Too Much Wool

on second thought

This is the post I originally wrote, about 8:30pm:

I'd love to post about how I've gotten so much done. But alas, not so much has happened woolwise.

Instead you get to hear about my utterly bizarre day yesterday. First, we started with a triumph. Definitely not a portent of things to come.

The iPod is working. I was glad to hear that others had also had the joy (ahem) of updating their operating systems just to run Nanos and other iPods on them. It made me feel like less of a slacker in the update department. But as of yesterday morning the iPod was being fully enjoyed by my daughter, which is all that matters.

Then things went wildly awry.

I brushed my teeth prior to leaving the house yesterday afternoon, and noticed something was wrong. I had chipped a tooth. I called my dentist, and fortunately he had an open appointment for 4:15pm. I would say immediate gratification but we're talking about dental work here.

I took the train with my daughter and her visiting friend to Manhattan. I only had about an hour to kill but felt like getting out, rain or no rain (it had actually stopped pouring a little after noon, when we left the house). Shortly after leaving them at the movie theater, I had walked about a block when I was almost hit by a livery car driver. I had the green light, he made an illegal turn on red, but thankfully was going very slowly. He yelled at me because I was talking on my cell phone, but the truth is that he was in the wrong. He didn't hit me, although when I put out my hand the car came close enough to touch it (and I'm 5' and don't have much 'wingspan' to speak of).

Okay, near miss, but no harm done other than a little bit of adrenalin.

Then I had the fun of a dentist visit. Not a nice, planned, civilized visit at all. One of those, damn-it-what-happened-to-my-tooth and can-you-please-fix-it-without-hurting-me kind of things. He took care of it. Which should make me happy but at this precise point in time the Novocaine has worn off and my mouth is quite sore. However, I'm very glad I got it fixed up before the long New Year's weekend.

So, all's well that ends well, but my excitement quotient is about tapped out for the day and I think I have to call it a night. No knitting done, and minimal spinning. I will post a pic on Saturday (I've got it picked out) but other than that, nothing until the new year.

Wishing everyone relaxing weekend and a wonderful, peaceful, woolfull and happy new year!

And then I remembered what I had thought about writing about before the Novocaine wore off:

I had an interesting holiday season. Last year and the year before, there were special things I wanted. Knitting books from Norway and the like. I got them, after specifically asking. And this year the only thing I could even think of was the handcards (which I also got - my family is pretty good about lists).

Yes, I did treat myself to the fleece and the wonderful Alden Amos spindle with some money my MIL sent me. But the want list was tiny, and the fortuitous arrival of emails concerning two special finds (fleece and spindle) just happened and I jumped at the chance.

There isn't a whole lot I want that I don't have already.

It even occurred to me belatedly that I could have asked for a gift certificate for a local yarn shop. But there really isn't that much to tempt me right locally right now, and I've been enjoying knitting from stash for the last while. That's not to say I wouldn't buy something given a gift certificate, but the thought of going into a shop and feeling like I was expected to spend one wasn't really appealing.

I got some money for Christmas and Hanukah (my family does both) too, which I'm just setting aside for now. When I got it, I thought "Wow! I could almost buy a Lendrum wheel." Shortly thereafter I realized that although the money was "a lot" wool/spin wise, it was nothing if I needed a new computer. Which tempered my enthusiasm for spending it anytime soon.

I've been thinking about wants vs. needs, and realistically I know that my needs are all met. I have a great stash - yarn, needles, books and patterns for inspiration. I have more ideas than I can realistically knit in my free time, without giving up sleep and without blowing out my hands and wrists with a repetitive stress injury (which is something I've been flirting with for over 10 years, given all the handwork I've done or almost-overdone in that time).

I feel really lucky to have this incredible community of friends, with the inspiration, knowledge, and fun that they've given me over the past year or more. 99% of my fiber friends are people I've met through blogging. They've helped me through sad times, frustrations, computer problems, and more. I can't imagine life without them, and I also can't imagine having met such a rich and varied group of people without blogs, both reading them and writing one.

At the same time, I can see my own tendency to flit from one thing to another, like a moth following a light. I read about a book/pattern/yarn/gadget somewhere, and I want to have one. For all the friendship and inspiration I've gotten, and all the wonderful tips and ideas, there has been a downside for me of elusive chasing after mirages. Things I want but don't need, can't afford, and probably would never have known about without reading the dozens (its close to 200) blogs that I try to keep up with.

This is entirely my own fault. No one is twisting my arm, telling me I "must" have anything. It's my own flickering attention span and urge to hoard and have-it-all that are to blame. Not the blogs, not the bloggers. If I can come up with anything as a New Year's resolution, it might be to more seriously reflect on what it is that's important to me, what I have already, and what will really be special to me if I do acquire it.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a new year full of special things.

