• Thoughts 22.03.2021 No Comments

    Still sorting out the problem with posting pictures. I’ll have to put in an update at some point, although I’ve just been knitting socks. But this is a rant about yarn quality. It feels like I’m getting a lot of poor quality yarn. By that I mean yarn that pills too much, wears out in odd spots or just generally doesn’t hold up. I don’t mind using that chainette yarn I bought when discounted, but I wore a hole in the sleeve in quick order, same with Rowan Felted Tweed. That’s not good when you knit a cardigan. And you never know what you’ll have problems with. I like the single ply West Yorkshire Spinner’s yarn that I used for a cardigan. It does pill a lot though. I really need to buy a lot less yarn.

    And on a related note, I am purging my stash pretty heavily. I even threw out some almost finished handspun projects and a bunch of handspun yarn.  I haven’t done anything with it in years. It is a very freeing thing to do, if you haven’t tried it. You have all these projects that you mentally plan for that yarn and it’s a weight when you never start them. Get rid of the yarn and they are gone. You’re free to work on something new. I will likely get rid of some of the yarn I bought, although the unused stuff will go to Goodwill. It’s just like purging my way through my knitting and spinning books. There are a lot of hard choices you have to make when you move. But I still intend to move my spinning wheels and treadles, if I can make enough room for them.

     

  • I’ve not had time to sort out the posting issues, but will try again this weekend. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. It’s been a tough year.

  • I haven’t been working on a lot of things, but did finally take a few pictures of finished projects.

    I finished PNW by Bonne Marie Burns. I love the collar on this sweater! This was done with West Yorkshire Spinners Roving yarn. It’s fairly soft but doesn’t pill. I used butternut buttons on this one.

     

    The second is a Faroese style shawl out of Classic Elite’s Wildwood. This is a natural thick/thin yarn. I went a little crazy and ordered one of each of the colors. I happened to order two skeins of the darker blend, which allowed me to do a gradient. It’s a great shawl. I have enough of this yarn to do a sweater in the all brown color.

    I’ve done two Flindras, same yarn, different colorways. I used West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious, which is a wool/alpaca blend. It’s an odd shaped shawl, but I love the pattern. I need to reblock them.

    And that’s really about it. I hope I can get something new started but haven’t really felt like knitting or spinning.

     

     

     

  • Thoughts 08.02.2020 No Comments

    I was working hard to get the Christmas knitting done. Then I had several other projects I worked on. I haven’t blocked them, so I haven’t taken any pictures. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my husband died. I am still trying to adjust to that. I am going to see if I can block those projects this weekend and update this blog. I hadn’t intended to go this long between posts.

  • Projects 20.09.2019 No Comments

    I finished the Hap for Harriet. I’m happy with the knitting, but unhappy with the yarn. I’ll post a picture of it, when I block it this weekend. I frogged the original project. I had stitches slip off the end and it was the last straw. I don’t know what I’ll do with that yarn, but I’ll have to use it with a lighter color.

    And the hand spun sweater may also be frogged. I’m not happy with it. The moorit Shetland is dual coat and could stand to be recarded in places. It’s just a boring sweater right now. I’m going to put it away for awhile, take the spun yarn off the bobbin and take a look at it in a few weeks.

    This means I could start a new project! Little Knits had a great sale on Brown Sheep Nature Spun. I was looking for other yarns and started to get tired of looking at exotic blends. I wanted some pure wool. I picked up enough to do this:  https://www.trulymyrtle.com/shop/floozycardigan

    It calls for fingering weight, but I’ve been unhappy with every fingering weight sweater I’ve made. Sport weight works out well for this.

    I have enough of this yarn to make some short sleeved or sleeveless undershirts. That’s another project I want to try. It has sidelined my spinning for a bit, but I think that’s because I really didn’t want to spin that moorit Shetland any more. I am still working on a couple of spindle projects.

    I thought I’d show the second half of my system. I’ve posted about using the Notes app on my Iphone as a database of projects and stash. The other part is a physical notebook. I’d planned to use a regular notebook, but then I thought I could use my black Traveler’s Notebook. I like it so far. I keep it in a Swift with my supplies, so I can sample yarns and fiber as they come in. The hard part is remembering to add samples of finished yarns. I use two notebooks. One is a watercolor insert and the other is the blank lightweight paper. I use the watercolor insert for samples. It’s an insert that I happened to have, so I may switch to something else when I fill this.

    For fiber stash, I take a small sample and put it in a glassine envelope. I am using these little flash cards for the main part. They are thick and a nice size. I put details on the flash card, with samples of the singles and spun yarn. For knit stash, I put a sample of the yarn on the flash card. I can take pictures of these cards and add them to any notes in the Notes app. It’s nice to have these physical samples.

    If I decide that this notebook won’t work, I can easily remove the cards and put them in something else. I’m not going to put all the yarn in my stash in this notebook. I will add yarns that I’ll use in future projects. Same thing with fiber. As I work with this notebook, I’ll get a better idea of what will be useful.

