Monthly Archives: February 2011

Friday Gauge Check: Still Slogging Along

I really feel like I’m not making any progress, despite the fact that I’ve finished things!

My first handspun

My first handspun!

Here, for example, is my first skein of handspun.  I plied this on Monday, and I spun more of the red on the drop spindle yesterday.

I finished the Simplicity Socks and a pair of fingerless gloves for Jack, and started knitting a scarf.  I like the pattern for the crochet scarf I was working on last week, but it’s really complicated and I kept having to rip it back, and the halo on the yarn I’m using… doesn’t like being ripped back, and I’m afraid I’m going to damage it, so less complicated knitted scarf it is.  I’m really enjoying the pattern, which is an interesting and addictive four-row repeat.  I’m up to twelve pattern repeats on the Argyle State University scarf, which is nearly halfway done!  (Woo!)

Despite this, despite the writing I’ve been doing, despite the fact that I made gnocci and marinara from scratch, did laundry, the reading I’ve done, despite all of the things I can point to and say, “Yes, I did that this week!” I just can’t get past the feeling that I haven’t accomplished much.  I’m not sure what the root cause of it is; figuring this out is going on my goal list for next week.

Maybe some of it is rooted in the fact that I haven’t met all my goals, and so I feel like I haven’t done what I was “supposed” to do, even if I’ve done other, equally valuable things.  I feel bad that I’m not posting here very often, but I’m at a point where the processing I’m doing is slower and more complicated and less verbal.  But, if you guys have topics you’d like me to talk about, or questions, or anything, please leave me a comment or drop me an email at rippingback at gmail dot com.

So for this week’s goals, I’m going to try something new.  I don’t like the idea of dropping the goals entirely, because I like marking my progress in some way.  So my goals!  They will be vague.

Vague goal #1:  Make something.  With yarn!

Vague goal #2:  Read something.  Maybe one or more of these magazines I picked up from Borders, or one or more of my pile of library books.

Vague goal #3:  Start a new project.  This goal is less vague, because I know what I need to start, I’m just waiting for the needles to arrive.

Vague goal #4:  Finish one of those partially-complete posts sitting in the queue.  Because they’re there, and I’m sure at least one or two people would like to read them.

That’s about all I have for this week.  Have a picture of my spindle.

My drop spindle

This week has been an uphill battle.

Blogging is very difficult with a cat lying on your arms.

I don’t have a cat.  I have four finches and three rats.  But our complex is one that is rife with stray cats, and we started feeding them awhile ago, and we made particular friends with one of them.  So he visits us regularly, particularly in the evening, when he’ll come to the back door and paw at it until one of us lets him in.  He’s housetrained, and he understands words like “no” and “down,” but (like most cats) doesn’t always think they apply to him.  Also he likes to lay in my lap and knead my chest or arm, and he’s VERY SHARP.  He can’t ever be our cat, however, because he likes to hunt birds.  A lot.  He left us a dead pigeon on the porch the other night, so I can’t even trust that he likes to hunt birds but isn’t good at it, like most cats.  My cage full of finches is the most fascinating thing in the world to him, so he can’t be left unsupervised – so he can’t stay in the house when we’re asleep or not at home.  It’s really too bad, because otherwise he’s a gentleman cat and would make a splendid addition to the family.

In other news, I had my second spinning class on Monday, and plied the two colors of yarn together to make an absolutely gorgeous colorway I’m calling Sedona Sunset.  I’ll try and remember to get some pictures tomorrow, while there’s still light out.

We went to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, and despite the chaotic weather (wind! then cold and rain!) had a fantastic time.  A lot of that is just because spending time with Jack is fun, no matter what we’re doing.  Even cleaning the house is fun when he’s helping me.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up buying a lot of yarn – one of the local re-enactment groups has a “local village” setup, and they create and sell yarn and knitted goods and lace bookmarks and the like.  Jack picked out a beautiful burnt orange/yellow wool, and I made another pair of the Merrymeeting Mitts out of it for him.  This is the first pattern I’ve ever really done twice, and it’s well-written and easy enough that I feel like I could do it again.  I’ve never had a go-to pattern before; usually anything I make two of is boring by the time I’m finished.  Maybe because it’s so simple, I don’t have to really consult the pattern more than a few times, so it’s just relaxing.

