Chronicles of the Lazy Knitter

A Fun Little Spin

Gloria Patre — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:38:49 GMT

As I posted previously my Mom and my sister sent me a box with some
wonderful new hand cards from my sister's MIL as well as a sampler
lot of fiber, some spun, some unspun. Her MIL had taken a beginning
spinning class and hated it. The spun bits were all her beginner
spinning - big lumps and very little twist. Because there was only 2
or 3 ounces in total I was just itching to spin it up, especially
since I had used the new hand cards to blend some of the louder
colors together and the little bundles were sitting out in a basket,
teasing me every day.

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I mean, just how long CAN you sit by and ignore that lot? For me, not
long! LOL!! It really was fun to spin a bit of this color and a bit
of that color, draft out and re-spin the beginner-spun, all the while
remembering what it was like to have produced such stuff.... There
was such a cornucopia of choices, color-wise. You can only see a bit
of the singles in the basket, peeking out from under the fluffy coils
but they are all blends of the main colors so there really was a
spectrum to play with. There were 2 other wads of fiber in the
original box, one white and one brown. There wasn't quite enough of
either color to use to tweed the colored singles but I had a small
bag of brown wool from an old sample box which, when combined with
this lot made more than enough singles to do the job.

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I don't know what breed the dark brown is, but it was lumpy, unruly
fiber. I was not impressed that a teacher would give it to beginning
spinners and expect them to be happy with their first attempts! No
wonder sis's MIL never took up spinning! Beginners should have
something relatively smooth and easy to draft, not this narly
narcissistic stuff that clings to itself and hates to behave! Even my
singles from it were far from ideal! She must have bought it cheap
but it's still shameful to have dumped it on beginners!
By the time I was done I had 2 bobbins barely half full - one
colored, one brown. Since there was such a small lot, and I had other
yarn being plied on the Bea I decided to ply it on my Baynes,
something I seldom do, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be too much
yarn for one 4 ounce Baynes bobbin.
So I started plying but something weird was happening - the singles
were going together fine but there seemed to be waaaay too much twist
in the plied yarn so I slowed down my treadling and sped up my hands.
It still didn't help! So I let a section of plied yarn drop in front
of me to examine it... and then I realized.... I was plying the same
direction I had spun the singles! D'oh! I was SO used to spinning
singles on the Baynes that I just automatically spun the wheel in
that direction! *sigh*
Fortunately, my fiber-loving girls came to the rescue! They simply
took hold of the plied yarn and walked away with it until the bobbin
was empty (about 20 yards down the hall past the bathroom). Then I
plied in the right direction, untwisting the original mis-directed
plying and then adding the right amount for the yarn. They slowly
walked back to my office until the extremely twisty yarn was all
taken up and corrected. Hooray for help!
All that turmoil for this little skein of yarn!
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I should have weighed it and calculated the yardage but I guess I
thought of it more as playing rather than serious spinning. I
parcelled it up in the box I sent for my Moms birthday with a note
for my sis and her MIL as a Thank-you for the hand cards. My sister
is beginning to knit so I suggested she make a pair of square pot
holders and then felt them. Ah, felting - just revenge for unruly
fiber! Bwahahahaha!

