Dying Cotton

Continuing our fiber fancies, Alyssa and I dyed the cotton we bought at Article Pract.

Thing's I've learned:

• You can soak it in soda ash overnight and it stll may not soak all the way through, which means you are going to have ry spots on the roving that the dye just won't take to.
• The "rose" color is very clearly a purple.
• Cotton has ridiculously short staples. This is going to be an adventure an a half to spin.
• One squirt bottle should be enough for 3-4 rovings assuming you're not drowning it in dye.

My colors turned out pretty nice, so no complaints there. Currently, our hanks are hanging in the bathroom to dry, and mine are taking forever. Parts of it are pretty dry, though, and it feels just as heavenly as when we first bought it.

Next time, though, we'll definitely use wool an Kool-Aid as this was a terrible hassle.

Gray wool

I've finished plying half of the gray wool and it's turning out very nicely. Still the occasional slub, but overall very even. But, it doesn't seem like very much yarn in the end. Instead of plying the two gray strands together, I may just spin all of the gray into one strand and ply it with some future roving. I'm looking forward to going to Article Pract and checking out their store since it's so close to where I live. But, their prices definitely seem steep, so I'll be browsing around Etsy, too.

My wrists are killing me today, mostly my left wrist from all of the pinching. Yet another reason to get a spinning wheel, I think...

The pink and green alpaca is dried and waiting to be made into a ball. There's a large amount of over twist somewhere, even after washing, as it kinks something terrible on its own. The colors are a bit muted, so I think next time I'll go for something brighter.

Back in the game.

A quick trek to Ace Hardware this morning and I've now constructed my own plying apparatus. Thanks to Megan and Alyssa, the spinning bug has buried itself deep under my skin and is nomming on my fingers, so I finally finished spinning the pink and green alpaca. Somehow I only wound up with 2 oz in the end, I'm not sure where the other 2 oz. disappeared to. But, plying it was a nightmare as I had to first seaparate the bobbin into two very uneven amounts and they continued to tangle since I had nothing to really hold them on. So, I bike over to AH and had some PVC cut (those guys were so fed up with me by the end, I think) and now I have a very handy PVC thing that will hold 3 bobbins (in case I ever feel brave enough to try Navajo Plying). It looks approximately like this:

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I tried making a base for it as well, so there are four 6" legs at each of the corners, but the two crossbars I had cut are each 1.5" too large. At the store I thought they would just need a bit of pressure to get them to sit right and that it wouldn't matter if they were a little wobbly as long as it stood, but I'm finding that it doesn't stay very well without everything perfectly lined up and pushed in. So, I'll go back at some point and have them recut and THEN it will be perfect. For now, it still stands, it just doesn't have any supports.

I also decided to be clever and make my own niddy noddy using PVC. It would have gone perfectly if I'd remember to ask for the shorter pieces to be cut in half. *facepalm* So, looks like I'll have to go get those cut, too.

And, because it bothers the crap out of me, a skein is NOT the same thing as a hank. A hank is yarn that has been looped around something (like a niddy noddy) and then twisted around itself. You cannot knit directly off of a hank, it must be rewound by hand or ball winder or it will tangle and be useless. A skein is yarn that has been wound into what looks like a loaf. You can knit directly from it, generally from the center, and there is no rewinding necessary unless you want to. So, there, not the same thing. *grumble* I don't know why the terms are used interchangeably so often because they really are not the same thing and can really confuse newer crafters if you tell them to knit directly from the skein and what they really have is a hank.

I'm still eyeing a couple of different spinning wheels and am getting better at telling myself that I want a Kiwi for more than the reason that there is a picture of a kiwi on it. Either way, I'm definitely opting for the double treadle and for something I can easy pack up and bring with me wherever I want to take it. Maybe the Joy? Or, I could be extra crafty and just make it out of PVC. Mm, warm fuzzy feelings.

Actual pictures to come!

I'm not dead, really. I just have been so far behind on my knitting it's not even funny. The summer is always a really hard time for me to knit because I keep my needles in Berkeley when I go back home for vacation. Stupid, I know. But, now that I'm finally back I hope to keep working on the bagillion projects I have going on.

At least the weather is getting cooler. Maybe now I'll actually finish that U-Neck sweater!

Portfolios and Projects

Okay, so a bit has been going on. Portfolio knitting has been almost nil. I'm currently in the terrified mood of not sure if what I'm doing is right, so if I procrastinate long enough it'll simply be too late and I'll have no choice but to wait until next year/semester. But, I really REALLY don't want to do that. I WANT to go to art school, I'm just scared they're going to take one look at my stuff and just throw the whole thing in the trash. On the plus side, I've managed to put together the fifteen items I'll be submitting to California College of the Arts (My number one). It's nice because they only want fifteen items, but at the same time with the direction I'm taking my portfolio this will make things a little harder when applying to the other schools (which are asking for twenty items).