Yesterday

Yesterday involved a half-day upgrade odyssey on a new (to us) used computer that a wonderful and super-generous friend gave my daughter (enough adjectives?). She got an iPod for Christmas, which is so new, sleek and cool that it was impossible to use with my hulking antique of a computer, but then even too sleek for the used computer (which is newer than mine) without an upgrade. Stephanie wrote something a while ago that made the whole upgrade thing sound funny, but considering it in retrospect, it was mostly a pain. Many thanks to the friend(s) who offered advice and came over to hold my hand through the whole thing.

However, now that its all done, my daughter has a computer and we won't have to fight each other for computer time. Congratulate me on having been successfully been dragged into the modern world. I'll need to get high speed internet access before you can congratulate me on entering the 21st century, though. All of this makes it glaringly obvious where my priorities lay. Upgrade for myself/blogging? Not so much. Daughter needs/wants music? We will cross the fiery chasms of the Upgrade Abyss to accomplish it. At least no one can say I don't love my daughter.

Ironically, what got me through the computer stuff was spinning, as ancient of an occupation as you could possibly find around here. I mentioned yesterday the imminent arrival of a new spindle. It did indeed arrive first thing yesterday morning.

excuse the crappy picture - I took it very quickly

Its a Balkan spindle from Studio Gaustad. Thanks to the generosity of my MIL, I was able to treat myself to this as well as the Icelandic lamb fleece I blogged about yesterday. The new spindle is apple wood, and the bottom whorl is removable. The shaft is the most incredibly smooth wood, and the thing spins unbelievably well. I'm very happy with it. The yarn you see was sampled from some Icelandic/merino/mohair/alpaca blend I bought from Tongue River Farm at Rhinebeck this year.

I spent some time wheel spinning yesterday as well. My wheel has been sadly neglected of late, and I found that spinning on it was the perfect antidote to computer stress. I continue to be amazed by the ability of spinning to sooth me mentally, and really regret now that I let my wheel sit idle when holiday/transit strike issues were driving me insane.

Now, a question for the Spindicate:

Does anyone know of a book that has information and pictures on a wide variety of spindles (as opposed to wheels)? I was hoping that somewhere out there someone has put together a book with pictures of ancient spindles, and/or spindles from around the world. I know there's a book for collectors about spinning wheels, but was wondering if there was anything amounting to a history of spindle spinning in a single volume.

acquisitions

It's time for some belated photos of (no longer so recent) acquistions. In some cases, gifts and/or prizes. I don't get lots of unsolicited gifts via the blog, I suspect in part because I rarely blog about them. However, in this time of low energy, houseguests and holiday ennui, I figured I'd play catch-up.

First off - a while back (November!) I won a prize in a contest that Christine had on her blog. The prize I chose was this lovely roving, spindle and beginning spinning instructions from Delia at The Fiber Denn. Admittedly, although I chose it from the list of prizes intending to pass it along to someone who wanted to learn to spin, I've been having second thoughts about passing up the lovely hand dyed merino roving that Delia created.

Then, over the last month or two, I received two lovely gifts of sock yarns from S. Kate (commenter, but blogless) and JoVE. 

The dark green St Ives wool is from Jo, a yarn recommended for at least one if not two Nancy Bush patterns. Jo knows how much I love to knit socks from NB's books, and shared her bounty. The Lorna's Laces in the new (!) color called Glencheck is from S. Kate - just because the colors reminded her of Alice. this yarn has been taunting me throughout my holiday knitting marathon, daring me to abandon the gift knitting and just cast on for something for myself. I love to see the contrast between the skeined and balled yarn, and the difference in the appearance between the two. And let me say, the temptation of knitting with Lorna's Laces was really hard to resist.

And then a gift I gave myself (via a cash gift from my mother-in-law):

Its a small (1.5 lb) Icelandic lamb fleece from a lovely twin lamb named Sunnu. It arrived yesterday morning, and I have to say, its the cleanest, most beautiful Icelandic wool I've seen to date. This picture has a bit of flash wash-out. The color in person is deep dark brown, so dark as to be almost black. Its well skirted, has almost zero VM, and the staple length will be excellent for combing.

There's another gift-to-myself in the mail - a spindle that I treated myself to (also via my MIL's holiday cash), but I won't say much about it until it arrives. My spinning of late has been pretty much non-existent, but I still crave spinning and consider it just a matter of time until I immerse myself in the new handcards, the spindle that I don't have in hand yet, and my wheel ..... once again.