Something About Twist And A Problem

Gloria Patre — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:44:17 GMT

I often get very excited about the Friday Freebie projects I post. I
mean, I post them because they are patterns I would actually consider
knitting so naturally I would cast on something sooner or later. What
really caught my fancy was the moebius cowl from a few weeks back. I
have never knit a moebius before and I have wanted an extra long cowl
for a long time. The moebius aspect of it means it is essentially a
figure 8 so you can drape it over your head, the twist goes under
your chin and the rest coils pleasantly around your neck - providing
you made it long enough - it fits fairly loosely and is nicer than a
touque and scarf by a mile.
My son had been considerate enough to encourage me to wind a lone
skein of oatmeal chunky into a center-pull ball so I used it to cast
on a ton of stitches onto circular needles and away I went.
Now I have to say that several very odd things happened. First, I
didn't actually count the number of stitches I cast on, I just used a
long-tail cast on until the circ was barely-comfortable full. I
decided the easiest way to make it not curl was to make it a basket
weave pattern of 6 stitches of stockingette and 6 stitches of purl,
alternating in blocks for 5 rows and then switching them around.
After the first round I discovered I had exactly the correct number
of stitches for this stitch pattern! That alone should have twigged
me that something was wrong! But instead I was delighted and kept on
going.
I was using chunky yarn and 7mm needles to ensure a soft, smooshy
fabric so it didn't take long to use up all 200-and-something yards.
I had found it a little awkward having to deal with knitting
something in the round with a twist but I got used to having to move
as well as turn the project along the circs. In the end, I was able
to finish the last set of pattern blocks and cast off with only a few
yards of yarn left - another too-strange occurrence! I soon found the
rue in this run of too-good luck!
I washed the lumpy thing and then went to lay it out to dry. There
was only one way I could lay it so it was flat....
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Yes - look closely - it has TWO twists, not one!!!
AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! This was one of those crawl-under-the-bed-and-
stay-there moments! Since it was damp there was nothing I could do
but leave it to dry and slink away to lick my wounds..... and ponder....
Several thing were abundantly clear - because it was knit side to
side, basically, there was no easy way to get rid of the extra twist,
certainly nothing that wouldn't involve cutting. IF I was brave (or
crazy) enough to cut it, it would be a point-of-no-return proposition
because it would involve cutting across all the strands of yarn
making it impossible to salvage it if I was unhappy with the end
result. If you can't get your head around this last idea, let me tell
you, all I would have is about 50 strands of yarn five yards long
because the cut would go up the rows not across them.
Alternately, and completely contrary to my nature, I could ravel the
WHOLE thing but that thought was fleeting at best and a relief to be
rid of!
So here I am, Saturday morning, fondling a very soft, very pleasing
piece of knitting, and trying to sort out in my mind what I need to
do to get the best outcome when I cut it. I have made a preliminary
row of crochet to hold the stitches and was contemplating making
another when I realized that if I decided to make it a short scarf
instead, I could simply make a knotted fringe of the cut ends and I
wouldn't need the crocheted stay-stitches. Unfortunately I have no
affection whatsoever for scarves, short, long or otherwise and have
never ever worn one. I'm a cowl girl and that's all there is to it
(only in "my" day they were called "neck socks").
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Looking at this first row of crochet I was thinking how much easier
it would be to have made them, not need them and simply take them
out, rather than cut, have an oh-my-gosh moment and realize I would
have to try to add them to avoid disaster. As of this moment, you're
looking at how far I've gotten with this assault. I think I'm waiting
for my courage to bolster. I have to keep telling myself I've made
much wore mistakes and ruined much larger quantities of yarn before -
how bad can this be???? I'll let you know! LOL! Cheers!

A New Day Has Dawned: Dual Blogging!

Gloria Patre — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:30:19 GMT

I suppose I have to begin by admitting I am more than just a little slow in catching on to all the benefits of the various technologies available. As usual, what has propelled me to this is a problem with our terminally slow satellite high-speed internet. For months I have been unable to access my QuickBlogcast interface here so I was more or less forced to start a new blog elsewhere, which I did through Google. NOW I am having trouble logging into my Google interface - thank heaven I can still access my Gmail though!
So, to make a long sad story much shorter, I have finally set up email blogging for this blog so I don't have to use the interface at all, if I can't get in through normal means - way cool, no? This means I will be setting it up for my Google blog also, as soon as I can get in there again and change the settings. So whichever blog you subscribe to, the same posts will be on both. I am really hoping this covers all the bases because I know some readers have difficulty accessing this blog and the Google one always loads for them. Worse, (something that made me very sad) was that many of my readers did not follow me to the new blog so hopefully I can entertain them once again(?). So that's the game plan for now - wish me luck!! Cheers!

New Blog Address

Gloria Patre — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:54:00 GMT

Please visit my new blog - I've missed you!
http://www.lazyknitterchronicles.blogspot.com

It's a very strange evening, I've been able to get into this blog interface,something I haven't been able to do since December but I can't get into my Google blog - or Google blog anything - so I'm wondering if they're having trouble or something.... so I'll post my thoughts here tonight and maybe I'll start dual blogging when I can get in here, since I much prefer this format and interface - Google is so limited!
I can't help but notice that many of my readers haven't followed me to the new blog - or if they have, they don't leave comments which is all pretty discouraging....
When I purchased my new-to-me Bea spinning wheel from Holland (yes, overseas) the one thing I missed was it not having it's own orifice hook. Not a major issue, really, since said orifice is a fair size, but it would still be nice to have one just for this wheel. I've joined a few new Yahoo Groups recently and I like checking out the Etsy Shops of the members who are good enough to post them. Strange links I'm not likely to click on, but to me, Etsy is a pretty safe name. One of the new Etsy Shops I found is this one: YarnDemon who hand crafts some of the absolute cutest stitch markers and orifice hooks I've ever seen! Get a load of this:

Sorry the photos are a bit fuzzy but it's hard to get a good focus on something this small! It's a "black" sheep and he's just so darn stinkin' cute! She even included a free stitch marker - the red & white twisty thing in the first pic. I decided to ask if she'd make one of my Llama since he's so distinct and she was very pleased to take on the (small) project. I can hardly wait to see how he turns out! I'll let you know!
So anyways, if this is my first post in a looooong time for you, then you need to click on the link on the top of this post and c'mon over and catch up on all the news, I've missed you! Cheers!

Blogging At A New Location

Gloria Patre — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:17:00 GMT

I hope you've noticed there have been no new posts for over a week now. I am typing this at the public library because I can no longer access my blog interface from my home computer.
I am now blogging at a new address so if you have my blog bookmarked you will need to make a new one - sorry!

My new BLOG address is www.lazyknitterchronicles.blogspot.com

This blog will remain active for some time to come because it's recently been paid for for another year! (groan!) Isn't that always the way???
So please come on over to my new location! Don't forget my blogiversary will be January 1st and I've picked out some way cool prizes! Hope to see you soon!

Friday Freebie Quickie!

Gloria Patre — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:11:00 GMT

With the holidays fast approaching lots of folks are looking for quick gift ideas (not me, but other folks, I understand! LOL!). When I was browsing through free patterns online I saw this stranded colorwork hat and passed over it. Funny, though, how it stuck in my mind and I went back to it. Something about it was just so "ordinary" yet appealing. I could picture it knit in 100% alpaca in ecru and any color and it would become a much loved classic, worn out over time from being worn so much. The color repeat is so short you could memorize it by the third round and knit it while watching TV or a movie or take it to knit night and chat with friends. It's "comfort food" in the knitting world!

It's called the Swift River Hat and it's from Lion Brand. I have to say I like their free patterns! Cheers all!

CD Spindling

Gloria Patre — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:38:00 GMT

Here's the final instalment of Men Who Spin. 9 x 12 watercolor. I have all the new sets posted to my Etsy Shop. There have been quite a few views but no sales yet. It seems to be the way things are right now, sales seem to be slow with everyone I've talked to....

Swirling Crochet Bag Finished!

Gloria Patre — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:20:00 GMT

    DD#2 finished the Swirl Bag this week! It's a pattern put out by Knitting Daily TV show through Interweave. I can't really post a link for it because you have to have a membership to download Interweave free patterns. If you don't then a link won't be any good - if you do, just enter Swirling Bag into their Search and you'll find it. It's a crochet pattern.
    She used Red Heart synthetic worsted weight yarn so the bag came out quite a bit bigger than the pattern but who cares? It's a huge, functional project and the bright colors really pop! The bottom is made of 4 pieces that fold up. It took her a bit of thinking to sort out how it went together (even though the pattern had a diagram). However, she eventually triumphed!




    One of the things I really like is the cord she made for the drawstring. A while back I purchased a copy of 200 Braids Cords and Trims at Interweave's Hurt Book Sale. What a spectacular selection of things to make! And all the techniques have easy to follow illustrations. She even used the Braid-with-four to braid her hair!

    It would make a great gift for the crafter on your list. These things can be used to embellish or accessorize nearly anything! I highly recommend it! I bought it on a whim and I'm SO glad I did!

I like how she even slipped a couple of beads on the end before knotting off. Nice finish!