I got two skeins of grey heathered wool for me, and a stick-weaving…loom?  It’s not quite a loom, because it’s just a set of sticks, but it acts like a loom.  I also picked up a pair of size-11 wooden needles from a vendor that mostly makes hairsticks.  She’s a knitter herself, and they’re absolutely gorgeous.  Again, will take pictures tomorrow.

I spun with my drop spindle again today, and I’m getting better at it, and it’s fun, but not nearly as satisfying as spinning with the wheel.  I really want one, and they’re not cheap (the Ashford Joy runs about $500), so it’ll be a while before I can get it.  It’s funny to say this, but I feel like wanting a spinning wheel is another step in the healing process.  During the hurricane, there wasn’t any point in wanting things, so I just… stopped.  I would be interested in things, briefly, and then I’d just let them go and forget about them, because there’d be no point.  Occasionally Isabel would decide that she wanted me to buy myself something, but it rarely had anything to do with what I actually wanted or needed.  But a spinning wheel is something that I genuinely want for myself, and I have hope that I’ll be able to get one, sooner or later.  In the meantime, I’ll play with my drop spindle, and run up to TYF and play with their Joy, and watch Craigslist, and wait, and hope.

 

Friday Gauge Check: Asking for Help

Overall, this week has been pretty good, if really frustrating on some levels.  I spent two hours spinning this afternoon, and at first, I couldn’t get the yarn to settle down.  Overtwisted, undertwisted – in the same section – and then it started snapping and I couldn’t get it to stop.  When I (finally, and near tears) gave up and asked for help, it turned out that the tension was WAY too high, and the wheel was trying to rip the fiber right out of my hands.  A little bit of tweaking, and I was back to smooth spinning again.

So today’s lesson?  Ask for help.  Don’t assume that if something’s wrong, that it’s something you’re doing wrong.  It could very well be the circumstances you’re working under. Continue reading →

Dreaming of Fiber Arts

Last night I had my first spinning class at Tempe Yarn and Fiber, and by the end of the night, I was making yarn. Not particularly good yarn, but yarn nonetheless. I have to remind myself every time I pick up a new craft that it’s difficult to learn new things, and it’s okay for it to be hard. Spinning requires a higher level of coordination than knitting or crochet, and it really wasn’t that long ago that I was swearing that I’d never be a knitter because it was so much slower than crochet.

Can you believe I’ve only been knitting for eight months? It’s become so all-encompassing so fast, and I feel like I should be further along, or faster, or more productive, but…eight months. And I’m not one of those girls who learned knitting as a child, then put it down, either. My mother doesn’t knit, she cross-stitched and sewed when she had time, which was rarely; my grandmother had arthritis in her hands so bad that she could barely write. All of these crafts I’m learning are completely from scratch.

At the same time, and despite the lack of literal connection, I feel deeply connected to my female ancestors when I pick up the needles. Knitting and crochet, spinning and sewing, all resonate back to a time when it was a necessity rather than a luxury. I never thought I could find pleasure in the simple domestic arts, but even keeping my small apartment clean is satisfying in a way I never imagined possible.

Last night I dreamt of spinning. I’ve been dreaming about knitting a lot (I’ve been knitting all day for weeks on end, so it’s not surprising) but this morning I woke up with my fingers held together, my hands in drafting position. I’m tucking my drop spindle into my bag alongside my sock project, just in case, and I hope I have enough time today to stop by TYF and spend some time on the wheel.

Friday Gauge Check: Unexpected Silence is Unexpected

Sorry about the sudden silence. I have a post that I’ve been working on literally all week, but it was serious processing and involves a bibliography, so it’s taking much longer than expected. I guess that’s what happens when I don’t put posting here on my goals for the next week!

This week has been one of manifestation, for lack of a better word. I signed up for the spinning class on Sunday, and it starts Monday night. I am so excited!

I went to the local knitting group meet up for the first time on Tuesday, and I had a reasonably good time. Everyone was very nice, as knitters tend to be. The best part was finding out about two local yarn stores that were having sales, but more on that later.

I volunteered as a test knitter for a knitting blogger I followed, and she sent out an email earlier in the week looking for people who could knit up a pair of fingerless gloves by Saturday. Most of the week has been focused on doing that, but I also turned the heels of both the green Simplicity Socks, which is fantastic. I completed the partial pattern repeat of the Argyle State University scarf, bringing me up to 11.

