2012 Mitten Campaign

I just received an email from my friend up north in St. Lawrence County asking for help again this year. He collects mittens throughout the year to be given every October to the kids at Norwood-Norfolk Central School (where I’m from) who are mainly from low income families without sufficient warm clothes to wear.

He makes 100 hats each year on a knitting machine but relies on knitters to make the 100 mittens needed (scarves aren’t needed at this time). His 89 year old mother knits these mittens all year round but she can’t make 100 in a year so he’s asking for our help. Here’s the details:

• Machine washable yarn only
• Colors for boys & girls, multiple colors and bright colors are fine (they’re kids - color is fun)
• Sizes can range from ages 4 to almost adult
• Must be sent to me by end of September so I can ship in one big box or drop them off to him in person when I get up that way

Personally, I can’t commit to making all of the mittens needed but I can try to work in a pair here and there between now and September. Kids mittens knit up very quickly and it’s a great travel/social knitting project. If you are interested in helping out let me know (I'm MotherHenKnits on Ravelry) and I’ll PM you my address or we can meet up somewhere to save you the shipping costs.

Below is a picture of the 2011 donation to give you an idea of what was done in the past:

On Ravelry, one of my friends offered to donate 10 skeins of Encore worsted yarn to anyone knitting for this project. If you'd like to take her up on that offer let me know and I'll get you in contact with her. There may be a "NNCS mittens" knitting afternoon at the Yarn Cupboard in the future too so I'll update here when any details become available.

Also, I'm offering an incentive as well:

For every pair of mittens knit and received by the end of September, your name will go in a hat (most likely a toque) to be drawn for a skein of my handspun yarn.

If you knit 5 pairs of mitts then you get 5 chances to win. Tag your project in Ravelry with “NNCSmitts” so we can all see everyone’s progress.

Happy Knitting!

Mystery Fibers Update

I loved blogging regularly about my spinning last month! Too bad I don't have the time at work anymore to take a quick break. Way too busy now. I'll just have to setting for weekend updates for now until things calm down.

I had to look it up but the last update on the mystery fiber spinning was ages ago and I've got a ton done. Mystery Fiber #1 before and after pictures:




Pictures of the individual skeins and stats on each are on my Ravelry stash page. I love how the colors look together so I'm leaning towards a color work project like mittens for all this yarn. It would be fun to mix and match them for several pairs.

Next up was the roving that I found all in one bag: Mystery Fibers 2, 3 & 4 (black, grey and white). I finished 2 and 3 and I'm working on 4 now. The cool thing is that when I started working on the white I found a receipt for my purchase. I paid $10 for each 4 ounce bump from Angel Knoll Alpacas located in Waddington, NY. This supports my theory that these are all alpaca/wool blends along with the occasional guard hairs I found.

Here are the before and after pictures that I have for the black and grey (details on my stash pages):








That grey is lace weight, I couldn't help myself. It was lovely to spin! In both fibers there was a bunch of vm with most of it falling out on it's own as I spin. I had to stop a few times to pick out a piece of hay but really I can't complain for the cost. I'm heading up north for 4th of July again this year and I'm seriously considering an outing to the farm to buy more.

Right now I'm spinning up the white and taking my time with it. I'd like to end up with a sport or worsted yarn if possible. I'm enjoying the process and it should be done in about a week or so:


Then I'm faced with the last of the Mystery Fiber. The enigma itself: #5. We did a burn test on it over the holidays and came up with either nylon or polyester (we couldn't place the smell). I also did some digging and found the receipt showing I paid $100 for 11 ounces of it back in 2007 before I really knew much about fiber prices. I feel like I got ripped off so I'm determined to spin it up.


The fibers are super long so I'm thinking it should be spun fine. But if it's nylon should it not be spun by itself and blended with something else instead? Or if it's polyester should I try to spin it as thick and airy as possible to keep the softness? I have no idea. I'd like to bring it to my next spin night and see what everyone recommends. I have no clue what to do with this fiber but I refuse to let it sit in my stash any longer. Five years is long enough!

Finished Yarns - Jill Draper Makes Stuff Fibers

Over the holidays I spun a ton. It was great to be able to spindle spin while watching my son play with his new toys. He loves that I can pay attention to him and I love to keep my hands busy. I was able to finish up a braid of Jill Draper Makes Stuff fiber that I had purchased from the Yarn Cupboard. This colorway didn't have a name so I'm calling it "Williams' Pick" since he decided on it at the shop as well as which spindle I should spin it on.

