Episode 28: Going Mobile

Lime Green Monster Zebras!

I'm in that pre-vacation haze...  not quite here...  not quite there yet!  Today we talk about tips for successful vacation knitting  :-)

You can find the podcast on iTunes as Yarn On Tap, listen via the direct link below, or use our RSS feed http://www.sock-aholic.com/yarnontap.xml.

Episode 28: Going Mobile

What's On Our Sticks:

Kelie: 
- Smokin' hot Lime Green Zebras pictured here!  From her Knittin' Safari pattern.
- Opposite Pole sweater by Joji Locatelli is coming along well!
- Pair two, sock two of her Social Networks by Lucy Neatby is rounding the heel.
- and of course, our Mystery Sock IV:  Lucky Charms!  She's wrapped up Clue 4. 

Wendy:

Ethereal Triangular Shawl = Love

- Finished my Ethereal Triangular Shawl by Lakshmi Junega.  LOVE IT!!!
- Finished spinning the gradient fiber that I dyed - see previous post for details.
- Finalizing our new sock design - Crosswired!
- Started a new shawl design using our new yarn.  Kelie has been test knitting - too fun!
- Started spinning som Camel/Silk fiber from RedFish Dyeworks.  Great store!
- Still plugging along on my Dreaded TwinSet
- Cast on Samarkand by Andrea KruB-Anders and modified it to fit Mr. Wendy.  Using a navy Haven from the Naturally yarn company in New Zealand, and a self-striping Supersocke 6-ply from OnLine Yarn Co.
- Cast on Cookie A's Stalagmite pattern to knit with the knit.sock.love group.  Using Pagewood Farms Chugiak which is very nice to work with.

Gift Knitting Boot Camp:  If you would like to surround yourself with a group of supporters and enablers to help you get started early on your 2012 gift knitting, join us!  We have monthly threads for folks to check in on, and the variety of projects is awesome!  Click Here...

Vacation Knitting Tips!
- Do get organized.  Have everything you need together, and pick projects that will fit your travel style.
- Consider sticking with larger needles if you will be in a bumpy vehicle.
- Consider whether charts will be easy to read in your car or in cramped plane space.
- Consider taking established projects rather than starting new ones on the road.  If something doesn't work out with a new project - you're kinda stuck.
- Contain your projects in a way that the yarn will stay clean and corraled.
- Check the TSA.gov website if you have questions about what you can take on a plane for domestic flights.  Knitting needles are currently A-OK!  International airports are known to be less amenable to accepting knitting in carry-on luggage.
- Consider taking circular needles instead of straights on planes.  It will keep your elbows away from your neighbors, and you won't be dropping and losing needles. 
- Consider the difficulty and size of your travelling knitting projects.  Do you really want something complicated?  And do you really want a big sweater in your lap on a plane?
- Consider taking scissor alternatives on planes.  Nail clippers cut yarn and are accepted on planes and tuck into project bags easily. 
- Consider packing backup sets of needles in your checked airline baggage in case something goes awry with your carry on needles.
- And finally, be sure to check out local yarn stores when you get to your destination!

Podcast Giveaway!  This month we are giving away a Knit Happy Take Along Tote Bag.  To be entered in the random drawing, just leave a comment below!

Where to Find Us:
Our online store:  Knitters Brewing Company
Our Ravelry Group:  The Knitters Brewing Co Sock-aholics
Twitter:  @knittersbrewing
Facebook:  Knitters Brewing Co.  Like us  :-)

Dying and Spinning Success and a New Shawl

I am really enjoying the process of becoming friends with my new spinning wheel! I finished spinning and plying the fiber I dyed (see two posts ago), and it turned out pretty cool if I may say so myself.

Skeining to measure after plying



This fiber was split in half for dying, with half being dyed an eggplant color, and the other half dyed in a progression of eggplant to olive to dusty pink to vermillion. I spun those two halves separately, and then plied them together. The result is a skein of yarn that is one long color gradient, as planned, which I think would be awesome on a shawl. I got 394 yards of the two-ply (70% Merino/30% Silk). It's certainly not the most evenly spun and plied yarn you've ever seen, but it averages about 17 wpi and has that rustic beginner charm. I don't have a pattern picked out for it yet, so off to Stashville it goes!

I really want to get another order of fiber placed, and I need to talk to our suppliers to see if they can provide us with fiber on a larger scale. After dying this fiber, I have lots of ideas about how to work variations on this full-skein gradient concept. And, of course, the color combination possibilities are endless!

