Finishing Vacation

I normally take the week off for Thanksgiving with my excuse being that I can have time to gear up for the holidays, get the house together for company and get some projects done.  What I actually do is knit or spin like crazy and catch up on my TV shows that started up in the fall. It's one of my favorite vacations of the year.

First up was finishing my shawl from Sivia Harding's class at the Knitter's Review Retreat.  It turned out much better than I expected.  I second guessed every decision I made but overall I think it will be my most versatile item to wear.  It can be a shawl or a scarf or a cowl type thing based on how I feel like wearing it.  Here's a couple horrible pictures of me trying to model it:

A close up of the edging body and top border:

Not bad overall.  I can see how designers end up spending a ton of time swatching.  I could have kept trying ideas over and over again.

Next up was my first hand spun project.  Other people have used my hand spun in knitting or weaving projects but I hadn't tried it out yet.  Probably my inner perfectionist trying to tell me it wasn't good enough.  I grabbed some yarn that I loved and was far from perfect and figured it was time to dive in. 

A close up of the bottom edge:

I used a pattern from Ennea Collective called Posies Shawl that is meant to be knit in hand spun.  I love that.

Overall I'm extremely happy with what I was able to accomplish.  I'm working on a set of color work mittens from my other class at the retreat and they are coming along nicely.  With all of this finishing going I might actually have some time to spin although I am getting another weaving lesson tonight so who knows!

2013 Subscription Clubs

Life has calmed down a bit so I'm going to try to blog more.  Let's see how long that lasts!

I have 2 clubs that I love and I wanted to share.  First up is from Wooly Wonka Fibers.  I have loved her Shakespeare in Lace themed clubs for the past 3 or 4 years.  Her yarns are outstanding and have so much depth.  The patterns introduce me to new designers and I like the different styles.  For 2013 the theme is switching to Heroines and I'm all in.  There's an accessory club with 2 shipments being socks and the other 2 being shawlettes.  The shawl club will have 4 shipments as well.  All the details for the club is in a group thread and she has information on the inspiration for each shipment.  I signed up for both clubs and hope to participate in the knit alongs and read alongs throughout the year.  I am really looking forward to the first shipment and reading the first book!

The second club that I just renewed this morning is from Anne Hanson of KnitSpot.  She has 2 clubs that run for 6 months at a time.  Fall in Full Color is exactly how it sounds with mainly accessory patterns and gorgeous colors.  It runs from August to January.  Bare Naked runs from February to July and has a range of patterns with undyed yarns.  I did a single dose for the first FIFC then double dose for BNK and back to single again for FIFC 2012.  This morning were the early bird sign ups for BNK 2013 and I decided to go pattern only.  Overall I enjoyed the colors more than the undyed and I want the chance to use yarn from my stash.  I'd also love to spin the yarn for a specific pattern so I'm hoping this will prompt me to do so.  I'm going to see how this goes before deciding what to do for FIFC 2013. 

I am not planning to sign up for any more yarn or fiber clubs for next year since I have a lot on my To Do list but I will be open to the idea if something wonderful comes around.  I wanted to share my favorites because these are the one I will continue to sign up probably for years to come!

Re-Org

I have been slowly running out of room for my yarn stash over the last year.  My knitting and purchasing frequency hasn't changed but I'm spinning now and that handspun quickly makes my stash grow.  A while back I tried to shop for a larger cabinet or a companion cabinet for the one I already had with no luck.  Everything was either too expensive or not appropriate for yarn.  I got some suggestions from Ravelry and then waited until I felt I could make a good decision. 

I finally ended up buying some storage cubes from Target and cloth drawers.  My husband convinced me to get 2 so that I'd have room to grow.  I'm very happy that I did.

That middle cabinet is what my original yarn storage consisted of.  It was packed full and finding anything was a challenge.  The two side units are a total of 24 drawers that are wide enough and deep enough to make storing yarn easy.  I spent most of the morning organizing and labeling but the good news is that there are several drawers that are empty!  I was even able to use 3 of them for fiber braids and that allowed me to actually put the lids on my 3 bins storing my fiber stash. 