I had a two day break from knitting to rest my hands after the holiday knitting marathon, and now I'm just working on the "itchy" gray socks in order to finish them for Jon. In spite of being a not too soft wool, they'll make great boot socks worn with thin cotton socks as a barrier layer. They just weren't the right yarn for my dad's socks.

lovely weekend

We had a lovely weekend, filled with baking and knitted gifts and .... lots and lots of chocolate. I have Linda at The Yarn Tree to thank for sending Jon and Bee to Jacques Torres to buy treats (gotta love a yarn store owner who sends your partner to one of the best chocolatiers in the world) and for being open on Christmas Eve so I could get hand carders from my family for the holidays.

I also got a copy of Himalaya, which is a movie I mentioned on the blog a while ago, and absolutely love.

All of the handknits were very well received, and although the pulsevante required some explanation (no, they're not "just tubes") they were quickly embraced and I got extra phone calls on Boxing Day thanking me for them, once recipients realized how useful they were.

We've got company from out of town (my daughter's best friend from Wisconsin) all week, so if I miss a day of posting here or there, its nothing to be worried about.

P.S.

I'm done with the knitting. All done. With about 15 hours to spare. Whew.

if a knitblogger screams on Christmas Eve....

.... does it make a sound?

Sometime around 5:30 this morning, when I woke up and thought I was getting out of bed to continue knitting, the reality hit me. My hands hurt.

What the hell was I thinking? This is what my knitting corner looks like, more or less (with the nightmares things in progress displayed on a pillow to get them all in one place).

From left to right we have:

• lavender wristlets for my grandma - started yesterday for subway knitting (2" of one wristlet knit)
• rust alpaca wristlets for my mom - which I decided weren't her color and that I'm going to keep for myself (one done and one 1.5" long)
• green alpaca wristlets for my mom - started yesterday after stopping in at Purl and seeing this color on the shelf (one done, one just cast on)
• itchy gray sock [behind the green] one sock halfway done. I gave up on these but still had some sort of weird snowball-in-hell idea that I might finish them for Jon
• Gray superwash socks for dad - just about at the same point you last saw them at, maybe 10 rows more. (2 socks, feet on both about 7" long)
• Not pictured: second pair of Natalya gauntlets still needing thumbs, for my daughter.

The pace I was keeping was possible only in view of the transit strike, when there wasn't a damn thing I could do other than stay home and knit. Yesterday I had to catch up, pick up stocking stuffer presents, and generally run around like a mad person after finally admitting to myself that "just a few presents" wasn't something I could manage, emotionally. This is all my own expectations, not any on the part of the receivers, I'm sure.

I don't have Stephanie's friend Lene to write a schedule for me. Stephanie? Just one question? Have you actually calculated how long it takes you to knit a sock so it can be worked into the schedule? Because sometimes I think I don't really want to know. Which is really fine, because there's no way I could stick to a schedule - I'm the one who says I'm not shopping and then goes out and does it anyway.

In all honesty, it still seems manageable. The wristlets for my grandma were an afterthought, and I can finish them whenever I want. The rust wristlets are now mine (all MINE!) so those certainly don't need to be finished or wrapped. Probably the top priority is the socks for my dad. I cannot wrap them unfinished - that happened last year and ..... they're still not finished, which is why he's getting worsted weight socks this year. The wristlets for my mom are going to get done, but I did buy her a silk scarf yesterday just in case - it matches the wristlets, so that works out nicely.

But - what the hell is up with me starting two pairs of wristlets yesterday? New ones?

Excuse me, I've got to go knit. And bake cookies.

tired of knitting

I'm tired of knitting. Specifically, I'm tired of knitting superwash wool. Granted, the stuff has its uses and is especially helpful for giving natural fiber baby gifts. But the damn stuff squeaks and just feels .... suspicious. I also have a notion that it couldn't be as warm as real wool. The process that makes superwash (at least I think this is the case) descales the wool which means that the "scales" can't hook onto one another and felt. Logically - although I'm not much on logic as a way of life, sometimes its helpful - that would mean that the wool doesn't grab onto itself and therefore allows air to pass through the stitches.

Which is all nice and theoretical, but as I said, I'm just sick of knitting with the stuff.

These actually look a lot better stretched out a little, which shows the nice purl ribbing to much better effect. I think I'm about 3" or so from the end of both of them, which is totally do-able in the next 48 hours.

To take a break from the squeak-factor, I did start the very last gift knit on my list, which is another pair of cabled wristlets (a la Natalya).