One surprising discovery about the iPad is that I can knit and read at the same time with it. Last night I also discovered I can do it using my Sony Reader, but not as well. The iPad also shows more text, just because the screen is bigger, so I have to turn the page less often. So I’ve been reading Louisa May Alcott, because I figured out how to get free books from the iBooks store before I figured out how to download them from my computer.

Today, though, was absolutely wonderful. As I mentioned, two LYS were having sales – one, Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint, is going out of business, and everything is 50% off if you pay cash. (It’s 30% for any other payment method. Hey, it’s not my tax return.) I bought three skeins of yarn there. I know, I know. But when I walk into a yarn shop, I usually feel inspired. I walk around touching everything, looking at the colorways, imagining what I could make. Walking in there, I felt…almost nothing. I’m more inspired in the yarn aisle at Wal-Mart. There was nothing that I wanted, not even at 50% off. I ended up getting a book that I had checked out of the library and liked (Big Girl Knits, by…someone whose name I can’t see from where I’m sitting), and an Addi Turbo Lace circular needle, 61″, size 3. Hey, I’m uninspired, not stupid. Unfortunately, the needles were really picked over, so most of what was left were big and short or super-tiny (I am currently not masochistic enough to knit with 000 needles). Or Susan Bates. I don’t even know. There were also a bunch of big DPNs (smallest size 10) and some miscellaneous Lantern Moon straights, but I’m not going to buy straights at retail prices, because I really prefer circulars. Overall, very unimpressed. In any other situation, I’d just assume they were really picked over. The wool was really picked over, but there was tons of cotton and ribbon yarn. I don’t knit dishcloths and my only experience with ribbon yarn was a massive failure, so… Jack picked out three skeins of a thick-and-thin cotton that’s mostly fingering weight called Ironstone Warehouse. Rich deep colors, and I think it’s light enough to give decent drape. That’s right- the only yarn I bought, I didn’t pick out.

To get the taste out of my mouth, we headed up to Knit Happens, which is having a really complicated sale for February. If you wear a red shirt on Friday, red yarn is 25% off. If you come in wearing something red that you knit from yarn you bought there, all yarn is 25% off. So I bought some Silky Flamme, which is a bulky-weight wool/alpaca/silk blend, to make a hat out of. Jack and I also mutually fell in love with a skein of Oasis Yarn’s Silk Icelandic Seduction. Because we touched it. Beautiful 100% silk, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, but neither of us could live without it. It was on sale, okay?

It was still fairly early in the day, and our ultimate goal was Mesa, for the library and the monthly art walk, so we hit a few thrift stores on the way down. We stopped in at the St. Vincent de Paul, which is probably Jack’s favorite thrift store, because they consistently have the most gorgeous mid-century modern furniture. And that’s where I saw her.

I have wanted to learn to sew for literally years. I keep trying to talk people into teaching me, and everyone always agrees, but nobody follows through. I’ve been looking seriously on Craigslist and in thrift stores for a few weeks without much success. Today, though, I found a Kenmore that is probably a contemporary of the mid-century modern furniture. Solid metal, folds into a table, apparently only missing a minor part that would be easily replaceable. Because of that, she was marked down from $60 (which I probably would have paid for her) to $30. Plus she was 40% off of that. So yes, Bettina came home with me, and she’s now in a place of honor in my living room.

Then there was the yarn. Looking at the yarn and fabric that they had today, I felt like I was looking at someone’s stash. I picked up enough balls of blue yarn for a sweater, and a sea-green blanket that’s probably 3/4 done. It has the needles (circulars) still in it, the remaining yarn, and the pattern. This was somebody’s project that she didn’t get to finish, and I feel like I owe it to her to finish it, and love it, as much as she did. Maybe it was Bettina’s original owner, and finishing her blanket will be a thank-you for the beautiful gift of her well-loved machine. (Guys, she looks freshly oiled. The missing part disappeared after she was sitting on the sales floor; she was in perfect condition when she was donated.)

After tucking Bettina safely into my car, we went to the library, where I got a million sewing books, and then to the art walk, where I added another finch to my artistic collection. (I have a wall of finch art, mostly paintings.) This one is a shadowbox collage, very cool.

So! That was my week. Here are some goals!

Learn to spin. Determine what Bettina needs to get into working order, and procure it. Finish the red hat. Send the test gloves to their new owner. Knit at least one pattern repeat on the Argyle State scarf, and half the leg on the Simplicity Socks. Post here twice. Have fun with everything!

How are you doing? How was your week?