Friday Freebies and Cast Offs

Gloria Patre — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:43:00 GMT

    Yes, I know I missed last Friday! I felt bad about it but I just didn't have time to post what I had so I'll post it all now, OK?
    For starters, we can all use another stretchy Cast Off to add to our repertoir, especially for collars, hat hems, and toe-up sock cuffs. For years I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn cast off but I never really liked using it. It looked fine and it was stretchy but I hated having to sew. I also hated having to try and guess how much yarn it would take to sew all the stitches - especially if I ran out! (yes, I think we've all done it!).
So today I have not one but TWO stretchy cast offs to share! The first is from Susan at Dog Lover's Yarn. She left this link for a Russian Bind Off from Wendy Knits in one of her comments so I'm re-posting it, it's so good!     The other link is a direct link for Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off at Knitty that I mentioned before. I finally dug out the sheets and got the address. Here's a tip - rather than trying to print out all the pages for this technique, I use the "Save Page as" function of my browser. Then you can access the page complete any time without having to be on the internet to do it. Just click on "File" and select "Save Page as" from the drop down menu. The really nice thing about this function is that you will always have that page - even if the website becomes defunct - although I suspect Knitty will be around for some time to come - but it's pretty handy to use all the same.
    For patterns I have a Scarf. Yes, strange coming from me since in my entire knitting career I've only ever knit 2 - yes, TWO scarves. But this one is pretty nice.

    It's called the Pebbles Scarf from Tahki Stacey Charles. Yes, I'm seriously considering knitting it. (Both pattern links will take you right to the pdfs so I hope they load OK for everyone.)
    The second pattern is a cowl from Classic Elite Yarns called Basket Whip (yes, slightly odd name). I'm rather "into" cowls right now. I like this pattern for the basic cowl instructions in this weight of yarn and may dig through my handspun stash for something suitable although I think the spacing of the lace looks kind of dumb. It's not symetrical and the triangular shape of the lace makes it look sort of improvised. If I decide to knit it I might use a different lace insert like a leaf or something that flows more. Time to browse my lace stitches books I think!

Both these patterns could be knit as gifts before (this) Christmas so I hope they give you some inspiration!

Noro "Zen" Shawl Finished

Gloria Patre — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:42:00 GMT

    The shawl I was knitting with the Noro Hinageshi S.S. didn't take very long to finish. It was just a Zen knit - a simple stitch repeat for those times when I just wanted to sit and knit and not think. I guess there were a lot of those times, recently! LOL! Maybe it's because I've had such a nasty cold for the last 2 weeks...
    One thing for sure - I will never buy any of this yarn again! Number one it's waaaay too expensive at retail for what you get yardage-wise per skein (mind you, I've always felt that way about Noro yarns). Number two, even if it was on bargain basement sale I wouldn't buy more - not because it's rayon/cotton/linen/nylon either - it's because of what happened when I washed it. If you recall what I wrote when I started this shawl, I really loved how this yarn looked, even though the fiber content was not my cup of tea. It was easy to knit with too - a real "pleasure" knit. Well my opinion changed dramatically when I washed the finished shawl! I did the usual, lukewarm soak/wash and spun it in the machine to get it fairly dry. Well the vibrancy in the colors died. I thought maybe that was just because it was wet and that it would look like it did before, after it dried. Nope! I laid it out and blocked it and let it air dry. It looked (and still does) horrible! There is no shiny sheen to the yarn any more and the colors all look like the shawl is 5 years old and used! I couldn't believe my eyes! If I had washed it in hot on a full wash cycle maybe I could have expected this outcome but not after a careful hand wash! All I can say is thank goodness I only had 4 skeins and I DIDN'T pay retail for them!!




    I have no idea what I'll do with this thing - maybe my kids will use it as a dress-up - one thing for sure, it isn't nice enough to wear as a serious accessory....
    Just one more reason why I DON'T love Noro yarns! Sure the colors can be lovely (though some combos are downright gaudy - or muddy), but I have tried about 5 different ones now and I still say they are overpriced because they are imports. The wool fiber content is cheap - especially the Kureyon, made with wool for pot scrubbers! Really, really horribly scratchy! Sure Silk Garden is nice but there are other brands with similar content for much less $$. So far the only exception I've found is Noro Kabuto, a chunky weight blend of cashmere, silk and wool (actually soft wool!). It seems to be one of the few Noro yarns that actually gives you what you pay for. Of course it's discontinued! One of the only yarns in my stash I fiercely guard! So don't ask if I have any to spare, OK? LOL!

Time For A Little Spin Relaxation!

Gloria Patre — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:17:00 GMT

With that big lot of silk/wool behind me I wanted my next spinning project to be nothing but relaxation! It just so happens that I purchased some marled grey Cotswold sliver from Wild Geese when I bought the extra Bison/silk/alpaca to make my Pretty Thing cowl. And yes, I bought it fully intending to spin it next. I couldn't help it - it's such a pure pleasure to spin! I mean, I don't have any immediate (or future) plans yet for the yarn I'll make from it - I just love spinning it. It has a subtle shine, it glides through your fingers like magic and it spins up fine, a mile-a-minute. How could I NOT love it to bits??