Initial 100% merino fiber at 4.55 ounces:


Finished yarn in 3 skeins:

(More details on my stash page)

While these colors aren't necessarily my favorites, I was able to get more practice with spindle spinning and I learned that I really need to figure out Navajo plying on a spindle. Looking at the 3 skeins, the first is by far my favorite because it has the least amount of the barber pole effect. I had originally thought that I only needed to learn how to Navajo ply on my wheel but I'm adding learning this on a spindle to my list as something that would be nice to know. I could always just spin the singles on a spindle and then ply on my wheel but I would rather have my spindles projects be self-sufficient.

Enough about the colors though, the fiber was amazing to spin! I didn't have to split the fiber because it's already a smaller than normal width. I would place it somewhere between a regular roving top size and pencil roving. No pre-drafting or splitting required means that I just divided the fiber into 3 sections, bagged them up and started spinning. Absolutely no VM in the entire braid and super soft fibers. This is definitely one of my favorite fiber bases to spin so far - Jill's color palette is very different from mine so while it limits what I buy from her it also helps expand my normal color choices range.

I would definitely recommend buying this fiber for wheel or spindle spinning. It's very cool that she tries to completely source and produce her fibers within a 100 mile radius of her home. Plus, I met Jill at the last Yarn Cupboard retreat and she's just fabulous. I'm planning to keep an eye on her Etsy shop as well as what's delivered to the Yarn cupboard in the future.

An Update & Some Changes

I put so much thought into planning for that self-imposed spindle club that it's now funny how much of it has changed. I received 3 Golding spindles for Christmas. It was a huge surprise. I thought maybe I might be getting 1 but 3 just blew my mind. Here they are in all their glory (details on weights and sizes are on my Ravelry stash page):

Strickland VIII:


Celtic Spiral:


2" Cherry:

I was completely shocked. I received all 3 on the early afternoon of Christmas Eve so I immediately spent the afternoon spinning up some samples that shipped with them and one I had in the stash.

I spun up 23 yards from .3 ounces of Inglenook Fibers in the Christmas Berry colorway on my Strickland:


Next up was 25 yards from .3 ounces of Inglenook Fibers in Disco Bunny (hate the colorway, loved the fiber):


Last was 83 yards from .5 ounces of Corgi Hill Farms Falkland fibers on my 2" Cherry spindle. I am so impressed with this little guy, I'm calling it Lightning:

So the addition of these spindles got me looking at my stash differently. I decided to separate my fiber stash into 2 bins with one dedicated to wheel projects and the other to spindles. In my wheel bin I have the fibers that are more than 4 ounces and those that I wanted to try out new techniques with like learning how to long draw or Navajo ply. Everything that was left went into the spindle bin. This left me with 14 bundles of fiber at 4 ounces each either in braids or long hanks.

Instead of assigning a spindle or a month to each fiber I'm just going to choose whatever I feel like spinning next out of the bin. I am going to rotate through the new spindles for spinning singles and I'm leaning towards using my Ashford spindle for plying since it has the biggest whorl and longest shaft. The only time I might get picky is when I have a spin night coming up that requires me to spin on a Yarn Cupboard fiber out of courtesy. Also, when the 2" Cherry spindle comes up in rotation I'll need to make sure the fiber would be nice as a lace weight.

That's about it for planning. I have been told I'm over thinking things and it's finally settled in. I love to plan, especially for a New Year, but it's not supposed to be stressful. I've got my fiber sorted and my list of techniques to learn so that should be enough to get me going in the right direction for 2012.

Spindle Candy Self Imposed Spinning Club

I finally got my act together and sat down with my fiber stash for 2012 planning. I've matched up fiber to the techniques that I wanted to learn in 2012 (ex. Navajo plying with Wooly Wonka Fibers painted ponies colorway). I saw a thread on Ravelry in the Spindle Candy group about a "Spindle Candy Self Imposed Spinning Club" aka "Fraking Awesome Self Imposed Spinning Club" and it sounded fun.