    And finally, I finished the Inga hat! Still needs to be blocked. I used some left over yarn for this and knew it would be big. I really love the pattern and will probably do it in finer yarn someday. Link to the free pattern: https://eweniquefiber.blogspot.com/2006/11/free-knitting-pattern-inga-hat.html

    Picture of me in goofy hat. The braid part will show when I block it. I really need to have Lon take pictures of me because I just look terrible otherwise.

  • Projects 30.08.2019 No Comments

    I started doing A Hap for Harriet several months ago. I’m not finding the most recent picture of it, but I used the yarn called for in the pattern. It was a dark teal and I had to work slowly to keep from dropping stitches or messing up the SSK. I started out using an over to make a stitch, then discovered that I would not be doing that across the entire shawl, so I just started over. I got almost to the middle section, when I discovered that one of the SSKs had popped loose and I had a hole. I just did not want to work on it any more. So I bought some fingering weight merino.

    I really think it looks better and I’ve made great progress on it. I am almost done with the middle section. I haven’t decided what to do with the original project. I really need to just abandon it and use the yarn for something else.

    My handspun yoke sweater looks like this:

    Not really sure how this will turn out. I’d like to do some more interesting sweaters but thought something simple would be nice for now. I should have washed the yarn afterwards but really wanted to get going with this, so it looks a bit overplied right now.

    I need to get back on track for my spinning projects. There’s a long weekend ahead so I’ll try and work them in. I have some sewing projects that I need to focus on first. I do get a lot more done, now that I don’t waste as much time on social media. I’ve been adding content to Slipped Stitches, so stop by if you haven’t checked it out lately.

  • Thoughts 06.08.2019 1 Comment

    I’ve redone the Slipped Stitches site. I just felt like the software was cluttered and hard to use. Since I didn’t have a lot of subscribers, it seemed best to start over. I’d planned to do a wiki, but found wiki markup was not easy to learn. So I went with a blog/forum. I’ll have to add back all the links I had on the original site. And I’m doing what I call Lessons. I want to talk about the basics of different crafts and how to do them. Mostly, I hope folks looking for a drama free place to talk about craft will join us.

  • Thoughts 30.07.2019 No Comments

    I  see posts from people asking for sites with free patterns. I have links to some of these sites over at Slipped Stitches. But I wanted to give you a better way, a way that will free you from having to work someone else’s designs. I’m going to suggest some books that will allow you to make your own designs. And I’ll be talking about knitting here, as I’ve never used a book to make a crocheted sweater. I just started crocheting.

    Elizabeth Zimmerman

    • Knitting Without Tears
    • Knitting Almanac

    Priscilla Gibson-Roberts

    • Knitting in the Old Way
    • Simple Socks

    Ann Budd

    • The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
    • Knitter’s Handy Book of Top Dow Sweaters
    • Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns
    • Getting Started Knitting Socks

    You’ll need a stitch guide. You could start with Barbara Walker’s first book or try Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns. Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book is useful too.

    For colorwork, Alice Starmore’s Fair Isle Knitting is available from Dover and reasonably prices. Janet Szabo’s Cables: The Basics has some nice cable patterns. If you are interested in cabled sweaters, I’d highly recommend her books.

    The only other thing needed here is yarn and needles. I used the Mary Thomas books plus Ida Riley Duncan’s Book of Progressive Knitting for a long time. The Knitter’s Guide to Sweater Design by Carmen Michelson and Mary Ann Davis will guide you through just about any kind of sweater you’d want to make. It’s out of print but worth getting.

    You don’t need to own all of these, of course. Pick an author that suits you. It’s not hard to do your own design, just requires that you use your own creativity.

  • Projects 26.07.2019 No Comments

    I really think I need to spend even less time on social media. There’s a nice group on MeWe called Unraveled Conservative Knitters and the Walkaway from Ravelry group on Facebook. It’s fun to chat for a bit, but it wastes time that I could use for my projects. And I’m having more fun with my projects.

    Here’s the socks I posted about, closer to being finished:

    I started this fiber project on the wheel. This is BFL from Miss Babs, colorway Sugar. Really lovely stuff! I ordered another 4 ounces. I want to make a few wool undershirts for the winter. This will be the first one. I haven’t decided on a pattern yet. I’m not quite through the first four ounces.

    I’m still working on the Southdown and Hot Lips. I am making some progress but the end is not in site.

    I decided to give up on the Cranberry Gorse pattern. I’m using the yarn to make Sarah Swett’s Sweater Somewhat Slanted. I hope this works out. This will be the third project for this yarn.

    And, this is the Bosworth Butternut Brigade!

    The skinny Midi is still  my favorite. I just got the Mini, so am trying to discover what it spins best. Not sure why I am so taken with butternut spindles and why they have to have walnut shafts. But I am pleased with the group. The Maxi is the heaviest Bosworth I have at 40 grams. The Midi is 27 grams, the skinny Midi, 21 grams and the Mini is 17 grams. Add the three cherry skinnies to the mix and I have a nice range for anything I want to spin. And the cherry skinny Maxis really are great for plying.