done and distracted, and new toys...

Clogs II are done, so I have what feels like the essential Yo-yo with new completed project photo. I've been fishing, in a knitterly sense, so there are now many more fish. And gifts, there have been some gifts arrive, and while it seems cruel to show when I can not share ... I've been enjoying touching and squeezing the yarn and looking forward to making .. so I just have to share with good heart. Lastly, a new book (or two), and if you are not already listerning ... then I highly recommend you listen to at least this one podcast.

So I now have new felted and fitted clogs. These started at over 13" long from toe to heel, and are now just under 10" long, and they fit. The felting started with a plunger and a bucket (on good advice from some one who was perhaps fitter with larger biceps?) and finished with 3 hot sudsy washes in the washing machine.


They replace my now 2 year and 1 month old clogs .. which started by being knitted from white yarn with a brown sole, but were dyed ruby before use. Obviously dying felted, or fulled :-), knitting is harder than dying loose fiber, or fluffy light yarn. You can see how the dye has worn away although I am at a loss to explain how it is so worn over the instep. I could claim that this was a result of excessive tidying up after my cubs .. but those who know me and my house would protest that can't ring true. These have grown with 2 years of near constant wear, and I do feel inclined to send them thru a tighten-up hot sudsy wash, to see what happens, and perhaps a soak in a dye bath?

So with Bayerische being disrupted by the clogs, and needing something that was an easy knit and yet not another new project .... I have returned to fishing, or fish knitting, or to be most accurate, knitting sardines from sock yarn for my slow food inspired fish blanket.

I now have 151 fish, 91 stitched into the blanket. and 50 ready and waiting. I am trying to keep more of a record of what colours of fish I have, needing to balance the balance of white and orange with all the other colours. The second fish image shows the folded fish blanket surrounded in the drawer with odds and ends of sock yarn, from various knitted sock projects. I have dreams or plans of knitting a fish a day, or 5 fish a week ... but then weeks go buy and no fish.

This yummy and interesting fiber is .....Navajo Churro, direct from a reservation via Jocelyn in California. We swap interesting spinning and knitting treats at odd intervals. The latest Spin Off has an item spun from Churro ... so that is inspiring although I'll admit this is the most interesting fiber I've come across so far. J sneaked a note in saying she wasn't entirely sure of the fiber herself, the Navajo use it for rugs and she wouldn't be offended if it became stuffing. The challenge is on .. to find a way to use it.

In the same package came this lovely pattern, and a week or so later the yarn for it. Tightly twisted merino painted in the skein, from Blue Moon Fiber - designed by the Yarn Harlot herself! Which reminded me that I have a bit of an anti about people who save things for best, stemming from the large clean out we had to undertake when Mrs B (Bears mum) died. She had cupboards, no - rooms full of things bought and needed but saved for best. The sad thing was much of it was in perfect condition but unusable, the unused thick cotton sheets were to small for modern thick mattresses, the towels were smaller than our luxurious bath sheets and were old fashioned colours and patterns, the kettle and pots saved for when the old ones wore out .... were dull and aluminum and lacked a modern non stick coating. I ranted about people who couldn't enjoy the good things life brought them, and nagged those around me to enjoy what they had ... not keep it for best.


And what have I done ... but keep another such kit designed by Cat Bordhi, for 'best', so now I have two, and they really should be the very next socks I knit, together with the un-knit 3 or more Vintage Purls Sock club kits .....all of these need to be knit, for in knitting the socks, I create left over sock yarn for my fish blanket, and the circle closes neatly.

In the last Spin off there was heavy advertising for Spin Control by Amy King. Bear noticed and asked if I 'needed' to get it, I demurred, I wasn't sure. Then a week ago Book Depository sent me an email notification that my pre-order was being filled and would ship soon. I had to admit to Bear that it appeared I had indeed wanted the book, and must have placed a pre-order some many months ago, and subsequently forgotten I had done so. It is here now, and looks good, a nice primer for lots and lots of different techniques, 9 ply anyone, core spun anyone? I've also been reading my way thru another recently acquired book, The Joy of Knitting by Lis R Myers. That one I've enjoyed (although the chapter on how to structure a knitting group left me wondering what she was like to be around .... with ideas of buying and dividing skeins of yarn and organizing the group to sample it in different ways and report back - I'm in charge of my knitting not my fellow knit night companions), I know its older (2001), but it is overall good and I am tempted to buy her other book, The Joy of Knitting Companion (2003), just to keep it company on my bookshelf. OK Amazon one click buying latter, and I have bought it.

