SW 2012 album

Stitches West 2012, February, Santa Clara, CA.
I took two classes: "Slick set-in-sleeves" with JCBriar, and a "Fitting Knits" class with Lily Chin. Both were worthwhile.

I got a beautiful lightweight spindle by KCL Woods. It weighs less than an ounce and spins true. I got what I call a "more fun than a barrel full of monkeys" pack of colorful fiber. And some MadTosh yarn and sumptuous Souza fiber.

I met up with some friends at A Verb for Keeping Warm's booth, which was selected by the Stitches West instructors as "most beautiful"! Congrats!
In the right-hand photo I'm flanked by Kristine and Romi, sources of the dress pattern and fabric, as well as the scarf I'm wearing. The turtle fabric is whimsical and from AVFKW, and the scarf is "Caliz" and designed by Romi.

Here are a few other purchases. And in the lower left corner you can see a little souvenir from my visit with Ysolda.

Jan 17: a year

First One: 4g, 7ft

A year ago on January 17, knitflix taught me how to use my spinning wheel. I learned to spin, then ply some wool that I had from an intro class several years before. 

Group of First Ones

How could I have known that I would embrace this medium! I've also been introduced to wonderful and helpful people along the way - my local fiber shop was pointed out to me when I called knitflix and said that "I ran out of fiber and need more, now." Yeah - need more *now* - a familiar phrase.







more fun than a barrel full of monkeys

Spinning fiber on a wheel or a spindle alters the fiber as well as the brain waves. Someone find a neurologist and hook me up - let's see what the readings show.

Thank you, J.

Fire in the hands

...from the Kundert Spindle, which was a gift to me. It is well balanced and just keeps going with a single push. Sweet.

Singles and plying were done on the spindle. I tried to spin beyond my typical laceweight zone and produced something between fingering and sportweight.

30g, 69.2yd, 2-ply, woolen, of Fiberfiend's flame.

Shop local

The perennial question of "so what do you want for Christmas?" has been asked, and I have the luxury of having so much to live with and from, that I get to think about a response that can engage others around me.

The adage "think global, act local" has always been meaningful to me. So I return to this, especially as the general economy is depressed, and the action is to "shop local". This idea is described simply in the 3/50 Project: pick 3 local independent "brick and mortar" stores you couldn’t live without and if you spend $50 each month amongst the 3 then basically you are strengthening your own community.

It’s important to remember the repercussions our purchases have. For every $100 spent on local independent stores, $68 goes back into the community through payroll, taxes, and other expenditures. If you spend $100 on a national chain store, only $48 comes back; and if you buy from an online source, NONE of it comes back.

I want my friends and community to do well and to be well.  In turn, we will be better equipped to reach out and assist others - on a local AND global level.

Milestone

End of Tour de Fleece today, and here's what I have.

But Wait! Last weekend I had to go to A Verb for Keeping Warm to engage in commerce. AVFKW is my local resource for spinning - they have wonderful fiber, yarn, spindles, wheels, combs, books and classes, as well as people who are very personal, engaging and warm themselves! Go check them out.

So I acquired and plunged into Pigeonroof Studios "Forest" - 50/50 SWmerino/silk, and spun & plied 7g.


And this is the lineup today, from L to R, each skein is 7g plied:
_dk brn plied
_"Sedona"x2(Lisa Souza),
_"Flame"x2 (Fiberfiend) really shows the varying colors in the fiber,
_"Ocean Rudeness"x1 (Out of Step Dyeworks),
_"At the Tank"x2 (Knitflix),
_"Silver Lake"x1 (Lisa Souza) plus 7g fiber,
_"Forest"x1 (PigeonRoof Studios),
_plus "Ocean Rudeness" in the tank.

What fun to move from one fiber to another, one color / element to another. This rookie lantern rouge is continuing to learn! Thanks very much to Knitflix, who got me going on this and also tries to help me with my blog posts.

Love the spindle and the "spontaneous generation" of strong cord from ethereal fluff.

Progress & Observations

Progress:
Keeping up with my daily spinning goal. Increments of 7grams are small enough for variety (and a sense of accomplishment) and large enough to make a respectable hank of fine gage plied yarn. The ritual of sitting and posting simple blog posts has not yet set in (despite the deliberate thought and intention to post, but I pick up the spindle instead - hey what can I say - I just go with the spinning), so here is the erratic entry.


_Lighter than air - Lisa Souza fiber - "Zen Top", "Silver Lake", 50/25/25 - merino/tussah silk/bamboo.


This is incredible fiber that spins to a fine thread.

I became one with the arachnids.


_Aquatics - a surprise gift (lucky me, thank you!) from knitflix, who dyed this! - "At the Tank" (a very local inspiration based on the San Jose Sharks) , SW-BFL


_"At the Tank": 7grams fiber plus an Andean ply bracelet of 7grams


_"At the Tank": 7grams plied on the spindle atop the "mothership" bundle of fiber


_another 7grams of "Flame" from fiberfiend plus a second 7grams round of "At the Tank" from knitflix.

_"At the Tank" is in the tank, setting twist.


Observations:
_I am learning that fiber color becomes very intense when spun. This observation is logical in hindsight but not fully realized by me until these bundles were completed. So I'm beginning to see color in fiber differently, i.e. in spun form instead of fiber form.

_Additionally, I am delighted to get to know these various fiber types - SW corriedale (wonderful) , any mix with bamboo or silk (WOW what a sensation, and how thin can I make this anyway?!), SW-BFL (incredible staple length).

_I love the smell of drying wool. Reminds me of childhood.

_Although I am still spinning very fine gage, I am beginning to control the amount of twist, which in my case means that I'm trying not to overspin the singles. My spindle drops more (gak) but I suppose I'm also learning how to splice more effectively too.

_In addition to the surprise gift (thank you again!) of fiber from knitflix, I also rec'd a few simple blogging tips, but I haven't used too many of them and I'm still wading through html, so apologies to all y'all.