Hand Plying

Remember that spinning I was doing a while ago? It is in the process of becoming a hat for my mean little sister. Sometimes she isn't mean though and that is why she is getting a hat. Actually, now that I think about it she is getting the hat because she is mean: she keeps stealing mine.

So the hat. It is pink Surprise surprise. That is what colour the roving was.
It is progressing rather nicely... it is a Ysolda Urchin beret from the Fall 2007 of Knitty.

So the really cool thing that happened tonight and prompted me to be a good little blog keeper and actually write a post was that I plied the last of my singles. I had given it a bit of a rest, I was more excited about actually knitting with the stuff I had already finished, but as I was flicking through my ravelry groups, I saw the Beginning Spinners group. In the forums was a little thread on what to do when you fill a spindle. Here I came across Andean Plying, a term I have heard but never really grasped what it meant.

A quick google search revealed that lots of people think that Andean Plying is tricky. It also revealed a great KnittySpin article on hand plying, which is pretty much the same thing.

Basically you wind the single in a not very tricky way (unlike Andean plying as far as I can tell) around your hand. Then you slide it down onto your wrist and grab the two ends of the single. Attach them to your spindle and away you go!

Here is the results:





Sorry for the craptastic photo, it just isn't in me to do any editing tonight.
Now I need to get knitting. Well maybe tomorrow. Bed time for me now.

Whoops

Dear Blog
I am very very sorry for ignoring you for the last sixteen days. I am horrible, I know.

Things that have happened in the intervening weeks:

[] The arrival of my totally rad Beards are Sexy tee shirt from etsy seller The Bold Banana

Here is a gross picture taken on my iPhone. The shirt is wrinkly because I took it off to take the photo. Blog, don't worry, because I put my shirt back on. I am not sitting in my kitchen typing into the twilight in my bra.

I also got an equally rad apron from The bold banana, but no photo because the apron is in the wash. Have a squiz round their etsy shop and see if you can find it. It says "Mixin Mamma" on it.

[] The arrival of my lean mean ballwinding machine and its partner the "flies like an eagal" swift. Blog, the pair of them in action is a sight to behold. No photos could do them justice or capture the magic that is evident in their "held together with string" nature or "sounds like a machine gun" dulcet tones. Seriously though, I love them.

[] The financial crisis of my own making following all this rash spending. NEW TOUGH RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE.

[] Above mentioned restrictions and photo managed by/ created on my swanky new iPhone. It is totally unecessary and kinda flies in the face of the finacial restrictions, but the way i see it, I have (and use!) apps to help me manage my money, so it is really helping the situation. Also Mister is very unimpressed. He thinks I have fallen into the cult of iPod's clutches. Little does he know, I've been there since my first gen shuffle and sat longing to be inculcated since the original iPod was released in Australia.

That is all I can think of for the moment. I will be back soon with more nutritious updates

lots of love
Matilda

SnB virgin no more

Just went to my first knitting group. It was wonderful! It is a very small group so far.. just me and two other girls. Susan and Caroline at the Merchant in Freo. We think we might have enticed one of the waitresses to join us next time too. I cast on AGAIN for the twisted drop stitch vest. This time it is turning into a not-cardigan. A proper vest, as opposed to a split one as Jo Sharp had it. It got a bit confusing there for a while and some errors were made. The joining the round where no join is required kind. We will see how it progresses. I switched over half way through to my Ysolda Grown Up Booties. MUCH less thought required. More time for chatting. It was a grand morning/afternoon.

On a completely different note, must get Mister to teach me how to take well lit photos. My colour accuracy is something I really need to work on.

Rip It

A frog pond kind of day... two projects down, just have to see what else in my work basket can be ripped out. First to go was a little neck warmer thing I was doing in an undyed, unscoured yarn found at the op shop. Deliciously greasy. Didn't like the stitch pattern though.

Next was the start of my drop stitch vest. the stitch count wasn't adding up. Still re-winding the yarn from that.

I have a feeling there is a funny white sculptural thing down there somewhere, which was always pond bound.

Very refreshing work this. Particularly when I am in an anti-knitting funk.

Hmmm

A funny thing is happening to me at the moment: I don't really feel like knitting. The weirdest thing is, it is perfect knitting weather: cool but not so cold that my fingers freeze. I have too many projects underway and occasionally feel slightly guilty about it. Also Mother's Day is just around the craft corner which means I should pull my thumb out and cast something on and stop being such a bloody whinger. Also have a buttload of things to post about but my notoriously awful journal keeping skills are kicking in. Nil Desparandum! There is a Phat Fiber post coming your way!

A very excellent day part 1: Spinning

I was trying to think of a clever title for this post, but kept coming up with cliches. So plain and simple it is. This package arrived on my doorstep on what has been my best day of the year so far.

One of my recent etsy purchases was a spinning kit from yarnspider. I have wanted to learn how to spin for a while now and I did a bit of research into the drop spindle kits available. I picked yarn spider's because it had a lot of fiber in the pack and was cheaper then most. When she says generous bump of blue faced leicester, she means generous!

While pink isn't my personal favorite colour, I know my sister is a bit of a fan and earlier this year I promised her a hat. My original attempt was my first real stab at crochet. It was a failure which will be elaborated on later. HatForASister Version 2.0 is what this yarn will become.

Of course my first effort has all the tension variety of a good murder mystery... some super tight bits where you practically rip the pages trying to turn them fast enough and some fat stodgy bits that bolster the whole thing out.

By the time I was at my second spindle's worth, my tension was markedly improved, although I still have a long way to go. The second spindle also has a lot more yardage then the first. I guess because I was spinning at a much finer gague. I think this may cause a few issues with plying. We will see when we get there. I have only just begun the plying process: I am finding it a lot less enjoyable then I was expecting. I liked spinning more. I will persevere though.

I'd now like to be shown how to spin by someone who actually knows what they are doing. Yarn Spider's instructions are all well and good, but I have a sneaky suspicion that I am not drafting correctly. I achieve a result I am pleased with, but my hands are doing completely different things to the ones in the pictures. We will see.

Likes

The way tulips turn themselves inside out as they die.