Right now I'm spinning some 50/50 Camel/Silk that I bought from Red Fish Dyeworks at Sock Summit. I just love those ladies, and they dye the most beautiful array of silk yarn I've ever seen.   The 4 oz braid I'm working on has lots of colors in it, and it's spinning up very fine, so it ought to keep me quiet for a while! 

I've also been watching some Judith Mackenzie DVDs about spinning.  Just fascinating!  I'm making notes of exercises I want to try to improve my skills.  She makes it look so effortless.  Someday...

In anticipation of our new yarn arriving in early March (!) I started a new shawl design for it!  Kelie has been doing the test knitting, and so far it looks really pretty.  I'm also finalizing the new striped sock pattern that will be our next KAL - stay tuned!

Cheers!

Episode 27: Managing SABLE

Meet Loueze!

SABLE:  Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.  We all have it so we might as well make an effort to manage it so we can get more!!!

You can find the podcast on iTunes as Yarn On Tap, listen via the direct link below, or use our RSS feed http://www.sock-aholic.com/yarnontap.xml.

Episode 27: Managing SABLE

What's on our sticks:

Wendy is almost through the charted pattern for the Ethereal Triangle Shawl, and will be adding 6 to 8 rows to the length to use up the rest of the handspun it's made from.  She also finished the first of the new stripey socks to be named later, and is working on finalizing that new pattern.  AND! she even worked on her Dreaded Knit Twinset for a little bit.

Kelie is on the second sock of her second pair of Social Network socks.  She is also working on her pretty Opposite Pole sweater which will be so warm and snuggly!  Kelie is also working on Clue 2 of her Mystery Socks.

Mystery Sock IV:  We're well underway and having lots of fun with this KAL!  Clue 3 was released last week, and Clue 4 is due for release on Friday 2/3.  If you would like to join us, you can find the clues as a free Ravelry download by Clicking Here!

Travelling Sock KAL:  Our travelling socks are looking so cool!  Both the East and West Coast teams are working very efficiently on the socks, and several pairs are already up to the gusset stage! 

2012 Gift Knitting Boot Camp:  The February Boot Camp thread is up on our Ravelry board, and lots of knitters have started making beautiful gifts!  The variety of projects really makes for great browsing, so feel free to check out the threads!  Boot Camp is open to anyone who would like to get a start on their gift knitting for the year so that they aren't suffering the pain of last minute knitting later.  Join us!

Yarn Organization:  We compiled these tips from fellow Sock-aholics  :-)

Step 1:  Sorting.  This can be done by many methods - so choose the one that fits your knitting needs the best.  Sort by factors such as color, fiber content, or yarn weight.  Many knitters seem to like to segregate sock yarn in it's own area, and spinners like to separate their fiber from their yarn, and organize it by fiber type or color.

Step 2:  Storage
 - Baskets/Tote Bags:  Great for WIP project, but not the best for long-term storage due to the high exposure of the contents to factors like pets, sunlight, spills, etc.
 - Tubs:  Plastic storage tubs seem to be very popular with knitters.  They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and clear tubs allow the knitter to see what's in them.  Tubs stack well, which adds to their efficient space usage.
 - Drawers:  Many knitters seem to like to store yarn in drawers of all types.  IKEA sells a lot of clever and inexpensive storage units, and we got feedback that their clear plastic drawers are great for yarn.  Other knitters found that wooden chests of drawers work great, too.
 - Closets:  Lucky knitters out there have closet space to devote to their stash storage!  The plastic tubs mentioned above stack very well in closets and can also be stored on those high closet shelves that aren't good for items that are accessed frequently.  Another great suggestion was the hanging organizers that can be found at IKEA.  These are made from fabric, attach to the closet pole, and feature a number of vertical cubes to store yarn or fiber in.  These would be great for sweater storage, too!  Another Sock-aholic shared that she has Amish-made armoirs in her livingroom that work great for storage of yarn, patterns, books, and notions.  They hold a lot, and when the doors are closed, nobody realizes that her stash is in the livingroom.  And to make it even better, her stash is in the same room that she does most of her knitting in.
 - Under bed:  There's a lot of room under beds, and plastic totes are available that are flat for under-bed storage.

Step 3:  Putting Yarn in a Queue for Projects.  Some knitters have taken their organization a step farther and have matched yarn with patterns and stored them together in "kits".  Knitting Daily today showed an example of how a hanging shoe holder can also be used to segregate yarn and patterns together by project.