Some time last week I rode the usual bus home with the at the time latest episode of Cast-Off by Brenda Dayne. Episode 81: to be of use, seems so 'right now', to zeitgeist, so contemporary, so where I am now, only just a little ahead of me ... that I highly recommend taking time to listen. Brenda is always good, but this time her investigation and analysis of current thinking about craft, and making and things we surround ourselves with seems to be even better than her usual polished podcast. I think Otto might be my new muse .... I'm off to tell her ... right now.

take care
na Stella

Fulling or Felting or Boiling even?

Purists say fulling, and those who care correct those who say felted when speaking about knit (or woven) fabric that are subsequently subjected to processes that cause fibers to permanently tangle and so shrink and stiffen the fabric. At work, where a merino product sold as 'boiled wool' is commonly used by students, the textile lecturer calls this process 'boiling' even though no boiling occurs. Which brings me to say I'm knitting myself another pair of Felted Clogs, my current clogs were made in June of 2007, and are showing wear. My first clogs don't need replacing just yet ... but soon will. The local Knitters Study Group project for June is felted slippers ... so it seems a good time to make a replacement pair to have ready. I'm also trying to use the last 34g of the 3ply of the yarn I used for my recent Leaf Beret by Melissa LaBarre. Trying - because as you will see, I'm having to try again, but I am making good progress on Toby's Gansey.

So felted clogs, last time they were not the fasted to felt, they were a very fast knit ... but a slow laborious felt. This time I was determined to use yarn that felted easily, I looked up the pattern online from work and saw that a local yarn is recommended. Naturally New Zealand Tussock 10ply (locals seem to know it as 'the one with the pukeko on it). I bought 3 balls and 2 balls of a Cleckheaton Nurture to trim the top edge with. Last time I made the 2nd smallest woman's size .. as my feet are not tiny. But as the first pair of clogs took many many trips thru the washing machine (and a boiling dye pot) to shrink enough to fit and even now are loose .. this time I'm knitting the smallest size.

I cast on Friday night and worked the sole, Saturday at knitters study group I worked the instep, Saturday night I worked the cuff and second sole and the sole and instep of the second clog. Today I finished the cuff and instep of the 2nd clog. These really are a fast knit, although after sock knitting the 9mm needles seem clumsy and unwieldy.

My new unfelted (unfulled?) clogs measure 13", huge and floppy by comparison to my old worn clogs. Currently the new ones are in a large tub of hot extremely sudsy water, and are being massaged vigorously with a toilet plunger by Bear. This is the felting/fulling system recommended to me after my trials with felting the first pair. Bear seems happy to make waves - in fact he is enjoying it so much I've left him to it.

My other 'new project' is a pair of wristers out of the 34 g of hand spun I had left over from my beret. I have divided the remaining yarn into two balls of equal weight and my plan is to knit until its all used up. I cast on my standard 40 stitches for a wrister ... but in a moment of temporary insanity or mindlessness I forgot that the yarn was more like fingering than sport or DK weight which would mean I'd need more stitches. I worked these in 2.2 rib, and they fit, but were snug. I've ripped these back and will start again with more stitches. I have Meg Swanson's A gathering of lace from the library, and am now wondering if I could incorperate a little of Norah Gaughan's Ribbed Lace Pullover patterning (Thanks to Wendy 98 for posting her swatch on flickr) into the 2.2 rib. I love the openwork between the twisted cables and the twisted cables. Might not be a quick knit after all .....

The plain knitting on Toby's Gansey went fast, already I am up to the separation rounds. The decorative all around rounds that provide a break between the highly textured yoke and the plain lower section of the gansey. That meant I had to made some decisions ... like the proportions and the length of the gussets. So I made a plan, using the suggestions in BBR's Knitting Gansey's book.
The separation band is a round of purl, a round of knit, a round of purl a round of knit. then two rounds of K2.P2, a round of knit and then an offset round of P2.K2. I have frogged a little, finding that that plain knit round was important in providing a little more definition to the stitches. Once I've repeated this once or twice more I can move onto the patterned yoke. I've charted the left side of the gansey yoke in excel .. and have to reverse it and print the chart for the right and left. I'm also toying with adding a very non traditional zip and collar ..... no decisions and no promises yet. I just wonder if Toby might wear that style more than a traditional gansey round neck.

ok - i'm off to see if Bear is tired yet, and if my clogs fit me yet :-)
take care
na Stella

The post with no images.

