the Roberta could use a new home

I've convinced myself that two espinners is redundant so I'm looking for a new home for the Ertoel Roberta and accessories. It was purchased one year ago from Shuttleworks.

Includes flyer with O ring sliding hook, 3 jumbo bobbins, 3 regular bobbins, orifice hook, built-in kate, pause control, 12 volt plug in, lubricants and original paperwork. Also included is a WooLee Winder with 4 jumbo bobbins that was purchased a few months ago so there are 10 bobbins in total. (The WW flyer needs a spacer to snug up the fit which Nathan Lee has said that he will provide. In the meantime, I've been using a rubber washer and it does the job. I can forward the spacer when it arrives.) Everything is in great condition.

I'm asking $1250 shipped within Canada or to the US.

fickle swatches

Case #1:

I have a plan to make a pair of surprise socks for my physiotherapist Rachel for Christmas. I hatched the plan several weeks ago and got the receptionist at the physio clinic to spy on Rachel's shoes to see what size she wears (9.5/10). I made note of her usual attire - subdued colors - so that I would make socks that she would like. I specifically ordered yarn online for them. When it arrived, I swatched (in the round) and started knitting.

It's a good thing I gave myself lots of time to complete the gift. As I was finishing the gusset of the first sock it occurred to me that it was looking rather small. I stuck my own size 7.5 foot into the sock.
Perfect fit.

So I had to decide whether to frog and start again or keep them for myself. Considering that one sock of a pair is nearly done and they fit me anyway, I decided to try again for Rachel's socks. So I went stash diving and I think I have something sort of suitable that can work. Merry Christmas to me. Pictures of the new sock to follow when there is enough to bother photographing.


Case #2:

I posted here about plying Falkland handspun with wooly nylon for sock yarn.

I was anxious to see how it would knit up so I swatched, at about the same time as I swatched for Rachel's socks (hmmm... coincidence?), and started knitting myself a pair using the Fluted Bannister Socks stitch pattern thinking it would look nice with the gradual color changes in the yarn.

So I'm trucking down the leg of the first sock and decide to put it on to try on. Snug. Maybe because the sock is on dpn's? Knitted it onto two circs. Tried it on again. Snug.

Not exactly too small because the yarn has a lot of bounce from the wooly nylon but it's..... snug.

It has been shoved into time out while I knit Rachel's current pair. After that, I'll decide whether to knit on and see if the sock can be pulled on over my ankle or whether it will hit the frog pond as well.

Remind me again why we knit swatches, will you?

the Judith MacKenzie experiment

I recently watched some spinning videos (on my iPad, LOVE that thing!) including Popular Wheel Mechanics by Judith MacKenzie. She advises people to get to know their wheels by seeing the range of yarns that you can produce with it using your default spinning speed and adjusting the whorls (or pulleys, as Judith calls them) and tension.

I decided to do just that with the Lendrum. I used beautiful Polwarth fiber that I combed and dizzed so that the fiber and preparation would be consistent. It was a neat exercise.
I used only the regular flyer with its three whorls. I let the yarn ply back on itself as soon as it was pulled off of the bobbin. I tried to maintain my usual treadling speed (which is pretty fast) and let the whorl and the tension setting dictate the size of the yarn. My drafting speed did vary a bit.

You can see that there is quite a range of yarns from that one flyer. The top yarn was the thickest that I could spin because the fiber had been dizzed to a fairly small diameter. I didn't draft it very much while spinning. Could I have spun a thicker yarn with just this flyer? Maybe a bit but I think I would have to consciously slow down my treadling to do so. The plying flyer, which I didn't buy, would likely make the job easier because the whorls would be larger.

I didn't have any trouble at all producing the finest yarn because the lovely Polwarth fiber drafts out beautifully and because my hands really, really like fine spinning. I have the fast flyer but didn't use it for this experiment. Because I treadle quickly, I don't really need the fast flyer for spinning wool but it is great for cotton. Lendrum does make a very fast flyer but I can't imagine ever needing it although some people like it a lot.

This was a very useful exercise and I recommend it. One of these days I'll get around to repeating it with my other two wheels.

Run For The Cure update

I told you about Geoff's half-sister Chloe becoming team captain for this year's Run For The Cure in honour of her mom defeating cancer ten years ago when Chloe was a baby. She sent an email with these pictures of the run last weekend.

As you can see, she did shave her head and donate her hair to make wigs for children undergoing cancer treatment. She proudly shared that she raised $5,588 and her team total was $11,348!

