Category: musings

  • spinning, spinning

    Wow, it’s late already. It’s been a busy day – out to Caynes by transit (which ain’t that easy), a 15 km bike ride (not that long I know, but I’m terribly out of shape), canning up some of those lovely cherries from the other day, knitting, and spinning! Ahhh.

    The canning – this was my first experience, mainly instructed by the Joy of Cooking. I did the whole cherries, pit and all, in a medium syrup. Boiling water bath (in just a really big pot on the stove), four half liter jars. One of them seems to not be sealed properly – the lid popped while it sits cooling. Ah well, that just means I’ll have to eat them soon. The others seem to be sealed. It took a long time to get the pot to a boil, but other than that it was actually pretty fun. And the pretty, pretty jars of fruit are worth it! Tomorrow: adventures in jam making…oh, and I made some mint chocolate chip ice cream that turned out super yummy. I loves me some new foody experiments!

    Spinning – I’ve been working on some new yarns for the shop; it’s all going a bit slow because I haven’t had much time to sit at the wheel. Seems it’s easier to find the time when I’m actually in classes! Nowadays I’m just busy doing other stuff out and about!

    Which leads me to the knitting…it’s not that I haven’t been doing it, because I have. But not anything terribly exciting, really. Lots of titbits. Stockinette socks. I did finally do the button band of VBC and need to sew the shoulders together so I can do the neckband, then sew everything else together. The supermerino sweater is almost almost done, but again – just needs that time where I can sit and finish it. I’ve been carrying around a ball of Lana Gatto VIP (merino/cashmere) and a set of dpns to start a set of legwarmers, but I just can’t seem to get around to doing it!

    I did manage to knit a piece of a sweater – the back of the Sand Dollar pullover from Knitting Nature, for LK’s Megan I. We’re getting in some Posh Yarns cotton/cashmere, and working on a sample out of it – it’s soooo yummy.

    Hmmmm. Perhaps it’s time to go do a few rows on the supermerino cardi. Night!

  • sssssshhh. Quiet Study Area.

    Well, I did finally finish up that Rowanspun jacket. It even blocked out really nice:

    (Please ignore electric guitar sticking out in the corner. Or, think I’m cool because of it. Either way is fine with me!)

    The applied icord – what I figured out finally was that I was picking up the wrong part of the stitch to SKP. Whoops. I’d already done the left front and around the collar when I figured it out, so a quick snip at the top of the left front, an unravelling, a reknit and a graft later, all was well.

    Thing is it’s just … meh.

    Not terrible, to be sure; I love the colour and the sleeves are really awesome. The fabric came together really nicely after a good soak, and I really like the way the whole thing looks. On the floor.

    There’s a problem with one of the sleeve caps; it doesn’t really sit properly (although it’s not really ALL that bad). And while sometimes I like it when trying it on (say, with jeans) I think I have come to the conclusion that it’s simply too big. In the shoulders, definitely. The body’s ok now that it’s been stretched lengthwise.

    So, I suppose I’ll just have to walk away from it for a bit. Maybe this is one of those cases where you just need to find it again in a few weeks and go, “hey, this is awesome! why aren’t I wearing this?” Although in a few weeks, it’ll be hotter than Hades around here. Maybe in the fall.

    Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on a paper for school. I did manage to get the other front of VBC started; maybe I’ll be able to chip away at it for the next little while and have another finished sweater.

    T.H. Huxley and Wool Cotton. Sigh. Can you figure out which one I like more?

    P.S. A few new skeins – the ones I’ve been showing here – will be up for sale soon. Tomorrow, I think. Keep an eye out.

  • aaaand we’re back (empty handed)

    Argh. I’ve got loads of fun new stuff to show you, and a dozen dead batteries with an AWOL charger. So just a quick lowdown on what’s been going on round these parts, and I promise I shall return with photos shortly…

    knitting:
    I’m almost done the applied i-cord edging on the Rowanspun jacket. It’s doing something kind of funny – when I picked up the stitches from the RS edge of the jacket, the icord rolled to the WS. When I picked up from the WS, the icord stayed on the WS! I suppose it’s no matter, since I’m going to be attaching some fasteners anyway, but still it’s irritating.

    VBC is..well, sitting around a lot. But I’m nearly done the smaller of the two fronts then it’s on to the most fun piece – the one with the lace and cable. I need to locate some buttons/beads for it, too.

    Mostly I’ve been busy knitting Titbits and other commissioned stuff. That’s excellent, of course (yay income from knitting) but certainly takes time away from my selfish, selfish knitting!

    spinning:
    I actually got the merino from RH Lindsay remarkably fast; last time it took 2 months to get it shipped and this time it was at my house in less than 3 weeks! Unfortunately I wasn’t home when it came, and my sister had to pay the (not-so-nice) postman $50 in taxes. D’oh. (Of course I paid her back + a brokerage fee.) It’s lovely of course, and 8 pounds of it are already with, or on their way to, a couple of people. Denny and I will split the rest.

    What irks me about it is that I ordered 27 pounds (the size of a full bump as specified on their website) and was shipped 30.2 pounds. That’s fine but…they charged me for it, too. So I got more than I ordered and have to pay more than I expected. It’s not that I can’t use it or anything but…what about people who say, have only a set amount of money to spend? I’m sure that they wouldn’t appreciate being charged more without even a confirmation email.

    Anyway, I haven’t spun any of that up yet, but I’ve been doing up some lovely wool/silk and some merino left from the *last* time. I’ve got baskets full of spinning to do! I hope to have some new yarns up for sale on etsy soon.

    other stuff:
    – The new issue of the Spin-Off came into the store and was gone just as fast! I bought a copy and sold two at my spindling class – sorry Denny, Steph and Mel – I guess you’ll have to wait till Megan reorders! It’s a really, really good issue.
    – In the mail today: loads of fabric from Cia’s Palette (I already want to order more fabric from her but I’ll try to restrain myself until I get some sewing done!). Cia was really nice and let me know when two of the fabrics in the fat quarter pack I ordered weren’t in stock – she shipped the rest and the others will follow once they’re back in stock.
    – I had ordered the Denyse Schmidt fat quarter pack (under “Designer fabrics”). Also in the mail today – Denyse Schmidt Quilts! Yay. Let’s quilt it up.

    Ooookay. I think that’s enough for now. Pictures soon, I promise – I think my sister’s located the battery charger!