Step 4:  Integration with Ravelry:  Many knitters enjoy the Ravelry's stash functionality, which allows users to enter their stash information into the system.  This feature makes it really easy for users to see what yarn they have, what color it is, and how much of it there is.  There is also a field on each yarn's screen where you can enter the yarn's location, and we heard that some knitters were using that field to record bin numbers - so clever!

Step 5:  Excess Elimination:  Once you go through your stash, you may find that you need to let some yarn go to another home.  Knitters suggested that yarn can be donated to senior centers, womens' shelters, nursing homes, projects that are doing charity knitting, or, of course, friends  :-)

Podcast Giveaway:  Our January Podcast Winner is knitrsue!  Sue has won a cute red Knit Happy Tote Bag.  To enter our giveaway for February, just leave a comment below!  We'll be giving away another cute tote bag.

Where to Find Us:
Our store:  Knitters Brewing Company   www.knittersbrewing.com
Our Online Ravelry Group:  The Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-aholics
Twitter:  @knittersbrewing
Facebook: Knitters Brewing Co - Like us!

Fiber Dyed, But No Wheel Yet!

My new spinning wheel will be arriving next Tuesday - I can hardly wait!  And, its lengthy delivery time from Canada has allowed me to be super prepared for it to get here.

First, my WooLeeWinder and bobbin set have arrived.  Now I can spin pretty, even bobbins full of singles and plied yarn without having to stop and adjust the feed loop.  I have to admit, my Midwest value system has been whispering to me that this was a bit of a luxury purchase ($359 for the spindle and four bobbins).  Fortunately, the "you work hard so you deserve a treat" and the "it's a one-time purchase so you should start out with the best equipment" voices in my head (and heart) have been speaking much more loudly!

Second, I took a shot at dying some fiber to spin.  I ordered some bare 70% merino/30% silk from KnitPicks.  It's quite a deal at $6.19 for 3.5 oz.  They have a couple of other wool blends, too, but the shiny silk sold me.  It's the equivalent of their Gloss yarn, which I used to make some gloves several years ago and liked. 

Eggplant and Vermillion - forgot to soak first!

My inspiration for this dye job is the poster at the top of this post.  I bought this several years ago when Mr Wendy and I went to Italy.  We were staying in a Tuscan farmhouse just a few miles from this city, and it always has comforting memories for me.  I caught a bad case of sinusitis/bronchitis on this trip, and of course hadn't studied the Italian words for "exhausted", "head drainage", or "hacking up nasty goo."  This was making it difficult for me to purchase medicine, in a country where they tend to sell fewer multi-symptom cold products - and you have to buy them from a pharmacist.  In San Gimignano, I found a kind pharmacist who was able to translate my hand waving into a product called Solvi-Flu which was a miracle drug.  The box he sold me should have lasted for two weeks, but I was back again 4 days later for more.  If we ever go to Italy again, I'm going to buy a case of the stuff!

Now some green...

My concept for this project was to split the fiber in half.  One piece will be dyed eggplant.  The other piece will be dyed in four colors from the poster - first the vermillion, then the smoky pink, then a smoky green, and then eggplant.  My idea is to spin the two pieces separately, and then ply them together so that I get a gradient through the entire skein that goes from vermillion/eggplant through to eggplant/eggplant. 

I probably should have done some reading online about how people go about dying fiber, but instead I just pretended like I was dying yarn and jumped right in.  I mixed up bowls of dye, and then, being so excited to see what happens, I put the fiber in without soaking it first!  What a blonde!  How many thousand skeins have I dyed without making this error?  It wasn't a fatal error, but I did have to do some squeezy squeezy action on the fiber to get it to absorb the liquid quickly and stop floating on top the dye.

Because I was using acid dye, the silk did not take the color as vibrantly as silk can be dyed.  It's OK for this project though.  Since I was making smoky colors, I like the fact that the overall affect is muted.

Test nukage

The dye requires steam to set the colors.  The fastest way to get steam is to microwave the fiber in a plastic container.  I've never nuked silk before, however, so I did a little test to make sure it didn't melt down first.  This was Kelie's idea.  She's such a voice of logic during these times of creative frenzy.  The test came out fine, and even put a little curl back into the wool.  Had it not worked, I could have steamed the yarn over boiling water on the stove, but fortunately, I didn't have to resort to that.  (My mind is wondering what would happen if I used the pressure cooker... future experiment!)  I nuked my two halves of dyed fiber, and let them cool - trying not to handle them hot to avoid felting.  Then after a little rinsing I hung them to dry.  Done!

The finished photo shows the two pieces twisted together to give a hint of what this will look like when it is plied.  Is it Tuesday yet?!!!