I still have some work to do but already I'm feeling better.  I was worried that I would forget what was in each bag but I picked up some dry erase board labels that slide on the handles.  This one is my favorite:

Any yarn that I've received as a gift goes in this one so I can prioritize actually using it so that eventually I won't be an ingrate :)

I'm doing the same for subscription clubs, KR Retreat yarn, charity yarns, sweaters, afghans, handspun categories and random sock yarns that don't have projects assigned.  This has freed up the center cabinet shelves but I haven't completely figured out those yet.   I may use these labels at tags in my Ravelry stash eventually.




 Overall I am very happy now that I can organize easily anytime the mood strikes me and I'm grateful to have such gorgeous yarn in my stash.  Now I just need to win the lottery so I can quit my job and just knit & spin all day!

2012 Knitter's Review Retreat Recap

I had an amazing time at the 2012 Knitter's Review Retreat this past weekend.  It was such a great time that I'm really struggling to get back to normal life and work each day.  I didn't take too many pictures but I did just finish uploading my haul into my Ravelry stash.

I checked in and received my goodie bag:

Very cool stuff here and I loved that there were a couple patterns that went with the yarn included.  That bag has a zipper top too which I love.  I gave the book "Extra Yarn" to my son last night and he actually cheered!  We had read it a while back thanks to our library and he loved it - such a nice touch.  I did gift the hot pink Lopi lace weight yarn to another attendee because I didn't think I would actually knit it up knowing how much I dislike Lopi yarns in general.  Everything else I kept. 

For my first class, I took Mary Scott Huff's Sassy Selbu Mittens and not only do I love the project but I love her too. She is a bundle of energy and good vibes crossed with caffeine and crazy fun!  I ended up ripping out what I did in class but I'm so much happier with what I have knit now since it doesn't have my previous mistakes.  Plus, my picot edge kicks ass!

On Saturday, I was in Sivia Harding's Design Your Own Lace Shawlette.  Sivia is so nice and her designs are now some of my favorites.  I'm seriously thinking about her pattern only Mezzaluna Club for lace shawls, really beautiful patterns.  While I know I will never be comfortable designing my own projects I do feel that I have the knowledge to change patterns when needed.  I left her class inspired to make my own shawlette - I'm just not 100% happy with my choices so far.  I'm very close to figuring it out though. 

Saturday afternoon the market place opened and I got 3 braids of Spirit Trail roving and then debated on a knitting bag from Three Bags Full (I ended up buying it on Sunday).  Sunday morning was "yarn church" and I cast on for my "new beginnings" project. 

Every year they have a stash lounge where people bring in items that they no longer want and take items out.  No money is exchanged and anything left over is donated.  My stash lounge haul included some spinning fiber, a silk lace kit and then some yarn for the NNCS mitten campaign.  I hope the items I brought found a nice new home as well!  I ended up using 4 Wegmans bags to bring everything out to my car.  You can see just about everything I brought home with me here.

I don't think I've ever knit so much in a 4 day span before.  Pretty much from 8 am to 10 or 11 pm at night I was knitting or chatting with new friends.  I was in heaven and I hope that I'm able to attend next year.

Last Shot

Last week I took some time to air my fiber stash and took the chance to organize.  I have 3 bins and ended up using 1 for coiled braids, 1 for straight braids and the last for balls and batts.  It's working so far and makes it easy for me to know which bin to look in based on the picture in my Ravelry stash. 

Anyway, the purpose was to find some lovely pieces to bring to the stash lounge for the 2012 Knitter's Review Retreat.  From what I gather, you bring in your lovelies and take someones lovelies home with you without money exchanging hands.  Sounds like fun and I filled a bag with odds and ends that should make someone happy.  Overall I made progress but I came across some shame fiber:

This is otherwise known as Mystery Fiber #5 and has the claim to fame as not only being the oldest fiber in my stash but the one that I got ripped off on.  When I was a new spinner I paid $100 for this without having the slightest clue what it was.  Also, the LYS I bought it from was brand new and probably didn't think to ask me if I knew what it was.  The receipt just says "unspun" - so helpful, right?