What's more, it comes in nice easy rolls. And because it's sliver you just pick up the end and get at it - no drafting, pre-drafting or other fuddling. Just spin it. Barb told me it's excellent for shawls. Then I read an article in the latest Knitty (or was it the Twist Collective newsletter?) about using long wools for shawls and it just makes so much sense. They make well-defined lace that isn't fragile and since you're not likely to wear a shawl next to your bare skin there's no scratch issues either. At any rate, it's an idea that will rattle around in the back of my brain for a while, even after I've finished spinning and plying this lot. Eventually I'll find the perfect pattern (preferably an easy, lazy knit) that will knit up as fast as this lovely stuff spins up! LOL! (Does such a thing exist? Ha!) More on that thought later.... cheers all!

Pretty Thing Cowl Finished!

Gloria Patre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:37:00 GMT

    What a pleasure it was to make and finish this project! The yarn was a dream - in fact it's the most gorgeous yarn I've used in years! It's a luxury blend of Bison, Merino and Silk I got from Barb at Wild Geese Fiber. I had three, 150 yd skeins and I made sure to use them all. I didn't want a part-ball left over! I know the original Pretty Thing pattern called for one, 150 yd skein of cashmere but it must have been thread-weight because 150 yards of the yarn I was using would not have made it much past half-way - and what's more, I was knitting more or less to gauge! Go figure!
    To make the cowl I simply made a note of how far into the pattern one skein got me and then repeated the middle lace pattern until I had used 2 skeins. Then I started the pattern where the first skein got me to and finished. OK, maybe that didn't sound quite right but I know what I did and it worked! I had about 2 yards left when I finished so I patted myself on the back!

    Stephanie's pattern called for an Elizabeth Zimmerman style sewn cast off. I used this type of cast-off for years on sock cuffs and disliked using it immensely. It was wonderfully stretchy and didn't look too bad but it was too much like work! I decided to give Jennifer's Incredibly Stretchy Bind Off from Knitty.com a try instead. Woweee! Stretchy and good looking too! What's more it meets with my Lazy-Knitter seal of approval of not being too fiddly or too much work! Plus, there's no worries about running out of yarn because you cut it off, like you do with a sewn bind off.
    So I washed and blocked the cowl. Yes, I know it doesn't look symmetrical on the blocking stand. No, I'm not sure why. Maybe I didn't pull it enough. Blame the camera, OK?

    The soft hand and silky texture are simply divine! And to my delight, it's not fuzzy at all! I can't stand fuzzy next to my face! And it makes the lace stitches really show! DD#2 was kind enough to model.

    Because it's a fairly fine knit, it's not too bulky to wear down around your neck. But it really shines as a cowl because it's long enough to go right over my head - the way I intend to wear it. You see, my favorite coats have hoods and this will be just perfect to wear under them!



    So 2 thumbs up for The Yarn Harlot's Pretty Thing pattern! I enjoyed knitting it and I know I'm REALLY going to love wearing it! Cheers all!

Another Rare Largely Unknown Wheel

Gloria Patre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:40:00 GMT

I couldn't resist painting this primitive spinner from the Ram Wools catalog. I don't know if they still sell them and it looks a lot like a spinning wheel I've seen from an American manufacturer recently but it's still a lovely wheel. It was produced under their own label as the Ram Spinner. In the catalog they promoted it as a chunky yarn spinner so that explains the size of the bobbins. All I know is it had a lot of character. 9 x 12 watercolor

Plying Finished!

Gloria Patre — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:04:00 GMT

Now that the Cowichan had been tamed I dove into plying like a mad woman! It just felt good to finally finish the russet & gold wool/silk batts. I had spent several weeks in the evenings spinning them into singles and although I liked it, I was getting to the "I've seen this fiber long enough" stage! LOL! I also have to admit that this was one of those cases where something that looks fabulous as a batt doesn't always retain that "look" in the finished yarn. I suppose what I loved about the batt was the marvelous contrast between the two colors and how they complimented each other. What happened in the spinning though, was that the fine silk fiber almost disappeared in the wool so there were no more gorgeous bold contrasts in the finished yarn. It turned more into a heathered russett with golden highlights. What's more, it came out overall lighter in hue than the original batts due to this blending. I had hoped to use it to knit myself a sweater but the finished yarn just didn't suit my original idea. It's a beautiful yarn - and fairly consistent weight throughout too, which I consider nothing short of an achievement! (especially after the last batch). So, after some consideration I decided to list it in my Etsy shop. After all, I don't have to keep everything I spin, just because I've spun it. I'm sure someone will love it more than I do and make it into something lovely.