Way to go Chloe! We're proud of you!

catching up

First, I'll answer a couple of questions from recent posts.

Jody asked how fall looks on the prairies. She said that the trees were at their most colorful in Ontario these days.

Our Saskatchewan fall isn't as colorful as fall in the eastern part of the continent. Most trees have leaves that turn yellow when cool air arrives. The grass starts to turn golden and brown. Actually I think that fall is golden in the prairies; it's the color of the changing plant life and the gorgeous golden glow of the slanting sunlight.

This was taken in my back yard last week.

And here's one taken in the front yard looking down the street.
A strong wind blew for a couple of days after I took these pictures and the golden trees are now leafless. There are still green trees that don't panic at the first frost and hold onto their color for a while yet.

Marguerite asked if the moth was large. Yes, it was - probably 2 inches wide. It disappeared for a while and then I saw it flying around the window of the sunroom the next day. I tried to convince it to go out of the open door but it wasn't interested. I haven't seen it since.

The dogs and I visited the Regina off-leash dog park for the first time today. It was fun! There's a large fenced grassy area around the creek near the airport. It was a busy place today because of summer-like temperatures.

All of the dogs were friendly and tolerant of each other. Several of them were in and out of the creek. Mine didn't show any interest in going in the water. They checked out the shoreline but that was as far as they ventured.

New friends were made.


Cooper got the zoomies.

Bentley enjoyed the fresh air.

Austin and Robbie stayed pretty close to me the whole time. They've been trained very well over the years. Whenever I looked down, there they were.
Good shelties.

We'll definitely be going back. It was great exercise for all of us.

check it out

Check out this little lovely who came to visit my kitchen last night.

I've never seen a moth quite like this before. I'm most impressed with the pretty wing markings and the cool Phyllis Diller hair style.

After a few weeks of cold, very wet weather, Mother Nature has gifted us with this gorgeous day. It reached 29 C (84 F) this afternoon. Such a nice change from temps hovering around frost!

I'm also happy because I finally got to groom my dogs this week. I couldn't get at it for a few weeks because of a fibro flare and they desperately needed a good brushing. It feels so good to get it done.

I'm in love

with this.

I told you how much I was enjoying the iPod Touch. Well, one thing led to another and this (the most basic) iPad came home with me this week. Could I truly afford it at this time? No. But I convinced myself that I couldn't live without it and I sold the Majacraft Pioneer so that partially funded it.

This is iPod Touch on crack. It is amazing and wonderful and mind-boggling and beautiful. When I think back to high school computer programming class in the mid-70s I feel like I grew up in the dark ages. There was one computer for our use and it lived at the university. It filled a massive room there. We learned flowchart programming skills (of which I remember nothing but the words Fortran and Cobol) and used ticker tape-like cards (that would be the technical name) to send our work to the university. Who would have believed that about 35 years later we would have mini-computers in our purses that operated wirelessly to connect us to the entire world?! I wish my dad had lived long enough to see it. He died in 1970 but had advised me to learn about computers because he truly believed that they were the way of the future. How right he was.

That is all I have time to blog today. My iPad is calling me.

for charity

I have posted before about our wonderful LYS Golden Willow Natural Fibers and its owner Sharon. She received a large donation of wool this summer and sent out word to local knitters that she intended to knit hats for Souls Harbour Rescue Mission with it and could use help. There was no shortage of help offered once word got out. I took a skein and here are my finished hats to donate.

I don't know what the yarn is but it was very nice to knit and washed up even nicer. I think there must be mohair in the blend because it is soft and has a nice halo. It is a rustic yarn - I picked out bits of vegetable matter as I knit so I don't think it was mass produced. I'm sure it will help some people stay warm this winter. I won't be taking any more yarn to knit hats though because my hands really, really don't like knitting with anything heavier than sock yarn. I was happy to finish up this knitting and give my hands a break.

I also finished spinning some sock yarn with Spinning Awesome Good Falkland fiber in the Hydrangea colorway, one of the club offerings. I'm enjoying this fiber club. Shelby offers plenty of choices for each month's fiber and even will dye this month's fiber from a photo that each member provides for her. I'm excited to see what she does with a picture of Austin that I sent her.