Since I don't know how to Navajo ply yet on a spindle I focused on solid or semi-solid colored fibers in my stash. Surprisingly I don't have 12 separate 4 ounce braids to choose from based on those qualities so I had to divide up one 8 ounce ball in half and one 1 pound ball into quarters. This is the list that I posted in the group with my intentions (I really wish I knew how to create a collage with my pictures - all of the details are in my handspun stash section in Ravelry):

Jan - Ashland Bay dark blue


Feb - Corgi Hill Farm vamp


Mar - Ashland Bay light blue (have 8 ounces total)


Apr - Spinner’s Hill red (have 1 pound total)


May - Ashland Bay light blue (have 8 ounces total)
(see above)
Jun - Spinner’s Hill red (have 1 pound total)
(see above)
Jul - Wooly Wonka Fibers yellow


Aug - Corgi Hill Farm blue


Sept - Spinner’s Hill red (have 1 pound total)
(see above)
Oct - Wooly Wonka Fibers blue


Nov - Wooly Wonka fibers pinks/reds


Dec - Spinner’s Hill red (have 1 pound total)
(see above)

Can you tell I went alphabetical through my stash in Ravelry and then switch up the colors so there were no repeats? Yeah, I'm predictable. I also have a thing for blue and red fibers apparently. I need to expand my color palate big time. The only month I'm struggling with is July because I haven't set my goals yet for the Tour de Fleece. I'm looking at this one as a place holder until I'm sure of what I'd like to do. I may try to Navajo ply that one since I should have learned how to do that on the wheel by then.

The other half of the challenge is to pair up a different spindle with each of the fibers so that you're spinning on a new one each month. Some people have a ton of spindles to choose from so I can understand why that sounds so appealing. I have 2 spindles with one custom Golding on order (yay!) so I'll have to tweak this a bit so that I'm just alternating through them. I am expecting it to be hard to spin on anything other than the Golding once it arrives.

I have no idea if I can spin 4 ounces of fiber a month on a spindle while I'm also knitting and spinning on my wheel as well. This is a great challenge for me to continue improving and see what's comfortable to do in a set amount of time. I also like the idea of setting aside fiber specifically for certain goals whether it's a specific technique to learn or something to improve upon. This should be fun.

Podcasts

With it getting closer to the end of the year I'm still in the mode of making lists. No pictures today but I should have some hand spun yarn to show soon.

The topic of podcasts came up on Ravelry a little while back and I thought it might be useful to have a review type post on the ones I like.

Cast On - By far, Brenda Dayne has set the bar for sound quality, content, and mood. I started from the very beginning so I never dealt with the wait involved when she took breaks. I would definitely recommend this podcast for any knitter. Be prepared to wade through some woes as Brenda tries to find herself and decide if she can make money from podcasting. It's worth it to keep listening - her essays are wonderful and the music she includes is varied. She's now back to a weekly format and decided to make money from patterns, CDs, books and retreats. It's great to hear her so happy again.

Fiber Beat - This is a fairly newer podcast by Michael Wade. Great sound quality and content here. You can really tell that he puts a ton of time into the production of each episode. At first I was distracted by all the little sound clips during the interviews but now I really like how it breaks up all the talking. Even if you're not into the particular fiber art of the interviewee Michael still makes it interesting. He doesn't talk over the person, no constant agreeing while the person is talking and great thought provoking questions. So far I think he's covered knitting, spinning, crochet, weaving and a few more. Definitely start from the beginning on this one.

KnitaJourney - Susan Dolph has a good voice and I love her slight Midwest accent. I didn't start from the beginning with this one but I may go back and listen to them all if she ever decides to take a hiatus. I started in the middle of her current series on perma-culture and how it relates to our knitting and larger life. There are some parts where she discusses friends and work issues but I don't mind that too much. Her knitting style doesn't match mine but I like the way that she approaches knitting in general as something larger than a hobby.

SpinDoctor - Sasha Torres is an American living in Canada and started this podcast as a forum for reviewing all things related to spinning. As a relatively inexperience spinner I love being exposed to new products and fiber vendors. My favorite part of her podcast is that she is brutally honest. It's refreshing to hear some cons along with the pros in each of her reviews. I started from the beginning with this one too and haven't quite caught up yet. I did see on Ravelry that she's going to include more personal information about her own spinning and I'm open to that as well. She's big into fiber prep (which I am not) and trying out all kinds of fibers. I would love to do a rare wool breeds study someday based on all of the interviews and vendors she's profiled. This is a podcast that I have to listen to at my desk so I can look up things she mentions as we go. So informative.