    In the end I made 4 skeins, each weighing between 110 - 128 gms, with 172 to 205 yards each. I chain plied so it's 3-ply and about a Sport weight. I was really, really happy with this! Quite a consistent weight over 2400 yards of singles! And with large lots I've decided to make a few smaller skeins rather than one or two huge ones. They dry faster, for one thing, plus it gives buyers options and is easier for them to wind into balls.
    The other thing I found, is that, in spite of the seeming coarseness of these batts (and I still have a few pounds - yes pounds - in pinks and purples) it isn't the fiber that is rough, I think it's residue from the dye. As soon as I soak the finished skeins to set the twist, the yarn comes out surprisingly soft. I suspect the fiber was dyed but not properly rinsed or washed because it's a completely different animal in the finished yarn! This is rather encouraging, because it isn't the most pleasant stuff in the world to spin (remember I described it as 'dryer lint'?). It means that in spite of the unpleasant spinning it becomes some very lovely multi-functional yarn. That having been said, my gaze has turned elsewhere for the next spinning project... (more on that later) - after all those batts I just want to have a bit of fun spinning!

Friday Freebie Time Again!

Gloria Patre — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:09:00 GMT

    I am beginning to feel a bit time-warpish again. Having a stat holiday mid-week made me feel like it was a weekend already or something and now I feel like two weeks have gone by instead of one! Hmmm... time to take a deep breath and maybe knit something while watching a movie? Sheesh!
    Anyways, I'm feeling chilly again so this week's freebie is a cozy pattern from a designer I admire immensely - Nora Gaughan of Berroco. I desperately love her designs - her unique twists and fabulous style details! This cardigan is no exception! The top half is knit cuff to cuff and then the bottom is knit in a different direction. This, too, is a pattern that would work in a variegated yarn, or even a self-striping yarn. The original design has stripes because it was knit in a sort of boucle, with several different colors but I think something more random would be even nicer - especially in brighter colors! I think beige and off-white is a bit drab! Here it is, it's called Celsian and I just LOVE it!


    My other "Check It Out" today is Nicky Epstein's website/blog. If you've never heard of her, you obviously haven't seen any of her outstanding knitting books. (And have you been living under a rock? LOL!) I have a few of them - the best ones, I think - but she has yet another new one out called "Knitting a Kiss into Every Stitch". Her blog always features a free pattern, just click on "Goodies" on the sidebar. She's a very girly-girl but her knitting know-how and design talent are truly praise-worthy!
So I've share two of my big favorites with you - hope you enjoy them! Cheers all!

Ms Handyman Tames a Wild Thing

Gloria Patre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:48:00 GMT

    Having had such great success with the modifications to my Baynes wheel, I turned my creative attentions to my beloved Cowichan Spinner. I think you are all aware how much I love and respect this wheel, partly because of it's history, partly because it was my mother's and partly because I have a great passion for older things, especially functional ones! However, this old gal was a wicked task master - any extended bouts of spinning usually resulted in shin-splint-like aches in my legs and I finally reached a point where it was either try to address the issue or get a new Cottage Spinner. I just couldn't do it any more. So, I began to investigate the simple physics of this wheel.


    The first problem I wanted to tackle was the treadling issue. After spending some time comparing my Baynes to my Cowichan, I realized that the reason my legs suffered so much is because when the Cowichan treadle was at rest (the bottom of it's stroke) it was at least 30 degrees below level, meaning my toes were about 30 degrees below my heel. The picture doesn't show it very well, but believe me, it is a significant amount of drop for repetitive motion! So, after some measuring I decided to shorten the treadle shaft. I was also prepared to move the pedal, if necessary, but I was certain the treadle should go no farther down than perfectly level.