Anyway, back to the Falkland.
It's the first yarn that I have spun on the new Hansen miniSpinner. I'm very impressed with the Hansen! It's so easy to use and I love that I have great control over my spinning with it. I spun two plies with the Hydrangea and plied them together with a strand of light blue wooly nylon for extra durability. Wooly nylon is serger thread that I buy at a sewing machine store. Some people carry it along with their sock yarn in heels and toes for strength. It's so fine that it could be carried for the whole sock. I hate carrying two strands of yarn as I knit so decided to try just using it as a third ply. It was a little tricky to ply from the little spool that the wooly nylon comes on but once I figured out how to manage everything it worked okay. The end result surprised me a bit. Due to the wooly nylon's elasticity, the Falkland plies puckered up somewhat and the yarn is quite delightfully bouncy! My plan is to start a pair of socks with it right away so that I can see how it knits up.

this is lovely

after the bath

These two singles

became this fractal spun, 2 ply yarn.

Bee Mice Elf “Snow-Capped”; 50% merino, 25% bamboo, 25% silk;
228 g, 1150 yds.

it's a learning tool

It's a learning tool. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's my sister Darcie's fault. She bought an iPod Touch and told me that I really, really wanted one too. At first I didn't think I would use it much. Then I started looking at the available apps for knitters and spinners and changed my mind.

So I'm now the proud owner of one of my own and have developed a kink in my right shoulder from using the computer mouse to explore all of the cool apps in the iTunes store that I need for it. I also have sore thumbs from playing an evil, addicting game called Angry Birds. I spent most of the day launching birds at pigs. Freaking pigs.

But the Touch is not just a toy (remember my story from above). There is an amazing app called Planets. It shows you the night sky exactly where you are in the world at the time. That's how I found out that the bright orb in the sky near the moon is actually Jupiter. Jupiter!! I didn't even know that we can see Jupiter with the naked eye but there it is! It's bright enough that my point-and-shoot camera can find it.
How cool is that?!

And don't even get me started on the joys of the Knit Gauge app....

getting better finally

Bentley is finally starting to feel better. I took him to the vet clinic to see Jo-Ann yesterday and she gave him anti-parasite medication. He is feeling much better today. I'm not sure what caused the parasite problem. We went for a few walks in the park last week so maybe the dogs picked up something there.

See this rabbit with the Mohawk hairstyle?
B helped himself to it while we were in the waiting room at the vet clinic. He was carrying it around the clinic with the cardboard packaging still on it so of course I had to buy it for him. The Mohawk hairdo was styled with Dachshund Spit Hair Gel because the rabbit spends most of its time in B's mouth.

He even had it close by while he kept an eye on the outside world.
Bentley is the only one of the dogs who sleeps on my bed. Yes, he's spoiled rotten. Anyway, I woke up with the rabbit on my head this morning. Do you think he likes the rabbit maybe?

I ordered a custom made bag for my Lendrum wheel from Lauren on Ravelry. She has become quite busy these days with orders for her bags for good reason.

Her bags are stunningly beautiful and extremely well-made as well as being very reasonable priced! I was able to choose the fabric so of course chose these pretty watercolor blues and violets.
The bag is sturdy as well as beautiful. It's fully padded with reinforcement on the bottom, has padded backpack style straps, pockets, and this neat elastic strap to keep the wheel centered in the bag.
I also bought a padded bag for the flyer assembly. Lauren sent the small bag as a thank you gift. It's to hang on the wheel and keep small accessories available.


In other news, I am now officially Majacraft-less. I sold the Pioneer to a spinning friend (the Rose went to a different spinning friend; Majacrafts are easy to sell). I really didn't need the Pioneer now that I've got the Lendrum and the Hansen. Before the Pioneer moved away, I finished this bobbin of merino/silk/baby alpaca/sheltie/angelina.
I am spinning the other singles of Bombyx silk. It will be a two-ply yarn and I'm planning a shawl.

I also finished up both singles of this Bee Mice Elf “Snow-Capped”; 50% merino, 25% bamboo, 25% silk, fractal spun.
I did finish plying them but haven't skeined or finished them yet so pics to follow.

I have a sick dog today. A couple of days ago Cooper had some diarrhea. My first thought was that I hoped the maniac hadn't eaten another rock but he seems just fine in spite of some loose poops. Last night Bentley started vomiting and having bloody diarrhea. He's a sick cowboy today. I don't know how there can be anything left in him at this point. I'm not sure what is making them sick. We went for a few walks in the park last week so maybe they picked up something there. So far the other two have been just fine and I'm hoping it stays that way.

Chloe

Chloe

As most of you know, we adopted our son Geoff when he was a baby and he has great relationships with his birth parents. His birth mom Anita is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed ten years ago when her youngest child Chloe was a few months old.

