Yarn Rambles

What a whirlwind week!!

Once we got back from Sunriver, the three days we had at the office were absolutely crazy!! I did make a point of getting out and getting a fresh flower arrangement to enjoy. And, I am still so pleased with my "new" office. I actually look forward to getting to work and nesting.

In the middle of Corporate Cleaning Week, I visited a local Backyard Birdshop store hoping to find a small pump for my desktop fountain. Instead, I bought a couple of CDs. One turned out to be an absolute treasure! It's called Rocky Mountain Retreat by Dan Gibson under the Solitudes label. It is a mixture of music and natural sounds that is very energizing. The other is Zen Escape by Dan Gibson. It is much more relaxing and soothing. More bathtub music than office music.

My plan is to have a restful weekend. Saturday, knit and spin. On Sunday I need to take Xena over to the breeder's (Mommy Lora) to stay while we are in Europe. I plan on going over early to spend some time with Lora and her new puppy, Pluto. Then, when I'm home and missing Xena, I will finish up my packing. We will be in the office on Monday but I'm sure it will be a haze of last minute projects. By Tuesday I will be ready to settle into my airplane seat with my socks and a good audio book.

Bob, Xena and I will be back on April 15th. Take care!

A lovely weekend!

We had a lovely long weekend in Sunriver, Oregon. Saturday night one of my nieces (Michael Maureen) joined us for dinner with her husband (Darron) and their young son (Dylan).

Bob's son Matt was visiting with his in-laws so he, Jessica and Walter came along to dinner along with Jessica's parents. I love this shot with the two expectant mothers or two new baby blankets depending on your perspective. Michael Maureen is holding Walter. Notice how Xena has chosen our hostess, Cindy, to be her slave-for-the moment. Chris is Cindy and Mike's son. There were twelve of us for dinner!

Dylan charming the entire room!

Walter snuggling with his Auntie Bridgette

Sunday morning was eerily reminescent of my youth in Bend. I believe that I have mentioned my family's manic obsession with outdoor activities - skiing, marathon running, bicycling, Iron Man/Woman events, tennis, soccer, hiking, etc. I have never shared this enthusiasm for making every part of my body ache! But, until I attained the age of majority, I was forced to participate despite my vocal and obnoxious protestations!! For years now, I've happily listened to everyone discuss what clothes and accessories will be needed for the day, multiple calls to check the mountain weather report, plans to meet at certain runs at certain times, blah, blah, blah.

I tossed some more wood on the fire, set up my spinning wheel, put my iPod into my little speaker system, checked that there was plenty of tea in the kitchen, put my knitting bag by the sofa and then waved goodbye as all the crazy people trudged, I mean enthusiastically drove, off to their day on the Mt. Bachelor.

Later, everyone sought the recuperative effects of the hot-tub. As soon as Bob settled down with his newspaper, Xena curled up with him and fell sound asleep. She had a hard day supervising my fiber activities.

Our evenings were spent playing Scrabble and reading. Repeat entire routine for two more days!

Welcome to Knit Pick's new digs!

Neck Shaping on my Aran Sweater

In order to have a nice, slightly rounded neckline after I cut the front steek of my cardigan, I need to stop knitting about four inches short of the shoulder and set up a new steek.

The first step is to put the steek stitches and some stitches on each side of the steek to equal about three inches. Second, I use a backward loop cast-on to re-establish the steek stitches. As I knit around the sweater, I work matched decrease every other round for a few rounds. My plan was to eat up the seed stitch panel on each side of the steek and then let the braids continue on up to the shoulder.

Can you see how the seed stitches have disappeared? Once the neck shaping steek is cut, the neckline will open up beautifully. It always helps to think of steeks as space holders or, even better, not really being there at all. They don't influence any of the neck shaping.

I hope to get started on the sleeves this weekend because we are off to Sunriver, Oregon for a four-day vacation.

I do love the color Coral

Last Friday afternoon I went into our local Safeway to pick up some strawberries for Bob. Right there at the entrance was a huge display of roses. Most were regular colors but two bouquets were this stunning coral color. I just had to take them home!

What a pleasure to watch them open up and become even more beautiful!