I'm using a skein of worsted weight Misti Alpaca, in a gorgeous heathery rust. After the superwash wool, the incredibly soft alpaca is a treat to knit with. I needed a break, and this is the perfect thing. I'm just going to have to be careful in the next day or two not to push it with my knitting - I almost hurt my hands yesterday by knitting too much.

In very happy news, the transit strike is over. Maybe now the city can try to get back to normal. At the very least my teenager will be back in school, Jon will be back at work, and I'll be able to go out and finish up my holiday shopping. To say I was a little stressed is a severe understatement.

Hopefully after the holidays I can get back to Celtic Dreams. Happy everything to people who celebrate this weekend.

Ba-rum-pa-pa-pum

Did I mention that I'm in a bad mood?

no time like a transit strike

I'm not sure exactly what to say about the transit strike. So far, things have been quiet here - I never realized just how much noise the buses and subway (which in my area is above ground and only three blocks from our place) make. Until they shut down, and suddenly the noise level is dramatically reduced, to the point where a Tuesday afternoon sounds more like 7am on a Saturday morning.

Everyone is home, for now. If the strike goes on longer, its likely that we'll try to figure out ways to commute. But sending a 17 year old girl on a trek with livery cabs and strangers isn't exactly appealing. We're at least 15 miles (and a river away) from her school. It's possible that Jon may try to work something out with carpooling and taking some of our daughter's schoolmates to school later in the week, if needed. As it stands now, you can't get into Manhattan with less than 4 people in a vehicle. In the mean time, we're still self-employed and no work means no money. No one is picking up the tab here. We're calling it vacation and hoping it ends soon.

However, I am lucky enough to have not one, but two shops selling yarn within very close walking distance. I solved the problem of the itchy sock yarn by picking up some Cascade 220 superwash wool today, just a few minutes walk from here.

I finished the fuschia pulsevante yesterday. I also started the Cascade socks - same pattern (Thuja) as the pair I posted yesterday. I got just as far as finishing the gusset decreases on the first sock last night before I quit knitting.

Other than the Dad-socks, I think the only thing on my holiday knitting list that's not yet begun is another pair of pulsevante - this pair for my mom. (The pair above is for my aunt.) I'll have to trawl the stash for appropriate yarn, but I'm pretty sure I have something around that will work. I'm fairly confident that a sock and a half and a pair of wristlets is feasible over the next four days.

Peaceful and happy winter solstice wishes to everyone today.

a lack of focus, among other things

I've got five days.

My family does their big get-together on the 25th (in the afternoon) and so I have five more days. As I said, I'm going to back off from Celtic Dreams for now, so I can finish up my gift knitting without distraction.

On Monday I finished the second pair of gauntlets (except for the thumbs) and also started two new gift projects.

At the bottom is a pulsevante, or wristlet. I'm using a single skein of Jamie Harmon wool/angora blend that I've had around for a couple of years. I was going to use the Nancy Bush pattern from Piecework, which I've used twice before, but the pattern and the yarn weren't compatible. I decided to just use the cable pattern from Jody's Natalya Gauntlets (pdf download link), and skip the hand and gusset portions of the pattern. This is the same yarn I used for the gauntlets I made, so I knew what size needles would work without experimenting swatching.

Above the pulsevante you can see the sock I started last night. This is where my lack of focus got the better of my good sense. The pattern I'm using is Thuja from Bobby via the latest issue of Knitty. The pattern calls for Artyarns Supermerino, which I didn't have. I substituted Sandnesgarn Smart (a superwash wool) which I had around. This is nowhere near as soft as Artyarns, although the yards per 50gm skein is almost the same.

I'm using 3.5mm needles, and changed the cast on to 48 sts (from 44). The fabric is good, the sock will fit a generic guy, but it ...... isn't soft. At all. Not such a big deal, as these could be worn with thin cotton socks underneath for very cold weather. But the person (my dad) I thought I was making them for is probably not who is going to get them. They may be for Jon - or not.

Now, in general, I'm in favor of not-so-soft but very sturdy socks. I have a pair of Dalarna socks I knit from Guernsey wool which are so sturdy they could practically be worn alone - without shoes. But gift knitting is a whole different ballgame and the softness factor helps, I think, to sell someone on the virtues of handknit over storebought.

So, there may be two pairs of socks being whacked out knit over the next few days. I was thinking I might try substituting Cascade 220 for the Artyarns, but then again, that isn't superwash, so I'm not sure that's a good idea. In the meantime, its 1:30am, there's a possibly imminent transit strike, and I'm going to be limited to what I can buy locally for any gifts I might impulsively start knitting for the duration. Oh, and there's stash too. I guess. But the stash is very low on superwash.