    The first thing I did was straighten and pull the cotter pin to disconnect the shaft from the wheel. Then I took out the small screw that connects the shaft to the foot pedal. The two are held together by a strip of leather - rather ingenious, I thought, as the leather makes a flexible and noiseless joint. Then I measured to see how much would have to be cut off in order for the pedal to rest at level. Slightly more than a inch, in fact!



    Once I had marked it I went off to the workshop. Now this is the part where having good nerves come in. I fully realized that if my idea was incorrect, or worse, my cutting, I was past the point of no return. What's more, I'd have to cut a slot in the end of the shaft to accommodate the leather strip. Cutting off the excess length was easy, and I used a circular saw to cut the slot. The only difficulty with that was the saw blade is round so my slot was not rectangular. I ended up using a wood chisel to (extremely carefully) chip out the uncut center. I was surprised at what hard wood the shaft was! The entire wheel is made from BC cedar, which tends to be a fairly soft wood. The shaft, however was hard like oak, even though it smelled like cedar when I cut it - very unusual!


    Not exactly a precision job, but certainly functional! I was just relieved that I didn't have an accident and wreck it! So I re-connected everything and gave it a whirl. HUGE improvement! I was delighted! Now I won't go so far as to say I fixed the problem perfectly - to do that I think I would have had to make the pedal rest at about 30 degrees above level - and I think that would make the shaft too short to run smoothly. However, the improvement was substantial! And as it turned out, I didn't need to move the foot pedal like I thought I would. That's a good thing because I don't like changing things unnecessarily.
    The next issue I wanted to tackle was how the bobbin winds yarn on. This wheel was originally designed to spin ultra-chunky singles so the hooks are really far apart. I added more hooks so I could wind yarn more evenly onto the bobbin. But - it is necessary to remember that this wheel is BIG. That means it has different physics than my Baynes. On the Baynes I just added a few extra hooks and everything was fine. On the Cowichan, this was not the case. The flyer is so big that if I just added hooks it wobbled and lurched like a drunken sailor. What I had to do was add the same number of hooks to both sides of the flyer so the weight would be balanced. Really.



    I simply drilled holes and screwed in the new hooks, then I used a white sheet and put marks where the hooks were, used it to mark the side without hooks, drilled the holes and screwed them in. Then I spun the wheel. WOW! I never realized just how out of balance the flyer was to begin with - even before I added hooks to the one side! It spun so smoothly I hardly recognized the old girl! It really used to wobble! Size really amplifies imperfections in design, that's for sure! Of course now that I had hooks on both sides, I decided I should make another orifice hole so I could actually use either set if I wanted to. Out came the biggest drill bit I had....



    I think, in that moment, I understood a bit of what Dr Frankenstein felt, taking on a bit of an unknown with gusto... The drilling went smoothly and nothing shattered or split (whew!). I will smooth it with a rasp when I find one (hubby's shop can be a bit of a maze, tool-wise). I needed to slope the exit hole so the yarn would travel smoothly out onto the flyer.... so many details!
    When I was done, I could hardly wait to give it a test drive! All told it only took a couple of hours but the end result was substantially improved functionality. Not perfect, but certainly manageable, now! I guess I'll keep using the old girl for quite a while yet - that new Cottage Spinner purchase has been postponed until... who knows.... Cheers all! More on the test spin next post!

Three New Sets Posted on Etsy!

Gloria Patre — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:45:00 GMT

Yesterday was a good day. I was finally able to post three (yes, 3) new sets of Spinner's Note Cards to my Etsy shop! I finally have a new color laser printer (haven't decided if I like it or not yet). I have finally finished the last 3 watercolors to complete the sets I was working on. Lastly, I finally finished defacing all my low resolution scans and replacing the untouched scans on my blog and in my Etsy Shop. This last job was particularly distasteful to me. It still bothers me that it's necessary because other people have no conscience. Anyways, here's one of the new pictures. It's a 9 x 12 watercolor entitled Simple Spindles. I'll post the other pics later. Cheers all!