Bonding with my Spindolyn

First, I decided that I wanted it to be a bit more glossy so I sanded it with superfine sand paper. Then I borrowed some wood wax from our tole painting division. Now it's all shiny and pretty.

  I'm beginning to get the hang of using a Spindolyn rather than a drop spindle. Catherine's video shows her drafting straight up, then giving the Spindolyn a little spin in the opposite direction to untwist the strand from the distaff. As the spindle spins in the opposite direction, Catherine moves her hand down to the side, then sets the spindle going back in the original direction and lets the ply take up on the spindle.

Alison also bought a Spindolyn and played around with here's over the weekend. She figured out that she preferred to just give the ply a small tug after drafting. I like that method. After drafting about 12 inches, I give it a tug while simultaneously lowering my hand in front of me. Then a quick twist gathers up the strand and I take my hand back up for more drafting.

Basically, hand up for drafting, quick tug as hand goes down and when the hand is down, allow fiber to gather, and then the hand goes back up for more drafting. Sounds strange in theory but whhen you actually have a Spindolyn in your hand, you will get the idea. It is a very smooth motion and very relaxing. Watch the video and you will see the basics. I love not having to worry about the spindle dropping onto the floor.

Looking to trade vintage wheel for Ashford Joy

I have a vintage wheel that I would love to trade for a double treadle Ashford Joy in good condition. I know many spinners have more than one wheel and sometimes, no matter how well designed, a wheel might not work out well. If you happen to have a Joy that isn't getting as much use as you anticipated, you might be interested in a trade. My wheel has a few memories attached that make it difficult to enjoy. So, I'm going to make a clean break and pick up something entirely new!

I don’t know its history but it spins like a dream. I purchased this wheel twenty years ago through an ad in Spin-Off magazine. The idea of two women being able to spin at the same time is very interesting. When I received the wheel it did not have a second flyer unit to actually do this but a talented wood worker could build one for you. A leather drive band joins the two wheels, cotton string doubl band for whorl. The double treadle provides a smooth rhythm with easy starting and stopping. Excellent condition except for a few masking tape marks. Include three bobbins and a fiber hook.

If you live in the Portland, Oregon area, that would be helpful because I would like to not have to fuss with shipping. But, I would ship if necessary.

My new (clean) office!

 

 

Corporate Cleaning Day!

We are shuffling departments around this week which means lots of cubicle moving and lots of packing. I decided that we should take advantage of the chaos and have a super cleaning day, or week as it turns out. Our company is filled with creative people who are very busy. The result is that things can get more than just a little cluttered. I've decided that we are going to have a Corporate Cleaning Day every three months. This first one is the most difficult because we are so deeply buried.

I started on Monday because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I took some "Before" photos of my office and a few areas around the building. After six HOURS I had everything cleared out! I am going to be getting a couple things like plants and a sofa that has been sitting around unused. Then I will take the "After" photos for you.

Of course, Tina's office always looks nice! Even when she has moved into a new one!

The Knit Picks old spot.

The new space for the Marketing Department

The new space for Knit Picks but it is going to look very different because their old cubicles are being moved in and these cubicles are going into the Marketing space. You can see why things are so chaotic!

Ta Da!!

I am going to have an unbelievably wonderful weekend! I've caught on to spinning on my Spindolyn and it is an absolute dream. Another lady in our office received hers yesterday and she is also loving it.

And, I've fixed all of my cable errors so I can get back to actually making progress on what I know is going to be one of my favorite sweaters.

I know that all those strands of yarn looked scary but let's just take a deep breath and look at the concept of dropping stitches to repair an error. Each one of those strands represents a row that you need to knit. Once you figure out where you are in the cable sequence, you seperate the next yarn strand from the others. Following your pattern, knit with that strand as if it were coming out of a ball of yarn.

I try to pace out the yarn so that I don't have too much or too little of the strand left at the end. Then I use a crochet hook to pull at the stitches, particularly on the left edge because that tends to be a little loose. Then, I'm ready to pick up the next strand and knit the next row. Just take it one strand and row at a time and you will quickly fix your error and be ready to continue with the rest of your project.