, drape, “squeakiness” and how it sticks to my dry hands that it’s likely a silk yarn but I can’t use it before I know how much yardage I have. In general, a wraps per inch (WPI) measurement and more specifically maybe even a grist would also be helpful.
A friend has started referring to me as a technical spinner and a technical knitter, so what the heck – let’s embrace this just for a moment.
For the second year in a row, I think most of us were pretty happy to see the back end of the past year. It was a challenging year here.
I do like these year in review posts – even if they don’t tend to be that popular. They help me to see that I wasn’t idle after all. It seems like the winter can be a hard time to change years. It’s dark and cold (up here anyway!) and what the heck did I even accomplish anyway?
Mostly a little update really. Earlier this summer I finally got out to the garage and spent a little time in serious negotiations with my router. In exchange for it not killing me, I promised to… well not get hurt, I guess? I mean really, what’s my bargaining chip here?
The other day, I posted about a DIY singled ended electric bobbin winder. In November – couple of months after I built that first prototype – I found 4 used End Feed Shuttles (EFS) which suddenly made the single ended winder a little less ideal.
By responding a little too slowly, I just missed out on a used double ended electric winder from the same seller. Having missed out on that , I decided to start plotting a way to modify my winder into a double ended bobbin winder. Naturally, winter in central Alberta isn’t an ideal time to be trying to go outside into the unheated garage to woodwork, so the project got put on hold until January – which is still not an ideal time for wood destructor shed projects! January is when I started my next weaving project (the one I talked about in the last post.) That project showed me that while the current winder could wind pirns, I didn’t enjoy it (I mean, as much as you’d ever enjoy winding bobbins/pirns?)
Well. 2020 is over, to the relief of most of the world, I’d think. In reality, this annual post almost didn’t happen. It wasn’t until I went back through the photos on my phone that I saw I wasn’t quite as idle as I’d thought. I mean, I took almost 4000 pictures… I had to have done some things, right?
I know a few people who read this blog are weavers or spinners who rewind their spinning bobbins before plying and feel like I do that electric weaving bobbin winders in Canada are a little pricey – so I did an experiment this summer. How much would it cost me if I built one? At first, I opted for the single ended winder. It looked simpler to build and I didn’t have pirns that needed the support on both ends. I’ll call this prototype #1.