Friday Freebies For Variegated Yarn

Gloria Patre — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:24:00 GMT

    The sun is shining today and I felt like indulging in a bit of color. So today's Friday Freebies are for variegated yarns. You know the type - you spun up some lovely fiber with short color changes, the yarn is nice but... or you just couldn't resist that skein (or those skeinS) at the fiber festival, sock conference etc and once you got it home it nestled right into your stash defying you to find a suitable project!
    I chose both these free patterns because they are actually variegated-friendly. Now I tend to be rather picky about not using textured or lace stitches with multi-colored yarn. I usually feel the yarn is busy enough without wasting effort on a texture or design no one will notice. And this is often very true with some of the wild and weird color combos indie dyers seem to be pumping out these days. However, both these projects were originally knit in multi-colored yarns and they WORK!
    The first is a simple Shell Lace Shawl from Knitting On the Net. Because it's a rectangular shawl you could knit it in almost any weight and simply increase or decrease the number of stitch repeats. Talk about a way to use up some of those beloved but stubborn peacocks in your stash!



    The second project is a sock pattern from Bellybutton Knits, the Hanaumabay Socks, by a fabulously creative gal named Adrienne Fong who generously shares some of her original designs and also offers others for sale. I chose this one for several reasons. Although she knit it with self-striping sock yarn it would certainly work with variegated or even a dramatic semi-solid tonal dye. Second, it's a variation of Feather and Fan (Old Shale) and I mean, really, how can you go wrong with that?



I hope this inspires you to root out a few of those I-love-it-but-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-it multi-colored marvels from your stash and celebrate their uniqueness! Cheers all!

Fresh Off The Swift...

Gloria Patre — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:16:00 GMT

    As I mentioned previously, I seem to be finishing things lately. This is always a GOOD feeling! I finally got around to plying the Blue-Green/Turquoise-Green singles. The general rule for spinning, says spin all your singles at once - which I did. All the more reason I am somewhat perturbed that they didn't seem to be the same weight. Since I had planned to chain ply all this (Navajo ply) to preserve the color changes, I decided to ply the first bobbin with the last part-bobbin as they seemed to be the singles that matched the best. I plied each of the other two bobbins separately. As I suspected, I ended up with yarn of 2 different weights. The largest skein weighed 130 gm and was about 150 yds. The other two skeins weighed about 100 gms each and each had about 150 yds. VERY annoying!! So I have 2 skeins totaling about 300 yds of DK weight and one skein of 150 yds of heavy worsted. AAARRRGGGHHH!! I suppose the heavy skein could make a hat and the other 2 could make a scarf... OR... I could just list them in my Etsy shop (with full details) and let someone else worry about it! Which do you think I did??

What's more, I took over 30 pictures (not kidding) before coming up with anything that vaguely resembled the real colors of this yarn. You know that feeling when it seems like it doesn't matter what you do - it is NOT going to come out right!! I have tried every one of the eight settings on that dang camera using various of the 4 flash settings and different locations inside and outside the house. I have come to the conclusion that the problem isn't that the camera is a piece of junk, it's got a voodoo curse on it and unless I burn the entrails of a chicken under a full moon it will continue to take horridly distorted color pictures!
**Sigh! I think I really need to get a new camera... I'm just scared I'll spend good money to go from the frying pan into the fire....

#1 Best Sister Prize Awarded Today

Gloria Patre — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:04:00 GMT

    And the surprise is - the prize doesn't go to me, it goes to my older sis! She emailed me out of the blue to say a neighbor had a drum carder in her storage locker that she wanted to give away, and was I interested. Yes, I immediately jolted awake and re-read it to make sure I understood her. Yes - FREE! And my sister is SUCH a gem she wouldn't even let me reimburse her for the postage! What's more, the parcel arrived in record time. I was giddy carting the big box into the house. Now you must appreciate that this carder came sight unseen and I was modestly hoping it wasn't a wobbly old antique that had partially disintegrated in shipping. Imagine my delight to unpack this from the box...



    I could hardly believe my eyes!! Apparently she only ever used it for one project so it's MINT! She also included the catalog she purchased it from in 1981 - would you believe - Ram Wools out of Winnipeg! I don't need to tell you how big a company Ram Wools is now! The catalog is color but only about a dozen pages - talk about your humble beginnings! But the story gets better - here's the maker's label...


    That's right - our old friend Made Well (Spins Well) from Sifton Manitoba! I couldn't suppress my ear-to-ear grin! The world just gets smaller and smaller!! There's just no end to the surprises in life, is there? Prairie gear for a prairie gal! LOL! I guess I have no excuses now for not finishing that Llama fiber, eh? Don't you all wish you had an older sis like mine?? Ya, well, she's taken - sorry! Cheers all!