Anita and Chloe, October 2000

Happily Anita's cancer has been in remission since her treatment and I have no doubt that she and many, many others have benefited greatly from the work done by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

This year Chloe has decided to form her own team for the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 3. She is also planning to shave her own hair and donate it to have a wig made for someone undergoing cancer treatment. I don't know about you but for a ten year old to make that commitment just leaves me gob-smacked (and a little teary-eyed).

I have already made my donation. If you would like to help Chloe's Cancer Crushers with a donation of your own, here are links to Chloes's Run for the Cure pages:

Chloe's personal page
Chloe's team page

Chloe and countless others thank you.

good grief!

At the beginning of July I decided that it was silly to keep a wheel that made my knees hurt. So my beloved Majacraft Rose was sold to fund the purchase of a Hansen miniSpinner. The spinner finally arrived yesterday!

It's amazing! Small, light, whisper quiet; it's an espinner that can easily spin the fine yarns that I like because of its Scotch tension. Here are a couple of sample yarns that I spun as soon as I took the spinner out of the box. On the top is cotton and below it is silk. The orifice hook is included with the spinner.

It has a tap on/off control and the WooLee Winder bobbins are huge. It can be plugged into the regular power outlet in the house, a 12 volt outlet like a cigarette lighter, or a power pack. I had already bought an Oh Canada Zuca bag and a little power pack from Canadian Tire for it so I was ready to go. It sits nicely on the Zuca bag for spinning and pops inside for transport.

The Zuca bag has lots of pockets and compartments for fiber and accessories. It's easy to pull along because the handle easily pops up and it has double skateboard wheels in the rear.
I didn't have much time to play with my new toy because I had an appointment and some errands to run so didn't get a chance to get back to it until after supper. I plugged it in beside my chair in the living room and set the spinner on the Zuca bag so it would be ready to go. As I happened to glance down before sitting down and saw the power cord in a brown puppy's mouth. He had already severed it in half in the blink of an eye. If there had been an interested party available, I'd had given that trouble dog away on the spot! Dan managed to splice it to get it working again and found a new one today when he was out and about. So I guess I'll keep Cooper after all (although I fished a rock out of his mouth again today, aargh!).

a small sample

I made a wee sample of plying the light blue and light green singles together and I like it. I'm a little surprised that the green doesn't overwhelm the blue because of the difference in value. I'm also a little surprised at how the green makes the blue seem more lilac than it is in the singles yarn. It's about 21 wpi which places it in the fingering weight range although I don't think I would like socks made with 50% bamboo and 50% merino. The bamboo doesn't have enough memory for my liking. It would make a very pretty, soft scarf though.

a tale of two batts

You probably remember this blue/green batt that I made a few weeks ago.

I dyed 50 grams of merino/bamboo top then carded the colors together to make the batts. Normally when I dye, I play mad scientist and use the colors as they appeal to me without worrying about reproducing a colorway. For this batt I decided to record the colors in case I liked how the sample turned out.

So here it is a few weeks later and I decided to dye some more to make enough yarn for socks. I started with 50 g of the same top, and prepared the dye solutions in the same way (or so I thought). This is what I got.
Not even close. Pretty but not a duplicate of the first sample at all. Several things are likely to blame. If I remember correctly (I did not write these things down in my notes), I placed half of the fiber in each of two crockpots the first time and only used one crockpot this time. I also must have warmed the dyes the first time and not the second. And I must not have waited for the dye bath to reach the same temperature when I added the dye. Now I know that to reproduce a colorway I must record EVERYTHING, not just the dye colors and dilutions.

Here are the two batts together.
Besides the obvious color difference there is also a value difference as you can see when I make the photo black and white with my photo software.
I sampled a bit of spun singles from each and plied them together. The darker yarn took over and the pale blue pretty much disappeared visually. So I carded the darker batt with an equal amount of white fiber. Here you can see the lightened result beside the dark one, in color then in black and white.
And all three together.
Hmm, now I have three different values. Hard to believe that all three came from the same colors and fiber. I'm stymied about how to proceed and I guess I will have to do more sampling. I could blend all of the darker stuff with white and then ply it with the blue. Or do a 3 ply and spin a singles with each of the batts. Or try to reproduce the first batt again and see if I can come closer.

Now I really know why you should buy all of the same dye lot before starting a knitting project. I will use a larger pot and dye all my fiber at the same time in the future.