No images, I left the camera at work, and had 'one of those days'. Work began at 8:30, drive with headlights on as still dark, drop cubs to school, 9am meeting, teaching knitting elective 10-12, rush to fare-well lunch for colleague, rush back to teach 1-4pm, rush to 4pm marking moderation meeting at the main campus, print marking sheets, compare results, discuss ... bus home at 5:45pm, in the total dark. Its winter here, the daylight hours are short.
U'Oh, camera and gansey knitting still on the desk awaiting for mid day daylight photo.
so no photos.
Gansey grows, I'm only a centimeter or so from the start of the gansey texture knitting. I've knit the rib on the second Bayerische sock .. tonight I'll work the increases and get started on the travelling stitch patterning. I've bought new yarn, some thick 10ply Aran to knit a pair of felted clogs .. this months knitters study group project.
The knitting elective finishes tomorrow .. and I've learnt so much teaching them, and hope they have learnt lots. Looks like it. I plan to bake a cake or something to take in to celebrate after the presentation and hand in.

Thats me,
take care na Stella

Ecstatic (sort of) and indignant

Yes ... two emotions today, first ecstatic because my Bayerische is half done exactly half done ... yes really I have one finished sock. And second indignant at how easily it can be for some one who should know better and who is paid to know better to dismiss a perfectly good spinning wheel as not worth repairing.


So Bayerische ... look! All done from one skein and a lushious 92 grams of sock (108 grams left - I had two skeins), leg is 17" from top of rib cuff to base of heel flap.
If the conditions outside had been more suitable for making photos you might have been able to see it worn. But two things prevented me. First I spent today stitched up the Annual Merino Thermal supply, where I buy several meters of merino knit fabric and make many long sleeved and singlet style tops for Toby and Poppy. Because I was busy and focused I left making the photo to late in the day for good light inside. Which brings me to my second reason, there was a small army of police around our house for much of the afternoon ... when we asked why we were told there was a 'person' with a 'weapon' acting in a 'dangerous manner' in the adjacent street. Well! With a dozen police parked in our little private street .. I wasn't going to provide light relief for the force by sitting on the front porch with one green knee high sock (ok spectacular sock - but still a green knee high sock), my trouser leg rolled up and contorted into weird positions making photos of the sock. I love you all as readers and commenter ... but sorry ... the love only goes so far. And no ... we do not live in a hotbed of crime and violence .. just the opposite. Lastly on that note ...at 4ish things started happening, half the police cars sped away with siren at full blast, and shortly after an ambulance shot around the corner. I don't know the situation or the outcome ... but I'm hoping that nothing but pride was injured.

And Indignant, well more like truly shocked and a little disappointed. There was a guild spin in this weekend, so I went with my Wing .. and spotted this older Pipy across the room ... and being me and curious, I headed over to check her out. The story is a lady had brought her down to Dunedin to see if any one here knew how to repair the wheel. It was her sisters, and the sister had taken it to a well known Spinning Wheel dealer in Chch .. asking if they could repair it. I saw the repair form, a little cream card ... with the owners name and phone number ... and writ large in block capital ball point NOT WORTH REPAIRING. Sheeesh, by my estimate, this needs less than 1 meter of nylon cord, at around $1 or less, and a 2m drive band at about $2. Ok I'll admit it perhaps could be considered to need a little tlc, such as a good clean with linseed oil and soaking the moving parts in turps to degrease them. I am sometimes surprised at how little most spinners understand about their wheels and how they work ... but more shocked a firm selling wheels could be so dismissive.

What really surprised me is this is a Saxony Pipy, circa 1968, signed and dated by P Poore. One of the prettiest wheels of the mid 20th C. These wheels are in demand, and in this condition trade on Ebay for $USD300-$USD400 and often more. They sell on Trademe (new Zealands answer to Ebay) for over $NZD200. This has been well looked after, its been in a basement, but is clean and dry, the leather tab is in good nick, with little brass grommit rimmed holes ... and the weights are all there, and is all fairly tight. There is one main axel pin missing ... but a little rimu dowel can be sanded and shaped to fit. The owner has several bobbins .. so it IMO it is truly worth repair - isn't it, even if it wasn't a Pipy?

Its all there and the wheel and flier and bobbin rotate freely ... and I can only imagine how easily it will spin once cleaned and freshly lubricated. The only other little repair needed is to tighten the bolt holding the maiden upright supports onto the adjustable thingie (technical term - thingie). Either it just needs a tighten ... or it needs a new nut and bolt - I can do that. So the '68 Pipy is at home with me, and I have plans to fix-her-up a little into working condition and return her to her owner.

Toby's gansey grows .. my hand knit class finishes this week, hand in and present on Thursday .... its all good here (police outside the house for most of the day not withstanding).

take care
na Stella