I did a burn test and believe it's either nylon or polyester.  The ladies at the Ithaca ROC day last year confirmed that it's synthetic and most likely nylon.  I even tried to spin it by itself and disaster followed because of the extremely short fibers. 

After cleaning out my stash last year I decided to throw it away.  One nagging thing kept me from doing that.  I had met the lady who owns the Salt City Fiber Works and she gave me a tour of her operations this past summer.  If anyone could save this fiber it would be her.  I called and brought it down to see what she thought.  She didn't know what it was either other than it's definitely synthetic (it doesn't behave like typical nylon and the blue color is odd) but suggested blending it with some Finn wool in a gorgeous dark charcoal grey/black color.  We decided on a blend of about 20% mystery fiber and 80% Finn and it should be done in about a week.

I'll have just under 4 pounds of fiber coming my way soon.  Let's just hope it turns out to be awesome fiber and I can eventually find room to store it until it can be spun up!

Preparations

Today I'm working on list making and preparations for this fall.  First up is the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival in Hemlock, NY.  This is by far my favorite festival of the year.  It's big enough to attract some of my favorite vendors and worth several hours of time walking around but small enough where the crowds aren't a factor like with Rhinebeck. 

On my list I have directions just in case my GPS has problems, I made a note to visit the used equipment sale that I've missed in previous years and made notes on yardage requirements for a few projects I have in mind.  I plan to pack a lunch this year (stupid Weight Watchers . . .), bring a small cooler for drinks for the ride and bring plenty of cash for shopping. 

For my own personal benefit I have to have a shopping focus.  If I don't have that I will either buy nothing or buy everything - having done both before it really sucks.  Last year my focus was on spinning fibers.  This year I don't have a driving need for yarn or spinning fibers so I will be on the hunt for unique items like stitch markers, tools, patterns, gift ideas, little spinning wheels, etc.  I will say that if I find something that I love I will buy it on the spot because nothing is worse than riding home in the car wishing that skein of yarn or braid of roving came home with me.  I still think about that skein of yarn at Rhinebeck that was $32 to make a pair of socks and I didn't buy it because I thought it was too expensive.   That kind of regret no longer happens because now I just buy it and if years later I don't want to use it someone else will kindly take it in a destash.

I haven't gotten to what hand knits I'm going to wear but that is the best part.  Depending on the weather I may bring a shawl to wear with a t-shirt.  Festivals are the best places to watch for hand knits and it's completely acceptable to walk up to someone and ask them all about what they have on.  Can't wait!

Knitting 24x7

I can finally admit that the Tour de Fleece was fun but totally sucked away all of my spinning mojo.  I feel a bit guilty every time I look at the half filled bobbin of alpaca sitting on my wheel but I don't care.  I knit and spin to feel good and eventually my spinning mojo will come back.

It actually feels good to knit every night.  I started the Spiral Blanket of Awesomeness and made a ton of progress. 

 The center spiral:

 The transition from Bryn to Donagan in Three Irish Girls Kells Sport (looks better in person):

I had to order some longer cables and they won't be here until Tuesday at the earliest (don't get me started on how slow it took Knit Picks to process and ship my order) so I cast on a new project.  I have a new knitting To Do list called "ingrate" and it includes all of the yarn I have been gifted over the years.  I picked some charcoal alpaca that my Dad bought for me from the 2005 Finger Lakes Fiber Festival but the problem was it didn't have the yardage listed.  I did some math, asked from Ravelry friends for help and then was reminded that I have a yardage counter.  Doh!  Last night I was able to get started on it.

Rhea, a crescent shaped scarf:

That is just the border.  You knit the border first, pick up stitches for the body and then knit short rows to make it curve.  The alpaca really hides the lace but this is going to look amazing once it's blocked, trust me!

I'm going to keep going with this knitting theme until the spinning bug bites me.  Hopefully I can put a dent in my stash before the fall festivals arrive :)