I made a spreadsheet in my sketchbook for the order and titles of my pieces. I'm going to actually knit a book, complete with cover and back, and each piece is going to be it's own submission. The whole thing will roughly be centered around a story, but I want it to be open somewhat to interpretation. The titles go Happily Ever After, Prince Charmless, The Kingdom, etc. As each piece is introduced I want the viewer to be able to get a sense of what it's about (both from the yarn, textures, color and from the title itself). And as they go through each one, a general story should come through. The specifics of it are left to them, but there is a definite direction I want this to go.

That being said, I now just need to come up with layouts for each piece. I know I don't want it all to be knitting. That would first off get very boring and second off, even if they are somewhat impressed by the fact that I'm submitting knit work at all (it doesn't seem to be very common), I want them to see that I can do more than just that. I don't want to go into school as A Knitter. I want to go in as someone who can take a piece of fiber or yarn and make something different out of it, whether it be through knitting or some other technique. And there are A LOT of other techniques. I might not even stick to all yarn, maybe strips of cloth, etc. In fact, that actually sounds PERFECT for the page of The Peasant. Maybe I'll use old strips of cloth for him. Hmm (I love spur of the moment ideas).....

I'm going to teach myself to crochet for one page. I hope to get into weaving as well (maybe for the back cover since it would otherwise look rather plain. Any other suggestions? I'd like to bring in spinning as well, but not really sure the best way to do that. Maybe even wire knitting and beadwork for something. One thing's for sure, I definitely won't be going in order. And I'm very very excited to make the pages for Jealousy and The Duel. Fairy Godmother will be fun, too!

Also, I've started knitting a new side project. I've put my Fair Isle sweater on hold for now simply because it's spring/summer! So, I started something from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. The picture's a little blurry, but you get the idea. I'm making mine in Caron's Simply Soft in part to use up my acrylic and in part because I love the blue-gray and the fact that it'll be machine washable. Currently making the waistband. It's knit on only 25 stitches lengthwise (about 30" or as long as needed to go all the way around underneath my bust) and then the rest of the shirt is picked up along the edges of the waistband. It's really very gorgeous and the back is completely open except for where the waistband buttons.

So that's all the latest in the world of crafting and knitting. I hope to go to Le Cis before I leave for home so I can buy the boning for my waist cincher I plan on making for Bay Con (way excited to volunteer this year).

I'll update as it happens!

WIPs and the project from hell

Oh, the mind of a knitter. If I'm not thinking about project I'm thinking about ten others. Let's do a fun recap of all the things hanging in knitting limbo right now.

VK Fall Fall '06 Fair Isle U-Neck (back is finished with the neck sitting on my needle holders)
"Last Minute Knitted Gifts" bag featured on the cover (really just need to sit down and finish the last couple inches)
Knitty's Hedera (about 3/4 of the way down with the leg)
Hollywood Knits Style's Classic Baby Set (stuck at the button hole! stupid Suss and her horrible directions...)
We Call Them Pirates Tote for my friend Crank in exchange for brownies! (honestly, I think I'm getting to better deal!)

And then, of course, there are the projects that I REALLY REALLY want to make!

But I CAN'T! Know why?! Because I have 20 projects to make for my dang portfolio. And while I DO have a theme goin on, I'm in the middle of another hellish yarn knot. Proving, once again, why ribbon yarn and those stupid trellis yarns will be the death of me. I mean, you can't really put the stuff on a ball winder because even though looks great on the winder, the second you take it off it all just collapses inward and is a whole other kind of mess because there's not enough of it to keep a solid shape! Bah!

And now I'm wondering if the banner form is the best way to show it off. And should I try to make an entire story out of it? OR do I actually want to try the garment idea. I mean, yes, right now things are kinda hectic with school and all. But, come summer time, I'm going to have a lot of free time, which means a lot of time to knit, which means I might actually be able to sit down a crank out a sweater or some other intricate type project. And then each piece could have the theme inside of it. Yes? No? Well, for right now, I'm just going to take it one piece at a time. The one I've got on my needles now can at least be worked into a scarf so if I do decide to make the project more garment-based, I'll have that down.

I wish I hadn't forgotten my knitting at home. >.O

I have an idea

It was a cold night that found the old woman and her granddaughter seated side by side on the floor near the fire. The young girl watched the light drizzle fall on the other side of the glass, knowing it would only grow worse by morning. It was quiet in the house, the only noise coming from the crackles and pops in the low fire, orchestrated by the clicking of the old woman’s needles and the repetitive motion of in, throw, out, repeat.

“Tell me another story.”

The needles stopped clicking and the woman smiled down at the eager face beside her. Never one to disappoint the child, she gently removed the work from her needles, setting it aside in the basket to her right. She took a moment to think, pulled a brightly colored ball of yarn from the pile, and began to cast on again.