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→
My overarching goal has always been making useful things useful again. That’s whether I’m fixing sewing machines, doing woodwork/woodturning, refurbishing spinning equipment or creating something in CAD from scratch.
I talked about 3d printers in a previous post and how they’re maybe not what people think they are, yet. That’s not to say they’re not ready to bring new life to things.
Every once in a while when I’m knitting on my antique sock knitting machine, I pull the bum off a cylinder needle. They’re basically latch hooks but with a foot or protrusion that the cams in the machine push up or down. Continue reading Future Starts Slow→
I thought I’d try something a little novel for this blog. A short post.
What? It could happen. Maybe a “shortish” post for now.
Back in July, I started a supported spindle spin that ended up being a far larger project than I imagined. See, I usually spin just to spin. Then the yarn gets put on the wall where it may take me years to use because I spin more than I knit or weave combined.
I talked about this project back in August and showed a bunch of in progress pics. Well, around late September I got it in my head that maybe I could finish it by November 10th and have it blocked and dry in time for the Edmonton Fibre Frolic. I do these things – putting unnecessary pressure on myself. Still it was only a couple of rows a day, as long as nothing went wrong and if I could keep up with the spinning. It also depended on how many repeats of the penultimate chart I decided to do. As written or one repeat, it was doable. The knitting alone though was a huge undertaking. True lace (no rest rows) and shaping I’ve never done before. Some days a row would take me 2 hours – especially if I had to go back and find an error or fix one in the row below. Continue reading An accidentally epic finish→
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.