In other news:
-  We launched Mystery Sock Clue 3 this week and the resulting feet are looking great!
-  I have 10 rows left to knit on my Ethereal Shawl, but will have extra yarn, so I'm going to do more rows.
-  I worked on another pair of travelling socks for AMoschel.  I used a textured stitch pattern on these, but the dark yarn doesn't show it off very well.  Actually got to start the gusset on these!  This pair, along with the previous pair I posted, are now winging their way to Pennala in Canada.

Cheers -

Another Toe!

This Travelling Sock KAL just continues to be so fun!  I've just received my 3rd and 4th pair of socks and they are just too cool!  Each pair truly has a unique personality stitched into its patterns and colorways. 

This pair belongs to GmaX4.  It has a nice warm color theme going, and looks great.  I put the teal cable rib part on, and Khalila did the variegated Hourglass pattern before me.  We've gotten to the point in this exercise where we need to assess the status of each sock before we start knitting, so here's what I assessed on this pair:

1.  The wearer has a 10" foot and wants a 6" leg.  That's 16 inches of sock (plus the heel turn) divided by 11 knitters, which means each knitter should do about 1-1/2" on each sock.
2.  After three knitters, the sock is already about 6" long, so we're ahead of the game on length.  Consequently, I'll do less than 1-1/2".
3.  Based on our formula in the pattern, we need to start the gusset rounds when this pair is 7" long.
4.  Therefore, I decided to knit 1" on each sock, and that means the next knitter, Pennala, will start the heel gusset.

I still have to do Sock 2, so these aren't ready to fly to Canada just yet!

I also wanted to share an update on my Ethereal Triangular Shawl.  So beautiful!!!  I just love knitting with my handspun.  I don't think I mentioned in the blog that I ordered a wheel last week - YAY!  Got a Louet Victoria with a carrying bag AND a WooLee Winder and set of bobbins.  I am going to be stylin' while I spin.  But... back to my shawl.  I have about 20 rows left, and I've gotten to the point where they take me 30 to 45 minutes to do (depending on how many yarn overs I've screwed up in the previous right side row).  I'm sure I'll have extra yarn, so toward the end I'll start weighing my ball after each round to help me assess how many additional rows I can put on this shawl to consume all the yarn.  It's so pretty, I must use every drop!

Until I have more to show off  :-) - Cheers!

Episode 26: Organizing the Paper

Kelie's Social Network Pair #2

With the new year upon us, many of us knitters get the urge to organize knitting supplies and stashes.  We're going to spend the next couple of episodes discussing how to get organized!

You can find the podcast on iTunes as Yarn On Tap, listen via the direct link below, or use our RSS feed http://www.sock-aholic.com/yarnontap.xml.

Episode 26: Organizing the Paper

What's On Our Sticks:

Kelie's Opposite Pole

Kelie is halfway through her second pair of Social Network Socks by Lucy Neatby.  They are looking great!  She's also finally getting to work on her Opposite Pole Sweater by Loji Locatelli.  This is an awesome looking project, and the construction for this pattern is SO clever.  Can't wait to see this sweater grow!

Ethereal Shawl in handspun - yay!

Wendy is continuing work on her new striped sock pattern (yet to be named) made from our new yarn which is also yet to be named!  I also learned to spin using Kelie's wheel over the last week - finishing the fiber I've been spinning since last July - yay!!!  I cast on the Ethereal Triangular Shawl by Lakshmi Junega, and it's looking beautiful!  This pattern is a fun knit - seems to be going pretty quickly  :-)


Travelling Sock KAL Update:  East and West Coast teams are now getting competitive about which knitting circle is going to finish their socks first - ha!  Both of our sets of toes are in Canada now - how exciting!  I'll keep updating the blog with new socks that arrive.


Mystery Sock IV is underway!  We launched Clue 1 last week and our KAL participants are producing toes like crazy  :-)  It's not too late to join at all...  just Click Here to find the Clue 1 thread where the link to the pattern is posted.  You only have to finish one sock to be eligible for the random prize drawing at the end of the KAL.  Join us!

Paper Organization:  We identified four categories of knitting paperwork that tends to pile up:  books, magazines, patterns, and class handouts.  The bottom line of our discussion is that when we want a pattern, we tend to browse Ravelry and purchase/download patterns from there rather than looking through our books or magazines.  We also like the Ravelry download storage functionality.  Consequently, neither of us are too keen on keeping pattern books and magazines anymore.  Our thoughts on how to move forward include:

Kelie:  Find a place to donate her magazines.  She has spinning mags that feature techniques she would rather learn by taking a class, so those can go.  And she doesn't feel she'll use the patterns in the knitting magazines, so those can go.  Many of the knitting mags she has (or the patterns in them) are available electronically should she ever really need one of the patterns.  Kelie would also like to thin out her book library, but isn't quite sure how to tackle that yet.  She has her pattern printouts in a binder which she likes, and is thinking about scanning her class handouts to store as pdf files.  In the future, she'll focus on buying patterns as downloads, and will purchase e-books rather than paper books. 