Sticks & String - I'll admit, I was drawn to this one because David Reidy is a guy who knits and spins and also happens to have an Australian accent. The content that he's able to provide kept me listening. I've started from the beginning with this one and I'm no where near caught up with 105 episodes to go. He interviews people local to him and while it's interesting I'm probably not going to be able to buy from them. I end up listening to this podcast while I work out since each episode is about 35-45 minutes long and the easy listening music he plays helps with passing the time on the treadmill. While I'm not into the same kind of knitting he is I like hearing about how he chooses yarn and patterns from a guys point of view, "sometimes guys just like plain boring patterns in plain colors, just be ready to knit a lot of stockinette stitch to make them happy and they'll wear it."


I have several other podcasts that I used to subscribe to but they all either quit or pod-faded. I tried CogKNITive for a couple episodes and while the content was interesting I couldn't get past the lecture style while driving in a car. There are a ton of people who like this one but it just didn't mesh with me. I may try it again later on in life. Next on my list to try is SpinControl.

Speaking of lists, here's a great Wiki on Ravelry that lists all the podcasts out there that are fiber related and still active. I'm always open to new ones and I use this all the time to find new ones that I might like.

2012 Planning

This time of year is great for making lists. Laurie from Crazy Aunt Purl and I would be fast friends when it comes to this area. I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to buy, make, and learn next year and this is the best place that I have to document it all.

BUY
My yarn stash is starting to burst at the seams for storage reasons. My husband disagrees with me (so cool) but I'm at the tipping point for having too much mentally so I'm not planning to buy any yarn in 2012. I have a total of 14 kits coming my way next year that are already paid in full:

• Shakespeare in Lace - 4 big lace shawls
• Shakespeare in Lace, Accessories - 2 socks and 2 shawlettes
• Bare Naked Knitspot - 6 packages of mystery using natural undyed fibers

So yeah, no need to buy yarn. Spinning fiber on the other hand is full on. I'm spinning up fibers from the depths of my stash currently and it's freeing up space for more. I like that. Since the inception of Ravelry I prefer to work with fiber that I know all the details on. This whole mystery fiber business just kills me to work with. I'm planning fiber acquisition at the retreat, fiber shows and festivals as well as online. Not sure on joining any fiber clubs just yet.

I am sure on purchasing spindles and a Woolee Winder for my Sonata. Let the countdown begin until our income tax check is received and the buying will begin!

MAKE
For knitting goals I'd like to finish the cardigan for myself and then I have these projects on my radar:

• Leaving cardigan - for Mom
• Bountiful Bohus - for me
• Shakespeare Lace shawl - not sure which one but I'd like to knit one this year
• KnitSpot kits - it's fun to knit along with the other members month to month

All are big projects so that could easily be more than a years worth of knitting for me. Especially since I'm spinning more than ever now. There may be a baby made sometime next year since I have friends getting married this Saturday. If that happens, everything will take a back seat to some serious baby knitting.

LEARN
This is the biggest part of my focus for next year. There is so much that I don't know that I don't know what I don't know when it comes to spinning. I am reading as much as possible but I have a feeling as I learn one technique it's just going to add more to the list . . .

• Steeking - see Bountiful Bohus cardigan above, this freaks me out
• Navajo plying - had a quick lesson in my plying class but I really need to practice it on yarn with long color repeats both on my wheel and on my spindle
  
• Gradient spinning - many great lessons out there on the Internet
• Alpaca fiber spinning - I gave up on it before, I think I can do it now
• Using a drumcarder - I have one but have never used it. Planning to card the fibers from my "how to spin for socks" class that I took at Hemlock this year
• Woolen spinning - Looking for some loftier yarns
• Long Draw - I think this is related to woolen spinning but not sure
  

I think I have all the fibers needed already in my stash for the above techniques except for the alpaca. I plan to remedy that tonight at spin night by purchasing some Salt City Fiber Works alpaca if they have any left.

I am planning to take classes again at Hemlock in the fall mainly around spinning. If I ran the world though, I'd rather go to a monthly spinning workshop at my LYS to learn new techniques. To get that type of teaching I may have to look into joining a spinning guild in my area.