Wendy:  Wendy is happy with her books as most of them are technique or stitch library reference books rather than pattern books.  She will be dropping her knitting magazines off at the local library for them to sell or give away.  This will free up shelf space for her binders of pattern printouts that she can't seem to part with after making a project.  She also decided to make scans of class handout materials rather than keep them in binders since she doesn't reference them very often.  In the future, Wendy will likely buy patterns through Ravelry as pdfs to store in her Ravelry library.

Next week we'll talk about yarn organization, and hope to interview some of our Sock-aholic group members about different methods people use to store and organize their yarn.

Podcast Giveaway:  For January, we'll be giving away another tote bag, so if you would like to be entered in the random drawing, just leave a comment below :-)

Where to Find Us:
Our Ravelry Group: The Knitters Brewing Co Sock-aholics
Our Online Store: Knitters Brewing Company
Facebook: Knitters Brewing Co
Twitter ID: @knittersbrewing

Spinning for Joy! (And More Toes)

My beautiful handspun

I certainly had some fibery excitement this week!  Kelie brought her spinning wheel, a Louet Victoria, over for me to try.  I'll admit I was quite intimidated by it at first, and watched her set it up with cautious optimism.  She gave me a brief tutorial, and told me to have fun - knowing full well that spinning is the kind of thing that each person just has to get a feel for.

Because it was early on a workday, I told myself I had to be somewhat disciplined, so I allowed myself an alternating schedule of 15 minutes of wheel time and 30 minutes of work.  After the first 15 minutes, I was a little frustrated and ready to walk away from the wheel.  After the second 15 minutes, it was going better, and I told Kelie that I was now motivated to finish my drop spindle project so that I could start the next braid on a wheel.  She asked me why I didn't just finish my current drop spindle project on the wheel, and I replied that I couldn't possibly get the fiber to look as good on the unpracticed wheel as it did from my spindle.  Yeah, right.

After the next 15 minutes of practice, I transferred the section of spun fiber off my spindle onto a wooly winder bobbin, and said goodbye to the spindle.  I recommenced work on the fiber spinning project I started last summer during Tour de Fleece, which had stalled out due to my waning interest in the drop spindle.  Between July 2011 and the magical day I tried the wheel, I had completed 2.5 oz of the 4 oz of fiber I purchased.  By 10pm that night, I finished the remaining 1.5 oz, and it looked every bit as good as my spindle-spun singles - and had a tighter spin to it.

The next day Kelie gave me a tutorial on plying, and I took to it with great resolve!  By 10pm that night, I had finished plying all my singles.  Final yardage tally:  484 yards!!!  I was hoping to get 400, so I was really please to have as much as I did. 

Ethereal Triangular Shawl (Rav: sarahboirin)

Yesterday I perused patterns, and decided to use the handspun yarn to make an Ethereal Triangular Shawl by Lakshmi Junega.  I think it's so pretty - and it requires around 430 yards, so it's perfect for my yarn.  To prep for cast on, I soaked my yarn, blotted out the excess water, and hung it to dry overnight to set the twist.  Today I cast it on, and I'm absolutely mesmerized by the way the colors are knitting together - it's going to be be-U-tiful!  I wasn't going to cast on until we go on vacation next month, but who was I kidding?

Needles' Travelling Socks

Also today, Kelie delivered more toes for me to work on!  This Travelling Sock KAL is just so much fun!  This round of socks belong to Needles, and they are looking really cool!  I've finished one of them - couldn't wait to start (I sure don't seem to have much willpower today, do I?)  I used the Gingerbread Rib pattern from the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Sock Book with Sweet Teal yarn, and I think this pair is looking super cute!  Kelie is the one who put the sparkly second section on, and really did a great job coordinating color with the original toe color.  I'll finish sock 2 this weekend and have them ready to ship to Penny in Canada on Tuesday.  As of today, she hasn't yet received the two pair I sent her previously.  Hopefully soon!

So it's Friday - almost 5 o'clock, and that means happy hour knitting in my book!  I'm trying some sugar free margarita mix...

Cheers!